The Sony-World Sports Group combine has bagged the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) global media and production rights for the next 10 years. The touted price is $1.026 billion, comprising $918 million as rights money and $108 million for compulsory promotional activities. The other bidder in the final phase was ESPN-STAR Sports.  more...

Wizcraft, hitherto known for two decades of expertise in events, has now branched out into television content production and is also acquiring various formats and international properties to further sell to channels.  more...

STAR India and Digital Entertainment Networks (DEN) have formed a 50:50 joint venture, ‘STAR Den Media Services’, to create a platform for distributing television channels in India through cable, DTH, IPTV, HITS and MMDS. The entity is currently on the lookout for a CEO.  more...

Dheeraj Kapuria, CEO, Natural Wellness USA Inc, has put in his papers. January 15, 2008 would be his last day at work. Natural Wellness is a greenfield project of Zee Telefilms Ltd, which caters to the health and wellness sector in the US.  more...

Kolkata is still in the backwaters as FMCG corporate brands go, especially since the absorption of Brooke Bond and Lipton into Unilever. But there is a great brand story that has been happening in recent years – the champion FMCG corporate brand from Kolkata is the low-profile Emami Group.  more...

Varun Kohli has joined Times Response as Deputy General Manager. In his new appointment, he will be looking after ad sales of the language publications of the Group. Kohli will be reporting to C R Srinivasan, Director-Response. He moves from Sieger Solutions, where he was VP-Revenue.  more...

RK Swamy BBDO, one of the empanelled agencies for Life Insurance Corporation of India, has come out with a new corporate TVC for the insurance giant, which stresses on the basic premise of ‘Removal of Fear’. The new TVC showcases the bouquet of services on offer from LIC without reading like a ‘laundry list’.  more...

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has postponed the Phase II bidding for FM licenses yet again. The Ministry had announced in the beginning of the New Year that new dates for submission of bids for 97 FM radio stations in 48 cities would be January 14 and 24. But now those dates too stand cancelled.  more...

NDTV is all set to reveal the ‘Indian of the Year’ at a ceremony in Delhi on January 17. The ‘NDTV Indian of the Year’ award salutes people who have helped build brand India while excelling in their field of expertise. This year’s nominees include APJ Abdul Kalam, Sania Mirza, Indira Nooyi, Azim Premji and Mukesh Ambani, mong others.  more...

PR Consultants are not ‘spin doctors’. Public relations is about integrated communication plans, but there is still a long way to go for this perception to gain maturity. Just as a healthy corporate image matures over time, so also PR is brewing slowly. But that can be heightened with some orientation, writes Madhavi Mukherjee, Senior Consultant and Practice Head-Media & Entertainment, Hanmer&Partners.  more...

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Last week a meme rumbled through the web touting the writers strike as the booster behind increased online-video traffic. The assumption was logical but incorrect.  more...