ITV

Tag: anvil

  • BBC World News eyes general election with India Direct

    BBC World News eyes general election with India Direct

    MUMBAI: With election process on in some of the Indian states, the domestic news channels have already got enough in their plates to report on. Now, with the general election on the anvil, while the channels in the home turf are all ready to report on it, it seems global giant BBC World News also doesn’t want to miss the big event. With a new series, India Direct, it is also looking to make the best of the opportunity.

     

    BBC Global News CEO Jim Egan launched the series on Tuesday in Mumbai. He says the series will be a mix of hardcore news and features with Indian emphasis on their regular bulletins. “India Direct will be showcased at a time when the attention is likely to be on India more so because of the general elections,” says Egan.

     

    The series that is slated to go on air from 8 February 2014 and will go on for two weeks will have a slew of election special programmes.

     

    Other shows in the series would include Working Lives that will showcase the diverse culture of Gujarat, its people and and the economic spectrum of the state. One Square Mile will highlight the game of football in Pune FC. Talking Movies will bring to the fore the culture and art of the country, especially regional movies. Fast: Track will be a travel news show displaying various places like Mumbai, Goa, Ahmedabad, Karnataka etc.

     

    “The shows are for our global audiences and not just our audiences in India,” emphasises Egan.

     

    Egan feels that although globalisation is a modern trend, BBC has been on the mission of bringing latest events that are impartial and independent from across the world since almost 90 years.  It is also looking at multimedia very seriously.

     

    BBC has done similar series earlier as well with a focus on countries like Singapore, Vietnam, Mozambique, Croatia, Canada, Georgia, Ecuador and Qatar.

  • Ten Golf changes course

    Ten Golf changes course

    MUMBAI: It is teeing once again and it surely is good news for golf lovers and players. 24 hour Zeel group golf channel Ten Golf, will now be available in India on both DTH and cable TV as part of  high end packages. It is close to announcing deals with three DTH players and some MSOs. The channel which is available at an a la carte subscription fee of Rs 200 per month for subscribers will now see a significant shift in pricing on both DTH and cable TV.

    The first among the three DTH operators is Airtel Digital TV which now has Ten Golf as part of its Ultra pack. “We are now a part of a package for which the DTH platform charges anywhere between Rs 400- Rs 500 a month,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi. Close to half a million viewers on Airtel Digital have signed on to the service, he says.

    There’s a shift in pricing strategy on the anvil he reveals. “On 1 September we have made a filing with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for price revision. We are looking at a reduction in rates to both promote golf and make it available to larger viewership base,” says Sethi. “I am looking at reaching out to 1.4 million subscribers once we get on the high end offerings like magnum, platinum packs etc on the other two DTH platforms. This should happen by October,” informs Sethi.

    Ten Golf was initially targeted at avid golf players, and hopes to address  aspirational golfers with its expansion in distribution and price lowering. “Aspirational golf players are mostly corporate executives and they are huge in number. Also Ten Golf today is seen as a lifestyle channel. People not only watch the channel for the sport, but also for the beautiful landscape it offers. All this called for a bigger reach and lower subscription fee,” he adds.

    Sethi is also hopeful to get advertisers to use the channel as an advertising platform.   “The positioning will help us with more advertisers. The channel has its own unique niche value and there are partners and corporates who want to advertise.”

    Ten Golf will in the next six to eight weeks be also clubbed together in high end packages offered by major MSOs like DEN, Hathway and Siticable, reveal industry sources.  “The subscription fee for the channel on the package provided by the MSOs will be much lower as compared to the DTH players. All this will take traction in next six to eight weeks,” informs Sethi.

    Shall we say fore?

  • Sequel of Casablanca on anvil

    Sequel of Casablanca on anvil

    MUMBAI: An American producer Cass Warner is planning to make a sequel to the 1942-made Hollywood classic Casablanca that starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
    The film — the lines of which like Here‘s looking at you kid and Play it again, Sam — are still quoted by film lovers, revolved around two star-crossed lovers Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund who reunite in Casablanca during the World-War II only to separate later.
    Warner is trying to find backers for a proposal written by the late Howard Koch, one of the three who got a screenwriting Oscar for the film.
    Titled Return to Casablanca, the sequel would follow the story of Richard Blaine, the son of Bogart‘s Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman‘s Ilsa Lund as he tries to find his father. The boy was conceived the night Ilsa came to Rick‘s place to plead for the Letters of Transit, and she kept it a secret from her husband Victor Laszlo, played by Paul Henreid.
    Among the skeptics about the remake is Stephen Bogart, the 64-year-old son of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. “If they want to make a movie about intrigue in North Africa, that‘s fine, but bringing the specter of one of the greatest movies of all time into it makes it just another feeble attempt at Casablanca 2,” Stephen has reportedly said.

  • Biopic on Punjabi poet Batlavi in anvil

    Biopic on Punjabi poet Batlavi in anvil

    MUMBAI: After the success of Paan Sing Tomar, biopics seem to be the flavour of the season. Yesterday we had a story that said Tigmanshu Dhulia was making a biopic of Begum Samru with Rani Mukerji.

    It has now come to light that Mudassar Aziz is set to direct a biopic on the life of the renowned Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi produced by Sunil Bohra.

    The film will revolve around the poet’s troubled love life and will be helmed by Mudassar Aziz. Casting for the film is yet to take place. “Batalvi’s poems have been an inspiration for many and Batalvi Sahab is loved across borders, in India as well as Pakistan. He was one of the most romantic poets and what can be a bigger tribute than a film on his own love story that ended tragically though,” said Bohra in a statement.

    Batalvi was the youngest recipient of Sahitya Akademy Award for his epic verse play, Loona. After he couldn’t marry the girl he loved deeply, he took to alcoholism.

    Later, he married another girl chosen by his family, who he thought resembled his love. Batalvi died due to chronic alcoholism at 35.

    The lyrics of Batalvi’s famous poem, Ajj Din Chadeya Tere Rang Varga, were used in a song from actor-producer Saif Ali Khan’s film, Love Aaj Kal.