The alleged TRP scam has literally become a case of the right hand not knowing what the left is up to. Chaos reigned when the TAM and Intam sample lists were systematically leaked by vested interests. Chaos reigns even today when efforts are being made to come to a consensus on the future course of action about viewership ratings.

First a meeting of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation with the Advertising Agencies Association of India (3Aof I) and the market research agencies was announced. Then it was called off if one went by press reports and news releases from the IBF.

Now apparently, the meeting is on and IBF members and rating agencies‘ representatives are slated to meet tomorrow (14 September) as scheduled. This was confirmed by senior IBF members, and TAM representatives.

However, strangely 3Aof I officials had not been informed that the calling off of the meeting had been called off. "We have not been informed that the meeting is on," said a senior 3Aof I official.

According to sources the IBF secretariat had earlier informed the 3Aof I that the meeting had been cancelled, but then the decision had been reversed.

We obviously have not heard the last of TRPs.

A poll run on indiantelevision.com over the past seven days has revealed that industry believes that all is not okay with the ratings delivered by Intam and Tam.
Some 74 per cent of the pollsters agreed that TRPs in India are manipulated, while 22 per cent disagreed and 4 per cent said that they cannot say whether they are manipulated.

In fact, the figure for those who found fault with the ratings systems in their current avatar would have been much higher had we not decided to cancel a percentage of the votes which appeared to be emanating from an IP address traceable to a broadcaster.

Nevertheless, the poll clearly indicates that for ratings to gain credibility, they cannot continue to be generated under the current systems. A clean up or a revamp is needed.

Hopefully, the concerned parties will find a resolution sooner than later.

BBC News 24 and BBC World began rolling live coverage of the terrorist attacks just before 2 pm yesterday, shortly after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York.

By 2.10 pm BBC1 had switched from its usual afternoon schedule to simulcast News 24‘s output.

Said Richard Sambrook, Director of BBC News On the US disaster: "I doubt many of us have ever been confronted with a story of such magnitude. Despite the shock and horror we all felt, I was proud of the superb response from our teams who worked round the clock to provide audiences with measured and authoritative coverage."

"This is the largest extended live news coverage we‘ve had on BBC1 since Princess Diana‘s death," BBC head of TV news, Roger Mosey, said. "I can‘t think of anything on this scale in the past 10 or 15 years. One of the Ten O‘Clock News editors said that our lives won‘t be the same every again after this. At a banal level it‘s a massive, massive news story."

BBC World has been broadcasting live continuously since news first broke yesterday afternoon (just before 1400 BST)..

BBC reporter Stephen Evans, was at the centre of the deadly attack. Evans, the BBC‘s business and economics correspondent in north America, was sitting in the foyer of the World Trade Centre as the two aeroplanes crashed into the twin towers in the worst terrorist attack ever.

For BBC director of news Richard Sambrook (extreme left) and head of TV news, Roger Mosey (middle), it was the largest live news coverage that the Beeb has provided since Princess Diana‘s death.

"I was on the ground floor of the building sitting in a chair waiting for somebody to turn up as you do. There was huge bang. There was a huge bang."

"It felt to me like somebody dropped a skip full of rubbish, a great container full of rubbish from a great height in the yard which separates the two huge towers which are the World Trade Centre.

"The building physically shook. It‘s one of those where you think, well something‘s happened on a building site. That‘s the way it is. But seconds later, there were two or three similar huge explosions and the building literally shook. You literally shook at the base of this building. At which point, people came - I nearly said screaming, but they weren‘t screaming - it was a mild panic. People simply saying, ‘get out of here, get out of here.‘ People streaming to the other side of the building. At which point smoke appeared everywhere as if a mist had suddenly settled on the building. We all streamed out, some people running, some people crying, nobody really screaming. We crossed the road and you look up and you can see the top of one of the towers, smoke billowing out from it, the odd flame coming out of the top of these towers - pretty well the highest buildings in the world.

Everybody I think initially assumed it was a bomb, but then people kept coming past me saying "No. No. it was a jet, it was a jet." BBC reporter Stephen Evans

Pix Courtesy: CNN.com

Everybody then got calm, simply looked up and the authorities moved them further and further away. About, I would guess - time is very difficult to judge in these circumstances - but I would guess five minutes later there was another explosion half way down the second tower and that then looked rent, almost as though a child had knocked into a toy, something like that.

And again, smoke started billowing out of that second building. I don‘t know what the cause was. Everybody I think initially assumed it was a bomb, but then people kept coming past me saying "No. No. it was a jet, it was a jet".

Whether it was one or two I simply don‘t know. I‘m now in a hotel about 100 yards from the building. Buildings in this area are being evacuated. People are streaming away. No one is saying very much, actually, because they are shocked as you would expect them to be. People simply don‘t quite comprehend what‘s happening. You can hear the shaking in people‘s voices as they say, "what‘s going on? What‘s gone on? I don‘t know." And people are nodding at me now as I say that.

The cause, I can‘t illuminate. All I can tell you, is it was a very frightening experience, but people by and large reacted very well to it."

Digital multimedia technology will be a significant theme at Gitex 2001 to be held from 14 - 18 October, 2001, at the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC).

DWTC has recently announced the launch of Gitex in Hyderabad, India and Saudi Arabia which will be held in January and April 2002 respectively. DWTC is also working with Virtex International to host Gitex Virtual which exhibition will run from October 7 to December 7, 2001.

This year, Gitex Dubai will feature a variety of multimedia products including cutting-edge projectors, touch-screens and digital videos for IT enthusiasts looking for the very latest advances for delivering presentations, or expanding IT capabilities, an official release states.

EPSON, a leading manufacturer of imaging technology products, will showcase multimedia projectors like EPSON EMP 800 and EMP 810, featuring the new colour reality technology. The new products offer true to life colours, bringing projected images into reality at the same time as offering vertical and horizontal keystone correction technology, which enables an image to be projected square-on, regardless of the angle of the projector.

Canon is set to participate at Gitex this year with new photo-video products. Among the selection is the first directly connectable photo card printer, a novel-sized mini-printer that allows the user to print pictures as soon as they are taken, directly from the digital camera. Canon will also feature its recently launched two new entry-level digital cameras as well as the Digital IXUS 300 camera.

Sharp will exhibit and launch its innovative line of technology on LCD and digital business equipment at the event. Featuring the fundamental tools of today‘s corporate environments such as LCD monitors, PC notebooks and LCD Data projectors, Sharp will introduce its latest advances like Ultralite notebooks that incorporate enhanced hardware and software, multifunctional facsimile, full colour digital copiers and inkjet printers.

Grandtec Electronic Corp. will offer visitors a new selection of multimedia products this year including the ‘Grand e Guard‘ image capture card w/4 video input and remote surveillance.

AVTelco will showcase a diverse product range which includes digital videos and overhead projectors with presenters and video screens, digital interactive whiteboards, video conferencing and distance learning systems and solutions, multipoint conferencing systems and video gateways and remote access video surveillance over ISDN, LAN or WAN with cameras.

Pioneer Corporation, will display a new Plasma Display Panel in addition to existing product ranges. Pioneer, will introduce the 50" Panel at this year‘s show, which has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and has an UXGA compatible.

Samir Digital Technology (SDT), will showcase a broad range of printers, projectors and digital cameras from leading companies. It will also launch the CD inkjet printer Signature PRO, which offers 2400 x 1200 dpi resolution.

Sanyo will display a new range of LCD projectors, LCD monitors and digital cameras. Sanyo Electric will also present iDshot during the show, the world‘s first digital camera to use the new recording medium iD PHOTO (DSM-D730AC), a tiny magneto-optical disk with 730MB recording capacity.

In addition to the popular Volcano modems and 3D graphics accelerators, Viewcom Technology will introduce a new range of digital cameras to the Middle East market at Gitex in addition to a full series of add-on cards for PCs.

Kodak will offer visitors a chance to sample its latest products including the innovative Kodak mc3 pocket-sized portable multimedia device. It offers a reflective colour review screen making it ideal for travelling and outdoor use and is designed for single handed operation. Other features of the device include VGA resolution for still pictures, focus-free lens system, digital display to frame pictures, skip-less audio playback for MP3 files and upgradeable firmware.