CNN and TV18 extend and deepen 10-year collaboration, CNN-IBN to be ‘refreshed’

TV18, one of India’s largest news networks and CNN, the world’s best news brand, today announced the extension of their ten-year collaboration on CNN-IBN. This reverses their decision, announced earlier this year, to part ways.

“Both parties embark on this new chapter with a determination to refresh CNN-IBN and provide a credible, non-partisan service that will deliver the latest news about local affairs and an Indian perspective to international developments,” said a joint press release by CNN and TV18.

“In this second term of our collaboration, we aim to present a brand new CNN-IBN that will bring news with even greater speed, accuracy, clarity and credibility and keep the viewers tuned in to the latest news and developments much ahead of others. We also intend to cut through the noise and clutter that is currently present in the Indian television news space and offer best practices of journalism that will lead to better understanding of issues,” said Adil Zanulbhai, Chairman, Network18.

Rani Raad, Chief Commercial Officer at CNN International reiterated that “CNN-IBN will remain in our family of CNN-branded channels around the world including CNN Turk, CNN Chile, CNN Philippines, CNN Indonesia and CNN Greece”.

Ellana Lee, Senior Vice President and Managing Editor for Asia Pacific will lead the relationship from CNN and Rahul Joshi, CEO, News and Group Editor-in-Chief, from TV18.

Senior management at TV18, which operates a clutch of news channels including CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, CNN-IBN and IBN7, described the partnership as signalling “new found commitment” in investing and building the brand.

The media release did not offer details of the collaboration such as tenure and fee. People familiar with the specifics of the pact said the alliance will involve greater interaction between the technology platforms of each network, their editors, producers, studios and anchor-persons.

A top TV18 source said: “As for tenure, let me tell you, it’s not a short-term arrangement.  As per scope, it remains the same two-fold, brand licensing and content sharing contract as earlier. In this second innings, CNN and TV18 will work more closely ensure CNN-IBN’s globally-savvy viewers stay ahead of the news curve.”

Apart from sharing newsroom resources, the alliance will result in TV18 having increased access to “more resources on ground and quicker response time to breaking stories”.

The two companies had announced in June this year that they would be going their separate ways in order to “chart their own growth trajectory independently“according to a joint statement released at the time. Asked what prompted the rethink, a source said that CNN and the new management at TV18 have renewed interest and a new found commitment to invest together and further in the brand they jointly built. “We firmly believe that CNN-IBN’s position is a strength to build upon, and are planning new initiatives to ensure the channels continued success across platforms. Today’s announcement marries that quest for continuity, as well as pressing the “refresh” button in a significant way.

Disclosure: Firstpost and TV18 are part of the Network18 Group owned by Reliance Industries Limited