It was in May 2000 that a media monster was born. Starcom and MediaVest merged to create Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) which now ranks among the top three media services holding groups with global billings of $16.5 billion. Yesterday SMG announced the operational merger in India as well.

The year-long process involved the integration the media teams of three Indian advertising agencies - Leo Burnett India, Ambience D?Arcy and Orchard Advertising - all BCOM3 member agencies in India, and was completed on 1 July.

Alongside the merger, there was also a leadership transition effected. Andrey Purushottam, took over charge as managing director of Starcom in India from Praveen Tripathi who stays with SMG but moves to Detroit on an international assignment.

Purushottam outlined three fundamental principles of the agency?s future offering ? accountability, integration and technology.

Elaborating on accountability, Purushottam said: ?It is ironical that while media spends constitute the largest component of the client?s marketing investments, media agencies have not satisfactorily related this to brand deliverables like marketshare and volumes. We believe that it?s our joint responsibility to maximise the client?s return on his media investment, not just to deliver GRPs.?

Purushottam emphasised that the current merger was only one part of a growth process that Starcom had delineated as a means to expand operations. He said he saw the company‘s growth in the near term as being through organic processes, acquisitions, new initiatives and a greater thrust outside Mumbai. He termed Delhi, Bangalore, Calcutta, as areas where Starcom was looking to increase its presence.

Purushottam reinforced what Keith Moran, CEO, Starcom Asia Pacific, who was also present at the media briefing, said earlier about Starcom‘s commitment to technology. Moran said $35 million had been pumped into proprietary research. Purushottam said Starcom India will be marketing the global tools aggressively and investing over Rs 10 million in the next 12 months to "re-engineer and refine agency systems and operations."

Elaborating on the use of technology and the web in particular in furthering the growth of Starcom, Moran said Starcom Digital as well as Starcom IP would be leveraging web-based technologies to "compile and disseminate information and improve services."

Queried on the company‘s estimates as to growth prospects vis-?-vis the depressed almost recessionary market conditions prevailing Purushottam said the estimates for the current year 8-10 per cent. This compared favourably with the world average of 6 per cent, it was pointed out.

Starcom India currently handles the media accounts of Acer Computers, Amtrex Hitachi, Bajaj Sevashram, Balsara Hygiene, Bayer Consumer Products and Birla Sun Life, Dabur Health Care, Fiat, Heinz, Linc Pens, Parle Bisleri, Proctor & Gamble, Raymond, Swedish Match, Tata Infomedia, Toyota, Trent, VVF and Western Union.

The board of directors of ETC Networks Limited will meet on Tuesday, July 31, 2001 to consider, inter alia, un-audited financial results for the first quarter of the financial year, 2001-2002, a company release states.

ETC Networks Limited runs two channels - etc and etc Channel Punjabi - and the company has registered a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 24.3 million on a turnover of RS 538.2 million for the year ended 31 March 2001.

etc is a music based entertainment channel with music dominating 85 per cent of the programming content and is beamed from Thaicom-3 and is a free to air analog / digital channel.

etc Channel Punjabi is a Punjabi family entertainment channel compromising of serials, religious programmes, music and feature films. It is a free to air channel and is available through digital transmission signals beamed from Thaicom-3.

Besides having a very wide presence in Punjab, it has enabled etc Channel Punjabi to penetrate deeper into rest of the country and other international markets, the release adds.

Animation major Pentamedia Graphics has announced positive results for the quarter ended 30 June 2001. The company posted a 38 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 417.2 million compared to RS 308.3 million the previous year, an official release states. Sales increased to RS 1580.9 million from RS 1144.9 million in June 2000.

The growth in turnover, operating profit and profit after tax is 38 per cent, 54 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, the release states. Revenue contributed by animation, special effects, web entertainment and other multimedia services were 55 per cent, 15 per cent, 10 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

The company is planning to launch a new children‘s entertainment television channel "Splash" on the Asiasat satellite. Pentamedia subsidiary Intelivision Ltd is responsible for the channel launch and is looking at an investment of about RS 120 million with revenues of RS 140 million from advertising and other rights in the first year.

Intelivision has secured permission from the information and broadcasting ministry for uplinking the channel through VSNL (the government-owned internet gateway provider). A teleport at Kelambakkam in Chennai is envisaged in the near future.

Test transmission is scheduled to begin by 1 August via ST teleport, Singapore. Intelivision has decided to uplink through Singapore as it is cheaper. Once the teleport at Kelambakkam becomes operational, the uplink service will be shifted to Chennai. The programme grid for the initial two months of on air presentation has been finalised, the release says.

The future projects of Intelivision include a bouquet of Indian satellite channels to be broadcast through KU Band from an Indian platform to ethnic Indian populations in US, Europe, Middle East and South Africa.

PENTAMEDIA, FILM ROMAN REACH SETTLEMENT: On 9 July, Pentamedia and Film Roman closed the chapter on what has been a PR disaster for the media major. The $15 million buyout plan for 60 per cent stock in Film Roman never materialised and after a number of modifications Pentamedia called off the whole thing. A settlement agreement was reached where Pentamedia paid Film Roman $350,000 to release it from all possible liabilities arising out of Pentamedia‘s failure to keep to the schedule of payment.

And at a meeting held on 13 July the company board approved the allotment of 12.7 million Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) at the rate of $1.50 per GDR for cash to investors as advised by Investment Banking Division of Amas Bank, Geneva. The allotments raised $19.05 million and diluted the firm‘s equity by 2.3 per cent. The listing agents for the GDRs are M/S. Deutsche Bank Luxemburg SA and the legal Counsel is M/S Jones Day, London. These GDRs along with the existing GDRs of Pentamedia Graphics Ltd, will be traded at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.