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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Oct. 27

TURNER International has entered into a partnership with TV 18 Group's Global Broadcast News (GBN) to launch a co-branded 24-hour, English news channel, in India.

While earlier, GBN's proposed news channel was to be called India Broadcast News (IBN), it will now be called CNN-IBN. Through this association, the channel will have access to CNN's trademark live breaking news as well as key feature programmes.

Indian viewers will be able to view local news as well as relevant global news from CNN. The NDTV's former Managing Editor, Mr Rajdeep Sardesai, has been appointed the Editor-in-Chief of the new service.

Mr Haresh Chawla, CEO, TV 18, said that there is no equity participation by Turner.

An investment of about Rs 80 crore is being made for setting up the channel, which is expected to go on air by the year-end. GBN is a 74:26 joint venture between the TV 18 Group and professionals - Mr Sardesai, Mr Chawla and Mr Sameer Manchanda.

"The alliance is the first of its kind for CNN and Turner in the Asia Pacific. The service will leverage the combined international and local journalistic expertise of each partner to provide Indian news viewers unparalleled coverage of global and local events as they unfold, from an Indian perspective," said Mr Anshuman Misra, Managing Director, Turner International India Pvt Ltd.

In a statement, Mr Sardesai, said, "The news channel is built on the age-old ethic that editorial sovereignty is inviolable - and this shall be a cornerstone of GBN's partnership with CNN. It will be a journalist-driven channel rooted in the realities of modern India.

"This service will complement CNN International's global news offering. The coupling of CNN's global resources and GBN's local expertise will take news broadcasting in India to a whole new level," added Mr Chris Cramer, Managing Director, CNN International.

TV 18 revenue rises: Television Eighteen India Ltd has posted a 55 per cent growth in revenues at Rs 30.82 crore during the second quarter ended September 30, 2005. During the period, the net profit grew by 42 per cent at Rs 10.01 crore.

Mr Raghav Bahl, Managing Director of the company, said, "This quarter has been good for all our businesses, with every operation posting a strong sequential and year-on-year growth. While our flagship, CNBC-TV18, generated strong cash flows, our Net businesses have begun contributing significantly to the bottomline.

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