News Broadcasting
Singer Celine Dion to make appearance on NBC’s show ‘Deal Or No Deal’
MUMBAI: Superstar singer Celine Dion will make a special guest appearance on the special 90-minute season finale of US broadcaster NBC’s reality show Deal or No Deal.
The show raises the stakes as the top prize money increases from one to five million dollars on 5 June. During the finale high school guidance counselor Casey Bell of Temecula, California is the lucky contestant. She will be surprised with a chance to become a millionaire five times over when the new stakes are revealed. Does she have the nerves of steel needed when she is confronted with life-altering financial decisions in a highly pressured environment?
She gets a little help from her family, friends and a surprise guest when she serenades the banker with a song by her all-time favorite musical artist, Celine Dion. Dion joins Bell’s support team live via satellite from Las Vegas and helps Bell during crucial decision making moments when host Howie Mandel asks the all-important question, “deal, or no deal?”
A Deal or No Deal aficionado, Dion watches the show with her family. She says, “Around our house, Deal or No Deal rules! My son Rene-Charles is a very enthusiastic ‘at home’ contestant, and my husband and I are right there with him! It was a thrill for me to participate and give encouragement to the contestant on the show.”
Hosted by Howie Mandel Deal or No Deal sees contestants play for a large cash prize in a high-energy match of nerves, instincts and raw intuition. Each night, the game of odds and chance unfolds when a contestant faces 26 sealed briefcases containing anything from a penny to one million dollars. Without knowing the amount in each briefcase, the contestant picks one — his to keep, if he chooses, until its unsealing at game’s end.
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.
