MUMBAI: Well, they finally did manage to pip Times Now to the post as far as getting off the blocks is concerned. Global Broadcast News, whose shareholders include the Television Eighteen Group, Rajdeep Sardesai and Sameer Manchanda, today launched its fully-owned and operated general news channel, CNN-iBN. The channel will be available for cable & satellite television viewers across India starting today.

A company statement quotes information & broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi as saying, "I think that in the days to come, months to come and years to come, CNN-IBN shall make a mark in the history of India's electronic media as well as provide a new light, a new direction, a new goal in the centre of the fourth estate which will strengthen this pillar of Indian democracy. I wish CNN-IBN's new venture good luck."

According to broadcast industry estimates the Indian news market is presently worth Rs 5 billion. Three years back, the segment was pegged at Rs 1 billion.