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  • Channel [V] to premier Get Gorgeous-III on 16 March

    Channel [V] to premier Get Gorgeous-III on 16 March

    MUMBAI: Starting 16 March, Channel [V] will showcase the third edition of the glam reality show — Get Gorgeous.

    The eight -episode series will have drama, excitement and tribulations of a nationwide search to identify the ‘one’ who has the looks, the grit, the determination and the potential to Get Gorgeous! The show will air at 7:30 pm.

    The first episode captures the excitement of the [v] Get Gorgeous III auditions that were held in New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai, states an official release.

    The chosen ones will be initially screened by the expert panel to arrive at a shortlist of 15 finalists. These 15 selected faces will then be given a complete makeover and grooming by Noyonika Chatterjee along with the panel of experts from the industry such as dancer and choreographer Rajiv Goswami; ace photographer- Colstan Julian; styling partnertship from Elle editor – Nonita Kalra and skin experts from Kaya Skin Clinic, offering the finalists the opportunity to reveal their true beauty in the competition there on.

  • MTNL selects Time Broadband for IPTV

    MTNL selects Time Broadband for IPTV

    MUMBAI: State-owned telecom major MTNL has selected Time Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, India (TBSPL) to develop and handle the content delivery network for its IPTV services.

    TBSPL has signed a seven-year deal which will have IT major HP as its systems integrator. The company will design and deploy the content delivery network, aggregate and repurpose content, and market and promote the services

    “We have signed with Time Broadband as our franchisee for setting up the content delivery network. The first launch of IPTV will be in Delhi and Mumbai will follow. We expect to launch the service commercially by June,” says MTNL executive director, Mumbai, MS Rana.

    Time Broadband will have Israel-based Infogate Online as its middleware vendor while Verimatrix Inc. will provide content protection solutions. The digital headend will be from Optibase. Amino and Softier Inc. set-top boxes are being tested.

    “We are extremely glad to participate with a telecom giant for the IPTV project. While MTNL is investing on the networking technology, we are pumping in money for the content delivery network. HP is our systems integrator and will also be responsible for risk mitigation of the technology. The scalability test is being done in their laboratory at Grenoble in the US,” says Time Broadband managing director Sujata Dev.

    MTNL has invested in deploying a networking platform developed by Ericsson. On this network, MTNL can run its triple play services – voice, data and video.

    The telecom company is employing ADSL 2+ technology that can safely take up to 24 mbps at the origination point, says MTNL general manager broadband Peeyush Agrawal. “For the video part, we are using MPEG-4 compression technology,” he adds.

  • British government asks BBC to adapt to digital era

    British government asks BBC to adapt to digital era

    MUMBAI: The British government has granted the BBC its license fee for the next 10 years, but also asked the broadcaster to adapt those principles to the digital era and that it needs to return to its roots of “informing, educating and entertaining”.

    Suggesting that the corporation should put entertainment at the heart of its mission, these recommendations came in the form of a White Paper on the future of the BBC.

    It also called for the BBC to avoid copycat programming and expensive foreign acquisitions, and confirmed new regulations designed to prevent the BBC from bullying commercial competitors.

    Both the charter renewal, valid until 2016, and the White Paper come just two years after the devastating Hutton Report, which found that the BBC had engaged in irresponsible journalism.

    The paper did lay out some new goals for the BBC. One of them is that the broadcaster should convert to full digital transmission by 2012. Another is that the BBC’s programs and websites should be of high quality and engaging.

    According to media reports, the report also commends the announced goal of BBC director general Mark Thompson to cut 4,000 jobs and re-invest the resulting £355 million a year in savings back into programming.

  • Shyam P S appointed as Buena Vista International (India) film production & acquisitions head

    Shyam P S appointed as Buena Vista International (India) film production & acquisitions head

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company (India) and Buena Vista International have appointed Shyam P. S. as head of Film Production & Acquisitions, BVI (India). The announcement was made by The Walt Disney Company (India) MD Rajat Jain and BVI Asia VP Jeff Forman.

    Based in Mumbai, Shyam will spearhead the company’s feature films production and acquisitions in India as part of the studio entertainment business. He would be responsible for the company’s initiatives to create and acquire original Indian films which combine Disney’s classic storytelling abilities with the Indian sensibilities.

    Shyam would report jointly to Jain, Forman and BVI Asia VP sales Jo Yan, informs an official release.

    India is a priority market in Disney’s global expansion strategy and the company is reiterating its continued commitment to the potential of the market, especially Bollywood, through the launch of Studio operations, the release adds.

    “We are investing in the future of global entertainment in India through a continued thrust on building the depth and breadth of our presence in the country. Shyam’s outstanding knowledge of the Indian movie business will be an asset in the launch and future of our Studio operations. With this launch, I am happy to inform that three of our four lines of businesses have their presence in India now which creates a meaningful presence for Disney here. We are proud to expand our presence in the Indian movie business as Indian movie content prepares to take center stage on the global map” says Jain.

    “India has a great wealth of stories and a wonderful history of film making”, adds Forman. “We are very excited by the prospects of making Indian language films for the Indian audience with Indian sensitivities and a touch of the Disney magic. We look forward to making great films and are very pleased to have a production executive of Shyam’s experience and talent to lead us forward.”

    Shyam’s most recent assignment was with Flicks – The Motion Picture Company as executive producer of the just-released Rang De Basanti. Prior to that, he has worked with the Percept Picture Company, and a variety of music videos, docudramas and commercials.

  • SifyMax launches city-centric broadband portal

    SifyMax launches city-centric broadband portal

    BANGALORE: www.sifymax.in, the broadband portal from Sify Limited, has launched www.bangalorelive.in, the country’s first city-centric broadband website.

    Bangalorelive.in will showcase original Bangalore-centric video content, created exclusively for an online audience. The videos will focus on city news and events, entertainment, celebrities, lifestyle, commerce and politics, anchored by Net Jockeys (NJs), a new concept introduced by Bangalorelive in India. The Net Jockeys will also present daily news bulletins on video, covering the latest happenings in the city extensively.

    The broadband website also features, for the first time in India, live video feeds from traffic web-cams stationed at key junctions of the city including Brigade Road and Hosur Road, states an official release.

    A key aspect of Bangalorelive is the options for users to publish their views, participate in Bangalore-specific discussions and upload their own content in images and videos, the release adds. They can also message greetings through Short Message Service (SMS) to their friends who are using the site that will scroll across the home page on a ticker. The idea is to make Bangalorelive the online resource and home for Bangalore’s citizens, and the perfect way for Banglorian living elsewhere to stay in touch with what’s happening in their home city.

    Nikhil Chinapa, the popular MTV VJ from Bangalore, now based in Mumbai, says, “Considering that people from Bangalore have a really strong emotional bond to what they consider ‘their’ city, a site like Bangalorelive.in is a great way for them to stay in touch with all that’s happening in the city. No matter where they are now, Bombay, Delhi, Canada or the US, every Bangalorean can keep up to date on what’s happening in Bangalore-the clubs, the music, the buzz, news, hot topics, and in recent times, the latest traffic as well.”

    Sify Limited senior VP Surya Mantha says, “This is one of the most exciting web initiatives in recent times, and we believe that the people of Bangalore will embrace it and truly make it come alive! The site is India’s first city-centric broadband website designed to be the Bangalore citizens community media channel for airing their views, discussing hot local topics and building their own personal space online”.

    Mantha added, “With 24×7 live video coverage of the city’s traffic, news & events, reviews, news from around town presented by India’s first Net Jockeys, television-style newscasts and most importantly, video and image galleries for users, Bangalorelive is all set to change the online experience of people from Bangalore, whether they are in the city or elsewhere. The website also features Bangalore-specific classified advertisements for jobs, matrimony, real estate and automobiles which can be posted and viewed by the users free of cost”.

    Bangalore residents who log on to www.bangalorelive.in can take part in the four-week long contest, which ends on March 18th 2006, offering the all-new Scorpio as the mega prize! Users just have to watch three videos, and answer one question on each, to be eligible to win the Scorpio. Contestants also win iPods and World Space Receivers every week!

    The launch of Bangalorelive began with a four week-long event across the city billed the “Battle of the DJs”. Three of Bangalore’s best DJs are competing for the ‘Favourite DJ’ title. Bangaloreans can vote for their choice by sending an SMS to 4545, Sify’s short code for text messages. The DJ with the most popular votes wins! The grand finale starts at 7 pm on 18 March at Freeway 19, Palace Grounds.

  • Star Movies presents Ladder 49

    Mumbai, March 16, 2006… Fire! It’s man’s most ancient friend, but also our most ancient foe. Sure, it might toast our marshmallows and keep us snuggly in the wintertime – but when it starts ravaging our homes the truce is well and truly off. And that’s when we need firefighters! It’s time for adrenaline, overflowing action as Star Movies presents the John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix starrer, ‘Ladder 49’, a gripping film about the life of a fireman, on Friday, March 24th at 9 p.m.

    Ladder 49 is the story of a firefighter- the loves, the losses and of course the roaring flames! Under the watchful eye of his mentor Captain Mike Kennedy (John Travolta), probationary firefighter Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) matures into a seasoned veteran at a Baltimore fire station. Jack has reached a crossroads, however, as the sacrifices he’s made have put him in harm’s way innumerable times and significantly impacted his relationship with his wife and kids. Responding to the worst blaze in his career, he gets trapped inside a 20-story building. As he reflects on his life, now Assistant Chief Kennedy frantically coordinates the effort to save him.

    This action packed, star-studded film bagged $100,572,044 at the worldwide box office. Catch some spectacular special effects and stunt work and some very impressive performances by actors like Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta in this gripping film which will keep you glued to your seat, right till the very end.
    Experience the life of a firefighter by watching this spectacular action-packed film, Ladder 49 on Friday, March 24th 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 Shiraz Bhavnani / Aditi Chada
    Asst. Vice President – Publicity Vaishnavi Corporate Communications
    STAR (India) Ltd. Tel: 91-22-5656 8787
    Tel No. 91-22-56305555 Fax: 91-22-5656 8788
    Email:sbhavnani@vccpl.com / achada@vccpl.com

  • Insat-3B lofted successfully

    Insat-3B lofted successfully

    Arianespace and the Indian Space Research Organisation successfuly lifted the first in the third generation of Insat satellites on 22 March at 04:58 Indian time. The Arianespace-505 launcher had an additional payload in the Asiastar satellite which was launched for digital radio service, WorldSpace.

    Asia Star was first injected into orbit 28 minutes after lift-off, and seven minutes later, INSAT-3B was injected (in a three-axis stabilised mode into a Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit – GTO) with a perigee of 560 km and an apogee of 35,770 km and an inclination of 7 degree with respect to the equator.

    The satellite is at present orbiting around the earth with a period of 10.64 hours. The Insat Master Control Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka acquired the telemetry signal from Insat-3B at 5.30 (IST) three minutes prior to its separation from the launcher.

    On separation of the satellite from the composite adopter, satellite health checks were conducted and a series of commands issued from the MCF so as to orient its earth-viewing face towards earth. The outermost panel of the stowed solar array on the south side was also oriented towards the sun to start generating the electrical power required by the satellite during its transfer orbit phase.

    The calibration of the gyros on board the satellite has also been carried out. The operations were completed in about (100 minutes). Insat-3B is being tracked, apart from MCF, Hassan, by INTELSAT Organisation’s ground stations at Perth (Australia), Fucino (Italy) and Lake Cowichan (Canada).

    The satellite will go out of the visibility of MCF, Hassan at about 03:36 pm (IST) this afternoon and will come within the radio visibility of MCF, Hassan at 02:36 am tomorrow.

    The satellite’s orbit is being precisely determined by continuous ranging from the participating TTC stations. The orbit raising operations on INSAT-3B will be carried out by firing the 440 Newton liquid apogee motor on board in stages till the satellite attains its final geostationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the equator.

    The first Apogee Motor Firing (AMF-1) is planned during the third transfer orbit tomorrow (March 23, 2000) at about 07:30 am IST. The satellite has about 1,100 kg of propellant (Mono-Methyl Hydrazine – MMH and Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen – MON-3) for orbit raising operations as well as for station keeping and in-orbit attitude control for the duration of its designed life of 10 years.

    When the satellite reaches near geo-stationary orbit, deployment of two solar panels and the two antennas will be carried out and the satellite put in its final three-axis stabilised mode. The payloads will be checked out before commissioning the satellite. The deployment of the solar array and the two antennas will be carried out after the satellite attains near geo-synchronous orbit.

    Insat-3B will be collocated with INSAT-2E at 83 deg East longitude. It may be noted that Insat satellites now occupy four slots — Insat-2B and Insat-2C are collocated at 93.5 deg (E) longitude, INSAT-1D and INSAT-2A are collocated at 74 E longitude and Insat-2DT is located at 55 E longitude besides Insat-2E at 83 deg East longitude.

    Insat-3B is primarily intended for business communication, developmental communication and mobile communication. The communication payload provides 12 extended C-band channels, each having a bandwidth of 36 MHz. The Ku-band payload provides three channels, having a bandwidth of 77/72 MHz. The Mobile Satellite Service transponders operate in C/S band frequencies. Compared to INSAT-2C/2D, the power of extended C-band transponders on board INSAT-3B has been increased from 10 W to 15 W and that of Ku-band from 20 W to 55 W.

    Once commissioned, INSAT-3B is expected to further boost the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) services. The major VSAT users include banking and financial institutions, stock markets, white goods sector, fast moving consumer goods sector and medium to heavy engineering companies. Several public and private sector units have established dedicated closed-user group networks for their in-house applications. At present seven transponders from INSAT-2B and INSAT-2C are being used for these applications and INSAT-3B will almost double the transponder capacity for these services. For the first-time Ku-band frequencies will also be used for VSAT services, which enables use of smaller ground terminals.

    INSAT-3B will provide the first set of transponders for Swaran Jayanti Vidya Vikas Antariksh Upagraha Yojana (Vidya Vahini) which had been announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 15 1998. These transponders will be used exclusively for interactive training and developmental communication and will be a further extension of the present Training and Developmental Communication Channel of Insat that is being used by several agencies.

    Tele-medicine is also expected to be introduced that will help in remote iagnostics and extension of super special hospital treatment to the rural population. INSAT-3B Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) has forward link channel in C X S band and return link in S X C band. MSS can support portable terminals and carry voice, fax or data. It also supports messaging service using reporting terminals.

  • Journalist to start news portal

    Journalist to start news portal

    Another print medium journalist bites the dot com bullet. Managing editor of Outlook newsmagazine, Tarun Tejpal, has quit to start tehelka.com, claimed to be India’s first independent news portal.

    Tehelka Communications Ltd, the company that will manage the affairs of tehelka.com, will have majority shareholding by the Tejpals (52.5 per cent), while 25 per cent will be held by adman Suhel Seth.

    “It’s an ambitious project and we are looking at a really comprehensive horizontal portal which will not only provide news, but also information on issues like literature, etc.,” Tehelka Communications’ chief executive Tarun Tejpal said, claiming it will be India’s first independent news portal.

    The board of this new dotcom company will include illustrious personalities like Khushwant Singh, R.K. Laxman, V.S. Naipaul and Russi Mody.

    In the initial phase the investment to be made in tehelka.com project is to the tune of approximately $ 2 million. The project, likely to be up by mid-May, is looking at attracting investments up to $ 10 million by second quarter of this year. According to Suhel Seth, involved in this venture in his personal capacity, tehelka.com will cater to both the high and low brow as it will have the zing necessary to attract hits. Though Seth was unwilling to divulge more financial details, IT industry sources said that venture capital funding will be tapped too. “In the initial phase about 10 per cent is likely to be offloaded to the venture capital fund which invests in the company,” a source close to Tehelka Communications said, adding, “Talks are already on with a Mumbai-based VCF.”

    A certain quantum of the equity stake in the company has been reserved for the employees stock option plan (ESOP), Tejpal said. This has been necessitated as some of the finest brains in journalism will be joining the project, including some from Outlook magazine.

    Tehelka.com is looking at having more than one model for generating revenue. One is the traditional one of making the site and detailed information susbcription-based. Another stream of revenue being looked at is facilitating downloading of magazines and excerpts from yet-to-be-published books for a price.

    But tehelka.com will have to face competition from existing news sites and portals like india-today.com and indiatimes.com and some like GO4i (go for India) which are in the offing and backed by big media houses.

    For example, in a two-pronged Internet strategy, The Hindustan Times Ltd, through an offshore company, based in the United States, has formed a joint venture with Chase Capital Partners with equal equity participation from both for development of a horizontal portal, tentatively called GO4i (go for India).

  • 7UP launches Mallika MMS campaign to promote new ‘Curvy’ packaging

    BANGALORE: Clear lime brand of PepsiCo India, 7UP, has unveiled its curvaceous new packaging Curvy. Promoting the new packaging is 7UP’s popular brand mascot Fido Dido in company with Bollywood siren Mallika Sherawat.
     
     
    Keeping in tune with the buzz surrounding the launch is the Mallika MMS campaign. This is the first time that the television commercial (TVC) will be featured first through MMS and then aired on television. The MMS campaign is supported by a contest that promises 50 lucky winners to meet Sherawat, states an official release.

    The TVC, created by ad agency JWT and directed by Prahlad Kakkar, will be unveiled on 15 of April. It features Sherawat playing the role of a princess who wishes to be more beautiful, curvy and the coolest of them all! To her amazement, her wishes are granted by none another than Fido Dido, who snaps his fingers and turns her into the 7UP ‘Curvy’ bottle.
     
     
    The new pack will be rolled out in all key metros and select markets. The launch is being supported by an aggressive 360 degree activation through innovative outdoor such as live hoardings, radio, television, web (www.7UP.in) & wireless as well as modern & traditional trade, the release adds.
    The launch will also introduce one-of-its kind teaser outdoors, which will lead to a dramatic reveal of the new look. Innovation seems to be the buzzword for 7UP as the outdoor advertising includes Lenticular signages that show Mallika morphing into the curvy bottle, states an official release.
     
     
    Says Pepsi Foods Pvt Ltd, India executive marketing director Punita Lal, “We are pleased to present the new 7UP ‘Curvy’ bottle which spells style, aesthetics & differentiation. A unique, packaging solution with stylish contours, 7UP Curvy is unlike anything we have seen so far in India. We are positive that the cool new 7UP ‘Curvy’ bottle will enhance consumer connect with the youth”.

    “It is a great honour for me to be 7UP’s brand ambassador and unveil the brand new – 7UP ‘Curvy’ bottle. I am positive that the new curvaceous look will be a rage with the youth. I am also certain the exciting new 7UP ‘Curvy’ TVC will be much appreciated; I, personally, had a wonderful experience shooting for the commercial and I hope all 7UP fans love it”, adds the brand ambassador Sherawat.
     

     

  • Aditya Shastri quits UTV as motion pictures COO

    Aditya Shastri quits UTV as motion pictures COO

    MUMBAI: Aditya Shastri, who had joined UTV as COO motion pictures production in late 2004, has quit the company. “We mutually agreed to part ways,” a source in UTV said.

    Shastri had moved to UTV from Twentieth Century Fox where he served as managing director. At Fox, he had handled and released several blockbusters such as Moulin Rouge, Die Another Day and The Day After Tomorrow.

    “I have left UTV. I am joining a new company on 15 April,” Shastri told indiantelevision.com.
    UTV has been enjoying major successes on the movie front this year with productions like the Aamir Khan superhit Rang De Basanti and Taxi No 9211 hitting the jackpot.

    The company has also distributed products in various territories including heavyweight titles such as Lagaan, Lakshya, Mission Kashmir, Parineeta and Viruddh.