ITV

Category: Technology

  • Australia’s Ten unveils Xbox app

    Australia’s Ten unveils Xbox app

    MUMBAI: Through a new agreement with Microsoft, Network Ten is launching the Network Ten Xbox app, which is the first commercial free-to-air (FTA) channel VOD application available in Australia.

    The app gives Xbox Gold Live users instant access to a library of more than 25 programs, among them Offspring, The Graham Norton Show, Bondi Rescue and Totally Wild. It will also update with the latest news from Ten News At Five and Ten Late News as it breaks.

    Network Ten chief digital officer Rebekah Horne said: “We are delighted to be the first Australian commercial free-to-air network to join forces with Xbox to provide its consumers with new entertainment, comedy, reality and news content.”

    “This is the first product release in Ten‘s TV anywhere strategy. Our goal is to deliver a TV experience anywhere that consumers are engaging with video content. Ten‘s TV anywhere strategy will be realised over time by a number of product releases across different platforms and devices,” she added.

    Microsoft Australia interactive entertainment business lead Jeremy Hinton said: “We are thrilled to be adding Network Ten content to the Xbox platform and our content library.”

    “Our aim is to provide Australian Xbox Live members with the best and most popular television content, alongside movies, music and games, and now they will be able to access some of Australia‘s highest rated local and international shows,” he added.

  • Mumbai’s cable TV operators battle on Maharashtra entertainment tax

    Mumbai’s cable TV operators battle on Maharashtra entertainment tax

    MUMBAI: There’s a battle royale brewing in India’s entertainment and commercial capital Mumbai. On one side is the Cable Operators’ & Distributors Association (CODA) led by its president Anil Parab. On the other side is the Maharashtra government.

    Parab has threatened to switch off all news channels – including Marathi, English and Hindi – when the Maharashtra assembly convenes for its Monsoon session starting 15 July. What’s bugging cable operators is the entertainment tax that is levied by the Maharashtra government.

    “At Rs 45 per subscriber, it is too high,” says InCable managing director Ravi Mansukhani.

    Parab says that this should be brought down to Rs 15 per set top box or subscriber. “We had agreed to the government’s demand to take it up to Rs 45 from Rs 30 per subscriber earlier because they said cable TV subscriber connectivity declaration was at 30 per cent at that time. Now with digitisation coming in and declarations going up to 100 per cent we believe the tax should go down. Not only will the government’s entertainment tax collections go up, it will also be fair to the cable TV community.”

    Entertainment tax in Delhi is Rs 20, while in others it is zero and yet others keep it in the five per cent to six per cent range. Estimates are that the government has collected around Rs 3.34 crore in entertainment tax from the cable TV operators this year.

    Parab, a legislator and lawyer himself, says he had even met up with deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on the same earlier, and has asked for a meeting with Maharashtra revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat this week. “I hope to get a positive response. If we don’t then the news channel blackout will spread to the rest of Maharashtra too as I have been getting calls from those in the interiors too expressing their support.”

    Parab is quite clear none of the channels will be spared, not even Doordarshan. “We will go all the way,” says he.

    Indeed. Are those in the corridors of power in Maharashtra listening?

  • MSOs report healthy collection of CAFs as deadline nears

    MSOs report healthy collection of CAFs as deadline nears

    MUMBAI: 10 July and all the heads of India’s cable TV MSOs are going to be at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) office. Reason: that’s the deadline for them to give the TRAI an update about how far they have progressed with the consumer application forms (CAFs) in DAS areas.

    The TRAI had over the past few months been egging on the national MSOs to ensure that they collect every bit of information about their subscribers so that they could move over to transparent subscription management systems and retail billing. But resistance from local cable TV operators and customers who had been lethargic on this front had made the regulator crack the whip. In early June this year, MSOs had been warned to collect CAFs from their customers by 25 June, but were given an extension till 10 July when they updated the regulator about the slow progress.

    The biggest worry area was New Delhi where apparently the level of CAF collection was below 50 per cent.

    When Indiantelevision.com contacted some MSOs to get an update about the status of CAF collections today, they said that they had made some more progress.

    “70 per cent in Mumbai,” says Hathway Cable CEO Jagdish Kumar. “75 per cent in Delhi. We have reached higher levels on our own network subscribers at about 90 per cent but we expect things to speed up at our joint ventures by end of this week.”

    DEN CEO SN Sharma says that the network has managed to get to about 80-85 per cent in terms of CAF collections in Delhi. “Our focus is on Delhi as it was a major worry,” he says. “This will then be followed up by Mumbai and Kolkata. We are clear we will start switching off those who are still not submitting.”

    InCable managing director Ravi Mansukhani says that almost all of the MSOs have got CAF collections between 70 and 90 per cent in the two cities.

    Kumar says the collections should surge in the last two or three days as the deadline nears.

    But a source reveals that while the deadline has been set for 10 July, it is quite likely that TRAI will give a final extension till 15 July before ordering the MSOs to switch off signals to errant customers.

  • worldoo.com partners with Universal Picture International for Despicable Me 2

    worldoo.com partners with Universal Picture International for Despicable Me 2

    MUMBAI: This monsoon, Gru‘s faithful Minions will land themselves in another sticky situation and this time not only with the super-villain. worldoo.com has announced their partnership with Universal Picture International to create Despicable Me 2 inspired themes and avataars in the first of its kind ever-evolving online ecosystem for kids featuring the unpredictably hilarious Minions.

    The users of worldoo.com can watch the trailer of Despicable Me 2 in the DOO TV, users can choose Despicable Me 2 avatars and design their homes with specially designed themes based on the animation flick on the Doo Store.

    “We‘re excited to introduce Despicable Me 2 avatars, themes and contest on worldoo.com as it will add a bit of playful flair to any home. As audiences gear up for the release on July 5th, new Despicable Me 2 avatars and themes will make it easy and fun for fans everywhere to use their creativity. It also gives consumers a simple, convenient way to access and enjoy the trailor of the film through India‘s first online ecosystem for Kids,” said worldoo.com head experience & brand Harsh Wardhan Dave.

    Commenting on this partnership, Universal Picture International marketing head Jacinto Fernandes said, “India is a priority market for us so our partnership is a win-win for both Universal and worldoo.com. The alliance expands the distribution of the movie and this association will leverage worldoo.com‘s enviable network of promotional channels of the movie. I am sure that we will enjoy some of the highest game-plays and web traffic in the region coming from India through worldoo.com and we look forward to welcoming even more players to meet the characters of Despicable Me 2 on the worldoo.com which is the innovative way to reach out to kids.”

    worldoo.com got a tremendous response from kids on the digital platform, within the launch of two months the website attracted 19,500 plus kids. worldoo.com has got around 113,000 unique visitors and over 2.5 million page views till now. Kids are loving worldoo.com – as a result, average time spent is close to nine minutes and 11 page views are happening per visit, which is very encouraging for the platform.

  • Malone to steal spotlight at Sun Valley conference

    Malone to steal spotlight at Sun Valley conference

    MUMBAI: Liberty Media Corp chairman John Malone, the 72 year old ‘King of Cable‘ will be the most popular billionaire roaming in the Sun Valley Resort which is a host of the annual gathering of media and tech moguls. He is one of the 300 executives expected to attend the conference that runs Tuesday through Friday in Idaho.

    The gathering has been hosted by Allen & Co, a New York-based investment bank and has a history of launching landmark media deals such as Comcast‘s acquisition of NBC Universal in 2009, but has been quieter in recent years.

    The guests, who shed their suits for khakis and fleece vests for the week in Sun Valley will attend lectures on politics, business and other subjects of media.

    Walt Disney Co CEO Bob Iger, CBS Corp CEO Les Moonves, and Twenty-First Century Fox Rupert Murdoch, will also be seen hiking or playing golf with their fellow moguls. The annual gathering will also be attended by IAC/InterActive Corp chairman Barry Diller and his wife Diane von Furstenberg.

    On the tech side, guests will include Facebook Inc founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, Google Inc‘s Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt and Larry Page and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

    Venture capitalists and private equity chiefs expected to attend include Andreessen Horowitz LLC‘s Marc Andreessen and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co‘s Henry Kravis.

    “The deal making pace could pick up now that the U.S. economy is finding its footing. I see more strategic transactions across cable and the traditional media sector,” said New York-based partner in the investment bank Centerview Partners Todd Davison.
    “Media executives are feeling increased confidence to enhance their business prospects through actions other than purely internal operations,” he added.

    NEXT: CABLE CONSOLIDATION

    Since cable pioneer Malone jumped back into the U.S. cable market with Liberty Media‘s investment in a 28 per cent stake in Charter Communications earlier this year, analysts have predicted a wave of cable consolidation. The U.S. cable TV market is mature and faces rising programming costs as well as technology threats from upstarts.

    “Consolidation in cable is going to happen. The question is, who leads it? Malone has the credibility,” said Wunderlich Securities analyst in Denver Matthew Harrigan.

    On the guest list, Malone is listed one spot alphabetically above Time Warner Cable Inc chief operating officer Robert Marcus, who is being considered to be the CEO-in-waiting behind Glenn Britt, who is also attending the conference.

    Malone is interested in buying Time Warner Cable. He has made an offer for the company, which was rejected because it was not beneficial to Time Warner Cable shareholders, according to a source familiar with the matter.

    Another cable giant in attendance will be Comcast‘s CEO Brian Roberts.

    thers on the list include DirecTV CEO Michael White, whose company is considering a billion dollar bid for online video service Hulu and whose satellite company is often mentioned as a potential merger candidate with Dish Network.

    Likely Hulu bidder Peter Chernin, who in the last two years has bought stakes in an Indian media company and online companies, is also on the guest list.

    Malone, however, is likely to be the center of attention. A year ago, Malone was vocal at the Sun Valley conference about his plans to gain control of Sirius XM without paying any premium.

    This time, Malone will be talking up cable TV. Charter‘s stock is up 27 per cent since Malone took the stake in Charter while Time Warner Cable‘s stock is also up about 20 per cent in the same time span.

    “Malone has created a currency in Charter and wants to use it to consolidate,” said Brean Capital analyst in New York Todd Mitchell. “We believe Time Warner Cable is the prize on Malone‘s mind.”

    Analysts say that Malone‘s ambitions in the United States mirror his European expansion plans. Malone has been on a decade-long acquisition spree in Europe.

    Through his Liberty Global Inc unit, Malone struck a deal in February for about USD15.75 billion to acquire Virgin Media Inc, the cable group in which fellow billionaire Sir Richard Branson holds a three per cent stake. Liberty Global is the largest cable operator in Europe, spanning 11 countries.

    Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries will also be seen in Sun Valley. Malone has about 40 per cent of the voting control in that company despite owning only a roughly four per cent stake. Liberty Global recently was outmaneuvered by Vodafone in competing bids for German operator Kabel Deutschland.

  • Catch the Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa action on-the-move

    Catch the Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa action on-the-move

    MUMBAI: After the roaring success of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa mobile application last season, Colors has now introduced its version 2.0, a user friendly and interactive app for fans. The app will help audiences relive the on-screen fun and excitement on the cell phone every single day.

    The Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa mobile app has been specially designed for Jhalak fans who do not want to miss the action of their favourite contestants and engage with them even when on-the go! The app will be available on iOS and Android platforms globally.

    This interactive app has a new tap dance game that tests the speed and skill to earn top points on the leader board. Adding onto the excitement of dance are the dance tutorials with the shows celebrity choreographers. Audiences can now learn new dance forms like jazz, locking and popping and contemporary among others on the click of your fingertips.

    Users can also follow the jury Madhuri Dixit, Karan Johar or the celebrity contestants’ real time on the JDJ twitter feed, vote for favourite dancing couples, peek into exclusive behind the scenes videos and episodes along with testing your knowledge with the Dance IQ feature. The application has been developed in association with Mobilox, a mobile technology company.

    Commenting on the launch of the application, Colors digital head Vivek Srivastava said, “With this new season of Jhalak we have not only re-defined dance but all the experiences associated with it. The JDJ mobile app was such a hit last year that we have launched the application again this season with more interactive and unique features. With this app we are not only reaching out to the technology savvy and active users but also the dance fans in the real sense. Even though the show is a weekend property the application is aimed at driving engagement with the brand through the week. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced the Tap Dance Game and dance tutorials to further this experience.”

    With this app, the JDJ fans can update themselves on the show and also follow the action in real time. Blockbuster director Karan Johar, who is one of the judges on the show also said, “I am quite excited about the new Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa mobile app. It’s a great way to catch up on all the behind the scenes action or missed performances. The best feature of the app is the dance tutorials where one can learn their favourite dance forms. I think all Jhalak fans can now update themselves and follow all the action real time.”

    Very soon the application will also be available on Symbian and Java platforms. The app can be downloaded by sending a SMS- APP to 56882.

    On partnering with Colors to develop this app, Mobilox Abhijit Saxena said, “We are really happy to partner with India’s popular celebrity dance reality show on Colors. The JDJ app is a simple and very user friendly app and will be a delight for all Jhalak fans. Mobilox has ensured that audiences apart from getting entertained on television channel also interact with JDJ on their mobile phone on a daily basis. The tap dance feature is extremely addictive.”

    Apart from the app, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa has partnered with Dancewithmadhuri.com, Madhuri’s online dance academy to run a special online contest that allows fans to learn dance and upload their videos, and win IPads. Not just that, Madhuri Dixit will herself select one lucky winner who will get a chance to dance with the diva herself.

    Jhalak Dikhhhla Jaa, the local adaptation of the BBC Worldwide format Strictly Come Dancing, is produced in over 30 countries worldwide including India.

  • Global pay TV revenues hit $184 billion in 2012, Pay TV shows growth in last five years

    Global pay TV revenues hit $184 billion in 2012, Pay TV shows growth in last five years

    NEW DELHI: The number of pay TV households (analog and digital) reached 772 million by 2012, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The figure had been 585 million in 2008, according to Digital TV Research.

    Asia Pacific increased by 126 million – or two-thirds of the global additions – during this period to bring its total to 433 million. North America (112 million) was the second largest region, although it only added four million.

    India stood at the second place with 116.7 million households, after China with 232.8 million households, and followed by the United States with 100.2 million households.

    The other countries in top 10 pay TV countries at end-2012 were Japan (25.1 million), Russia (23.6 million), Germany (21.8 million), Brazil (16.2 million), South Korea (16.1 million), the United Kingdom (14.4 million) and Mexico (13 million).

    Pay TV revenues reached $184 billion in 2012, up by 28.5 per cent from $143 billion in 2008. Cable (analogue and digital combined) generated the highest revenues by platform, with $87 billion in 2012. However, cable revenues are flattening and DTH will overtake cable soon. IPTV revenues reached $12.0 billion in 2012, up from $2.8 billion in 2008.

    North America generates about half the world‘s total pay TV revenues.

    About 404 million digital homes were added around the world between 2008 and 2012. This took the digital TV household total for the 97 countries covered in the Digital TV World Databook to 786 million. Digital TV penetration of TV households climbed from 28.6 per cent at end-2008 to 54.7 per cent by end-2012.

    However, there were still 652 million analogue TV households by end-2012, although this was down from 956 million at end-2008. There were still 411 million analogue terrestrial homes (down by 56 million year-on-year) and 242 million analogue cable ones (down by 33 million) at end-2012.Digital cable was in 273 million homes (up by 43 million on end-2011), followed by 178 million pay digital DTH (up by 20 million) and 118 million free-to-air digital DTH by end-2012. Pay IPTV brought in another 69 million households (up by 18 million).

    Meanwhile, primary free-to-air DTT homes reached 138 million (up by 26 million), with pay DTT accounting for a further 9 million. From the digital homes added between 2008 and 2012, 83 million came from primary DTT [homes taking DTT but not subscribing to cable, DTH or IPTV]. Digital cable contributed a further 151 million additions; pay DTH 75 million, with pay IPTV providing an additional 56 million.

    The universe is not static as 100 million TV households were added between 2008 and 2012 to bring the total to 1,439 million. Of these additions, 69 million came from the Asia Pacific region.

    From the 404 million digital TV households added between 2008 and 2012, 229 million were in the Asia Pacific region, bringing its total to 342 million. China became the largest digital TV household nation in 2010; rising to 187 million digital TV homes (24 per cent of the world‘s total) by end-2012.

  • Amkette’s EvoTV to have BoxTV application for OTT services in India

    Amkette’s EvoTV to have BoxTV application for OTT services in India

    BENGALURU: Times Internet‘s video-on-demand service BoxTV will be available on Amkette‘s flagship product EvoTV in India, announced BoxTV through a press release.

    Amkette assistant VP Nikhil Bapna, while emphasising his company‘s cooperation with BoxTV, said “Amkette is an innovative company that is always on the lookout for new challenges to develop innovative technologies for. Considering the rapid rise of online video consumption in India, we have designed EvoTV so that it is easy for users to watch OTT content on the television screen. BoxTV has the widest range of high-quality video content, making it ideal for use in India for OTT services.

    EvoTV is a device that converts any TV to a smart TV and more. It offers a customised one click access to all the user‘s favorite apps, social networking sites, browser and games. It seamlessly turns the user‘s existing TV into a gaming station, a movie and music on demand theater and a learning and education hub.

    BoxTV has been working with EvoTV through EvoTV platform applications to provide users with a large library of content. BoxTV claims to have more than 10,000 hours of content, which includes popular movies, TV shows, short films and documentaries that a consumer can watch on television with Amkette‘s EvoTV that has the BoxTV application.

    EvoTV platform‘s BoxTV application has several special functions including those that allow users to quickly access content recommended by the BoxTV editorial team with a single click.

    Also Read:

    Times Internet plans to launch service akin to Hulu

    Times Internet launches BoxTV

    BoxTV partners Sony Pictures & Disney UTV for content

    IPL 6 kicks off with a bang

    Times Internet sees 52 per cent growth in viewership for IPL

  • PK Online launches Hello1.in

    PK Online launches Hello1.in

    MUMBAI: Digital media company PK Online has launched Hello1.in, a content distribution product. The product which is accessible on multiple devices like feature phones, smart phones, PC and smart TV, currently features Live TV, Movies, Music, Apps, and Games. The portal in future will include eBooks and magazines.

    Hello1.in currently supports both, pay per use/download and subscription based services. This service is on self developed content delivery platform. PK online earlier has also been behind many successful content distribution products like Hello TV and also runs Adchakra which is a cross channel ad network.

    PK‘s ad network business complements this initiative by acting as the audience acquisition engine for the service. Their current content partner include leading players like Zee, Universal, UTV, Reliance and Times Music and is looking at adding more Indian and international partners. The real time and transparent revenue reporting feature enables content partners to stay updated on the performance of their catalog.

    Hello1‘s monetisation strategy is based on operator distribution and direct to consumer model. It is currently integrated with leading operators like Vodafone, MTNL and Idea as an off deck service and is open to license the platform to content owners who want to set up their own digital destination.

    The company is also looking to capture audiences using the social platform. Keeping this in mind, Hello 1 has its presence even on Facebook and users can directly register on Hello1‘s FB application http://goo.gl/V4okL.

    Other than this the company also plans tie ups with all leading ISPs, MSOs and Mobile operators to offer consumers to pay through operator accounts in coming months. The other important features about this new media innovation is that it is a one stop destination for all types of digital content with a single account and subscription for all devices, a digital cloud based Vault for re-downloads, an automatic device adaptation for seamless rendering across 7000 feature phone models and it is a native app for Android and iOS.

    Commenting on their latest project, PK Online co-founder and VP Cauvery Adiga said, ‘We are trying to bring all our learning in one comprehensive product which provides a good user experience and ease of payment to end users. Hello1.in aims to be the choice of destination for ‘legal and paid‘ consumption of digital content by enabling micro-transaction for Indian market.”

  • US state department spends $630,000 to boost Facebook ‘likes’

    US state department spends $630,000 to boost Facebook ‘likes’

    MUMBAI: The US state department has in a bid to boost its Facebook fan base has spent USD 630,000 on its Facebook strategy. The strategy has helped the state department in increasing its Facebook followers from 100,000 to more than two million in a span of two years between 2011 and 2013.

    Describing the social media strategy, the US state department report stated, “The strategy is simple. It involves buying fans who may have once clicked on an ad or ‘liked‘ a photo but have no real interest in the topic and have never engaged further.”

    Defenders of this plan argued that Facebook page discovery is difficult enough to merit the use of Facebook ads ‘to increase visibility.‘

    The US state department may be content that after its six figure investment, each of its four Facebook pages had 2.5 million fans that were acquired through advertisements and viral photos, but a funds-rich social media strategy doesn‘t necessarily mean that they‘ve acquired loyal fans. The rate of engagement would be the judge of that.

    No surprise here: Just two per cent of fans were found to be engaging with these Facebook pages, which also meant that there were few people who are actually paying attention to the U.S. state department‘s Facebook presence. And that has to sting, given that the department felt they were worth spending quite a bit of cash on.

    “Engagement on each posting varied, and most of that interaction was in the form of ‘likes.‘ Many postings had fewer than 100 comments or shares; the most popular ones had several hundred.”

    The State Department acknowledged in the report that buying fans wasn‘t a terribly worthwhile investment. Maybe that will be a lesson to everyone buying Facebook fans out there: The state department shelled out and look where it got them. Apparently you really can‘t buy popularity.