News Broadcasting
Cutting-edge, robotic, animal spies infiltrate the wild again in Sony BBC Earth’s premiere ‘Spy in the Wild 2’
Nature's spies are back undercover and this time, their mission is to go deeper into the animal world than ever thought possible. Spy in the Wild revolutionized wildlife filmmaking with the use of cutting edge technology and now with Season 2, the makers have set new benchmarks as they placed more than 50 realistic animatronic spy creatures across the globe, taking the viewers into the heart of the extraordinary lives of 40 remarkable and real wild animals. Premiering on Sony BBC Earth on 21st September with Lenovo as the Associate Sponsor, ‘Spy in the Wild 2’ will air in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, from Monday to Friday at 9PM.
Each spy creature looks like the real animals it films and behaves like them too, giving us an intimate sneak peek into the unseen world of animal behavior and gatherings. Accepted by animal families, these robotic lookalikes film from an insider’s perspective gaining revelatory insights into their worlds as they feed, breed and fight. In Season 2, the spy cams not only take to air, ground and underwater but also go beyond animals and infiltrate the wild via objects, allowing a spy turtle to lay robot eggs, a spy squirrel to gather robot nuts, monkeys to play with a spy snowball and more.
To ensure a wider reach for this pioneering series, Sony BBC Earth deployed a strong on-air and digital campaign. To begin with, an innovative and engaging AR filter was launched on Facebook and Instagram to bring alive the essence of the series – the robotic animals with an eye of the spy. The filter incorporates this ‘eye of the spy’ coupled with upbeat audio cues, making this filter not only strikingly different but also a lot of fun.
Additionally, the channel on boarded popular Bollywood actor – Varun Sharma, who with his inimitable humor and quirk is promoting the series digitally via specially curated promos. The eccentric and light-hearted promos reveal that a couple of undercover spy animals have taken over Varun’s life and are exposing his intimate moments hence driving the message – ‘with spies up close, all the drama will be exposed’.
For on-air promotions, viewers will get to be a part of an amusing and engaging campaign, ‘Spot the Spy’. Since the realistic appearance of the spies make it difficult to differentiate them from the real animals, the on-air contest will revolve around spotting the spy in the wild. There will be a different spy animal appearing on the TV screen daily, for 5 days and first 5 viewers – who spot the spy, click a picture of the spy on the TV screen and send it to @sonybbcearth using #SpotTheSpy on Facebook – will win exciting gifts every day. Sony BBC Earth’s social media pages will be used extensively to promote and popularize the campaign and drive people to the channel.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
