The animation segment of the Indian television industry is all set to become an international hub if the the fantastic response received by Indian companies at The National Association of Television Program Executives 2001, a premier international television programming convention held recently at Las Vegas, Nevada, is anything to go by.

Held from 22 to 25 January, the 38th NATPE is an annual affair dedicated to facilitate the continued growth and convergence of all content across multiple distribution platforms. "It is a good platform for networking, with quite a few deals taking place," Amit Khanna, chairman of Reliance Entertainment, said on Tuesday.

"India is fast emerging as an entertainment hub for Asia. The very fact that there was a special session - Adventures in Indian Television - devoted to India proves the point," Khanna said. Regarding the response to the session held on India, Khanna said: "It was well attended." The special session was chaired by Bhuvan Lall, executive director of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, while on the panel were eminent personalities in the Indian entertainment sector. Among them, along with Khanna, were V Chandrasekaran, chairman & CEO, Pentamedia Graphics Ltd., Bill Dennis, president & CEO, Toonz Animation India Ltd, Dheeraj Kapuria, North American Head, Zee TV, Firdaus Kharas, chairman, UTV International LTD, and Ramesh Sharma, chairman & managing director, Moving Picture Company.

Discussions centred around the potential the Indian market held, whether international channels and production companies could take advantage of the developing multi-channel and convergent environment in India, and the kind of programming and formats that were likely to work in the country.

"This time around the animation media got a good business thrust," said Khanna. In the past two years animation had an export market of $5 million and in this year itself it has a potential of touching $50 million.

In the near future, a lot of original animation programming from Toonz Animation India LTD, Pentamedia Graphics LTD, UTV International LTD, and other such companies from India are likely to make a splash internationally.

CNN‘s first web site to be produced and edited from Asia launched on Tuesday. CNN.com Asia features in-depth stories from across the Asia Pacific and top world news stories that impact on the region. Using the latest technology, the site will also feature multi-media elements to bring more news from the region to online users.

"This new Asian web site is an integral part of CNN‘s global strategy to offer consumers more regionally relevant news content on television and the web. Our Hong Kong production centre is pioneering the way for CNN‘s worldwide vision for a more integrated news service, capitalising on the potential of media convergence," said Chris Cramer, president CNN international networks.

An extra 30 international journalists are now employed to work out of CNN‘s integrated newsroom in Hong Kong, with the regional headquarters now consisting of a total of 85 television and web journalists.

The new site offers a comprehensive and focused service for Internet users in Asia and those wanting to know more about the region. CNN.com Asia includes five main sections: Australia/Pacific, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, South East Asia plus special sections on business, technology, weather and travel.

CNN.com Asia is the second English-language site developed by CNN.com specifically for the international market; the online news provider launched a European version in September 2000. CNN.com also operates eight local-language news sites and two local-language headline news services, including Japanese (CNN.co.jp), Chinese (CNN.com/Chinese) and Korean (CNN.com/Korean).

Delhi based software provider Digital Broadcasting, has joined hands with Delany Productions, a software production house in Las Vegas with plans to launch "World of Women" channel in India on June 18. The WOW channel aims to provide a variety of programmes targeting urban women having varying interests and ages.

Estimated to cost Rs 120 crore, Digital Broadcasting has 31 per cent stake in the project while Dealny Productions holds 20 per cent of the equity. In coming three years the channel plans to invest RS 60 crore in the first year and expects to break even in the next three years, the Indian Express reported on Monday.

Indian Express quoted Rajiv Mishra, managing director of Digital Broadcasting, as saying the 24-hour free-to-air channel would penetrate 46 million cable households within six month of its launch. Eighty per cent of the programmes would be produced in India while the rest will be sourced from the US.

The channel‘s target audience also includes NRI households and the bilingual channel will also be aired in United States and United Kingdom. The company has tied up with DirecTV in Europe and the UK-based BskyB as their DTH operators, informs Mishra. In the initial period, viewing in the US will be delayed by 24 hours.