News Broadcasting
Times Now preps for Bihar election battle with 3 new data analytics salvos
MUMBAI: At a time when all national news channels are going in full throttle to win the ratings race as the high octane drama unfolds for the upcoming Bihar Assembly election day, Times Now has armed itself with technical innovations and three proprietary live analytic data tools namely Cluster, Firewall and Spectrum.
Starting at 7 pm on 7 November, the news channel will launch 36 hours of discontinuous live reporting led by editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. Along with a team of experts, Goswami will analyse the news, exit poll indications and results through exclusives and hard hitting interviews.
Joining Goswami on the panel will be experts such as Sunil Alagh, Saba Naqvi, Sankarshan Thakur, R Rajagopalan, Kumar Ketkar, Hartosh Singh Bal, Ajoy Bose, Arati Jerath, Shahid Siddiqui and Neerja Chowdhury.
Goswami decodes the three proprietary live analytic data tools one at a time. Speaking about them he says, “Cluster is a graphical tool, which analyses results on the basis of social, demographic or political similarities and the profile of a constituency. The second tool Firewall, gives live data analysis that tells you whether any individual constituencies are bucking the overall trend,” informs Goswami.
“For example,” Goswami explains, “if there is a constituency that, say, the Janata Dal has won three times in a row, it is a ‘firewall’ constituency — because for anyone to breach that constituency from the other side will be doubly difficult. So if the exit polls indicate that trend is being bucked, Firewall throws it up, with details of the candidate or party challenging the favourite, and the others in the constituency. While people do this kind of an analysis 10 to 12 hours after the results, on Times Now, it will be done live.”
The third tool in Times Now’s inventory is Spectrum, which has been designed to emulate the concept of a spectrum, putting the result out literally on a band and colour-coding it.
“For example, saffron for the NDA and green for JDU. So the band is colour coded, and as the results come in, the band gets filled with colour. So you can compare the band of this election to the band of last elections and visually a viewer can understand if colour-wise this election is looking like the last election or otherwise,” explains Goswami, adding that the info-graphic will simplify the exit poll analysis for the viewers.
Also keeping the channel on top of its game is its recently announced exclusive partnership with social media giant Twitter to launch a global video service. Understanding the need of the hour, Goswami has no qualms in even dumping full shows on the Twitter owned video curation service Periscope.
“In India, the PMO site and Times Now alone were chosen partners for global video launch of Twitter. In fact, I will be doing the first ever exclusive news show on Periscope, that will go live before the TV coverage commences this Saturday (7 November, 2015) evening,” Goswami reveals in parting.
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.
