MUMBAI: Viacom18, the general entertainment business of TV18 Broadcast, turned profitable in the fiscal-third quarter ended 31 December on a sharp rise in revenues and a fall in loss from new operations.

The entertainment broadcaster had a net profit of Rs 34 million in the third quarter against a loss Rs 532 million a year earlier.

Viacom18?s operating revenues rose 50 per cent in the third quarter to Rs 4.73 billion from Rs 3.16 billion a year earlier, while operating expenses rose by a slower 25 per cent to Rs 4.43 billion from Rs 3.51 a year earlier.

Viacom18 reported an operating profit of Rs 304 million in the third quarter against operating loss of Rs 355 million, as its motion pictures operations had an operating profit of Rs 95 million against Rs 4 million a year earlier. The quarter saw the release of ?Son of Sardar? among other movies. For the nine months ended 31 December, motion pictures had an operating loss of Rs 193 million.

B Saikumar, Group CEO at TV18 group, said, "The brands across mass entertainment, English and factual entertainment, kids, music continue to grow and hold leadership positions. Importantly, all our programming initiatives in prime time and the weekend have paid off rather well on Colors."

In the quarter under review, Colors climbed to the No. 1 spot in the Hindi GEC genre for multiple weeks. The big-ticket shows included Bigg Boss and India?s Got Talent.

Profit from continuing channels

The company?s operating profit from continuing business, excluding new operations, was Rs 432 million in the third quarter against Rs 391 million a year earlier.

The channels falling under the ?continuing business? segment include Colors (flagship Hindi GEC), MTV, Nick and Vh1.

Loss from new channel operations

Viacom18?s operating loss from new operations (which includes launch of Nick Jr, Nick Teen and Comedy Central) narrowed to Rs 129 million from Rs 203 million a year earlier.

MUMBAI: Prime Focus Limited (PFL), a global visual entertainment services group that provides creative and technical services to the film, broadcast, and advertising market, has repaid $79 million to its foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) holders.

With the redemption of all the FCCBs, the entire focus of the management is now to expand and grow the business further.

Last month Standard Chartered Group invested US$35 million to subscribe to equity and another $35 million to subscribe to NCDs issued by Prime Focus Limited. The remaining $9 million towards FCCB commitment was tied up via bank term loans.

Prime Focus CFO Nishant Fadia said, "We are pleased that we have honoured our commitment to shareholders and bondholders by successfully settling the FCCBs on the date of redemption as per original terms and conditions.
 
"Our ability to raise long-term capital in the current volatile economic environment underlines the confidence a renowned investor like Standard Chartered has in our robust business model, strong order book and the overall potential of the global media & entertainment industry which we serve.

"We see Standard Chartered as a strategic partner and look forward to engaging with them over the long term to build sustainable value in the business. The Prime Focus Group will continue on the path of growing its businesses and breaking new ground globally and locally to enhance shareholder value."

NEW DELHI: Both the FM radio channels of All India Radio ? FM Gold and FM Rainbow ? have been given a completely new face this month with several new programmes and other changes.

These changes came into effect from 12 November, which is observed as the Public Service Broadcasting Day in India to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi?s maiden and only visit to AIR studio. In a broadcast on 12 November 1947, Gandhi had addressed refugees from Pakistan stationed at the camp at Kurukshetra.

The most major change in AIR Rainbow has been the rationalisation of western music vis-?-vis Indian music.

On FM Gold, five new shows have been introduced without touching the main programmes that are already popular with listeners.

Realising that long news bulletins were irritants to viewers who were keen to listen to golden melodies for which the channel is known, English and Hindi bulletins are being broadcast for five minutes alternately every hour instead of both being broadcast together. However, the bulletins are being broadcast together four times a day.

Thus, the time for music had been increased substantially.

Long discussions on economic subjects have been reduced to a maximum of 15 minutes once a day. The ?Sports Scan? programme which is broadcast at 8 pm will now be a 15-minute programme that will be broadcast from 8.30 pm to 8.45 pm.

Greater attention will be paid to interviews with personalities, and to listeners? requests.

MUMBAI: Grey Matter Entertainment, the media company providing production services for broadcast, celluloid and digital platforms, has partnered with 10-year-old French company Novovision, a leading non-dialogue gag clips producer.

As part of the partnership, Grey Matter Entertainment will produce around 1200 humour clips for Novovision. Grey Matter and Novovision will co-own IPR for all content produced.

The company says that the content will also be broadcast in over 100 countries and across all platforms worldwide.

It is for the first time that Novovision has partnered with an Asian company to co-produce gag clips. With shows like "POP CORN TV" to its credit, the world leader for providing humour clips is looking forward to producing thousands of videos along with Grey Matter.

Grey Matter, with its celebrated work for the Reebok Pit Stop with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes Benz MTV Date with Speed, Grammy Nominees Special 2011 and the like, has reflected as an epitome of ideas and concepts to Novovision.

Novovision CEO Fran?ois-Xavier Poirier said, "We decided to co-produce shows with Grey Matter because we share the same values. Both of us wanted to create a show of very edgy gags produced locally for local and world audience. Grey Matter Entertainment is a largely recognized Indian content production company. This partnership shall result in a successful collaboration of two experienced personalities sharing the same passion for candid camera."

Commenting on the partnership, Grey Matter Entertainment Founder-CEO Chandradev Bhagat said, "It is said that laughter is the best medicine and now this medicine will be available to viewers in an exhaustive package put together by our partnership. The association with Novovision is a tremendous step for Grey Matter, and we are proud to be the first Indian -- indeed, Asian -- company they have partnered with. We believe this partnership will prove to be a milestone for both companies."

MUMBAI: Viacom 18-owned general entertainment channel Colors has entered into a long-term broadcast agreement with Times Group for its coveted beauty pageant Femina Miss India.

Sony Entertainment Television, the GEC from the Multi Screen Media group, was the incumbent broadcast partner for the event, which completed its 50 years recently.

According to a Colors spokeswoman, Femina Miss India 2013 will be telecast live for the first time in the annual event?s history. The GEC broadcaster will also have the right to sell on-air sponsorship.

The title sponsor of the event has also changed hands with Pond?s jumping in as the title sponsor to replace Pantaloons that was the title sponsor for almost five years beginning 2007. Incidentally, Pond?s was the title sponsor of the beauty pageant for almost three years prior to Pantaloons.

Along with the broadcaster and title sponsor, the logo of the event has also undergone a change and will have a new sound track too. PC Jewellers, contemporary and traditional jewellery maker, has joined hands with Ponds Femina Miss India 2013 as the Crown & Jewellery Partner.

Commenting on the acquisition, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, "We are excited to showcase Femina Miss India?s 50 year milestone journey on Colors as we see a perfect synergy between both brands and audiences. Colors? is synonymous with content that is different and inspiring and therefore, we are happy to welcome Femina Miss India in our bouquet of unique event offerings. As our core audience is the woman, we hope the progressive imagery resonates and inspires them."

Hindustan Unilever VP Skincare Arun Srinivas said, "Pond?s, an iconic beauty brand, has been offering every Indian woman a reason to look and feel beautiful for many decades now. Femina Miss India, the renowned beauty pageant platform, celebrates Indian beauty delivering recognition to beautiful women and helping many others live their dreams through these inspirational role models."

To ensure national representation at the pageant and to encourage participation of contestants from across India in its 50th year, auditions and selections will be initiated from all regions across India, with seven City Pageants being held in Pune, Goa, Indore, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chandigarh & Delhi which will ultimately culminate into the grand Finale in Mumbai.

The winner of the city pageants will get a lifetime opportunity to fast track to the finals at the grand finale of Pond?s Femina Miss India 2013.