Star Plus, the flagship channel of the Star group, seems determined to tap all genres in the slew of new programmes it is unleashing in 2002.
Commencing end February or early March, the channel will start a new music based show to be anchored by what once was Zee‘s hot property - Sonu Nigam. The young singer took the talent show Sa Re Ga Ma to the height of the popularity charts for nearly five years, charming viewers with both his youthful good looks and his obvious talent for the art and the medium. After Nigam quit the show, Aman and Ayaan Ali Bangash, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan‘s sons, took over Sa Re Ga Ma, but could not retain the ratings.

After a while in hibernation, Nigam has now been snapped by Star Plus to host a celebrity based karaoke show that takes off in less than two months. Apart from big names like Adnan Sami and Leslie Lewis who will be invited to sing on the show in each episode, the show will have audiences actively participating in singing along with Sonu and walking away with titles like Karaoke King and Karaoke Queen. This is expected to provide talented youngsters with the opportunity to meet with their favourite stars and exhibit their talent through the karaoke medium. The celebrities will compete in a ‘boys-versus-girls‘ format by singing along to their favourite Hindi songs. Shooting is expected to begin by 26 January.

Sony had earlier tried a similar format, without the karaoke element, in Star Ya Kalakaar, which had veteran actor Farida Jalal in the host‘s seat. Star‘s Kya Masti Kya Dhoom, hosted by Sonali Bendre, has already climbed into INTAM‘s top 10 most popular programmes across all channels, a fact that has probably inspired Star to launch another music based show. Nigam who had, in an earlier media interview, said that the best thing about Sa Re Ga Ma was the opportunity to meet the music maestros and living legends of India up close, will now get a second chance to do so.

MTV Asia, which claims to be the most wanted music channel in the region, has announced that Ronan Keating lead singer of the pop group Boyzone will host the first-ever MTV Asia Awards in Singapore on 2 February along with Mandy Moore.
An official release also states that World Wrestling Federation star The Rock will present an award. The audience is expected to cross 7,000 and the channel claims that the ceremony will be available to over 150 million homes. Groove Armada will make music at the post show VIP party.

These are popular awards and the winners will decided through online voting. Registration forms are also being distributed at music stores and other places where youngsters hang out.

Voting is through www.mtvasiaawards.com and the polling closes Friday, 18 January. Over 350 outlets have signed up as voting partners, the release says. In India, they include music stores Rhythm House and Planet M in Mumbai, ABC Bowling in Ahmedabad, Landmark and HFO in Chennai. More than 60 media partners will provide media support for the event locally or regionally. In India they include Record, Elle, Upbeat and Rock Street Journal.

In December the channel had organised parties at nightspots in several countries which included India, Korea and Thailand. The channel also says that the award design is refreshing. It has been created by MTV Asia along with Panasonic and Royal Selangor. The cubical award trophy opens up on the top like a box revealing a multimedia screen inside. This plays a short tribute to the winner.

Speaking on this MTV Asia senior V-P for content & creative and creator of the state-of-the-art award David Flack said: "The award was designed to reflect the cube shaped show logo and is inspired by the magical box surprise theme of the show. The intention this year is to blend tradition with cutting edge technology. The surprise as to what is inside will be the obvious analogy to the show."

President MTV Asia Frank Brown said: "We are delighted to have such a fantastic lineup of celebrities and guests to join us at the show which celebrates both the great diversity as well as the commonality of youth culture throughout Asia. We look forward to creating an annual TV property that will play a significant role in documenting the music history of Asia over the years."

Mitsubishi Motors and Panasonic are the official partner sponsors of the show while Smart Communications is a partner sponsor in the Philippines. The event also has the backing of the Singapore Tourism Board.

The Indian nominees were chosen on popular demand by viewers of the channel and the results were audited by Surana&Surana Associates.

Indian Pop

1. Asha Bhosle - Na Marte Hum
2. Falguni Pathak - Saawan Mein
3. Shaan - Tanha Dil
4. Sonu Nigam - Jeena Hai Tere Liye
5. Ustad Sultan Khan and Chitra - Piya Basanti

1. Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan - Jaane Kyon from Dil Chahta Hai
2. Alka Yagnik, Kavita K Subramaniam, Sonu Nigam and Amit Kumar - Bole Chudiyan from the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
3. Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh, and Srinivas - Mitwa from the film Lagaan
4. Lata Mangeshkar and Udit Narayan - Humko Humise Chura Lo from the film Mohabbatein
5. Asha Bhosle, Sukhwinder Singh and Sonu Nigam - Kambakth Ishq from the movie Pyar Tune Kya Kiya

The Sahara India Group‘s ambitions to become a major media powerhouse was taken to a whole new level today as it announced plans to launch a bouquet of 38 news channels - a national news channel and 37 independent city-based regional news stations covering Uttar Pradesh & Uttranchal, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar & Jharkhand, National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai.

With the launch of these 38 news channels, Sahara TV aims to focus on providing not only national and international news but also in-depth and high-quality city-based and regional news coverage in the respective states, an official release states. The system of local TV news stations is well established in the West but this must be a first where one network is launching so many news channels at one go.

The network is scheduled to launch in April and will be broadcast through the VSAT system being set up as part of the Sahara Net project. At the time of launch 1,400 VSATs will be in place and the number is expected to go up to 1,800 by the end of the year. Sahara TV expects to cover even smaller cities and towns by leveraging Sahara Net‘s VSAT network, bureaus for news gathering.

The capital intensive project envisages a major expansion on the manpower front as well. Official sources in the channel said project funding would be raised internally.

Announcing this, Subrata Roy Sahara, managing worker & chairman, Sahara India Pariwar, said: "Driven by the objective of spreading awareness in our mission of mass communication to all the people of India, the most distinctive aspect of Sahara TV‘s news channels will be to fulfill the ever-increasing demand for quality and comprehensive news coverage. This bouquet of 38 news channels will provide a major fillip not only to the Indian broadcasting industry but also to the 39 million cable and satellite viewers."

The bouquet will comprise local news channels for the following cities:

Newswise, while the main channel will be in Hindi, the network expects to roll out bulletins in English and Urdu as well. Sahara TV vice-president (publicity, promotions & PR) Priya Raj revealed that the main Hindi channel is planned to be a separate feed available alongside the individual city-specific news channels.

It‘s taken long to arrive at a decision, but the Indian I&B ministry has finally decided to invoke special legal powers to crack down on cable transmission that could harm the "national interest".

The order, issued by the ministry on Friday, cites section 20 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act that allows authorities the power to ‘regulate or prohibit the transmission or retransmission of any channel or programmes, by an order, where the Central government thinks it necessary or expedient to do so in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India." Translated, this means the Centre can intervene in case it finds Pakistan TV (PTV) transmitting anti-India propaganda and black out the channel.

The action comes nearly two weeks after Pakistan disallowed transmission of five channels of the Star family in the country. The ban was lifted a week later by the Pakistan Telecom Authority. India, on the other hand, did not go in for an immediate ban, even after the 13 December terrorist attacks on Parliament. Instead, an inter-ministerial committee was set up by I&B minister Sushma Swaraj to discuss the situation and to monitor the TV signals being beamed from across the border.

Even now, the ministry has not actually blacked out any channel, but seems to be arming itself for any eventuality.