ITV

Category: Technology

  • WWE reports a fall in operationg income for Q2

    MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., (WWE) has announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended 27 October, 2006.

    Revenues totalled $96.2 million as compared to $88.9 million in the prior year quarter and operating income was $11.7 million as compared to $18.9 million in the prior year quarter. The company reported net income of $10.4 million as compared to $11.7 million, or $0.17 per share, in the prior year quarter.

    In India WWE airs on Ten Sports.







    WWE CEO Linda McMahon says, ” The current quarter reflects the absence of all domestic cable advertising revenues under our arrangement with USA Network, which accounted for revenues of approximately $5.6 million in the prior year quarter. Our effective tax rate in the current quarter was significantly lower as a result of a beneficial settlement of a state and local tax audit. The prior year quarter also included approximately $3.4 million in positive legal settlements. We accomplished several operational objectives in the second fiscal quarter that are important for our continued development.


    “We launched Friday Night SmackDown on the new CW network, allowing us to broadcast into three million additional homes domestically. We successfully released our second feature film, The Marine in October and the results are firmly in line with our expectations. We have also positioned our home video business for long-term growth by securing a new distribution deal.”









    Revenues from WWE‘s live and televised entertainment businesses were $64.3 million for the current quarter as compared to $63 million in the prior year quarter, a two per cent increase. Pay-Per-View (PPV) revenues were $18.6 million as compared to $18.8 million in the prior year quarter. There were three Pay-Per-View events produced in each quarter.


    Beginning in Q1 of the 2006 transition Period, the North American retail price of its PPV events was increased by $5 to $39.95 in order to bring the price more in line with similar live events. International buys comprised approximately 36 per cent of total buys in the current quarter as compared to 40 per cent of total buys in the prior year quarter.


    Live event revenues were $17.6 million as compared to $13.0 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to the timing of international tours. There were 101 events, including 11 international events and 27 ECW branded events, during the current quarter. In the prior year, there were 78 events, including only 2 international events.


    International events generated approximately $4.6 million in the current quarter as compared to $1.3 million in the prior year quarter. Television rights fees revenues were $21.8 million as compared to $20.4 million in the prior year quarter. This increase is primarily due to the rights fees received from ECW telecasts.


    Television ad revenues were $1.5 million as compared to $7.7 million in the prior year quarter. This decline was due to the earlier mentioned television distribution agreement with USA Network, which became effective in October 2005.


    Due to this change, WWE no longer participates in domestic television advertising sales. Advertising revenues in the current quarter include sales of advertising on the Canadian television programmes.

     

  • Research and Markets’ ‘Spotlight on Television 2.0 Leaders’ focuses on Disney













    MUMBAI: Market research and market data provider Research and Markets has announced the addition of ‘Spotlight on Television 2.0 Leaders: The Walt Disney Company‘, to their offering.


    An exclusive analysis of Disney‘s current and projected sale of downloadable video is spelled out in ‘Spotlight on Television 2.0 Leaders: The Walt Disney Company‘, the latest report in the series that takes a close look at the companies shaping the new video-over-the-Internet and mobile TV businesses, informs an official release.

     

    Disney‘s agreement to sell TV shows and movies on iTunes could generate around $324 million in sales for the company in 2008, a new revenue stream that reflects just one of the entertainment and TV giants innovative forays into the TV 2.0 sector.


    More than any other single event, Disney‘s landmark deals to deliver TV shows via Apples iTunes store helped usher in the new era of Internet-delivered TV. Now, Disney stands alone among its studio peers in selling films on iTunes. Both of these moves have handed Disney a growing source of new revenue, one that promises to climb from only $44 million this year, to $150 million in 2007 and over $320 million in 2008, adds the release.

     

    Despite the growth prospects, however, downloadable TV show and movie sales will still represent a tiny percentage of Disney‘s overall revenue, less than 1% of the media and entertainment leaders current annual revenues. But Disney‘s TV 2.0 initiatives cover a broad spectrum of activities, many of which — such as the streamed delivery of ad-supported primetime TV shows on the web — represent far bigger businesses than the sale of downloadable video.

  • India outshines China in media business: Credit Suisse

    NEW DELHI: Media companies in India are achieving double the advertising revenue than in China due to a favourable regulatory regime, says the Credit Suisse report titled “Opportunities of Hollywood in Bollywood.” This is despite China enjoying a larger economy, 2.5 times the per capita GDP and a higher spending in advertising.







    The Indian media market is experiencing a double-digit growth in advertising revenue, fuelled by a strong GDP growth and supported by the emergence of a strong consumer market and introduction of new product categories.


    The report says that progress would be much higher in the coming years due to the government-mandated shift to conditional access systems (Cas), with additional competition coming in from direct-to-home (DTH).



    While the growth in advertising revenue will be higher than at present, the report predicts that the revenue growth from subscriptions will be even faster with the transition to Cas and the available choice of DTH.



    More interestingly, the benefit to the broadcaster will be more in actual terms because the Cas and DTH systems both help solve the problem of “perennial underdeclaration” of number of households by cable operators.” At present, the actual subscription revenue stands at $2.4 billion with the broadcasters receiving as low as only 18 per cent of that amount, the report says.



    It, however, observes that broadband is unlikely to emerge as a mass platform in the foreseeable future due to difficulties in last-mile access. As mobile phone platforms become increasingly sophisticated, it will become a better environment “for broadcasters to exploit their video content further”.


    The cable industry is expected to experience considerable consolidation as the last mile operators sell out to Multi-Systems Operators (MSOs) due to inability to fund digital upgradation.



    There has been a significant shift of advertising revenue over the past 15 years from newspapers to TV, though “estimates suggest a stabilisation of shares” (between TV and print media in India) “as growing literacy rates support newspaper readership growth (in India) not supported in other parts of the world”, the reports comments.



    It also says that the growth of the radio sector will be higher “supported by issuance of new licenses, even as the government moves close to the public sector”.


    Regarding the Cas tariff restrictions (Rs 77 for free-to-air channels, plus Rs 5 per pay channel of choice) does not seem to be a long term regime. The report comments that it seems that the freeze in tariff is a temporary issue, with the government determined to protect the consumer over the transitory period.


    Once the CAS reaches five to six million households, “pricing caps will be removed”, is asserts.



    The report notes that the “fragmentation of the cable industry results in significant challenges in rolling out digital infrastructure. Last mile operators have limited capability to fund rollout of STBs due to lack of access to finance. The consolidation of LMOs is highly difficult but inevitable, (as it is) driven by government mandated transition to Cas in notified parts of Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai and entire Chennai… plus the competition from DTH.”


    Of the subscription revenue, the report says that news segment takes in 4 per cent viewership and 11 per cent of advertising, but it is a highly competitive arena, with 15 players in the fray. Annual revenue from sport events stands at around $125 to 150 million, “excepting mega events like World Cup/ Champions Cup”, which together add another $100 m annually.


    Disney, which has entered the market in a multi-faceted manner (with consumer products, books, magazines and TV broadcasting) has “rapidly achieved dominance in the kids‘ space, and should benefit from growing market share of advertising, supported by subscription revenue”.


    With foreign ownership rules expected to ease progressively, “India looks to be an important country for the expansion of Disney‘s global footprint”.


    About Sony, the report cryptically says that “restructuring opportunities may provide for greater transparency of business.”

  • Sierra Ent. unveils ‘Ice Age 2: The Meltdown’ on Wii video games in US













    MUMBAI: Sierra Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, has announced that the video game Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, based on the animated film Ice Age: The Meltdown from 20th Century Fox is available at retailers across the US on the Wii video game system.

     

    “Ice Age 2 The Meltdown showed its strength as a popular movie-based kids video game with retail sales of over 1.3 million units and in the box office with sales topping $646 million worldwide,” said Vivendi Games president global retail Pascal Brochier. “We are expecting Ice Age 2 The Meltdown for Wii to follow a similar course.”


    The Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers allow players to guide their favourite Ice Age: The Meltdown pals through challenging puzzles and exciting mini-games.

     

    Fox Licensing and Merchandising executive vice president Elie Dekel added, “This game is the perfect complement to the film and a great way for fans to extend their experience with the story and its characters.”


    “Ice Age 2 The Meltdown and the Wii are a perfect combination for family fun this holiday season,” said Vivendi Games chief strategy and marketing officer Cindy Cook. “Fox has stepped up as a partner to offer an incredible amount of talent, assets, and effort to the game, which also takes full advantage of the Wii Remote‘s motion sensors. The result is an action-packed adventure featuring non-stop entertainment that is sure to appeal to gamers of all ages.”

  • BT, Microsoft & Philips join hands to unveil BT Vision in UK













    MUMBAI: BT has announced the commercial launch of BT Vision, its new television and entertainment service. BT Vision uses the Microsoft TV Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform and an advanced Philips set-top box to deliver a next-generation digital television service to BT Total Broadband customers across the UK.


    BT Vision combines more than 40 DTT (digital terrestrial television )-based freeview channels, digital recording capability and a library of video-on-demand content delivered over broadband. This gives viewers more choice without the need to commit to a compulsory monthly TV subscription.


    An official release stated that BT, Microsoft Corp and Philips worked closely together to bring the full experience of BT Vision to the home. The Philips-designed set-top box offers advanced technology, including 80 hours of hard disk recording capability, two tuners, smart card reader, high-definition TV and numerous extension capabilities. The set-top box enables viewers to “time shift” programmes at their convenience, pausing live shows or recording them to watch at a later date. In addition, a “catch-up TV” feature gives viewers the convenience of viewing TV programmes they may have missed from the previous week.

     

    “BT Vision is a ground-breaking television service, giving consumers choice and flexibility without requiring them to be tied to a monthly TV contract,” said BT Vision chief executive Dan Marks. “Microsoft TV has given BT the power to build a service that we feel addresses a real market opportunity, enabling our customers to switch on to better TV.”


    BT Vision offers a variety of content combined with advanced television services. Further highlights include the following:
    – Varied content from Disney, Sony BMG, Universal, DreamWorks, National Geographic, Viacom and the BBC as well as independent programmers.
    – “Near-live” on-demand Premiership football action, starting in summer 2007.
    — Interactive services such as games.
    — Access to the phone book via the television.

     

    “BT Vision is a revolution for TV services in the UK. BT‘s pioneering approach and Microsoft‘s next-generation IPTV technologies have enabled a unique TV service that lets consumers control their TV experience,” said Microsoft‘s TV division corporate vice president Enrique Rodriguez. “BT‘s trusted brand is well-placed to bring exciting connected and personal television experiences to a wide range of consumers in the UK.”


    The announcement is the latest in a wave of European IPTV deployments based on the Microsoft TV software platform and heralds a new era of more compelling personal and connected TV experiences available to consumers.

  • ‘Sound of Music’ commemorates 40 years; DVD launched














    MUMBAI: Sound of Music, is commemorating the completion of 40 years. The Event is been celebrated in India with the launch of an exclusive 40th anniversary edition DVD.


    The DVD released by Excel Home Videos (Indian licensee for Twentieth Century Fox) will feature a contest in association with Austrian National Tourist Office and Austrian Airlines for a four day trip to Salzburg, Austria the location where the classic was filmed, asserts an official release.


    The contest is open till the 31 December.The DVD will also feature a 40th anniversary reunion of the cast and crew, remembrance by Julie Andrews and host of other collector’s material.


    Austrian National Tourist Office director Christine Mukharji said, “The movie has a wide following in India, like many parts of the world. We are extremely pleased to host fans from India as a part of the 40th year celebrations of the classic.”


    Excel Home Videos managing director M.N Kapasi added, “The movie with its memorable music has struck a chord with generations of movie buffs across continents and age groups to be synonymous with the term classic. The wide following it enjoys in India, with its script in line with Indian sensibilities, is well established by the consistent demand for its DVD over the years. This 40th anniversary edition will commemorate the special bonding the movie shares with millions of its fans.”


    Austrian Airlines country manager Bernhard Baeck said, “The event is a fitting tribute to the movie that has inspired and connected with generations of movie lovers across the world.”


    According to International websites like (Boxofficemojo, Amazon), the film ranks third in both all-time number of tickets sold behind Gone with the Wind and Star Wars this along with its success around the world in sales of tickets, video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and its frequent airings on television, it is called the most widely seen movie produced by a Hollywood studio, adds the release.

  • MIH India completes acquisition of bixee.com and pixrat.com













    MUMBAI: MIH Web Private Limited (MIH India), the Indian arm of South African media company Naspers has completed the 100 per cent acquisition of Bixee.com and Pixrat.com, adding strategic properties and technology to capitalise on India‘s growing Internet market.


    In addition to all assets of Bixee.com including technologies, the founders and team of Bixee.com will become a part of MIH India, asserts an official release.


    Bixee.com and Pixrat.com are a part of RHR Networks based out of Bangalore and jointly founded by ex-Yahoo employees Rajesh Warrier and Ruban Phukan.


    MIH India has already beta launched its networking, blogging and photo sharing web site called ibibo.com. With this acquisition it claims to further strengthen its technology and increase its network of consumer internet properties in India.


    MIH India CEO Ashish Kashyap said, “With this acquisition, MIH India has commenced setting up an engineering operation in Bangalore in addition to its HQ at Gurgaon. The team will continue to work on augmenting and further developing Bixee.com and other related technologies and develop other innovative applications for the Indian Internet and Mobile space.”




    “This acquisition is clearly in line with MIH India‘s objective of bottom up building, investing and acquiring internet companies in the Indian market place,” he added.


    Commenting on the acquisition Warrier said, “We are very excited about being a part of MIH India and are looking forward to working closely as our thinking is completely aligned with MIH India‘s plans.”


    Phukan added, “This relationship adds value to our creation and we are extremely positive about our new association.”


    Bixee.com, launched in October 2005, is a vertical search technology and is also India‘s first job search engine targeting the Indian market.


    Pixrat.com, launched early this year, is a social picture bookmarking website that lets users collect, organise and share pictures from anywhere on the web.

  • NDS acquires residential gateways software firm Jungo













    MUMBAI: Pay television technology provider NDS has acquired residential gateways software firm Jungo.
    Jungo NDS says brings experience in embedded software for home networks and IP service delivery devices.


    The acquisition NDS says bolsters its position in the growing broadband television market Jungo‘s products and expertise further accelerate introduction of new end-to-end solutions for the converging broadcast/broadband market.


    Jungo‘s market presence in major telecom firms will help NDS promote its Synamedia IPTV system offerings. The acquisition cost $107.5 million in cash  This includes $17 million of earn-out payment contingent on the attainment of certain fiscal targets
    for the 12-month period following completion. The completion of the acquisition is expected to occur during the first calendar quarter of next year.
     
     
    Jungo‘s numerous innovations include OpenRG, a complete and integrated middleware software platform for deployment on network devices in the digital home and small office including triple play residential gateways, home/SOHO routers, wireless access points, cable/DSL routers and voice gateways. Jungo‘s customers are leading residential gateway manufacturers like Actiontec, Cisco, Pirelli, Sagem,Siemens and Westell, who sell their residential gateways to major broadband pay-TV operators such as France Telecom, NTT, Qwest, Telecom Italia, Verizon and others.


    Residential gateways, have grown in sophistication, and are increasingly deployed by telcos as the main service termination point in the customer premises for the delivery of a variety of value added services including broadband data, IPTV, voice over internet
    protocol (VoIP) telephony, video telephony and convergent wireless/wireline telephony. The residential gateway and the software contained in it act as the interface between the broadband network and the various consumer electronic devices that are
    attached in the home network including IPTV set-top boxes.


    The residential gateway plays a key role in controlling the quality and management of the individual services, such as video, data and telephony. Providing the key underlying software for both the residential gateway and the set-top box will allow NDS to offer a unique solution for an enhanced, optimised and managed video over broadband service. In addition, the collaboration between the two devices in the home network will accelerate the introduction of new and innovative convergent services such as enabling the set-top box to access music, video and pictures stored on PCs in the home network, archiving of digital content stored on the DVR and video conferencing via VoIP.


    NDS president and CEO Dr Abe Peled said, “The acquisition of Jungo positions NDS to better serve the ever-increasing need of pay-TV and telecom network operators to offer reliable video over broadband services. We are extremely excited about joining
    forces with the Jungo team to achieve our shared vision of securing and enabling content any time anywhere and on any device. We are of course committed to serving all of Jungo‘s current customers after the transaction closes, as well as helping the Jungo team expand their market penetration worldwide.”
     
     
    Jungo will continue to operate as a separate unit within NDS under the leadership of the current management team. It will focus its activities on the residential gateway software market while closely collaborating with other NDS business groups to forge stronger relationships with broadband customers and to offer new and innovative end-to-end solutions.


    Jungo CEO Ofer Vilenski commented, “This is an exciting time for Broadband. Residential gateways are enabling television, data services, telephony and a host of new services to be delivered over IP networks. Our association with NDS will allow both companies to deliver to consumers new and innovative applications and services. We are delighted about joining NDS, and
    about the confidence our customers will have using our products, now backed by such an accomplished and innovative company. Jungo‘s success was made possibleby our extremely talented employees, whose expertise and teamwork gave us the ability to define and lead this market.”



    Joel Fisch, Director, Intel Capital/Israel, Digital Home Investments and a Jungo investor said, “Followingour initial investment, Intel and Jungo joined forces to bring Linux-based solutions to the embedded gateway market. Jungo and Intel both continue to derive great value from this long-standing relationship which has served both parties well for the past five years. Intel Capital has supported Jungo in its financing rounds and is pleased to see Jungo become part of NDS, a great company with which Intel works closely.”
     

     


     

     

     

  • BSNL teams up with Intel on ‘WiMAX‘















    MUMBAI: Indian state-owned service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is teaming with Intel Corp. in a bid to deploy the country‘s first WiMAX-based wireless broadband and telecom service.

    The companies expect to sign a technology agreement soon. The pact could give BSNL an edge over potential rivals in offering WiMAX services, asserts an official release.


    Private companies currently offering broadband services in India include Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd and Tata Teleservices Ltd, which together have about 850,000 subscribers.




    BSNL is in the process of conducting trials on mobile services using WiMAX. Intel is conducting WiMAX trials in a dozen Indian cities.



    Another state-owned communications firm, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, is conducting two pilots in the country. And privately owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. is deploying multiservice wireless broadband systems from Aperto in 65 Indian cities, adds the release.

     

  • SDC unveils innovative mobile media product strategy for 2007













    MUMBAI: SDC (Secure Digital Container), the leading, fully label-approved provider of technology for Digital Rights Management (DRM), today announces its vision and new product strategy for the mobile music market in 2007.


    SDC’s next-generation mobile DRM technology is supported on over 100 mobile devices and is able to simplify the user experience and reduce cost and complexity for carriers by using one unique application and one DRM system for all music and video related services.


    New SDC products scheduled for launch in early 2007 include updated Mobile Players and its new PC Player Version 2.0 for various carriers around the world.

     

    With music-enabled handsets currently outshipping iPods at a ratio of two-to-one*, SDC predicts that pay-per-download, over-the-air, full-track music and video mobile services will soon be deployed throughout all major markets worldwide, while subscription-based “all you can eat” services will grow in popularity with both carriers and consumers. The integration of existing WAP services into player applications will continue to create an easy browsing and purchasing experience for consumers.


    A vital element of such services will be a mobile media solution that can consolidate a number of functions – music and video player, web browser, download manager, search and recommendation functionalities, radio player and device content management – into a single, carrier-branded application, while also offering the ability to seamlessly sideload content to PCs and other devices.


    This solution is able to simplify usage of different types of rich-media content such as music and video for consumers by integrating all services into a single user interface. It is also able to reduce cost and complexity for carriers by using one unique application and one DRM system for all music and video related services, and is a vital tool in helping carriers achieve significant uplift in ARPU from next generation data services.


    SDC has already rolled-out an integrated service with Telus Mobility in Canada by integrating Shazam Entertainment’s music recognition application into SDC’s Java Music Player. SDC developed players combining both pay-per-download and subscription services for Telus and French operator SFR in 2006.

     

    SDC’s new PC Player Version 2.0, due for launch in the first quarter of next year, will offer carriers a highly-customisable, white label player and single DRM technology for both PCs and mobile devices that will be compatible with all common mobile operating systems (Brew, Java, Symbian and Windows) and codec formats (AAC/AAC+, MP3, MPEG4 and WMA).


    “2007 is set to be a high-growth year for the mobile music industry, as more and more consumers choose to download music to their phones, rather than traditional media players,” says Michael Bornhäusser, CEO, SDC. “In order to maintain ease-of-use for consumers it is vital that carriers use a single application and user interface for all entertainment services and content. Only SDC is truly able to deliver this today.“


    SDC’s unique mobile DRM solution, which enables secure video, full length music and other rich media content distribution across wireless devices and PCs, has been adopted and deployed by an unprecedented 16 major carriers worldwide to date.


    Current customers include T-Mobile (Germany, UK and Czech Republic), O2 (UK & Ireland), 3 (UK), SFR (France), Amena (Spain), TELUS (Canada), Telstra (Australia) and Hutch (India).


    SDC also has partnerships with all of the world’s major handset manufacturers, including Nokia, Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson and Samsung