Reports that there was a dispute between Star India and Balaji Telefilms over the Tamil reworking of the hit soap "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi Balaji" were downplayed by both the channel and the production house today.

Balaji had been commissioned to do the programme for the Tamil language Sun TV network. Star raised objections after it was noticed that the initial episodes were virtually identical to that of ‘KSBKBT‘ being shown on Star Plus.

According to Star corporate communications head Yash Khanna, since Star owns the worldwide rights to the soap it had asked Balaji to change the storyline and the television software production house had agreed to do so.

The Tamil version started this April and 104 episodes have already been shown.

Balaji CEO Sanjay Dosi said the issue had been sorted out and emphasised that Star and Balaji continued to share a most positive relationship.

The winner takes it all is an adage that Star India is using to its advantage and how. The industry is bracing itself for another hike in the Rupert Murdoch-promoted network‘s rate card that is set to go into force from next month, ahead of the festival season.

Tapan Pal, president Zenith Media, confirmed that Star had verbally indicated that it was increasing its ad rates soon, though it was still to issue its new rate card.

Pal said that he expected the hikes would be across the board and following on the policy set forth since Star Plus became the number one Hindi entertainment channel, the attempt would be to push the network as a whole.

Pal said advertisers would be encouraged to advertise on the network and those wanting to advertise only on specific programmes would have to pay a heavy premium.

The last time Star increased rates was on 15 June.

Star India executive vice-president, sales & marketing, LS Nayak was noncommittal when asked for his comments.

One thing is clear from the move by Star. Whatever may have been the controversies raised by the recent leak of TRP people meters in Mumbai and Chennai attempting to cast doubts on the ratings systems, Star is asserting its position as the numero uno cable & satellite channel in India.

The only television serial on the life of Maharashtra‘s warrior king Shivaji - off the air for the last two weeks due to a dispute between the serial‘s producer director Vinay Apte and national broadcaster Doordarshan - is likely to be back soon.

Apte‘s complaint is that when Chatrapati Shivaji began airing on 3 June the rate applicable was Rs 840,000 per 30 minutes of broadcast time. Now that the telecast rate has come down to Rs 350,000 per 30 min the deal should be re-negotiated, he says. He has further sought that the show be made a one-hour show as, according to him, the half-hour slot is too limiting.

According to Apte: "DD has already agreed to give me an hourly time slot for which new rates of RS 7 lakhs (700,000) will be applicable. Around 300 seconds of free commercial time (FCT) will be given. But considering the production spend even that is not sufficient to cover costs, he says. What is to be seen is what time slot they can give. We will be re-telecasting the 11 episodes shown earlier in five one-hour episodes, once all the nitty-gritties are sorted out and the time slot is allocated by DD."

It‘s all about the power of television. The four blind mice of American TV - ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC - are not scrapping with each other for morsels of the US advertising pie; rather they are getting together for a good cause this Friday: raising money for victims of the World Trade Centre and Pentagon terrorist blowups. The four networks are to jointly produce and simulcast a two-hour show called ‘America: A Tribute to Heroes‘ from 9 pm to 11 pm (US Eastern Time; 6:30 am IST, Saturday).

With no ads, the programme will run simultaneously from New York and Los Angeles with the backing of Hollywood‘s most influential people like talent agent Ari Emanuel, music biz mover and shaker Jimmy Lovine and DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg. Production is in the able hands of Joel Gallin, who is behind such events such as the MTV Music Awards, though network executives are not claiming that they will come up with a gee-whiz event as it has been put together at a very short notice.

Several acts are supposed to turn up and do a gig. Among those who are expected to figure include: country music group Dixie Chicks, Bon Jovi, singers Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, comic man Jim Carrey (The Truman Show), Hollywood hunk Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible), America‘s Sweetheart Julia Roberts, Amy Brennenman, George Clooney, Sheryl Crow, Cameron Diaz, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Calista Flockhart, Dennis Franz, Kelsey Grammer, Tom Hanks, Faith Hill, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Conan O‘Brien, Tom Petty, Ray Romano, Paul Simon, Will Smith, Sela Ward, Robin Williams, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young. Other names are likely to mark their presence at the event.

Pix courtesy: fox.com

The aim: unite a nation and the whole world reeling from terrorist shock through the healing power of music and salute the selfless courage and soaring spirit of Americans, despite the recent tragedies.

The four networks have offered the program to WB Television Network and UPN Network as well as to cable channels. Even sports channel ESPN is doing its best to rearrange its program schedule to accommodate the show. Not wanting to lag behind the two largest radio broadcasters, Clear Channel Communications and CBS-owned Infinity Broadcasting Corp. are also trying to carry the program live on their stations.

In India, the show will likely air on CNBC and Star World, both of which have been carrying programming blocks of NBC and Fox News.