Until last week, British TV anchor Daljit Dhaliwal probably could have walked down North Michigan Avenue completely unnoticed, indistinguishable from the rest of the boulevard’s smartly dressed, attractive multicultural crowd.
Given Dhaliwal’s experience in other U.S. markets–particularly in New York–though, that’s likely to change quickly. With sleek looks, an endearing British accent and a no-nonsense program and news set, Dhaliwal, whose half-hour-long, London-based “World News” program premiered at 11:30 p.m. April 3 on WTTW-Ch. 11, has attained something of a cult following in the U.S.
“There’s a real variety of people watching our program,” Dhaliwal said in a telephone interview from London. “When I’m visiting New York, diplomats tell me they enjoy it, while on the other side of the spectrum, I’ll be stopped by taxi drivers or by people who work in Albanian restaurants or in delis or in Little Italy. It’s really satisfying when we can reach a varied section of people, and know that people from all walks of life are watching.”
Dhaliwal’s program, which specializes in international news, has actually aired in part of the Chicago area for more than three years. Merrillville, Ind.-based WYIN-Ch. 56, whose signal only reaches up to southern Cook County, broadcasts “World News”–which is produced by the British television network Independent Television Network specifically for an American audience–in a more favorable time slot, at 6 p.m. on weekdays.
Given WTTW’s area-wide coverage, however, Channel 11’s decision to pick up “World News” represents a coup for the program, which already airs on 57 PBS stations across the U.S., including those in New York, Boston, Washington, Miami and Los Angeles.
Certainly, one reason for the popularity of “World News” is Dhaliwal, 37, whose television career began 10 years ago. The career path that has brought her international fame and recognition–complete with her own unofficial fan Web site and the unexpected designation in May as one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People”–started in 1990 when Dhaliwal, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of London in history, politics and economics, answered an ad to join a BBC training program.
As a trainee and eventually a local news reporter, Dhaliwal worked on major stories from the outset, moving around to various newsrooms in Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England, including Manchester and Liverpool. After three years, she returned to London and successfully auditioned for an anchoring job.
In 1995, Dhaliwal jumped to ITN, a network whose anchor Jon Snow scored one of the first two interviews in 1998 with Monica Lewinsky (Barbara Walters got the other one). In November 1997, ITN launched a retooled “World News” program designed exclusively for American audiences. That meant that, unlike the competing half-hour “BBC World News” show that airs weeknights at 10 p.m. on WYCC-Ch. 20, “World News” required subtle accommodations, like the absence of cricket scores, and not-so-subtle allowances, like the continual emphasis of Washington’s role in major world events.
The program took off almost instantly, going from 19 U.S. stations to more than 40. Industry observers point to Dhaliwal as the reason for the show’s success.
“When we decided to make some changes in our news toward the end of last year, one of the strongest requests we got from viewers was to leave `World News’ alone,” said WYIN program manager Signe Hovde. “Daljit is regarded as very knowledgeable, and she’s very popular.”
The program recently snared its first corporate underwriter, Virgin Atlantic Airways, which makes it all the more affordable, Hovde added.
At Channel 11, broadcast manager Dan Sauls said “World News'” position following reruns of “Chicago Tonight” provides viewers with a full hour of public-affairs programming.
“We’ve been monitoring `World News,’ and we’ve been thinking about it for some time,” Sauls said. “We saw a good opportunity when we came to the conclusion that the show was being well received in other markets. Daljit’s a very strong talent and has a great public television history.”
Born in London in 1962 to Indian parents who emigrated to England after 1950, Dhaliwal has taken her newfound fame–and cult status in the U.S.–in stride. Articles about her have appeared in George, which said her “hypnotic” accent “evokes a Merchant-Ivory character,” in Rolling Stone, which described her as a “hot news reader,” and in Esquire, which called her one of the “women we love.”
“I’m still trying to make sense of” the popularity, she said. “It has partly to do with the fact that this program is my own program, so I can stamp my own style on it. It’s given me an opportunity to shine. And perhaps that has made a difference, that the press exposure has come because the program has become popular. I think the important thing is that we try to be inclusive in terms of our audience, that we reach out to people, whether they’re readers of Vogue, People, Rolling Stone or The New York Times.”
She takes fan Lyle Zapato’s Web site, the Unofficial Daljit Dhaliwal Appreciation Page, with a grain of salt: “Why would anybody want to set up a Web site about me, about a news anchor? I guess it’s the nature of the beast that is the Internet.”
Dhaliwal said she hopes her cult following is a result of her program’s journalism and added that her growing fan base “doesn’t stop me from doing my job to the best of my ability.”
“We live in the age of celebrity,” she said. “All of it is fed by the media. We’re all kind of party to it. It’s kind of strange because I’m on this side of the Atlantic, so I don’t see the U.S. popularity firsthand.”
Dhaliwal noted that television anchors are more celebrated here than in England, where viewers may recognize her on the street–she also co-anchors with Snow on a part-time basis on England’s Channel Four–but don’t make a fuss about her.
“It wouldn’t be accurate to say that I don’t have a presence in Britain,” said the unmarried resident of London’s Notting Hill neighborhood. “I do, but it’s not on par with the U.S., where I’m on five days a week, as opposed to three days a week, every couple of weeks, in the U.K.”
