News Broadcasting
Reality TV takes animation route in US
MUMBAI: After music and sports-based themes, the reality genre is poised for broadening its horizons in the US but through animation. Viacom’s Comedy Central has announce a new show Drawn Together.
The show kicks off in October. It tells the true story of eight characters, picked to live together in a house to find out what happens when people stop being real and start getting animated.
On the show cartoon characters from various genres of animation are brought together to live under one roof. The characters leave their animated “reality” and enter a new world where their cartoon universes collide with a bang. The show will combine different styles of animation and different personalities all of which have been Drawn Together.
The series has been drawn traditionally and in 2-D digital ink and paint animation. The eight stars/ housemates represent iconic archetypes from the world of animation. They include Captain Hero a not-so-moral do-gooder reminiscent of the Saturday Morning US TV super heroes of the 1970s. Then you have Clara, a 20-year-old sweet and naive fairy-tale princess.
A character that sounds interesting is Spanky Ham a foul-mouthed Internet download pig. Giving an Asian spin to the scenario is Ling-Ling an Asian trading card mini-monster.
The characters, all with different lifestyles and personalities, create alliances with some of their housemates. However, quite often the fighting and backstabbing take center-stage. This skewers the world of animation, and also parodies many cliches prevalent on reality television.
Also, whenever the moment calls for a musical number, the characters are prone to break into song. The songs too are spoofs from various genres of animation (the emotional love song ballad, the girl-group rock band, group sing-a-long), but with original lyrics.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
