MUMBAI: Zee TV is gearing up to launch its latest fiction property Rab Se Sona Ishq on 16 July at 8 pm slot.

The channel is shifting Hitler Didi that used to air at this slot to 8.30 pm, while pulling the plug on its long running show Yahaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli.

Yahaan Main? will go off-air on 14 July.

Rab Se?will compete with slot leader Balika Vadhu (Colors), Star Plus? Iss Pyar Ko Kya Nam Du and Sony Entertainment Television?s Byaah Hamari Bahu Ka.

Rab Se Sona Isshq is story of Saahiba (played by Ekta Kaul), who deserted by the man of her dreams on the day of their wedding, follows her heart and chases him across continents. Her journey of hope rests on her conviction that their love is real and will last forever.

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Zee TV to launch ?Rab Se Sona Ishq? on 16 July

MUMBAI: Colors, the flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Viacom18 stable, which is lagging behind Sony Entertainment Television (Set) in the numbers battle, is now strengthening its weekend programming to add more eyeballs and attract more viewers to the channel.

The channel is launching two new shows on 25 February, and will be airing special ?mahaepisodes? of fiction shows during weekend primetime.

The channel, which earlier used to air multiple movies, sometimes with one-break, in the weekends, has decided to curtail its dependency on the films.

And with Viacom18 deferring its plans of launching a Hindi movie channel, Colors offloaded many of its major titles in a bulk deal to Star Network.

?Viacom18 was on a movie acquiring spree, which was justified given the plans for a Hindi movie channel. However, when Star and Zee also entered in the fray aggressively, the business model went kaput. So, it was obvious for the company to defer the launch plans and to sell some of the movies to other players. What it also means is, that Colors will not have as many titles in the library to fill weekends,? a media observer said.

Colors is launching two non-fiction properties on 25 February. The first is the third season of its home-grown kids? comic reality show Chote Miyan while the second one is Zindagi Ki Haqeeqat Se Aamna Saamna.

Chote Miyan Chapter 3, as it is named for this season, will air every Saturday and Sunday at the 7 pm slot while Aamna Saamna takes the 10 pm slot.

Aamna Saamna will feature real life stories that harass the average man: issues like parents dealing with a child?s suicide, sibling squabbling over property, emotional torture faced by housewives dealing with greedy in-laws.

Colors had launched a sports entertainment reality show Ring Ka King on 28 January at 8 pm slot. Being aired every Saturday and Sunday, the show is slated to run for 13 weeks. Though it opened with 2.2 TVR, the show is averaging around 1 TVR.

Colors, since few months now, has been airing ?mahaepisode? (one-hour specials) of its fiction dramas on Saturdays. But, starting 25 February, the channel has assigned the 9 pm slot on Saturdays and Sundays for airing the fiction show?s special episodes only.

This week it will air special episodes of Balika Vadhu on Saturday and Parichay on Sunday.

Also, the channel will be airing one big awards show/ event every month. In January it aired Colors? Screen Awards; in February it aired Umang while in March it will be airing Apsara Producers Guild Awards.

Traditionally, Set leads the weekend slot followed by Star Plus. Zee TV and Colors have been chasing for the third spot in the weekend programming ratings. It has been seen that Colors has seen a peak in GRPs (gross rating points) in the weekend by airing either movie or special programmes.

MUMBAI: As the fifth season of Colors? big-ticket reality show Bigg Boss is coming to an end on 8 January, the channel has unveiled a new fiction property for the weekday 10.30 pm band.

Colors will launch Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha as its primetime property starting from 9 January. Meanwhile, the 11 pm slot will be taken over by the repeat telecast of Na Aana Is Des Laado.

Na Bole Tum? is being produced by Sunshine Productions.

Colors fiction head Prashaant Bhatt said, "After the success of Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Sasural Simar Ka, Parichay and Veer Shivaji, we are kick-starting the New Year with a slice of the life, light hearted show. As strained marital relationships and frequent heartbreaks become the norm in this age of ?fast forward love?, Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha focuses on an unusual story of two unlikely people in unlikely circumstances. Life is what happens when you are busy planning other things. Sometimes the best communication between two people is silence."

The show stars Kunal Karan kapoor and Aakanksha Singh in the lead. It is the story of the emergence of a complicated relationship between a single mother who has no intention of being a bride again and a self centered bachelor who runs miles away from marriage or commitment.

MUMBAI: Colors is shifting three of its primetime shows to create an afternoon band, increasing its evening primetime and stretching Veer Shivaji to weekdays as it plans to regain the second spot with the launch of its big-ticket reality show Bigg Boss.

"With a strong fiction lineup during the week, we bring in Bigg Boss 5 to the 10.30 pm time slot this season. Na Aana Is Des Laado, which currently occupies this slot, will be moved to the 1 pm to build our afternoon band. On weekends, Bigg Boss 5 will air at 10 pm which will include the eviction episode on Saturdays (with Aakhri Farmaan) and some unseen tidbits from the show on Sundays (Undekha Action). This is being done with the aim to build up viewership on weekends and keep everyone tied to their seats with their fingers crossed in anticipation about who will be leaving the Bigg Boss house," says Colors head - programming Ashvini Yardi.

Apart from Laado, the channel is also shifting Hamari Saas Leela and Laagi Tujhse Lagan to build its afternoon slot.

As per latest Tam ratings, Laado clocked an average TVR of 2.8 while Hamari Saas Leela and Laagi Tujhse Lagan recorded 0.9 TVR and 1.6 TVR respectively.

The other changes include pulling the curtains on Mukti Bandhan and shifting Veer Shivaji from weekend band (Friday-Saturday, 8.30 pm) to weekday (Monday-Friday) 8.30 pm band.

"As part of our new scheduling, we have a new show Havan at 7 pm, followed by Sasural Simar Ka and Balika Vadhu, which are getting good ratings. Shivaji is a good and different show, which we think will get even better response on weekdays. Post that, we have shows catering to more urban audiences and finally Bigg Boss," Yardi explains.

On shifting of shows to afternoon band, she adds that it serves two purposes. "We will increase the original programming hours in afternoon; it also will help us get more viewership in the afternoon band," Yardi adds.

The channel is also going to premiere the Salman Khan-starrer Ready in the month.

Meanwhile, the Viacom18 channel is focusing all its energies on Bigg Boss. As the show will see two hosts Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt for the first time, the channel has big promotion plans.

"We have a high-intensity 1200 GRP TV campaign, where apart from network channels we have extensively promoted the show on cross network channels. We have created 10 promos and a music video of the show. We have an impressive 20 city outdoor plan and in print, on 2 October, 100+ publications in 50+ cities will carry Bigg Boss cover. On radio, Big FM is our partner where they will also have multiple on-ground activities around the show," Colors AVP marketing Rajesh Iyer said.

Bigg Boss 5 will start on 2 October at 8 pm, while subsequent episodes will be aired from Monday to Friday at 10.30 pm and Saturday to Sunday at 10 pm on the channel.

Vodafone is continuing its partnership with the show for the third year in a row as presenting sponsor, while Garnier Men, Sony Cybershot, Tata Motors, HRI (Streax), Havells, Dollar (Baniyan) and Bisleri are seven associate sponsors.

MUMBAI: BAG Films & Media will hold a majority stake in a television and film production company floated by Saurabh Tewari.

"The deal is being structured. BAG Films will take a 51 per cent stake in the new production company," a source familiar with the development said.

BAG Films will infuse the capital over a period of two years, the source added.

Tewari‘s new venture, Nautanki Films, has already firmed up plans for two film projects that are set to go on floors early next year.

BAG Films & Media CMD Anurradha Prasad and Tewari could not be contacted for their comments.

"BAG Films has spread out into broadcasting and content production. By acquiring stake in the startup, it will seek to scale up its content business through a focused approach," a media analyst said.

Tewari worked in Imagine TV, the Hindi general entertainment channel which Turner acquired from NDTV, as fiction head. He has been behind unconventional shows like Gunahon Ka Devta, Chandragupt Maurya, Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo, Preeto, Dwarkadheesh (Imagine TV) and Uttaran, Balika Vadhu, Laagi Tujhse Lagan, Bhagyavidhata (Colors).

"The production business is highly fragmented and margins are squeezed. But with more channels getting launched, there is scope to work on volumes," said a media tracker who works in a broking firm.