MUMBAI: India?s leading DTH service provider, Tata Sky has broadened its channel line-up by announcing the launch of India?s favorite general entertainment channels in High Definition (HD). The new channels include a mix of niche lifestyle and entertainment, news, movies and regional content that will offer greater entertainment value to its growing premium subscriber base of over 7 million connections.

The new channels include Star Plus HD, Star Gold HD, Star Movies HD, Star World HD and National Geographic Channel HD. All these channels are available as part of the HD Gold Pack priced at Rs. 50 pm only.

All HD channels made available on Tata Sky are shot using High Definition cameras delivering stunning High Definition (HD) picture quality in 1080i resolution with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound similar to the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup and the ongoing T-20 tournament that is been showcased in Asli HD on Tata Sky.

Mr. Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Sky Ltd. said, "Last year, Tata Sky took an historic step by introducing HD at an unimaginably affordable price point, just in time for the cricketing season. Alongside cricket, general entertainment channels are not far behind in popularity, garnering significantly high viewership ratings. Riding on this valuable consumer insight, we have now added five new Asli HD General Entertainment channels to our bouquet. The new channels addition reconfirms our commitment to add the very best to Tata Sky‘s growing collection of channels and further enhance the HD penetration in the market."
 

MUMBAI: Star Plus continues to innovate as ever as it collaborates with Switzerland Tourism to create a programming landmark in its numero-uno show Saath Nibhana Saathiya by shooting its week long content in the beautiful locales of Switzerland. Switzerland - synonymous with dream sequences in Bollywood movies or the most desired location for mega blockbusters will find new fans in more than 80 million viewers who watch Star plus weekly in India.

Switzerland Tourism has tied up with Cox and Kings, their key partner in India who has been organizing tours for the last 250 years and who have the expertise in both group and tailor-made tours to Switzerland, to handle the logistics of the shoot in Switzerland.

Speaking on this first-of-its-kind innovation on Indian television, Suzana Ghai, Head of Fiction programming, Star Plus says, ?It?s a great opportunity to bring dream destinations like Switzerland closer to our viewers who otherwise would catch only glimpses in big Bollywood movies. We are confident that our viewers will have a joyride with their favorite Parivaar from Star Plus.?

Michael Maeder, Managing Director, Switzerland Tourism, India, said ?Promoting Switzerland through films was always very successful for us and we see the same potential in working with the TV medium. By having a shoot in Switzerland of such a popular soap like Saath Nibhaana Saathiya we get a chance to bring Switzerland?s beauty directly to people?s homes and therefore, their hearts.?

According to Mr Karan Anand?Head, Relationships and Supplier Management, Cox and Kings Ltd, ``Switzerland has always been the top draw amongst Indian travelers with its stunning locale and friendly people. We also endeavour to introduce new destinations in Switzerland every year as it has something for every age group. We believe that this television show will definitely increase the appeal of the destination.?

Kevin Vaz, President, Ad Sales, Star India said, ?Star is committed to providing the most innovative solutions to brands across categories which seamlessly integrate with content and enhances consumer engagement for our clients. Switzerland tourism wanted to connect with a larger audience at an emotional level. STAR Plus show Saath Nibhana Saathiya served as an ideal platform to showcase this beautiful and exotic country.?

Scheduled to shoot between April 20 & April 28, the cast and crew will leave country on April 19. The show promises to showcase the beautiful sites such Lake Geneva Region, Ticino and Lucerne that would take viewers on an incredible tour exploring the beauty of the city.

The entire cast & crew of Saath Nibhaana Saathiya is currently in high spirits. The lead protagonist of the show, Gopi aka Jiaa Manek can?t hide her excitement as she says, ?When we heard the news, we thought that the creative team was playing a prank on us, but were ecstatic when we learnt that we will be actually traveling. I am really looking forward to it and am sure that all of us will have a great time.?
 

MUMBAI: Bachchan Junior fans now have a reason to celebrate as UTV Movies presents ?Jeeyo Abhishek?, a special film festival showcasing hand picked films of the Bollywood heartthrob. Viewers can now enjoy an array of Abhishek Bachchan?s films from 18th April to 22nd April at 8pm every evening only on UTV Movies. This pulsating festival showcases his popular films including Bluffmaster, Delhi 6, Sarkar Raj, Refugee and Raavan.

?Jeeyo Abhishek? reiterates the brand proposition of UTV Movies which urges viewers to live life Bollywood style. In the past the channel has showcased dedicated festivals on celebrated stars like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and add another feather to their cap with Abhishek Bachchan.

Speaking on the initiative, Kunal Mukherjee, Marketing Head, UTV Movies, comments, ?With Jeeyo Abhishek, UTV Movies is giving its viewers an opportunity to enjoy the best of Abhishek Bachchan?s movies. The channel aims at taking forward its core proposition of Jeeyo Bollywood to its viewers by dedicated film festivals. The movies are selected owing to their popularity and are sure to be well received by ardent fans of Abhishek.?

MUMBAI: What if your entire world was to fit into one room? What if that room gets crunched everyday to become smaller, and smaller?And smaller still? What if you had no option but part with your belongings? Welcome to ‘Docomo present MTV CRUNCH, live on in.com‘ - India‘s 1st Multiscreen reality show, which comes alive across 3 screens - your mobile, the laptop screen and ofcourse your television screen for the first time ever! Starting 18th April, Daily at 8pm only on MTV!

From the makers of India‘s hottest reality show, comes India‘s BIGGEST ONLINE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT, the launch of ‘Docomo present MTV CRUNCH, live on in.com‘ is a moment in time for MTV, which Aditya Swamy, Channel Head - MTV India aptly reiterates while saying, "MTV kick started the reality wave in India with Roadies and today we are once again starting something very powerful. Cross media and interactive content is the future and with Crunch we have created a format true to the MTV DNA. With 720 hours of non stop drama, power packed into 30 days, this is going to be one hi speed ride."

On MTV and in.com coming together, Amrish Sethi, Content & Programming Head - in.com & Mobile18, said "With increasing penetration of internet and mobile web, we are confident that this show will be a hit amongst our users. At in.com we are committed to deliver high quality entertainment to our users worldwide through innovative and interesting content and this is one such initiative. We are proud to partner with MTV for this initiative and are sure our users will keep coming back to in.com and MTV for more of these!

A home grown concept, conceptualized, created and packaged completely in India, Docomo present MTV CRUNCH, live on in.com is a never-seen-before concept on television and a genre busting reality show. A concept that sports 10 Crunchable rooms, 10 Crunchable pairs locked in for 4 weeks with the walls physically closing in on them to become smaller, and smaller! The contestants have to survive the CRUNCH by performing tasks that are daunting but exciting and crafted from everyday work routines that test the mind and spirit of diverse personalities in nerve wrecking circumstances e.g. physical tasks like the Hamster Wheel that needs to keep rolling to stay alive in the game! Similarly, tests of skill like the Domino effect and Tower of cards and some that cannot be categorized - Man v/s Food, the battle will always rage on!

With two imminent eliminations scheduled weekly, the power to eliminate is in the hands of the youth. MTV seeks to challenge young India to experience the challenges of the CRUNCH and gives them the power to act upon that experience with opportunity to vote for the one who stays or goes! Additionally, MTV also offers registered users a chance to chat with the inmates at real-time, everyday, hence making it India‘s 1st interactive show.

On the association, Ritesh Ghosal, Head-Brand Marketing, Tata Docomo said "Crunch is a unique reality show format. All reality shows build a following by letting viewers warm upto the characters they particularly like. With the 24 hour digital and mobile engagement delivered on this show, viewers‘ exposure to the characters, their interactions, etc will be of a never-before level. As the telecom operator with the largest 3G network, Tata Docomo is excited to participate in this first-of-its-kind show"

It‘s a 720 hrs of non-stop reality, streamed live with daily updates on TV, be a part of this radical mutli-screen experience, hence don‘t forget to catch??
 

MUMBAI: With India?s spectacular victory at the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2011, cricket fever is at an all-time high during on-going season of Indian Premier League (IPL). At a time when other brands are piggybacking on IPL in order to increase visibility and strengthen their brand equity, PlayUp, global leader in mobile gaming, has associated with Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors as Co-sponsor and Fan Engagement Partner. This unprecedented blend of PlayUp?s fan engagement partnership and innovative offerings will change the way cricket aficionados enjoy innings of T20 matches.

During ICC World Cup 2011 PlayUp motivated all cricket lovers to scream out and support Men in Blue with Scream for Team India campaign. To impel the spirit of cricket lovers, it has gone a step ahead and partnered with IPL teams for fan engagement. With this association, PlayUp will continue entertaining gamers and sports enthusiasts in the LIVE sports entertainment domain.

Since IPL is all about supporting and cheering for one?s favorite team representing different regions of the country while watching international players performing together, PlayUp is also providing an opportunity to the global cricket fan community to come and play together as this will directly augment the pool prize. Prizes apart, the cricket aficionados can also enjoy memorable ‘money can‘t buy experiences‘ with PlayUp games and other social media offerings like facebook updates, twitter feeds etc during this IPL season.

Commenting on the tie-up with the IPL teams Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors, Rajat Kulshrestha, CEO, PlayUp India said, ?IPL is all about fan community cheering for their favorite state or regional cricket teams. But it?s also about ?Scream for Team India? as these teams entail players from different countries playing together on Indian platform. After the accomplishment of 1 million plays during the World Cup 2011, we intend to rekindle the cricket passion by changing the way they watch this most lucrative sporting event live in action. In this attempt, we have partnered with two IPL teams Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors as their Fan Engagement Partner and intend to invest 5-6 crore in our vigorous branding strategy targeting the digital space. Our association will display our support to these two state teams and effectively place us as a channel in the market that offers cricket fans new experience of viewing the matches in the live sports broadcast.?

MUMBAI: After its launch in November 2010, www. Speakingtree.in is now on the path of success. This fast growing spiritual network has seen a significant increase in its registered user base in the last few months with the spiritually inclined logging in to speak to the Masters and other spiritual seekers. The site is home to over 27 Masters including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Deepak Chopra, Maulana, Thich Nthat Hanh, Andrew Cohen and many others.

With a collection of over 3000 articles under 8 categories; Speakingtree.in is the world?s largest spiritual interactive forum with over 1500 spiritual blogs posted every month and over 3000 discussion threads.

Each utility on the site is tightly integrated with the Facebook Graph API giving the site the advantage of recommending users the most relevant content and helping them grow their activity and contribution badges.

? The purpose of the site is not just to encourage spiritual seekers to interact with each other but to also help them cope with the tough worldly pressures. We believe that this initiative will help users tap into their faith, strength?in effect ?log in to themselves? says Archana Vohra ,Vice President ,Times Internet Limited.