ITV

Category: News Headline

  • Naukri.com bags Consumer Connect ‘Campaign of the Year’ award

    MUMBAI: Job site Naukri.com, has won the “Campaign of the Year” award for the Hari Sadu television commercial at the Advertising Club Kolkata, Consumer Connect Awards.
    FCB Ulka New Delhi, the creative agency which worked on the commercial, also conferred the honours of a National Trophy in the “Consumers Services Category,” informs an official release.

    Naukri.com COO Hitesh Oberoi said, “The Hari Sadu commercial is very close to our hearts and has been widely appreciated by its viewers in terms of its humour, story line and originality. The winning of the ‘Consumer Connect Award’ for Naukri.com and FCB Ulka is recognition of the toil and labour in creating a fictitious character, which has come alive. More importantly we are delighted that our consumers have recognized the very spirit of the advertisement which reflects the understanding of the brand Naukri.com and their connect to the brand.”

    FCB Ulka’s Aakash Sharma added, “It always feels great to win awards but this time around it is doubly so. We’ve won two. It’s rewarding and exciting to see our work recognized as the real consumers play a major part in these awards.”

    Every entry goes through the two-panel study to generate a Consumer Connect Score. Each entry is taken through two separate consumer panels. First a “Market Assessment” is conducted to determine the current perception of the brand. Then a “Stimulus Assessment” is conducted with a matched panel to measure the impact the entry had on consumer’s perceptions of the brand, adds the release.

    Short listed entrants then present a live presentation of the case study in front of a panel of judges and an audience of their peers who will determine the winner. They take into consideration the following:

    — The Consumer Connect Score: Key measurements on how the advertising entered changed perceptions of the brand. This is presented by Advertising Club Calcutta.

    — Assessment of the advertising task: Analysis of the market situation and the role communication must play.

    — Understanding of the consumer: Insights that led to the advertising solution.

    — Creative solutions: The creative and media strategy used to obtain the desired response.

    The Consumer Connect Awards, were instituted by the Advertising Club Kolkata, in the year 2003 to mark its 50th year. They seek to honour communication that connects best with their respective consumers.

  • Nokia launches first live DVB-H mobile TV service in Asia

    Nokia launches first live DVB-H mobile TV service in Asia

    MUMBAI: Mobile communications firm Nokia and Vietnam Multimedia (VTC) have inked a deal to launch commercial mobile broadcast TV services based on Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) technology in two Vietnamese cities by the end of the year.

    The agreement is Nokia’s first commercial mobile TV service rollout in the Asia Pacific region. It is also among the first of Nokia’s commercial rollouts globally. Nokia is currently spearheading several trials in the Asia Pacific, Europe and North American countries.

    VTC is a broadcaster and operator in digital broadcasting. It will make available its mobile PayTV services to consumer subscribers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Consumers in both cities will be able to enjoy seven digital TV channels as well as a video-on-demand service from a catalogue of selected titles offered by VTC.

    The service is available on Nokia’s Nseries DVB-H enabled multimedia devices, delivered by the Nokia N92 which will make its debut in Vietnam for this purpose.

    For the uninitiated DVB-H, is a broadcast-to-mobile technology which provides reception of the ordinary television broadcasting in digital format on mobile phones and television screens mounted on-board public and private means of transportation. DVB-H was chosen based by Nokia on its merit to support mobility, efficient power management, and DVD quality audio and video services without disturbance.

    Up to 50 TV channels can be delivered with low cost, over one network. With extensive pilots of broadcast mobile TV currently taking place across the globe, involving leading broadcasters, mobile
    operators, broadcast network operators and handset manufacturers, the market for commercial broadcast services is expected to grow throughout this year.

    Mobile TV broadcasting works by receiving a digital TV broadcast signal optimized for mobile devices from the air in much the same way as televisions at home do. Channel guides will also be broadcast allowing users to keep abreast of the latest programmes on air. Broadcast Mobile TV is not the same as a streaming video service over 3G or GPRS where each recipient gets a separate copy of the programme stream. Rather, one simultaneous TV stream can be received at any time by any number of users enjoying high picture quality and low battery power consumption.

    VTC director Le Doan Quan said, “The open technology platform solution provided by Nokia resonates with VTC’s vision of increasing choice and participation for consumers and other technology providers. Nokia implementation uses the OMA DRM approach for services and content delivery protection thus enabling many additional possibilities such as delivery of ringtones, logos, music, videoclips, games and large file applications, in addition to the ordinary TV programmes.”

    “This equips VTC with a cost-effective and future-proof platform for driving the development of the vibrant multimedia ecosystem in Vietnam.”
    Nokia Multimedia Asia Pacific director, experiences Jawahar Kanjilal said, “We are delighted to be part of this great development in Vietnam. This marks the beginning of exciting times in the Asia Pacific broadcasting industry, bringing digital television to consumers’ pockets and ushering in a new era of personal interactive entertainment.

    “The Nokia N92 multimedia computer will be a key element of this consumer offering, and we look forward to the continuing development of mobile TV services in the region.”
    Under the agreement, Nokia and VTC are committed to jointly propel the consumer adoption of mobile entertainment services in Vietnam. After taking mobile TV services commercial in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh in 2006, VTC plans to extend the coverage to a national level over a two-year period.

    In the Asia Pacific, Nokia claims to have spearheaded several mobile TV technology showcases in countries such as Singapore (with Mediacorp & M1), Malaysia (Astro & Maxis), as well as in India and Taiwan. Nokia also participated in many industry-wide events demonstrating simulcast mobile TV content together with players in the media and entertainment industries in Australia.

    Nokia is also in the midst of a DVB-H trial first started last July 2005 with the Bridge Networks & Telstra consumers in Sydney. In Europe, Finland, Digita, supported by Nokia, has been awarded an operator license and is working to debut DVB-H mobile TV services soon. Italy has also launched a DVB-H service, while many other regions in the world are expected to follow suit with the commercialisation activity once their own trials are concluded.

  • mobile2win inks deal for ‘Philippine Idol’

    mobile2win inks deal for ‘Philippine Idol’

    MUMBAI: mobile2win, wireless value added services enabler, has bagged the contract as the exclusive and official wireless aggregator for reality show Philippine Idol.

    Under the terms of the agreement, mobile2win will handle the entire connectivity with all operators, back-end infrastructure, voting, collation and vote management for the 14 weeks of the show that’s being aired from 3 September 2006 on ABC 5, informs an official release.

    The deal was inked with FremantleMedia, creators and producers of programme brands in the world and owner of the Idols format, after a pitch and selection process amongst several wireless aggregators in Asia.

    mobile2win worked previously with FremantleMedia on Indian Idol, the local Indian version of the Idols format, and was responsible for creating a distinct mobile platform with distribution of all the latest and regularly updated content week after week across operators in India. mobile2win conceptualized and created the entire content for Indian Idol, including wall papers, animation, true tones, polytones, videos, colour logos, themes and an Indian Idol mobile game, adds the release.

    mobile2win India country head Rajiv Hiranandani says, “The Idols format has always been tremendously popular the world over and the show’s interactivity gives viewers and even greater chance to participate in their favourite programme. Indian Idol was a huge success and winning the contract for Philippine Idol is indeed a great milestone for the company and mobile2win will strive to provide the best in terms of backend infrastructure.”

    FremantleMedia’s VP licensing and interactive Asia Pacific Jon Penn said, “We chose mobile2win as they have done a fantastic job over several years for the voting and interactivity on Indian Idol. Their approach is systematic and professional and we know they will do a great job for us in the Philippines, one of the most “interactive” markets in the world.”

    Based on the international award-winning Idols format the Philippine Idol judges include the famous trio, Ryan Cayabyab, Pilita Corrales and Francis Magalona, and the show promises a positive blend of humour, drama, action and suspense.

  • Reliance Bluemagic receives LoI for DTH ops

    Reliance Bluemagic receives LoI for DTH ops

    MUMBAI: The direct-to-home broadcasting segment is set to witness some more action with the government clearing the application of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises. The proposed DTH project under the brand name Reliance Bluemagic, a subsidiary of Reliance Energy, has received the letter of intent (LoI).

    This will be the fourth licence issued by the government to a private operator. Nonetheless, even after the letter of intent is issued, it would be a while before the letter of approval and an actual DTH license is handed over to the Reliance Bluemagic.

    According to sources close to the government and DTH developments, the information and broadcasting ministry has issued the LoI. “The absence of any foreign investment or partner has simplified matters,” the officials pointed out.

    When contacted, senior officials at Reliance refused comment on the developments.

    Once the letter of approval is issued, the company would be granted a licence after depositing a bank guarantees of Rs 100 million.

    Reliance Bluemagic had applied under for a DTH licence under the name ‘Reliance Skymagic last year. However, News Corp had issued a caution notice, asserting ‘Sky’ was its registered trademark under which the company runs its DTH operations in UK under the name of BSkyB. Consequently, the trademark Sky was also registered in India.

    In the present scenario, besides pubcaster Prasar Bharati, which manages DD Direct, there are two private DTH service providers. Dish TV and Tata-Sky already operating. Although South Indian media major Sun Group’s Sun Direct TV received the LoI last year, it has yet to kick off operations.

    The government has set stringent entry norms for DTH operators. According to the norms, the applicant has to be registered under the Indian Company’s Act, 1956, while its total foreign equity holding should not exceed 49 per cent, of which not more than 20 per cent should be the FDI component. It also says the applicant company must have Indian management control, with majority representatives on board, and the company’s CEO must be a resident Indian.

    Reliance’s presence in DTH, FM radio and other segments of media and entertainment means that the group will enable itself to leverage its brand across all platforms.

  • Nick US allows fans to create and produce original characters online

    Nick US allows fans to create and produce original characters online

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster Nickelodeon has announced an online interactive initiative for its comedy/adventure series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

    A new episode Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation airs on 15 September. The story revolves around Aang and his friends, who are prevented from taking the easy route into Ba Sing Se while escorting a family of refugees and are faced with the challenge of making their way through the deadly Serpent’s Pass. Along the way, Aang discovers a secret Fire Nation invention heading straight for Ba Sing Se and must stop it before it destroys the great wall that protects the city from invasion.

    Fans who are looking for an interactive “Avatar” experience can log onto the “Avatar Secret Scene Creator” on www.nick.com. Here they will find the tools they need to create an original character and animate it, producing their own “Avatar” scenario.

    Nickelodeon will randomly select ten scenes from the online game, record the dialogue with the actual “Avatar” voice actors and feature the completed scenes on Nickelodeon television as on-air interstitials. More than 100,000 scenes have been created and submitted to date. The Secret Scenes Creator is just one part of a larger online initiative for “Avatar.”

    In July, a new enhanced “Avatar” supersite launched on Nick.com, which provides fans with the content they crave for, like the details on the environment, games, videos,
    character profiles and more. Launched in February 2005 Avatar is currently in its second season.

  • Ellen DeGeneres to host the Oscar Awards next year

    Ellen DeGeneres to host the Oscar Awards next year

    MUMBAI: American television personality Ellen Degeneres will host the most prestigious event in Hollywood, the79th Annual Academy Awards or the Oscars as it is known. The award giving function will be held in Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on 25 February next year.

    This marks the fourth presenter in as many years for the show. In India the show will air on Star Movies while in the US it will air on ABC.

    The Association of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) has been desparately trying to appeal to a younger demographic. The three previous hosts were Steve Martin, Chris Rock and Jon Stewart. The feeling in some quarters though is that in a Tivo environment a lot of viewers do not want to spend over three hours watching a show.

    DeGeneres is the host of the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which this year won its third Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show and earned DeGeneres her second Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

    The announcement of DeGeneres as the host was made by producer Laura Ziskin. DeGeneres says, “When Laura Ziskin called, I was thrilled. There are two things I have always wanted to do in my life. One is to host the Oscars. The second is to get a call from Laura Ziskin. You can imagine that days diary entry.”

    DeGeneres has twice hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast, and co-hosted the show in 1994. For her first solo Emmy stint, which took place shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, she received high praise.

    Ampas president Sid Ganis says, “She just sparkles. She is such a pleasure to watch. Her wit cuts to the truth of things, but in a wonderfully warm-spirited way. I think she’ll be a fantastic host for this show and we’re extremely pleased that she’s agreed to do it.”

  • ‘From Gurukul’ to ‘Fame X’ and Sony to Sab

    ‘From Gurukul’ to ‘Fame X’ and Sony to Sab

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television India’s Sab is all set to unleash its first reality show with the refurbished version of Fame Gurukul that has been re-branded as Fame X.

    New version of the reality musical show will hit the tube in mid-November as daily weekday offering.

    According to Sab senior vice president and business head Vikas Bhal, the inclusion of the X- element in the name simply refers to the undefinable something that makes for star quality. The big difference that has been incorporated into the second season of the show that aired last year on SET is that the contestants will not undergo any makeover.

    Elaborating further, Bhal says that if the contestant auditions with a pair of slippers, his style will be retained. The effort will be to hone singing skills rather than presentation.

    Among the other changes being rung into Fame X is that there will be only one winner rather than the jodi (couple) concept that was seen earlier. A big thing for the Fame X winner will be that he/she gets the honour of creating a song and singing for the cricket World Cup that will be held in the West Indies in March 2007.

    The show will adapt to a more funky style and have an international look and feel. Unlike Fame Gurukul, which had an Indianised set-up of a music school, Fame X will remain true to the international version. Endemol, which owns the rights to the Spanish reality show Operacion Triunfo on which Fame X is based, will be managing the full production of the show. Production of the earlier Fame Gurukul was assigned to Miditech.

    Operacion Triunfo has been adapted across 11 countries across three continents, and is seeing a fourth and fifth series in some territories.

    This daily episode series will be spread across 13 weeks. The hunt for the contestants will kick off end of September. The auditions will be held in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahemedbad and Lucknow.

    Bahl concludes that the channel has yet to come to a decision on the jury panel as well as the host of the show. SET’s Fame Gurukul had lyricist Javed Akhtar, singer KK and musician Shankar Mahadevan as the panel judges while singer Ila Arun was the strict headmistress of the music academy.

  • Discovery to air special on hunter turned conservationist Jim Corbett

    Discovery to air special on hunter turned conservationist Jim Corbett

    MUMBAI: Humans are used to considering themselves at the top of the food chain, so when an animal turns man-eater and terrorises their neighborhood, it plays upon their most primal fears.

    Discovery will air the special The Man-Eating Leopard Of Rudrayag on 16 October at 8 pm. This is a true tale of the famous hunter-turned-conservationist Jim Corbett and the big cat that slaughtered 126 people over a period of eight years in the Himalayan foothills, shortly after the end of World War I.

    The special is part of the 13-episode series Discovery Marquee currently airing on Discovery Channel. Reconstructing some of the most fascinating historical epics, combining archival footage with recreated images generated using computer generated imagery (CGI) and latest animation techniques, backed by meticulous research, investigation and first-person accounts,

    Other programmes that are a part of the Discovery Marquee line-upare Deep Ocean. This airs on 23 October at 8 pm. This is an exploration of Earth’s final frontier seen through the eyes of its greatest inhabitant and the world’s largest predator, the sperm whale.

    Genghis Khan will airs on 30 October at 8 pm., It shows how an illiterate outcast turned the feuding tribes of Mongolia into a powerful nation controlling territories from the outermost reaches of eastern Asia to the heart of Europe.

  • 4Kids Entertainment introduces ‘Viva Piñata’ at Mipcom 2006

    4Kids Entertainment introduces ‘Viva Piñata’ at Mipcom 2006

    MUMBAI: 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., has set Mipcom 2006 for the launch of the international sales efforts for its new 3D CGI animated television series Viva Piñata. 4Kids Entertainment executive VP International Brian Lacey announced that the 26 half-hour episodes in the series will be available to international buyers at this year’s market.

    “Viva Piñata will bring a fresh comedic appeal to kids with its witty writing, clever dialogue and colorful cast of characters,” said Lacey. “The series, which has stunning 3D CGI animation, will provide broadcasters with excellent scheduling flexibility, whether it’s broadcast as 26 half-hours or 52 eleven-minute cartoons. We’re also confident that because the show appeals to both boys and girls equally, it is a very advertiser friendly opportunity for broadcasters around the world.”

    4Kids has exclusive rights to represent Viva Piñata worldwide across broadcast, home video, music and merchandise licensing, informs an official release. According to Lacey, the animated kids television series is already set to premiere this fall on 4Kids TV in the US and Canada’s YTV.

    In Viva Piñata, viewers are introduced a cast of piñata “friends” who embark on wild adventures with mysteries to solve and parties to be had on Piñata Island. The ensemble cast of outrageous characters include the classic superstar Hudson Horstachio, the ever-nervous Fergy Fudgehog, the keenly observant Paulie Pretztail, and the practically perfect Franklin Fizzlybear — with more piñatas being discovered all the time, adds the release.

    4Kids Entertainment, provides high quality children television entertainment. Over the past decade, 4Kids has produced and launched such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles among others.

    4Kids has selected Bardel Entertainment, a Vancouver-based animation company, to execute the 3D CGI animation in hi-def format. With over 15 years experience in animation, Bardel Entertainment’s clients include Dreamworks SKG, Warner Brothers, Fox, Nelvana and Disney Interactive among others.

  • Hungama TV clocks its highest ratings; ‘Doraemon’ & ‘Shinchan’ key drivers

    Hungama TV clocks its highest ratings; ‘Doraemon’ & ‘Shinchan’ key drivers

    MUMBAI: Hungama TV has scored big yet again! A notch higher, the channel now boasts of the maximum ratings ever with 182 GRPs for week 39 (24-30 September), marking a good leap from the previous week of 155 GRPs, for the target group CS 4-14 ABC in all Hindi speaking markets. 

    The market share for the same period for Hungama TV is pegged at 29 per cent, as the key properties giving an impetus to this growth are Doraemon and Shinchan together contributing 105 out of 182 GRPs, according to the latest data from Tam. 

    The oldest player in the market Cartoon Network however, seems to be trailing behind with 139 GRPs and a share of 23 per cent. A later entrant from the Turner stable, Pogo has scored 104 GRPs with a 17 per cent share for the mentioned period. While the market shares for the other kid’s channels in India – Disney Channel, Toon Disney and Nickelodeon follow in the order outlined.

    Hungama TV also claims to have occupied the leadership position in this space for three consecutive weeks, spanning 10 – 30 September 2006, for the weeks 37-39 among both boys and girls, older (10-14 years old) and younger (4-9) kids alike.

    But the little ‘gun slingers’ seem be more glued to the channel as the ratings for boys have in fact shot up by 25 per cent, while the ratings for girls have dropped by 4 per cent over the previous week.

    The month of September appears to be a prosperous one for the channel as it has seen a ratings jump of 14 per cent from August where it had received average GRP’s of 133, says a channel spokesperson.

    What’s interesting is that among the two key properties that thrust the channel ahead, Doraemon’s GRPs have increased by 43 per cent over the previous week from 37 to 53 (week 39). Meanwhile, Shinchan has also jumped from 48 to 52 GRPs with a margin of 8.3 per cent.

    It is however, the little boys that seem to be the drivers of this success, as 78 per cent of viewing comes from boys and 22 per cent from girls. Also, 4-9 year olds contribute to 58 per cent of viewing while 10 – 14 year olds harvest 42 per cent.