TVIndiaOnline

Smriti Irani - irreplaceable "Tulsi"

2008-04-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

Smriti Irani had made a much-publicised exit from Star Plus' hit show, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. But less than a year later, she's back on the show!
Smriti tells about her return, and her friendship with producer Ekta Kapoor.
Also Read: Ekta Kapoor, on why she got Smriti back

What was your first reaction when you were asked to come back to Kyunki?
Ekta and I have had a long association. Both of us made it big after Kunyki. When we met at the Balaji Global Indian Television Awards function, the media started speculating that I would return to Balaji. After that, everyone started asking us when we would work together. Even Anupama Mandloi (Star Plus' senior creative director) was keen on me coming back to the show. I have always said in my interviews that whenever Balaji and Star need me, I am there for them. So, I am back.

Was it difficult to come back on this show?
I am lucky to be part of a Kyunki.Not every actor gets a chance to be part of a successful television show. Ekta created the hit character Tulsi, and I have worked hard to portray it. I am grateful to Ekta, who gave me a chance in her show, when nobody wanted to cast me.

What was the problem between the two of you?
Chodo kal ki bathe, kal ki bath puranee.
Ekta told me yesterday that the press will not be satisfied with this answer. Tulsi ki andaaz main kahu tho Thakkurji nay lika bhagaya tha hum duno nay jiya (If I would say it like Tulsi, then Thakkurji has written the future and both of us are living it). I'm glad that we have got another chance to work together on Kyunki, a show closest to our hearts.

Did you feel jealous when Gautami Kapoor took over your role in Kyunki?

There is no such word in my dictionary. This is the show where I got the fame. People known me better as Tulsi, not Smriti.The platform of Kyunki is irreplaceable in my life. This is where I began my journey as an actor. It gives me immense pleasure to return to the show.I am overwhelmed by the love and admiration that I have got from my fans in the past, and I am confident of their support on my return.

Have you watched the show after you left?
No. I am so busy with my family and my serials I don't get time to watch other serials

Note: In association with Rediff.com

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/apr/03smriti.htm

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Salam Hain Zindagi

2008-03-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Salam Hain Zindagi is Best serial among other all serials.It is story of a girl who is not mentally strong but she has a great target . Mananya Sharma , That's her name.She Wants to become a Police officer, But she have to face many Problems which leads he

r to new Life. It's So super Serial, I'm sure She will in her Aim. Sanjay Wadhwa whose Saat Phere has recently completed 500 episodes on Zee is on a roll. The producer spent a lavish amount on the special episode. And why not, he’s on a roller-coaster producing a couple of more shows, one for Sony called Salaam Zindagi. The serial traces life of a young girl who’s a dancer but becomes a cop to fulfill her grandfather’s wishes. Boasting of an all-new starcast the serial is scheduled to go on air in December

TV Serial QUEEN - Ekta Kapoor

2008-03-12T18:45:00.001-07:00

Ekta J Kapoor(एकता कपूर:hindi), born on June 7, 1975, is the creative head of Balaji Telefilms. She is the daughter of the Indian actor Jeetendra,sister of actor Tusshar Kapoor & sister of an T.V. & Film producer Sharan Kapoor.
Ekta Kapoor is one of the most dynamic and enterprising businesswoman India has ever seen. At the age of 32 she has achieved what most people achieve in a lifetime. She has produced and co-produced numerous soap operas, television series and films. Her most famous television venture has been Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, which started airing on STAR Plus in 2000. Since then, the show has continuously been among the top rated programs on Indian television. Today, Ekta Kapoor dominates Indian television, producing more than eight television soaps for STAR Plus, India's leading general entertainment channel. At the 6th Indian Telly Awards 2006, she bagged the Hall of Fame award for having contributed immensely to the Indian television industry. Most of her creations begin with the letter "K" due to her superstition that it brings her good luck and fantastic reputation. Some of her creations are Kasam Se, Kkusum and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki.
Recently she has been seen around town with Taimur Bajwa. A promising young lawyer for the Indian Government. They seem to be romantically linked. Besides Mr. Bajwa, Ekta has not had many flings. She, herself has been quoted as saying, "I can understand why men aren't attracted to me, I am a head strong woman. I have a lot of things going for me. Inferiority is a big thing with men!"
She has also produced five Bollywood films out of which Kyaa Kool Hai Hum starring her brother Tusshar has been the most successful. After Kyaa Kool Hai Hum she also co-produced Shootout At Lokhandwala with White Feather Films

Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil

2008-03-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

Smile please, Additi. Actually, no. Wait a second. Don't smile. Ekta has instructed the lead girl of her new show, Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil, Additi Gupta, to straighten her teeth so that she can have a perfect smile. Additi's teeth are a little uneven.Says a source, "Ekta naturally finds Additi beautiful but she wants her to look better. Hence, she told Additi to get her teeth straightened. Additi's teeth are uneven and crooked."When contacted, Additi confirms that she has been given such a directive. "I was anyway planning to get this repair job done in the next few days. I am aware that a few of my teeth in the lower front are crooked. If the repair job is done, I will have a much better smile." Additi added that she would be visiting a dental surgeon for the same in the next few days

Not so long ago, Ekta consulted numerologist Sanjay B Jumaani to ensure that this show becomes an immediate success. He in turn told Additi to add and extra 'D' to her name. Does D stand for 'dental', Additi?Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil has replaced Kasautii Zindagi Kay on Star Plus from March 3. The show is set in a traditional Punjabi family. The story revolves around a promise made by two friends and how the consequences of this pact affect the lives of their children. It's certainly affected Additi, but grin and bear it, babes! It's only for the better says Balaji

Juhi Singh (Gurdeep Kohli) - a cute serail actress

2008-03-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Gurdeep Kohli is an Indian TV actress, known for her popular role as Dr. Juhi Singh in Star TV serial Sanjivani and on Zee tv serial Sindoor tere naam kaa.

Gurdeep married Arjun Punj on December 10, 2006, her co-star from Sanjivani

Gurdeep started her career as a model for various advertisements on Indian television. Most important role in her career was Dr. Juhi Singh on Sanjivani which earned her lots of accolades and later on she worked in Zee TV's Sinndoor Tere Naam Ka. After working on drama serials, she was part of STAR One's reality show Jet Set Go. She was also part of popular reality show of STAR One, Nach Baliye 2 along with her husband Arjun Punj

Sanjivani tells story about four medical interns (Juhi, Rahul, Simran and Omi). All of them have joined Sanjivani Hospital as inters when serial starts. The serial tells the story of how these four come into a difficult and demanding profession. They have high ideals, passion, energy - and a degree of naïveté about their work. They bring a breath of fresh air into the hospital.
The story takes us through how these four doctors face the trials and tribulations in life to fight a constant battle against diseases and death of patients. The story is more like the tale of the lives of people who are regarded as miracle workers - but who are actually only human, with families, lives and emotions of their own.

Popular serial Kasauti Zindagi Kay ends on STAR

2008-03-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

Kasauti Zindagi Kay”, the popular serial made by television soap queen Ekta Kapoor, is coming to an end. The show is being replaced by another love story from the Balaji camp titled “Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil”, starting March 3 on STAR Plus.
Commenting on the launch of the new show, Ekta Kapoor, creative director of Balaji Telefilms, said in a press statement: “I would love to describe this as an ethereal story from the heart.”
“This show is bound to ignite the magic of love and romance on television once again. I hope that you enjoy watching it, as much as I have enjoyed making it,” the release quoted her as saying.
“Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil” is set in a traditional Punjabi family and the story revolves around a promise made by two friends to each other and the impact that the promise has on their children’s destiny.
Anupama Mandloi, senior creative director of STAR Plus, said: “Since this show is replacing ‘Kasauti Zindagi Kay’ which has been a huge success on the channel, it is only apt that a beautifully crafted, passionate love story about an eternal, pre-destined love should take its place.”
“We are confident that viewers will enjoy this fresh saga of love,” Mandloi said.
Nineteen-year-old Aditi Gupta has been roped in to play the female protagonist in the show and has been re-christened “Additi Gupta”.
Apparently, Ekta consulted noted numerologist Sanjay Jumaani and asked Aditi to add an extra “D” to her name, hoping it will bring good luck to her and success to the show.

STAR Screen Awards 2008

2008-02-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

The Winners of the 14th Annual STAR Screen Awards

Best FilmChak De! IndiaBest ActorShah Rukh Khan (Chak De India)

Best ActressKareena Kapoor (Jab We Met)

Best DirectorShimit Amin (Chak De! India) and Aamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par)

Best Supporting ActorAamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par)

Best Supporting ActressChak De India girlsBest Actor in a Negative RolePankaj Kapur (The Blue Umbrella)

Best Actor in a Comic RoleIrfaan Khan (Life… In A Metro)

Best MusicAR Rahman (Guru)

Best Playback Singer (Male) Soham (In Dino- Life… In A Metro)

Best Playback Singer (Female) Shreya Ghoshal (Barso Re -Guru)

Best LyricsPrasoon Joshi (Maa- Taare Zameen Par)

Best Child ArtisteDarsheel Safary (Taare Zameen Par)

Best StoryAmole Gupte (Taare Zameen Par)

Best ScreenplayAnurag Basu (Life… In A Metro)

Best DialogueAmole Gupte (Taare Zameen Par)

Best Pair of the YearShah Rukh Khan-Deepika PadukoneLifetime Achievement AwardManoj Kumar

Best ChoreographerFarah Khan (Dhoom Tana - Om Shanti Om) Critics Award for

Best ActressTabu (Cheeni Kum)

Most Promising Newcomer (Male) Ranbir Kapoor (Saawariya)

Most Promising Newcomer (Female)Deepika Padukone (Om Shanti Om)

Shweta Tiwari a popular Indian Television actress

2008-02-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

Shweta Tiwari is a popular Indian Television actress. She was born on October 4, 1980 in Pratapgarh (Uttar pradesh), India. She currently plays the role of Prerna in Balaji Telefilms's popular soap Kasautii Zindagii Kay aired on an Indian television channel STAR Plus, for which she has received a few awards too. She has done several commercial advertisments, dance shows, plays and cameos in other indian soaps. She is now also growing as a bhojpuri film actress.
Contents

Early life
The daughter of Nirmala & Ashok Tiwari, Shweta was brought up in Mumbai. She got her early education from the all girls' school 'St.Isabel' in Mumbai. At the age of 12, Shweta worked in a travel agency with a salary of Rs. 500/- per month. She did her graduation in commerce from Burhanis College in Mazegaon. She has a younger brother by name Nidhaan.

Personal life
Shweta Tiwari married Raja Chaudhary who is a struggling actor/film producer on 23 December 1999. On 8th october 2000, she gave birth to her daughter Palak. In June 2007, Shweta filed a police complaint against Raja for domestic violence. The are now separated, and it is believed that they are in the process of a legal divorce case.

TV Shows
Aane Wala Pal
Kalerein
Karam
Kahin kissi Roz
Kya hadsa kya haqeeqat
Rishtey
Daddy Samjha Karo
Dost
Yatra
Kasautii Zindagii Kay
Nach Baliye 2 (with Raja)
Rishtey

Special Appearances
Her Special Appearances are :
Heart Beat
Khichdi
Jodee Kamaal Ki
Khulja SimSim
Kisme Kitna Hai Dum
Kavyanjali-Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii Special 1 Episode

Films
Madhoshi (2004)
Abrakadabra
Hamar Sayian hindustani (bhojpuri)
She has a few other bhojpuri movies in pipeline.

Plays
Khoobsoorat Bahu
Gaz Foot Inch
Kiraayedar
Shararat

Other Projects
A Daler Mehndi music video called Paisa Paisa
Music video on song Mehndi nu by Balkar Sidhu
Radio show 'Seher' for 92.7 Big FM (now off air)

Awards
Favorite Jodi with Cezanne Khan in Star Parivaar Awards 2003
Favorite Maa & Favorite Bahu in SPA 2004, Favorite Maa in SPA 2005, SPA 2006 and SPA 2007.

Television in India

2008-02-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

A huge industry by itself, the Indian silver screen has thousands of programmes in all the states of India. The small screen has produced numerous celebrities of their own kind some even attaining national fame.TV soaps are extremely popular with housewives as well as working women. Some small time actors have made it big in Bollywood. Approximately half of all Indian Households own a television, remarkable for a country where 77% of the population lives on less than rs20 (US$0.50) per day.
Contents

1 History
1.1 Post-independence television
1.2 1980s
2 Post Liberalization Television
2.1 Cable television

1 History

1.1 Post-independence television
Television first came to India (named as Doordarshan or DD) as the National Television Network of India. The first telecast started on September 15, 1959 in New Delhi. After a gap of about 13 years, second television station was established in Mumbai (Maharashtra) in 1972 and by 1975 there were five more television stations at Srinagar (Kashmir), Amritsar (Punjab), Calcutta (West Bengal), Madras (Tamil Nadu) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh). For many years the transmission was mainly in black & white. Television industry got the necessary boost in the eighties when Doordarshan introduced colour TV during the 1982 Asian Games.

1.2 1980s
Indian small screen programming started off in the early 1980s. At that time there was only one national channel Doordarshan, which was government owned. The Ramayana and Mahabharat was the first major television series produced. This serial notched up the world record in viewer ship numbers for a single program. By the late 1980s more and more people started to own television sets. Though there was a single channel, television programming had reached saturation. Hence the government opened up another channel which had part national programming and part regional. This channel was known as DD 2 later DD Metro. Both channels were broadcast terrestrially.

2 Post Liberalization Television
The central government launched a series of economic and social reforms in 1991 under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Under the new policies the government allowed private and foreign broadcasters to engage in limited operations in India. This process has been pursued consistently by all subsequent federal administrations. Foreign channels like CNN, Star TV and domestic channels such as Zee TV and Sun TV started satellite broadcasts. Starting with 41 sets in 1962 and one channel (Audience Research unit, 1991) at present TV in India covers more than 70 million homes giving a viewing population more than 400 million individuals through more than 100 channels.[4] A large relatively untapped market, easy accessibility of relevant technology[citation needed] and a variety of programmes are the main reasons for rapid expansion of Television in India.

2.1 Cable television
In 1992, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television. Five new channels belonging to the Hong Kong based STAR TV gave Indians a fresh breath of life. MTV, STAR Plus, BBC, Prime Sports and STAR Chinese Channel were the 5 channels. Zee TV was the first private owned Indian channel to broadcast over cable. A few years later CNN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel made its foray into India. Star expanded its bouquet introducing STAR World, STAR Sports, ESPN and STAR Gold. Regional channels flourished along with a multitude of Hindi channels and a few English channels. By 2001 HBO and History Channel were the other international channels to enter India. By 2001-2003, other international channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, VH1, Disney and Toon Disney came into foray. In 2003 news channels started to boom.
Entry of Music Channels. Movie based channels, Hopw Sops started dominating Indian Channels How are movie based channels performing. Role of TAM. How is TAM measured

Television awards 2008 ceremony

2008-02-25T18:34:00.000-08:00

Indian television tsarina Ekta Kapoor’s blue-eyed girl Prachi Desai and Ronit Roy won the best actress and actor awards respectively at her Balaji Telefilm’s television awards ceremony where artistes from other production houses were feted too.
The misgivings in the TV industry that the work of only those associated with Balaji Telefilms would be honoured turned out to be unfounded at the Future Group Global Indian TV Honours event held at the Andheri Sports Complex Friday night.Right at the onset, comperes Sajid Khan and Mallika Arora Khan clarified that Balaji was “honouring” the achievers and not “awarding” them.“Banu Main Teri Dulhan” bagged the award for best serial while the best director award was given to Rajan Shah for “Ghar Ki Lakshmi Bahu” and Dipesh Shah and Sameer Kulkarni for “Ba, Bahu Aur Baby”.Divyanka Tripathi of “Banu Main Teri Dulhan” was chosen as the best new female face while Aditya Narain bagged the best new male face.Other programmes that were chosen for awards included “Ahat 3″, “Indian Idol”, “Swastik”, “Amber Dhara”, “C.I.D.”, “Kaun Banega Crorepati” and “Jhalak Dikhla Ja”.Karan Johar won the best chat show anchor award while Shah Rukh Khan was chosen as the best game show host.King Khan later set the stage on fire when he paid tributes to the present day leading ladies of Indian television and cheered them to scale new heights with his “Chak De Kudiya” act.Several actresses, including Prachi, Divyanaka, Smriti Irani, Gautami Kapoor, Aroona Irani, Shakshi Tanwar and Roshni Chopra joined Shah Rukh to do a jig on stage.Lara Dutta also performed at the event, dancing with a group to songs from “Partner” and “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”.Bollywood stars rubbed shoulders with their small screen counterparts at the ceremony in a spirit of bonhomie rarely seen in public.The lifetime achievement honour was presented to B.R. Chopra. Ravi Chopra accepted the honour on behalf of his ailing father.A special global honour was presented to Karan Johar. Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor was also felicitated with a special global achievement honour

Indian Television Turning to Globalization

2008-02-21T19:33:00.000-08:00

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The move to regularize the growing globalized Indian television and cable industry has been churning around the heavily populated and diverse subcontinent of India since l997, when the Broadcast Bill was first introduced. This bill seeks to establish an autonomous broadcasting authority for facilitating and regulating broadcasting services in India, and put a 20 percent limit on media cross-holding.
The Broadcast Bill is has come up yet again before the Parliament, although is currently stalled. One of the issues that the bill deals with, in addition to monopoly issues, is the decision to allow direct-to-home (DTH) services.
"The Indian government can only play the role of a facilitator while helping the cable industry since it is being regulated wholly by market forces in these days of globalization and liberalization," said Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley. "There is the knowledge that the cable industry is poised to play an important role in the information technology field in the future with even the telecom industry making use of the cable systems. We are witnessing a new era of globalization of the India media."
India is made up of contrasts, including burgeoning television, cable and satellite present even in most villages, some of which only got electricity a few years ago. Since India leads the world in film output with an estimated 800 films annually for a weekly audience of 70 million, it entered this arena with an equal enthusiasm. There is a synergy between the film and television industry, with actors, directors and producers interacting with an audience familiarized with them.
The increase of regional channels and satellite distribution has been estimated to have grown at the rate of 20 percent every year and the current number of 50 cable channels—including Sony, Star, Zee and ETC—is expected to expand to 120 in the next ten years. "We think there will be more programs produced in the Indian language for specific audiences while retaining foreign programming that leads to a globalization of the population," commented KK Modi, chairman of Modi Entertainment, which is involved with Buena Vista, Disney and ESPN and has recently launched the Hallmark Channel in India. "On one hand, we made more than $1 million in one night on the national channel Doordarshan with producing the New Year’s Eve program, but we see the growing market in pay television and satellite with less dependency on the national broadcaster. It is the new generation of audience that is mostly transforming the way one will broadcast as it is increasingly used to a varied international fare."
Doordarshan—which has changed its name to Prasar Bharati and has appointed a new dynamic CEO, Rajeeva Ratna Shah (see below for interview)—has also changed the name of its large New Delhi complex from Mandi House (which means market) to Prasar Bharati Bhavan, which Mr. Shah says is meant to change its image from a "bazaar." Information and Broadcast Minister Jaitley explains: "Prasar Bharati has undergone a review by an experts panel headed by and infotech expert N. R. Narayanmurthy, Discovery Channel India director Kiran Karnic and marketing expert Shunu Sen, to make major suggestions for the network including setting up a marketing division for news and sports channels which earlier had no advertising."
During the fall of 1999, six new regional channels were launched, most importantly an education channel "Gyan Darshan" and a Kashmir special channel "Kashir," inaugurated in Srinagar. Due to terrorism, there has been no television in Kashmir, which especially needs this source of entertainment during the long and cold winters when residents do not leave their homes.
Sat Expansion Star Television's foray into India has gone through various identities through Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The identity of Star Plus has been completely changed to match its Hindi counterpart, Zee TV, with almost all Hindi soap opera and movie-based shows. Star TV has been operating in India since l991, and critics have often brought Rupert Murdoch to court saying that the TV programs and films shown "undermine national values." There are several court cases pending with the charge filed with India's Indecent Representation of Women Act of l986 and the Cinematorgraphy Act of l952, demonstrating the conservative politics still dominating the media arena. When Deepa Mehta recently began shooting her film "Water"—the third part of the trilogy following "Fire" and "Earth"—in Benares, political opponents stopped the filming despite clearance from the Broadcast Ministry. Mehta, in a press conference, warned that "this sends the wrong message to international filmmakers that India is still trying to prevent all views being expressed. A small band of conservatives should not interfere with the natural process of freedom of expression in film."
Star TV expanded its broadcasting in India in July l999 with multiple feeds on each transponder of Asiasat 1 and 2, increasing its satellite capacities in India. TBS had a chance to catch up with Arrow Sinha Roy, the dynamic former Star TV Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Publicity (he recently left Star in January, and has been replaced by Ms. Dilshad Master as Marketing Vice President), in the massive new Star TV headquarters, located near Mumbai's International Airport.
"India is increasingly becoming a globalized market. Star recognizes this and has made channel-specific programming with four channels of two entertainment channels, Star World and National Geographic which we distribute, besides the Star News Channel," said Arrow Sinha Roy, who had around-the-world TV markets to distribute the programming. "We have waited for DTH to be passed in India for many years, but have gone on to the internationalization of the marketing of the programming out of India. Last June, the Indian ethnic channels in Canada signed for the programming, especially The India Show, The Travel Show and soap opera shows that especially appeal to the large community of Indians living abroad."
Discovery Channel started a 24-hour Hindi channel and the second channel Animal Planet. "Discovery’s market strategy for India is the release of Discovery CD-ROMs and home videos in India by the end of the year,” said Discovery Channel chairman Kiran Karnik. “This is expected to increase the company's brand presence in India by increasing its visibility. The plan to start the split beam 24-hour Hindi channel was inspired by the huge success of dubbed programs with 70 hours of Hindi dubbed programs each week."
Steps to Globalization In the 1998 Salomon Smith Barney Report entitled "Asia-Pacific Television: The Big Picture," it was said that "the Indian market represents the greatest medium-term and long-term commercial opportunity in the television industry in the Asia-Pacific region." This investment firm projected that the "Indian TV market will grow from an estimated commercial revenue level of Rs 1300 crore ($300 million) in 1995 to Rs 12,900 crore ($2.8 billion) in 2005. "This translates into a 10-year nominal compounded annual growth rate of 25 per cent in local currency terms and 18.6 per cent in real terms," the report states. Significantly, it states that "there is room within this revenue pie to accommodate significant growth in free TV and pay TV. By 2005, we expect a multi-hued television environment; digital will co-exist with analog, while cable and satellite will have marked out their niches as terrestrial continues to take the bulk of revenues."
Drawing a comparison between India and China—considered the two main markets in the region—the Salomon Smith Barney report notes that "although India, for the moment, maintains a somewhat hostile stance towards foreign ownership, we expect meaningful liberalization to occur due to a combination of factors such as rising television penetration rates, rising income and consumption, historical openness to foreign ideas and culture and relatively wide use of English and vernacular segmentation."
A case in point is BBC World's entrance into India two years ago to develop one daily 30-minute Indian program at 10 p.m., which has led to more BBC presence into India. Planned is the Indian version of the popular British hit "Yes Minister" Starting with 22 episodes produced by NDTV. This software company is currently producing "Out of India," "Real India Travel Show" and "Mastermind India" for the BBC, and the serial will be the first time BBC World will be doing fiction in its India-specific time slot. The BBC said that although there is no plan to beam the India shows to the wide Asian audience in England, this will be considered at a future date.
The huge audience in India allows channels to concentrate on the populace. The report predicts that the level of private consumption in television would rise at a 13.9 percent nominal growth during l995-2005, with a 10-year growth of 26.8 per cent per year." The National Geographic Channel Asia, which had already aired in more than 5.5 million homes in India in 1998, increased to 8.5 million homes, showing a jump of 1.2 million within one year. National Geographic Television and Carlton have also signed a joint venture production and distribution agreement to create 300 additional hours of factual programming from 1998-2001. TBS
Rajeeva Ratna Shah took the helm in June 1999 as CEO of Indian National Doordarshan TV, which has rechristened itself Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India and is set to implement various changes. This dynamic government official has worked in various ministries including a stint in New York City, where innovations included promoting India at the Festival of India in l986 and helping light the colors of the Indian flag on the Empire State Building to shine all over New York City. The Doordarshan CEO has also been appointed president of the Indian Broadcasters' Foundation and so wore two hats when addressing the Broadcast Engineering Society exhibition in New Delhi held in February. "The government must correct its basic mistake,” he said, “of regulating convergence from the television rather than telephony angle since there are 29 million TV sets in India and only 23 million phone connections. Telephony has no conception of content and technological growth in the future will happen in geometric progression." TBS asked Shah about the globalization of Indian TV.
TBS: What is the current direction of Indian television?
Shah: Since last July, we have made it a point to have regional channels for the specific states to reach more of an audience. We are moving in the direction of more information and news channels, and recently started an education channel. On Jan. 26, 2000 we started the Kashmir Channel called Kashir. It is a national effort since there is no cable system in Kashmir due to militants. We are trying to go global with a DTH platform.
TBS: What are possible future developments?
Shah: There is now an exclusive five-year agreement for all international cricket played in India to be beamed only on our channels, a great coup for a cricket-loving country. We also will broadcast the Olympics. We are negotiating with major Indian writers for quality programs. Right now with are talking with the BBC to do a joint venture to produce in Hindi and English, the book "A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth. We are thinking of viewership now and would attend all the major markets like MIP in Cannes. The thrust will be developing more international audiences for our programs

India TV Online

2008-02-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Watch India TV for free. It is good to watch India televison online. Find all indian tv online in this blog.