MUMBAI: MTV?s musical reality show Coke Studio@MTV is set to return with its third season. The channel introduced the ?leap FROG to Coke Studio@MTV? initiative, which gives young musical talent an opportunity to contest for a coveted spot in the renowned show.

?leap FROG to Coke Studio@MTV? is a precursor to season 3 of the popular music show. It is a venture between Coke Studio@MTV and Blue Frog and will take place at the latter in Mumbai and Delhi respectively.

The event provides a platform for bands performing independent music to get a chance to fast track their way to glory. The idea announces the return of Coke Studio@MTV Season 3 and also sets to scout for young talent.

Coke Studio@MTV is produced and broadcast by Viacom 18 in association with Coca Cola India Pvt Ltd. The show has had a successful run of season 1 and season 2 which were aired on MTV India, Colors and MTV India, Doordarshan (national) respectively.

MTV India EVP and business head Aditya Swamy said, "As we curate the show, we are always looking to present artists that are below the collective conscience. This platform gives us a window into the growing Indi music scene from where we have found some incredible talent in the past. Being a platform that discovers and supports young talent is in the DNA of MTV. It?s this very aspect of discovery that makes the show exciting for the viewers as well. So I am looking forward to hearing some fresh new music".

Building on the phenomenal success of season 2 of the series that captured the imagination of Indian audiences with twelve breakthrough producers and over 200 incredible musicians, this year?s edition of Coke Studio@MTV will take the musical journey to the next level.

Talking about the initiative, Coca Cola India integrated marketing communications director Wasim Basir said, "The adulation from the audience propelled us to take the show to the new level, and for the first time, open up the platform to music aspirants through the ?leap FROG to Coke Studio@MTV? initiative. We hope to see a wide cross-section of bands from all over the country come forth and ?Open Happiness? by joining Coca-Cola in its journey to inspire and provoke innumerable moment of happiness through its flagship music property, Coke Studio."

Talking about the association, Blue Frog MD Simran Mulchandani says, "Since its opening in Mumbai and Delhi, blue FROG revolutionised the live music scene by creating a stage that gave artists of all genres and styles a chance to perform in the two sweetest sounding venues in the country. ?leap FROG To Coke Studio@MTV? goes several steps further: it will discover new talent and create opportunities for budding musicians by giving them a chance to compete for a spot on the hugely successful Coke Studio@MTV. It has the potential of becoming the largest platform for artist discovery in India and being a part of this initiative is a huge milestone."

NEW DELHI: DD Urdu spent Rs 208 million of the Rs 210 million allocated to it in 2012-13 by the Prasar Bharati compared to just Rs 100 million spent by the channel out of the Rs 74 million allocated in 2008-09.

Similarly, DD Kashir spent Rs 116.5 million out of the Rs 116.7 million allocated to it in 2012-13 as compared to Rs 56.9 million spent out of the 87.4 million given to it in 2008-09.

Prasar Bharati has also informed that separate allocation of funds continues to be made to Doordarshan from the revenue plan under the scheme software acquisition/production of Doordarshan.

There is no plan to discontinue this practice, Prasar Bharati sources said.

 
The amounts allocated in previous years with the amount spent, as far as DD Urdu is concerned, were

The amounts allocated to DD Kashir and the expenditure was

NEW DELHI: Doordarshan will telecast a special programme, ?Holi Khel manaa Re?, based on folk music and skits to mark the festival of Holi.

The programme will be telecast on 26 March at 10 pm on DD Bharati.

On 27 March, DD Bharati will have celebrate programmes linked to the festival. These include ?Hola ? the mighty colour?, a film by Films Division on Holi in Punjab?s Anandpur Saheb where celebrations include display of traditional martial prowess. This will be telecast at 3 pm.

At 4.30 pm, the channel will telecast ?Brijwasin Ke Sang, Hori Ke Rang? from Mathura on the famous Barsana Holi.

This will be followed by a documentary, Fagun Ke Rang, Holi Ke Sang at 5.30 pm, a musical treat ?Sangeet Samay? at 6 pm and Holi Aayee Re from Rajkot in Gujarat at 7 pm.
 
There will be a ?Holi Hungama; a comedy and musical programme from Lucknow, at 7.30 pm, followed at 8 pm by Rangarang Holi from Jaipur and at 9 pm by Holi Ke Rang by classical Vocalist Pt. Abhay Narayan Malik.

Apart from these Holi programmes, DD Bharati will telecast the Rajrani Music Festival, from 8.30 pm to 10 pm on 25, 26, 28, and 29 March; and the Khajuraho Festival of Dance on 30 March from 7.?pm to 11 pm.

NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati, which has not had any senior-level recruitment since it came into being in September 1997, has finally advertised for filling 1166 posts for Programme Executives, Production Assistants and Duty officers.

The notice in Employment News says ?Prasar Bharti notifies Combined Recruitment for the Post of Programme Executive and Transmission Executive Examination? and the last date for applications is 19 April.

The posts will be filled after interviews by the Staff Selection Committee.

Interestingly, this figure is higher than the announcement of 1150 posts cleared by the government late last year.

In AIR, there are 1362 vacancies in Group A, 1,584 in Group B, 4863 in Group C and 2272 in group D.

In Doordarshan, 724 posts are vacant in Group A, 1140 in Group B, 2871 in Group C, and 1451 in Group D.

All India Radio and Doordarshan have total staff strength of 33,800 against a total sanctioned strength of 48,022, leaving a gap of 14222 posts.

The most critically affected areas are the Programme Wing and the News Services Division (AIR)/DD News.

The Committee for Information Technology late last year regretted that Prasar Bharati had failed to live up to the assurance given by then Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer that the Recruitment Boards for Prasar Bharati would be set up by 31 March 2011.

It is understood that the Union Public Service Commission and SSC had both refused to select for a non-Governmental organisation, thus creating a new problem for the Ministry/Prasar Bharati.

The Proposal for setting up a Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board was approved by Prasar Bharati Board on 21 July 2010 and discussed in the Ministry and a final proposal was referred to the Department of Personnel and Training on 15 February 2011. DOP&T concurred with the proposal in June 2011 and the comments of the Department of Expenditure (DOE) were also received on 28 September 2011.

The DoE had requested that a separate proposal be formulated for creation of posts for the secretariat of Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board and also requested for drafting of agreement containing terms and conditions of the members of the Board. This had been done and the proposal sent to DoE in February 2012 and then to Law Ministry.

NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati is to get an allocation of Rs 53.97 billion for hardware schemes of Doordarshan and All India Radio in the 12th Plan, though these schemes are yet to be approved.

Prasar Bharati sources told indiantelevision.com that Rs 29.5 billion is for new schemes and Rs 24.47 billion for continuing ones.

But the Government has clarified that there are no immediate plans of expansion of Doordarshan coverage through new transmitters, except for setting up a few in border areas.

A total of Rs 2.42 billion was spent on 1415 Doordarshan transmitters (relay centres) up to October 2012 during 2012-13, DD sources told indiantelevision.com.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources said a total of Rs 3.71 billion had been spent in 2011-12, Rs 3.66 billion in 2011-11, and Rs 2.86 billion in 2009-10.

These centres transmit 33 satellite channels, five All India channels, 11 regional channels, 16 state networks, one international and one HD channel.

A total of 41 low power transmitters including transmitters in tribal areas are being used only for partial transmission due to staff constraints, the sources said.

A total of six proposals had been received in 1009-10 for new Doordarshan kendras and five for new transmitters. While there has been no fresh request for new kendras, requests were received in 2010-11 for one transmitters, and three in 2011-12 from state governments.

Doordarshan at present covers 92 per cent of the population in terrestrial mode spread over 81 per cent of the area. All the areas uncovered by terrestrial mode have been provided with multi-channel TV coverage through Doordarshan?s free-to-air DD Direct Plus and free connections with TV sets have been provided in some areas like the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

MUMBAI: Like its counterparts in UK and Australia, why doesn?t India boast of a channel targeted at kids? That was the theme of a panel discussion at Ficci Frames 2013.

Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, who was expected to take part in the panel discussion, was conspicuous by his absence. The session that was supposed to discuss and deliberate upon the importance of a public kids? broadcaster went without government representation.

The panelists comprised CFSI chairman Amol Gupte, Graphiti Multimedia chairman Ram Mohan, and International Advertising Association-India Chapter (IAA-IC) Secretary at Monica Tata. Graphiti Multimedia COO Munjal Shroff was moderator of the session.

Tata, who was earlier with Turner International and was managing kids channels Cartoon Network and Pogo, said it was imperative for the government to enter the kids broadcasting space as part of its larger social responsibility.

According to Tata, Doordarshan, the television arm of Prasar Bharati, with its huge reach through terestrial cable will go a long way in reaching kids who don?t have access to quality content.

Graphiti Multimedia chairman Ram Mohan, also known as father of Indian animation, felt a public-private partnership would go a long way in making this initiative a success.

He also felt that a public-owned kids broadcaster would also give a fillip to Indian animation industry besides serving the larger social good - that of helping kids to develop life skills.

The panelists agreed that the first step was to convince the government to launch such a channel. The content of the channel can be decided later.

Tata believes that the channel should have content that is educating but also entertaining at the same time.

CFSI chairman Amol Gupte feels that the time has come for the government to put its foot down and get working on the channel.

Children, he noted, are exposed to all sorts of crass content that is having a negative impact on them. A DD kids channel would go a long way in plugging that need gap.

Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL) Director AP Parigi feels the government should provide the highway to create centres of excellence in kids? broadcasting.

He also reckoned that the government should have a incubation period of at least five years for the channel before it becomes viable. The curriculum of government-run schools should have synergy with the kids channel.

While saying that the public kids channel should be a viable option, Tata felt that viability is a subjective term when it comes to a public enterprise.

Graphiti?s Munjal Shroff pointed out that the Ficci Media & Entertainment committee has been lobbying for the last four years with the Prasar Bharati to launch a kids channel without much success.

Shroff also revealed that Sircar has promised to look into the issue. The plan, he further revealed, was to have a dedicated slot on DD which would later be spun-off into a full-fledged channel.

The panelists urged the small gathering to take the issue up with the government to get them to fast-track the process of launching a children-centric channel.

Gupte said, "We need advocacy groups to tell the government that this kind of a channel is the need of the hour as part of its larger social responsibility."

The panelists also felt that a Sesame Street kind of an initiative to give children from under-privileged background a platform to learn skills should be replicated in India. Sesame Street is a long-running American children?s television series. In India it airs on Cartoon Network as well as on DD.