ITV

Category: Technology

  • Times Now and Zoom launch in Canada on Cogeco

    Times Now and Zoom launch in Canada on Cogeco

    MUMBAI: Times Television Network (TTN) Tuesday said it has launched Times Now and Zoom in Canada on Cogeco Cable to take the international reach of the two channels to 45 countries across four continents.

    TTN will be extending its international presence further this year with its launch in Europe.

    With a mix of localised marketing and programming events in respective international markets, TTN aims to strengthen connect with the Indian diaspora.

    TTN MD and CEO Sunil Lulla said, "Times Television Network has found great resonance with the viewers from the Indian Diaspora. Despite having launched only quite recently in some of the markets, the brands have gained the same stature and respect as they have here. We expect to penetrate more geographies shortly."

    TTN is also in discussion with other content owners and broadcasters in India and South Asia for alliances that will see TTN taking its content and channels to other markets.

  • RIM lines-up music and movie content providers for BlackBerry 10

    RIM lines-up music and movie content providers for BlackBerry 10

    MUMBAI: Research In Motion (RIM) has said its new BlackBerry World storefront for BlackBerry 10 will feature the best of TV shows, movies and music from world‘s leading content producers and music publishers.

    The new BlackBerry World will include an extensive catalog of songs as well as movies and TV shows, with most movies coming to the store the same day they are released on DVD, and next day availability of many current TV series.

    The offering will feature content from all major studios, music labels and top local broadcast networks. Customers will be able to preview tracks and access the content using multiple payment options.

    "Music and video content is an integral part of a rich mobile experience. People want easy and convenient access to their favorite music, movies and TV shows wherever they are," said RIM CMO Frank Boulben.

    "RIM is committed to working with content providers to bring the best, most up-to-date content to our customers with BlackBerry 10, and to make it easy for them to get what they want."

    The video download and rental section in BlackBerry World will initially be available in the US, UK and Canada.
    Varying by region and distributor, customers will have access to movies from the following studios and independents: 20th Century Fox, Entertainment One (eOne), Lionsgate, MGM, National Film Board of Canada, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (US), Starz Digital Media, StudioCanal, The Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures (UK), Warner Bros.

    Customers will also have access to TV shows from the following broadcasters and studios: ABC Studios, BBC Worldwide, CBC/Radio-Canada, CBS, DHX Media, ITV, National Geographic, NBCUniversal (UK), Nelvana, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (US), Starz Digital Media, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Univision Communications Inc, and Warner Bros.

    The BlackBerry World storefront‘s DRM-free music download section will feature an extensive catalog from all major and independent labels including: 4AD Records, Domino Recording Company, finetunes, Matador Records, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, Rough Trade Records, Sony Music Entertainment, The Orchard, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, XL Recordings and Zebralution.

    The music section will initially be available in 18 countries: Canada, USA, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.

  • Tewari to meet LCOs on Wed over revenue sharing under DAS

    Tewari to meet LCOs on Wed over revenue sharing under DAS

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Manish Tewari will meet a delegation of Delhi-based local cable operators (LCOs) on Wednesday to hear their complaints with regard to the ‘unreasonable‘ revenue sharing under the digital addressable system (DAS).

    The minister agreed to meet the LCOs after around 300 LCOs from different parts of Delhi forced their way into the venue of the Broadcast Engineering Services (India) Expo this morning and shouted slogans against Tewari and I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma, who was also present.

    Tewari was heckled as he attempted to leave the venue after his inaugural address at the three-day conference. The minister then asked the LCOs to meet him in a delegation at his office Wednesday morning.

    A S Kohli, a leading cable operator and part of the protesting LCOs, told indiantelevision.com that he expected around 1,000 LCOs from all parts of Delhi to gather on Wednesday.

    Cable Operators Federation of India President Roop Sharma who will also meet the Minister tomorrow told Indiantelevision.com that it was unfortunate that the pleas of the LCOs for a more rational share in the tariff, and the recent blackout in parts of East and North East Delhi had failed to make the government react.

    She said that consumers who wanted both pay and free-to-air channels under DAS regime would have to pay anything between Rs 250 to Rs 300 or even more against amounts ranging between Rs 80 to Rs 150 that they have been paying under analogue.

    LCOs in Delhi have been complaining against the revenue sharing between LCOs and MSOs. LCOs from east and north-east Delhi recently resorted to a day‘s blackout of cable TV to draw the government‘s attention to the revenue sharing formula, which they claim is unfair for the LCOs.

    Another LCO Ashok Pandit said several representations have been made to both the ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) about how the revenue sharing under DAS was unworkable. The revenue sharing ratio is 55:45 between MSOs and LCOs in the basic service tier of Rs 100 for 100 free-to-air (FTA) channels, and of 65:35 in a mix of pay and FTA channels.

    He pointed out that even the MSOs had admitted that it was the LCO who did the entire work of fitting the connections or climbing electricity poles to lay the cable TV wire, and added that it was, therefore, wrong to deprive the LCO of his rightful share. Furthermore, he said many subscribers in east Delhi were paying as low as Rs 75 despite the fact that some of them had more than one TV set in their homes, and would therefore refuse to pay more.

  • Table No. 21 to premiere online on Eros Now

    Table No. 21 to premiere online on Eros Now

    MUMBAI: In less than three weeks after its theatrical release, Director Aditya Dutt‘s Table No. 21 film will now be available online through movie-on-demand platform Eros Now.

    Eros Now has made the film available to its subscribers.

    Table No. 21 stars Rajeev Khandelwal and Tena Desae in the lead roles. The film is a twisted tale about a couple out on a lavish holiday and how they end up on Table No. 21 sitting across from a mysterious man played by Paresh Rawal.

  • DigiVive in deal with IndiaCast to live stream 20 channels

    DigiVive in deal with IndiaCast to live stream 20 channels

    MUMBAI: IndiaCast, the distribution joint-venture between TV18 and Viacom18, is swiftly increasing the presence of TV18 and Viacom18 bouquet on digital platforms.

    After signing a deal with OTT platform Ditto TV and online TV service provider istream.com, the distribution company has signed a deal with mobile TV platform nexGTv to live stream twenty national and regional channels.

    The channels include – Colors, MTV, CNBC-TV18, IBN7, CNBC Awaaz, IBN Lokmat, CNN IBN, History TV18, ETV Gujarati, ETV Marathi, ETV Bangla, ETV Kannada, ETV Oriya, ETV UP, ETV MP, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Urdu, ETV Bihar, ETV and ETV2. nexGTv had recently added History TV18 channel to its existing bouquet.

    The partnership further enhances nexGTv regional channels bouquet which comprises of more than 100 channels which includes top channels from Star and Sony bouquet.

    The mobile TV platform has features like – replay TV, EPG guide, on screen controls, option of deleting and listing the channels as per their choice. It also boasts of adaptive streaming feature which enables seamless live streaming even on 2G network.

  • Tvinci to power MediaCorp’s OTT platform Toggle

    Tvinci to power MediaCorp’s OTT platform Toggle

    MUMBAI: Tvinci, the Israeli pay-OTT platform provider, has been selected by MediaCorp, Singapore‘s leading media company, to power its new cross-device lifestyle service, Toggle.

    The deployment is Tvinci‘s first in the Asia-Pacific market as it looks towards expansion in the region.

    Toggle will be available on PC, iPhone, iPad and connected TV, available to consumers as a subscription service or as a pay per view service, offering linear and video on-demand (VOD) content and access to a library of over 1000 hours of programming.

    "Consumers are increasingly using connected devices as both companion devices and second screens, so we made a strategic decision to make Toggle not only a direct way for them to watch MediaCorp content anytime, anywhere, but also a gateway to a new TV experience," said MediaCorp Convergent Media Division MD Philip Koh.

    Toggle provides rights protected content across iOS, Android and Windows devices using Tvinci‘s multi-DRM capabilities: supporting Microsoft PlayReady and Google‘s Widevine DRM simultaneously. Tvinci also allows Toggle users to rate, share and interact around TV shows, with Twitter and Facebook integrated from the backend level to the interface.

    "We are excited to have launched Toggle with MediaCorp as our first project in the pan-Asian region, and are looking forward to deploying our platform in other territories in 2013," Tvinci CEO Ofer Shayo.

  • Kolkata could go completely digital by 1 February

    Kolkata could go completely digital by 1 February

    MUMBAI: Kolkata could go completely digital by 1 February with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry, the broadcasters and most of the multi-system operators (MSOs) pressing for a blackout of analogue delivery of television channels.

    The MSOs met the West Bengal state government minister to get the support for an effective implementation.

    Though technically Kolkata has gone digital along with the four other metros since 1 November, analogue signals have continued amid seeding of digital set-top boxes (STBs) as the Mamata Banerjee government has refused to support a total blackout.

    "The state government of West Bengal has given an unofficial nod to MSOs in Kolkata to switch-off analogue cable completely beginning 1 February," the CEO of a MSO who attended the meeting said on condition of anonymity.
    There is one big MSO in Kolkata who is still waiting for digital set-top boxes (STBs) to arrive and is continuing with analogue transmission. Some cable operators are also saying that STB shortage is still there in some pockets of the city.

    In the backdrop of this, the support of the state government is crucial. "The state government is fine with the analogue switch-off as long as there is no law and order problem," a senior executive representing a MSO said on condition that his identity not be revealed.

    In any case, most of the MSOs have switched off most of the channels except the Bengali entertainment and news channels. The city was expected to go digital from 28 December after initial hiccups. However, an unrelenting state government had warned MSOs against complete switch off.

    The MSOs had begun the process of switching off analogue signals from 16 December with English entertainment channels.

    The Bengali channels were the last to be swtiched off from 27 December but the Information & broadcasting ministry‘s efforts to implement complete digitisation came to a nought due to state government‘s tough posturing.

    "Kolkata should be able to go totally digital by 1 February. We have also been told by the I&B ministry verbally that they will take action if we do not switch off analogue signals," said Manthan director Gurmeet Singh.

  • MediaMath acquires Akamai’s ad platform

    MediaMath acquires Akamai’s ad platform

    MUMBAI: MediaMath, the leading global digital media-buying platform, has acquired Akamai Technologies Advertising Decision Solutions (ADS) which will augment MediaMath‘s industry-leading data management platform (DMP).

    Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

    The companies have also signed a multi-year relationship whereby MediaMath will have exclusive rights to leverage Akamai‘s pixel-free technology for use within digital advertising and marketing applications.

    As part of the agreement, MediaMath will acquire substantially all of the assets associated with Akamai‘s ADS business, and will integrate the Akamai ADS team into its workforce.

    "MediaMath‘s exclusive use of Akamai‘s pixel-free technology will enable clients to scale their business more effectively, and help us make that happen quickly," said MediaMath CEO Joe Zawadzki. "We‘re thrilled to welcome such a talented group of technologists, data scientists and online advertising professionals from Akamai‘s ADS team. The technology and talent, along with the data co-op, will further improve our platform‘s capabilities, and further improve our clients‘ business results."

    "We‘re excited to partner with MediaMath," said Akamai‘s Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Web Experience Division Mike Afergan. "Together, we‘ll be able to provide our joint customers with an even more effective set of tools to manage their data, understand their audience, and help enhance the quality of online marketing campaigns."

    As a result of the pixel-free technology partnership, MediaMath‘s clients will gain access to more data for audience segmentation, retargeting, and optimization, with quick and easy activation. Advertisers currently on the Akamai Platform will not have to integrate other pixels for audience and media performance tracking when using TerminalOne, removing significant workflow and technology hurdles facing media buyers and other technology platforms.

    Pixel-free also provides advertisers the ability to capture audience and transaction intelligence from 100 percent of their online pages. This is a major increase compared to the 30 percent of traffic capture achieved by pixel-based systems. The pixel-free approach is consistent with privacy best practices, offering consumers a simple opt out choice.

    MediaMath‘s acquisition of the Akamai allows advertisers to improve the effectiveness and sophistication of audience analysis while using predictive insights to drive greater marketing performance across digital channels.

    Advertisers will also be able to build and leverage their own bespoke data co-ops. The co-op platform will continue to enable advertisers to control exactly how their data is used, bringing a level of efficiency and transparency not available through existing co-ops or opaque networks.

  • XBT Holding acquires Hyderabad-based IBEE Solutions

    XBT Holding acquires Hyderabad-based IBEE Solutions

    MUMBAI: XBT Holding, a global hosting and network solutions provider, has acquired India-based IBEE Software Solutions to meet the growing worldwide demand for websites and easy-to-use mobile applications.

    IBEE Solutions is a leader in web hosting, as well as in web and mobile applications development. The acquisition allows XBT Holding to further its commitment to becoming a one-stop-shop for businesses worldwide.

    IBEE Solutions addresses the rapidly growing demand for apps and web applications by taking an activity-centric approach that provides users tools to allow them to automate repetitive tasks.

    "We always begin with activity modeling," said IBEE Solutions president Bertrand Yella. "This allows us to deliver a truly engaging experience and help our customers and users of their websites and mobile apps to get what they want from the application quickly and easily."

    Yella said the company‘s developers build a detailed activity map for each application before a byte is programmed, meticulously outlining user actions required to reach their goal. For example, when someone uses a smart phone to make a gift purchase, that person wants the experience to be as easy and even as fun as possible.

    "Our system allows us to indulge the user. Usability and clean design are the two key ingredients to the success of our applications," Yella said.

    XBT Holding CFO Rajesh Kumar Mishra said the acquisition of IBEE Solutions was a natural extension for the company and a critical move on the path to creating a comprehensive line of services for individuals and business entities.

    He also said the acquisition is an important step in expanding the company‘s presence in countries with emerging data and internet technology needs.

    "Up to this point, XBT has created a full suite of high-demand internet infrastructure services, including dedicated servers, co-location, IP transit, content delivery and cloud computing," he said.

    "However, our strategy always has been to improve our offering for the benefit of customers. Mobile applications and web development services are in great demand nowadays. Millions of companies are realising mobile applications are critical to increasing profits, and as essential as having a compelling website with well-thought-out usability. Now XBT Holding, in partnership with IBEE Solutions, can efficiently create these critical tools."

    Yella said the acquisition by XBT Holding gives IBEE Solutions a serious competitive advantage in the Internet infrastructure market of India, as well as opening new opportunities across the globe.

    "Hosting is a core element in our service proposition, and now we‘ll have an amazing opportunity to use XBT‘s worldwide network infrastructure, which spans three continents. We also will benefit from access to XBT‘s highly reliable, state-of-the-art servers and extensive international expertise. This will allow us to provide fast, scalable and secure hosting solutions. We expect to gain a 30 percent share of the retail hosting market in India."

  • Twitter worth $9 bn after stock sale

    Twitter worth $9 bn after stock sale

    MUMBAI: Digital media company Twitter which has helped redefine how people communicate online is worth $9 billion after early employees sold $80 million worth of shares to a fund managed by BlackRock.

    This represents a jump since 2011. But it also comes at a time when some technology companies are experiencing a reversal in fortune. Apple‘s stock, for instance, has lost a lot of value.

    Launched seven years ago, Twitter allows people to post tweets with a maximum character limit of 140. Celebrities‘ Twitter accounts are hugely popular.

    Twitter is said to be looking at an initial public offer (IPO). At the same time allowing early employees to sell means the possibility of delaying the IPO.