News Broadcasting
Times Now launches in UK today; other European launches to follow
MUMBAI: The Indian and south Asian diaspora in the UK will get a dose of television news celebrity anchor Arnab Goswami from this week onwards. The reason: Times Now is slated to launch this week in the UK on channel 576 as a free to air channel on Sky on 15 November, after testing its signals for the past weeks or so.
It joins the ranks of NDTV 24×7, Aaj Tak, ABP News and News18 India which too are airing in the UK.
Times Now will be targeting the 1.4 million strong Indian diaspora in the UK, and the management says it is the first of its launches in Europe. It is slated to be rolled out in France and Germany, according to company sources quoted in the Financial Times. The channel is already available in the US since 2011.
Times Television Network MD & CEO MK Anand told the British financial daily that the UK “can be our biggest diaspora market and a bridge into Europe … over the longer run there is no reason for us not to envisage Times Now as a global brand. Al Jazeera is an English-language channel which is talking about the world with an Arabic lens, and in time we can do the same for an Indian world view.”
Times Now President & Editor in chief Arnab Goswami – who has built up a cult status for himself and India’s most watched English news channel – told the paper that initially only India focused news would be covered on the UK service. But the intent is to develop local and global programming to appeal to global audiences, he revealed, bringing it in competition with France24, CNN, RT, and Al-Jazeera.
The company is going all out to promote the channel in the UK with an outdoor, radio, online and press commercials and advertorials in the pipeline.
It has set up an office in the UK in a bid to grab a share of the Britain’s estimated TV ad market of pounds sterling 4.04 billion. The UK is one of the few countries where digital spending is slated to account for 50 per cent of the overall annual adex of 16.26 billion pounds by end this year, according to research firm emarketer. Ad spending on mobile and online devices is slated to attract more than twice the ad spending that goes to TV.
Around 30 Indian channels are competing for the estimated 20-25 million pounds in ad spend by Indian-targeted brands in the UK.
News Broadcasting
UDF poised to return to power in Kerala, says Manorama-CVoter survey
Massive opinion poll projects shift in Kerala politics ahead of 2026 Assembly elections.
MUMBAI: The winds of change appear to be blowing through Kerala’s political landscape and this time, they seem to favour the United Democratic Front. A comprehensive mega opinion survey conducted by Manorama News in partnership with CVoter projects a potential comeback for the UDF in the upcoming Kerala Legislative Assembly Elections 2026. The survey, covering all 140 constituencies with a massive sample size of nearly 90,000 respondents, predicts the UDF could win between 69 and 81 seats.
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) is expected to secure 57 to 69 seats, a significant drop from the 99 seats it won in the 2021 elections. This would mean the LDF losing 30 to 42 of its sitting seats. Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which drew a blank in 2021, is projected to open its account with 1 to 5 seats.
Region-wise, the UDF is expected to make strong gains in Malabar, winning 25 to 34 out of 48 seats, and in Central Kerala, where it could bag 29 to 33 out of 53 seats. In South Kerala, the LDF is likely to retain an edge with 21 to 25 seats, while the UDF may improve to 12 to 16 seats. The NDA could pick up 1 to 3 seats in the southern region.
The survey was conducted between 14 and 26 March 2026, with additional tracker and snap polls carried out from December 2025 to March 2026. A total of 89,693 respondents participated, ensuring representation across all demographics and social segments.
Manorama News has a strong track record of accuracy, with its previous projections closely matching the actual results of the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2021 Kerala Assembly polls.
In Kerala’s famously fierce political battles, this survey suggests the pendulum may be swinging back. Whether the final verdict matches these numbers or throws up another surprise, one thing is clear, the 2026 Assembly elections are shaping up to be one of the most keenly watched contests in the state’s history.
