CNN-IBN is now CNN-News18

The Network18 Group has changed the name of its English news channel CNN-IBN to CNN-News18.

The change will be effective tonight, 8 pm onwards.

The re-branding exercise also includes a new logo, tagline - On Your Side - and a revamped studio. The move, says the team, in a press release, is aimed at "making news more relevant to its viewers by bringing immersive journalism to the fore."

The news website IBNLive.com will be called News18.com, here on.

As part of the revamp, the channel will offer new programming formats. The opinions of several popular social commentators including Vir Sanghvi, Swapan Dasgupta, Ayaz Memon and Ajoy Bose, will be part of the new mix.

A show called Prime Time 2.0 will be telecast between 8 and 11 pm; it will comprise on-ground reporting, opinions, debates and humour-laden content.

The channel's weekend programming will include several new shows including one called Virtuosity, a show about the week's key issues; Vir Sanghvi will be part of this show.

Here are a few quotes from a press release sent by the channel, about the re-branding exercise:

Adil Zainulbhai, chairman, Network18, says, "A decade back, CNN-IBN re-invented news by (bringing) to its viewers the benefits of a reputed international news partner CNN, and eventually emerging as the most awarded English general news channel. We are now at a time when the role of breaking news is taken on by social media and there is an oversupply of news sources... just breaking news isn't enough."

He adds, "In this problem of plenty, quality suffers and consumers don't know what to believe or trust... the insights into an issue keep getting compromised for lack of time and resources. Realising this gap, we have decided to take the onus of breaking this clutter by focusing on quality of reporting, in-depth analysis and an all-round view of key issues.... we will keep the journalist and the consumer at the centre of our programming, which is the critical need of the hour."

Avinash Kaul, CEO, IBN News Network, says, "The refreshed identity of CNN-News18 aims to bring the value of immersive journalism to its viewers. Inspired by our new tagline 'On Your Side', CNN-News18 will strive to make news more objective, keeping the viewers at the centre of its content strategy. We will significantly ramp-up our digital presence to ensure that viewers are seamlessly able to engage with our content. CNN-News18's programming will focus on leveraging our strength in reporting to offer in-depth on-ground coverage."

Going on about deploying more resources for the purpose of news gathering and exploring different angles to each story, he says, "We will raise the quality of debates and in-studio discussions by engaging the nation's foremost journalists and opinion makers. The channel will bring freshness to news television by developing new on-air talent and exploring diverse genres of programming."

CNN-News18, he promises, will offer both, international news as well as an Indian perspective on the same.