It‘s may be a great brand positioning statement they said. But in India its only cricket that everyone watches, they said. Well, the Fifa World Cup, which ended on Sunday (and left large swathes of the globe with a serious case of soccer hangover) has left its impact even on cricket-crazy India. Ratings data for the week ended 22 June (all C&S households) show that Ten Sports, which had the telecast rights for the soccer spectacle, has been able to make it to the top 100 programmes list.

Three quarterfinals of the game entered the top 100 shows, according to data released by TAM. The England vs Brazil match on 21 June ranked 54th in the top shows of the week among 4+ C&S audiences across the country, with a TVR of 3.05. The next day‘s quarterfinal matches also ensured a place for themselves in the top shows, ranked at 80 and 84th place. The match between Spain and Korea drew a TVR of 2.67 while the one between Senegal and Turkey drew a TVR of 2.66.

While ESPN Star had been insisting that cricket held sway even when the World Cup began, the latter half of the Fifa championship seems to have caught the fancy of viewers. Viewership for the World Cup in the week ended 8 June had shot up considerably in the metros, according to TAM. Reports had indicated that the Argentina versus England match recorded a rating of 3.3 as compared to the previous week‘s high of 1.45 TVR.

Select cities like Kolkata and Cochin reacted favourably to the soccer matches from day one. However, metros like Delhi and Mumbai caught on only after the last week.

Sunday‘s finals between Brazil and Germany, which saw the Samba Kings win their fifth World Cup, had a global television audience estimated to be 1.5 billion, the largest ever in history. What ratings the the match drew in India should make for interesting viewing. Especially considering that the same day saw the Indian cricket team put on a steller performance in defeating Sri Lanka in the Natwest tri-series currently on in England. The match was telecast on Star Sports.

Pacific Century Matrix (PCM), Asia-Pacific‘s leading provider of satellite-based broadband connectivity and network solutions is holding a workshop on DVB / IP over Satellite on 5 July in New Delhi.
The day-long workshop will focus on satellite broadband in India, an overview of PCM‘s products and services and VoIP in India. It will also have presentations by equipment suppliers and ground operators as well as a discussion on IP performance over satellite.

PCM offers DVB/IP broadcasting services for television broadcasters, and a range of one-way and interactive broadband services for multimedia business, major corporations and content providers. Through its joint demonstration via satellite, customers will be able to obtain first hand experience of its services/ products combination, says a company release.
The workshop will allow participants to get connected with main players in the industry including local Internet Service Providers, Broadcasters, Regulatory Bodies, Educational Institutions and Corporations in India, the release states.

Among the other guests who have confirmed their attendance include: Prasar Bharati officer on special duty Chellum Bose, DD director engineering Y Pratap. According to PCM‘s country representative Sandeep Bhargava, more than 96 professional involved in Internet services, call centres, satellite services, broadcast engineering have confirmed their attendance.

He adds that the co-sponsors include: DSL Dishnet, MCBS, Pentagon Systems, Space Link, and Malibu Network.

Doordarshan has entered into an agreement with France-based Canal France International (CFI) to telecast 26 French films on DD Metro beginning 5 July at 11 pm..

Pointing out that this was another step towards Indo-French cultural cooperation, DD director-general S Y Quraishi told a press conference in Delhi today: "We have entered into an MoU with CFI to telecast French films on DD which will be sub-titled in English and some of them will be dubbed in English too."

According to Quraishi, the dubbing and subtitling will be done by CFI before the films are provided to DD which can also earn some revenue if the Indian pubcaster manages to market the films, which will certainly attract a niche audience, to advertisers.

Speaking on the occasion, French ambassador to India Bernard de Montferrand said: "France has been attempting to see how it can improve the knowledge about the country in India and films are one way of doing it. Moreover, since India produces so many films, some of them which in recent times have been shown in France too (like Lagaan and Monsoon Wedding), we hope through this arrangement with DD, we will benefit."

The present agreement is another step towards strengthening Indo-French commercial ties, what with this year‘s Cannes Film festival almost awash with the Indian flavour.

Meanwhile, DD has also signed an agreement with British broadcaster BBC to air AIDS-related shows on its regional networks.

ETC Networks has announced red ink-stained financial results for the year ended 31 March 2002, even as Zee Telefilms readies to get into the driver‘s seat, after its official acquisition of the network last month.
ETC‘s turnover is down to Rs 313.3 million (Rs 538.2 million in the year to March 2001) even as expenses on exceptional items of Rs 136.12 million have dragged its net profit into negative terrain (Rs 141.06 million as against a profit of Rs 24.36 million last year). The exceptional items represent a write off on account of advances for copyrights and new projects.

The company has managed to halve its programming and telecast expenses to Rs 125.871 million (Rs 288.08 million) in the year. Its profit before before interest, depreciation /amortization & exceptional items is higher at Rs 55.64 million (Rs 49.62 million), but an interest component of Rs 12.44 million (Rs 6.02 million), depreciation of Rs 32.11 million (Rs 17.02 million) and exceptional expenses have led to the losses of Rs 136.12 million. To top it all, its reserves have dropped to Rs 273.81 million (Rs 299.24 million).

etc?s Channel Punjabi, leader in Punjabi regional channels, has maintained its top position since its inception two years back, the channel claims. Quoting TAM and INTAM in all the C&S homes and amongst the viewers aged 4+ (period starting 12 May), etc Channel Punjabi channel share is 58 per cent, Alpha Punjabi is 21 per cent, Lashkara 9 per cent, DD Punjabi 12 per cent, with Tara bringing up the rear with virtually 0 per cent, an official release say.