ITV

Category: Music and Youth

  • Vh1 and Jack Black join to produce ‘Department of Acceptable Media’

    Vh1 and Jack Black join to produce ‘Department of Acceptable Media’

    MUMBAI: VH1, Jack Black and the team from Channel101.com have announced the launch of weekly comedy program Department of Acceptable Media.

    The user-generated content and material show will be responsible for a website that will launch in early 2007 followed by a 8 episode weekly TV series premiering on VH1 in the Spring of 2007, asserts an official release.

    On board as coconspirators for The Department are Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab as executive producers, who teamed with Black in 2003 to cofound Black Channel 101, a Website dedicated to screening digital shorts made by novice filmmakers in a competitive forum. Benjamin Cooley will oversee for Electric Dynamite Productions.

    VH1 SVP of films and scripted series Maggie Malina, will oversee television production for VH1, along with VH1 EVP production and programming Michael Hirschorn.

    Each week viewers will see new three-minute episodes of six proposed TV series, most produced by the ‘Department’ staff, some produced by web users. Viewers will then be able to vote, via the Web site www.acceptable.tv, for three of those series to return with a new episode.

    The three with the least votes are cancelled and replaced by three new pilots the following week. All shows acceptable and unacceptable will be shown on the website. The best of these shorts could eventually grow to a full series on VH1, adds the release.

    Actor and series producer Jack Black said, “Over the years, Dan Harmon and Rob Shrab have assembled an incredible group of young filmmakers at their internet event, Channel101.com.”

    “They have mastered the art of the three-to-five minute entertainment power nugget. I am proud to be a producer of this breakthrough television series. This is the first show in TV history to be programmed by the audience,” he added.

    “The formation of the Department places VH1 and its viewers again at the forefront of the user-generated content revolution. VH1 tapped into the online video explosion early with our weekly Web Junk 20 series nearly a year ago. The show found the funniest videos on the internet and shared them with our viewers — thousands of whom uploaded their own videos to us,” said MTV Networks music group and logo president entertainment Brian Graden.

  • Radio Mirchi gets ‘kiddie’ fever

    Radio Mirchi gets ‘kiddie’ fever

    MUMBAI: Commemorating Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday and a day that has come to be popularly called ‘Children’s Day’, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM has lined special programming for Delhi and Mumbai dedicated to Indian kids.

    In Delhi, Radio Mirchi will kick off a contest where kids opinions on “the one thing they would want to change in their parents” could win them prizes and an opportunity to be on-air with the station’s RJs. From among the callers that day, the five best responses will be selected.

    In a Children’s Day capsule titled Baccha Party, celebrity parents will share their experiences on parenthood. While on the evening show Bumper-to-Bumper Radio Mirchi will invite underprivileged kids to the studio and give them an opportunity to share their dreams and aspirations of the city. The kids will also get an opportunity to display their talent through singing, mimickery and games with RJ Naved.

    In Total Filmi RJ Anmol will rope in celebrities who started their career as child artists and get them to narrate their experiences, states an official release.

    Similarly, Mumbai also has something special lined up for their ‘little listners’. Hello Mumbai and Bumper-to-Bumper will be co-hosted by child achievers, including Mumbai finalist from the talent hunt Lil Champs Sameer Mohammed and participants Aman Mallik, Abrokanti and Adil. The children will share their views on issues concerning Mumbai city while interacting with other children from the city.

    The radio station has also tied up with the NGO – Smile, whereby kids from this organisation will be invited to Radio Mirchi to celebrate Children’s Day. These children will also get an opportunity to be on air with the Lil Champ participants.

    All the kids will get to point out a child’s view on various subjects that affect Mumbai city such as security, the education system and traffic, in addition to their their personal thoughts and dreams.

    The Mirchi studios in Mumbai will also be kept open between 10 am to 6 pm inviting kids to come in and share their views.

    In preparation for the Children’s Day celebrations, the station in Delhi will also host Hello Delhi on 13 November where the cities socialites, fashion designers and politicians will share their most memorable moments of their childhood. Also, RJ Anu and Dr. Chug will provide parents an understanding into child psychology and grooming tips for children on a show called Khubsoorat.

  • Big 92.7 FM to launch in Mumbai on 14 November; to target mini-metros in next pahse

    Big 92.7 FM to launch in Mumbai on 14 November; to target mini-metros in next pahse

    MUMBAI: Finally, Big 92.7 FM is making its official debut in Mumbai on 14 November.

    With the launch of Big 92.7 FM Mumbai station, Adlabs Radio completes its first phase of launching stations across six metros; in the order of Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.

    The second phase would involve pitching into the virgin territories like Srinagar, Jammu and Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) and other mini-metros.
    Meanwhile, the radio company has also entered into a partnership with Century Communications. Interestingly, the yet to launch radio stations from the stable of Century Communications will broadcast on 92.7 FM, the same frequency as the Big FM.

    When queried about forming any further alliance with other small players Big 92.7 FM COO Tarun Katial refused to divulge anything at the moment, but admitted that they are in talks and soon shall be locking in deals.

    Under the agreement with Century Communications, the partnership has been chalked out for content syndication and ad sales. This gives them the leverage of a network of 45 stations (owned by Adlabs Radio) and 9 stations (Century Communications).

    To ensure high aspiration and connect with the listeners, Big 92.7 FM has roped in television stars as their radio jocks including Shwetha Tiwari (Prerna of Kasautii Zindagi Ki), Pallavi Joshi (host of Antakshari), Vrajesh Hirjee and Abhijit Sawant (Indian Idol fame).

    Positioning it as the young adult contemporary station, the programming mix the station intends to offer from 5 am Seher, which will continue till 7 am. Hosted by Shweta Tiwari, the show is all about bhajans, sufi and other alternative soothing and instruments sounds. The breakfast show The Big Chai will be hosted by Vrajesh Hirjee and Pallavi Joshi, wherein the show will offer amusing circumstances and some bizarre stories with listeners voting in a solution for each situation. The station also has created Baburao who is the utility man providing updeats on the latest happenings of the city on The Big Chai.

    The station has created a show Anirudh LLB (Love Ladkiyan Bollywood), which is more to do with espousal arousal created for the housewives and girlfriends, besides providing insights on the Bollywood side of life. In a unique manner, the station has created Murder at 9 pm, which is a thriller series about an unconventional police officer, who is passionate about solving crimes in the city. The Indian Idol fame Abhijit Sawant will play all the big numbers of the week on weekends through The Big 30 Countdown.

    To Katial, “It is our aim to create content that is relevant, credible and has an aspirational value to the listeners.”

    To create a buzz on Big 92.7 FM especially where there are so many brands competing for the same share of mind and ears, it is essentials for the brands have to touch lives, build bonds and thereby build equity. “Our strategy is to give visibility to the brand and get a sample feedback during our launch period,” says Big 92.7 FM interactivity activation and PR head Vidyuth Bhandari.

    Speaking in short on the series of on-ground activation, Bhandari says that the radio channel will run a CSR campaign which is fight against terrorism on the launch day. It will also create a big buzz in the inroads of Mumbai through Big Barrat activity is a gesture to welcome the brand.

    The station will generate a noise at all possible malls. The company is said to have tied up with manufactures for co-branded radio sets. They have also tied-up with around 250 odd chai stalls (Tea stalls), wherein they will be provided with radio stets and play Big FM.

    The brand will unleash its 360 degree campaign on the launch date, reinforcing its positioning as adult contemporary station. With an investment of Rs 4 billion dedicated to transmission equipment, infrastructure and licensing, the proposed network for Big 92.7 FM is set to make a ‘big’ splash in the expanding radio industry in India. The marketing budget has been pegged at Rs 450 million of which around Rs 50 million has bee marked for Mumbai.

  • Vh1 enters another dimension with ‘Video Mods’

    Vh1 enters another dimension with ‘Video Mods’

    MUMBAI: Vh1, India’s international music and lifestyle channel, has launched a new mixing concept with Video Mods.

    Video Mods transforms music videos by injecting a unique video game environment and featuring characters from one or even a few video games.

    This new concept presents video games and music videos all morphed in one, asserts an official release.

    In upcoming episodes, Video Mods will take on videos from the Beastie Boys, Ciara, Yellow Card, Taking Back Sunday, and The Killers with games like NBA Street V3, Medal of Honor European Assault, Dance Dance Revolution, Silent Hill, and Lineage II: the Chaotic Chronicle, adds the release.

    New 30 minute episode of Vh1’s Video Mods will be telecasted every Saturday at 5 pm.

  • Music India dedicates channel to kids on Children’s Day

    Music India dedicates channel to kids on Children’s Day

    MUMBAI: Celebrating Children’s Day, Music India, a 24 hr Hindi music channel plans to dedicate it to kids allowing them to script, present and package all the shows.

    The channel promises that on the 14 and 20 November, it would be transformed into a platform that is “for the children, of the children and by the children.”

    Special guests Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao (from Vivah) and Shreyas Talpade (from Iqbaal) will brighten up the day for the little ones. Watch the kids take on the stars and pose questions about their childhood and school days, states and official release.

    Sending out a message to kids Shahid Kapoor says, “I think childhood is the best time of your life, I’ve had a lot of fun before I took on the responsibilities, and when you are a kid you experience the best time. Have fun enjoy yourself but be a good person.”

    Another treat to add to the fun will be brought to viewers on Judwaa hosted by identical twins, Aanya and Manya playing back to back Hindi songs. Music India will thus bring a bouquet of shows on Children’s Day.

  • HT Media officially launches Fever 104 FM

    HT Media officially launches Fever 104 FM

    MUMBAI: Further strengthening its position as a leading media company, HT Media Ltd today announced the official launch of a FM radio station in Delhi under the brand name Fever 104 FM in collaboration with Virgin Radio.

    The Delhi station would be followed by launch in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata (need not necessarily in that order).

    Commenting on the launch, business head S. Keerthivasan said in a statement, “Our brand, our focus on quality, and our people will be our key competitive advantages in an increasingly cluttered and undifferentiated radio market place.”

    He added that the station reflects the “evolving tastes of discerning, urban Indians” who are comfortable with both Hindi and English and seek a good music experience more than anything else from their radio.

    “To give the consumer a radio experience comparable with anywhere in the world, Fever 104 has invested in, and ensured through our tie-up with Virgin, the best quality infrastructure and a highly competent and experienced talent pool,” Keerthivasan said.

    According to an official release, Fever 104 FM is an adult contemporary music station that targets consumers in the age group of 15-39 years and offers them a format radio experience.

    The tag line for Fever 104 FM highlights the philosophy of the radio station: more music, less talk.

    The four-ad launch campaign, developed by Lowe Lintas, projects the brand imagery for Fever 104 FM as one that is contemporary, youthful and innovative.

    Virgin Radio, the programming partner for Fever, has its presence in variious markets, including Bangkok, South Africa, London, Paris and Malaysia.

    Fever’s parent HT Media’s flagship brand is the English daily Hindustan Times. The company also owns Hindi daily Hindustan.

    Apart from the newspapers, the media house owns Hindi magazines Nandan and Kadambini and the company is now looking at launching a business paper.

  • Star Movies pays a tribute with Absolute Bond

    Star Movies pays a tribute with Absolute Bond

    THIS NOVEMBER… EXPECT HOLLYWOOD’S BEST… EVERY NIGHT!!!

    This November, Star Movies has the ultimate treat for its viewers every single day of the month! Take a trip down memory lane with the best classics, Hollywood has ever produced and watch the exclusive premieres of the latest award-winning blockbusters with the biggest stars! Brace yourself to be thrilled by the spy who has the license to kill all through the month, as Star Movies pays a tribute with Absolute Bond!

     

    Star Movies will showcase all the Bond films from Monday to Thursday all through the month! Watch Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, George Lazenby… all the Bonds, all the action, all bond films such as Gold Finger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View To Kill, The Living Daylights, License to Kill, Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day and be a part of the non-stop bond mania!

     

    And if that’s not all … catch an exclusive sneak peek into the soon-to-release Bond movie, Casino Royale the 21st film of the James Bond franchise on Opening Night!!! The movie introduces Daniel Craig (Munich) as Bond, making him the sixth actor to play the legendary secret agent. Casino Royale is based on Ian Fleming’s book of the same name, the first one of the popular 007 series, and gives audiences a glimpse of the man before he holds his license to kill.

     

    The superstars come out every Friday night on Star Movies with box-office behemoths into your living room for the first time in India!!! Every Friday night this month, Star Movies premieres the latest Hollywood blockbusters with superstars Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Vince Vaughn. Tune in to see Hollywood’s best and brightest on Eurotrip, Kingdom of Heaven, Shattered Glass and Mr. And Mrs Smith, every Friday night, this November.

     

    So get ready for this special treat as Star Movies presents Hollywood’s best on your television sets, this November!

    About Star
    STAR is a leading media and entertainment company in Asia. STAR broadcasts over 50 television services in nine languages to more than 300 million viewers across 53 Asian countries. STAR channels cover all genres including general entertainment (Star Plus, Xing Kong, Star Chinese Channel, Star One, Star Utsav, Star World, Vijay, Phoenix Chinese), sports (ESPN, Star Sports), movies (Star Chinese Movies, Star Gold, Star Movies), music (Channel [V]), and news and current affairs (Star News, Star Ananda, Phoenix InfoNews Channel). STAR controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming and also owns the world’s largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and Bruce Lee. In partnership with leading companies in Asia, STAR businesses extend to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems, direct-to-home services, terrestrial TV broadcasting, wireless and digital services. STAR is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation. www.startv.com

  • Radio Mirchi Q2 net up 16% at Rs 49 million

    Radio Mirchi Q2 net up 16% at Rs 49 million

    MUMBAI: Entertainment Network India (ENIL),which manages the radio FM brand Radio Mirchi has posted a net profit of Rs 49.31 million for the quarter ended 30 September.

    According to an official release, the company has reported 16 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter. Net profit rose to Rs 49 million compared to Rs 43 million in the corresponding period last year.
    The company’s earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 17.6 per cent to Rs 99 million from Rs 84 million in the same quarter a year ago.

    On a like basis (comparing seven old stations only), EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 103 million, up 22.4 per cent year on year (YoY).

    Total income for the quarter recorded at Rs 424 million, while net sales (net sale indicates airtime sales) had been registered at Rs 411 million.

    The expenditure incurred amounting to Rs 325 million has been attributed to production expenses (Rs 24 million), license fees (Rs 21 million), marketing expenses (Rs 130 million), administration & other expenses (RsS 72 million) and employee cost (Rs 79 million).

    The company had introduced Employees Stock Option Scheme (ESOP) for its future and existing permanent employees and directors and future and existing permanent employees and directors of its subsidiary company and holding company.

    Quoting the data based on Indian Listenership Track (ILT – Wave 9), an independent research conducted by MRUC, for the period July- September ’06, the company states, “Radio Mirchi enjoyed the highest listenership of 4.46 million in Delhi out of a total listenership of 6.02 million listeners, comfortably ahead of the competition.”

    In Mumbai too, Radio Mirchi dominated listenership with 2.21 million out of a total of 4.98 million listeners. Commenting on the performance of the company ENIL CEO & MD AP Parigi said, “We continue to focus on building listenership through sustained innovations in marketing and programming as the latest listenership numbers in Delhi and Mumbai indicate. We are confident of magnetising this and maintaining our growth trajectory.”

    The company launched Visual Radio in Mumbai in September ’06 after it launched in New Delhi in July ’06.

  • Watch the exclusive EXPLOSION of DJs Power On ETC

    Watch the exclusive EXPLOSION of DJs Power On ETC

    Mumbai February 23, 2006: ETC, channel that takes pride in taking films, artistes and musicians into the homes of its viewers, is now bringing a unique blend of musicians and trend of musical remixing in its show Chit Chaat called the DJ Power.

     

    Dj Logical Lloyd, Dj Sunil S. and Dj Kiran have come together on ETC to recreate the magic of Power Play Version 1.0 by Dj Aqeel. They will all unleash the power of remixed music exclusively for the viewers of ETC on Wednesday March 1st , 2006 at 8.00 PM

     

    Chit Chaat is a celebrity interview show, wherein every celebrities from show biz appears to share themselves with ETC viewers. Each episode the anchor shoots a few rapid questions to the celebrity and thus reveals interesting and unknown facets of the celebrity’s life. The program is intercepted with songs of the guest’s choice.

     

    ‘Power Play Version 1.0’ is the remixed version arranged by Dj Amit B, Dj Jatin Sharma, Dj Sunil S., Dj Kiran and Dj Logical Lloyd who were brought together by Dj Aqeel to create this dance album. ETC star anchor Suresh Menon sakes them question on selection of the song the remix techniques used, what made them take on the job of remix, what excites them in music and what is their take on music today. It is an interesting show interspersed with extempore singing by Dj Logical Lloyd, Dj Sunil S. and Dj Kiran.

     

    ETC is a music based entertainment channel with music dominating more than 98% of the programming content. In all India markets, ETC enjoys the largest reach amongst all the music channels. ETC is watched by more then 35 million households.

  • MSN and Control Room take music performances to Europe

    MSN and Control Room take music performances to Europe

    MUMBAI: MSN, a leader in delivering compelling entertainment to Indian consumers, anounced a multiyear global content distribution agreement with Control Room, the No 1 provider of live digital entertainment and the producers of Live 8.

    The partnership will see MSN as the exclusive online worldwide destination for Control Room’s live music programming, via live and on-demand streaming.

    Officially launching in the UK on 2 October, the agreement means that nearly 465 million visitors to MSN worldwide, including millions of fans in India will have access to an exclusive performance from John Legend.

    The multiple-award-winning singer, songwriter and pianist’s live Royal Albert Hall performance will be available at http://msn.co.in/johnlegend from 16.00 GMT. Additional artists already scheduled to appear on MSN through the relationship with Control Room include Rod Stewart from the Nokia Theater in NYC and John Mayer from Webster Hall in NYC.

    The partnership will further allow visitors to MSN video ongoing access to live concerts from the most popular, top-selling musical artists as well as today’s most talked-about breakthrough acts.

    “With the video content market surging as it has been in the last year since Live 8, we have proven that there is a robust market for a company like ours to change the way live entertainment is consumed, now and in the future,” said CEO of Control Room Kevin Wall.

    “With MSN, we have found a global partner that sees the value and profit in providing our rich and cutting-edge live entertainment content to its consumers worldwide,”added Wall.

    General Manager for the MSN Network Greg Nelson said,”With this collaboration, artists now have an extremely valuable, cohesive, global marketing and promotion avenue to reach and connect with fans worldwide, while in turn it creates another key access point for consumers to get high-quality content from the musicians they love.”

    With this agreement in place, MSN and Control Room will embark upon a deep, exclusive content collaboration, combining Control Room’s expertise in creating and delivering live music events for cross-media distribution with the feature-rich video programming of MSN and its global reach and branded entertainment appeal to advertisers.

    Further, through this agreement, Microsoft Corp. may stream Control Room shows to other platforms, including Xbox Live, MSN Messenger, Microsoft Windows Media Player and Windows XP Media Center Edition.

    The Control Room team will leverage its deep and broad experiences, relationships and skills accrued while creating and digitally distributing more than 59 shows in the past year to deliver high-quality live music programming to MSN. Control Room maintains the same seasoned management team, many of whom worked on the now historic Live 8, and also continues content distribution relationships with television, radio, theatrical and retail partners worldwide.