News Broadcasting
Viacom to reduce director board by two
MUMBAI: Media conglomerate Viacom which owns MTV and Paramount has announced that 15 of its board directors will stand for a re-election at the annual stockholders meet on 19 May.
They will include nine independent directors. Previously there were 17 members. William H. Gray III and Ivan Seidenberg will leave the board in order to focus on other business interests.
Viacom CEO and board chairman Sumner Redstone was quoted in a company release saying, “Bill and Ivan have decided to leave our board in order to focus on other commitments. These include the responsibilities they have as CEOs of The College Fund/UNCF and Verizon respectively, as well as their service on other boards of directors.
“While we will miss their counsel and leadership, their decision gives us the opportunity to further reduce the size of our board as we did last year. Our aim is to move closer to our target size of 14 members.”
Meanwhile a Reuters report has indicated that both Redstone and Viacom president and COO Mel Karmazin saw their salaries rise and bonuses fall in 2003. A proxy statement filed with the US Sec yesterday shows both Redstone and Karmazin receiving salaries of $3.99 million and bonuses of $15 million in 2003. Both had received salaries of $3.63 million and bonuses of $16.5 million in 2002.
Through his company National Amusements, Redstone holds about 71 per cent of the voting interest in Viacom.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
