ITV

Category: News Headline

  • Insat4c: ISRO gears up for 10-15 July launch

    Insat4c: ISRO gears up for 10-15 July launch

    MUMBAI: 10 to 15 July 2006. That’s the launch window that the Indian Space Research Organisation has set aside for the launch of DTH services satellite Insat 4C. According to ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair the indigeneously designed launch vehicle has been moved to the launch pad in Sriharikota.

    The GSLV Mark II is a 49-metre tall rocket weighing around 40 tonnes at lift-off. Its payload is the Insat 4C satellite, with 12 ku band transponders and a mission life span of 10 years.

    Most of the satellite’s capacity has been booked for DTH services by the Sun Network, National Informatics Centre and VSAT (very small aperture terminals) operators.

    The succesful launch of the GSLV will pitchfork India’s ISRO into an elite group of countries and groups with indigeneous satellite design and launch capabilities: United States, Russia, Japan, China and the European Space Agency (ESA).

    Nair was speaking to journalists at a satellite navigation conference which was held at its offices in Bangalore yesterday. He said that the launch window date will be kept, good weather permitting.

    Isro spokespersons have been pointing out that using indigeneous launch vehicles will result in a saving of about 30-40 per cent or Rs 1.5 billion in expenses per launch. With four satellites to be launched by GSLV Mark II and Mark III, the savings thus will be substantial. It will, however, be using the services of Arianespace to launch the Insat 4B satellite from Kouru in French Guiana next year.

    “With the commissioning of the Rs 3.5 billion ($75mn) second launch pad at Sriharikota, India is the only country to have such a state-of-the-art facility to launch different types of vehicles Ranging from PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle), GSLV Mark-1, GSLV Mark-II to the upcoming GSLV Mark-III in the four-tonne class,” a top ISRO official is reported to have said sometime back.

  • CAS rollout: Delhi HC ‘no’ to government plea for more time

    CAS rollout: Delhi HC ‘no’ to government plea for more time

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government yet again pleaded for more time to roll out CAS — six months to be exact — but a Delhi court has refused to accede to the request asking for a final stand by the next date of hearing.

    According to early information available with Indiantelevision.com, even the broadcast regulator pleaded for four to five months time to sort out CAS-related issues like pricing of TV channels.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) submitted to the Delhi High Court today that it has initiated a dialogue with the industry stakeholders on issues related to CAS and which would take few months time to complete and arrive at some consensus.

    However, the court was in no mood to listen to such pleas and fixed the next date of hearing for 19 July.

    The court observed that if the government is unable to sort out CAS matters, then it could also explore the possibility of going ahead with the rollout based on the Chennai model.

    It also said that the government has already used up three month’s time from 10 March when the first directive came to roll out CAS in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai within a month’s time.

    Chennai is the only city in India where CAS has been rolled out and running smoothly since 2003.

    Reference to do away with government mandated CAS was also mentioned in the court today during a hearing and reference was made of the relevant section from a draft Broadcast Bill 2006, which is being circulated amongst government organizations for feedback.

    A clutch of MSOs, including Hathway and INCablenet, had filed a case against the government on CAS in the Delhi High Court late 2004, alleging that keeping addressability in abeyance had resulted in financial losses to the petitioners.

  • B’cast, telecom industry divided on IPTV norms

    B’cast, telecom industry divided on IPTV norms

    NEW DELHI: A majority of broadcast industry stakeholders are against IPTV separated from cable service and have said this is likely to create more problems in an already vexed industry.

    A consultation paper issued by the broadcast regulator on IPTV and amendment in the Cable TV Act has drawn varied comments from stakeholders, including that IPTV should not be separated from cable TV and laws regulating it.

    “IPTV is similar to cable services in terms of content and mode of delivery. It would be appropriate to categorize it as a cable service rather than a telecom service under (the) Telegraph Act,” DTH licence holder ASC Enterprises has said.

    Agreeing with ASC is MSO Alliance, an apex body of multi-system operators in the country, which has sated that IPTV should not be dubbed a different service from cable TV.

    “Given the nature of IPTV services, which is akin to cable services, the effort on the part of regulator should be to propose amendments which would serve the purpose of keeping IPTV within cable services domain, rather than to suggest the ones which would take them away from the Cable Network Regulation Act,” MSO Alliance has said in reply to a consultation paper issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

    On the other hand, Star has said that treating IPTV differently from cable services, as had been suggested by Trai in its consultation paper, would give undue advantage to telecom companies that have been proposing to start IPTV services.

    “In the absence of parity in FDI norms, telecom operators would continue to enjoy better access to the capital required for digital broadband services. This would be to the detriment of other service providers like cable and DTH,” Star has informed Trai.

    Presently in India, foreign investment in cable TV is capped at 49 per cent, while the government has okayed a proposal to raise the limit in telecom services to 74 per cent.

    Trai had invited comments from industry stakeholders on proposed amendments in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and existing telecom licenses for facilitation of growth of IPTV services.

    The basic intention behind the proposed amendments in the Cable Television (Regulation) Act, 1995 was to keep the IPTV service outside the definition of `cable services’.

    This means that IPTV service providers would not be covered in the definition of `cable operator’ and the Unified Access Service network used for provision of IPTV services will not get covered by the definition of `cable television network’ under the Cable Act.

    The 13 stakeholders that had got back to Trai with their comments on the issue include the following: NDS, ASC Enterprises Ltd, MSO Alliance, Cable Operators Federation of India, Hathway Cable & Datacom Private Limited, Reliance Infocomm Ltd, Ortel Communications Ltd, Zee Network, Star India, Tata Teleservices Ltd and the Internet Service Providers’ Association of India

  • Sahara TV plans Rs 2 billion expansion plans

    Sahara TV plans Rs 2 billion expansion plans

    Sahara TV has earmarked Rs 2 billion for its expansion plans to set up a NFDC style film and television academy and a media club for media personalities. The funds for this venture will be raised mostly through internal accruals and the rest by tapping the balance.

    The academy will have all the modern equipment like four air-conditioned studio floors (two for films and two for video), 15 digital video cameras, three audio studios, telecine equipment, reverse telecine, 33 edit suites, DVD authoring, animation and a full-blown film processing laboratory. The annual capacity of the project will be 20 full-length feature films and 10,000 episodes of half-hour video.

    Sahara will also be launching its news and current affair channel soon. Besides this, the company also plans to launch a new magazine.

  • CN gets on to DD with a branded block

    CN gets on to DD with a branded block

    NEW DELHI: Not content with ruling the kids’ space in India via satellite, Cartoon Network now wants a slice of terrestrial viewership too.

    On Monday, it announced a new one-hour programming block, Cartoon Network Duniya, on Doordarshan National.

    Starting 8 July, the new block will air every Saturday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. and will feature two of Turner’s most popular and successful original productions, M.A.D. (Music, Art and Dance) and Codename: Kids Next Door.

    Cartoon Network Duniya will also showcase other popular series, including Turner’s most awaited original production, Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian version of globally renowned pre-school series, Sesame Street.

    “Doordarshan’s extensive reach across India will enable kids in non-C&S homes to enjoy Turner’s engaging original production that has so far been limited to C&S homes. In the preliminary stage, the highly rated M.A.D. and popular animation series, Codename: Kids Next Door will serve as the perfect introduction to new viewers,” an official statement quoted Turner International India MD Anshuman Misra as saying yesterday.

    Misra added that later in the year Galli Galli Sim Sim will further enhance the appeal by showcasing content that is both educational and entertaining in nature.

    M.A.D. is an off-the-wall, interactive journey for 8-12 years olds and their families and is filled with fun tabletop ‘makes’, dynamic performances, a bit of humour and some art stunts.

    Galli Galli Sim Sim is an initiative undertaken by globally recognised, Sesame Workshop and Indian kids’ entertainment leader, Turner India.

    The show is aimed at serving the 157 million children under the age of six in India and is committed to supporting India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan or universal access to education.

  • Intelsat completes acquisition of PanAmSat

    Intelsat completes acquisition of PanAmSat

    MUMBAI: Leading satellite service provider Intelsat today announced the completion of its $ 6.4 billion acquisition of rival PanAmSat. 

    The addition of PanAmSat’s video market expertise, advanced satellite fleet and blue-chip media customer base makes the new Intelsat the largest provider of fixed satellite services (FSS) worldwide to each of the media, network services/telecom and government customer sectors.

    Intelsat acquired all of the outstanding common shares of PanAmSat for approximately $3.2 billion. As a result of the merger, PanAmSat is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intelsat, and the common stock of PanAmSat has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The total value of the transaction, including PanAmSat debt that was refinanced or remained outstanding, is approximately $6.4 billion.

    Using optimized capacity on a combined fleet of 51 satellites and a large, complementary terrestrial infrastructure including eight owned teleports, fiber connectivity and over 50 points of presence in almost 40 cities, the new Intelsat:

    — Carries one out of every four television channels transmitted over fixed satellites;

    — Supports 27 DTH platforms worldwide;

    — Operates 16 satellites that are part of video neighborhoods around the world;

    — Is the number one provider of transponders for video programming worldwide;

    — Carries more high definition (HD) programming than any other FSS carrier;

    — Is the largest provider of commercial satellite services to the government sector;

    — Is the leading provider of services to enterprise, Internet and mobile network operators; and

    — Provides communications services to 99 percent of the world’s populated regions.

  • CNN Presents: Chasing Angelina – Paparazzi and Celebrity Obession

    CNN Presents: Chasing Angelina – Paparazzi and Celebrity Obession

    Insiders Talk about Desperately Seeking ‘Brangelina,’ Rosie, ‘TomKat’ for ‘Chasing Angelina’ Documentary

    Airtimes: Indian Standard Times

    Sat, June 3 at 1130am and 1930hrs

    Sun, June 4 at 1130am

    The celebrity hunt is on – and the target: mega movie star, Angelina Jolie. As stargazers await the birth of the “Brangelina” baby, CNN PRESENTS takes viewers on a wild ride during a paparazzi pursuit for money-making shots of Jolie. CNN PRESENTS: CHASING ANGELINA – PAPARAZZI AND CELEBRITY OBSESSION premieres in June.

    How far is too far to go for news of the stars’ lives? For CHASING ANGELINA, CNN talks to all sides of the celebrity media maze so viewers can decide for themselves.

    “The personal lives of Hollywood celebrities these days – it really is the best reality TV show out there,” multimedia celebrity gossip reporter Ted Casablanca said.

    But sometimes the stars write those reality show scripts themselves. In fact, many stars admit to cooperating with the entertainment press. During the documentary, Mariah Carey and Ashlee Simpson acknowledge they enjoy posing for celebrity photographer, Kevin Mazur, and he knows why.

    Larry Hackett, managing editor for People magazine, says that People avoid being deliberately “mean” to celebrities in trouble. Managing editor Peter Castro says People does hold back some stories out of a commitment to responsibility and fairness. This can translate into the magazine being rewarded with big scoops when stars do decide to go public.

    Power public relations consultants Ken Sunshine, of Ken Sunshine Consultants Inc., and Cindi Berger, managing director of PMK/HBH Inc., are at the top of the A-listers’ PR agencies. Between the two agencies, they have cultivated celebrity and managed media minefields for Paula Abdul, Tyra Banks, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and many more. Berger tells CNN how she helped long-time client, Rosie O’Donnell, navigate through negative press after being sued by her magazine publisher. People’s Castro also credits Berger with helping Mariah Carey emerge from whispers of a mental breakdown to a return to the top of the music charts.

    But not all media feel they need to work with a celebrity or publicist for the scoop on the stars.

    The sheer abundance of celebrity press and the Internet have changed the game for publicists. The top celebrity magazines now reach a combined circulation of at least 8.5 million. Star-studded entertainment television news programs add even more star watchers. And celebrity gossip blogs have kicked up the pace – and the sarcastic tone – of celebrity gossip. Defamer.com’s Mark Lisanti and Jossip.com’s David Hauslaib tell CNN they generally don’t care about offending stars or publicists to deliver their constant updates – it’s what their gossip-crazy fans expect.

    CNN PRESENTS is CNN International’s award-winning documentary series, showcasing compelling work of significant impact from esteemed filmmakers. For more CNN International programming information, please visit our website at www.cnnasiapacific.com.

    AIRTIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

  • Monte Carlo TV Fest and Eurodata TV Worldwide announce winners of the International TV Audience Awards

    Monte Carlo TV Fest and Eurodata TV Worldwide announce winners of the International TV Audience Awards

    MUMBAI: The winners of the first International TV Audience Awards has been announced at the 46th Monte-Carlo Television Festival Awards held in Monaco.

    A collaborated effort between the Monte-Carlo TV Festival and Eurodata TV Worldwide, the awards seek to reward programs that have delivered the highest ratings worldwide in 2005 in three categories including “Drama TV Series”, “Comedy TV Series” and “Telenovela / Soap Opera”, informs an official release.

    Revealed on the occasion of Mip TV 2006, the nominees were pre-selected among the ten best imported fiction programs in 51 countries.

    As announced by the Festival’s CEO David Tomatis and Eurodata TV Worldwide International director Jacques Braun, the winners for the most-watched television shows, include:

    Drama TV Series – CSI Las Vegas (USA), in competition with Lost (USA) and Without a Trace (USA). CSI gathered more than 78.7 million viewers worldwide in 2005.

    Comedy TV Series – Desperate Housewives (USA), in competition with Mr. Bean (UK) and Joey (USA). Desperate Housewives gathered more than 75.3 million viewers worldwide in 2005.

    Telenovela / Soap Opera – The Bold and The Beautiful (USA), in competition with Rubi (Mexico) and Pasión de Gavilanes (Colombia/USA). The Bold and The Beautiful gathered more than 26.2 million viewers worldwide in 2005.

    Created by Médiamétrie, Eurodata TV Worldwide distributes programming and audience information, based on its partnership with the national institutes operating people meter systems throughout the world. Its database contains more than 2000 channels in 75 countries and provides daily program information including: content, production, international distribution and the audience levels for targeted programs, adds the release.

  • News Corp appoints Dr. Paige to board of directors

    News Corp appoints Dr. Paige to board of directors

    MUMBAI: News Corporation has appointed Dr Rod Paige, the former US Secretary of Education to the board of directors with immediate effect. The addition of Dr. Paige increases the number of directors to 15.

    News Corporation chairman and chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch said, “Rod Paige’s life has been dedicated to raising standards and demanding accountability in education in the United States. In addition to his outstanding record of achievement as an educator and reformer, he has a great understanding of how big, complex institutions work – an expertise that will be invaluable to our board.”

    During his tenure at the US Department of Education from 2001 to 2005, Dr Paige was a fierce and innovative champion of education reform who led the way in setting new standards of achievement for all students in our education system. He spearheaded the implementation of the historic No Child Left Behind Act, with its goal of reinvigorating America’s education system.

    Dr. Paige has devoted his life to transforming the state of education by improving the way that children learn on all levels, a passion that has manifested itself most recently when he co-founded the bi-partisan Chartwell Education Group, LLC. This group is a consulting firm devoted to offering solutions to the 21st Century challenges faced by the public and private sector enterprises that focus on pre-K, K-12 and post-secondary education, both in the United States and throughout the world.

    Prior to his time at Chartwell, and after he left the administration in 2005, Dr. Paige served as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. There he was able to explore a more global perspective of education

  • British Telecom inks VoD deal with Momentum Pictures

    British Telecom inks VoD deal with Momentum Pictures

    MUMBAI: British Telecom has inked a new video-on-demand (VoD) film agreement with independent film distributor, Momentum Pictures, for its next-generation TV service – BT Vision, which is scheduled to launch in August to September 2006.

    Momentum Pictures is one of the UK’s largest independent film distributors. This agreement will provide access to Momentum Pictures’ catalogue including titles such as – Lost in Translation, Racing Stripes, Where the Truth Lies, O, Brother Where Art Thou?, Vera Drake, Lord of War and Broken Flowers, amongst others.

    BT Vision customers will be able to enjoy a vast range of film, music and television programming all available on-demand as well as all the Freeview channels, plus interactive and communications and all available on the TV, with no compulsory subscription.

    BT Vision CEO Dan Marks said, “We are delighted to have concluded this agreement with Momentum Pictures, which has been responsible for distributing some of the most successful and most interesting independent cinema of the past few years. Our agreement with Momentum represents our commitment to bring the best and most varied selection of movies to our customers.”

    Momentum managing director Xavier Marchand added, “We are very pleased that BT’s broadband customers will have access to many of Momentum Pictures’ titles. BT Vision and interactive access to movies are extremely exciting concepts and we eagerly anticipate the launch of the service.”