News channels ready with a slew of programmes to ring in the New Year

The television industry witnessed a lot of action this year, especially news channels. The year 2008 has been an action-packed one too, which every news channel is aiming to encapsulate in special year-end programmes. exchange4media does a sneak preview on what’s on offer on various news channels as the year comes to an end.

There has been no dearth of news-making watershed events this year – the Mumbai terror attack is still fresh on everyone’s minds; India was also rattled by a series of devastating bomb blasts in key cities this year; now on to something cheerful – India’s medal tally at the Beijing Olympics, including Abhinav Bindra’s Gold; India’s first mission to the moon – Chandrayaan; the Indo-US nuclear deal; note for vote scandal in Parliament; the economic slowdown; Barrack Obama becoming the first Afro-American President of the US; India’s scintillating comeback in cricket. That 2008 has been an eventful year is an understatement.

And to capture it all, various news channels are ready with their New Year specials.

CNBC-TV18 will host a slew of special shows reviewing the year gone by and give a perspective on what to expect next year. The special shows include ‘An Economy Special’ with Latha Venkatesh, Editor – Banking, CNBC-TV18, at 10:30 pm on December 30; ‘Young Turks Rewind’ with Executive Editor Shereen Bhan on December 31 at 10:30 pm; ‘Policy Special’ with Shereen Bhan on January 1, 2009 at 10:30 pm; and ‘The Firm Special’ with Menaka Doshi on January 2, 2009 at 10:30 pm.

Speaking on the line-up, Neel Chowdhury, Vice-President - Marketing, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC AWAAZ, said, “The year 2008 has been an eventful year for all of us, where we have seen the extremes in business and economy. This year-end special presentation will help our audience take a stock of the year gone by and prepare for the year to come.”

CNN-IBN will encapsulate the main events of 2008 in a series of year-end special shows. On December 31 at 8 pm, CNN-IBN will air a special show titled and conceptualised on the lines of the channel’s philosophy of ‘Whatever it Takes’, which will recapitulate all major events, controversies and news that impacted the world and our lives in 2008. The other shows on December 31 include ‘Ideas 2009’ at 9:30 pm, ‘Sports 365’ at 7:30 pm, ‘E-365’ at 10 pm, ‘World 365’ at 6:30 pm, and ‘The Year That Wasn’t’ at 11:30 pm. On January 1 and 4, ‘Cricket 365’ and ‘Devil’s Advocate’ would be aired at 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm, respectively.

Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, IBN18 Network, said, “The year 2008 was an eventful year for India and the world, with some good and some not so good happenings. CNN-IBN with its year-end programming will capture and highlight some of the biggest happenings across the globe and the impact they have had on us.”

IBN7 will feature a mix of Bollywood talks, entertainment, musical and humorous shows. A special show called ‘Hanstey Hanstey’ will be telecast on December 31 at 10 pm and on January 1 at 10 am. ‘Indian Idol Special’ would be aired on December 31. Then there will be a ‘Zindagi Live - Balika Vadhu special’ on January 4 at 8 pm.

Speaking on the line-up, Ashutosh, Managing Editor, IBN7, commented, “We will welcome the New Year with an array of programme on IBN7, which have been especially designed keeping in mind our discerning viewers’ choice. We have tried to create an innovative package for our audience that would entertain them and reignite their emotions with the year end special shows.”

Star News’ year-end programming line up includes ‘Jeet Gaye Jindgi’, a special programme on the survivors of the 26/11 terror attacks; ‘Saal Bhar Saughat’ which will talk about predictions on the special gifts that one can get in the year ahead; and ‘Teen Deeviyan Special’, monthly predictions for the New Year, which is already on air since December 26.

NDTV India’s special line-up includes ‘Gaana Number 1’, which would be aired on December 31 and January 1 at 9:30 pm and 2:30 pm, respectively; ‘Thaat Gayi Aath Mein’ on December 31 at 8:00 pm and on January 1 at 9:30 pm; sports year-ender ‘Jeeten Hain Shaan Se’ on December 31 at 6:30 pm and January 1 at 1:30 pm; ‘Shraddhanjali’ on December 30 at 10:30 pm and January 1 at 11.00 am; and ‘Entertainment Unlimited’ starting on the midnight of December 29.

NDTV 24x7 will also air New Year eve specials at 11:30 pm on December 31.

The series titled ‘Reflections 2008’ is NewsX’s attempt to revisit the major happenings of 2008 through a series of six special shows, which commenced from December 26. Further adding to the content are the 15-minute sub-slots titled ‘NewsX Newsmakers’ dedicated solely to people who have been in news.

The other shows on NewsX include ‘Scoreboard’ (Sports) on December 30 at 11 pm; ‘Curtain Call’ (Entertainment) on December 31 at 10 pm; and stories from around the globe on December 31 from 11 pm to 12:30 am. The other shows that were aired between December 26 and 29 include ‘Reflections’ 08: Realpolitik’ (The Nation & Politics), ‘Through the Glass, Darkly’ (A special series on Terror), ‘Tectonic Shift’ (The world & Neighbours) and ‘Not a Penny More’ (Business & Economy). Additionally, NewsX will repeat these six special shows every two hours on December 31, 2008 and January 1, 2009.

Shedding light on the programming, Head of News Room, Arup Ghosh, said, “‘Reflections 2008’ is not merely a satirical take on what has gone by, the series looks forward to what lies ahead. These shows have been put together by our research team after a thorough debate and analysis. In each programme, we have interwoven interview excerpts and expert bytes to validate our stand on each segment.”

Further adding on the year-end round up, Gautam Mukerjea, Marketing Director, INX News, stated, “As one runs into a new year, it is pertinent to look back as each event is a learning and each success a motivating factor to perform better. ‘Reflections 2008’ has been packaged to meet the intellectual needs of our viewers. It mirrors the channel’s commitment to present quality and meaningful content.”

Similarly, UTVi will air ‘Eye on the Year’, a three-part series. The first and second parts were aired on December 20 and 27, respectively, while the third part would be aired on January 3, 2009 at 9:30 pm. Then there is ‘A to Z of Business’ a 10-part series, which has already gone on air from December 25. It’s a year-end special show focussing on the road ahead for the various sectors in 2009.

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