Sony Entertainment Television and the Rajan Raheja-owned Hathway Cable & Datacom are hopeful that their ongoing dispute over paid connectivity will be resolved in a day or two. Sony has switched off its bouquet of channels - SetMax, AXN, CNBC (paid services) and the currently free-to-air SET to Hathway - in Mumbai, Pune and Nasik in the western state of Maharashtra.

Industry sources say that Sony wants Hathway to increase the declared connectivity of the bouquet. When Sony has signed a deal with the Hinduja-promoted InCable for a 30,000 subscriber base there is no justification in Sony‘s demand that its base be hiked above that (way higher than that it would seem) is the Hathway argument. "Ask Hathway what is the declared connectivity of Star Sports," Sony‘s senior VP franchise channels & distribution Shantonu Aditya counters, when it was put to him that the increase sought was too high. He, however, clarified that discussions were on and would be resolved sooner rather than later.

Hathway‘s other complaint is that while Sony is set to go pay from 1 September, it has already demanded an increase in the rate of its bouquet to nearly Rs 26.

The Sony signal has been on and off the Hathway feed for the last month or so in the three Maharashtrian cities and the issue at stake seems to be more in the area of parry and thrust than an all out confrontation between the two parties.

In a reflection of the importance that the Ronnie Scewvala-promoted UTV attaches to the "nonfiction area", it has formed a separate division (set up a month ago) to give it the right focus.

UTV‘s nonfiction division sees international business as a major focus area. Satya Mahapatra, GM Nonfiction Television, who heads the the division says: "We already have two international CO-productions in our bag. We are doing a series for Discovery Canada entitled "Working Animals". We have just finished six episodes and are starting work on six more. We are starting pre-production on a 26-part ‘Travel and Cuisine series for a North American channel, with an approximate budget of $1.5 million. We will also co-own the rights of these and build an international library."

"We are in active discussion with seven broadcasters in Europe, USA and Canada for unique shows on various Asian themes and we hope to conclude at least three of them in the next two months," Mahapatra says.

With a client list that includes Disney, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros. plus almost every broadcaster in South East Asia, UTV has clear strengths to launch an international onslaught in nonfiction areas, a company release says. An international client base and its strategic alliance with News Corporation gives a lot of synergy in the Western market and a lot of credibility to their marketing, the release says.

Other advantages that UTV has are full fledged production facilities in Singapore and Malaysia which enables it to cater to a Pan Asian show rather than just an Indian show. The other languages that UTV offers co-production opportunities are Mandarin, Cantonese and Bahasa Malay.

Concludes Satya: "We expect 40 per cent of our revenues in television, in the next two to three years time to come from international work and nonfiction that will be an important part of that product mix."

Today, August 1, marks a red letter day for MTV. It completes 20 years of existence in the US. And to celebrate the unique occasion, it is having an all-out birthday bash here and abroad.

In India one can catch MTV Loveline today at 3.00 p.m. & 10.00 p.m. MTV‘s "Happy Birthday" is being celebrated with "Agony Uncle" Cyrus Broacha . Popular model Madhu Sapre joins him on the "love seat". Pooja Batra & Pooja Bhatt will also be calling in to wish the channel good cheer. Speaking about MTV‘s turning 20, VJ Nikhil Chinnappa said," I guess it is still a little childish and it is never going to grow up which is the great thing about MTV. It is one of those organisations that is going to remain forever young."

In America it‘s going to be one long party. And on the agenda is - MTV20: LIVE AND ALMOST LEGAL. It will be hosted by ‘‘Total Request Live‘s‘‘ Carson Daly and will air live on MTV and MTV2 at 8 p.m. (EST), following a 12- hour block of music videos, promos, and intros from the first 20 years of MTV.

The bash will feature a combination of live in-house and remote performances from artists who have appeared on the network in the last 20 years as well as celebrity interviews. It will be shown from the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center. Featuring are performances from Hot Summer Tours including Bon Jovi, Nelly, Depeche Mode, Blink-182, Aerosmith, and Sugar Ray. Other performances include a reunited TLC, Jane‘s Addiction, Billy Idol, Method Man, Mary J. Blige. The five original MTV VJs: Martha Quinn, JJ Jackson, Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, and Mark Goodman will also put in an appearance as well as the popular cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead.

Judy McGrath, president of MTV said: ‘‘This party is as much about celebrating the future of MTV as it is about our history. For 20 years we have focused on constant evolution and reinvention and we‘re not about to slow down in the next 20.‘‘ Van Toffler, president of MTV said, "We‘re stuffing 20 years of MTV in one room for one night with all the music, irreverence and energy that we‘re known for. This should be a memorable night."

Coca-Cola and Volkswagen are sponsoring the event.

The media has been pretty critical of the performance put up by Zee Telefilms in Q1 of FY 2001-002. And it has also been going hell for leather about Zee Telefilms chairman‘s alleged money manipulations within group companies.

Zee Telefilms CEO R.K. Singh agrees the company appears to be going through rough times. However, he is sanguine that "we are going to ride them over and obtain the accolades in future," he says. "You can‘t forget that this is a media enterprise which is nine years old. Every corporation has its share of hiccups."

He adds that Zee Telefilms results should be seen in light of the macroeconomy on account of which times are tough for all businesses. "Give us a break, we are aiming to come back, and come back with a vengeance within six months," he says. "Our new programming push will come up trumps."

Singh told CNBC India that the company had booked revenues roughly amounting to Rs 120 million on account of its blockbuster Bollywood success "Gaddar" as minimum guarantees for theatrical distribution. Add to that RS 50 million for music rights. Singh added sale of overseas distribution rights and satellite television rights could bring in RS 250 million to RS 300 million in Q2 Y2K1.

He additionally said that domestic subscription revenues - ever since Zee TV went pay on 10 June - have gone up by RS 35 million to RS 85 million in the Q1 Y2K.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Singh adds that the figure is going to go up further in the next quarter. He points out that Chandra is committed to bringing back the money which had earlier been given to other Essel group companies. "We have received more than RS 1,000 million. The remainder will come in shortly," he says.

Referring to Zee Telefilms‘ lower profitability he says that was on account of investments in new channels, programming, in Siticable, and further rollout of digital boxes in the UK under the BSkYB platform.

"The scenario is looking bright for us. We are No 2 in prime time. We are leading in the afternoon slot," he says. "Our new programming has received a very good response from advertisers. So we can only go up from here."