Mumbai: Global broadcast industry magnates will attend the Indian broadcast industry?s annual global festival that starts this year. The inaugural Indian TV Festival will be held in Goa for two days from 2 November 2012, providing for the first time a platform to network and exchange ideas for television executives and people who create and ideate.

Zee TV?s Subhash Chandra, Star Network?s James Murdoch, Sony America CEO Michael Lynton, Disney International chairman Andy Bird, Channel 4 head commercial marketing and research Hugh Johnson and HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink and executives from companies Comcast and Fremantle will speak at the festival.

The festival is being organised by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). It will have interactive seminars, keynote sessions, as well as a marketplace with 60 stalls exhibiting content relating to every television genre.

Star india CEO Uday Shankar, who is also IBF president, said the event had been in the making for a year. "We wanted to create and sustain a platform where the broadcast community can meet to exchange ideas. It will be an annual event where members of the broadcast industry and their allied partners will come."

The event will be used by industry members to share their vision and the way forward. "We do not come together to share ideas and best practices. The aim is to meet away from our workplace and competitive mindsets. The aim is to make this event the most iconic television gathering of creativity, minds and strategy," said Shankar.

Sunil Lulla, Times Television Network MD & CEO, and his team have put together the event.

Turner International India GM Entertainment Networks South Asia Monica Tata noted that the industry is worth Rs. 330 billion and is expected to reach Rs 1000 billion by 2017. "We have to set ourselves for the future. Television penetration is 60 per cent which means that there is opportunity for growth. New technologies like high definition, DTH offer opportunities."

"This is an event that is of, by and for the industry. The event will look at ideation across all genres including general entertainment, news, sports. The television industry needs to collaborate more strongly. Media Partners Asia is our knowledge partner and they will release a report at the event," Tata said.

Times Television?s Sunil Lulla said the event is for people who make TV happen. "For the industry to grow three fold you need conversation which will allow for new ideas to be formed. You need confidence so that competitors can also be collaborators. You also need commitment. The event will allow people who offer technology and services to meet people. Goa makes magic happen which is why we are holding the event there. We will announce more speakers in due course. The aim is to have an event that is full of dialogue."

MUMBAI: News Corp?s India affiliate, Star TV, has bagged the BCCI media rights for international cricket played in India for a whopping Rs 38.51 billion, surprising all who expected the joint venture entity, ESPN Star Sports, to bid.

Star India bet higher than the only rival bidder Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television India) for the six-year broadcast and digital rights till 2018. MSM, IPL?s official broadcast rights holder, bid Rs 37 billion to back up its plans to launch a sports channel.

Star will cough up Rs 401.154 million per match, a huge increase compared to Rs 312.50 million that Nimbus Communications was paying for every match when its contract was prematurely terminated by the BCCI last year for non-payment of broadcast rights fee.

According to sources in the BCCI, only five companies had bought the bidding documents with only MSM and Star placing their bids before the marketing committee that had met in Chennai to open the bids. The ones who bought bid documents include Zee, ESPN Software India, and Times Internet, which intended to bid only for the digital rights.

The contract between BCCI and Star TV will cover a total of 96 matches which includes visit by teams like Australia, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka. It also includes domestic events like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and the Irani Trophy.

The most interesting part of the bidding was that ESS, which operates Star Sports, Star Cricket and ESPN, did not submit the bid even though it bought the tender documents.

?I am glad to announce that Star TV won the bid for six years. The total bid amount is about Rs 3,851 crores (Rs 38.51 billion) for the six year period covering 96 matches. The BCCI is very happy that the BCCI rights are fully evaluated and now I think fully priced,? BCCI president N Srinivasan said, announcing the winning bid.

Star TV India CEO Uday Shankar said the broadcaster would work with ESS to jointly develop the content. ?BCCI is a great property and we are overjoyed to have an opportunity to develop it further. It was decided amongst ESPN Star Sports, ESPN and Star that Star would bid for the rights and if Star were to win the rights it would be exploited in collaboration with ESS,? Shankar said in a statement.

For ESS, which has platforms across television, Internet and mobile medium, the BCCI media rights will come as a booster shot. With the India rights expected to be housed under it, ESS can boast of having rights for three of the top four cricket boards which includes Australia and England excluding South Africa, which is owned by Ten Sports. It also holds the global rights for ICC events till 2015 besides Champions League Twenty20 commercial rights till 2017.

Commenting on the deal, ESPN Star Sports MD Manu Sawhney said, "ESS is very pleased that STAR has secured the BCCI rights for the period 2012 to 2018. It was decided by the ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) Board that the most preferred way for these rights is for STAR to bid with the understanding that should they win, they would utilize these rights in partnership with ESPN STAR Sports. We look forward to continue to enhance fans? engagement with the game.?

The BCCI had clubbed the digital with the TV broadcast rights, setting a floor price of Rs 322.5 million (Rs 312.5 million plus Rs 10 million for new media rights) per international game for category A and Rs 340 million (Rs 330 million plus 10 million for new media rights) per game for category B.

The new media rights, which were not part of the earlier rights package with Nimbus, had failed to draw attention as it was highly priced. The BCCI had twice floated tenders fixing base price at Rs 30 and Rs 20 million respectively.

India?s FTP at home for the period is as follows: