Blog

  • CN gets on to DD with a branded block

    CN gets on to DD with a branded block

    NEW DELHI: Not content with ruling the kids’ space in India via satellite, Cartoon Network now wants a slice of terrestrial viewership too.

    It announced has just a new one-hour programming block, Cartoon Network Duniya, on Doordarshan National.

    Starting 8 July, the new block will air every Saturday from 10:30 am to 11:30 a.m. and will feature two of Turner’s most popular and highly successful original productions, M.A.D. (Music, Art and Dance show) and Codename: Kids Next Door.

    Cartoon Network Duniya will also showcase other popular series, including Turner’s most awaited original production, Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian version of globally renowned pre-school series, Sesame Street.

    “Doordarshan’s extensive reach across India will enable kids in non-C&S homes to enjoy Turner’s engaging original production that has so far been limited to C&S homes. In the preliminary stage, the highly rated M.A.D. and popular animation series, Codename: Kids Next Door will serve as the perfect introduction to new viewers,” an official statement quoted Turner International India MD Anshuman Misra as saying yesterday.

    Misra added that later in the year Galli Galli Sim Sim will further enhance the appeal by showcasing content that is both educational and entertaining in nature.

    M.A.D. is an off-the-wall, interactive journey for 8-12 years olds and their families and is filled with fun tabletop ‘makes’, dynamic performances, a bit of humour and some art stunts.

    Galli Galli Sim Sim is an initiative undertaken by globally recognised, Sesame Workshop and Indian kids’ entertainment leader, Turner India.

    The show is aimed at serving the 157 million children under the age of six in India and is committed to supporting India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan or universal access to education.

  • Fresh take on ‘Head Honchos’ on Janmat

    Mumbai 27th June 2006: Head Honchos, a new show on Janmat hosted by Anish Trivedi in his impeccable style is creating waves in the television duniya. Every week at 7.30p.m. on Saturday, Anish interviews a corporate honcho selected from a panel from Janmat.

    Warm and intimate, this is a no frills show, with the predominant mood being two people talking at leisure, about not only success at business but the person who has made it possible. The show is not shot in the corporate’s company office, but rather in an informal setting. The venue of the interview is often decided by the corporate head, usually at a place where he/she likes to relax and unwind. The place can range from a favorite golf course, his house, farmhouse, club etc. In the case of a female corporate, it could also be her favorite beauty parlor, her gymkhana, her jogging track or even the comforts of her house that displays her home settings.

    The theme and objective behind the interview is to uncover different aspects of a corporate head’s life ranging from his / her personal family life, to their favorite movie, dressing, hobbies, and professional life, to their opinion on current events, vision for their company, innermost desires and the goals still not reached.

    Hosted by Anish in his inimitable style, the show is in English and targeted to attract people from the corporate and allied fields. For young minds yearning to find their place in the world, Head Honchos will show the way to dream big and perform bigger!

    Head Honchos has been receiving recognition and support from industrialists, executives from across the corporate world and viewers who get a thrill from learning from successful people.

     

    With two episodes to their credit, Head Honcho has so far got Adi Godrej (CMD, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. and Niranjan Hirandani (MD, Hiranandani Group of Companies) on their shows. More top line CEOs are all set to let you in on their most personal lives and their rise to the top.

    Some of the big names in the industry that will soon be featured on Head Honchos future episodes are Piyush Pandey (National Creative Director, O & M, Ashwini Kakkar CEO & MD, Thomas Cook ( India ) Ltd, Sanjeev Agrawal MD, World Gold Council. Anil Khera COO, Sansui and Dr. Dewan Nanda, CMD Topsgrup.

    In the space of 6 months, Janmat has forged ahead of channels like Times Now, NDTV Profit, Zee Business and Headlines Today. Janmat bombards the viewers with news, brought out in a synchronized manner that enables assimilation. Wherever Janmat has gone, it has made sure that the issues were addressed BY the people, FOR the people and THROUGH the people. This has helped the ordinary voter to gain clout and power to fight against the system.

     

    Positioned as India’s first Views Channel, JANMAT has brought a fresh breeze in the country’s TV viewing landscape. JANMAT is a 24-hour current affairs channel targeted towards the discerning Indian audience. JANMAT has an ear to the ground, and allows the common man to express his grievances for swift redressal.

  • Indian-born Khali on Ten Sports

    Indian-born Khali on Ten Sports

    The much-awaited JUDGEMENT DAY on Ten sportS!

    Watch Indian-born Khali on Sunday 4 June, 2006 at 9.00 am on Ten Sports!

     

    MUMBAI, June 2: Judgement Day will have all the big-name superstars competing for the top spot. Fans will see the entertainment giants spew sweat, cuss words and vicious blows as they all battle it out for the number one position. All this on Sunday, June 4 and followed by the repeat telecast the next day. Only on Ten Sports !

     

    The long existing feud between Rey Mysterio, the biggest underdog champion in sports-entertainment history and JBL is sure to produce more than fireworks on Judgment Day. This will be a turn for the worse! The fans know it, JBL knows it and even Rey knows it. A continuous inspiration to his fans, this 5’ 6” man will try his utmost to retain the World Championship. Curiosity, excitement and exasperation will be written large over the faces of fans for this match for sure.

     

    WWE fans wait with bated breath for June 4th which will portray how The Undertaker will give vent to his pent-up emotions. The match will be more than a fist of fury and fans can expect more than bloodshed and gore. Judgement Day – the answer lies therein!! Will The Great Khali dominate The Undertaker? Watch the repeat telecast of the ‘Judgment Day’ on the 5th of June at 10:00 am and get smacked!

     

    Another interesting match to watch will be Mark Henry against Kurt Angle will surely angle for revenge on Judgment Day. This wrestling mean-machine, as he is known, is sure to vent his fury on Mark, something fans should not miss for anything in the world.

     

    However, fans can expect a slightly long fight between Chris Benoit and Finlay on Judgment Day. Will Benoit make it is the big question? Judgment Day will see Melina and Jillian get nastier than ever. A visual delight for the male fans for sure it is bound to surprise WWE fans! Booker T. against Lashley will be another exciting match to look forward to while Super Crazy and Gregory Helms, the self-proclaimed “greatest Cruiserweight Champion” are sure to create more controversies in the world of WWE sports.

     

    OTHER MATCHES TO LOOK FOR:

     

    § Paul London & Brian Kendrick v/s MNM

    § Chris Benoit v/s Finlay

     

    ABOUT TEN SPORTS: Only launched in April 2002, Ten Sports is watched by more viewers than any other sports channel in the Sub-continent. Ten Sports is available in over 48 million households via cable and satellite networks across the world. In just a short span of three years, Ten Sports has also become the world’s biggest producers of cricket. The Channel broadcasts cricket from Sharjah, the West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Morocco throughout the Indian sub-continent and Asia, as well as in Europe and the Middle East Also, Ten Sports has broadcast cricket from India, the World Cup 2003 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 in certain territories.

     

     

    For further information please contact:

     

    Lavanya Iyer
    Ten Sports
    Tel: 022 56623101/6289
    Email:kevina@tajtv.com/lavanyai@tajtv.com

    Neha Parab / Canta Dadlaney
    ZZEBRA, Mumbai
    Tel: 022 26496712/6713
    Email: neha@zzebra.net/canta@zzebra.net

  • Insat4c: ISRO gears up for 10-15 July launch

    MUMBAI: 10 to 15 July 2006. That‘s the launch window that the Indian Space Research Organisation has set aside for the launch of DTH services satellite Insat 4C. According to ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair the indigeneously designed launch vehicle has been moved to the launch pad in Sriharikota. 


    The GSLV Mark II is a 49-metre tall rocket weighing around 40 tonnes at lift-off. Its payload is the Insat 4C satellite, with 12 ku band transponders and a mission life span of 10 years.


    Most of the satellite‘s capacity has been booked for DTH services by the Sun Network, National Informatics Centre and VSAT (very small aperture terminals) operators.


    The succesful launch of the GSLV will pitchfork India‘s ISRO into an elite group of countries and groups with indigeneous satellite design and launch capabilities: United States, Russia, Japan, China and the European Space Agency (ESA).


    Nair was speaking to journalists at a satellite navigation conference which was held at its offices in Bangalore yesterday. He said that the launch window date will be kept, good weather permitting.


    Isro spokespersons have been pointing out that using indigeneous launch vehicles will result in a saving of about 30-40 per cent or Rs 1.5 billion in expenses per launch. With four satellites to be launched by GSLV Mark II and Mark III, the savings thus will be substantial. It will, however, be using the services of Arianespace to launch the Insat 4B satellite from Kouru in French Guiana next year.


    “With the commissioning of the Rs 3.5 billion ($75mn) second launch pad at Sriharikota, India is the only country to have such a state-of-the-art facility to launch different types of vehicles Ranging from PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle), GSLV Mark-1, GSLV Mark-II to the upcoming GSLV Mark-III in the four-tonne class,” a top ISRO official is reported to have said sometime back.

  • Insat4c: ISRO gears up for 10-15 July launch

    Insat4c: ISRO gears up for 10-15 July launch

    MUMBAI: 10 to 15 July 2006. That’s the launch window that the Indian Space Research Organisation has set aside for the launch of DTH services satellite Insat 4C. According to ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair the indigeneously designed launch vehicle has been moved to the launch pad in Sriharikota.

    The GSLV Mark II is a 49-metre tall rocket weighing around 40 tonnes at lift-off. Its payload is the Insat 4C satellite, with 12 ku band transponders and a mission life span of 10 years.

    Most of the satellite’s capacity has been booked for DTH services by the Sun Network, National Informatics Centre and VSAT (very small aperture terminals) operators.

    The succesful launch of the GSLV will pitchfork India’s ISRO into an elite group of countries and groups with indigeneous satellite design and launch capabilities: United States, Russia, Japan, China and the European Space Agency (ESA).

    Nair was speaking to journalists at a satellite navigation conference which was held at its offices in Bangalore yesterday. He said that the launch window date will be kept, good weather permitting.

    Isro spokespersons have been pointing out that using indigeneous launch vehicles will result in a saving of about 30-40 per cent or Rs 1.5 billion in expenses per launch. With four satellites to be launched by GSLV Mark II and Mark III, the savings thus will be substantial. It will, however, be using the services of Arianespace to launch the Insat 4B satellite from Kouru in French Guiana next year.

    “With the commissioning of the Rs 3.5 billion ($75mn) second launch pad at Sriharikota, India is the only country to have such a state-of-the-art facility to launch different types of vehicles Ranging from PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle), GSLV Mark-1, GSLV Mark-II to the upcoming GSLV Mark-III in the four-tonne class,” a top ISRO official is reported to have said sometime back.

  • CAS rollout: Delhi HC ‘no’ to government plea for more time

    CAS rollout: Delhi HC ‘no’ to government plea for more time

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government yet again pleaded for more time to roll out CAS — six months to be exact — but a Delhi court has refused to accede to the request asking for a final stand by the next date of hearing.

    According to early information available with Indiantelevision.com, even the broadcast regulator pleaded for four to five months time to sort out CAS-related issues like pricing of TV channels.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) submitted to the Delhi High Court today that it has initiated a dialogue with the industry stakeholders on issues related to CAS and which would take few months time to complete and arrive at some consensus.

    However, the court was in no mood to listen to such pleas and fixed the next date of hearing for 19 July.

    The court observed that if the government is unable to sort out CAS matters, then it could also explore the possibility of going ahead with the rollout based on the Chennai model.

    It also said that the government has already used up three month’s time from 10 March when the first directive came to roll out CAS in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai within a month’s time.

    Chennai is the only city in India where CAS has been rolled out and running smoothly since 2003.

    Reference to do away with government mandated CAS was also mentioned in the court today during a hearing and reference was made of the relevant section from a draft Broadcast Bill 2006, which is being circulated amongst government organizations for feedback.

    A clutch of MSOs, including Hathway and INCablenet, had filed a case against the government on CAS in the Delhi High Court late 2004, alleging that keeping addressability in abeyance had resulted in financial losses to the petitioners.

  • B’cast, telecom industry divided on IPTV norms

    B’cast, telecom industry divided on IPTV norms

    NEW DELHI: A majority of broadcast industry stakeholders are against IPTV separated from cable service and have said this is likely to create more problems in an already vexed industry.

    A consultation paper issued by the broadcast regulator on IPTV and amendment in the Cable TV Act has drawn varied comments from stakeholders, including that IPTV should not be separated from cable TV and laws regulating it.

    “IPTV is similar to cable services in terms of content and mode of delivery. It would be appropriate to categorize it as a cable service rather than a telecom service under (the) Telegraph Act,” DTH licence holder ASC Enterprises has said.

    Agreeing with ASC is MSO Alliance, an apex body of multi-system operators in the country, which has sated that IPTV should not be dubbed a different service from cable TV.

    “Given the nature of IPTV services, which is akin to cable services, the effort on the part of regulator should be to propose amendments which would serve the purpose of keeping IPTV within cable services domain, rather than to suggest the ones which would take them away from the Cable Network Regulation Act,” MSO Alliance has said in reply to a consultation paper issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

    On the other hand, Star has said that treating IPTV differently from cable services, as had been suggested by Trai in its consultation paper, would give undue advantage to telecom companies that have been proposing to start IPTV services.

    “In the absence of parity in FDI norms, telecom operators would continue to enjoy better access to the capital required for digital broadband services. This would be to the detriment of other service providers like cable and DTH,” Star has informed Trai.

    Presently in India, foreign investment in cable TV is capped at 49 per cent, while the government has okayed a proposal to raise the limit in telecom services to 74 per cent.

    Trai had invited comments from industry stakeholders on proposed amendments in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and existing telecom licenses for facilitation of growth of IPTV services.

    The basic intention behind the proposed amendments in the Cable Television (Regulation) Act, 1995 was to keep the IPTV service outside the definition of `cable services’.

    This means that IPTV service providers would not be covered in the definition of `cable operator’ and the Unified Access Service network used for provision of IPTV services will not get covered by the definition of `cable television network’ under the Cable Act.

    The 13 stakeholders that had got back to Trai with their comments on the issue include the following: NDS, ASC Enterprises Ltd, MSO Alliance, Cable Operators Federation of India, Hathway Cable & Datacom Private Limited, Reliance Infocomm Ltd, Ortel Communications Ltd, Zee Network, Star India, Tata Teleservices Ltd and the Internet Service Providers’ Association of India

  • Sahara TV plans Rs 2 billion expansion plans

    Sahara TV plans Rs 2 billion expansion plans

    Sahara TV has earmarked Rs 2 billion for its expansion plans to set up a NFDC style film and television academy and a media club for media personalities. The funds for this venture will be raised mostly through internal accruals and the rest by tapping the balance.

    The academy will have all the modern equipment like four air-conditioned studio floors (two for films and two for video), 15 digital video cameras, three audio studios, telecine equipment, reverse telecine, 33 edit suites, DVD authoring, animation and a full-blown film processing laboratory. The annual capacity of the project will be 20 full-length feature films and 10,000 episodes of half-hour video.

    Sahara will also be launching its news and current affair channel soon. Besides this, the company also plans to launch a new magazine.

  • CN gets on to DD with a branded block

    CN gets on to DD with a branded block

    NEW DELHI: Not content with ruling the kids’ space in India via satellite, Cartoon Network now wants a slice of terrestrial viewership too.

    On Monday, it announced a new one-hour programming block, Cartoon Network Duniya, on Doordarshan National.

    Starting 8 July, the new block will air every Saturday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. and will feature two of Turner’s most popular and successful original productions, M.A.D. (Music, Art and Dance) and Codename: Kids Next Door.

    Cartoon Network Duniya will also showcase other popular series, including Turner’s most awaited original production, Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian version of globally renowned pre-school series, Sesame Street.

    “Doordarshan’s extensive reach across India will enable kids in non-C&S homes to enjoy Turner’s engaging original production that has so far been limited to C&S homes. In the preliminary stage, the highly rated M.A.D. and popular animation series, Codename: Kids Next Door will serve as the perfect introduction to new viewers,” an official statement quoted Turner International India MD Anshuman Misra as saying yesterday.

    Misra added that later in the year Galli Galli Sim Sim will further enhance the appeal by showcasing content that is both educational and entertaining in nature.

    M.A.D. is an off-the-wall, interactive journey for 8-12 years olds and their families and is filled with fun tabletop ‘makes’, dynamic performances, a bit of humour and some art stunts.

    Galli Galli Sim Sim is an initiative undertaken by globally recognised, Sesame Workshop and Indian kids’ entertainment leader, Turner India.

    The show is aimed at serving the 157 million children under the age of six in India and is committed to supporting India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan or universal access to education.

  • CN gets on to DD with a branded block

    NEW DELHI: Not content with ruling the kids‘ space in India via satellite, Cartoon Network now wants a slice of terrestrial viewership too.


    On Monday, it announced a new one-hour programming block, Cartoon Network Duniya, on Doordarshan National.


    Starting 8 July, the new block will air every Saturday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. and will feature two of Turner‘s most popular and successful original productions, M.A.D. (Music, Art and Dance) and Codename: Kids Next Door.


    Cartoon Network Duniya will also showcase other popular series, including Turner‘s most awaited original production, Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian version of globally renowned pre-school series, Sesame Street.


    “Doordarshan‘s extensive reach across India will enable kids in non-C&S homes to enjoy Turner‘s engaging original production that has so far been limited to C&S homes. In the preliminary stage, the highly rated M.A.D. and popular animation series, Codename: Kids Next Door will serve as the perfect introduction to new viewers,” an official statement quoted Turner International India MD Anshuman Misra as saying yesterday.


    Misra added that later in the year Galli Galli Sim Sim will further enhance the appeal by showcasing content that is both educational and entertaining in nature.


    M.A.D. is an off-the-wall, interactive journey for 8-12 years olds and their families and is filled with fun tabletop ‘makes‘, dynamic performances, a bit of humour and some art stunts.


    Galli Galli Sim Sim is an initiative undertaken by globally recognised, Sesame Workshop and Indian kids‘ entertainment leader, Turner India.


    The show is aimed at serving the 157 million children under the age of six in India and is committed to supporting India‘s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan or universal access to education.