MUMBAI: Models, runways, grueling photo shoots and a prize! All this will be part of the reality show Australia?s Next Top Model, the sixth season of which will air Monday to Friday at 10:30 pm on the women targetted channel Big CBS Love.

Coming on board as the host and judge of Australia?s Next Top Model, is Sarah Murdoch. Sarah is an Australian supermodel, actress and daughter-in-law of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. She has modelled for L?Oreal, Estee Lauder and Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.

This is the second time that Sarah has come on to the show as the host and judge. Along with Sarah, the other judges on the show are fashion designer Alex Perry, television personality Charlotte Dawson and fashion and beauty photographer Jez Smith.

The show follows a group of 16 young Australian girls, who come from all over Australia to Sydney, to compete for the title of Australia?s next super model. The girls must undergo a series of challenges and tricky photo shoots that bring out different aspects that are vital for a model to master in order for the judges to determine who will be Australia?s Next Top Model.

The winner not only wins the coveted title but scores of other prizes that include representation by Australia?s premiere modeling agency Priscilla?s Model Management for 12 months; a $25,000 contract to be the face of the jeans brand Levi?s; a trip to New York to meet with top modeling agency Elite Model Management; a Ford Fiesta Zetec, $20,000 and an exclusive eight page editorial and cover spread in fashion magazine Harper?s Bazaar.

MUMBAI: Bloomberg has entered into a joint-venture partnership with IMG, the global leader in sports, fashion and media, to expand and accelerate the growth of its vertical division, Bloomberg Sports.

The new venture will still be majority owned by Bloomberg and will be located in offices in New York and London. The new venture will retain the name Bloomberg Sports, and will be funded through the partnership created by both entities.

IMG will have a strong minority equity position and will provide enhanced marketing, sales and production assistance for both the existing Bloomberg Sports analytics products as well as a new series of projects that will be rolled out this summer.

They will include new ventures in international professional soccer as well as greatly enhanced fantasy analytic products for NFL football.

This will be in addition to the work the company is already doing in Major League Baseball both on the consumer and professional level. Other products and services are currently in development with additional professional and consumer sports brands which will be announced at a later date.

?We are very excited to partner with IMG, one of the most respected global leaders in sports and entertainment, to expand a business that was the brainchild of two entrepreneurial employees and incubated through Bloomberg in just two years,? said Bloomberg CEO Dan Doctoroff.

MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Network, USA, has concluded a VoD agreement with Splendid Film, a subsidiary of Splendid Medien.

The licensing deal will allow Sony Entertainment Network?s VoD platform to show classic films such as Traffic and Gangs of New York, as well as more recent films including The Expendables and SeeFood from Splendid?s film catalogue.

Sony Entertainment Network customers can watch and download the Splendid titles individually at any time. The video-on-demand range can be accessed using various devices including PSP (PlayStation Portable), Bravia, Xperia mobile, Sony Tablet, PlayStation 3 or PC.

Enteractive, another subsidiary of Splendid Medien, is handling technical provision of the titles for the VoD platform.

?Marketing of programmes via internet platforms is becoming increasingly significant. In the Sony Entertainment Network, we have gained another very important partner for broadcasting our programmes," commented Splendid Medien CEO Andreas R. Klein.

MUMBAI: In a major setback for French entertainment group Vivendi Universal, a US jury ruled that it must pay $954.6 million in damages to Liberty Media Corp in a 2003 breach of contract lawsuit.

The dispute arose out of a commercial transaction between the parties in December 2001 when Vivendi agreed to buy the entertainment business of Barry Diller?s USA Networks for $10.3 billion.

As part of the transaction, Liberty Media received 37.6 million Vivendi shares for its stake in USA Networks and an European television production company.

However, in 2003 Liberty Media filed a lawsuit in a US court claiming that Vivendi misled it about a liquidity crisis at the company, artificially inflating the value of its shares, which it used to make the purchase.

Meanwhile, Vivendi said that it strongly disagrees with the decision by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

"The Group intends to pursue all available paths of action to overturn the verdict or reduce the damages award," the company said in a statement. "Vivendi believes that there are many grounds for appeal and continues to believe strongly that it did nothing wrong and will continue to vigorously defend itself in any subsequent appellant proceedings."

MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC will present the special ?Justin Bieber: All Around the World? over two nights, featuring singer Justin Bieber.

The special will air on 20 and 21 June.

Combining documentary and music performances, the superstar?s first-ever network special goes behind the scenes of his tour around the globe as he showcases his new album ?Believe? including the song ??Boyfriend?. It?s a grueling itinerary of nine cities in seven countries over 12 days, traveling over 16,000 miles and greeting over 500,000 fans.

After several impromptu concerts, album release parties, fan meet and greets and international TV appearances, Bieber will return to the U.S. for a special New York City performance. And for the first time, viewers can see what life is like through the eyes of Justin Bieber with the "Justin-cam."

NBC senior VP of special programmes and late night Doug Vaughan said,"The worldwide hysteria surrounding Justin?s album launch is unlike anything we?ve seen, and we?re thrilled to share it with our audience over two nights. With added stops in Italy and Mexico, we?ll have even more unprecedented access to Justin as our cameras film not only his performances, but his every move on this global tour."

?Believe? follows Bieber?s Christmas album, ?Under the Mistletoe?, which was his third number one Soundscan debut in just 18 months, making him the first solo artist in Billboard history to chart three number one albums before his 18th birthday.

MUMBAI: Infotainment broadcaster Discovery will air a new series ‘Extraordinary Women‘ starting 19 June every Tuesday at 8 pm.

This will reveal the stories of women, who overcame adverse conditions and social prejudices to rise to the top of their field to earn the admiration of millions across the world.

They rewrote the rules for women of their time, stepping out of the shadows of men to make their own mark in history. Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn and Agatha Christie are some of the women who will be profiled on the show. The women featured achieved success in fields as diverse as fashion, cinema, politics, philanthropy, technology and activism.

They seemed to have it all, but often the trials and tribulations of their personal lives were masked by their public success. Featuring archive, interviews and dramatic re-enactment, the show reveals the price these extraordinary women paid for their achievements. Yet in the end, they overcame all adversities to emerge as triumphant, inspirational icons of the 20th century, the channel said.

A Special Ambassador to Unicef, Hepburn was one of the first to recognise that her celebrity status could be used to improve the lives of many less fortunate people. Hedy Lamarr is best known as a star of MGM‘s golden age, but she was also the co-inventor of an early form of spread spectrum communications technology, a key to modern wireless communications. Coco Chanel was an illegitimate child, born into a poorhouse and abandoned in an orphanage, but she rose from unimaginable poverty to create the most iconic fashion brand of the 20th century, The House of Chanel.

Josephine Baker a black entertainer took the world by storm; determined to escape a life of deprivation and racial prejudice, she danced her way to New York and then Paris. In a remarkable life spanning eight decades, Maria Montessori challenged convention to pioneer a new system of education; she leaves a legacy of thousands of Montessori schools across the world. Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime Fiction wrote 80 novels and short stories; but, her private life remains as mysterious as any of the characters in her novels.