ITV

Category: News Headline

  • DD to showcase ‘Meeting a Milestone’ on Ustad Bismillah Khan

    DD to showcase ‘Meeting a Milestone’ on Ustad Bismillah Khan

    MUMBAI: As a mark of respect following the demise of Indian classical music legend and Bharat Ratna recipient Ustad Bismillah Khan, national network Doordarshan is paying tributes to the maestro by telecasting a documentary Sangemeel Se Mulaquat (Meeting a Milestone).

    DD will air the documentary tonight at 10 pm. The 90-minute film has been produced by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), with direction and photography by Gautam Ghose. It is in Hindi and Urdu, informs an official statement.

    The shehnai (Indian wind instrument) maestro passed away of heart failure today. The government has declared a day of national mourning.

    The national flag flew at half-mast at government buildings while schools and government offices were closed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Ustad Khan lived and passed away in his hometown of Varanasi.

    According to the statement, in view of this, the programmes scheduled earlier against the aforesaid time slots 10 pm to 11:30 pm on DD-1 will not be telecast. The Bioscope: serialized feature film Gautam Govinda (Part-1) will air at 11:30 pm on DD tonight.

    Born on 21 March, 1916, into a family of court musicians, Ustad Khan started training at the age of six. A high point in his career was when he played shehnai at Delhi’s Red Fort on the eve of India’s Independence in 1947.

    Ustad Khan was admitted to hospital last week after he complained of weakness.

  • Webaroo introduces enhanced version of free mobile offline web

    Webaroo introduces enhanced version of free mobile offline web

    MUMBAI: Webaroo, the creator of the searchable web offline, has introduces a improved version of Webaroo’s services allowing the users’ to download web content onto their mobile devices.

    “There is definitely a growing interest in accessing Internet content on mobile devices, but consumers have been challenged with small screens and slow but expensive connections,” said Enderle Research Group USA principal analyst Rob Enderle. “Webaroo is a wonderful way to provide the experience of a fast broadband connection on a disconnected mobile device nearly eliminating the drawbacks of slow or unavailable wireless networks and high cellular Internet costs.”

    “We’ve received great feedback over the past few months from all over the world and have improved our service to meet customer requests. People now have great control over the content they mobilize with Webaroo, can easily save bookmarks, video and audio attachments, and save web sites more completely and easily,” Webaroo CTO and co-founder Beerud Sheth said.

    The upgraded service include features:

    Increased control: several new features have been integrated to provide deeper management and manipulation of each person’s custom, mobile web. Users can save a web site up to ‘five links deep’ while controlling the download size with easy settings for the number of pages to save or the amount of hard disk space to occupy.

    Easily Add Favourite Bookmarks:

    People can now import bookmarks from IE and Firefox browsers into Webaroo in one simple step. Support for Saving Multimedia Attachments Webaroo now supports downloading embedded attachments on websites including documents, audio and video content. People can easily limit download attachment sizes.

    Browser Button for Adding Web Pages and Sites:

    A new Webaroo button seamlessly implemented into Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers makes it easy to add websites and web pages to Webaroo as people browse. People can also add email correspondences.

    Content Location Control:

    People now have the option to select the location on their hard disk where the offline web is stored. For maximum convenience, they receive an alert when the maximum disk space limit is approaching.

    The release informs that it is compatible with computers running Windows XP and Windows 2000 and handhelds running Windows Pocket PC 2003 SE or Windows Mobile 5.0. The company is planning to introduce supports for further mobile device operating systems.

    Webaroo is a free software service that allows people to download web content onto their laptops and mobile devices and search it anytime, anywhere, without a connection.

  • UTV announces slate of international co-productions with Fox, Will Smith’s Overbrook and Sony Pictures for a total commitment of $37 mn.

    UTV announces slate of international co-productions with Fox, Will Smith’s Overbrook and Sony Pictures for a total commitment of $37 mn.

    LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK and MUMBAI August 20, 2006 – UTV, India’s leading media and entertainment company, today announced an unprecedented slate of co-productions with leading Hollywood Studios, with a total value across projects of USD 37 million – the largest such commitment by any South Asian media major.

    UTV and Fox Searchlight announced a co-production deal on the film I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE, starring Chris Rock. Ronnie Screwvala, CEO of UTV Motion Pictures and Peter Rice, CEO of Fox Searchlight announced this in Los Angeles on Friday. Principal photography has been completed in New York; Fox Searchlight plans to release the film in the U.S. on February 9, 2007. The USD 14 million production is UTV’s second venture with Fox after THE NAMESAKE, directed by Mira Nair, which will be released in March 2007.

    Peter Rice, CEO of Fox Searchlight says, “We are very eager to be partnering with UTV, a dynamic force in South Asian Media. Ronnie’s innovative vision parallels Searchlight’s and after working together on THE NAMESAKE we jumped at the chance to collaborate again on our highly anticipated Chris Rock comedy I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE.”

    The second deal UTV announced is a USD 30 million co-production agreement with Actor/producer Will Smith and his production company Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, for films to be created and distributed worldwide. This was announced in New York on Saturday by Ronnie Screwvala, Will Smith, James Lassiter, Smith’s partner at Overbrook Entertainment and Amy Pascal, Chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.

    The two-picture deal emerged from a Sony arranged visit Smith and Lassiter took to India in February 2006 to explore co-production possibilities, when they met with media titans and key members of the creative community. As a result of the co-production agreement, UTV and Overbrook will develop films that will have a global reach and appeal. The first two projects will be a live-action film valued at USD 10 million and a CG animated motion picture at USD 20 million.

    Sony Pictures Entertainment has a first look deal for the two productions. According to the terms of the agreement, while UTV and Overbrook will co-produce the movies, SPE will distribute the movies worldwide, excluding India.

    “India is one of the most remarkable places on Earth and its motion picture industry has always fascinated me”, said Will Smith.

    “This unique agreement is the future of our business”, said Pascal. “Sony has been involved with local language initiatives for many years and this deal accentuates the way our industry is becoming more borderless and more global every day.”

    “We are particularly excited to have an animation project as part of this agreement”, said Lassiter, “since India is emerging as the next big destination for animation content and UTV is on the cutting-edge of animation development.”

    Ronnie Screwvala, Chief Executive Officer of UTV states: “UTV is focused on collaborating with like-minded partners like Fox, Sony and Will Smith to produce entertainment for global audiences. For UTV, these projects are a big step in reaching key North American markets and expanding our presence globally. UTV has made the biggest commitment by any South Asian media major to international co-productions and we will continue to lead the way in this regard.”

    About UTV: UTV is a leading integrated media and entertainment company based in South Asia, with international subsidiaries in the U.S., UK and South East Asia. Publicly listed on the Indian Stock Exchange last year, it is a leader in TV content in Asia, with a large Animation and SFX facility; has one of the first fully integrated studio models in movies and occupies a dominant space in the kids programming and broadcasting space in South Asia.

    About Fox Searchlight: Fox Searchlight Pictures is a specialty film company that both produces and acquires motion pictures. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and its films are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.

    About Sony Pictures Entertainment: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPEs global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com <http://www.sonypictures.com> .

    About Overbrook Entertainment: Overbrook Entertainment is a film and television production company owned by James Lassiter and Will Smith. Overbrook’s film productions include the hit romantic comedy Hitch, the sci-fi thriller I, Robot, the bio-pic Ali, and the upcoming drama The Pursuit of Happyness, all starring Smith. In addition Overbrook produced Saving Face starring Joan Chen, Showtime starring Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy and ATL starring platinum-selling recording artist T.I. For television, Overbrook produces the current CW network hit All Of Us. Overbrook also produced the soundtracks for such films as Wild, Wild West and Men In Black, both of which won the American Music Award for favorite soundtracks.

  • Cable ops must carry channels operated by Parliament

    Cable ops must carry channels operated by Parliament

    MUMBAI: The government has made it mandatory for all cable TV operators to transmit the Sansad Television Network channels.

    The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2006 has incorporated section (8) of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 making it compulsory for every cable operator “to re-transmit channels operated by or on behalf of Parliament”.

    According to an official statement, the Cabinet’s decision will enable consumers to view the Parliamentary proceedings and other informative and educative programmes being transmitted by the channels operated by or on behalf of the Parliament of India.

    As per the new directive, every cable operator shall, from the commencement of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2000, re-transmit at least two Doordarshan terrestrial channels and one regional language channel of a State in the prime band, in satellite mode on frequencies other than those carrying terrestrial frequencies.

    Section 8 also mentions that these channels shall be re-transmitted without any deletion or alteration of any programme transmitted on them.

  • Star World examines the psychology of ‘Criminal Minds’ next month

    Star World examines the psychology of ‘Criminal Minds’ next month

    MUMBAI: From 3 September 2006 English general entertainment channel Star World will air the show Criminal Minds on Sundays at noon and 10 pm, Mondays at 1 pm and on Saturdays at 5 pm.
    Best described as a psychological suspense thriller, with lots of deductive action, Criminal Minds follows an elite squad of profilers who analyse the country’s most twisted serial criminal minds, anticipating their next move before they strike again.

    The show stars Mandy Patinkin Chicago Hope as head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, the series also features Thomas Gibson as a disarming family man, Matthew Gray Gubler as a socially-retarded genius, Shemar Moore as an expert on obsession crimes and Lola Galudini as an agent specialising in sexual offenses, who was herself assaulted years ago.

    In the first episode, when a fourth woman goes missing in Seattle during the course of four months, the team is brought in to profile her captor and find him before he strikes again. Gideon, who has taken a six month leave of absence since running lead on a case in Boston that ended in a disaster, is asked to help crack the case. While the team works to hunt down the serial killer, Hotch is asked to discreetly evaluate whether or not Gideon is really ready to return to full-time duty.

    In the second episode the team investigates a series of fires set on a college campus. Since most of the evidence from the fires has been burned beyond recognition, Gideon and his team must rely on psychological analysis to identify the firestarter. Utilising their knowledge of serial arsonists, they set up a general profile. When the fires start, claiming the lives of several victims, the search heats up, forcing them to look beyond the textbook profile to catch the killer.

    The channel will also air the second season of Enterprise from 9 September every Saturday at 10 pm. The science fiction show is set in the 22nd century, nearly 100 years before the events shown in the television show Star Trek. Enterprise takes place during the early pioneering days of deep space exploration, when interstellar travel is in its infancy and the United Federation of Planets is still decades away.

    Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) is the prototype for Starfleet captains to come; he’s bold, intensely curious, and eager to venture where no man has gone before. Unlike the seasoned, sometimes unflappable officers of the 24th century, the crew of Enterprise exhibits a sense of wonder and excitement, as well as a little trepidation about the strange things they’ll encounter. With their star charts mostly empty, they’ll have to prove they’re ready for life among the stars.

  • Government defers decision on TV channels’ apology

    Government defers decision on TV channels’ apology

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government deferred a decision on cracking the whip on TV channels airing surrogate liquor and tobacco advertisements.

    A communiqué from the information and broadcasting ministry to TV channels said that the decision on airing a public apology from 18-21 August has been deferred.
    The ministry communication also added that a decision on airing of surrogate ads relating to liquor and tobacco companies would be taken by a “competent authority” at a later date.

    The ministry of Information and Broadcasting had earlier this month issued a warning to 43 channels directing them to carry a scroll for three days regretting airing surrogate advertisements of liquor and tobacco products in violation of rules.

    The ministry, however, did not elaborate on the competent authority that will decide on such matters or when would such an authority come into existence.

    Broadcasting industry sources said that this was an outcome of effective lobbying with the ministry.

    On Monday, broadcast industry representatives met up with I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and ministry’s secretary SK Arora to discuss various aspects of a proposed broadcast legislation, a draft of which has been dubbed “draconian” by stakeholders.

    One of the issues discussed that day was airing of an apology by ‘errant’ TV channels, which was described as public humiliation.

    Interestingly, when confronted with the apology issue, Dasmunsi had told some of the media companies’ representatives that he wasn’t aware of such a diktat.

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) had also written to the ministry expressing member-TV channels’ reservations on the issue of scrolling an apology.

    The scroll that was to be aired 24-hours for three days read thus: “Ministry of information & broadcasting issues a warning to X (name) channel for telecasting surrogate advertisements of liquor/tobacco products in violation of advertising code. X (name) channel regrets this and apologies for the same. We assure to be more careful in future.”

    Meanwhile, a government-industry meeting on coverage of terrorism and related issues by TV news channels, slated to be held 18 August, was postponed.

    No further date has been intimated to TV channels presently.

    The meeting, called in the aftermath of bomb blasts in Mumbai recently, was to deliberate on the modalities of coverage of terrorism-related events.

    At least two Indian news channels had been issued show-cause notices by the I&B ministry for airing programmes, which have been “objected” to by security forces and the home ministry.

  • Rob Clark is FremantleMedia Worldwide Entertainment senior executive VP

    Rob Clark is FremantleMedia Worldwide Entertainment senior executive VP

    MUMBAI: Format creator and distributor FremantleMedia has promoted Rob Clark to the position senior executive VP entertainment and production, Worldwide Entertainment. This is a part of Fremantklemedia’s creative networks division.

    Hitherto, Clark has been executive VP Production, Worldwide Entertainment. In this capacity he managed the global roll-out of FremantleMedia developed or acquired formats, guaranteeing production quality and ensuring the transfer of production skills between FremantleMedia companies around the world.

    The worldwide entertainment team, including a group of flying producers, develops and distributes marketing materials, format bibles, and provides specialised training in specific formats. Current projects include the global roll-out of Simon Cowell’s latest formats Got Talent launched successfully this summer on NBC in the US, as well as Inventor, which launched this spring on ABC in the US, and Ant and Dec’s Poker Face which launched its first series last month on ITV.

    In addition to this set of production responsibilities Clark will now also oversee the other activities of Worldwide Entertainment, including development and acquisitions. He will identify and support the acquisition of third party entertainment formats that have global potential.

    In addition, he now takes responsibility for the co-ordination of all FremantleMedia’s entertainment development departments worldwide, working with the local heads of development to ensure a flow of FremantleMedia developed formats throughout the company’s global network.

  • Amrita TV plans to enter feature film production

    Amrita TV plans to enter feature film production

    MUMBAI: Amrita Enterprises Pvt Ltd (AEPL), the promoters of Malayalam channel Amrita TV, is planning to set up a separate division for feature film production. Though the business plan is still in its primary stages of evolution, the company is targeting a February 2007 launch of the initiative.

    “We are getting into Malayalam feature film production and the plan is to start the operations within the next six months. We are in the process of working out a business plan,” Amrita TV director and CEO Sudhakar Jayaram told Indiantelevision.com.

    At a time when the number of films produced in Malayalam has gone alarmingly down and consecutively the acquisition rates have shot up, Amrita TV attempts to change the picture in association with industry experts. The plan is to leverage on its in-house film expertise and thus put an end to the scarcity of films available in the acquisition market.

    “The plan is to enter into partnership with key stake holders in the market such as producers and distributors and offer our expertise in this field to launch feature film projects. We will be also launching solo projects as well, making us an independent producer. An important objective of the initiative is to solve the supply demand issue, which is threatening the television business presently,” says Jayaram.

    AEPL’s strategy, according to Jayaram, is to leverage on the creative and infrastructure strengths it already has in the area of film production. He feels that these key assets would attract similar minded players and thus provide a good start to the initiative.

    “We have a nationally well acclaimed film director in our programming head Shyamaprasad. Then there are various other talented filmmakers, who are part of our programming wing. We have a state-of-the-art production infrastructure and we expect that all these elements would come together to give shape to this initiative,” he says.

    When queried on the investments planned, Jayaram says it is too premature to talk about the money part. “It will actually vary from project to project. We will be looking at big, medium and small budget projects. We are yet to finalise details of the initial investment to be made,” says Jayaram.

    Amrita TV draws inspiration from its successful telefilm production experience. In 2005, the channel produced 22 telefilms of 90 minute duration each and all the films were well-acclaimed by the critics as well as the viewers, according to Jayaram.

    However, getting into feature film production doesn’t mean that the AEPL would shift its focus totally. “We will be producing almost the same number of telefilms this year as well. We have already lined up four telefilms for the upcoming Onam festival,” informs Jayaram.

    AEPL, promoted by a group of investors closely associated with Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, launched Amrita TV in 2005 April. The channel is presently making its best efforts to emerge as a tough competitor to market leaders Asianet and Surya TV. In its first year of inception, the channel swept the Kerala State TV awards, winning 15 of the top laurels.

  • Christina Aguilera, The All-American Rejects set to zizzle at 2006 MTV Video Music Awards

    Christina Aguilera, The All-American Rejects set to zizzle at 2006 MTV Video Music Awards

    MUMBAI: US music broadcaster MTV has announced that Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and The All-American Rejects are among the performers for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.

    The event takes place on 31 August.

    MTV says that the event will be a multi-platform, multi-screen experience. For the first time ever in the awards show history, MTV will expose fans to the insanity on and off the stage. While the VMAs are airing live on MTV, Overdrive, the network’s broadband channel, will air “VMA Live: Backstage Uncensored”, a live view of the all the action behind the scenes and backstage viewers have never gotten to see.

    In addition to the television and broadband experiences, MTV Mobile on all wireless carriers will also offer updates and recaps of the VMAs within minutes. Also, prior to the show, viewers will have access to all nominated videos on MTV Overdrive (www.vma.mtv.com).

    The event will be available to a potential viewing audience of more than 1.3 billion people via MTV’s global network of 50 channels reaching 481.5 million households around the world as well as through syndication. Its convergent and original online programming will reach the entire interactive community, via MTV’s 44 Web sites around the world.

    The sponsors of the event are Acuvue, Chevrolet, Dodge, Herbal Essences, JCPenney, Pepsi, Taco Bell and Virgin Mobile USA.

  • Mobily launches 3.5G wireless technology globally

    Mobily launches 3.5G wireless technology globally

    MUMBAI: Saudi Arabia mobile operator Mobily has announced the offer of its 3G services internationally. Mobily subscribers will be able to make video calls to UAE, Italy, Hong Kong, Luxemburg and Australia using the technology of 3G or 3.5G. Mobily has just completed its own 3.5G network which covers 15 cities in Saudi Arabia, consisting more than 900 base stations.

    Subscribers will also be able to watch TV channels live on 3.5G. These include Alarabiyah channel, CNBC Arabiya channel, Saudi TV, Space Toon and others. Mobily says that it is offering a very competitive rate compared to other operators. The cost of video telephony is 0.80 halalas per minute for postpaid subscribers, whereas a minute cost one riyal when using the TV streaming. Mobily does not demand any monthly fees for all the third generation services.

    Media reports indicate that the 3.5G service will also allow for multiplayer gaming. Most of the 3.5G (HSDPA) services require 2G and 3.5G phone handsets, except for the video calling which works only on 3G handsets. One of the excellent services the 3.5G will provide is the access to the internet with 3G speed from laptop using the mobile as a modem. The setting of the internet will not be different from 2G web setting. The speed exceeds four mega per second for download.