MUMBAI: The KIA X Games Asia (KXG), an action sports competition, will take place in Shanghai for its sixth consecutive year from 28 April to 1 May.

150 athletes from more than 30 countries will be engaged in world-class competition in the sports of Skateboard, BMX, Aggressive In-Line Skate and Moto X Big Air demonstrations. This year?s competitors and spectators can also look forward to an added challenge with a newly designed street course that is expected to provide a treat for spectators.

The event will be organised by ESPN Star Sports? (ESS) event management and ESPN X Games with title sponsor Kia Motors. Participants will include seven-time X Games Skateboard gold medallist Pierre-Luc Gagnon, who will attempt to win his third Mini-MegaRamp title in just as many years. Accompanying him is eight-time gold medallist Andy Macdonald and two-time gold medallist Sandro Dias. Headlining a BMX field are four-time X Games gold medallist Kevin Robinson, three-time gold medallist Chad Kagy, nine-time medallist Simon Tabron, six-time medallist Steven McCann and two-time X Games Asia gold medallist Vince Byron.

Meanwhile, Japan?s Takeshi Yasutoko will attempt to win an unprecedented sixth-consecutive gold medal in the Aggressive Inline Vert ? one for each year the competition has been held in Shanghai.

Last year?s event saw attendance records set yet again for a fifth consecutive year with 62,100 spectators over the course of four days of competition. Since 2007, the KIA X Games Asia has attracted more than 261,700 visitors and is expected to draw another large crowd this year in Shanghai.

Additionally, the event will be telecast on ESPN International networks in the U.S., Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Africa.

ESS VP, event management Harvey Davis said, ?We are delighted to see KIA X Games Asia establish itself as an iconic sports event with our sponsors and being the Year of the Dragon, we are looking forward to another successful edition in Shanghai. The event has grown spectacularly over the years and this year again will feature an outstanding list of world-class athletes across all competitions. We look forward to showcasing another exhilarating event to our fans in Shanghai?.

MUMBAI: Setting the process of finding a new broadcast partner in motion, the marketing committee of the BCCI will meet on 7 March to decide on floating tenders for finding a new partner.

The committee will also take up the issue of Internet rights after failing in earlier attempts to find bidders due to high base price.

"The marketing committee meeting has been fixed for March 7 and all matters, including broadcast and internet rights, will come up for discussion," PTI quotes BCCI sources as saying.

The BCCI had in December last year terminated the broadcast rights agreement with Nimbus Communications for non-payment of rights fee for the England and West Indies series.

As per the agreement, which was expected to run till 2014, Nimbus was supposed to pay approximately Rs 20 billion for a minimum of 64 international matches and 312 days of domestic cricket.

The Board has enough time on hand to find a new broadcaster as the next international engagement on the Indian soil is only in August-September when New Zealand will tour India for a three Test match series.

New Zealand will be followed by England who will be in the country for a full-fledged tour of four Tests, seven ODIs and one T20 match in November-December-January period.

MUMBAI: Left with little live content for its cricket specific channel, Neo Cricket Tuesday announced that it has acquired telecast rights for the South Africa-New Zealand series from Max, the India broadcast rights holder for international cricket played in New Zealand.

The South Africa Tour to New-Zealand will comprise three T20s, ODIs and Tests matches each from 17 February to 23 March.

Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, ?The series promises to be highly engaging as South Africa is just one step away from being the No. 1 test side while New Zealand is in terrific form after drawing a test series against Australia last December."

The broadcaster had recently reworked a fresh distribution deal with MSM Discovery that would reduce the payout compared to earlier three-year deal that was called-off as Neo had lost the India cricket rights.
Neo will also showcase the four nation Asia Cup from 1-12 March featuring India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

MUMBAI: Viacom18 will launch Comedy Central, the sixth channel from the stable, on 23 January.

With the launch of the channel, Viacom18 will mark its presence in another under-served genre ?English comedy. "Given its rich library of world class shows and distinct positioning, we are confident of Comedy Central establishing itself as one of the dominant players in the English entertainment space in Indian television," said Viacom18 group CEO Haresh Chawla.

The channel?s brand philosophy, developed internally, is ?Laugh It Off?. The TG is 15+ SEC, A,B Metros.

Comedy Central expects to be available in 20 million homes, across analogue and digital cable and DTH platforms. On DTH, it will be available on Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV initially, but within two months the aim is to be on all the direct-to-home (DTH) platforms.

Viacom International Media Networks president, CEO Bob Bakish said, ?Comedy Central is one of Viacom?s most distinct and successful franchises globally. We feel that the time is now right for Viacom18 to introduce Comedy Central in India, given the growth curve in the Indian television entertainment market.?

Viacom was planning to get Comedy Central to India for quite a while now. Said Viacom18 Media senior VP, GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia, ?The time is right partly due to the spread of digitisation and also because people at this time are stressed. They are open to comedy and to laughing at themselves. Exposure to international content is growing as people increasingly travel.?

The programming will be a mix of sitcoms, sketch comedy, British comedy, stand ups and gags. Some of the shows the channel will air include Daily Show with John Stewart, South Park, Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, The Office and Seinfeld. Movies will eventually air during the weekends.

Local shows will form part of the content strategy. ?There will be something for everyone. Among other things, we will develop our own talent which we would take overseas to give them a wider platform.?

For the youth, South Park will air a block called Cinderella Hour at midnight. Shows like Fawlty Towers, Allo Allo will air on the weekend where people have more time on their hands. ?Unlike other channels that mainly run marathons to allow viewers to catch up on the weekend, Comedy Central will also have premieres. In terms of the channel?s overall content, around half of it will be fresh,? said Palia.

Comedy Central has no plans to introduce a dubbed language feed as the nuances of comedy are difficult to translate. ?The channel will, however, have subtitles,? said Palia.

The business model for the channel will be led by advertising, followed by subscription. ?Many advertisers today want to own humour as a platform. We will ask advertisers how they want to use us. We will create packages and interaction mechanisms. Our relationship with advertisers will take the form of activities and doing on-ground events with them among other things,? said Palia.

In India, Viacom18 is planning to take the brand beyond the television screens and is planning to have live events and merchandising.

The launch will be backed later by an extensive marketing campaign. ?Besides television, print, outdoor, other touchpoints will be created including gyms, salons, cafes, cinema halls. 500-600 touch points will be there including in places where one might not expect it like hospitals and chemists through things like prescription pads. We have tied up with Religare Wellness,? averred Palia.

New media will be used as a brand extension. ?We will be present on YouTube, Twitter, etc. We will also have a dial in service on the mobile. The success will rest on how much people interact with the channel. It is not about how it fares in eight weeks. This is a long term commitment,? said Palia.

BBH is the creative agency while Vizeum is the media agency for the channel.

?We are confident that Comedy Central will carve out its own space within no time. All Viacom18 channels are doing extremely well,? said Bakish.

Viacom18 already airs Hindi general entertainment channel Colors, youth channel MTV, kids channel Nick, English entertainment channel Vh1 and has recently launched action channel for young audience ? Sonic.

Initially launched in the US in 1991, Comedy Central started global expansion late 2006. At present, Comedy Central has localised channels in Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Israel and Spain.