ITV

Category: Press Release

  • FX and FX HD to premiere Lilyhammer

    FX and FX HD to premiere Lilyhammer

    MUMBAI: FX, the English entertainment channel is all geared up to premiere the first episode of the series Lilyhammer. The series airs on 10 December 2015 at 10 pm and revolves around Frank, a New York mobster played by Steven Van Zandt.

    The lead is seen trying to start a new life in isolated Lillehammer, Norway as part of the Witness Protection Program after testifying against his former mafia associates. 

     

    Frank Tagliano (Van Zandt), a former underboss of the American Mafia, is placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program after testifying in a trial against Aldo Delucci (Thomas Grube), the new Mafia head who had ordered a hit on him after succeeding his recently deceased brother, Sally Boy Delucci. Frank requests that he be relocated to Lillehammer, where he believes no one will look for him. His new identity is Norwegian-American immigrant Giovanni “Johnny” Henriksen. On a train journey from Oslo to Lillehammer, Johnny impresses teacher Sigrid Haugli (Marian Saastad Ottesen), her son Jonas (Mikael Aksnes-Pehrson), and a man who later turns out to be a civil supervisor. However, soon he starts to feel lost in Lillehammer.

  • Zeop deployes Broadpeak to improve video delivery

    Zeop deployes Broadpeak to improve video delivery

    MUMBAI:  Broadpeak, a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) technologies and live and video-on-demand (VOD) servers for cable, IPTV, OTT, hybrid, and mobile TV operators worldwide, today announced that Zeop, the first and leading fiber operator based on the French island of Reunion, has deployed Broadpeak solutions to improve video delivery. Using a combination of Broadpeak’s BkS400 cache servers and BkM100 CDN manager, Zeop can cost-effectively distribute VOD content via a content provider located in France, while providing an exceptional quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS) to end users.

     

    “Recently, we wanted to offer subscribers a wider choice of content. Under standard video delivery architecture, this would have been extremely challenging in terms of the transit and CDN-as-a-service costs incurred. We needed an optimized video delivery solution,” said Zeop CTO Martin Vigneau. “Broadpeak’s video caching technology dramatically reduces our transit and contribution link costs, allowing us to deliver a wider range of popular video content at a fraction of the cost of traditional CDN methods, while providing a better quality of experience and service.”

     

    Broadpeak pre-provisions popular video content in a local cache server, located in the operator’s network in Reunion. Each time an end user requests video content, it is directly streamed by the BkS400 local server, without needing to reach the content provider’s origin server. The technology is deployed on virtual machines, optimizing Zeop’s costs even further.

     

    Broadpeak’s BkS400 servers deliver video content via adaptive bit rate (ABR) technology, guaranteeing a high level of video quality. The presence of a local cache removes any latency that could take place between the origin server and the edge network. This mechanically benefits the QoS, and also the QoE, since higher video profiles will be streamed more often. Broadpeak’s BkS400 server offers broad format support (e.g., Apple HLS, Microsoft Smooth Streaming, Adobe HDS, and MPEG-DASH) so that operators can deliver video content anytime, anywhere, on any device. Zeop is also delivering content in the Microsoft Smooth Streaming format.

     

    Broadpeak’s cache servers also collect analytics about end user sessions, allowing Zeop to identify trends in audience behaviors. Zeop can monitor a full range of statistics related to video streaming, including bit rate per source, cache status percentage (e.g., cache hit, cache miss), requests per second, average time to serve, and HTTP status codes per second. By employing a solution with sophisticated analytics, the operator can provide detailed information to marketing, operations, and support teams to assist them with strategic decision-making.

     

    “Using Broadpeak’s solution, Zeop can now negotiate with other content providers to offer a wider choice of content to their subscribers,” said Broadpeak CEO Jacques Le Mancq. “Broadpeak’s solution also enables Zeop to interface with other CDN service providers and deliver content in a wide range of ABR formats to address all growing consumer demand for high-quality video content on every screen. The end results are lower video delivery costs, more flexibility, and a better QoS and QoE for end users.”

  • FX India celebrates Doctor Who’s 52nd Birthday as #TARDISdayOnFX trends

    FX India celebrates Doctor Who’s 52nd Birthday as #TARDISdayOnFX trends

    MUMBAI: FX India has partnered with Havas Media India and wowed and engaged Doctor Who audiences in India through November making the 23rd a super memorable day in their lives!

     

    Doctor Who, the world’s longest running sci-fi show which premiered on BBC, November 23, 1963 has Whovians (fans), across the globe. Every year, The Doctor’s birthday is celebrated as TARDIS Day named after his Time Machine/Spacecraft and is one of the biggest events of the year for every Whovian.

     

    Doctor Who being one of the most appreciated shows on social media, FX India wanted to do something special for the Indian Whovians. What better way than a digital one-on-one with The Doctor himself – Peter Capaldi! Whovians could ask ‘that’ one question they always wanted to; and the contest winners would have their answer.

     

    The ball was set rolling by informing active fan clubs on Facebook that something big was coming their way. Keeping true to the show’s legacy they were informed of a chance of being a part of the next best thing to a ‘Companion’, a Doctor Who sidekick. This was done on Twitter as well.

     

    The tremendous response had fan clubs in the teaser stage actively sharing content as discussions ensued! The engagement for 24 hours from the first teaser was more than the previous 10 days put together. Further, Whovians shared the customised activity collateral. On Twitter, #AskDoctorWhoOnFX flooded itself on timelines everywhere with over 700,000 impressions in just 3 hours.

     

    Enthusiastic Whovians asked a total of 108 questions on Facebook & Twitter!

     

    To make sure that PeterCapaldi could answer as many fans questions as possible, a shortlist with the most frequently asked questions was drawn up – Peter’s opinion on something or the telling of his experiences.

     

    The questions were answered on air and digital on TARDIS day, November 23, 2015. The day was made extra special by holding an online contest for fans as a throwback to the 52 years of Doctor Who. This received an enthusiastic response from eager fans such that #TARDISdayOnFX – trended for over 16 hours on a national scale, trumping even the hottest topics of the day!

     

    The celebrations saw #TARDISdayOnFXgather over 21.5 million impressions with over 7,000 tweets from 400+ contributors. As a special treat for the fans, TARDIS day wishes from The Doctor was shared via a video link

     

    https://www.facebook.com/FXIndia/videos/vb.117763098286699/1278489708880693/?engine=2&theater

  • Andy Murray Returns for second season Double Grand Slam Champ Wawrinka makes IPTL Debut

    Andy Murray Returns for second season Double Grand Slam Champ Wawrinka makes IPTL Debut

     MUMBAI:  Two-time Grand Slam winners, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have announced their participation in the second edition of the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) that kicks off today in Kobe, Japan and will run through to 20th December 2015 in Singapore.

     

    While Murray will be returning for the second season, Wawrinka will be making his debut in the five-nation tennis league, the only one of its kind in the world.

     

    Both Murray and Wawrinka will be playing for the OUE Singapore Slammers, along with fellow team-mates Nick Kyrgios, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Plíšková, Dustin Brown, Carlos Moya and Marcelo Melo.

     

    Novak Djokovic has chosen to withdraw from the second season. Djokovic played for the UAE Royals in the inaugural edition, and was drafted by the OUE Singapore Slammers for the second edition.

     

    On his non-participation, Novak Djokovic said, “I had a great experience in the inaugural edition of the IPTL and was eagerly looking forward to playing in the second season, especially in front of the home crowd in Singapore. It’s been a long year for meand my body needs some extra time to recover. I wish the team the very best and will join them next year.”

     

    Murray was part of the Manila Mavericks (re-christened ‘Philippine Mavericks’ in season two) in the inaugural edition and will be joining the OUE Singapore Slammers in the second season.

     

    Wawrinka and Murray join a formidable array of tennis superstars that include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios among others. Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova,Ana Ivanovic, Kristina Mladenovic, Sania Mirza are just some of the names leading the women’s charge in the league.

     

    “We are glad to announce the return of Andy Murray and the debut of Stan Wawrinka in the IPTL. Both Murray and Wawrinka will add immense strength to the Slammers, upping the quality of tennis on display. Fans across the world can look forward to some exciting match-ups,” said Mahesh Bhupathi on behalf of the IPTL.

     

     The innovative, team-based, multi-nation tennis league has expanded to five teams for its second edition, with the Japan Warriors joining last season’s champions Indian Aces, alongside the Obi UAE Royals, the Philippine Mavericks and the OUE Singapore Slammers in a five-city swing that starts today in Japan and ends at Singapore’s Indoor Stadium for the grand finale on 20thDecember. The finals of Coca-Cola IPTL 2015 will see the top two teams in the league standings face off to determine the champion,winning the coveted trophy and prize money of USD 1 million, with the runner-up getting USD 500,000.

  • Coca Cola and NDTV’s ‘Support My School’ campaign raises Rs 20 crore

    Coca Cola and NDTV’s ‘Support My School’ campaign raises Rs 20 crore

    MUMBAI: NDTV, Coca-Cola and UN-Habitat once again came together with campaign ambassador Sourav Ganguly to support the 6 hour telethon that went live across all channels on the NDTV network on 29 November.

     

    The campaign, which was started in 2011 once again received an overwhelming response from people across different walks of life and generated over 20 Crores to support 400 schools. The target of revitalizing 1000 schools which the campaign set for 2017 was achieved in 1 day itself. The telethon saw the foundation being laid for the first school under the Support My School Campaign in Shillong. School dedications & celebrity visits were organized in other cities like Gwalior, Jaipur, and Pondicherry amongst others.

     

    Hosts NDTV,  Group CEO Vikram Chnadra, Coca Cola India, SW Asia, president,  Venkatesh Kini and campaign ambassador Sourav Ganguly took centre-stage to reach out to millions of viewers to generate maximum funds for the cause. Ranveer Singh extended his support to the campaign.

     

    Delighted with the tremendous response received for the initiative NDTV Group CEO  Vikram Chandra said, “This multi partner campaign has seen tremendous response from across the country and is growing at a rate which will soon help us reach our next goal. We would like to thank our viewers for the amazing support they have been extending and urge everyone to keep coming forward and help Sourav and NDTV Support My School.”

     

    Speaking about the campaign Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia president Venkatesh Kini said, “Support My School has grown from being an initiative to a campaign that has more than 50 partners in 23 states across India impacting nearly 200,000 children in 600 schools. All of this has been possible with the support of our strategic partners and NGOs, who implemented it at the grass-root level and made the dream come true for many children.”

    Campaign ambassador, Sourav Ganguly said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be associated with such a cause that not only impacts several lives but has a vision of building India’s future. We need more initiatives like Support My School, which has helped in holistic growth of children in many schools across the nation”

     

    The day saw participation from policy makers like Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel Uttarakhand CM, Harish Rawat  and Bollywood personalities like Raju Hirani, Sonali Bendre, Sports personalities like Sunil Gavaskar, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi along with renowned industrialists such as Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy HSBC chairperson Naina Lal Kidwai, JPMorgan Kalpana Morparia and more.

     

    During the event Sourav Ganguly engaged with students and viewers during ‘Sourav ki Pathshala’, where he gave some valuable tips and demonstrated a few strokes. Budding cricketers from the Sehwag Sports Academy got tips from Dada himself. During the 6 hours event he repeatedly appealed for donations.

  • NDTV and Coca-Cola to host a 6 hour live telethon for support my school campaign

    NDTV and Coca-Cola to host a 6 hour live telethon for support my school campaign

    MUMBAI:  NDTV, Coca-Cola and UN-Habitat will once again come together with campaign ambassador Sourav Ganguly to support the 6 hour telethon co-hosted by bollywood celebrity Ranveer Singh. It will be aired live across all channels on the NDTV Network on 29 November 2015. 

     

    A number of prominent personalities including chief ministers Anandiben Patel (Gujarat) and Harish Rawat, (Uttarakhand), bollywood actors Varun Dhawan, Parineeti Chopra, sports personalities Sunil Gavaskar, Sunil Chettri along with renowned industrialists Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy, HSBC chairperson Naina Lal Kidwai, JPMorgan Chairperson Kalpana Morparia  along with host NDTV’s Group CEO  Vikram Chandra, will take centre-stage to reach out to millions of viewers to generate maximum funds for the cause.

     

    Delighted with the tremendous response received for the initiative previously, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia President Venkatesh Kini said,  “Support My School has grown from being an initiative to a campaign that has more than 100 partners in 23 states across India impacting nearly 200,000 children in 600 schools. By 2017 we wish to take this initiative to another level.”

     

    Commenting on the campaign NDTV’s Group CEO Vikram Chandra added, “This multi partner campaign has seen tremendous response from across the country and is growing at a rate which will soon help us reach our next goal. We are hoping to see a bigger and better participation this year, which will result in reaching our goal faster.”

  • Eros International and Bhansali Productions’ Bajirao Mastani to release in Tamil & Telugu

    Eros International and Bhansali Productions’ Bajirao Mastani to release in Tamil & Telugu

    MUMBAI: Eros International and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s forthcoming magnum opus Bajirao Mastani, slated to release on December 18worldwide, will also release in Tamil and Telugu languages. The period drama will be dubbed in these languages to reach out to a wider audience base in the south markets. 

     

    Well-known lyricist Madhan Karky who has penned songs and dialogues for Tamil hits like Baahubali and Enthiran and popular Telugu lyricist Ramajogayya Sastry known for working on latest hits Srimanthudu and Baahubali will be working on the Tamil and Telugu dubs respectively.  

     

    Talking about the film’s language versions, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali said, “Bajirao Mastani has been a story I have been yearning to tell and I am glad that cine goers in the south regions will get to watch the film in their own language. This is a dream I have lived with for several years and I’m looking forward to audiences across markets living my dream with me”. 

     

    Commenting on this development, Nandu Ahuja, Senior Vice President, India Theatrical, Eros International Media Ltd.said, “Following the success of films in this genre in the south markets, we felt encouraged to dub Bajirao Mastani in Tamil and Telugu. A film of this epic scale and exceptional story telling demanded that we penetrate as wide as possible”. 

     

    As the trailer of the magnum opus recently created a splash on the social media front, the creative maverick reiterates yet again why Bajirao Mastani is India’s first truly global film.  

     

    Known to create nothing short of masterpieces, Sanjay Leela Bhansali who is also the recipient of a Padma Shri award ,has never failed to deliver films rich in content and high on entertainment, a visual spectacle captured on celluloid.

     

    Starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra among others, Bajirao Mastani has been a longstanding dream of the filmmaker which is finally being realized, transporting audiences to a land of love, war and signature opulence. 

    Eros International & Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani is scheduled to release 18th December, 2015 worldwide.

  • Zee Cinema bags four awards at Indian Brand Convention

    Zee Cinema bags four awards at Indian Brand Convention

    MUMBAI: Zee Cinema has recently bagged four awards at the Branding, Advertising, and Marketing (BAM) awards ceremony held by the Indian Brand Convention 2015 in New Delhi, for its constant innovative branding and communication efforts. The Convention was a learning, networking conference and an awards ceremony for branding, marketing, design, communications, advertising, sales and creative professionals in India.

     

    Amongst many other brands that participated, Zee Cinema was a front runner at the convention and the awards won by the channel include best corporate social responsibility campaign for November 2014 Children’s’ day Masti Ki Paathshala’ activity. It also bagged the best integrated marketing campaign for October 2014 campaign for promoting world TV premiere of entertainment, the best mobile innovation for May 2015 for the mobile activity done on world TV premiere of Lingaa. The channel has also roped in the best digital marketing campaign for May 2015 for the digital & social media promotion for world TV premiere of Lingaa.

     

    Masti ki Paathshala, was an initiative that the channel organized for the children of selected orphanages across Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad to mark the celebrations of Children’s Day 2014. Over 300 children were engaged with fun activities like movie screening, antakshari and fun games with a view to give them a memorable special day and let them know that they are valued and loved.

     

    The promotion campaign for the world television premiere of the film, Entertainment provided its viewers an exclusive opportunity to interact with Johnny Lever for the first time on Zee Cinema’s twitter handle. One of the comic actors from the film Krishna Abhishek was also made available for the media market visit in Lucknow which also ensured the visibility of the brand in the prime market. The channel also used a unique platform of airline branding (special branding inside the aircraft in Air-India) for marketing the movie innovatively. The film was extensively promoted via engaging and interactive activities conducted across social media platforms with the movie’s merchandise were given to winners.

     

    The promotion campaign for Lingaa included an extensive digital campaign and also an exclusive mobile campaign Rajnikanth phone call ad wherein participants received a pre-recorded call from Rajnikanth urging them to watch Lingaa on Zee Cinema. The mobile campaign had a reach of a gigantic 8.2 million.

  • Jackie Shroff is brand ambassador of Mumbai International Film Festival

    Jackie Shroff is brand ambassador of Mumbai International Film Festival

    New Delhi, 25 November: Renowned actor Jackie Shroff is the brand ambassador for the 14th edition of the Mumbai International Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films in January next.

     

    A record 831 entries have been received for the competition and selection process for the short listing films to international, National, Technical, New Media and Animation competitions has been initiated by the Festival Directorate.

     

    The Jury for International and Nationals competition for the festival being held from 28 January to 3 February will comprise celebrated film makers and personalities from India and abroad.

     

    In another major shift, the screenings of the films in the Festival will be held at the Films Division theatres, Russian Culture Centre and Sophia College theatres at Pedder Road, Mumbai. Until now, the Festival has been held at the Tata Centre at Nariman Point.

     

    The inauguration and closing functions will be held at the Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi at 5.00 pm on 28 January and 3 February respectively.

     

    This Festival which is held every alternate year is organized by the Films Division and is supported by the Maharashtra Government.

     

    Films Division Director General and MIFF Director Mukesh Sharma said at a press meet at the 46thInternational Film Festival of India in Panaji, Goa, that it is for the first time in the history of MIFF which began in 1990 that a mainstream artiste will be the brand ambassador of the documentary festival.

     

    A National Award winning actor, Shroff who was present said he will promote MIFF extensively thanks to his love for the short films.

     

    Sharma said Shroff accepted the invitation when he was told about the festival and the role it plays in promoting the documentary movement in India. He said Shroff regards documentaries as catalysts for social change and is planning to make short films to spread awareness about dreaded diseases and on social issues. Shroff was also present.

     

    Buoyed by the warm reception to the MIFF zone screening of competition films in National category in cities other than Mumbai during the 13th MIFF, screenings will be held simultaneously in New Delhi, Chennail, Bangalore, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Lucknow, Nagpur and Thrissur. MIFF zone is aimed at taking the competition films to film lovers who are unable to travel to Mumbai for the MIFF. Screenings will also be held at the University auditorium Kalina, Mumbai.

     

    The oldest and largest festival for non-feature films in South Asia, MIFF attracts filmmakers and cineastes from all over the world, thanks to the quality of films in the competition and other sections.

     

    Cash prize worth Rs 5.5 million, Golden Conches, Trophies and Certificates await winners in competitions including technical categories.

     

    The festival will also honour a veteran personality from the Indian documentary fraternity with the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award that carries a cash component of Rs. 500,000, trophy and citation, Sharma added.

     

    The festival will have, apart from International and National competition, screening of films in MIFF Prism, Jury retrospectives, Animation and other packages from different countries and festivals, children’s documentary films, North East DD package, FD and PSBT films, homages etc, making it a wholesome viewing experience for the delegates of MIFF-2016. The festival will also have master classes by master film makers, workshops, seminar and Open Forum by IDPA.

  • Living Foodz, for the premium and evolved

    Living Foodz, for the premium and evolved

    MUMBAI: Alpha Club, the recently launched monthly communique by BARC that offers analysis and insights into NCCS A1, A2, and A3 viewership of 6 Mega Cities has shared GTVTs of channels under the food and lifestyle genre. Living Foodz, the premium foodtainment channel has sweeped the GTVTs with 50% share as compared to the complete genre by achieving 1591 GTVTs in this exclusive audience pie.

    With the goal of building robustness into the analysis, Alpha Club presents cumulative data of preceding 4 weeks for Rat’000, Coverage’000, and ATS(Viewer). Channels for which data has been released for all 4 weeks are covered.

    With consistent innovation in programming, marketing and distribution to make Food Fun, Living Foodz has maintained its pole position and with new line up of shows the channel is sure to enthrall one and all. 

    Data: Market Share & Avg weekly GTVT, TG: 4+ Mega cities NCCS A1, Period: Wk 41 – WK 44. Source: BARC