MUMBAI: Animal planet is back with ?Deadly 60?, a series hosted by wildlife expert Steve Backshall.

Starting 1 May, the show will air at 9 pm every day.

The show is about Backshall exploring world?s 60 of the deadliest animals on his personal camera that could be lethal beauties to killer beasts.

Each animal is assigned with three killer facts and rated on the Deadly 60 scale as viewers are immersed in the quest for the world?s most lethal predators.

Steve travels across the six continents like across South Africa, Australia, India, Malaysia, Europe, United Kingdom, South America and North America for six months to find the "most deadliest" creature in the world.

MUMBAI: Glory Sports International, the owner and rights holder of the Glory World Series kickboxing championship, has agreed to acquire Dutch-based competitor, ?It?s Showtime,? led by the European fight manager and kickboxing promoter Simon Rutz.

The landmark deal will effectively place all of the world?s top kickboxers, or stand-up fighters, under the same promotional umbrella. GSI will absorb other assets from and take over management of ?It?s Showtime.?

"This is what the world of stand-up fighting has been waiting for - all the top fighters competing in the same series each time to find out who is really the very best,? said GSI MD Marcus Luer, who also owns Asian sports marketing company Total Sports Asia.

The Glory World Series is the world?s premier kickboxing league, staging events across the globe and offering up to $1,000,000 in prize money to successful fighters in the 16-man grand prix tournaments which are open to only the very best fighters in each weight class.

With television deals spanning every continent plus an online streaming system, Glory claims to be the world?s most widely-broadcast sporting organisations already.

"By adding ?It?s Showtime?, Glory has truly established itself as the No. 1 kickboxing league in the world. This is what the fans have been waiting for and we are here to deliver it. Glory will soon announce a new series of events and a modernized tournament format for the rest of the year and for 2013," continued Luer.

Owned and operated by Glory Sports International (GSI), the organisation has offices in Holland, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Its personnel include prominent hedge-fund investors, the pioneering sports marketing agency Total Sport Asia and several executives from the Golden Glory team.

MUMBAI: 9X Media is expanding its fleet of music channels to stay ahead of its competitors in a space that is governed by slow revenue growth and high clutter. The sixth channel in its bouquet will be an international music channel, 9XO.

Making its appearance on 24 April, 9XO will join market leader Vh1 and a recently repositioned Big CBS Spark. An encrypted but free to air channel targeted at the upscale urban youth, it will air English and international music from across the globe.

9XO will also provide a platform called OmeGrown, for independent Indian music bands playing English music to showcase their talent.

Says 9X Media Sr VP and business head Punit Pandey, "Post a series of successful launches across the regional and Hindi markets and the launch of 9XM in the United Kingdom, we are pleased to present 9XO - an international music channel. The urban youth in India clearly feels the need of a platform that delivers International music in a great audio visual format. With 9XO we believe that we address this need gap by airing the best of English and International music."

9XO?s tagline is ?I?m On.? The channel packaging has been designed using pop-art influences from different periods which have been animated. There are elements of humour and attitude. "We worked with different creative agencies including Bombay Design House. The channel?s look is different from the standard graphics that other channels use," says 9XO programming head Luke Keny.

9X Media already runs 9XM (Hindi music), 9X Tashan (Punjabi music), 9X Jhakaas (Marathi music), 9X Jalwa (timeless Bollywood music) and 9XM - UK (Bollywood music for UK audience).

"There is a big resurgence happening in terms of demand and consumption of international music. Youth are becoming increasingly aware of and consuming international trends through platforms like the Internet. Music is a big part of international trends that are influencing the youth," says Kenny.

What will separate 9X0 from its rivals is its positioning of presenting unadulterated music experience. "The aim is to bring the music video experience back full circle the way the audience likes it, uninterrupted? with no non-music programming whatsoever. Other channels stopped being pure music channels a long time ago and started mixing lifestyle and fiction content. We did tests with viewers and we found that they just want to listen to and watch music. They do not want to be interrupted by other kinds of content," avers Kenny.

The channel has stitched content deals with labels like Warner, Sony and Universal. 9XO?s focus will be on Top 40 hits in the US and UK. There will also be a sprinkling of classics to cater to the 25+ age group. The channel will function like a jukebox and offer variety to listeners.

The channel will also have segments such as ?O-Vid?, ?Who Dat?, ?Wotta Song?, ?Hot Sh*t? and ?Out There?.

In terms of marketing, the channel will use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. It will also have on-ground and on-campus presence during the May-June period when colleges re-open.

"We will get involved with college festivals. The message will be that anybody who is on international music can watch it. Also anybody that wants to be introduced to international music can tune in," says Keni.

Media agencies say the channel will find it tough to rope in advertisers as the genre is very niche and has no appointment viewing. Also, it will have to fight for eyeballs with other genres like English entertainment.

"Getting in good revenue will not be an easy task for these channels. They will have to get their share of audiences. These channels are very niche in nature," says VivaKi Exchange CEO Mona Jain.

Jain also notes that appointment viewing will not happen. "This genre will compete for revenue with other niche genres like English entertainment which has the likes of AXN and Star World," she avers.

NEW DELHI: Even if the year 2011 is coming to a close, the unravelling of the scams surrounding the Commonwealth Games 2010 is nowhere close to coming to an end.

Even a year after the Games got over, a Parliamentary Committee "deeply concerned about the controversy" says it is clear that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry seems to be in dilemma about the actual loss on account of broadcasting rights.

What is more, the Standing Committee for Communication and Information Technology notes that neither the I&B Ministry nor Prasar Bharati were aware that SIS Live, United Kingdom, had outsourced the coverage and production to Zoom Communications and this fact came to their notice at "a later stage".

The Standing Committee was also "surprised to note the opinion given by the Law Ministry that the sub-contract was not in violation of the clause which existed between Prasar Bharati and SIS Live."

The Committee also note that "the Ministry have justified the selection process as well as the cost estimates" of the award of work for Production and Coverage facilities for the Games to SIS Live, UK, for Rs 2.46 billion. "The representative of the Ministry informed the Committee that a transparent process was followed in the award of contract and the Ministry was quite satisfied that there was no shortcoming while giving its approval."

"Although the basis for calculating the amount is not known to the Standing Committee, yet it raises a serious question mark about the reasonableness of the rate quoted by the selected firm," the Committee says.

But the Committee says that "the fact remains that the contract which SIS Live got from Prasar Bharati for Rs 2.46 billion was outsourced by the entity to Zoom Communications for Rs 1.77 billion. The High Level Committee constituted by the Government under VK Shunglu has estimated the work below Rs 1 billion."

The Standing Committee has said "the Secretary during the course of oral evidence before the Committee initially stated that the cost was excessive but subsequently justified the cost estimate as the same figure that was arrived at by a Committee constituted by the Ministry."

The Committee has urged the Government for an early decision in the matter. It has noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting an investigation in this regard.
"The Committee desire that the alleged irregularities in the award of work for Production and Coverage facilities may be scrupulously probed by the investigating agency and the report submitted to the Government at the earliest. The recommendations of the Group of Ministers (on the Shunglu Committee report) and the findings of CBI along with the action taken by the Ministry in this regard should be communicated to the Committee."

It has taken note of the fact that the Shunglu Committee report of January 2011 was submitted to the Group of Ministers (GoM) on 24 March 2011, while also noting that Prasar Bharati CEO BS Lalli was suspended and Doordarshan Director-General Aruna Sharma repatriated to her cadre after seeking their explanations, apart from the CBI being permitted to conduct an inquiry.

Prasar Bharati realised gross revenue of Rs 604.8 million through commercial advertisements during the Games held from 3 to 14 October last year.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster ABC will kick off the game show ?Million Dollar Mind Game? on 23 October.

Offering a prize of $1 million, the aim of the show is to bring contestants and viewers a new way of thinking. In this game of reasoning and smarts, teams consisted of six people who all know each other - co-workers, friends, teammates, etc. - will need to tackle a series of logic-based questions. 

The more questions the team answers correctly, the more money they will earn towards a grand prize, potentially earning them $1 million. The team has just 60 seconds to discuss and decide upon an answer.

After each correct answer, the team must decide unanimously if they will leave with their earnings or move on to the next question for a chance at more money. "Million Dollar Mind Game" is hosted by one of the most popular television presenters in the United Kingdom, Vernon Kay.

?Million Dollar Mind Game? is based on the Russian game, ?What? Where? When??

In the first episode, ?Episode 101?, a team of six middle school teachers combine their wits and brain power to compete for the grand prize of $1 million.