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  • Don’t miss the exclusive premiere of ‘Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’ this Friday, August 18th at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies

    Don’t miss the exclusive premiere of ‘Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’ this Friday, August 18th at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies

    Mumbai, August 14, 2006…Steve Zissou, oceanographer and documentarian has reason to be melancholy! His partner has been eaten, perhaps by a mythic jaguar shark, his wife may be taking up with her ex-husband, a young man appears claiming Steve is his father, his most recent films have tanked, he’s having trouble raising money for his venture to revenge his partner, and he’s attracted to a pregnant reporter. At sea, in pursuit of the shark, will Steve escape pirates and mutiny, forge the bonds of fatherhood, place his arm around his wife, find the monster of the deep, re-establish box office hegemony, and discover a reason to smile? Find out in the exclusive premiere of “Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”, this Friday, August 18th at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies.

    This movie details the adventures of the once-famed Steve Zissou. As with most of his recent films, his current film about his best friend Esteban du Plantier’s (Seymour Cassel) death from a “Jaguar shark” attack is a flop, and for his next project he is determined to find the creature and destroy it. Steve’s presumed son Ned (Owen Wilson) is a polite, innocent and childlike Southern gentleman whose mother had recently died. After meeting Steve at a film premiere, he takes a break from his job as an airline pilot and joins the Zissou crew, and finances the new film when no one else will. Steve is also followed by a reporter Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett), who is a fan of his and pregnant with her married boss’s child.

    She eventually falls in love with Ned. As a result, a rivalry develops between Ned and Steve, the elder of which is infatuated with Jane. The Belafonte crew sets off on one last mission, facing pirates, financial problems, rescuing a “bond company stooge” (Bud Cort) (hired by Zissou’s producer Oseary Drakoulias (Michael Gambon) and Zissou’s successful, suave, rich, and “part-gay” nemesis Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum), and reuniting with his wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) who was once married to Hennessey.

    But while searching for the Jaguar Shark, the Zissou helicopter crashes, injuring Steve and killing Ned. Although it is revealed that Steve is sterile, Steve and Ned are as close as genuine father and son. Steve finally tracks down the shark but decides not to kill it, both because of its beauty and his lack of dynamite. Viewing the shark finally validates a daily existence that Steve feared may have become meaningless. Eleanor is moved by this and falls for Steve again. The finished “film-within-a-film” is a hit, and Steve wins an award, regaining respect worldwide.

    So don’t forget to tune into the exclusive premiere of this fun film, “Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” this Friday night, August 18th at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies.

    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

    For further information please contact:
    In Mumbai
    Zeenat Khan
    Asst. Vice President – Publicity
    STAR (India) Ltd.
    Tel No. 91-22-56305555

    Shiraz Bhavnani / Aditi Chada
    Vaishnavi Corporate Communications
    Tel: 91-22-6656 8787
    Fax: 91-22-6656 8788
    Email:sbhavnani@vccpl.com/achada@vccpl.com

  • Government issues watered down concept note on Broadcast Bill, seeks feedback

    Government issues watered down concept note on Broadcast Bill, seeks feedback

    NEW DELHI: The government has put out a watered-down version of the much-reviled draft Broadcast Bill for feedback from all stakeholders.

    Seemingly fazed by all-round criticism, the draft Bill put on the information and broadcasting ministry website has no mention of some draconian clauses.

    For example, a clause on government taking over broadcast services in times of war and national calamity has been done away with.

    In the draft Bill put on the ministry website — mib.nic.in —- a certain cap on number of consumers broadcast network service providers (MSOs, cable operators and DTH platform) can have nationally has also been quietly done away with, in sharp contrast to a draft that had been circulated by the government in June.

    A clause which stated in an earlier draft that no broadcast network service provider shall have more than the prescribed share of consumers/subscribers in a city or state subject to the overall ceiling of 15 per cent for the whole country doesn’t find a place in the draft put out by the government today.

    Some of the powers of the Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India too have been clipped in the new draft.

    What’s more, the government has put the entire draft Bill on the website of I&B ministry, in itself an historic action of sorts.

    A key point worth noting here is that this action (of making the contents public) by the I&B ministry means that the Bill currently stands as having been withdrawn. This is because once a ministry refers a decision to the Cabinet, it is covered by the Official Secrets Act, and the only way it can be brought into the public domain is to withdraw it formally.

    The move comes a few days ahead of a meeting that the ministry called with the industry on various aspects of media.

    The meeting has been scheduled for the evening of 14 August, which also happens to be the eve of India’s Independence Day.
    Though the move is being seen as an attempt to blunt criticism on lack of transparency on the part of government while formulating an important policy, a section of the industry has been caught by surprise by its timing.

    “Considering it’s going to be a long weekend, starting Friday (11 August) evening with holidays on 15 and 16 August, the government has given too short a time to revert with serious feedback,” a broadcaster exclaimed.

    However, to be fair to the government, it has also given the general public and industry about 30 days to formally lodge objections and suggestions relating to the draft Broadcast Bill, which when leaked in the media end-June (Indiantelevision.com also got hold of its contents), created an all-round furore.

    The concept note on the Bill states that it seeks to achieve the following:

    (i) To provide legislative sanction retroactively to government guidelines on various regulatory aspects such as television channels’ uplinking/downlinking, private FM Radio and community radio, DTH, Teleport, etc.

    (ii) To set up a new Broadcasting Regulatory Authority of India and delegate the regulatory functions presently being performed by the ministry of I&B to this new authority.

    (iii) To incorporate the provisions of the existing Cable Television Networks Regulation Act in the new legislation through appropriate repeal and savings clauses and provide for licensing of cable operators.

    (iv) To make enabling provisions in areas like cross-media restrictions, minimum searching of local content for all TV channels and their obligations towards social service messages.

  • Brightcove to deliver broadband content to TiVo subscribers

    Brightcove to deliver broadband content to TiVo subscribers

    MUMBAI: TiVo Inc., the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), and the Internet TV service provider Brightcove has inked a deal, which will enable broadband video published through Brightcove to be distributed directly to TiVo subscriber set top boxes.

    Under terms of the agreement, the two companies work together over the coming months to add additional partners for the distribution of their broadband video content to TiVo subscribers.

    The partnership will provide a method for almost any publisher of broadband video using Brightcove’s Internet TV services to distribute content to TiVo subscribers. It also opens the possibility of monetizing the distribution through advertising, subscription plans, or pay-per-view. Initially, all content will be offered for free to TiVo subscribers and may carry advertising within the content, informs an official release.

    TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers said, “TiVo has revolutionized television viewing and Brightcove is bringing about major changes in consumer viewing of broadband-delivered video.”

    Rogers adds, “Through this new partnership, the process of delivering Internet based video to TiVo users will be significantly facilitated.”

    “TiVo has been a powerful factor increasing consumer choice and control over television viewing experiences.TiVo subscribers will gain access to the largest, most powerful content platform ever offered — the Internet. If it’s on Brightcove, you’ll be able to watch it on your TV using your TiVo box, ” said Brightcove founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire.

    Broadband video content from Brightcove will be made available to any TiVo Series2 DVR connected to the Internet. The TiVo subscribers will be able to discover this content directly in the TiVo Central content management area on the TiVo box.

  • ‘MTV Hero Honda Roadies 4’ kicks off its audition round

    ‘MTV Hero Honda Roadies 4’ kicks off its audition round

    MUMBAI: MTV India has announced the launch of the audition for the fourth season of MTV Hero Honda Roadies, the adventure-reality show.

    The auditions will be held in five cities; Mumbai (6 August), Kolkata (10 August), Chandigarh (13 August), Lucknow (16 August) and Delhi (18 August) where their wits, their guts and their attitude will be put to the test.

    MTV Hero Honda Roadies Season 4 will flag off from Kovalam, 16 kms from Thiruvananthapuram on 2 August. The 13 young adventurers will begin the toughest ride of their lives working their way up through Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and the North East (Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Sikkim) and winding up in Gangtok. That’s almost 8500 kms in 40 days on the sports bike, the Hero Honda Karizma.

    This year, the reel-life veteran villain of Bollywood Gulshan Grover will come in at strategic intervals during the trip to do what he does best – make the lives of the finalists even more difficult.

    Loosely based on MTV US’ hit reality show Road Rules, MTV Hero Honda Roadies was launched in 2003. The show tests the mettle of a young group traveling cross country on bikes, by exposing them to grueling situations and igniting complex relationship issues. This one-of-a-kind adventure-reality show went on in subsequent seasons to evolve into a true adrenalin junkie’s dream-come-true, informs an official release.

    MTV Networks India VP & GM Ashish Patil says, ” MTV Hero Honda Roadies Season 4 is an 8500 km long journey that delivers fame, fortune and freedom. The longest running reality series on Indian television and among the only ones that have grown in popularity, scale and viewership over previous editions, this year Roadies gets even tougher. So if you’re looking for a talent hunt, please don’t tune in, but if it’s a power shot of unlicensed thrills you want… join the ride.”

  • Radio City inducts Rana Barua as south head

    Radio City inducts Rana Barua as south head

    MUMBAI: Radio City has made three top-level appointments to facilitate its growth and expansion plans, following the recent acquisition of 16 new FM broadcast licenses and the launch of its stations in Hyderabad, Chennai and Jaipur.

    Rana Barua has been appointed as head – south zone, Mohan Vizhakat as head – technology and IT and Anil Dhimri as head – projects / infrastructure at Radio City.
    As part of his new assignment, Barua will be responsible for three key markets – Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

    Barua is an experienced hand in the advertising industry with stints in agencies such as Rediffusion / Dentsu Y&R Mumbai, McCann – Erickson, Lowe, Ogilvy and JWT for over 10 years. Prior to joining Radio City, Barua held the position of VP and GM at Bates Enterprise, Mumbai.

    The private FM radio company has also appointed Vizhakat, who has over 19 years of experience in project management, IT infrastructure management, consultancy, IT-telecom integrated solutions, networking, information security across industry segments.

    Vizhakat has also received distinguished award and decoration from the president of India on the Republic Day 2001 for exemplary performance in project management during his tenure in the armed forces. A few of his previous assignments include Airtel Enterprise Solutions, Indecomm Global Services, Defence Research and Development Organization, informs an official release.

    On other other hand, as head – projects / infrastructure, Dimri comes in with more than 27 years of experience, and has handled several large office infrastructure projects with emphasis on cost saving in esteemed organisations like Tata Teleservices, Tata Cellular and Tata Unisys Limited to name a few.

    Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit says, “Radio City has always aimed to bring on board the best talent available. The three gentlemen, with proven credentials and ability to deliver results in their respective domains, are tremendous additions to our team. I am confident that they will help us further enhance the diversity of our offerings with their rich experience and an in-depth understanding of the industry. I welcome them to be a part of the Radio City family and wish them good luck for their new role.”

  • Dish TV CEO Sunil Khanna quits

    Dish TV CEO Sunil Khanna quits

    MUMBAI: ASC Enterprises has announced that Dish TV CEO Sunil Khanna has decided to move out of the company on completion of his two-year contract at the KU-band direct-to-home platform, promoted by Subhash Chandra.

    According to an official release issued, the Dish TV board had offered Khanna a renewed contract but he has decided to pursue other interests.

    Information available with Indiantelevision.com indicates that while Khanna will be “remaining in the broadcast sector, he will be taking up a new challenge”.

    Khanna has been with the Zee Group since its inception. He started his career with the group while driving the distribution venture Siticable. He subsequently spearheaded the pay TV business and lead Zee Turner. Before joining Dish TV as CEO, he also had a stint as president of Zee Telefilms.

    At Dish TV, his contribution has been in developing and building the first addressable digital platform. During the last 15 months, Dish TV accelerated the process of subscriber acquisition and now is established as the leading digital brand with 1.3 million subscribers.

    Dish TV, today offers 160 satellite channels along with other value added services and has string network of 8,000 distributors/dealers.

  • Trai meets broadcasters on CAS, firm on channel MRPs

    Trai meets broadcasters on CAS, firm on channel MRPs

    NEW DELHI: Broadcast regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Thursday held discussions with industry stakeholders, but was firm that a la carte pricing of channels is inevitability.

    Still, the regulator seemed sympathetic to a revenue share formula in favour of MSOs and broadcasters over and above a certain price.

    Thursday’s meeting that Trai held with some broadcasters was more of a formality as the regulator made it clear to broadcasters present that maximum retail price (MRP) of TV channels under CAS regime is coming whether some like it or not.

    According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, most participants were against a la carte pricing of channels and pitched for wholesale prices, which would give the cable operators a chance to fix some margins for themselves.

    However, Trai was categorical that as per a government mandate MRP of a TV channel under a CAS regime has to be decided and would be finalised by 31 August 2006; industry feedback notwithstanding.

    Those who attended Thursday’s meeting included representatives from Star India, Sony Discovery One Alliance, Global Broadcast Network, Zee Network and Indian Broadcasting Foundation.

    Trai has been mandated by the government to fix the norms, including pricing of individual channels, under a CAS regime, which is slated to be rolled out in the south zones of Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai from 1 January 2007.

    The government on 31 July issued a notification setting 31 December, 2006 as the deadline for the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to be fully “CAS delivered” as a Delhi court had desired.

  • Former SA opener Gary Kirsten replaces Dean Jones on Ten Sports’ ‘Straight Drive’ team

    Former SA opener Gary Kirsten replaces Dean Jones on Ten Sports’ ‘Straight Drive’ team

    MUMBAI: The Unitech Cup, the tri-series between India, Sri Lanka and South Africa, gets underway on Ten Sports on Monday, 14 August 2006. The channel has announced that former South African opener Gary Kirsten will be a member of its ‘straight Drive’ team.

    This announcement comes a few days after the channel terminated the contract of Dean Jones after the former Australian batsman inadvertently let out a remark calling a South African bowler a terrorist. In an official release the channel said, “The highly offensive nature of the comments has no place in cricket, sport and society as a whole and we deeply regret that such comments were broadcast.

    “Ten Sports is owned by a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and the company employs a staff drawn from a diverse cross section of nationalities, cultures and religions. We have a zero tolerance policy for any expression of racial stereotyping and prejudice and condemn in the strongest possible terms the comments made by Mr Jones.”

    Kirsten says, “I am very excited to be joining the team. It will be my first time on Straight Drive and I couldn’t have asked for a better series to be involved in.”

    One major activity the channel conducted around this series was the Eleven To Lanka Contest. Basically, anybody could participate. All one had to do was take a picture of oneself along with 10 other people. They could be friends, family or total strangers. It then had to be sent to Ten Sports’ site along with a slogan that explained why your team should be chosen. The channel claims to have received 2,000 entries. The winners will be announced shortly.

  • Is Raksha Bandhan par… Sirf shagun hi kafi nahin! ‘Content Innovation’ this Raksha Bandhan only on Radio City

    Is Raksha Bandhan par… Sirf shagun hi kafi nahin! ‘Content Innovation’ this Raksha Bandhan only on Radio City

    Mumbai, August 8, 2006: With a dash of fun, glamour, entertainment & excitement, Radio City, India’s premiere FM station, celebrates the sacred festival of Rakhi with a difference! Radio City in association with Cadbury India, presents an interesting reality show as part of the Raksha Bandhan
    celebration across the nation, thereby helping strengthen the thread of love embellished with sister’s affection for her brother.

    The Rakhi celebrations at Radio City were kicked off two weeks prior to Raksha Bandhan, through an exciting on-air contest wherein a lucky Radio City listener is selected as the RJ’s brother. The RJ hosting the activity is Lavanya in Mumbai, Richa in Delhi and Pooja in Lucknow. The winner matches several criteria that the RJ would ideally like in her brother including his nature, mannerism, temperament, likes & dislikes.

    On August 9, 2006 listeners too can enjoy the moment by tuning into Radio City as the winner prepares himself for a special Rakhi ceremony at the studio amidst much fanfare & festivity. What’s more! The event is made more special as the brother-sister duo exchange Cadbury Celebrations gift hampers and build a lifelong chord.

    On the festive occasion Mr. Ashit Kukian, Head Sales, Radio city said, “Radio City is known for pioneering innovative initiatives. We have always believed in maximising value for our clients through exciting offerings that easily integrate the product with appealing on-air content, supported on ground to facilitate a stronger bond with the listeners.”

    About Radio City:
    Radio City is India’s first and leading hit music FM radio brand. Promoted by Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL), the private FM network has captured the hearts of millions of listeners across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Lucknow, Hyderabad and now Chennai. In the II Phase of expansion of FM Radio, Radio City has bagged the licences to broadcast in 16 more cities. Radio City will soon regale listeners in Jaipur, Coimbatore, Vizag, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Nagpur, apart from the smaller centres in Western India. Radio City broadcasts 24/7, using state of the art digital stereo FM
    for unmatched quality in signal strength, clarity and brilliance. Backed by expertise in programming, sales and marketing, Radio City is characterized by exciting shows that give it unmatched popular appeal. Innovative programming, vivacious radio jockeys and popular contemporary music uniquely position Radio City to deliver targeted audiences across India’s most important cities.

  • Divya Bhaskar to donate funds to Surat Flood victims

    Divya Bhaskar to donate funds to Surat Flood victims

    Mumbai, August 10, 2006: The Divya Bhaskar Gujarat Team will contribute a day’s salary alongwith the Bhaskar Group, contributing similar funds, to assist the victims of the Surat floods. 36 lakh residents of Surat have been marooned since Tuesday as almost 95 per cent of the city has been drowned in 10-15 feet of water.

    Divya Bhaskar has been the only newspaper that was printed and distributed in Surat during the last two days of the unprecedented flood situation. This has been largely possible, by the dedication and hard work of the Divya Bhaskar Surat team in-spite of suffering huge personal losses, ensured that the newspaper is brought out as compared to other newspapers who had a very skeleton print run today.

    Bhaskar Group is a 1700 crore business conglomerate with strong presence in Newspapers. Television, Entertainment, Printing, Textiles, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Oils, Solvents and Internet Services.

    The group has rocketed to the top of the print media industry in India with its flagship Hindi daily newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, and the Gujarati newspaper, Divya Bhaskar. Brand ‘Bhaskar’ is today synonymous with success, quality, dynamism and ethics in millions of households across India and the corporate world alike.

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    For further information, contact::
    Amrita Sadhu, Euro RSCG PR
    Tel : 24937188, extn 259, Mobile : 9819622591