Trinity Broadcasting Network founder Paul Crouch dies at 79

Paul Crouch, the pioneer of televangelism, died on 29 November at the age of 79. He suffered from heart and other ailments. 

Crouch built Trinity Broadcasting Network, the world’s largest Christian television system. 

Kannada TV experiments with mute comedy

The Star network's Kannada general entertainment channel Suvarna Plus has announced the launch of its two new comedy shows Singari Bangari and Jam n' Jelly". Both the shows will go on air from December 2.

While Singari Bangari is a fun riot between mother-in-law (Singari) and daughter-in-law (Bangari), Jam n' Jelly is a mute comedy, a first of its kind in Kannada entertainment. The two characters Jam and Jelly are the highlights of the show. The show has a lot of firsts in it and is all set to create a new trend in the Kannada market with its unique treatment.

Sahara India to start a Bengali channel

The Lucknow-headquartered Sahara India Pariwar that has been in the media and entertainment business since some time now, plans to start a Bengali infotainment channel very soon.

Currently, the company has entertainment channels, a movie channel and many regional news channels. It also has round the clock regional news channels, Sahara Samay in 30 cities.

BARC approves Mediametrie as partner for audience measurement

The Broadcast Audience Research Council has approved Mediametrie, a French audience measurement company as its technology partner in a board meeting held on 30 November. However the official deal between the two entities is expected to take place early next week.

“The in-principle approval of the board has been given, however the deal between BARC and Mediametrie is yet to finalized,” said an executive of the Broadcast Audience Research Council who declined to be named.

Tata Sky adds 9X Jhakaas to DTH bouquet

Marathi music channel 9X Jhakaas is now available to the eight million subscribers of Indian direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV provider Tata Sky.

"The launch of the channel 9X Jhakaas on Tata Sky is all about striking the right chord with our Marathi subscribers. As music is the universal language, this channel will complement others in our channel portfolio," said Mukund Sharma, vice president, content, Tata Sky.

MK Anand quits Disney UTV Media Networks as Managing Director

MK Anand has put in his papers as Managing Director, Disney UTV Media Networks. 

Prior to this, he was CEO, UTV Software Communications. 

LCO’s form ‘Bengal Broadband’ to be effective from FY15

LCOs in Kolkata have joined hands to form Bengal Broadband in order to provide independent cable services to their customers along the lines of mutli-system operators (MSOs) like SitiCable, Manthan, Incable among others. The LCOs plan to start their operation from the next fiscal, 2014-15.

The company has invested around Rs 4.8 crore in setting up a headend equipment and office infrastructure at Salt Lake College More in the city. It aims to have one million subscribers in the first year of its operations as they plan to provide digital connections to consumers at reduced rates, at around 15 to 20 per cent less than the MSOs.