A record number of over 1,200 entries have been received this year for the Asian Television awards out of which 78 programmes and 34 performances have been shortlisted for the final awards ceremony. The awards will be presented on 4 December 2001 during a live televised ceremony hosted by MediaCorp Television. The annual ceremony is part of a broader television industry week, which also includes the Asia Television Forum and Conference, and the one-day Strategic Summit held in Singapore.

Two new categories have been added this year. One of the categories added is for the best Station / Channel of the Year.

The Broadcaster of the Year award was based on the number of awards won by a company‘s stations, regardless of how many there are. Earlier on, during television‘s infancy, when there were fewer channels and less network consolidation, only parent broadcasters were recognised rather than individual stations.

Since the television industry has evolved and grown rapidly, the number of services controlled by single broadcasters too, have grown significantly. This has put broadcasters who do not have multiple services at a disadvantage in the Broadcaster of the Year category, hence the new category of Station / Channel of the Year has been introduced, which will allow all channels to compete on the same basis, regardless of whether they are part of multi-channel broadcasters or not.

Another new category addition this year is Best Youth Programme as young audiences in Asia are an increasingly important consideration in media buying and scheduling decisions.

The category, Best Wildlife programme, has been changed to Best Natural History or Wildlife programme.

The total number of categories for the Asian Television Awards 2001 has gone up to 26 with the two new additions

Countries participating in this event are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Best Light Entertainment Presenter / Performer - "Apro Dikhra" Cyrus Broacha of MTV India Pvt. Ltd.

Production house WSG Nimbus, which saw its three-year television, radio and sponsorship deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) terminated on Tuesday, today threatened to sue for damages.

BCCSL claims it was forced to foreclose the agreement due to constant delays in contractually agreed payments by Nimbus. BCCSL also obtained an ex parte court order in Colombo in support of this

Nimbus, in an official release denied it had breached the agreement in any respect. The release further states that Nimbus would be going in appeal to have the order set aside and would also seek redressal "from BCCSL for the losses, damage and injury to its reputation and business emanating from this unjustified action by the BCCSL in seeking to terminate the agreement."

In January 2000, Nimbus had signed an agreement with BCSSL which was to run till 31 December 2003. According to the BCSSL, Nimbus has defaulted on its payments before as well. Last year in January, just before the England team‘s tour to the Emerald Isles, Nimbus had defaulted on its payments and had been taken to court, is the board‘s contention. Nimbus then agreed to execute bank guarantees before a certain date prior to every tour by cricket teams to Sri Lanka.

As per the agreement, in case Nimbus were to default in issuing this guarantee, the agreement between BCSSL and Nimbus would cease to be in force. There is a three-test series set to begin on 14 November with the West Indies and Nimbus has yet to execute the bank guarantees, BCSSL says. The board approached the Sri Lankan attorney-general who advised them that the agreement with Nimbus ceased to exist as they had failed to honour the contract, is the charge made by BCSSL.

Trans World International (TWI) which narrowly lost out to Nimbus on the original deal, reported to be $ 27 million, are now seen as favourites to secure the rights in the event that the termination stands.

In a bid to recognize talent within (and maybe also kick in some much needed enthusiasm) the national broadcaster is holding its own ‘Doordarshan Awards 2000-2001‘ for excellence in different fields of television.

To be held at the Siri Fort auditorium in Delhi on 11 December 2001, the awards will cover excellence in thematic, aesthetic and technical quality of programming for television produced by the different Doordarshan Kendras (stations).

The awards ceremony, which promises to be a mega event showcasing the best DD has to offer, will be telecast live on the DD1 national network from 7 pm onwards on 11 December.

The DD Mumbai team headed by its director Mukesh Sharma will be looking after the ground event while live telecast will be handled by Doordarshan Delhi Kendra.

The awards will be judged by a committee headed by the controller of programmes, DD, Mandi House, New Delhi, with liaison work between all the Doordarshan networks being handled by Shehzadi Simon, DD Delhi.

Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has agreed to inaugurate the awards presentation ceremony with information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj as the other main VIP invitee, says Sharma.

According to Sharma: "DK Mumbai have sent in their nominations for 22 of the categories."

The various categories under which the Doordarshan awards 2000-2001 will be presented are:

D. Best Doordarshan Kendra

Paul FitzPatrick has taken over as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Crown Media Holdings, Inc. from 10 October.

Crown Media Holdings owns and operates pay television channels, prominent among them being the Hallmark Channel. FitzPatrick, who was chief operating officer of Crown Media United States, which operates Hallmark in the country, replaces Lana Corbi, who last month was named president and chief executive officer of Crown Media United States.

FitzPatrick will oversee the development and creation of new channels, business development, business affairs, human resources and network information systems world-wide on behalf of Crown Media Holdings. Based in New York, Mr. FitzPatrick will also retain the responsibility as head of distribution for the Hallmark Channel U.S., which he formally joined in 2000.

Australian born FitzPatrick was earlier COO of the Golf Channel, the first single sports genre cable network, where he was responsible for overseeing programming, production and network operations, distribution, marketing, advertising sales and information systems.

FitzPatrick has also been president and chief executive officer of NewsTalk Television, a company he founded in 1988 and launched in 1994. Certain assets of the channel were acquired by MSNBC in 1996.