What downturn? 97 apply to run news channels

October 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With reports of some cable operators showing illegal channels, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni Friday said she has written to Home Minister P. Chidambaram and the chief ministers to take requisite action in this regard.

August 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry is considering to permit the private FM radio channels to broadcast the news sourced from the news agencies. Private FM radio broadcasters have been demanding for the permission to air the news bulletins from ling time.

August 18th, 2009 News Corp reorganizes Asia broadcast businessNEW YORK — News Corp., the global media empire run by Rupert Murdoch, said Tuesday it was restructuring its broadcast business in Asia and that Paul Aiello, the chief executive of its STAR channels, is stepping down. News will group its Asian broadcast business into STAR India, STAR Greater China and Fox International Channels.

August 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite recession hitting the media industry, 143 TV channels have sought permission from the information and broadcasting ministry to uplink from India. In addition, applications of 20 TV channels, uplinked from abroad, seeking permission to downlink in India are at various stages of scrutiny, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C.M.

June 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As many as 22 new TV channels are set to spice up the menu of couch potatoes in India, with Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni clearing all pending proposals Friday. Soni has granted clearance to all pending proposals which were received before she took charge, the information and broadcasting ministry said here.

May 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Wide political coverage on TV news channels this Lok Sabha elections failed to shape public opinion and motivate voters to exercise their franchise, a new study said here Sunday. The study, conducted by the media lab of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), claims that all the six news channels surveyed devoted over 40 percent of their time to election-related news but failed to make a substantial impact on the audiences and their opinions.

May 19th, 2009 PANAJI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa Tuesday alleged that biased coverage by some national television news channels was a crucial factor that led to the party's poor showing in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, the leader of opposition in the state assembly, told reporters, that some channels were indulging in 'a virtual publicity campaign for the Congress party'.

April 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Friday restrained two private television news channels from telecasting 'entertainment' footage like cheer girls in action while showing clips of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that begins in South Africa Saturday. Justice S.N.

April 9th, 2009 CHENNAI - With its 24-hour Tamil kids channel Chutti TV becoming popular, Sun TV Network has decided to launch similar channels in Telugu and Kannada languages. In a statutory filing with the stock exchanges Thursday, the broadcaster said the new channels - Kushi TV (Telugu) and Chintu TV (Kannada) - would go on air April 12.

April 8th, 2009 PANAJI - Accusing the media of favouring the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Goa have asked for the statements of account of major news channels and newspapers to be checked for large sums being allegedly paid by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for advertisements in the run up to the elections. Speaking at a public gathering organised by the lobby group Friends of the BJP here Tuesday night, leader of opposition in the state assembly Manohar Parrikar and the party's national spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad lambasted the media for 'selling out to the Congress'.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) young controversial leader Varun Gandhi emerged as the new favourite of prime time TV news in the past two weeks, says a study. The six-channel study, conducted by the media lab of Centre for Media Studies (CMS), also claims that the young politician edged out even the much-talked about Indian Premier League (IPL) in terms of news coverage.

February 22nd, 2009 CHENNAI - The Rs.586-million (Rs.58.6-crore) Raj Television Network - the second largest Tamil satellite television company - is foraying into the Kannada language market with a music and a news channel. The company is going slow on its plans to start a Telugu news channel, while the group company's general entertainment channel in the same language is set for a makeover.

February 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A Pakistan Senate committee Monday recommended immediate banning of Indian TV channels in the country, Geo TV reported. The Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting asked the ministry of information and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to ban all Indian channels on cable in the country.

February 1st, 2009 MUMBAI - Bollywood actress Preity Zinta is upset over the hue and cry that was created on news channels after the Mumbai police played party pooper at her birthday bash. 'I had a party and the police came and put the music off.

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Wednesday sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking the establishment of an independent regulatory body to monitor television news channels. In the letter, of which IANS has a copy, Karat said that besides the self-regulatory mechanism of the news channels, it was necessary to have an independent media regulator and this should be 'discussed and a common approach arrived at'.