News Broadcasting
ATN to launch Republic TV in Canada
Canada: Republic TV, India’s leading English-language news channel has announced its foray into the North American continent by way of having its linear programming content aired nationally in Canada on a 24 hour licensed Canadian news service of ASIAN TELEVISION NETWORK INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (ATN) (TSXV-SAT).
Founded by stalwart journalist Arnab Goswami, Republic TV is the newest entrant to the English news space in India. Breaking records with 52 per cent market share (*Source: BARC Market:- India TG: NCCS AB Male 22+ Period: Wk 19'2017 (06 th – 12 th May'18) Time Band:-0200- 2600) in its first week of broadcast it is now the de-facto leader in the genre.
Republic TV has a diverse schedule of shows including The Debate which airs every day except Saturday, from 9-11pm, and a weekly interview show, Nation Wants to Know – both hosted by Editor-in- Chief Arnab Goswami, alongside news shows focusing on the biggest news incident of
the day, called ‘Burning Question’ among others. Additional shows include Patriot, with Major Gaurav Arya, where viewers are taken into the barracks of the armed forces and R. Glitz, which showcases the latest news from Bollywood, among others.
Asian Television Network (ATN) is one of Canada’s Pioneer Multi-Cultural Broadcasters and is a long established Canadian Media company that has grown in stature along with the fast expanding ethnic population in Canada. ATN has a state of the art Digital broadcast center with multiple studios, several non-linear edit suites; multiple camera crews with a special emphasis on local Canadian programming and is currently one of the largest producers of multicultural content in Canada. ATN operates a South Asian Radio Service on Satellite Radio across The United States and Canada. Some ATN content is also available on any Bell mobile phone that supports video.
Republic TV, President of Distribution & International Revenues, Priya Mukherjee said: “Since our inception last year, Republic TV has strived towards widening the reach of our cutting-edge content. While we successfully executed the reach of Republic TV across all households in the fragmented Indian cable distribution ecosystem during the first six months of the channel, & MENA in November 2017, our foray into North America with ATN is a big step for us. We are very happy to be increasing our footprint and we hope to soon expand our reach all over the world.”
Commenting on the launch, Dr. Shan Chandrasekar, founder, President & CEO of Asian Television Network said, “We are excited to have Republic TV’s High Quality Programming available through ATN’s Canadian Licensed Platforms. Since Republic TV’s launch in India, it has had a large share of voice in the Indian news space. With their compelling Content, we hope to reach the large South Asian diaspora in this part of the globe and make the network more holistic.”
Republic TV CEO, Vikas Khanchandani, said: “North America contributes a huge faction of the digital viewership of Republic. With such high demand, we are heartened that the Canadian market will soon be able to consume the channel directly on their TV screens and that Priya and her team will be offering advertisers, the most impactful news media platform to discerning audiences in the region.”
Republic TV Founder & Editor-in- Chief, Arnab Goswami, said: We are delighted to bring Republic TV to North America, through ATN. We will also look to create original content in
cooperation with ATN, specific to the market in due course to provide content on issues specific to the large Indian diaspora. “
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
