MxMIndia

Category: TV

  • SAB aims to beat ZEE in the next three months, launches Saturday Prime Time Entertainment.

    SAB eyeing ZEE’s ranking

    By Rishi Vora

     

    In a bid to increase viewership on the weekends, especially in the primetime 9 – 10: 30 pm band on Saturdays, SAB TV will air three brand new shows – Oye Bunty Babloo Oye, Kya Hoga Is Desh Ka, and Gaadi Bula Rahi Hai starting November 5. These shows will be aired for 20 weeks and each episode will offer a new story line with varied flavours of comedy. The shows will be produced and directed by Ravi Rai, Siddharth Tewary, Vipul D Shah, J D Majethia and Rajesh Beri.

    The move comes at a time when the channel is placed No 5 in the pecking order of general entertainment channels with 121 GRPs.

    Anooj Kapoor, Executive Vice President and Business Head, informed MxM India that his target is to reach 165 GRPs in the next three months and possibly beat Zee on overall GRPs. So while that means an increase of 40-odd GRPs, it will be interesting to see whether the channel is really able to topple Zee from the No 4 position. If that does happen, it will be a significant achievement, from where the channel could look at reaching the 200 GRP mark. Early this year, the channel did touch 150 GRPs and gave its sister channel – Sony a good run of their money.

    As for the new shows, Mr Kapoor is optimistic that they’ll bring fresh set of viewers to the channel. “Mostly people watch movies in the weekend, and if not that, they go out shopping, to restaurants and other places. We’re trying to cash-in on these audiences by offering something they would want to watch on a Saturday evening and then convert them into loyal viewers.” These shows will also help the channel get more advertising revenue, in the 9 – 10:30 pm band.

    On the marketing front, the channel will make best use of the MSM network. As far as the TG market is concerned, Mr Kapoor said that the idea is to look at broadening the viewership base across cities and towns in India and in making SAB-like comedy-family drama, a habit in many a households.

     

  • planet celebrates World Animal Day with a special programming line-up

    Creatures feature on World Animal Day

     

    By A Correspondent

    If you adore animals and love the planet, tune into Animal Planet to celebrate the World Animal Day on October 4.  Bursting with intriguing facts and enchanting animals, Animal Planet commemorates World Animal Day with a full day programming line-up from 12 noon to 12 midnight, aiming to inspire viewers of all ages.

    Kicking off the day to celebrate all things wild and spotlight some of the rarest and greatest creatures on the planet, Animal Planet follows the lives of several unique species like river dolphins in India, hyenas in East Africa, pygmy elephants in the jungles of Borneo, wild wolves in Ethiopia, bat-eared foxes in Namibia and ferocious crocodiles in Africa.

    Discussing the special Animal Planet Marathon on World Animal Day, Mr Rahul Johri, senior vice president and general manager (South Asia), Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, “We dedicate this special day of the year to highlight the wonderful animal kingdom and the amazing relationship it enjoys with humans. Over the years, we have witnessed a growing sensitivity and commitment amongst viewers for Animal Planet’s breathtaking and awe-inspiring content. I am most excited to present this year’s 12 hours programming marathon which will do it all – inform, entertain and connect.”

  • The News Broadcasters Asscociation asks the Prime Minister to ask the Press Council of India chief to mind his own business

    Mediaah! Katju ko bolo katli maaro, says NBA

    Pradyuman MaheshwariPardon the forced usage of Bambaiyya, but with a name like Katju and this being the season for mithai, one couldn’t help the play on Kaaju Katli. With apologies to the lovers of the Kaaju Katli. I am not too concerned about how Mr K reacts… in any case he finds journalists irresponsible and unintelligent.

    There’s been a lot of song and dance about the Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju’s outbursts to all and sundry. Yesterday, the News Broadcasters Association asked the Prime Minister to ask the Press Council of India to mind his own business and stop effing around with the news TV wallahs.

    The Prime Minister is in Cannes attending the G20 summit and I won’t be surprised if he does precious little about it.

    There have been various reports on the News Broadcasters Association asking the Prime Minister to restrain the Press Council of India chairman to not comment on areas that are beyond his jurisdiction. I found the one on former friend and benefactor Anil Wanvari’s Indiantelevision.com the most exhaustive. Here goes: http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k11/nov/nov28.php

    But before you slam the man any further, as our editor-at-large Anil Thakraney writes, there is a point that Katju is making. There are scores of occasions when you do have our news channels transgressing all lines of decency. I have stopped some of the channels – especially a few in Hindi – because of the trashy content that’s there on them. Even on Big News Days, these guys don’t seem to get over their obsession with the Occult. And the Inane.

    Former Aaj Tak CEO and also bossman of a dozen industry associations G Krishnan would often argue for the trade about this with a “We are like this only refrain”.  Whoever says news has to be only current affairs. And whoever said current affairs shouldn’t include who Ranbir Kapoor was in bed with last night.

    (aside, these days channels could also do similar stories about mediapersons, but we’ll come to that some other time… or perhaps will never do it.!)

    (aside 2: the last time, Mediaah! tried to write on the private life of a mediaperson, we had to kill ourselves).

    I am not armed with the stats, but the fact of the matter is that all news broadcasters aren’t members of the NBA. And it’s impossible for the NBA to coerce channels to turn members. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about this. In other trade associations too, large players don’t become members.

    So, as the NBA has said, let its self-regulation policies rule over all news channels. In fact the uplinking and downlinking policies must make it mandatory for all news channels broadcasting out of India to subscribe to a self-regulation code of the NBA.

     

    Should the Press Council be made the Media Council?

     

    First, do we need a Press Council. The newspaperwallahs have their INS, the magazine guys have an AIM, internet and mobile dudes have IAMAI, the ad folk have their AAAI and ASCI, so why the Press Council.

    It’s a body with no teeth. It can’t do a thing to police newspapers. I remember receiving a few letters from the Council in the ‘90s asking my paper to apologise for some flimsy reason. I was advised by my publisher to ignore the notice, and when one realised there was no need for the paper to issue an apology, I trashed the missive. It’s not that the newspaper lost its licence or was penalised. We went about our business peacefully only to trash the next letter that came in.

    I am a little surprised that the Press Council didn’t have news channels under its jurisdiction all these years. When it was set up in 1966 (with the Press Council Act taking coming into existence only in 1978), we only had the government-owned Doordarshan and All India Radio so I guess no one found the need for policing the airwaves.

    Para 1 of the ‘about us’ section of its site says:

    The Press Council of India was first set up in the year 1966 by the Parliament on the recommendations of the First Press Commission with the object of preserving the freedom of the press and of maintaining and improving the standards of press in India. The present Council functions under the Press Council Act 1978. It is a statutory, quasi judicial body which acts as a watchdog of the press. It adjudicates the complaints against and by the press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press respectively.

    There is a self-regulator for news and non-news television and advertising and there is none for print and digital media. So I guess there is merit for a self-regulator, but ideally it should be done by an industry body and not someone set up by the government. As for ensuring the freedom of the press, we surely don’t need a Press Council of India to police that.

    Our democratic set-up will ensure that governments can’t get away with stifling the press. As for media owners muzzling their own employees, I don’t think the Press Council or any minister or Parliamentarian can do anything about it. The owners almost always have the final say.

     

  • NDTV Profit and Hero MotoCorp Ltd Have launched the contest ‘A Search for India’s Stock Market Hero’ beginning November 8, on NDTV Profit.

    Search on for Stock Market Hero

    By Akash Raha

    NDTV Profit and Hero MotoCorp Ltd. launched the contest ‘A Search for India’s Stock Market Hero’ beginning November 8, on NDTV Profit. This new and exciting contest will give an opportunity to every stock market enthusiast to win Rs. 50,000 every two hours and upto Rs. 2 lakhs everyday for the next three months.

    Speaking on the channel’s new offering, Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV, said “We have always believed in creating exciting formats to keep our viewers engaged. This is not just any regular stock market game. It’s a contest of both skill and knowledge. And it will help investors get a deeper understanding of financial markets”

    All the viewers have to do to win is answer two simple questions: “Which stock which will gain the most in the next two hours?” and another question related to the programme on-air.

    Anil Dua, Sr Vice President (Marketing & Sales), HeroMotoCorp Ltd., said ”The new ‘Hero’ has arisen and is all poised to carry forward its rich legacy, setting new benchmarks with record performance and cutting-edge products. It is this spirit of ‘Hum Mein Hai Hero’ which reflects in all our brand associations.”

  • Naming no Names is the mid-week column by well-known novelist, columnist and counsellor, Gouri Dange.

    Gouri Dange: Dealing with journos hungry for quotes

    Do you really want to be that rent-a-quote person?

    They’re polite, of course. And young. And completely unaware of how tiresome they can be. The phone call goes something like this: “Hello, I’m writing a story on thisthatandtheother, and I was hoping to talk about it to you.”

    At first, in the early years, you feel quite pleased to be called up in this way. You drop what you are doing, and whisper urgently to anyone who is sitting around you, “It’s The Press, they want My Opinion”.  People around you immediately go dead silent in deference to this Moment – it’s almost as important as if you were invited to address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Republic Day. [The woman who works in my house says that Republic Day is when there is good circus to watch on TV (the parade) and Independence Day is when all phaltus go on doing bud-bud on TV, and Budget Day is when some ‘chassmister’ (erudite looking person in glasses) gives you the bad news about fuel and vegetable prices so that your idle boozard husband can tell you that you need to pick up a few more dirty-dishes-doing jobs to stay ahead of prices.] But I digress.

    So, in the early years of being contacted by journos to give them ‘expert quotes’, you are inordinately happy to oblige. You proceed to hold forth on your subject, while the journo at the other end furiously scribbles or keys in as you speak. The rude shock comes a few days later when you ring up 60 friends and tell them that you are being Quoted, and not to miss reading the relevant article that day. You have made these calls before you have opened the paper and actually read your quote. Three things can now happen. A) The journo who you waxed eloquent to for 20 minutes has simply not used your quote – either she didn’t understand a word of what you spoke or there was no space for your quote. B) Worse, she may have misquoted you comprehensively, where you end up sounding like an envious whiney loser who hates everyone else in your field; as a bonus, she has got your name wrong. C) All your pearls of wisdom have been used, in fact what you spoke constitutes the whole article, but you have been given no credit. Your name is not mentioned at all. It is as if this article was born via immaculate conception.

    A few such incidents, and you get older and wiser pretty quickly. You’re at the next level of the rent-a-quote market. Someone calls, and you first get a good sense of what this journo is going to be saying in his/her article first. Then you carefully choose your words, keeping it all very very simple, and hope for the best. You are also now smart enough to request:  can you please call and read out or email me what you’re quoting from this conversation? This way you can clarify, I said ‘intuition’ not ‘tuition’ and other such things. But there’s nothing much you can do about being described by the journo as a music listener who “bubbles over with names, when asked about her favourite musicians”. Or being described randomly as ‘unputdownable’ or ‘peripatetic’ or ‘intrepid’ – all favourite journo adjectives. Makes you sound like some wandering pest.

    Some journos send you a list of questions to reply to by email. This may sound better than having to gabble on the phone and then get thoroughly misquoted. However, the level of detail required from you in replying to these questions would surely be the equivalent of writing the entire story yourself, and also perhaps could be that PhD proposal that you’ve been postponing writing.  Too much hard work.

    Some of them will pop up on Gchat and say the following: Hiiii….I need quotes from celebs, psychologists and young people on ‘Long distance marriages: Is it workable or a recipe for disaster?’ …need the quotes along with high res images in 3 hours. Can u help pllleeez??”  Your only option is to quietly log out.

    Here’s another double-edged thing about being quoted in newspapers and magazines, though. Whatever garbled version of your quote appears, the lay reader immediately takes you very seriously and your stock rises dizzily in your field. However, colleagues tend to go nudge-nudge and deduce that you are rather idle and/or have friends in the Press and are a bit of a Quote Bank. So it’s a bit of a toss-up – to be quoted or not to be quoted?

    If you choose not to be, then here are some ways to duck out. Tell the journo to call you four hours later. They’re usually plugging in quotes at the last minute, and it is likely that they don’t have four hours, plus you sound busy and important. So you’re safe. Or come up with something exotic. Huff and puff on the phone and say you’re climbing Kilimanjaro. The poor dears will hurriedly get off the phone so as not to cost you roaming charges.

  • Rajesh Jejurikar joins Zee as prez

    By A Correspondent
    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zee) has announced the appointment of Mr Rajesh Jejurikar as President, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE). Mr Jejurikar has resigned has Chief Executive-Automotive Division at Mahindra & Mahindra. He will report to Mr. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEE for his role. In a career spanning 24 years, Mr Jejurikar, has worked in the packaged goods industry and advertising before he joined Mahindra & Mahindra in 2000.

    Speaking on the appointment, ZEE MD & CEO, Punit Goenka said, “We welcome Rajesh to the Zee family and are confident that his joining will further add to our capability of being a fiercely competitive Organisation. His vast experience in marketing and brand building will add immense value to the Organisation.”

    Commenting on his new role, Rajesh Jejurikar, the newly appointed President at Zee said, “After having spent a fulfilling decade at Mahindra, where I have grown and learned so much, both personally and professionally, I am happy to now be a part of India’s pioneering television broadcasting company. The dynamics of the media and entertainment sector excites me and I look forward to working with the Zee team.”

    Mr Jejurikar is a 1986 batch MBA from S. P. Jain Institute of Management and is likely to join Zee in February 2012.

     

  • does it for Sony; channel records a new high.

    Sony touches new ratings high with Rs 5 crore KBC episode

    By Rishi Vora

     

    Every Indian does seem to harbour the dream of becoming a millionaire. Last week’s ratings of Top 10 television shows reveal that Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) has, in its fifth season, registered a new high, becoming the highest TRP grosser among all weekday shows after Colors’ Uttaran did in 2009.

     

    The episode aired on November 1 registered 7.2 TVR while the episode on November 2 touched 8.03 TVR. The KBC episodes on these days were much-publicised and aired the winning of Rs 5 crore by a resident of Bihar. The channel has also upped its GRPs to 287 from last week’s 236, with KBC being the No 1 show in the week with an average TVR of 6.4. However, industry watchers feel Sony will see a dip in GRPs post KBC.

     

     

    Sneha Rajani, Senior EVP and Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television said, “The success of Sushil Kumar in KBC is an emphatic endorsement of the fact that KBC is not just a game show, but a melting pot of knowledge and aspirations of the aam aadmi, and the numbers show that KBC this season has broken all barriers of demography and geography and transformed lives of people all across the country.”

     

    In absolute numbers, the show has managed to reach out to 25 million people on November 1, and 27 million people on November 2, with 18 percent reach and 43 minutes of average time spent.

     

    Other channels too gained in week 45. Star Plus jumped to 335 GRPs from last week’s 273. Colors rose to 240 from 236 the previous week, while Zee TV rose from 131 to 143.

  • Haresh Chawla quits as Group CEO of Network18, to oversee seamless leadership transition at media conglomerate; to pursue other Interests

    Haresh Chawla quits Network18 to pursue ‘other’ interests

    By A Correspondent

    Mr Haresh Chawla, who has led Network18 for well over a decade, is currently overseeing a seamless leadership succession plan at the half-a-billion-dollar (in current year’s revenues) media conglomerate spanning news and entertainment broadcasting, web portals, publications, filmed entertainment and ecommerce operations and Viacom18.

    Commenting on Mr Chawla’s decision to eventually pursue other interests, Mr Raghav Bahl, Founder & Editor of Network18, said: “Haresh is the kind a of colleague one can only dream about, so utterly honest, committed and focussed he is on delivering excellence. However, I fully understand his desire to explore other interests, being a person with such boundless enthusiasm and passion for success. Perhaps Haresh’s greatest achievement is the strong cadre of next-generation leadership that he has nurtured at several of our Group operations. Over the next few months, Haresh will work closely with me and this young crop of leaders to ensure a seamless transition of leadership. Finally, on a personal note, I wish to say that you never can quite say good-bye to an extra-ordinary friend and colleague like Haresh. He will always be around, as a friend, philosopher, guide and advisor to Network18, and me, personally. His can-do spirit is irretrievably woven into Network18’s DNA.”

    Adding to the sentiment, Mr Chawla said: “It’s very rare for a professional to play a part in setting up so many businesses in a lifetime, and to lead such a talented team as we have at Network18. I am forever grateful to Raghav for the opportunity and the faith that he had in me. And I am deeply grateful to all my colleagues who worked with me to build this Network. Together, we built an enviable culture of excellence and speed at Network18, and I will work towards ensuring this legacy is carried on with the new leaders in the Group. Personally, it’s been a most fulfilling phase of my life and I now look forward to taking on newer challenges”

     

  • Hathway has confirmed that its new HD service is set to launch to subscribers in select are of Hathway Digital networks in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

    Hathway HD to be launched

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hathway has confirmed that its new HD service is set to launch to subscribers in select are of Hathway Digital networks in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

    The new Hathway Hi Definitions (HD) service will be enabled by Media Highway set-top box software, the service will be navigated through a state of the art user interface with an electronic programme guide (EPG) and enhanced features thereby providing a complete enhanced viewing experience to the viewers.

    Mr K Jayaraman, Managing Director, CEO Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited said, “Being the pioneers in the Digital Cable Service industry we are committed to offering premium services to our subscribers.”

    Hathway HD services is available at Stand Alone and Bundled Offering and the packages are called –. HD Lite,and HD Max and Max + ,with around eight HD channels currently being offered and 20 channels in the near future.

    Hathway Standalone Offering

    HD Lite Rs 6666/-(including tax)

    HD channels for 1 yr

    SD Channels for 1 yr (160 + channels)

    Service Tax for 1 yr

    HD Box Activation charges

    HD Box is free to use

     

    Note : This offering is only for Hathway CATV primary customers

    Hathway Bundled Offering

    HD Max Rs. 8888 (Excluding tax )

    HD channels for 1 yr

    SD Channels for 1 yr (160+ channels)

    HD Box Activation charges

    Broadband for 1 Yr – 2Mbps speed, 40 GB

    Download ( worth Rs. 4300/- )

    HD Box & Cable Modem is FTU

  • It could be the next big thing – but is it too soon for 3D, and will it fizzle rather than pop?

    Much ado over 3D?

    By Akash Raha

    Even as High Definition (HD) television channels are entering the Indian market, blogs and social networks are already abuzz with talk of 3D channels coming soon, and how that will revolutionize the entire TV-viewing experience. MxMIndia took a closer look at these claims, to find out whether such a time is actually anywhere close at hand.

    According to Ms Anamika Mehta, COO, Lodestar UM, “India is already an underleveraged and fragmented market and such innovations will definitely add to the monetary burden.  Indian consumers are yet to fully embrace HD, and 3D in that context is still years away. While some manufacturers have launched 3D products, we still do not have ample content. 3D content would mean significant investment in content cost and advertisers and viewers alike are unlikely to pay in the short run for the experience. Secondly, perhaps barring live sports there isn’t any genre that could see demand for 3D broadcasting. The other genre could be movies in theatres for an experience… Lastly, you need high quality content which lends to 3D viewing and strapped for budgets, very few production houses will bite.”

    But all said and done, the success of Mr James Cameron’s film Avatar in Indian theatres is enough proof that when you offer visually appealing content in 3D, people will flock to see it. Even so, such a number still remains way short of expectations for a market such as India to actually implement a 3D plan. If media analysts are to be believed, making 3D content for television is a very difficult job and the cost is too high to bear. Even today, many media houses use age-old technology for programming and non-35 mm cameras.

    Interestingly, in the US a $14-billion, eight-year deal by ESPN with the National Football League (NFL) includes international rights and distribution of 3D content. This is despite the earlier reports that they might give up on 3D technology altogether. Several other broadcasting plans, internationally, for 3D broadcast of live baseball and basketball games are also on the anvil. MxMIndia’s efforts to reach ESPN-Star in India for their take on the issue failed to elicit any response.

    Mr Dinesh Vyas, Business Head, MEC said that any talks of 3D technology coming into India in the current scheme of things is certainly a gimmick. He said, “HD and 3D televisions are already available in the market, but people are still apprehensive about it, especially, 3D. People get headaches when they see 3D content for extended periods. Such a technology is not going to take off any time soon in India. The Indian market is not very receptive to technology and it takes a long time to appropriate it… Cost of technology too is very high – and currently no advertiser will be interested in it, which implies that even media owners will have to drop any major 3D plan. However, there will always be small news here and there about 3D which might get everyone excited.”

    So is it a good idea for affluent Indians and the upcoming middle class to splash out on 3D television – which is touted as the technology of tomorrow? The answer is a plain simple – no. Or at least, not yet… After all, what use is a large sprawling 3D television in your living room without any 3D content to support it with? That is excluding a handful of 3D movie DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.

    However, not all media planners are pessimistic towards the technology and some still see hope, however dim, for it. Mr Premjeet Sodhi, President, The Collaborative, Lintas Media Group, said, “High value, premium or luxury goods and services are not new to the India market and like any other such goods and services the 3D TV sector is also amenable to adoption and success. However, I don’t think I am qualified to comment on which consumer technology will be successfully adopted. Whether 3D TV will be adopted and when and whether it will be a viable business is something for the custodians of these businesses to dwell upon and work towards. But, as and when the penetration of the technology reaches a critical mass, I am sure the media and advertising services will equip themselves to support the technology.”

    There may well be a time in future when 3D channels and television will be in vogue, but apparently that time is not near. If analysts are to be believed, it will be a long while before demand meets technological advancements. However, India still remains an unpredictable market. It is the same country which discarded pager technology and yet usurped the mobile. To write off 3D technology’s viability in India could be presumptuous.

  • Introducing a near-daily blog that will see Ranjona Banerji review the nightly news and the fare in the morningers.

    Of 25-year-old TV journos and their half-baked ideas

    Ranjona Banerji

     

    This week was a roller coaster as far as news was concerned. It started with the continuing aftermath of the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement, with members of what has so trendily been named Team Anna felt they were being targeted by the government  for saying nasty things about MPs, for being exposed in a sting operation and for not paying their income tax.

    But soon Amar Singh, discredited and beleaguered, had his moment in the sun as he was hoisted off to join his political friends in Tihar jail for his role in the cash-for-votes scam where BJP MPs walked into Parliament waving bundles of money, claiming they had been bribed by the UPA. But one more horrific bomb blast on Wednesday morning, this time outside the Delhi High Court, meant that TV attention moved away from Singh. TV attention is a bit like the eye of Sauron in Lord of the Rings. While it is on you, you burn under its gaze but when it goes away, you can scurry into Mordor and do what you want. It may be advisable for Indian TV news channels to get eyes like a housefly instead which looks everywhere.

    Since the Delhi police and India’s one zillion other investigating agencies had no clue about who was behind the blasts, TV reporters have to be commended for coming up with their own theories within 10 minutes. Why waste time reporting on the events when you can hold forth like an expert, pretending that you know what you are talking about? After all, no one in your studio is going to stop you, question you or, shock, horror, cut you off.

    I realize that youth must be worshipped in India today but there is something disconcerting about inexperienced 25-year-olds running around with mikes and cameras, bombarding us with their half-baked ideas. (My advice for young journalists: spend the first five years with your mouth shut, learning! Radical, eh?)

    It would perhaps be more sensible if TV news channels in India tried to first report and then speculate. It seems incredible that that they go back to the same experts over and again in spite of no one having any clue about who has actually done what. One would have thought that the embarrassment of every expert blaming some Islamic group of the other for the Norway attacks would have been lesson enough, but clearly, no. The evening shows with the star anchors were full of former police commissioners and general celebrity experts holding forth. The amount of hot air released in TV studios could be used as a form of renewable energy once fossil fuels disappear.

    Most language news channels switched from their normal combination of astrology and Bollywood to cover the blasts but some like Sahara Mumbai were happy with their comedy corner. The ticker at the bottom kept us informed of events. Guess you have to keep laughing, no matter what.

    Business news channels are rarely if ever distracted from the stock markets and sometimes even major global monetary policy changes in which politics is involved, pass them by.

    International channels airing in India like Al Jazeera, BBC World and CNN are all gearing up to the 10th anniversary of the September 9 attacks on the USA. The rest of the while they keep us informed about what’s happening in Syria, Sudan and such like places that are too far away for Indian news channels to acknowledge.

    **

    The newspapers had it easier. Early in the week, they focused of course on Amar Singh’s arrest and his fall from grace. The Telegraph, Calcutta (it does not use Kolkata) also talked about him being a Calcutta boy. The prime minister’s trip to Bangladesh also got space, with fans and detractors of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her refusal to agree to the water-sharing agreements with Bangladesh having their say. The boxing bout between Mayawati and Julian Assange also front-paged, including with the Hindu which of course printed the Wikileaks revelations in India.

    The Reserve Bank of India asking banks to allow borrowers to pay back floating home loans without penalty got second billing in Mumbai, perhaps understandably. The Hindustan Times called the BJP to task over protection to the Reddy brothers in Karnataka in a hard-hitting editorial.

    The Times of India did an analysis of three versions of the Lokpal bill on its edit page and seemed to agree the most with Aruna Roy and the NCPRI’s version. This is a break surely from Times Now’s vociferous championing of Anna Hazare’s version and no other.

    Mid-Day launched its new look on Tuesday, with bolder lines, less clutter and better use of pictures. It also reintroduced its edit page.

    By Thursday, the bomb blasts were everywhere with legitimate rage over the fact that the authorities neither had improved intelligence nor security measures in place. It is easier to read these arguments than to decipher what several guests shouting at the same time are trying to say.

    By Friday, Praful Patel’s defence of a CAC report slamming the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines and the acquisition of several aircraft took the headlines. The probe into the Delhi blasts is veering between Harkat-e-Jihad-al Islami and Indian Mujahideen, both of whom have claimed they did it.

    The Times of India chose not to front-page LK Advani’s announcement of an anti-corruption yatra and his impassioned speech in Parliament, while Hindustan Times made it the second lead, focusing on the fact that Advani took his own party by surprise. The gist of the newspaper angle seems to be one more political drama, while TV milked what they could from it before moving on.

    The brewing revolt in the tennis world between the top players and the International Tennis Federation over rain problems at the US Open also got play.

    International media is mainly looking at the tenth anniversary of 9/11, stories of victims and heroes and some new chilling tapes of voices from one of the planes which crashed into the World Trade Centre. Irfan Husain in The Dawn has an excellent piece debunking all the 9/11 conspiracy theories. A threat to New York on the anniversary is being taken seriously, making ample effort not to spread panic.

    It seems likely that 9/11 will dominate over the weekend although it will be interesting to see if the BJP is taken seriously in this new effort to regain political centrestage.

  • In a recent development at Colors, Mr Prashaant Bhatt has been appointed as the head of fiction programming, responsible for driving the fiction properties on the channel and taking key decisions on new shows and concepts.

    Prashaant Bhatt to head Fiction at Colors

    By Rishi Vora

     

    In a recent development at Colors, Mr Prashaant Bhatt has been appointed as the head of fiction programming. He will be responsible for driving the fiction properties on the channel Colors and will take key decisions on new shows and concepts. Mr Bhatt will start his new role on December 1, 2011, reporting to the CEO Mr Raj Nayak.

    Announcing the appointment, Mr Nayak said, “Given Prashaant’s extensive experience in delivering compelling content for multiple successful fiction properties over the years, we are confident that he will take the Colors’ Fiction shows to a new peak. I am proud to have him on the team, and look forward to co-creating new frontiers in fiction programming on the channel.”

    On his new assignment, Mr Bhatt said, “I have tremendous appreciation for Colors’ constant attempts towards providing new and innovative content to viewers. I am looking forward to working with this incredibly talented group of people and to applying my knowledge and experience to fiction programming”.

    Mr Bhatt joins Colors from Balaji Telefilms, where he was the Creative Head for various successful shows. He has over 16 years of experience as a writer and creative director of various successful fiction properties. In the last few years, he has also been involved in conceptualising shows and creatively heading them for various production houses which include not only Balaji Telefilms, but also Rajshri Productions, Cinevistas, Creative Eye, AK Films, UTV and Shreya Creations among others.