MUMBAI: Sun TV Network has appointed Sun Direct chief financial officer Sundaram Shanmugam as the CEO of its Hyderabad IPL franchise, Sun Risers. Sun Direct is the direct-to-home arm of Sun Group.

Sun TV unveiled the brand identity of its team Sun Risers. It recently awarded the creative duties of its IPL team to JWT India.

Tom Moody will be the team coach and Kris Srikanth the team mentor.

The Sun Risers logo depicts an eagle soaring high, looking into the core of a rising sun, absorbing the colors of the bright star to become ?one with the sun?.

The new identity encapsulates the valour, chivalry, endurance, independence and fearlessness of the eagle synthesising with energy and radiance obtained from sun.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Sun Risers CEO Sundaram Shanmugam said, ?It is a moment of great pleasure for us to present the identity of the Hyderabad IPL team to all cricket enthusiasts across the world. Being in the business of media and entertainment, we are extremely happy to be a part of Cricket family to provide maximum entertainment to all cricket buffs.?

He also added that Sun Risers is a wonderful value creation opportunity for the Sun Group. This franchisee will help the Sun Group conglomerate to attain the perfect synergy among their varied interests.

Sun had retained 20 players in their initial squad for the 2013 season which included six overseas players. It had spent $5 million on retaining players out of its purse of $7 million.

Sun TV had in October bought the Hyderabad IPL team for Rs 4.25 billion for a period of five years till 2017. From 2018, Sun will own the franchise in perpetuity and will pay 20 per cent of the franchise revenue every year as fee to the BCCI.

NEW DELHI: With the entire process of FM radio Phase III auctions getting delayed due to various reasons, the government has decided to give more time to FM Phase II operators to migrate to Phase III.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has extended the last date of signing the Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) from 31 December to 30 June 2013.

Thus operators wanting to migrate to Phase-III regime can now execute the GOPA by 30 June 2013.

Some radio broadcasters say that this extension is a clear indication that the process for the phase III auctions will be delayed.

Earlier this year, a total of 25 broadcasting companies had applied for migrating from FM Radio Phase II to FM Radio Phase III.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources said these included Reliance Broadcast, Asianet Radio, BAG Infotainment, HT Media, Malayala Manorama, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd., Radio Mid-Day West (India) Ltd., Mathrubhumi, Sun TV Network and Udaya FM.

Others are Clear Media (India) Pvt Ltd., Entertainment Network India Ltd., Gwalior Farms Pvt Ltd., India Radio Ventures Pvt Ltd., Kal Radio Ltd., Malar Publications, Muthoot Broadcasting Pvt Ltd., PCM Cement Concrete Pvt Ltd., Purvy Broadcasts Pvt Ld., Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd., Raneka Fincom Pvt Ltd., South Asia FM Ltd., D B Corp Ltd., Syntech Informatics Pvt Ltd., and Puran Multimedia Ltd.

The government had earlier decided to commence e-auctions from December this year over a period of three years to increase the number of private FM radio channels from the present 245 to around 839 covering another 227 cities having population of over 100,000.

Even as the Government has said that private FM radio channels will be permitted to carry news bulletins of All India Radio in unaltered form, it has been clarified that broadcast relating to subjects like sporting events, traffic and weather will be treated as non-news and will therefore be permissible.

Other subjects coming under non-news and current affairs are coverage of cultural events, festivals, coverage of topics pertaining to examinations, results, admissions, career counseling, availability of employment opportunities, and public announcements pertaining to civic amenities like electricity, water supply, natural calamities, health alerts etc. as provided by the local administration.