NEW DELHI: It‘s war out there in the cricket broadcasting arena. Sony Entertainment Television may have ICC cricket, including the next two World Cups, but for sheer breadth of coverage, it is ESPN Star Sports (ESS) that has it.

ESS, a joint venture between ESPN Asia and Star Group, today announced the acquisition of telecast rights of all international cricket from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and England (the OCSI territories) for a period of five years from 2003 to 2008. Estimated cost of acquisition: around to $ 140 million.

With the acquisition of 805 days of additional days of cricket telecast of 110 tests and one-day internationals in which India will feature in 17 tests and one-day series. The broadcast will go out to millions of fans across India and other countries that are covered by the footprint of the Asiasat 3 satellite. The total number of days of cricket with ESS now amount to 1,108 days of cricket till 2007, compared to about 153 days of cricket telecast rights that has been bagged by Sony Entertainment TV India till 2007 which includes the two cricket World Cups.

"With this acquisition we hope to maintain the our leadership position (where telecasting of sports events are concerned) in India," Manu Sawhney, managing director of ESPN Software India told indiantelevision.com after a press conference in Delhi.

Though Sawhney put forward a defensive bat of "no comment" to a query on the acquisition cost of the additional cricket telecast rights, broadcasting industry sources indicated that it was around $ 140 million. The deal, signed on Saturday, has had numbers thrown up that put the cost even as high as $ 200 million. Compare that to the $ 24 million ESS paid out in September 1999 for the telecast rights for the four cricket boards Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe (England was not included as part of the OCSI bid then) from 2000 to 2004 and that gives some idea as to just how competitive this business is. Also, $ 24 million was seen as an astronomical figure to pay for cricket rights then. But then there were more competing bids what with ESS, the Zee Network, Vatsa Television Network and a number of air-time buyers like Stracon India and 21st Century Media all in the race. This time round only three players were seen as bidders for the rights - ESS, Sony Entertainment Television and Ten Sports.

MUMBAI: Even as MTV India has commenced telecasting the hit reality series The Osbournes on the life of rock star Ozzy Osbourne, the serial is causing headlines for all the wrong reasons abroad.
Associated Press reports that producer Gary Binkow has sued the star and his wife over allegations that the couple stole the idea for their MTV reality series from him. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last week, the producer said that he held discussions with the couple and Miramax TV between 1999 and 2000 for ‘a real-life docu-sitcom‘ about their family. The court papers include what Binkow said was a copy of his original treatment of the proposed series from January 2000, registered with the Writers Guild of America, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Friday. A spokeswoman for the family, Lisa Vega said previously published reports have made it clear that Binkow was not the show‘s creator. MTV has not been named in the lawsuit.

The Osbournes which recently commenced airing in India follows the family over several months - at home and on the road, documenting the ups, downs, highs, lows, and the bizarre for viewers.

According to the report, a second season of the popular show is set to begin shooting in a few weeks with Sharon Osbourne beginning chemotherapy for cancer that she recently learned had spread beyond her colon.

In another development, Harvey Weinstein‘s Miramax Films announced the acquisition of the worldwide DVD and video rights to the first and second season of the series. Weinstein has been quoted as saying, "The Osbournes have the perfect mix of family, music and drama we‘ve always appreciated here at MMX. The show‘s incredible following, never-before-seen footage and other DVD extras will make The Osbournes a key addition to Miramax‘s family of DVD and video hits." The DVD of the first season is expected to be released later in the year.

MUMBAI: National Geographic is beefing up its prime hour of nine pm - Nat Geo Max - with specials targeted at the thinking viewer.

The Space Week that commences today, will start with Destination Space that will give viewers an insider‘s view of the next space race - as astronauts, scientists and entrepreneurs share their vision of the future. Similar one hour specials are lined up for the rest of the week - Solar Blast on Tuesday, Asteroids - Deadly Impact on Wednesday, Cold & Space and Star Wounds on Thursday and Cosmic Fireball on Friday.

Says Nat Geo senior VP, content and communication Dilshad Master: "Nat Geo Max is our prime hour wherein we give high value high-interest, award winning shows to our viewers. Being a Prime time slot, each show is a great example in both entertainment and information. This is a something which few channels can claim to have."

Nat Geo Max, the channel‘s prime hour programming block that started in April this year, plays the best of the channel‘s programming where all programmes playing on the slot are are thematically linked.

MUMBAI: Jeevan TV the fifth Malayalam news channel, will begin telecasting 20 hours a day from Thursday.
The channel, promoted by the Catholic Church of Kerala, was formally launched on 14 July and is being run from a studio and uplinking centre located in Kerala‘s commercial capital, Kochi.

The fifth entrant in a market which already has regional Doordarshan apart from Asianet, Surya and Kairali, Jeevan claims it will offer programmes that entertain while stressing the importance of moral values. Although the target of the channel is the family, soap operas will be conspicous by their absence. News and education shows will dominate the channel‘s programming. The channel will serve as a forum for issue based discussions on topics otherwise considered taboo, say reports.

Jeevan TV managing director P C Cyriac has been quoted by the Economic Times as saying that the channel would not accept surrogate advertisements of liquor. The channel will be telecast through the APR-1 satellite and will have a footprint which covers India, South East Asia, Australia, Middle East and Central Europe.