BBC Dunia launches on ETV and bbchindi.com

A new BBC Hindi TV news programme is launching on ETV network in India and on the BBC Hindi website bbchindi.com. The Monday-to-Friday global news programme BBC Dunia brings original BBC stories in Hindi, with a focus on international content that resonates with the Indian audience.

BBC Dunia is part of ETV's 21.00 news slot, ETV News with BBC. It goes on air at 21.20 across the ETV network - ETV Rajasthan, ETV Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, ETV Bihar and Jharkhand, ETV Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, ETV Haryana and Himachal and ETV Urdu. The programme is also available on demand on bbchindi.com and the BBC Hindi channel on YouTube

Produced and presented from London, BBC Dunia is a fast-paced, dynamic 10-minute news programme with a special appeal to young viewers, delivering the BBC's take on global events of the day - be it politics, science and technology or culture and entertainment - and looking at how global events impact India and the wider region. Delivering world-class news coverage from the BBC, with exclusive BBC news features and original BBC pictures, the programme draws on the BBC's newsgathering presence across the world, bringing the viewers the BBC's insights and expertise.

BBC World Service Asia Editor, Juliana Iootty, says: "The launch of BBC Dunia is a major development for BBC World Service in the region and an excellent example of our commitment to Hindi-speaking audiences. Now with BBC Dunia, available from Monday to Friday, BBC Hindi will serve its TV audiences even better, hopefully becoming essential viewing for anyone who wants to keep abreast of the world developments with the BBC, in Hindi."

BBC Hindi Editor, Nidheesh Tyagi, adds: "The BBC teams in London and Delhi have worked hard to deliver BBC Dunia to our audiences in India - via ETV - and anywhere else in the world, via bbchindi.com and our YouTube channel. Based on our understanding of our audiences - especially younger ones - we have created a format with pace that will help us give them everything they need to know about the world around them. We all hope they will join us for this dynamic and comprehensive roundup of key news stories of the day on ETV and other platforms of their choice."

Head of Business Development, Asia & the Pacific Region, BBC World Service, Indu Shekhar Sinha, says: "The launch of BBC Dunia means major expansion of the BBC Hindi TV offer in India. It builds on our partnership with ETV, which for almost three years brought our weekly TV news programme to millions of viewers, further expanding its audience base in India."

Jagdish Chandra, Head ETV News Network, comments: "ETV is a leader in regional news space in the country, and this tie-up with BBC has added one more feather in its cap. Now ETV viewers across the country will get an international window in the form of BBC Dunia. This ETV BBC fusion will prove a boon for the viewers who like to watch news which really matters to them."

Rajesh Raina, Group Editor, ETV News, adds: "We are proud to have this association with BBC which has no parallel as a credible international media organization. BBC Dunia, a ten-minute news capsule direct from BBC London studios on ETV channels, will add more fragrance and colour to our bouquet of news programmes. This will also give platform to BBC to reach the grassroots level in India through ETV which is having the largest news network in the country."

BBC Hindi is available online, on mobiles, TV and radio. BBC Hindi is part of BBC World Service.

BBC Hindi delivers content for online, mobile, TV and radio platforms. The mobile-first site bbchindi.com offers Indian, regional and international news. BBC Hindi also connects with its audiences via social-networking channels such as Facebook where it has over 3.6 million followers (September 2015) and Twitter. BBC Hindi radio is available on shortwave, medium wave, FM and via mobiles. The bbchindi.com mobile site can be accessed across all mobile operators and via the BBC Hindi apps developed for Android smartphones and Nokia's Series 40 devices. BBC Hindi content is also available on mobile news aggregator Dailyhunt and chat apps LINE and WeChat.

BBC World Service delivers news content around the world in English and 28 other language services, on radio, TV and digital, reaching a weekly audience of 210 million. As part of BBC World Service, BBC Learning English teaches English to global audiences. The BBC attracts a weekly global news audience of 283 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service, BBC World News television channel and bbc.com/news.

(Press Release) 

BBC Hindi launches Global India on ETV

BBC World Service and ETV Network have announced the launch of the BBC Hindi TV programme, Global India, on five channels of ETV, India's leading regional network across the country's Hindi-speaking states.

From Friday 2 November, the BBC's brand-new TV programme in Hindi will air weekly at prime time on ETV Bihar / Jharkhand, ETV Uttar Pradesh / Uttrakhand, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Madhya Pradesh / Chhattisgarh and ETV Urdu.

With BBC Hindi's Rupa Jha as its lead presenter, Global India is a weekly 30-minute magazine-style show which brings alive the best of the BBC journalism from across the world, focusing on news and

developments that resonate with the Indian audience. Ranging from hard news to human-interest stories, culture and technology, the show aims to connect with millions of Hindi-speaking audiences through the expansive reach of ETV channels.

ETV Network, a leader in India's Hindi regional belt, especially with channels across ETV HSM as well as ETV Urdu, has been reaching out to viewers from urban to semi-urban and rural areas. Being an essential part of the viewer's daily TV experience, the network will form the perfect partner for BBC Hindi to engage with a much larger audience base in India.

Rupa Jha says: "I am thrilled to front our new TV programme. Showcasing the best of BBC journalism, Global India will deliver original BBC stories as they are lived by our journalists across the world. After years of being part of the BBC Hindi radio and online team, I am really looking forward to the excitement of connecting with our audiences on TV."

BBC Hindi has been a household name in India, known and respected for its objective and comprehensive reporting – on radio, online and via mobile phones. Commenting on the service's move to TV broadcasting, BBC World Service Head of Journalism, Nikki Clarke, says: "This is a great development for the BBC in India, showing our commitment to our Hindi-speaking audiences. With this expansion on television, BBC Hindi builds on the strength of the BBC as a news brand in India. The editorial thrust of Global India reflects the strong interest in stories from around the world that are important for India and are brought alive by the BBC's world-renowned newsgathering operation.''

BBC World Service Head of Business Development - Asia Pacific, Indu Shekhar Sinha, adds: "There have been huge changes in the way Hindi-speaking audiences consume our content, and as we work to adjust our distribution footprint to better serve them, the launch of Global India signals the fact that BBC Hindi is expanding in India's media market. We are excited to be partnering with the ETV network to bring this dynamic new programme to millions of viewers."

Commenting on the partnership with BBC Hindi, a spokesperson from ETV Network says: "ETV is an integral part of the regional audiences across the country, providing them with rich infotainment across languages. For years, ETV HSM channels and ETV Urdu have penetrated across the length and breadth of the country to provide a perfect blend of reach and viewers' loyalty. Global India, created by BBC Hindi, will be a unique proposition for viewers of the ETV network across India, as it will share new, fresh and relevant content, further strengthening our commitment as a responsible news brand in the country. The content we offer through our range of channels is extremely attractive and relevant to our audiences. The ETV news bureau provides fast and reliable news to its viewers, and with BBC Hindi bringing in their international expertise through Global India, it will add further variety to the existing content of ETV. This new programme will also give our viewers an opportunity to meet Indians spread across the world."

Global India will be broadcast every Friday on five channels of the ETV network at 8pm on ETV Bihar / Jharkhand and ETV Uttar Pradesh / Uttrakhand; and at 6pm on ETV Rajasthan, ETV Madhya Pradesh / Chhattisgarh and ETV Urdu. It will be repeated on Saturdays at 8.30pm on ETV Urdu, and at 9.30pm on all the other channels. It will be repeated on Sundays at 11.30am in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar at 9.30am in Rajasthan and at 1pm on ETV Urdu.

 

(BBC Press Release)