ITV

Category: GECs

  • Zoom attempts comedy with Santa & Banta Unlimited; to air from 10 July

    Zoom attempts comedy with Santa & Banta Unlimited; to air from 10 July

    MUMBAI: The original Indian rap king Baba Saigal and popular RJ Siddharth Kannan team up to entertain viewers with Zoom’s first comic bonanza, Santa & Banta Unlimited. This new show aims to redefine ‘time pass viewing’, with it’s two hosts Siddharth Kannan aka Santa and Baba Saigal aka Banta.

    Starting 10 July, the half hour show will air every Monday at 8.30 pm.
    The duo promise to deliver everything from topical news, lifestyle issues, film reviews, TV gags of other shows, parties, call ins for “love” problems and other gyaan, in true Santa Banta style, which is a comical rhapsody, witty repartees and award winning one liners.

    Santa & Banta Unlimited being an extension of the personalities of the two hosts’ reflects the natural camaraderie between Banta, a “cut surd” and Santa, a typical “Tam Bram”. Kannan is known for his spontaneous sense of humor; hence Baba’s rapping will be a great foil to Kannan’s yakking.

    Joking about his rapport with Baba, Kannan remarks with his trademark tongue-in-cheek twist, “We are like a husband and wife team. But we haven’t figured who is the husband and who is the wife. We are two contrasting people with a zest for life. As people in Mumbai would say, we are truly bindaas.”

    “Anchoring is a part of me. It has a different kick, different popularity and a different feedback,” says Baba about his experience. “I have known Siddharth since the past 12 years. We’ve developed a great chemistry and that will be evident on-screen.”

  • Sahara One Motion Pictures names Sharang Sharma as business head

    Sahara One Motion Pictures names Sharang Sharma as business head

    MUMBAI: Sahara One Motion Pictures, the movie production and distribution wing of the Sahara Group, has promoted Sharang Sharma, head of acquisition, distribution and movie syndication, as business head. 

    Sharma fills the post that become vacant after COO Sandeep Bhargava quit the company earlier this month. Prior to joining Sahara One Motion Pictures, Sharma was with Sony Pictures Releasing of India Ltd. He reports in to Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO Shantonu Aditya. 

    Sharma will oversee acquisition as well as syndication deals with both domestic as well as international channels.

    Speaking about his plans, Sharma said, “I’m looking at taking the company to newer heights and aim to make this outfit the most prolific production boutique.”

    Sharma expressed confidence that the forthcoming releases under the banner — which include Madhur Bhandarkar’s Corporate, Signal and Sandwich (starring Govinda) — would bring in more cash flow just as Hunuman and Malamaal Weekly have done in the recent past.

  • UTV Toons inks animation deals with Porchlight, Mike Young

    UTV Toons inks animation deals with Porchlight, Mike Young

    MUMBAI: UTV Toons, the animation arm of media conglomerate UTV Software Communications Ltd, has inked co-production and animation outsourcing deals worth $ 14 million with Porchlight Entertainment and Mike Young Productions.

    UTV will jointly produce and finance with Porchlight Entertainment a 3D animated feature film, Jay Jay’s Race Around The World, slated for theatrical release during Christmas 2007. Budgeted at $10 million, the feature is based on the popular award winning preschool series, Jay Jay The Jet Plane.

    Scripting for the feature is already underway and pre-production will begin in October at UTV in Mumbai and PorchLight Entertainment in Los Angeles. The entire production will be carried out at UTV Toons. The marketing and distribution strategy of the feature will be jointly created and implemented by the two companies who will have an equal and perpetual share in revenues and exploitation of the property.

    The other co-production deal is with Mike Young Productions’ distribution arm Taffy Entertainment and Method Film France for TV series of Cosmic Quantum Ray (26 episodes x 22 minutes). UTV Toons will have a perpetual 20 per cent share of worldwide revenues and the studio’s investment in this co-production is around $1 million, which would be part payment and part in sweat equity.

    Besides the two co-production deals, UTV Toons has also bagged an animation services contract worth $ 3 million from Mike Young Productions. The service contract is a total of 13 hours of 3D animation for a variety of Direct to DVD as well as TV episodes.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com’s sister concern Animation Xpress.com, UTV COO Ronald Dmello said, “These deals signify an important step in the growth and development of UTV within the animation space. They mark a significant step towards the addition of some very high profile titles into UTV’s animation portfolio and an entry into the elite animated feature film makers’ club.”

    “This is the next step in globally maximising the Jay Jay brand,” said PorchLight CEO and executive producer of Jay Jay the Jet Plane Bruce Johnson. “We took the success of Jay Jay on PBS and grew it into a recognisable licensing brand. Now, having added new characters, new storylines and the PBS Sprout platform to the series, it’s logical to align ourselves with the talents of UTV and produce Jay Jay in a long form format.”

    Commenting on the deal, Mike Young Productions & Taffy Entertainment co-CEO Mike Young said, “We are very excited about starting this new relationship. We expect to benefit hugely from the abilities and experience of UTV’s animation studio and also their pedigree and depth as a media company.”

    The newly announced deals add to the already bountiful UTV Toons order book where production is on in full swing. Starting July, the studio will be delivering 14 direct to DVD titles back to back to BKN. Deliveries on Freej (15 x 22 mins) where UTV Toons is involved right from pre to post, have also begun.

  • Musicnotes inks deal with Sony

    Musicnotes inks deal with Sony

    MUMBAI: The online digital sheet music, Musicnotes.com, has announced a new, long-term distribution agreement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. 

    According to an official release, Musicnotes.com will produce and sell digital sheet music and guitar tablature for songs from throughout Sony/ATV’s extensive catalog.

    Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson joins an impressive list of music publishers and administrators already offering sheet music for their artists on the Musicnotes.com web site. These publishers include Alfred Music Publishing (encompassing the Warner/Chappell catalog), BMG, Zomba, EMI Christian, Word Music and dozens of additional publishers.

    Musicnotes.com will offer digital sheet music downloads for songs from Sony/ATV’s impressive roster of songwriters. This sheet music includes songs written by Beck, Sarah McLachlan, Richie Sambora, Gretchen Wilson, Stevie Nicks, Oasis, KT Tunstall and Fall Out Boy — as well as the seminal rock and roll group, The Beatles.

    “As a music publisher, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to promote our songs and songwriters,” said Sony/ATV chairman and CEO David Hockman. “We are delighted to work directly with Musicnotes.com, whose expertise and large, loyal customer base makes them the clear leader in the digital sheet music marketplace.”

    As a result of the agreement, the official release adds that Musicnotes will also be offering guitarists a wide selection of interactive lessons for Sony/ATV’s songs in Musicnotes’s popular Guitar Guru Sessions(TM) format.

    “The addition of Sony/ATV’s song catalog to our site is wonderful news for our customers,” said Musicnotes CEO, Kathleen Marsh. “These songs represent some of the best-known and adored works of all-time, and we are extremely excited to work with Sony/ATV in allowing musicians to learn to play these works using our market leading format.”

  • Interactive TV portal solution for Dutch channel launched this football season

    Interactive TV portal solution for Dutch channel launched this football season

    MUMBAI: chellomedia Interactive Services has launched a new interactive TV portal in the Netherlands on Sport1, this soccer season.

    Digital premium channel Sport1 now offers its subscribers on the UPC cable platform (UPC Digital TV) the option to switch between four Sport1 channels presented on one TV screen.

    The launch of the interactive portal fits in with chellomedia’s strategy to offer new digital services to cable network operators in Europe as well as to broadcasters and other platform owners.

    While watching a match, viewers are able to call up for extra information such as match results, current scores, player statistics, an interactive quiz and a dedicated World Cup section.

    chellomedia Interactive Services exwecutive VP Noel Leslie says, “We are developing these kind of interactive solutions for operators and broadcasters in order to help them increase and retain channel audiences and to create opportunities for new revenue streams. These converged TV and internet solutions give viewers more and more control: they have more to choose from, can access content on-demand and even participate in programmes.”

    Sport1 GM Jeroen Oerlemans says, “The launch of our Sport1 TV portal will provide great added value to our premium sports channel in the Netherlands. With this easily accessible interactivity and the possibility to view a mosaic with multiple live channels, the viewer becomes more powerful and gets more choices. We think this portal will fulfil a great need.”

    chellomedia develops and facilitates these services using its authoring and deployment solution chello mistral. This solution enables quick and simple development by members of a creative team across multiple platforms and middlewares. It is also accredited by BSkyB to deliver interactive advertising, for which chellomedia has partnerships with leading UK broadcasters and ad agencies.

    chellomedia interactive services delivers entertainment-focused, interactive applications and content which strengthen digital TV and PC-based, broadband Internet offerings.

  • Tune in to the exclusive premiere of ‘Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat’ this Friday night at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies

    Tune in to the exclusive premiere of ‘Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat’ this Friday night at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies

    MUMBAI: This Friday night, Star Movies has an entertaining treat in store for its viewers!!! Watch the adaptation of a classic children’s book, starring Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston and Dacota Fanning.

    Tune in to watch the wily talking cat with a tall striped hat and more than a few tricks up his sleeve in the exclusive premiere of Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat this Friday night, December 8th at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies.

    Set in a colorful make-believe world, the film tells the classic tale of a sister and brother, Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad (Spencer Breslin), who pass a rainy afternoon with their crotchety baby sitter Mrs. Kwan (Amy Hill), during which they receive a visit from the mysterious Cat in the Hat (Mike Myers), who leads them on a series of colorful, illogical, silly misadventures.

     

    Meanwhile their mother (Kelly Preston), her paranoid boss (Sean Hayes), and her phony boyfriend (Alec Baldwin), present obstacles for the children as they become part of the Cat’s chaotic world. At first it’s all fun and games, until things get out of hand, and The Cat must go, go, go, before their parents get back!!!.

    While the basic plot of the live-action adaptation of The Cat in the Hat rotates around the same as that of the book, the film has added new subplots and characters quite different from those of the original story.

    With candy colored sets that pop off the screen and zany special effects, this bright and happy film is packed with dazzling stunts and is entertaining from start to end. The moral of the.

    So don’t forget to tune in to the exclusive premiere of Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, this Friday, December 8th at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies.

  • TRAI releases consultation paper on “Review of Internet Services”

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India received a reference from Department of Telecommunication seeking recommendations on Internet Services. The Government is contemplating to review the policy of Internet Services with a view to address large number of ISP licenses, grey market operations, level playing field vis-?-vis other licensed telecom service providers, for a effective, regulated and forward looking ISP license.

    It may be recalled that Internet services were launched in India on 15th August 1995. In November 1998 the Government opened up the sector for providing Internet services by private operators. A liberal licensing regime was put in place with a view to increase Internet penetration across the country. Though large number of ISPs (389) has been licensed to operate Internet service today, top 20 ISPs provide Internet services to 98per cent subscribers.

    Internet Telephony has been permitted to 128 ISPs, however only 32 of them are presently providing Internet Telephony. The growth of Internet and Broadband is slow and with present growth it is not likely to achieve the target of 18 million Internet subscribers and 9 million Broadband connections by 2007.

    Government is concerned with increasing IP telephony called grey market. The loss of government revenue, unlicensed operation by certain operators in violation of law of the land, depleting market share of licensed operators are some of the reasons which necessitates urgent review of policy of Internet services as well as ISP licensing conditions.

     

    Numbers of new services like IP-TV, IP-Telephony etc are becoming very popular. The demands of the various content services are likely to increase in coming years. The scope of services under existing ISP license conditions are unclear. There is need to remove these ambiguities to smoothen roll out of these services while ensuring level playing field vis-a vis other licensed telecom operators.

     

    The consultation paper discusses in detail various issues like level playing field vis a vis other telecom service providers, different foreign direct investment limits for provision of similar services under different licenses, virtually no license fee, limited performance bank guarantee and charging of radio spectrum based on allocated frequency, hops, link length etc. While ISPs demand permission to provide emerging new services as IP based value added services, other licensed operators want level paying field as ISPs virtually pay no license fee and very low performance bank guarantee.

     

    ISPs are permitted to have 100 FDI if they do not setup their own gateway (74 per cent FDI if they setup their International gateway) but UASL and CMTS operators can normally get FDI up to just 49 per cent unless they fulfill other conditions in which case it can go up to 74 per cent. The spectrum charging mechanism for ISPs is based on complex mechanism and at time very costly.

     

    In order to address these issues pertaining to Internet Services, Authority has decided to release a consultation paper on “Review of Internet Services”. The consultation paper discusses in depth present scenario, regulatory environment, emerging trend and emphasizes the need to revamp internet services in India.

    The consultation paper is available on TRAI’s website: (www.trai.gov.in) All the stakeholders are requested to send their written comments to the Authority through email/ fax/letter by 15th January 2007

  • Sam Balsara releases book ‘1800 Runs Brand Sale Khel Mein’

    MUMBAI: India’s leading lifestyle bookstore chain, offered its customer’s strategies to achieve success in brand sales with the launch and reading of the book ‘1800 Runs Brand Sale Khel Mein’ by author of several bestsellers (popularly known as the brand guru) Jagdeep Kapoor, Chairman & Managing Director of Samsika Marketing Consultants Pvt Ltd at Crossword (Kemps Corner). The book has been published by Macmillan India Ltd.

    Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director Madison Communications will launch the book and read excerpts from the book along with the author.

    Do you sometimes feel that you have not been able to achieve fully what you are capable of? Do you sometimes feel that if only your approach was not negative or tentative, you could have done better in your life and your career? Whether in cricket, life, or Brand Sales you need to excel.

    1800 Runs Brand Sale Khel Mein is an attempt to acquaint sales people with hurdles that might come their way and the constructive steps that need to be taken to overcome these very obstacles.

    The 11 strategies serve as a practical guide to achieve success in Brand Sales. Right from identifying dreams, anticipating bouncers and applying masterstrokes, the author with his wide practical experience and conceptual clarity makes Brand Sales target a much less daunting prospect.

    In an interesting manner, the author takes you through the failures and depressions of the can’t team and the successes and enthusiasm of the ant team, wherein each of the 11 members of the ant team; whether gallant or observant, relevant or triumphant, teach you 11 ways to scoremore in life, cricket and Brand Sales.

    The unique and powerful concept of 1800 Runs Brand Sale Khel Mein would help you to think and execute your full potential both internally and externally. So, go ahead and scoremore in life.

    About Jagdeep Kapoor:

    The Chairman & Managing Director of Samsika Marketing Consultants Pvt Ltd – a leading strategic marketing consultancy with a number of well known Indian as well as MNC clients.

    While considered to be a Brand guru, Jagdeep Kapoor is a prolific writer and has authored several best sellers. He is a visiting faculty member at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

    About Crossword:

    Crossword is India’s leading bookstore chain, which has pioneered the lifestyle bookstore concept in India. Its innovative approach to book retailing and its achievements have received wide acclaim in India and has won the ‘Reid & Taylor Award for Best Retailer of the year – Leisure & Specialty’ at the India Retail Summit 2005 ‘Images Retailer of the Year award for the books, music and gifts category for 2005’. Businessworld rated Crossword as the ‘6th Most Respected Retailer in the country’ for the year 2006; the only bookstore to feature in the top ten. Launched in 1992, Crossword currently has 39 stores across 10 cities in the country in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune & Vadodara. Crossword Bookstores Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary Company of Shopper’s Stop Ltd – India’s leading department store chain. The Holding Company inter-alia also acts as a Master Franchisee of the Company.

  • Radio City 91.1 FM, is back with Radio’s biggest musical blockbuster ‘Musical -E- Azam’

    MUMBAI: Radio City 91.1 FM brings back radio’s biggest musical extravaganza and the first ever in the history of radio. So all you music aficionados get equipped to get hook on to your radio sets as you ‘just cannot’ miss tuning into Radio City 91.1 FM this December! Radio City 91.1 FM, India’s Leading FM Radio Network is all set to create magic…yet again…as it presents radio’s biggest musical blockbuster…the hugely popular ‘Radio City, Musical-E-Azam- Naya Andaz’ a month long mega musical festival, which gets bigger, better and incomparable.

    ‘Radio City, Musical -E- Azam’ is a 4-week live musical extravaganza, which would hit the Mumbai airwaves on December 11, 2006 and then mesmerize listeners across Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Jaipur. The first week of Radio City, Musical-E-Azam- Naya Andaz will see the following:

    From Monday to Friday, between 8am – 11am, listeners can tune into the morning show Kase Kai Mumbai for the special series of ‘Radio City, Musical -E- Azam’. The Live show will be heard in an all-new format wherein one Celebrity RJ every week will co-host the program along with Radio City’s very own RJ Manish Paul. What’s more! For the first time ever in the history of radio, the celebrity RJ for the week will co-host the show and interview 5 music icons and see them perform ‘live’ on radio, share anecdotes and incidents from their life. Saturdays will see a roundup of the best of Radio City Musical – E – Azam that week. The celebrity RJ will also perform for Radio City listeners during the week.

    Besides taking song requests and chatting with fans that call into Radio City, what sets this program aside is the fact that requests will be sung live by the singers in the studio! Adding to this Radio City 91.1 FM will dedicate the entire day to the star music personality, playing his/her best songs, and engaging listeners with trivia and anecdotes from their personal lives. There will be host of surprises packed in the show for the star singers as well.

    ‘Radio City, Musical -E- Azam’ has a super line up of Celebrity RJ’s – Sunidhi Chauhan, Shankar Mahadevan, Roop Kumar Rathod, Javed Akhtar and music superstars – Kunal Ganjawala, Adnan Sami, Daler Meander, Sukhvinder Singh, Gulzar, Zakir Husain, Ghulam Ali, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Eshan & Loy, Kailash Kher, Talat Aziz, Bhupinder, Ranjit Barot, Jagjit Singh, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, AR Rehman, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy to name a few.

    According to Mr. Rana Barua, Head Marketing, Radio City, “At Radio City 91.1 FM we have always believed that great music, innovation and creativity in our shows is what sets us apart. Since radio is a ‘music entertainment medium’, we have consistently directed our efforts towards creating pioneering innovative programs like Musical-E-Azam, Babbar Sher, Shaam-E-Ghazal, which goes to prove our musical expertise and supreme position. With utmost pride we are happy to announce the all-new ‘Musical-E-Azam – Naya Andaaz’, which is certainly the best property created in the history of Indian FM radio. We are confident that this power packed show will make our listeners groove to great music.”

    So…tune into Radio City 91.1 FM for unheard facts, gossip, experiences, emotional moments and the most awaited of all… live performances, only on ‘ Radio City, Musical-E-Azam’

  • Zee News Initiates Interactive Discussions On Paradigm Shift In The Society

    MUMBAI: Zee News – the pioneer Hindi news channel, in it’s endeavor to highlight the shift of the focus in the society, presents two interactive discussion programmes this weekend. These programmes will primarily focus on two issues; first is “”Are religious Gurus have become the role models of the society, today?” and the second is “Is the society in Gujarat accepting the liberal women?”

     

    The two programmes have been designed in such a way that the viewer’s interactivity would be as high as possible. “Main Azaad Hoon” initiates the discussion on “today’s liberal attitude of women”, whereas it is “commoner’s increasing dependency on the religious gurus” takes the center stage in “Kitna Bole Baba”

    The programmes are aimed at clarifying the prevailing misconceptions about the issues. “Kitna Bole Baba” will focus the society’s current mindset of making larger than life picture of their religious gurus. It is going to be a discussion between today’s famous gurus and the social scientists with a view to bring a clearer picture of the thought process the gurus put in, while advising their disciples in their day to day affairs.

    It will be telecasted on 23rd December’06 at 8 p.m. “Main Azaad Hoon” will focus on the pragmatic situations, which today’s women often find them into. From having a boyfriend to having an extra marital affair, no question is going to be hypothetical. The discussion will further cover the morality factor in the women’s action from society’s viewpoint.

    Apart from survey and field stories, the guests in the studio will also contribute with their views. Guests would include some social activists, young girls and a psychologist. This will be telecasted on 24th December’06 at 8 p.m. The survey was conducted in four cities – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

    Zee News has always devised ways to connect to its viewers. A deep research was conducted, before zeroing down on these topics. The channel has been frequently providing a platform to discuss the important topics, which will pave way to an open-minded society.

    Watch the discussions live on Zee News from 8pm. To 9 pm on 23rd and 24th December’06.