CASBAA conference kicks off on 27 November
Innovation, focus, profit.
Star India edged out Sony Entertainment Television in the race to acquire Channel Nine Gold‘s entire content library last week. Sources say Star bought out the library at about 20 per cent of its actual valuation. Unconfirmed reports peg the Nine Gold library‘s valuation at around Rs 120 million.
HFCL Nine may have had to bid a hasty adieu to DD Metro; but its content library has been the cynosure of rival channels‘ eyes ever since. Star had bought some of the Channel Nine programmes in September, after its break up with DD Metro.
Sony was also a serious bidder for the lot, but Star seems to have beaten it in this respect too. Although Star has refused to divulge the exact valuation of the deal, industry sources say the arrangement includes all the popular soaps and films made by Nine Gold during its short tenure on Doordarshan Metro. Star had bought soaps Kundali, Kabhie Souten Kabhie Saheli and The Helen Show in September after the much-hyped HFCL Nine stopped operations following Doordarshan‘s refusal to renew its contract with the software company. The events Star bought at the time included the series Celebrate with Music and The Madhuri Concert.
Star, which is already strong in the soap segment, is expected to further consolidate its numero uno position following the acquisition of the programmes from the Nine Gold stables, media analysts feel. The defunct TV software venture floated by Australian media mogul Kerry Packer and the HFCL group notched up heavy losses after its exit from DD, after paying Rs 121 crore to the pubcaster and spending heavily on programming and promoting its shows. DD, while agreeing to an extension of between 6 and 18 months for Channel Nine Gold, had put its foot down on other demands made by the company. This led to a break-in contract between DD and the company.
Slowly but surely, the fourth player in the Hindi entertainment television sweepstakes, Sahara TV, is keeping up with its plans to innovate its programming content. To add to Vilayati Babu, which it unveiled on 5 November, the channel is aiming to launch another three serials this month. (Vilayati Babu, a comedy show airs at 11:00 am on Mondays, and brings together two ace comedy stars, Shekhar Suman and Satish Shah, for the first time on television.)
Sahara TV vice-president (publicity, promotions & PR) Priya Raj says that, Apnapan, the first of these will launch on 12 November at 1:30 pm (repeat telecast at 11:00 pm). The weekly drama series stars Kiran Kumar. It will be followed by the flagoff of a daily soap, Santaan on 22 November. Santaan revolves around the issue of equal opportunities for the girl child and airs at 8:00 pm. Zindagi...Teri Meri Kahani, the third new show from the Sahara TV stable, hits the small screen on 23 November. The series is an emotional drama is inspired by the hit seventies movie Kramer vs Kramer. It focuses on the suffering that a spouse goes through when a couple decides to divorce and the psychological problems that their child faces. Produced by Ashwin Verma of A.V. Telefilms, it is directed by Arun Frank and stars Parmeet Sethi, Iravati Harshe, Minal Kulkarni and a host of others. Earlier this month, Sahara had rejigged the timings of two news programmes. The evening news programme at 7.30 pm was shifted to an earlier slot at 5.30 pm while the late night news hour was extended by 30 minutes. The late night news hour now comprises 75 per cent news in Hindi, while the rest is in English. Says Raj: "We realized that the 7.30 pm news slot was not too popular. We found that viewers were watching Sahara programmes till the news came on, and were then shifting to other channels. They would then return to Sahara for prime time programmes. On the other hand, we have a strong viewership for the late night news programme. Hence, the decision to change the timings. " |
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