ITV

Category: TV Channels

  • L’oreal Paris Elite Model Look India 2006 unveils new face

    L’oreal Paris Elite Model Look India 2006 unveils new face

    MUMBAI: The L’Oreal Paris Elite Model Look India 2006, which kickstarted last month, culminated in a grand finale in Mumbai.

    Manasvi Mamgal was chosen as the winner of the contest There was a tie in the first runners up position. Erica Packard and Nicki Sehgal were announced as the first runners-up, while Akanksha Arora was selected as the second runner-up of this mega model hunt.

    The auditions for the model hunt were held across four metros between 2 and 9 September. Twenty girls were chosen and sent to Goa for a complete training and fitness programme from 12 to 17 September.

    The grooming sessions was held at The Leela Palaces and Resorts, which was the official venue sponsor for the event. Fitness expert Leena Mogre monitored the sessions in Goa.

    The winner will represent India at the Elite Model Look International 2006 to be held in Thailand in November 2006 while the three runners-up will be the participating in the Elite Model Look Asia Pacific 2006 to be held in Shanghai in November 2006.

    The panel of judges for the finale included Elite supermodel and reigning Miss India-Universe Neha Kapur, actress Amrita Arora, supermodel Mehr Jessia, fashion designer Manish Malhotra, stand-up comedian Ash Chandler and Michaela Goddard who is the Head – Scouting, Elite Worldwide.

    Elite India CEO Sushma Puri said, “The L’Oreal Paris Elite Model Look 2006 is an exciting property which allows us to tap into the immense talent that lies undiscovered across India.

    This democratic event gives an opportunity to all those young girls who dream of a career in the fashion industry. Elite on its part strives to develop these participants so that they rise to their fullest potential and are able to shine.”

    Besides the final winners, Soni Agarwal and Apoorva Vishvanathan were the other two winners for the Miss Photogenic title while Ekta Chaudhury was announced as the winner of the Trussardi Prima Donna Award.

    All the winners will be in a modeling contract with Elite India and have won a free one-year membership to Fitness expert Leena Mogre’s gym.

    The auditions for the model hunt was held across four metros between 2 to 9 September. Twenty girls were chosen and sent to Goa for a complete training and fitness programme from 12 to 17 September.

    The grooming sessions was held at The Leela Palaces and Resorts, which was the official venue sponsor for the event. Fitness expert Leena Mogre monitored the sessions in Goa.

    The model hunt will be aired in the form of a reality series from 23 September onwards exclusively on Zoom, India’s premier glamour and lifestyle television. The series will take a look at the shoot right from auditions, training sessions to the grand finale.

    Commenting on the association with the event, Zoom business head MK Anand said, “As India’s foremost Glamour and Entertainment news destination, Zoom has showcased the finest events in the fashion and lifestyle arena. This model hunt is an effort to gain a space in fashion and style space. We hope to consolidate our position with the L’Oreal Paris Elite Model Look 2006.”

    “We will be airing a 10 episode series that takes a look at the reality shoot at the training sessions at Goa and the finale. This is just the beginning. We will soon be lauching a hunt called Diva Quest, which will be a hunt for a face for Zoom” added Anand.

    L’Oreal Consumer Products Division (India) director Philippe Raffray added “L’Oreal Paris endeavors to make women around the world more beautiful. Which is why this association with Elite, one of the most prestigious modeling networks, and Zoom, India’s glamorous lifestyle channel, creates a unique showcase for contemporary Indian beauty.”

  • Diwali rush for concepts, slots and TRPs

    Indian television‘s Hindi general entertainment space is at its aggressive best.As the market is about to enter its ‘harvest‘ season — with the big stakes game of Diwali placed just a month away — there is a thunderstorm brewing on the programming battlefront.

    Late last month, when Zee TV pointed a finger at Star India, making a serious charge of copyright infringement, the incident had given away the plot of the big fight coming up. Zee Telefilms issued a notice to Star demanding it withdraw all activities around its upcoming soap, tentatively titled Betiyaan, claiming ownership of the concept. Zee said it was in fact gearing up to launch its big ticket soap Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, produced by Creative Eye.

    Star dismissed Zee‘s charges, asserting that the show‘s writer Rekha Modi had registered the titles and the concept with various copyright bodies well before Zee made its own registration.

    According to market sources, the issue finally got resolved through an out-of-court settlement. Zee retained its original title Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann title, whereas Star chose the name Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan.

    Now, compare the storylines, as offered by both the channels:

    Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan is the story of six daughters and one son born into a Zamindar family of Neelkanth Chanda Rana. It is the story of a father who rebukes his daughters because for him they are a burden. They have come into his life only for want of a son. Krishna, the eldest daughter and the protagonist, is based on Lord Krishna‘s character and personifies his depth of wisdom and understanding. A simple, honest and principled girl, she is the balancing factor amongst her sisters. Paraaya Dhan may be considered the story of many a home in India where it is believed that a son will take the family name further and a daughter is Paraya Dhan, states a Star India release.

    According to the Zee official communiqué, Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann is Zee TV‘s steadfast attempt to address the ever-persistent issue of gender discrimination in our country. The show highlights certain myths that exist in our society today. States Zee TV programming head Ashvini Yardi on the Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, “With Ghar Ki Lahsmi… we are trying to highlight the serious issue of gender inequity that is prevalent in our society.”

    And it is again strategies and counter strategies. On 19 September, Zee TV conducted a press conference to announce its plans to launch Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann — set in a Gujarati household — on 25 September. On 18 September, Star made the smart move of talking to the media about its October launch Paraaya Dhan well in advance. Apart from the plot, what was revealed was the time slot of 9 pm, Monday to Thursday. The result: Star could let the market know about the development a day in advance.

    What makes both these Betiyaan shows keenly fought properties? With Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, Zee TV is attacking one of the two most crucial time slots of Star Plus – 10 pm, where the long running soap Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki is playing. Letting the Zee TV do what it had done in the 9 pm – 10 pm slot (with success stories Saath Phere & Kassamh Se) would be suicidal for Star Plus and the channel understands that fact very well.

    “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki is an old show with a dedicated viewership and we are confident of the soap overcoming any new challenge in its way. But we will make efforts to protect the show. I am not hinting that we will be doing stunts to keep the viewer glued. We will be taking liberties that the story line would allow and accordingly, we will be creating twists and turns in the plot to fight competition,” Star India senior creative director Shailja Kejriwal says.

    “The main strength of Ghar Ki Lakshmi… is its content and we have full faith in it. The soap is very important for us. Creative Eye is producing the show; it has been placed in the 10 pm time slot; and more importantly, we believe that the concept is very unique but very relevant. No counter strategy would be able to stop this soap,” retorts Zee TV‘s Yardi. She adds that Zee wouldn‘t be resorting to any exercise such as simultaneous premiere on its network channels to expand the viewership.

    And one show that will be making its best efforts for not getting caught in this exchange of fire would be Sony‘s brand new celebrity dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. Reason: Jhalak.. again has been placed in the crucial slot of 10 pm, Wednesday and Thursday.

    It seems the leading channels are almost done with their key Diwali arrangements. With the introduction of Ghar Ki Lakshmi… in the 10 pm slot, Zee TV has revamped its 10 – 11 pm slot. L‘il Champs will now air Friday-Saturday at 10 pm. Shabaash India has been shiifted to the Monday -Tuesday 10.30 pm slot, while Johny Aala Re will now air on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 pm.

    Star One is meanwhile revamping its prime time band as well, with the entry of Nach Baliye 2 on 25 September (placed in the 8:30 pm slot) and the launch coincides with the Ghar Ki Lakshmi… launch in terms of dates. In October, two other soaps Saathi Re and Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan will mark the launch of new primetime programming band, with Saathi Re airing at 8:30 pm followed by Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan at 9 pm.

    After Jhalak.., Sony‘s Diwali plans would revolve around two upcoming properties: a prime time soap Kaajaal and a reality-based show titled Big Boss. Though the channel is yet to reveal its plans about these two shows, indications are that they will be placed in the 9 to 10 pm slot.

  • Al Jazeera International announces African line-up

    Al Jazeera International announces African line-up

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera International, the long-delayed Qatar based international English news channel, today announced its full line up of bureaux and correspondents across Africa. It will have bureaux in Cairo – Egypt, Abidjan – Ivory Coast, Nairobi – Kenya, Johannesburg – South Africa and Harare – Zimbabwe.

    Al Jazeera International, which is now targeting a year-end launch, will be sharing the resources of the Al Jazeera Arabic Channel’s African bureaux located in Ndjamena – Chad, Tripoli – Libya, Nouakchott – Mauritania, Rabat – Morocco, Dakar – Senegal, Mogadishu – Somalia, Johannesburg – South Africa and Khartoum – Sudan.

    “Our reporting from Africa will be unparalleled. We will have more bureaux and resources dedicated to Africa than any other global broadcaster,” said Al Jazeera International managing director Nigel Parsons.

    Speaking from Doha, director of news Steve Clark said, “Africa is one of the most pivotal places in the world to report from. It is a continent of hope and change.”
    “We are planning other bureaux across the continent of Africa and will be announcing them in due course,” Clark continued.

    “The teams we have in place show a level of dedication and understanding that I am sure will give us a distinctive edge,” said Africa bureau chief Andrew Simmons.

  • 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.

  • 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.