New Delhi, August 17, 2009: Asia?s leading Sports Broadcaster, ESPN STAR Sports, will telecast the Grand Finale of the popular spelling show ? Spelling Champs 2009 on 19th August at 7:00pm IST. An adaptation of the Spelling Bee competition in the USA, the show has received a phenomenal response in India. The format of the show entails 8 gruelling challenges in a countdown where only one will survive to be crowned the Spelling Champ 2009.

The final episode will witness the top 4 contestants battle it out to win the coveted title. The four young wizards who have made it to the finals include Rohan Bhatia from The Mother?s International School, Delhi , Piroune Balachandran from The Doon School, Dehradun, Ananya Das from the Springdales School, Delhi and Shubhangi Sinha from Wellham Girl?s School, Dehradun.

The winner of the ESPN Spelling Champs 2009 walks away with the coveted Trophy along with a grand prize of a dream trip to South Africa for the ICC Champions Trophy in October. Runners-up will receive a Wii Sports. The final 4 contestants get a series of books from publisher Harper Collins.

Rajat Kapoor, the famous television personality, is the host pronouncer of the show. The show has a panel of Word Commissioners, noted novelist Rana Dasgupta and English Language Experts from British Council who gave invaluable inputs to the young contestants.

Catch these bright young kids as they engage in a clash of words to win the Spelling Champs 2009 only on ESPN.

MUMBAI: Radio Misty 94.3 fm, the first and Number one fm station of North Bengal celebrated Independence Day with series of programmes on air and on ground in Siliguri.

Radio Misty aired a special series Salam India, where wonderful work done by unknown heroes was taken on air. Apart from this BBC Tailor made shows was taken on air. In Morning show Misty subah was on theme freedom from cancer. Director of North Bengal Oncology centre Dr Pankaj choudhari was live on air talking about care and cure of cancer.

Radio Misty in association with Aircell celebrated the day with listeners at air cell store. There were host of game shows and people danced on tunes of popular numbers. Celebrity Radio jocks spoke about the importance of day.

To relive the ecstatic moments of the historic night when India made her "Tryst with Destiny," Mahindra Scorpio, in collaboration with Radio Misty, organized the first of its kind midnight celebration of freedom in the region at a private resort in the rural fringes of Siliguri.

On the cards was a potpourri of rain dance, dance recitals and fashion shows by dancers and models from Kolkata. The items presented by the performers during the three-hour-long programme ranged from folk and rock as well as modern song and dance recitals to catwalks featuring ethnic and traditional wear as well as modern trendy dresses. The host, Priyanka did a decent job to top the evening‘s cake with a delicious icing.

Says Nishant Mittal, Chief executive officer, Radio Misty we had series of events on Independence Day. We connected listeners‘ with on air and ground activities. Salam India the story of unknown heroes was great way to pay tribute to them.

MUMBAI: It was on this day last year, Saam Marathi started. SAAM kept its promise of producing out of the box. Media & Entertainment industry last year experienced huge turbulence and Saam Marathi was no exception in feeling the glacial temperature in the market. Importantly, we remained strongly rooted and fought hard to establish ourselves where we are today and surely, for Saam, its time to soar high above.

Today, on 15 August, Saam Marathi confidently completes its first anniversary. Meanwhile, the channel has kept on experimenting and catering programs which are absolutely ‘out of the box‘. It takes courage and confidence to experiment such and come out successfully with it. Right now, for us, it‘s not a question of how much GRP we could grab. It‘s a question of how much we could change a perception; how much we could shape audience‘s taste in viewing programs on television. It‘s not just what we believe or some kind of gut through which we worked, we have proper understanding of our audience. With 75 years of people-connect, being a part of Sakal Media Group, we know the culture and traditions of Marathi-speaking people well. We know what is close to the hearts of the people of Maharashtra. Not only this, we believe being in the media, we have a role and a responsibility. Saam Marathi is relentlessly producing programs which are indeed revolutionary compared to the contemporary television productions and we are sure we have the right formula to be successful in the long run.

Saam Marathi produces one of the most unique properties - Maitrin, the afternoon slot dedicated totally to the women audience. This is probably the first time ever that a channel telecasts 5 hours of live interactive programs from Monday to Saturday dedicated totally for the women audience. And the result has been exceptional! We have received good feedback through TRP as well as through direct response. And just in the last week, the afternoon women slot completed its 100 days and the slot is going stronger. The program saw many a celebrity become part of the show.

With programs like Family Doctor and event based shows highlighting the good work done across Maharashtra especially in the field of health in places like Sangli, Kolhapur, etc. Saam Marathi has taken up the good work in keeping motivated the whole of Maharashtra of those who are indeed contributing towards the wholesome development of the state as well as the country.

This year, Saam Marathi successfully covered the Lok Sabha election results with prompt and accurate results. Saam Rajya news has become a popular news program with a niche audience already in place. Not only that programs like Maharashtra Kunacha, Entry Poll, Maharashtra Mann have been able to bring a new dimension in catering news in the region. News is the something that Saam Marathi knows better. Being a part of Sakal family it is only obvious that SAAM Marathi will cater authentic news with analysis and comparisons which will leave nothing to your imagination.

Saam Marathi throughout the year has celebrated every single festival popular amongst the Marathi speaking population helping the younger generation appreciate and celebrate what could be rightly called a part of Marathi culture. Musical-drama program, Mangaleche Lenye telecast on Gudi Pawda brought out such sentiments wonderfully which would certainly go a long way in keeping the best of Marathi culture close to the people for a long time to come. The program wonderfully depicted the festivals celebrated so popularly in Maharashtra throughout the year.

Celebrating the glorious anniversary thus, Saam Marathi will telecast on the evening of 15th August, a musical special "Mann Marathi Matichey". The program is presented by ‘Sapat Chaha‘ and the associate sponsor for this program will be Nandan Builders. The program will be telecast from 7:30pm to 10:00pm. With Swapnil Joshi and Kranti Redker anchoring the show, the program will have dance, song, fun and frolic. Popular singers like Rabindra Sathe, Anuradha Marathe, Chintamani Sohoni, Anandi Joshi, Sanjeev Mehendale and others will indeed mesmerize one and all during the evening! The afternoon women slot starting from 1:00pm to 6:00pm will have Rohini Hattangidi giving you a tip or two on cooking. Also, Dr. Pradeep Awate very kindly will grace the show of Saam Sanjivani on the day giving us a clear idea on the do‘s and don‘ts to avoid Swine Flu.

While the evening and afternoon will be celebrating Saam Marathi‘s birth anniversary, the morning will be in dedication and in celebration of our Independence Day with a heartwarming concert, Jago Hindustani from 8:45am to 11:00am.

MUMBAI: It?s a short time in the lifetime of a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year medium, but the fledgling business channel from the Times Group, ET NOW, has already made a mark. Less than two months after its launch, ET NOW has achieved leadership position in the key market of Mumbai. For the second week in a row, the channel had more than 50% share of the English business news category.

Premier market research agency AC Nielsen?s TAM data for the week ending August 8 show ET NOW with 55% share of the English business news genre followed by NDTV Profit with 23%, CNBC TV18 with 16% and UTVi with 6%. ?That sounds like a fantastic start,?? said Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, Group M South Asia, ?and I?m sure it?ll get better from here.??

The audience considered is a key demographic for advertisers males aged 25 years and above, from socio-economic class A&B. ?Advertisers are focused on this age band,?? said Jasmin Sohrabji, managing director, OMD, ?so what matters is how a channel does with the audience that?s relevant to them.?? The TAM panel data is the standard yardstick used by advertisers and media agencies.

In its launch phase, ET NOW is focused on a few key markets, and the channel is fast consolidating its overall No. 2 position. ?With this kind of channel share in Mumbai, it?s only a question of time before it establishes itself in the other markets,?? said Punitha Arumugham, CEO, Madison Media. But on the niche profile of viewers that premium advertisers target, she said, ?I would say this kind of profile is found in the key metros, and there?s nothing better than the financial capital.??

On the weekends, ET NOW is a leader in the four key markets ?Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat and Hyderabad ?with 43% of weekend business television viewers, compared to CNBC?s 32%. And the top 5 programmes in the business television genre for this audience last week were all shows on ET NOW. ?I wouldn?t have expected any less of ET NOW, given the equity and backing of ET,? said Sohrabji.

Chintamani Rao, CEO of Times Global Broadcasting, said that he was delighted that the channel has captured the imagination of the financial capital. ?It?s early days and the game has just begun. Let?s not read much into these numbers, but it does strengthen our resolve that there?s an alternate, credible and intelligent way of tracking the markets. We don?t want to fuel wild speculation, we hope to encourage sensible, intelligent investing.?? ET NOW is continuing to ramp up distribution in key markets, and is now available on direct-to-home services from Bharti and Reliance?s BIG TV.