GECs

Adieu 2003 : Channels on a yearend mission

Published

22 years ago

December 29, 2003

It has been a year of CAStroversies, reality shows, style, cricket, news channel launches, raunchy remixes, censorship rigours, non K shows and yet some K shows and much more.

An apt ending to the action packed year would be an action packed send off party.

Good bye, farewell, so long….

So what‘s the a la carte menu offered by the channels as a new year special. Here‘s our countdown…

Hindi entertainment mangta hai... For all the avid soap watchers, Star Plus isn‘t really letting down its viewers. But surprise, surprise, instead of the usual emotion packed tear-jerker episodes the channel plans to start its new year by tickling the funny bone. Unlike last years special musical gameshow AKA ‘antakshari‘ fare, this year the year end special is interwoven in the soap line up.

It all starts with the Khichdi characters getting ready for the new year party at 8 pm. In midst of the hoopla, a few members of this madhatter family get lost and the rest start off to find them. Then begins the journey from Kasutii Zindagii Kay, Sanjivani, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahiin To Hoga and finally meet up at Kaahin Kissii Roz. While this interserial comedy caper is on the party with all the favourite characters from the soap begins after 12 pm. So the audience can watch Tulsi bogeying with Ramola or Prerna jiving with Om.

Sajid Khan in action on Zee

While its regular fare with twist, Zee for the first time is slotting a two day festivity for the New Year celebration. Subhash Chandra‘s channel has Jalwaa Unlimited a bonanza spanning two days, comprising shows hosted by stars from the Zee family.

It might have distanced itself from the numerology craze, but not for long. Starting the festivities is numerology show anchored by Rakshanda Khan with Sanjay B Jumani predicting future of celebrities like Faisal Khan, Vikas Bhalla, Smriti Z Iraani and Nigar Khan. Following the number game, is Sajid Khan‘s Bye 2003, a cockeyed look at the hits and misses of Bollywood 2003. With what seems like more the merrier avtaars dictum, Sajid will present the segments as Randira Bedi, Father Khan and Love machine Shudir. The channel will bring in the New Year with a musical fare Shaan Se. Hosted and performed by Shaan, the show will also have singers Sagarika and Sanjivani.

The New Year fare, to be aired on 1 January 2004, starts off with an Antakshari special with the homegrown stars like Varun Badola, Varsha Usgaonkar, Faisal Khan, Nigar Khan, Gulrez, Vikas Bhalla, Narayani Shastri, Vishal Puri, Pankaj Beri and Prachi Shah, hosted by Annu Kapoor and Pallavi Joshi. Sajid Khan will be back with Hi 2004 offering his take on the best of the Hindi films lined up for 2004. The channels will be ending the festivity with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa special, where Zee‘s finds- Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘s 2003 winners will be show casing their talent.

While both Zee and Star Plus have a different fare, Sony true to its tradition has slated Non Stop Hungama on 31 December at 10 pm to bring in the new year. Sajid Khan seems to be travelling across channels for this one; he anchors the show along with a gang of secretaries from Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin. The show boasts of performances by Fardeen Khan, Salman Khan, Govinda, Aarti Chabbria, Ishita Arun, Yana Gupta, Kanta Laga girl – Shefali Zariwala and Kaliyon Ka Chaman Meghna Naidu. Besides dance performance, there are music performances by Sunidhi Chauhan, Kumar Sanu, Anu Mallik and Sudesh Bhosle.

Meanwhile Sahara has a filmi fare line up. The channel will be airing a live show from Durban, South Africa, on 30 and 31 December from 8:30 pm onwards. Boasting of acts by the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Hritik Roshan, Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherji, Sushmita Sen, Karishma Kapoor and Kareina Kapoor this promises to be a totally filmi fare.

In the national interest… The national channel DD 1 will telecast Choddo kal Ki batein on 31 December, 2003 from 9 pm to 10 pm on Delhi plus relay transmitters. The programme designed for Delhi viewers will have local flavour with song and dance from Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, Punjab and Delhi and a humour and satire segment.

Anchored by popular television actors Jaya Bhattacharya and Jitin Lalwani, the skits and jokes have been enacted by Anjan Srivastava, Dinesh Hingu, Asha Sharma, Sahgufta Ali, Amita Nangia, Jitendra Trehan, Rajesh Puri, Shakti Singh, Mehul Kajaria, Hemenat Choudhary and Tuhina.
Anchored by Ruby Rubby Bhatia, Jhilmil – 2004, telecast from 10pm, will have Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet, Richa Sharma, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Band of Boys, Usha Uthup and Vaishali Samant, along with danseuse and television actress Prachi Shah‘s perfomance. Just like last year, the special programme has been shot at a specially constructed set in the Mumbai Doordarshan premises against the backdrop of the TV Tower

While the news arm, DD News will air Images – 2003 on the New Year‘s Eve from 10pm to 11 pm offering a round-up of the News Events that happened during the year.

Khabre aur bhi… The regular soap shunners, have already have started getting their dose of year end bonanza. While Aaj Tak has started off its spoof on the misadventures in 2003 with Charsobisi Ka Saal, Star News does a more serious version with Yeh Silsile Hue.

On the English news front… CNBC has an elaborate New Year plan for its viewers. With That‘s Entertainment CNBC- to be aired at 11 pm, CNBC will offer a candid and comprehensive look at the entertainment industry.

The business channel will be extending this theme further in a bid to provide viewers with a deep and insightful look at the business of entertainment in India; films, television, radio and more. The programme will run as a series of six half hour episodes to be aired every Thursday and Friday at 11 pm.

In addition, CNBC-TV18 will focus on specific areas of Indian entertainment with Trendmill, Bazaarand India Business Hour. The channels move is to keep a tab on the entertainment industry, which is in the midst of a paradigm shift where the largely unregulated industry is increasingly adopting business systems and processes to provide a corporate-like structure with a focused eye on the financial aspects of entertainment.

While CNBC will look at the entertainment sector, the Brit news channel BBC World will take a look at the year that went by. The channel has already started airing the slew programming from 24 December, which will run till 4 January. The series includes The Dividing Line that offers a perspective on obstacles and road to peace in the Middle East, a quirky guide to life inside, and on the margins of, the European Union in Club Europe and Hostage To Fortune, examining the issues affecting the trials and tribulations of post-war Iraq.

Hot and Wild on AXN

Action time on telly… While its more news on news channel, action adventure channel offers you action. AXN will herald the new year with an 84-hour movie marathon and Continuous Wild On marathon. The action adventure channel will begin the New Year celebration with a marathon broadcast of hit-hot show Wild On on 31 December from 11 pm till 7 am on 1 January ‘04. Sexy American model, Brooke Burke will take the couch adventurers on a wild ride around the world in search of some of Planet Earth‘s most exotic and beautiful locales.

Following the hot and wild action is the New Year Special – 84 hour movie marathon from Thursday, 1 January at 8 am to 4 January at 8 pm. The channel will treat its viewers to an eclectic mix of some of Hollywood‘s biggest titles including Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Hard Target, Mission Impossible, Prince of Egypt and Sliver (Uncut Version).

For the musically inclined… If its party time should the music channels be left out? MTV will start off with the countdown to the year with what else?… a musical countdown of course, right from the partyland Goa. Channel [V] on the other hand has New Year Bash (Best of 2003). Star‘s music channel will launch 48 hours non-stop music that kicks off at 12 am on 31 December and continues till 12 am, 2 January.

etc plans to telecast SMS-2003, a countdown show of top 30 songs from the library of 2003 on 31 December at 9 pm. It will have 20 filmy songs and 10 Indi- Pop songs all selected by the viewers of etc. The viewers have to message their choice to the channel. Besides this, SMS-2003 will also have an on-air contest.

Cher: Spreading the festivity cheer on Star World

The musical countdown will be followed by astrology show Kahani Kismat Ki, in a one hour special where anchor astrologer Arya Guru Bhagawan Das Ji will predict the horoscopes for all the twelve Sun Signs for the coming year.

Movies, shows on English entertainment channels … While Star Movies will premiere Star Wars 2 – Attack of Clones as New Year special at 9 pm, its English entertainment arm has Cher:The Farewell Tour airing on Wednesday, 31 December at 8 pm. Her farewell tour, which pulled in 16.6 million viewers in America, was recorded live in Miami in front of 20,000 fans. With spectacular staging, dancers, acrobats and, of course, the most glittering costumes, this show features all her hits.

While Star World has one, Zee English has lined up six events of 2003 from around the globe.

The channel will presents all world class events back to back from 1 pm to 1 am on 31 December. Screen Actors Guild Awards 2003 (SAG) will be aired from 1 pm to 3 pm, followed by Original telecast of Miss Teen USA from 3 pm to 5 pm. After the teen contest, the channel will air the Miss USA pageant, followed by Miss Universe 2003. The 55th Annual Emmy Awards will air from 9 pm to 11 pm and the highlight of the evening will be debut telecast of The World Music Awards 2003 from 11 pm to 1 am.

With so much action on the telly, lets hope that the audience start of the year with telly bang

Punjabi MC flaunting award on Zee

Up Next

B Singh to be director general of AIR

Don't Miss

‘LOTR’ tops BBC’s film of the year poll

Click to comment

GECs

Sun TV posts steady revenue, profit dips amid rising costs

Published

1 month ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CHENNAI: It appears there is still plenty of Sun to go around in the Indian broadcasting landscape, even if a few clouds have drifted across the financial horizon. Sun TV Network Limited, the Chennai-based behemoth that dominates airwaves across seven languages, has tuned into a steady frequency for the quarter ending 31 December 2025. While the numbers show a resilient revenue stream, the company’s latest broadcast reveals a few static-filled spots in its profit margins.

For the quarter in question, Sun TV’s total income climbed by approximately 3.31 per cent, reaching Rs 958.39 crores compared to Rs 927.66 crores in the same period last year. Revenue from operations also saw a healthy bump, rising 4.32 per cent to Rs 827.87 crores.

The real star of the show, however, was domestic subscription revenue, which surged by 8.86 per cent to Rs 472.99 crores. This growth highlights the enduring appetite for Sun’s diverse content, which spans everything from daily soaps in Tamil and Telugu to its burgeoning OTT platform, Sun NXT.

Despite the revenue growth, the picture quality of the profits was slightly blurred by rising costs. Eitda for the quarter stood at Rs 409.79 crores, a dip from the Rs 432.14 crores recorded in the corresponding 2024 quarter.

The profit after tax followed a similar downward trend, settling at Rs 316.44 crores against the previous year’s Rs 347.17 crores. Advertisers also seemed to have switched channels slightly, with advertisement revenues sliding to Rs 291.94 crores from Rs 332.17 crores.

Sun TV isn’t just playing on home turf; its sporting ambitions are becoming increasingly global. The network now owns three major cricket franchises: SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL, SunRisers Eastern Cape in SA20, and SunRisers Leeds Limited in The Hundred (UK).

The foray into British cricket saw the company acquire a 100 per cent stake in Northern Superchargers Limited (now SunRisers Leeds) for approximately £100 million. While these franchises brought in Rs 14.61 crores this quarter, they also incurred corresponding costs of Rs 19.89 crores. Over the nine-month period, however, the cricket business is a major player, contributing Rs 487.64 crores in income.

The company’s bottom line took a minor hit from exceptional items, including a Rs 4.23 crore charge related to India’s new Labour Codes, which consolidated 29 existing labour laws. Additionally, the consolidated results reflect the amalgamation of Kal Radio Limited with Udaya FM, a move that became effective in May 2025 and required a restatement of previous figures.

To keep investors from reaching for the remote, the Board has declared an interim dividend of 50 per cent, that’s Rs 2.50 per equity share. This comes on top of earlier dividends of 100 per cent (Rs 5.00) and 75 per cent (Rs 3.75) declared in August and November 2025, respectively.

With a massive cash reserve and a dominant position in the South Indian market, Sun TV continues to shine, even if the current quarter required a bit of fine-tuning. For now, shareholders can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

GECs

SPNI hires Pradeep M with responsibility for standards and practices in the south

Published

1 month ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has hired Pradeep M to handle standards and practices for its southern market, bolstering its compliance bench as content rules tighten across platforms.

Pradeep, who has nearly 13 years in the entertainment media industry, takes on responsibility for content standards in a region that is both linguistically diverse and regulatorily sensitive. His brief spans television, OTT, sports and digital platforms.

He specialises in content review and compliance across shows, commercials, on-air promotions and international feeds, ensuring alignment with broadcast, OTT and advertising codes. He has also handled brand approvals and sponsorship integrations for heavily regulated categories—including online gaming, cryptocurrency, NFTs and lottery brands—offering guidance shaped by fast-evolving rules.

Before Sony, Pradeep worked at Jiostar as assistant manager for content regulation from November 2024 to January 2026. Earlier, he spent nearly seven years at Viacom18 Media, rising from senior executive to assistant manager in content regulation between 2018 and 2024. There he served as a key compliance touchpoint for the network.

His career began on the creative side. Between 2013 and 2018, he worked as executive producer on feature films and television shows, gaining hands-on exposure to production. He also had a stint as a non-fiction show director at Star TV Network in 2017. That mix of creative and regulatory experience gives him a dual lens—how content is made and how it must be managed.

As regulators, platforms and advertisers all tighten the screws, broadcasters are investing more in gatekeepers who can keep creativity within the lines. Sony’s latest hire shows where the industry is heading: in the streaming age, compliance is content’s quiet co-star.

GECs

Colors Gujarati rolls out two new shows from 2nd February

Published

1 month ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Colors Gujarati has unveiled two new prime-time shows as part of its push to strengthen culturally rooted storytelling for regional audiences. The channel will premiere the devotional saga Gangasati–Paanbai at 7.30 pm, followed by the romantic family drama Manmelo at 9.30 pm from February 2.

Inspired by Gujarat’s spiritual and literary heritage, Gangasati–Paanbai: Shyam Dhun No Navo Adhyay draws from the timeless bhajans and poetry of saint-poetesses Gangasati and Paanbai, weaving devotion and human values into a contemporary narrative aimed at younger viewers.

In contrast, Manmelo explores love and responsibility across social divides, tracing the lives of three middle-class sisters whose relationships with three affluent brothers reshape their futures. The show delves into ambition, emotional conflict and the realities of married life, offering a layered family drama.

A Colors Gujarati spokesperson said the new launches reflect the channel’s commitment to authentic Gujarati entertainment that blends cultural values with modern storytelling.