TV18 Group & NDTV win top honours at Indian News Television Awards; Prannoy Roy gets Lifetime Achievement

It was a night of nights for the TV18 Group of news channels for having pocketed 16 awards at the first Indian News Television Awards hosted by Indiantelevision.com. The NDTV Group followed closely behind with a total tally of 14 awards.

Dr. Prannoy Roy, who has truly written television history in India on his own terms, received a standing ovation as he was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the medium.


Another person who had also ventured out on his own to tread new paths – Rajdeep Sardesai – received the Newsmaker of the Year Award at the gala function.

Prasar Bharati chief executive officer B S Lalli was given an award for having pioneered the introduction of television on mobile phones in the country. BBC's Nick Gowing was given a Special Award in recognition of his work in international news reporting and coverage.

While CNN-IBN received seven awards, CNBC-TV18 got four, CNBC Awaaz received three. From the NDTV Group, NDTV 24x7 received four metals, NDTV India got nine and NDTV Profit bagged one. Meanwhile, Star News pocketed five and Times Now four awards, Aaj Tak bagged two and IBN7 and Zee News received one each. IBNLive took home the award for best news channel website.

The well-known MTV duo Cyrus Brocha and Cyrus Sahukar had the audience in splits with their inimitable style taking digs at all channels and styles of presentation. There were also short humorous clips that were showcased on the way news channels present investigative stories, weather reports, and entertainment news.

The awards were given away by Indiantelevision.com chief executive officer and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari and general manager Anoop Wanwari, editorial director Thomas Abraham, member of Parliament Rajiv Shukla and Bag Films head Anuradha Prasad, B S Lalli, cricket commentator Charu Sharma, Phil and Diana from Al Jazeera channel, Madison chairman Sam Balsara, television actors Rajiv Paul and Pawan Shankar and entrepreneurs Durgam Arora, Balram Mahendra and Monica Burman.

The awards function which went late into the night was a culmination of a day-long Indian News Television Summit which commenced in the morning with a keynote address by Information and Broadcasting ministry secretary Asha Swarup. The summit was endorsed by the ministry. The morning session was followed by a session on content and another on generating revenues, in which several senior persons from different channels participated.

source-indiantelevision.com