StarOne’s flagship show ‘Laughter Challenge’ ends on a…
The News Review:
- StarOne’s flagship show ‘Laughter Challenge’ ends on a…
- Fannie Mae Dissolving Grass-Roots Lobbying Network
- Cruising for a bruising
StarOne’s flagship show ‘Laughter Challenge’ ends on a…
Indiantelevision.com – Sep 16, 2005
08 TVR, Kolkata
recorded 7. Apart from getting Star One on track in terms of the upward climb,
the show also managed to outwit competition in the
10 -11 pm slot with the TGILC leading in the time band with
a huge margin. Interestingly, TGILC has been a very low cost proposition,
with industry estimates pegging the total cost of the show including
marketing at below Rs 200 million. Says Star one programming head Ravi Menon, "The numbers clocked
by TGILC is a clear indication on how the show has gained
popularity steadily with the audiences. Secondly, it also is a statement
which proves that one does not need international formats to create
television blockbusters, but well thought through home grown formats
also deliver at par if not better. "
Menon further added that the laughter challenge is a classical
example of a home grown format and the show has actually brought
about a revival of stand up comedy in India…
Interestingly, TGILC has been a very low cost proposition,
with industry estimates pegging the total cost of the show including
marketing at below Rs 200 million. Says Star one programming head Ravi Menon, "The numbers clocked
by TGILC is a clear indication on how the show has gained
popularity steadily with the audiences. Secondly, it also is a statement
which proves that one does not need international formats to create
television blockbusters, but well thought through home grown formats
also deliver at par if not better. "
Menon further added that the laughter challenge is a classical
example of a home grown format and the show has actually brought
about a revival of stand up comedy in India. phpAds_used) document.
Fannie Mae Dissolving Grass-Roots Lobbying Network
Washington Post – Sep 16, 2005
Pressure from Fannie has been credited with repeatedly derailing legislation it did not like, including an effort last year that would have created a tough new regulator to oversee the company. A similar bill is before Congress this year, and Fannie’s lobbying — now in support of a new regulator — has been noticeably lower-keyed, lawmakers and observers of the company have said. It has not mobilized its grass-roots army, for example, in part because it had been overused in the past — angering the lawmakers that Fannie wanted to persuade — and in part because Fannie’s home-grown advocates have become wary of continuing their support in the midst of an accounting scandal. Fannie was chartered by Congress to support homeownership, and the bulk of its business involves buying mortgages from banks and other lenders and packing them into larger securities for investors, thus providing lenders with the cash to make more loans. Fannie’s local offices will continue to conduct business, such as seeking loans for apartment buildings and single-family homes. In addition, the company plans to hire seven public relations workers, some of whom will probably be drawn from among those who were laid off. The bolstering of the company’s communications staff raises the prospect that Fannie will continue to play politics, albeit from the back of the room rather than in open sight.
Cruising for a bruising
Guardian Unlimited – Sep 16, 2005
If the tone was emblematic of the divisive rancour that has made public discourse in general, and the Iraqi debate in particular, so uncivil, the venue was equally symbolic. For when historians come to judge Wednesday’s event the first question they might ask is why in a city the size of New York, two British polemicists were needed to conduct it. The “sold out” sign on the doors of Baruch College spoke volumes about the thirst for open public debate on the issue, and the rarity of home-grown voices who might quench it. For a subject that is often discussed but seldom debated, the talent had to be imported. Hitchens, who has lived in the US for some time and acquired dual citizenship, occasionally interchanged “I” for “we” – meaning Americans. But this was a very British affair: the raucous knockabout of two men who both learned their craft at party conference fringe meetings, rather than setpiece primetime deliveries to televised party conventions. If there was light amid all this heat it shone not from their well-rehearsed and familiar arguments, but from their mis-steps.