BRIEFS

ZEE TV GETS ICICI LOAN FOR DTO PROJECT

Zee Telefilms has been sanctioned a Rs 700 million loan by the ICICI, a leading Indian financial institution. The loan is part of the Rs 1500 million that Zee TV is going to invest in its direct to operator digital channel package. The management has announced that channels such as Zee News and ZeeCinema are to migrate to Panamsat-4 by end-September, a clear indication the Zee Network is breaking away from its half a decade long partner, Rupert Murdoch's Star TV.

DD TO DEVELOP OWN MARKETING CAPABILITIES

The Prasar Bharati board last week decided that it would encourage the development of airtime marketing capabilities within DD and strengthen its setup. This follows the disastrous management of the contracts it had awarded to private air time marketing agencies for its sports programming. A report on the entire controversy has said that DD has not made any money in the past 18 months on sports events marketed by private agencies; it had in fact lost money. The report has been handed over to the Comptroller Auditor General of India for further action.

TVi NEWS TELECASTS GO OFF THE AIR

The sick news and current affairs television channel TVi continued to air despite newspaper reports that it had stopped beaming its programming after unpaid employees threatened to beat up the senior management if their long-outstanding dues were not cleared. What probably has happened is that TVi has stopped its news telecasts and is just running library product repeatedly. The channel owes money to several companies and is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy.