A+E Networks and TV18 has begin soft run of factual and lifestyle channel- FYI TV18 on July 4. The channel will be fully launched in couple of days on all major DTH and analog cable platforms. Whether FYI TV18 will be categorised under factual entertainment or as a lifestyle channel is not yet clear.

FYI TV18 will have management hierarchy same as History TV18, headed by A+E Networks|TV18 vice president and head of marketing Sangeeth Aiyer. A+E Networks|TV18 and President Strategy, Product & Alliances – Network 18 , MD Avinash Kaul will launch the channel this week.The channel will be live on all major DTH platforms. Tata Sky, Dish Tv, Airtel Digital, Videocon D2h are some. It will also be launched as HD channel. The tagline of the channel is life se milofy.

Nineteen people working for the biggest donor to the Conservative Party have been arrested in France in connection with a multi-million pounds tax and money laundering scandal.
All are linked to Lycamobile, the multinational telecoms giant, which has given at least £2.2m to Prime Minister David Cameron’s party since 2011, including half-a-million last year alone.
Lycamobile also allowed Boris Johnson to use one of their call centres during his successful 2012 campaign to become Mayor of London.

Media watchers have been speculating for some time about what Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) would do in the live and linear OTT and VOD space with its dittoTV service. The reason: even as rivals Hotstar, Voot and others such as Hooq, YuppTV seemed to be having strategic direction, dittoTV seemed to be going adrift.
The riposte came from the Zee management yesterday with its announcement that it would be launching dittoTV with a bouquet of 100 plus channels at a price point of just Rs 20 per month. As part of the relaunch Zee Digital Convergence Ltd (ZDCL) has re-positioned dittoTV as desh kaTV with a promise to make live television available to every Indian via any device - viz phones, tablet or PC. The price gets even more lip smacking for users subscribing for three months (Rs 50), six months (Rs 90) and annually (Rs 170).

Sakshi TV, a Telugu news channel, has been off TV screens in Andhra Pradesh since June 10, owing to a cable ban placed on it for its coverage of the Kapu quota stir. However, the channel getting banned is only one part of the story and the challenges Sakshi TV is facing are indicative of a larger, wider ‘invisible’ media censorship that is growing roots in both Andhra Pradesh and Telengana .

The long-standing demand for reservation for Backward Classes (BC) by the Kapu community in Andhra Pradesh has proved to be a headache for the state government and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The Kapus constitute about 27 per cent of the population in Andhra Pradesh and under the leadership of 64-year-old Mudragada Padmanabhan, the community has been clamouring for reservation.