ITV

Category: Technology

  • Getit to power Yahoo’s local search service

    Getit to power Yahoo’s local search service

    MUMBAI: Getit, India‘s leading digital marketing has associated with digital media company Yahoo wherein Getit will power results under Yahoo Local. The association will mean that Getit‘s entire databases of over three million business listings will be accessible to Yahoo users on Yahoo Local.

    Any search conducted on Yahoo Local will automatically land on a co-branded section which will be powered by Getit. This association will help to create further brand awareness and popularity of Getit among masses.
     
    Further, for searches conducted on Yahoo! web search which correspond to a local need, Yahoo! users will have the benefit of the listings powered by Getit, depending upon relevance, location and keywords.

    Getit CEO Sidharth Gupta said, "This is a very significant partnership since it brings the power of Getit‘s databases to Yahoo! users and likewise brings the immense distribution of Yahoo! to Getit‘s advertisers and SME‘s. It is a privilege to be partnering a leading brand like Yahoo! to bring powerful yet simple solutions to our users and advertisers." 

  • NDTV Good Times enters UK with Virgin Media

    NDTV Good Times enters UK with Virgin Media

    NEW DELHI: Expanding its reach in the international market, NDTV Lifestyle has launched NDTV Good Times on Virgin Media, UK‘s largest cable platform.

    Commenting on the launch, Rahul Sood, Head – Network Distribution & Affiliate Sales, NDTV said: "We are pleased to announce the entry of NDTV Good Times in the UK market. The channel with its focus on everything Indian ranging from food, travel, fashion, technology, people, technology, etc, will offer a fresh viewing experience to the Indian Diaspora who so far have only experienced soaps, drama, music, movies and news from the current line-up of Indian channels."
     
    "We hope the viewers will like our representation of the New India through its world-class, aspirational lifestyle programming that advocates living large and celebrating Life, the Indian style," he added.

    Virgin Media Director of Content Acquisition Emma Jones said, "We‘re always looking to bring the most exciting TV to our customers so they can watch and discover shows they‘ll love. As India‘s leading lifestyle channel, NDTV Good Times will be a fantastic addition to our lineup and has a welcoming home on Virgin Media."

  • TN CM alleges central govt favouring Maran family

    TN CM alleges central govt favouring Maran family

    MUMBAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday accused the central government of deliberately not issuing Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence to Arasu Cable TV Corporation in order to benefit Maran family-owned cable TV network.

    Talking at the 57th National Development Council meeting in New Delhi, Jayalalitha lashed out at the Manmohan Singh-led government for its in-different attitude to Tamil Nadu.

    "Every single legitimate request of our State has been turned down or ignored and every initiative stymied," she said during her speech at the meeting.

    She pointed out how the government is yet to grant a licence to Arasu five months after applying for the same.

    "Even a simple request from a State PSU for a Digital Addressable System (DAS) License for Chennai City has not been granted on totally extraneous considerations," Jayalalitha added.
     
    Despite repeated representations to the Prime Minister and the concerned Union Minister, the DAS licence is yet to be given to the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation.

    While asserting that Arasu Cable caters to the poor and the middle class by providing cable TV service at nominal costs, without naming anyone she said that the government was "facilitating" the business interests of Sun Group, which also owns Sumangali Cablevision, a multi-system operator competing with Arasu.

    "The deliberate non-issuance of DAS licence to the state government-owned Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation is only to facilitate the business interests of a particular family which forms part of the ruling coalition at the Centre," she alleged.

    "This vindictive and discriminative act of the Government of India is highly condemnable and is yet another example of subverting the interest of the common people and the ruling dispensation‘s perpetual pandering to allies to ensure the survival of the Central Government."

  • Airtel DTH to premiere Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam

    Airtel DTH to premiere Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam

    MUMBAI: DTH service provider Airtel digital TV has announced the premier of Kamal Haasan‘s forthcoming thriller titled ‘Vishwaroopam‘ in Tamil and Telugu and ‘Vishwaroop‘ in Hindi on its Pay Per View (PPV) platform.

    The initiative, the "first of its kind" in India, will enable customers of Airtel DTH to view the movie 12 hours before its theatrical release.
    While the movie will release in theatres on 11 January, it will be premiered on Airtel DTH‘s Pay Per View (PPV) at 9:30pm on 10 January in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.

    The Tamil movie can be booked for a charge of Rs 1,200 per view and the Telugu & Hindi versions for Rs 500 per view. Pre-bookings of the Tamil version will be available until January 8, 2013 for a charge of Rs 1,000 per view
    Bharti Airtel CEO – DTH/Media Shashi Arora said "We are proud to launch yet another industry first on Airtel DTH providing customers in the country an innovative opportunity to enjoy the movie before its theatrical release. I am certain that Kamal Haasan fans will make the maximum out of this initiative and enjoy the movie in the convenience of their homes along with family and friends. With our 7.5 million customers, I am absolutely certain that this will create an all new avenue for movie releases in India."

  • Trai asked to expedite views on govt entities in cable TV after Jayalalitha letter

    Trai asked to expedite views on govt entities in cable TV after Jayalalitha letter

    MUMBAI: The Information & Broadcasting ministry has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to expedite the process of re-examining granting of Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence to a government or government-owned entity.

    The move comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to expedite the matter of granting DAS licence to the state government-owned cable distribution company Arasu Cable TV Corporation, which has been hanging fire for more than five months.

    "There is a larger question. I am aware of the concerns raised by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. The Members of Parliament have also come and met me. That is why we have requested the TRAI chairperson to expedite their consideration… so that we can take a conclusive decision at the earliest," I&B minister Manish Tewari said.

    "We have referred the matter back to the TRAI for reconsideration as to whether the state government or the central government entities should be allowed in the broadcasting or the distribution business," Tewari added.

    Arasu, the dominant MSO in Tamil Nadu, applied for DAS licence on 5 July but is yet to get the licence as the government is mulling whether or not to grant broadcasting or the distribution licences to government-owned entities.

    The government has till date issued DAS licence to 11 MSOs in Chennai.

    While acknowledging that Arasu was granted a license in 2008, he said that there was a recommendation from Trai which doesn‘t allow state government or their instrumentalities to enter distribution or in the broadcasting business.

    Arasu has already placed orders for the supply of Set Top Boxes (STBs), Conditional Access System and Subscriber Management System and erection of Head-End at a cost of about Rs 500 million.

    Arasu, which was lying defunct under the DMK regime, was revived by AIADMK government after it stormed to power in April last year.

    It commenced cable TV services in all the 31 Districts of Tamil Nadu on 2 September, 2011 barring Chennai, which was a conditional access system area.

    Arasu Cable is providing 100 channels to the subscribers at a cost of Rs 70 per month per subscriber. It has 23,000 local cable operators in its network with a subscriber base of six million.

  • DD Direct Plus earns Rs 865.7 mn from slot auctions

    DD Direct Plus earns Rs 865.7 mn from slot auctions

    NEW DELHI: India‘s public broadcaster Doordarshan earned a total of Rs 865.7 million in 2011-12 from auction of slots on its DD Direct Plus direct-to-home (DTH) TV platform. The earnings from auction of slots on the country‘s only free DTH TV service is nearly twice the revenue Doordarshan expected when it for the first time auctioned slot in July 2011.

    Doordarshan had expected to earn over Rs 460 million from auction of 21 slots on DD Direct Plus when it e-auctioned slots in July 2011. It now has 37 private television channels on its DTH TV service.

    Prior to the e-auction, Doordarshan earned just Rs 168 million at Rs 8 million per channel. At the July 2011 e-auction, the public broadcaster had received bids ranging from Rs 21.7 million to Rs 22.5 milion per slot.

    DD Direct Plus has capacity to carry a total of 59 channels but three slots are currently vacant. The DTH platform carries 19 Doordarshan television channels, in addition to the 37 private television channels including three foreign channels – Russia Today, DW and NHK World.

    Doordarshan wants to increase the capacity of DD Direct Plus but non-availability of transponders has put hurdles in its plans.

    DD Direct Plus also plans to widen its subscriber base. Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that a scheme had been approved for distribution of 30,000 DTH sets in remote, tribal and border areas of the country.

    In addition, 10,000 DTH sets have been installed by DD in uncovered areas as part of the DTH project and another 55,000 DTH sets under various other schemes have been provided to the state governments for uncovered areas like the north-east region, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep Islands, and Pondicherry.

    Bids received by Doordarshan in e-auction held in July 2011:

     

    Amount
    Channels
    Rs. 22.5 mn Sadhana News (Uttarakhand/Himachal), Aastha Bhajan, B4U Movies, Sanskar.
    Rs. 22.2 mn RK News (Sadhana), Sahara Samay.
    Rs. 22.1 mn Enter 10 music, TV 24, Day& Night News.
    Rs. 22.0 mn B4U Music, Time TV, Divya, Katiani.
    Rs. 21.9 mn Sahara Aalmi (Urdu), Sahara Firangi.
    Rs. 21.8 mn Zee Salaam, Zee Smile, Etc music, 9X, Zee Jagran.
    Rs. 21.7 mn Enter 10 Movies.

     

  • Chennai Open matches to be streamed live on YouTube

    Chennai Open matches to be streamed live on YouTube

    MUMBAI: The Chennai Open, India‘s only ATP World Tour event, has partnered YouTube to telecast matches live on the tournament‘s official YouTube channel.

    Apart from live matches, the YouTube channel will offer match archives, video-on-demand, highlights, fan videos and exciting behind the scene action.
    Tennis fans around the country will thus get an opportunity to enjoy 25 centre court encounters between the world‘s best players live on the digital channel of the Aircel Chennai Open 2013.

    Apart from taking advantage of media such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the organisers are planning to launch of an exclusive new mobile application for fans, giving users an opportunity to enjoy all the action at the touch of a button.

    IMG Reliance COO Ashu Jindal said, "We are thrilled to partner with YouTube, a platform that is devoted in bringing original content and a unique viewing experience to its fans across is India, and benefiting all stakeholders including our sponsors and partners. This partnership is an apt example of our commitment to ensure fan engagement across the country."

    The 18th edition of Aircel Chennai Open will feature players like Tomas Berdych, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka among others. Both Indian and International participants will compete for the coveted title.

  • GSTV to deploy WASP3D workflow solution

    GSTV to deploy WASP3D workflow solution

    MUMBAI: Gujarat Samachar will deploy Beehive Systems WASP3D workflow based on-air graphics solution for its recently launched television channel GSTV.

    GSTV will largely broadcast live news content along with some entertainment and advertiser-funded programs (AFP), targeting Gujarati community in and outside the state.

    WASP3D is being used for creating all its on-air graphics (tickers, name bands, bugs, and scrolls etc.), virtual sets and is integrated with Octopus Newsroom NRCS and Harris play out automation system.
     
    GSTV Promoter Shreyansh Shah said, "This project is of great strategic importance to our group and we looked to WASP3D because of their experience in broadcast graphics space. We wanted a graphics solution that is powerful yet flexible to handle variety of programming."

  • Afghan channel Zhwandoon TV to be beamed via AsiaSat 3S

    Afghan channel Zhwandoon TV to be beamed via AsiaSat 3S

    MUMBAI: Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) has signed a lease agreement with Zhwandoon Radio Television Network of Afghanistan for C-band capacity on AsiaSat 3S to distribute Zhwandoon TV.

    Zhwandoon TV has commenced free-to-air broadcasting on AsiaSat 3S, offering programming in the Pashto and Dari languages, with content ranging from news, entertainment, sports, music, religious to social, educational and political programmes.
     
    Through AsiaSat 3S‘s access across the Asia Pacific, Zhwandoon TV will reach all broadcast networks and audiences in Afghanistan besides Central Asia, Middle East, South Asia and other parts of Asia Pacific.

    “We are excited to put our service on AsiaSat 3S that delivers our programming effectively to the entire country and takes our services abroad, serving overseas audience in more 50 countries and regions across the Asia Pacific. AsiaSat 3S is the region‘s most popular satellite for programme distribution. Its excellent penetration into rebroadcast networks in our country and in Asia will help increase our local and overseas viewership,” said Zhwandoon TV Chief Executive Professor Mohammad Ismael Yoon.

    “We are very pleased to announce the addition of Zhwandoon TV to AsiaSat 3S‘s exciting portfolio of Pashto and Dari language programming. AsiaSat 3S‘s leading position in distributing a wide range of programming to an audience of different cultures in Asia is well recognised and appreciated by broadcasters from all over the world,” said AsiaSat President and CEO William Wade.

  • ZEE launches mobile app for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa

    ZEE launches mobile app for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa

    MUMBAI: After the mega success of the Dance India Dance mobile wap & app that received over 7 lakh downloads and won a Gold at the ‘Smarties‘, Zee TV has announced the launch of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012‘ mobile app.

    Now fans of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ can connect with their favourite show on their mobiles even beyond watching the show every weekend on Zee TV at 9 PM. Loaded with many interactive features, it makes the experience completely social. The app allows you to listen, share, and comment on everything related to the show. The app is fully integrated with Facebook and Twitter.

    Today, mobiles are an extension of everyone‘s lifestyles – we use our cellphones for almost everything, including capturing pictures and storing music. With this in mind, Zee TV‘s ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ wanted to provide a mobile experience that gave viewers different ways to enjoy their music. It is an innovation in the reality show genre on Indian television as it‘s a new way for audience‘s to engage with a quality app on a mobile device. Following a successful collaboration for the ‘Dance India Dance‘ app, Zee TV continues its partnership with Mobilox Innovations Pvt. Ltd to develop the ‘Hero Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ Mobile APP technology.

    Did we mention that it‘s free? To download the ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ App, one just needs to give a missed call at 18002661614. You will receive an SMS with a link in the message and on clicking the link, you can download the app absolutely free of cost. The ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ mobile App has been designed to take interactivity and viewer‘s feedback to the next level. Once you download the app, it will provide you with a gateway to information about every stage of the competition. The app has features that will engage with viewers in real time like‘Vote for your Favourite Contestants‘ with no extra charges, chat with mentors, get latest updates and also allows one to access all the Twitter messages and Facebook posts of all contestants and mentors on one page.

    There are ‘Competition Charts‘ to map the progress of a contestant and features like ‘Live Comments‘ will give you a platform to appreciate your favourite contestant or mentor while you watch them sing on television. The ‘Music Tutorials‘ tab in the app will allow viewers to take music lessons from mentors, anchor and contestants. It will also give them useful tips on live performance, music recordings and lots of trivia on music. It‘s a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn music from the stalwarts in the music industry, Shankar Mahadevan, Sajid-Wajid, Rahul Ram and Javed Ali. One can also access the best performances and images of the show using the‘Media Gallery‘ anytime, anywhere.

    "The DID App was just the start of our quest to be innovators in exploring the digital medium. It is gratifying to know that at a time when ‘on-demand‘ entertainment is the order of the day, we are able to provide our viewers with content that keeps them engrossed and engaged," said Akash Chawla, Head – Marketing, National Channels, ZEEL and adds, "Zee TV is committed to developing and delivering technology that supports our growth and distinguishes our brand for offering the very best viewer experience The launch of the new ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ Mobile App highlights our determination to invest in technologies that help us exceed our viewer‘ expectations and enable our brands to have their identity beyond the TV screen. We know that our viewers rely on their mobile devices now more than ever, and we are glad to provide them with this exciting new app in a way that is uniquely ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘."

    With the rapidly changing landscape and to further distinguish the ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ brand in India, the app is designed to meet the expectations of the demanding, active and inspired music fans in India. It will surely change the way that users interact with music. For maximum convenience, the ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ mobile app can be accessed anytime, anywhere – perfect for a long flight, journey to work or a train ride