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Category: News Headline

  • Radio Mirchi introduces new elements in ‘Hello Delhi’

    Radio Mirchi introduces new elements in ‘Hello Delhi’

    MUMBAI: Radio Mirchi Delhi 98.3 FM will introduce humour and satire in Hello Delhi, as an attempt to continue with programme enhancement efforts, the show will feature dual male jock show.

    Hello Delhi will have two male jocks; Ananta and Saurabh.

    The morning show has introduce some new elements laced with wit and humour; Kal ki baasi Khabar (spoof on headlines), Mausam Mausi (an aunt who speaks about the weather), Vichitra kintu Satya (weird but true), Aaj Ki Afwa (today’s rumour), Astro spoof, Ganda Wala joke, Bhao Khao (business update), Kisko call karein (interview of the day), Aaj ki ministry (on how to make your own ministry), Prank of the day and Fashion Farishta, informs an official release.

    Radio Mirchi Delhi 98.3 FM will air the show at 7 to 11 am from Monday to Friday.
    Radio Mirchi Delhi station director Kanwarbir Singh says, “To avoid listener fatigue and to break away from the clutter likely to ensue with the advent of more private FM stations in a few months time, we have remodelled Hello Delhi. The show will be a delightful mix of humour and satire, and will certainly create a new benchmark for radio programming.”

    Sharing her thoughts on the new show format, Radio Mirchi VP & regional head programming (north and west) Riya Mukherjee adds, “The attempt of the new Hello Delhi format is to bring back humour in our lives, our homes and even our work place. Though the listeners will get their daily dose of news, headlines, weather reports, celebrity interviews and more, the treatment will be very different. Both Ananta and Saurabh will indulge in spoofism by analysing situations and daily happenings in an unusual way. The show will not only make you laugh but will set the mood for the entire day.”

  • HBO proudly presents the second season of the award winning series ‘Huff’

    HBO proudly presents the second season of the award winning series ‘Huff’

    NMumbai, August 16, 2006: HBO, the world’s leading movie channel, returns with the most critically acclaimed Emmy® Award winning and Golden Globe® Award nominated series Huff Season 2 premiering exclusively for the first time on Indian TV starting 24th August at 11:15 pm and thereafter every Thursday right after the Prime-Time Movie with two back-to-back brand new episodes.

    The first season of `HUFF’, premiered on HBO last year, dexterously chronicled the comedy and the pathos of a psychiatrist, Dr. Craig ‘Huff’ Huffstodt, entangled in a web of dilemma and dysfunction in his personal life. This year, HBO celebrates the comeback of the series with Heff Season 2, starring Hank Azaria (3-time Emmy® Award Winner for Actor, as also an Emmy® Award 2005 Lead Actor nominee), Oliver Platt (of ‘Kinsey’ and ‘Ice Harvest’ fame) and Blythe Danner (of ‘Meet the Parents’ and ‘Meet the Fockers’ fame). While this season showcases the gripping storylines that are distinctly characteristic of the series, it also welcomes Emmy® Award winner Sharon Stone and Academy Award® winner Anjelica Huston as guest stars in multi-episode arcs.

    Celebrating the premiere of HUFF Season 2, Shruti Bajpai, Country Manager, HBO South Asia, said, “We are proud to be associated with an award winning series like Huff. This special presentation of Huff Season 2 is part of our constant endeavor to bring the best of English programming to our patrons.”

    Returning for the second season, HUFF continues examining the professional and personal life of a psychiatrist, Dr. Craig `Huff’ Huffstodt (Hank Azaria), who finds he’s drifting perilously close to the border between sanity and insanity. According to HUFF creator Bob Lowry, “HUFF is about the unpredictability of human nature. It is an episodic drama about people and their interactions with each other – not so much about what they do as much as how they react to what’s happening around them. We’re not a formulaic show that you typically see on television”

    HUFF Sesaon 2, spanning 13 episodes, finds the Huffstodt family ties slowly coming undone. While Dr. Craig is still clad in the guilt of the suicide of a 15-year-old gay patient in his office, he is also deeply disturbed by the paranoid ramblings of his schizophrenic younger brother Teddy (Andy Comeau). Huff’s once close friend, Russell Tupper (Oliver Platt) continues to be an adorable alcoholic misogynist drug addict. And HUFF finds an attractive new client Dauri Rathbun (Sharon Stone), who is in desperate need of his legal advice.

    HBO brings the best of Hollywood by premiering the top blockbuster movies on television first in South Asia through exclusive licensing deals with four major Hollywood studios – Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Columbia/ TriStar), Universal and Warner Bros.

    Prime time viewing on HBO includes HBO Blockbuster Of The Month, a special television event that premieres a mega blockbuster movie every month, HBO Saturday Nights, which premieres a new box office hit each week throughout the year; HBO Sunday Super Hits, which showcases the blockbuster hits, star-studded hits, favourite genre hits, Asian hits, highly acclaimed hits and so much more. In addition, HBO features at least 3- 4 new movie showcases every month to offer viewers an interesting mix of Hollywood movies based on exciting themes.

  • Star One readies its big ticket for 2006 ‘Nach Baliye 2’

    Star One readies its big ticket for 2006 ‘Nach Baliye 2’

    MUMBAI: Nach Baliye, the celebrity dance talent show that propelled Star One to ratings highs last year is back and hoping to again shake up the charts in its second season.

    And as was the case last time round as well, the target is pretty straightforward: achieve the number two position by the end of the year. It didn’t manage it last year and now the challenge is even greater: a totally different market scenario with Zee TV having pushed Sony to third and Star One looking for a way forward from the fourth position.

    And as the circumstances demanded, the second season of the celebrity dance talent hunt property has been summoned one month in advance. While the first season was launched in October 2005, Nach Baliye 2 is targeting a mid-September take-off.

    Agrees Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair, “Last year, Sony was our nearest rival. Now the scenario is totally different because Zee has made a comeback. And the fact that Sony is gearing up to bounce back makes things complicated for us. We will have a tougher market this time. But we are taking it in the positive spirit. It will be good for us because this would inspire us to give our best. Star One needs one or two big drivers to achieve our goal and we are confident of Nach Baliye repeating its success.”

    Point out to him that Star Plus is still well ahead of Zee TV and Nair retorts, “If you can see Zee TV in your rear view mirror, no matter how far they are, you should be cautious. You should be well prepared.”
    Nach Baliye 2 has its original format intact, but with a few minor changes. The show will feature some surprise elements including a special ‘Wild Card round’. At the end of the seventh episode, one eliminated couple among the five would be called back, making the total number of contestants six. According to Nair, there would be an extra thrust on certain reality elements of the show.

    “We had had our learnings from the first season of the show and we want to capitalise on that this time. The contestants have been better briefed this time. Overall, the effort is to present a better product,” said Nair.

    The list of the 10 celebrity couples, who will be ‘dancing it out’ to win the big crown this time is as follows: Narayani Shastri & Gaurav Chopraa, Gauri & Yash Tonk, Shweta Kawaatra & Manav Gohil, Shweta Tiwari & Raja, Ketaki & Rasik Dave, Gurdip Kohli & Arjun J Punjj, Gauri Pradhan & Hiuten Tejwani, Tina & Hussain, Keerti Gaekwad & Sharad Kelkar, Tanaaz Lal & Bhakhtyaar Irani.

    A new set of choreographers will be training the couples and there is a change in the panel of celebrity judges also. Farhan Akhtar, who has been caught up in the production of Don, has been replaced by director Kunal Kohli (of Fanaa-fame).

    Nach Baliye 1 ran as an half-hour show in the 9 pm slot Tuesday through to Thursday in 2005. When queried about the slot for the second season, Nair hinted that the channel might go for the same slot. “We have not decided on the slot yet. But we may go for the same slot as we had in 2005,” he said.

    The promotions for Nach Baliye 2 kicks off today, along with the launch announcement. “We have a 360 degree marketing campaign in store and it will be unveiled step by step in the coming days. We are planning a lot of on-ground activities as well to promote the show. Mini dance events and contests in colleges would be one such activity,” says Nair.

    Nair added that Star is now seriously looking at selling the Nach Baliye format in the international market. “We had a plan in mind to sell this format, which we created. But the focus was shifted to other activities and we couldn’t really execute out plans. But, along with the launch of Nach Baliye 2, we have now decided to take it abroad and we are seriously pursuing our plans,” he said.

  • Pakistan allows private local channels to air 6% Indian content

    Pakistan allows private local channels to air 6% Indian content

    MUMBAI: Maybe this should be termed as something being better than nothing. Even as Pakistan refuses to relent on its ban on Indian television channels, it has allowed its local channels to air six per cent Indian content and four per cent English content during daily transmissions.

    The channels allowed foreign content are Geo News, Geo Entertainment, ARY One, ARY Digital, Indus Plus, Indus Vision, Hum, DM Digital, Rung TV, Dhoom, TV One, Aaj, TV 2Day and N-Vibe, Pakistan’s “The Post” newspaper quoted minister in charge of the cabinet division, Maj (retd) Zulfiqar Ali Gondal as telling India’s northern neighbour’s parliament.

    “The Post” quoted Gondal as saying on behalf of Pakistan’s broadcast regulator — Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) — “that necessary action would be initiated to include 20 per cent Pakistani content on multinational channels.”

  • Worldspace India appoints Harshad Jain as Chief Marketing Officer

    Worldspace India appoints Harshad Jain as Chief Marketing Officer

    MUMBAI: Worldspace, satellite-based digital radio services provider has announced the appointment of Harshad Jain as Chief Marketing Officer for its India operations. Jain will be responsible for extending the Worldspace service to markets across India, enhancing consumer experiences and building upon growing brand awareness levels in the country.

    Jain joins Worldspace from Pepsico India where he had a productive 12-year plus stint, serving in various roles and building Pepsi brands including Lipton Ice Tea, Aquafina, Tropicana, Slice, Gatorade, and others. In his last role as Executive Vice President (Pepsi-Lipton Joint Venture), Jain headed up the strategic alliance between Pepsi and Unilever, laying the foundation for the merger of the successful Lipton Ice business with Pepsi as well as developing the marketing strategy and the long-term vision for the alliance, informs an official release.

    Worldspace India MD Shishir Lall said, “We are delighted to have Harshad join us at Worldspace as we look to grow our business and undertake an extensive brand-building campaign. His appointment is part of a concerted effort to continue building a passionate management team as we share the joy of satellite radio with more and more music lovers across the country.”

    With over 40 premium radio stations Worldspace India will leverage Jain’s considerable brand building experience to further extend the reach of the satellite radio service and establish a connection with a larger base of music lovers across India, adds the release.

  • Fix basic tier rate above Rs 100: Cable ops to Trai

    Fix basic tier rate above Rs 100: Cable ops to Trai

    MUMBAI: The basic tier monthly rate of Rs 77 (excluding taxes) in conditional access system (CAS) areas is unrealistic and should not be below Rs 100, cable TV operators told the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

    Six stakeholders have posted their views to the broadcast and cable regulator. Trai had sought views from the industry on the draft tariff amendment order notification for fixing the basic tier rate.

    The common argument laid down by the cable operators was that the price for the 30 FTA channels did not take into account the distribution cost through franchisee operators.

    According to clause 3B in the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Second) Tariff Order, 2004 (6 of 2004), “The maximum amount, which a cable operator may demand from a subscriber for receiving the programmes transmitted in the ‘basic service tier’ provided by such cable operator shall not exceed Rs 77 per month exclusive of taxes, for a minimum of 30 FTA channels. Free-to-air channels, over and above the basic service tier, would also be made available to the subscribers within the maximum amount mentioned above.”

    The views posted by New Delhi-based Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) said, “Only one multi-system operator (MSO) headend was considered and not the distribution cost through franchisee operators who maintain their own offices, technical maintenance staff, collection staff etc. Quality of service was not considered while calculating number of subscribers and the number of subscribers was based on extended network of the MSO prevailing at that time.”
    “The cost of FTA channels has to be reworked. Even as per our calculations submitted to the Ministry in 2003 the cost was Rs.180. One option is to use the benchmark of Rs 125, which was the charge for 15 to 20 channels in 1994 when there were no pay channels.”

    Pointing out the need for reworking the cost of FTA channels, the Federation said, “Even as per our calculations submitted to the Ministry in 2003 the cost was Rs.180. One option is to use the benchmark of Rs 125, which was the charge for 15 to 20 channels in 1994 when there were no pay channels.”

    A minimum of Rs 150 should be charged for the basic tier considering the fact that TRAI does not want last mile operators to pay for the FTA package to the MSOs. An amount of Rs 30 to Rs 50 is being paid at present to MSOs, the Federation added..

    Hathway Cable and Datacom has suggested a basic tier price of Rs 100 per month (excluding taxes). This will work out to not less than Rs 150 a month.

    “The cost of materials like cable, amplifier, and electronics have gone up significantly. And other components such as power and fuel in delivery of the services have also risen sharply in the last one to two years,” the MSO expressed to Trai.

    According to cable TV industry observer Col V.C Khare, “The rate was arrived at for a network spectrum 47-550 MHz transporting 62 channels, with a customer base of 32000 and a radius of operation of 7.5 kms on coaxial cable.”

    “Technically, head ends using 500 series trunk cable over 47-862 M Hz and transporting 90 channels cannot deliver signal quality per IS 13420 beyond 4.8 kms cable length, with a cascading limit of 16 amplifiers. The subscriber base of 32000 was high as independent head ends were having 18000 subscribers on an average. On the other hand, networks have consolidated with fiber, 120 digitally compressed signals, encryption and SMS hardware installed. If the upward and downward adjustment in cost for the above factors is taken into account the cost of Rs.72 as prorated would give at least a minimum cost of Rs.100 (exclusive of taxes),” he argued.

    National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) president Vikki Choudhry has suggested a monthly subscription rate of Rs 180. “A price below this level will result in deficiency in quality of service for the consumers, non-conformity with the provisions of CAS and Standards of BIS, no investment in network upgradation or maintenance, loss of employment, incentives most broadcasters to keep (or convert) their channels into pay, loss of revenue to the Indian Government and encourage under declaration by the cable service providers of FTA subscribers.”

  • Compelling content the key for mobile TV adoption

    Compelling content the key for mobile TV adoption

    MUMBAI: Mobile TV will succeed if the content on offer is compelling. Also one or two channels will not suffice. An operator should give around 20 channels. It should also be easy for the consumer to switch from one channel to another.

    This was the message delivered by Qualcomm president India and SAARC Kanwalinder Singh. As an example, he noted that if certain geography requires about 30,000-40,000 base station for wireless coverage, the same region can be served by about 400 MediaFLO towers to deliver mobile TV service.

    If the bandwidth is not enough then the picture is jerky and consumers will be put off. The key to successful mobile television is to do interactivity with the broadcast. MediaFLO is an end to end system that allows this. Mobile television is one to one interaction unlike television which is one to many.

    Qualcomm bought spectrum in the US and is now in a deal with Verizon to launch a mobile TV service next year in the US. He noted that MediaFLO has a Conditional Access System which allows only those phones who have paid for the content to access it. When desired, the operator can still have free to air content.

    The basic challenge is to have the maximum number of channels possible with relatively limited spectrum. Power consumption by the mobile phone should also be low.

    Mobile television also offers unique commerce opportunities. For instance secondary generation opportunities exist when a music video is playing. One can offer a ringtone, the music album of that artist to the user to buy on the spot. He added that Qualcomm is keen on doing a trial project with mobile operators in India.

    Another session looked at the business of retail and home entertainment. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment country manager N. Muthuram noted that there is a 60 per cent DVD penetration in TV homes in India. The DVD has features like subtitles, language options which has energised the market.

    “It is a catalogue driven business. Classic titles like Sholaty perform well contrary to perception in some quarters that one the new titles sell. In the US home videos earn thrice as much as theatrical releases. In fact Sony Pictures has a deal with Steven Seagal and Wesley snipes for direct to video films. It is also a positive sign that window of release for videos is falling.”

    He noted the importance of retail in the home video market in the US. Walmart contributes 50 per cent to the home video business. He noted that increasingly companies across the globe tie up for home video releases. An example is in Mexico. There Act II Popcorn did a deal for the home video release of Spiderman.

    The aim was to once again generate excitement for Spiderman when the sequel was being released theatrically. Act II found relevance with the product and 42,000 units were sold. In Italy a pizza company has an association with DVD releases. Basically a DVD comes with a pizza. They also do a DVD choice of the month initiative. The message is that the consumer can enjoy the pizza while watching a film. This gives the home entertainment firm an avenue that would have exited earlier. The retail firm meanwhile gets an extra hook for its product.

    In Germany a tie up was done for Terminator 3 between Sony, Sony Electronics and Hatari which had developed a game based on the game. The good thing was that it was a combined promotional effort. There was TVC pushing all the three firms. When consumers bought a product there would be leaflet inside telling them about the other two products. In India the key challenge is to educate brand marketers about the possibilities in this arena.

    Saregama VP and head – films Sweta Agnihotri gave more examples of how synergies work between DVDs and brands. Motrorola for instance made a phone on Spongebob. Samsung had done a tie up for the Matrix which was all about having information. Kelloggs regularly does stuff with Disney. Mitsubishi did a promotion for 2 Fast 2 Furious where they had kits distributed in their dealership outlets. All this allows a brand to be associated with famous stars for a relatively less cost. In India Saregama had done a Barbie called Hope has Wings for a brand. The song played on music channels. There was also a tie up with micro processor solution firm AMD for the DVD release of Madagascar.

  • EM2 seminar: Indian content producers need to look closer at digital delivery

    EM2 seminar: Indian content producers need to look closer at digital delivery

    MUMBAI: The third annual Entertainment, Media and Marketing (em2) forum organised by the Film and Television Producers Guild of India (FTPGI) was held in Mumbai today. One of the sessions looked at digital entertainment.

    Among the panelists were Tata Sky MD Vikram Kaushik, Microsoft India head gaming Mohit Anand and Indiantelevision.com founder and CEO Anil Wanvari.

    Wanvari pointed to the internet as becoming increasingly important for Hollywood as an additional revenue source. Indian content producers should look more closely at their internet strategies and take a leaf from their counterparts in the West, Wanvari noted. He gave several examples. For instance Fox has started offering films and television shows for download through on its websites Direct2dirive.com, Myspace.com and other Fox Interactive Websites. The playing is limited to to two computers, and a portable play device. Viacom earlier this month stitched together a deal wherein its video clips along with commercials will be served through Google’s Ad sense network.

    It had also announced it would pay $200 million acquire online gaming and entertainment company Atom Entertainment, which boasts two online video sites, AtomFilms.com and AddictingClips.com, and two casual gaming sites, Shockwave.com and AddictingGames.com.Viacom retails videos on Google. AOL has unveiled a video site. Some videos are offered for free while others one pays for.

    Apple’s online music store iTunes earned a billion dollars last year. It has now inked deals with several US broadcasters for paid download of shows.

    In the UK Eros International has a deal with MovieFlix. Films that are offered for download offer possibilities for schemes like games, contests and alternative endings. Moreover the potential on the net extends to television channels as well Wanvari noted. JumpTV which has been aggregating TV channels from all over the world to offer to its subscribers in America. Today it has 200 channels on its network, and the most recent signees being Punjab Today, SET Asia, and Balle Balle.

    It is early days in this business as yet. The studios are generating anywhere between $1.99 to $3.99 for a TV show to $9.99 to $19.99 for a movie. Or they have a fixed monthly subscription fee of $6.95 a month. The revenues are running into a few millions.

    Wanvari adds, “Numbers are minuscule but technological change and a hungry for broadband content audience is pushing the pace. There were an estimated 194 million broadband households in 2005; this expected to more than double to 413 million worldwide by 2010, according to Instat research. Of this, 130 million will be accessing video content.

    “In India, broadband penetration is minuscule: just 1.5-1.9 million, but this is going to balloon to 8 million plus by end 2010, according to Media Partners Asia, Hongkong numbers. Even if 10 per cent of this resorts to broadband video we are talking about a good 800,000 subscribers.

    “These will be high net worth individuals who even if they buy 12 movies online every year at a cost of Rs 75 a movie or Rs 50 a TV episode, could end up generating Rs 125-150 crore in revenue. And if one looks at overseas sales: the figure can easily surpass Rs 150-200 crores per annum. It is probably this that has prompted Eros to partner with MovieFlix.com.”

    Kaushik pointed out the benefits of pay TV addressable service like DTH. Film producers he noted can use this as an additional revenue stream. Abroad within days of a films theatrical release it is made available on pay TV. This will also help curb piracy. There is a clear accountable mechanism in place in a DTH environment.

    He noted that last year 10 million TV sets were sold in India. 75 per cent of these were colour television sets. He noted that in the current cable set up consumers suffer from poor service, not enough special interest channels and no choice in the service provider. Broadcasters suffer due to leakages on the distribution front. The government suffers as it does not get tax revenue.

    Pay TV services like DTH will eliminate these problems. He added that the cable industry will not be hit in a major way by new technologies coming in. In the Tata Sky set up consumers get a 24 hour service. The set top box can be moved from one place to another. Also DTH can reach rural India which has been left out of the cable revolution. He added that since
    1991 when the government allowed cable and satellite television there has been no significant change in terms of the mode of delivery.

    Anand stressed the relationship between films and gaming. He noted that the global gaming business is worth over 24 billion dollars. It makes more money than Hollywood films. He gave an example of the film Pirates of the Carribean which made $136 million in its opening weekend. Microsoft released the game Halo 2 a couple of years ago, which made $125 million on its opening night.

    Microsoft’s Xbox 360 he says represents the start of the seventh generation of gaming. Sony and Nintendo will do something similar later this year. One main reason why he is optimistic about gaming in India is that India has a large population below the age of 18. They are equally if not more technologically savvy than previous generations.

    Things have come full circle as far as films and gaming are concerned. Earlier companies would develop a game on a film if the film became a blockbuster. Today films like Resident Evil are based on video games.

    He noted that in the future one could see film studios alter scripts to make them more game friendly. In fact a lot of studios have people on the look out for ventures that can be adapted into both films and games. In India so far film studios use games as a marketing gimmick. That is not the way forward if Indian film companies want to mine this source of revenue. Some games take three years to develop but if one thinks of the game along with the film the process will be easier. In fact one then has the opportunity to shoot for the game while one is shooting the film.

  • TV18 to provide VC funding to convergence companies, earmarks Rs 500 million

    TV18 to provide VC funding to convergence companies, earmarks Rs 500 million

    MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl-promoted Television Eighteen is jumping into the convergence arena. The company plans to invest Rs 500 million in this space, identifying small-sized ventures which need funding support.

    TV18 will function more as a venture capitalist, making investments into these companies at an early stage. “We realise there are opportunities in the convergence area of internet, TV, and broadband. Small companies engaged in this field are springing up. We plan to support them and make judicious investments spread over a string of companies. We have taken an enabling resolution to make investments in this space up to a maximum of Rs 500 million,” says a senior company executive.

    TV18 is setting up a Media Venture Capital Trust (MVCT) through which it will make these investments. The MVCT shall be suitably structured as a tax efficient investment vehicle for undertaking these investments and will offer co-investment opportunities to the promoters of the company and other identified reputed investors.

    The investments will be primarily in high growth companies. “TV18 will seek to invest, directly or indirectly minority stakes in these companies through repayment guaranteed / collateralized instruments convertible into equity, with an option to increase up to majority stake at a later date, wherever possible, subject to necessary provisions and approvals,” the company informed the BSE.

    Outside these investments, TV18 will continue to acquire vertical portals. The company, which has internet ventures being consolidated into a wholly owned subsidiary, acquired in April a 50 per cent stake in the Indian arm of Jobstreet.com. Eariler in the year, it had invested in Yatra Online where other investors included Anil Ambani’s Reliance Capital and Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) – Promod Haque’s leading venture capital firm.

  • Manorama News unveiled; ‘varied content’ USP

    Manorama News unveiled; ‘varied content’ USP

    MUMBAI: Print major Malayala Manorama Group has launched its maiden television broadcast venture Manorama News, a 24-hour free-to-air news channel. The channel hit the airwaves with a news bulletin at 12 noon on 17 August and the day also marked the beginning of the Onam month for Keralites.

    Manorama News attempts to make a mark in the highly contested Malayalam (Kerala) television market with its USP of ‘varied content’. “Our strategy is to offer varied content than just news. We have lined up a complete set of different news formats targeted at different viewer segments,” MM TV — the broadcast arm of Malayala Manorama — COO Anil George told indiantelevision.com.

    MM News has divided the state into three regions — South (Thiruvananthapuram), Central (Kochi) and North of Kerala (Kozhikode) — to enable itself to dish out local news in a better way. The channel telecasts three different beams of six local news bulletins every day catering to the regions on an exclusive basis. Except these six local news bulletins, the rest of the channel programming is uniform for the entire state.

    Apart from the three key local points of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, MM News has set up its studios in Delhi and Mumbai.

    MM News offers a package of half-an-hour news bulletins, making it a total of 12 news bulletins per day. The channel airs extended news programmes early morning and in the night. The morning news show Pularvela, slotted for 7 am to – 8:30 am – functions as a platform to provide and discuss all the early news stories coming in. Manorama News Hour, from 9 pm to 10 pm, will provide an in-depth analysis of the day’s news with the updates.

    MM News targets the viewer segment which vies for lighter stuff with a 7 pm show Sakalakala. The crime news genre has been taken care of with Kutapathram at 10 pm. the ‘business class’ is targeted with business news bulletins twice in a day, at 5 pm and 11 pm. Vanita, a female-oriented show, has an afternoon slot at 2:30 pm. The channel has also lined up a celebrity interview series to mark the beginning.

    MM News’ interactive prime time chat show Ningal Parayoo explores the channel’s online space and the mobile short code 7333. According to George, MM News will change its short code to 6776 as the group is planning to acquire a uniform mobile interactive identity.

    “For the time being, we will be using the short code 7333 for Manorama News. But soon, the entire Manorama group will come under the short code 6776,” says George.

    Speaking on the initiatives made on the distribution front, George says the channel has a 100 per cent presence in Kerala and Delhi, while plans for the other key centres are on the anvil.

    “We are working on the distribution front and we will be soon hoping on the Direct to Home (DTH) platform as well. At present, we are not available in the Gulf region. However, talks are on and we would be making it to the Gulf very soon,” he says.

    When queried on the channel’s strategy to make a first impression in the market, George said even entertainment channels had been considered as competitors. “It is not that, we are fighting with the existing news channels of the space. We consider even entertainment channels as out competitors. MM News is launching a number of innovative formats and the plan is to bring in viewers from the other viewing genres also. The national scenario, where news channels are really improving their viewer-base with various innovative strategies, has been really inspiring.”

    Speaking on the immediate target, George said the plan was to let the content bring in viewers and then advertisers. “Our focus is on building a brand in the interest of consumers by offering them the right content. In the next six months, the plan is to win the mindshare and we are sure that the revenue share will follow.”

    MM News follows a two-pronged marketing strategy to create a buzz in the market, according to George. “Our immediate goal is to provide a different experience of news broadcasting to the viewer. The strategy is to let the content bring in the viewer. Then, we will have a consistent advertising campaign series across different media wings of Manorama to promote the channel,” he says.

    When queried on MM TV’s next television venture, George said the company is presently looking at a couple of genres. “We have a long term strategy of getting into other ventures. A couple of formats have been thought of, but no time frame has been set yet.”