Crest Communications has a difficult task on hand. It is responsible for the packaging and look of the three month old DD Bharati, the channel that curently has an average of 90 minutes of original programming a day.
Conceived as a complete cultural infotainment channel, Bharati started off with promises of fresh software induction, but currently, over 90 per cent of the programming on Bharati is between five to seven years old.

Says Crest Communications COO North Reena Asok, Bharati‘s three-point focus of health (in the morning), kids (afternoon) and art and culture (in the evening onwards) is being catered to by the various regional DD kendras as well as sundry national institutions linked to culture, art and science. All three segments are marked by distinct colour identities, while a uniform overall look is maintained for the entire channel, keeping in mind the ‘one fabric, three threads‘ theme. While the animation major is responsible for the overall look, promos, channel IDs, segment IDs, bumpers there is another area where it has to do a lot of work - remastering and upgrading the tapes that are available for telecast, and recapsuling the available content.

According to Asok, because of the paucity of any worthwhile content, it is only the packaging that is helping to get in whatever little sampling of the channel that is on now.

News channel Aaj Tak has scored another first by launching an all India live-online opinion poll.
The first poll begun on 29 April has had over one and half lakh respondents answering the question being simultaneously debated in Parliament - ‘Should Narendra Modi resign?‘ The fully automated poll has no human intervention. The poll is novel in terms of technological convergence as it can be accessed through the net, via SMS and through a landline.

According to the channel, this is the biggest ever on-line opinion poll conducted in the country, which tries to ascertain the opinion of Aaj Tak viewers on issues of direct relevance to them. The first poll received an overwhelming response from netizens as well as mobile phone users and people using their landlines to register their vote, the channel claims. The poll will close at the same time as the debate in the Lok Sabha on Gujarat comes to an end. Till 6 pm, over 1,67,000 voters cast their votes and there was not much of a gap between those in favour and those against Modi resigning. At 6 pm, 45 per cent of voters wanted Modi to resign as opposed to 55 per cent who favoured his continuance.

Aaj Tak says it will use this reach to try and ascertain the opinions of its viewers on issues that are being hotly debated in the country. This poll covers that section of population that has access to a telephone line, mobile phone or has a net connection. Consequently, ‘Aaj Ka Saval‘ is certain to become a valuable barometer to gauge the public mood, it claims. Responses have come in from not just metropolitan cities but from Amritsar, Bhavnagar, Raipur and 85 other cities in the country, it says.

What is surprising really is that the Turner Broadcasting-promoted premium movie channel took so long to leverage its own movies. After more than two years in the subcontinent, HBO announced a new initiative premiering next Monday and running through till September - HBO Original Movies.
The next five months will see an original HBO film being showcased on the first Monday of every month at 9:30 pm. It may be recalled that last year HBO telecast its 10-part epic series Band of Brothers but the difference here was these were not movies.

HBO has been producing highly acclaimed films since May 1983. Over the years, HBO Pictures emerged as a dominant force in the made-for-television movie category at the annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Popular amongst HBO Original Productions are Sex And The City and Six Feet Under both of which have won numerous awards.

HBO‘s initiative comes at a time when rival Star Movies has reasserted itself among Indian viewers - first with the live telecast of the Oscars in March and subsequently with the double premiere of Steven Spielberg‘s Jurassic Park 1 and 2 that garnered monster ratings.

Kicking off the HBO Original Movies series in May is John Irvin‘s World War II film When Trumpets Fade. The film stars Ron Eldard (of Black Hawk Dawn fame).

HBO original productions include movies, series, documentaries, comedy, music, family shows, sports specials. Under HBO films, the network is producing a broad slate of original movies, from smaller-budget independents to major motion pictures, touching on a wide range of provocative and entertaining subjects - characteristics that have become the hallmark of HBO‘s original movies, to appeal to new and different audiences, an official release states.

Currently HBO produces an average of six original films and eight original series per year.

Chris Albrecht, President, HBO Original Programming said: "The HBO Original Movies are of exceptionally high standard, award winning productions, boasting of star-studded casts that are exclusive to the channel. Our shows must have a compelling point of view that deal with some depth about the human condition?"

James P. Marturano, managing director, HBO South Asia, said: "HBO Original productions are a strong differentiator for the channel to create extra value for our viewers since these are programs that are not released theatrically and premiere exclusively on HBO channel.

The other films included in this package are:

In September, the HBO Original Movies will culminate in a block, which will be the HBO Original Movie-Emmys stunt.