Network CNN Country India
United States | Owned by Network 18 | |
 | ||
Launched 18 December 2005 (2005-12-18) Picture format 4:3 (576i, SDTV)
1080i (HDTV) Audience share 230,000 (January 2017, ) | ||
CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It is owned by Network 18. According to BARC, CNN-News18 has the fourth-highest rating among all English news channel in India. CNN provides international coverage for the channel, while Indian Broadcasting Network concentrates on Indian and local reports.
Contents
- History
- Shows
- Viewers
- Commonwealth Games Contract
- Fake Twitter comments
- Fake Live debate
- Firing crew
- Awards
- References
In May 2014, Reliance Industries announced it would be taking over Network18. The move is touted as "the biggest-ever deal in the Indian media space". Reliance Industries already has indirect control in the TV18 network by virtue of investments it made in Network18 (starting from January 2012).
History
Like elsewhere in the world, CNN International only reached the urban elites in India. In order to reach the Indian masses Time Warner together with an Indian company- Global Broadcast News (currently TV18 Broadcast Limited)- launched the channel in India as CNN-IBN on 18 December 2005. The channel is completely run by TV18 Broadcast Limited, which only uses the Cable News Network (CNN) brand name.
Currently, Time Warner's India-specific CNN-News18 is watched by more people than its CNN International, although both channels are in English.
According to Network 18, since its inception, the channel has been reaching out to an average of 45 million households every day.
In 2015, it was announced that licensing agreement between Turner Broadcasting and Network 18 has not been renewed and will expire in January 2016. It is said to have been based on a mutual agreement. It is uncertain about the future of the channel once the re-branding occurs.
On 1 December 2015 however, it was announced the brand licensing had been renewed for another term.
At 7:57pm, 18 April 2016, CNN-IBN rebranded as CNN-News18.
Shows
Viewers
CNN-News18 is the leading English news channel with 46% viewership shares and 2.3 times more than Times Now. It was ranked #1 in the latest survey.
Commonwealth Games Contract
On 5 August 2011 Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report on XIX Commonwealth Games was tabled in Parliament of India. In section 14.4.2 of the report, CAG alleged that while awarding contracts worth Rs 3.78 crore for production & broadcasting of commercials for promoting CWG-2010 to CNN-IBN & NDTV, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee followed an arbitrary approach. Proposals were considered in an ad hoc manner, as and when a proposal was received; no form of competitive tendering was adopted. The CAG further said in its report that, "We had no assurance about the competitiveness of the rates quoted by these channels and the need and usefulness of these proposals. From March 2010 to June 2010, the entire pre games publicity and sponsorship publicity was done only on NDTV & CNN-IBN."
Fake Twitter comments
A controversy about some fake Twitter comments that ran on the screen during a news show raised questions about the reliability of instant feedback from viewers, which was criticized. The officials later apologised saying that the source of viewer comment was wrongly stated as Twitter.
Fake Live debate
On November 2012, on its prime time show Face The Nation, the channel broadcast a pre-recorded and edited interview of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as a live television debate. The show was hosted by the deputy editor of the channel, Sagarika Ghose, the wife of the channel's editor, Rajdeep Sardesai. On public outcry, the anchor issued a public apology on Twitter, web and TV. The episode has not been hosted on the show's homepage.
Firing crew
In August 2013, TV18 fired nearly 400 people from their various offices including CNN-IBN as a part of restructuring. The company however declined to further comment on the issue.
Awards
In 2012, CNN-IBN won three awards at the Ramnath Goenka Awards: Anubha Bhonsle – Best Political Reporter, Preeti Singh – Best on the spot Reporter and Arijit Sen – Best reporter from North East.