ITV

Tag: Sameer Nair

  • SRK to replace Big B as host of KBC

    SRK to replace Big B as host of KBC

    MUMBAI: Talk about making a big play. Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Star India’s talismanic gameshow, will be back early next year with Bollywood’s biggest superstar Shah Rukh Khan replacing Hindi cinema icon Amitabh Bachchan as host.

    Star is pitching the third season of the hit show as a “Gen Next avatar” to “reach out to an India where two thirds of the population is below 35”.

    The contract that Star has signed with Shah Rukh is for two seasons with an option to extend it further into a third season. While Star officials have refused to comment on the payout to the “Bollywood Badshah”, Indiantelevision.com has it from reliable sources that the two-season deal is worth a whopping $ 7 million (roughly Rs 320 million).

    Each season is for 52 episodes, which means that Shah Rukh has committed to shooting 104 episodes of KBC in all. It is worth noting that the second season of KBC had to be aborted after completing only 61 of the contracted 85 episodes due to Bachchan’s sudden illness.

    Newswire Press Trust of India quoted Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair as saying, “Mr Bachchan expressed his disinclination to do the show and we respect his decision. We are indebted to him for what he brought to the show but now it is time to move on and who better to hand over the baton to than Shah Rukh Khan.

    “We have been in talks with Shah Rukh Khan for over a month now and he expressed his willingness to do the show. Shooting will begin by December-end and we expect this season to be on air by January-end.”

    The show has been slotted in the 9 pm prime time band and will air Monday through to Thursday every week, the same as was the case when KBC first came on air. This effectively means that each season will have a 13-week run.

    Nair has been quoted in an official release as saying, “We are extremely delighted to announce the Next Gen avatar of KBC and are even more pleased to present Shah Rukh Khan, as its host. We promise to engage and deliver to our audiences a whole new entertainment experience.”

    Shah Rukh Khan added, “I was pleasantly surprised when Star offered me the show. I was a participant in season one of KBC…and little did I know one day I would be hosting it. It is a huge act to follow, that of Mr Bachchan…but it also excites me that I am getting an opportunity to reach out…talk and interact with my audience through a medium where I began my career as an actor years ago. So here’s looking forward to coming round a full circle…guess unlock kiya jaaye.”

    Star India has signed a five-year contract with Celador for KBC, the Indian adaptation of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The deal incorporates both the format and programme license, and is the longest continuing license that has ever been granted for the globally successful show.

    KBC will be produced by Siddhartha Basu’s Synergy Communications. Says Basu, “KBC with SRK will bring a whole new set of audience to Star Plus. Although I have been associated with KBC ever since it began, this is literally a new beginning for me. SRK’s wit, energy, excitement and enthusiasm will rub-off onto all of us and together as a team we hope to create some magical moments on television.”

  • HC clearance paves the way for HBO’s return to Mumbai TV screens

    HC clearance paves the way for HBO’s return to Mumbai TV screens

    MUMBAI: Good news for English film buffs in Mumbai. HBO, which had been off air for several weeks, has got the all-clear to come back on air.

    The Mumbai High Court today accepted the undertaking given by the channel to air only U and U/A rated movies. This will facilitate cable operators in Mumbai and other parts of Maharastra to feature HBO on their networks.

    However, Star Movies, which has not yet given any such undertaking, is not covered by this development.

    Asked about this, Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair said, “We are working hard to ensure that viewers get to watch it (Star Movies) as soon as possible. We are positive about a quick solution to the current issue and expect that we will be on air in the next few days as well.”

    HBO India country manager Shruti Bajpai said, “HBO is the first premier English movie channel to screen movies as per the recent High Court order. We respect the sensitivities and the laws of countries where we operate in. The people of Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra will now be able to enjoy top Hollywood entertainment featured on HBO.”

    HBO like the other English movie channels Zee Studio, Pix and Star Movies, is working closely with the Censor Board for certification of the films featured on the channel.

  • indya.com sets ‘web traffic record’ for Champions Trophy

    indya.com sets ‘web traffic record’ for Champions Trophy

    MUMBAI: Star India’s internet portal indya.com has registered over 1.1 billion hits and 234 million page views on its iccchampionstrophy.indya.com site since its 8 October 2006 launch.

    As the official internet partner of the International Cricket Council, indya.com was designated by the ICC to develop, host and market the official global web destination for the Champions Trophy, asserts an official release.

    The site attracted over three million unique users from around the world – the most from India itself, followed by users from the US, UK, Pakistan and Australia. The ICC Champions Trophy was held from 7 October to 5 November in four cities across India: Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mohali and Mumbai.

    “Cricket lovers throughout the world have counted upon indya.com to deliver the best online cricket experience available, and I believe that the results speak for themselves,” said Star India Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair.

    “The success we achieved makes icchampionstrophy.indya.com, Star India’s most successful web property to date and as the ICC Champions Trophy serves as a precursor to the 2007 Cricket World Cup, we anticipate an even larger response in the future,” he added.

    The website hosted country specific packages which were available at different price points, allowing internet subscribers to buy into a ‘match pack’ – a gateway to live clips, highlight packages, and expert comments of every match in the tournament. The site served over one million video and live-streaming requests.

    iccchampionstrophy.indya.com also offered a feature rich application called Matchcast that allowed users to access live scores, ball-by-ball updates of on-going matches, player and team backgrounds and a host of other information cricket enthusiasts would bowl their arm out for, adds the release.

    Sponsors on the site throughout the month long tournament included Lufthansa Airlines and Monster.com.

  • Star India locks in ‘KBC’ rights for next five years

    Star India locks in ‘KBC’ rights for next five years

    MUMBAI: Star India’s iconic gameshow Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) is coming back – and for another five seasons, mind it.

    The return of KBC was revealed this evening by Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair at an Ad Club function in Mumbai. Nair disclosed that Star had locked in the rights to KBC for a period of five years (2007 to 2011). Nair also stated that Star was in talks to sign on an advertiser who would commit to all five seasons of the show.

    Star Plus first launched KBC in 2000 with superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the anchor’s seat. The tremendous success of the show inspired the channel to bring it back in August 2005, with the second season KBC Dviteeya. The game show has been delivering good numbers for the channel before it got pulled out after 61 episodes due to Bachchan’s illness. Big B, who originally committed to shoot 85 episodes, was unable to continue shooting after his hospitalisation.

    Celador, the UK-based format producer, owns the original version of KBC, ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’.

    The Big Q of course is whether Star will be able to “lock kiya jaye” the Big B. That looks highly unlikely at this juncture so the next Big Q is who could be the possible choice to step into Bachchan’s considerably large (not just in terms of foot size) shoes?

  • Star’s portal indya.com partners with ICC

    Star’s portal indya.com partners with ICC

    MUMBAI: In a bid to create greater visibility, Star’s portal indya.com has tied up with the International Cricket Council (ICC). Indya.com will be the internet partner for both the Champions Trophy that kicks off next month in India and for next year’s World Cup in the West Indies.

    Indya.com has developed and will maintain the site www.iccchampionstrophy.com.

    The site will allow net users in India and globally access to audio and video packages. There are country specific packages will allow internet subscribers to buy a match pack. This will give them live clips of ongoing games, deferred live highlight packages and archives of previous editions of the Champions Trophy. For Indians though there is no subscription fee.

    The site will have a feature called Matchcast. This allows viewers to watch live scores, ball-by-ball updates, player profiles, team profiles etc. The other contenders for ICC web partner were cricinfo.com and Yahoo! Star CEO Sameer Nair noted that Star’s parent News Corp is getting increasingly active in the internet arena. A case in point is the leading community social networking site Myspace. News Corp through Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) has worked closely with the ICC. The site he said can among other things provide an alternative to viewers in those countries who find cricket too expensive to buy on television or in regions that do not have access. The site he says allows indya.com to continue its goal of providing superior and distinctive content.

    One interactive feature that the site will have is called Voice Of The World Cup. The contest requires participants to provide commentary to a piece of archived footage which has had its commentary removed.

    The winners will be judged by a public poll as well as by experts. Two winners will get to go the West Indies for the World Cup. They will get the chance to officially commentate for the site. The site will also have daily contests when the Champions Trophy is on. There will also be a fantasy based game.

    Nair says that indya.com gets around 40 million page views a month. He expects this to at least treble when the champions Trophy is going on. For the World Cup the figure will be much more. When asked about sponsors for the site he said that indya.com is negotiating with certain parties. He said that indya.com is looking to learn from what Myspace and News Corp’s other net properties are doing. He noted that at the moment lack of bandwith is hampering the growth of broadband in India at the moment.

    ICC CEO Malcolm Speed noted that the net is an important communication tool that is growing. As it is a source of information to millions of people globally partnering with indua.com gives the ICC the chance to provide high quality coverage of the Champions Trophy through another medium.

  • Star’s portal indya.com partners with ICC

    MUMBAI: In a bid to create greater visibility, Star’s portal indya.com has tied up with the International Cricket Council (ICC). Indya.com will be the internet partner for both the Champions Trophy that kicks off next month in India and for next year’s World Cup in the West Indies.

    Indya.com has developed and will maintain the site www.iccchampionstrophy.com.

    The site will allow net users in India and globally access to audio and video packages. There are country specific packages will allow internet subscribers to buy a match pack. This will give them live clips of ongoing games, deferred live highlight packages and archives of previous editions of the Champions Trophy. For Indians though there is no subscription fee.

    The site will have a feature called Matchcast. This allows viewers to watch live scores, ball-by-ball updates, player profiles, team profiles etc. The other contenders for ICC web partner were cricinfo.com and Yahoo! Star CEO Sameer Nair noted that Star’s parent News Corp is getting increasingly active in the internet arena. A case in point is the leading community social networking site Myspace. News Corp through Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) has worked closely with the ICC. The site he said can among other things provide an alternative to viewers in those countries who find cricket too expensive to buy on television or in regions that do not have access. The site he says allows indya.com to continue its goal of providing superior and distinctive content.

    One interactive feature that the site will have is called Voice Of The World Cup. The contest requires participants to provide commentary to a piece of archived footage which has had its commentary removed.

    The winners will be judged by a public poll as well as by experts. Two winners will get to go the West Indies for the World Cup. They will get the chance to officially commentate for the site. The site will also have daily contests when the Champions Trophy is on. There will also be a fantasy based game.

    Nair says that indya.com gets around 40 million page views a month. He expects this to at least treble when the champions Trophy is going on. For the World Cup the figure will be much more. When asked about sponsors for the site he said that indya.com is negotiating with certain parties. He said that indya.com is looking to learn from what Myspace and News Corp’s other net properties are doing. He noted that at the moment lack of bandwith is hampering the growth of broadband in India at the moment.

    ICC CEO Malcolm Speed noted that the net is an important communication tool that is growing. As it is a source of information to millions of people globally partnering with indua.com gives the ICC the chance to provide high quality coverage of the Champions Trophy through another medium.

     

  • Star to distribute Nimbus’ sports channels

    Star to distribute Nimbus’ sports channels

    MUMBAI: Nimbus Sports Broadcast, the Nimbus Communications subsidiary operating its sports broadcasting business, has entered into a deal with Star India wherein the News Corp network will be distributing its soon to launch bouquet of Neo Sports channels.

    The Star-Nimbus distribution deal is a five-year one that runs till 2010 and will apply to the two sports channels that will be launching by the end of the year as well as any future sports channels from the Neo Sports stable.

    Both companies also issued categorical denials of a report that appeared in pink paper Economic Times today that News Corp. would be buying roughly a third of Nimbus for around Rs 4 billion ($86 million).

    The release stated that Nimbus “is currently not engaged in any dialogue for inducting any new investors, whether financial or strategic.”

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair was equally categorical that there were no discussions on issues of equity. “This is a specific to India distribution deal, underpinned by cable and of course looking to leverage the potential that DTH offers.” Nair said. The Neo Sports channels will be distributed on the Tata-Sky DTH network in which Star has a 20 per cent stake.

    The first of the channels, the cricket centric Neo Sports, is set to be launched within the next three months. This will be followed by Neo Sports Plus, a sports entertainment channel, which is expected to be launched by the end of the year, states a joint statement issued by the two companies.

    With nearly 200 days of cricket every year lined up on Neo Sports, of which over 100 days will be live India cricket including all BCCI events and between 3-4 international series every year; Neo Sports expects to reach a majority of the cable & satellite homes.

    Nimbus paid $612 million for the telecast rights to the Indian cricket board’s matches for 2006-10.

  • Star to distribute Nimbus’ sports channels

    MUMBAI: Nimbus Sports Broadcast, the Nimbus Communications subsidiary operating its sports broadcasting business, has entered into a deal with Star India wherein the News Corp network will be distributing its soon to launch bouquet of Neo Sports channels.
    The Star-Nimbus distribution deal is a five-year one that runs till 2010 and will apply to the two sports channels that will be launching by the end of the year as well as any future sports channels from the Neo Sports stable.

    Both companies also issued categorical denials of a report that appeared in pink paper Economic Times today that News Corp. would be buying roughly a third of Nimbus for around Rs 4 billion ($86 million).

    The release stated that Nimbus “is currently not engaged in any dialogue for inducting any new investors, whether financial or strategic.”
    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair was equally categorical that there were no discussions on issues of equity. “This is a specific to India distribution deal, underpinned by cable and of course looking to leverage the potential that DTH offers.” Nair said. The Neo Sports channels will be distributed on the Tata-Sky DTH network in which Star has a 20 per cent stake.

    The first of the channels, the cricket centric Neo Sports, is set to be launched within the next three months. This will be followed by Neo Sports Plus, a sports entertainment channel, which is expected to be launched by the end of the year, states a joint statement issued by the two companies.

    With nearly 200 days of cricket every year lined up on Neo Sports, of which over 100 days will be live India cricket including all BCCI events and between 3-4 international series every year; Neo Sports expects to reach a majority of the cable & satellite homes.

    Nimbus paid $612 million for the telecast rights to the Indian cricket board’s matches for 2006-10.

  • Star kickstarts triple play mission with 7827 expansion

    Star kickstarts triple play mission with 7827 expansion

    MUMBAI: Star India is beefing up its “response mechanism”, 7827 – the short code – to explore the burgeoning mobile entertainment market in the country.

    Starting today, the website www.star7827.com will sport a new look as Star expands the 7827 services from television-focused interactivity to entertainment, specially created and aggregated for the mobile screen.

    In another major foray, Star India will launch a dedicated multi-lingual mobile audio channel, Star Voice in July. The mobile-based interactive voice system will offer consumers entertainment and other personalised updates.

    “We would like to be the first player going at the property,” says Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair indicating the growth plans Star India has conceived to tap the mobile entertainment sector. “Star 7827 will be one of the key focus areas of our business and is expected to contribute significantly to our revenues over the next three to five years. Our proven programming and marketing abilities should ensure that we become one of the key players in this space.”

    “Since the last three years, we had been doing a detailed study on the subject and the expansion of the short code 7827 is one of the results,” says Star senior VP, Interactive Services, Viren Popli.

    As part of the revamping, www.star7827.com has been completely redesigned to reflect the new push in content aggregation. A special section to help visitors learn more about their phones, talk about mobile content and services as exchange views and experiences has also been created. In accordance with the 7827 revamp, a WAP site for mobile internet users has also been created from where visitors will soon be able to access a range of mobile content including videos.

    When queried on Star’s strategies to explore the segment, Nair said it was a learning process which still continue. “We have more questions than answers. These are early days and we are looking at a difficult and different market. We will continue pushing our television content on the mobile platform. We will have variations as it progresses. Once we start producing separate content for the mobile platform, we will definitely switch to a subscription model,” says Nair.

    “As the first step towards creating properties in-house, Star will be unveiling a game on its popular Channel [V] character Chimpu,” adds Popli.

    The revamped 7827 will offer community based content services: personalised products such as ring tones, wallpapers; entertainment products in the range of games, video and audio; information products like news, astrology and jokes. The cost of downloading games from the website will range from Rs 3 to Rs 350, while other services such as ring tones and wallpapers will be available in the range of Rs 3 to Rs 6.

    Speaking on Star’s association with digital content producers and its plans to accomplish self-sufficiency on this front, Nair said the company was looking to associate with as many companies as possible. “We want to do the products of our own. But, even then, we will be keeping these producers in the loop. We want to rope in as many partners as possible. This is a give and take process as we can learn new things out of our associations,” he says.

    Star 7827 in its new avatar will be creating, distributing and marketing content through tie-ups with Indian and International companies. “We will be taking the platform abroad. We are in talks with various international companies for technology and other solutions,” says Popli.

    Star India has also finalised a major publicity overdrive to promote the new initiative. The first set of creatives, promoting 7827 breaks across media platforms today. The company has also entered into a product placement arrangement with cell phone manufacturer Motorola for the promotions. As per the deal, the 7827 promotional creatives will be sporting a Motorola branded cellular phone.

  • MSO’s should be marketing CAS now: Sameer Nair

    MSO’s should be marketing CAS now: Sameer Nair

    MUMBAI: The cable fraternity is wasting the huge first mover advantage they already have in hand vis-a-vis pushing addressability in chasing the mandating of CAS, feels Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair.

    Reiterating Star’s well documented opposition to mandated CAS, Nair asserts that the MSOs are seriously missing a trick on the matter in their “all-consuming” focus on getting a mandate out that will fix a time frame for the rollout of CAS.
    Nair drew attention to the latest reports circulating indicating that it could be anywhere between six to eight months at the minimum for the mandated CAS rollout to take off (if at all).

    According to Nair, even as big corporate players were preparing the ground for different addressable delivery platforms to roll out, the cable fraternity were only focussed on getting a cut-off date in place for the rollout of CAS.

    Nair is of the view that with the imminent arrival of Tata-Sky DTH, Zee’s Dish TV ramping up and the big telecom players aggressively pushing ahead with IPTV, market forces would soon make the whole debate irrelevant and the MSOs may well end up “missing the addressability bus”.

    Nair averred that MSOs should instead be focussing their efforts on attractively packaging and marketing CAS to their direct points to begin with and concurrently convincing their franchisees of the need to get CAS going, government or no government.

    Another issue he raised was on the inability of many cable ops to deliver on CAS even if it was mandated. He said that barring a few big MSOs, most operators were simply not ready for CAS. Neither did they have the set top boxes nor the subscriber management systems in place to get it off the ground.

    According to Nair, in such a scenario, the likely result would be a blackout of pay channels in many areas, as had been witnessed in Chennai. But the difference here, he pointed out, was that unlike in Chennai, where there was no great demand for pay channels, in this case it would more likely be because of inability to deliver.