BBC Worldwide is driving hard into the Indian market. It started outwith coverage of local events and followed it with the creation of a local programming block on its India service.
It has since been trying to hawk its programming library to Indian programmers and has struck deals with Tara, DD, among other broadcasters. Driving the programme syndication, licensing and sales initiative has been senior executive Monisha Shah, who once worked with production house Plus Channel in India.

The latest arrangement the Beeb it has got into is with the Prannoy Roy-owned New Delhi Television (NDTV) to produce 38 episodes of the Indian version of the famous Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. Called Ji Mantriji and Ji Pradhan Mantriji the shows will air on Star Plus in Hindi. The stars of the show stars Farooq Sheikh ( Suryaprakash Singh) as Jim Hacker Jayant Kriplani (Rajnath Mathur) as Sir Humphrey with the scripts being adapted to Hindi by Alok Tomar (Ji Mantraji) and Purshottam Agarwal (Ji Pradhan Mantriji). The adaptation has resulted in references to football becoming cricket and the European Community becoming the Commonwealth. Eminent Indian cartoonist RK Laxman has penned the caricatures for the show. "The program has the same story line and characters, with a different structure," says BBC Worldwide‘s MD, Mark Young. The Beeb selected NDTV based on its long association with the content provider, and its "superior production quality" for the series Question Time India. BBC Worldwide refused to put a finger on the budget for the show, though it is reported to be in the region of $ 1 million. The pilot has been tested in different parts of the country, and has received a positive response, say BBC sources. The half hour series is expected to air at 8 pm Thursdays from early next year. BBC Worldwide, which expects to generate revenues of US$15 million from India in the current year, hopes to double them in the next three to four years. So expect many more such initiatives

Turner Broadcasting has split up its ad sales functions in to two - one looking after news, and the other after entertainment ad sales. The entertainment unit‘s ad sales are to be headed by senior vice-president David Dickman, who has been redesignated as Turner International Advertising Sales executive vice-president looking after Europe, west Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific. Responsibility for news ad sales falls on Kevin Razvi, who has been promoted as executive vice president of TBS International‘s Advertising Sales for the same regions.
Both executives will be based at TBS‘s European headquarters in London and will report to Andy Bird and David Levy, co-presidents of Turner Broadcasting International. Together they will oversee 10 CNN branded television networks, 33 TBS entertainment networks and 35 CNN and entertainment Web sites.

In addition to the promotion of Dickman and Razvi, Richard Chamberlain and Teri Carcano have each been promoted to senior vice president of Turner International Advertising Sales. Chamberlain is based in New York and is responsible for international advertising efforts across the East Coast. Carcano is based in Los Angeles and is responsible for international advertising efforts across the Midwest and Western regions.

They report to Dickman and Razvi. Dickman and Razvi who assume the responsibilities previously held by Levy, who was president of Turner International Advertising Sales, before assuming his current position.

"Turner Broadcasting‘s international businesses are some of the fastest growing areas for the company," says Levy. "This new structure will help us focus equally on our entertainment properties and news services, positioning the company for continued growth and success in the global marketplace and further expansion in the digital arena."

"As clients become more focused on worldwide strategies, this new structure will help us provide smarter, global cross-platform media packages," said Bird. "The speed at which we are developing our branded product and our new distribution channels gives us a real head start."

HFCL-Nine Broadcasting India Ltd is to complete the 7 pm to 10 pm programming block it had bid Rs 1,210 million for by starting to air a clutch of series and soaps between 9 pm and 10 pm cum 16 October on DD Metro, the government owned channel. The branded block called Nine Gold will additonally air sitcoms, dramas and two-hour movies by leading directors.

Amongst the new shows to be launched figure: Smriti, Patang, Mooch Nahin To Kuch Nahin, Chonch Ladi Re Chonch, Agar Tum Na Hoten, Hum bhit to Hain Tumarhe, Tedhe Medhe Sapney and Khaki.

The shows feature popular stars like Tom Alter, Salil Ankola, Bhagyashree, Rajesh Khera, Anju Mahendroo, Raghuveer Yadav, Benjamin Gilani and many more.

Nine Gold will additionally introduce ‘Directors Cut‘, a series of two-hour movies featuring a variety of storylines, brought to the small screen by leading directors and scriptwriters like Saeed Mirza, Praveen Nischol, Tanuja Chandra, Pankaj Parasher and Aruna Raje.

Shah points out that DD is making a serious effort at ensuring better transmission of DD‘s signal in Indian TV homes. The state-owned network is installing an additional 110 transmitters by next year to ensure that viewers in even the smallest towns can tune into the channel.

The much delayed launch of the education channel Zed TV from the Zee TV stable finally took place late last evening at the hands of Indian information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj. Other attendees at the function were Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Himachal Pradesh chief minister, and the edication minister for Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh.
Swaraj said that she was delighted to launch the educational channel, because it was something that India needs at a time when parents are tearing their out because children are tuning into television to watch movies, soaps, series and normal TV pulp programming. The other political leaders echoed that sentiment and went out of their way to praise Chandra for his venture. "You are doing what we should be doing," they all said.

She however cautioned that the channel‘s fate will be decided by its programming. "A 24 hour educational channel is a bold initiative; it‘s a promise you will have to live up to," she said.

The channel is however starting with just five hours of original programming going up to eight hours daily, says Chandra. Initially to be aired in English it will be made available in six languages altogether, he added.

The channel will have programming targetd at various age groups right from toddlers to to school children to youth to professionals to women to senior citizens, disclosed Zee Interactive Learning Systems CEO Uma Ganesh. "It will whet Indian‘s appetite for learning and will drive viewers to the zeelearn.com web site, the Zee Career Academy and Zee LiveWire centres," she said.

"We expect to do a revenue of Rs 5,000-7,000 million per annum from our entire education business in the next five years," she added.

After a number of postponements, Zed TV, the education channel from the Zee TV group is to be launched on 12 October. The channel is being beamed off Asiasat 3S. It will initially be digital free to air but will be converted into an encrypted and paid service in the near future.
The launch is slated to take place at the hands of information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj. Zed TV CEO Uma Ganesh says the channel is expected to tot up an annual revenue of Rs 1,000 million per annum in five years.

At start up, it is offering programming bands targeted at toddlers, school going children, youth, women, IT professionals, and shows targeted at lay consumers.

"We have talk shows, quizzes, cookery, and game shows - to make education fun," says Ganesh. "There are also shows to make consumers aware about law, finance, parenting."

Students will also be taken through tutorial programmes around entrance exams to specialised courses such as management, engineering, hotel management etc.

Ganesh says the channel is going to be the star of the Zee TV pay bouquet. "It will be a must carry channel on cable TV networks because of its content," she says.

He has been a mover and shaker in the big bad world of global media. Yesterday, however, Paul Kagan, who founded and grew Kagan World Media into the powerhouse that it is in research, data and information dealing with the traditional and new media worlds, announced that he was selling it and its related companies, to US-based Primedia in a stock deal.
?Paul Kagan and his global organization are one of a kind in the media and communications sectors,? says Tom Rogers, Primedia?s chairman and CEO. ?No source of information is more quoted about subjects ranging from radio to TV broadcasting to cable TV to broadband technology to sports and motion picture finance, streaming media and wireless communications. Primedia will clearly benefit from the enormous expertise and talent of the Kagan team, who will provide a unique strategic planning resource for Primedia?s own growth and development.?

?As someone who has spent a lifetime valuing media properties and selecting high-potential media investments, I feel very confident in placing our assets in the hands of Primedia,? said Paul Kagan. ?The fact that we sold for stock rather than cash reflects my support for Primedia?s leadership and the positive effect that will have on the long-term potential of Primedia shares.?

Properties acquired include Kagan Euromedia magazine, based in London and Asia Cable & Satellite World magazine, based in Hong Kong. Kagan properties include 38 trendwatching newsletters, 95 data-centric forecasting reports and 20 high-level executive conferences. Other Kagan assets include www.kagan.com, a global media news and data website with Kagan-on-Demand?, a pay-per-view service using highspeed search software to archive over 42,000 pages of analysis and more than 6,000 data documents. The acquisition also includes Kagan Consulting, which provides strategic advisory and valuation services.

?Paul will continue to oversee a broad range of Kagan operations, contribute to publications and moderate sessions at industry conventions and Kagan conferences,? said Rogers. ?A major component of the agreement is that Paul will become vice chairman of Primedia Ventures, our venture capital investment arm,? continued Rogers. Paul?s enormous wealth of contacts and understanding of media technology and finance will provide substantial additional clout to our fund.?

?Both companies publish media magazines, newsletters and reports and have on-line businesses as well as exhibitions and conferences,? Rogers said. ?Primedia has a broad number of B2B media and entertainment properties and a growing online presence through its B2B portal, IndustryClick, that the Kagan content will expand. The traditional media properties in our Primedia B2B Group includes such publications as Cable World, Telephony, Broadcast Engineering, Wireless Review and SIMBA (the leading newsletter and conference business covering the electronic information industries), and such online offerings as MediaCentral.com and TelecomClick.com.

?The nature of the Kagan newsletters and databases, and the analytic approach they take is perfect for offering useful information for decision- makers online,? Rogers continued. ?Our B2B interactive efforts are aimed at providing a framework for decision-makers and the content Kagan provides is perfectly suited for this approach. This is the type of acquisition that the ?new Primedia? will look to make in that it adds a premier brand with talented individuals, new and traditional media applicability and opportunities for revenue growth.?

?The broadband cable and satellite industries have become global industries and having the European and Asian counterparts of our U.S.-based Cable World provides excellent international expansion opportunities for Primedia,? continued Rogers.

Primedia will retain Kagan offices in Carmel, California; Denver, London and Hong Kong. Although numerous operating synergies will be generated by the acquisition, there are no plans for staff cuts among Kagan?s 140 employees.

Primedia, with 1999 sales from continuing businesses of $1.7 billion, is a targeted media company with print, video and Internet businesses focused on consumer and business-to-business audiences. The Company publishes more than 220 magazines, and owns and operates approximately than 300 Web sites and other Internet properties