KERALA: As people in four Indian states and one union territory await the vote counting day on 2 May, television news channels in the country are all set to cover all major developments religiously. With exclusive live shows, debates, and up-to-date coverage of counting statistics, broadcast news outlets are adopting various strategies to ensure dominance in the ratings game.
The states which went to polls in the last month are West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Kerala, and the union territory of Puducherry.
List of channels that are covering election results
News channels in India, both regional and national will be extensively covering election result news on counting day. In West Bengal, the key players are News18 Bangla, Zee 24 Ghanta, TV9 Bangla and ABP Ananda. The recently launched Republic Bangla, an arm of Arnab Goswami's Republic Media Network, will also devote its energies to election coverage.
In Assam, the most popular news channels are News18 Assam/North East, DY365, and Assam Talks, while in Kerala, the election results will be reported by major players that include Asianet News, Manorama News, Mathrubhumi News, News18 Kerala, and 24 News.
When it comes to Tamil Nadu, Sun News is gearing up to broadcast the election results live to the audiences. Considering the popularity of the news channel in Tamil Nadu, most of the viewers are expected to tune in to this channel to get live election results. Interestingly, the stock of Kalanithi Maran-owned Sun TV jumped a little over 14 per cent ahead of the verdict on the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, from Rs 458 last week to Rs 519.30 by the end of Thursday. Some other news channels that will telecast Tamil Nadu legislative election results live are Jaya Plus, News18 Tamil Nadu, and Raj News.
Apart from these regional channels that cover election results in their respective states, national channels that include News18 India, ABP, Republic TV, News Nation, NDTV, and CNN will be broadcasting compiled live election results from various states.
News channels competing hard
News18 India, in a recent statement, said that the channel will bring the fastest and most accurate results along with comprehensive coverage of the counting day beginning at 6 am.
"News18 India has set up a Live Result Hub which will leverage the strength of the channel’s on-ground team and reach. The channel’s team present across all the counting booths across the states will share live counting results which will be then collated and analysed at the Live Result Hub. The reportage on the channel will comprise a combination of live coverage from ground zero and in-studio discussions with renowned political analysts and commentators," the channel said in the statement.
On 2 May, news shows, debates, and counting updates on News18 India will be anchored by Kishore Ajwani, Amish Devgan, and Prateek Trivedi.
Popular Hindi news channel ABP News aired its exit poll survey on 29 April. The channel has also set up an active team to cover all the counting day updates beginning at 6 am on 2 May.
News Nation has also planned several election special programs for counting day. Live telecast will begin at six in the morning with Faisla Aapka which means 'Verdict is Yours'.
NDTV's counting day coverage will also begin at 6 am, and news outlet has roped in several political leaders, observers, and analysts to participate in their news shows on the day.
Malayalam news channel Asianet News revealed that this will be its first hi-tech election coverage. Asianet News editor-in-chief MG Radhakrishnan said that the channel will use advanced possibilities of augmented eeality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to bring the latest updates on the counting day.
"We will be the first in India to introduce our own ‘Follower’, a GFX tool by which the anchors with a device held in their hands can present a gamut of graphic displays. Besides, as always we have made elaborate arrangements to get the trend and results as quick as possible to our viewers. We go live from early morning with our reporters ready at the counting centres," added Radhakrishnan.
Asianet News in association with C-Fore made live its post-poll survey results on 29 April. Manorama News, Mathrubhumi News and 24 News also have an extensive line-up of election coverage shows including live updates, debates and analysis sessions.
Legislative assembly elections 2021: All you need to know
In West Bengal, the ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) will lock horns with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a high voltage battle. Tamil Nadu, as always, will witness a tough battle between DMK and AIADMK. In this election, Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam is also eyeing to grab some seats.
Kerala is witnessing a tough election battle, as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by incumbent chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is aiming to get a second term. However, the United Democratic Front (UDF) believes that there is a strong anti-incumbency factor in the state.
In Assam, the BJP and the Indian National Congress are going head to head, and recent post-poll predictions suggest that the saffron party is likely to retain power in the state.
The battle in Puducherry is between BJP and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) consisting of Congress, DMK, CPI, and VCK.
