News Broadcasting
CNN international bets high on ‘native’ digital ads
MUMBAI: CNN is rolling out industry-leading native advertising solutions to optimise the performance of digital campaigns from commercial partners and enhance the experience of audiences engaging with branded content and digital advertising on CNN platforms.
Through a new partnership with the industry’s leading native advertising platform Sharethrough, CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) is now offering dynamic native and branded content advertising formats in prominent positions across CNN Digital platforms – a move that takes advertising on CNN Digital even further beyond the traditional ad banner. Using Sharethrough, CNNIC developed and tailored exclusive new formats and templates so that native solutions on CNN’s international digital properties offer both a seamless user experience and tremendous value to CNN’s advertisers. The main benefits are in dwell time and engagement, as the Sharethrough/Nielsen Neuroscience Study shows that native ads receive double more visual attention than banner ads.
CNN Digital’s “Native 2.4” programme focuses on several key benefits:
DYNAMIC FORMATS: New ad formats on CNN Digital platforms include instant play native video, graphic text over video, infographics, long-form video, articles and galleries to increase engagement across all digital platforms, focused on mobile. All native content is labelled as “Sponsor content” and includes clear disclosures to ensure transparency with the user.
SMART PLACEMENT: Placement of native advertising fits in naturally across the international edition of CNN Digital properties including key verticals such as CNN Style, CNNMoney, CNN Sport and CNNTravel, and premium inventory such as the CNN homepage. Clearly labelled native content is now presented in the style of CNN editorial content, with the ability to be placed directly in editorial streams of content and alongside relevant CNN editorial videos and articles.
INTELLIGENT DATA INSIGHT: Building on CNNIC’s CNN AIM (Audience Insight Measurement) commercial data offering, the new native solutions are powered by data. This enables targeting of specific audience segments, A/B testing of creative executions, real-time optimisation of campaigns and detailed reporting metrics to deliver clients with true marketing insight.
CREATIVE EXCELLENCE: CNNIC’s award-winning brand content studio, CREATE, which has produced branded content for international advertisers for ten years, is the creative powerhouse behind the native content delivered through these solutions. Separate to CNN editorial, CREATE works with CNNIC’s commercial partners to deliver branded content that resonates with CNN audiences across linear, digital and social platforms
“We are bringing together the full suite of new formats, prominent and seamless placement, and the power of data and creative content for clients to truly engage with CNN audiences in a native environment,” said Rob Bradley, Director of Digital Revenue and Data, CNN International Commercial. “The result is an engaging brand storytelling experience created for peak performance and with the flexibility of dynamic optimisation. Clearly labelled to ensure transparency, this solution created with our partners at Sharethrough also ensures that our users are served high quality and engaging native content that’s relevant to them. In an age of overused buzzwords, this solution, which we’re calling Native 2.4, finally adds real substance to the term ‘native advertising’.”
“Like us at Sharethrough, CNN believes in a future where ads are built on a foundation of respect and quality — ads that fit in. The CNN team has enthusiastically embraced this new advertising model, and are using the Sharethrough platform in a unique and sophisticated way. When combined with the high quality content being created by CNN’s brand content studio, native ads have the power to engage and persuade unlike any traditional marketing strategy,” said Dan Greenberg, CEO and Co-Founder, Sharethrough.
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.
