MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) has announced the launch of the second edition of 92.7 Big FM Punjab?s ?Big Punjab Entertainment Awards?.

The awards will honour and recognise the contribution of some of the "best" talent housed in Punjab from across fields including film, music, dance and sports.

The Big Punjab Entertainment Awards will present popular awards basis votes from listeners across the region in 13 unique categories along with some expert comments from an eminent panel of jury members.

The awards will be aired on Spark Punjabi. However, the date of telecast is yet not announced.

Big Punjab Entertainment Awards will honour the heroes of the Punjabi entertainment industry with categories like Big Most Entertaining Actor (Male and Female), Big Most Entertaining Music Director, Big Most Entertaining Singer (Male and Female), Big Most Entertaining TV Actor (Male and Female) and Big Most Entertaining TV Actor of the decade (Male and Female).

The awards will be promoted across extensive on-ground activation, out of home, print and digital.

92.7 Big FM business head Ashwin Padmanabhan said, "The second edition of the BIG Punjab Entertainment Awards will provide the Punjabi entertainment industry with a unified platform to celebrate the best talent housed in the state. The event will recognise the talent and creativity which has raised the bar while creating new standards of entertainment in the industry. We are extremely glad to announce these awards and are looking forward to a star-studded night which will celebrate the spirit of entertainment in Punjab."

MUMBAI: Spark Punjabi, the regional general entertainment channel from RBNL and CBS JV, is launching two homegrown properties - ?Rasoi Di Rani? and ?BIG Punjabi Jodiyan? in December.

The two new offerings, set to go on air starting 3 December and 10 December respectively, will engage with audiences across Punjab with content around the pegs of good food and great relationships, the channel said.

?Rasoi Di Rani? is Spark Punjabi?s first culinary show. Hosted by Reliance Broadcast Network Network culinary head Chef Rakesh Sethi, ?Rasoi Di Rani? is a face-off challenge between two Indian housewives as they attempt to showcase the "perfect" recipes for common dishes being prepared by both contenders. The show will air every Monday to Thursday at 5.30 pm.

?Big Punjabi Jodiyan? is a show that aims to bring couples closer through a quiz that tests their understanding of each other as they rediscover their compatibility and strive to win a jackpot prize. The show will be hosted by RJ-cum-VJ Dhanveer and will air every Monday to Thursday at 8.30pm.

A channel spokesperson said, "Staying true to our promise to provide variety entertainment to our audiences, we are proud to launch our two new homegrown properties - Rasoi Di Rani and BIG Punjabi Jodiyan. Both the shows will feature content pegs that will appeal to audiences, while providing marketers with multiple integration opportunities thereby enabling them to reach out to the target audiences more efficiently and effectively."

MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) expects to achieve break-even from its television business on an operating basis for the fourth quarter of this fiscal.

The company?s confidence stems from narrowing operating loss led by a sharp reduction in carriage costs.

?Barring unforeseen circumstances, the company expects to exit the current financial year with TV business achieving break-even at an operating level,? the company said.

RBNL?s operating loss from television business in the first quarter ended 30 June 2012 was down nearly 55 per cent to Rs 116.93 million from Rs 258.79 million a year earlier.

The company said the reduction in operating loss was largely on account of a 70 per cent cut in carriage costs, but did not specify how much it spent in the quarter on account of the money paid to multi-system cable operators (MSOs) and direct-to-home (DTH) companies for carrying their television channels.

Revenue from the television business in the first quarter was Rs 66.34 million. It is against Rs 18.14 million in the first quarter of last year, which were initial days for RBNL?s television business. In the fourth quarter of last year, RBNL?s television business revenue Rs 103.36 million.

RBNL operates five channels ? three English language entertainment channels Prime, Love and Spark, a Punjabi language channel Spark Punjabi, all the four under its joint venture Big CBS Networks, and Big Magic, a regional general entertainment channel for the Hindi heartland. RBNL has a 50:50 joint venture with media conglomerate CBS.

The television financial results, thus, reflect the 50 per cent of the JV company Big CBS.

The operating break even will confine to the current television businesses of RBNL, a company official said The forecast does not include RBNL?s joint venture with RTL. The company plans to launch a channel called Thrill through the RTL JV this fiscal.

RBNL?s consolidated revenue in the first quarter was Rs 557.45 million, down 25 per cent per cent from Rs 751.72 million a year earlier. The revenue contraction was on account of a fall in revenue of radio and television production businesses.

RBNL?s revenue from the radio business fell 19 per cent to Rs 396.38 million from Rs 494.46 million a year earlier. Its revenue from production business at Rs 52.79 million in the first quarter was down 68 per cent from Rs 166.34 million a year earlier.

The radio business of RBNL actually slipped into a loss in the first quarter of 2012-13 with an operating loss of Rs 10.14 million against operating profit of Rs 74 million a year earlier. In the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2012, the operating profit from radio business was Rs 91.78 million. The company operates Big 92.7 radio station.

RBNL has, however, managed to narrow its consolidated net loss to Rs 287.04 million from Rs 291.34 million a year earlier. Its consolidated income from operations plunged 29 per cent to Rs 526.64 million in the first quarter from Rs 745.30 million a year earlier, but what helped the company narrow its loss was nearly halving of direct operational expenses (down 48 per cent) to Rs 268.96 million from Rs 521.12 milion a year earlier.

RBNL CEO Tarun Katial said, ?RBNL had a satisfactory quarter in the given environment, backed by product innovation and optimal cost management. Our key businesses of radio and television stand to benefit significantly from imminent industry reforms of Phase III and digitisation, respectively."