Home  >  OMNI.2's New One Hour South Asian Newscast to Air Daily in Prime Time

Print-friendly

For Immediate Release

TORONTO (September 9, 2002) - OMNI.2, Rogers Television's new diversity channel, will present viewers in the local (Toronto/Hamilton) South Asian community with an enhanced schedule of programming, marked by several firsts -- including the debut of a one-hour prime-time newscast, OMNI NEWS: South Asian Edition. The English-language newscast will air LIVE each weeknight at 8:00 p.m. (with an encore presentation the following day at 6:00 a.m.), beginning Monday, September 16, and will provide the community with daily coverage of local, national and international news, including the latest from the South Asian diaspora.

"The local South Asian population numbers more than 350,000 and is still growing," says Madeline Ziniak, Vice President and Station Manager of Multilingual Television, Rogers Television. "OMNI NEWS: South Asian Edition addresses the developing need for a relevant daily news programme for this diverse community.

Viewers will see a number of familiar faces from CFMT-TV's South Asian Newsweek on OMNI NEWS: South Asian Edition, including Reporters Monica Dogra, Khush Panthaky and Angie Seth. Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate Producer of South Asian Programming, will Co-Anchor.

Joining her at the anchor desk will be long-time journalist Sidharth Bhatia, former Producer, Editor-in-chief and Anchor of India Business Week, which aired weekly on the pan-Asian satellite channel, Star TV. Bhatia possesses over 25 years of experience in the international media, and is renowned for his analysis of domestic and international issues, society and culture, and strategic and foreign affairs.

"Our objective with OMNI NEWS: South Asian Edition is to reflect the various South Asian communities in our daily reporting," says Renato Zane, Vice President, News Television for Rogers Media. "To that end, we've assembled a great team of reporters and anchors, many of whom speak Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. We look forward to a fabulous launch."

Newcomers Anjum Choudhry and Nauman Khan round out the reporting team for OMNI NEWS: South Asian Edition; both will focus on issues affecting the local South Asian community.

About OMNI.2
OMNI.2 is a new multilingual ethnic station that is being launched September 16, 2002, by Rogers Media Television in answer to the increased need for widely accessible television programming that better reflects local diversity. In conjunction with previously established ethnic broadcaster CFMT-TV (OMNI.1), OMNI.2 will significantly expand the variety of languages, number of hours and choice of programming being offered for ethnocultural communities in the Toronto/Hamilton area. Ethnic programming on CFMT-TV (OMNI.1) will now principally serve the local European, Latino and Caribbean communities while OMNI.2 will focus on meeting the information needs of the Pan Asian and African communities. The names OMNI.1 and OMNI.2 are part of a rebranding strategy, recently announced by Rogers Media Inc., which would see all of its diversity television holdings encompassed by the OMNI TELEVISION label.

About Rogers Media Inc.
Rogers Media Inc., a division of Rogers Communications Inc., (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B; NYSE: RG) operates Rogers Broadcasting and Rogers Publishing. Rogers Broadcasting has 43 AM and FM radio stations across Canada. Television properties include Toronto multicultural television broadcaster CFMT, televised and electronic shopping service, the Shopping Channel, regional sports channel, Rogers Sportsnet and the management of three digital television services. Rogers Publishing produces many well-known consumer magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine, Flare, L'actualité, Canadian Business and is the leading publisher of a number of trade publications. All media properties are integrated with their own popular web sites.

Media Contact:
Sandy Zwyer
CFMT Programme Information Coordinator
(416)260-3590