News Broadcasting
Toonz bags $4.5m Korean deal
MUMBAI: Kerala based Toonz Animation has inked a $ 4.5 million contract with the leading Seoul based Korean production house ANI21 Co Ltd to produce an animated television series Twin Princes.
The series, which includes a six-minute trailer and 52 episodes of twenty three minutes each, will be a blend of 2D and 3D animation.Toonz will have exclusive broadcast rights to the series in India for a period of 10 years. Production on the series will begin in May 2004 and is slated for completion in the year 2006.
The top brass of ANI21, president/general producer In-Hyung Hwang and international division head Iksu Zhun, recently visited the Toonz Studios in Trivandrum to shore up their relationship with Toonz and to explore prospects for further collaboration. The visiting delegation included key personnel from Apple Tree Films, which is involved in the merchandising of this series.
“We are thrilled to have Twin Princes on our production slate,” Toonz Animation India CEO P Jayakumar was quoted in a company statement. “This big-budget series has immense potential and will help us make a major headway in the global animation market,” he added.
The three year old production company ANI21 specialises in animation production, broadcast program planning and, character development and licensing. Based in Trivandrum’s Technopark, Toonz is known for the 26-episode animated television series The Adventures of Tenali Raman.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
