Indian Television News, TV Stars, TV Actress, TV Actor | TVJini

Bloomberg UTV, the business news channel an alliance between UTV and Bloomberg LP, in the latest week 43 numbers (18-24 October 2009) has overtaken CNBC TV 18 in terms of reach, in the top 6 as well as 8 Metros, making it the highest reach for the channel in the year 2009.

In terms of market share too, Bloomberg UTV has seen an upswing. With a 20 % market share in the top 8 metros, Bloomberg UTV is a clear no. 2 in the TG 25 + AB Male domain. Bloomberg UTV also commands second position with 24% market share of viewers from the TG 25 + AB Male band in the top 6 Metros.

The channel, in its new avatar, is slowly but surely turning the tide in its favor with its focus on innovative and path breaking programming, combined with a sure footed impetus on distribution and newsgathering.

On the programming front, the introduction of newer formats such as “Conversations on Pachayati Raj” with former Union Panchayati Raj Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, “2nd Wave” a special series on restructuring to buck the downturn and others like “The difficulty of Being Good” and “Common Maximum Programme with Govindraj Ethiraj” brought together the most powerful names in policy and development. The new infusion of International programming too has powered the channel to deliver on its brand promise of being the final word in business.

NDTV Profit announced the winners of the prestigious NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2009 at a special award ceremony held yesterday at Taj Lands End, Mumbai graced by Union Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. The award now in its 4^th year has emerged as the most credible and distinguished platform for the recognition of exceptional business performance and entrepreneurial abilities in India. The award night brought together the best business minds and bureaucrats of the country under one roof, including Kumarmangalm Birla, Sanjeev Aga, Rajiv Dubey, Nandan Nilekani, Tulsi Tanti, Dr. Tarun Das and Harsh Mariwala amongst others.

The winners of the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2009 are:

Inaugurating the award ceremony, Union Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, said, “It’s not only because of the stimulus packages or policy initiatives but because of the spirit of accepting challenges which have made India weather the international financial crisis. I appreciate the sprit of business leaders and the young entrepreneurs, who recognized the gravity of the situation, took courage and faced the challenges.”

This October, AXN – India’s hub for the ultimate reality shows and mid rattling adventure, turns up the heat with a lip- smacking New Season of Top Chef.  Set in the windy city of Chicago, the fourth season of this ever popular reality TV series gets 16 hot new chefs to pitch their spatulas against one another as they attempt to rule the kitchen.

In all 15 tastier than ever episodes, Padma Lakshmi – cookbook author, actress and host - returns to oversee her kitchen domain and cheftestants; alongside the watchful eyes of chief judge Tom Colicchio, famed doyen and chef/owner of Craft Restaurants, judge Gail Simmons of Food & Wine Magazine and judge Ted Allen the Emmy-winning cookbook writer and television luminary. Distinguished and revered chefs, the likes and calibre of Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef Art Smith, will appear as guest judges.

Top Chef has brewed viewers’ attention to a steaming point all over America, topping its timebelt across all cable networks with adults and women 18-54. Season 4 of this hit reality series has also become its highest-rated season ever, more than doubling its audience since Season 1 and steadfastly maintaining its lead from premiere to finale.

No doubt such unwavering viewer loyalty is incited from the sheer calibre of the skilled cheftestants, as so aptly put across by Gourmet Magazine, “This show is for real chefs as opposed to pretend chefs.  It’s not that they look good, it’s not that they smile a lot, it’s not that they have cleavage, it’s that they can cook well.” Indeed, each episode of Top Chef puts each cheftestant through the grueling rounds of the ‘Quickfire Challenge’, where their basic culinary abilities are tested and an ‘Elimination Challenge’ where they will be judged based on team or individual effort and where any lapse in culinary judgement might just earn them the risk of…elimination.

To up the ante in what is one of the most stirring seasons so far, new interpersonal dynamics and intriguing challenges come into play in the windy city. For one, the first competing same-sex couple brings a cutting edge to the teeming rivalry and for the first time, the cheftestants are allowed to bring

$200 worth of ingredients, on top of what they can use in the Top Chef Pantry. Elimination Challenges also take on more bite ranging from five-course meals inspired by the fellow team’s favourite movie, creating first courses based on the four elements of Fire, Earth, Water and Air to coming up with a healthy entrée for a family of four on a rock-bottom budget of $10!

This season, expect to watch the mercury rise as the intensity and boiling points come to a clash in this kitchen of talented, ingenious cheftestants who have much at stake - US$100,000 in seed money to kickstart the opening of their dream restaurant decked by the makers of the Glad company of products, a feature spotlight in Food & Wine magazine, a chance to showcase at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, a gastronomical dream holiday in the French Alps and of course, the coveted title of Top Chef.

So heat up the ovens and skillets and watch the cheftestants fry, bake, barbecue, blanch, simmer and cook in all delectable manners possible, all in the premiere of Top Chef 4 on October 26 every Monday at 10:00 pm only on AXN!

Vh1, India’s number one international entertainment channel brings you one of the biggest rock solo artists in the music industry, Jayce Lewis. Conceptualized by Viacom Brand Solutions, Rayban Vh1 Global Music Xpress is India’s biggest music initiative ever. Get ready, once again, to gear up for a head banging music tour. Jayce Lewis kicks off his tour in Mumbai on 21st October and will continue to enthrall audiences in Delhi, Bangalore and Pune on 22nd, 23rd and 25th October respectively.

Jayce Lewis started his musical career as a guitarist at the tender age of 6 only to discover his over-powering musical style in the drumming world. This ex-drummer of the great rock band ‘Losing Sun’ is a born fan of dance and tribal music and has the natural ability of rhythm and picking out individual grooves. This was the making of a long career in his self taught drumming life and a journey with music that has now seen him sign with EMI Records. With Hammet of Metallica and Bryan May of Queen as musical inspirations, this drummer is all set to rock you of your feet.

The Welsh man’s current solo career is making an extraordinary impact on the music industry - being Artist of the month with Vh1, Jayce’s music style is one of a kind. One of Jayce’s signature styles of playing is his choppy accents of rhythm changes and fills. His hottest single ‘Icon’ took the rock world by storm and he is currently working on his most exciting album, ‘Chapter’, which is expected to revolutionize the world of rock!

Says Jayce Lewis “This being my first performance in India only makes this visit even more special. I’m really looking forward to sharing my new beats and some old ones with the people of India and I hope they will be well received. Indian classical influences like the ‘tabala’ are beautiful, versatile instruments and they really fascinate me. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to take back with me from this diverse Indian culture and I can’t wait to get the show on the road!”

Speaking on the initiative Ferzad Palia, Associate General Manager, Vh1 India says “Jayce Lewis is going to be a refreshing change as India is not very exposed to his unique style. That is really the aim of ‘ Rayban Vh1 Global Music Express’ and I’m certain this visit is going to be a winner.”

Sudhanshu Arora, Marketing Manager, Ray-Ban Sun Optics India Ltd. Says “Our association with GMX gets even more exciting with every visit. The tours are fun, versatile and one of a kind and that’s why our latest guest, Jayce Lewis is such a perfect choice.”

Get into the grove as Jayce Lewis hits your town with the most superlative beats!

Fashion. Adventure. Bollywood. All weaved into ‘Nuon MTV Making the Cut’
8 Designers, 16 Models, One Reality Show to find the best in Fashion

Soon to be the most stylish show on television, ‘Nuon MTV Making the Cut’ struts on to screens this Saturday 17th October at 6pm in an attempt to find the next best male & female model and the best designer in Indian fashion fraternity. This 8-part reality show will showcase 8 most stylish designers and 16 upcoming models, teaming up in an attempt to become the new Glamour Trio to reckon with!

Ruling the runway and casting his eyes over the fashion hopefuls, esteemed fashion designer Narendra Kumar heads up a team of industry luminaries including judges, Editor-In-Chief of ELLE India Nonita Kalra and top supermodel Dipannita Sharma, as they decide who’s “in” and who’s “out”.  In what will be a first for an Indian reality show, the panel will be joined in the 1st episode by none other than Lara Dutta! In the weeks to come, the contestants and their models will be scrutinized from every angle by guest judges like Neha Dhupia, Mahesh Bhupathi, Celina Jaitley, Kunal Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Madhur Bhandarkar amongst many others!

A show that features the best like cast on TV ever, each week ‘Making the Cut’s’ discerning group of experts will hand out tasks with new themes and new teams in a selection of challenges that will test the skills and imagination of the contestants to their limits! From Bollywood to street styles, from glitter to paper and from swimwear to formal wear, watch as the battle of needlework commences and our designers rush to dress their show stoppers to perfection before they hit the runway. To add to the glitz, 3 of the episodes are shot in the Gold Coast, Australia with the finale at the Versace Palazzo. As our collection of young hopefuls is slowly whittled down, ‘Making the Cut’ takes a look behind the scenes to watch the beauty, the styles, the tantrums and tears as the drama increases and the stakes are raised even higher! After an exhausting and emotional 8 weeks of competition the winning designer will be awarded the chance to showcase his/her own collection at a Fashion week and an opportunity to design a retail line for new top label NUON. The winning models will be signed on by Globosport, [who manage prestigious names like Lara Dutta, Sania Mirza], will be the new faces of the Nuon & a will also win a feature with Elle Magazine!
Says Ashish Patil, GM MTV India & Senior VP Creative & Content, “Grooming is booming. With MTV going beyond music and television, Nuon MTV Making the Cut will deliver style & fashion, both key passions for our audience, with signature MTV unpredictability and generous doses of adventure & Bollywood. It’s going to be one of the slickest shows to sashay down the ramp on TV this year!”

Ms. Smeeta Neogi, Head – Marketing, Trent, says, “Nuon is the youthwear brand of Westside which exemplifies the attitude and fashion style of today’s youth. Associating with “Making the Cut” provides us the perfect platform to bring Nuon closer to the fashion savvy, young MTV audience.

“It has been my lifelong ambition to see the company grow. ‘Making the Cut’ is one of the many projects that we will be launching over the next year. We have the resources, experience and now the team to make it work.” said Mahesh Bhupati, MD, Globosport.

Produced by Aditya Hitkari, Creative Director, Globosport, the show is an excellent platform for talented designers to break into the fashion world and for models to prove their worth. “Globosport is expanding its entertainment division into TV and films. Drawing on the diversified celebrity portfolio, all our projects will have a very strong celebrity presence. We are committed to delivering high quality entertainment,’’ said Aditya Hitkari.

“It is not your typical reality show; it Is a high glam, high fashion show, which focuses on the talent of the contestants. We didn’t indulge in making fools of people – rather celebrated their individuality! This is what made it such a fabulous experience!’’ said Divya Palat, Director of ‘Nuon MTV Making the Cut’.

So as the contestants get out their scissors and their stilettos, and as the judges get out their claws, all that remains is for viewers to get out their remotes and tune in to the show that has finally come to answer the prayers of all India’s budding  fashionistas!