Zee to make ad rates competitive
Zee has indicated that it may have to cut down its advertisement rates for non-prime time slots to make them very competitive. According to a senior official, Zee’s growth will largely be driven by earnings from pay channels and the Net.
According to the official, revenues from prime time advertising will continue to show handsome growth rates and the planned increase in channels will surely sustain the growth, but ultimately earnings from subscriptions will prove to be the main source of income for the entertainment major.

Zee offers 10 channels and will soon launch eight more. Its sports and education channels are expected to be major additions to its offering, the official feels. The company expects the earnings from its regional Alpha channels to cross the Rs. 15-crore mark since they have a wide subscriber base. On the basis of revenue of Rs. 2 per subscriber, the Alpha group is expected to give Zee Rs. 1.2 crore every month.
CB

Russian rocket launches American TV satellite
A Russian proton rocket launched an American-made television satellite into orbit over Asia on October 2, a Russian space official said.

The GE-1A satellite separated from the rocket’s upper stage at about 8:41 am Moscow time, said a spokesman for the Russian space agency. The 3.5-metric ton satellite is designed to broadcast directly to homes rather than TV stations. It was headed for geostationary orbit above Asia, the spokesman said.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin company built the satellite for broadcasts in India, China, the Philippines and other parts of Asia. Russia has stepped up rocket launches from its Baikonur launch pad in neighbouring Kazakstan to compensate for a long delay in 1999 following the dramatic explosion of two proton rockets during launch.

Dreamgirls to descend on Sony
Watch today’s top heroines like Aishwarya Rai, Urmila Matondkar, Sonali Bendre, Raveena Tandon, Shilpa Shetty and Mahima Choudhary shaking a leg to Piya tu ab to aaja, Rambha ho sambha, Husn Ke lakhon rang bringing alive the zing of the past. Promising to take you on a musical trip from ‘50s to ‘80s, Dreamgirls will be telecast on Sony for two consecutive Saturdays at 8 pm. The show is dedicated to the yesteryear glamour dolls like Helen, Bindu and Aroona Irani. It will be divided into two parts. The first part will be aired on October 14.