Subhash Chandra Elected To Rajya Sabha As An Independent Member
Essel Group Chairman & noted philanthropist Subhash Chandra has been elected to Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate from Haryana. Chandra was supported by the Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party who received 29 votes. His election coincides with the Essel Group completing 90 years of existence. Chandra launched the 1st private satellite television channel Zee TV in 1992 and later the 1st private news channel Zee News. For his outstanding contributions to the media industry, Dr Chandra was awarded the 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award at the 39th International Emmy Awards in New York, 1st to receive the award recognising excellence in television programming outside the United States. He also now presents a weekly Dr. Subhash Chandra Show, where he shares the lessons learnt by him in his journey with an invited audience and an estimated 230+ million viewers across the country and overseas.
SPN India Launches FTA Movie Channel “Sony Wah”
After Star India launching its free to air (FTA) movie channel Star Utsav Movie, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has expanded the scope of its Hindi movie channels from 3 to 4 with Sony Wah. Based on a deep understanding of audiences across different strata in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM) landscape, Sony WAH a premium FTA Hindi movie channel will cater to the unserved needs of rural & small town India. Celebrating the best of Hindi Cinema, Sony WAH, with its positioning of “Filmon Ka Mela” will bring alive the content & experience that audiences of FTA channels have never seen before. The channel will showcase a mix of Hindi movies as well as films from the Southern parts of India dubbed in Hindi. There will be a lot of marquee titles as well ranging across present day blockbusters to movies from the last 3 decades.
Sanjay Pugalia Excited About Joining Raghav Bahl’s Quintillion Media
Former editor of CNBC Awaaz & CNBC Bajaar, Sanjay Pugalia has joined Raghav Bahl’s The Quint. He has joined as president & editorial director of the group, which includes media properties like The Quint & Bloomberg Quint. Pugalia will report to Bahl. His main focus will be on setting up Hindi digital news platform for the venture and will also play an important role in varied other verticals of Quintillion Media. Excited about joining hands with Bahl, Pugalia averred, “It’s indeed a pleasure to work with Raghav Bahl who has set high standards & goals in this field. I am excited about the new young team that has been put in place. Their work in English is extremely impressive.” Pugalia’s induction is part of Quintillion Media’s strategy to explode its regional presence, which it has been piloting over the past few months.
Marinating Films’ Desi Explorers Now All Set To Explore Taiwan
After exploring the cities & the places of import in Jordan, Marinating Films Pvt Ltd has now stepped into Taiwan for the 2nd part of its concept of web based tourism. The production house began its journey of the island nation on 11th Jun, 2016. Sarah Khan, Surbhi Jyoti & Jai Soni will be the new explorers of the Taiwan edition along with Sukirti Kandpal, Vrushika Mehta & Kishwar Merchant from the Jordan series. The Taiwan sojourn will be a 10 episodic series and will go live on line from mid – Jul, 2016 on in -house YouTube channel. The Hindi travel show will focus on how a country can have different facets for different characters.
The makers of Desi Explorers say that their team will be exploring Taiwan from North to South for 12 days. Some of the iconic sites that will be covered include Sun Moon Lake, Taroko National Park, Hualien & Taitung amongst others. Marinating Films producer Sunny Arora averred, “Desi Explorers will give an insight about the countries that our team will travel and the celebrities they travel with. The viewers will get to explore a very different side of their favourite celebrities”
Colors Infinity Brings On Another Season Of English Singing Talent Hunt
Looking for the next English singing protégé, Colors Infinity returns with India’s 1st ever home grown English language singing talent show, The Stage. Season 2 promises to be even bigger & better after the resounding success of its 1st edition. In the 1st season, 20 singers were given the opportunity of a lifetime to take the stage and display their talent. But this year, singers across the country will get an opportunity to participate and become a part of this life changing experience by submitting their video entries onhttp://www.colorsinfinity.com/thestage/ starting 10th Jun, 2016. With call for entries the 2nd season promises to attract talent from every corner of the country, giving them a platform to exhibit their singing prowess. Shortlisted participants from the online entries will vie in the on – ground auditions to be held in Mumbai, Delhi & Bengaluru for the final spots. Judges Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani & Devraj Sanyal reunite with host Shibani Dandekar once more in the search of the next singing sensation.
Doordarshan To invite Counter Proposals For Afternoon Kid Slot
Even as Doordarshan has received a proposal for a kids show for the 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm time band on DD National, the pubcaster has decided to invite counter proposals through the Swiss Challenge Method. This method will ensure transparency and give a fair chance to all with a commitment for providing entertainment programme for children on the national public service broadcaster. The key features of this outsourcing is to attract bids for its slots in the genre of “Kids Entertainment” for DD National from interested production houses through Request For Proposal notified on Doordarshan website. A Swiss challenge is a form of public procurement in some jurisdictions which enables a public authority which has received an unsolicited bid for a public project or services to publish the bid and invite 3rd parties to match or exceed it. Under this method, prospective programmers will be asked to create & market Children’s programme on the channel for a fixed tenure of 2 years. These slots from are 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm (One Hour) are available from Monday to Saturday.
SPN Acquires The Exclusive TV & Digital Rights
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive broadcast & digital rights to telecast the 3rd edition of the Indian Open World Ranking Snooker Tournament, in India & the Indian Sub -Continent. This year’s tournament being held in Hyderabad from 4 Jul, 2016 to 9th Jul, 2016 will be telecast live & exclusive on Sony SIX, daily from 5 pm to 8 pm. In addition to the live coverage, snooker enthusiasts will also be able to live stream all the matches on Sony LIV. The Indian Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament and has raised the profile of cue sports in India. India has produced several top ranking players in the past who have contributed to the rising popularity of the sport; namely, Geet Sethi, Pankaj Advani, Aditya Mehta et al. Since its inception in 2013, India Open has seen the participation of leading snooker players from around the world including World Champions Neil Robertson, John Higgins & Mark Williams as well as current legends Ding Junhui, Marco Fu, Mark Selby & Stuart Bingham to name a few.
Zindagi Presents Paani Jaisa Pyaar By Humsafar Director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat
Known for its good storytelling, Zindagi will present a new fiction series, Paani Jaisa Pyaar. It is yet another masterpiece by the Humsafar & Shehr – E – Zaat director, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat. With a versatile ensemble cast featuring Saba Qamar, Mikaal Zulfiqar & Juggan Kazim in the lead roles along with established actors like Ahsan Khan, Samina Peerzada, Babrik Shah, Rizwan Ali & Nausheen Shah, Paani Jaisa Pyaar premiered on 9 Jun, 2016 at 8:00 PM, every Mon to Sat.
The Epic Channel Launches Its New Show
The Epic Channel launched its new show titled, Drishti – Documentaries on Epic. The series will be hosted by the renowned actress Tilottama Shome. Starting from 6th Jun, 2016 the show will air every Mon to Fri at 9 pm. Drishti, the series is a collection of the finest documentaries produced in India. Each episode showcases one or more documentaries, each with its own distinctive topic. The documentaries bring out the reality that is in each of the themes explored, some path – breaking while others with a social message. Watch the acclaimed work of directors like Jimmy Goldblum, Adam Weber, Roopa Barua, Ishani K. Dutta to name a few.
Network18 hires Zee Business’ Amish Devgan
The game of musical chairs in the Indian news TV channel business continues unabated. Over the last couple of months there have been many a high profile resignation & reappointment amongst those delivering news to Indian viewers. The latest to also make a move is Amish Devgan who has hopped on board Network18 as executive editor. Devgan will closely work with Network18 news CEO & group editor in chief Rahul Joshi and consulting editor Prabal Pratap Singh. He will use his expertise to devise various strategies & plans for all the Hindi News Channels under the group. Network 18 has 2 Hindi News Channels namely IBN7 & CNBC Awaaz
