MUMBAI: TIMES NOW, India?s No.1 English news channel in association with Kent RO celebrated the best cuisines from across the country with the much anticipated ?The Foodie Awards?. Held on 24th March at Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai, the awards honoured & felicitated the best and most deserving food & beverage establishments in the country amidst prominent personalities from the entertainment and F&B fraternity.

The second edition of ?The Foodie Awards? encompassed the journey of the eminent jury that travelled the length and breadth of the country to choose the winners from various categories. Joining the official ?Foodie? Kunal Vijayakar were three eminent figures Rashmi Uday Singh food critic and author, Chef Manjit Gill corporate executive chef, ITC Group and Karen Anand food and wine expert. The awards enjoyed an unrivalled credibility with nominees spread across eleven categories ranging from 5 star spreads to even road-side dhabas.

Commenting on the success of the event Mr. Sunil Lulla, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Times Television Network, said ?At TIMES NOW we celebrate the culture created by popular food in the ever popular show, The Foodie. The Foodie Awards are a preview to the year of engaging content on TV. We are happy to announce shortly The Foodie will be available on DVD, for viewing at home.?

Kunal Vijayakar, the ultimate foodie and host of the evening, was at his wittiest as he brought out the true foodies amidst the stars present. Joining him on stage was the critically acclaimed actress Tisca Chopra as the co-host for the evening.

The award ceremony started in a unique fashion by honouring a highly acclaimed personality, Mr. Jaspal Inder Singh Kalra, popularly known as Jiggs Kalra, for his Outstanding Contribution to the F&B industry. The lifetime achievement award was presented to ?Gaylord?, Mumbai, whereas the earnest ?Raju Omlette?, Baroda was named the Best Roadside Dhaba.

Added Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief, TIMES NOW, ?The Foodie show has achieved an iconic status over the years and continues to captivate food enthusiasts across the nation. We take great pride in honouring those who with their unmatched excellence and dedication have been contributing to the ever evolving food & beverage industry.?

Zeba Kohli, Kabir Bedi, Raageshwari, Shaina NC, Kalpana Lajmi and Lalita Lajmi were among those who gave away the awards to the deserving winners. Also gracing the event were popular names from the entertainment industry like Mandira Bedi, Cyrus Broacha, Dolly Thakore, Poonam Dhillon amongst others.

The presence of the entire star cast of the upcoming movie ?Housefull 2? further enhanced the celebrations of the evening as they unveiled The Foodie DVD, having twenty four of the most memorable episodes of The Foodie show. John Abraham, Akshay Kumar and Boman Irani were amongst the few who spoke about their favourite childhood eateries with much nostalgia.

Combining music with food in a highly fascinating manner, taking the splendour of the evening to the next level was the inimitable musical stylings of the popular band ?Merlyn & Band? who mesmerised the audiences by their performance on the famous song ?Food Glorious Food?. ?Dfrenstrokes? the percussion band from Bangalore also delivered a highly captivating performance leaving the audiences enthralled.

Kunal Vijayakar said ?I am extremely overjoyed with the success of the event since it was a very fulfilling culmination of a year full of tasting, travelling and discovering food all over. These awards were an attempt to celebrate artistry of chefs, restaurants, dhabas and eateries and to honour those who love food and live for it.?
Having completed over 275 episodes, TIMES NOW?s show The Foodie is the only show that showcases a new eatery every week highlighting the diverse food cultures from all over the country along with exploring International destinations.

The list of categories and the winners are as follows:

Mumbai: The landmark year witnessed a revolution in the English Movie Channel category with the launch of MOVIES NOW - India?s First HD English Movie Channel. The channel from The Times Television Network bouquet celebrates its first successful year on 19th December 2011.

Since inception, the channel aimed at challenging the existing status quo in the industry. It has not only dominated the ratings but has also catapulted the entire category viewership by a whopping 50% with an increase in GRPs from 50 to 74 points:

• A phenomenal increase in the reach from 46 million to 56 million viewers!
• An incredible increase in the TSV (Time Spent per Viewer) from 42 minutes to 55 minutes!

Month on month with consistent top deck ratings, MOVIES NOW, the proverbial new kid on the block has now firmly established itself as a leader in the English Movie Channel Category.

MOVIES NOW is the first 24 hour HD channel to launch in India for the discerning viewers. Today, the channel boasts of setting a high audio-visual quality benchmark for all channels hereby creating a new wave in the industry. The TAM ratings for the past 51 weeks (week 52, 2010 - week 50, 2011) across 8 metros are a strong affirmation of the channel?s leadership in the English Movie Channel category. With a relative channel share of 30% across all 8 metros and unrivalled performance in 1mn+ towns, all India & across time-bands, MOVIES NOW is the clear favourite of the audiences. *(Source: TAM, TG: CS 15-34 AB, All 8 Metros, Period: wk 52 ?10 - wk 50 ?11)

Congratulating on the channel success, Mr. Sunil Lulla, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Times Television Network said, ?Times Television Network is committed to deliver distinctive brands to its viewers and advertisers. MOVIES NOW has made a break-through on both fronts by redefining the viewing experience with its stunning picture quality and awesome surround sound experience. We congratulate our audience and our partners on being an integral part of this success!?

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ajay Trigunayat, Channel Head, MOVIES NOW said ?We had a clear mission for MOVIES NOW when we launched last year to bring a stellar brand to the viewers. The past one year has
been nothing less than a dream come true for all of us. I want to thank all our support groups: from our audiences who are our biggest critics, to our distributors and our business partners. We at MOVIES NOW are working towards ensuring that the product is even more entertaining for our viewers, so that we are loved more and watched more.?

With its superlative content and packaging, MOVIES NOW is the best partner for brands seeking urban affluent audiences! With over 200+ brands already advertising on MOVIES NOW, the channel has become one of the most sought after channels in the country. MOVIES NOW offers the highest Reach & TSV across all English Channels!

MOVIES NOW has always led by example and has been a pioneer of many FIRSTS. From its library led movie collection to innovative programming, from its zany promotional teasers to its reach, the channel has always had the foresight to offer its viewers something that never existed in the English Movie Channel Category. This strategy was backed with the zest of exploring potential markets. Apart from having a homogenous distribution across all 8 metros, MOVIES NOW has also partnered with all DTH platforms ? Tata Sky, DISH TV, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon D2H, Reliance Digital TV, and Sun Direct for a wider audience reach.

On the road ahead Ajay further elaborates ?MOVIES NOW will augment its phenomenal reach by enhancing Digital availability. Also, we are looking at aggressively increasing our reach from all metros to the 1 million + markets. We at MOVIES NOW have always believed that the English Movie Channel Category is a mass product and are continuously expanding the viewership base.?

Mumbai, October 17th, 2011: One young entrepreneur will win the coveted sponsorship to a B-school at Cambridge in the Grand Finale of Pioneering Spirit ? A product of Lufthansa ? Season 2, airing tonight at 6.30 pm on ET NOW.

Tonight?s episode of the unique 12-part series, jointly created by ET NOW and Lufthansa along with Knowledge Partners, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and Canaan Partners, successfully culminates an exciting Season 2 that has firmly established a new entrepreneurial dimension in reality television.

Shot on an elegant set modelled on the Lufthansa First Class Terminal Lounge, the television series featured business icons of today recollecting defining moments of their lives in an interview conducted by Shaili Chopra, Senior Editor at ET NOW. Each of these ?Pioneers of Today? then selected the ?Pioneers of Tomorrow?, who won a Lufthansa Business Class ticket to Europe and a TiE mentorship.

The most promising four among the episodic winners were short listed as finalists on the basis of their points on the Pioneering Spirit Dashboard. These points measured market opportunity, innovation, quality of solution, scalability, team and Unique Selling Proposition or differentiation.

?The show has blazed a new trail in business television, providing an unprecedented opportunity to young entrepreneurs with the right attitude and ideas to realize their dream,? said Sunil Lulla MD and CEO, Times Television Network.

?Pioneering spirit ? A product of Lufthansa reaffirms our partnership with Indian business. We are delighted that in just two seasons, it is already seen as a benchmark in television programming that supports the amazing pioneering spirit of small and medium entrepreneurs in India,? says Mr. Axel Hilgers, South Asia Director of Lufthansa.

The final four competing on the show tonight are: Milap Shah, Co-founder & Director, Hokey Pokey; Saumil Majmudar, Co-founder & CEO, EduSports; Ajay Data, Founder & CEO, BharatBerry; and Deepak Ravindran, Co-founder & CEO, Innoz.

The Grand Prize winner will be selected by a panel of experts comprising Saurabh Srivastava and Pradeep Gupta from TiE, Alok Mittal from Canaan Partners, and Axel Hilgers, representing Lufthansa.

Catch Pioneering Spirit tonight at 6:30 pm and repeat telecast on Friday, 21st October, 2011 at 10.30pm. Only on ET NOW.