ITV

Tag: Alpha Bangla

  • Alpha Bangla to woo masses with new fare

    Alpha Bangla to woo masses with new fare

    MUMBAI: The action plan is ready. A distant second on the Bangla entertainment channel horizon, Alpha Bangla is all geared to do some damage control. 

    The channel’s plan for this quarter revolves around the launch of four new shows and organising a few ground events. While Alpha Bangla launched its new mini-series, Paanch Dine Gappo on on July 26, it will be launching a further three new prime time shows soon.

    The first of the three is Neel Simana (Blue Horizon). Set to launch on 16 August at 7:30 pm, the weekly is a show that revolves around five women. The show will replace Alpha Bangla’s hugely successful Pratibimba (Reflection), which has had an extended run for a good 700 episodes. 

    The daily is based on a common happening in Kolkatta where women after dropping of their kids to school stay put at the apartment of one of the parents in their group till it’s time to pick up the kids from school. “We are hoping that this show becomes one of the flagship shows on our channel as it will be launched in Pratibimba’s time slot. The show has been on one of our most successful and longest running shows,” says Alpha Bangla business head JK Ray.

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com Ray offers, “On the Bangla general entertainment arena, prime time starts right from 6 pm till 11 pm and we have sizeable male eyeballs too. Although we had planned that we would be launching new shows every quarter, we have not been doing so of late. But henceforth, we have decided to adopt a stickler policy. So in addition to launching slew of new shows every quarter, we will also be organising ground events every month – like the recent ‘Megh Malhar’ rain fest.”

    “The new mini-series Paanch Dine Gappo is an interesting format. We will have a new story every week, directed by new director and featuring popular Bengali stars,” Ray elaborated about the new show. 

    In addition to the daily show- Neel Simana, the channel will be airing a 20-minute current affairs show Search light Monday- Friday at 8:40 pm from 16 August. Although the channel isn’t vocal about it, the idea is to counter the close third Akash Bangla. While Alpha Bangla’s popularity is mainly owing to its shows, Akash Bangla’s claim to fame is its news features. Of late, Akash Bangla seems have been gaining on Alpha Bangla because of this.

    When quizzed about the competition, Ray offered, “We are a distant second to the more popular ETV Bangla. The margin, be it in terms of the GRPs or the TRPs, is thrice as much. Although it is unlikely that we might upsurge it from its top slot, we are looking at narrowing the gap.”

    The third launch in the prime time slot is the comedy Dhyaterikka! (a surprised exclamation). While the channel has set the time slot 6:40 -7 pm, Monday to Friday, the channel executives are non-committal on the date of launch.

    “We at Alpha Bangla do not believe in terminating the programme before its scheduled run, even though it might not be garnering as many TRPs. We are allowing the show in its slot to come to a conclusive end. We might launch Dhyaterikkai! on 22 August.” 

    The daily comedy has an interesting plotline “what if gods land up on the earth and lose their supernatural powers.” The show starring some known names from the Bangla entertainment industry will have the heavenly characters Kali Ma, Vishnu mingling with normal mortals and the comedy of errors occurring thereof. 

    In addition to all that, the channel, in its kids slot 11 am on Sunday will be launching Tintin dubbed in Bengali. “Thakurmar Jhuli has been a very successful kids programming that airs at 10 am every Sunday. With the addition of Tintin we would be building up our kids’ viewership.”

    “As for the next quarter, we are looking at launching a talk-cum-unplugged show. The show on the lines of Zee’s successful Jeena isi ka naam hai will have a popular Bangla actor rendezvousing with a celebrity guest, his friends and family and in the second half the guest will also be performing,” informs Ray.

    Will the ‘sonar Bangla’ channel work this time? Time will tell….

  • Aditya Ray takes over as CEO, Maharaja Television

    Aditya Ray takes over as CEO, Maharaja Television

    MUMBAI: Zee Network’s head of operations, (eastern region) and business head of Alpha Bangla, Aditya Ray, has quit the organisation after a stint spanning seven years.

    Ray joined Sri Lanka-based Maharaja Television Corporation that runs a network of three terrestrial television channels in Sri Lanka, as CEO from 1 June 2004.

    Ray, who spent five years as head of marketing services at Zee Network before moving to the eastern region in 2002, was also responsible for turning around Alpha Bangla’s fortunes and making it a profit making venture in the first year that he took charge.

    One of the few Bangla channels that is in the black, Alpha Bangla was also the first among the regional Alpha channels from the Zee stable to run up profits.

    The IIT Mumbai and IIM-A alumnus will now be heading the television business of the 65-year old Maharaja Corporation, which also has a separate broadcast division that runs four radio stations in the country.

    Ray’s charge includes the Sinhalese Sirasa channel, the Tamil Shakti channel and the English language Channel 1 MTV. His priorities would include establishing Sirasa as the leader among existing Sinhalese channels and exploring different distribution modes and markets for the three channels.

    During his tenure at Zee, Ray looked after its marketing as well as for the other channels in the bouquet. He was part of the core team instrumental in the relaunch exercise undertaken in 2001, before he headed east in January 2002 to look after Zee Network’s operations there.

  • Ninth Cable TV Show kickstarts in Kolkata

    Ninth Cable TV Show kickstarts in Kolkata

    KOLKATA: Fusion was the flavour as the ninth Cable TV Show 2004, opened here yesterday. The exhibition which was originally scheduled to start on 20 February started a day earlier as a result of which the first day had more local visitors.

    The show was inaugurated by Kolkata Municipal Corporation mayor Subrato Mukherjee, while Rajya Sabha member of parliament Sarala Maheshwari was the chief guest.
    In his welcome speech to the guests as well as the cable community, the chairman of the organising committee Pawan Jajodia said, “This is the ninth successful year of the exhibition and we are expecting same overwhelming response for the show. The main attraction is going to be the presence of the SAARC countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and the Pakistani delegation which is expected to arrive on the last day of exhibition (21 February).

    Fabulous dance performances by Creation troupes set in the mood for a busy three days of activity. A majority of the exhibitors participating in the Cable TV Show are have come from Eastern India. Apart from the regular manufacturers and accessories stalls, MSOs as well as the Bengali channels like Alpha Bangla, Akaash Bangla, ETV Bangla and CCTN are present with in full force to attract cable operators.

    Though among the MSOs surprisingly RPGnet which is the biggest MSO in Kolkata is conspicuous by its absence at the show. Apparently the cost cutting seems to be the reason of the absence. Siti with its news Dish TV, as well as Turner Network and Manthan Cable Network, (third largest in Kolkata) are present in the show.

    The show is expected to pick up in next two days with seminars on Broadband, Value add services and DTH.

  • Zee channels to air telefilm ‘Mission Akshardham’

    MUMBAI: Televising news and giving it a reality television twist in order to stand out seems to be the new mantra for news channels who are facing intense competition from “clones”.
    Zee News will present a telefilm Mission Akshardham that narrates the conspiracy behind the premeditated dastardly attack, which took place on 24 September, on one of the largest temples in the country with the intent of destabilising India.
    A press release states that the telefilm is an integral part of the channel’s contribution to the ongoing fight against terrorism by creating awareness amongst the people, thus empowering them.
    The telefilm will be shown on Zee News (16 May at 8 pm and 10 pm; 17 May at 9 pm; 18 May at 9:30 pm); Zee TV (17 May at 10 pm); Alpha Bangla (16 May at 10:30 pm); Alpha Punjabi (16 May at 9 pm); Alpha Gujarati (16 May at 8 pm and 10 pm); Alpha Marathi (18 May at 10 am).
    The release adds that the 40-minute telefilm Mission Akshardham is an effort to present the truth about how the ISI – the Pakistan intelligence agency – top brass conspired and misguided young minds into following the path of terrorism. This film is a real story of how these young people are driven and trained for such a merciless mission, adds the release.
    Militants attacked the famous Akshardham temple at Gandhinagar in Gujarat killing innocent people and holding the country to a seige. Media reports indicated that the inhuman attack was a critical part of one of the biggest conspiracies hatched by the ISI to destabilise India.
    The release says that the telefilm seeks to exposes the nexus between various terrorist groups and the ISI. It also portrays the entire modus operandi of these groups and how big plans for the attack against India are being planned and later executed.
    The film has been shot in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to recreate an original ambience, says the release. Zee News claims to have used the actual white ambassador car in the film, which was hired by the terrorists for this attack.
    The release also adds that the cast of the film includes Bollywood and well-known theatre personalities like Sunil Sinha, (playing the role of chief operational commander of the attack Zaki ur rehman Lakhvi), Shyam Pathak ( who plays the role of deputy commander Abdul Rehman Daquil) amongst others. Actor Raza Murad will lend his voice to the film.
    Zee News principal correspondent and the director of this film Naveen Kumar who was working on this investigative piece managed to uncover details like the money paid to the terrorists for this act; kind of training which was given to the terrorists; actual names and ranks of the ISI officers involved; how the automatic weapons were smuggled into Ahmedabad; where the weapons were hidden before the final day of the attack; the local network which colluded and from where they picked up essential supplies before heading towards the temple for the attack.
    Kumar had earlier investigated and developed the concept for 13 December the tele film reconstructing the conspiracy behind the attack on the Parliament, which was also produced by Zee News.

     

  • InCablenet might get Zee-Turner signals from 14 May: Chandra

    MUMBAI: InCablenet may well start receiving signals of all the 17 channels belonging to the Zee-Turner bouquet from 14 May 2003 onwards.
    Speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing to announce an alliance with France TV and Silhouette Films to co-produce a film, Zee Telefilms CMD Subhash Chandra said he expected Hinduja group MSO InCablenet to settle its outstandings tomorrow (14 May). Zee Turner had switched off the signals from 6 May 2003 onwards over waht it said were long-pending payment dues.
    Chandra also mentioned that Zee-Turner would also be issuing a notice to MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom (in which Star India officially has a 26 per cent stake) tomorrow on the issue of outstanding payments. 
    Zee’s action of issuing a notice to Hathway totally rubbishes allegations that are being made against the three major pay broadcasters – Zee, Star and Sony – by certain quarters that they are cartelising in order to fragment the InCablenet network in Mumbai.
    An indiantelevision.com report dated 8 May quotes industry sources who say InCablenet’s total dues owed to different broadcasters are: ESS Rs 30 million, SET-Discovery Rs 40 million, Zee-Turner Rs 3.7 million and Star Rs 40 million plus.
    Commenting on the switching off the Zee-Turner bouquet of channels, Zee Turner CEO Sunil Khanna was earlier quoted in the release as saying that they were forced to take this action as the outstandings had piled up.
    Zee Turner is the largest television network in India with 17 television channels, which includes Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee News, Zee Music, Alpha Marathi, Alpha Punjabi, Alpha Bangla, Alpha Gujarati, Zee English, Zee MGM, trendz, CNN, CNBC, Cartoon Network and Reality TV.

    Also read:

    Zee Turner bouquet switched off InCableNet in Mumbai

    Star also switches off InCableNet in Mumbai

  • Zee upgrades transmission signals for cable ops

    MUMBAI: As part of Zee’s initiative of bringing the best to their viewers the Subhash Chandra network upgraded transmission signals to cable operators yesterday.
    Viewers of Zee News, Zee Music, Alpha Punjabi, Alpha Gujarati, Alpha Bangla and Alpha Marathi will find the technological upgradation reflected in crisper and sharper images with better colour resolution on their existing TV sets.
    The head Siticable Jawahar Goel said, “We have completed a major exercise for upgrading our transmission quality of our six channels which were being uplinked from our Noida facility. Our investments will result in our viewers getting enhanced quality of our channels. We are happy to say that majority of our cable operators have already switched on to the upgraded format and we are expecting the others join within the next few days”.
    Zee asked all its cable operators to re-tune their equipment for accessing the upgraded services. The deadline for the cable operators was yesterday at 4 pm and the upgraded services are available across Asia, Middle East and Far Eastern countries.
    As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com Zee Turner switched off InCable Net in Mumbai. With this two of the major broadcasters have disappeared.

  • Third Playwin draw throws up 139 big winners

    Third Playwin draw throws up 139 big winners

    Show them the money. That is precisely what Zee group-promoted Playwin Infravest is doing. A total of Rs 60.15 million was handed out in the third draw held on 11 April. 

    And to make sure that the message gets through, Zee is telecasting Playwin’s results live on Zee TV, Alpha Bangla, Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Network channels – the Tamil language Sun TV and Kannada language Udaya – as well as Malayalam language channel Asianet between 9 and 9:30 pm. 

    The third draw fetched Rs 391,638 each for 139 players (“lakhpatis”) whose five numbers matched the drawn numbers. The draw, announced during the new Zee show Khelo Number Khelo saw the rolling down of the Rs 50 million jackpot, in the absence of a jackpot winner. Over 100,000 players won cash prizes for getting four and three matching numbers. The other winners included 6,173 people who had four matching numbers with Rs 370 each and 97,146 winners with three numbers matching Rs 50 each. 

    According to Playwin officials, the week’s draw logged in five million bets in six days compared to four million bets in the last week. The draw, announced initially during the celebrity talk show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, has now shifted to Khelo Number Khelo, a game show hosted by Archana Puran Singh on Thursday evenings. 

  • Third Playwin draw throws up 139 big winners

    Third Playwin draw throws up 139 big winners

    Show them the money. That is precisely what Zee group-promoted Playwin Infravest is doing. A total of Rs 60.15 million was handed out in the third draw held on 11 April.

    And to make sure that the message gets through, Zee is telecasting Playwin’s results live on Zee TV, Alpha Bangla, Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Network channels – the Tamil language Sun TV and Kannada language Udaya – as well as Malayalam language channel Asianet between 9 and 9:30 pm.

    The third draw fetched Rs 391,638 each for 139 players (“lakhpatis”) whose five numbers matched the drawn numbers. The draw, announced during the new Zee show Khelo Number Khelo saw the rolling down of the Rs 50 million jackpot, in the absence of a jackpot winner. Over 100,000 players won cash prizes for getting four and three matching numbers. The other winners included 6,173 people who had four matching numbers with Rs 370 each and 97,146 winners with three numbers matching Rs 50 each.

    According to Playwin officials, the week’s draw logged in five million bets in six days compared to four million bets in the last week. The draw, announced initially during the celebrity talk show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, has now shifted to Khelo Number Khelo, a game show hosted by Archana Puran Singh on Thursday evenings.

     

  • Third Playwin draw throws up 139 big winners

    Show them the money. That is precisely what Zee group-promoted Playwin Infravest is doing. A total of Rs 60.15 million was handed out in the third draw held on 11 April.

    And to make sure that the message gets through, Zee is telecasting Playwin’s results live on Zee TV, Alpha Bangla, Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Network channels – the Tamil language Sun TV and Kannada language Udaya – as well as Malayalam language channel Asianet between 9 and 9:30 pm.

    The third draw fetched Rs 391,638 each for 139 players (“lakhpatis”) whose five numbers matched the drawn numbers. The draw, announced during the new Zee show Khelo Number Khelo saw the rolling down of the Rs 50 million jackpot, in the absence of a jackpot winner. Over 100,000 players won cash prizes for getting four and three matching numbers. The other winners included 6,173 people who had four matching numbers with Rs 370 each and 97,146 winners with three numbers matching Rs 50 each.

    According to Playwin officials, the week’s draw logged in five million bets in six days compared to four million bets in the last week. The draw, announced initially during the celebrity talk show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, has now shifted to Khelo Number Khelo, a game show hosted by Archana Puran Singh on Thursday evenings.