Global communications company Intelsat is providing satellite capacity to support the first ever internet access to Grand Santi, French Guiana.

The internet access, which is installed in a local school for use as a learning aide, will be carried over by satellite for connection to the US internet backbone. The project is the pilot site for a programme which will eventually provide an Internet and telephone network across the territory. The programme to provide connectivity and build infrastructure in French Guiana will continue through the year, with several other locations being gradually added to the network, says an official release.

The internet access solution to the area is provided through ‘Outremer Telecom‘ of Martinique, in conjunction with the ‘Communaute des Communes de l‘Ouest Guyanais‘ (CCOG), a grouping of counties in west French Guiana. The Intelsat 801 spacecraft at 328.5?E will provide the satellite capacity for this network.

According to Outremer Telecom regional network manager, Fr餩ric Hayot there are very few satellite operators who can accommodate such a remote situation where the end users are virtually unreachable and lack the infrastructure needed to communicate with the rest of the world.

Intelsat Global Sales & Marketing Ltd. president, John Stanton, says that the internet solution that is being provided to French Guiana demonstrates not only the efficiencies that satellites can offer for remote locations, but also makes it possible to connect all the regions of the world.

Zee Telefilms group broadcasting CEO Sandeep Goyal is moving like quicksilver, at least as far as hiring of senior skilled professionals is concerned. Last week, he brought ex-Sony and MAK TV senior TV professional Prashant Sanwal on board to head the Alpha bouquet.

And 17 June saw the announcement of the hiring of media professional Apurva Purohit as president (business) of Zee TV, the flagship channel of the Zee Network. She is slated to take charge on 15 July and will be based at the Zee TV Chintamani Plaza Andheri (East) office in Mumbai. Purohit will be reporting to Goyal and will also have the responsibility of further consolidating the channel‘s presence in international markets.

Purohit, a media director with FCB Ulka‘s media unit Lodestar, put in her papers today. At Lodestar, she oversaw clients like Whirlpool, Amul, Tata Indica amongst others and was responsible for the Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore, operations of the agency.

"She‘s a very bright professional with lots of ideas," says Lodestar executive director Shashi Sinha. "She is very, very good with numbers. And this a big break for her. "

A management graduate from IIM Bangalore, Purohit has been in the advertising and media business for 15 years. Starting with client servicing, she crossed over to media planning in the mid-90‘s.

"Apurva brings to our team a fine balance of media science, media interpretation and media innovation. She is a very fine-honed professional and we are sure she will contribute significantly to enhancing the franchise of Zee TV," Sandeep Goyal was quoted as saying in a media release.

The good news first. The National Readership Survey 2002 (NRS) for the year just out, spells cheer for those with an eye on the couch potatoes - access to C&S homes has jumped from 29 million homes in 1999 to 40 million homes in 2002 - a sprightly 31 per cent growth, more than twice the growth of the TV market.

Ironically, and sadly for those with their finger on the pulse of the TV watching populace, there has been a decline in time spent in front of the telly by urban audiences. Despite growing programme options, average viewing time has come down from 85 minutes in 1999 to 82 minutes per day in 2002. TAM, which supports NRS studies from this year, (along with IMRB and TNS Mode) confirm the suspicion - TAM data points to viewership time of two hours and 20 minutes in 1999 having slipped to two hours and ten minutes in 2002.

According to the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC), the health of the television industry otherwise shows brisk growth - homes with colour TV have increased from 19.4 m in 1999 to 27.8 m in 2002, while C&S subscription has now penetrated 50 per cent of all TV homes. TV of course continues to command a 72 per cent share of the average 13 hours spent on traditional media among urban audiences. The data, culled from a sample size of 213,000 respondents, across the country shows that Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat dominate markets with a high reach of TV (over 42 per cent) and also high penetration of C&S (49 per cent of all TV homes).

More statistics for those with a yen for figures -
Of the 192 million (urban and rural) households with access to television, 42 per cent homes boast of at least one TV set. While urban TV penetration is high at 76 per cent of the population (42 million homes), in rural areas it is at 29 per cent of the population, but still a whopping 39 million homes.

Total TV viewership this year has been placed at 383 million, with C&S accounting for 139 million. Both Maharashtra and Punjab rank high in TV reach , but low in C&S penetration. The highest rate of growth in reach (16 Per cent) has however been noted in Punjab as well as in the north eastern states.

An interesting observation of the NRS 2002 is that the growing C&S reach is taking a toll on magazine readership in the country.

However, the urban reader still spends about 16 per cent of this total media time, ie 18 minutes per day reading a daily or a magazine. Internet reach now exceeds six million, but offices are no longer the main place of access. 43 per cent users use a cyber caf鬠while over 20 per cent surf from home, the survey says.

Radio currently reaches 28 per cent of the adult population, and even notes a slight decline in listenership. The share of FM has however increased in a stagnant urban market - 31 per cent or 15 million now tune on to any FM station - an increase of six per cent since 2001.