Biz Asia - Main

Balaji Telefilms to buy back stake from STAR

STAR Group and Balaji Telefilms have jointly agreed to terminate the agreements entered into between them on 18th August 2007, relating to the regional languages joint venture. Both STAR and Balaji are now free from their respective rights and obligations under the said agreements.

The promoters of Balaji Telefilms are entitled to purchase, either on their own account and/or through a third party(ies) nominated by them, the shareholding held by Star through its group entity, Asian Broadcasting FZ-LLC (ABF) in Balaji Telefilms for an aggregate price of Rs 190 per share. It maybe recalled that ABF had acquired a 25.99% equity interest in Balaji Telefilms earlier.

The relationship between STAR and Balaji Telefilms as broadcaster and content provider will not be affected and both parties are keen on continuing the same. All the six existing Balaji shows, currently on air with STAR Plus, will continue on terms mutually agreed upon by the two parties. Both parties have also agreed to commence work on a new show to replace an existing show, which will be launched before 30th November 2008.

Uday Shankar, CEO, STAR India, said, "STAR and Balaji Telefilms have agreed to determine all prior agreements such that each side is freed from all respective rights and obligations arising from such agreements. The new arrangement allows both parties to take the best advantage of emerging opportunities in broadcasting and content creation."

Shobha Kapoor, managing director, Balaji Telefilms, said, "STAR and Balaji Telefilms have enjoyed a successful relationship over the past few years, one that has been to the mutual benefit of both. We are keen to continue this relationship in the best spirit going forward. This agreement with STAR releases Balaji Telefilms from its various obligations and opens up very exciting opportunities for it."

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Sony TV to replace 'Kuchh...' with 'Vachan'

Sony Entertainment Television Asia has decided to ditch its Balaji production 'Kuchh Is Tara' for a Rose Audio Visuals and Shrishti Arya production called 'Aathvaan Vachan'.

The fiction is a story of a mentally challenged girl, Urmi. At the age of 18, Urmi behaves like an eight-year-old child.

Urmi is a problem child who is a huge worry to her family members except for her sister Manali. The narrative takes a twist when Aadesh meets Manali and marries her with a promise that he will also take care of Urmi.

Set creative head fiction Sanjay Upadhyay said, "Marriage vows are sacrosanct for the bride and groom. In this case Aadesh takes a vow to ensure a place for Urmi in his life. But what happens when this promise becomes a commitment leaving audience with no choice but an entire lifetime to deal with. This unique situation forms the main crux of the story."

'Aathvaan Vachan' launches on Monday 1st September at 21:00.

Replacements for 'Jiya Jaye' & 'Mere Apne' on 9X

INX Network's general entertainment channel 9X has confirmed it is winding up 'Jiya Jaye' and 'Mere Apne' to make way for two new shows.

The broadcaster is revamping its weekday evening line-up with the launches of 'Rubi' and 'Ajeeb' both, which start in India on Monday 25th August (UK later this year).

'Rubi' is produced by B.A.G Films and Media and will be a one-hour show based on the story of a middle class girl who is freespirited, headstrong yet naive and tries too hard to win in life.

The other show, 'Ajeeb' is a mysterious love story set in a hospital. To air on Wednesday and Thursday, the one-hour show is produced by Bonnie Jain Productions.

'Ajeeb' is the story of a young woman Anjali, who aspires to be a resident doctor at a prestigious hospital. It will feature Tanaaz and Bakhtiyar Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Shweta Tiwari, Varun Badola and Shruti Seth, among others.

INX Media head of fiction Kumud Chaudhary said, "Our policy is of definite shows, both new shows also have a definite end. We do not want to drag the stories."

Jade Goody leaves 'Bigg Boss 2' due to cancer

Jade Goody has left the Indian 'Big Brother' series, a couple of days it started after it was announced to her that she had been diagoned with cervical cancer.

Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel from Viacom-18, has launched the second season of the drama packed reality show 'Bigg Boss 2', produced by Endemol, on 17th August.

Goody, 27, abruptly flew out of India to return home for treatment, just days after arriving in Mumbai. She spoke to her doctor in Britain, then ran out in tears and announced to her housemates on the show, "I have cancer."

Goody's appearance on 'Big Boss 2' came 18 months after she was accused of racism on British TV's Celebrity Big Brother due to her taunting of Bollywood actress and fellow contestant Shilpa Shetty, who is now the host of 'Big Boss 2'.

Watch the moment when Jade Goody left the show below.

Ratings for the show

'Bigg Boss 2' sounds to be very encouraging for the viewers. In the launch episode, which aired from 20:00 - 23:45 on 17th August, Colors managed to draw close to 43 lakh viewers to the show, according to aMap data for C&S 4+, HSM.

In the time band in which 'Bigg Boss 2' was aired, it was the most watched show with an TVR of 1.4. In the same time band, STAR Plus aired Hindi movie, 'Zameen', and ZEE TV had 'Gold Awards', while Sony Entertainment Television Asia aired the movie 'Jabb We Met'.

aMap data reveals that on 17th August, Colors garnered a share of 23.3 per cent in the overall GEC pie, at par with STAR Plus, which commanded 23.5 per cent.

'STAR Voice Of India 2' to launch this month

STAR Plus UK will be launching the second series of its hit reality TV show 'STAR Voice Of India 2' later this month.

The series, which kicked off in India last month, will be running 4-5 weeks behind India due to certain regulations the broadcaster has to follow set by Ofcom.

Viewers will witness the struggle and transformation of 24 talented singers on their journey to the destination of stardom on 'STAR Voice Of India 2'.

This show will be closely monitored by its judges- singer Sukhwinder Singh, music director Monty Sharma and music composer Ismail Darbar and hosted by the multi-faceted singer - Shaan.

According to Anupama Mandloi, Senior Creative Director STAR Plus, "STAR Voice of India 2 aims to showcase the biggest singing talent from India. After the unparalleled success of the first season; we promise to offer a combination of great singing talent and entertainment to our viewers with the second season of STAR Voice of India."

'STAR Voice Of India 2' will be shown on Saturday and Sunday at 19:30.

Recently, the show was in the news after last year's candidate Ishmeet met his untimely death.

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'STAR Voice of India' Ishmeet Singh dies

Channel 4 announces Bollywood season

This year's Bollywood movie season on Channel 4 has been announced, BizAsia.co.uk has the details.

]]> This year the broadcaster has split the season in further five brands: Abhishek Bachchan Season, Anupam Kher Season, Bombay On Film Season, Sharmila Tagore Season and Goutham Ghose Season.

The provisional schedule dates are as follows but are subject to change - check for updates on Channel 4's website. Movies will be shown on Thursday and Sunday nights.

Abhishek Bachchan Season
Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna - 7th September
Yuva - 11th September
Guru - 14th September

Anupam Kher Season
Khosla Ka Ghosla - 18th September
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara - 21st September
Saaransh - 25th September

Bombay on Film Season
Seven Islands - 28th September
Black Friday - 2nd October
Life in the Metro - 5th October

Sharmila Tagore Season
Devi - 9th October
Nayak - 12th October
Company Ltd - 16th October
Days and Nights in the Forest - 19th October

Goutham Ghose Season
Paar - 23rd October
Abar Aranye - 26th October
Yatra - 30th October

In March this year, Channel 4 aired a month-long Hrithik Roshan movie special.

Colors successful run continues; sticks to No.3

Newly launched Indian entertainment channel Colors has done what other new services have not been able to!

Colors has further consolidated its position at number 3 in the all-important Hindi channels ranking, three weeks after its launch.

According to TAM Media Research data, in Week 31 and Week 32, Colors has garnered a share of 10 per cent and 11 per cent respectively, in the overall GEC space. STAR Plus stands at number 1 with 27 per cent and ZEE TV is second, with 17 per cent share for Week 32.

Colors has managed to race ahead of Sony Entertainment Television Asia, which, despite its position in the GEC space, was at number three in Week 30. SET India has gathered a share of 9 per cent and is now at number four, along with Star One. The other two new GECs, NDTV Imagine and 9X have settled at number five position with a channel share of 7 per cent each. From 5 per cent in Week 31, Sahara One has gained 1 per cent and stands at number six position with 6 per cent share.

Colors attracted the viewers since the launch week, thanks to its much-hyped reality show, 'Fear Factor- Khatron Ke Khiladi', which concluded in a high note, giving way to the next big reality show 'Bigg Boss 2', hosted by Shilpa Shetty.

Apart from these two reality shows, the channel has a mythological programme 'Jai Shri Krishna' and 'Balika Vadhu', which drew an average TVR of 2.93 and 2.07, in Week 32.

Monica Bedi leads 'Bigg Boss 2' rat pack

Controversial Bollywood actress Monica Bedi has been confirmed as one of the fourteen contestants starring in the reality TV show 'Bigg Boss 2'.

]]> Monica was the companion of gangster Abu Salem and was arrested with him when trying to enter Portugal on false documents in 2002. After a lengthy three-year battle, they were deported to India and Monica served a further year in jail.

The Indian 'Big Brother' series, which started in India at the weekend has been in the news over the last few days after it was announced Jade Goody was also lined up for it.

Other contestants confirmed for season two are politicians Rahul Mahajan, Congress member Sanjay Nirupam, Ketki Dave, Rakhi Vijayan, item girl Sambhavna Seth, actors Payal Rohatgi and non-celebrity Elina. Model-actor Zulfi Syed, music reality show winner Debojit Saha, MTV Roadies 5.0 winner Ashutosh Kaushik, Raja Chaudhry and famous comedian Ehsaan Qureshi.

'Bigg Boss' is being shown on channel Colors in India. There are no plans to telecast the show in the UK, despite the pairing between Shilpa Shetty (host of the show) and Jade Goody, who had a topsy turvy relationship on 'Celebrity Big Brother' last year.

NDTV 24x7 lead toppled by Times Now in India

India based English news broadcaster NDTV 24x7 has been pushed off from the numero uno slot after years of reign.

]]> Bennett, Coleman & Co service Times Now has been crowned the new market leader in India. According to TV ratings and viewership share provided by TAM Media Research for the two weeks, Week 31 and Week 32, show Times Now to be in the lead.

Times Now GRPs for the two weeks stood at 11 and 10, respectively; NDTV 24X7's GRPs were 9 and 8, respectively. While CNN-IBN managed GRPs of 7 each for the two weeks, in the core TG of CS M 25+ AB, All 1 million+ markets.

Times Now claimed a viewership share of 31.01 per cent and 30.08 per cent, respectively, for the two weeks in the CS 25+ target group; NDTV 24X7 garnered a share of 25.90 per cent and 22.37 per cent, respectively. CNN-IBN stands third with a channel share of 20 per cent for both the Weeks. Headlines Today and NewsX had a viewership share of 10 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively for the Week 32.

Moreover, Times Now has notched up a viewership share of 34 per cent during prime time (8-11 pm). This compares with 27.2% by the NDTV 24X7 and 24.6% by CNN-IBN. With 26 out of the top 100 shows in the English news genre, the channel has emerged as the news leader for the past few months.

Speaking with TelevisionPoint, Sanjay Sharma, senior vice-president, sales and marketing, Times Now, says, "We have been connecting better with audiences both through on-air special programmes and on the ground initiatives. Our recent coverage of Olympics, blasts in Ahmedabad and Bangalore, Indo-US nuclear deal, the pullout of Left parties from the government, to name a few, have helped us to rake in huge viewership, making Times Now the leader in the prime time and week day English news viewing space."

Biz Asia Industry Whispers

Issue 119

This recently launched TV channel is being taken to court by a film distributor who has claimed that the channel has shown its movies illegally (without rights).

Disclaimer: 'Media 247.co.uk will be unable to respond to inquiries about the identities of parties concerned in Biz Asia's Industry Whispers'.

Amir Khan signs multi-fight deal with Sky

Boxing supreme Amir Khan's promoter Frank Warren has signed a multi-fight deal which could take him to a world title on Sky.

]]> This will be the first time Khan's fights will be shown behind encryption after 18 winning streaks free-to-air on ITV1.

Khan follows some of Britain's best known fighters to Sky, and like Lennox Lewis, Prince Naseem Hamed, and Ricky Hatton before him, he could win a world title on Sky Box Office.

Vic Wakeling, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: "All the big names in British boxing in recent years have won major world title fights on Sky, and we are delighted to welcome Amir Khan to the list. When he fights for a world title will be down to Amir and his advisors, but we shall be there."

Khan said: "I'm really excited to be boxing on Sky and I can't wait to put on my best performances for the viewers tuning in.

"Britain's best boxers and some of the best fights in recent years have all featured on Sky and with the way I fight the viewers will definitely get excitement.

"Since winning silver at the 2004 Olympic Games and turning professional the time has flown by and I'm now so close to achieving my ambition of becoming a world champion - and I hope I can share that defining moment on Sky."

Amir Khan joins Sky as part of a new deal with Frank Warren which will bring a number of live shows to Sky Sports for Friday Fight Night, as well as live shows for Sky Box Office, over the next year.

Warren said: "I'm delighted to have agreed a new promotional deal with Sky, bringing around 20 shows this year, and to return to where I previously spent ten great years creating superstars like Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton and Naseem Hamed.

"Sky viewers are now in for a real treat as they watch an exciting and dramatic phase of Amir Khan's career unfold in front of them as he goes from unbeaten prospect and Commonwealth Lightweight champion to a World champion.

"Along with big world title fights, I'm thrilled that some of the best young and talented boxers in Britain that I promote also feature prominently and will develop into stars of the future - all on Sky."

His first appearance on Sky Box Office will be on Saturday 6th September, when he fights the undefeated lightweight Breidis Prescott at the MEN Arena in Manchester.

9XM launches on Sky EPG in DD India slot

INX Network has moved a step closer in launching its music channel 9XM in the UK.

]]> 9XM has been added to Sky EPG 829 replacing 'DD India', which was removed from the platform in June.

The channel is currently showing music videos in blocks, with full programming expected to start sometime next week, according to sources close to BizAsia.co.uk.

9XM uniqueness is that it will have no VJs but instead resort to animated characters who will read and speak the minds of its youth target audience. The three animated characters Bheegi Billi, Bade Chote and Beetels have one thing in common: they hate their teachers. They will crack jokes throughout and personify various attitudes of the youth.

Speaking about the programming and scheduling Vikas Varma told IndianTelevision, "Its all about placing the songs right. All the music that we will play has been researched and the most highly rated song will have the maximum rotation."

The channel boasts of 100% music videos throughout the day without any non-music programme.

"There is a dearth of music in other channels. We would be playing around 10 songs every hour. All of them will be full songs," added Varma.

9XM is the UK's fourth Hindi music channel after B4U Music, ZEE Music and Music India. 9XM is INX Network's second channel in the UK after the success of its flagship entertainment service 9X, which is available on Sky EPG 828.

Previously INX Network had purchased the old DD News EPG slot to launch 9X and with developments today, it seems it has done the same with the slot left vacant by DD India.

9XM is available on EPG 829 on Sky Digital.

Updated: 18:12

Jade Goody to join Indian 'Big Brother'

Jade Goody, who sparked a racism row during a stint in the 'Big Brother' house, is to appear in an Indian version of the reality television show, according to reports.

]]> Goody fell out of favour with the British public after intense conversations with Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty live on air.

And in a further twist, the Indian version of the reality show - called 'Bigg Boss' - will be fronted by Shetty.

Goody is set to fly out to Mumbai today in preparation for the show, which begins at the weekend.

She will be paid £100,000 for her appearance, according to today's Sun newspaper.

The 'Celebrity Big Brother' race row in January last year also led to street protests in India, where effigies of Goody were burned.

Goody later said she was "disgusted with herself", but denied she was racist.

UK Prime Minister gets own TV channel

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's new website has been hit by teething troubles, Downing Street has confirmed.

Number 10 TV was officially launched as part of Mr Brown's efforts to reach out to a wider public.

The site will feature exclusive video coverage of the prime minister's speeches and media appearances.

But anyone trying to access it was met with a "404 page not found" error message. A Downing Street spokeswoman denied the site had crashed.

But she said users on some servers might experience glitches "for the next 48 hours".

"It is just what happens when you launch a new website," she added.

Number 10 TV is part of a redesigned Downing Street website, which includes news, guided tours of Number 10 and official reports.

Downing Street says the revamp is designed to "boost the amount of video content".

It comes two years after Conservative leader David Cameron launched his own website, Webcameron, which regularly features behind-the-scenes content.

In May Mr Brown launched an online version of prime minister's questions.

He pledged to respond to video-clip questions submitted via the Downing Street Youtube website.

Aditya Narayan set to make movie debut

ZEE TV's 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' host Aditya Narayan will be making his Bollywood debut as a grown up in Vikram Bhatt's new flick.

A Bollywood Hungama reporter got confirmation from the director himself, "Yes, I am launching Aditya. I haven't titled the film yet, but it's an adventure film, besides being a love story. Actually, it's very difficult to describe the genre of the film. Why Aditya? That's because he comes across as a confident lad, he sings well, he has screen presence. But, most importantly, I always go by instinct," Vikram tells me.

Rumours are rife that Vikram is planning to cast two leading ladies, one of them being Deepika Padukone. "Yes, the film will star two ladies, but Deepika didn't cross my mind. I don't know how this rumour originated in the first place. The fact is Deepika wouldn't like to be associated with a project that stars new faces. After all, she's working with established names. I am on the lookout for two fresh faces," he clarifies. Vikram plans to begin filming next year.