CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Returns with its 9th Edition

CNN-IBN is back with the ninth edition of its flagship initiative, CNN-IBN Indian of the Year, in association with GMR, which over the years has become one of the biggest and most credible awards in Indian media. The award salutes iconic Indians who have made a significant contribution to India in the present calendar year. Hindustan Times has been the Editorial partner of this initiative since its inception in 2006.

The year 2014 has been a momentous year in the history of India and has given rise to a set of role models who have been true ambassadors of brand India. These luminaries who have contributed to strengthening the foundation of our society in their own way are chosen from six different categories: Politics, Sports, Entertainment, Business, Public Service and Global Indian. The winners will be felicitated at a glittering ceremony to be held at Taj Palace, New Delhi on 31 January, 2015.

Instituted in 2006, ‘CNN-IBN Indian of the Year’ has been the benchmark for credibility and transparency for providing complete information about the process of nomination and selection of the final winners. The selection criteria adheres to a unique and transparent process which includes nominations from the Network18 editorial board, ratified by a Jury panel consisting of a select group of distinguished personalities.

In keeping with the brands constant endeavour to innovate and set up newer avenues of engagement with its audience, CNN-IBN has created exclusive content and a first-of-its-kind broadcast integration for people on Facebook to participate in the process of choosing their own Indian of the year. Viewers can vote for their favourite nominee across all six categories on www.facebook.com/indianoftheyear, crowning him/her as the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year – Popular Choice.

This unique Facebook integration will allow CNN-IBN to have dedicated segments through the voting period and showcase insights based on Facebook APIs. CNN-IBN will post native videos around the initiative and have nominee Q&A’s to build engagement, as a run-up to the event.

Over the years, the recipients of this prestigious award have included the NGO Stop Acid Attacks (2013), Indian Chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand (2012), Anna Hazare (2011), Bihar CM Nitish Kumar (2010), A R Rahman(2009), G Madhavan Nair (2008), E Sreedharan (2007) and Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (2006)

Speaking on the occasion, Avinash Kaul, CEO, IBN Network said, “We take immense pride in announcing the ninth edition of CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Awards. We have created a benchmark in lauding the most influential, deserving and dynamic Indians, over the years. The success of the award in the past has raised the bar for this initiative and we are looking forward to a great show this year again. Our exclusive integration on Facebook is an attempt to engage with the younger and technologically savvy viewers and encourage them to vote for their favourite nominee.”

Radhakrishnan Nair, Managing Editor, CNN-IBN, shares his views about the award, saying, “Indian of the Year is our endeavour to acknowledge achievers, who have been exceptional in their respective fields. We at CNN-IBN are privileged to bring them to the fore as an inspiration to others and honour them with these awards. We believe that our initiative on Facebook will add a new flavour to the award and engage a much wider audience.”

Tune into CNN-IBN for the nominee special episodes, starting this Monday, Jan 19 to Saturday, Jan 24, everyday at 10:00 PM.

The voting for ‘CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2014’ open on www.facebook.com/indianoftheyear. All the details of the event including the nominees in each category can be viewed at www.indianoftheyear.com.

About TV18

The Network18 Group is a media and entertainment company with interests in television, internet, films, e-commerce, magazines, mobile content and allied businesses. Through its subsidiary ‘TV18 Broadcast Ltd.’ [BSE: 532800, NSE: TV18BRDCST], the group operates news channels - CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat (a Marathi regional news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group). TV18 also operates a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of popular entertainment channels – Colors, Colors HD,MTV, SONIC, Comedy Central, VH1, Nick. Nick Jr. and Nick Teen - and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the group’s filmed entertainment business. TV18 has also forayed into the Indian factual entertainment space through A+E Networks | TV18 (a joint venture between A+E Networks and TV18 Broadcast) and operates HistoryTV18. TV18 and Viacom18 have also formed a strategic joint venture called IndiaCast, a multi-platform ‘content asset monetization’ entity mandated to drive domestic and international channels distribution, placement services and content syndication for the bouquet of channels from TV18, Viacom18 and other broadcasters.

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