NEW DELHI:Star India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Hong Kong-based Star Group, has applied to the Indian government for permission for a port-to-port uplinking facility through Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. This is one of the first steps taken by the company preparing for a new life for Star News post-31 March, 2003.
Confirming the move, government sources told indiantelevision.com that the application from Star came in recently.

As and when Star India gets the permission, it can uplink to any destination in the world from India using the various VSNL hubs round the country. However, it cannot uplink directly to a satellite bypassing VSNL.

At the moment, it is Prannoy Roy‘s New Delhi TV (NDTV) that has permission from the government to uplink through VSNL from India for content aired on Star News channel.

Interestingly, sometimes back NDTV is also said to have applied for uplinking permission separately and afresh, an indicator to the fact that the TV software powerhouse too is preparing to launch independent initiatives after March 2003 and, probably, turn into a broadcaster itself.

That Star India has applied for a port-to-port uplinking facility through VSNL is also indicative of the fact that the company does not propose to set up an uplinking base in India in the near future and would continue to use its uplink facility located in Hong Kong, media analysts said.

From Hong Kong, which also houses the headquarters of the broadcaster-turned-multi media company, various Star channels are uplinked to various satellites, including Asiasat-3 whose footprints cover the Indian subcontinent.

At the moment, Indian-promoted channels like Aaj Tak, Eenaadu and Sun do uplink directly to their broadcasting satellites from India from their uplink base. Aaj Tak, for example, Zee Telefilms too, has got permission to uplink some of its channels directly to a satellite from its uplink base located at Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

LONDON:The radio arm of the BBC has just received a shot in the arm from the British government. The BBC World Service, which commands a listenership of 150 million every week all over the globe, will gain an average annual increase of 3.4 per cent in real terms over the next three years as part of the government‘s Spending Review for 2003-2006.

The new investment represents an extra ?48 million spread over the three years, in addition to a strong, stable capital baseline, says an official release. The money will be used to:

# Consolidate recent extensions in BBC services following the events of 11 September and launch new programmes serving Afghanistan, South West Asia and the Arab World.

# Develop landmark radio programmes on global issues such as global security; Islam in the 21st century, and development and democracy.

# Develop new flagship programming serving Africa, China and Europe.

# Support the World Service‘s important capital modernisation programme.

The BBC World Service gains an additional ?8 million, ?13 million and ?27 million respectively in each of the three years. The settlement goes hand-in-hand with a rigorous programme of efficiency over the period. BBC World Service is funded through grant-in-aid from Britain‘s Foreign Office. The grant-in-aid currently stands at ?201 million and will increase by ?38 million to ?239 million by 2005/6, including the additional ?11 million for 2003/4 announced in the 2000 spending review.

NEW DELHI: With the clock ticking towards the 31 March 2003 termination of the NDTV-Star India alliance, Rupert Murdoch‘s company is making all the arrangements for the smooth transition to the new Star News feed.
As part of this process, Star has applied to the government for permission to use international gateway Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) for port to port uplinking.

Currently the arrangement is that NDTV sends the signal through VSNL to Hong Kong, from where it is uplinked onto the Asiasat satellite.

Star India officials however, offered no comments, when asked about the latest developments.

Though Star, surprisingly, has not applied for a direct uplink licence, in 1997, Newscorp boss Rupert Murdoch did consider using Bangalore as an uplink station.

Watch this space for a detailed report to follow.

NEW DELHI: The case of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2002, is getting curiouser. Yesterday, though it was listed as part of the day‘s business it did not come up for discussion. It is not on today‘s listed business and will not come up for the rest of the week either.

It now transpires that information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj decided to withdraw the bill for wider consultations after it became clear that Opposition leaders (with the tacit support of some influential ruling party members) would not allow the bill‘s passage without wider discussions.

The draft is now likely to be referred to a House Select Committee before it is brought up for passage.

Earlier indications were that the CAS bill would continue to be listed every day till it was passed.

The Hindu Business Line reported that parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan yesterday informed the Opposition members that the Bill - which was to be moved by Swaraj in the afternoon - had been taken off the list of business for the week.

The amendments to the Act were passed in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) on 15 May through a voice vote. The I&B ministry will now have to try and evolve a consensus with the Opposition party members before it can get the bill cleared.

NEW DELHI:Close on the heels of Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India announcing four new shows, it is the turn of Zee TV to follow suit with three new programmes set to launch over the next few weeks.

Leading the pack for Zee will be The Simply Shekhar Show
(see earlier report Shekhar Suman turns producer with two shows on Zee ).

Zee is promising the show will take Shekhar‘s original on SET - Movers & Shakers - a step further. A fun-filled variety entertainment show touching upon contemporary issues ranging from politics, sports, films, television, science and technology, research and weird inventions, music, business, etc within the country and all over the world in a light hearted manner is what The Simply Shekhar Show aims to be.