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Tag: news18.com

  • In his new role, Azim Lalani will head business of News18.com English and in.com, in addition to Firstpost

    Azim Lalani elevated to Business Head at Network18 Digital

    By A Correspondent

     

    Network18 Digital has announced the elevation of Azim Lalani to Business Head of English General News cluster. In addition to Firstpost, he will now oversee the business of news18.com and in.com.

     

    Azim Lalani joined Firstpost as VP Revenue and Strategy, News Cluster (Network18 Digital). He was later elevated to Business Head at Firstpost, and since then has been credited with the brand’s steady growth. Additionally, he has prior experience of heading revenue for all of Network18’s news, sports and entertainment properties during 2014-15 which was also the year of general elections.

     

    Commenting on the announcement, Manish Maheshwari, CEO, Network18 Digital said: “Network18 Digital news properties have garnered high visitor numbers in a short period of time. While Firstpost has been amongst the top five leading Indian media digital publications, news18.com achieved a milestone of 100 million in under two years. In.com attracts 1 million unique users and four million page views every month adding to Network18’s strong foothold in the digital space.  Azim Lalani has been with us for more than five years and has played a key role in our digital growth story. His excellent business acumen has helped build and grow properties like Firstpost from scratch; we are confident that he will successfully deliver as Business Head to all three platforms.”

     

     

  • The awards will recognize the cutting-edge work and rising stars in the web series space

    News18.com announces iReel Awards 2018

    By A Correspondent

     

    News18.com has announced iReel Awards 2018, the first ever web series specific awards in India. It will be held on September 6 in Mumbai. The jury panel will be moderated by film critic Rajeev Masand.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the announcement, Manish Maheshwari, CEO, Network18 Digital said: “We live in interesting times – in a short duration, web series have become one of the preferred sources of mainstream entertainment. It is only fitting to initiate an awards show that would solely focus on web series. Not only it gives appreciation where duebut it also connects well with our young and millennial audience, who also happen to be consumers of these web series. With iReel Awards, we’re looking forward to celebrating a revolution called web series”

     

    Co-powered by Madame the iReel Awards have Xoxoday as the Associate Partner. Radio City is on-board as Radio Partner, UFO Digital Cinema is the Multiplex Partner and Jio Digital Life is the Digital Partner respectively.

     

     

  • Prior to joining News18.com, Ashish has been a part of Times Internet Ltd

    Ashish Naik joins News18.com as National Sales Head

    By A Correspondent

     

    News18.com has expanded its top management with the addition of Ashish Naik as National Sales Head. He comes with over 17 years of experience in media sales and has formerly worked with organizations such as Tata Infomedia, BCCL, Business Standard and NDTV Media Ltd. Prior to joining News18, Naik was part of Times Internet Ltd, where he served in the capacity of Regional Manager West, and was eventually promoted to National Sales Head.

     

     

    Speaking about the platform’s growth and expansion, Rajiv Singh, Business Head News18.com and Cricket Next said: “Last year has been great for News18.com with the platform touching new milestones and setting higher benchmarks in terms of audience engagement and reach. Now, after Gujarat and HP elections we are looking forward to Karnataka elections. And now, with Ashish as the new addition to the team, we are looking at taking things a step ahead and bringing in more and more engaging and captivating formats for our consumers.”

  • NEWS18.com has also joined hands with Music Basti, a well known Delhi based NGO for their ReSound concert

    News18.com initiates campaign for under-privileged kids

    By A Correspondent

     

    NEWS18.com, the digital news media site has ideated a unique one month campaign ‘Music for a Cause’ which has started on February 6 for lesser privileged kids with an inclination towards music. The campaign aims at motivating kids to live their passion for music by gifting them musical instruments. To magnify the impact of the campaign, NEWS18.com is connecting with celebrity musicians and encouraging them to gift their pre owned musical instruments, in addition to urging artists to come forward to lend their support for the noble cause. Acclaimed musicians Ehsaan Noorani, Vishal Dadlani, Mohit Chauhan, Subir Malik (Parikrama band) and The Other People Band have pledged their support by willfully agreeing to donate their musical instruments, taking the first step towards the cause.

     

    Taking it a notch higher, NEWS18.com has also joined hands with Music Basti, a well known Delhi based NGO for their ReSound concert, which is slated to take place on February 26 in Delhi. The concert aims at creating opportunities for kids at the NGO, by providing them a platform to showcase their talent as well as to overcome their fears and fulfill their dreams. Blending well with the concert, NEWS18.com’s ‘Music for a Cause’ campaign will be culminated by giving away the autographed musical instruments to the NGO kids at the end of the concert. The activity is further supported by a crowd-funding platform BitGiving, which will be responsible for raising additional funds for the campaign, adding to the welfare of the kids.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Manish Maheshwari, CEO, Network18 Digital said, “We are proud to conceptualize a campaign that inspires kids, who are otherwise deprived of opportunities, to take up music as a possible career option if they are really passionate about it. With an aim to amplify the campaign, we are also building content to promote the initiative across various platforms, and would like to sincerely thank the wonderful musicians and artists for their contribution and pledging their support for a noble cause.”

     

    Speaking on lending his support, musician and guitarist Ehsaan Noorani said, “For me, music acts as an empowering tool, as well as a carrier of piece. I believe everyone should give the gift of music to those who cannot afford it. I am giving away two of my guitars to the kids not only to motivate them but to support the ‘music for a cause’ campaign. It does not matter if you are a good musician or bad, you have to have a guitar with you as it has the magic to keep you calm.”

     

    On extending his support, musician Vishal Dadlani said, “I have had fervour for music since childhood but never really got the opportunity to take it up as a main stream subject in school. For the first time I ended up taking up music, when I was 19. This is one of the main reasons I want to support the cause and motivate kids to do what they like. I am donating a guitar which has always proved to be my lucky charm.  My musical career started with a guitar, which was gifted by a very close friend of my father and that was the turning point of my life. I hope this guitar does the same magic for you.”

     

    With a view to promote it further across various social media platforms, the campaign will be supported by videos of kids, trainers, and musicians shot during the course of the entire campaign, as well as on the day of the concert.

     

  • News channel CNN-IBN undertook a significant refresh and renamed its television and digital platform. Does it work? We asked three discerning professionals for their views

    CNN-News18: Will the change be gamechanging?

    By Anuka Roy

     

    What’s in a name? This famous quote by Shakespeare may or may not hold true for media organisations. On April 19, the Network 18 group rechristened its English news channel CNN-IBN to CNN-News 18. The new name and logo was revealed from 8 pm onwards.

     

    A new tagline- On Your Side- along with a revamped studio was also revealed as part of the re-branding exercise. IBNLive.com will now be called News18.com. Prime Time 2.0, a new show, will be telecast between 8 and 11 pm; comprising of on-ground reporting, opinions, debates and humour-laden content. In the press release, they said that, the focus will be on “making news more relevant to its viewers by bringing immersive journalism to the fore.

     

    Said Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Network18: “A decade back, CNN-IBN re-invented news by getting to its viewers the benefits of a reputed international news partner CNN, and eventually emerging as the most awarded English general news channel. We are optimistic about bringing this change wherein we will keep the journalist and the consumer at the centre of our programming, which is the critical need of the hour,”

     

    So, will this re-branding excercise work? What do people have to say about it? MxMInida asked a cross-section of experts about the same and here is what they had to say,

     

    > Old wine in new bottle? Do you think the change is cosmetic? Because the people are the same, and it’s just a slicker, newer version?

    Avik Chattopadhyay, a senior marketing and brand consultant (AC): I actually watched the channel for an hour. There seems to be some new programming, like “Big 5 @ 10”. The colour palette seems new. But it is early to conclude whether it is purely cosmetic or is the channel making the most of the change in name to have a substantial change. to set it aside from others and truly distinct.

     

    Vikas Mehta, formerly CEO, Lowe Lintas, Dubai, currently blogger and consultant (VM): My take is simple. The media brand is CNN, which has a bigger brand equity. To me it doesn’t make much of a difference.

     

    Sushobhan Patankar, professor at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication and former employee of Network 18 (SP): As far as I’m concerned, it’s kind of sad for me. I’ve been associated with CNN-IBN since its launch in 2005. The brand had slipped since Rajdeep Sardesai’s exit. It is difficult to predict.

     

    > CNN-IBN has been a household name for around a decade. Do you think the rebranding will mean that it will take the channel some time to become a household name? Headlines Today did change to India Today, but India Today was a known media brand….

    AC: Guess the change in name is not that significant to create a total disconnect from its previous avatar. It is an evolutionary rebranding… not a revolutionary one. As long as the “CNN” name remains, the viewer will be able to connect. If it were called “Newswork 18” or something as drastic, it would have been another matter.

     

    VM: I don’t have research to back up ,when I’m watching CNN-IBN, I would say I’m watching a CNN channel. But for the consumer to realise it would take sometime… but it doesn’t matter much

     

    SP: When ABP acquired Star News, the channel was known for its faces. I feel faces are bigger than brands. Brand change doesn’t matter. Brands are not important but faces are.

     

    > CNN-IBN is today far from being the leader on the ratings roster. Do you think the new look and thrust will help build it?

    AC: It is all about content, content and content. They have some big names like Swapan Dasgupta, Vir Sanghvi and Bhupendra Chaubey. Now they need to create the right relevance with the target viewer they want to reach out to. It cannot be the same as one who watches Times Now or India Today or…

     

    VM: That’s true. I don’t.know the actual reason why they have done the rebranding . May be they are trying to refurbish the brand. It’s handled right in terms of raising interest that something new is happening in the channel. When Star News changed to ABP news, they handled it quite well. The viewership didn’t suffer because they kept the curiosity factor high. It’s kind of a lot has changed but nothing has changed at all. It means it has to better than what it was and needs to be better perceived than what it was. If the change is cosmetic, it won’t make a difference but if the content has changed dramatically in terms of stories, anchors, then definitely it would make a difference.

     

    SP: I don’t know what their editorial plan is. If they create new content and follow a new model, it might work but if they stick to the old model it may not.

     

    > Your view on whether the masses are indeed interested in news without an agenda… or do they like the noise at primetime?

     

    AC: Not everyone wants to ‘view’ noise. There is definitely a substantial segment that looks for quality and credible content. And there can be no news without an agenda…even if it is “100% unbiased truth”…this is also a credible agenda, possibly the most difficult to achieve and deliver over time. There are news platforms that have painstakingly built their reputation on agendas that people actually appreciate and value. CNN News 18 needs to define and deliver the same for itself. Give it time…

     

    VM: I don’t know what you mean by masses. This is a niche channel. It is aimed at higher SECs. This is my personal view, I don’t have a research to back it, a lot of consumers want to see the reality. But a lot of channels are giving a twist of their own. For me, the masses are looking for channels without a biased point of view. They want to judge for themselves.

     

    SP: There should be an element of spectacle. There needs to be drama to engage the audience. The audience wants something chatpata. So yes, people are more interested in primetime drama.

     

  • It will draw on the local newsgathering expertise of the ETV network of news channels whose Hindi services cover seven states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

    News18.com launched aggregating ETV’s news

    By A Correspondent

     

    We had received an alert on Friday that Network18 was to make an “important announcement on Monday”. Given that there has been some significant news coming from the premier news media group over the last few months, we pushed aside all our appointments. And issued a ‘Red Alert’ in our newsroom.

     

    On Sunday (yesterday), we visited ibnlive.com to get our news updates only to find the homepage taken over by news18.com. The website had been launched. Regulars at ibnlive.com are familiar with news18 as it has been beta-ing on ibnlive for a while.

     

    And then we received this release from Network18 this morning announcing the launch of the online news website from Network18: News18.com. Billed as India’s first web, mobile and tablet service to focus on news at the state and city level.

     

    Available on the web, on mobile phones and tablets, and as downloadable apps for iOS and Android devices, News18.com currently covers seven states: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It will expand to the remaining states of the country over the next 18 months, notes a communiqué.

     

    News18.com draws on the local newsgathering expertise of the ETV network of news channels, whose Hindi services cover these seven states. Highlighting the importance of local news, Lakshmi Narasimhan CEO, Web18 said, “News18 is a completely fresh approach to covering news online. With Internet penetration and smartphones users galloping in Tier2 and 3 towns, it is important to provide a convenient platform to consume news.”

     

    Arunava Sinha, Head, IBNLive.com and News18.com is confident that readers will enjoy the interactive user-experience of the site. “News18.com will give readers a totally fresh and unique content experience.”

     

    Meanwhile, the Red Alert in our newsroom has been called off. Enjoy the day, the boss just ordered.