ITV

Tag: Ananda

  • Times’ spiritual channel Ananda on hold?

    MUMBAI: After having stitched a deal with Reuters for its news channel venture, which would give it access to the global information company’s financial and technical muscle power, the Times Group is having second thoughts about launching a spiritual channel.
     

    Bennett Coleman & Company (publishers and owners of The Times of India and Times TV ventures) had earlier announced that after the launch of its lifestyle channel Zoom, it would go ahead with the launch of a spiritual channel to be followed by a business channel; in that order to be precise. It had also fixed a name for the spiritual channel as Ananda (not to be confused with the soon-to-launch Bengali langauge news channel Star Ananda from the ABP-Star combine).
     
     

    Though the company has now moved into third gear with its news channel, a company source reveals a few people hired for the spiritual channel have been quietly given pink slips, while some others have been absorbed within the organization elsewhere.

    All the programmes which were shot and readied for the spiritual channel, have been passed on to the Times Music division to be converted into VCDs. Sources confirmed that there was a delay in Ananda’s launch plans because of the renewed concentration on Zoom and the news channel.

    Meanwhile, as far as the restructuring goes, though Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd president Arun Arora has reportedly been given a two-year extension, he is not directly involved in the television business anymore. This, say sources, is evident from the fact that Times Television Network (different from the news channel venture which is under The Times Global Broadcasting Co. Ltd) COO Apoorva Purohit now reports directly to the Times’ MD Vineet Jain.

  • Spiritual channel Ananda to follow Zoom ’12 weeks later’

    Spiritual channel Ananda to follow Zoom ’12 weeks later’

    MUMBAI: The spiritual channel from the Bennett, Coleman stable has been christened Ananda and is expected to launch approximately 12 weeks after lifestyle channel Zoom goes on air.

    According to Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited president Arun Arora, Ananda ahould launch around mid-December 2004.

    While a business news channel is still ‘far away’, the launch of a music based ‘lighter’ channel from the BCCL stable is being firmed up six months from now, though no name has been finalised for it so far. “We are working on the format for the channel, but it is not being thought of as a Times Music addendum. Even our Planet M stores are not Times Music shops, they are more a destination store for all music companies. The spiritual channel will also be run at an arm’s length from Times Music, while recognising and exploiting the synergies of existing Times products,” says Arora.

    The business news channel, which continues to build its team (with NDTV’s Arnab Goswami roped in to head operations and a large chunk of the aborted Videocon channnel’s team also among the recruits) is around nine months away. “We are looking at buying some space in Delhi too, we have shortlisted some 17 properties from which we are trying to finalise some for the channels,” says Arora.