News Broadcasting
Murdoch hedging bets on reality programming with new channel
MUMBAI: Media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is reportedly examining the possibility of launching a new network devoted entirely to the reality genre. The tentatively titled Fox Reality Channel will be cable-and-satellite-delivered, according to a report in Electronic Media.
The digital-tier cable channel is expected to be up and running in the United States by 2005. The reality channel could be tested on satellite in the UK before launching in the US. Internationally it will be a delivered through satellite.
Murdoch’s Fox Network is considered to be a pioneer in reality programming with shows such as the American version of Pop Idol, Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire, Temptation Island, Cops and America’s Most Wanted.
However, issues of cost and carriage will reportedly need to be sorted out before the channel can become a reality. Issues that will affect the rollout are the shaky state of the US economy in general and the cable business in particular, reports say.
On the one hand, a depressed marketplace could make News Corp. and other content providers more conservative in their programming and production planning overall. On the other a channel with the irresistible reality buzz might prove overwhelmingly popular for multiple system operators who need to give customers good reasons to go digital.
The report also indicates that News Corp is contemplating a channel around classic Fox TV programming. The strategy is aimed at countering rival media giant Viacom’s Nick at Nite and TV Land.
Planning for the two channels began last year when News Corp was bidding for DirectTV. The assumption sources made for the bid at the time was that when News Corp added the North American direct broadcast satellite service to its vast existing international satellite capacity, which includes British Sky Broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Star TV in Asia, channel capacity would become available and opportunities for launching new channels would naturally arise.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
