MUMBAI: US broadcaster CBS is said to be looking to acquire a 50 per cent stake in TV Guide Network.
The company is currently co-owned by Lions Gate Entertainment and One Equity Partners.
The likely price is around $100 million, according to media reports.
TV Guide Network will probably re-brand and move from just being seen as a listing source.
MUMBAI: US digital entertainment service M-Go, which is a JV between DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor and entertainment company Lionsgate, are partnering to bring Lionsgate‘s movies and TV shows, including ‘The Hunger Games‘ and ‘Twilight‘ film franchises, ‘Tyler Perry‘s Madea‘ films and the TV series ‘Mad Men‘, to M-Go customers for purchase or rental.
M-Go has already secured direct content deals with many of Hollywood‘s studios and now adds Lionsgate. M-Go adds that this partnership further boosts its library of the newest releases of movies and TV shows. The two companies will also explore new content delivery models as part of their shared commitment to best serve their consumers. To kick off the partnership, M-Go will offer the ‘Mad Men‘ series catalogue so that people can discover the show for the first time.
Fans can also catch up on missed episodes. Lionsgate president of worldwide television, digital distribution Jim Packer said, “M-Go is exactly the kind of entrepreneurial partner with whom we like to be in business, and our partnership underscores the growing spectrum of digital and traditional platforms available for monetising our content.
“We‘re pleased to give M-GO access to our full range of content because they share our commitment to being at the forefront of home entertainment initiatives designed to meet the changing needs of our consumers.”
M-Go CEO John Batter said, “Getting Lionsgate content was a top priority for M-Go. Being the ‘people-friendliest‘ digital entertainment service means never resting until we have secured the entertainment people want most at their fingertips such as their hot content like ‘Nashville‘, ‘Anger Management‘ and ‘The Impossible‘.
“We look forward to working with Lionsgate to lead the industry by pioneering new ways to maximize the benefits of digital by providing amazing entertainment instantly and earlier than ever before for consumers in the US.”
M-GO is available for at home or on the go viewing on platforms and functions on operating systems ranging from Android to iOS to Windows. M-GO will be pre-loaded on LG Electronics Smart TVs, Samsung‘s Smart TV‘s, Blu-ray players and Wi-Fi tablets, Vizio‘s Smart TVs, Blu-ray players, Wi-Fi tablets and digital media players, and Intel® Ultrabook devices.
MUMBAI: BBC has commissioned a BBC Three drama strand exclusively for BBC iPlayer.
The drama strand is a venture between BBC iPlayer, BBC Three and BBC Drama Production to commission six original short films over two years, written and directed by the best up-and-coming writing and directing talent from across the UK.
This new drama strand builds on BBC iPlayer‘s strategy to showcase more exclusive content within the service in 2013 and on the BBC Writersroom‘s ongoing commitment to bring the best new writers to UK audiences.
Last year the BBC brought selected online-only programmes to audiences via BBC iPlayer. These included BBC Three ‘Feed My Funny‘ new talent comedy pilots, a Doctor Who mini-series called ‘Pond Life‘ and curated archive programmes for BBC Four. These proved popular on BBC iPlayer, with Pond Life receiving over five million requests, the BBC Three comedy pilots over one million requests and the BBC Four archive programmes receiving over 2 million cumulative requests.
BBC head of IPTV, TV online content Victoria Jaye said, “This ambitious new strand builds on BBC iPlayer as a creative platform to bring original British drama to audiences online, and explores storytelling outside of a scheduled TV slot or duration. Audiences will be able to discover, share and enjoy these dramas whenever and wherever they choose.”
BBC Drama executive producer Hilary Salmon said, “This is a precious opportunity for BBC Drama Production to produce original content for the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Three audience and to build relationships with writing and directing talent that is on the way up.”
BBC Three controller Zai Bennett said, “As a youth channel, BBC Three is at the forefront of new ways to commission and view programmes and to find up and coming talent both on and off the screen. This new drama strand is exactly the kind of venture BBC Three is all about.”
MUMBAI: CBS Studios International and Japan‘s Avex Entertainment have announced the expansion of their multi-year licensing agreement to include CBS programming on SoftBank Mobile‘s subscription video-on-demand service, Uula.
The Uula service, a joint venture between Avex Entertainment and Softbank, will now include content for SoftBank‘s smartphone and tablet subscribers from CBS‘s extensive television library, including early seasons of current hits such as ‘NCIS‘, ‘NCIS: Los Angeles‘ and ‘90210‘ and full seasons of classic series such as ‘Star Trek‘, ‘Star Trek: Enterprise‘, ‘Medium‘ and ‘The 4400‘.
The Uula service joins Avex‘s existing “dVideo” subscription on-demand service, available to customers of mobile carrier NTT Docomo.
CBS Studios International executive VP Barry Chamberlain said, “We‘re excited to expand this content licensing agreement and provide UULA subscribers the flexibility to watch CBS programming on their mobile devices. The international digital space continues to provide more choice for viewers and additive revenue opportunities for content providers.”
MUMBAI: Vserv.mobi, a global mobile Ad network for app developers, publishers, advertisers and telecom providers, has announced the appointment of Lance Johnson as VP business development, US. This appointment comes at a time when the company plans to add over 100 employees this year across the globe.
Vserv.mobi CEO, co-founder Dippak Khurana said, “Apps and games of developers based in USA are increasingly being downloaded by users in emerging markets. With Lance coming on board, developers in North America will be able to leverage Vserv‘s extensive network in emerging markets to monetize such App users effectively. We are excited to have a mobile industry veteran like Lance join our company at this critical juncture and wish him a rewarding and successful stint.”
Lance has over 10 years of experience across US, Europe and Latin America in the Mobile Ecosystem and will establish Vserv‘s presence in the Silicon Valley. He will focus on forging and strengthening strategic partnerships with developers, publishers and advertisers across the US.
He started his career at Yahoo where he held several senior level positions across Munich and London. He subsequently led the advertising business for Nokia globally and his last assignment was with MIH group where he focused on group M&A activities and building portfolio-company relationships in the US.
Vserv.mobi VP business development US Lance Johnson said, “I am excited to be a part of the Vserv.mobi team, at a stage when the company is growing rapidly and expanding globally. I look forward to engaging with the mobile ecosystem stakeholders in North America to expand their horizons and help them tap the massive opportunity in emerging markets.”
MUMBAI: Entertainment ticketing portal BookMyShow.com has announced its association with the SunRisers Hyderabad team for IPL 2013, making it the official ticketing partner for six out of nine IPL teams this season.
With this development, BookMyShow.com will be managing 60 per cent of the ticketing inventory for IPL 2013, making it the largest ticketing provider this season.
BookMyShow.com has been associated with IPL teams for four consecutive years and will be the official ticketing partner for Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Pune Warriors, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad this season.
BookMyShow.com founder, CEO Ashish Hemrajani said, “We are happy to be long standing partners for these IPL teams, witnessing a year on year increment of around 18 – 25 per cent in revenues for our organisers each season. Online sales have become an essential element for every IPL team with 85 per cent of IPL sales in high internet penetration markets derived from online sales. Even low internet penetration markets have emerged with 75 per cent of tickets sold online last season, showcasing a 35 per cent growth in online sales since its inception
“Being market leaders‘ in this space, we understand the sensitivity of each market and implement different and effective marketing strategies in accordance to the same. We are associated with 6 IPL teams this season, managing more than 15 lakh tickets for the IPL 2013 teams and we hope to partner with two more teams in IPL 2014.”
In order to extend its reach among customers, BookMyShow.com has tied up with leading brands including Café Coffee Day, BMW, Mercedes Benz and more. Apart from being the official ticketing partner, BookMyShow.com will also manage the on-ground operations for all six teams which would encompass strategy and planning, ticket printing with security features, ground sales, home delivery, inventory management, stock distribution, cash collection, corporate and package sales, online marketing, gate entry validation plus management and reconciliation (post event). BookMyShow.com has also been awarded with accreditation management for four IPL teams – Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab, Pune Warriors India and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Apart from booking tickets online, customers can also view details such as seating arrangement, venue, offers, players‘ information, ticketing outlets and delivery tracking of tickets. One can also purchase the official teams‘ merchandise on the website. BookMyShow.com also has a customer support that can be reached online, on the phone or through its retail outlets for addressing any ticketing issues.
Tickets for Delhi Daredevil, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad are currently live on BookMyShow.com. Tickets for Pune Warriors India will be live from today 25 March.
MUMBAI: 26 per cent of US consumers are digital omnivores. They own a laptop, smartphone and tablet.
Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy survey, now in its seventh edition, reveals that US consumers are undergoing a dramatic transition in how, when and where they engage with content, devices and each other.
Tablet ownership increased 177 per cent over the past year, with almost a third of tablet owners viewing it as one of their top three most preferred consumer electronic devices.
Tablet owners stream movies 70 per cent more often than non-tablet owners.
The survey takes a multi-generational look at how consumer preferences vary. More importantly, learn how they are evolving within the changing landscape of device ownership, subscription services, advertising platforms, social networking adoption and emerging payment models.
Fielded by an independent research firm in November 2012, the online survey reached more than 2,000 US consumers to help companies understand consumer preferences today and where they might be moving in the future. The analysis yields clues and provides insights to help companies make smart, well-timed business decisions and investments.
MUMBAI: nexGTv, India’s premier mobile TV service, has bagged the official mobile streaming rights of Pepsi IPL 2013 from master rights holder Times Internet.
nexGTv users will be able to catch all the action right on their handsets and in addition to this, match repeats and highlights will also be available in the Video-on-Demand section.
Pepsi IPL channel will be clubbed into existing subscription packs of nexGTv. Hence users can watch it by subscribing to these packs. The service can be downloaded by sending a SMS mytv to 58888, or from any of the app stores and from nexgtv.com.
With a total of 76 matches, the action will start on 3 April and go on till 26 May.
DigiVive Director G.D. Singh said, “Cricket is not just a sport in India but the real source of entertainment with lot of emotions involved. This is ‘the real content’ desired by users. We have witnessed immense success during last cricketing actions that were streamed live on nexGTv. Streaming all the 76 matches of IPL is yet another step towards our commitment of delivering best possible service and content on our mobile TV platform.”
Speaking on the partnership, Times Internet Limited (TIL) CEO Satyan Gajwani said, “Sports, and cricket in particular, is a strong area of focus for us. Partnering with nexGTV is a step forward for us in bringing IPL 2013 to cricket fans across mobile devices, allowing them to catch the IPL action anytime, anywhere. The last few years have been promising and we hope for higher engagement with mobile cricket’s fans this year.”
In the past, when DigiVive had picked up rights to stream live T20 World Cup on nexGTv, huge traction and heavy traffic was witnessed and this cricket season is further expected to add on to the popularity of the service.
MUMBAI: Hungama.com, the largest digital destination for Bollywood, regional and South Asian music, has revamped its music app by adding a slew of new features like video streaming, mood-based music discovery, integrated loyalty and rewards functionality.
The audio/video download streaming service will allow users to purchase and download entertainment content on connected mobile devices. Music intelligence is another aspect of the app, with an add-on feature which brings interesting trivia and lyrics to each song with just a touch.
The ‘my stream’ option allows users to invite, share and connect with friends online through social networking platforms and initiate waves of interesting music conversations online.
The ‘mood discovery’ functionality, another unique component, plays music to match users’ moods. This feature allows music discovery based on user preferences – Mood, Tempo, Category, Genre or Era.
The loyalty feature that rewards users for every action on the app brings an element of gamification. Users can earn and redeem points every time videos are viewed or music is played/shared, or even by inviting friends or creating playlists.
The free-to-download application brings an extensive catalogue of music tracks & videos with over two million songs from Bollywood, International, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Malayalam and other regional content.
MUMBAI: US TV viewers are taking to Twitter to talk about TV and the digital chatter is building steam.
According to SocialGuide, 32 million unique people in the U.S. Tweeted about TV in 2012. That’s quite the confab, but what does it all really mean for the TV industry? Should networks and advertisers be paying attention? Early research on the subject from US media research company Nielsen and SocialGuide says yes.
By analysing Tweets about live TV, the study confirmed a relationship between Twitter and TV ratings. It also identified Twitter as one of three statistically significant variables (in addition to prior-year rating and advertising spend) to align with TV ratings.
SocialGuide CEO Andrew Somosi said, “While prior-year rating accounts for the lion’s share of the variability in TV ratings, Twitter’s presence as a top three influencer tells us that Tweeting about live TV may affect programme engagement.
“We expected to see a correlation between Twitter and TV ratings, but this study quantifies the strength of that relationship.”
Much of the correlation is being driven by the rise in media consumption across multiple device screens. 80 per cent of US tablet and smartphone owners who watch TV use their device while watching at least several times a month. 40 per cent of US tablet and smartphone users visit a social network while watching TV.
How well does Twitter align with TV program ratings? The recent Nielsen/SocialGuide study confirmed that increases in Twitter volume correlate to increases in TV ratings for varying age groups, revealing a stronger correlation for younger audiences. Specifically, the study found that for 18-34 year olds, an 8.5 per cent increase in Twitter volume corresponds to a one per cent increase in TV ratings for premiere episodes, and a 4.2 per cent increase in Twitter volume corresponds with a one per cent increase in ratings for midseason episodes. Additionally, a 14 per cent increase in Twitter volume is associated with a one per cent increase in TV program ratings for 35-49 year olds, reflecting a stronger relationship between Twitter and TV for younger audiences.
Further, the study found that the correlation between Tweets and TV ratings strengthens for midseason episodes for both age groups. An increase in Twitter volume of 4.2 per cent and 8.4 per cent is associated with a one per cent increase in ratings for 18-34 year olds and 35-49 year olds, respectively. Moreover, by midseason Twitter was responsible for more of the variance in ratings for 18-34 year olds than advertising spend.
Nielsen executive VP of media analytics Mike Hess said, “The TV industry is dynamic and it was important for us to analyse multiple variables to truly understand Twitter’s impact on TV ratings.
“While our study doesn’t prove causality, the correlation we uncovered is significant and we will continue our research to deepen the industry’s understanding of this relationship.”