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PerceptH has bagged the Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Ltd account following a multi-agency pitch that saw the participation of five agencies. The account size is pegged at around Rs 10-12 crore. TBWA and Xebec were the incumbent agencies on the business. The account also includes Ishanya Mall, Deepak Fertilisers’ retail property.

Food shows, so far, were seen on travel channels, lifestyle channels and general entertainment channels. However, now two media groups have announced their plans to launch channels dedicated to food – Food First by Real Lifestyle Network and FoodFood by Astro and chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Is the Indian market ready for such focussed specialisation?

Amongst nine key players in the Hindi general entertainment channels, there are also those that corner lower GRPs than the other GEC players or players from other genres. How do advertisers and media agencies view these tier-three channels? Are they truly effective in frequency building and brand building? What is the road ahead for them?

Along with shifting the telecast timings of ‘Bigg Boss’ and ‘Rakhi Ka Insaaf’ to after 11 pm, the I&B Ministry has also restrained news channels from showing clippings of these two shows between 5 am and 11 pm, terming them as ‘adult’ content. News channel editors have called it a move in the right direction and stressed that news should have some sensitivity.

Star One has chalked out some aggressive plans to beef up its programming. The channel is planning to go six days a week with all its shows by November 20, 2010. This apart, the channel has also lined up four new shows. Launched in 2004, not much action had been seen on the Star One front in the past couple of years.

Who said election was only serious business? As Hindi news channels gear for Bihar Elections, they prove once again that entertainment or elections, some characters can travel across genre. And hence we have Peepli Live’s Natha, Dabangg-inspired Chulbul Pandey and Bigg Boss title borrowed shows as election faces for some channels.

Whether it was the return of the original host or Sony’s sudden turn of fate or the sheer time gap since it was last seen, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ has emerged as the highest rated show amongst recently launched big-ticket properties with an opening TRP of 6.2 TVR. KBC allowed Sony to catapult to the number three spot without any support from movies or events.

Bringing in the laughs, it seems, is paying rich dividends to channels like SAB TV and Mastiii. SAB has been outdoing channels like Imagine and STAR One. On the other hand, Mastiii’s mix of music served up with some comedy is also working. The question, however, is has there been enough experimentation in the comedy genre or is there still untapped potential here?