It was way back in March that Sony Entertainment Television announced it was brewing its own unique version of reality television centred around cricket, whose driving force would be a great level of interactivity with the viewing public.
Nothing more has been heard on that front but ESPN-Star Sports is readying for launch on September 21 an interactive show of its own to challenge the knowledge of cricket fans with Super Selector.

And the incentive to participate? An opportunity to share the commentary box with cricket legends. Well known actor and cricket enthusiast Naseeruddin Shah will host the preview and review shows of Super Selector. The preview show will discuss the possibilities for the next month while the review show will feature the analysis of the players‘ performances around the world.

Super Selector will be the first simulcast feature programme on ESPN and STAR Sports and will be a complete integrated, interactive and innovative cricket game show which provides an opportunity for viewers to demonstrate knowledge of the game. Viewers get a chance to determine if they can do a better job of selecting the best international cricket team than Sunil Gavaskar, Geoffrey Boycott or Ravi Shastri. A dream team will be having five batsmen, four bowlers, one wicket keeper and one all-rounder. The viewer can substitute three team members before the 21st of each month.

While cricket experts nominate their own teams, all the participants will actually get to play this game against the best of talent in the world of international cricket. ESS has created this opportunity exclusively for viewers to get more closely involved in the game of cricket, a company release says.

Hours after business channel CNBC India put out a report casting doubts on the reliability of the ratings systems in India, reactions from the industry were mixed.

CNBC aired its story after its reporter Naomi Dutta got her hands on what CNBC claims is the full list of 627 households in Mumbai that had peoplemeters - the data source for television ratings points for both the market research agencies ORG Marg‘s Intam as well as AC Nielsen‘s Tam data.

If what the report says is true I would be very, very concerned. The implications are extremely disturbing, Andrey Purushottam, managing director, Starcom, said, when asked for his reaction to a scenario where confidentiality could not be guaranteed.

"TRP numbers are used to evaluate trends rather than snapshots," Alex Kuruvilla, MD MTV India, said, adding that whatever the merits of the CNBC story, the ratings by and large reflect the prevailing reality.

Intam MD Gautam Mitra pointed out that while he still had to ascertain whether the list that CNBC had was a comprehensive one, it was not as if the system did not have checks and balances in place. Mitra also clarified that whatever may be the claims of the reporter about how she went about getting her list, getting hold of the names of homes which had people meters was not a very easy thing to do.

Mitra however, admitted that if CNBC actually did have the complete list of people meters in Mumbai, then it was an issue which would have to be looked into thoroughly.

One industry source dismissed the report as a storm in a teacup. "Everybody knows that there is always a possibility to manipulate people meters. Basically ratings are nothing more than a tool to gauge trends in viewership patterns. Nobody in the industry really believes that this is foolproof data. This report in no way compromises what the ratings system is all about."

Business channel CNBC India today broke a story casting doubt on the efficacy of television peoplemeters in India, saying it was "not foolproof, not confidential and definitely open to manipulation."
CNBC reporter Naomi Dutta had with her the full list of 627 households supplied with peoplemeters that make up the sample population used by the two market research agencies - ORG MARG‘s Intam ratings and AC Nielsen‘s TAM data - to calculate television ratings points (TRPs) in the city of Mumbai.

The business channel‘s viewpoint is that the ramifications of a reporter getting hold of the list of members of the peoplemeter sample are enormous. "The reporter had no devious intentions," is the channel‘s view. "A motivated person getting hold of the list could doctor the ratings as and when they please."

Dutta was shown on CNBC today morning entering some selected households in Mumbai which had the elusive peoplemeters installed. The family members interviewed on the channel were quite comfortable with the use of the meters and most of the households shown had had the meters in their residences for at least two to three years.

Asked what benefits the they got from having the meters in their homes, the people interviewed said they got gifts from the ratings agencies during the festival season. Another observation is that the people interviewed were certainly not from the SEC A & B households that most media planners are sold on.

Among the industry people who were interviewed for their reactions was MTV India MD Alex Kuruvilla.

National Geographic channel has lined up a special series on Africa as a part of its programming initiative. The eight-hour long compelling series premiers on September 17, 2001 at 10:00 PM in India and presents Africa through the eyes of its inhabitants. Spread over eight episodes, the series captures personal stories and offers an intimate glimpse of life on the African continent as it is lives today, in cities and rural villages, said Vijay Raman, associate vice-president, programming, National Geographic Channel at a press briefing at south Mumbai‘s Taj Mahal Hotel on 31 August.

Wildebeest search for grass during the day‘s final light in the Masai Mara Reserve along the Serengeti Plain. During the dry season, the animals migrate more than 800 miles in search of food and water.

"Each episode of Africa combines the natural history of different African regions with the stories of contemporary people living there," says Raman. The series conveys the epic scale, power and beauty of the land and the heroism and dignity of the people who shape its future. Shot on a wide-screen super 16mm format, it reveals the enchanting beauty of landscapes and wildlife of the continent, a company release says.

A lone fisherman navigates his boat in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania‘s chief island, Zanzibar.

Filmed over two years across 16 countries, Africa is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York (Nature series fame) in association with Tigress Productions Limited and Magic Box Mediaworks Inc.

Three young Fula girls attend the Daral Festival in Diafarabe, Mali. They dress in their finest clothes to welcome home the village‘s young men, who return with herds of cattle after an eight-month absence.

"With these series we have set out to do something different - to look beyond the statistics and the calamities to find the human pulse of Africa. From Addis Ababa to Zanzibar, we travel throughout the continent to chart the hopes, dreams and ambitions of the people as they live their daily lives and make their way in the world," says Jennifer Lawson, series co-producer, whose inspiration for the series came from her experiences living in East Africa and traveling throughout the continent.

Built for speed and jumping, impalas roam over parts of eastern, central and southern Africa.

"In the coming days innovative and interesting promos will be aired on the Star bouquet to get in the viewers," says Raman. At the promotional level there are contests offering special prizes. Winners also get a trip to Africa, Raman adds.

Queried, as to how would a common viewer relate to the series, Raman said: "We are working towards bridging the progamme with the viewer connect. This will be done, albeit with a slight difference, and will unfold over the coming days through on air promos on the NGC and Star bouquet."

After going up to 18 hours (7 am to 1 am) in its Hindi programming band to build a viewer connect a number of interesting promos have been lined up.

And as part of its effort to develop India-specific programming, National Geographic has commissioned three stories from India on its Different Ball Game programme:-

Two of them being Kalarippayattu, the ancient martial art with its roots in the southern state of Kerala, and Bull Racing, a popular animal racing sport in villages where the bulls are decorated in all their finery before kicking off the game which draws people from villages all around being two of them.

Another India-centric series features ace Indian lensman Raghu Rai in Out There, a signature series exclusively aired on NGC. The series profiles gutsy explorers who are passionate about their professions and when out in the field will do anything to get what they are looking for.

National Geographic to speak more Hindi