ITV

Category: News Headline

  • ESPN Star Sports extends Spanish soccer rights till 2009

    ESPN Star Sports extends Spanish soccer rights till 2009

    MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports has extended its multi-year agreement for exclusive broadcast rights of the Spanish Soccer league in India till 2009.

    This further strengthens ESS’ coverage of international football in India, including rights to broadcast the English Premier League, FA English Football package, the Asian Football Confederation package, in adddition to the Fifa World Cup 2006 coverage live on its network.

    Announcing the acquisition, ESPN India head RC Venkateish said, “We’re pleased to partner with Sportfive once again for broadcasting the league in India. Our effort to build affinity for Spanish Primera Liga has started paying rich dividends. We expect to grow the league even further in the coming three years.”

    The Spanish Primera Liga boasts two of the best known clubs in the world in Real Madrid and Barcelona. ESS has been making special efforts to promote international soccer in the country with live screenings, building viewer affinity for international leagues like the Spanish league and growing knowledge among Indian viewers are some of the steps ESPN Star Sports has taken to enhance the passion associated with the game.

  • Luxury technology brand Vu sets up shop in India

    Luxury technology brand Vu sets up shop in India

    MUMBAI: Vu, a luxury technology brand which researches, develops and manufactures high-end computers, LCD displays and digital homes has forayed into the Indian market. The company has set base in Mumbai by the promoters of Zenith Computers Ltd.

    Based in California, Vu has opened its flagship store in Mumbai at the CR2 Mall, Nariman Point. The store carries Vu branded systems and displays and has the world’s first ‘Gadget bar’ that sells the latest in luxury technology within a unique retail experience.

    Vu Technologies CEO Devita Saraf said, “We believe that the world of technology can be very exciting and purchasing high-end technology should be retail therapy for the guys. Our products are the outcome of our NPD (New product development) lab – cutting-edge innovation, sleek product design and unparallel customer service. Its an experience unlike any other that you have been previously exposed to – Vu will be a very uncommon offer.”

    On the other hand, Vu’s Digital Home will be a combination of computers, communication and consumer electronics that has been created with a simple user interface and design. This will be priced at Rs 100,000.

    Vu also retails LCD displays from 7″ to 47″, skype products, Bluetooth-based products and a range of Apple products. Vu will bring the latest in luxury technologies from across the world to the store, and plans to open 30 stores across India by the December 2007.

  • Hungama launches third Captains Hunt; to search for leaders of tomorrow

    Hungama launches third Captains Hunt; to search for leaders of tomorrow

    MUMBAI: Hungama TV has launched the third edition of its Captains Hunt, which will search for 10 of the smartest kids across the country, between the age group 8 – 14 years. These kids will be on the board of directors of Hungama TV and run the channel for the next one year.

    The channel has set aside a budget of Rs 10+ million for this year’s Captain’s Hunt. While in the initial phase the concentration will be on school contact programmes in 10 cities; the focus will shift to mass media during November – December, when the hunt will culminate.

    The hunt kickstarted on 15 August 2006 and will travel to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Indore and Baroda targeting more than 500,000 kids in 500 schools across these cities. These kids will offer regular inputs on programming, marketing, distribution and competition.

    This year the premise of the Captain’s Hunt has been changed. The aim is to find and shape the future leaders of India. The final 10 will be trained by industry leaders from various fields and will provide them with advice and direction to develop their potential and emerge as leaders of tomorrow. The kids will be judged on the basis of articulation, intelligence, confidence, ambition and talent.

    UTV senior vice president – marketing and communications Siddharth Roy Kapur said, “At Hungama TV, our Captains are always an integral part of decision making, be it programming, marketing initiatives or on-ground research. Hungama TV Captains have helped the channel reach the position it has today and we really value their inputs. This year we are looking for the best and brightest kids across the country to run the channel and benefit from personal mentoring by iconic leaders of today.”

    Once the entries are received from the 10 cities, 1000 kids will be shortlisted from each city in the second round. Thereafter, 50 kids will be chosen in the third round after which the number boils down to two kids from each city. Out of these 20 kids, 10 will then be chosen (one per city) to be the Captains.

    The last day for receiving entries is 30 September. The auditions will take place in November and the finale on 9 – 10 December.

    The 2007 captains will have many opportunities in store. A Captains Advisory Council (CAC), which will comprise leaders from various walks of life, will mentor these captains. The Captains will have exclusive access to the Council to seek advice and guidance on a regular basis. Also, Hungama TV will support a unique talent of every Captain by funding their coaching or training during their tenure.

    Origentest, the research and implementation arm of IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd, has been roped in as the knowledge partner and will be responsible for developing the various tests of the hunt.

    This year’s hunt has Parle-G as the presenting sponsor and Boost Chocoblast as the co-presenting sponsor. The associate sponsors are Colgate, The Sugar & Spice, Reynolds, Kellogg’s Chocos, Dukes Big Bite and Boomer Mango Jelly.

  • JumpTV signs four more Indian channels

    JumpTV signs four more Indian channels

    MUMBAI: JumpTV Inc., the global broadcaster of ethnic television over the internet, has signed exclusive internet-broadcast distribution agreements with four Indian television channels specialising in news, current events, politics and entertainment.

    Hindi news channel India TV along with Malayalam television channels Kairali TV, People TV and Amrita TV have ‘jumped’ into the bandwagon now. Each channel will be priced at US$9.95 per month when launched commercially and at a later date will likely make up components of an Indian and/or South Asian bundle.

    These new contracts that have been signed subsequent to the company’s 30 June 2006 quarter end disclosure. JumpTV now has 209 channels under license, informs an official release.

    President and chief executive officer of JumpTV International Kaleil Isaza Tuzman stated, “With more than 15 million people of Indian origin living outside of the sub-continent — more than half of whom live in countries with high-broadband penetration such as the UK, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and the UAE — we believe there is a massive global market for these channels.”

    JumpTV’s Asia-Pacific director Vinod Kumar adds, “We are pleased to add such valuable partners as India TV News, Kairali TV, People TV and Amrita TV to JumpTV’s growing channel lineup. These channels add a new and diverse level of Indian programming to our strong roster of content which includes Sony Entertainment Television Asia, Punjab Today and Balle Balle, among others.”

    Early this June, JumpTV had entered into an exclusive agreement to begin offering Sony Entertainment Television Asia (SET Asia) in North America via internet.

  • Tegic launches ‘XT9’ mobile platform in India

    Tegic launches ‘XT9’ mobile platform in India

    MUMBAI: Tegic Communications, a unit of AOL’s wireless division, has launched its XT9 Mobile interface in India. The XT9 Mobile interface integrates popular T9 software for the phone keypad, as well as hard and soft QWERTY keyboard, with handwriting recognition capabilities using a stylus.

    By making it simpler to type words and phrases, XT9 makes it easier to enjoy popular content and wireless services such as mobile web browsing, search and messaging, states an official release.

    “With mobile and SMS usage growing at such a rapid pace in India, we feel this is the perfect time to add XT9 to our list of available products in such an important market,” says Tegic SVP emerging markets Ray Tsuchiyama.

    “By offering XT9 in India, we are furthering our goal of making text input on mobile phones simple and fast, regardless of whether a user is typing text on a keypad or using a stylus to enter words.”

    SXT9 Mobile Interface Features Include:

    Next Word Prediction: XT9 recognizes words often used in a defined sequence and can suggest the next word the moment a user keys the first word.

    Support for Any Input Method: XT9 works for any key layout, including hard and soft keys, and even handwriting. Each of these input modes are able to work together to compose emails, text messages, and more.

    Regional Error Correction: XT9 helps ensure a better messaging experience by compensating for users tapping incorrect keys. For example, if a user inadvertently types or writes “m-o-o-b,” XT9 will present “moon” since the “b” is just one key away from the “n,” and the word “moon” is a more likely choice.

    Word Order Preference: XT9 is able to predict multiple words of the same key sequence, such as good, home and gone, any of which can be selected by pressing the “next” key. However, if a user texts “home” more often than “good”, XT9 learns quickly and will show “home” as the first option, making it faster for the user to get to the word they are most likely typing. This functionality works for all input modes.

    Smart Punctuation and Auto-Accenting: XT9 offers smart punctuation for words such as I’ll or we’ll. In order to use punctuation, a user simply has to press “1” and the XT9 software will know where and how to use punctuation. Additionally, XT9 will predict which words require accents and will automatically add them. For instance, if the user inputs “espanol,” XT9 will present “español”.

    User Database: The XT9 user database gives mobile phone users the freedom to add any word to their phone’s language database from any input mode.

    Availability:

    The XT9 Mobile Interface is now available for manufacturers of mobile and electronic devices to license and integrate into upcoming models. For more information about the XT9 Mobile Interface, visit www.tegic.com.

  • Spice Telecom in expansion mode, launches Kannada Wap portal

    Spice Telecom in expansion mode, launches Kannada Wap portal

    BANGALORE: Spice Telecom (Spice) has launched its Kannada Wap portal Kannada Kasturi.com. Times Internet (TIL) supplies content to the portal.

    On offer is a collection of polytones, pruetones, singtones, MP3 Tones, videos, animations, wallpapers, videotones and theme downloads in Kannada. Value added services including WAP. IVR, SMS, USSD and MyTunes (CRBT) will also be offered on KK.

    Spice CEO Navin Kaul is optimistic about doubling the existing subscriber base of 500,000 in Karnataka in the next 10 months. Spice is present in two circles – Punjab and Karnataka – with an overall subscriber base of 2 million, states an official release. Kaul also revealed Spice’ Karnataka plan to increase the presence from the current 80 towns and cities to another 150.

    On a national scale, Spice proposes to bid for all the circles. Spice has now moved ahead of Tata Indicom in Karnataka, up from the last place to number five with the addition of around 150,000 subscribers over the last 5 to 6 months, claimed Kaul during a discussion with this reporter on the sidelines of the press conference.

    TIL Mobile Entertainment business head Neeraj Sharma claims that TIL owns rights to over 50000 picture (wall papers) and sound titles from India and around 10000 from across the world, a major portion of which is English. Times of India Director Sanjiv Sethi claims that TIL owns rights to a major portion – almost one third of the almost 2000-3000 titles of Kannada content.

    Plans are afoot to create awareness of KK. Spice Karnataka spends around Rs 180-200 million towards its media campaign. National TV ads have been a recent addition in the Spice campaign. A few moths ago spice roped in Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra as its brand ambassador. JWT looks after the creative business.

  • VSNL drops bandwith prices

    VSNL drops bandwith prices

    MUMBAI: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) has significantly reduced prices for its international bandwidth products – international private leased circuits (IPLC) and internet leased lines (ILL).

    IPLC prices in India will be reduced by up to 25 per cent with effect from 1 September. ILL tariffs will also fall by up to 40 per cent. These products are offered in India using VSNL’s global network that spans over 200,000 route km, connecting 200 countries.

    Demand for international connectivity has been rapidly growing with several Indian companies including Tata Group investing overseas and India emerging as a favourite destination for foreign investors. International connectivity is also an important driver for the growth of the fast growing IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors. The market for international and internet bandwidth is expected to expand as the reduced prices will encourage demand from new customer segments like SMEs, smaller ISPs and academic institutions.

    VSNL also intends to build two new submarine cable systems, one between India and Europe and the other intra-Asia, in partnership with leading carriers in the respective regions. These multi-terabit capacity systems, incorporating state of the art technologies, would interconnect with VSNL’s existing global network that has over 20 terabits of capacity. The India-Europe cable would also provide connectivity to the Gulf region and the African continent, and supplement the Company’s existing bandwidth capacity in several consortium cables in the region. The intra-Asia cable between Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan would enhance the link between the Company’s Tata Indicom Cable (Chennai – Singapore) and TGN Pacific (Japan – USA). The overall build cost of these two cable systems is expected to be in the region of $600 million.

    “VSNL has always taken the lead in growing the internet and international bandwidth market in India. We have invested over Rs 25 billion in expanding our global presence and connectivity in the last 2 years. We have regularly passed on the benefits of improved cost efficiencies and service quality to our customers,” says VSNL executive director N Srinath. “The new cables would enhance VSNL’s global network in two of the fastest growing regions in the world,” he adds.

    IPLCs are point to point, international private circuits, mainly used by large Indian corporates and multinationals to connect to their regional and global locations. Internet Leased Lines are dedicated high speed connections to access the Internet, used by enterprises and small / medium ISPs.

    VSNL acquired Tyco Global Network (TGN) last year to own undersea cable bandwidth. Early this year it also acquired Teleglobe to become a large international wholesale voice carrier with about 17 billion minutes of traffic annually.

  • HC’s U/A ok sees Sahara One, Filmy back on air

    HC’s U/A ok sees Sahara One, Filmy back on air

    MUMBAI: Sahara One and Filmy are back on the cable TV networks in Maharashtra while the ban on the other seven channels for showing adult movie content continues.

    “Sahara One and Filmy were banned due to a confusion on U/A certificate. We have certain movies with U/A certificate and mistakenly it was included in the A category. But yesterday’s High Court ruling brought the clarity that U/A certified movies don’t come under the purview of the ban. Hence, our two channels are now back on air,” says Sahara One Media & Entertainment CEO Shantonu Aditya.

    B’casters to meet I&B ministry to convey views
    Broadcasters are planning to meet the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry to represent their views. They are willing to obtain certificate from the censor board before they air any movies. But they feel the entire process of certification of their movie library would require time. “The certification board needs to beef up its infrastructure to clear a huge pile of movies. We want to be given time for carrying out this process,” says a senior executive of a leading movie channel.

    The channels which are still to come on air are Star Gold, Star Movies, Star One, Max, Zee Cinema, AXN and HBO. These channels will continue to remain off air at least till the next hearing of the case.

    DTH providers continue to show banned channels
    Direct-to-home (DTH) service providers, however, continued to show these banned channels as they were yet to be served notice. Tata Sky Ltd and Dish TV executives were not available for comment. The Bombay High Court yesterday ruled that DTH service providers and broadcasters were bound by the 21 December, 2005 order banning the telecast of movies with `A’ certificates.
    “Nobody has received the High Court order as yet. This could be the reason for these channels being still available on DTH,” an industry observer says.

    Out of the list of 122 movies given to the High Court, 84 have U/A certification. “We are happy that the order includes broadcasters and DTH operators. If DTH is showing the channels today, that may be because the fine print of the High Court order has not reached anybody,” says Ravi Singh, a distributor of Wire and Wireless India Ltd (WWIL).

    The cable TV service in pockets of Malad and Borivli, located in the western suburbs of Mumbai, are yet to resume following the police raid and sealing of amplifiers. “We are taking up the matter with the court tomorrow for restoration of signals. Seven sub-operators are affected in this area,” says Singh.

    Broadcasters have recently been cautious in buying Hindi movies from producers. In acquiring new adult movies for telecast rights, they are insisting on re-censoring it for television. Sahara, for instance, acquired Gangster, an `A’-rated movie after asking the producer to re-censor it for TV viewing.

    “In case we buy A movies in future, we will re-censor it,” says Aditya.

    Film producers, however, feel that re-censoring is an unnecessary headache and will occupy bureaucratic procedures. The editing may also make it less attractive for TV viewing if the content is essential to the plot of the movie, they say.

    Meanwhile, the Film & Television Producers Guild Of India has sought clarity from the I&B minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi over the confusion prevailing “in respect of film certification and broadcast content regulation.”

    Guild president Amit Khanna said the entire entertainment fraternity would be grateful if the I&B ministry could take issue of ‘censorship’ holistic in the spirit of a self-regulating code and take appropriate steps to make suitable legislative amendments in this regard at the earliest.

  • Amrita TV unveils Onam programme package

    Amrita TV unveils Onam programme package

    MUMBAI: Malayalam entertainment channel Amrita TV has announced its package for the upcoming Onam season. A slew of cultural and entertainment programmes has been slotted for the period of 3 September to 9 September.

    The highlight of the package is the premiere of two blockbusters Madhuchandralekha and Vargam. The channel will also telecast ppopular Tamil films Boys, Run and Khushi dubbed in Malayalam.

    To spice up the occasion, Amrita TV will also telecast a special episode of its channel driver reality show Super Stars, as per an official communique.

    A sneak peak at the extravaganza:
    Virunnu: Popular stars visiting other stars’ housesa for Onam celebration.

    Onam celebrations by the star cast of our popular serials Sathi Leelavathi & In Jawahar Colony, set in a a residential colony.

    Review of new films released; chat sessions with the respective directors and producers.

    A comparative look at the last five year’s Onam.

    Star Interviews: Mamooty, Sathyan Anthikkad, Vikram, Poornima-Bhagyaraj, Padmapriya, Vikram, Ajith & Shalini
    Star family – Interview with star sisters Urvasi, Kalpana, Kalaranjani and their family

    Special Udayamritham: Celebrities sharing their onam experience in this special episode of the breakfast show.

    Sruthilayam – Musical show participated by celebrities like Bala Bhaskar, Manjari and other star singers.

    Onam with senior actresses Kaviyoor Ponnamma, KPAC Lalitha, Sreelatha will share their experience in the film industry.

    Special Super Star – Super duper edition of Super Star with celebrity participation.

    Special editions of Santhwanam & Samagamam with celebrity participation.

    Events – GMMA: Gulf Malayali Music Awards function held at Dubai. participated by the entire music fraternity from Malayalam – schedule 8 September.

    Special Treasure Hunt for Youth & Kids
    Madras Masala: Onam memories by Tamil film stars
    Cattle Race, Documentaries & Tele-films

    Chat session between kids actor Dileep & wife Manju Warrier, the lucky kids will be chosen through a special contest.
    Telecast on Uthraadam & Thiruvonam days:
    Onam celebration by a group of Malayali celebrities and the film personalities settled in Chennai. More than 20 star and celebrity families get together at a theme park (Kishkinta) in Chennai to celebrate Onam. The participants includes K J Jesudas & family, Jayaram & Family, Jeyachandran & family, Priyadarshan & family, Srinivasan & family, Sujatha, Urvasi, Sheela, Jayabharati, Ambika, Revathy, Seema, I V Sasi, Asin, Nayanthara and Sukumari.
    The Programme schedule: Dance permonce by actor Vineeth and Gopika Verma
    Vanchippattu by professional singers
    Pookkalam competition by stars
    Interactive session between star families
    Tug of war between stars
    Musical chair

    Amrita TV has also roped in leading celebrities including Menaka, Kalpana, Manju Pillai, Manjari and Shelly to anchor each of the Onam days.

  • Animax to premiere ‘Appleseed’ as movie of the month on 26 August

    Animax to premiere ‘Appleseed’ as movie of the month on 26 August

    MUMBAI: Animax, international animation channel will showcase an exclusive premiere of the animation movie – Appleseed on Saturday 26 August at 7 pm.

    Appleseed illustrates a story in the year 2131 and the post-apocalypse period, in a world called Olympus created after a non-nuclear war where the world is dominated not only by humans but mechanical Cyborgs, informs an official release.

    A fierce war has left the world barren and desolate and ex-soldier Deunan Knute travels the wastelands fighting alone, not knowing that the war is over. With no mode of communication and nobody but herself, Deunan is attacked by a helicopter and knocked unconscious, and wakes up in the utopian city of Olympus.

    All seems peaceful and calm, especially after the war and Deunan is quickly brought up to date by her ex-lover Briareos. While she appreciates the happiness of the people of Olympus, Deunan gradually senses something amiss – the tranquility is almost eerie, and she learns from the stunning Hitomi that most of the ‘people’are actually clones.

    With the near-complete destruction of mankind in the war, even Briareos is almost-all machine, and Hitomi herself is a Bioroid. In the new world order Olympus has become the leader to the rest of the countries, depended on for their very existence. But lurking beneath the surface is a web of sinister cover-ups and changes which threaten to destroy mankind while preserving it – tensions are growing, and when Deunan discovers an insidious conspiracy in Olympus itself, she must face her own past in the battle to save the fate of humanity, adds the release.