India has done itself proud at the recently concluded PROMAX&BDA Asia 2001 by bagging the largest number of Awards (Gold and Silver). Indian operators Channel [V] Star India and B4U Music won a total of 12 Gold and eight Silver awards, including all three Special Awards and marked India as the rising star of Asia in design and promo production.
Best of Show went to B4U Music. The Quantel Artist of the Year Award went to Sumanto Roy of New Delhi Television while the Rocket Award for Rising Talent was given to Rajesh Krishnan of B4U Music. Hong Kong companies also came in strong with eight Gold and six Silver Awards.

Nearly 9,000 entries from across the globe vied for top promotion, marketing and design glories from more than 100 judges at the annual awards. The majority of the award-winning works were from Channel [V].

THE QUANTEL ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sumanto Roy, New Delhi Television, Sports Tonight

THE ROCKET AWARD FOR RISING TALENT (Sponsored by ShimFilms)
Rajesh Krishnan, India

BEST OF SHOW
B4U Music, Making Movies

PROMO CHALLENGE, ASIA
Singapore CableVision (SCV), Singapore

1. BEST In-House STATION IMAGE PROMO
GOLD: Channel [V] Star India, Bholu De
SILVER: B4U Music, Now in Europe

2. BEST Out-Of-House STATION IMAGE PROMO
GOLD: TCM & Cartoon Network (Asia Pacific), TCM Storyboard
SILVER: Channel [V] Star India, Simpu - Kids Menu

3. BEST CAMPAIGN - SATELLITE OR CABLE
GOLD: Yes Data, Sports Everywhere CCTV5
SILVER: Yes Data,Total Soccer CCTV5

4. BEST CAMPAIGN -TERRESTRIAL
GOLD: VELVET, Nine Networks - relaunch 2000
SILVER: SPH Mediaworks, Channel U Love from A Lie Campaign

5. BEST MOVIE PROMO
GOLD: HBO ASIA, Cinemax Oct/Dec Coming Attractions
SILVER: HBO ASIA, Girl Interrupted

6. BEST DRAMA PROMO
GOLD: MediaCorp TV Singapore, Spin MTV
SILVER: MediaCorp TV Singapore, My Fair Princess II - Old Movies

7. BEST SPORTS PROMO
GOLD: Singapore Cable Vision, ISA 2001/2002 Inter Milan Interstitial SILVER: BBC, Wimbledon 2001
SILVER: Sky Network Television New Zealand, Kangaroos Tour of Great Britain

8. BEST CHILDREN?S PROGRAMME PROMO
GOLD: The Disney Channel, Wishbone - Fashion
SILVER: The Disney Channel Who Let the Dogs Out

9. BEST MUSIC PROGRAMME PROMO
GOLD: Channel [V] Star India, Late night [V] Promo
SILVER: Channel [V] Music Networks , Mobile Demand

10. BEST COMEDY/ENTERTAINMENT PROMO
GOLD: Super TV (Taiwan) - Columbia Tristar International Television, Let?s Play Politics (Wordplay)
SILVER: Super TV (Taiwan) - Columbia Tristar International Television, Let?s Play Politics (Moses and Joshua)

11. BEST INFOTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE PROMO
GOLD: STAR (India), Kaun Banega Crorepati - Stranger
SILVER: STAR (India), Kaun Banega Crorepati - Wedding

12. BEST SCIENCE/NATURE/HISTORY PROMO
GOLD: Discovery Asia, Wild Discovery: Venom Promo
SILVER: Discovery Asia, Colour of War Promo
SILVER: STAR Group, On The Edge

13. BEST NEWS/CURRENT AFFAIRS PROMO
GOLD: STAR Group, Asian Journal - "The News Through Train"
SILVER: BBC, Hardtalk
SILVER: BBC, Paradoxes

14. BEST SCRIPT
GOLD: HBO ASIA, Mysterious Men & Women
SILVER: HBO ASIA, Cinemax 5th Anniversary Spot: Joan Of Arc

15. BEST EDITING IN A PROMO
GOLD: BBC, Newsgathering
SILVER: Channel [V] Music Networks, Tool Over the Edge Special

16. BEST AUDIO
GOLD: STAR Group, Friends (Theme Song)
SILVER: B4U Music, Sound Engineering

17. BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
GOLD: B4U Music, Sound Of Music
SILVER: B4U Music, Bajao

18. BEST SALES & MARKETING PRESENTATION
GOLD: MTV Asia, MTV Music Awards Asia Presentation
SILVER: Discovery Asia, Discovery Networks Asia Day - Staff Spot

19. BEST PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
GOLD: TVMobile, FM89.3 Announcement
SILVER: Discovery Asia, Life On Animal Planet - JoJo, the Guide Dog 20.

20. BEST SPECIAL EVENT PROMO
GOLD: MTV Asia, MTV Hugo Boss Party Zone Contest Spot
SILVER: MTV Asia MTV Asia Awards Contest Teaser/Contest Campaign 21.

21. BEST HOLIDAY/SEASONAL PROMO
GOLD: MTV Asia LDC, Mother?s Day Spot
GOLD: Television Broadcasts, Valentine?s Day Image
SILVER: Discovery Asia, Music of Life - Taiwan Exorcism

22. BEST MULTI-MEDIA CAMPAIGN
GOLD: Infinite Frameworks, Discovery Channel Online - Branch, Termites, Oysters
SILVER: Channel [V] Star India, VJ IDs

23. BEST LAUNCH CAMPAIGN
GOLD: B4U Music, Making Movies
SILVER: The Disney Channel, Lloyd in Space Campaign

24. FUNNIEST SPOT
GOLD: B4U Music, Direction
SILVER: AXN Asia - Columbia Tristar International Television, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - The Final Battle

25. SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
GOLD: Channel [V] Music Networks, Japanese

26. Pop Zone Promo
GOLD: Channel [V] Star India, Kim VJ ID
SILVER: Channel [V] Star India, Yudi VJ ID

27. BEST PROGRAMME OPENER, LOGO & PACKAGING
GOLD: B4U Music, Sound Of Music
SILVER: MTV Asia, MTV Screen

28. BEST In-House BUMPER or ID
GOLD: TCM & Cartoon Network (Asia Pacific), TCM Storyboard ID
SILVER: MTV Asia LDC, Zen MID

29. BEST Out-Of-House BUMPER or ID
GOLD: STAR Group, Star Network ID
SILVER: Star Group, Star Plus ID

31. BEST PRINT CAMPAIGN
GOLD: TCM & Cartoon Network (Asia Pacific), Poster Set
SILVER: ESPN STAR Sports, Super Selector ESPN STAR Sports

32. BEST PRINT AD
GOLD: SPH Mediaworks, Turn-U-On Billboard
SLIVER: Channel [V] Star India, Club [V]

33. BEST PRINT CAMPAIGN - SPECIAL EVENT
GOLD: MTV Asia LDC, Sound Education
SILVER: SPH Mediaworks, Channel U?s Launch: T shirts/Bus Ads/Press Ads

35. BEST COMPUTER ANIMATION
GOLD: OCN, Toonivers : Sing A Song
SILVER: GMD, Hoyts - "Experience"

36. BEST NON COMPUTER ANIMATION
GOLD: Channel [V] Star India, Timechecks
SILVER: Channel [V] Music Networks, Club V Asia Event (Office)

38. BEST USE OF TYPOGRAPHY
GOLD: Discovery Asia, Icons - Banca
SILVER: Infinite Frameworks, SCV Supersports Channel Branding

39. BEST SET DESIGN
GOLD: ESPN STAR Sports, Super Selector
SILVER: Measat Broadcast Network Systems (ASTRO), Anugerah Era 2001

40. BEST OVERALL CHANNEL DESIGN - SAT or CABLE
GOLD: Channel [V] Star India, Tube Thought
SILVER: MTV Asia LDC, MTV Philippines

41. BEST OVERALL CHANNEL DESIGN - TERRESTRIAL
GOLD: SPH Mediaworks, Channel U TV Idents/Bus Ads/Press Ads/T-shirts SILVER: Digital Pictures, Channel U

42. BEST COLLATERAL/MARKETING/PUBLICITY MATERIAL
GOLD: Discovery Asia Inc, Animal Planet - Themed Nights DM?s
SILVER: STAR Group, STAR Off-Air Rebranding Campaign

(See earlier report: B4U strikes gold-n-silver at PROMAX & BDA Asia 2001 Awards)

ETC Networks Ltd, the first channel to secure clearance to build a commercial teleport in Mumbai, is now looking to set up its uplinking facility in adjoining Raigad district‘s industrial town of Khopoli.

Jagjit Singh Kohli, managing director and one of the promoters of ETC, said ETC had signed a deal to provide uplink facilities for the Thailand-based Shin Satellite Public Company Limited which runs the Thaicom satellite systems.

Once the teleport is commissioned it is expected to reduce the operating costs of the channel and also provide additional revenue streams for the company by offering uplink services to other private channels and Internet service providers.

Industry sources, however, indicate that work has still to start on the 30 acres of land acquired for the purpose as a "technical clearance" is still awaited from the Maharashtra state government.

Close to Rs 18.6 million has been put aside for establishing uplinking facilities. The teleport is expected to be up and running within this financial year, and ETC is confident that it would also be generating revenue from Day 1, Neelam Gupta, head corporate communications, has told indiantelevision.com in an earlier response to queries.

Asian sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports claims that the recently concluded Major League Baseball World Series drew excellent ratings on ESPN. Major League Baseball programs are shown on ESPN Taiwan, ESPN Asia, ESPN Philippines and MBC-ESPN (Korea).

About 115,000 people watched the best match of the MLB series on ESPN, according to an ESS release. Next day‘s repeat saw viewership peaking at 241,000. This figure was double the average viewers of the last two days‘ telecast. When the final game was repeated the crucial male segment spent two and a half more times viewing it as compared to music and news shows on other channels.

A total of 2.8 million viewers saw the 2001 World Series, a 67 per cent jump over last year‘s finals. The number of women watching doubled while more young people between the ages of 15-24 saw the finals. MLB‘s popularity saw 27 million viewers tuning in last year on ESPN.

ESS constantly tracks programe trends in countries which have a passion for the sport, particularly Taiwan. Then the company tried to customise MLB broadcasts to sports fans. Asian players making their mark in Major League Baseball include Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki of the Seattle Mariners and Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers.