MUMBAI: Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) India today announced the appointment of Amith Prabhu as Associate Director for Corporate and Brand Communications, responsible for spearheading the execution of SMG India‘s internal and external communications programmes.Based in Mumbai, Prabhu will report to Ravi Kiran, CEO-South Asia for Starcom MediaVest Group and this position will be aligned to SMG‘s global communications team. SMG is one of the first media network in India to have a dedicated communications lead, which is a reflection of its commitment to this important function.

Said Ravi Kiran, "As our business continues to grow rapidly in scale and scope, we feel that there is a need to further consolidate the development and activation of our communication strategy

. We owe it to both internal and external stakeholders to manage our conversation with them in a consistent and productive manner, about Starcom MediaVest Group at a corporate level as well as about our two media company brands, four full service offices and nine specialist solutions units. Amith brings to us a professional experience that will help us leverage the strength of our whole portfolio of solutions."

Before joining SMG India, Prabhu was a senior consultant with APCO Worldwide, where he played an instrumental role in setting up the Mumbai operations. Besides providing strategic communications and counseling, Prabhu also assisted in business development and worked on thought leadership positioning and event planning for key clients. Prior to APCO Worldwide, Prabhu was at Genesis Burson-Marsteller, working in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, on blue-chip clients that included Hutch, Hindustan Unilever, United Spirits, Kellogg‘s and Pepsico India.

In this newly created position, Prabhu will work closely with senior management at SMG India in developing a strong communication strategy, as well as delivering programs that are consistent with network‘s global position to reinforce SMG‘s brand and values in the Indian market.

MUMBAI: Radio One, 94.3 FM, for the Fataafat Generation in association with BBC celebrated Kurkure Desi Beats presents World Music Week starting June 15 till end of the week, delighting listeners by playing music from the greatest Indian musicians who have made their mark globally across genres.

Each morning on the station‘s breakfast show, listeners were treated to music from the biggest legends of Indian music ranging from the evergreens of popular music like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle to classical gurus Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain, to ghazal kings Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh. The station indulged listeners playing requests of their favourite songs and conversing with them on the importance of music in their life. The station played the greatest songs from yesteryears in Bollywood, interspersed with comments from contemporary artistes on how music and musicians from the past have been an inspiration to them as stars of this fataafat generation.

Noon shows on the station focused on music of contemporary Indian groups like Pentagram, Indian Ocean and Asma with band members coming on air sharing trivia, conversation about their songs, interacting with listeners on air and also sharing their hit list of favourite numbers. The evening drive-time show was co-hosted by a singers Kailash Kher, Bappi Lahiri, Baba Sehgal, Shibani Kashyap & Akriti Kakkaralong with the RJ, creating real buzz and ensuring phone lines were jammed with requests and listeners dialing in to chat with celebrity guests on the show.

Weekend shows on Radio One featured music from around the globe. From Madonna, Michael Jackson and George Michael to Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan Michael, to AKON and Britney Spears, the weekend featured the best music across genres, allowing requests and dedications from listeners. A special countdown show ‘BBC Top of the Pops‘ was featured from 6 to 9 pm on Saturday, while Sunday‘s programming continued to play the best of world music, with Baba Sehgal hosting a special segment on the best of Bollywood.

Says Vehrnon Ibrahim, National Director Programming, 94.3 FM, Radio One, "Music is a language that connects across cultures. It‘s a Fataafat connect. From the listener‘s responses, we know that the World Music Week Campaign delighted listeners by giving them an opportunity to hear something different on radio, request for all time favourites and enjoy the best in classics and contemporaries all week long."
Radio One has 7 stations operating in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune and Ahmedabad.

MUMBAI: ESPN STAR Sports, Asia?s number one sports broadcaster, will telecast LIVE The Wimbledon Championship 2009 starting June 22, 2009. With the best tennis players on the planet gathering at the All England Tennis Club to play in the sport‘s oldest tournament, ESPN STAR Sports will feature two weeks of the best tennis action featuring the clash of titans for the most prestigious prize in the world of tennis.

Tennis fans across the world will be hoping for a repeat of the epic final last year between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Defending champion Nadal has been seeded first while Roger Federer has been given the second billing. Andy Murray has been seeded third.

In the Women?s draw, World number one Dinara Safina is top seed in the women‘s singles ahead of second seeded Serena Williams, the reigning Australian Open champion. Venus Williams, the defending champion of Wimbledon, has been seeded third.

MUMBAI: Radio Mirchi was crowned the undisputed king of the Radio domain in the recently released IRS, Round 1, 2009.

With over 40 million weekly listeners across its network, the channel emerged head & shoulders above the competition, with a reach exceeding the combined reach of the next two players out together. The private FM domain is today a keenly contested space with over 240 channels across 87 cities/towns vying for consumer listenership in a 24X7 battle fought daily.

The Indian Readership Survey with a sample size of 2.4 lacs is the largest continuous readership survey in the world and the only single source research available in the country.

Apart from the IRS,the battle for listenership has another arena in four metros. Pioneered by TAM and conducted by Hansa Research is the Radio Audience Measurement better known as the RAM. In its 21st month now, RAM has been reporting listenership trends since 2007.

In the latest data put out by RAM, Radio Mirchi has created history of sorts by becoming the first and only radio network to claim the Number One position in all markets covered by RAM.

?Our content is carefully aligned to consumer expectations in each market of our 32 station network. We take pains to ensure our brand remains contemporary, relevant and engaging for radio consumers. This is a continuous process that we have refined to an art. And obviously it is an approach that is yielding us rich dividends in the form of reaffirmed consumer confidence through multiple data sources? says Sujata Bhatt, National Marketing Head.

?Needless to say, the task ahead is to continue to build on our substantial competitive advantage and we are alive to the challenge of appealing to an audience inundated with media choices especially in the metros.?

Radio Mirchi is a brand owned & operated by Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL). Incorporated in June 1999, ENIL is a leading media-centric company that is listed at both the BSE & the NSE.

MUMBAI: Considered to be one of the best advisors in the intelligence circle, bureaucrats and his peer group; Brajesh Mishra, former National Security Advisor gets candid with Swati Chaturvedi, the anchor of Kahiye Janab?, a celebrity chat show on Zee News.

Sharing his opinion on Mr. Vajpayee?s absence from BJP, he said, ?Nobody is able to handle the party everybody is facing problems only because Atalji?s not around. There?s no one like Atalji in the party.? He was a very liberal man and used to listen to all and also kept the party together.?

According to him the reason behind BJP?s loss in the recent elections is ?the formation of Communist Party and the Third front. The middle class got tensed on who would become the PM due to the fear of instability. Therefore Congress won. The second reason was BJP?s negative campaigning which had a big impact on BJP. BJP always hit the Congress campaign in a negative fashion stating that Congress is weak etc. During the election time the pub culture movement and church attacks also led to a negative impact.?

?In the history of Congress Party, it was for the first time, stated before elections that Manmohan Singh will be the PM candidate, then Varun Gandhi came with his hate speech and finally Narendra Modi was declared as the next PM candidate which again was not in favor of the party.? he added further.

After probing much Mr. Mishra goes further on talking about subjects such as
RSS and BJP. He remarked ??RSS and BJP have an everlasting bond?; On Hindutva, he exclaimed, ?I?m a Hindu, I?m proud to be a Hindu. People don?t know what Hindutva is!? ?There?s a leadership crisis in BJP and nobody is able to handle the party effectively. I don?t want to mention any names.?

Sharing his views about Varun Gandhi, he said ?BJP should have clearly stated that what Varun said was wrong. Varun Gandhi?s Hindutva is like Narendra Modi?s Hindutva. BJP needs to sit and think on Hindu ideologies and BJP will have to decide on where they would take the nation. Why BJP?s Hindutva agenda failed and why Congress won in this election, is an issue that they need to think about. Congress didn?t win of Muslim voters but Hindus.?

When asked about his outlook on MG Vaidya saying BJP can leave Hindutva, he stated, ?What he?s said is right but RSS and BJP share a very strong bond. Not only BJP needs to check there ideologies but RSS also needs to check theirs. Why their followers are decreasing? BJP can never come in power without an alliance Vaidya is right in saying that to form a Govt we need to keep Hindutva aside. I?ve heard that RSS? senior leader has been given this task to talk with Muslim leaders.?

In addition to this, he said, ?If this is true then they will have to change their ideologies and take everybody together. We?ll have to remove the impression that we want to remove Muslims from the nation.?

Watch Out for Brajesh Mishra?s exclusive interview on Zee News celebrity chat show Kahiye Janab, this Saturday at 7:30 pm.

For those who miss it, Kahiye Janab on Zee News is repeated at 3.30 pm on Sunday. As ?unplugged? at 11 pm on Zee Business, repeat telecast at 7.30 pm Sunday and 10:30 pm Monday.

MUMBAI: This month, MAX, the Premium Movies and Special Events channel treats all its viewers with the best of entertainment, with the world premiere of ?TASHAN? on June 21, at 12 noon. Tashan was one of the most awaited movies of 2008 with real life couple Saif and Kareena coming together on the screen. Produced under the Yash Raj banner, Tashan is a breath taking saga of love, adventure and revenge, shot on exotic locales in Kerala, Ladakh, Rajasthan and Greece.

Tashan is the moving tale of Pooja (Kareena Kapoor), who must pay her debts before being able to attend her father?s funeral in Haridwar. Pooja works for Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor) who wants to learn English. She meets Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan) who is a call centre executive who also teaches English. Jimmy loses his heart to Pooja and agrees to help her to steal money from Bhaiyyaji. Pooja disappears with the money, leaving Jimmy to grapple with Bachchan Pande (Akshay Kumar), a muscleman hired by Bhaiyyaji to kill Jimmy and recover the money. The ensuing adventure, complete with run-and- chase sequences, the budding romance between Pooja and Bachchan, the confusion caused by both Jimmy and Bachchan which is heightened when Bhaiyyaji also enters the field and the final twist when Pooja learns the truth about her father?s death forms the crux of the movie.

Will Pooja avenge her father?s murderers? Who will win their way to her heart- Jimmy or Bachchan? Will Bhaiyyaji get his money back??

Watch ?TASHAN? for a complete Bollywood experience, a moving story of love and loss interwoven with foot-tapping music and power- packed action sequences and memorable performances by Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor on Sunday, June 21, at 12 noon exclusively on MAX!