In a bid to revitalise the sagging Zee Movies channel, Zee TV is relaunching it as Zee-MGM by mid October. No details were made available about the deal between MGM and Zee Telefilms for the partnership, excepting that it has been labeled as a joint venture.
Zee Movies had launched in mid-March 2000 with a library consisting of a la carte movies and shows from MGM, Pearson, Diskovery, Passport, Pearson, Fremantle. But it failed to make a dent with the channel. Offering competing fare was HBO which had launched around that time with better movies and packaging.

Indian viewers also failed to buy Zee TV‘s foray into English language programming as it is primary perceived to be a provider of Hindi entertainment and information fare. The rebranding and association with MGM should go some way in removing some of the dissonance in the earlier branding exercise. Mainly because MGM is an international brand and has had a pretty good run in the local theatrical cricuit.

But one will have to wait and watch whether viewers will get swayed away from the attractive fare that HBO is supposed to start beaming out over its south Asia channel with all the four studios agreeing to participate in the channel after close to three months of bickering.

The MGM library mainly consists heavily of sixties and seventies products. It includes such legendary series as James Bond, Rocky, Pink Panther. Other titles include award winning and popular movies - Thelma & Louise, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Moonstruck, Silence of the Lambs, Rain Man, Fargo, Dances with the Wolves and a host of others. Zee-MGM will also showcase critically acclaimed MGM masterpieces from the Woody Allen series as well as its vast repertoire of timeless classics.

The MIPCOM 2000 (International Film and Programme Market for TV, Video and Cable & Satellite) seminar will be held at the Cannes Palais des Festivals, Paris from October 2 to Actober 6. Also MIPCOM Junior (Youth Programming Screenings) from September 30 to October 1.
Many distinguished sepakers will make presentations at the MIPCOM conference. Participants will get to learn about the rapidly growing multi-channel environment along with rapidly developing digital and wireless technologies, broadband Internet and interactive services.

Also, for the first time, MIPCOM will open a new exibition dedicated to the new media companies.

For more details about the seminar visit: www.mipcom.com

The race is on to bag the rights to telecast Sri Lankan cricket in India. The major players in the running are Sony Entertainment Television‘s Set Max channel, Zee Sports, ESPN-Star Sports and other production companies.
Set Max, which had acquired the telecast rights for all the cricket matches played in Sri Lanka in the previous season, had paid a sum of $7.75 million to the Sri Lankan Cricket Board. Channel bosses have been making a pitch to bag the rights over the past two-three weeks. Sony Entertainment‘s Anand Desai is believed to have made a pitch, as also ESPN-Star‘s Manu Sawhney. Sony apparently has the first right of refusal for the rights.

The Sri Lankan board is hoping to make an announcement soon. Zee Sports is in desperate need of good cricket product for its Zee Sports channel as is Sony for Set Max. If ESPN-Star bags the rights it will be in the drivers‘ seat in the Indian market as it will have wrapped up all the major telecast rights for cricket for cricket mad Indian audiences. Stay tuned.

If there is one person who seems to be smitten by the Big B‘s charisma then it has to be Kerry Packer. The Australian media tycoon, whose broadcasting company Channel Nine, has bagged the rights for the prime time slot between 7 pm to 10 pm on Doordarshan‘s Metro (DD-2) channel is actively wooing Amitabh Bachchan. Rumours are that James Packer wants him to quit the tremendously popular game show on Star Plus Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) and move onto anchor the show Greed which it plans to introduce on the DD-2 channel for which Packer has the rights for prime time slots.

Amitabh Bachchan is said to have signed an agreement with Star TV which restricts him from anchoring any show with a similar format on any of the satellite channels. Star says that it has extended the contract with AB from 130 episodes to 450.

However, DD-2 is a terrestrial channel and Packer might be eager to exploit this loop hole if Star TV has not plugged it already. The show, Greed, is apparently a take off on the popular ABC show Who wants to be a millionaire on which KBC is based.

Riding on the success of it‘s music channel, MTV has decided that it is the time when it can exploit its potential as a strong brand an take the pay-TV route.Speaking to The Economic Times, MTV Networks Asia president Frank Brown announced that the channel will be encrypted at the ‘right opportunity‘.

The decision to go from free-to-air channel to pay-TV is fueled by the findings of a recent study conducted by MTV to judge its performance throughout the various countries it is aired. India was the fourth in terms of growth of the channel next only to MTV strongholds Brazil, the US and Italy. Even in terms of revenue earnings in Asia, India was somewhere on the top of its list.

Also, close on the heels of launching MTV clothing and other branded merchandise in India, MTV will be taking the air waves by storm and will enter the radio broadcasting business. This would mean that music aficionados can tune into the FM radio channel and listen to their favourite music from MTV. This is part of MTV‘s strategy to become a 360 degree brand and extend the brand in other possible youth products.

Cable TV operators in the metro city of Mumbai are on a two day strike to protest against a hike of 100 per cent in the Entertainment Tax levied by the government.
This move by the cable operators was after they failed to constitutionally bar the Government of Maharashtra from increasing the entertainment tax levied on them. The cable operators had earlier petitioned in the Bombay High Court that the Maharashtra government which had promulgated the tax through an ordinance and later legislated it trough the state legislature was unfair to them as the tax on entertainment should be charged on TV set owners and that they were only being made the government collection agents.

The government is charging the cable operators per TV set at the rate of Rs 30 in municipal limits and cantonments, Rs20 in all ‘A‘ and ‘B‘ class municipal councils and Rs 10 in other areas, an increase of 100 per cent from the earlier rates of Rs 15, Rs 10 and Rs 5. However the High Court citing past Supreme Court judgements said that the state legislature had legislative competence to enact the duty as entertainment was a taxable event. The court also dismissed the cable operator‘s petition saying that all businesses are subject to taxation and Cable TV operators are no exception.