CNN IBN hits refresh button, is now CNN News18

CNN IBN, one of India's premier broadcast news brands, has just taken a leap into the digital future with a cross-platform content and design mindset.

For starters, this boutique brand from the Network18 Group, will now be called CNN News18. This rechristened channel with contemporary look and feel was revealed at an hour ago (at 8 pm) on Monday. It will showcase a host of new shows that will seek to underscore and enrich its own brand of news with emphasis on three basic principles of journalism: spot, speed and accuracy.

Bhupendra Chaubey introduces the revamped channel.

Enlarged reporting teams equipped with cutting edge technology tools to deliver news from the ground fastest, new studios designed by the best in the world and a deeper leveraging of the CNN global news resources, form the core of this brand refresh.

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While continuing with its emphasis on engaging viewers in ways that are intelligent as well as innovative, the channel will focus more on immersive journalism. It means more in-depth reporting of news stories and covering angles in news developments generally left unexplored.

In the debate and discussion space, the channel will bring new experiences to the viewers through insightful analyses and opinions by raising the level of intellectual conversation on Indian television from the noisy to the intelligent with involvement of experts such as Vir Sanghvi, Swapan Dasgupta, Ajoy Bose and Ayaz Memon.

The revamp follows an extensive research seeking out the gaps between audience expectation and what they received. The latest initiative is aimed at bridging the gaps wherever they are with robust content. The viewer, as earlier, remains at the centre of the channel’s strategy. It plans to invest in anchors, reporters and other areas to make his experience better.

Humour and satire are emerging as one of the biggest trends in content consumption. In keeping with this, CNN News18 audiences will get a daily dose of political satire from Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijaykar. Their popular show The Week That Wasn't will now air daily at 21:45 hours.

The weekends will be spruced up in a big way with feature programmes along with global shows like the Fareed Zakaria show, the Amanpour show among others. With a tie-up with CNN, the channel expects to cater to the global aspirations of Indians and brings the best of international to India.

The refresh to CNN News18 is being supported by a multimedia marketing campaign across major cities in India. It is upgrading its technology to cover the second screen experience and assert its firm presence in the digital space as well. Consequently, IBNLive, the digital content platform, will now be called News18Live.

Speaking about the re-branding and revamped content, Avinash Kaul, CEO, IBN News Network, said, “The refreshed identity of CNN-News18 aims to bring the value of immersive journalism to its viewers. Inspired by our new tagline – ‘On Your Side’, CNN News18 will strive to make news more objective keeping the viewers at the centre of its content strategy. We will significantly ramp-up our digital presence to ensure that viewers are seamlessly able to interact and engage with our content.”

Network18 Chairman Adil Zainulbhai said: "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."

“CNN News18’s programming will focus on leveraging our strength in reporting to offer in-depth on-ground coverage by deploying even more resources in news gathering and bring out multiple angles to each story. We will raise the quality of debates and in-studio discussions by engaging the nation’s foremost journalists and opinion makers. The channel will bring freshness to news television by developing new on-air talent and exploring diverse genres of programming. CNN News18 will not just offer the latest national news, but also an Indian perspective to international developments. Our partnership with CNN will enable us to bring to you the best of CNN reporters, anchors and their best known shows. It will allow us to align our editorial strengths and upgrade workflows through exchange of best practices, technology and training to offer our viewers the best experience of news consumption in India,” added Kaul.

Disclosure: Firstpost is also part of Network18 Group.