• 'Kitney Kool...' not so cool, alleges theatre producer

    Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 08, 2002

    Gujarati theatre producer Sanjay Goradia is getting quite hot under the collar these days. And what‘s raising the temperature for him is the Balaji Telefilms produced serial Kitne Kool Hain Hum (KKHH). His allegation is that Balaji Telefilms has used sequences from one of his plays Mrs Manjula Marfatia in KKHH, the comedy running on Zee TV. In fact, he says that he has already sent a legal notice to India‘s leading TV production house.

    A Still From Kitne Kool Hain Hum

    Goradia maintains that the script - reportedly registered with the Film Writers Association - was originally penned by Sanjay Pawar in Marathi and adapted by Aslam Parvez and Nilesh Rupapara in Gujarati for the Gujarati version of the play. He alleges that the two writers - Rupapara and Parvez - are also on the team of writers scripting KKHH.

    Rupapara, on his part, refused to get drawn into any heated discussions on the issue, maintaining that it is best for Goradia to have his say. He however differs with Goradia‘s claims, saying that although he does work on other Balaji soaps, he is not associated in any manner with KKHH.

    Balaji Telefilms vice-president marketing and production, Rajesh Pavithran on the other hand, coolly claims that the company has not yet received any legal notice from Goradia. He is also quick to rule out any copyright violations on their part, but adds that Balaji is ready to take legal recourse and would fight the case out, if needed.

  • New Skies' NSS-7 satellite enters commercial service

    Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 08, 2002

    New Skies‘ NSS-7 Atlantic Ocean region satellite entered into commercial service for premiere broadcast, Internet and telecom customers on 30 May.

    The milestone, says the global satellite communications company, was capped by a multi-year agreement with BT Broadcast Services, one of the world‘s leading broadcast solutions providers, to launch a new African direct-to-home (DTH) television service for Media Overseas, a unit of Vivendi Universal‘s group.

    The two companies will deliver a fully integrated, end-to-end service, using BT‘s owned and operated Pont de Sevres Teleport in Paris and New Skies‘ high-powered NSS-7 Ku-band capacity, says an official release. BT will uplink Media Overseas‘ digital programming packages in Paris to a full transponder on NSS-7‘s Ku-band Africa spot beam for direct broadcast to consumer households throughout Cameroon, C?d‘Ivoire and Senegal.

    NSS-7 successfully completed in-orbit testing and entered commercial service on May 30. The satellite, which was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems and launched on 16 April 2002, operates from 338.5 degrees east longitude over the Atlantic Ocean. NSS-7 features nearly 3,500 MHz of capacity spread over 36 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders. In addition, capacity can be flexibly assigned to eleven high-powered coverage beams, blanketing the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a company release.

    NSS-7 was designed to replace the NSS-K and NSS-803 satellites at 338.5 degrees east, combining the extensive television and Internet traffic from the two satellites to debut as a premier video and IP neighborhood in the Atlantic Ocean region. With NSS-7 now operational, New Skies is currently transitioning customers from NSS-K and NSS-803. The company expects to complete the process by late August.

    Media Overseas deputy managing director Arnaud de Villeneuve says:"We are especially pleased that the service was up and running on NSS-7 in time for the first match of the World Cup between France and Senegal on May 31, enabling subscribers to watch Senegal‘s victory in digital-quality video and audio."

    New Skies‘ senior vice president of sales and marketing, Rudo Jockin says NSS-7 will serve as a major transmission platform for broadcasters, cable programmers, news agencies, ISPs, corporate enterprises, rural telecommunication networks, and direct-to-home television operators.

  • BBC World launches multi media promo for Beyond The Boundary

    It may be bad timing, but BBC World seems sure that the exercise will pay off.

  • DD invites bids for Hindi feature films on public holidays

    Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has invited bids for Hindi feature films to be telecast on public holidays for the

  • World Cup on top of Lycos' 50 most popular user searches

    'World Cup' has edged 'Star Wars' out of the top slot on the list of Lycos' 50 most popular user searches for the wee

  • DD invites bids for Hindi feature films on public holidays

    Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 08, 2002

    Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has invited bids for Hindi feature films to be telecast on public holidays for the rest of the year.

    The films are to be telecast at 2.30 pm on each of the holidays, with Doordarshan offering free commercial time (FCT) of 1800 seconds for each. DD is not interested in the golden oldies this time, though. The films, according to a notice released in the press, should not be older than five years, and preference will be given for the latest films. The selection of the films will depend on the highest bid amount, the quality and suitability of the film, the credentials of the bidder and his/her credit rating with DD. The pubcaster has asked for earnest money of Rs 5,00,000 has to be submitted along with the bid. The last date for receiving the tenders is 24 June, and tenders will be opened on 26 June.

    Holidays for which bids are invited -

    Holiday
    Date
    Independence Day
    15 August
    Gandhi Jayanti
    2 October
    Dussehra
    15 October
    Diwali
    4 November
    Guru Nanak Jayanti
    19 November
    Christmas
    25 December


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