News Broadcasting
Nicktoons forays into Sci-fi with ‘Skyland
MUMBAI: Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeon’s 24-hour animation network, delves into the sci-fi realm for the first time with Skyland, an animated adventure series that will premiere Saturday 18 November at 9 pm.
The series employs the latest in animation technology by using motion capture, CGI, 2D and key frame animation to create cutting-edge television.
The premiere of Skyland will kick off with the hour-long special (that sneak-peeked globally in January) followed by an all-new, half-hour episode at 10 pm during the 3 Headed Monster programming block. Season one, which consists of 13 episodes, will air Saturdays at 9 pm on Nicktoons Network.
“Nicktoons Network continues to be the hub for animation fans to tune in and find unique, diverse and technically advanced shows like Skyland,” said, Nicktoons Network vice president and general manager Keith Dawkins. “In addition to its rich visual style and stunning imagery, Skyland is an epic, sci-fi action adventure of good verses evil — universal story lines kids have loved for ages,” he added.
Skyland, produced by Method Films and created by Emmanuel Gorin, Alexandre de la Patelliere and Matthieu Delaporte, follows a heroic brother, Mahad and his telekinetic younger sister, Lena, as they search for their parents in a new world order. The year is 2251 and the earth has been shattered into millions of blocks that now drift aimlessly in orbit around the Earth’s core known as Skyland.
The Sphere, led by a power-mad ruler with telekinetic powers named Oslo, has installed a dictatorship that controls water distribution, now a precious resource. Skyland’s young heroes along with the pirate resistance, try to free their mother from Oslo’s evil grasp and destroy the dreaded Sphere.
The hour-long special, Dawn of A New Day, introduces Mahad and Lena as they are faced with their biggest challenge yet when their mother is forced to sacrifice herself and be captured by the evil Sphere in order for her children to run to freedom.
In the premiere episode Manipulations, the sibling duo fights against the enemy when a solar phenomenon has unusual effects on Seijin powers. This allows a sect of the Sphere to take control of Dahlia, a strong member of the pirates, in effort to learn the coordinates of the pirate hideout.
Nicktoons Network offers a 24- hour schedule featuring programming such as the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival, Kappa Mikey, Thumb Wrestling Federation, Corneil and Bernie and Martin Mystery, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Jimmy Neutron.
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.
