In May 2014,Reliance Industries announced it would be taking overNetwork18 Group. The move was touted as "the biggest-ever deal in the Indian media space".[3] Reliance Industries already had indirect control of the TV18 network by virtue of investments it made in Network18 starting from January 2012.[4][5]
CNN International only reached the urban population in India. To reach the Indian massesTurner Broadcasting System together with an Indian company, Global Broadcast News (currentlyTV18 Broadcast Limited), launched the channel in India as CNN-IBN on 18 December 2005. The channel was completely run by TV18 Broadcast Limited, which only used theCable News Network (CNN) brand name.[6]
Currently, Time Warner's India-specific CNN-News18 is watched by more people than its CNN International sister network, although both channels are in English.[6]
According to Network 18, since its inception, the channel has been reaching out to an average of 45 million households every day.[7]
In 2015, it was announced that a licensing agreement between Turner Broadcasting and Network 18 had not been renewed and would expire in January 2016.[8][9][10]
On 1 December 2015, it was announced the brand licensing had been renewed for another term.[11]
On 18 April 2016, it was rebranded as CNN-News18, and began using the slogan "On Your Side".[12]
News18 Headstart: Developing stories of the morning and newsworthy events.
8 AM Express andThe Morning News: twomorning news shows that provide the latest news from around the world aimed at preparing the viewers for the day ahead. Hosted by rotating anchors.
News18:a generalnews bulletin with live news updates throughout the day.[14]
Afternoon Prime: A news review of the stories that made the headlines since morning and provides an overview of what lies ahead for the remainder of the day.
India 360: a 30-minute news bulletin covering national,international,business,sports, crime, andentertainment news in a fast-paced, crisp and concise manner, presented bysenior associate editor Arunoday Mukharji.[15] The show replacedNews 360 on 24 April 2017. Airing at 8 pm until 6 February 2018, when it was moved to 7:30 pm.
Vantage with Palki Sharma: a prime time news analysis launched by formerWION leading anchorPalki Sharma in 2023. broadcast every 9pm onFirstPost, 10pm on CNN-News18.
Late Night Edition: news bulletin that wraps up the important news of the day, with analyses of their possible impact.[14]
News Epicentre andEpicentre Tonight: two late news shows focusing on topics that get lost in the heat and the noise of daily debates, presented byDeputy Political EditorMarya Shakil andSenior EditorShreya Dhoundial respectively starting from 6 February 2018. They originally presented together on the Epicentre@7 show from 2 May 2017.[14]
The Crux: executive editorAnubha Bhonsle goes beyond the day's headlines.[15] The show replacedThe Last Word on 24 April 2017.
Faceoff Tonight: Zakka Jacob fronts a face-off between newsmakers to take the unnecessary noise out of the facts.[16] The show replacedIndia at 9 on 17 April 2017. Airing at 9 pm until 6 February 2018, when it was moved to 8 pm.
Viewpoint: Executive Editor Bhupendra Chaubey has the day's top 5 biggest news.[16] The show replacedBig 5 @ 10 on 17 April 2017. Airing at 10 pm until 6 February 2018, when it was moved to 9 pm.
World View with Suhasini Haidar: hosted by Deputy Foreign Affairs Editor, Suhasini Haidar, a weekly analysis of top international stories, with a view on how India is affected by them, with analysis by foreign policy thinkers for debate on topical issues.[17][18] The show was removed on 13 May 2014, as a result of her leaving.[19]
The Week That Wasn't: a 30-minute spoof on the major news events of the week. The show looks at the major stories of the week with a satirical tone. The host isCyrus Broacha.[20][21]
Tech andAuto Show: India's first and biggest show in the genre of technology and automobiles. Consists of news, reviews and interviews along with feature coverage of content from both these industries. Hosted by Manav Sinha.
Off Centre: The show feature unconventional personalities from all walks of life.
Now Showing: Bollywood news and gossip about Bollywood films, hosted by Entertainment EditorRajeev Masand.
On 5 August 2011Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report on2010 Commonwealth Games was tabled inParliament of India. In section 14.4.2 of the report, CAG alleged that while awarding contracts worth Rs 37.8 million 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."[22][23][24]
A controversy about somefake Twitter comments that ran on the screen during a news show raised questions about the reliability of instant feedback from viewers, which was criticised. The officials later apologised, saying that the source of viewer comments was wrongly stated as Twitter.[25]
In November 2012, on its prime time showFace The Nation, the channel broadcast a pre-recorded and edited interview ofRavi Shankar, falsely presenting it 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.[26][27] The episode has not been hosted on the show's homepage.[28]
^abRohn, Ulrike (2009).Cultural Barriers to the Success of Foreign Media Content: Western Media in China, India, and Japan. Frankfurt:Peter Lang. pp. 278–279, 293.ISBN978-3-63159-430-8.
