ITV

Category: Regional

  • ‘HA HA HA’ to be aired on 28 Feb 2007 at 10 p.m. on Star One

    MUMBAI: The Comedy Show Ha Ha Ha presents never before seen gags and the craziest spoofs attempted on Indian television.

    Wednesday, 28 February 2007 will see a Holi Special with a take off on the Bachchan household celebrating Holi with their close friends and relatives, while also endorsing various brands! That’s not all… other entertaining spoofs include a gag about a Housing Society playing Holi following the innumerable rules laid down by the housing society! Catch all this and more on The Comedy Show Ha Ha Ha… on Wednesday,28 February at 10 p.m only on Star One.

    The characters in this Holi special are:
    ” Gaurav Gera
    ” Suresh Menon
    ” Purbi Joshi
    ” Kiku
    ” Sonia

    ‘The Comedy Show…Ha Ha Ha’, is an epoch in television comedy in its appearance, writing, and performances. The Laughter Challenge finalists, guest celebrities, and the new team of power performers include Raju Srivastav, Ashwin Mushran , Harward Rosemeye and Sonia Rakkar who regularly treat you to their outrageous brand of stand-up and mind-boggling comedy!

  • Zee Bangla on top

    MUMBAI: Week 5, and Zee Bangla is on top with a relative channel share of 33%.ETV Bangla, the leader so far is at No. 2 with share of 31%. Aaakash is at No.3 with a share of 13%.The scenario is a little changed today, In the core prime time, It is Zee Bangla that dominates.

    Leaders from 2100hrs onwars till 2400 hrs. No questions asked. However, in the female TGs, it also leadsin a few bands in the early prime as well.Stand out and clear winners are SRGMP, Mirakkel, Khela, Aerao Shatru, Labonyar Sansar and so many.

     

    Another hall mark achievement this year for Zee Bangla is that of leaving the National Leader, Star Plus behind in all important TGs. For eg; F25+abc, Star Plus is 8.9% as against Zee Bangla’s 17%. In youth TG, Star Plus is 8.8%as against Zee Bangla’s 13.5%. Zee Bangla has managed to turn around the attention of the young female audience(f15+abc), who were eroding to Hindi. Star Plus manages a share of 9.6% as against Zee Bangla’s 15.6%.Such strong and compelling is Zee Bangla’s content today that even the mighty and the most hyped about showof Star Plus, KBC-SRK, could not dent one bit. On the contrary, Zee Bangla only grew further.

     

    With its array of new launches up ahead, Zee Bangla promises a rivetting fare for these lovely audiences of Bengal.

  • Raj Television Network Limited IPO opens on February 14

    MUMBAI: Raj Television Network Limited (the “Company”), a regional broadcaster and media company, is entering the capital markets with an initial public offering (“IPO”) of 35,68,250 equity shares of face value of Rs 10, for cash, at a premium to be decided through a 100 per cent book-building process (the “Issue”). The price band for the Issue has been fixed between Rs 221 and Rs 257 per equity share. The Issue opens on February 14, 2007, and closes for subscription on February 23, 2007. The equity shares of the Company are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (“BSE”) and the National Stock Exchange (“NSE”).

     

    Of the total 35, 68,250 equity shares, the Employee Reservation Portion is 3, 24,384 equity shares, the Net Offer to the Public is 32,43,866 equity shares. The Issue is being made through a 100% Book Building Process wherein not more than 50% of the Net offer to the public shall be allocated on proportionate basis to Qualified Institutional Buyers (including 5% for Mutual Funds). Further, not less than 15% of the Net offer to the public shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Non Institutional Bidders and not less than 35% of the Net offer to the public shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Retail Bidders, subject to valid bids being received at or above the Issue price. Upon completion of the Issue, the Promoter / Promoter Group will own 72.50% of the post-Issue equity share capital.

     

    The objects of the Public Issue are to: strengthen production facilities; enhance content and content acquisition; launch a new youth-centric television channel; broadcast existing channels in the international market; produce short-films/ telefilms; acquire and export films in the international market; and, construct new studio premises.

     

    The Company posted a Total Income of Rs 3,195.98 lakh as of the financial year ended March 31, 2006, as compared to Rs 2,964.42 lakh for the financial year ended March 31, 2005. The Total Income was Rs 2,950.18 lakh for the period ended December 31, 2006. The Net Profit (restated) for fiscal 2006 was Rs 381.56 lakh (restated) as compared to Rs 297.75 lakh for fiscal 2005. The Net Profit (restated) for the period ended December 31, 2006, was Rs 986.74 lakh.

  • Amrita TV on Award-Winning Spree

    MUMBAI: The Union of German Malayali Association, Germany, recently gave away its Annual TV Awards for 2006 wherein Amrita TV was presented with four Awards in different categories.

    ‘Santwanam’, the unique channel identity programme where celebrities spend time to bring joy to the lives of the underprivileged and homeless in various shelter homes, orphanages, hospices, won the “Best Television Programme Award”.

    A highly appreciated programme, Amrita TV doesn’t accept advertisements for this programme, but facilitates well-wishers establish contact with the concerned institutions for contributions, donations, assistance, et al. “Super Star” which created new benchmarks in music reality programmes in South India ,bagged the “Best Music Show Award”.

    ” Sathi Lelavathi” a comedy show on the channel for the past few months, won the “Best Female Comic Artiste Award” . A”Special Jury Award” was given to Mr Neelan, Chief Executive Editor ,News Division, for “Overall Contribution to Media Field”

    Film City magazine announced seven awards for Amrita TV .Of this, the channel’s telefilm “Neermathalathinte Pookal” won three awards for “Best Telefilm”,”Best Direction” and “Best Photography” .

    Another telefilm produced by Amrita TV ,”Irulmekhagalkkum Madhye” bagged the awards for “Best Screenplay ” and “Best Actor”.Amrita TV’s longest running program “Udayamaritam” which has done 700 episodes got the award for “Best Anchor”

    Meanwhile ,on Feb 14 ,at an award presentation ceremony in Trivandrum, Amrita TV will be presented with 15 of the 29 Kerala State Television Awards 2006, which were announced last year

    Amrita TV , a 24-hour Malayalam satellite channel set up in 2005,has a global footprint covering India, Australia, Middle East, USA, UK, Europe, Canada and parts of South Africa.The channel is also available on internet through JumpTV, the world’s premier internet-based service provider for IPTVs and mobile devices.

    Amrita TV’s website which has a blog forum based on the music reality program”Super Star”, averages one million hits a month

  • Television woos Marathi Manus

    SABTNL vice chairman and managing director Markand Adhikari assures us that his long-in-the-pipeline channel ‘Mi Marathi’ will finally be making its appearance in February 2007.

    With just two players in the GEC market – Zee Marathi and ETV Marathi – and one public broadcaster – DD Sahyadri – struggling to keep up with the onslaught of private players, the time is just right for more players to enter the niche Marathi regional market.

    It’s an open field and almost every television network has set sights on it. Like one industry gentleman mentions, “We’ve looked and looked until our eyes have watered.”
    That’s one of the more cautious players checking the scene. But what catches our interest is the launch of two new channels on the anvil. Zee News Limited is about to launch Chouvees Tas (25 January is the date that is doing the rounds), a 24 hour news channel in Marathi while Adhikari brothers Mi Marathi should launch soon too.

    Other players who are evaluating the market include TV18 and Star, although both networks declined to make any specific comment, insisting that the regional market is an unexplored territory, whether in Maharashtra or the other regional segment fast gaining interest – the south.

    BACKGROUND

    This is not the first time that channels have wooed the Marathi Manus. The first wave of Marathi channels saw DD Sahyadri, Zee Marathi, ETV Marathi, Tara Marathi and Prabhat fighting for eyeballs. DD Sahyadri was launched in 1998 and was followed by Zee Marathi in 1999. ETV Marathi, Tara and Prabhat were launched in the period between 2001-02.

    While the Rathikant Basu led Tara Marathi and Prabhat channels have long since shut shop, Zee Marathi and ETV have not only managed to hold on but have since established themselves, pushing DD Sahyadri to the third position.

    DD Sahyadri tried to resurrect itself in 2003 and even raced ahead of the two private players for a brief period. But recent figures suggest another role reversal.

    THE NUMBERS GAME

    Take into account the figures for last the three months (Oct-Dec 2006), in the CS + 4 Yrs by Tam. ETV Marathi is leading the channel share in Maharashtra by a narrow margin ahead of Zee Marathi, while DD Sahyadri is lagging behind with just 11 per cent share.

    In Mumbai, however, Zee Marathi pipped ETV Marathi to the post with a 50 per cent share.

    Two weeks into the new year (with CAS having been implemented in south Mumbai and Tam introducing its new, expanded peoplemeter panel), the data throws up a few surprises. And this time Zee Marathi is seen beating ETV Marathi by a high margin. In fact, it competes with Star Plus in the Hindi GEC and emerges a winner.

    Channels GRP
    ZEE Marathi 351
    Star Plus 319
    ETV Marathi 258

    Channel GRP in GEC
    Market:All India
    TG: CS 15+Yrs
    Source: TAM Peoplemeter

    Zee Marathi business head Nitin Vaidya is elated as he brings out the week two results. “Zee Marathi has surpassed Star Plus in the overall channel market share. Both Mumbai and all Maharastra categories show a significant lead for Zee Marathi,” says Vaidya. The data he details is clearly reflective of the channel’s hold over its Marathi speaking audiences; whether during prime time viewing or the afternoon band with a predominance of women oriented programming.

    “I’m not bothered about the Kyunki’s and Kahaani’s of the world. My competition is not restricted to the Marathi market. I want to compete at equal par with all other entertainment channels. For instance; Sa Re Ga Ma Pa hosted by Pallavi Joshi on Zee Marathi is as popular as the one on our Hindi network,” reiterates Vaidya. In fact, the channel is so confident about its show that the time slot of 10 pm coincides with Star Plus’ popular K-sagas. Despite this, the channel claims to have wide viewership amongst its Marathi viewers. While one of the reasons for Star’s slump could be attributed to Tam having increased its peoplemeter sample size to more cities and updating the number of C&S homes, the interest in Marathi market by established networks is an indicator of its mass appeal.

    The numbers also show that Marathi channels, once considered a slow moving market, are undergoing a paradigm shift. The competition is no longer restricted within the niche Marathi channel market but has spilt over to all GECs. According to industry sources, the Marathi market growth rate in 2003 was a modest 8 per cent. Compare that to the 13 to 14 per cent growth rate touted today and we get an idea of why other channels are waiting to jump into the fray.

    The general bonhomie over the Marathi market growth is also shared by other industry watchers. Vaidya estimates that the size of the Marathi regional market is Rs1 billion and will be about Rs1.2 billion by year end.

    CONTENT IS KING

    Zee Marathi has clearly ridden the success wave on the back of its programming. Zee Marathi spruced up its programming act last year with the introduction of many new shows. Currently, 11 of the top 15 shows on Marathi regional channels is by Zee Marathi. Zee Telefilms head network sales Joy Chakraborthy believes that the Zee Marathi success was due to its shift from a ‘cost centric’ to a ‘content and marketing centric’ strategy.

    Doordarshan director Satish Sonkar, who has recently replaced an unceremoniously transferred Mukesh Sharma, is confident about DD Sahyadri. “Our terrestrial reach cannot be duplicated by the private channels. Hence the CAS situation does not bother us too much.”

    DD Sahyadri:Losing the numbers game?
    Source:www.ddindia.com

    Sonkar is also gearing up to revive the sagging fortunes of Doordarshan. “Plans are on to launch a new breakfast show in the time slot between 7 to 8 in the morning moulded on the popular Subah Savere format. The emphasis throughout our programming content will be on infotainment.” The channel also wants to experiment with ‘parallel programming’; although current infrastructure does not permit it do so. Sonkar is also eager to do away with repeats on the channel and replace them with documentaries or feature shows “showcasing cultural aspects of Marathi culture like the history of Lavani”.

    Award events like Zee Gaurav Puraskar on Zee Marathi to be held on 3 February will see over 10,000 people in attendace. Sahyadri’s Hirkani Puraskar also claims a loyal viewership every year.

    Adhikari’s ‘Mi Marathi’ is likely to give the general entertainment channels a run for its collective money with its ‘bank of 3,000 programmes’. “With a tagline of Aaplya Maansanchi Aapli Vahini (our channel for our own people) and the experience of producing the most popular shows on Doordarshan we will certainly do well,” maintains Adhikari.

    AD REVENUE

    On a rough estimate, Zee Marathi takes in ad revenues to the tune of Rs 400 million to Rs 450 million while ETV Marathi would be in a similar range. DD Sahyadri claims to have already raked in Rs 300 million, the target set for 2006-2007.

    Sahyadri also switched from a sponsored to commissioned model starting Oct ’06 to eliminate the middle man. While this is on an experimental basis right now across its regional kendras, the Sahyadri channel has started this on 3-4 of its programmes and aims to extend it to all its programming by the end of this fiscal. The channel is confident that this policy called SFS (self financing scheme) will bring in the much needed ad revenue.

    But Marathi channels will have to woo the advertisers more intently. Most of the biggies in terms of advertising in Marathi channels are the FMCG companies like HLL, Reckitt, J&J, Marico, Wipro and they continue to dominate the top advertisers list over the last three years. Most of the new entrants are also from the same category with players like ITC & L’Oreal.

    GOOD ‘NEWS’

    The general news market will see the addition of a new player as Zee News’ Chouvees Tas. Zee News Limited CEO Harish Doraiswamy says, ‘Unless someone else pips us to the post, we are all set to become the first 24-hour Marathi news channel. There is certainly an equity in the Marathi news market since what is now available to a Marathi viewer is only hour on hour news at Zee Marathi, ETV Marathi and DD Sahyadri.’ The channel, which will be launched in a phased manner, is slated to cover all Maharashtra and will enter the market as a free-to-air channel.

    Does the rural- urban divide amongst Marathi viewers still exist and will this be a critical factor for Marathi channels? Doraiswamy says, “The content on the news channel will have to be tweaked to suit different categories of Marathi viewership. But by and large, the aspirations of the Marathi people are similar across geographical boundaries. In India, we may call a Latur or Sangli a small city, but judging by the population size these would be large cities had they been in the States. Going by the argument, we don’t see a disparity in our viewership. We will have agri-based programming or news specific to the community. The genres of programming will however be consistent throughout.”

    ETV Marathi focus on news
    Source:www.etv.com

    ETV Marathi first saw the potential of well packaged news and has three news bulletins – ETV Marathi news, Maharashtra Maaza and Aapli Mumbai. The channel also has an issue based talk show Vrutt Vaidh. Sahyadri also has a news bulletin in the evening called Batmya. Zee Marathi’s Zee News Marathi is now airing at regular intervals during the day along with hour-on-hour headlines, which will also be withdrawn in the run up to its 24 hour news channel.

    Clearly, the latest battle lines amongst these channels will be drawn around news since most of these channels agree that they can never match the programming budgets of some of the bigger channels. Roping in the Marathi viewer through events, awards shows, interactive game shows can be seen across the channels already.

    GRAPPLING WITH CAS

    Starcom India’s Girish Upadhyay brings in the media planner’s perspective when he says, “If we just see the one week data we have post CAS implementation one sees regional channel shares increasing by 20-25 per cent whereas some of the big mass channels have reduced in terms of share, but still these are early days.”

    He further states, “The general understanding is that niche & local regional channels do well in a CAS environment, since in such an environment people take channels which they are passionate about. But there won’t be space for too many channels to survive because a consumer ultimately has to shed money for every extra channel he takes.

    “This could give rise to two scenarios: The first entrant in the market would have an upper hand, since viewers have a habit of sticking to whatever they start watching first.

    “Consumers will also be tempted to buy a bouquet which has a mix of everything-news, movies, mass, regional. So these smaller news channels will do well if they become part of a good well-rounded bouquet of channels.”

    WAY AHEAD

    What is clear is that the ad revenue pie of the news market, with the entry of these players, is not going to increase much; in fact it will fragment the market further. Also, the big players are entering into news not because of revenue but more because they want to create an impact. Under the Cas regime, the network that offers the most variety in its bouquet is likely to win. That is precisely why one sees some of the news channels nowadays getting into the entertainment channel space which could be an added source of revenue.

    So is there room for more regional news channels? The language preference by the masses could just tip the scale in its favour. It is similar to newspaper readership across markets where vernacular is preferred over English/Hindi publications. The fact remains that in Mumbai, many of the Marathi households buy two newspapers – an English daily and a Marathi newspaper.

    Upadhyay does a comparative on the Bengali news market, which has Star and Zee amongst its players. “If we had to take the West Bengal a figure in terms of news, Star Ananda is currently ruling with a share in the range of 3 per cent while Zee’s Choubees Ghanta is in the range of 1.5 per cent, followed by the other all India players.”

    Although it would be tough to judge the Marathi market on the same basis, regional channels do have an upper edge purely due to language and cultural preferences.

    This could very well mark the second wave of Marathi regional channels and news will be the genre to watch out for.

  • 24 Ghanta tops Bengali news channels

    MUMBAI: ’24 Ghanta’, the 24-hour Bengali news channel from Zee Aakash News Private Limited, has proven its excellence in the Bengali News genre within a very short span of its existence. Now, the Channel’s excellence is apparent on the TRP charts also, a press release from the channel claimed today.

    The recent data of TAM (w.e. 30th Dec’06, C&S 15+, Mkt – WB+Kol) shows that ’24 Ghanta ‘ is the clear leader in the Bengali news channel market.

    The channel achieved remarkable market share of 40, said the statement, adding that this is considerably above Star Ananda. With its swift and in-depth reporting, the channel is enjoying the status of favourite Bengali News channel in the region.

    The latest figures suggests that ’24 Ghanta’ is leading the pack in Kolkata with a market share that is 26 per cent higher than that of Star Ananda.

    The sustained and relentless efforts by high quality professionals, who worked round-the-clock lead to the success story of the channel. They made sure to report authentic and accurate information with lightning speed.

    24 Ghanta’s strength lies in its innovation-led content, information without bias, bold exposes and its incisive analysis with supportive visuals.

    The channel marks a watershed in television journalism in Bengali language. It has redefined journalism in the region, at a time when television journalism was fast degenerating into a medium for dishing out cheap sensationalism and distorted information laced with figment of imagination.

  • Watch Laughter Champions ‘Mahayudh’ on Star One on 2 Feb Friday at 9:00 p.m.

    MUMBAI: From random puns, one-liners, funny gags to spoofs on saas-bahus and stand-up cts spiced with an urban topical flavor… Star One presents a spanking new 6 episode series – The Laughter Champions Mahayudh. With the wittiest and the most hilarious stand up comedians on the small screen competing with each other in a battle of humor, the show promises to cure weeknight blues with experimental laughter therapy.

    The battle would rage between two teams headed by none other than the Wizard of wit – Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bollywood’s charismatic villain Shakti Kapoor. Watch them as they take over and bring a fresh dose of laughter this Friday, February 2 2007 at 9:00 pm. Followed by the ground breaking success of The Great Indian Laughter Champions and Challenge ‘Dwitiya’, the Mahayudh will bring together the best talents from both Season 2 to take millions of Indians to towering heights of frenzy and sheer delight! There will be 12 participants divided into Sidhu and Shakti’s team. The participants would be eliminated every round based on points given by the studio audience.

    In a new avtaar, the show promises to be snazzier and spruced up with unimaginable comical histrionics. Be it Bhagwant Mann’s witty one-liners or Pratap Faujdar’s satirical comedy, Rajkumar Javkar’s excellent mimicry or Rauf Lala’s humorous antics, this ultimate gag battle features everything!

    So its time to cure your weeknight blues as Star One brings your dose of Vitamin ‘C’ (comedy) with The Laughter Champions ‘Mahayudh’, February 2, Friday at 9:00 p.m.

  • Religious content shown on TV negative: PTC Study

    Religious content shown on TV negative: PTC Study

    MUMBAI: The Parents Television Council (PTC) in the US revealed in a new study that religious content on television is shown less frequently and more negatively on television.

    The new study Faith in a Box 2005-2006 is a review of how religion is portrayed on prime time broadcast television.

    PTC president L. Brent Bozell says, “The results of this study clearly show that the entertainment industry is not reflecting the strong religious beliefs of Americans in its television programming. The industry is in fact hostile to people of faith – no matter if the person is Christian, Jewish, or Muslim.

    “After Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, there was a lot of talk that Hollywood finally had found religion. But with television, sadly that wasn’t true. In fact, it was the opposite. This study documents that after 2004, the portrayals of religion have been cut in half, and are now overwhelmingly more negative.

    “The evidence is clear: On CBS’ Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen’s character uses the melody of ‘Joy to the World, the Lord has come,’ to sing ‘Joy to the Word, I’m getting laid.’ Fox’s The Family Guy proved to be especially sacrilegious and vile when it showed God in bed with a woman. These examples, and others, show that Hollywood has a clear distaste for religion.”

    According to a recent Zogby/American Bible Society poll, 84 per cent of adults are not offended when they hear references to God or the Bible on network television shows, and 51 per cent say entertainment networks should develop shows with positive messages – and even specifically refer to God and the Bible.

    “The irony is that reality shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and The Amazing Race, where real characters freely express themselves, faith and religion are positively portrayed. But in scripted shows, where Hollywood writers express their worldviews, faith and religion become four letter words – to the tune of 95.5% negative portrayals. This is an industry that is completely out of touch with reality,” Bozell continued.

    In this seventh PTC study examining the treatment of religious content on television, an entire year of prime-time broadcast programming was analysed. The PTC examined a total of 2,271.5 hours of programming containing 1,425 treatments of religion.

    Major findings:

    Religion is shown less than in past years – There were half as many portrayals of religion in 2005-2006 (1,425) as in 2003-2004 (2,344).

    Religion is portrayed more negatively – In 2005-2006, there were more negative depictions of religion than positive ones (35 per cent to 34 per cent). Depictions of aspects affiliated with organised religion (clergy, doctrine or laity) were mostly negative.

    Reality shows are more positive towards religion – The format of the program was a significant factor in the portrayal which religion received. A majority (57.8 per cent) of the positive portrayals of religion were to be found on reality programs. By contrast, an overwhelming percentage (95.5 per cent) of the negative portrayals of religion came from such Hollywood-scripted drama and comedy programmes; only 4.5 per cent of negative portrayals of religion were found on reality shows.

    Fox was by far the most anti-religious network – One in every two (49.3 per cent) portrayals of religion on the Fox network was negative. Long-time champion NBC came in second in negative depictions of religion, with well over a third (39.3%) of such portrayals being negative. Among other networks, over a third (35.4 per cent) of depictions of religion on UPN was also negative. ABC registered 30.4 per cent and CBS 29 per cent negative portrayals. The WB network featured the fewest negative depictions of religion (21 per cent).

    Later hours of prime time are more negative towards religion – The number of negative portrayals increased steadily with each hour of prime-time. Negative treatments constituted 31.9 per cent of all treatments in the 8 pm hour, 33.9 per cent in the 9 pm hour and 44.4 per cent in the 10 pm hour. At no time during prime time, and on no network did the positive portrayal of religion even hit the 50% mark.

    Laypersons – non-clerical individuals who profess religious faith – were treated most negatively by entertainment programs – Over half (50.8 per cent) of all entertainment television’s depictions of laity were negative. Only 26 per cent were positive.

    Portrayal of religious institutions were critical – Close behind in negative portrayal were religious institutions (such as particular denominations, specific religious beliefs or direct references to Scripture), nearly half (47.6%) of which were negative. By contrast, only 18% of depictions of religious institutions were positive.

    Clergy shown in a negative light – Prime-time television’s portrayal of clergy was also heavily weighted, with less than a third (30.4 per cent) of depictions of and references to clergy being positive, and another two-thirds being negative or ambiguous.

    Simple religious faith shown positively – Only in depictions of religious faith – showing individuals making a simple declaration of belief in God or a higher power, or praying – was television’s portrayal of religion largely positive. Over two-thirds (69.6 per cent) of such portrayals were positive, with less than one-sixth (14.7 per cent) being negative.

    “This study clearly documents the complete disconnect between Hollywood’s attitude toward religion and that of the American public,” Bozell concluded.

  • Amrita TV to beam live new year show from amusement park

    Amrita TV to beam live new year show from amusement park

    MUMBAI: Amrita TV has lined up a star-studded programme for New Year eve.

    A non-stop three hour programme starting from 9 pm will be beamed live on 31 December, culminating into the ushering of the new year.

    The programme, “Amrita Golden Moments 2007”, will be telecast from Fantasy Park, Palakkad, Kerala’s first amusement park.

    “Amrita Golden Moments” will feature noted playback singer Karthik.

    According to an official release, the star attraction will be the Amrita TV Super Star Troupe comprising Sangeeth, Job, Ajay, Mithu, Sarath, B Lakshmi, Athira and VR Lakshmi – hot favourites among the Kerala youth after a dream run on Amrita TV’s music reality show.

    There will be a chorus performance by the 11 Super Star Junior contestants–the “Super Star Junior” is Amrita’s latest music reality show in the 10-15 age group, now being telecast Monday to Friday, 8 pm to 9 pm.

    Packed with interactive programmes for the assembled audience,the New Year Live show will feature Chendamelam, Kerala’s traditional performing art, choreographed dances, magic show ending with a scintillating fireworks display when the clock strikes twelve. Viewers across the world will be able to SMS New Year greetings during the live telecast.

    The New Year programmes for the day also include blockbuster Malay

  • Balle Balle channel to launch in US

    Balle Balle channel to launch in US

    NEW DELHI: Tapping the overseas market has become the mantra of Indian broadcasters. The latest to join the bandwagon is Punjabi music channel Balle Balle which is planning to launch in US this January.

    “It is a matter of great pride that we are hitting the US shores just four years after our launch in India,” says Balle Balle president and CEO Upinder Nayar.

    STV Enterprises Ltd, the company which runs Balle Balle, has signed a contract this month with the US-based company Global VC Inc.’s Jus Punjabi TV Network, to launch Balle Balle there from the middle of January.”The first stage will see Balle Balle being aired on cable network to reach an estimated one million households across the US, barring parts of the northern states,” Nayar said.

    The phase two of the channel’s US expansion will be flagged off in the second quarter of 2007 through a DTH tie-up that will make Balle Balle accessible all across North America, with an estimated 20 million households as the target, Nayar revealed.

    Starting the middle of January, the channel will be seen in New York, New Jersey, Manhattan, Washington and almost all the major cities of the country, barring northern ones.

    There are four major cable operators in the US and Balle Balle’s American partners are working out projects with them, Nayar said.

    He stressed that the financial scale of the operation could not be revealed now because of contractual obligations.

    “I can tell you this much, however, it is big enough to plan our revenue model on the strategy that we will plough back the entire revenue generated from there into the US operation, till we achieve 100 per cent target reach.”

    There will obviously be revenue sharing at all levels with the US partner, and the plan and models for the DTH operation coming up are still being worked out.

    Nayar said that throughout the year there will be promotional activities with live events across the country, as also talent contests and local Punjabi musicians would be picked up for actual programming in Balle Balle.

    The campaign, which will see various levels of promos, including the live events, will start with New York and New Jersey, where there is maximum number of Punjabi domination.

    “But this is a misnomer, really. Because our viewership is not restricted to Punjabis at all. Our surveys show that Punjabi music has become a major craze in the US, with Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, even Sri Lankans getting into the swing of Balle Balle. Besides, 30 per cent of our programming is in Hindi, which makes it an additional draw,” Nayar claimed.

    The live events will be spaced out and across many cities. Besides, there will be other promos involving stores and restaurants, “but our partners and we are still working on them”, Nayar said.

    The company believes that with Bollywood going global, this channel would be an additional benefit for both the film and music industries and that would mean additional revenue for Balle Balle.

    “Besides, there are many medium and small companies who are looking for vehicles for their promotions abroad and our channel would become a big attraction for them,” said a senior manager of the company.

    What made Balle Balle decide to launch in the US? “Punjabi music and food is a rage in the US,” Nayar said.

    The campaign will pick up during the summer months in the US, when there are school holidays, the time when most of the big Punjabi jamborees are held, Nayar said, including music fests.

    Balle Balle channel is already available on IPTV globally for the past six months through the site www.jumptv.com, and results for Balle Balle’s last three months are expected shortly.