Balaji Telefilms Ltd has announced its financial results for the quarter ended ended 30 June 2001 which show impressive growth as well as a strong bottomline.

The income from operations is reported at Rs 236.58 million which is quite high compared to the financial Year 2000 figure of RS 488.82 million. Net profit has been registered at RS 49.3 million which is more than the FY2000 figure of RS 43.54 million.

Other income is low at RS 23,000 compared to the FY2000 figure of RS 7.9 million. When contacted, Ajay Patoria, company secretary, Balaji Telefilms said that it is because of the fact that the fund invested in mutual funds shows income only when the dividend is declared. So other income will see a rise in the coming quarters.

Production costs and telecasting fees have remained more or less at the same levels. The wage bill has gone up as the company is hiring more people in programming as well as production. Other expenditure has remained at the same level as last year. Financial costs have gone down considerably as Balaji Telefilms is moves towards becoming a debt free company.

The company has changed its accounting practice from last year in writing off 100 per cent cost of production of programmes in the same financial year when it is telecast. This will benefit the company in the long term to strengthen its bottomline.

"Our realisation was higher in this quarter which has given a boost to income," says Patoria. At the same time control on expenses, lower interest expenses have boosted the bottomeline.

The EPS (earning per share) for the quarter is at 4.79 which is more than the annualised EPS of 4.23, which shows that company has been successful in maximising shareholders value.

The share market has reacted positively to the result. The scrip touched an intraday high at Rs179.85 and closed on the higher side at RS 188 with more than 2.9 millions share being traded on the BSE.

For Balaji, the future looks bright with its programmes doing exceedingly well on C&S channels, both in the north and in the south. If content be the king, Balaji certainly seems to be producing most the successful stuff on display at present.

In a reflection of the importance that the Ronnie Scewvala-promoted UTV attaches to the "nonfiction area", it has formed a separate division (set up a month ago) to give it the right focus.

UTV‘s nonfiction division sees international business as a major focus area. Satya Mahapatra, GM Nonfiction Television, who heads the the division says: "We already have two international CO-productions in our bag. We are doing a series for Discovery Canada entitled "Working Animals". We have just finished six episodes and are starting work on six more. We are starting pre-production on a 26-part ‘Travel and Cuisine series for a North American channel, with an approximate budget of $1.5 million. We will also co-own the rights of these and build an international library."

"We are in active discussion with seven broadcasters in Europe, USA and Canada for unique shows on various Asian themes and we hope to conclude at least three of them in the next two months," Mahapatra says.

With a client list that includes Disney, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros. plus almost every broadcaster in South East Asia, UTV has clear strengths to launch an international onslaught in nonfiction areas, a company release says. An international client base and its strategic alliance with News Corporation gives a lot of synergy in the Western market and a lot of credibility to their marketing, the release says.

Other advantages that UTV has are full fledged production facilities in Singapore and Malaysia which enables it to cater to a Pan Asian show rather than just an Indian show. The other languages that UTV offers co-production opportunities are Mandarin, Cantonese and Bahasa Malay.

Concludes Satya: "We expect 40 per cent of our revenues in television, in the next two to three years time to come from international work and nonfiction that will be an important part of that product mix."

Today, August 1, marks a red letter day for MTV. It completes 20 years of existence in the US. And to celebrate the unique occasion, it is having an all-out birthday bash here and abroad.

In India one can catch MTV Loveline today at 3.00 p.m. & 10.00 p.m. MTV‘s "Happy Birthday" is being celebrated with "Agony Uncle" Cyrus Broacha . Popular model Madhu Sapre joins him on the "love seat". Pooja Batra & Pooja Bhatt will also be calling in to wish the channel good cheer. Speaking about MTV‘s turning 20, VJ Nikhil Chinnappa said," I guess it is still a little childish and it is never going to grow up which is the great thing about MTV. It is one of those organisations that is going to remain forever young."

In America it‘s going to be one long party. And on the agenda is - MTV20: LIVE AND ALMOST LEGAL. It will be hosted by ‘‘Total Request Live‘s‘‘ Carson Daly and will air live on MTV and MTV2 at 8 p.m. (EST), following a 12- hour block of music videos, promos, and intros from the first 20 years of MTV.

The bash will feature a combination of live in-house and remote performances from artists who have appeared on the network in the last 20 years as well as celebrity interviews. It will be shown from the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center. Featuring are performances from Hot Summer Tours including Bon Jovi, Nelly, Depeche Mode, Blink-182, Aerosmith, and Sugar Ray. Other performances include a reunited TLC, Jane‘s Addiction, Billy Idol, Method Man, Mary J. Blige. The five original MTV VJs: Martha Quinn, JJ Jackson, Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, and Mark Goodman will also put in an appearance as well as the popular cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead.

Judy McGrath, president of MTV said: ‘‘This party is as much about celebrating the future of MTV as it is about our history. For 20 years we have focused on constant evolution and reinvention and we‘re not about to slow down in the next 20.‘‘ Van Toffler, president of MTV said, "We‘re stuffing 20 years of MTV in one room for one night with all the music, irreverence and energy that we‘re known for. This should be a memorable night."

Coca-Cola and Volkswagen are sponsoring the event.