DD starts Golden Anniversary celebrations with Rahman concert

Doordarshan (DD) will complete 50 years of transmission in September this year. Ambika Soni, the Information and Broadcasting Minister has flagged off the occasion by a curtain-raiser concert – ‘AR Rahman Unplugged’, which was a collaboration between DD and Phat Phish India.

In the concert, Rahman performed some of his compositions along with singers like Hariharan, Kailash Kher and Sadhana Sargam. Sivamani was also a part of this enthralling evening.

Aruna Sharma, director general, DD, says, “The show has all the hallmarks that one would associate with the musical genius – a delightful infusion of music, creativity, passion and individuality to mark this historic occasion of turning 50.”

From humble beginnings in 1959, when DD started with experimental telecast using a small transmitter and a makeshift studio, DD today operates more than 30 channels across India and an international channel abroad.

DD will soon commence HDTV transmissions on an experimental basis, followed by a commercial rollout, in time for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi in 2010. Thus, Indian television viewers will be able to watch the Commonwealth Games on HDTV ready televisions.

KR Harish, managing director, Phat Phish India, says, “We are happy to work with DD and bring in content that will not only kick start the golden jubilee celebration, but also usher in programming of scale richness that will start a new era on DD.”

DD’s year-long anniversary celebrations will mark a series of events across all centres, which will culminate with the 2010 Commonwealth Games next year.

Mega TV to launch Los Implicados from 17 August

Spanish Broadcasting System’s (SBS) Mega TV is set to launch Los Implicados, a late night show, on 17 August.

The show will be telecast from Monday to Friday at 10 pm.

Hosted by Mexican journalist Alfonso ‘Poncho de Anda’, Los Implicados follows an infotainment format combining entertainment and informative news with a focus on top personalities and well known people in the news.

Said Mega TV MD and SBS chief creative officer and EVP Cynthia Hudson Fernandez, “We are confident that Los Implicados will have a long lasting impact on our audience.”

DD, AIR to get Rs 1 bn to boost transmitters in border areas

The range and capacity of Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) transmitters in border areas is being augmented, following persistent complaints that stronger signals from across the border result in jamming Indian channels.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is understood to have set aside a budget of around Rs 1 billion for this purpose.

When pointed out that this was not a new complaint, Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that Prasar Bharati was an autonomous body and the government could interfere only up to a certain extent.

“In fact, senior officials in Prasar Bharati have themselves not got used to the fact that they work for an autonomous organisation,” the source quipped.

The sources also regretted that one reason for the weak signals was the fact that cable and direct-to-home operators often did not carry Doordarshan channels on the prime band as required under law under Section 8 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995.

BBC Worldwide, Mixer announce production partnership

BBC Worldwide’s division BBC Worldwide Content and Production has announced an exclusive production partnership with Brazilian production company, Mixer.

This relationship will see the two companies join forces to develop and produce formats in Brazil from BBC Worldwide’s vast catalogue, for local Brazilian audiences.

Says BBC Worldwide director, international format production, Colin Jarvis, “With the breadth and depth of titles at our disposal, we’re optimistic this relationship will offer network partners a wealth of exciting options for their viewers.”

Adds Mixer CEO João Daniel Tikhomiroff, “The relationship is one of the efforts by Mixer to expand its role both in free TV productions and in global market operations. Associating our brand with BBC Worldwide is a sign of our business solidity and the power of the Brazilian market”.

BBC Worldwide Content and Production licenses its formats all over the world and operates local production partnerships in India, Australia, France, Russia, Canada, Argentina, US and now Brazil. Format hits from BBC Worldwide include Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear and The Office.

Z Channel to tap into direct satellite broadcast market

Z Channel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zcom Networks, will be positioned as a platform for businesses and entrepreneurs to present their messages, products and services. The channel will telecast live and pre-recorded content 24X7.

Said Zcom CEO Alex Parsinia said, “We will tap into an enormous market with the power of Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS). Since our regular programmes will be broadcast for free, we will have access to a captive market of over 5 million homes in North America through our satellite broadcasting system alone.”

“Our IPTV services will provide immediate access to multiple channels, Pc TV options, and services like video-on-demand. Our business model is based on an optimum blend of revenue sources including sale of shows, advertising, e-commerce and revenue sharing,” added Parsinia.

BBC to celebrate Christmas with two docus

BBC will explore two of the best loved traditions of Christmas in two documentaries for BBC Two, The Truth About Carols and The Star Of Bethlehem – Behind The Myth.

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Sir Cliff Richard talks to Sally Magnusson about how his faith has shaped his five decades in showbiz in a special one-hour festive edition of Songs Of Praise.

Plus, there will be a chance to hear the very best traditional Christmas music from the quiet splendour of King’s College Cambridge for A Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols and the joyous celebration of the Songs Of Praise Christmas Big Sing from London’s Royal Albert Hall.

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In The Truth About Carols, composer Howard Goodall uncovers the often turbulent and uncomfortable relationship between carols and the celebration of Christmas.

Though they have been around since the 12th century, carols have only been a feature of church services for the last 150 years.

For centuries the Church tried to keep carols out, believing them to be pagan or of no value, because they were written by human hand.

Carols have been used as secret codes, saved from the brink of extinction and been the subject of state censorship.

The carols sung seem set in stone and yet they can have more than 400 regional variations. Their roots are in dance, in folk culture, street theatre and in pre-Christian religion; and yet they’ve ended up as the quintessential expression of the Christmas story.

In Star Of Bethlehem – Behind The Myth, new developments in technology are allowing scientists, astronomers and historians to map the night skies of the ancient world with extraordinary accuracy.

As they study the movements of the planets and stars around the time of the birth of Christ, could the star of Bethlehem have been a triple conjunction of planets, an occultation of Jupiter and Saturn, or even a supernova?

Christmas preparations start on BBC One on the first Sunday in Advent with Christmas Voices. This is an hour-long programme of inspirational song, chat and debate presented by Lesley Garrett.

Songs Of Praise will prepare for the season with four special programmes. The first on Saint Andrew’s Day (30 November) comes from Linlithgow, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.

The second is a special programme celebrating Sir Cliff Richard’s 50 years in show business. Cliff talks to Sally Magnusson about his faith, work and life over the past five decades.

Recorded in front of an invited audience representing the charities he has supported throughout his career, Sir Cliff describes how his attitude towards others has changed, and how he likes to remain an enigma.

Discovery launches new series Call 911

Discovery Channel has kicked off a 20-part series called Call 911, which will air every Friday at 10:30 pm. When emergency strikes, people in the US turn to a help line number 911 in the hope of finding immediate assistance. Discovery’s new show follows actual calls to emergency service 911 to exhibit real human stories of heroism and courage. 

Rajiv Bakshi, director, marketing and communications, Discovery India, said, “Encapsulating surveillance camera footage, panic conversations and recreations of the incidents, Call 911 puts viewers in the midst of heart-thumping crisis and drives curiosity to know what happens next.”

Situations that viewers will witness include people who are trapped in a house on fire, case of a live robbery and a family member who has a fatal heart attack. Revealing the plight of callers in need of help, the show unfolds real drama documented in actual recordings of 911 calls. 

Ranging from life-threatening apartment fire to kidnapping and domestic violence, from armed robbery to unanticipated at-home baby delivery, the programme chronicles varied nerve-wrenching emergency situations.

The calls are recorded and used for solving subsequent emergencies. Instead of playing a few seconds of an emergency call, the programme uses the entire dialogue between the caller and the 911 operator to tell a tale. A few portions of the calls are used in this series to show how the system works.

ABC Studios’ chief asks TV shows to trim 2 per cent

he Walt Disney Co.’s head of ABC Studios has asked its two dozen shows including “Desperate Housewives” and “Dirty Sexy Money” to trim costs two per cent this season as the company addresses a big loss at its broadcasting group, a spokeswoman said Friday.

Disney reported Thursday that the group had a US$150 million operating loss in the fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 27, compared with a $33 million loss a year earlier.

ABC studios’ President Mark Pedowitz requested the cuts over the last few weeks, said studios spokeswoman Charissa Gilmore.

“We have approached our shows about making a two per cent cut,” Gilmore said. “It’s up to each show to identify where they are going to try to find those savings.”

Gilmore said the focus would be on areas that would not be visible on screen: “This is something that the audience will never notice.”

She did not put a dollar figure on the cut.

Disney also reported a worse-than-expected third quarter overall on Thursday. The company’s net income fell 13 per cent from a year ago to $760 million, even though its revenue grew 5.8 per cent to $9.45 billion.

The loss at the broadcasting group was blamed largely on lower advertising revenue and in part on higher pilot expenses.

ABC News president David Westin asked his staff in a memo last week to fly in cheaper seats, stay at cheaper hotels and cancel newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Holiday parties were cancelled.

Oprah signing off in 2011?

Is there an end date in the future of “The Oprah Winfrey Show”? Depends on who you ask.

During an ayem conference call on Friday, Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Oprah Winfrey will be ankling her syndie talk show in September 2011 to focus on OWN, the eponymous cable net that Winfrey and Discovery will launch as partners next year.

By early afternoon, however, Winfrey’s Harpo Prods.’ spokeswoman Lisa Halliday, clarified that no formal decision has been made about the show’s long-term future.

“While David Zaslav’s comments are true that Oprah’s current contract to produce ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ will expire in 2011, she has not made a final decision as to whether she will continue her show in syndication beyond that,” Halliday said.

A spokesperson for CBS Television Distribution, which distribs “Oprah Winfrey,” also was quick to weigh in. The loss of the Winfrey syndie skein would mean a hit of many millions in profit to CBS’ bottom line.

“We are thrilled that ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ will continue production through the 2010 – 2011 season, its 25th year on the air….We would certainly welcome and hope that ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ would continue in syndication beyond that, but that is a decision only Ms. Winfrey will be making.”

Zaslav’s statement came as Discovery Communications released its third-quarter earnings. Zaslav reported that the cabler brought in $845 million in revenue, an 11 percent rise from last year. Operating income increased 23% to $311 million, led by growth of its international channels.

Source : Variety News

Star World unveils new brand identity

Star World, the English general entertainment channel, has kicked off a reface on-air campaign by unveiling a new logo, new graphics and new promo spots.

The channel is also premiering two of hottest dramas in Asia – 90210, the much-anticipated Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off, and the latest season of Heroes.

“The new look is part of our commitment to offering a superior viewing experience. In addition to the new logo and IDs, Star World is offering more exclusive and first-run series.” explains Todd Lituchy, president, entertainment, Star TV.

Star World offers four services to cater to different viewer tastes – India/Pakistan, Southeast Asia/Greater China, the Philippines and the Middle East. The channel has expanded localisation from programming to on-air look and feel.

“The on-air changes and new-look logo are part of Star World’s continued efforts to remain fresh and innovative and reinforce the channel’s dynamic, new approach to programming.” says Lituchy.