News Broadcasting
Turner spruces Pogo to meet competition
MUMBAI: It’s time to gear up for competition, existing and imminent. Pogo, the five month old children’s channel from Turner, is ready with phase II of its programming.
Pre-production of five half hour live action shows has already commenced, and the channel has sounded out seven domestic production houses for concepts for original shows. According to Turner International India MD Anshuman Misra, a crack team of professionals to oversee the creative work has already been put into place.
Among Pogo’s ambitious localisation initiatives is a decision to ramp up its languaging options, dramatically increasing Hindi on the channel. By the end of 2004, 80 per cent of Pogo’s programming will be in Hindi. Currently, Pogo offers two hours of Telugu, but is eyeing Tamil as well.
Pogo, according to Misra, will also introduce an Indianised version of one of the non animated and internationally produced shows already on air on Pogo, and is looking to partner with Indian production houses to remake the show with local talent.
Claming a reach of 15 million cable and satellite homes in India, Pogo has gone a notch higher programming wise by announcing its decision to launch Prime Pogo, a two and half hour block on Fridays that will be anchored by 24 year old Niall Sadh and 22 year old Nisha Lalvani.
Prime Pogo will have its curtain raiser on 28 May, the day the first major acquisition by Turner for Pogo, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, is telecast. Turner has invested heavily in promoting Potter mania, through cable channels, kids’ publications, billboards, emails through kids’ databases as well as below the line activities like flyer s in cinema halls and a contest that allows the winner a chance to visit England.
The Pogo model, according to Misra has worked well in the first few months of its existence, by garnering a reach of 15 million households to Cartoon Network’s 18 million. Derived loosely from the internationally successful Nickelodeon format, Pogo is now flexing its muscles to take on Nick in India, which too has risen from slumber and is armouring its arsenal.
Misra says he would welcome competition, claiming it would help grow the market. For now, of course, he says Pogo’s the way to go.
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.
