MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) has created a hybrid channel mixing entertainment content from Big Magic, business news from Bloomberg UTV and some of its owned televised awards and special shows.

The channel, Big Magic International, will launch in Canada and then move on to other international markets like the US, Middle East and Australia.

"About 60-70 per cent of the channel?s content will be from Big Magic. The intellectual property shows and business news from Bloomberg UTV will make up the remaining quotient of the content," said RBNL?s spokesperson.

Helping the launch in Canada will be Ethnic Channels Group (EGCL), a Canada-based television broadcasting, distribution and communications company that specialises in multicultural television channels for the North American market. The channel will be available across all major distribution platforms like Rogers Cable, Bell DTH and Bell Fibe.

"We will reach a relevant audience base of 0.2 million across these platforms. The revenue model is based on subscription and ad-sales," RBNL said.

Big Magic International has been tailored after closely mapping the entertainment preferences of the South Asian audiences in Canada. According to market estimates, the South Asian population in Canada is 1.2 million, accounting for 5 per cent of the country?s population.

Big Magic International?s programming will include a mix of daily sitcoms, shows on varied genres ranging from socio-mytho, dramas and crime.

RBNL?s intellectual property vertical?s televised award shows providing entertainment doses from across India include India?s Sexiest Bachelor, India?s Glam Diva, I Love Style, Big Hindustan Rising Star Awards, Big Hindustani Music Awards and Big Bangla Music Awards. Additionally, the channel will also feature shows that will appeal across age groups like stand-up comedies and cultural quiz shows.

RBNL believes the channel?s differentiator will be the half-hour updates from the Indian capital markets from Bloomberg UTV - India that will air thrice a day. The channel will also air a special weekend feature show created around the Indian business world and investments in India.

RBNL CEO Tarun Katial, CEO, said, "We are happy to reach out to the Canadian market with Big Magic International which has been designed to fulfil the need gaps in the infotainment genre for South Asian audiences there. The channel will bring an increasing variety of fresh and relevant programming to the viewers which will include not just entertainment but also daily business updates from India. With this move, we are optimising the use of our robust and extensive content library to reach out to both viewers and marketers in the market. The launch of Big Magic International opens new and exciting opportunities for the execution of our expansion and growth strategy."

MUMBAI: Big Magic, variety entertainment channel for the core Hindi heartland from the Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) stable, is bringing back ?Khulja Sim Sim? (KJSS).

The show is being produced by Big Productions, the television content production division of RBNL.

The game show is an Indian adaptation of the International format ?Let?s Make A Deal?. The channel has acquired the rights for the format from Fremantle.

The show was earlier aired on Star Plus in July 2001. It went on air for over two years and 105 episodes. The first season of the show was hosted by actor Aman Verma while the second season was hosted by Hussain Kuwajerwala that launched in 2004.

The channel has done a ?call for entry? promotion across multiple media, in the Hindi Heartland to invite consumers to participate and get a chance to be on the show. The entire show will be shot in UP and MP with local audiences from across the region participating.

Khullja Sim Sim will be promoted through a multi-media campaign, featuring TV, Radio, OOH, Print, Digital, Cable, Cinema across the Hindi Heartland.

It will be clubbed with 92.7 Big FM to offer an integrated media offering to marketers.

In the game show, the host randomly picks up participants from the studio audience. The participant has to trade between various options and gets the chance to win a jackpot. The participants usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being made for a valuable prize, or a potential undesirable item, or a ?tai tai? fish.

MUMBAI: Big Magic, Reliance Broadcast Network?s music and entertainment channel for the Hindi heartland, is launching a new talent hunt show ?Mele Ke Big Star? across the markets of UP, MP and Bihar.

The channel has roped in Horlicks as the presenting sponsor, while it is powered by Nutrine. Mortien is the associate sponsor for the show.

?Mele Ke Big Star? provides a platform for local talents in singing, dancing, stunts, mimicry or acrobatics. The show will launch in the third week of May.

Prior to launch, the channel had conducted a pilot test at Magh Mela in Allahabad where over 100 performances were hosted over a two-day period with a live viewership of over 100,000.

The company spokesperson said, "Mela is the most basic form of entertainment which congregates the local inhabitants of a region. Melas put on display the true social fabric of a village. Through our show, we intend to take this talent from the grass root level and nurture it to present it to the country at large. We are not only encouraging local talent which is fast diminishing in the face of other forms of urban entertainment, but we are also connecting with local tastes and sensibilities. ?Mele Ke Big Star? is sure to excite not only the respective regional consumer but also the regional talent which has long sought its due recognition."

40 contestants from across various fairs will participate in the show, wherein 10 will be shortlisted for the grand finale to happen at Nauchandi Mela in Meerut (UP).

According to the official communiqu?, Mele Ke Big Star, is one of its kind opportunity which will not only help the channel to build a long term bond with the consumers but will also amplify this association beyond the host area through Big Magic.

The show will be promoted through TV, radio and print. The show will reach out to approximately 7 million viewers every week on Big Magic, and 2.5 million listeners per week on Big FM, the company said.

MUMBAI: Big Magic, Reliance Broadcast Network?s variety entertainment channel for the core Hindi heartland, said it will introduce two new daily shows, Hum Hai Bajrangi and Police Files, that will premiere on12 March at 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm respectively.

Aimed at providing locally relevant and insightful programming, these new shows have been developed on the back of research and identifying local consumer insights. The research indicated high affinity of audiences in this region to both mythology and crime- related programming.

Hum Hai Bajrangi is a mythology-cum-fantasy sitcom based on local relatable characters. It is a story based on beliefs related to Lord Hanuman. Bajrangi is a powerless and meek person to a powerful hero who transformed with help of Lord Hanuman?s knowledge and teachings. The show offers a blend of mythology and comedy.

Police Files features real life stories from incidents that have taken place in the Hindi heartland that are used to empower audiences to protect themselves from such crimes. The Hindi heartland is known for its high crime rate ranging from crime against women, drug trafficking, extortion, murder for hire, homicide, kidnapping, theft, land mafia and more. This new show brings to life, real high profile cases through recreation and also goes a step further by empowering audiences to be better equipped to deal with these criminal situations.

The show features a psychiatrist, real lawyers and the real police officials, who discuss the reason, rationale, signs to look out for and more, when it comes to dealing with crime in the region.

The new shows will be promoted through a multi-media campaign, featuring TV, Radio, OOH, Print, Digital, Cable, Cinema across the Hindi Heartland to ensure that audiences quickly sample these new offerings on the channel.

An official communiqu? from the channel said, "Both these shows have been conceptualised based on local understanding and entertaining preferences of audiences in this region. We are confident that audiences will enjoy this content, and marketers will see even greater value in associating with the channel."