Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL) has hired another CEO, adding to the clutch of chiefs who run the company. This time it is advertising agency Rediffusion DY&R president Sandeep Goyal who is going to be at the helm of its broadcasting operations.

Sandeep Goyal: From advertising to broadcasting

"We are happy that we have found in Sandeep the right mix of creativity and commercial acumen," says Zee TV chairman Subhash Chandra. "Despite him being young - just 38 years- Sandeep will be able to build on the strengths of the Zee Network which he is inheriting. He will be able to build stronger bonds with stakeholders (media buyers, viewers and the society) by providing them the infotainment they are looking for. We welcome him on the team."

Sandeep Goyal Picture courtesy Business Standard

CNN is to begin broadcasting eight of its news and feature programmes in Korean for the first time as part of the global news networks distribution agreement with CSTV.

These programmes will be subtitled in Korean for cable audiences in South Korea starting today, a CNN release states.

The programmes airing in Korean will initially include ‘Larry King Live‘, ‘BizAsia‘, ‘World Beat‘, ‘CNNhotspots‘, ‘CNNdotCOM‘, ‘ebizasia‘, ‘Science and Technology Week‘, and ‘Business Unusual‘. Yernho Kim, CEO and Chairman of CSTV says: "We are very excited to be able to offer localised versions of CNN‘s world quality news and other programmes to Korean audiences. In future, we will continue to expand our localised services to deliver a wider range of CNN‘s programmes to a greater audience."

CSTV Korea (Cable and Satellite TV Korea) signed agreements with Turner International Asia Pacific Inc. (a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner) for exclusive distribution of CNN International to cable system operators in Korea in November 2000. This was a landmark agreement as it meant CNN was the first international news channel to be officially distributed in South Korea.

Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL), while still struggling to attract viewers, is in the middle of a determined fightback worthy of some appreciation. At least that‘s how the stockmarkets are perceiving it. The ZTL share has been clawing its way back - it rose by more than 10 per cent last week.
And in today‘s trading it registered an increase of around Rs 7 when it closed at Rs 142.40 after surging to an intra-day high of Rs 144.25. Its low during day trades was Rs 133.00 with the share chalking up a volume of 3.8 million shares.

So what‘s perking up ZTL? Two pieces of news. One that its viewership ratings are looking up, even as Star TV and Sony Entertainment have been grappling hard to retain their grips on audiences. According to Intam data for all cable and satellite homes for the month 26 February-25 March 2001, three of its shows Koshish, Amanat and Mehandi Tere Naam Ki have consistently been figuring in the Top 10 shows chart with television rating points of between 4.5 and 5.5.

The gains have mainly come at the expense of Sony Entertainment Television which has seen a rapid erosion of ratings for its Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke game show. Even Star Plus‘ Kaun Banega Crorepati has gradually been losing its grip while other family dramas such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki have been holding on to theirs.

The second piece of news that the market is looking favourably at is the fact that the Zee Network is finally getting its digital direct to operator bouquet together with its leading channel Zee TV expected to encrypt and go pay by next month. Cable TV operator pricing for the Zee bouquet - including Zee Cinema, Zee English, Zee MGM, Zee News, and Alpha Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Punjabi - has been fixed at around Rs 25. The pay TV model is expected to add substantial subscription revenues to ZTL‘s books and profits to its bottomline.

The key question is: is the market once again getting carried away and, once again, much too early?

One will have to wait and watch the ratings sheets in the coming weeks to see if the upward audience grabbing movement of Zee TV‘s shows is maintained. On the pay TV front, subscription revenue collections from cable TV operators for its bouquet are not going to be easy. Even if one considers that its Siticable network has a captive five million subscriber base. One can expect payments from only one-third of cable TV operators taking a feed from Siticable headends as has been the record so far in the cable TV trade.

All eyes will be on Sriharikota in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on 18 April. The reason: that‘s the day the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will once again be taking a shot at becoming a player in the global satellite launch sweepstakes. A previous attempt in March was aborted moments before takeoff.
Isro‘s indigeneously developed three-stage, 49-metre high Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), will take its place on the launchpad with its payload of a 1.54 tonne experimental space craft GSAT-1. And should the weather gods frown on that day, Isro will have till 25 April to try again.

The launch will be between 3:47 PM and 7:41 PM on 18 April while the countdown will begin on 16 April 57 hours before the flight, according to Isro officials.

The inaugural flight of the GSLV on 28 March had to be aborted just before take-off apparently because one of the four strap-on booster rockets failed to achieve the required level of thrust, during takeoff. Isro explained that the booster rocket failed due to a "defective plumbing in the oxidiser flow of the engine. " It added that the fire which spread over one of the strap-on boosters was due to the "burning of foam insulation pads" and was incidental.