ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Philip Fleming to head communications for BBC Worldwide’s home ent. biz

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has appointed Philip Fleming as head of communications for its home entertainment business.

    Home entertainment incorporates Worldwide’s Children’s and Licensing department (responsible for the global exploitation of brands such as Doctor Who and In the Night Garden) and its audio and music department which comprises of BBC Audio Books, record and track licensing, radio and TV programme sales, and music publishing.

    Fleming will also oversee communications for the company’s joint ventures including 2Entertain (DVD), Ebury (books), Ragdoll Worldwide (the management of Ragdoll Productions Ltd’s back catalogue) and Penguin (Children’s books).

    He joins the Home Entertainment team from BBC Magazines, where he has been head of communications since 2004. During his time at BBC Magazines he steered public relations for over 40 titles, including Radio Times, Top Gear, Olive and CBeebies Weekly and popular websites such as radiotimes.com, bbcgoodfood.com and topgear.com.

  • MCCS’ Barun Das to join Zee News as CEO

    MUMBAI: Zee News has roped in Barun Das as the CEO. The channel was operating without a CEO after former CEO Harish Doraiswamy resigned in mid-September.

    Das, who will be based in Delhi was earlier working as executive vice-president with Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS).

    At MCCS, Das has put in his papers and is currently serving notice period. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Das confirmed, “I am currently serving notice period at MCCS.”

    Prior to MCCS, Das was working as the head of international business development with Astro All Asia Network. He was based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

  • Sahara Samay to get a makeover

    MUMBAI: Subroto Roy promoted Sahara Group’s news channels that operate under the brand name Sahara Samay are getting ready for a makeover.

    The brand name ‘Sahara’ is likely to be dropped from all its news channels later this month, says an industry source.

    Each channel will possibly carry the tag of the region it is targeting without the brand name Sahara, adds the source. The channels are currently called Sahara Samay Mumbai, Sahara Samay Bihar & Jharkhand, etc.

    “Such proposals are being seriously considered and a decision is to be taken soon. The Samay title is likely to stay,” the source said.

    Sahara Samay editor-in-chief Punya Prasun Bajpai declined to comment on the likelihood of dropping the brand name by the Group for its news channels.

    Bajpai, however, confirmed that the news channels would don a new look and the studio sets would also get a makeover.

    When Sahara launched a movie channel, it decided to have Filmy as the brand name; it did not engage ‘Sahara’ preceding the name of the channel.

    Sahara Samay has recently refurbished its editorial team with former Aaj Tak executive editor Punya Prasun Bajpai joining the network; several others particularly from Aaj Tak have also been taken in.

  • BBC World Service receives £70 million fund increase

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service will receive a £70 million funding increase from the UK government for the three-year period from 2008-2009 to 2010-2011.

    The announcement was made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling during his Comprehensive Spending Review announcement in Parliament.

    The announcement formally confirmed £15 million per annum funding for a BBC news and information television channel in the Farsi (Persian) language for Iran which will be launched next year.

    The go-ahead for the service was announced in October 2006 by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. BBC World Service also received funding to enhance its forthcoming Arabic language television news and information channel.

    The services in Arabic and Farsi will be the first television news services to be launched by the BBC in a decade. They will be the first television services to be publicly-funded by Grant-in-aid from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The new BBC Arabic Television Service is due to launch around the turn of the year, initially as a 12-hour a day news and information service, at a cost of £19 million per annum.

    This initial service was funded through reprioritisation of the BBC World Service’s language portfolio and self-help efficiencies. The extra funding announced means the new channel would be able to broadcast 24 hours a day from an appropriate point during the next financial year. A full year’s operational cost of the additional 12 hours of television broadcasting in Arabic will be an extra £6m per annum.

    The overall settlement also includes £1m per annum from 2009-10 to enhance BBC World Service’s multi-media operations in languages relevant to ethnic communities resident in the UK. In common with other public organisations, BBC World Service plans to meet its rising costs from within its existing budget through a vigorous programme of efficiency savings.

    BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman said, “As we mark the 75th birthday of the BBC’s service to the world this December, this settlement strengthens BBC World Service’s future as a multi-media provider of high quality independent and impartial news and information around the world.

    “It specifically means that audiences in the Middle East and Iran will have multi-media access – through television, radio, and online – to trusted journalism of the highest standing and increased opportunity for dialogue and debate. We believe this will be a popular and valuable asset for audiences in this troubled region.

    “This is a good settlement for BBC World Service. We are grateful for the support we have received from our stakeholders in Parliament and across Whitehall in these discussions and, in particular, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Treasury.”

    The new investment means that BBC World Service’s overall funding level would rise from £246m in 2007-8 to £271m by 2010-11. BBC World Service would receive an extra £19m in 2008-9; £26m in 2009-10; and £25m in 2010-11.

    In common with other public organisations and the domestic BBC, BBC World Service plans to meet its rising costs from within its existing budget through a vigorous programme of efficiency savings.

  • BBC on FM in Maldives for first time

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster BBC World Service’s English radio programmes can now be heard on FM for the first time in the Maldives capital of Male.

    BBC World Service news bulletins, sporting and current affairs programmes will broadcast daily on Capital Radio 95.6 following the signing of a new agreement with their owner Asna Maldives Pvt Ltd.

    BBC business development manager for the South Asia Pacific region Helen Kathuria said, “The BBC has a strong tradition of loyal listenership in this region so it’s great that we can reach yet more people in crystal clear FM quality sound. We are also delighted to be partnering with one of the first private radio broadcasters in the Maldives.”

    Asna Maldives MD Abdulla Nasheed added, “We are proud to be associated with the world’s leading international radio broadcaster and thrilled that our listeners can now enjoy the BBC’s unique mix of news, sports and feature programmes across the city.”

  • BBC World Service receives ?70 million fund increase

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service will receive a ?70 million funding increase from the UK government for the three-year period from 2008-2009 to 2010-2011.


    The announcement was made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling during his Comprehensive Spending Review announcement in Parliament.



    The announcement formally confirmed ?15 million per annum funding for a BBC news and information television channel in the Farsi (Persian) language for Iran which will be launched next year.



    The go-ahead for the service was announced in October 2006 by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. BBC World Service also received funding to enhance its forthcoming Arabic language television news and information channel.



    The services in Arabic and Farsi will be the first television news services to be launched by the BBC in a decade. They will be the first television services to be publicly-funded by Grant-in-aid from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The new BBC Arabic Television Service is due to launch around the turn of the year, initially as a 12-hour a day news and information service, at a cost of ?19 million per annum.



    This initial service was funded through reprioritisation of the BBC World Service‘s language portfolio and self-help efficiencies. The extra funding announced means the new channel would be able to broadcast 24 hours a day from an appropriate point during the next financial year. A full year‘s operational cost of the additional 12 hours of television broadcasting in Arabic will be an extra ?6m per annum.



    The overall settlement also includes ?1m per annum from 2009-10 to enhance BBC World Service‘s multi-media operations in languages relevant to ethnic communities resident in the UK. In common with other public organisations, BBC World Service plans to meet its rising costs from within its existing budget through a vigorous programme of efficiency savings.



    BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman said, “As we mark the 75th birthday of the BBC‘s service to the world this December, this settlement strengthens BBC World Service‘s future as a multi-media provider of high quality independent and impartial news and information around the world.



    “It specifically means that audiences in the Middle East and Iran will have multi-media access – through television, radio, and online – to trusted journalism of the highest standing and increased opportunity for dialogue and debate. We believe this will be a popular and valuable asset for audiences in this troubled region.



    “This is a good settlement for BBC World Service. We are grateful for the support we have received from our stakeholders in Parliament and across Whitehall in these discussions and, in particular, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Treasury.”



    The new investment means that BBC World Service‘s overall funding level would rise from ?246m in 2007-8 to ?271m by 2010-11. BBC World Service would receive an extra ?19m in 2008-9; ?26m in 2009-10; and ?25m in 2010-11.



    In common with other public organisations and the domestic BBC, BBC World Service plans to meet its rising costs from within its existing budget through a vigorous programme of efficiency savings.

  • CNN’s global warning: Planet In Peril

    MUMBAI: CNN will air a two-part special series Planet In Peril on 24 and 25 October at 6:30 pm. The show which took nearly a year to make takes viewers to four continents and 13 countries where environmental change is not a theory, or possibility, but a crisis happening in real time. Filmed in high-definition, this four-hour documentary tackles the threats to the world’s environment.

    Bringing viewers the stories behind the statistics, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, chief medical correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta and Animal Planet host and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin will focus on four main issues that threaten the planet and its inhabitants: climate change, deforestation, species loss and overpopulation.

    Broadcast to a combined audience of more than 300 hundred million households on CNN International and CNN/US with an in-depth companion site on www.cnn.com/planetinperil, the documentary brings first-hand accounts of environmental strife as Cooper, Corwin and Gupta travel across the globe to explore these changes and reveal what they mean for each region and the world at large.

    Cooper and Corwin travelled to Brazil to examine connections between the rapid deforestation of the Amazon River Basin and changes in the world’s climate, embedding with “poacher police” amid raids of illegal logging camps. In Thailand and Cambodia, they walk the markets where endangered animals are bought and sold to find out how their removal can affect entire ecosystems. Additionally, they travelled to Greenland to report on its melting ice sheet, where Cooper witnessed one of the world’s newest islands, discovered when the ice receded.

    Taking viewers beyond the broad headlines, Corwin visits Alaska to help viewers understand how North America’s largest carnivore, the polar bear, is quickly losing its habitat and exists at the edge of extinction. Cooper and Corwin report from Yellowstone Park to show how park officials reintroduce species to their native environment.

    With his extensive medical expertise, Gupta brings a deep understanding of the environmental pressures on the human population. In China, Gupta examines how the world’s most populous nation consumes its natural resources and the toll it takes on its people and the entire world. He also reports from Central Africa to show how climate change is drying up one of the world’s largest lakes and the impact that is having on a region already in crisis.

  • NDTV 24×7 to kick off documentary series on 18 October

    MUMBAI: NDTV 24×7 is launching a series of documentaries at the 9:30 pm slot on Thursdays. Kicking off on 18 October, Documentary 24×7 will explore contemporary issues from across the globe.

    The series will feature a mix of award winning works by filmmakers both from India and abroad. The list of filmmakers include Amar Kanwar, Mike Pandey, Safina Uberoi, Sonali Gulati, Vivek Mohan, Pankaj Butalia and Paromita Vohra, utapa Deb, Shikha Trivedi, Radhika Bordia, Swati Thiyagarajan, Sampad Mahapatra, Uma Sudhir and Tisha Srivastav.

    The documentary films will reflect a wide range of subjects, style, content and form. Some of the chosen films include Sonali Gulati’s Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night which is based on the BPO industry; Safina Uberoi’s Brides of Khan, which portrays Sydney-based photographer Alan Khan; Many Faces of Madness by Amar Kanwar focusing on the wide-scale ecological devastation in India; and Where’s Sandra by Paromita Vohra which delves into Christian stereotypes.

  • Govt. lifts ban on Live India channel for fake sting operations

    NEW DELHI: The month-long ban on the Live India Channel imposed on 20 September for telecast of a fake sting which led to a law and order problem and arrest of a Delhi school teacher, has been lifted with effect from 13 October.

    This follows the acceptance by the government of the plea by the channel that there was no deliberate mala fide intention and the reporter had misled them and unfortunately the sting operation telecast on 30 August took a different shape.

    The government has, therefore, decided to revoke the prohibition imposed on transmission/re-transmission of the Live India (Janmat) TV Channel on all platforms with effect from midnight tonight.

    The sting operation that involved teacher Uma Khurana was found to be ‘defamatory, deliberate, false and contained suggestive innuendos and half truths; incited violence and contained content against maintenance of law and order.’ It ‘criticized, maligned and slandered an individual in person and it denigrated children.’

    Broadcast Initiatives Limited, distributor and uplinking applicant for Live India (earlier named Janmat) TV, in their appeal of 21 September and 4 October submitted that that they had exercised all due diligence and care according to the prevailing industry practice and there was no deliberate attempt by the channel to defame anybody by telecasting the sting operation. But it subsequently emerged that the reporter had misled them. 

    The channel requested the Information and Broadcasting ministry to reconsider the prohibition of transmission of the channel for one month as it had put a question mark on its commercial viability. 

    The ministry said the channel had ‘assured that they are committed to effectively using journalism in the best interests of the nation and society by following the highest standards of journalism and that they would be observing and minutely complying with all the relevant provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and the requisite license conditions’. 

    The ban has been imposed in terms of the Sub-Section (2) of Section 20 of the Act which is clear that ‘no person shall transmit or re-transmit through a cable service any programme unless such programme is in conformity with the prescribed programme code’.

    Section 20 (2) of the Act says the government may regulate or prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of any channel or programme ‘Where the Central Government thinks it necessary or expedient so to do in the interest of the (i) sovereignty or integrity of India; or (ii) security of India; or (iii) friendly relations of India with any foreign State; or (iv) public order, decency or morality.’

    The channel’s reporters Prakash Singh and Rashmi Singh are already in police custody. It is also learnt that some women’s organizations have filed a complaint asking the ministry to cancel the broadcasting licence of the channel. 

    Interestingly, the incident has come out at a time when there is growing confrontation between the ministry and news broadcasters on the need or relevance of an imposed Content Code. 

    The school teacher Uma Khurana has been granted bail in the fake sting which showed her using her own students for prostitution. Businessman Virendra Arora who wanted to recover some money reportedly owed to him by Uma is reported to have hatched the conspiracy using Prakash.

    Janmat was a predominantly “views channel” earlier till it re-launched itself in the form of Live India, a 24×7 news channel, on 3 August.

  • CNN-IBN launches ‘All about the Money’

    MUMBAI: CNN-IBN has launched a weekend show All about the Money. The half-hour show will provide guidance on issues relating to savings and investments.

    Each episode will be divided into a number of segments like ‘personal finance’, ‘realty check’, ‘consumer watch’, ‘indulge’, ‘class room explainers’ and ‘business unusual’.

    The segment ‘personal finance’ will provide guidance on insurance and mutual funds to banking and tax law and ‘realty check’ will provide map of realty prices and broker tips on investments.

    ‘Consumer watch’ highlights the after-sale services of companies and facilitates in addressing consumer woes. ‘Indulge’ reviews the latest consumer launch of the week. While ‘class room explainers’ answers basic questions related to personal wealth management, ‘business unusual’ explores money-making business ideas.

    CNN-IBN and IBN 7 editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, “All about the Money is our endeavour in helping the discerning viewer on how best to invest his disposable income in order to receive maximum returns. The main aim of the show is to provide methods of financial enhancement that are simple and comprehensible.”

    CNN-IBN and IBN 7 national sales head Sanjay Dua said, “All about the Money is the sort of show that would be of interest to everyone – whether a working professional, housewife or even someone who has just started earning. I am confident our advertising associates will find this property most lucrative in providing their brands excellent visibility.”