MUMBAI: Vh1, India‘s only international music and lifestyle channel and Rayban, jointly present Rayban Vh1 Global Music Xpress. Conceptualized by Vh1, Global Music Xpress is India‘s biggest music initiative ever! Rayban Vh1 Global Music Xpress will be bringing down artistes and music from around the globe for LIVE performances every 45 days - 2 months, starting with popular British R&B artist Jay Sean! Jay Sean kick started his India tour in Mumbai today and will continue to entice audiences in Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad on the 26th, 27th and 28th respectively.

Winner of the 2008 UK Asian Music Awards for Best Video (Ride it) and Best Urban Act, this British singer and song writer from London started his career in 2003 with his first single ‘Dance with you‘ in collaboration with Rishi Rich and Juggy D. He has released 2 albums Me Against Myself (2004) and My Own Way (2008) along with five top 20 hits in the UK Singles Chart. Best known for his hits "Stolen", "Eyes On You" and his latest char topper "Ride It", Jay Sean is tipped to be the first British Asian to finally make the cross over into main stream R&B. Jay Sean has been nominated for 2 awards at this years Mobo‘s in October, one of UK‘s premier music awards Best R & B Soul Act and Best UK Male Solo Act.‘ Jay Sean‘s latest album ‘My Own Way‘ is released by E.M.I. and is now available in all leading music stores.

Says Jay Sean "I‘m super excited about coming to India again and spending a week touring India, specially places like Hyderabad where I haven‘t been in a while. I look forward to meeting all my fans and friends in India and playing some of my new music from my new album ‘My Own Way‘. Thanks to Vh1 and Rayban for giving me the opportunity to come and have some more fun in India."

Speaking on the initiative Ferzad Palia, Associate General Manager, Vh1 India says "We are extremely excited to partner with Rayban for this initiative. With Rayban Vh1 Global Music Xpress, we aim to present the best musicians and artists live to our audiences and make them part of a truly world-class musical experience. So, music lovers, get ready to be treated to different artistes and their unique style of music each time."

On the association, Sudhanshu Arora, Marketing Manager, Ray-Ban Sun Optics India Ltd. says, "Ray Ban carries with itself a legacy of being associated with the best across various fields, be it movies, fashion or music. Ray Ban & Vh1 Global Music Xpress is part of carrying forward this legacy and exposing music aficionados to the best talent across all genres of music."

Viacom Brand Solutions, Viacom18‘s marketing vehicle created this unique platform that will utilize Vh1‘s international music expertise to position Rayban as a cool brand.

Aditya Swamy, Senior Vice President, Viacom Brand Solutions, says, "Live entertainment is growing rapidly and is striking a powerful chord with young people. Leveraging the international Viacom system we are creating a sustainable long term platform for Rayban which can become synonymous with this genre of entertainment. 6 artists, 24 gigs, 9 months?promoted extensively through visibility across our networks channels & websites, on ground promotions and high impact publicity will ensure we make Rayban Vh1 GMX a success in the very first year of its launch. Our partners can effectively leverage this platform to strengthen the connect with their consumers."

MUMBAI: ZoOm, India‘s premier Bollywood channel, just got hotter with the launch of a host of new programmes which shot up its ratings in only four weeks.

According to TAM data for Week 33, C&S, AB 15-35, HSM 1 Mn+, ZoOm stood at 26 GRPs. With launch of four new shows in consecutive weeks, namely, Zabar10, Stars Ke Sitaare, Planet Bollywood and Idea Bollywood Club, ZoOm‘s GRP has shown a steady increase touching a high of 35 GRP‘s in week 37.

According to M.K.Anand, Business Head, ZoOm, "The new programming on ZoOm has been conceptualized after extensive research on Bollywood and the kind of Bollywood content that is available to viewers today. The ratings show that our efforts have been successful."

And that‘s not all! ZoOm has a lot more in store for every Bollywood fan. As part of the new programming, the channel will soon launch, Bollywood Biographies- which will give viewers an in-depth insight into the lives of their favourite stars, Page 3 Xtreme, which will be your daily dose of parties, events and Bollywood happenings in the city and Bollywood Case Files, wherein you play detective and investigate the biggest scandals of fBollywood.

So keep watching ZoOm- your all access pass to Bollywood!

MUMBAI: How much do you invest? How do you make your investment decisions to generate profit? UTVi has a solution to your problem with the show "Mad About Markets".

After the success of its previous episodes LIVE from Ahmedabad and then from Rajkot, UTVi is now bringing its popular investment queries show, Mad About Markets to Ishwar Farm, Ghod Daud Road, Surat. ‘Mad About Markets‘ is a highly interactive show with business anchors Shruti Pandit and Vikram Oza hosting the show. What makes this show a pioneering one is that Investors get answers to all their investment queries in real time.

In this one hour special, there will be 5 segments and each segment will take 3 queries which will be answered by Vikram Oza with the help of the experts. Investors can register by calling (022) 40987300 or e-mail queries with contact details to mam@utvi.com. Mobile users can SMS to 59995, with their name, followed by city/town name and stock query.

UTVi is available on Tata SKY, Reliance Big TV and on all cable networks. For further information on participation on MAM, investors can call UTVi‘s Ahmedabad office at 079-40029405 and 40029406.

So tune into Mad About Markets on weekdays at 1 pm - 2 pm and weekends at 11am - 12 noon only on UTVi!

MUMBAI: BIG 92.7 FM, Chandigarh‘s No. 1 FM station in a first-of-its-kind initiative presents ‘Ab Dillie Dur Nahin‘, an activity to trap the Traffic Violators of the city. BIG 92.7 FM is organizing this activity in association with Chandigarh Traffic Police. ‘Ab Dillie Dur Nahin‘ is a satire on the traffic violators as they get gifts and are crowned as ‘HURRY PRASAD‘. In this activity, everyday five new places in the city are being identified to catch the traffic violators and so far almost 35 traffic violators have been crowned. ‘Ab Dillie Dur Nahin‘ is being organized to save Chandigarh from the growing traffice menace. The activity started on 22 September and will continue till 27 September.

The BIG RJs Anubhav, Pankaj, Satya and Sachin along with the Traffic Police went on the roads to catch up the violators along with the help of Traffic Police cops. Traffic Violators were crowned HURRY PRASAD by BIG 92.7 FM RJs. They were also presented with gift bags and were awarded with ribbon sachet with HURRY PRASAD written on it. The special nakas for HURRY PRASAD were set up at the following light points in Chandigarh including Housing Board Light Point, Railway crossing, Transport Chawk, Grain Market chawk, Press chawk, Aroma Light chawk, Traffic lights of sector 22 and 23, Panjab University lights and other busy roads of the city.

BIG 92.7 FM is also planning to invite Government officials including SP, Traffic Police, Mayor of the city, Director CTU, Director Tourism, Municipal Corporation officials in the studios for special talks on Traffic awareness. Commenting on this, Mr.Gagandeep Singh, Station Director, BIG 92.7 FM said, "Ab Dillie Door Nahin is an initiative of BIG 92.7 FM to create awareness on the increasing traffic menace in Chandigarh. We have partnered with UT Traffic Police for this 6 day activity and is looking forward to create awareness in the city and among the people regarding the traffic laws."

MUMBAI: At the close of the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Star World‘s 30 Rock was the big winner, cleaning up in the key Comedy categories.

For the second year running, 30 Rock was named Outstanding Comedy Series. TINA FEY, the sitcom‘s star and creator, also scored a Best Actress Emmy while her co-star, ALEC BALDWIN, was named Best Actor in a Comedy.

Telecast exclusively on Star World, 30 Rock‘s award-winning second season earned praise from critics and featured a number of A-list guest stars, including The Sopranos‘ Edie Falco, Al Gore, former Friends star David Schwimmer and Jerry Seinfeld. STAR WORLD aired the final episode of the second season on Monday, Sept 1. The third season is scheduled to air first and exclusively on Star World in early 2009.

JEAN SMART also had the last laugh in the Comedy category. The actress picked up a Best Supporting trophy for her work as Christina Applegate‘s overbearing mother in the sitcom Samantha Who? A hit in the US, Samantha Who? took the title as this year‘s No.1 new comedy. The critically-acclaimed series premieres on Star World later this year.

MUMBAI: MiD DAY, India‘s leading afternooner, today announced a hike in advertising rates for its Delhi and Bangalore editions, following a surge in their circulation. The new rates will come into play from October 25th, 2008.

MiD DAY‘s Delhi and Bangalore editions have been offering Invitation rates for advertising clients since the launch of these editions in their respective cities. A strong editorial focus on the Young, Urban, Mobile, Professionals of India (YUMPI), supported by internationally acclaimed marketing programmes and a 360 degree brand campaign, has resulted in MiD DAY garnering a devoted following of urban professionals, a hugely coveted audience for advertisers, in both cities. Today, the publication‘s Delhi circulation has grown to 75,000 copies while Bangalore follows with 60,000.

MiD DAY‘s innovative distribution efforts include the placement of vending machines in offices, while award winning promotional events such as Bollywood Lunch Contest engage YUMPIs within the context of their working day. In addition, by virtue of reaching executives in major corporate offices in the middle of their work day, MiD DAY becomes the entertaining and informative break the YUMPI looks forward to. As a result, the publication‘s advertiser base has grown with national brands like Ford, Union Bank of India, Tag Heur, ICL, Visa, and more signing on.

Says Manajit Ghoshal, CEO, MiD DAY Infomedia Limited, "In the print business there are two steps towards monetisation - first you secure readers through editorial content and then monetise that through advertising revenue. MiD DAY offers quality circulation in both Bangalore and Delhi, with loyal readers and high engagement indexes. Based on the increased circulation and the subscriber profile we‘ve managed to secure, the invitation pricing of the editions has been changed."

Adds Neville Bastawalla, Head Marketing, MiD DAY Infomedia Ltd., "Our increasing circulation demonstrates the relevance of our brand position -Make Work Fun, Take a MiD DAY Break- which resonates strongly with our YUMPI audience. The editorial refinements, marketing and sales strategies we‘ve adopted have been bearing fruit in all cities."
The key highlights of this rate revision are as follows:

" Base rates, front page and back page rates for Delhi and Bangalore revised upwards 70%.
" Loadings for other premium positions are untouched so the burden of rate hike is not completely passed on to clients
" The Pune edition is included in all bumper packages.

MiD DAY is available in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune.