Confirming reports that pubcaster Prasar Bharati had decided to offer fresh bids for slots on Doordarshan‘s Metro Channel, advertisements appeared today in national newspapers inviting tenders for bulk airtime sales of 60-minute slots for a period of three years.

The tenders are for prime time slots between 7:00pm and 11:00pm. The slots are being auctioned without any floor price. The slots put up for bidding are segregated into four different 60-minute time bands - 7:00pm-8:00pm; 8:00pm-9:00pm; 9:00pm-10:00pm and 10:00pm-11:00pm. The last day for collecting the proposal forms is 3 July.

Reports indicate that the decision to call for fresh tenders was made two days after the last date for opening initial bids turned up blank. There were no proposals from the private broadcaster to bid for the 7:00-11:00pm prime time slots, as the floor price (RS 975 million for the 7:00pm to 10:00pm slot) was seen as being way too high.

In fact there was only one bid - from the Delhi-based content provider Moving Picture for a reported RS 5 million. This was for the late night slot (11:00pm to 00:30 am) slot which had no floor price attached.

The application for the new tender begins on 27 June, while the last day for the submitting the fresh tender is set as 4 July. According to the public notice issued by Prasar Bharati, the pre-qualification bid will be opened on 4 July at 3:30 PM while the financial bid will open on 5 July at 3:30 PM

Private broadcasters have not been very forthcoming on how this new offer would be received but there are issues other than cost involved for them.

The stipulation that only fresh content can be shown on the channel has raised hackles. There is also the feeling that Prasar Bharati will have to clearly spell out what it wants for the channel. Giving "piecemeal offers" makes it difficult for private broadcasters to map out long-term strategies, is the sentiment.

Continuing its push to localise content for India, kid‘s channel Cartoon Network has acquired the television rights of two animation films: Pandavas - The Five Warriors and Sinbad - Beyond The Veil of Mists. The films have been produced by Chennai-based Pentamedia Graphics Limited and will have their Indian television premiere on Cartoon Network in September.

"The acquisition of Pandavas and Sinbad are integral to our localisation commitment in India. The two shows represent world-class 3D animation quality based on timeless classic stories. We expect that the shows will be received well," said Ian Diamond, senior vice-president and general manager, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, Inc.

"The acquisitions of home-grown productions are a big leap forward in Cartoon Network‘s localisation strategy, as we move to increasingly contextualise our content for Indian audiences and make the channel more relevant for them," said Anshuman Misra, managing director, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd.

"Pentamedia is one of the few companies in the world to produce feature-length 3D animation movies and we are delighted to premiere these movies on Cartoon Network, which has contributed so much towards making animation a popular genre of entertainment in India. Cartoon Network provides us a great platform for showcasing our animation products and we look forward to a long-term association, bringing India‘s rich heritage to today‘s kids in a format they will find entertaining and fun," said K Srinivasan, chief operating officer and director, Pentamedia Graphics Limited.

Pandavas and Sinbad have been produced using the latest real-time (motion capture) 3D animation technology and have been acclaimed internationally as world-class animated productions, according to a company release. On Cartoon Network, the two films will be presented in an episodic format and will be available in English and Hindi, the release adds.

Pandavas - The Five Warriors is an adaptation of the Mahabharata epic and is the winner of the National Award for Best English Feature Film 2000 and the Second Best Animation Feature Film at the Vancouver Effects and Animation festival, 2001.

Sinbad - Beyond The Veil of Mists (sourced from the popular Arabian Nights fable) has had Hollywood actors Brendon Fraser, Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamill contributing their voices to the original English version of the movie.

It‘s been a busy week for the young team at Singapore and now India-based digital music distributor Soundbuzz. On 19 May, the company announced a clutch of deals with Indian music companies Tips, BMG, BMG Crescendo, Virgin Records, Lahiri Music, Times Music and Archies Music, giving it access to a library of more than 50,000 songs ranging from Tamil, to Hindi film to Indipop for distribution in the digital domain.

Today, Soundbuzz - founded by ex-MTV professionals Sudanshu Sarronwala and Shabnam Melwani, and Simon Lower and Justin Reis in Singapore - announced a strategic partnership with B4U Television Networks India in which the two will be working together on three main areas: CD compilations and enhanced CDs, events & contests and a television programme.

Soundbuzz‘s investors include Creative Technology (makers of the Soundblaster card used in most multimedia PCs), the Singapore Government, the Chairman of Singapore Telecoms and EMI Recorded Music.

For the CD compilation, Soundbuzz, B4U and select labels will work together to produce a CD with a unique feature - hidden, encrypted songs in addition to the regular songs. These tracks can be purchased when consumers put these CD‘s into their computers. The compilation will be promoted on B4U.

For events and contests, Soundbuzz and B4U will collaborate to organize events and contests involving various international and local acts. B4U will be Soundbuzz‘s television, promotional and advertising partner for these events and contests." Soundbuzz‘s and B4U‘s partnership around the last activity centres around the production of a TV programme with the former being the web-based interactive partner. The interactivity will allow for music downloads and contest participation. Says Sudhanshu Sarronwala, co-founder/CEO, Soundbuzz: "Media is a critical element in music promotion and this strategic partnership with B4U will allow for the labels and B4U to entertain their audiences with an interactive edge."

Sudanshu ‘Suds‘ Sarronwala: Creating a buzz in the Asian and Indian music and TV biz

Ravi Gupta, CEO B4U Television Networks, confirmed that the agreement with Soundbuzz allows for the promotion of music as well as providing an interactive element to its viewers.