Zee News has decided one way to keep rival Aaj Tak at bay is to strengthen its regional news bureaus.

In all the states where the Zee Network has regional channels the bureaus are being strengthened. The content on Zee News will be enhanced while at the same time beefing the local news feeds being provided to the regional channels of the network.

The regional language Alpha Bangla, Alpha Marathi, Alpha Gujarati and Alpha Punjabi are part of the Zee bouquet while the Bharati Channel in Tamil Nadu, Kaveri in Karnataka and Asianet in Kerala are channels where Zee has a stake.

The upcoming state assembly elections in to the states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu will provide an opportunity for Zee to test how far the emphasis on regional news will translate in terms of viewership.

Prasar Bharati has recently issued guidelines for commissioning programmes on national broadcaster Doordarshan.

The central Commissioning unit at the Delhi headquarters of DD will tabulate annual budget requirements and forward it to to the finance wing, which will then decide budgets for various DD channels and centres.

Programmes will be commissioned to supplement in-house production efforts for the sole purpose of bringing variety into programming.

Certain genres may be excluded for commissioning, as they would be available in the sponsored category. These include soaps, sitcoms and mythologicals.

The guidelines state that DD will assess its requirements for the next year in the last quarter of the current financial year and accordingly prepare its list.

And as part of its effort to promote fresh talent, graduates from television and film institutes recognised by the University Grants Commission will be permitted to make programmes on DD, according to the new guidelines.

Doordarshan told to assess commissioned programme requirements in advance.

Doordarshan (DD) will from now on be required to assess its requirements of commissioned programmes in the last quarter of the financial year for the ensuing year, according to the Prasar Bharati guidelines for commissioning of programmes which were issued here on Tuesday.

Based on the list of such commissioned programmes, the Central Commissioning Unit (CCU) will consolidate the annual budget requirements and forward it to the finance wing. Subsequently, the finance wing will earmark the available budget to different channels and kendras.

Significantly, the guidelines state that certain genres may be excluded for commissioning, as they would be available in the sponsored category. These genres include daily soaps, sit-coms, mythological, mega-serials etc. Also, the guidelines say that the budget allocated for commissioning will be utilised by inviting eminent producers and directors including award winning producers and directors. Part of the commissioning budget will be identified and allocated for the promotion of new talent, for assigning programmes to young graduates from various film/TV institutes.

The proposals have to be assessed by the evaluation committee. If necessary, the producer may have to present his/her concept before this committee, according to the guidelines. The proposals short-listed by the evaluation committee shall be put up to a costing committee for critical evaluation of the budget requirements of the proposal. The decision taken by the costing committee shall be final and its decision will be communicated to the producer within five working days of the meeting.

The guidelines have taken into account the new media too. ‘‘All rights including new media and any rights that may be available in future will rest with Doordarshan,‘‘ the guidelines state.

Streaming Media Asia 2001, the largest Internet audio and video event and the largest broadband content marketplace ever held in Asia, premiers May 3 to 4 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center.

The first annual Streaming Media Asia is part of the global series of streaming media events, which set out to be the forum for broadband content providers, users, creators, distributors or investors that are pioneering the second generation internet and it‘s broadband exploitation to meet and discuss strategies and develop alliances, according to a press release.

Over 80 speakers are slated present papers at the conference. Held over two days, there will be three concurrent, conference tracks going on. These tracks - a mix of panel discussions, product demos and case studies broadly divided between business, enterprise, technology and content issues - will bring together experience and influence in the streaming video and audio fields, the release states.

Streaming Media Asia 2001 will be the largest exhibition ever held for streaming, broadband and content companies in Asia. Building on the success of other streaming media events held in San Jose, New York City, Amsterdam and London and anticipating a heavy turnout, the organisers have developed a large floor space for the event‘s debut in Asia.

If its Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi from the Balaji stable in the evening prime band, UTV‘s Shagun is currently the number one non prime time show on television among Hindi speaking audiences. The unfolding drama has left Sony‘s Ghar Ek Mandir, Zee TV‘s Babul Ki Duniya and even the newly launched Chandan Ka Palna on Zee far behind in the soap race, according to a company release.

It is among the top 4 shows today on Star Plus after KSBKBT, Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and Kaun Banega Crorepati, despite being in the afternoon time band, the release adds.

Shagun has steadily climbed the TRP charts to garner ratings better than many prime time programmes. Says Zarina Mehta who created the show: "We are delighted that our story is appealing to audiences. Shagun is about two sisters Aradhana & Arti who love each other more than life itself. But Aradhana is "abshaguni" (jinxed) and somehow manages to bring terrible unhappiness not only to herself but worse still to those she loves most. Shagun is a tragic and beautiful story of Aradhana‘s struggle to win despite her own fate."

Latest TAM data collated for a three-week period across all-India C&S homes, shows Shagun averaging 2.9 TRPs ahead of Sony‘s Ghar Ek Mandir with 2.5 TRPs and both Zee offerings Chandan Ki Palna Resham (0.8 TRPs) and Gharana (0.6 TRPs). All these programmes air in the afternoon slot.

Shagun screens every afternoon at 2:30 PM with a repeat telecast at 11:30 PM from Monday to Thursday on Star Plus.