Unprecedented bribery charges, farewells, separation, failed union, monumental mergers and record-breaking IPOs, along with a healthy dose of online happenings in the form of spat and lessons in customer care, corporate India saw it all in 2024.
Apart from a stake buy, some other options on the table include a merger of the entertainment businesses of Sony and Network18 Media.
From dubbing voices to putting faces with the help of AI, political campaigns are undergoing a Bollywood makeover. Among the favourites is a scene from the Anil Kapoor-starrer Nayak, posted by the BJP, where Kapoor asks about the Chunaavi Vaade (poll promise), with Arvind Kejriwal at the receiving end instead of Amrish Puri.
'I have no family (in the industry), no network, no mentor.' 'Still, I'm consistently working since 20 years and now I have a National Award.' 'It may take time, but if you're consistently at it, nothing can stop you.'
Oprah Winfrey's cable network OWN is close to selling out advertising time at premium prices for the highly anticipated televised doping confession by former cycling champion Lance Armstrong, a senior network executive said.
With Mukesh Ambani taking over Network 18, the space for disseminating a diverse range of views could shrink, feels Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
Recounts challenges faced in setting up various channels, hopes new management will always put journalism first.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd on Friday tested its 4G network at the Techfest event in IIT Bombay campus by running trials of video calls and Jio television service, among others.
Airline systems across airports, which were impacted due to a global IT outage on Friday, have started working normally, and all issues are likely to be resolved by noon on Saturday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said. The ministry is constantly monitoring the operations at airports and airlines to ensure travel readjustments and refunds are taken care of, he added.
Leading television networks that are members of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) have decided to drop all spot advertisements from their channels from Monday night if the advertisers and their media agencies do not agree to pay the 25 per cent surcharge levied on them. the IBF has also stated that advertisers who agree to paying the surcharge by 1800 hours on Monday will get a waiver on the additional 25 per cent for the first month - from October 16 to November 16 th
Airtel customers woke up to a network outage on Tuesday as the telecom giant's data and cellular network was severely impacted due to a major fire at its data centre in Malad in suburban Mumbai.
Multi Screen Media Private Limited ((earlier known as Sony Entertainment Television India), announced on Thursday that its chief executive officer, Kunal Dasgupta has quit quoting personal reasons. The announcement was made by SPTI's president, international networks, Andy Kaplan.
With billionaire Gautam Adani launching a hostile takeover of NDTV, the Congress on Wednesday alleged that the bid by a company owned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'khaas dost' (special friend) is a brazen move to control and stifle any semblance of an independent media.
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL) is in discussions to acquire a 29.8 per cent stake in Tata Play from the Walt Disney Company, according to sources close to the development. This move is seen as part of RIL's broader strategy to deepen its footprint in India's television distribution sector. Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, currently holds a 50.2 per cent stake in the satellite television broadcaster.
The Supreme Court on Friday got irked over a lengthy judgement penned by a single judge bench of the Delhi high court in a case related to an arbitral award involving media baron Kalanithi Maran and SpiceJet, saying there was no "application of mind". Suggesting that the case be now transferred to another judge by the Delhi HC, the top court said the judgement "has to be carefully articulated" and "the judge must apply mind to grounds of challenge and then deduce if interference is warranted". The strong observations against the single judge bench came from a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud during the hearing of an appeal by Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways against a Delhi high court order setting aside an arbitral award asking the SpiceJet to refund Rs 579 crore plus interest to the media baron and his firm.
Tainted television commentator Dean Jones has been hired by two Indian TV networks within weeks of being sacked for referring to South Africa's Hashim Amla as a 'terrorist'.
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group firm Reliance Capital said on Monday it has acquired a 5 per cent stake in Network 18, the group holding company of broadcasters TV18 and GBN.
The appeal was directed at a group in Iraq, which is holding seven persons, including three Indians, hostage.
Paramount Global has agreed to sell its 13 per cent stake in its Indian TV business to Reliance Industries for Rs 4,286 crore, the Indian firm said on Thursday. In a stock exchange filing, Reliance said it has signed a binding agreement with two subsidiaries of Paramount Global to acquire 13.01 per cent equity stake of Viacom 18 Media Private Limited held by Paramount Global. Similarly, in a filing on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paramount Global said the closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, as well as the completion of a previously announced joint venture involving Reliance, Viacom18 and Star Disney.
It also said that certain debates on television channels on the incidents in northwest Delhi had unparliamentary, provocative and socially unacceptable language.
The Biden administration's failure in stopping two major wars and several minor ones was seen as a major disaster by many Americans and the world at large, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Group Chairman S P Hinduja told a meeting of shareholders of IndusInd International Holdings Ltd in Dubai that the network would be set up by IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd, which is among the largest Cable TV companies in India with a customer base of 5.5 million households. IIHL has an indirect investment of about $385,000 in IMCL.
The government has sent show cause notices to 31 television channels for violating rules that forbid them from beaming advertisements of tobacco, liquor or other intoxicants, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Are programmes telecast on small screen pitting daughters-in-law against mothers-in-law?
After winning just one game in IPL 2021 before Monday's match against the Rajasthan Royals in Dubai, Sunrisers Hyderabad had a lot to cheer when they ended their losing streak with an emphatic victory.
Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta will become the new United States defence secretary, replacing Robert Gates, in a major shake-up of President Barack Obama's security team, according to a media report.The top US military commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus is set to take over as the new CIA Director. The television network said Petraeus will be replaced as the US commander in Afghanistan by Lieutenant General John Allen.
Enraged over a state-run television network for insinuating that he might have helped fix the World Cup match against Pakistan, former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is contemplating legal action against the channel.
The government has cleared 19 foreign direct investment projects worth Rs 4,340 crore, including that of Tata Steel and Future Ventures.
'I don't want what happened to me should happen to anyone else,' says Shagun Parihar, the BJP candidate from Kishtwar whose father and uncle were killed by terrorists.
In its bid to grab eyeballs in the regional space, Big Magic rebrands channel, sets up production unit in Patna
The government's move is aimed at implementing the provisions incorporated in the Cable Television Network Rules 1994. Introduced by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, the paper suggests that if 'a product that uses a brand or logo, which is also used for promoting cigarettes and tobacco products, then the visual of the advertisement should depict only the product being advertised and not prohibited products in any form or manner.'
The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the apex body of broadcasters, and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), a body that represents over 70 per cent of the television advertisers have decided to tigten their rules. All advertisers will now have to make payments within 60 days of airing the television commercials, failing which there will be a financial penalty and a possible boycott on all television networks. This 2-year agreement is valid till March 2010.
Both sports and digital will drag down the healthy operating margins that entertainment television continues to make.
Rising mobile viewership is paving way for online TV subscription.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will now get an opportunity to examine issues related to information technology. The Rajya Sabha MP has been included in the Standing Committee on Information and Technology.
'There is no place in Gaza that has not been bombed and where people have not been killed.'
