GECs
Stage set for News TV Summit and NT Awards on 25 March
MUMBAI: A large part of the Indian news television fraternity is expected to be huddled in New Delhi’s Taj Palace Hotel come 25 March. The occasion: the sixth Indiantelevision.com News Television Summit which is expected to commence at 11 am and which will be followed by Indiantelevision.com’s NT Awards in the evening.
“Getting out of the Squeeze – Learning to live in a digitised India” is the theme of this year’s summit. A keynote opening address by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Secretary Uday Kumar Varma has been lined up and will be followed by three panel discussions covering the business and regulatory framework in a digitising India, innovative use of technology in the news broadcast space and the emerging trends in prime time news and the importance of TV news anchors.
The News Television Summit 2013 is endorsed by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and is supported by ABP News and ABP Majha. The NT Awards are presented by LR Active Oil while Saakshi TV, TV9, CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, and Aaj Tak have also pitched in as partners.
“The news TV industry has been grappling with an uber-competitive environment with limited revenue streams in almost every language segment,” says Indiantelevision.com Group CEO and Editor-in-Chief Anil Wanvari. “DAS and DTH can potentially help specific segments of the news TV industry generate new revenue streams in terms of subscription and premium niche news channels in the medium to long term. Of course the transition will throw up its own challenges.”
Amongst those slated to attend and speak include: MIB Joint-Secretary Supriya Sahu, ABP News India CEO Ashok Venkatramani, BAG Media Network chairperson Anuradha Prasad, DEN CEO S.N. Sharma, Puthiya Thalaimurai TV news director S. Srinivasan, Legal expert Anish Dayal, India TV advisor Paritosh Joshi, Castle Media Director Vynsley Fernandes, Ericsson content and media head Supriyo Mookherjee, Quantel Q-Tube expert Chrisophe Messe, NDTV CTO Dinesh Singh, Cellcast Asia founder & CEO Pankaj Thakar, BBC Global News COO India Preet Dhupar, NDTV Group Editor Barkha Dutt, CNN-IBN host and veteran newscaster and analyst Karan Thapar, Bloomberg India Editor Vivek Law, Headlines Today Managing Editor Rahul Kanwal, DD’s Sanjeev Srivastava and finally India News Editor-in-Chief Deepak Chaurasia.
The conference is to be followed by Indiantelevision.com’s The NT Awards, which received more than 1,000 entries for 43 categories from 45 TV news channels operating in English, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi. More than 110 jury members from news TV practitioners to print and magazine journalists to costume designers to marketers to agency professionals to former police officials to entrepreneurs helped judge the entries over two weeks of judging in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi. Ernst & Young had the responsibility of being the official tabulator of the jury results.
Information & Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari has consented to be the chief guest for The NT Awards. CEOs of media companies and TV channels, Editors, Reporters, Technicians, Celebrities and Sportsmen are expected to attend the function, which is being anchored by TV anchor and political satirist Cyrus Broacha and TV actor Kavita Kaushik.
The print partners include Cable Quest, Satellite@Internet India, and Aavishkar Dish Antenna while Tellychakkar.com and Radioandmusic.com are online partners. The event has been executed and produced by Indiantelevision.com’s ITV 2.0 Productions.
GECs
Asianet Television Awards 2026 celebrates women power in Malayalam TV
“She is the Colour” theme honours icons as ceremony airs on March 14 and 15 at 7 PM.
MUMBAI: If television lights up living rooms, this year Asianet decided to let women provide the colour. The Asianet Television Awards 2026 turned the spotlight firmly on women empowerment with the theme “She is the Colour”, celebrating the strength, resilience and achievements of women who continue to shape society and the Malayalam entertainment industry.
The ceremony honoured several distinguished personalities whose journeys have left a lasting cultural imprint. Among them was legendary playback singer Vimala Varma, widely recognised as the first Malayalam playback singer. The evening also paid tribute to Padma Shri awardees Devaki Amma and Vimala Menon for their exceptional contributions in their respective fields.
Leading women from the Malayalam film industry were also recognised during the event, including actor Shweta Menon, who currently serves as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, and National Award winning actor Surabhi Lakshmi.
The awards ceremony brought together a glittering lineup of actors and industry figures, including Jayasurya, Vijay Babu, Asha Sarath, Lena, Esther Anil, Anumol, Akhila Bhargavan, Sarayu Mohan, Prajod Kalabhavan, Gayathri Suresh, Sabumon Abdusamad, Swasika, Tini Tom, Sijoy Varghese, Kailash, Veena Nandakumar, Sabareesh Varma, Ansiba Hassan and Dinesh Prabhakar. Kishan Kumar, executive vice president Malayalam at JioStar, was also present at the event.
Beyond individual recognitions, the awards celebrated excellence across Malayalam television, acknowledging artists and technicians whose work continues to drive the industry forward.
The evening also offered plenty of spectacle, with elaborate dance performances, stunt acts and comedy skits performed by popular television and film personalities, turning the ceremony into a full fledged entertainment showcase.
Viewers will get to watch the celebrations when the Asianet Television Awards 2026 air on Asianet on March 14 and 15, Saturday and Sunday, from 7 pm onwards, bringing the star studded tribute to homes across Kerala and beyond.
