MUMBAI: Channel [V], the youth channel from the Star India stable, is launching talk show format ?My Big Decision? starting 14 January.

A BBC Worldwide Production, My Big Decision will air every Saturday at 7 pm.

My Big Decision is about real time experiences of the youth today and their toughest voyage into the world of dreams vis-a-vis reality.

BBC Worldwide Productions India general manager and creative head Myleeta Aga said, "We are delighted to be working with Channel [V] on the innovative and disruptive format My Big Decision. BBC Worldwide is committed to bringing quality international formats to the Indian market. We believe the stories and themes that My Big Decision addresses are relevant and thought provoking for today?s Indian youth."

Channel [V] EVP and GM Prem Kamath added, "Teenagers today are growing up faster than ever before, and they?re making adult decisions quicker than their parents would like. My Big Decision is an endeavor by Channel [V] to guide the youth today who have such larger than life decisions to make due to various influences."

The show has been conceptualised on the premise that the youth is dabbling regularly with issues that nobody wishes to address. My Big Decision will appeal to the core audience and people at large as it provides a detailed insight into specific issues that the youth face with their lives and the consequences of making a decision on the same.

Hosted by Sandhya Mridul, the show traces the lives of 14 young contestants, whose aspirations are reliant on their decisions; the decision that will make way for a lifetime transition. These decisions are bold and beyond the societal norms.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC‘s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has launched BBC Lifestyle in Indonesia on the newly launched digital pay TV service, Nexmedia.

Nexmedia, owned by PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi Tbk (EMTEK Group), is a flexible plug and play TV service.

BBC Worldwide Channels Asia senior VP, GM Mark Whitehead said, "Indonesia is a major market for us in Asia with the pay-television market there offering enormous room for growth. Two of our other channels, BBC Knowledge and CBeebies, already in the market, are doing extremely well, with both channels consistently rating among the top three among the factual and preschool genres respectively. We are confident that BBC Lifestyle will be just as popular."

Nexmedia president, commissioner David Goldstein said, "We are thrilled to be partnering with BBC. High quality content is a key factor in driving our subscription growth. We are confident that BBC Lifestyle will make Nexmedia‘s channel line-up stronger and more competitive."

BBC Lifestyle offers inspiration for home, family and life with programmes on home and design, food, fashion and style, to entertain, engage and inspire viewers.

The channel is home to Gordon Ramsay‘s latest series as well as ‘Grand Designs‘, where architect, best-selling author and Presenter Kevin McCloud follows some of Britain‘s most ambitious self-building projects, as intrepid individuals attempt to design and construct the home of their dreams.

The launch of BBC Lifestyle on Nexmedia follows closely the formal launch of BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and BBC Entertainment in Taiwan three weeks ago.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC?s commercial arm BBC Worldwide will be introducing Top Gear Korea to buyers at the Asia Television Forum (ATF) with a launch event on 7 December 2011.

Special guest will be Top Gear Korea presenter Kim Jin-Pyo who has helped make the 13 part series a hit for XTM channel since its premiere in August 2011.

BBC Worldwide Sales and Distribution Asia GM, senior VP Joyce Yeung commented: "We?ve had a hugely successful year launching formats in Asia, particularly in Korea where audiences have embraced Top Gear and Dancing with the Stars. Not only can we offer customers these brilliant shows from Korea, but also the format rights for local production and of course other international versions. With Top Gear involved I absolutely know it?s going to be a great ATF."

Korea?s local production of ?Top Gear? outperformed the XTM prime time average across all major demographics. Presenting the series, along with Kim Jin-Pyo, are actor Kim Kap-Soo and celebrity racer Yeon Jung-Hoon who film their car fuelled antics in various locations in South Korea and invite a range of Asian celebrities join in. Dancing with the Stars has delivered vast audiences as well as glitter and glamour for MBC, with the show winning its time slot amongst all key audiences.

BBC Worldwide?s other programme highlights for ATF include the natural history titles ?Frozen Planet?, ?Earthflight? and ?Great Barrier Reef?. Executive produced by Alistair Fothergill and narrated by Sir David Attenborough, ?Frozen Planet? takes viewers on a polar expedition. ?Earthflight? uses technology and camera techniques combined with aerial images to bring the world to viewers as seen by birds. Going Down Under, the BBC?s Natural History Unit has produced the ?Great Barrier Reef? series. This programme offers a guide to the secrets of the reef - how it was created, how it works, the intricate relationships between its inhabitants and how climate change and other factors might shape its future.

From the science genre are BBC Productions? ?Planet Dinosaur? and ?Origins of Us?. Using unique hi-tech graphics to bring to life the most awesome and amazing creatures that ever lived, ?Planet Dinosaur? transports viewers back in time through hundreds of millions of years. ?Origins of Us? tells the story of human evolution exploring the anatomical changes that have given humans, and their ancestors, the edge.

Drama titles include the Caribbean based detective series ?Death in Paradise? and ?Torchwood?; ?Miracle Day? starring John Barrowman and Bill Pullman. From the world of music there is the 3D concert ?Britney Spears: Femme Fatale? and ?Glastonbury 2011? featuring Beyonce.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has announced the appointment of Martyn Freeman as its general counsel, a new role with responsibility across all legal and business affairs, policy and regulatory matters, including the negotiation of transactions and joint ventures, rights and deals management, crisis management, compliance, risk management and talent accounting.

Freeman will report to BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith and will be a member of BBC Worldwide?s Executive Board. He will take up his position on 21 November.

He has been in charge of BBC Worldwide?s Legal and Business Affairs since 2002, as group head and then director. In these roles, he worked on the creation of partnerships such as BBC Books and 2 entertain, the divestments of BBC Magazines and BBC Audiobooks, the re-structuring of joint ventures with Discovery, and has had overall responsibility for rights acquisition and management.

More recently he has also led on raising financing and negotiating deals for BBC Worldwide?s slate of natural history feature films.

Previous to this position, he has worked in a variety of roles across the BBC, including as Head of Business Affairs, Radio and Music, Factual and Learning and News.

Freeman said, ?I am delighted to become the first general counsel for BBC Worldwide. It gives me the chance to build on nearly a decade?s work at BBC Worldwide as well as taking on some fascinating new challenges as BBC Worldwide continues to develop as a truly global media company.?

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Channels has announced that the latest series of motoring show ?Top Gear? will be coming to global television screens just days after the UK premiere transmission.

Kicking off with a new ?Top Gear? special in early 2012, series 18 will follow a maximum of 14 days after the UK transmission of the series on BBC Entertainment in India, Africa and Latin America and on BBC Knowledge in Poland and Asia.

BBC Worldwide Channels senior VP programming, TV channels David Weiland said, "It?s an important part of our programming strategy to bring as much of our acquired content to air as closely on our global network as it does in the UK. Top Gear is a hugely popular programme with viewers across all our territories and I?m delighted we are able to bring the latest series to them so close to the UK premiere transmission."

Sold to almost 200 territories worldwide, Top Gear achieves viewing figures of over six million viewers per episode when it premieres in the UK and is regularly the most downloaded programme on the BBC?s UK iPlayer, BBC Worldwide said. Since 2008, four international versions have been licensed by BBC Worldwide in Australia, Russia, China and the US.