NDTV Imagine, the entertainment wing of Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV Network, is close to forming a 50:50 joint venture with Manmohan Shetty - the former promoter of Adlabs - to enter film production.
A no-holds-barred boardroom battle has broken out between Mahendra Nahata and the Dhoots of Videocon, 36:64 partners in Datacom Solutions, a company which wants to launch mobile telephone services all over the country in a month-and-a-half.
A high-profile team from MTN is also expected to meet Reliance Industries Ltd next week to take stock of the situation. RCom had informed the bourses on May 26 that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with MTN for 45 days soon after the South African giant aborted its talks with the Sunil Mittal-controlled Bharti group. The deadline will end on July 8.
Sure, while Mumbai's tinsel town has made some attempts to break in (Aamir Khan's Lagaan made it to the 2002 Oscar nomination for foreign films), few Indians have managed to enter this exclusive club. Not anymore. The efforts of the threesome have finally paid off and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) is set to put its imprint on Hollywood.
Move to ensure deals do not hit govt licence fees, revenue share.
Leading Indian public sector banks State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Syndicate Bank are close to committing a part of the $3 billion bridge loan that Tata Motors has to raise to finance the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal's bid for telecom major MTN Group has to contend with some tough negotiations with Lebanon's former prime minister Najib Mikati, one of the wealthiest men in his country, as well as stiff black economic empowerment policies in South Africa that provide for a major share in the management of companies located in the country to blacks.
Commercials aired during the original show time will also be re-run without charging advertisers additional fee, said sources. In other words, an advertiser will get three times more air time on Star Plus for the same amount it had paid originally.
The battle for subscribers in the direct-to-home space is set to get hotter, with new player Big TV expected to fire a price war. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Big TV will be commercially launched sometime in May and is looking at tying up over 5 to 5.5 million subscribers even before its launch.
Datacom Solutions, promoted by consumer electronic goods maker Videocon Industries, is close to roping in South African telecom major MTN group as a partner for its GSM foray in the country. According to sources, Datacom, which was scouting for a partner to bring in investments and technology, has short-listed MTN. Discussions with the South African company are in the final stage and a deal is expected to be signed soon.
Bollywood's King of Romances Yash Chopra is flexing his muscle once again over revenue-sharing with theatre chains.
Vijay Mallya, whose team Royal Challengers will take on Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural match in Bangalore, has already got busy counting the cash.
The consortium of Sony Entertainment Television and World Sports Group, which paid BCCI $60 million (Rs 240 crore) as the telecast rights fee for the first season of the Twenty 20 league has already recovered its money. Sony-WSG will together earn around Rs 380 crore (Rs 3.8 billion) worldwide from the league. Sony is confident of selling 11,800 seconds across 59 matches, at a premium. Vodafone, Godrej, Hyundai, Coca-Cola & Max New York and StanChart has already booked spots.
HD TV is all set to make a grand entry in India by the year-end. Direct-To-Home operators -- Dish TV and Reliance Communications -- are planning to offer HD TV set top boxes, though at a premium.
The brain drain, it seems, is passe. India is becoming one of the hottest destinations for expatriates (both those of Indian origin and foreigners) for top jobs. That is because big business houses in India are ready to offer pay packets that are equivalent to and sometimes more than global benchmarks. This is a key finding of a study of senior recruitment trends by US-based SpencerStuart, a leading executive search firm that specialises in recruiting CEOs, presidents and COO
Star India is close to forming a joint venture with Kerala-based television broadcaster Asianet to launch a bouquet of regional channels. The deal comes after the failure of Star's joint venture with Ekta Kapur-controlled Balaji Telefilms to operate regional channels last April to get off the ground. Sources at Star said the broadcaster will hold a majority stake in the joint venture.
Led by Huawei Technologies and ZTE, Chinese manufacturers are challenging the domination of European equipment-makers by grabbing contracts (some of which are in advanced stages of negotiations) worth over $2 billion in 2008 -- nearly one thirds of the Indian market of around $6 billion.
The govt is likely to propose to the EU that it will validate security procedures in its airports before allowing passengers to carry duty-free goods to India. This is in retaliation to a similar proposal made by EU last year, which led to protests from companies operating duty-free shops in India. EU officials would have to validate the security systems at Indian airports before allowing transit passengers to buy at duty-free shops here, resulting in dispute between the two.
With hundreds of theatre screens coming up across India in 2009, Texas Instruments (TI) - a leading semiconductor technology company - is eyeing the Indian cinema market with its digital light processing (DLP) technology. TI has patented the DLP technology. In DLP projectors, the image is created by small mirrors laid out in a matrix on a semiconductor chip known as a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD).
With less than a month to go for the two mega television shows - Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hai of Star Plus and the BCCI-promoted Indian Premier League on Sony - companies have lined up in right earnest for sponsorship deals with the broadcasters. Star Plus has signed on a string of advertisers for the Shah Rukh Khan-anchored show. These include confectionery brand Halls, Pidilite Industries, Havells India, L'Oreal India, Tata Sky, Parle Products etc
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