Cartoon Network‘s offline initiatives continue to be innovative.

Last week, the channel threw a bash to celebrate the birthday of Natallia Khaniejo, the Mumbai nine year old who won the grand prize of the month in Cartoon Network‘s new promotion, Acme Hour Birthday Blast.

The Network‘s dynamic duo Tom & Jerry hosted the party, comprising games and exclusive Cartoon Network gifts. The birthday girl was presented with a special goody bag by Tom & Jerry who also entertained the 50 odd guests with a special dance performance.

The Network has already held birthday parties for six other kids since June last year, held in various cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bareilly, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Bangalore. The Cartoon Network Acme Hour promotion is sponsored by Kellogg‘s Chocos. Launched in June 2001, this year-long promotion gives one lucky toonhead every month an Acme Hour birthday blast for fifty friends in his/her town, complete with a birthday cake, goodies and a special visit by Cartoon Network toon stars. In addition, ten other kids receive special birthday packs from the Network. All kids who send their entries receive special birthday cards from Cartoon Network for themselves and their five friends and their names are scrolled on-air during the Acme Hour franchise on the Network, 7 to 8 pm Monday to Thursday and weekends at 8 to 9 pm.

B4U is branching out into avenues less trodden.

The company has developed an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that offers integrated software solutions to media companies.

Bramble, the system built up by B4U over the last three years, provides solutions to practically every task a media company undertakes, including scheduling, production, branding, agreement management systems, cinema database, library (including the rights to software and the period for which the rights hold), telephone directory and ad bookings.

Customisation of the system is an ongoing process, according software systems head Ravi Nair. Giving a comparative example of how comprehensive Bramble is, Nair points out that Star India paid Rs 600,000 for an ERP package called Scope that handles only ad bookings.

Financial accounting and Human Resource Development are also being added to Bramble‘s scope, Nair says.

As far as the safety aspect is concerned, the system operates through a lease line connected to a router, which is connected to a proxy server, which in turn is connected to the web server and thence to the data server. The firewall protection works at two levels - one at the router and the other at the proxy server, Nair says. The main server, says Nair, is regenerated every two hours.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today imposed special margins on 35 scrips, including three media shares.

The media firms included in the list of companies on which the margins were imposed are Padmalaya Telefilms, Pritish Nandy Communications and Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd. The trading margins imposed on the three scrips are at 25 per cent.

The rates of special margins have been revised keeping in view the closing price of the scrip on the last day of the settlement, a BSE release says.

Margin money is like a security deposit that is paid - which is held until a deal is complete and all monies are settled. The aim of margin money is to minimise the risk of default by either counter-party (buyer or seller). The payment of margin ensures that the risk is limited to the previous day‘s price movement on each outstanding position. Such measures are normally taken by the exchange to check excessive speculative trading.

The Ark Trust, an American non-profit animal protection organisation and presenter of the annual Genesis Awards, will salute the award-winning John S Hendricks, founder, chairman and CEO of Discovery Communications.

He is being recognised for his pioneering commitment to high quality documentary programming that celebrates the animal world.

An official release states that the Genesis Awards honours outstanding individuals from the major news and entertainment media for spotlighting animal issues with courage, creativity and integrity. Hendricks will get its coveted Guest of Honor distinction.

The release informs that since Discovery Channel‘s inception in 1982, Hendricks has been the driving force behind DCI‘s dramatic growth to a global operation that covers 155 countries with over 650 million subscribers. Its current stable of networks now encompasses 33 distinctive programming networks, representing 14 entertainment brands, which include The Learning Channel (TLC), Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, and a family of digital channels.

DCI‘s other properties consist of discovery.com and 170 Discovery Channel retail stores. As one of the leading visionaries in the media industry, Hendricks has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including a previous Genesis Award for The Discovery Channel in 1991. Among his other awards are a Primetime Emmy and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences highest honour, the Governors Award.