MUMBAI: English general entertainment channel (GEC) Big CBS Prime is launching new series ?The Defenders? from 7 November 2011 at 9 pm.

The show is a legal drama about two colorful Las Vegas defense attorneys who go all-out when it comes to representing their clients.

Nick and Pete are the local go-to guys with an eclectic client list who are still looking to hit their own jackpot. Jim Belushi and Jerry O?Connell star as the defense attorneys of the show?s title.

The Defenders has been one of the top-rated legal comedy-drama series in America and the channel is eyeing for a similar success with male audience with its fast-paced storyline LA lifestyle and uber-chic crowd.

Reliance Broadcast Networks business head - television channels Nikhil Mirchandani said, "The Defenders is one of the top rated comedy-drama shows in the US. The success of shows like NCIS and CSI, indicate a high appetite for investigation and action shows amongst our audiences. Bringing the show to the India, only strengthens are programming offering and reaffirms our endeavour to offer the latest, freshest and hottest entertainment from the US."

MUMBAI: Big CBS, the 50:50 JV between Reliance Broadcast Networks (RBNL) and US media conglomerate CBS, will launch an high definition channel, Big CBS HD, this quarter. It is also looking at tying up with a distribution platform.

RBNL business head Television Division Nikhil Mirchandani said, "With the HD launch and the first channel launching from the RTL stable in the next quarter, we will have a bouquet of six channels. We are talking to two platforms for distribution and the aim is to increase reach, reduce carriage cost and grow revenue."

Big CBS Prime (the male skewed channel) and Big CBS Love (the women focused channel) will have 25 hours of fresh content each week. The broadcaster has done deals with several content distribution companies like Alfred Haber, Bobby Goldstein and Boman Bridge. Mirchandani said the content split mix is 70:30 in favour of the CBS library.

Big CBS Prime has two local shows, ?Aspire? and ?Big Wheels?. The formats were bought from Bloomberg UTV. Aspire, hosted by Vikram Oza, is a lifestyle show covering things like cars, money, women and all things that men are interested in. The other show is about cars and is hosted by Autocar India editor Hormazd Sorabjee.

On the international front, it will have the drama ?The Defenders? (starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O Connell). Returning shows include Hawaii 5.0. To boost the action quotient, the channel will have Lucha Libre which sees masked wrestlers fighting free style. Ballator a mixed martial arts programme.

As far as Big CBS Love is concerned, the channel will have a local show - India?s Glam Diva where 10 top divas from the country will compete for the title on the basis of body, mind and soul. The channel had earlier done ?India?s Sexiest Bachelor?.

In December, the channel will launch ?Jo Fit Hai Woh Hit Hai?. A lifestyle, travelogue treatment will be given to the show. From abroad comes ?Kid Nation?, a reality show where 40 kids have 40 days to build a world of their own. ?Excused? looks to offer a fresh take on dating. ?Oprah?s Ultimate Australian Adventure? will air on weekends, while ?Oprah? airs during primetime.

MUMBAI: The global scare of another economic crisis fuelled by huge debt of Uncle Sam has also hit Indian bourses and how.

Even as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed at 16,857.91 points, just 0.78 per cent down today, the bear- run, which started on Friday last, is continuing.

And among the media entities, every single listed company has seen erosion in the scrip.

As per data collected from the BSE, Reliance ADAG‘s Reliance MediaWorks (RMWL) is the worst hit. In the last three days, the share price dropped by 16 per cent. On Tuesday, it closed at Rs 95.9 per share, as compared to a closing price of Rs 111.35 on Thursday, 4 August.
 
Following RMWL, there is another multiplex operator, Cinemax, which has seen a 15.47 per cent fall in the scrip price. The shares closed at Rs 30.7 apiece. The closing price for 4 August was Rs 35.45.

Other companies, which lost over 10 per cent of their share value, are BAG Films and Media, Wire & Wireless (India) Ltd (WWIL), Next Mediaworks (earlier Mid-Day Multimedia), NDTV and Fame Cinemas.

Network18 saw erosion of 9.2 per cent, while Hathway Cable & Datacom shares tumbled 8.26 per cent on Tuesday, compared to Thursday last. Zee News Ltd, Den, TV18 and PVR all lost over six per cent of the scrip over the three days.

Meanwhile Balaji Telefilms and HT Media lost just over 5 per cent scrip value when compared with Thursday closing price.

Among the least affected companies were Jagran Prakashan, which saw just 0.9 per cent dip. The shares of company closed at Rs 112.4 on Tuesday, compared to Rs 113.4 on last Thursday. Even UTV Software Communications did not see any change, as it was screened by the Walt Disney‘s offer for buyback. UTV shares closed Monday at Rs 953, down 0.91 per cent from Rs 961.7 on Thursday.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) also saw just 0.96 per cent drop, to Rs 125.5 per share.

Meanwhile, Dish TV lost 4.11 per cent, followed by Entertainment Networks (India) Ltd (ENIL), Hinduja Ventures, TV Toda, Inox Leisure, Reliance Broadcast Networks Ltd (RBNL) and Sun TV.