Broadband may still be a while away but Gaurang Shah CEO, SparkTv, wants to position his company as one of the leading content providers to the media industry when it does happen.

"Interactive Television is one of the next big things coming and with the advent of broadband technology there would be a mad rush of channels trying to exploit this medium," says Shah. "Since we were among the first people to explore this area, we need not fear competition. A year or two from now others might acquire the technology but we still would be ahead since we have the technology as well as the knowhow," he says.

And Shah is confident the first mover advantage will keep Spark ahead of the competition. Shah‘s plans for SparkTv include interactive content production, repurposing existing video, interactive video authoring, virtual anchors, virtual stage and live and delayed webcasting. With a fully equipped studio, Spark presently provides facilities right from copy writing and design services to full animation and video creation, he says.

Shah said he had pumped in Rs 10 million into developing the idea. Since the set-up required for content creation was already in place, there was no additional investment in new equipment, he pointed out.

SparkTv was looking at producing 30 hours of programmes in a month, developing original content as well as re-purposing the content the channel already has to make it interactive. Shah said he expected a turnover of RS 500 million annually once broadband becomes a reality in India.

And when would this happen? Shah said he saw it interactive TV becoming a viable proposition within the next two years. Shah claimed deals had already been struck with three major players but he couldn‘t reveal their names because of non-disclosure clause in place.

Zee TV is now the confirmed No. 2 channel on Indian television in prime time, more so among women, figures released by the company indicate.

The statistics are derived from market research firm ORG-MARG‘s INTAM data calculated for a three month weighted average beginning 22 January through till 23 April.

While both men and women sampled gave Zee an edge over Sony it was women who were tuning in more to Zee than men, the data shows. The women sampled were in the 25 + SEC AB category - seen as having the maximum advertisement attracting power - in 10 cities. For men the target group was 15 +.

It is between 8 PM to 9 PM that Zee has made the maximum impact, claiming to have even gone ahead of Star during this prime band.

Zee TV emerged the market leader from 16 April in the 8 PM time band. The lead increases in the 8:30 PM time band and it remains a close No 2 in the 9 PM time band, the data reveals.

Nickelodeon, the Viacom-owned kids channel which launched in India in October 1999, has recently initiated a series of new programming blocks which it hopes will improve viewer recognition levels.

Nickelodeon has three programming blocks - Nick Jr., GAS and Toons on Toast.

Nick Jr., is targeted at younger viewers aged 2 to 5 years old and features Blues Clues, Eureeka‘s Castle, Gullah Gullah Island and the premiere of Little Bill. Blues Clues has won the Parents Choice Gold Award in the US. Blues Clues features an animated girl puppy Blue and her human friend Steve, who invite viewers to interact and learn through play. The series has made strides in pre-school television by exploring advanced subject matter such as sign language, geography, physics, emotions and anatomy.

Based on the popular book by the famous comedian Bill Cosby, Little Bill follows the adventures of an inquisitive, energetic and highly imaginative 5-year-old boy as he investigates the world.

Nick Jr. can be seen weekdays from 9 am to 11 am.

GAS (Games & Sports) offers up thrills and spills through Global Guts, Double Dare 2000, Legends of the Hidden Temple and Figure it Out. Global Guts is a game show that makes sport fantasies, come true for kids from around the world with wacky sporting events. Double Dare 2000 challenges kids and their families mentally and physically, against competing families. Legends of the Hidden Temple features mystery themes and physical action where two teams of kids compete to find an ancient artefact hidden on the set of a Mayan ruin. Hosted by former US Olympic champion, Summer Sanders, Figure it Out features Nick stars guessing each contestants hidden talents.

GAS airs weekdays from 3 PM to 5 PM

Toons on Toast serves up Nickelodeon‘s most popular animation shows in the morning with Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, The Wild Thornberrys and CatDog. Toons on Toast airs weekdays from 6 am to 8 am.

Nickelodeon projects itself as a multi-genre kids channel unlike Cartoon Network which is solely an animation channel. However, its pitch has failed to enthuse and it remains a fringe product at the moment with acceptance problems somewhat akin to that faced by Hallmark in the English movie segment.

Nickelodeon‘s problems are if anything much worse because of distribution problems. The channel has an exclusive distribution alliance with the Zee Group‘s Siti Cable Network. It is hoping the new programme blocks it has put together will provide a platform for the channel to obtain carriage on other MSOs as well.