ITV

Category: Television

  • Priyadarshini Academy honours 13 eminent personalities

    Priyadarshini Academy honours 13 eminent personalities

    MUMBAI: Priyadarshini Academy honoured outstanding national as well as international achievers in the 22nd Anniversary Global Awards function held in Mumbai today.

    There were 13 categories for which the awards were given, which included a trophy and a scroll. Each awardee in some way or the other has contributed to society through their respective fields. The awards were given by Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.

    “These awards are a recognition for those who have given their se rvices to the nation despite being in different profession,” said Nath.

    Former Chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, NR Naryan Murthy received the award for his contribution to the IT Sector, former Chairman and MD of ONGC Subir Rana for the oil sector and Cricketor Arjuna Ranatunga for his contribution to Sports.

    The other awardees included Dr HS Dhillon who received the Overseas Indian Award, Olara A Otunnu received the award for Contribution to Human Rights, Yamha Toru Hasegawa for Corporate social Responsibility, Raj Loomba for contibution to Education of Children and Welfare of widows, Dr B K Goyal for his contribution to Medicine, Noel Hon for his contribution to humanitarian services, Jignesh shah was awarded for Innovative Enterepreneurship, Unna Huh, for contribution to It Education and Professor Arindam Chaudhari was awarded for his contribution in the field of management.

    On receiving the award, NarayanMurthy modestly said, “I feel I have received more from the society than I have given them. But this award reinforces my faith in the community and will definately help me to serve them better.”

    Priyadarshini Academy is an NGO engaged in socio-cultural and educational activities and has been holding the biennial award function since its inception in 1984.

    “When Indians were bestowed with International awards, it use to make news. So I thought that why not we create such an award in India which would honour who’s who from across the world. And over the years this award function is considered equivalent to Nobel Prize in the asia Pacific region,” said Chairman of Priyadarshini Academy Nanik Rupani.

    This year, the prestigious Smita Patil Memorial Award award was given to actress Kareena Kapoor, for her contribution to Indian cinema.

    In the past, distinguished celebrities like Yash chopra, Karishma Kapoor, Urmila Matondkar, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit have been bestowed with this prestigious award.

  • Lycra MTV Style Awards slated to kick off 14 October

    Lycra MTV Style Awards slated to kick off 14 October

    MUMBAI: The Lycra MTV Style Awards will be held on 14 October at the MMRDA Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai along the theme ‘Celebrating Style’.

    In keeping with the theme, this year’s function will feature an explosion of colour with the year’s chosen designers – Neeta Lulla, Ritu Kumar, JJ Valaya, and Rohit Gandhi-Rahul Khanna presenting their lines and creating exclusive designs for the 4th Lycra MTV Style Awards, while each designer will team up with a music performer, to present a unique fusion of fashion, music and style, informs an official release.

    Additionally, designer Suneet Verma will create a special line for the opening sequence. This will be interspersed with awards being presented to the most stylish people in India across different walks of life.

    Divided into three broad categories – Popular, Technical and Honours, the Lycra MTV Style Awards 2006 will zero in on the most stylish people in fashion, films, sports, television, business, politics and music. The Popular Awards are aimed at recognising the most stylish people in the fields having the broadest popular reach, namely the realms of music, television and films. The Technical Awards, on the other hand will acknowledge the stylish people of the fashion fraternity, including models, designers and fashion photographers. The Honours category is aimed at recognizing and felicitating personalities in business, sports and politics.

    Leading up to the final night of the awards is a comprehensive process that has been instituted this year. An exclusive panel of 25 judges comprising style gurus and divas across like Arjun Rampal, Ashok Salian, Manish Malhotra, Malaika Arora Khan, Mehr Jessia, AD Singh, Prahlad Kakkar and Deepika Govind amongst others will finalise the nominees in the three categories – Popular, Technical and Honours.

    Shortlisted nominees in the Popular category will then be up on-air as well as www.mtvindia.com where viewers can log in, cast their votes and decide the winners. Alternatively, they could SMS ‘Style ____ (option) to 6882 to vote for their favourites. The winners in the Technical and Honors categories will be decided by the panelists, adds the release.

    This year the size of the panel has been broadened to 29 members, instead of eight. Further, taking MTV style concept outside Mumbai, this year Lycra MTV Style Awards extends itself to two more cities – Kolkata and Bangalore. In each of these cities, Lycra MTV Style Awards would recognize and felicitate the ‘Most Stylish Place’ – a place that has a distinct character of its own, a place that has withstood the vagaries of time and last but not least, a place that has been a breeding ground for style and stylish people.

    The Lycra MTV Style Awards 2006 will also be promoted through an extensive campaign running across print, outdoor, on-air, mobile and online via mtvindia.com. Media partners on the event include Red FM, MTV Marie Claire.

    Commenting on the event, MTV Networks India managing director Amit Jain said, “MTV has today become a preferred platform for marketers who want to meaningfully engage and interact with young Indians. With our finger on the pulse of the Indian youth coupled with our thorough understanding of the client brand and an in-house creative powerhouse, we are uniquely placed to offer comprehensive solutions to client needs. And our association with Lycra for the fourth successive year is a testimony of the successful activation of two popular brands.”

    Lycra India Managing Director Satish Khurana said, “We are looking forward to partnering with MTV in our fourth consecutive year of celebrating style, energy and movement, a perfect fit for the LYCRA brand.”

  • Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids & Family Group launch online community ParentsConnect.com

    Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids & Family Group launch online community ParentsConnect.com

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group have launched ParentsConnect.com exclusively for parents and caregivers of kids of all ages. ParentsConnect is a new online community that will connect parents to each other and to the advice they seek in an easy-to-use format. The announcement was made by Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon and Head of MTVN Kids and Family Group.

    “The first generation of ‘Nick kids’ are now having families of their own. They know and trust us, and we want to serve them as parents just as we served them as kids,” said Zarghami. “ParentsConnect puts parents in touch with the real parenting experts-each other.”

    With many personalized features, ParentsConnect enables users to search for parent-to-parent advice and activities by their kids’ ages and stages, city/location and personal interests. Each parent can develop a customized home page that updates dynamically each visit with local activities, relevant news, discussion postings and more. Parents can also use discussion boards to connect with each other and share parenting advice, experiences or laughs, informs an official release.

    “This is another step in our company’s online strategy to super-serve passionate, targeted audiences … in this case, parents … with engaging and immersive new experiences,” said MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath. “You connect to people and information that really speak to parenthood and family, with Nickelodeon’s personality and humour.”

    The ParentsConnect communities are led by Host Parents, a team of 20 trained moderators who are actual parents, chosen for their backgrounds, life experiences and writing abilities. Each Host Parent will provide member parents with assistance in using the site, maintain a personal blog, and recommend articles or links to useful information. In addition, ParentsConnect members may set up their own blogs and profile pages, as well as search member profiles and recommend articles or links to information they consider useful to other parents. The GoCityKids website, recently acquired by Nickelodeon, will be also be featured on ParentsConnect as the online guide to local family destinations, activities and events.

    “We designed ParentsConnect to be the most useful parenting site,” said NickJr.com and ParentsConnect general manager Kyra Reppen. “With distinct features such as localized content through GoCityKids, the ability for members to build their own customized home pages and choose only what’s relevant to them, and advice that comes from real parents with first-hand experience, rather than professionals, ParentsConnect is truly unique.”

    ParentsConnect’s public beta launches with an online advertising campaign and charter sponsorships from marketers such as Nissan North America. The ParentsConnect site will feature display advertising as well as contextual, integrated and direct marketing opportunities, developed and sponsored by various marketers. OMD handled the media buying and planning for the Nissan/ParentsConnect deal, states the release.

    Nissan vice president marketing Jan Thompson said, “Through our partnership with ParentsConnect, we’re excited to associate ourselves with content that has a high level of engagement for our consumers. We also hope to reach parents who are early adopters and will identify with Nissan’s forward-thinking technology and design of its products.”

    In fourth quarter 2006, ParentsConnect will launch ParentsConnect TV which will have broadband video with user submitted content. It will also roll out local discussion boards, user- created polls and clubs, newsletters based on specific community interests, from recipes to travel, as well as enhanced social networking features.

  • Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids & Family Group launch online community ParentsConnect.com













    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group have launched ParentsConnect.com exclusively for parents and caregivers of kids of all ages. ParentsConnect is a new online community that will connect parents to each other and to the advice they seek in an easy-to-use format. The announcement was made by Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon and Head of MTVN Kids and Family Group.


    “The first generation of ‘Nick kids‘ are now having families of their own. They know and trust us, and we want to serve them as parents just as we served them as kids,” said Zarghami. “ParentsConnect puts parents in touch with the real parenting experts-each other.”


    With many personalized features, ParentsConnect enables users to search for parent-to-parent advice and activities by their kids‘ ages and stages, city/location and personal interests. Each parent can develop a customized home page that updates dynamically each visit with local activities, relevant news, discussion postings and more. Parents can also use discussion boards to connect with each other and share parenting advice, experiences or laughs, informs an official release.



    “This is another step in our company‘s online strategy to super-serve passionate, targeted audiences … in this case, parents … with engaging and immersive new experiences,” said MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath. “You connect to people and information that really speak to parenthood and family, with Nickelodeon‘s personality and humour.”


    The ParentsConnect communities are led by Host Parents, a team of 20 trained moderators who are actual parents, chosen for their backgrounds, life experiences and writing abilities. Each Host Parent will provide member parents with assistance in using the site, maintain a personal blog, and recommend articles or links to useful information. In addition, ParentsConnect members may set up their own blogs and profile pages, as well as search member profiles and recommend articles or links to information they consider useful to other parents. The GoCityKids website, recently acquired by Nickelodeon, will be also be featured on ParentsConnect as the online guide to local family destinations, activities and events.


    “We designed ParentsConnect to be the most useful parenting site,” said NickJr.com and ParentsConnect general manager Kyra Reppen. “With distinct features such as localized content through GoCityKids, the ability for members to build their own customized home pages and choose only what‘s relevant to them, and advice that comes from real parents with first-hand experience, rather than professionals, ParentsConnect is truly unique.”


    ParentsConnect‘s public beta launches with an online advertising campaign and charter sponsorships from marketers such as Nissan North America. The ParentsConnect site will feature display advertising as well as contextual, integrated and direct marketing opportunities, developed and sponsored by various marketers. OMD handled the media buying and planning for the Nissan/ParentsConnect deal, states the release.


    Nissan vice president marketing Jan Thompson said, “Through our partnership with ParentsConnect, we‘re excited to associate ourselves with content that has a high level of engagement for our consumers. We also hope to reach parents who are early adopters and will identify with Nissan‘s forward-thinking technology and design of its products.”


    In fourth quarter 2006, ParentsConnect will launch ParentsConnect TV which will have broadband video with user submitted content. It will also roll out local discussion boards, user- created polls and clubs, newsletters based on specific community interests, from recipes to travel, as well as enhanced social networking features.

  • Hungama Mobile ties up with UAE business enterprise Koohiji Group

    Hungama Mobile ties up with UAE business enterprise Koohiji Group

    BANGALORE: Leading mobile entertainment company Hungama Mobile and the Dubai-based diversified business enterprise Koohiji Group have formed a business alliance to provide Middle East and North African (Mena) wireless consumers access to a wide range of legitimate entertainment content.

    Users will be able to download the latest Bollywood songs from legitimate music and entertainment sources for personal use on their handsets.

    As per the agreement, Hungama Mobile has appointed Digital City, a new strategic business unit established by the Koohiji Group, as their exclusive distributor for Bollywood and Indian digital entertainment content.

    Describing the alliance as a significant step in the new media era, Hungama Mobile COO Saleem Mobhani said, “The demand for Bollywood and related entertainment content has shot up dramatically over the last couple years, and Hungama Mobile being the world’s largest distributor of South Asian entertainment content, Mena consumers will have access to over all South Asian digital entertainment content, including content in 14 different languages”.

    “We are continually working to forge strategic relationships with key digital entertainment players. We develop and deploy content across the spectrum of Music, Images, Video, Games and Applications for our current relationship with 52 Operators and Partners in over 20 countries such as North America, UK and Europe, South Africa, Australia, Germany, South East Asia etc. and Digital Entities such as iTunes, Napster, Yahoo and others to extend Hungama Mobile’s presence in new media entertainment globally.” said Ali Hussein, head of Hungama Mobile for Mena.

    Speaking on the occasion SS Rajkumar, vice chairman and CEO of the Koohiji Group said, “So far, users in the UAE and in the region have been deprived of choices, up-to-date and easy access to Indian entertainment content for their mobile devices. As exclusive content distributors for Hungama Mobile, Digital City will bridge that gap and serve as a one stop shop for all content resellers and mobile operators offering digital mobile entertainment across the UAE and Mena region.”

    For Hungama Mobile, the tie up with Koohiji Group follows the recent tie up with the Apple Inc-promoted iTunes, where the music of the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Don was made available worldwide on the iTunes Music Store.

  • Star Plus changes 8 pm tactic; brings in sci-fi series ‘Antariksh’

    Star Plus changes 8 pm tactic; brings in sci-fi series ‘Antariksh’

    MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment space will soon witness an interesting contest between soap operas and a sci-fi series, as Star Plus has announced the launch its first ever sci-fi series Antariksh.

    The show, scheduled to launch on 2 October, has been positioned in the crucial Monday – Thursday 8 pm slot.

    Produced by the duo of Ashim Samanta and Jyotin Goel from Wild Fire Entertainment, the concept of the show is designed to interest the younger viewers on the prime-time band. Antariksh, which is set in a modern jet-set atmosphere, will draw its inspiration from the Indian mythology of Ramayana, as the story’s basic premise is that of a war between good versus evil, as per an official release.

    States Star India EVP Deepak Segal, “Aimed at our younger viewers, Antariksh, is a revolutionary mix of utopian vision of justice and prosperity, which we are launching exclusively in the weekday prime-time band, for our younger viewers. It’s a story full of new-age imagination that will see the use of hi-fi gadgets, which is sure to create a cult amongst them.”

    “With our already established, unmatched leadership in this genre, we are hopeful this show of space-age heroism will prove to be a treat for all the sci-fans, and consequently help us in further consolidating the prime-time slot on the channel,” Segal adds.

    Antariksh will be an action tale, of fictitious and imaginative characters living in space. This animated drama will be packaged with intense creativity coupled with heavy-duty computer generated graphics and illustrations, by Jyoti Sagar from Sagar Arts Productions and Prasad Ajgaonkar from Interactive Realities Ltd, the release claims.

  • Online TV alternative to traditional music channels launched in the US

    Online TV alternative to traditional music channels launched in the US

    MUMBAI: An independent Internet television channel cheekily called Not Mainstream Typical Videos (NotMTV.tv) has been launched in the US.

    The network went live a few days ago with three programming pods. In addition to music coverage on their flagship series, Not Mainstream Typical Videos, the network will feature two additional pods of programming: Culture Captured and Investigate This!

    The network positions itself as an independent Internet television channel made by the fans and for the fans. The network notes that consumers all across America and around the world are supporting independent music as never before and they want cutting-edge cultural content. The network will aim to show the underground and unexplored aspects of the music industry and delivering to them the issues, stories and trends that interest them.

    NotMTV.tv also hosts an independent music video vault where indie bands are able to submit videos the network will stream and make available to members for download in four different formats (Windows media, QuickTime, iPod video and PSP video). Membership is free.

    One of the founders talent producer Terry Merrill stated, “An emerging and enduring multimedia challenge is to conceive, design and produce Internet television projects for niche
    audiences and diverse consumers. NotMTV.tv is one extraordinary example of an emerging trend: Talented teams of independent producers changing the face of entertainment as we know it.

    “This network will deliver new music and culture content for an Internet generation telling network executives loud and clear they prefer the content of wherethehellismatt.com and YouTube than rehashed reality shows and by-the-book sitcoms.”

  • WWE looks to expand on the mobile

    WWE looks to expand on the mobile

    MUMBAI: Like a lot of media firms World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is looking at the mobile to expand its offerings globally.

    WWE has chosen mobile transaction network mBlox to bring global interactive services direct to its consumer base, reaching fans in more than 130 countries, across all networks and handsets. These enhanced interactive services are part of WWE’s mobile initiative. In India, WWE airs on Ten Sports.

    WWE chose mBlox in part for its ability to offer a single point of access for its audience. WWE VP, interactive development David Knise says, “Mobile is the next frontier for WWE, and content that allows our fans to interact with us or with each other is our highest priority in this medium.

    “Our decision to use mBlox as our partner in delivering this content reflects the quality of its offering, the depth of its relationship with mobile operators and its global capabilities. With mBlox, we’ve found the partner who’s committed to giving our worldwide fans the same high quality of service and pleasant experience they expect from WWE.”

    In May, WWE had unveiled plans for new mobile services that now include a slate of original “made for mobile” content, including video, text news alerts, schedules, ringtones, wallpapers and a fantasy ticker. Adding even more interactivity and functionality is the next phase of this growing programme.

    The programme will include offerings that allow fans to interact with WWE and each other with an eye toward further engaging and captivating WWE Mobile users through innovative promotions, sweepstakes, in-arena activities, trivia, contests, Live Event seat upgrades and other Premium SMS (PSMS) programs. With mBlox, these communications can occur on any mobile device and over any mobile network.

  • Nick enters into publishing deal with Activision for CD Roms

    MUMBAI: US kids channel Nickelodeon has entered into a distribution agreement with Activision.


    Activision will be the exclusive distributor of three new Nick Jr. PC CD-ROM titles, published by Nickelodeon and based on the preschool series Dora The Explorer, The Backyardigans, and Go, Diego, Go!. The titles will be available
    later this month.



    Dave Oxford, General Manager for Activision Value Publishing


    Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family VP, digital media products Paul Jelinek says, “This is an exciting digital initiative for Nickelodeon since it is the first time our company is publishing computer games on a cross platform.


    “With a leading partner like Activision on-board to distribute these original Nick published games, based on some of our leading preschool properties, we are now able to fulfill consumer demand for this kind of entertainment both online and at retail.”

  • Vijay TV to launch on Singapore’s pay TV platform Starhub

    Vijay TV to launch on Singapore’s pay TV platform Starhub

    MUMBAI: Singaporean pay-TV operator, StarHub, will launch Tamil channel, Vijay TV on StarHub Digital Cable. The channel will debut on 2 October 2006.

    The info-communication company had recently announced that it will offer five international channels free to customers of StarHub Digital Cable using the digital and Digital Video Recorder (DVR) set-top boxes, and on top of that, offer an additional Chinese entertainment channel, Star Chinese Channel, to subscribers of its Chinese Entertainment Basic Group.

    Singapore is the third market in the world, after India and the US to carry Vijay.

    StarHub’s VP cable TV services Patrick Lim says, “The beauty of cable TV is its capacity to offer a wide range of niche programming to cater to the needs of our different audience segments. StarHub Digital Cable has been the sole operator offering 24-hour Tamil programming in Singapore, and we believe the community of local Tamil viewers will certainly appreciate what VIJAY will bring to their living rooms in terms of vibrant and appealing Tamil programmes.”

    Star Regional (SEA) senior VP, ad sales, distribution and marketing Gautam Kiyawat says, “As one of the leading content providers of Tamil and Hindi programmes internationally, STAR is acutely aware of the viewing preferences of our Tamil audiences. Over the years, VIJAY has carved an identity as a dynamic Tamil entertainment channel infused with contemporary Indian culture, and we are very excited to extend VIJAY to audiences in Singapore.”

    Fans of Tamil programmes can get the channel for $4.00 ($4.20 with GST) per month, upon the subscription of at least three Basic Groups from StarHub Digital Cable’s subscription plan. Customers will need StarHub’s digital or DVR set-top box in order to receive the channel.

    Viewers can refer to the On-screen TV Guide or StarHub’s Online Programme Guide at www.starhub.com/cabletv for the schedule of the programmes on Vijay. Customers can call 1630 or 1633 to subscribe to the channel or visit the website for more information.