News Broadcasting
News Corp launches MySpace in Japan
MUMBAI: US media conglomerate News Corp has launched a Japanese-language version of its social networking site (SNS) MySpace. This marks MySpace’s first Asian entry.
Media reports state that News Corp has formed a 50:50 JV with Softbank to operate the site. The venture will initially offer services for personal computers. Later, people will be able to use mobile phones to post photos, write Web logs and download music.
Partial services are available on a trial basis at jp.myspace.com.
Reports add that while it is hard to predict how things will unfold , other attempts by foreign SNS’ to break into the Japanese market have not fared well. Softbank is a broadband services provider in Japan and earlier this year paid $15.6 billion to acquire Vodaphone’s Japanese mobile phone service.
Existing social networking sites in Japan – including Softbank subsidiary Yahoo Japan – have about 10 million users. Softbank has a 41 per cent stake in Yahoo Japan.
Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son was quoted in reports saying that his company would guide the new venture so that it met the requirements of Japanese users, while News Corp, which invested in MySpace through its Fox Interactive Media subsidiary, would provide the ‘formula’ for operating the Web site.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
