Indian mangoes reach US after 18 years

The first batch of 150 boxes of choicest Alphonso and Kesari mangoes in 18 years arrived in New York from India to the delight of Indians who had been lusting for luscious fruit for years.
"But they would have to wait for a few more days before they can buy them in the market as the fruit needs to be ripened before being released for sale," said Bhaskar Savani who is distributor and was personally present at the airport when the Air-India flight bringing the cargo landed late last night.

The formal launch of the mangoes will be done in Washington DC on May 1, he said.

Mangoes from Mexico and other Central American countries is available in the United States but Indians often complain that they do not taste like the ones India produces.

Nor do the Americans have the number of varieties available back home.

Savani said the distributors expect Langra, Chausa, Mallika and Dussheri to follow to give consumers a choice of varieties.

The distributors are in negotiations with Costco chain, which sells merchandise in bulk, for distributing the mangoes and some fast food chains have shown interest in retailing mango shakes.

The US had stopped import of mangoes from India 18 years ago as it felt Indian farmers were using too much pesticide. It has taken sustained negotiations over several years to get the fruit back into the US market.

The US Department of Agriculture has imposed the condition that the mangoes would be irradiated to ensure that that no exotic plant diseases are introduced in the country. However, irradiation also increases the shelf life of the fruit.

The distributors say that they expect a huge and ever increasing demand for the Indian mangoes with the rising Indian population here and locals developing taste for Indian varieties.

India is the largest producer of mangoes in the world, accounting for more than 50 per cent of the total output. It has some 1000 varieties.

Source : Financial Express

Jai Hind TV to go on air in July

Adding to the increasing number of cable television channels in the state, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)-backed Jai Hind Television is all set to go on air this July.

Announcing the launch of Jai Hind TV, director and senior congressman M M Hassan said that the foundation stone for the studio complex would be laid at the Kinfra Film and Video Park premises at Kazhakkuttom, in the state capital suburbs, on May 1 by Defence minister and Congress party veteran A K Antony.

The news studio will be inaugurated by Kerala's minister for education MA Baby and the logo will be released by film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

Jai Hind TV, promoted jointly by the Bharat Broadcasting Network and Jai Hind Communications, will have KPCC on board with substantial stake in the venture.

Significantly, the channel, which has KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala at the helm of affairs as president of the venture, would be the Congress party's foray into the television scene in the state.

The CPI(M) already runs Malayalam Communications, which operates three channels under its fold - Kairali, Kairali People and We.

UTV reports annual net profit of Rs 555 million

UTV Software Communications Limited has reported its results for the year ended March 31, 2007. Consolidated revenue of the company for the year is Rs 2,030 million and net profit is Rs 555 million.

The company has consolidated the financials of UTV-US, UTV-UK, UTV-Mauritius and Ignition Entertainment Ltd. The Board of Directors has taken on record the unaudited consolidated financial results of UTV Software Communications Limited and its subsidiaries.

UTV proposes to float its 100 per cent subsidiary UTV Motion Picture Plc based in Isle Of Man on London Stock Exchange’s AIM. This company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, will house all movie production businesses of the group, may they be Hindi, regional, Hollywood or animation movies.

HC directs MRTPC to probe into alleged bungling in KBC

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Commission to investigate accusation of financial bungling by the Star Plus channel in its KBC show.
A Division Bench of Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice J P Singh asked the petitioner and the Star Plus to appear before the Commission on May 8.
"Keeping in view the contentions of the parties, importance and gravity of the allegations besides the larger interest of the general public, we deem it fit that the matter should be referred to MRTP Commission for investigation into the finances, chances of winning, element of allurement, misrepresentation, fraud and other related allegations," the Bench said.
"The Commission should implead computer experts or any other person or party who may have the know-how of finding out fraud, tricks or manipulation, if any, in the game," the Bench added.
The order came on a PIL filed by Anuj Kumar Bhati, who had sought a direction to the centre restraining Star India Private Ltd from airing the quiz show.
The petitioner also sought refund of the amount he allegedly incurred in his attempt to participate in the show.
He alleged that the producer had violated their own rules by repeatedly allowing their own employees and associates to take part in the KBC.
The court, in its order also referred to a TV news programme, which claimed to have shown alleged financial bungling by the producer in June, last year.

Brand Big B: Rs 50-cr deal with Unitech

Brand Bachchan is very much alive and kicking. Critics, who claimed that the king is losing his 'magic', may soon have to eat humble pie as Big B closes in on the country's largest endorsement deal at Rs 50 crore for real estate major Unitech. Together with this, the total value of endorsements signed by Mr Bachchan in the past few months has touched a whopping Rs 100 crore, which includes renewal of his ongoing contracts with Cadbury, Dabur, Luxor, S Kumars and Emami, among others.

ET learns that Big B has been recently signed on by Unitech for a two-year deal that involves just an eight-day stint in front of the camera. However, Unitech director Sanjay Chandra was non-committal. “It's not confirmed yet. When we sign him on, we'll let you know,” he told ET. However, a top executive from an ad agency that handles a host of real estate accounts was more forthcoming, albeit on condition of anonymity. “They (Unitech) had a certain kind of arrangement with Amitabh for a long time. There has been a mutual arrangement, which is now being worked out differently,” he pointed out.

In a recent assessment of the brand endorsement market, it was indicated that since the advent of KBC3, Shah Rukh Khan had displaced Mr Bachchan in the field of endorsements. But a month after KBC3 flagged off, dipping TRPs seem to have reaffirmed marketers' faith in Big B. In the past few months, they have renewed most of their endorsement contracts with him.

Moreover, Mr Bachchan's Rs 50-crore deal with Unitech dwarfs all other celebrity brand marriages - no one, not even SRK or Tendulkar, commands even a fourth of the nearly Rs 25-crore per annum from a single brand. Even the fastidious Aamir Khan, who endorses a handful of brands, including Coca-Cola, Toyota and Titan, charges Rs 4.5-5 crore a pop. For the records, now “rested” from the Bangladesh ODI tour, Tendulkar has a five-year, Rs 180-crore contract with Iconix, ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi's sports management arm.

According to media monitoring agency TAM India, Mr Bachchan also tops the number of brands endorsed, 41 in 2006, closely followed by SRK with 35. Tendulkar's mug adorns just 17 brands. The total market for brand endorsements in India is around Rs 250 crore per annum, according to CelebZ, a recent study by Group M's Mindshare Insights.

Along with existing endorsers, there have been new entrants like Binani Cement and Unitech in the Bachchan-alia. Dabur India, for instance, renewed its contract with Mr Bachchan last September for two years. Again, Luxor Writing Instruments signed on Big B last month for a three-year contract. “This is the seventh year that Mr Bachchan is a brand ambassador for Parker pens and he has been able to provide noticeability to the brand,” says Luxor Writing Instruments executive director Pooja Jain.

Asked how expensive Big B is, pat came the reply: “Anywhere to the tune of Rs 5-10 crore per brand he endorses.”

Of late, it's raining stars on the real estate sector. While Golden Grand has roped in Kajol-Ajay Devgan, EmGee has signed on Bipasha Basu and Shah Rukh Khan is firmly in place with DLF. Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and his sons endorse Omaxe. But all these deals are sealed in the region of Rs 1-5 crore. In the past, Big B has endorsed Sahara City Homes, but with the astronomical Rs 50-crore Unitech deal, he has clearly set the Big Benchmark.

Source : Economic Times

ESPN STAR Sports to launch third channel ‘STAR Cricket’

ESPN STAR Sports has announced the launch of a dedicated cricket channel, STAR Cricket, especially for audiences in the Indian subcontinent and the new channel will commence transmission in June 2007. STAR Cricket will be the 15th channel launched by ESPN STAR Sports in the Asia Pacific region and the third in India.

RC Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, “ESPN STAR Sports has recently acquired the rights to many major sports properties including the biggest cricket property in the world, the ICC global telecast rights. The two channels that we have are already brimming with high quality content. Going forward, we intend to further strengthen our content line-up both in cricket and other sports. The launch of STAR Cricket is part of our long-term strategy to further strengthen our offering to sports fans in the country.”

Venkateish added that STAR Cricket will showcase live India and non-India cricket. “We plan to add quality first class cricket coverage from around the globe as well. The channel will also showcase feature programming on cricket including reality shows, archival programming and magazine shows,” he said.

With the ICC telecast rights for the next eight years and rights from Test-playing nations like England and Australia, the ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) network is looking at a total of 24 Test matches and 42 ODIs in 2007 alone. In addition, the network will also telecast the ICC Twenty20 World Cup later this year featuring 27 matches.

With STAR Cricket coming on air in June, cricket fans will be able to watch the India tour of England where they will play four Tests and seven ODIs.

Commented Ravi Shastri, ESS expert commentator and the recently appointed manager of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh, said, “There is a huge interest for live, quality, first class cricket action from the top Test playing countries as well as content meticulously customised for Indian audiences, which is what STAR Cricket would strive to provide its viewers.”

Harsha Bhogle, renowned cricket commentator, said, “I believe STAR Cricket will be everything a cricket channel should be with a combination of live cricket and specially produced programming. I hope a real cricket lover will feel he is at home with STAR Cricket for he will get to see more than international cricket. I would like to believe we will present cricket with a conscience.”


Source : exchange4media

Abhiash wedding rights sold to UK TV

Rumours are rife that the Bachchans have struck a 5-crore deal with a channel.

Have the Bachchans sold the rights of the Abhiash wedding to the Travel & Living channel? According to rumours in Bollywood, a deal was reportedly struck for about Rs 5 crore, although it is learned that the amount could be a little more than that.

It was always thought that the Bachchans were keeping the local media at bay for commercial reasons. "If they had sold the rights to cover the wedding to a channel, then they couldn't possibly allow any Indian media to cover the event,"said a film industry source. According to industry insiders, "Even the photographers who shot the pictures have been bound under confidentiality contracts not to release or reveal any pictures to any media."

The Bachchans are believed to have negotiated with Hello, a top lifestyle magazine based in UK, but the deal fell through.

A proposal from an India-based television network too was sent to the Bachchans, but didn't find favour. Sources reveal that the Bachchans were looking for a foreign channel. And the one with which they struck the deal has a big viewership in the UK where there is a strong Indian population.

This deal is the first of its kind in the history of Bollywood. No other wedding has been sold to any media ever before. The Bachchans took a cue from the Liz Hurley and Arun Nayar wedding. The couple had sold the rights of their wedding for two million pounds to Hello magazine.