ITV

Category: Press Release

  • Andhrajyothi, the Leading Telugu Publisher in India Signs Strategic Multi-Year Partnership Agreement with Taboola

    Andhrajyothi, the Leading Telugu Publisher in India Signs Strategic Multi-Year Partnership Agreement with Taboola

    Mumbai – Taboola, the world’s leading discovery platform, today announcedan exclusive partnership withAndhrajyothi, the leading Telugu-language publisher with over 100 million page views reaching Telugu readers across India and the US. The partnership will see Andhrajyothi using Taboola’s discovery platform on mobile and web to maximize traffic and increase user engagement.

    Andhrajyothi will also use Taboola Newsroom, which provides editorial teams with actionable insights and data about content performance in real time, as well as unique insights on trending topics from Taboola’s publisher network.

    "The local and global reach of Andhrajyothi, of about 100 million page views per month, allows us to reach users in their native language, spoken by roughly 80 million people," says Koganti Bhanu Prakash, Director of Andhrajyothi. “To continue putting out high-quality regional journalism, we count on Taboola as a key discovery partner to continue to grow monetization, audience, and engagement".

    “We are excited to partner with Andhrajyothi, and work together to drive growth around user engagement, revenue and audience,” said Adam Singolda, CEO and Founder at Taboola.

  • BBC World News announces fifth Football connect tournament

    BBC World News announces fifth Football connect tournament

    MUMBAI: Returning for its highly anticipated 5th year, on the 30th of August ‘BBC World News Football Connect’ will bring together more than 300 associates from premier media agencies and brands to play five-a-side matches and compete for the BBC World News Football Connect 2019 trophy.

    Since its launch in 2014, this event has offered Mumbai’s media professionals the unique opportunity to test their skills on the pitch while building valuable relationships with colleagues from across the industry, with the event attracting everyone from CEOs and Account Directors  to media planners and  buyers. Hosted by BBC World News, the day will showcase the BBC’s substantial global offering across both the World News channel and online at BBC.com, demonstrating the BBC’s commitment to the Indian market, which now holds the biggest BBC news global audience growing from 30 to 50 million peoplein the past year. 

    “We can’t wait to dig out our football boots and get back on the pitch for BBC World News Football Connect 2019. This initiative has gone from strength to strength since it was first launched five years ago, and we remain as committed as ever to engaging the Mumbai media community and showcasing our excellent sports coverage and other offerings across BBC World News, BBC.com, mobile app and other platforms. We know that there is a huge potential market in India, with BBC News now available in nine languages across the country, we are delighted to see growth as we are reaching new audiences,’said Vishal Bhatnagar, Sales Director, South Asia, at BBC Global News.

    Moving this year to a bigger venue at Om Grounds Astro Turf Field at JVPD, Mumbai, the event promises to be better than ever with both the enduringly popular five-a-side matches and a VIP fan zone, where spectators can cheer the teams, participate in a foosball competition or test their teamwork skills in a host of activities, from building towers using 4ft Jenga-style blocks to games of air hockey and more. Guests will also be able to challenge their hosts from BBC World News to games with the opportunity of winning exclusive merchandise to take home.

    Organisers remain committed to ensuring women have an opportunity to take up key positions on teams, and the ‘Golden Goal’ penalty shoot-out scheme will once again be a focal point of the event. At the start of each match, two women from every team will take part in a penalty shoot-out, acting either as goalkeeper or taking the all-important free kicks. In the event of a tie, the goals scored in the ‘Golden Goal’ penalty shoot-out will be added to the final score to determine the winning team. 
     

  • Kotla to be renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium

    Kotla to be renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium

    MUMBAI: In a fitting tribute to its former president Arun Jaitley, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has decided to name the Stadium after him. DDCA President Rajat Sharma said Stadium will be called Arun Jaitley Stadium. Ground will remain as Ferozeshah Kotla Ground. Mr Jaitley, who passed away on August 24, was president of the DDCA from 1999 to 2013.

    The renaming of Delhi’s famous cricket venue as Arun Jaitley Stadium will take place on September 12 at a function where a Stand of the Kotla ground will be named after India captain Virat Kohli as announced earlier.

    Speaking on this initiative, DDCA president Rajat Sharma said: "What can be better to have the stadium named after the man who got it rebuilt under his presidentship. It was Arun Jaitley’s support and encouragement that players like Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Rishabh Pant and many others could make India proud."

    Mr Jaitley, during his tenure at the Kotla, is credited with renovating this stadium into a modern infrastructure, increasing it capacity to help more fans get an opportinity to watch their favourite cricketers in action besides constructing world class dressing rooms and other cricketing facilities

    The function, to be held at the Weightlifting Auditorium, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, will be graced by the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the chief guest, and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju, the guest of honour.

  • Co-creator Sarah Treem on the Final Season of ‘The Affair’ – Now Streaming on Hotstar Premium

    Co-creator Sarah Treem on the Final Season of ‘The Affair’ – Now Streaming on Hotstar Premium

    MUMBAI: After a successful four season run, The Affair is back with its fifth and last season. The drama series explores the emotional and psychological effects of an extramarital relationship, and unfolds separately from multiple perspectives, using the distinct memory biases of each character to tell the story. The last season will take place in two different time frame – a present-day storyline and the other years later in the same place that started the series of events, Montauk.

    Showrunner and Co-creator Sarah Treem said, “It’s nice to be able to end the show in Montauk – that was not something I was sure we were going to be able to do. The impact of that affair is affecting characters that weren’t around when the action took place.”

    Actors Dominic West (Noah Solloway), Maura Tierney (Henel Butler), Julia Goldani Telles (Whitney Solloway) and Jadon Sand (Trevor Solloway) will reprise their roles. Anna Paquin joins the cast as Joannie Lockhart, who returns to Montauk to find out the truth about her mother’s death.

    While the series focuses on the emotional effects of an extramarital affair, every character has grown as a result of their actions and is almost entirely different from what they were in the first season.

    Sarah Treem added, “There’s this innate sense in being a human being that life can somehow always be better. There’s someone else you can meet, there’s some other life you could have. It’s part of what keeps us hungry and keeps us innovating. But it’s also the source of so much of our pain and follow, and it’s the reason that we break each other’s hearts.”

  • Datacultr introduces Predictive Fraud Management Solution

    Datacultr introduces Predictive Fraud Management Solution

    MUMBAI: Datacultr (a PaaS for consumer lending companies) aims at helping reduce the risk of fraud in consumer lending through its Predictive Fraud Management solution. It is a first-of-its-kind platform that will allow financial institutions to significantly reduce their risk and cost of collections on ‘New to Credit’ customers in the emerging world. With the help of Machine Learning, the platform can identify potential frauds by building models around Usage, Behavioural & geospatial patterns and take immediate action.

    Datacultr has turned a Smartphone into a tool for financial inclusion by effectively making it into a virtual collateral. With the proprietary technology provided by Datacultr, consumer lending companies can set up triggers that can alert them against potential frauds and asset re-sale. It shall help in making the collection process seamless by monitoring such triggers on the android device.

    This solution uses data to create actionable insights before potential fraud. The Platform empowers the lenders to remotely manage Smartphone given out on Loan, by setting up a unique device experience module on the Smartphone, using behaviour driven templates that help them to uniquely maintain the entire life-cycle of the borrower throughout the tenure of the loan.

    Commenting on the same, Sujoy Ghosh, CTO & Co-founder, Datacultr, said, “Our predictive Fraud Management solution & the existing device management levers will broaden the horizon for consumer lending companies and hence, strengthen the process of underwriting such loans to ‘New to Credit' customers. We want to create a secure ecosystem for lending institutions so that they can provide loans to the next billion underserved users."
     

  • Imax continues strong growth in india by expanding partnership with Inox leisure ltd

    Imax continues strong growth in india by expanding partnership with Inox leisure ltd

    MUMBAI: IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) and INOX Leisure Limited (INOX) today announced an agreement to open two new IMAX® theatres to India, expanding their partnership to twelve open or planned theatres nationwide. IMAX and INOX first entered their fast-growing partnership in 2016. One of the new theatres will open as the first IMAX location in Lucknow and the other city is yet to be announced. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    The new agreement highlights the rapid growth of IMAX in India, one of the company’s fastest growing major markets. IMAX has nearly tripled its theatre network in India over the last three years, from 15 open or contracted theatres in 2016 to 42 today. Through the first half of 2019, IMAX theatres have generated more than $7.76 million at the box office in India, up 18% over the first half of 2018. Earlier this month IMAX announced that it would debut Saaho, T-Series and UV-Creations’ highly anticipated action film, in IMAX theatres in India and select international markets beginning August 30, 2019.

    “An IMAX theatre, with its advanced screen, sound and projection technology, offers a fantastic experience making the audience feel as if they are a part of the movie,” said Alok Tandon, Chief Executive Officer of INOX Leisure Ltd. “It’s stunning architecture adds to the joy of watching a movie inside an IMAX theatre. We are excited to take The IMAX Experience® to more and more customers in newer markets with the signing of this deal. We are committed to make the right moves in the technology space to offer the best to our patrons and this deal strengthens our commitment.”

    “India has one of the most longstanding and vibrant cinema cultures in the world, and we will continue to bring the biggest blockbusters and events to its passionate audiences,” said Giovanni Dolci, IMAX’s Interim Head of Global Sales. “We are grateful to INOX for our growing partnership and the opportunity to make The IMAX Experience available across key markets throughout the country.”

    With the country’s slate of local language and Hollywood blockbusters, the India market continues to demonstrate strong demand for The IMAX Experience®.  IMAX theatres are now currently in operation in multiple cities across the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Gurugram and Noida, with more markets still to come. This year’s Avengers: Endgame smashed opening weekend box office for IMAX and stands as the company’s top grossing release of all time in India.

  • Looking glass international announces launch of new brand identity and promotes its VP

    Looking glass international announces launch of new brand identity and promotes its VP

    MUMBAI: Looking Glass International (LGI), the Australian based distribution company specializing in factual programming announced today the launch of a new corporate brand identity and name.  The company will now be known as LGI Media and amongst the other changes will be the company’s logo and domain name (www.lgimedia.com).

    The corporate name has been refreshed to reflect LGI’s evolving its brand identity.  As a valuable asset and with the reputation built under its previous identity, the optimal decision was to refresh the logo, website and visual identity rather than completely change the company name.  By evolving its brand identity, LGI Media will continue to develop, finance, market and distribute unscripted programming, create a foundation for new opportunities and offer a fresh, dynamic approach to content acquisition.

    “Over the last 14 years we have built a strong reputation for providing high end, quality factual programming,” said, Nha-Uyen Chau, LGI Media Founder & CEO.  “Evolving our name rather than completely changing it was the appropriate strategic move and by reflecting our work accurately in the new name we also want to enable new opportunities for future growth”.

    LGI Media is also delighted to announce the promotion of Sam Thompson to Managing Director with immediate effect.  Thompson has been with the company since 2017 as Vice President of International Distribution and Co-productions, based out of London.  In his new position he will be responsible for implementing the company’s content strategy, overseeing the development, distribution and acquisitions of LGI Media’s programming portfolio.

    Thompson previously served as Head of Global Sales, heading up the distribution division of sports and lifestyle specialist Factory Media and prior to that he worked in international program sales at World Wide Entertainment and Big Media.

    Commenting on the promotion Sam Thompson said, “Working with Nha-Uyen and the team at LGI Media over the last two years has been inspirational and rewarding.  We have grown considerably in that time and that is something we are proud of in this ever-changing, global landscape of television.  I look forward to contributing to the company’s global growth and continuing to build an eclectic catalogue of high-end factual progamming”.

  • Celebrate a Nature-Friendly ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ with Snapdeal

    Celebrate a Nature-Friendly ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ with Snapdeal

    MUMBAI: Snapdeal, India’s leading online marketplace, today announced the launch of its specially curated Ganesh Chaturthi store on its platform. The special one-stop store has the finest collection of pooja essentials like pooja thalis, gold coins, Ganesh idols, and Ganesh merchandise products like t-shirts, pens and keychains, at attractive price points.   

    The highlight of this store is environmentally friendly Ganesh idols which are made of cow dung, natural soil, clay, and other sustainable materials. These idols are hollow from within or filled with manure, soil or seeds. The idols are attractive and do not leave a chemical trail harming the environment.

    The commonly used idols are made of Plaster of Paris (PoP) and are decorated with paints having high lead and mercury content. The materials are extremely harmful to the water bodies and deteriorate the marine ecosystem. 

    Besides eco-friendly Ganesh idols, Snapdeal has introduced Ganesh lamp lights to brighten the corners and spread light on the festivities. The selection offers attractive and colorful Ganesh lamps for décor and lighting on the auspicious occasion. 

    In addition to these, there is a festive offer discount on Ganesh paintings and tapestry silver coins and bars, dry fruits, chocolates, sweets, ethnic wear, and traditional jewelry. 

    Snapdeal offers customers a wide range of inimitable products at lucrative rates with up to 80% discount on the selected range. MobiKwik users get an additional 15% supercash.

    Here is a glimpse of the selection offered: 
    1.    Pooja Accessories: The online store offers a wide range of pooja accessories like Pooja thalis, incense sticks, chowkis, kalash etc. with price range starting Rs 199.
    2.    Ganesh Idols: The curated store offers beautiful eco-friendly Ganesh idols with up to 80% discount. 
    3.    For your Taste buds: Dry Fruits including almonds, cashews, nuts, etc. are also available with discount up to 60%, sweets, and chocolates with discounts of up to 20%. 
    4.    Silver Coins and bars: The online store provides a discounted price of up to 60%off on the selection of silver coins and bars. 
    5.    Ethnic Wear for Women: Traditional sarees with minimum discount of 50% off and stylish kurtis up to 80% off are also available for festive wear. 
    6.    Ganesh Merchandise- Merchandise products like Ganesh keychain, t-shirts, stickers, pens, and gold-plated locker are also available on the curated online store. 
    7.    Traditional Jewelry: Starting from Rs 179 onwards, the store offers attractive ornamental wear for the occasion.
     

  • Roaring action blockbuster Simmba to premiere on &pictures’ Saturday Premiere Nights on 31st August at 8 pm

    Roaring action blockbuster Simmba to premiere on &pictures’ Saturday Premiere Nights on 31st August at 8 pm

    MUMBAI: If euphoria had a face, it would look like Ranveer Singh. The vivacious actor brims with energy 24×7! When that sort of energy combines with Rohit Shetty’s quirky directorial sense, it ought to result in a high-octane action blockbuster! This Saturday, 31st August at 8 pm, get ready to dance to the tunes of the newest cop in the B-town – ‘Simmba’ with &pictures – Naye India Ka Blockbuster Movie Channel’s newest property ‘Saturday Premiere Nights’. The box office hit movie Simmba traces the journey of a fun yet corrupt police officer, whose motto in life is to do beyimaani with full imaandaari and how his outlook takes a 360-degree turn after an unfortunate incident. Director Rohit Shetty helmed action flick features Ranveer Singh as Simmba, Sara Ali Khan as Shagun, Sonu Sood as the main antagonist Durva and Ajay Devgn in a special cameo. Be it action, comedy, romance or striking performances by the actors, Simmba has it all making it a complete entertainment package for the viewers.

    Defining Simmba as a masala movie, Sara Ali Khan said, "The way I define a masala Bollywood film is a Rohit sir film. I think it has every emotion, every flavor is depicted, and in a rather grand way, which makes watching a movie  a fulfilling experience. There's drama, romance, good music, large sets, cars are flying. When you come with your friends and family for two hours you get fully transported into his grand larger-than-life world which makes the cinema-going experience totally memorable and fully Paisa vasool." 

    Essaying the titular role Simmba, Ranveer Singh said, “Rohit Shetty is the king of the action-entertainment, masala genre. I always wanted to be a Rohit Shetty hero and when I got this opportunity, I gave it my all. Both of us are entertainers at our core – we like entertaining the audiences to the hilt. My character in Simmba, Sangram Bhalerao will always stay extraordinarily close to my heart because I got to act in a film, in a genre which was my home territory. I’m thankful to Rohit Shetty for believing in me and making me part of his power packed cop universe.” 

    Speaking about his experience on making Simmba, Director Rohit Shetty said, "Making such movies makes me feel proud especially when the entire police force watches the film. After watching Singham Returns, Rakesh Maria told me, ‘I am proud to be the commissioner of the city after watching your film. The law is more important than we think. If there is no red signal on the road, we all become like animals! The day a police station shuts down, it will be chaos!" 

    Simmba is an orphan who hails from the town of Shivgadh where the famous and respected cop Singham was born and bred. While looking upto Singham has an inspiration, Simmba grew up to become a police office but with principles poles apart from the latter. Being an uncouth cop, he blatantly engages in pursuits of taking bribes from a dangerous gang lord Durva Ranade (Sonu Sood), during which he develops a bhai-hood with him. After being transferred to the Miramar police station, he comes across Shagun (Sara Ali Khan) and love blossoms between them leading to a behaviour change in Simmba. Whilst in the new city, he also develops a special bond with Aakruti (Vaidehi Parashurami), a medical student as she teaches underprivileged children and reminds him of his teacher. But, a certain twist in the story transforms him completely and forces him to choose the righteous path.

  • Asia’s largest content creation festival, India Film Project is back with its 9th Season!

    Asia’s largest content creation festival, India Film Project is back with its 9th Season!

    Witnessing enormous growth in building a community of content creators across the varying forms of art since its inception in 2011, Asia’s largest content creation festival, India Film Project marks it’s come back this year with season 9. With an aim to encourage the budding talents and their enthusiasm for 8 years, this season will be a notch higher as the winning titles of 50 hour filmmaking challenge will be premiered across PVR Cinemas in the country and will also be televised on world’s premier youth brand, MTV.

    With an increasing community of 6.5 million filmmakers and content creators coming together on 12th and 13th of October 2019 at Mehboob Studios, Bandra, Mumbai. This year more than 35000+ filmmakers are expected to participate from across 300+ cities, and 22+ countries making 1500+ short films over a weekend. Bollywood bigwigs Abhishek Chaubey, Pradeep Sarkar, Apurva Asrani, Bhavani Iyer, amongst the other have been brought on board to judge the series of challenges.

    The two-day content creation festival at Mumbai will not only have speakers from different fields of art ranging from films, comics, literature, music but also hosts a series of interesting panel discussions, AMAs, workshops and screenings. Apart from eminent juries, speakers and talent, India Film Project has also joined hands with two giants of the entertainment industry, PVR Cinemas and MTV who are on board as sponsors this season.

    Challenging the enthusiasts from diverse spaces, India Film Project brings an exciting line up of contests this year too. With its flagship property 50-hour filmmaking where the participants are challenged to create content from scratch which includes scripting, shooting and post production in a span of 50 hours. This mega challenge is slated to happen from 27th September, 8 pm to 29th September, 10 pm.

    Apart from this, IFP also has other exciting contests ranging from Short Scriptwriting Challenge where contestants are supposed to submit an original script, to a Storytelling Challenge where one is expected to submit an original spoken word poetry, to Poster-Designing Challenge where the budding talents will have to recreate a Film Poster based on the given theme. The entries for these challenges are open till 15th September 2019. Each challenge promises to be distinctive in their own space not only appealing the participants but also the audiences.

    Ritam Bhatnagar, Festival Director, India Film Project, and comments on the announcement of Season 9 “We, at IFP, aim at discovering the creators, valuing and showcasing their creation for the world to see. With this season, we aim to reach out to maximum content creators and make them the part of IFP community. From the beginning, we seek to solely provide a platform where creators can learn, create, network and share content. In this season, we plan to get bigger and better and provide an opportunity for the creators to portray the story to the audiences which they wish to.”

    In association with PVR Cinemas and MTV, the winning titles will be theatrically released in cinemas across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh. Furthermore, these movies will also be premiered on MTV over weekends on a prime time slot for 6 months.

    “With this collaboration, we aim to provide a multimedia platform for the emerging content creators. We are looking forward to associating with PVR and MTV for the one of its kind experience for the winners”, signs off Ritam Bhatnagar.