ITV

Tag: Asianet

  • Asianet switches from GlobeCast to Dish in US; adds a new channel to US bouquet

    Asianet switches from GlobeCast to Dish in US; adds a new channel to US bouquet

    BENGALURU: Dish, a leading pay-TV provider in the US announced the launch of Asianet, Asianet Plus, Asianet News and Asianet Movies to its lineup. Additionally, Dish‘s broadcast of Asianet Movies marks the US premiere of the Malayalam film channel. Earlier, three of Asianet‘s channels were available in the US on the France Telcom subsidiary GlobeCast.

    Industry sources reveal that Asianet‘s agreement with GlobeCast ends on June 30 and the association will be terminated. “Dish is a one stop shop for the Indian, no, Asian diaspora. Be it Vijay TV or the Star Network channels, or other bigwigs of Indian television broadcasting like the channels of Zee or Sony, all are on Dish, so it makes sense for Asianet to be on the Dish platform. It‘s a win-win situation for all,” explained the source about Asianet‘s shift.

    Asianet Communications MD K. Madhavan statement in a press release seems to endorse this fact, “When Asianet entered the US market in 2003, our overarching goal was to expand the presence of our special programming. Partnering with Dish to launch the Asianet channels allows us to realize this dream of providing yet another incredible addition to the lineup of Malayalam content in the United States”.

    “We are pleased to exclusively offer this programming on satellite and proud to debut Asianet Movies for the first time in the U.S. Dish has long offered an impressive South Asian channel lineup, and we are dedicated to the consistent pursuit of the best news and entertainment tailored to a variety of language groups,” said Dish director of international programming Sruta Vootukuru.

    As the US leader in international programming with more than 280 ethnic channels in 29 languages, Dish is the exclusive satellite pay-TV platform to offer this leading Malayalam-language content.

    The Malayalam Asianet programming package is now available to customers for $24.99 per month. Effective June 20, all Malayalam: Mega Pack or Surya a la carte customers will be eligible to subscribe to Asianet as an add-on package for a monthly price of $15.

  • Asianet ropes in three sponsors for Christmas Day

    BENGALURU: The Star Network’s Malayalam GEC Asianet has roped in Josco Jewellers as Christmas Day sponsor with Malabar Gold and Kalyan Silks as co-sponsors.

    The channel has announced special fare for Christmas day this year.

    Christmas day Asianet kick starts with a Christmas choir – Gloria at 6.30am, followed by Christmas Sandesham at 7.00 a.m. and Vellithirayile Nithyavasantham, a chat show with veteran actress Sheela at 7.30 a.m.

    A special programme, Happy Christmas Daa Thadiya, will be aired at 8 a.m followed by a comedy skit Pappiyude Happy Christmas at 8.30 am. A special programme on the movie Kammath & Kammath titled Kammath KUdumbathile Kalyana VIseshangal will be aired at 9 am. The channel has also lined up a 5.30 pm a chat show with Malayalam Mammootty and director Ranjith.

    Besides its regular programmes, Asianet will also telecast World movie premiers of three movies Usthad Hotel, The King & The Commissioner and Mayamohini.

  • Asianet makes it mandatory for senior editors to disclose assets

    Asianet makes it mandatory for senior editors to disclose assets

    BENGALURU: At a time when the Indian media’s credibility has taken a beating due to cases of corruption, Rajeev Chandrashekhar’s Asianet News Network (ANN) has set the ball rolling by laying down guidelines that require among other things its senior editorial staff to mandatorily disclose assets.

    The news network said as part of its editorial and newsroom guidelines, it will also disclose the ad sales and revenues during the months leading up to and during elections.

    ANN said it will also disclose all ad sales and revenues accruing from political parties and politicians.

    For the company, which runs a Malayalam news channel Asianet News, Kannada news channel Suvarna News and a daily newspaper Kannada Prabha, the Code of Conduct and Ethics policy are an intrinsic part of the employment contract of every team member.

    ANNPL CEO Suresh Selvaraj said, “Our news brands Suvarna News, Asianet News and Kannada Prabha enjoy high credibility amongst our viewers and readers. Our leadership position in our markets is a direct consequence of the high trust in our news and in our team.

    “These initiatives show that we will continue to do whatever it takes to increase the credibility and reach of our news coverage, investing further in not just infrastructure, technology and talent – but also in ethics and values.”

  • Asianet garners local sponsors for TV awards

    BANGALORE: Star Network‘s Malayalam general entertainment channel Asianet has roped in a number of sponsors, many of them local, for its ‘Asianet Television Awards 2012‘. The event will be aired tonight on Asianet from 6 pm onwards.

    For the title sponsorship, jewellery chain ‘Bhima Jewellery‘ has come on board, which has its stores in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. ATA is ‘powered‘ by Emmannuval Silks‘, a local Kerala based apparel brand that claims to have the largest collection of wedding silk for women.

    The co-sponsors include ITL Motors, Rasna, Keralamatrimonial.com and Gold winner. ITL Motors is a Kerala based automobile dealer, while ‘Gold Winner‘ is a brand of the FMCG group Kaleesuwari that has a presence in the four southern states and Goa. Rasna is the only national brand.

    The live ATA event held at Palakkad was witnessed by 15,000 strong crowd claims the channel. Several prominent persons from the film industry and socio-cultural spheres were present on the occasion.

  • Asianet launches Kannada news channel ‘Suvarna News’

    Asianet launches Kannada news channel ‘Suvarna News’

    BANGALORE: Asianet Communications Ltd (ACL) today launched Suvarna News, a 24-hour Kannada news channel.

    ACL is planning to launch its Telugu general entertainment channel (GEC) Sitara Television in April while the Marathi and Tamil GECs will be up within six months, says Suvarna COO K Sanjay Prabhu.

    With the launch of Suvarna News, Asianet Television Network (ATN) will have five operational channels – three Malayalam and two Kannada. Asianet also has two radio channels that were launched a couple of months ago.

    Suvarna News is the third Kannada news channel to be launched in the state, the other two being the Sun group’s Udaya Verthegalu and TV9 Karnataka. “In Karnataka, people just love to watch the news – be it local, national or international,” says Prabhu.

    ACL expects to garner ad revenues of Rs 300 million each from Suvarna’s GEC and the news channel in the next fiscal. Pundits predict the size of the Kannada television ad market to reach Rs 2 billion in FY’09. Hence, the Suvarna bouquet has ambitious plans of garnering 30 per cent of the market.

    Prabhu revealed that around Rs 1.1 billion have been invested in the two Kannada channels so far. He is confident that the Suvrana GEC operations will turn profitable in the next fiscal, and those of Suvarna News a year after.

    Among the major advertisers already on board on Suvarna News are HUL and the Confident group. The latter is the title sponsor of Suvarna GEC’s popular five-day-a-week talent hunt show Confident Star Singer. “We have a package deal with the Confident group,” said Prabhu, who admits that there could be a number of cross deals of a similar nature with other advertisers.

    ATN is having talks with P&G, reveal company sources.

    Following the launch of the news channel, the news portion on the GEC has undergone changes. Earlier, Suvarana used to broadcast four news bulletins and five minutes of news shorts every hour. This has been brought down to just two news bulletins per day.

    Suvarna News will focus in the 15-45 age group in Karnataka. The channel has nine full-fledged bureaus with studios in the state and another bureau in Delhi. It also has 30 stringers for news and content gathering.

    The channel has four DSNG (Digital Satellite News Gathering) and three MB vans. News will also be obtained through ANI and Reuters. “A policy decision has to be taken as yet whether we will go in for syndication with other news channels in other states, or whether we should have our setup,” says Suvarana News editor Shiddarth Bhatt who worked with the Indian Express group on its political desk for 17 years before joining the GEC Suvarana as its news editor about a year ago.

    “Some news channels depend on airing crime, sleaze and cinema to get the eyeballs. Our focus will be on politics and corruption. It will be investigative journalism that will help unearth scams and other political wrongdoings,” informs Bhatt.

  • Chandrasekhar acquires Asianet; network to expand into Kannada, Tamil

    Chandrasekhar acquires Asianet; network to expand into Kannada, Tamil

    MUMBAI: Former BPL head honcho Rajiv Chandrasekhar has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Asianet Communications to become the chairman of the leading Malayalam television channel.

    Chandrasekhar’s acquisition, made through group company Jupiter Entertainment Ventures (JEV), is part of its expansion plans, which include new satellite channels in Tamil and Kannada, a press release issued in Thiruvananthapuram states.

    JEV also has plans to launch FM radio stations (under the Indigo brand name), the release says.
    The Kannada channel is expected to be launched early next year, and work is on in full force, the release adds.

    Once the statutory approvals are through, the remaining stake will be held between Raji Menon, the original promoter of the network, and Asianet managing director K Madhavan, with Zee Group holding a small 3% holding.

    Though Menon will no more have any direct operational role in the network, he will reportedly retain a 26 per cent stake in the network. Madhavan will, however, continue as MD overseeing the current management team.

    Asianet Communications operates three channels — Asianet, Asianet News and Asianet Plus for youth.

    Chandrasekhar, who unlocked over Rs 12 billion by selling the telecom business he had built up to Hutchison Essar, has more than adequate cash reserves to make current southern media kingpin Kalanidhi Maran sit up and take note.

  • Asianet announces ‘Idea Star Singer’ winners

    Asianet announces ‘Idea Star Singer’ winners

    MUMBAI: Malayalam channel Asianet has announced the winners of the inaugural edition of its music talent hunt programme Star Singer. In the male category, the top prize was bagged by Arun Raj. Kavita Jayaram pocketed the first prize in the female category.

    Vivekanand and Parvati Chandramohan won the top prizes in the male and female category respectively. Midhun M D and Sangeeta made it to the third spot.

    The mega final event held in Thrissur was attended by celebrities including the talent hunt judges music director M Jayachandran, playback singers K S Chitra and Tippu.

    The top ranked male and female singers will win a chance to sing under music director M Jayachandran for an upcoming movie. Apart from a deal with Satyam Audios, the contest winners will also get the opportunity to perform at various foreign destinations including Dubai and Kuwait. The second prize winner will be offered a playback assignment for a movie to be directed by Ranjith.

  • Asianet ‘Star Singer’ hunt enters final round

    Asianet ‘Star Singer’ hunt enters final round

    MUMBAI: Malayalam channel Asianet’s music talent hunt show Star Singer has reached its final phase. The shortlisted 10 contestants will now fight it out in front of the microphone to get the coveted title.

    A golden opportunity awaiting the top ranked male and female singers (one each) is a chance to sing under music director M Jayachandran for an upcoming movie. Apart from a deal with Satyam Audios, the contest winners will also get the opportunity to perform at various foreign destinations including Dubai and Kuwait.

    The second prize winner will be offered a playback assignment for a movie to be directed by Ranjith.

    The Star Singer judging panel includes music personalities such as K S Chitra, Tippu and M Jayachandran. Asianet telecast the one hour programme every Sunday at 7 pm.

  • PMI India to launch soap sequel on Asianet

    PMI India to launch soap sequel on Asianet

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai-based production house PMI India will be launching a sequel to its popular soap Sooryapthry on Malayalam channel Asianet. The new version, titled Swantham Sooryaputhry, has been placed in the 6 pm slot.

    “The first of the series Sooryapthry had a successful run from 2004 September to 2006 March on Asianet. The serial had completed 398 episodes. Now we have decided to bring the soap back with a five year leap on the storyline. The main characters of Sooryaputhry will be backed by a host of new faces in Swantham Sooryaputhry,” states PMI India promoter Ajay Patadia.

    PMI is back on Asianet after the end of the prime time soap Swarnamayooram. The production house also has a Marathi soap for ETV Marathi in the pipeline, according to Patadia.

    It is for the second time that, Asianet is launching a sequel to one of its soaps. Earlier, it had launched the second part of the Yantra Media production Sthree.

  • Asianet completes one year in Singapore

    Asianet completes one year in Singapore

    MUMBAI: Asianet has completed its first year of operations in Singapore. To celebrate the occasion, the channel conducted a special Onam show in association with Singapore Malayali Association on 26 August.

    The function was inaugurated by Singapore Republic president S R Nathan, in the presence of Asianet MD K Madhavan and ambassador K Gopinatha Pillai.

    Popular entertainment personalities such as Sheela, Gopika and Jayasurya also participated in the function. An orchestra, participated by music director M Jayachandran, singers Sujatha, Rimi Tommy, Shwetha and Afzal added glitter to the function.

    Lakshmi Gopalaswami’s classical dance and comedy skits participated by popular Malayalam mimicry artists also made the occasion a memorable one.