The Ramoji Rao owned Eenadu Television Network is all set to launch six new regional language channels next month. Interestingly, each of these will speak a different dialect. There are separate channels for Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, apart from channels in Oriya and Gujarati.

The network already has Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada and Urdu channels in its kitty. ETV Telugu was launched in 1995, followed by ETV Bangla in May 2000, ETV Marathi in June and ETV Kannada in December. The Urdu channel was launched as a 24-hour free-to-air digital channel on 15 August this year for which programming content had been built up for more than one and a half years.

ETV publicity head A Vishwambar Rao says the same meticulous preparation has gone into the building of programming software for the six channels that are to be launched next month. The new channels will follow a similar programming pattern as the existing ones. This entails a fair mix of entertainment and information with hourly news updates, telefilms, family dramas, daily soaps, devotional and musical programmes.

Most of the network?s programmes are produced in house, at the state of the art Ramoji Rao Studios in Hyderabad. Programming for the four ?Hindi-belt? channels - ETV-MP, ETV-UP, ETV-Bihar and ETV-Rajasthan - has been organised in such a way that all four will air the same shows in the prime time band. The channels will have their own programming for the rest of the slots, according to Rao.

Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and GlobeCast have signed a new lease agreement for half of a 36 MHz C-band transponder on AsiaSat 2. GlobeCast will take up additional C-band capacity on AsiaSat 2, to be used by Satlink Communications, one of the largest satellite service providers in the Middle East region.

Satlink Communications uses the AsiaSat 2 capacity to launch a multiple channels per carrier platform for the transmission of five digital television channels to Japan and the rest of Asia.

AsiaSat 2, a Lockheed Martin Series 7000 model, carries 20 36 MHz and four 72 MHz C-band, as well as nine 54 MHz Ku-band linearised transponders. Its C-band footprint covers 53 countries embracing Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Australasia and the CIS. AsiaSat 2 also has a high-power Ku beam serving the Greater China region, Korea and Japan.

AsiaSat claims to be Asia?s leading provider of high-quality satellite services to both the broadcast and telecommunications markets. AsiaSat serves telecommunications customers for public telephone networks, private VSAT networks and high speed Internet and multimedia services.

GlobeCast is a global leader in professional broadcasting and Internet delivery via satellite. It offers a one-stop shop source for full range of broadcast and Internet-driven services, from mobile newsgathering and event coverage, to studio production and post-production, DBS and DTH transmission, IP multicasting and two-way satellite Internet connectivity.

Satlink specialises in operating and installing video and audio satellite transmission systems. With 17 antennas for reception and 7 earth stations for uplink, Satlink is one of the largest satellite service providers in the Middle East region.

Two new television public service announcements (PSAs) that discourage ethnic stereotyping of Arab and Muslim Americans have been released. This is a joint effort between The Arab American Institute, Colorado-based Starz Encore Group, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) as well as Cleveland-based Brokaw Inc. The PSAs will run in more than 71 million American television homes with support of cable & satellite TV industries.

The spots include the "Tolerance" PSA produced by Starz Encore Group contains images of Arab and Muslim Americans. It reminds the viewer that hostility directed toward fellow Americans just because they look like the perpetrators of the 11 September attacks is actually an attack on individual liberty.

The "Twin Towers" PSA, produced by Brokaw Inc. of Cleveland in association with the Arab American Institute, is voiced by "Family Ties" star Michael Gross. As Gross speaks his words appear on screen and form the outlines of the twin towers as they once stood in the Manhattan skyline.

The premium movie channel provider Starz Encore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, and Brokaw Inc. produced the PSAs at their own expense. Brokaw Inc. is a full-service, award-winning creative brand development firm. The PSAs stress the vital need for tolerance and warns against hate, injustices and discrimination against Asians.

Cable operators AOL Time Warner Cable, AT&T Broadband, Adelphia Communications, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable Communications and Cox Communications are all supporting the effort. They serve 54 million homes. The NCTA will inform its membership about the PSAs. This includes programming networks and cable television systems that reach 69 per cent of the United States? 102 million TV households. DIRECTV will carry one or both of the PSAs.

Starz Encore Group, the largest provider of cable and satellite delivered premium movie channels in the United States, is already airing its PSA in the heaviest rotation ever on all 13 of its movie channels. Starz Encore are uplinking the spots to the entire TV industry, including broadcasters, free of charge via three separate 15-minute satellite feeds. The first uplink took place on 21 December with two more scheduled for 27 December and 3 January at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The feeds can be found on the Galaxy 11 satellite, transponder C08. Galaxy 11 is located at 91 degrees west. The downlink frequency will be 3860 MHz with vertical polarity. Feeds will be analog and "in the clear."

Starz Encore Group owns 15 American channels with approximately 107 million pay units.

NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the US. NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 per cent of the country?s cable television households and more than 200 cable programme networks.