Zee has pole-vaulted its way into the southern language market by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Asianet Communications Ltd, the company that runs the Malayalam language service the same name. Under the MoU, Zee Telefilms will go in for a share swap with Asianet which will see it acquiring 51 per cent of the latter, effectively gaining control. Asianet will be given Zee Telefilms shares which will give it an equity position of less than 1 per cent in the company.
Zee TV has placed an enterprise value of Rs 4,000 million on Asianet, which means its outgo (in terms of Zee TV equity) to take the 51 per cent stake will be around Rs 2,000 million. Dr Raji Menon, the chairman of Asianet will get a seat on the Zee TV board. Ditto with Zee chairman Subhash Chandra who will hop on to the Asianet board. Asianet‘s name will not be changed, as it has quite a lot of cachet with its viewing audience.

Under the MoU, Asianet will be the southern language partner for Zee TV and develop content and channels for other southern tongues such as Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. In fact, a Kannada language channel is to be launched in the very near future.

Asianet reportedly has a library of 4,000 hours of programming and 1,200 Malayalam movies. Zee TV is looking at dubbing its software library and pumping it across the four languages. It will also help in the distribution of the channels across its digital bouquets in various countries.

The acquisition of the channels will help Zee TV jumpstart - in fact bulldoze - its way into the southern maket where Sun TV and Eenadu TV have a significant lead . Asianet will continue to be managed on a daily basis by Menon with more and more Zee TV expertise and creative and business talent coming into the company over time.

The media baron Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp has picked up an additional 15 per cent stake in the Indian youth music channel Channel V. Sony Picture Entertainment‘s (SPE) failure to pump in additional cash into the channel which was seeking another round of funding resulted in News Corp acquiring SPE‘s 15 per cent stake in the channel. This has resulted in the media giant‘s stake rising to 77 per cent.
Initially, Channel V promoters were News Corp, Sony Picture Entertainment, Warner Music Group, BMG and EMI Music. The new equity composition is as follows:

News Corp: 77 per cent
EMI Music: 15 per cent
Warner Music Group: 4 per cent
BMG: 4 per cent

Channel V‘s board made the cash call barely eighteen months after its previous round of funding. The channel has reportedly posted lossed over $100 million ever since its launch. It has been consistently reporting losses and is under severe cash crunch. This situation has forced SPE to withdraw its stake thus exiting from the company.

According to a local newspaper, Suresh Bala, the General Manager Channel V said that the new equity composition would not affect the working of the channel and it would still remain autonomous.

The channel had lined up ambitious plans for the near future. The channel management is hoping that the new plans would ensure a turnaround for the channel.

VH1 the division of MTV Networks owned by Viacom International, Inc. will set its foot in the Indian air space. MTV India has drawn up plans for bringing the channel to India. The UK edition of VH1 will enter Indian territory by the beginning of next year when PanAmSat (PAS) 10 is launched.

The channel targets music lovers between the age group 25-44.
It‘s playlist features the best music from today?s charts as well as classic tracks and one-hit wonders from the ?60s through ?90s. VH1 UK?s programming includes mood-driven contemporary music throughout the day with focused shows featuring classic and current charts, live studio performances, documentaries and archive recordings. The network achieved 100% broadband cable distribution in the UK within seven months of launch becoming one of the most successful launches in UK satellite and cable history.

MTV India will thus have two channels-one focussed on Indian music and the other clearly on the international music. It thus hopes to make international music freaks satisfied with 24 hours of music of their choice.

But, will the channel garner enough revenues? Lack of advertising and penetration had earlier forced MTV India to cut down massively on International music and focus on the local scenario. Are the advertisors ready? Will many subscribers pay for the channel? Or will MTV India actually get in VH1 in India?

Finally Indian fashion will have a showcase to the world. B4U, the channel which carried Indian cinema to the global audience is all set to do the same with India Fashion.

B4U, the distributors of Fashion TV, or FTV as it is popularly known has tied up with the channel and will broadcast Indian Fashion shows throughout the world. This means that a whole new world for people from the Indian fashion industry who have been largely restricted to local markets.

The channel will also be involved in local level promotions like showing Indian fashion shows in theaters, promoting new faces and organising fashion shows and contests. For the purpose of fashion contests, B4U has tied up one of the leading model agencies of the world, Metropolitan.

Apart from the fashion channel, B4U will also start its music channel that is expected to compete with MTV and Channel V. B4U is also doing its bit to popularise Indian music. B4U has an arrangement with the international music channel MCM, wherein MCM will air one hour of exclusive Indian music.

The channel will also make foray into internet with its fashion channel. B4Ufashion.com is under construction and once it is completed it will be linked to FTV.fr. Ravi Nair would heads the infotech team of the channel. The site would have both B2B and B2C sections.