News Broadcasting
Teletubbies celebrates 10 years in 2007
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC’s famous children’s property Teletubbies celebrates ten years of existence next year. In this television show for babies, the four colourful Teletubbies coo and play in idyllic Teletubbyland.
They repeat fun, infant-pleasing activities such as rolling on the ground, laughing, running about, and watching real children on the televisions on their bellies. Mysterious pinwheels and telephones rise out of the meadow to loosely direct the day’s activities. The Sun, featuring a baby’s face, comments on the proceedings with baby noises, and it rises and sets to begin and end the show.
The broadcaster says that Teletubbies changed the children’s market forever when it launched in 1997 and continues its success as has established itself as an ‘evergreen’ brand.
When Teletubbies arrived on British screens in 1997, it was met with strong reactions from all sides, children were mesmerised. The press were curious and teachers and educationalists didn’t know what to make of a programme so entirely different from anything that they had seen before.
10 years on the BBC says that it is clear that few children’s brands can match Teletubbies in terms of its overall brand awareness, resonance with consumers or its’ cultural impact. A whole generation has now enjoyed Teletubbies’ uniqueness and appeal.
Teletubbies was created by Anne Wood and Andy Davenport and has been seen in 120 countries, translated into 45 different languages
On the merchanidsing front Teletubbies toys distributed by Tomy have continued to perform well over time. Recent figures released by NPD Eurotoys reveal that Teletubbies was the fastest growing existing Infant License in 2005.
Furthermore, the Telly Tummy plush by Tomy was the UK’s 3rd top-selling infant toy in 2005. BBC Worldwide has renewed Tomy’s master toy licence for Europe for a further three years (end December 2008) in recognition of the strong partnership and value that Tomy adds to the brand. The contract covers distribution in the UK, Ireland, France and Belguim, and global manufacturing rights (ex-North America) for Plush and Pre-school Plastics toys.
To provide new stimulus for product and packaging during this anniversary period a new ‘Teleterrific’ style guide is launching at this year’s Spring Fair. This guide sees a departure from the traditional Teletubbies brand look and captures emerging trends in fashion with a bolder, graphic style designed to appeal to the fashion-conscious consumer of today.
2007 will be marked by a brand and trade marketing campaign designed to support the product range and introduce the brand to another generation of Teletubby fans.
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.
