MUMBAI:Two diverse studies on kids‘ television viewing patterns would have us believe that while the couch potato is growing increasingly younger, television should not be blamed for converting young minds into mere receptacles of mindless programming.Television is emerging a favourite baby sitter among parents in the US, according to a survey by Madison Direct Marketing. TV ranked second only to toys and comfortably beat other tactics like books and play when it comes to options for keeping children busy when parents are busy with other work. 63 per cent of respondents report they put on a favorite TV show or movie when they want their kids to stay busy for a while without needing parental attention. 45 per cent of parents reported their kids are watching one or two hours of TV per day, while 35 per cent reported their kids watching three or more hours per day. A good nine per cent reported their children watching an alarming five hours of television per day.

MUMBAI: In the ongoing debate on the efficacy of set top box systems that will finally enable implementation of CAS, DALVI, a six-year-old encryption systems company that‘s looking to be a major player in the CAS market in India, has refuted the charge that all analogue systems are less secure than digital systems. Pointing that no single solution will be the best for all in the Indian scenario, DALVI‘s business development manager Lewis Zimbler says that security methodology is the same in all systems whether analogue or digital. "The video signal is ‘scrambled‘ and a control data stream is simultaneously transmitted to authorise the set top box. It is not true that all analogue systems are less secure than digital systems. Analogue encryption systems have been in the market for many years and range from the older and less secure sync manipulation versions through to state of the art video processing offering excellent security," says Zimbler.

While the implementation of CAS will start the Indian cable TV business on the road to legitimacy and profit, Zimbler avers that while the government should introduce the necessary legislation it should not mandate the technology to be used to implement it.

MUMBAI: After venturing into untested waters with a religious band on Sundays, Star Plus is now ready with a weekly college romance and a weekday kids‘ fantasy serial to begin telecast early next month.

Neena Gupta, whose last offering on Star, Saans, achieved near cult status, is back on the channel with Kyun Hota Hay Pyarr, a show around three collegians and their quest for love. Slotted in the Thursdays 8 pm time band in place of Kundali, KHHP deals with the lives of small town girl Nikki, college heartthrob Adi and flamboyant Ash as they make their way through crushes and heartbreaks on campus. According to Gupta, Kyun Hota Hai Pyarrr, is for the youth, by the youth and of the youth. My entire cast and crew - actors, director, scriptwriter - are very young. To get the real feel of this generation, of today‘s youth, I needed to work with this young team."

Neena Gupta returns to Star with Kyun Hota Hai Pyarr

Shaka Laka Boom Boom - kids‘ fantasy will take the place of daily comedy on Star Plus

Hum Saath Aath Hain, the comedy show in the 7.30 pm weekdays slot, will from 19 August make way for Shaka Laka Boom Boom, a kids‘ fantasy. SLBB is about a young boy who discovers a pencil endowed with magical powers, that can bring to life anything that is drawn with it. Sanju‘s escapades with the pencil, his confrontations with the anti heroes and his magical journeys make up for this series, produced by UTV and directed by Ankush, Glen and Suraj Rao.