ITV

Category: iWorld

  • How is OTT redefining media: CASBAA announces summit in Singapore

    MUMBAI: CASBAA, the Association for digital multichannel TV, content, platforms, advertising and video delivery in Asia, has announced its 4th OTT Summit, Asia’s OTT industry marquee annual event. A series of panels comprising the region’s leading experts will explore in detail how traditional media is responding to the digital challenges of OTT.

    “We are delighted to be returning to Singapore for the fourth edition of CASBAA’s OTT Summit,” said CASBAA CEO Christopher Slaughter. “While traditional media incumbents remain dominant, there’s no denying the growing impact of over-the-top (OTT) video services, and how they are transforming viewing habits throughout the region. We have been saying it for years, but it’s now increasingly apparent that OTT is truly a big part of pay TV’s future.”

    The spectacular success, both critical and commercial, of such diverse video platforms as Netflix, Hooq and Spuul have established OTT services as real competitors to mainstream broadcasters. According to a survey by BCG, OTT services are growing by more than 20 per cent annually and winning share over traditional TV.1 Traditional media must respond fast to this existential crisis.

    The real challenge for incumbents is how to rethink their business strategies in light of such drastic industry transformation. Are legacy business models holding traditional media back as they contemplate the OTT challenge?

    CASBAA has convened a select field of industry thought leaders, senior executives and market practitioners, including:

    Ajit Mohan, CEO Hotstar
    AravindVenugopal, VP – Media Partners Asia
    Winradit Kolasastraseni, SVP Innovation – Discovery Networks Asia Pacific
    Simon Vella, Head of Asia, MPP Global
    Oliver Wilkinson, MD, PwC
    Alan Soon, Founder & CEO, Splice Newsroom
    Shad Hashmi, VP – Digital Development, Global Markets &Operations Asia,BBC Worldwide
    Lam Swee Kim, CMO, Dimsum& Star Online Malaysia
    PremKamath, Deputy MD, A+E Networks Asia
    Alexandre Muller, MD APAC, TV5MONDE
    Jonas Engwall, CEO, RTL CBS Asia
    Virat Patel, MD, Pioneer Consulting
    Monica Bhatia, Regional Digital Director, APAC, Maxus
    Genny Yang, Group Account Director, Kantar Milward Brown
    David Schonfeld, Director Technical Operations, A+E Networks Asia
    Alex Merwin, VP International, SpotX
    Luke Gaydon, VP of OTT Solutions, Brightcove
    Yu-Chuang Kuek, Managing Director APAC, Netflix
    Ravi Vora, CMO, Hooq
    S Mohan, Co-Founder & COO, Spuul
    Lindsay Servian, Head of ONTAPtv.com, PCCW Global
    Maya Hari, MD –SEA & India, Twitter
    Tim Martin, CEO RugbyPass
    Michael Greco, VP APAC,Vindicia
    CK Lee, VP, Sports Business – Content Group, ASTRO
    Unmish Parthasarathi, Head of Digital Sales, International Cricket Council & Founder, Picture Board
    Craig Johnson, MD Media, SEA & India, Nielsen
    Priya Khatri, GM Sales & Business Development, SEA Eyeota
    Jay Shah, CEO, OpenDNA
    James Miner, CEO, Miner Labs
    Roger Harvey, Regional Director, Irdeto
    Mike Kerr, MD Asia, BEIN
    Joe Welch, SVP Government Relations APAC, 21st Century Fox
    HianGoh, Partner, NSI Ventures
    Yinglan Tan, Venture Partner, Sequoia
    Marcel Fenez, President, Fenez Media

    The industry’s essential platform to explore how OTT is transforming the broadcasting landscape, the CASBAA OTT Summit 2017 will take a deep dive on a range of topics, includingtrends in Asian viewership, whether OTT is a game changer in sports, how traditional media is adapting, the synergy between OTT and multiscreen, and how to use data as metrics for success.

    The CASBAA OTT Summit 2017 has been recommended for all those involved at the senior level in media and broadcasting, from content providers and broadcasters to investors and regulators.

    CASBAA OTT Summit 2017 is supported by the presenting sponsor Brightcove, and sponsors including Adobe, Diagnal, Irdeto, Mediamorph, MPP Global, PCCW Global and Vindicia.

  • Culture Machine reorganises sales team

    MUMBAI: Digital media network Culture Machine has reorganised its sales team. Siddharth Narula, who served as the president – revenue, has been promoted to chief revenue officer. He will overlook the expansion of the firm’s technology sales footprint in international markets, starting with South East Asia and North America. He will continue to report to Culture Machine CEO and co-founder Sameer Pitalwalla.

    Aditya Aima has joined as the business head – ASEAN for Culture Machine, operating out of Malaysia. Aima will overlook the expansion of Culture Machine’s Intelligence Machine and Video Machine offerings to its brand and advertisers. Minal Sharma has joined as the national sales head, overlooking all sales for Culture Machine’s Studios and media brands. She joins the team with over 16 years of experience across leading media and entertainment brands.

    Both, Aima and Sharma will report to Narula.

    Pitalwalla said, “Our Indian media brands lead the charts in each of their verticals, and the core technology platforms that have helped scale them are already in use by Fortune 500 clients globally, with large demand the world over. We are excited about growing this opportunity, while continuing to focus on our domestic Media business.”

    Narula added, “2016 has been one of the most active years for Culture Machine in terms of revenue escalation and content creation. We created trendsetting videos which have led to hundreds of global and local brands to collaborate with us, resulting in award winning campaigns. In the embryonic days of digital entertainment and technology, the addition of Minal and Aditya will help catalyse the process.”

    Since its inception, Culture Machine’s vision of using technology and storytelling to build great media brands that people love has led the way in the digital content revolution that the country is currently witnessing. Culture Machine’s digital brands Being Indian, Blush, Put Chutney, Viva and Awesome Sauce have carved a distinctive identity and an undisputed space among the top three in their respective genres.

  • Hungama Play partners UK’ ITV Studios, to foray into original content

    MUMBAI: Video-on-demand (VOD) player Hungama Play has partnered with ITV Studios, a commercial production company in the United Kingdom. With this association, subscribers can now stream popular titles like Jekyll and Hyde, Mr Selfridge, Jericho, Agatha Christie’s Poirot as well as Beowulf to name a few on Hungama Play.

    Hungama.com CEO Siddhartha Roy said, “This content acquisition is in line with the overall consumption on our platform and we are getting in more and more premium content to our users in order to driven joyable experiences.”

    Catering to genres like action, drama, comedy and mystery, this association will provide Hungama Play users across the Indian subcontinent access to the best of ITV Studio’s rich and vast international content range.

    ITV Studios Global Entertainment Asia SVP Hyeonza Hong added, “ITV Studios has a long and rich history producing world class content with a wide appeal.”

    Hungama Play aims to enhance consumer experiences with over 23000 hours of video content along with exciting features such as download manager, Gamification, gesture controlling and download scheduler among others.

    Besides the vast movie library of over 8000 titles, Hungama Play has also launched content categories including television, music videos, kids, short films as well as live events across genres and languages, with over 45000 video pieces to choose from. It will soon foray into original content with the addition of four new series.

  • Amazon & Netflix bag maiden Academy Awards

    MUMBAI: From wrongly naming the winner for the best film to presenters handling wrong cue cards, this year’s 89 Academy Awards did make news but, for several odds. Not only was La La Land named as the winner of for the best film instead of Moonlight but, reportedly presenters were given the wrong cue cards and though the mistake was corrected by the Academy. Video-on-demand streaming service Amazon won its first-ever Academy Awards on Sunday night, taking home three Oscar statues.

    The service won awards for Manchester by the Sea taking home best original screenplay and best picture honors and Iran’s The Salesman. The wins for Amazon drew the praise of company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who was in attendance at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and tweeting his congratulations to the winners.

    Its rival platform, Netflix also won an Oscar for best documentary short, which went to The White Helmets, which the streaming service produced and distributed.

    Amazon Studios released its first awards-hopeful movie at the end of 2015 with Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq and over the past year has spent aggressively to become a serious player in the indie film world.

  • Airtel makes roaming data & incoming free

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecommunications services provider, today announced radical changes that redefine the value proposition for domestic and international roaming. With this, Airtel mobile customers will be able to carry their numbers across India and the world and stay connected all the time without having to worry about high call/data charges. Bill shocks will now be a thing of the past.

    National Roaming – Free Incoming Calls
    No Premium on Outgoing Calls
    No Data Roaming Charges

    Starting 1 April, 2017, Airtel customers roaming within India will enjoy free incoming calls/SMS and there will be no premium on outgoing calls allowing them to speak freely wherever they are within the country. Also, there will be no additional data charges on national roaming. Home data packs for customers will apply even while they roam across India.

    Bharti Airtel MD & CEO (India & South Asia) Gopal Vittal said, “This marks the death of national roaming and the whole country will now be like a local network for our customers, who will not have to think twice before making or receiving calls or using data while traveling outside their home base. Airtel has again set the benchmark in delivering best in class value backed by a great network experience.”

    No bill shocks on international roaming

    Airtel has already launched innovative and affordable International Roaming packs for all major countries across the world. These packs come with convenient validity options of 1 day, 10 days, and 30 days and offer loads of benefits including free incoming calls/SMS, calling minutes and texts both to India and the local country as well as generous dollops of data to stay online. These packs have received an overwhelming response from customers, shielding them from any bill shock and eliminating the need for a local country SIM. However, there are still several cases of customers inadvertently failing to choose these packs and suffering bill shocks due to thesteep roaming charges on international networks.

    Starting April 1, 2017, even customers on international roaming Without a Pack will be fully protected from bill shocks through an automatic adjustment that is equal to the daily pack for that particular country. This means that the moment a customer’s billing reaches the price of a one day pack for the country, he/she will be automatically moved to that pack. This will allow our customers to use their devices abroad without any fear. Even post the exhaustion of pack benefits, customers will continue to enjoy extremely attractive rates for calling and data usage. Call Charges have been reduced by up to 90% to as low as Rs. 3/min and data charges by upto 99% to Rs 3/ MB across popular roaming destinations. 

    Here is an example of how Airtel’s new international roaming pricing works. When a customer traveling to the USA without a pack hits the threshold of Rs 649 (the price of the one day pack for USA), he/she will automatically move to the one day pack with free incoming calls/SMS, 100 India and local country outgoing minutes, 300 MB data and a host of other benefits. Similarly, a customer traveling to Singapore will move to the one day pack the moment his/her usage hits the Rs 499 mark.

    Bharti Airtel and GSMA chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “At Airtel, we are changing the international roaming paradigm, which will allow our customers to take their number to every corner of the world. As an industry, operators across the world must collaborate to remove the cost barrier to roaming and offer customers the convenience of staying connected without the fear of exorbitant bill charges.”

  • Conjuring 2, Fleabag & ‘Rock-On 2’ digital premiere on Amazon Prime

    MUMBAI: Are you looking for some adventure filled with comedy and drama? Then, Amazon Prime Video is your place to be! Get ready to relive the ‘magik’ of music with the digital premiere of ‘Rock on 2’. 

    Sharing his excitement on Rock On 2 premiering on Amazon Prime Video, Farhan Akhtar said, “The choice to watch exclusive content on mobiles, net or multiple other devices at any given time is hugely exciting. I am thrilled that Rock On 2 is now available on Amazon Prime Video and quite certain that the digital premiere of the movie will weave ‘Magik’. Streaming video provides customers a choice to watch new-age content and I can reach a whole new audience who have the power to choose what they want to watch when.”

    In addition to this musical drama, for some light hearted moments the viewers can come along on a journey with Fleabag, Season 1 – An Amazon Original. And, close those curtains and lock those doors, because you in for some horror with The Conjuring 2. For real movie buffs – catch some of the chartbusters – Keanu, Zoolander 2 and Anomalisa. 

    Rock On 2

    Rock On 2 is an Indian musical drama film, directed by Shujaat Saudagar, produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, and with music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The sequel to the 2008 film, Rock On!!, it stars Shraddha Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Shashank Arora, and Prachi Desai in lead roles.  Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video now!

    Fleabag (Amazon Original)

    Fleabag is a hilarious and poignant window into the mind of a dry-witted, sexual, angry, grief-riddled woman, as she hurls herself at modern living in London. Award-winning playwright Phoebe Waller-Bridge writes and stars as Fleabag, an unfiltered woman trying to heal, while rejecting anyone who tries to help her and keeping up her bravado all along.

    The Conjuring 2

    In 1977, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to London, England, where single mother Peggy Hodgson believes that something evil is in her home. When Peggy’s youngest daughter starts showing signs of demonic possession, Ed and Lorraine attempt to help the besieged girl, only to find themselves targeted by the malicious spirits.

  • Telcos may offer multi-play OTT for security, energy & appliance control: Report

    MUMBAI: The Smart Home is a growing fifth-play opportunity for operators. The global smart home market is growing exponentially, attracting an array of service providers, including technology giants and startups to major media players, device makers, big-box retailers, home improvement companies, utilities and telecom network operator.

    Government mandates and initiatives in addition to the ongoing technology innovations coupled with increased attention paid to conservation- are the major factors contributing in making smart home a place with a bright future. Focus on sustainability, increasing awareness amongst the consumers with regards to energy consumption and regulatory mandates on energy conservation continue to drive smart home adoption trend globally. While adoption is increasing in countries where governments actively support faster broadband services, especially fiber to the home, the costs associated with new equipment, installation and ongoing maintenance are significant deterrents to home automation.

    Government mandates and initiatives, ongoing technology innovation and the intense attention paid to conservation all contribute to giving the smart home a bright future. The smart home is an attractive opportunity for network operators, thanks to their unique billing relationships and network connections into the home.

    Telcos can improve the value proposition of home automation by implementing a multi-play OTT strategy that offers a range of capabilities, such as security, energy and appliance control.

    Partnerships with companies from different industries are key to ensuring the role of operators in smart home functionality. The market is at a fork in the road, going either toward an open ecosystem with heterogeneous devices or toward proprietary platforms that control all device access.

    The Smart Home, a research report by Pyramid Research, analyses the smart home strategies of leading network operators in a number of markets across the globe, focusing on their roles in the value chain. It discusses the elements of smart home services, the participants in the ecosystem and a number of smart home strategies available to operators. Attention is paid throughout to the key challenges operators face, including the need for device standardization and interoperability.

    Introduction in the report: Providing a thorough overview of the smart home market, this section looks at the long-term evolution of the market, the types of services available as well as the main adoption drivers and barriers.

    The smart home ecosystem (in the report): This section examines the value chain and the roles of the various types of participants, from broadband providers to device manufacturers, utilities and home security platform providers.

    Telco positioning strategies and marketing opportunities: This section analyzes a number of approaches operators can take to gain competitive advantage in the connected home, including white-labeling, support services, bundling and OTT services.

    Key takeaways in the report whittles down into a number of actionable bullet points.

    Case studies: This section analyzes four smart home programs by operators: AT&Ts Digital Life platform in the US, Oranges Homelive in France, HKTs Smart Living in Hong Kong and Rogers Communications Smart Home Monitoring in Canada.

    One could identify the broad barriers to adoption as well as challenges specific to telecom operators in the smart home market. Assess the role and opportunity of operators in the smart home market and how they can gain competitive advantage over the markets many powerful players.

    One could gain information on some of the most valuable experiences by operators in the home automation market, placing them in the context of ongoing market developments and the main technological and competitive challenges.

    The Case studies could be leveraged upon by the operators and cable companies to make informed decisions pertaining to partnering, go-to-market strategies and investments in technologies.

    Also read:

    MatrixCloud OTT enables IPTV operators roll out OTT services in 60 days

    Content & channel management vital as Asian production enters new growth cycle

    Processing video from linear to live, OTT & VR: Verizon launches Exponent for global carriers

  • Smartphone chip market to be worth US$ 5bn by ’22: Report

    MUMBAI: GNSS Chip Market is estimated to be worth US$ 5.22 billion by 2022. Some of the factors driving the growth of the GNSS chip market include the high penetration of electronic, wearable, and connecting devices; increasing demand for accurate and real-time data; rising demand for high-speed Internet and network coverage such as 4G/5G; and growing popularity of IoT.

    According to a new market research report, “GNSS Chip Market by Devices (Smartphones, In-Vehicle Systems, Tablets, Personal Navigation), Application (Location-Based Services, Navigation, Telematics, Surveying, Mapping, Timing & Synchronization), Vertical and Geography – Global Forecast to 2022,” published by MarketsandMarkets, the market, also covering India, is expected to be expanding at a CAGR of 7.9 per cent between 2016 and 2022.

    The key players operating in the GNSS chip market include Qualcomm Incorporated (U.S.), STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland), Intel Corporation (U.S.), Mediatek Inc. (Taiwan), U-Blox Holdings AG (Switzerland), Broadcom Corporation (U.S.), Furuno Electric Co., Ltd. (Japan), Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (U.S.), Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. (China), and Navika Electronics (India).

    “Smartphones to hold the largest size of the overall GNSS chip market”

    Smartphones held the largest size of the GNSS chip market in 2015. GNSS chips in smartphones are used for applications such as location-based services (LBS), online games, and mobile geographic information systems (GISs), among others. Smartphones are expected to hold the largest size of the GNSS chip market during the forecast period due to the increasing demand in developing countries and the need for real-time information pertaining to the exact location of vehicles, individuals, and other assets. With the growing demand for smartphones, personal navigation devices, , and tablets, among others, are now equipped with GPS/GNSS receiver chips and navigation software to enable the users to navigate from one place to other. Due to the miniaturization of smartphones, the demand for GNSS chips is increasing. Also, the miniaturization of GNSS chips enables the chips to get integrated in small as well highly sensitive devices.

    “Location-based services (LBS) to hold the largest share of GNSS”

    The LBS application is expected to dominate the global GNSS chip market between 2016 and 2022. LBS are the most widely used applications in various devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearable devices, in-vehicle systems, and personal navigation devices. In addition, technological innovations and miniaturization of electronic devices have led to the increased demand for GNSS chips for consumer electronics products such as tablets, smartphones, laptops, and digital cameras, among others. LBS, on the basis of application, can be categorized into mapping, discovery and infotainment, emergency support and disaster management, leisure and social networking, location-based advertising, location-based games and augmented reality, and tracking, among others. All the aforementioned factors are driving the growth of the market for location-based services.

    “APAC GNSS chip market expected to grow at a high rate”

    APAC is expected to be the fastest-growing market for GNSS chip during the forecast period. This market growth can be attributed to the growth in the construction industry and the development of the transportation infrastructure in this region. The major factors responsible for the growth of these sectors include the rapid urbanisation and growing population. The construction industry in APAC would continue to account for the largest share of the GNSS chip market in the coming years. Due to the increasing adoption of IoT and portable consumer electronics devices in countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea, the GNSS chip market in
    APAC is expected to grow at a high rate.

    Also Read:

    Dish TV & ALi tie up – chipset tech vital for secure VAS, enriched viewing

  • Small US broadband businesses relieved from needless regulation, piracy protection mooted

    MUMBAI: A government decision in the U.S. reminiscent of India’s so-called one-window clearance policy has made life easier for small businesses. The Federal Communications Commission (U.S.) has relieved thousands of smaller broadband providers from onerous reporting obligations stemming from the 2015 Title II Order, freeing them to devote more resources to operating, improving and building out their networks.

    An Order adopted by the Commission finds that providers with 250,000 or fewer broadband connections would be disproportionately impacted if required to comply immediately with the 2015 enhanced reporting requirements.These providers frequently serve rural areas that lack broadband, or provide competitive alternatives for consumers in other markets.

    The Order mirrors the bipartisan compromise reflected in the pending Small Business Broadband Deployment Act of 2017. After today’s action, smaller providers must still give consumers the information that has been required since 2010 to assist them in making an informed choice of broadband providers.

    Today’s Order applies retroactively and prospectively to cover the period beginning on the date the enhanced reporting requirements became effective, 17 January, 2017, and ending five years after the date the order is adopted.

    Policy to protect online piracy mooted

    Following is a statement from FCC Office of Media Relations Acting Director Mark Wigfield:

    “Chairman Pai believes that the best way to protect the online privacy of American consumers is through a comprehensive and uniform regulatory framework. All actors in the online space should be subject to the same rules, and the federal government shouldn’t favor one set of companies over another. Therefore, he has advocated returning to a technology-neutral privacy framework for the online world and harmonizing the FCC’s privacy rules for broadband providers with the FTC’s standards for others in the digital economy. Unfortunately, one of the previous administration’s privacy rules that is scheduled to take effect on March 2 is not consistent with the FTC’s privacy standards. Therefore, Chairman Pai is seeking to act on a request to stay this rule before it takes effect on March 2. If Commissioners are willing to cast their votes by March 2, then the full Commission will decide the stay request. If not, then the Wireline Competition Bureau will stay that one element of the privacy rules pending a full Commission vote on the pending petitions for reconsideration consistent with past practice.”

  • VideoTap to unveil interactive smart video platform, to deliver dynamic, personalised VOD

    MUMBAI: VideoTap Digital, the media technology company, promoted by media veteran Dilip Venkatraman, former CEO of CNN-IBN and IBN7 and Savvy Dilip, former Group CMO of ITV Network, is all set to showcase VideoTap, the next generation video platform at 4YFN – Mobile World Congress at Barcelona. VideoTap is a highly innovative, cloud based Interactive Smart Video platform, powered by proprietary patent pending technology, that is all set to transform the way video content is delivered, viewed and monetised.

    Consumers want video on demand, but many times they want to watch only a specific segment within a video, and not the full video. They also want to watch many such specific segments one after the other, continuously, for a personalized experience. They do not want to waste time to search from many videos. Addressing this gap VideoTap offers consumers personalized real time video compilations, interactivity on videos, and direct-to-scene watching.

    Commenting on this VideoTap founder and CEO Dilip Venkatraman said: “VideoTap is an original concept and is fundamentally differentiated from existing offerings in the world. Our highly motivated and innovative in-house technology team has built this platform from scratch. We are very excited about showcasing VideoTap at a global platform.”

    VideoTap co-founder and COO Savvy Dilip adds: “Consumers want more control over their viewing experience, and we have built an entire ecosystem to deliver an unparalleled user experience. We are excited about working with video publishers, especially broadcasters and production houses, to unlock the value of their content libraries.”

    Dilip Venkatraman’s last assignment was as the Group COO of ITVNetwork, which operates news channels India News, NewsX, and Sunday Guardian. Prior to that he worked at Network18 as the CEO of CNN-IBN & IBN7. Dilip has over 23 years of corporate experience, including 3 years in USA. Prior to joining TV18, he held key positions at the India Today Group and the Zee Network. He was the Head of Brand Management at Zee News and the President of Marketing for Dish TV. Dilip is an accomplished professional, with many industry benchmark setting initiatives to his credit. In 2011 Dilipwon the prestigious “News CEO of the Year Award” at the “Exchange4media News Broadcast Awards”. He is a Graduate in Public Administration, and has completed his management Program from IIM Bangalore, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School, Boston.

    Savvy Dilip till recently was the Group CMO of the ITVNetwork, (India News, NewsX & Sunday Guardian), where she developed and launched the network identity. Prior to that she worked at Network18 as the VP – Marketing for CNN-IBN & IBN7. She has vast experience in product management, brand management, and brand building across media including digital media, strategic alliances, programming planning, events & experiential marketing, sales enablement and public relations. Savvy was the driving force behind some of the most popular, credible and editorial driven media awards like CNN-IBN Indian of the year, IBN7 Diamond States Awards, Real Heroes, IBN7 Super Idols, Zindagi Live Awards, India Positive Awards, Citizen Journalist Awards, Young India Leaders, Guru Sishya Awards, 4GLTE, ShauryaSanman Awards. She is a Commerce Graduate and has completed her management Program from IIM Bangalore, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.