Click to play videoNew Delhi: CNN-IBN has got an early birthday gift. Its been awarded the Best English News Channel at the Hero Honda Indian Television Academy awards, announced in Mumbai on Saturday. The channel has achieved this feat in less than a year since it was launched in December 2005.
‘Whatever it takes’ – this was the spirit with which CNN-IBN was launched in December 2005. A channel with a commitment to cover news aggressively, analytically and aimed at questioning everything intelligently.
The audience clearly liked what they saw. Within a few months, CNN-IBN became India's number 1 English news channel an unprecedented feat for any new entrant in the news market.
With top ranked shows like Face the Nation, India at 9 and India 360 drawing record audiences, CNN-IBN introduced path-breaking concepts in news television.
English news saw the birth of the ‘Citizen Journalist’. A concept aimed at empowering the citizen – a concept, which created an immediate impact, forcing authorities to act.
From blowing the lid over Quattrochi accounts in the Bofors case, to exposing the state of our coastal security and from covering the remotest corners of the country and interviewing separatist leaders to exposing the extent of political corruption, CNN-IBN has been committed to the spirit of whatever it takes.
With coverage of issues like the state of the Indian Muslims and AIDS' orphans, CNN IBN has focused on issues, which often haven't found priority in mainstream news.
From the remote Siachen to inaccessible mining areas of Jharkhand, from interiors suicide hit Andhra, to trauma of Indians in war-torn Lebanon – CNN-IBN has also tried to take you to wherever it happens.
On special days like Republic Day and the festivals, CNN-IBN attempted path-breaking programming like India Rocks, a musical take on India's freedom.
Its little wonder then that some of the biggest newsmakers of the world, not only speak their minds but all this wouldn't be possible because of our viewer. With concepts like ‘India Talks’ and ‘Viewers Feedback’, CNN-IBN has tried to involve the viewers and incorporate their feedback in our coverage.
The number of responses to our coverage on our website, IBNLive.com, is evidence of the dialogue with our viewers.
With Hero Honda Indian Television Academy rating CNN-IBN as the best English news channel even before our first birthday, it's perhaps fair to say it couldn't have happened without viewers.
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