The live-debate series will be telecast at 6:30 p.m., every weekday on NewsX, NewsX HD and on facebook.com/newsxonline.
The format will see a revolutionary global first inauguration of the “NewsX Facebook Debates” live and simultaneously on Facebook and NewsX and NewsX HD. The show is designed to maximise connectivity with the viewers and merge all available social media platforms with mainstream national news. The guests and audience on “NewsX Facebook Debates” will be able to interact in real time with the guests and viewers in the NewsX studios on an issue of public or national importance.
In another first on television, viewers will be able to comment/post comment videos to be made available live on-air and on-line while the debate is in progress “using a dedicated WhatsApp line, connecting WhatsApp directly to our production control rooms”.
The aim is to engage a new generation of viewers and break the mould of the television debate concept with a revolutionary level of audience engagement and interactivity. At the same time, the curative abilities of traditional mainstream media will be applied to filter out trolls and use of invectives that plague genuine consumers of news and opinion online, to give the audience a seamless interactive experience. Viewers will, thereby, be able to participate in debates via Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp by posting their own videos and comments real time. This will go beyond merely showcasing viewer tweets and using hashtags, to actual viewer involvement in conversations. The idea is to make viewers a constant part of a television debate panel to provide a truly “immersive’ news experience.
“Connect” will put NewsX at the frontline of re-establishing the primacy of the Fourth Estate serving as a “medium” between those who govern and those who devolve power by voting in their representatives. The show format will help those in responsible positions, including police commissioners, mayors, public servants, ministers and public representatives at various levels, get a more direct bearing of viewer opinion, while at the same time connecting a generation of “New Indians” to those in power to bring about a greater impact.
“Connect” will also put NewsX at the forefront of engaging, for the first time, “young Indians” who are “Digi Savvy” and re-involve them in their country’s governance by streamlining the ease-of-use of social media with the impact of traditional media. Consequently, the show will encourage participation of young Indians as part of its ethos.
Over 166 million Indians have Facebook accounts, 95% of which are on mobile phones. Of these, 69 million are active on a daily basis. Twitter in India has 24 million active users. Over 300 million Indians now carry smart-phones/smart devices. “Connect” on NewsX and NewsX HD will give users from all these platforms, including 200 million WhatsApp users, a chance to engage the mainstream media for the first time in a seamless environment.
The show has already received convincing support from viewers in “proof-of-concept trial” runs as well as from police commissioners, political party spokespersons and governance channels. NewsX hopes to build on the premise of “Connect” to revolutionise the perception and reality of how the entire mainstream media engages with young Indians.