By A Correspondent

TV18 and CNN International have announced the extension of their collaboration on CNN-IBN. Earlier this year – in end-June to be precise, the two broadcasters had announced their decision to part ways with effect from January 2016. There were very active rumours of CNN inking a tie-up with Zee Media Corporation Limited. In fact, soon after this development, Zee even announced the English news channel and appointed an Editor-in-Chief. While Zee Media never confirmed the possibility of a tie-up with CNN, according to sources talks were on at an advanced stage.

The fact remains that by using the CNN prefixing the channel, IBN gained much credibility in the early days to ward off competition from NDTV,  in later years, other than the name of the channel, IBN really hasn’t gained much from the alliance. Save the children’s entertainment genre, the Turner/CNN network has had a mixed record in India.

Announcing the extension, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Network18 said, “We are delighted to announce the renewal of this extremely cherished partnership between two most respected brands in journalism. 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. The channel will organize meaningful debates and raise issues that touch the lives of our viewers. With this renewed partnership, we will enhance the process of newsgathering and delivery to our viewers in an informative and enlightening manner.”

Speaking on the occasion, Rani Raad, Chief Commercial Officer, CNN International, said, “We are really excited about the future of CNN-IBN and together with the new management at TV18, are going to build upon the success we have already achieved. I look forward to the brand continuing its lead in the dynamic Indian news industry and am delighted that CNN IBN is staying in our family of CNN-branded channels around the world that include CNN Turk, CNN Chile, CNN Philippines, CNN Indonesia and CNN Greece.”