Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) media cell affiliated magazine’s official twitter handle, tweets from which are retweeted by BNP supporters and activists, is running a “smear campaign” claiming the party boycotting Somoy TV talk shows has resulted in a decline in its viewership, says the TV authorities. Such claims are meant to “intimidate and prevent” the media from carrying out reportage ahead of the national election, analysts and senior journalists say. Read : BNP, like-minded parties set to hold mass processions in Dhaka Saturday With a graph purportedly showing a steep decline in the YouTube viewership of two TV channels — Somoy and Ekattor — in August, the tweet shared by BNP Media Cell’s magazine “The Road to Democracy” contains a “veiled threat” to mainstream media outlets, they say. “We call upon Bangladeshi media to take a strong, pro-democratic stance. In the end, a dictatorship takes down everyone. Your complicity will not save you,” reads the tweet. The tweet came after BNP leadership slapped an embargo on party leaders and activists from appearing in talk shows on the two leading television channels. For context, Somoy TV produced and aired a series of documentaries on convictions of the Zia family, including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman. “The party has decided to temporarily boycott the talk shows of Ekattor TV and Somoy TV due to their biased approach. The decision has been made after consultations with senior BNP leaders who recently participated in these talk shows,” Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, BNP's publicity secretary and member secretary of BNP Media Cell, had said. Read : BNP wants to indulge in evil game of 1/11 with Dr Yunus at the helm: Quader The graph shared with the post showed Somoy and Ekattor lost significant viewership on YouTube right after BNP’s decision to boycott their talk shows. The graph claims the YouTube viewership for Somoy TV did not cross the 40,000 mark since the boycott till August 13. But Somoy TV authorities say this claim is untrue.  Between July 28 and August 22, the impression gained by Somoy TV marked a 15 percent spike despite BNP’s boycott, as the total number soared to 2.6 billion, said Salauddin Salim, Head of Broadcast & IT at Somoy TV. Moreover, the total number of viewership on a daily basis till the said period remained almost the same with no sign of decline since the boycott, suggesting that the claim of “dip” in viewership is not true, he added. On the other hand, the total number of subscribers on Somoy’s YouTube channel reached 20.4 million from 20.2 million in the said time frame. Read : BNP leaders to avoid Somoy TV and Ekattor TV talk shows Months earlier, BNP's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir lashed out at Somoy TV.  The Somoy TV report that had seemingly drawn the ire of the BNP leader highlights that both Tarique Rahman and Khaleda Zia were sentenced by courts.  "That report on our leaders – Tarique Rahman and Begum Zia – is like back-stabbing our democratic movement against the government. As we continue our movement to restore democracy, they should abstain from airing such reports," Fakhrul said about Somoy TV at a press conference. Media analysts say BNP’s call for “press freedom” rings hollow as such “intimidation tactics” clearly expose a “double standard”. Read more: Apathy of ‘unelected and irresponsible mayors, commissioners’ behind current dengue situation: BNP

Ellen DeGeneres is calling time on her long-running talk show. The daytime host, who has seen a ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided that the upcoming 19th season will be the last, ending in 2022. It coincides with the end of her contract. “You may wonder why I’ve decided to end after 19 seasons. The truth is, I always trust my instincts. My instinct told me it’s time,” a tearful DeGeneres said Wednesday during a taping for Thursday’s show. “I promise you that we’re going to have a fantastic final season. It will be a season where I truly get to say, ‘Thank You. Thank you all.’ Every day will be a celebration,” she said. Read:Netflix series signals racial breakthrough in Italian TV She used humor to lighten the mood and the message. “In 1997, I knew it was time to come out on my sitcom and live my truth,” DeGeneres said, recalling a vivid, inspiring dream in which a bird escaped its cage because it had to be free. “Recently, I had a dream that a bird, beautiful bird with bright red feathers, came to my window and whispered, ‘You can still do stuff on Netflix,’” a deadpan DeGeneres said, drawing laughs from the virtual studio audience. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which started airing in 2003 and is distributed by Warner Bros., has a mix of dancing, games and giveaways along with A-list celebrities. But the host, who built her brand on the motto “Be Kind,” opened season 18 in September with a lengthy apology. Three of the show’s producers exited over the summer amid allegations of a dysfunctional workplace that harbored misbehavior, including sexual misconduct and racially insensitive remarks. While the allegations were “very hurtful to me,” they didn’t influence her decision to leave the show, DeGeneres told The Hollywood Reporter. “I wouldn’t have come back this season” if they had, she said. Read:A complete list of all the winners at the 2021 Oscars “Although all good things must come to an end, you still have hope that the truly great things never will,” Mike Darnell, president of unscripted TV for Warner Bros., said in a statement Wednesday. “It was and is an indelible piece of the television landscape, and it will be sorely missed.” Nielsen data shows “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” viewership dropped by 1.1 million people this season, from 2.6 million viewers to 1.5 million viewers. DeGeneres was the recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2015 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom under Barack Obama in 2016. In addition to her talk show, she has had a hand in Fox’s “The Masked Dancer,” NBC’s “Ellen’s Game of Games” and HBO Max’s “Ellen’s Next Great Designer.” DeGeneres’ scripted TV show “Ellen” became a historic landmark in TV history in the 1990s when her character came out as gay.