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CABLEWALA

Star cricket match

Any form of cricket is sure to get decent TRPs as shown by last Saturday's live telecast of the Kollywood vs Tollywood day and night match on Jaya TV. MAA TV, a Telugu channel, has popularised star cricket matches on South Indian television. Now for the first time among Tamil channels, Jaya TV hosted a cricket match between the two tinsel world teams. The idea is innovative as it adds a dash of glamour and entertainment to cricket. According to Abbas, captain of the Kollywood team: For channels in search of entertainment, these matches provide an alternative to star nights and stage shows, which have become expensive. Jaya TV will be beaming more star cricket matches to be played in Dubai and Malaysia, including a probable Kollywood vs Bollywood.

Netru Indru Naalai

"Netru Indru Naalai" is Mani Ratnam's first stage show made for television. Mani has done it on the lines of a Broadway musical with leading lights of the film industry participating in it. His favourite cameraman Rajeev Menon was in charge of the lights, while the sets were designed by Sabu Cyril to give it a larger-than-life feel. The show "Netru Indru Naalai" will be telecast in the first week of March on Vijay TV.

In search of `Exclusive'!

Another English news channel Times Now from The Times of India stable was launched last week with a lot of fanfare. The programme mix of the new English channels seems to be similar, with all of them following the market leader NDTV in presentation and style. Last week, all the four English channels — NDTV, Headlines Today, CNN IBN and Times Now — claimed to have broken `exclusive' stories! For a few days Imran Khan appeared with his expert comments on a new channel; later viewers saw him on a rival network giving his views! If Karan Thapar interviewed President Musharraf of Pakistan on CNN IBN, Arnab Goswami spoke to Benazir Bhutto in "Frankly Speaking" on Times Now, where she blasted the General! The English news viewers never had it so good.

SREEDHAR PILLAI

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