Category: News Headline

Sify enters online travel space with Globe Travels’ acquisition

MUMBAI: Sify Limited has acquired Globe Travels, an online issuer of e-tickets in the India-US travel space. This acquisition marks Sify’s entry into the fast growing online travel business, particularly e-ticketing, the category with highest revenues and fastest growth in online ecommerce today.

In a country with low PC penetration, Sify is particularly well-placed with 3300 iWay cyber cafes across 153 cities from which more than a million people accessed the internet in the last quarter.

Each of these iWay cyber cafes can operate as an e-store from where existing and new customers can make online travel arrangements or purchase e-tickets. The company’s acquisition of Globe Travels will be leveraged to provide value for Sify’s users, while adding additional revenue streams for the company.

Sify Ltd CEO R Ramaraj said, “This strategic acquisition brings into our fold fast growing services that enhance our online offerings to customers, and opens up new sources of revenue. We will also have the benefit of having Globe Travels CEO Herman Noronha, on board along with his team, who will add value with their domain expertise.”

Noronha said, “We are delighted to be a part of the Sify online services network. We decided to partner with Sify, after much deliberation, given the company’s vision, range of online services, extensive reach across India and its technological capabilities.”

With over 20 years of travel industry experience in both India and the USA, Noronha founded Globe Travels in the US in 1993, and built a leading and profitable enterprise in the travel business focused on the US-India market.

Portals senior vice president Surya Mantha said, “The addition of a travel portal is in line with our strategy of providing end-to-end services to Sify users. We believe we are well positioned to emerge as leading player in the online travel space with the unmatched reach afforded by the 3300 iWay cyber cafes across 153 cities, 200,000 home broadband customers, and Sify’s leading online properties including www.SifyMax.in, www.Sify.com and www.Samachar.com, the popular portal for global Indians.”

The potential for the growth of travel and ticketing arrangements online in India cannot be underscored. India, today is considered to be one of the fastest growing airline markets in the world in terms of new airlines and the number of aircraft on order.

According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the number of Indian internet users is slated to grow from the current 38.5 million to over 100 million by 2007-08. As internet users grow, the number of people making travel arrangements online is expected to increase substantially in future. IAMAI has projected a total of $ 262 million in online transactions for 2005-06, of which 57.85 per cent or $152 million is expected in the travel and travel related sectors. Airline ticket sales online are expected to account for $ 88 million, railway ticket sales will follow with $ 63 million. The growth of online sales of air tickets has been given a further impetus by the IATA deadline of 7 December for 100 per cent online ticketing in India, with the airlines promoting online tickets with special fares and benefits, as well as alliances.

Online travel arrangements for global Indians returning to India can also be leveraged on www.samachar.com, particularly in the US-India sector. This segment is growing at 40 per cent year on year, with the opportunity to provide other value added services around a visit to India

June 5, 2006
BBC, Pact agree on new media rights

MUMBAI: The BBC and the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact) which represents independent producers in the UK have finalised amendments to their existing terms of trade agreement. This gives BBC audiences enhanced opportunities to view their favourite programmes across all platforms and allowing independent production companies greater freedom to exploit new media rights.

The new deal is the first to be struck on new media rights by Pact and a major UK broadcaster and has been achieved within the 31 May deadline for agreement set by Ofcom as part of its TV Production Sector Review.

The key changes to the existing Terms of Trade provide for:

Enhanced opportunities to catch up on BBC programming via the public service window.Viewers will be able to catch up on any episodes of a series they have missed on-demand while the series is still going out. Viewers will also be able to download and store programmes locally to view later. Once accessed, they have seven days to view them. Commercial video-on-demand rights will be available to exploit in the UK for the first time. Independents will also have greater freedom to exploit other new media rights and enjoy an improved share of revenue from commercial exploitation in the UK.

In addition, the BBC will simplify and streamline its procedures in relation to its holdback policy – making the use of independent programmes in the UK much easier and more straightforward.

BBC Television COO Bal Samra said, “There have been some tough negotiations but there is agreement on both sides that these amendments strike a great deal for both the independent production sector and the licence fee payer.”

BBC director of television Jana Bennett said, “This deal has improved what was a fairly narrow public service new media window to view programmes. It creates the possibility – subject to the necessary approvals – for audiences to catch up with their favourite BBC programmes at their convenience. It’s great news for viewer choice and for anyone who wants flexibility as to when and how they watch our output.”

June 5, 2006
Disney Channel Fun Zone creates rollicking time for over 15,000 kids

MUMBAI: Disney Channel brought yet another innovative opportunity for kids to experience the Disney Channel shows, win goodies and have a blast with their family. Over 15,000 kids and families had a rocking time this weekend at Disney Channel Fun Zone at the DNA YA! Station, an indoor festival for kids organised by the English daily DNA.

In response to a clear need gap for weekend activities that are fun and involving for the entire family, Disney Channel – the entertainment partner for the DNA YA! Station designed the Disney Channel Fun Zone offering kids an opportunity to enjoy themselves with involving activities along with their families.

Of the 2500 who registered at the Disney Channel Fun Zone, 40 kids got the opportunity to watch the ever best Disney movies in a specially designed Movie Theatre.

What’s more, kids tested their acting skills at a special audition booth mimicking their favorite Disney characters and two lucky winners will be featured on Disney Channel.

Walt Disney Television International (India) director marketing and communications Tushar Shah said, “We believe in providing a complete Disney brand experience every time we establish a contact with the viewer. There is a huge need gap today, of suitable content that has stickiness on-air which can also create involving on-ground-experiences. With innovative initiatives like Disney Channel Fun Zone, we aim to bridge the gap between TV content and on-ground brand experience for the viewers and enable viewers to develop a much stronger bond with Disney Channel.”

The DC Fun Zone comprised six sub-zones, each representing a key property, which include That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Recess, American Dragon: Jake Long and the Disney Movies.

June 5, 2006
NDS selects Broadbus as on-demand video platform for synamedia metro IPTV middleware

MUMBAI: Broadbus Technologies, Inc., provider of technology solutions for television on demand (TOD), and NDS, provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV has come together to announce that the later has selected the Broadbus B-1 video server as the first on-demand video platform for the NDS synamedia metro IPTV middleware.

Synamedia Metro is an integrated IPTV middleware solution that enables telecommunications providers and broadband operators to quickly and easily offer the power of IPTV to their subscribers.

The NDS solution will incorporate the Broadbus B-1 Video Server, a 100 per cent solid-state, carrier-class solution for the delivery of IPTV and on-demand video services.

“NDS developed synamedia metro to offer telecommunications providers a turnkey IPTV solution, including security, middleware and electronic program guide functions, that enables next generation experiences today,” said NDS Broadband Internet Group VP Nigel Smith. “NDS believe that Broadbus’ open design, scalability and reliability are a good fit for telco customers.”

According to an official release, Synamedia Metro IPTV middleware allows IPTV operators to offer attractive Electronic Program Guides (EPG), interactive TV applications (iTV), Video on Demand (VOD), digital video recorder (DVR) or network DVR capabilities and interactive games, in either standard (SD) or high definition (HD), all of which are built using the NDS MediaHighway middleware application development tools (MHDK).

The solution also protects premium content and revenue streams through NDS VideoGuard, the most widely deployed, robust and secure encryption technology for content protection, revenue protection and rights management.

“We’re very excited to be leveraging our extensive on-demand video experience to deliver a powerful IPTV offering with NDS,” said Broadbus Sr. director of marketing Tom Kennedy.

“By combining Broadbus’ carrier-class architecture with NDS’s market-leading middleware and security, service providers get a rock-solid foundation on which to build a reliable and scalable IPTV infrastructure.”

The release also adds that the Broadbus B-1 Video Server is the only 100 per cent solid-state, carrier-class solution for the delivery of on-demand video services. The platform’s compact, switch-based architecture completely eliminates the use of mechanical hard drives for video streaming and ingest, instead leveraging the intelligent management of massive amounts of random-access memory. The result is unparalleled performance, reliability, scalability for VOD and advanced on-demand services at less than one-tenth the footprint and one-eighth the power requirements of traditional systems.

By integrating the Broadbus B-1 Video Server into a single solution, the NDS Synamedia Metro architecture enables telco operators to deploy a single integrated IPTV system and reduce the time-to-market for new services. The solution is also standards-based, allowing telcos to choose their system components according to their current infrastructure needs.

June 5, 2006
New York Times journo Carter to deliver closing address at Banff World Television Festival

MUMBAI: The Banff World Television Festival has announced that bestselling author and New York Times journalist Bill Carter will provide the Global Television Closing Address at this year’s Festival.

Carter, author of The Late Shift and Desperate Networks has reported on the television industry for more than 30 years and will share his industry insight with Banff delegates on 14 June, 2006 in Banff in Alberta, Canada.

The Festival’s director of content, Jennifer Harkness says, “With his rich background, Bill Carter has an insider’s knowledge of how the television industry works. We are excited and honoured at the opportunity to have him close out Banff 2006.”

In Desperate Networks the author goes behind-the-scenes of the television industry to reveal the elaborate inner-workings, capturing portraits of larger-than-life moguls and stars who make it such a cut-throat business. His bestselling book, The Late Shift, provides an inside account of the power struggles for Johnny Carson’s seat on the Tonight Show.

The Banff World Television Festival takes place from 11-14 June. It positions itself as being an event where great television is born.

June 5, 2006
Star Movies to focus on Donald Trump, Templars next month

MUMBAI: Star Movies will air a film next month Trump Unauthorised.This movie on the life of real estate tycoon Donald Trump hits all the high and lowlights. It includes Trump’s real estate triumphs, failures and his first two marriages. Trump of course hosts the business based reality show The Apprentice which airs in India on Star World.

The film was shot in Toronto and the decision to make this film makes sense since Trump has been catapulted into the limelight, courtesy television.

The channel will also air a three hour mini series Blood Of the Templars. According to legend, the Templars no longer exist, extinguished long ago in the fog of time. But throughout the centuries there have been constant reports that the mystic and secret order does still exist.

What the legend does not say is that there was a schism within the Knights Templar that lead to the formation of a breakaway group, the Priory of Sion, and that this group is still very much with us. Of course both the book and the film The Da Vinci Code mention this group a lot. For thousands of years the two warring sides have fought for possession of the Holy Grail. But where is it and what powers does it have?

June 5, 2006
Critically acclaimed ‘Babel’ to be simultaneously released in India

MUMBAI: The Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett film Babel, which premiered at the Cannes Film festival in France this year and won three awards there including one for the director will be simultaneously release in India along with the US in the mid-week of July.

E-City films, which has distributed critically acclaimed films in the past like Million Dollar Baby and A History of Violence will release the film.Babel is the final chapter in the trilogy after the much-acclaimed Amores Perros and 21 Grams for Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The movie recently became a hot topic of discussion when imdb.com mentioned Shilpa Shetty and Mahima Chaudhry’s name in the film’s cast, even though they weren’t working on the movie.

The title of the movie refers to the tower of Babel in the ancient town of Babylon, where humans thought they were gods and could reach the heaven without God. The film explores the subject of relationships and plays around the themes of love in adversity. It revolves around four interweaving stories set in Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan.

At the press conference for the film at the Cannes Film Festival last month Iñárritu dwelt on the film’s title saying, “Babel, we think about man building this tower and trying to arrive to the sky and be gods. And then God got angry and he created these different languages. And that’s the reason we are talking so many languages all over the world. For me that’s not the problem, I think that language can be very easy to break.

“For me, I think the problem is the ideas and preconceptions that we have that really keep us apart. That’s what the film’s about. And at the same time, I want this film to be basically about what separates us and what brings us together. I think that’s the key element: What makes us the same people living in the world and not what are our differences. Which ones are the similarities and I hope this film communicates that.”

As far as the film’s message is concerned he says, “I don’t know if it’s an x-ray of the world because that’s too ambitious, but I tried to show what is going on with us at the moment. We see the “other” as always abstract, so that to be different means to be dangerous and not able to understand the other. This is happening not only country between country, but against fathers, against sons, against husband.

“We are not able to listen anymore. I want to talk about that, the borders within our souls: our preconceptions of our fathers, the archetypes we have from religions, races, cultures. I tried to make a film that talks about prejudice without being prejudice.

“Seeing a film is very a fragmented emotional experience. At this time, I didn’t want to play with that. I wanted to be more linear so that people wouldn’t feel distracted by the film’s structure and just let them flow with the emotion of the film.”

Blanchett said, “This film is all about connections between parents and children, which I think so many of us understand. It felt very personal for me as well as for Alejandro. Being a parent, when you see a child in danger, particularly with an irresponsible nanny, it engages me, it’s like pulling the roots of my system out. It’s very distressing.”

About the experience of working with Brad Pitt the Australian Oscar winner said, “It is like chocolate. He’s glorious and wonderful. We have been wanting to work with one another for a long time and to work together in quite an unexpected way and for Brad to be doing something for an audience, and Alejandro, it was intensely riveting.

“The moment of him, which is so beautifully judged in terms of where it’s placed in the film but also so exquisitely performed, when he speaks with the children on the phone at the end, I think it’s one of the most moving moments in a film.”

As far as America is concerned Iñárritu says, “In this film I don’t want good or bad guys. I think what is happening in the world is perpetuated. I try to be subtle in a way, to not be archetypal, and not prejudice. When I think about an Empire, it’s not about nations, human beings, others. It’s the way they normally try to pretend that everyone is a terrorist, anything can be held against you. I think there is now an obsessive idea, obsessive problem with the United States, showing its power. This is a very stressful moment in history.”

June 5, 2006
AXN goes on a ‘Road Trip’ this football season

MUMBAI: In a bid to broaden its programming range the action oriented AXN has announced a new programming band Road Trip. This basically celebrates major sporting and entertainment spectacles.

The initiative will kick off with a four part series on the football World Cup which kicks off on Friday in Germany. The show airs every Friday at 9 pm.

AXN Road Trip: Fifa World Cup 2006 will offer viewers a chance to get an inside glimpse of the global phenomenon that is the World Cup and all of the off-the-charts events and activities planned in and around the host cities.

The show’s host Neil Cole travels across Germany in search of the stories, the people, the places that make this the epic center stage of the world’s favorite sport this summer. The stakes are high as teams representing 32 countries vie for the World cup.

The show will travel across Germany to highlight all 12 host cities and will feature segments on the players and interviews with fans. It will also include qualifying moments from teams like Brazil, Germany, the Czech Republic, England and Argentina.

AXN will give viewers the chance to get up, close and personal with some of the sports great’s from around the globe. The show will have insight’s from veterans such as Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, Brazil’s Pele, Argentina’s Diego Maradona, Italy’s Roberto Baggio, Holland’s Marco Van Basten, and Korea’s Cha Bum Keun will prepare viewers for what is to come, while reflecting on some of the greatest moments the World Cup has ever seen.

June 5, 2006
Discovery introduces viewers to a seven year old surgeon

MUMBAI: Discovery will air a one hour special The Seven Year Old Surgeon on 10 June at 8 pm.In 2001 seven year old Akrit Jaswal gained celebrity status when he successfully performed an operation to separate the fused fingers of an eight year old girl in his small village in North India.

Now the 12 year old researches cures for cancer in his laboratory which was extablished by his proud parents. Viewers will also see him going to the UK to meet British scientists who offer their verdicts on him. The show also interviews psychologists who assess the effects these achievements could be having on his childhood.

Jaswal became obssessed with medicine at an early age. He memorised medical books and winessed surgeries. He even experimented on animals at his home in Himachal Pradesh. As the word of the young prodigy spread villagers flocked to hime home seeking advice or just a glimpse of the boy.

Much to his discomfort he was idolised and revered as a God. However he did meet some of the hordes that gathered on his doorstep. He has prescribed medicine for over a thousand cases including a man suffering from a brain disorder.

June 5, 2006
Online and mobile players go for the goal

MUMBAI: With the biggest event in the global sporting calendar, the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany, just four days away, web sites and mobile phone platforms have beefed up their football content to attract viewers and advertisers.

For websites, it is an opportunity to attract Indian sports buffs and for advertisers it will be a classic opportunity to get their message across. According to estimates by the Internet and Mobile Association of India, for larger portals, the incremental jump in advertising revenues will be anywhere between 8 – 15 per cent.

Internet use in India has grown exponentially since 2002, when the last World Cup tournament was held. In 2002, the number of internet users were about eight million as compared to today’s 38.5 million. Consumption of sports infotainment online too has grown significantly in the last four years in India.

Yahoo! India director sales Pearl Uppal is upbeat about the prospects for the event. “We see high potential in online advertising for the soccer World Cup. Yahoo! is hosting the official site of the 2006 Fifa World Cup. Further, we expect an estimated 32 million unique users to consume over four billion pages of the 2006 official Fifa World Cup site. We see high engagement of our users with Yahoo! India Sports.”

As an official Fifa World Cup partner, Yahoo! is bringing unique World Cup experience both online and on mobile. This will provide advertisers with a proposition and consistent platform with which to tap into audiences’ passion for football and the Fifa World Cup. Yahoo! is offering opportunities to advertisers to immerse the brand within an engaged content experience and to run innovative promotions on their online and mobile platforms.

Rediff.com India Ltd chief media revenue officer Aravindra Kanwal said, “Traffic will be strong and we should see a 50 – 100 per cent spike (visitors to the web site) for some matches.”

Rediff.com, besides having match schedules online, also has trivia related to the World Cup, a countdown to the beginning of the activity, full coverage of past tournaments, international and national and also an online football store to enable users to purchase their favourite football memorabilia. There is a Fifa World Cup 2006 Gaming Zone, which allows a user to participate in a game to test their memory and concentration.

“Web sites are pulling out the stops to attract viewers and advertisers. At Rediff.com, editorial teams are working on different formats and plan to offer advertisers opportunities to integrate mobile and internet mediums with print, TV and radio. HT plans to create more than 100 pages of micro-sites promoted across the site,” said HT Media Ltd head sales and alliances Salil Kumar.

Sify.com head of consumer channels Ajay Nambiar said, “Corporates are showing a very high degree of interest in the World Cup focused websites, knowing full well that the World Cup has captured the imagination of the youth in particular. Maruti Swift is one of the sponsors on Sify. Several other corporates are talking to us and Sify’s special section will see multiple advertisers and sponsors targetting the football fan.”

The Sify World Cup special on the web site features videos of venues, teams, players, past tournaments and preparations, apart from news reports and features, off-beat stories, contests, best of blogs, interactives, video-based quizzes, etc. During the cup, live tickers, news reports, features, image galleries, audio commentary and videos will capture the excitement of the Cup.

The 2006 football World Cup in Germany also represents an opportunity to promote 3G. However, according to a study ‘World Cup 2006: Scoring with mobile content and services’ published by research company Visiongain, it will be established content, such as text-based services that will generate the most significant revenue.

The study found that the one-month long tournament will generate $6.35 billion in revenue, with text-based services and downloads, such as ring tones and logos, being the most significant.

Gaming will also contribute to profits earned by World Cup related content. The industry will also look to generate revenue through interactive video messaging, video clips and even blogging services. The key revenue generators will be tried and tested text services, ring tones and logos. The content of the World Cup lends itself well to highlights clips, which operators have been busy purchasing the rights for, as well as mobile gambling.

Airtel in India, thanks to it being a member of the Bridge Mobile Alliance and Mobile ESPN partnership, has been providing its users with a dedicated news section on the World Cup 2006 from 23 May to 9 July 2006. For example, ESPN Here We Go will provide the latest match insights from ESPN Star Sports presenters and football pundits as they bring match previews, predictions, analysis, previous day highlights and team news from the World Cup.

SportsCenter will enable fans to keep track of the latest sports in action, around-the-world coverage on top sports stories, with special reports on the World Cup match updates, summaries and results. Other sports content service offerings available for download include Java games, wallpapers of popular football players and player tunes to name a few.

June 5, 2006