ITV

Category: News Headline

  • Channel NewsAsia announces new weekend shows

    Channel NewsAsia announces new weekend shows

    MUMBAI: Asian news channel Channel NewsAsia has announced new shows for the weekend. A persentation was made a few days ago for advertisers and sponsors. Over 300 people from the advertising industry and business community attended the event.

    The channel says that the attendees included the network’s key customers who were treated to a grand opening performance of drums and dance featuring a combination of instruments from the East and West.

    Add to that, there were trailers of things to come at the channel in the months ahead. All these were to complement the theme of the event “Influencing the Influential”.

    MediaCorp News MD Woon Tai Ho said, “We have aggressive plans to pursue the potentially immense market in India and China. As we ride the waves, we hope you will come onboard to see how we can add value to your products with a regional reach.”

    Among the new items will be a special coverage of the IMF-World Bank Meetings in Singapore in September and a programme for Internet bloggers to air their views.

    MediaCorp News’ programming managerHaryaty Abdul Rahman said, “The weekend line-up is going to be revamped soon and what viewers will get to see is fresh lifestyle programming and specifically targeted at the PMEBs. We’ll have lots of new genres such as travel, fashion and design and even talk shows for the weekend.”

  • I&B announces initiatives to boost film industry

    I&B announces initiatives to boost film industry

    MUMBAI: The Central Government has taken the following initiatives for facilitating the growth of film sector, as announced by the minister of Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, P R Dasmunsi in Lok Sabha today. 
    The initiatives include:

    – Institutional financing is now available to the film industry.

    – 100 per cent foreign direct investment is permitted in the film sector.

    – Government has encouraged participation in global markets with a view to enhancing the visibility of the film industry abroad.

    – Film weeks and festivals are held on reciprocal basis with various countries.

    – Audiovisual co-production agreement has been signed with the Republic of Italy and Government of UK and similar proposals from other countries are being explored to expand avenues of finances and markets for the Indian film industry.

    – The recommendations of the Committee for the Development of entertainment sector have been conveyed to all the State Governments.

    – The National Film Development Corporation, a public sector unit under this Ministry provides financial assistance and other services to the film industry.
    The endeavor is to facilitate the entertainment sector to achieve its potential and promote growth in exports, so that this sector is able to increase its contribution towards generating income and employment in the country, informs an official press statement.

    The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has also submitted a memorandum on film industry for the 11th Five Year Plan. The memorandum deals with various issues relating to the film sector. It contains suggestions to mitigate video piracy, levy of uniform entertainment tax across all States, fiscal and tax benefits, review of the Cinematograph Act, incentives for setting up polytechnics, institutes and film schools and an Export Promotion Council for films.

  • BSkyB’s revenues up eight per cen

    BSkyB’s revenues up eight per cen

    MUMBAI: UK pay TV service provider BSkyB has annnounced results for the year ended 30 June 2006.

    Revenue increased by eight per cent to £4.1 billion. Operating profit increased by seven per cent to £877 million, an operating margin of 21 per cent.

    DTH subscribers increased to 8.176 million, registering a growth of 77,000 in the final quarter and 389,000 in the year. Sky+ households increased by 75 per cent to 1.553 million. Multiroom households increased by 62 per cent to 1.047 million. This represents a 13 per cent penetration of total DTH subscribers.

    Preparations were made for the launch of Sky Broadband following the acquisition of Easynet Group. During the year, the company launched Sky HD, new customer management systems were implemented for all DTH customers and key rights to the FA Premier League secured for the 07/08 to 09/10 seasons.

    In addition were major contracts agreed with movie studio and third party channel partners. BSkyB also announced the creation of over 2,000 new jobs for customer advisors and home installation engineers.

    BsSkyB CEO James Murdoch said, “Our industry is changing faster than ever before and for Sky, 2006 has been an important and exciting year. The business and the team have performed well delivering good levels of customer growth, in line with our plans, and strong growth in both revenues and profitability.

    “We have a clear vision for the future growth and direction of our business and we feel encouraged by the strong demand our customers show for new entertainment and communications services. With a continued focus on providing more choice, flexibility and control, we feel confident as we look ahead to the substantial opportunity this market holds for us.”

  • Lanka Tri-series: SC to rule on Ten Sports’ plea

    Lanka Tri-series: SC to rule on Ten Sports’ plea

    MUMBAI: All eyes in the sports broadcast business are on the Supreme Court today, as it is scheduled to deliver its ruling on the plea filed by Taj Television, owner of Ten Sports, seeking a directive to pubcaster Prasar Bharati against interfering with the live transmission of the upcoming Sri Lanka tri-series involving India as well.

    Ten Sports, which holds exclusive telecast rights to Sri Lanka cricket, will obviously be hoping for a ruling similar to the one it secured ahead of India’s tour to the West Indies in early May. The apex court had then ordered that Ten Sports had exclusive telecast rights to the series and need not share it with the pubcaster.

    Ten Sports’ petition is not restricted only to cricket but also includes forthcoming major hockey (women’s Champions Trophy and World Cup) and tennis events (US Open) that it holds telecast rights to.

    The matter will be heard by a Bench of Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Markandey Katju, the Press Trust of India has reported. The Bench had earlier issued notices to the information and broadcasting ministry and Prasar Bharati on Ten Sports’ plea.

    It is worth noting that Ten Sports’ rights to Sri Lanka cricket, which it has held since 1 January 2004, comes to a close on to 31 December 2006.

  • Sun TV Q1 net profit up 52% to Rs 422.3 million

    Sun TV Q1 net profit up 52% to Rs 422.3 million

    MUMBAI: Sun TV has posted a net profit of Rs 422.30 million for the quarter ended 30 June, 2006 as compared to Rs 277.90 million for the corresponding period last year.

    Meanwhile, the company’s the total income for the period has recorded an increase of 32.5 per cent.

    As per a statement issued by the company, the total income has increased from Rs 746.80 million for the quarter ended 30 June, 2005 to Rs 990.40 million for the quarter ended 30 June, 2006.

    Inspired by the impressive results, the Sun TV scrip recorded a jump of Rs 53.65 (4.85 per cent) at the BSE to close at Rs 1159.70. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip gained Rs 50.80 to close at 1,158.75.

  • Woosh in internet television deal with Sky TV

    Woosh in internet television deal with Sky TV

    MUMBAI: New Zealand based wireless telecommunications operator Woosh has enterted into a deal with New Zealand’s main pay-television operator Sky Television to deliver channels straight to subscribers online.

    As part of the deal, Woosh has secured rights over 2.3GHz spectrum owned by Sky. The two companies have combined the spectrum rights they own to provide TV, voice and broadband over the airwaves.

    Commenting on the deal, Woosh chairman Rod Inglis says, “This is the next step in our evolving business strategy as Woosh moves to being a fully convergent kiwi telecommunications services company. Wimax will inevitably be part of any full service telecommunications business. Securing Sky as our pay TV content partner is a major boost for Woosh especially as we start to move towards Internet Television or IPTV.”

    Woosh already has spectrum rights and arrangements with other rights holders to give it the capacity to deliver the fast evolving full suite of Wimax services, according to an official release.

    Inglis says “You need at least 50MHz of spectrum to be confident you can match up to the future demands that will emerge with Wimax deployment in New Zealand.”

    Wimax is a broadband wireless standard, often called Wifi on Steroids, initially promoted by Intel and now adopted by many of the worlds’ leading wireless technology vendors.

    Sky Television chief executive John Fellet says, “Sky believes there is an exciting future in delivering content services over Wimax. Woosh has emerged as one the nation’s leaders in broadband wireless and we look forward to working together. We support Woosh’s view that normal spectrum renewal rights be granted to enable rapid deployment of Wimax services.’

    Inglis advises that Woosh investors are committed to a substantial build out using the spectrum.

    Partnerships with third party platform providers such as Woosh form an integral part of Sky’s strategy to deliver to consumers “what they want, when they want it, on any device.

    In the United States, satellite TV operator DirecTV has announced US$2B to support a broadband wireless rollout offering phone, broadband and pay TV services. This follows similar major announcements by SprintNextel and Clearwire in the USA totalling billions of dollars. Intel, Motorola and Craig McCraw, a billionaire wireless pioneer, are funding the Clearwire deployment.

    In Australia, the satellite TV operator Austar has announced a widespread WiMax rollout to complement its pay TV services and a similar offering from Unwired in Australia’s urban areas.

    Under New Zealand’s progressive spectrum management regime Woosh has been able to conclude deals with Telecom and Sky; spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band (a Wimax standard) has been consolidated and reconfigured so that it can provide broadband services using the Wimax technology that is now becoming available.

    Woosh intends continuing with its current UMTS standard TDD network which operates in the 2.0 GHz band. WiMax will be an overlay in the network, as said in the press statement.

  • Vivendi Games turns on the heat with ‘Miami Vice’ game

    Vivendi Games turns on the heat with ‘Miami Vice’ game

    MUMBAI: Vivendi Games’ Sierra Entertainment has launched a game for the playstation based on the new film Miami Vice.

    The game has been released in the US. Set in present-day Miami, the third-person action shooter is inspired by the crime drama, Miami Vice. Players will go deep undercover as narcotic officers Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs in the notorious world of Miami Vice — a place where badges don’t count.

    The development of the game comes through an agreement with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group. Vivendi Games chief strategy and marketing officer Cindy Cook says, “By allowing players to go dangerously undercover as Crockett and Tubbs in the rich, glamorous and decadent world of Miami Vice, as well as providing game design elements that maximise the technology of the PSP system including cutting-edge motion capture, highly-detailed environments, and lighting effects inspired by the film, Miami Vice The Game delivers a truly authentic Miami Vice experience that will appeal to fans and action gamers”.

    In Miami Vice The Game, players follow a storyline set just before the events of the film. Gamers must build up the nefarious reputation necessary to infiltrate the seedy underbelly of South Beach, and ultimately bring down the organisation of an ‘untouchable’ South American drug lord. Gamers can also choose to play as either Crockett or Tubbs, or team up via wireless to play each action-packed mission cooperatively.

    Armed with intelligence from informants and utilising hacking skills, players will take on the enemy in varied locations with an impressive array of weapons including high-speed chases through Miami’s treacherous waterways while engaging in boat-to-boat shootouts.

  • Chris Cornell to perform title song for new Bond film

    Chris Cornell to perform title song for new Bond film

    MUMBAI: Film producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, MGM and Sony Pictures Entertainment have announced that Chris Cornell will perform the main title song You Know My Name for the new James Bond adventure Casino Royale.

    Cornell is the singer/songwriter behind Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog and has written the song in collaboration with Bond composer David Arnold.

    Daniel Craig stars as the new “007” in Casino Royale directed by Martin Campbell. The film will be released worldwide by Columbia Pictures on 17 November 2006.

    Cornell’s upcoming release with Audioslave marks the 11th album of his career. He has also enjoyed success with the groups Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog, as well as his own critically acclaimed solo album in 1999 Euphoria Morning. In addition, he has collaborated with such groups as Alice in Chains and made contributions to other soundtracks.

    Columbia Pictures president, worldwide music Lia Vollack says, “I’ve always loved Chris’ work, both as a writer and as an artist, and had hoped someday to find the right film to inspire him. His music is both soulful and tough. It was the perfect complement to Daniel Craig and Casino Royale.”

    Cornell joins such distinguished performers as Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney & Wings, Carly Simon, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight, Sheena Easton, Duran Duran and Garbage who have performed title songs for previous James Bond adventures.

    Cornell will be among the select few who have both written and performed an ‘007’ title song (others include McCartney and Wings, Crow and Madonna).

  • US pubcaster PBS announces online download initiative

    US pubcaster PBS announces online download initiative

    MUMBAI: US pubcaster PBS has announced the launch of a download to own initiative that lets viewers purchase episodes of its programmes via the Internet for viewing anytime, anywhere.

    PBS has teamed with Open Media Network, a non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing the best of public broadcasting and educational programming to the Internet via
    www.omn.org.

    PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger says, “PBS and our local stations are undergoing a transformation from traditional television broadcasting to a vibrant 21st century digital public media service.

    “Open Media Network is helping us accomplish this by offering favourite PBS programs for sale directly to the online audience. We’re excited to partner with another non-profit organisation committed to bringing PBS’ award-winning content to the public.”

    Open Media Network (OMN) uses the Internet to bring online audiences educational programming. It provides its service free of charge to other non-profit and service institutions while utilising advanced video and audio delivery technology. Programming is delivered in full DVD quality and is then viewable on a variety of devices, including notebook computers, portable media players, cell phones and set top boxes.

    Open Media Network founder Mike Homer says, “Some of the most informative, thought provoking programmes on television are brought to us by PBS and its member stations. Making this content available through Internet downloads for anytime, anywhere viewing means that we can help PBS bring it to a much larger audience than ever before.”

    OMN says that it brings advantages to PBS, NPR and public broadcasters that extend viewership and encourage audience participation. OMN lets public broadcasters across the country, like KQED (San Francisco), Idaho Public Television and WGBH (Boston), offer their television and radio programs from their own websites using their own brands or through OMN’s website, increasing their potential audiences.

    Showcasing the local associations PBS stations have within their communities, PBS programmes downloaded through OMN will soon carry a spot encouraging viewers to become members of their local PBS station.

    Viewers can start watching PBS content now by going to www.omn.org and downloading the free OMN internet TV player. Each episode is $1.99 for unlimited playbacks, except for Nova which is priced at $7.99 per episode.

  • Hindi news channels on high growth rollercoaster

    What’s on the news tonight? Well, pretty much the full spectrum – from ghouls to goons, politics, drama, comedy, tragedy, tragi-comedy… and everything in between. We’ve even had our own version of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” LIVE as it happened beamed into millions of homes. Remember 5-year-old Prince from Haryana and his 50-hour ordeal down a pit that played out over all the television news networks. Some pundits have decried the carpet bombing coverage as indicative of the pits to which news reportage has descended but ask your average media planner / buyer and he’ll more likely tell you (off the record of course): “Bring it on.”

    Rescuers carrying 5-year-old Prince who fell into a 60-foot hole in Kurukshetra, Rajasthan. Zee News, which first broke this story, went all-out on its coverage of what became a national event.

    Because it is this smorgasbord of subjects of coverage, which offers something for everyone, that is driving up not just the ratings, but also revenues for Hindi news channels. And while there are those who wonder when the Hindi news engine will start to lose its steam, most are in agreement that it is not going to be any time soon.

    Just how much Hindi news channels clocked this year varies (depending on who you speak to) from a low of Rs 3 billion to over Rs 4.5 billion. What most seem to agree on though, is that growth is chugging at a fast clip with the expectations for this year being between 20-30 per cent.

    According to Meenakshi Madhvani, head of media audit firm Spatial Access Solutions, “From Rs 350 crores (Rs 3.5 billion) in the last fiscal, I think it (ad revenues) would go up to Rs 450 crores in this fiscal, an increase of 28.5 per cent in the genre. Hence a rate of growth significantly higher than the overall TV business.”

    Jan-06
    Jun-06
    Channel
    Share %
    Share %
    Aaj Tak    24.5    27.0
    Star News    21.3    18.5
    Zee News    14.8    16.4
    NDTV India    19.1    13.5
    Channel 7    6.9    10.0
    India TV    7.2    8.5
    Sahara Samay National    6.1    6.0
    TG CS15+ Hindi Speaking Markets (HSM) Source TAM Peoplemeter
    Giving his reasoning, MindShare managing director West and South R Gowthaman says, “The Hindi news genre is growing as there is still a significant appetite. However, I am not sure whether there is space for more channels now. 2006 over 2005/4 grew on the back of new channels coming on board, in the sense this was an organic growth. Not a reflection of ratings, but a reflection of supply. I would say, the category (Hindi news cluster) “heat” is just right with 10 channels… 

    “Overall share of Hindi News channel as a cluster can grow from now on only on the back of quality content, viz more local segments etc., which could help garner more share. Only garnering more share can provide fillip to increasing revenues…”

    OMS regional director Madan Mohapatra offers his view on the key aspects that are underpinning this phenomenal revenue and ratings growth.

    Based on Card Costs
    Rank    Top Advertisers
    1    Emami Limited
    2    Hindustan Lever Ltd
    3    Coca Cola India Ltd
    4    Tata Motors Ltd
    5    Biswanath Hosiery Mills Ltd
    6    Paras Pharmaceuticals Ltd
    7    Bhawani Textiles
    8    Surya Food And Agro Pvt Ltd
    9    Mahashiya Di Hatti Limited
    10    Action Shoes
    Source: AdEx India, A Division of TAM Media Research Period: Jan-June ’06
    Medium: Hindi News Channels
    Says Mohapatra: “Four years ago, advertisers looking to build reach turned to general entertainment channels. Three years ago, Hindi movies channels got added to the reach build proposition. Hindi news is currently in the phase where this genre is transiting from niche to reach build. And it was Aaj Tak which showed the way for the rest to follow. If the pace at which this genre is moving currently is maintained, one year down the line, live Hindi news will complete that transition (from niche to reach build).

    “Once this happens, the perception factor in determining rates will go down. This is already happening actually. For example, earlier, the faces on the channels made for a great built-in value add. Today, nobody is sure anymore which face will pop up on which channel. Thanks to this, channel perceptions are going to get evermore fragmented.”

    This could well sound a warning bell for channels like NDTV and CNBC, which enjoy a good mark-up on rates because of the “personalities” they carry. As Madhvani points out, “A channel like Aaj Tak is seen as delivering reach in the North, but when it comes to channel decisions, it is driven by personal choices. Because of which there is a lot of dichotomy. I have seen so many instances of people putting fairly large sums of ad money on CNBC, which doesn’t deliver anything in terms of numbers but is seen as a channel which decision makers watch and the channel that delivers corporate India to you. 
    There are these popular perceptions that some channels have very smartly exploited.

    “NDTV for instance, which has a fantastic marketing and sales team, is able to leverage these perceptions to get more than their fair share of advertising. That’s marketing!”

    No Softening of Rates
    The big question that flows out of all this of course is whether fragmentation will lead to effective rates going down in the near to mid-term? The answer is an emphatic NO!

    Jai Jawan: NDTV India trumpets its patriotic credentials.
    Why? Says Madhvani, “This is on account of rates being upped, more advertisers/ad categories being targeted and a greater level of effort being put in by the sales teams and less due to the launch of new channels!

    Mohapatra opines, “This is because the choice of clientele is proportionately growing. This year, I see sectors like property, infrastructure, education, retail, IPOs all contributing to this growth. There will be many first time advertisers as well. Add to that, now, because of the reach deliveries, even FMCGs are looking at news channels.

    Estimated Revenues Hindi channels achieved in FY2006
    Aaj Tak    Rs 1.4 billion
    NDTV India    Rs 900 million
    Star News    Rs 750 million
    Zee News    Rs 600 million
    DD News    Rs 400 million
    Channel7 / India TV / Sahara Samay    Rs 300 million
    “What will happen is that channels at the bottom of the spectrum will be able to up their rates. I see a flattening of rates across news channels happening. And those that can’t raise rates will simply increase the number of spots they carry. What we are also seeing across news channels is an increase in ad secondage per hour. If the average earlier was 10-12, today it is 14 and even higher in some cases.”

    Targeted Advertising
    Media planner Rahul Panchal says, “Today all channels in their own way, indulge in customized ads through lifestyle shows. Major brands like ICICI and Tata Motors spend approximately Rs 60 million to Rs 80 milllion on news channels through this avenue. Adds Panchal, “Customized shows provide mileage to the brands and the show without tampering with the core content.”

    Clients also target their ads. Aaj Tak primarily targets the middle class, servicing the north-east region. (Brands such as vest / undergarments are glaring on the Aaj Tak screen). Research indicates that Aaj Tak primarily brings in and engages male viewers, Panchal says.

    Crime Scene Investigation – Star News style.
    According to Panchal, Star News has a strong hold in Mumbai, while Zee News is strong in Delhi. When looking at Hindi news channels, clients pitch in their money according to frequency plan, besides perception and ratings, he avers. 

    “When a new ad campaign is unleashed on Aaj Tak, it has a high reach in the initial week. While in the following weeks it will witness a low incremental reach. On the other hand NDTV India, where the loyalty is less and it is more of a co-viewing, the incremental reach is high in the following weeks and not in the initial week.” 

    Meanwhile, when it comes to the gore factor, it is the crimes shows on Star News Zee News and Aaj Tak that advertisers flock to.

    Hindi News TG definition Blurring

    One function of the increasing spread of coverage that news channels are attempting is the blurring of distinctions as to what TG defines a Hindi news consumer. Points out Madhvani, “News channels always have the option of the mass route and the class route. The Hindi channels appear to have exploited this better than anyone else. Taking the Aaj Tak example, if Aaj Tak caters to mass markets (including a significant chunk of the class), Tez is specifically targeted at the upper end.

    Aaj Tak – Still leading after all these years.
    “I would say that Hindi news channels are the ‘male mass channels’ that compete with the Star Plus’ of the world. The genre is still evolving and putting a demographic TG to it (to possibly differentiate it from the English news genre) will not do justice to it.”

    Avers Gowthaman, “Currently the content seems to be targeted towards, self employed professionals, traders and to some extent broadly to the chief wage earner of the house. However, I still believe there is no clear cut focus on content that could clearly distinguish the target. All the channels look the same and they cover pretty much the same topics.”

    Distribution Issues Will Drag Down Revenues
    The biggest issue that all news channels are confronting is the ever rising costs of distribution. And with more and more players coming in, there is just no respite from that.

    This is inevitably going to result in the flattening of the growth curve over the next two years. Particularly on the distribution side, revenues coming in look unlikely except on addressable platforms like DTH, digital cable, IPTV, mobile TV, etc.

    An industry observer sums up the situation aptly when he says, “Earlier channels paid carriage fees. Then it became carriage + placement fees. Today, even displacement fees (of rival channels) have come into the picture.” 

    Says Madhvani, “Those who get the distribution game right will rule. Geographic expansion (whether urban, rural, national or international) is dependent on it. And with CAS/DTH in the offing in India, penetration will become a key issue for all players, in urban as well as rural markets.

    “Primary drivers of viewership for a news channel could include variety of coverage, relevance and immediacy (and of course distribution); however it is credibility that sustains viewership and will drive growth in the long run.

    “Channels that have the right mix of all elements and can still differentiate from the rest in terms of content and presentation will thrive.”

    The right mix. That is easier said than done. To quote McCann Erickson India president Santosh Desai from his column – The Last Word – in the 30 July edition of The Week: “Market forces seem to push channels away from balance and not towards it. The moment the success of news channels gets evaluated in terms of its viewership, and not the credibility and impact of its coverage, news becomes a spectacle and channels strain every fibre to keep people hooked.”

    In the near term at least it could well be that spectacle will rule. The billion rupee question is really – will credibility take centrestage in the long run? The road the news channels are taking currently offers no credible assertion that it will.