Kanchivaram..

There has been promotional videos on the film Kanchivaram in the channel for quite sometime.. I guess they will be telecasting this film in channel soon.. will update you guys once I know the date/time..

Paatu Paadava from July 17

Paatu Paadava, the new realty show that will bring the playback singers will be from July 17th, 2009.. the show that is similar to Bol Baby Bol of Star Plus, this show will have contestants singing songs without forgetting the lyrics of the songs... and they will also be asked to sing from any combination of music directors, singers and actors. Promotional videos had started to roll in the channel with Anuradha Sriram speaking about the show.. is she gonna anchor the show ??? The show will be during the weekend..Also, Anbe Vaa serial's timings is at 7.30 PM from July 13th...

Paatu Paadava - Friday & Saturday - From July 17, @ 10 PM

Kovai Sarala & Chinni Jayanth..

Anu Hassan brings together two well-known comedians of Tamil cinema — Kovai Sarala and Chinni Jayanth as this episode’s guests in this week's Koffee with Anu. Kovai Sarala was introduced on the silver screen by K. Bagyaraj in ‘Chinna Veedu’. She went on to act in more than 500 films. But one role she cherishes most and talks at length about is ‘Sathi Leelavathi’ where she shares screen space with Kamal Haasan. Chinni Jayant has been acting in tamil films for quite long time and he is known for this mimicry..

Chinni Jayanth’s miming talent knows no bounds and he imitates L.K. Advani, Sonia Gandhi and Laloo Prasad on the show. Jayanth, whose role model is Rajnikanth, shares his experiences of acting with him. He also talks about acting with Kovai Sarala. Both agree that Senthil and Goundamani are comedy kings and that there is no one to replace them. Dont miss this show..

Shri Krishna Leelai

Vijay TV is rolling out with ‘Shri Krishna Leelai’ from July 13.. next Bhakti serial that will target the house wives and children... The mythological series depicts the life of Lord Krishna.... will start from his birth in the prison, his happy childhood, his pranks, his enduring friendship with Sudama, the taming of demons such as Putana, his killing of the venomous serpent Kaliya, his relationship with Radha, the slaying of Kamsa… it’s all there for viewers to relish. From the promotional it looks like an impressive program and I guess this will be a competition for Raj TV's program that had started recently which is also about lord Krishna... I also feel that this Shri Krishna Leelai will take upper hand over other channels' programs..

This serial is produced by Merry Land Production House and directed by Suresh Unnithan, the serial has Sujitha and Yuvarani, among others, in the lead roles. The show will be at 7 PM from Monday to Thursday from this monday..

Shri Krishna Leelai - Monday to Thursday - From 13th July, @ 7PM

Lekhasri competes Sujibala..

It will be glamdolls in this week's Samayal samayal.. Sujibala who is in her final round of the show will meet Lekhasri as her opponent in this cookery show. If Sujibala wins this week, she can take home a dream kitchen as prize in the show and if she loses Lekhasri will be marching for the 2nd round in the show.. The secret ingredient of this week's show is "Kathirikai"..

Indian music download users to touch 213 mn by '13

While the number of music download users in the Asia Pacific will reach 878.9 million by the end of 2013, India is the country that will record the highest growth in the number of users, according to new market research report by IE Market Research Corporation. IE Market Research Corporation (IEMR), the Canadian-based provider of market intelligence services, announced today the release of its Asia Pacific Digital Music Forecast for online, mobile, and subscription channels, 2009 - 2013.

"Although the recent worldwide recession will slow growth in paid digital music users in the short term, we expect that volumes will pick up noticeably in the end of 2010 - 2011 as the economy recovers. IEMR estimates that the number of paid users in the Asia Pacific region will increase from 320.7 million in 2008 to 878.9 million in 2013, for a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.7 per cent," said Nizar Assanie, Vice President (Research) at IEMR. "The largest market in the Asia-Pacific region is China. We forecast that the number of digital music paid download users in China will increase from 106.4 million in 2008 to 296.6 million in 2013, for a CAGR of 19.4 per cent. However, the market that enjoys the highest growth will be India where we expect that the number of paid users will increase from 56.6 million in 2008 to 213.4 million in 2013, for a CAGR of 50.0 per cent. The majority of these users will be downloading digital music to their mobile phones rather than to their computers."

"In contrast to China and India, the majority of digital music download users in Australia and New Zealand will be online users, not mobile users. This result is consistent with high levels of broadband penetration in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, 6.26 million out of 8.66 million digital music paid download users will be online users in 2013 (72.3 per cent). This is in vivid contrast with China where, in 2013, only 18.9 million users out of 296.6 million digital music paid users (6.4 per cent) will online users. Somewhere in-between these two countries will be Japan where 43.4 million users out of 101.8 million total users (42.6 per cent) will be online users in 2013," says Assanie.

In terms of revenues, we expect that digital music download retail revenues will increase from $1.91 billion in 2008 to $6.43 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 62.6 per cent. In the Asia Pacific region, most of the retail revenues come from mobile broadband music download. Digital music retail revenues from the mobile channel will increase from $1.53 billion in 2008 to $4.48 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 35.3 per cent. On the other hand, retails revenues from online download (over the fixed network) will increase from $0.25 billion to $1.28 billion over the forecast period, 2008 - 2013.

The countries/areas covered in this forecast are Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the rest of Asia Pacific (which includes American Samoa, Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, Guam, North Korea, Laos, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Northern Marianas Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Polynesia (French), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu).

Chennai's turn..

This week it will be Chennai auditions in Airtel Super Singer Junior 2... this audition took place on July 4th in Chennai. After Coimbatore and Trichy with top 40 kids for the competition.. I guess Chennai will have atleast 30 - 40 more kids being selected for the mail level of the competition. I frankly feel that Vijay TV shuold not have increased the age limit for the eligibility.. they should have had 6 to 10 years as one group and 10 to 14 years for another group. Chennai auditions would definitely be telecasted for 2 weeks and we will see lot of talents in the city for sure... so be ready for the Chennai's turn.

Lot of Time Pass

Star Vijay TV these days are having lot of time to pass & there are some delays in the new programs to start with.. there are several new programs lined up for the channel to start with and many of them are realty shows and serials like kanaa kaanum kaalangal's next season. Since they are not being started and the already running shows are completed they tend to fill the gap with some programs or the other.. sterday for that instance it was Super Singer Junior 2 first week which had Junior Vs Senior was retelecasted in the place of Boys Vs Girls and the same was going on till midnight.. and we could see the programs like Vijay Special, Time Pass and few more..

But, it was good when they had upcoming film details with interview of the actors/directors of the movie.. last week it was about the film Vaamanan and this show can be made persistant in the channel..

Entrepreneurship programmes on TV soon

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ (MSME) Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry field office is in talks with a couple of private television channels operating out of Chennai to telecast programmes for developing entrepreneurship. Besides, it is also setting up credit and export counselling cells in Chennai and few places in the State and Puducherry.

Mr S. Sivagnanam, Director, MSME Development Institute, told Business Line that the television channels had evinced interest in telecasting the programme in the prime time. It is estimated that about five lakh entrepreneurs in the organised MSME segments and twice that number in the unorganised segments are in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. A decision will be taken soon and the telecast will commence from August 15, he said.

The weekly programme will initially run for six months. The institute has produced 26 episodes covering 20 subjects including project work, incentives and opportunities available for MSMEs. It will also start a media campaign to promote the programme. Star Vijay - Are you listening to this ?

-Business Line

19 from Trichy

19 kids were selected in the Trichy auditions in Airtel Super Singer Junior 2 last week.. following the Coimbatore auditions, it was Trichy's turn last week and the kids were very much talented at Trichy. This made the judges to reject many prospective contestants even.. finally the judges selected 19 contestants from the Trichy auditions for their next round in Chennai. Now, its altogether 40 contestants selected for the mail level of the competition.. 21 from Coimbatore and 19 from Trichy.

Whos at Trichy Auditions

It was Maya, Nikhil Mathew and Anitha being the preliminary judges in the first day of the Trichy auditions.. then it was Anitha Kupuswamy and Manicka Vinayagam separately doing the fist level of auditions.. then Manicka Vinayagam was joined by Mahathi for the final level of Trichy auditions.. there was no yesteryear's contestants in the show this week. DD was anchoring the show and she was having a bash out there..

SS Jr 2, Interesting..

The much awaited second edition of Vijay TV’s Airtel Super Singer Junior 2 has hit the Television screens and has witnessed tremendous response from the kids. This year the show promises greater entertainment and this provides another golden chance for kids in the age group of 6-14 years to showcase their singing talent on a Vijay TV’s platform which is to be judged by the legends of the music industry. Apart from gaining recognition from acclaimed names of the music industry and being a child singing icon, the Airtel Super Singer Junior 2 winner will be honored with prize money of Rs.25 lakhs. After Coimbatore and Tiruchi, Chennai auditions also got over on July 4 at Mayor Sri Ramanathan Chettiar Hall, Santhome. Kids this year looks to be very promising and I think the show would be a super hit for Vijay TV. With Divyadarshini anchoring, the show has become still more better to watch..

Sridevi's Marriage

Tamil film actress Sridevi's marriage was solemnised in Chennai on 18th June 2009. Daughter of Veteran actor Vijaya Kumar and actress Manjula, Sridevi is married to Rahul, a software businessman from Hyderabad. Popular Tamil film industry celebrities attended the wedding including Superstar Rajnikant and his wife Lata Rajnikant. Sridevi made her debut as a child artiste in Deiva Kulandhai, Rickshaw Mama and continued acting in various Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sreedevi made her debut as female lead with Kadhir’s Kadhal Virus in 2002 followed by Priyamana Thozhi and Devadhai Kanden. Here are some photos from the wedding..

TV channels witness biggest boom in ’08

The year 2008 has proved to be the year of ‘TV channel boom’ with maximum number TV channels getting government nod to go on air. Of the total 394 TV channels that have been granted licence by information & broadcasting ministry till March 2009, over one-fourth of them have got permission to beam in 2008 only. While the average number of channels to get ministry clearance every year stands at 41, last year registered a record number of channels, with more than double the average figure (around 111) television channels have been granted permission to broadcast in 2008.

“The number of new TV channels has gained momentum due to liberalisation and enhanced enthusiasm shown by the broadcasters to catch a share of the huge entertainment & media industry in India. A number of applications for uplinking are being received and proposals for 145 private satellite TV channels for permission to uplink from India are at various stages of scrutiny,” said the annual report of the ministry, explaining the proliferation in the number of new channels. The figures exclude the 22 channels, which the ministry has permitted to go on air last month. The number of news and current affairs channels, constituting 54% (211) of the total (394), has outnumbered channels of all other genres put together. According to I&B ministry data, while the number of news channels have reached 211 in 2009 from 40 in 2001, the number of channels of all other genres put together have increased to 183 in 2009 from 13 in 2002.

The factors contributing to news channels outnumbering non-news channels include lower entry cost, a growing share in the total media ad-revenue pie and an easy definition to be qualified as a news channel. Currently, a news and current affairs channel is defined as a channel with any element of news and current affair in it. According to industry estimates, it takes an investment of around Rs 60-70 crore to launch a news channel. However, if the channel happens to be a second or third offering.

Courtesy - Financial Express

Trichy Auditions @ SS Jr

This week it is Trichy Auditions in Airtel Super Singer junior 2... In continuation with coimbatore auditions last week which had 21 contestants being selected for the main level of the contest, this week it would be some more contestants being selected from Trichy. Preliminary auditions took place first and it had Maya, Nikhil Mathew and Anitha judging the kids (Gautham is replaced by Maya)... I felt Maya was really strict with the contestants and she was judging as if it was mail level of auditions ;)... some more kids would have been sneaked thru if she had not been the judge..

Yesterday first level of the auditions was even started in the show and this time the judges for the same are Anitha Kupuswamy and Manicka Vinayagam. I guess with the selected contestants, both these judges will together select the top 15-25 contestants to go through for the main event..

Hathway Datacom discontinues its services in Chennai

Hathway Datacom, the Rajan Raheja-owned multi system operator (MSO), has discontinued its cable TV services in Chennai. Employees who were working at Hathway's Chennai office have confirmed the development. The MSO, which had a 10 per cent share of the city's cable TV market, stated that Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV), a division of Sumangali Publications Ltd, which owns a major chunk of the Sun TV network, had left the MSO with no choice but to close operations.

SCV is an MSO offering services on the conditional access system (CAS) in Chennai and Hathway was its only rival. There are around 4-5 lakh subscribers in the city, with more than 1,000 cable operators, according to industry representatives. P. S. Lakshmanan, who looks after Hathway's Chennai operations, declined to comment on the development, when queried by Televisionpoint.com. Hathway officials in Mumbai were also unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts were made to contact them.

Last year, In Chennai, Hathway had issued about 50,000 free set-top boxes (STBs) worth about Rs 50 crore. A spokesperson of Cable TV Urimayalaargal Sangam, an association of the cable operators, said that the company failed due to mismanagement and aggressive investment in STBs and promotional offers of free boxes. With Hathway stopping operations in Chennai, SCV is expected to have a monopoly. SCV, a network owned by Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi Maran of the Sun TV group, has a market share of 90 per cent in the city. In Tamil Nadu, the DMK Government had also started an MSO called Arasu Cable Network, which everyone thought would take over the entire cable TV industry, including SCV and Hathway. But, after a patch-up between the Maran's and Karunanidhi's families, the takeover plan was not initiated and Hathway began to face resistance from SCV.

Courtesy - Televisionpoint

Sun Pictures shines with smash Tamil hits

Sun Pictures, the film production arm of Sun TV Network, has some reason to cheer. Having forayed into film production, acquisition and distribution less than a year ago, six out of the seven Tamil films acquired and released by the leading media company have turned out to be hits, including two that have been declared as smash hits. Venturing into films through Kaadhalil Vizhundhein, Sun Pictures has since acquired and distributed Thenaavattu, Dindugal Sarathy, Padikkaadhavan, Thee, Ayan and Maasilamani. Except Thee, where the distributors lost about15 per cent of their investments or the print and publicity costs, every other film has given handsome returns to the distributors.

Among the hits, Ayan and Kaadhalil Vizhundhein have been declared as smash hits. While Ayan, acquired at a cost of Rs 18 crore, is expected to gross about Rs 50 crore and fetch a distributors' share of over Rs 25 crore from all territories, Kaadhalil Vizhundhein, acquired for Rs 3.5 crore, collected a distributors' share of Rs 8.5-9.2 crore. "Sun Pictures looks for basic entertainment value in the films that they acquire With an eye on attracting the family audience, they shun films with excessive violence or sex. That's the secret of the success of their portfolio of films," says K S Mahalingam, head, distribution, AGS Entertainment, that distributes Sun Pictures' films in Tamil Nadu.

While three films were small budget ones, Padikaadhavan and Ayan were big budget ones, where the acquisition costs ranged between Rs 14-18 crore. Now, it has again turned its attention on small budget films starting with Maasilamani. "Once Sun acquires a film from the original producer, it palms it off territory-wise to a set of distributors at a marginal profit. As a result, there is no big increase in cost as the film changes hands. Where it actually gains is the satellite rights of the film, which it gets at almost nil cost." says a veteran distributor, who did not wish to be named.

Later, it then turns its attention to aggressive marketing and the network, being an established media empire, comes handy in taking this across all segments of the media - television, radio and print. "They are smart marketing people and the fact that they have a successful media empire gives them complete control over the campaign. Hence, their success rate is not surprising, only a failure will be surprising," says G Dhananjayan, chief operating officer, entertainment business, Moser Baer Entertainment.

A Televisionpoin article

What to Expect from Paatu Paadava..

With Paatu Paadava's promotional videos being shown up in Vijay TV quite frequently.. I was excited to know more information about the show & I came to know that its a lyrics game.. also its similar to what came in Star One "Bol Baby Bol". So, I thought it will be good if we get to know about the game show.. here it is..

Bol Baby Bol is a Hindi musical game show produded by Fox Television Studios that aired on STAR One every Friday to Saturday at 9:00 PM IST. It is based on the American show Don't Forget the Lyrics!. Hosted by Adnan Sami, the show features contestants that are quizzed on the lyrics of popular Bollywood songs. Contestants that provide correct answers can win as much as Rs 25 lakh, equivalent to about US $64,000. Adnan Sami hosts a brand new game show in which contestants are given a microphone, put on the spot, and challenged to remember the lyrics to popular Hindi film songs. The contestants must correctly fill in the missing lyrics for a chance to win money.

On Bol Baby Bol,contestants are given nine categories, which could be different lyricists, music directors, Bollywood actors and actresses, themes and situations. In each category, they will be given two songs of which they pick one. Then they'll take center stage to sing as the lyrics are projected on screen, but suddenly the music will stop and the words will disappear. The contestants will have to fill in the missing words of the song to win. Once the lyrics are recorded, each word counts, and only the exact lyrics will lead the contestants to the jackpot of 25 Lakhs!

If they sing 9 songs correctly, they are presented with one final song and final missing lyrics for the top prize of Rs 25 Lakhs. In their journey through the game, contestants can use any of their three Back-ups:

* Farishtey - Contestants family member or friend can come to their rescue and help them with the missing lyrics.
* Adla Badli - The chosen song is replaced with two song options.
* Gustakhi Maaf - Any two mistakes in the lyrics a contestant has sung are pardoned.

Content - Wikipedia

Govt hikes 5 % customs duty on STBs

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee gave some shock to the direct-to-home (DTH) players, as his Ministry has hiked customs duty on import of set-top boxes (STBs) by 5 per cent from the present Nil per cent. "Import of STBs do not attract any customs duty, this will be raised to five per cent as the production of the devices has picked up in the country." Pranab Mukherjee said, while presenting the budget for fiscal 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha. Excise duty on STBs were exempted in 2003 to facilitate introduction of Conditional Access System (CAS) in the country. In the Budget 2006, the exemption on excise duty was withdrawn, but customs duty was reduced from 15 per cent to Nil.

However, there was no corresponding reduction of customs duty on inputs used in the manufacturing of STBs. This has resulted into another case of inverted customs duty structure. Now, in the Budget 2009, the correction of the anomaly has been achieved by increasing customs duty on the import of STBs from Nil to 5 per cent, and also allowing import of inputs at five per cent. Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV, says, "The additional burden of 5 per cent tax on STB will hinder the growth and will discourage the DTH industry from expanding business; this tax hike will be passed on to the customers."

"Although we do welcome the removal of FBT and introduction of GST (Gods & services tax), which will provide some relief to DTH industry from multiple taxes from centre and the states. Focus on building infrastructure will increase income and purchasing power, which will add impetus to the TV industry and DTH service providers." Kapoor adds. Vikram Kaushik, managing director and chief executive officer, Tata Sky, says, "The DTH industry is one of the most heavily taxed areas in the media space. The increase in the customs duty on STBs will add to the cost of digital television services for consumers at large." "With an unprecedented 10 per cent revenue share payable to government the industry pays service tax, VAT, and in many states entertainment tax as well. The DTH industry has been pressing for some relief for a long time. The imposition of 5 per cent customs duty will add to this burden." Kaushik adds.

- Televisionpoint

Change in Schedules this week..

This week yet again there would be some changes in the programs of the Vijay TV.. I guess the channel is losing interest in few shows and with some ROCKING realty shows the channel still have a good name amongst the viewers.. Namma veetu kalyanam which started off with a BANG... was stopped earlier for a while and had retelecast for sometime but last few weeks its totally stopped.. I guess thats it for the show for this season ;).. might be they come up with season 2 for this even.. It was Best of Koffee with Anu that came up on sunday evening at 8 PM..

Also this week there will not be Nadanthathu Enna... we will have Star Vijay Special program whole of this week at the same time.. not sure whats the reason behind this..

Boys Vs Girls, Judgement Day