MUMBAI: Ten Sports has acquired the broadcast rights for Tour de France till 2016 in the Indian subcontinent.

The channel has acquired the rights for all forms of free to air and pay television, DTH and IPTV transmission, pay per view and VOD from Amaury Sport Organisation.

Ten Sports will be the exclusive rights holder for the Indian subcontinent with the exception of rights being shared with the pan regional broadcaster Eurosport in Sri Lanka.

Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said, ?We are proud to be associated with anevent as esteemed as Tour de France, especially at a time when it ishaving its 100th edition in 2013. This long term relationship withTour de France will bring in much delight to our viewers who crave high adrenaline bicycle racing.?

The 2013 Tour de France will be the 100th edition. It is scheduled to start on 29 June in Corsica, in the city of Porto-Vecchio.

The island will host the first three stages. Corsica is the only Metropolitan department which the Tour has never passed through and the organisers wanted to combine the 100th edition of the Tour with the Tour?s first ever visit to Corsica.

The 2013 Tour de France includes total of 21 stages in the race, covering a total of 3,360 kilometers (2,088 miles). The Tour will be the first to be completed only on French soil for decades. It will feature a final set of stages which have been described as "spectacular", including three Alpine stages in the last week along with a time trial. These include a double ascent of l?Alpe d?Huez. This is the first time the tour will feature a double climb of this scale. There will be seven flat stages, five hilly stages, six mountain stages (with four summit finishes), two individual time trial stages and one team time trial stage.

The race will finish at dusk in Paris.

MUMBAI: Noida-based production house Vertent Media Soft is all set to launch India?s first matrimonial channel christened Shagun Tv on 26 April.

Conceptualised and promoted by media professional Anuranjan Jha, Shagun Tv will be free-to-air channel initially with plans to go pay in future. The channel will be beamed off the IntelSat 20 satellite.

The promoters are believed to have pumped in close to Rs 500 to 600 million in the launch stage which includes production, distribution and marketing.
 
Focussed on the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM), the matrimonial channel will be launched in North and West region. The bi-lingual channel will have content in English and Hindi however the bulk of content will be in Hindi. It will have six hours of fresh content per day.

However, the channel will not be restricted to HSM only. The promoters have plans to expand the channel to south in the near future.

Currently, it is available on digital cable networks like Den Network, Hathway and InCable in the states of Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is available only on one direct-to-home (DTH) platform, Videocon d2h.
 
The matrimonial channel will bring in a rich programming mix from across India which features pre-nuptial and post-nuptial programmes, issues, and relevant information. The channel will feature shows related to wedding, astrology, relationships, shopping including ?Toh Baat Pakki?, ?Gold n Beautiful?, ?Janam Janam ka saath, ?Kundali Bol?.

"The channel will have content that not only appeals to those getting married or looking to get married, but also for those involved in the business aspect of wedding like caterers, wedding planners, florists and jewellers," says Shagun Tv MD Anuranjan Jha.

The yet-to-be launched channel has already roped in a major advertiser like Videocon in consumer durables category. It is in talks with others to finalise advertising deals.

"Brands advertising on our channel will be those directly or indirectly involved in the wedding. Fashion labels and jewellery makers are obvious potential advertisers while others like financial services and travel companies have also shown interest in advertising on the channel," adds Jha.