Broadcasts “live” news 24 hours with a new on-air look, new programmes and Facilities
Singapore, 21 January 2013 – Regional broadcaster, Channel NewsAsia, opens the year with “live” news 24/7, a new look and new programmes to help viewers better “Understand Asia”.
The ambitious expansion plan encompasses significant boosts to its programming line-up, and investments in new bureaus and facilities across Asia. This will enable the channel to produce more original content and news stories for the additional hours of “live” broadcasting, 24 hours a day, up from the current 20 hours.
Channel NewsAsia’s Managing Director, Ms Debra Soon says, “As the locus of the world economy shifts towards Asia, we believe we are well-positioned to deliver what we’ve been doing daily since 1999, and help audiences around the world better Understand Asia. We have made substantial investments to provide more business content about Asia, from Asia. We intend to increase our lead in covering South East Asia better than other broadcasters operating here, and we will cover South Asia better. This is all part of the drive to deliver insightful documentaries and programmes for viewers, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Channel NewsAsia’s relaunch was celebrated with a Champagne Lunch today with the channel’s partners and friends at its new Marina Bay Studio. Simultaneous parties were also held in Mumbai, India and Hong Kong to mark this milestone occasion.
Increased news & business content and documentaries
The channel is meeting its competitors head-on in the 24-hour news cycle. Business news at prime time is more than doubled. A new one-hour financial programme, Business Central, airs at 8pm. It will feature key stories from the region’s financial hubs – Singapore, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Shanghai – and give viewers insights into daily developments in other key world financial centres, from our bureaus in London and New York. Day-time market reports and key interviews will be conducted out of Channel NewsAsia’s latest facility in the Marina Bay Financial Centre, at the heart of Singapore’s new financial district. The Marina Bay Studio will be featured during a new one-hour lunchtime show, Asia Connect, which will bring together the market action from every trading day in Mumbai, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore and keep viewers on the pulse of Asia. This state-of-the-art studio is a result of the collaboration with leading bank in Asia, DBS Bank.
News content is increased by more than one-third. A daily additional newsbelt called News Pulse, from 12mn to 6am, tracks world developments overnight for Asia, with breaking news from the US and Europe. This will be followed by a new start to Asia’s day, with First Look Asia, from 6am.
With a line-up of new programmes interspersed throughout the channel, viewers are given an uninterrupted flow of news through the day:
(1) First Look Asia – 6am to 7am
(2) News Now – 9am, 10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm
(3) Asia Connect – 12noon to 1pm
(4) Singapore Connect @ 6 – 6pm (Only on Channel NewsAsia, Singapore)
(5) Business Central – 8pm to 9pm
(6) Business Singapore – 10:30pm
(7) News Pulse – 12mn, 1am, 2am, 3am, 5am
Beyond the news, Channel NewsAsia is raising the depth of content about Asia with nearly 30 percent more hours of current affairs programmes focused on the dynamism and progress of Asia.
An example is Power List Asia, which looks at the core of Asian success stories through interviews with top CEOs and tycoons; Extraordinary Asians profiles the exceptional Asians who inspire the community by contributing in extraordinary ways; and Boomtown Asia offers a preview of what Asian cities of the future might look like and what is being done now to help make existing cities sustainable, liveable and future-proof. (Press Release)
