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Tag: Telethon Concert

  • Telethon concert Help! gets overwhelming response

    Telethon concert Help! gets overwhelming response

    MUMBAI: What a night. And the fact that it was for a great cause made it even better. The ‘HELP! Telethon Concert’: an event that brought together television and film stars in aid of the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster was a resounding success.

    Billed as the biggest ever fund raiser in South Asia, the concert, organized by the Film and Television Producers Guild of India in association with the Indian film and television industry, was held at the MMRDA grounds at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on 6 February. All proceeds from the effort went towards the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund a/c HELP.

    At the time of filing this report 80,000 SMS pledges had been logged that raised Rs 800,000 (Rs 10 per SMS). On HelpTelethon.Org, viewers could also bid as part of this unique and unprecedented experience. Among the bids the event had logged in thus far: High tea with Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai (Rs 1.5 million), a gym session with hunk Sunjay Dutt (Rs 710,000), a meal with the Bachchans (Rs 500,000) and a day with Shahrukh Khan for Rs 200,000.

    The six-hour mega concert was simulcast live across news channels and will air across all Hindi entertainment channels on 12 February.

    News channels that participated in the telethon were DD News, Aaj Tak, NDTV 24X7, NDTV India, Star News, Zee News, CNBC and Sahara Samay.

    Not all the news channels, however, dedicated their full telecast time towards the effort. Some like DD News, Star News and NDTV Profit were almost solely airing the telethon and dipping in and out for other news. Other channels were doing the reverse — dipping in and out for bytes from the concert.

    The entertainment channels participating on 12 February are DD, Star Plus, Star One, Star Utsav, Star Gold, Star Vijay, Channel [V], SET, Max, Zee TV, Sab TV, MTV and Zoom.

    Queried about the amounts raised through television advertising, Star India senior vice president-ad sales, Joy Chakkraborthy, said a proper picture would only be known after 8 February, since the spots were also being sold for the 12 February recorded telecast. Star India is managing the ad sales effort for the event for all the channels.

    A special song entitled HELP! composed by Anu Malik and the lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi was also in the agenda. The album will be released by T-series.

    Multiple agencies are also contributing their services pro bono to ensure success of the endeavour.

    It doesn’t get bigger than this. Just how big is what everyone is looking forward to seeing.

  • Four FM channels join hands for Help! Telethon Concert

    Four FM channels join hands for Help! Telethon Concert

    MUMBAI: Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Go 92.5 and Red FM are coming together for the first time on one platform for the Help! Telethon Concert to be held in Mumbai on 6 February. The radio channels are part of the biggest telethon in the history of the Indian entertainment industry along with 17 entertainment channels and nine news channels.

    Help! Telethon Concert is the biggest-ever fundraiser from India to aid victims of the Tsunami tragedy that struck large parts of Asia and India and wreaked havoc on people and property.

    Radio Mirchi, Radio City and Red FM will be provided with a common feed of the Telethon Concert that will be aired live on the day of the concert. However, Go 92.5 will be supporting the cause. The three stations will also be conducting exclusive auctions for the listeners. Apart from that the stars taking part in the concert will be making an appeal live to the listeners to donate generously to the victims of the Tsunami tragedy on the day of the event.

    Speaking on the occasion Film and Television Producers Guild president Amit Khanna  said, “No doubt, Tsunami would go down in history as the biggest disaster to strike India, however through Help! we are coming together in the biggest possible way to help the victims of the tragedy. Their past has been washed away; we are going to make their future bright. Besides auctions we are requesting each and every listener to SMS ‘Donate’ to 4646 that would directly credit Rs 10 from their account to the prime minister’s National Relief Fund account Help.

    Earlier this week, Amitabh Bachchan had launched the auction site for the Help! Telethon concert, www.helptelethon.org, where people from across India and world can bid for a lifetime experience of Hi-tea with the Bachchans. Other star-studded experiences on auction include gym session with Sanjay Dutt, bike ride with Dhoom star John Abraham, and many more. However apart from these, Radio Mirchi, Radio City and Red FM would be auctioning exclusive celebrity experiences live on the day of the telethon.

    Wizcraft director Sabbas Joseph added, “When you have lost everything, hope often springs back when someone gives a helping hand. The aim of the Indian entertainment industry and all of us coming together in such a big way is to Help! We want the masses to come forward and ever since Tsunami waves smashed through we wanted to come out in a mammoth manner to Help! and no other platform could have been more bigger and better for any one than the Help! Telethon Concert where all of us are united for one common cause.”

    The Film and Television Producers’ Guild in a joint effort with the Indian Entertainment Industry has initiated its support to Help! the Tsunami victims, by contributing towards the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund wherein a dedicated account christened Help! has been created..