News Broadcasting
Sun Network set to roll out first of a kind inter-district singing contest
Sun is getting into music mode with what it terms is the biggest statewide, inter-district singing competition in Tamil Nadu.
Held in association with New Age Entertainment, the contest will cover 29 districts of the state and Pondicherry. Over 100,000 singers are expected to take part in the auditions at an average of 3,000 per district.
New Age claims that the show’s USP will be its mascot, Subudu, a well known music critic in Tamil Nadu. He will appear masked during the promotions to help enhance the brand equity of the programme starting from ground level in much the same way that Apple Singh promoted the 1999 Cricket World Cup on ESPN Star Sports. Plans are being finalised to rope in a press partner which will devote coverage to the event in terms of advertisements, contests and flyers.
The auditions will air on Sun TV’s sister channel KTV on the prime band from Monday to Thursday. Three pre-finals conducted as mega events will take place in Madurai, Coimbatore and Pondicherry. Chennai will host the grand finale at the end of the 60th week.
Sun TV is also beefing up its programming with a family drama serial on the prime time band – Mughangal (Faces), a weekday series that premieres 24 June and airs between 10 and 10:30 pm. The show has been jointly produced with Sa Re Ga Ma, the Chennai based production house whose Soolam and Velan have already had a successful run on the channel. The serial, that marks the debut of Telugu film actress Ravali on the tube, revolves around a woman’s battle to recover the family prestige back from a vengeful man. The story is the brainchild of novelist Sivashankari and has been directed by K Rangaraj of Kudumbam fame.
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.
