ITV

Category: News Headline

  • Dubai developer Nakheel doing an ad campaign on BBC World

    MUMBAI: Nakheel, a Dubai development company, has launched an extensive advertising campaign on BBC World.

    Responsible for the waterfront developments The Palm, The World and Dubai Waterfront, Nakheel plans to raise its corporate profile through three commercials to air on BBC World during the next few months.

    This is the first time Nakheel has advertised with BBC World and the first commercial, which recently went on air profiles the company’s corporate image and focuses on Nakheel’s role in the development of Dubai.

    The other two commercial presentations, to be produced by BBC World, are based around the Jumeirah Family of brands, which includes the recently launched Jumeirah Park and the eagerly-awaited commencement of handover of the first residences of of the man-made palm tree-shaped island – The Palm Jumeirah. These will air on the channel in Europe, South Asia, the Middle East and Asia Pacific later in the year.

    BBC World’s regional director Mena and Pakistan Hani Soubra says, “The fact that Nakheel has chosen BBC World for their campaign is testament to the credibility of the channel. We are delighted to be working with Nakheel and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

    Nakheel director of marketing, sales and customer service Manal Shaheen says, “The aim of these three profiles is to highlight Nakheel’s role in the ongoing transformation of Dubai to an international audience. The BBC is one of the world’s most respected media organizations and BBC World has an appropriate reach for our target markets. We are delighted to be partnering with BBC World in this instance”.

  • Star India CFO G Subramaniam, AVP Vidyuth Bhandari quit

    Star India CFO G Subramaniam, AVP Vidyuth Bhandari quit

    MUMBAI: After the exit of Puneet Johar as Senior VP, Marketing and Communication last week, Star India has two more key executives leaving the organisation. According to reliable sources in the market, Star India CFO G Subramaniam and AVP Vidyuth Bhandari have quit the organisation.

    Subramaniam, who will be leaving the organisation at the end of June, is set to join a prominent cellular phone company. Bhandari has already joined Adlabs Radio as Interactivity Activation and PR head.

    Subramaniam and Bhandari were not available for comment at the time of filing this report.

    A chartered accountant by qualification, Subramanian joined Star India as Star Digital Platforms Group CFO in 2001. He was elevated to CFO of the network in 2003. Prior to joining Star, he worked with the BPL Innovision business group in their telecom ventures including four years with BPL Mobile, Mumbai as the CFO. The new move sees him returning to the telecom sector.

  • MTV Networks chief digital officer Jason Hirschhorn quits; Nick Lehman to be interim digital head

    MTV Networks chief digital officer Jason Hirschhorn quits; Nick Lehman to be interim digital head

    MUMBAI: Viacom division’s MTV Networks chief digital officer Jason Hirschhorn has resigned from his post.

    MTVN digital executive vice president Nick Lehman will replace Hirschhorn as an interim replacement.

    Hirschhorn was appointed as chief digital officer last year in November. He had joined MTVN in 2000 with the acquisition of his music-centered Mischief New Media. He will stay on through the summer to ease the transition.

    Hirschhorn was instrumental in developing the digital music service Urge, which is a tie-up between MTV and Microsoft Corp. He also spearheaded MTV’s digital media business and interactive strategy aimed at reaching audiences via the Internet and mobile devices.

  • Janmat managing company files for IPO

    Janmat managing company files for IPO

    MUMBAI: Broadcast Initiatives Ltd, the Sri Adhikari Brothers promoted company through which Janmat news and views channel was launched, has decided to tap the capital market.

    The company filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus for an IPO. Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd. is already listed on the stock exchange.

    Broadcast Initiatives Ltd. proposes to issue 85,50,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through the book building process. The issue would constitute 44.27 per cent of the fully diluted post issue equity capital of the company. Post-issue, the promoter holding would be 55.73 per cent.

    The scrip will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Allianz Securities LTD would be the lead manager for the issue.

    According to the draft prospectus, the money raised will be used to partly finance construction of a studio, and investment in infrastructure for Janmat channel, apart from other purposes.

    For the purchase of land and construction of the studio, the company intends to use Rs 96 million from the proceeds of the IPO. An investment of Rs 415.4 million has been estimated towards purchase of production, post production and broadcast equipments. The company also intends to prepay part of the term loan together with prepayment charges by utilising Rs. 250 million from the issue proceeds.Apart from Janmat, Broadcast Initiatives plans to launch a 24-hour Marathi general entertainment channel – Mi Marathi – through a subsidiary, Sri Adhikari Brothers Media Limited.

  • DirecTV inks deal with GCC for ICC Champions Trophy 2006 and World Cup 2007

    DirecTV inks deal with GCC for ICC Champions Trophy 2006 and World Cup 2007

    MUMBAI: Cricket fever will soon grip the US! The direct-broadcast satellite provider DirecTV has reached an agreement with Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) to broadcast two International Cricket Council (ICC) events — the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in India in October 2006 and the ICC Cricket World Cup, to be played in the West Indies in March 2007.

    Television rights to the two ICC events have been acquired by DirecTV on a non-exclusive basis. DirecTV’s acquisition of international cricket rights has been part of an effort to expand its programming services for the diverse ethnic population within the United States.

    “These are the most prestigious cricket events in the world, and we are proud to offer them to DirecTV customers for the first time ever,” said DirecTV Inc VP International Aaron McNally.

    “With these ICC events and with exclusive rights to six of the ten test-playing ICC members as part of our CricketTicket package, we are cementing our position as the leading distributor of televised cricket content in the United States.”

    News Corp owns approximately 36 per cent in DirecTV. The pricing and packaging for the two events will be announced at a later date, according to an official release.
    “Our agreement with DirecTV is great news for cricket in the United States of America and for the ICC,” said ICC president Ehsan Mani.

    “DirecTV’s coverage means people who might not ordinarily be exposed to cricket will get the chance to watch it. And we hope the opportunity to see the world’s best players in the world’s best tournament, the ICC Cricket World Cup, will lead to a significant increase in the number of people interested in the game in the United States, a country which has tremendous potential for growth in cricketing terms.”

    “We are extremely grateful to DirecTV for their support and look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership with them,” added Mani.

    GCC managing director Ian Frykberg said, “Global Cricket Corporation looks forward to working with DirecTV at the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 later this year and at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 next year.”

    Cricket is extraordinarily popular among populations from South Asia, West Indies and many other parts of the world. Since late 2004, DirecTV has been offering customers access to cricket matches via the DirecTV CricketTicket package, the first-ever, year-long subscription TV package for international cricket.

    All other international programming is being offered through DirecTV’s WorldDirect platform, which features 39 channels that deliver a wide variety of new programming in multiple foreign languages, including Russian, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, Italian and Ukrainian, to underserved ethnic markets throughout the United States.

    DirecTV customers will need to use a WorldDirect services satellite dish that is capable of receiving both international and English-language programming. In some markets, customers who subscribe to a local channels package will require a second smaller dish.

  • TV18 to allocate 3 million shares for Rs 2 billion QIP issue

    TV18 to allocate 3 million shares for Rs 2 billion QIP issue

    MUMBAI: Television Eighteen India Ltd. is, in its qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue, allocating 3.08 million shares at a price of Rs 650 per equity share.

    The company is raising Rs 1.99 billion through QIP, TV18 said in a statement. Indiantelevision had earlier reported that TV18 had mandated HSBC to raise this amount which would be used to fund the company’s expansion plans.

    The QIP committee of the board of Television Eighteen India Ltd met on Thursday to approve the QIP proposal

  • American Idol Hicks signs with 19 Recordings

    American Idol Hicks signs with 19 Recordings

    MUMBAI: The 2006 winner of American Idol Taylor Hicks has signed a recording deal with Simon Fuller and 19 Recordings Limited, in conjunction with legendary music man Clive Davis, chairman of BMG US and Arista Records.

    The finale on 24 May was the most successful season of American Idol with over 35 million viewers tuning into the finale.
    The 29 year old Alabama native, joins the ranks of other idols that have gone on to have outstanding music careers under the guidance of Davis. Previous Idol winners and runner ups have sold a staggering 33 million records, which includes music from Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice.

    The first single from Hicks includes the original Idol composition, “Do I Make You Proud,” sung during the final round of voting and again during the finale. The single also includes his rendition of the Doobie Brothers classic, “Takin’ It To The Streets,” from the American Idol season five encores CD. The single will be available in-stores and through digital outlets on 13 June.

    Hicks’ legion of loyal followers dubbed the “soul patrol” and fans all across the country can expect a full length album from Hicks later this year.

  • BBC, British Council launch 10th annual international radio playwriting competition

    BBC, British Council launch 10th annual international radio playwriting competition

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service and the British Council have launched their tenth annual International Radio Playwriting Competition.

    Writers who are new to radio globally are invited to submit an original 60-minute radio play on a subject of their choice. The competition, which has no age limit, is open to anyone living outside the UK and closes on Monday 30 April 2007.

    This year author and novelist Doris Lessing is among the judges. BBC World Service Drama executive producer Marion Nancarrow said, “Last year nearly 1,000 budding writers from 80 countries entered the competition and we’re hoping that even more writers from even more countries will enter this year.

    “This competition is one of the most exciting events at World Service Drama, as it provides us with an opportunity to connect with our audience and draws on a vast, untapped resource of writing talent from around the world.

    “The best thing is that it’s open to everyone. We receive entries from experienced novelists and writers from theatre, film and television as well as plays from writers with no experience at all who are submitting their first script. Previous winners have gone on to gain further commissions for World Service Drama, so this could be the next step to a very successful career.”

    The International Radio Playwriting Competition has two first prizes. One awards the best play by a writer with English as their first language, and the second for the best play by a writer with English as their second language.

    They each receive £2,500 and a trip to London to see their play being recorded for broadcast on World Service in the World Drama slot. An additional six prizes of a digital or shortwave radio will be awarded to the best plays submitted from South Asia, Asia, Africa, Middle East; America, Europe, Russia and the Caucasus.

    Further information on the International Radio Playwriting Competition and essential tips from established radio dramatists Mike Walker and Marcy Kahan can be found online at bbcworldservice.com/competitions, where writers can also download an entry form.

    An entry form can also be obtained by sending a request by email to intradioplaycomp@bbc.co.uk or one can be collected from their local British Council office.

  • Al Jazeera International ropes in veteran scribe Ibrahim Helal

    Al Jazeera International ropes in veteran scribe Ibrahim Helal

    MUMBAI: Veteran journalist Ibrahim Helal has been appointed deputy managing director news and programmes of the soon to be launched news and current affairs channel Al Jazeera International.

    Helal is a former editor-in-chief at Al Jazeera’s Arabic language channel and most recently served as a project director on the Middle East North Africa dialogue programme for the BBC World Service Trust.

    Prior to his joining Al Jazeera International, he worked in London for the BBC’s Arabic service.

    “Having Ibrahim join us at the English-language channel not only further professionalises our staff with a top-flight newsman, it also solidifies us as a family built around the core spirit of Al Jazeera,” said Al Jazeera managing director Nigel Parsons.

    Helal will oversee the Middle East desk and ensure close working relations with the Arabic news channel. “Ibrahim will have a quality-control responsibility to assure that news content across the channels is consistent—and consistently good,” said Parsons.

    Al Jazeera’s English-channel promises agenda-free news from every corner of the globe carried across fibre-optic HDTV technology. The channel plans to launch later this year.

  • Yahoo!’s Fifa World Cup site got six million visits last month

    Yahoo!’s Fifa World Cup site got six million visits last month

    MUMBAI: The football Fifa fever is growing in leaps and bounds globally! comScore has announced the results of an analysis of the worldwide online audience for the official World Cup soccer tournament Web site hosted by Yahoo! at fifaworldcup.yahoo.com. Yahoo! is a Fifa partner.

    Last month, comScore Networks, which deals with digital media measurement, recorded 5.7 million unique visitors to the site, up 35 per cent from 4.2 million in March. The tournament is set to start from 9 June in Germany.

    comScore says that the figures demonstrate the worldwide popularity of the World Cup and the potential of the Internet as a powerful marketing channel to reach this global audience.

    Europe contributed the greatest proportion of visitors with 51 per cent, or almost 3 million people visiting the site from European countries. The next highest region was Asia Pacific, contributing 17 per cent of the total visitors (nearly one million people) and reflecting the strength of the sport in the area.

    Traffic from Latin America represented 12 per cent of the total, with the popularity of the sport offsetting the lower internet penetration in many of the region’s countries. Only 10 per cent of the visitors came from North America, highlighting the still limited popularity of professional soccer in the US.

    The global interest in the World Cup, along with the complex marketing opportunities associated with the tournament, were emphasised by the visitation to the local language World Cup sites created by Yahoo!. In addition to the English language site, the German, Spanish, Japanese, French, Portuguese and Italian language versions all received significant traffic during April.