ITV

Category: News Headline

  • Subhiksha enters Gujarat with 80 stores

    MUMBAI: With the announcement of 80-store entry into Gujarat. India’s largest discount major Subhiksha marked a half way milestone of 300 stores in its mega budget national rollout plan.

    With this addition, the Subhiksha store count goes up to 300 stores operating across India in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

    In Gujrat, Subhiksha has stores in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara apart from a host of smaller cities. All stores in the state will be operational in two phases and the first phase is expected to be operational by October 2006.

    This also marks the company’s foray into the western region with Mumbai and Pune among the next on the radar.

    The Company had earlier announced a 3 billion investment and 600-store rollout in five states -AP, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Mumbai.

    “This is a landmark occasion for us as we will soon cross the 500- store mark by end October 2006. Our next destination is Mumbai,
    followed by entry into additional markets in North India & rest of
    Maharashtra” said Subhiksha MD R Subramaniam.

    With Subhiksha’s business model focused on ensuring that the customers can procure items of daily requirement near their home at sharply reduced prices with no compromise on quality, the company is targeting a ‘neighborhood presence’ in the every market that it enters.

    To the consumer, the marked discounts on prices are evident on every bill, which will help compare Subhiksha’s low store prices with market prices and tally the total savings.

    Subhiksha was the first Company to use direct tie-ups with manufacturers as a means of cost saving. Resulting benefits as well as that accrued by economies of scale is passed on to the consumer, keeping prices of all products sharply lower than the market, consistently, with simultaneous assurance of quality control.

    Subhiksha’s consumer-focused no-frills approach to the business of
    daily shopping allows huge savings on overhead investments as well as
    running expenses, while its unique direct supply arrangements with
    manufacturers further reduces supply-chain costs.

  • MGM, G4 TV network, Berliner Film team with Mel Brooks on animated series

    MGM, G4 TV network, Berliner Film team with Mel Brooks on animated series

    MUMBAI: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) is teaming with the G4 television network, Brooksfilms Limited, and Berliner Film Companie GmbH (Berliner) on the US release of a new original television series based on the classic Mel Brooks comedy Spaceballs.

    G4, which is now available in 59 million cable and satellite homes nationwide, has exclusively licensed the first run of Spaceballs: The Animated Series for the US market. The series will be produced by Berliner in association with Brooksfilms. Already in production, Berliner will produce 13 half-hour episodes, which will debut on G4 in Fall 2007.

    MGM Worldwide Television Distribution Group, a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., will officially launch the property at the upcoming MIPCOM international television festival in Cannes, France (9-13 October).

    Spaceballs: The Animated Series brings together a talented team of comedy specialists. Brooks, who over the past 40 years has created classics as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and both versions of The Producers, co-wrote the Spaceballs pilot with Thomas Meehan. Meehan will oversee all writing for the first 13 episodes. Brooks will also lend his voice to two of the characters in the show, President Skroob and Yogurt.

    MGM Worldwide Television Distribution Group President Jim Packer, said, “This series has all the elements of a great comedy show. Mel Brooks has one of the top comedy minds in the business and the Berliner team has an impressive track record for producing quality animation. On the heels of retooling our worldwide television distribution group, MGM will be an active player in bringing first-run series to the marketplace and Spaceballs is a good example of the programming partnerships we can create with this vast library.”

    G4 President Neal Tiles added, “As the go-to network for men 18-34, irreverent humor is one of the benchmarks of our programming philosophy, as is animation. Mel Brooks’ classic movies Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles are just as relevant to our young male audience today as they were when they were first released. His brand of humor will resonate well with our viewers.

    In the pilot episode of Spaceballs: The Animated Series, the storyline will be similar to that of the movie, which was released theatrically in 1987. The evil Dark Helmet kidnaps Princess Vespa of the Planet Druidia. His dastardly plan to blackmail her father, King Roland, into giving up his planet’s air to replenish the polluted Planet Spaceball, run by the fiendish President Skroob (to be voiced by Brooks). Princess Vespa’s dad hires Lone Starr and Barf to rescue the princess. After a battle with Dark Helmet, they rescue the princess and Planet Druidia. From there, they launch on a series of wild adventures across the Galaxy.

  • Essel targets January 2007 launch of digital venture; plans web portal

    Essel targets January 2007 launch of digital venture; plans web portal

    MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group will unveil a set of digital initiatives under the banner of its newly-formed digital arm Digital Media Convergence Ltd (DMCL) by January 2007, including a web portal.

    The plan is to explore new media platforms such as mobile and IPTV and the online space in a full-fledged manner to distribute various formats of digitised content.

    “We will be unveiling our initiatives in three months time. We are going to create various in-house formats and shows. Apart from this, we are speaking to various foreign players as well to acquire internationally acclaimed formats. We are sending a special programming delegation for the upcoming Mipcom session. Though the stress is on delivering fresh content, we are keen on the Zee digital library as well,” says DMCL CEO Abhijeet Saxena.

    DMCL will concentrate on acquiring, digitising and making available content on various delivery platforms. “Apart from our library products, we are keenly looking at providing our services to all the content owners who want to distribute their content in these platforms. The company will also be exploring the interactivity segment to tap the potential this space offers to the maximum,” Saxena adds.

    To enrich its platforms, DMCL will be creating special interest content, apart from making use of the Zee Network library on a selective basis. DMCL has already initiated talks with various Indian as well as international companies to acquire programming formats and various genres of content.

    According to Saxena, the company is thinking beyond mobisodes and other existing mobile value added services (VAS). He says the plan is to launch multiple formats of shows, targeting various segments of the consumer.

    “We have thought about the viability of the services from a consumer point of view and the practicalities of making it a popular medium. Hence, we will offer various price rates depending on the duration and uniqueness of the formats. For example, we are working on multiple formats for movies, not just abridged versions. To market these multiple segments, we have classified the services into premium and mass oriented,” Saxena offers.

    DMCL expects to contribute to the mobile VAS in a significant manner with the initiatives. “The existing mobile VAS market size comes about $500 million and this space is expected to reach $10 billion by 2010. DMCL expects to be a major contributor to the expansion,” says Saxena.

    DMCL has recently roped in Intel and IBM for its back-end technology support. The company has already brought most of the telecom operators on board for the initiative.

  • Sify Gamedromes announces national tournament

    Sify Gamedromes announces national tournament

    MUMBAI: Sify Gamedrome, the gaming chain from Sify Limited will conduct a national online Counter Strike Condition Zero (CZ) tourney for the first time. The tournament will be held across 202 Gamedromes in 60 cities over a period of 45 days.

    Counter Strike Condition Zero Battle is one of the leading online action games globally, and is the headliner at competitive gaming tournaments around the world. The Grand National finals will be held on 2 October. Around 10,000 gaming enthusiasts and seven million registered online users are expected to participate in this first ever National Online Tourney.

    Speaking on the announcement of this exciting new online games initiative, Sify Access Media president Pijush Kanti Das, said “The first ever Gamedrome National Online Counter Strike CZ Battle Tourney is being supported by an exclusive tie- up with Animax for television coverage. An online campaign with a microsite on www.gamedrome.co.in, banners on the homepages of the increasingly popular www.sifymax.com and www.sify.com, as well as promotional e-mailers and wallpapers across our over 3400 iWays and Gamedromes will spread the excitement. For we are committed to developing the community of online gamers in India, and expect this national level tournament to be the first of many such initiatives”.

    The contestants will have an opportunity to win prizes worth Rs 1 million right from the Mock Tournaments at the regional levels to the Grand National Finals. The Tourney will start with mock tournaments at each participating Sify Gamedrome. The winners at each Gamedrome will then play at the Gamedrome level on 22-23 September. The winners at the Gamedrome level will then play the city finals on 30 September. The zonal level, regional level and the grand final tournament will take place on September 1st 06 and September 2nd 06 respectively.

    The national winners of a team of five players will get Sony Erricson (W) series handsets worth more than a lakh of rupees. At a regional level, gift hampers from Gigabyte worth Rs 25,000 will be distributed to each winning team of five players. The zonal level and Gamedrome level will receive prizes worth Rs 10,000 each and gift hamper worth Rs 1,000 each respectively.

    Online games have witnessed rapid growth in the recent past with 202 Gamedromes across 60 cities in the country with a growing number of dedicated online gamers. In addition, over 1000 iWays across the country have games enabled PCs. Sify’s Gamedromes and games enabled iWays have both the latest and most popular games across all genres, including racing, action, sports, strategy and online games on high-end multi-media computers.

  • Nick scores hat trick with new shows on board

    Nick scores hat trick with new shows on board

    MUMBAI: Kids TV channel Nick has launched three new shows in different time bands. Two of the shows rolled out this month specifically cater to pre-schoolers.

    The new shows which include Fetch the Vet, Kiri the Clown and Ninja Hattori promises to give kids a wide variety of humour, music and learning from the best in the world.

    Fetch the Vet is a pre-school show about Tom Fetch, a veterinarian who runs a clinic in a small country town. Tom is the first person the townsfolk go to for any pet-related problem and he’s happy to give them his attention and affection. This show will be telecast at 1pm from Monday to Saturday.

    Kiri the Clown is a colourful animation show based on the book series. Kiri travels from town to town with Pip’lett the Parrot, Rabitus the Cat and Laura the Ballerina who perform in a little circus and are best pals. The gags, magic, songs, dances and slap stick humour in the show have been designed for pre-schoolers. It will be telecast at 10.30am from Monday to Saturday.

    The third show Ninja Hattori is a story about Ken, an ordinary boy who befriends a little ninja called Hattori who’s anything but normal! He has the powers of a supreme ninja so that he can speed like a rocket, sleep on the ceiling and know martial arts at the back of his fast hand! This show will be telecast at 6.30pm from Monday to Friday.

    The bevy of new shows the channel has been launching since the beginning of the year – ten in all – seems to have borne fruit with the channel showing an over 500 per cent rise in TVR and doubling its reach over the same period last year. The new shows are expected to take the channel even higher, states an official release.

    Nick launched in India in 1999 as a multi-genre kids’ TV channel and today claims to be viewed in over 23 million households in the country. Its content for 2-14 year olds includes animated series, live-action shows, comedy, popular game shows (including the locally produced Dum Duma Dum and Gili Gili Gappa), hosted shows and live-action-cum-animation series, J Bole Toh Jadoo.

  • Zee Cinema targets the youth with interactive property ‘Klub’

    Zee Cinema targets the youth with interactive property ‘Klub’

    MUMBAI: Zee Cinema has announced the launch of its youth block Klub. Apart from telecasting youth-oriented movies, the segment will also be driving various interactive features for the channel’s target audience.

    The property has been slated for the evening time band from Monday to Friday at 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm, starting 25 September.

    Speaking on the launch, Zee Cinema business head Bharat Ranga said, “With the launch of Klub, the channel aims to strike a direct chord with the youth. To keep our audience engaged we are launching a lot of interactive features on Klub. We are optimistic that Klub will add to the movie viewing experience of Zee Cinema for the viewers.”

    Interactivity on Klub will include the following:

    Sms ASTRO & your star sign to 7575 – daily predictions will be displayed.

    Sms LOVE, your name & your mates name to 7575 for love analysis.

    Star Match: Match your compatibility with your favourite Bollywood Stars
    One can provide their date of birth along with the name of any star & the service can be promoted for specific stars at different times/days.

    Celebrity Forecast: Get updates on your favourite celebrity’s future forecast and whom you share your birthday with.

  • MSN looks to add value for advertisers with special effects package

    MUMBAI: Portal MSN India is celebrating six years of existence in the country. On this occasion it along with ad sales partner NDTV Media is offering a value add for clients by unveiling new advertising packages it has specially created for the portal.

    The new online advertising packages feature special effects. The aim is to help brands ensure that their message reaches out a larger audience online. The company says that higher quality and enhanced graphics have been complimented with innovative newer online advertising tools. This allows advertisers a host of newer ways to promote their products.

    Speaking on the same MSN and Windows Live India country head Jaspreet Bindra says that this package gives ad agencies the tools they need to help make the ad a more interactive experience for the user. It also allows for different creatives to be done for one product.

    Bindra says that MSN’s package results in rich media of a better quality compared with what competing portals can offer. MSN has done innovations with clients. For instance it came out with an over the Page video ad innovation for Tata Racing. Basically the company wanted to take advantage of the interest in Formula One. MSN is also doing an ad innovation for eBay. Here if one clicks the ad it expands.

    Talking about the relationship with MSN, NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak says, “Nine months ago we approached MSN and told them that they needed to look at how they sell ads from a different angle. We decided to adopt a method that combines the way television and print are sold. We do not sell based on click throughs or page impressions.

    “We sell on the basis of the period of time that an advertiser wants visibility for and daypart chosen. From 60 clients on MSN before we came onboard there are now 265 clients. We have managed to triple MSN’s revenues in six months time.”

    MSN also came out with the unique concept of desktop TV. This is a section where video ads run daily. They have also done a deal with Indiantelevision.com for the desktop TV feature. In terms of dealing with clients selling in daypart means that once that time that one has bought the ad for elapses then the ad goes off the site. For instance a client can buy an ad for a month each day between 9am – 12 pm which MSN says is prime time. After 12 pm each time the video ad or banner goes off the site each day. The day is divided into six parts and the price for ads depends on the traffic MSN gets at that point of time on an average.

    Bindra adds that MSN has configured the software so that video ads can run even on computers that do not have high bandwith. That is one of the factors that separates it from other portals. Also some video ads run after the user clicks on it while others start automatically once a certain page is opened. That is the choice of a client. MSN does not allow more than three ads on a page.

    Nayak claims that the client drop of rate is only four to five per cent which means that clients find value in this way of advertising. “We have managed to get clients to change their way of thinking about how they advertise on the web. What we are doing marks a paradigm shift in terms of how the internet is being sold to clients.”

    Another innovative way for clients to reach MSN users is through the Live Messenger. Here a Bot backend programme is created so that for instance one can chat with Munnabhai. There was a similar initiative done for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (Kank). Bindra says that the messenger icon can be made to look like a star. The same concept can be applied to clients like Coca Cola. Plans are in the pipeline to enable the user who clicks on a banner to interact with Live Messenger from the client.

    Of course for films like Kank, Rang De Basanti MSN has aimed to give users a complete experience. So one could get among other things downloadable screen savers, stills from the movie, a plot synopsis based on the story-line, details of the cast and crew etc.

  • WWE doing a VoD promotion in the US

    WWE doing a VoD promotion in the US

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC Universal On Demand and World Wrestling Entertainment )WWE) are joining forces for a video on demand (VOD) and pay-per-view (PPV) promotion.

    The aim is top help help cable operators in the US attract and upgrade digital and broadband subscribers, while increasing revenue for PPV and the On Demand platform.

    Consumers can separately purchase the interactive pay-per-view Cyber Sunday from WWE from 5 November and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift from 26 October offered by NBCU on VOD and PPV. If consumers order both programmes and send in their bill showing proof of purchase by 23 November, 2006, they will receive a WWE and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Limited Edition Car Kit gift pack of automotive paraphernalia while supplies last.

    Additionally, from 26 October till 28 February , 2007, consumers can visit www.highspeedstakes.com and enter the “HighSpeedstakes” for a chance to win a prize of a driving school experience with a WWE Superstar. This co-branded microsite will also feature exclusive footage of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and provide a link to vote for Cyber Sunday.

    Fans also can participate in WWE’s Cyber Sunday PPV event in November by casting votes online at www.wwe.com to determine, among other things, which Superstars and match stipulations may be involved in the PPV event. For many situations, fans can vote right up until the match starts on PPV, providing almost immediate feedback.

    Participating cable and satellite systems will be offered an array of marketing materials in English and Spanish and will have the opportunity to tag all materials with broadband information and promotions. NBCU and WWE will support the initiative with national exposure and a media buy.

    WWE Affiliate sales and marketing senior VP Peter Clifford says, “The premise behind Cyber Sunday, which is largely a broadband involved interactive PPV event, and the natural fit between WWE fans and fans of The Fast and the Furious franchise made for a wonderful opportunity to join forces with NBCU. The result is a win/win/win for WWE, NBCU and our affiliates.

    “Using our pay-per-view and VOD assets, we are giving our customers a great opportunity to sell more high speed services.”

  • CNN to air summit with former US president Clinton

    CNN to air summit with former US president Clinton

    MUMBAI: History shows that the world is plagued with the casualties of religious and ethnic conflicts. With recent struggles in Lebanon and Israel and daily clashes in Iraq, the Middle East is a hotbed of religious and ethnic conflict. CNN will air the hour long documentary In God’s Name: A Global Summit With President Clinton on 23 September at 5:30 pm and on 24 September at 3:30 pm.

    . This asks whether religion is the solution or the problem. The special is moderated by CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour and features former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the third and final CNN special program. Joining them is an expert panel including Israeli Vice Premier, Shimon Peres; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Dina Powell; Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan; Former United Nations Special Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi; Former U.S. Senator and Northern Ireland peace negotiator, George Mitchell and editor-at-large of Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, Rami Khouri.

    CNN International senior VP Rena Golden says, “Once again this edition of the Clinton Global Summit is tackling an issue that affects our audiences worldwide,” said . “By bringing together these distinguished experts, we hope to find some common understanding into what fuels so many of the world’s religious conflicts.”

    During his tenure as US President, Clinton was deeply involved in bringing peace to the Middle East, Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) has chosen mitigating religious and ethnic conflict as one its four major goals.

    CGI is a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Each September, CGI convenes a meeting for global leaders including heads of state, non-profit organizations and business leaders to discuss challenges facing the world today.

    President Clinton’s vision in bringing together this group is to merge ideas from both the public and private sectors to devise a plan to identify and implement solutions. Over US$2.5 billion was committed toward concrete solutions for global problems at CGI’s conference last year. The forum takes place September 20-22 this year.

  • Mauj Telecom joins Miss World Ltd as global media partner

    Mauj Telecom joins Miss World Ltd as global media partner

    MUMBAI: Mauj Telecom has entered into a partnership with the Miss World Ltd as its global mobile partner. Mauj through its partnership with 50 plus operators and portals worldwide would be distributing the Miss World content exclusively on mobile phones worldwide.

    The mobile content would include World zone show highlights, contestant images, final highlights, video profiles of contestants, video ring tones, wallpapers, ring tones, screensavers, themes, and calendar application, as per an official release.

    Mauj is also developing a virtual reality application called as “I want to be Miss World” which takes the users through the experience of preparing for the Miss World pageant. All archived images and videos from Miss World 2003-2005 will also be available to subscribers across the world through Mauj and its Partners. The content will be available on 200 plus handsets from all leading manufacturers.

    Mauj would also be the interactive voting partner for Miss World worldwide on mobiles, adds the release.