News Broadcasting
NDTV Prime to debut on Monday with reality show ‘Ticket to Bollywood’
MUMBAI: As part of an image makeover of sorts, NDTV Profit will start broadcasting as a dual channel from Monday, 17 March. During market hours, it will air as itself and thereafter, from 9.00 pm to 11.00 pm, as NDTV Prime, showcasing some innovative shows on a daily basis. In a sense, the aim of NDTV Prime is to woo the urban male audience.
Coming to content, a special show titled Ticket to Bollywood has been produced internally with the help of a clutch of producers. Interestingly, it is a one-hour reality show where NDTV will zero in on to-be actors for a film it will be co-producing at a later stage. Currently, auditions for the show are on. “Ticket to Bollywood is a reality show of a GEC (general entertainment channel) scale. 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm is big-bang Bollywood entertainment that will draw eyeballs and not just NDTV viewers,” says NDTV group CEO Vikram Chandra.
Ticket to Bollywood will run for approximately three months (60 episodes), after which, the slot will be replaced with a new show. A comedy show will follow Ticket to Bollywood at 10:00 pm, after which a film strip will be telecast at 10:30 pm, where a film will be broken into five episodes across the week.
NDTV Profit is betting big on the 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm slot, for which it is busy tying up with producers and production houses for newer ideas. “A lot of producers have come up to us and said that they are delighted with the positioning of the channel. There aren’t many channels for men to watch so the primary constituency of NDTV Profit/Prime is urban men,” says Chandra.
Apart from special content, every hour will begin with news headlines and end with sports headlines. The channel is depending on the rollout of digitisation and the presence of appointment viewing. The difficult part will be to get the audience onto NDTV Prime during peak hours when most TV sets are dominated by GECs. Besides, the channel will have to keep investing money into NDTV Prime to get newer and better shows aboard. NDTV Profit/Prime’s main target will be urban homes with two or more television sets.
A media planner on condition of anonymity says, “What NDTV is trying to do is an image makeover. If that happens, advertisers will come, however it isn’t going to have any major impact on viewers or ratings.”
News Broadcasting
News18 India launches Command Centre war explainer with Arya
New show shifts from debates to decoding global conflicts and impacts
MUMBAI: News18 India has rolled out a new war-focused programme, Command Centre, featuring Gaurav Arya, as it looks to offer viewers a sharper, more grounded take on global conflicts amid rising tensions in West Asia.
Positioned as an “insider war room”, the show moves away from conventional panel debates and instead focuses on explaining military developments, decoding strategy and connecting global events to their everyday impact, from fuel prices to economic shifts.
The format leans heavily on visuals and data. The studio has been designed like a command hub, complete with large LED war maps, real-time graphics and an alert system to track developments as they unfold.
At the centre of it all is Arya, who brings his military background to simplify complex war strategies for viewers. His signature line, “Seedhi baat samjhiye”, anchors the show’s promise of clarity over noise.
News18 India managing editor Jyoti Kamal said, “Command Centre, featuring Major Gaurav Arya is designed to deliver accurate insights and a clear perspective on how evolving conflicts impact everyday life, from household budgets to national security. With expert voices analysing every development in real time, the show goes beyond headlines to decode what’s happening now, what it means, and what could come next.”
Echoing the intent, Gaurav Arya added, “In times of war, confusion is the biggest threat. With News18 India’s Command Centre, we are bringing viewers inside the war room, decoding strategies, tracking every escalation, and explaining, in the simplest terms, what it means for India and for every household. Seedhi baat samjhiye, this is where you understand not just what is happening, but what happens next.”
The weekday show will air in the afternoon slot and will also feature Gaurav Shukla, adding to its editorial depth.
With its mix of analysis, visuals and a clear focus on impact, the show reflects a broader shift in news consumption. Viewers are no longer just watching events unfold, they are looking to understand what those events mean for them.
