ITV

Category: News Headline

  • BBC looks to enhance content diversity in the UK with new appointment

    BBC looks to enhance content diversity in the UK with new appointment

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster BBC’s director of television, Jana Bennett, has announced that Mary FitzPatrick is the editorial executive of diversity to oversee the way BBC channels represent the audiences they serve.

    Bennett said, “The creation of this important new role reflects our commitment to putting audiences at the heart of what we do at the BBC. To deliver the ambition of Creative Future and meet audiences’ expectations in a changing world, we need our programmes to reflect fully and accurately the diversity of the UK population.”

    FitzPatrick used to be a BBC programme maker. She was most recently Channel 4’s editorial manager of cultural diversity.

    FitzPatrick will work closely with channel controllers, commissioners, in-house and independent production companies to improve on-screen portrayal and diversity on BBC Television, including offering valuable advice to programme makers during the course of the development and production of programmes. She will take overall responsibility for reviewing and tracking on-screen content including the portrayal of black and minority ethnic and disabled people.

    Part of her role will be to ensure that programmes are culturally authentic and accurate, but also challenging and authoritative. She will aim to set up the industry’s definitive database for locating diverse on and off-screen talent for use by in-house production and Indies.

    Bennett adds “Mary FitzPatrick has a formidable track record in marrying outstanding diverse talent with a range of genres and great productions. This, combined with her fantastic relationship with internal and external producers and PACT, makes her the perfect person to drive this new role. I look forward to welcoming her back to the BBC.”

    FitzPatrick said, “I see my role as enhancing the BBC’s programming by opening it up to diverse talents and voices in a way that will deepen its relationship with all its audiences. The emphasis will not be on quotas or box-ticking, but on focusing minds on the fact that television audiences are hugely diverse and they rightly expect to see themselves and their life experiences reflected on TV.”

  • Zee TV takes lead in weekday 9-10 prime time

    Zee TV takes lead in weekday 9-10 prime time

    MUMBAI: It’s been a long time coming, but Star Plus’ vice like grip on prime time has been breached. Zee TV, which has been methodically building its narrative programming and taken a firm handle on the number two slot, has now made its first major assault on Hindi entertainment’s lead channel.

    And critically, this has been achieved not by a format show but two soaps working in tandem. Powered by the career best performances from Saat Phere and Kasamh Se, the channel has gone ahead of the market leader Star Plus in the highly contested 9 – 10 pm prime time band for Week 21 (18 May to 24 May), according to Tam.

    As per the data, the top programme on Zee TV during the period was the 9:30 pm soap Saat Phere which recorded its best ever 6.61 TVRs on 25 May with a reach of 11.28 per cent and time spent/viewer of 24 minutes. Saat Phere also gave an above average performance on 22 May (4.7) and 26 May (4.68). In the 9 pm slot, Kasamh Se topped with 4.96 TVR on 24 May, 4.68 on 22 May, 4.27 on 25 May and 3.72 on 26 May.

    On the other hand, Star Plus’ counter soaps Kkavyanjali (9 pm) and Miilee (9:30 pm) for Monday to Thursday performed like this: Miilee – 4.77 TVR on 22 May, 4.17 on 25 May and 3.95 on 24 May. Kkavyanjali – 5.61 TVR on 22 May, 4.25 on 25 May, 4.19 on 24 May and 4.12 on 23 May. On Friday, 26 May, Prithviraj Chauhan recorded 4.24 TVR in the 9:30 pm time slot.

    To an extent, the good show from Saat Phere has been attributed to certain creative exercises the channel experimented on the soap. The consistent performance the soap had been maintaining over a long period gave the channel the opportunity to create, play up and reveal a suspense element on the soap and these efforts have now reaped it good fortunes.

    24, 25 and 26 of May were crucial for the soap as the suspense was revealed step by step during these days. And as the data reveals, the ploy has worked for Saat Phere and in the process the soap even emerged as the top show of the week in GEC in the 9-10 pm time band.

    “Saat Phere had been maintaining an upper trend if you look at the last few weeks data. We knew that the gap was closing. The suspense factor was just one of the reasons, but yes, it has helped the soap to record good numbers. However, this is just a one week performance and we have still got a lot of ground to cover to make our claims to the number one slot in this time band. Now the challenge lies in sustaining this good show,” states Zee TV marketing head Tarun Mehra.

    Star India senior creative director Shailja Kejriwal agrees that Saat Phere is doing a good job for Zee TV at present. “Zee TV has got two good shows in this time band and we agree that these shows are doing a good job. We have a healthy competition going on.”

    However Kejriwal is quick to warn Zee that Star Plus wouldn’t be sitting idle watching it stealing all the glory. “We are working on a strategy to beat it. Not only our newly launched or upcoming properties, but all the Star Plus prime time shows will play their roles in this process. This is a highly contested slot and we are confident of winning it back. In this particular slot, we have made fight backs earlier also. Earlier we have battled off the Sony soap Kkusum when it was going great guns in this slot. So we are confident of a comeback.”

    As already reported, Star Plus is launching a one hour soap Viraasat in the 9 pm slot, starting 12 June.

    The Tam data for the period also reveals that Zee TV has improved its position in the GRP (Gross Rating Points) space as well. In the 9 pm to 9:30 pm band, Zee recorded GRPs of 4.03 for the week, almost on par with Star Plus’ 4.04. But it was in the 9:30 pm to 10 pm slot that Subhash Chandra’s channel really made its play achieving average GRPs of 5.02 as against Star Plus’ 4.21.

    The channel as a whole recorded a GRP of 230 for the week 21, up by 34 points from 196 of the previous week. Meanwhile, the GRPs of Star Plus recorded a decline of 7 points, to 492 in the same week. Sony also went down by 5 points to stand at 103.

    What ammunition the “Empire” uses to strike back at the upstart that has intruded into its domain will be watched with interest. Whatever the final outcome though, it’s match on for the prime time ratings stakes.

  • SifyMax to cover French Open & Wimbledon as broadband partner for TWI/IG

    SifyMax to cover French Open & Wimbledon as broadband partner for TWI/IG

    MUMBAI: Sify Max, (www.sifymax.in) has tied up with TWI/G as its exclusive broadband partner for India for videos of the highlights of the on-going French Open, (28 May – 11 June) and Wimbledon, which will be held from 26 June – 6 July.

    As a result of this tie up, a special French Open 2006 section on SifyMax features, besides the highlights of the tournament, interviews with players, behind-the-scenes footage and previews. The highlights of the 2005 French Open will also be available.

    The Wimbledon 2006 special on SifyMax will also offer comprehensive coverage replete with videos of individual match highlights, interviews with star players, daily round-ups and the behind-the-scenes action with live audio commentary. A live score-card and golden moments of the 2005 tournament will also be available.

    Sify Limited senior vice president Surya Mantha said, “Following the immense success of last year’s Wimbledon coverage on SifyMax, we are delighted to be associated with TWI/IMG again to bring the excitement of both the French Open and Wimbledon 2006 to sports lovers in India. The content on video of the highlights of the matches will offer a satisfying and complete experience of the two tournaments. Users can follow the tournaments on SifyMax at their convenience, either from their homes, offices or from any of our 3300 iWays across India. We believe this initiative will help make tennis a mainstream sport by making the French Open and Wimbledon available to users in India at their convenience.”

    IMG India senior corporate director Andrew Wildblood added, “TWI is excited to partner with SifyMax as the exclusive broadband content partner for the French Open and Wimbledon championships this year. This unique endeavour will extend the viewership of the French Open and Wimbledon 2006 beyond their existing formats. Sify Max will help us to take these premier tennis tournaments to the fast growing base of broadband Internet users in India, from both home and cyber cafes, and to capture new audiences outside the realm of traditional TV viewing.”

     

  • Radio City strenghtens workforce; appoints Mumbai, Chennai station heads

    Radio City strenghtens workforce; appoints Mumbai, Chennai station heads

    MUMBAI: Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd (MBPL) owned Radio City has, as part of its overall growth plans in the second phase of FM expansion, aggressively expanded its workforce recruiting over 70 professionals in the last 70 days.

    The appointments have been made across all levels in the sales, marketing, programming and technical departments. The two top-level recruitments have been Krishna Iyer and Madhusudhan who have been appointed as the station heads for Mumbai and Chennai respectively.

    An MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Iyer comes from the advertising industry, having worked with agencies such as Lowe, Enterprise Nexus and JWT over the last 14 years. The company claims that Iyer’s skills and expertise in working with creative teams will help Radio City, Mumbai retain its leadership position in the FM space and further strengthen and drive its innovative content and communication platform.

    Madhusudhan has over 10 years experience in organisations like ANP Sanmarg Life Insurance, Idea Cellular and HCL-Nokia. He will be instrumental in Radio City’s launch in Chennai.

    Amidst this recruitment drive, Radio City Delhi and Lucknow vice president and station head Amritendu Roy, has put in his papers citing personal reasons after a two-year stint at Radio City.

    Under his stewardship, Radio City Delhi consolidated its listenership and increased it to over two million in Delhi and the NCR. He also spearheaded major content innovations and interactive station promotions in Delhi. According to an official release, his stint at Radio City Lucknow has helped strengthen Radio City’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives by furthering private-public partnerships to support various causes.

    Radio City national HR head Ashish Gharde said, “Radio City aims to be the best employer in the media industry. Our recent recruitment drive has been phenomenal and also a huge challenge, especially due to the limited talent available within the radio space and the dynamic situation in the media industry. In such a scenario, we had to look outside and I am glad that we have been largely successful in putting together a talented team across all our stations. Retention is also a key issue and we have initiated measures to retain and upgrade skills of key personnel within Radio City. Having said that, Amrit’s decision to leave will be a setback for us and surely he’ll be missed.”

  • Cartoon Network to premiere ‘Son of Alladin’ & ‘The Legend of Buddha’

    Cartoon Network to premiere ‘Son of Alladin’ & ‘The Legend of Buddha’

    MUMBAI: Cartoon Network will premiere two Indian animation features – Son Of Alladin and The Legend of Buddha this month.

    Son Of Alladin will be aired on 10 June at 2 pm and The Legend of Buddha will be telecast on 25 June at 12 noon.

    The 80 minute feature, Son Of Alladin will be shown during the channel’s Thanda Funda programming block.

    The animated movie is an action adventure thriller about Mustafa, the Prince of Basra who is hunted down by an evil sorcerer. However, he meets his ladylove and also happens to rescue his long lost parents. It has been produced using motion capture technology and a photo realistic environment.

    The other animation feature, The Legend of Buddha is slated to premiere during the Cartoon Network Theatre slot. This 2D animation feature is based on the journey of Prince Siddhartha of Kapilavastu, who abandons all worldly pleasures, for one of asceticism. The storyline follows the milestones that mark the path of the Prince towards Nirvana.

    Produced by Pentamedia, the two feature-length animations take the tally of local animations acquired and showcased by Cartoon Network to 11, with three of these launching in 2006.

    Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. MD Anshuman Misra said, “Cartoon Network is extremely proud of its pioneering role in bringing Indian folklore and historical tales to young audiences in a format that is appealing, educating and entertaining. We are also very happy that local animation has very quickly gained its rightful place of honour on the Network, right beside the ever-popular international animation shows, demonstrating that quality content, be it Indian or international, resonates with the discerning young viewers.”

    “In sync with our programming strategy of offering a healthy balance between International and Indian content, we will continue to entertain our fans across the country with no less than five additional local animation products within this year itself,” he added.

    Apart from airing Indian animation features on the channel, Cartoon Network is also scouting for fresh scripts from Indian animators.

    “Having paved the way for Indian animation showcase on television channels in the country, we are very enthused by the success of these shows on the Network. Taking cue from the overwhelming positive response to Indian content by viewers across the country, Cartoon Network is now moving to the next level of being involved in the creative process. The Network is scouting avenues for lending its expertise on the likes and dislikes of Indian kids to partner studios from the conceptual stage to the finished product,” adds Misra.

  • Sab’s to launch ‘Left Right Left’ on 10 July at 9:30 pm

    Sab’s to launch ‘Left Right Left’ on 10 July at 9:30 pm

    MUMBAI: After launching Twinkle Beauty Parlour recently, Sab will now be launching a new show Left Right Left -an action packed youth based drama – on 10 July. The show will be aired from Monday-Thursday at 9.30 pm.

    Set in contemporary India, Left Right Left is the story of six youngsters Huda, Naina, Yudi, Alekh, Ali and Pooja who come together at the pre NDA Academy with varied interests, dreams, aspirations and goals. They transform from being naive to responsible young men and women who are determined to fight all odds of life.

    The show captures the journey of six confused and disoriented youngsters who transform as strong determined individuals. It also renders their realisation for the love of their mother country along the way.

    Produced and directed by Tony and Deeya Singh (of Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi), Left Right Left stars Rajeev Khandelwal (Captain Rajveer), Shveta Salve (Dr. Ritu Mishra) and Puneet Issar (Brigadier Chandok) along with Vikas Manaktala (Huda), Arjun Bijlani (Alekh), Kunal Kapoor (Yudi), Harshad Chopra (Ali), Ghazal Rai (Pooja) and Priyanka Bassi (Naina).

    Sab senior vice president and business head Vikas Bahl said, “Our programming strategy consists of introducing new shows that include unique concepts, fresh new faces and an overall packaging that draws the masses, giving the much needed impetus to expand the channel viewer ship. At Sab, we are currently moving in the direction of consolidating our prime-time and are sure that Left Right Left will give us the expected boost.”

    Sab programming head Priya Mishra said, “Left Right Left is a show based on the youth and is a key differentiator in terms of programming for the channel. Left Right Left is a show different from the competition in the 9 pm – 10 pm slot as none of the other general entertainment channels have addressed the sentiments of youth. The show showcases much larger issues that concern the youth and reflects their attitude.”

    Tony and Deeya Singh added, “Left Right Left demonstrates a unique story of six youngsters and their way of living life. The viewers will be able to relate to Huda, Naina, Alekh, Ali, Yudi and Pooja since there would be times in their lives, where they would have experienced the same emotions and therefore will empathise with them.”

    The channel has associated itself with leading fashion house Provogue and designer Deepika Gilani to lend their creative fashion expertise to build the look for this show. Provogue has especially designed the cargoes and Tee Collection for the cast and has also styled Rajeev Khndelwal’s look for the show.

    The marketing and communication campaign of Left Right Left, the channel claims, is just as differentiated as the show itself. The campaign spanning television, radio, outdoor, on-ground captures the rebellious streak of youth in an innovative manner.

  • Yahoo! India gets search innovative with ‘My Web 2.0’

    Yahoo! India gets search innovative with ‘My Web 2.0’

    MUMBAI: Yahoo! Search has released My Web 2.0, which is a “personal and social search engine,” in India.My Web 2.0 provides users a simple way to save, organise and tag actual web pages and bookmarks, recall them from any computer, as well as selectively share their personalised ‘My Web’ with friends and a broader community of users with similar interests.

    My Web content from a user’s own personal archive, as well as from a user’s community are also displayed in the typical web search results page, further complementing results from Yahoo!’s leading web search engine.

    Additionally, unlike bookmarks, a user’s “My Web” is accessible from any computer, with no risk of losing saved bookmarks.

    Yahoo! India managing director George Zacharias said, “Yet another example of Yahoo!’s innovative approach; My Web 2.0, dramatically improves the relevance of search results. The internet is becoming more community-orientated and users want access to trusted information. We see social search as the next phase of web search. My Web helps users tap into the power of communities, using tagging and sharing to improve their search experience. My Web 2.0 combine’s social search with the power of web search to provide the user with more relevant results”.

    When users sign up to My Web and run a search, they see results at the top of the page derived from content that they saved in My Web and interesting links that other people have saved as a complement to the normal web search results, providing an even more relevant search experience.

    My Web 2.0 provides significant feature enhancements to the earlier My Web product based directly on user feedback and include:

    Tagging: categorize saved pages in a much more flexible way than using folders by assigning them to multiple categories labeling the content with tags.

    Unidirectional connections: allows people to easily access valuable content that has been discovered by others, without having to have a personal relationship. This means that people can discover interesting pages of a specific user (it may be an industry expert, a celebrity, or your next door neighbor who knows something about everything and saves really useful links) and because you like what they are saving, you can subscribe to all of their pages. You can automatically add them as a contact and make them part of your community.

    Additional Sharing controls: My Web 2.0 offers increased control over who you are sharing with – you can choose to be the only person who can access the pages saved, you can identify the communities you share certain saved pages with (friends, family etc) or you can share your saved pages with the world.

    Enhanced Profile personalization: allows people to create a unique online identity, by assigning a photo or avatar, nickname and email address to their online identity, creating a more personal presence within the community. Over time, by personalising your presence, you could become a well-known web guru for the information you are saving and sharing.

    Easy import of web pages: users can import easily their bookmarks, and also save pages with one click directly with the Yahoo! Toolbar.

  • Intervoice to enhance EchoStar’s customer service

    Intervoice to enhance EchoStar’s customer service

    MUMBAI: The provider of digital television services EchoStar Communications Corporation will be using the Intervoice Voice Automation Platform of Intervoice, Inc. to significantly enhance customer self-service to its more than 12 million subscribers.

    With Intervoice’s highly-scalable and flexible voice platform, EchoStar will provide its subscribers with a quick and easy way to access information and complete transactions via phone at any time and from any location, states an official release.

    Subscribers will be able to check their account status, pay a bill or subscribe to a new service simply by saying a command such as, “check account balance”, rather than using the telephone keypad to complete transactions. Also, for subscribers who prefer to speak with a live agent, the self-service system will quickly and accurately direct them to the most appropriate agent who can answer their questions.

    “Providing top-quality customer service is integral to our long-term success and most importantly, toward strengthening the relationships with our rapidly growing customer base,” said EchoStar Rob chief information officer Strickland. “We continue to rely on our partner Intervoice for their deep knowledge and professional services expertise in enhancing the customer service experience with speech technology.”

    When fully implemented, EchoStar estimates that it will save nearly $11 million a year with this new customer-self service system.

    “For companies driven by customer service like EchoStar, finding the right balance between offering customers a self-service system and the opportunity to speak with a live agent is key to their success, ” said Intervoice president and CEO Bob Ritchey. “Intervoice is helping companies achieve this delicate balance with its innovative solutions that enable consumers to connect with businesses through the channel of their choice — voice, Web or multi-modal.”

    The release adds that the cumulative value of the purchase orders received by Intervoice last week is approximately $7.4 million. In addition, the company received purchase orders in the amount of approximately $1 million from this customer during the preceding four month period.

    The company currently anticipates recognizing approximately $1 million in revenue in its first fiscal quarter, which ended May 31, 2006, and the remainder of the revenues, other than maintenance revenues, during the rest of the fiscal year which ends 28 February, 2007. The company currently anticipates realizing maintenance revenues in the aggregate amount of approximately $1 million during its current and next fiscal years.

  • Mobile subscriber base approaches 1 bn in APac; India & Indonesia to fuel growth

    Mobile subscriber base approaches 1 bn in APac; India & Indonesia to fuel growth

    MUMBAI: Unlike the trends that are sweeping across the global cellular market, the cellular subscriber growth in the Asia Pacific region is poised to see continued double-digit growth in the next three years. The region’s mobile industry is estimated to grow by 22 per cent in 2006 to reach close to a billion subscribers by year-end, including Japan’s 100 million subscribers.

    Given the markets’ infancy and vast population base, India and Indonesia are likely to fuel a significant portion of the growth. The implementation of “lifetime validity” in India, as well as the ongoing network expansion into rural areas in developing cellular markets will further help sustain the mobile industry’s high growth in the region.

    New analysis by global growth consulting company Frost & Sullivan, Asia Pacific Mobile Communications Outlook 2006, reveals that the mobile subscriber base — covering 12 major Asia Pacific economies excluding Japan — totaled 677.5 million in 2005 and is expected to reach 826.6 million by end-2006.

    Although the growing popularity of prepaid services has been a major driver of subscriber growth in the region, the influence of low-end market is likely to be more pronounced in the coming years. Factors contributing to the growth of the low-end market include the launch of low-cost entry-level mobile handsets, the move into rural areas for long-term sustainable growth, the continuous price cuts in call rates and the introduction of affordable flat- rate pricing plans.

    “With call charges typically accounting for more than 75 per cent of the total regional mobile revenues, Asia Pacific’s cellular industry is highly voice-centric. However, in view of the declining growth in voice revenues and the stiff competition from alternative voice applications, mobile data is seen as the next wave of growth for mobile operators in the region,” said Frost & Sullivan industry manager Janice Chong.

    Notably, the wireless quarter will largely dictate future growth in the Asia Pacific telecommunications industry. The emergence of broadband wireless access (BWA) in Hong Kong and Singapore, the anticipated commercial launch of wireless broadband (WiBro) in South Korea, the numerous WiMAX (wireless interoperability for microwave access) trials, as well as the harmonisation efforts of WiBro with WiMAX further underscore this trend. Much of the parley in 2005 would transform into deployment in 2006, while full commercial rollouts are likely only in 2007.

    Despite the emergence of such new technologies, the 2G/2.5G mobile subscriber base is expected to continue contributing significantly to the overall growth of the industry, given its near-term market dominance. In order to accelerate the migration from 2G/2.5G to the 3G platform, 3G operators would need to continue emphasising on inexpensive voice and offer aggressive 3G handset subsidies.

    “At a time when most regional cellular industries are fast approaching saturation, Asia Pacific remains one of the few surviving high-growth markets. Although this highly competitive market is plagued by constant price war and short product life cycles, it is far from being saturated,” added Chong.

    The Asia Pacific Mobile Communications Outlook 2006 is part of the Mobile and Wireless subscription. It provides an insight into the current market environment and discusses the anticipated developments in the Asia Pacific mobile communications industry in 2006. Apart from an analysis and outlook of the overall regional market, the study provides a detailed analysis and outlook/implications across 12 countries. This will provide market participants with the necessary market intelligence to identify and evaluate market opportunities, as well as develop winning go-to-market strategies.

  • Top brass of Yahoo!, WPP start new media venture – Gas Station TV

    Top brass of Yahoo!, WPP start new media venture – Gas Station TV

    MUMBAI: Gas Station TV (GSTV), an IP-based digital television network, has announced the appointment of its executive management team. Yahoo!’s David Leider will serve as CEO and manage client and partner relationships and business operations. WPP’s Stephen Kuehn will oversee fiscal operations as chief financial officer. Adam Bleibtreu will provide design, execution and integration expertise as president of the company.

    The team will lead the company in building a national digital media network offering entertainment and informational programming to consumers, while affording unique advertising opportunities to the gas retailer marketplace.

    The GSTV digital network will air on 20″ high-definition, daylight viewable LCD monitors embedded into gas pumps. GSTV will feature national ABC content such as its popular “News You Can Use” segments, as well as local news, AccuWeather forecasts and traffic from ABC affiliates. Leider, Bleibtreu and Kuehn will leverage their experience in advertising, media and marketing to strategically position GSTV in the market.

    GSTV CEO Leider carries more than 20 years of experience in the media, automotive, consumer packed goods, retail and technology sectors. Leider brings expertise in senior-level client relationship management, business operations and marketing integration to GSTV. Prior to joining GSTV he was a member of senior management at Yahoo! Inc.

    Prior to his role as CFO of GSTV, Kuehn served at WPP Worldwide as CFO for the Ford Automotive business where he was responsible for all aspects of finance and operations. During his 15 years in advertising, Kuehn has held several senior financial management positions, servicing many automotive, fast food and retail industry clients.

    GSTV president Adam Bleibtreu brings 25 years of advertising, media and marketing experience to his position at GSTV. An expert in narrowcasting and IPTV networks, Bleibtreu specialises in the design, implementation and integration of digital networks. Prior to GSTV, he was responsible for designing and executing the first digital networks in themed restaurants, shopping malls and convention centers in the US. Having served as the initial vice president of creative services for the WB Television Network, Bleibtreu has a rich experience in launching television networks.

    “The strong leadership skills demonstrated by David, Adam and Stephen through their far-reaching expertise in advertising and digital media are what solidified GSTV as such an attractive investment opportunity. I am fully confident in each of their capabilities to develop GSTV into a dramatically successful venture,” said DHW Capital’s David Wong.