News Broadcasting
Viacom’s Spike TV gets into the ‘Wrestlemania’ spirit
MUMBAI: One of the biggest television events of the year, the World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) Wrestlemania XX tales place this year on 14 March. In India, the event will air on Ten Sports sometime in early April. In the US, Spike TV has firmed up plans to create buzz around the event.
It was 20 years ago that WWE chairman Vince Mcmahon conceived the pay per view event. At first the event struggled to find a television audience but gradually it became a home to classic matches featuring the likes of Andre The Giant, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan. The centerpieces of Spike TV’s tribute are the premieres of two original specials Wrestlemania’s Ten Greatest Matches Ever and 10 Things Every Guy Should Experience: WrestleMania XX.”
Hosted by wrestler Ric Flair, the greatest matches ever will unveil the ten greatest matches in the tournament’s history as voted on by the WWE superstars. The other special 10 Things Every Guy Should Experience features Raw fans squaring off against fans of the other show Smackdown in New York City. Up for grabs are a series of WWE-related prize packages and for ringside seats to the sold-out Wrestlemania XX event in Madison Square Garden.
10 Things will chronicle the finalists’ entire journey from wannabe contestant to being a VIP at the event. From scavenger hunts to trivia games to physical challenges, the two duos battle it out in a variety of ways during the week leading up to the event to see who is indeed most worthy of the hottest tickets in town.
The first network dedicated to men, Spike TV claims to be available in 87 million homes in the US. It is a division of MTV Networks.
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.
