English Entertainment

NGC is terror struck this September

Published

20 years ago

June 13, 2006

MUMBAI: Five years have passed since America got the shock of its life on 9 September 2001 when hijacked planes crashed into the twins towers in New York.

The National Geographic Channel (NGC) will air a series of specials in September under the initiative Terror Struck Month.

Aircrash Pal 434 airs on 3 September at 11:30 pm. It shows how on 11 December 1994, an international terrorist sneaks bomb ingredients past airport security and assembles them inside the bathroom of Pal flight 434. He calculates to make sure that his seat lies directly over the plane’s fuel tank, and plants the bomb under his seat before disembarking at a stopover in the Philippines.

The plane takes off a second time and is headed toward Tokyo when an explosion jolts the plane, creating panicked chaos as the blast kills one, injures ten, and leaves a gaping hole in the plane’s floor. Not knowing the extent of the damage, 292 passengers pin their hopes of survival on their captain, who expertly manipulates the damaged steering system and manages a masterful landing despite all odds.

But when new evidence links the Pal culprit to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, investigators realize that the danger is far from over. Alarming documents reveal that Pal 434 was only practice for a more deadly plan, and that the safety of thousands rests on the success of a worldwide manhunt for the globe-trotting terrorist.

The special Al Qeada Calling on 4 September 2006 at 10 pm notes that since 9/11, terrorism has gone global. Al Qaeda is now a brand name or logo used by anti-American Muslim extremists around the world. They don’t need Osama Bin Laden’s organisation any more to finance or organise mass attacks on civilians. And their methods don’t need to be high tech, very complex or ambitious to have a lethal impact.

Ubiquitous technology – the mobile phone – has become a weapon of choice for some of today’s terrorists. The small handset does not only allow them to communicate, take reconnaissance pictures, but also to trigger bombs simultaneously, causing indiscriminate killing on a mass scale. Al Qaeda Calling looks in detail at the Madrid train bombings of March 2004, when 10 explosive devices triggered by mobile phones on four busy trains killed 191 commuters, only three days before the general election.

Against the stories of survival and loss from relatives and witnesses, the special follows the frantic efforts by the police in tracking down the perpetrators of March 11th. Their key evidence: a mobile phone found in a bag in the wreckage wired up to explosives. The tiny sim card found inside soon leads police to track down the terror cell.

The film examines the indiscriminate killing on a mass scale that Al Qaeda pioneered with simultaneous explosions in the 1990s as well as the post-9/11 terrorist cell by looking at other attacks that have shocked the world. Unique interviews with the Bali bombers illuminate the meticulous precision with which these attacks are planned, mostly with the help of mobile phones.

As survivors and relatives come to grips with their loss and trauma, the film looks to the future, in which mobile phones will be able to do much more than detonate bombs. Soon terrorists using mobile phones will be able to become their own broadcasters – recording and transmitting live the atrocities they have engineered.

Zero Hour on 7 September at 10 pm recounts what happened on 9/11. In the early hours of this historic morning, 19 Al Qaeda soldiers pass through airport security, ready to enact Osama bin Laden’s carefully orchestrated “Plane’s Operation”.

The group is led by four men who have received extensive flight training and are prepared to crash passenger jets into chosen targets. Once the hijackers board and take control of their four separate planes, they begin their descent on what they perceive to be symbols of American oppression.

At 8:46 am American Flight 11 crashes into the upper portion of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. Less than twenty minutes later, United Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower, making it clear that this is an intentional attack.

Hundreds of lives are lost and injuries sustained as the disaster escalates—and it is about to further intensify as the other two hijacked planes rapidly approach the Pentagon and the capital city, Washington, DC.

At 10 pm on 10 September, the channel will air Triple Cross. The two-hour documentary shows how Mohamed survived more than 14 years as Al Qaeda’s chief “mole” inside the US, helped his boss, Bin Laden, to move in and out of Afghanistan and how he helped plan the operation in Somalia that downed two US Blackhawk helicopters.

Also shown will be how he helped plan the 1998 African embassy bombings, and even wrote part of the Al Qaeda terror manual. And finally, how Mohamed confessed to his crimes, cut a deal with the US government that has never been explained to the public and soon after, just plain disappeared. To this day Mohamed’s whereabouts are a complete mystery.

Before these specials, the channel will have a Second World War Week in August. One special Pearl Harbour: Legacy of Attack will air on 6 August at 10 pm. 60 years after fire and death rained from the skies as Japanese warplanes attacked American forces, NGC takes a contemporary look at the surprise raid that signalled America’s entry into World War II.

Underwater explorer Bob Ballard combs the waters off Pearl Harbour for the remains of a secret Japanese midget submarine that could have changed history. Pearl Harbor survivors share their painful and poignant stories. National Geographic and the National Park Service also capture the first images from inside the sunken battleship U.S.S. Arizona and examine the ecological risk the sunken ship and the half a million gallons of oil that may still be contained inside it.

On 8 August at 10 pm the channel will air a documentary on Bridge On The River Kwai. This tells the story of the greatest engineering project of World War II – the building of the Thailand to Burma railway by Allied POWs of the Japanese. While Allied soldiers slaved in miserable conditions to construct this 260 mile railway through near-impossible terrain, under the most savage working conditions and with only primitive tools, the Americans were developing a bomb called Azon – the first Allied “precision guided munition”.

This bomb wouldn’t simply be dropped – it would be carefully guided by radio control towards the target to ensure maximum accuracy and destruction. The Azon bomb was used to destroy the remote railway and the famous Bridge over the River Kwai. The event became famous in part because of a classic film made by David Lean.

Death Before Surrender airs on 9 August at 10 pm. This two-hour special examines the final year of World War II in the Pacific, including the rationale for using the atomic bomb, and features the first-hand recollections of both American and Japanese civilians and soldiers – even a kamikaze pilot who survived his fated mission. It gives a rare glimpse at Japanese decision-making in the waning months of the war. Emperor Hirohito had to intervene twice to break deadlocks in his war cabinet.

The channel will also air the two part special 10 Days To Victory at 10 pm on 11 and 13 August. 10 days, 10 characters, 10 overlapping stories – coming from all points of the compass – bearing down to the same moment: the end of the biggest war the world has ever known. Combining large-scale reconstructions with traditional documentary storytelling, 10 Days to Victory evokes the climactic last moments of the Second World War. The program interweaves the stories of ten very different people caught up in the liberation of Europe from the grip of Nazi terror.

Their diaries, letters and interviews provide an insight into the dramatic events of the days leading to the end of the war. For these individuals, as for millions of others, the German surrender on 8 May 1945 marks the end of everything that had consumed their lives for six years.

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English Entertainment

The end of Freeview? Britain debates switching off aerial tv by 2034

Published

2 weeks ago

January 29, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

UK: The aerial is losing its grip. As broadband becomes the default way Britons watch television, the UK is edging towards a decisive, and divisive, question: should Freeview be switched off by 2034? The issue, highlighted in reporting by The Guardian, has exposed deep fault lines over access, affordability and the future of public service broadcasting.

For nearly 25 years, Freeview has delivered free-to-air television from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to almost every corner of the country. Even now, it remains the UK’s largest TV platform, used in more than 16m homes and on around 10m main household sets. Yet the same broadcasters that built it are now pressing for its closure within eight years.

Their case rests on a structural shift in viewing. Smart TVs, superfast broadband and the Netflix-led streaming boom have pulled audiences online. Advertising economics have followed. By 2034, the number of homes using Freeview as their main TV set is forecast to fall from a peak of almost 12m in 2012 to fewer than 2m, making digital terrestrial television, or DTT, increasingly costly to sustain.

But critics say the rush to switch off risks abandoning those least able, or least willing, to move online.

“I don’t want to be choosing apps and making new accounts,” says Lynette, 80, from Kent. “It is time-consuming and irritating trying to work out where I want to be, to remember the sequence of clicks, with hieroglyphics instead of words. If I make a mistake I have to start again.”

Lynette is among nearly 100,000 people who have signed a “save Freeview” petition launched by campaign group Silver Voices. She fears the government is about to “take [Freeview] away from me and others who either don’t like, can’t afford, or can’t use online versions”.

Official figures underline the fault lines. A report commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates that by 2035, 1.8m homes will still depend on Freeview. Ofcom’s analysis shows those households are more likely to be disabled, older, living alone, female, and based in the north of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Freeview is owned by the public service broadcasters through Everyone TV, which also operates Freesat and the newer streaming platform Freely. After two years of review, DCMS is expected to set out its position soon, drawing on three options proposed by Ofcom: a costly upgrade of Freeview’s ageing technology; maintaining a bare-bones service with only core PSB channels; or a full switch-off during the 2030s.

The broadcasters have rallied behind the third option. They argue that 2034 is the logical cut-off, when transmission contracts with network operator Arqiva expire. By then, they say, the cost of broadcasting to a dwindling audience will far outweigh the returns from TV advertising.

Ofcom agrees a crunch point is approaching. In July, the regulator warned of a “tipping point” within the next few years, after which it will no longer be commercially viable for broadcasters to carry the costs of DTT.

Others see risks beyond economics. Questions remain over whether internet TV can reliably deliver emergency broadcasts, such as the daily Covid updates, in the way that universally available DTT can. The UK radio industry has also warned that an internet-only future for TV could push up distribution costs and force some radio stations off air if PSBs no longer share Arqiva’s mast network.

“It is a political hot potato,” says Dennis Reed, founder of Silver Voices, who says he has “dissociated” his organisation from the government’s stakeholder forum, which he believes is “heavily biased” towards streaming.

The Future TV Taskforce, representing the PSBs, counters that moving online could “close the digital divide once and for all”. “We want to be able to plan to ensure that no one is left behind,” a spokesperson says, adding that rising DTT costs could otherwise mean cuts to programme budgets.

The numbers show the scale of the challenge. Of the 1.8m Freeview-dependent homes projected for 2035, around 1.1m are expected to have broadband but not use it for TV. The remaining 700,000 are forecast to lack a broadband connection altogether.

Veterans of the analogue switch-off, completed in 2012 after 76 years, recall similar fears of “TV blackout chaos”. Around 6 per cent of households were labelled “digital refuseniks”, yet a targeted help scheme and a national campaign, fronted by a robot called Digit Al voiced by Matt Lucas, delivered a largely smooth transition.

This time, the BBC is less keen to foot the bill. Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, has said the corporation should not fund a comparable support programme for a Freeview switch-off.

Research for Sky by Oliver & Ohlbaum suggests that with early awareness campaigns and digital inclusion measures, only about 330,000 households would ultimately need hands-on help ahead of a 2034 shutdown.

Meanwhile, viewing habits continue to fragment. Audience body Barb says 7 per cent of UK households no longer own a TV set, choosing to watch on other devices. In December, YouTube overtook the BBC’s combined channels in total UK viewing across TVs, smartphones and tablets, albeit measured at a minimum of three minutes.

That shift may accelerate. YouTube has recently blocked Barb and its partner Kantar from accessing viewing session data, limiting transparency just as online platforms consolidate power.

“When the government chose British Satellite Broadcasting as the ‘winner’ in satellite TV it was Rupert Murdoch’s Sky instead that came out on top,” says a senior TV executive quoted by The Guardian. “There already is such an outsider ready to be the winner in the transition to internet TV; it is YouTube.”

Freeview’s future now hangs on a familiar British dilemma: modernise fast and risk exclusion, or protect universality and pay the price. Either way, the aerial’s days as king of the living room look numbered.

English Entertainment

Christian Vesper steps down as Fremantle’s global film and drama CEO

Published

3 weeks ago

January 26, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

LONDON: Christian Vesper is leaving Fremantle after ten years as ceo, global film and drama, ending a tenure that turned the company into an internationally recognised centre of excellence for drama and film. Since joining in 2016, Vesper expanded Fremantle’s scripted footprint, overseeing or exec producing over 80 films and series in the last five years, with the 100th slated for release in 2026.

Vesper shepherded hits including Bugonia, Pillion, Queer, Maria, The Chronology of Water, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Luminaries, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, and the upcoming Rachel Weisz starrer Séance on a Wet Afternoon. Festival favourites and critical darlings under his watch include Without Blood (Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek), M. Son of the Century (Joe Wright, Luca Marinelli), Faithless (Tomas Alfredson, Frida Gustavsson), Cannes winner My Father’s Shadow, and The Listeners (Janicza Bravo, Rebecca Hall). He also set up the Fox revival of Baywatch.

Vesper forged a formidable slate of first-look and creative collaborations with global talent, including Emma Stone and Dave McCary’s Fruit Tree Production; Kristen Stewart, Dylan Meyer and Maggie McLean’s Nevermind Pictures; Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s Fabula; Rachel Weisz and Polly Stokes’ Astral Projection; Edward Berger’s Nine Hours; Johan Renck and Michael Parets’ Sinestra Films; Sarah Condon’s Fair Harbour; and Richard Yee and Krishnendu Majumdar’s Me+You Productions.

Based in London, Vesper reported to Andrea Scrosati, group coo and ceo continental Europe, who will now oversee the film and drama division on an interim basis alongside the wider leadership team.

Scrosati said: “Christian’s vision has built the credibility of our drama and film slate. With him at the helm, we delivered consistent success and critical acclaim. We appreciate that he now wishes to focus on new horizons, and we all wish him well.”

Vesper said: “After 10 years, the time is right to step down. Fremantle has been a huge part of my life. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved — the 100th film this year underlines the progress made. We’ve built a dedicated, talented team, and I know they will take our film and drama business to even greater heights. Now is the perfect moment for my next adventure.”

Before Fremantle, Vesper spent 14 years at Sundance TV overseeing scripted projects and co-productions including Rectify, The Honorable Woman, The Last Panthers, Top of the Lake and Deutschland 83. He also held roles at HBO, iFilm, October Films and USA Films.

From festival acclaim to awards galore — four academy awards, two golden globes, five baftas, eight cannes winners, seven venice winners including the golden lion — Vesper leaves Fremantle’s film and drama operations in a position of strength, a legacy of ambition, vision and global impact, and a company poised for even bigger hits.

English Entertainment

Paramount extends deadline on Warner Bros. hostile bid

Published

3 weeks ago

January 23, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW YORK: Paramount Skydance has gone on the offensive against Warner Bros Discovery, calling its amended merger with Netflix an admission of weakness and still a bad deal.

In a sharply worded filing late on January 22, Paramount said the revised Netflix agreement “falls well short” of its own $30-per-share all-cash offer and urged WBD shareholders to vote it down at a forthcoming special meeting. The company has also extended its tender offer to February 20, buying time as it presses for regulatory clearance.

At the heart of the attack is money and certainty. Under the Netflix transaction, WBD shareholders would receive $27.75 a share in cash, assuming the group can offload $17bn of debt on to the spun-out Discovery Global business. If that assumption fails, the payout shrinks, dollar for dollar.

Paramount argues it almost certainly will fail. Based on leverage levels at Versant Media, a close peer, Discovery Global could sustain only about $5.1bn of net debt. That would push roughly $11.9bn back on to WBD’s studios and streaming arm, cutting the implied cash consideration from Netflix to about $23.20 a share.

WBD’s own advisers appear to share the scepticism. Discounted cash-flow analyses valued Discovery Global’s equity as low as $0.72 a share. Paramount has previously pegged it at between zero and 50 cents. Yet WBD is asking shareholders to approve the Netflix deal without disclosing the final capital structure of Discovery Global, despite admitting they “will not know or be able to determine” the actual merger consideration at closing.

Paramount says that rush is no accident. Once approved, the Netflix deal would shut the door on what it calls a value-maximising alternative, a $108.4bn enterprise-value transaction, all cash, with far less regulatory baggage than Netflix’s $82.7bn-equivalent proposal.

That baggage matters. Paramount warns that a Netflix-WBD tie-up would further entrench market concentration, handing Netflix an estimated 43 per cent of global subscription video-on-demand customers. Prices would rise, creators would lose leverage and cinemas would suffer, it argues. Regulators, especially in Europe where Netflix already dominates and HBO Max is its main rival, are unlikely to be persuaded by Netflix’s attempt to define the market as including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

By contrast, Paramount pitches its own bid as pro-competitive, bolstering theatrical output and strengthening Hollywood’s creative ecosystem.

The gloves also come off on governance. Paramount says the WBD board publicly defended the original Netflix deal even as it renegotiated it, refused to engage with Paramount once talks with Netflix reopened and continues to withhold “highly material” information while racing to a vote.

Shareholders appear to be listening. As of late on January 21, more than 168.5m WBD shares had been tendered into Paramount’s offer.

The message from Paramount is blunt. The Netflix deal is smaller, shakier and riskier. The cash is on the table, the clock is ticking and shareholders now have a choice to make.