The Ronnie Screwvala-promoted UTV Entertainment - which produces two of CNN International‘s "made in India" programmes - has extended its production contract for CNN indiadotcom for another 20 episodes.

CNN indiadotcom had completed 31 episodes at the end of May when the contract was extended. The original contract with UTV was for 40 episodes, executive producer Jaya Mahajan has said.

CNN indiadotcom is presented by Anish Trivedi and covers every aspect of information technology. The weekly show looks at the information technology (IT) industry and how it affects both corporate and personal lives and bring viewers expert opinions, interviews and the latest news on this rapidly-growing industry. CNN indiadotcom has a team of three reporters in Mumbai, one in Bangalore, one in Delhi, two in Hyderabad and two in Chennai, Mahajan said.

When queried about the ubiquitous TRPs, Mahajan said the issues at stake for niche programmes like CNN indiadotcom were not so much ratings as effective distribution, since it directly affected the programme‘s reachability.

"They are good just the way they are at the moment. It is unfair at this stage to compare these shows with those on other fairly established channels," Mahajan states.

But the show is catching on and making a difference Mahajan says, citing an instance where the programme had a positive impact while covering the influence of e-network in the rural areas.

"About three months ago we had covered the impact of information technology in the villages," recalls Mahajan. "The programme featured how e-networking was changing the lives of the people in Varna, a district in Maharashtra. Varna had received a special grant from the prime minister‘s special relief fund to e-enable its network. A programme highlighting this was aired in December. The collector of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh (central India) happened to watch this programme while he was in Delhi. After noting the changes that IT connectivity had brought about in the villages, it inspired the collector to lead his district towards becoming IT enabled and making it an e-network savvy place.

"A television show should not be only about entertainment, providing information superficially. It is a medium which can bring about changes," says Mahajan, quite satisfied with the impact the programme has had with audiences.

"We are not changing people‘s lives but sometimes we make a difference, which is what the show is all about," says the 26-year-old executive producer. "You know the work is actually reaching people and the difference is truly being felt."

Queried as to how well the show‘s presenter Anish Trivedi went down with audiences, Mahajan said: "CNN is an American channel and stands for a certain production quality. Given his background and presentation style, Anish Trivedi comes across as polished, suave and has a bit of credibility behind him." (Trivedi spent 15 years in the investment banking industry - starting as a trader, and moving through various areas including research, mergers & acquisitions, and investment banking. Trivedi was a former partner at the New York-based investment bank, Oppenheimer & Co, Inc., where he served as the firm‘s director of Indian research, and as country head for India.)

Pubcaster Prasar Bharati‘s much tom-tommed call for pre-qualification bids for prime time slots on national broadcaster Doordarshan‘s Metro channel drew a blank according to reports, at the time of writing.

Industry sources however, say a bid has been put in for the 11:00 PM to 12:30 PM slot by the Delhi-based Moving Pictures Company (India) Ltd promoted by Ramesh Sharma, its chairman and managing director. The time band covers two slots - 11 PM to 12 midnight and 12 midnight to 12:30 am. The advantage for Moving Pictures is that here there is no floor price, unlike the other time slots from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM This bit of information could not be confirmed at the time of posting the report.

The pre-qualification bids, which were opened at 3:30 PM today, came up empty for the prime time band. This cold shouldering of the new DD tender offer has sent out a strong message that in these difficult times, with channels having enough hassles running their own operations, the headache of managing DD Metro and more so the mandarins behind it was just not worth the effort. It also makes virtually irrelevant tomorrow‘s opening of financial bids which are scheduled for 3:30 PM at Doordarshan Bhavan in Delhi.

The fact that HFCL Nine Broadcasting, which holds the rights for the prime time slot 7:00 to 10:00 PM on DD Metro till September did not put in a bid means that the HFCL-Kerry Packer promoted company has called DD‘s bluff. But a statement put out by Ravina Raj Kohli, CEO, HFCL Nine Broadcasting, still holds out hope that, at the end of the day, it will be Nine Broadcasting that finally ends up renewing its deal for the prime time slot on DD Metro.

And what of Zee Telefilms‘ "interest" in the 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM slot? Partha Sinha, senior vice-president marketing, who had been quoted on 10 June saying: ?We are positively disposed. I see no reason why Zee should not make an expression of interest in that channel,? was singing a a different tune today.

Sinha says that a detailed study of the whole thing in the interim led Zee to conclude that bidding for the slot was not a viable proposition. "And not just in financial terms, but looking at the bigger picture too," he adds.

Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea brushed off the matter in a single line response "Star did not not bid, and that‘s more than enough said on this issue," he says.

In a signed statement Nine Gold CEO Kohli had this to say:
"We at HFCL Nine Broadcasting are not surprised at the outcome of Doordarshan‘s call for fresh bids for time slots on DD Metro. Given the unrealistic terms and conditions proposed by DD, the bid for prime time on DD Metro looked commercially unviable.

"As stated earlier, HFCL Nine Broadcasting India LTD will be happy to initiate fresh talks with DD on the terms and conditions proposed earlier by us. These terms and conditions have been drafted based on our experience with DD Metro, and offer the best financial terms to DD without diluting the brand image of the national broadcaster.

"Having kept DD‘s best interests in mind for the past 10 months, we at HFCL Nine Broadcasting continue to believe that we are the best partners for DD Metro and look forward to continuing and strengthening our existing relationship."

With industry saying nyet to Prasar Bharati, it‘s now over to the pubcaster to make the next move.

Sharkstream.com, UTV Interactive‘s wholly owned subsidiary which offers broadband content for users in Singapore, has become a subscription service.

The service, priced at S$ 4.99 per month, features streaming programming in entertainment, drama, comedy and current affairs genres in Hindi and Tamil. Sharkstream also offers services in English, Malay and Mandarin which will remain free for the next two months, says Biren Ghose, CEO, UTV Interactive. Sharkstream was being launched with subscription driven services in only two languages so as to better understand the dynamics of high quality video acceptance over broadband in the East Asia region. After this the other language channels will also become subscription driven. Sharkstream was now the first paid broadband network in Asia, Ghose said.

The total broadband market in Singapore was roughly 200,000-strong Ghose said, and Sharkstream had a subscriber base of 45,000 to 50,000 (registered users using of the free service) making it the most-used broadband network. Ghose said he was expecting at least 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers to sign on in the beginning. They will be offered a menu card of five to seven content packages under different price heads, he added. The standard package is S$ 4.99 per month, S$11.99 for three months and S$23.99 annually.

Explaining why Singapore was an ideal location to offer broadband content, Ghose said in Asia, only South Korea was ahead in terms of being broadband-enabled.

Queried as to the minimum subscriber base required to cover operational costs, Ghose put the figure at 5,000. He pointed out that with this model having come into place, UTV Interactive could also offer its expertise to enable large content providers to set up their own platforms.