ITV

Category: News Headline

  • Bennett Media Worldwide announces programming line up at Mipcom 2006

    Bennett Media Worldwide announces programming line up at Mipcom 2006

    MUMBAI: Bennett Media Worldwide (BMW), the Bennett Group’s global distribution operation, has announced at Mipcom 2006, their programming slate for global broadcasters. It will feature three all-new high-defintion series, including Playing In Paradise, Beyond the List and Oh, No! It’s Kato!

    Said BMW president Paul Rich, “The Bennett Group reflects our company’s new industry positioning as a full-fledged, fully-integrated entertainment studio, with all areas of production and distribution all under one corporate ‘roof.’ Through Bennett Group’s four distinct divisions, we have the capacity to take a project from concept through every phase of production and post-production, as well as domestic and international distribution.”

    “Our new high-def line-up further underscores our company as the production leader in this burgeoning format,” said Bennett Productions president Casey Bennett. “We are recognized as a pioneer in the production of HD programming having created and produced high-def series and specials as far back as 1998. Today, Bennett Productions is widely regarded for our HD productions which are backed by complete surround sound audio.”

    The new-to-Mipcom Bennett Media Worldwide slate includes:

    Playing In Paradise – Viewers experience a new dimension of exotic travel as top bikini models guide the audience through the world’s most desirable locations from the Bahamas to Thailand.
    Beyond the List – It covers the hippest threads, cars, gadgets and what it takes to get a sneak peek into the world’s most exclusive lifestyles where only a recognized face or name on the list gains entrance.

    Oh, No! It’s Kato!- After being rejected by Hollywood, Kato Kaelin takes his quick wit and sharp tongue to hot spots around the world in Oh, No! It’s Kato! From crashing the sidelines for the inside story at the Lingerie Bowl to sneaking into the Spring Break bikini pageant in Cancun, viewers are able to join Kato on his mission-possible journeys where the perfect mix of comedy and adventure drive each episode, informs an official release.

    In addition to Bennett Media Worldwide, the newly established Bennett Group, housed at its West Los Angeles headquarters, encompasses: Bennett Productions, the content development and production division that includes state-of-the-art in-house soundstages; Bennett Music, a newly-created producer and supplier of both production and original music that is also home to complete recording studios as well as recording, mixing and mastering facilities utilizing the most current in digital recording technology; and Bennett HD/LA, one of the few fully-HD post-production facilities in Los Angeles.

  • Synovate Business Consulting & Orbis International to host fundraising events across Asia Pacific

    Synovate Business Consulting & Orbis International to host fundraising events across Asia Pacific

    MUMBAI: Synovate Business Consulting, a division of global market research company, Synovate, has tied up with Orbis International – a non-profit humanitarian organisation that strives to eliminate avoidable blindness in the developing world.

    They have joined hands primarily to organise fund-raising events across the Asia-Pacific region, the funds generated will go towards curing blindness among the poor.

    In India, two fund-raisers are on the anvil. A charity dinner will be held in New Delhi on 7 September. While in Mumbai, a special screening of a play by National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) – ‘The Liar’ – will be held on 10 September. The play is directed by eminent actor, director and stage artist – Naseeruddin Shah. All proceeds will be donated to Orbis, informs an official release.

    Synovate Business Consulting, a division of Synovate, provides business intelligence and growth strategy consulting across 22 Asia Pacific markets. Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of research solutions.

  • MPA face-off: ICC reaches out to Indian players

    MPA face-off: ICC reaches out to Indian players

    MUMBAI: The jousting being played out through the media between the ICC and the Indian cricket board shows no signs of any let-up. In a clear attempt to demarcate what it sees as the BCCI’s commercial interests and that of its players, the ICC today explained that the Members’ Participation Agreement (MPA) for ICC events from 2007-2015 will provide greater flexibility for all the players taking part.

    ICC general manager – Cricket, David Richardson, said, “The new MPA will be more flexible for players than previous agreements regulating participation in ICC events.

    “In drafting the player terms that fall within the MPA we have taken on board the views of players, including views expressed from India, to build a framework of agreements that will provide added benefits to players.”

    Richardson’s comments are pertinent if you consider the kind of statements that Indian cricket board officials have been issuing on the subject. The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India vice-president Lalit Modi was quoted by Agence France Presse news service as saying: “The MPA in its existing form affects BCCI’s commercial interests, gives ICC the right to change agreements unilaterally and affects the players’ interests. The MPA would affect the BCCI and the players’ interests for a period ranging from six to nine months. We are very unhappy with the way the MPA has been drafted.”

    Countering Modi’s line, Richardson says, “Players will be faced with fewer restrictions regarding their own endorsement deals and will have greater control over the use of their own player attributes before, during and after ICC events.

    “The formal and informal discussions that we have had with players and their representatives indicate widespread support for these developments. The new system will have the added benefit of incorporating clearer guidelines and opportunities for all.

    “While the ICC is required to deal directly with the Indian board on player issues, I’ve always enjoyed a good relationship with the Indian captain Rahul Dravid and several of their leading players and, should the BCCI permit, I’d welcome an opportunity to answer any queries they may have.”

    India, which hosts the ICC’s Champions Trophy from Saturday, won the right to hold the 2011 World Cup jointly with neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    The ICC has given the BCCI till next Monday (9 October) to notify it of any and all difficulties it has with the MPA. About the deadline, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told AFP. “We have been given a deadline till Monday to inform the ICC of our objections and we will meet that date.”

  • Warner creates digital production venture to make content for broadband, mobile

    Warner creates digital production venture to make content for broadband, mobile

    MUMBAI: The Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTG) is establishing a new digital production venture Studio 2.0.

    This will work with creative talent and advertisers to create original live-action and animated short-form programming for broadband and wireless devices.

    WBTVG has tapped producer and senior advertising executive Rich Rosenthal to head Studio 2.0. These announcements were made by WBTG president Bruce Rosenblum. The venture will be overseen by WBTG executive VP Craig Hunegs.

    Studio 2.0 will provide a creative platform for the Television Group’s established as well as up-and-coming talent to produce content of varying lengths – from multiple-episode series to one-offs. Rosenthal will actively align Studio 2.0 with advertisers seeking early identification and involvement with original programming. They will develop projects through independent creative resources as well as through the various in-place Warner Bros. Television Group production arms.

    Studio 2.0 will look to license the programming to online sites, portals and wireless providers in collaboration with the recently formed Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

    Rosenblum says, “What has become eminently clear is that our advertising partners in our traditional television businesses are anxious to work in collaboration with the creative community to develop original digital content.

    “At our core, we are a content creation company and Studio 2.0 is a natural, yet extraordinarily exciting, extension of our television production businesses. We are confident that Rich and Studio 2.0 will successfully provide advertisers with cutting edge tools that will integrate their brands with inventive digital content in fresh, impactful and meaningful ways.

    “At the same time, Studio 2.0 will present our creative partners in our television production divisions with a vibrant platform to express their vision in expanding digital arenas and allow us to collaborate with Simon Kenny (President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution) and his team on terrific content for digital distribution.”

    Hunegs says, “Rich’s breadth of advertising experience, both as a creative and production exec, and the wide array of advertisers, brands and companies for which he has created, make him the ideal choice to run Studio 2.0. It is a coup to have him join us”.

    Time Warner Global Marketing, the cross-divisional client partnerships arm of Time Warner, will work closely with Rosenthal and Time Warner advertising clients.

  • Zee Telefilms signs Moving Pictures for Bollywood show

    Zee Telefilms signs Moving Pictures for Bollywood show

    MUMBAI: New Delhi-headquartered production house Moving Pictures India Ltd has bagged a show on Zee Network. The company will do a non-fiction show around the Bollywood industry, titled B News for Zee Music.

    One of the promoters of Moving Pictures India, Sancheta Ganpati Raju said that B News was going to be a key project for the company as Zee Telefilms is there on the other end. The half-an-hour show, which will be telecast twice a week, will run 104 episodes as per the deal.

    “B News is going to be a crucial assignment for us. Our effort is to come up with an innovative non-fiction show around Bollywood. The show will hit the airwaves two months from now. But the final schedule will be announced by the channel later,” says Raju.

    Moving Pictures’ current television projects include the page 3 show Popcorn on Zoom as well as Subah Savere, a breakfast show on Doordarshan.

  • ICTV comes out with a platform for personalised video mosaics, active immersive viewing

    ICTV comes out with a platform for personalised video mosaics, active immersive viewing

    MUMBAI: ICTV which creates on-demand solutions that blend the choice and control of broadband video with the quality and responsiveness of television, will unveil its ActiveVideo platform at the IBC trade show.

    The event takes place in Amsterdam from 8-12 Seotember. The company says that its platform combines the best attributes of television and the Web.

    ICTV will demonstrate how operators, programmers and advertisers can use the ActiveVideo platform to successfully bring broadband video programming and advertising models from the Internet to the television. ActiveVideo delivers Web-driven programming in combination with both live and VOD streams to provide an immersive TV-quality viewing experience.

    ActiveVideo programming can be delivered either through the widely deployed two-way cable infrastructure or via an IPTV network. ActiveVideo is navigated with standard remote controls and is fully compatible with all existing IP and cable set-top boxes, enabling the complete re-use of existing capital infrastructure.

    At IBC, ICTV will be demonstrating two new applications of the ActiveVideo platform: An ActiveVideo Mosaic, the multichannel industry’s first customizable, personalised mosaic for video-rich navigation, and ActiveVideo Channels, which enable existing broadband programming networks to be delivered to the TV in real time as subscriber-controlled television video.

    ICTV president and CEO Jeff Miller, says, “One of the greatest challenges for network operators in the broadband era has been to match the precision of the Web in delivering the right programming and advertising to the right subscriber at the right time.

    “The ActiveVideo platform is a standards-based approach that creates new programming choices with high-CPM, targeted, auditable and interactive advertising opportunities.”

    Capitalising on the ability to deliver Web programming as MPEG video to any digital set-top box, the ICTV ActiveVideo platform is entirely standards- based, requiring no custom integration or proprietary development. Live and on-demand programming can be blended with content that is created and modified quickly using standard Web tools and talent.

    The ICTV ActiveVideo Mosaic creates easy-to-use personalised navigation. This allows subscribers to view live video from and navigate through a number of channels at a single glance. The ActiveVideo Mosaic can be personalised based upon subscriber, operator, or programmer choice, or via system response to subscriber viewing habits – all on any digital set-top box.

    Interactive elements, including Web-driven targeted advertising, can be incorporated within the mosaic screens. With ActiveVideo Channels, network operators and programmers can enhance the value of existing channels by allowing viewers to take active
    control of what they see and when they see it. Simply by using their remote control, television viewers can select an ActiveVideo Channel from the standard programme guide and enter a broadband experience that includes video, navigational elements, channel branding, banner advertisements, and links to different video segments.

    Screens can be manipulated to reflect personal viewing interests and purchasing preferences. Clicking on advertisements within the ActiveVideo experience enables interaction with sponsor messages, including “telescoping” to let consumers request more information, watch a demonstration or make a purchase.

  • Star Movies to present a recap of ‘Lost’ tomorrow

    Star Movies to present a recap of ‘Lost’ tomorrow

    MUMBAI: Fans of the action adventure show Lost which airs on Star Movies can catch up if they have missed certain episodes.

    On 7 September 7th at 9 pm the channel presents Lost: Revelation. This offers a recap of the first season and what has happened so far in the second season in a one-hour package. This special episode offers viewers a fresh perspective of the show.

    For the uninitiated the show deals with survivors of a plane crash who are stranded on an island. Viewers will discover the complete story of the grueling first 48 days on the island for the fuselage survivors and tailies after the crash of Oceanic flight 815.

    The channel says that since the beginning, Lost has mystified and intrigued viewers with its characters and storytelling. The first season dealt with the fuselage survivors, the hatch and a failed attempt to get off the island. Season two continues these stories and also introduces viewers to the survivors of the tail section.

    Lost: Revelation puts these two seasons together in a linear fashion that provides an illuminating view on one compelling story. See the sequence of the aftermath of the failed raft attempt, the opening of the hatch, how the tail section and fuselage survivors lived separately and the unwitting intersections of their lives, and how both groups ultimately collided in one catastrophic moment.

  • Breakthrough Animation forays into multi-platform programming

    Breakthrough Animation forays into multi-platform programming

    MUMBAI: Breakthrough Animation Inc., a Canadian animation production company, announced at Mipcom 2006 that it will create cutting-edge multi-platform vignettes for three of its most popular animated series, Atomic Betty, Miss BG and Captain Flamingo.

    As announced by Breakthrough Animation Inc., executive producer and managing partner Kevin Gillis, the company is creating high-quality, original programming to ensure that they remains at the forefront of the industry as audiences gravitate toward diversified platforms for entertainment.

    Breakthrough Entertainment will distribute the content to broadcasters and Breakthrough New Media will distribute the mobile content to telecommunication companies and content aggregators for the mobile market, informed an official release.

    The vignettes developed for Atomic Betty will be a combination of humourous, space-based science facts, blooper reels, animated interviews and music videos. Along the lines of the original series, Miss BG’s vignettes will highlight her unconventional perspective on the world, her family and friends. While Captain Flamingo disseminates 101 ways to attain superhero savvy by revealing a sneak-peek into his extraordinary talents.

    “As audiences move toward accessing their content beyond the traditional television broadcast platform we want to provide unique programming for these new mediums. Traditional television content was intended to be viewed on an all-encompassing wide screen format to bring the audience into the program’s world. The advent of portable personal devices has created the opportunity for a one-on-one experience between our characters and our audience. Produced for the mobile screen, we have designed our multi-platform programming to provide distinctive content for these mediums because we believe global audiences will be looking for an original viewing experience that differentiates it from re-purposed fare,” said Gillis.

    Atomic Betty is a co-production between Atomic Cartoons, Breakthrough Animation Inc., and TeleImages Kids, the comedy-adventure animated series has already been licensed worldwide to major broadcasters in over 120 territories. Atomic Betty follows the adventures of Betty, whose double life as “Galactic Guardian and Defender of the Cosmos” takes her on a whirlwind journey through space. Extensive merchandising and licensing deals have been signed including Penguin Books for publishing and Hallmark for greeting cards.

    Miss BG is adapted from the acclaimed “Gudule & les Bébés” book collection authored by Fanny Joly and illustrated by Roser Capdevilla. Miss BG is a co-production between Ellipsanime, Breakthrough Animation, TVO, TFO (Canada) and France 5. Aimed at kids aged 5-8, the 3-D animated TV series centers around the world of Miss BG.

    Captain Flamingo is a co-production between Breakthrough Animation, Heroic Film Company, Atomic Cartoons and Pasi Animation, the animated hit is an original production for YTV Canada. Captain Flamingo follows the adventures of Milo Powell who, tired of being overlooked by big kids, dons his terrycloth cape as Captain Flamingo and saves the day for kids everywhere.

  • Sunfeast and Hungama TV join hands for ‘The Sunfeast Open Ball boy/Ball Girl Contest 2006’

    Sunfeast and Hungama TV join hands for ‘The Sunfeast Open Ball boy/Ball Girl Contest 2006’

    MUMBAI: Sunfeast and Hungama TV have announced ‘The Sunfeast Open Ball boy/Ball Girl Contest 2006’. This contest will give children across the country a chance to be the ball boy/girl in a match played on center court during the Sunfeast Open tournament to kick off in Kolkata from 18 – 24 September 2006.

    To participate in the contest kids will have to answer a question that will be aired on Hungama TV till 15 September. It appears that the question will be related to India’s top woman’s tennis player. Correct responses will give five lucky winners a chance to participate as ball boys/ ball girls at the tournament.

    What’s more, these five kids will also be featured on Ten Sports and Hungama TV, in addition to receiving special training for this role at the Jaidip Mukerjea Tennis Academy promoted by former India tennis ace and Tournament director for Sunfeast Open, Jaidip Mukerjea.

    Contestants can enter the contest by sending their answers either by SMS to 6767888 or email to sunfeastopen@itc.in.

    Besides providing the kids with an opportunity to rub shoulders with International Tennis Stars, it is also an attempt to promote the game in India.

    ITC Foods Ltd. divisional chief executive Ravi Naware said, “Sunfeast’s association with sports was to foster love for the game and groom generation next for keener participation in sporting activities. It is our constant endeavor to connect with our audiences by providing constant interface between the tournament and the audiences in order to form a strong connect and create a sense of ownership for the tournament among viewers.”

    Further commenting on the association Hungama TV COO Zarina Mehta said, “Hungama TV always believes in empowering, engaging and entertaining kids through various touch points, both on-air and off-air. This unique initiative with Sunfeast is an opportunity to provide a wholesome experience of both our brands by giving our consumers an access to their role models and enabling them to get a step closer to their aspirations.

    Touted as South Asia’s biggest sporting spectacle, the Sunfeast Open 2006 is Tier III WTA (Women Tennis Association) event with prize money of US$ 170,000. It will be played at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata from 18 to 24 September 2006. The tournament is being brought to Kolkata by Globosport, the sports management company owned by Mahesh Bhupathi, under the auspices of the Government of West Bengal.

  • Filmy launches its gaming property ‘Filmy Stock Exchange’

    MUMBAI: For those who love to play the stock exchanges and are fascinated by Bollywood, Sahara’s Hindi movie channel Filmy has launched Filmy Stock Exchange.

    Beginning 1 October, this game will be played through the internet and mobile and it will give Bollywood fans across India an opportunity to “own” their favourite stars by trading for them. It could be anybody from Sharukh Khan to Aishwarya Rai.

    Actor Arshad Warsi is the brand ambassador for this new show. “The idea of FSE is fascinating. The younger audience will be able to connect with it very well. There can’t be a more engaging way of learning the workings of the stock exchange. It’s simple and fun to play.”

    Registered users will initially get 1000 Filmy Rs (FRs) to create their portfolio of stars. The stock prices of each star will change every hour on the basis of their box office performance, trading trends, industry news and gossip. And in the process players can redeem their filmy Rs for big, exciting prizes.

    Talking about the game, Sahara One Media And Entertainment Limited CEO Shantonu Aditya says, “In today’s media scenario, interactivity and convergence are key to a brand’s growth. FSE is a cutting-edge initiative to take the channel’s brand proposition forward.”

    “It’s a one stop destination for all film buffs if one plays intelligently. And moreover there are prizes every week. We are in the process of tying up with brands for the prizes,” adds Aditya.

    The publicity campaign for the show will begin soon with 30 or 60 second teasers. It will also give the viewers an insight into how to play the game. Once FSE kicks off the channel is planning collaborations with radio stations and trade magazines.

    Filmy business head Ashutosh says, “This is an absolutely new concept. In a way it will be a parameter for the players to check out where their icons stand. It’s just not an engaging property for our viewers, it’s a good brand for our advertisers to associate with. It’s a multimedia property in the true sense of the term.”

    “The response from the film fraternity has also been exciting. There will be 30 stars at the end of every month. And by the end of each month, around three stars will go out and more will be added on the show,” added Shailesh Kapoor, head of marketing and content.