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.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… connection because this time, the game isn’t just about winning, it’s about who’s with you. Sony Pictures Networks India is gearing up to launch a new reality game show, Tum Ho Naa, expanding its unscripted slate with a format that promises both emotion and engagement.
The show will premiere soon on Sony Entertainment Television and stream on Sony LIV, with Rajeev Khandelwal stepping in as host. Known for his measured screen presence and selective choices, Khandelwal’s return to television adds a layer of familiarity and credibility to the upcoming format.
While specific details of the gameplay remain under wraps, the positioning suggests a reality format that leans as much on emotional resonance as it does on competition, an increasingly popular blend in Indian television, where audiences are gravitating towards content that offers both stakes and storytelling.
Khandelwal, reflecting on his return, noted that his choices have often been guided by instinct rather than convention, describing Tum Ho Naa as a project that feels “close to the heart”. His association also signals Sony’s continued focus on anchoring new formats with recognisable faces who bring both relatability and depth.
The launch comes at a time when broadcasters are doubling down on original non-fiction formats to drive appointment viewing, even as digital platforms expand parallel reach. By placing the show across both linear television and OTT, Sony appears to be aiming for a dual-audience strategy capturing traditional viewers while engaging digital-first consumers.
As the countdown to premiere begins, Tum Ho Naa positions itself not just as another game show, but as a reminder that sometimes, the biggest prize on screen isn’t the jackpot, it’s the journey shared along the way.
