CNN-IBN is one of Indian News Channels in English that was launched in India on 16th December, 2005. The full name of CNN-IBN is Cable News Network-Indian Broadcasting Network which works round the clock. It is one of the well-known English news channels in India. It has its headquarters at New Delhi, CNN-IBN is supported by more than 20 bureaus nationwide, and also a team of experienced newspersons and production staff, backed by the state-of-the-art broadcast infrastructure and newsgathering technology of TV18. This news channel in India came into existence as a result of the partnership between Global Broadcast News (GBN) and Turner International (Turner). One of the most famous persons in CNN-IBN is its Editor in chief, Rajdeep Sardesai.
Most of the programs aired at this news channel are similar to that of CNN in the United States, with current event talk programs mixed with news reports. It is also one of the first news channels in India which brought in the concept of "Citizen Journalism" where any person can send in his or her report to the channel which is aired in a separate section. CNN-IBN expanded the Citizen Journalism Segment by including Mobile Citizen Journalism. People in India will now be able to send photos from mobile phones via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) to the news desk of CNN-IBN.
The flagship evening program at CNN-IBN, `INDIA AT 9`, aired daily on CNN Pipeline, is not simulcast (except in the time of breaking news events). This news channel has access to CNN`s trademark live breaking news and also their key feature programs. For the first time this exclusive alliance helps Indian to view relevant global news and also local news on a single platform from CNN. Apart from live local news, the local editorial team of the channel decides commentary, packaging, analysis, etc. CNN-IBN can also use some of the CNN.com materials like video footage to create their own stories for the CNN-IBN micro site.
CNN-IBN presently broadcasts a host of programs apart from the regular news updates. `The Weekend Edition`, `Face the Nation`, `The Week That Wasn`t`, `Living It Up`, `Devil`s Advocate`, `Minus 30`, `To Catch a Star`, `Art of Investing`, `Out of the Box`, `Being Legends`, `Now Showing`, `Real Heroes`, `All About the Money`, `30 Minutes` and others. While `The Weekend Edition` is hosted by the Editor in chief, Rajdeep Sardesai, `Being Legends` is hosted by Anuradha Sengupta.
Another show of this channel is `Devil`s Advocate`, where the stalwarts from the international and Indian politics are questioned by Karan Thapar. On weekends its Cyrus Broacha whose puns brighten one`s mood. A more serious `Face the Nation` is a primetime show dealing with the current events that have a huge impact on India. This show is conducted by the news anchor Sagarika Ghose. This English news channel offers its entertainment dose in the form of `To Catch a Star` and `Now Showing`. On `Now Showing`, Rajeev Masand presents the reviews of the latest flicks. Anubha Bhonsle, Suhasini Haidar and Shereen Bhan are some of the other news anchors for CNN-IBN.
The CNN-IBN was in news itself in the early 2007, as it had announced an award for the `Indian of the Year` title, which had six nominees. From the six the jury selected Manmohan Singh as the `CNN-IBN Indian of the Year`. This news channel won the Panda award in the `Best News` story category for its story `The last dance of Saras` in the year 2006. In Indian Television Awards, 2008, Rajdeep Sardesai once again bagged the best news anchor award whilst his show won the Best News award. State of the Environment Poll (Best Talk show) and The Week that Wasn`t (Best Comedy show) also brought home awards.
`Whatever it takes` is the slogan of CNN-IBN and it is derived from the never-say-die attitude which motivates its employees to achieve the impossible. It helps to redefine the limits and challenge the potential of an individual. CNN-IBN believes strongly in portraying the reality and facts to the masses.