ITV

Category: Software

  • Video watching on mobile growing in India: Nokia

    Video watching on mobile growing in India: Nokia

    MUMBAI: Video watching on the mobile is growing in India. Social media reigns over the mobile landscape of the country.

    Nokia India has released the first edition of ‘Nokia Mobisight‘ for July- December 2012. This bi-annual customer preference survey is one-of-a-kind report in India on how the nation is using the mobile Internet. Nokia powers a majority of mobile data consumption in India, and Nokia Mobisight reveals that Nokia powered data consumption of 1.67 PetaBytes for July-December 2012, and 12.7 billion total page views.

    With the massive amount of data consumption on the Nokia Store and on the Nokia browser, Nokia Asha‘s goal of connecting the next billion to the Internet is coming to life with the Nokia Asha‘s pocket-friendly mobile internet experience. Nokia Mobisight has captured the behaviour of mobile internet users, and provides insights on preferences for games, apps, music and more.

    The survey portrays a paradoxical picture of a country which loves music, gaming and social networking on one hand and also seeks privacy for its online and mobile presence. Nokia Mobisight also reveals how Nokia is connecting the next billion internet users, and facilitating data usage across India as consumers access a whole host of new services like Nokia Music, Nokia Store, Nokia Life, and Nokia Maps on-the-go.

    According to the survey‘s findings, India is accessing internet after their school, college and office hours, with peak access times for Nokia Browser ranging from 7:30 PM to 10:30PM IST. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh lead in the number of active Nokia Browser users. South Indians are consuming more internet on-the-go, with all four states in the top 10 in terms of consumption.

    The report also reveals rising Facebook frenzy, with consumers accessing Facebook more than searching on Google. Interestingly, watching videos on the move has seen prominence, with YouTube, Tubidy and VuClip featuring prominently in Top 10 sites accessed on the Nokia Browser.

    Privacy: The report also highlights that while the young India is more social than ever, youngsters are equally more guarded about their privacy. During the survey period, the Nokia Store has witnessed downloading of more apps related to privacy than any other services, and phone security apps occupy four places in the Top 5 apps downloaded.

    Nokia Life, a suite of personally relevant information services provides regular localized information related to Education, Health, Agriculture and Entertainment, reveals some interesting findings. People have subscribed to Agriculture, the most out of all other life enhancing services which depicts that more and more farmers are getting glued to Nokia Life. While Indians love their Cricket, it‘s the adrenaline-pumping car racing games that they play on their mobile devices. Super hero games are also favorites among the gamer community on the Nokia Store.

    The report also reveals that the young India is crazy about over the ‘Student of the Year‘ soundtrack – major songs top the Bollywood downloads chart at the Nokia Music Store, and Justin Beiber‘s ‘Boyfriend‘ and Priyanka Chopra‘s debut single ‘In My City‘ rocking the Nokia Music Store download charts.

  • Console gaming dominance to reduce gradually in India

    Console gaming dominance to reduce gradually in India

    MUMBAI: Console continues to be the largest segment of the Indian gaming market. However, the Ficci KPMG report notes that its dominance is expected to reduce gradually as mobile gaming gains significance.

    While growth rates of 28 per cent were forecast over 2011- 2012, actual growth came in at 8 per cent primarily due to overall sluggishness in the economy impacting both unit sales and attach ratios. The growth was also impacted by sluggishness in ad rates and significant inventory overhang in the internet gaming space.

    Growth estimates for the console market have been further moderated going forward. This is primarily due to the fact that Sony‘s PS2 console is expected to be phased out in India this year and upsides from attach growth in PSP, PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 sales will only partially offset PS2 sales. A fall in software sales earlier associated with PS2 consoles will also impact the market.

    Consequently, the overall market is likely to grow at a 19 per cent CAGR to reach Rs 19 billion by 2017. For the console segment, a lot will depend on how the PS4 launch fares in India and how quickly the gaming experience on mobiles and tablets comes closer.
    Overall the gaming industry in India grew 16 per cent over last year and is expected to grow at a 22 per cent CAGR to reach Rs 42 bn by 2017.

    Mobile Gaming: This category continued to see sustained growth in smartphone and tablet device penetration, and regular uptake of gaming content.

    IAMAI estimates that nearly 50 per cent of mobile users regularly access gaming content. Although telecom operators such as Vodafone are increasingly recognising the importance of developing a vibrant gaming ecosystem on-deck and are rationalising revenue share terms (now offer 70 per cent revenue shares to several large publishers), the off-deck segment is expected to eclipse the on-deck segment in value terms by 2014.

    Monetisation currently remains a challenge for Indian publishers, as the majority of game downloads are ad-funded. However, given that most Indian smartphone users have access to content published by global content providers and the fact that the gaming universe is highly fragmented, the spend gets spread across a large number of developers and private publishers.

    PC and TV Gaming: The PC gaming market grew nominally over this period consistent with last year‘s report. It is not expected to be a significant contributor to growth over the coming years.

    While the TV gaming is a relatively small market, the segment holds some potential for growth going forward as digital cable operators attempt to offer compelling value added services to curb erosion in subscribers with the onset of mandatory digitisation. This is, however, expected to be largely a lower income audience.

    Set top device functionality, currently a major bottleneck to delivery of quality gaming content, is also expected to improve over time, allowing providers to transmit richer, interactive content.

  • Celestial Pictures strikes VoD deal with Taiwan Mobile

    Celestial Pictures strikes VoD deal with Taiwan Mobile

    MUMBAI: Celestial Pictures Limited (CPL) has signed a multi-year distribution deal with Taiwan Mobile to make transactional video-on-demand (TVoD) available to the mobile operator‘s vast customer base, allowing a new generation of movie lovers to enjoy Shaw Brothers films on their networked devices at their convenience.

    Under the agreement, CPL will be licensing the rights to Taiwan Mobile to distribute Shaw Brothers‘ titles, such as ‘Come Drink With Me, ‘The New One-Armed Swordsman‘ and ‘Have Sword Will Travel‘, via Taiwan Mobile‘s myVideo over-the-top video service. The selection will be refreshed and expanded regularly with titles from CPL‘s extensive Shaw Brothers Film Library.

    MyVideo subscribers will be able to stream each movie via TVOD. Standard features include unlimited viewings of a movie within a 48-hour window on subscribers‘ smartphone, iPad, tablet PC or desktop after their purchase.

    CPL head of business, legal affairs Kristen Tong said, “We are delighted to join forces with Taiwan Mobile, the leading mobile entertainment provider, and to introduce Celestial‘s Shaw Brothers Film Library to its subscribers. Taiwan is a mature market with a high penetration of smartphones, and a rapidly increasing number of 3G users. We are thrilled to enter a market with such tremendous growth potential for data intensive applications, and I am sure this move of making classic movies available on demand will be well received here,” said.

    This landmark deal marks the first ever CPL movie distribution over a mobile platform in Taiwan. Celestial Pictures has also signed similar mobile VoD deals in Malaysia and Indonesia earlier.

  • Netflix to make 3rd season of ‘The Killing’

    Netflix to make 3rd season of ‘The Killing’

    MUMBAI: OTT service provider Netflix and Fox Television Studios (FTVS) have announced that the third season of ‘The Killing‘, which premieres on US cable network AMC this year, will be available exclusively for streaming members of Netflix after its airing in the US.

    In the US and Canada, the deal brings the third season to Netflix members three months after the season finale airs on AMC. The deal makes Netflix the exclusive subscription television service for The Killing season three.

    In addition, the complete second season of ‘The Killing‘ is available for members in the US along with the first season, which launched on Netflix last year. Over the next few months, members in all 40 countries where Netflix is available will be able to enjoy the first two seasons prior to the third season.

    Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said, “We‘re excited to see The Killing back on TV and we‘re especially proud to bring Season three to our members so soon after it premieres on AMC. The Killing is a terrific serialized drama and we know our members love these high-quality shows.”

    Fox Television Studios president David Madden said, “Our agreement with Netflix played an extremely significant part in the studio‘s strategy that enabled us to bring ‘The Killing‘ back for a third season.”

  • Andy Forssell is Hulu acting CEO

    Andy Forssell is Hulu acting CEO

    MUMBAI: Jason Kilar who stepped down as Hulu CEO has announced that Andy Forssell will be stepping up to lead Hulu as acting CEO.

    Hulu is a site and an OTT subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, TBS, and other networks and studios. It is co-owned by NBC, Fox and Disney.

    In a blog post Kilar wrote, “Andy has been a critical senior executive and has been here from the start of this great adventure. Andy exemplifies the Hulu culture and has been central to Hulu‘s journey, helping to grow this company from two content partners and no revenue to over 450 content partners and approximately $700 million revenue in 2012.

    “In his role, Andy has built strong relationships with many of our Board members. Andy has the Board‘s strong support in leading the team during this important time.”

    Kilar added that Disney and News Corp are currently finalising their forward-looking plans with Hulu, and the senior team has been working closely with them in that process. Once the plans are finalised, a permanent decision will be made regarding the CEO position.

    “As I mentioned to you all at the beginning of this year, Hulu‘s focus remains on delivering a fantastic 2013 for customers and shareholders. Hulu is well on its way, with new records being set in Q1 across both revenue and subscriber additions. The unwavering focus on delighting Hulu‘s customers is clearly showing up in the outputs of the business.”

  • Big Thrill expands into Mumbai and Delhi with new carriage deals

    Big Thrill expands into Mumbai and Delhi with new carriage deals

    MUMBAI: Big RTL Thrill, the action entertainment channel targeted at male audiences, has launched on digital distribution platforms in Mumbai and Delhi.

    In Mumbai and Delhi, the channel has signed deals with In Digital, Hathway, Digicable, 7 Star, JPR Spacevision, ABS, Siti Cable, Home Cable and Star Broadband enabling it to expand its coverage to reach out to over 6.5 million households across both cities.

    This move is in line with its business plan of reaching out to audiences across one million+ towns in the Hindi-speaking markets (HSMs) in a phased manner, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) said.

    Big RTL Thrill is already available on Reliance Digital TV and other local platforms in Uttar Pradesh including Den, Digicable, Siti Cable, InCable, Siti Cable, Moon Cable and Sea TV.

    The joint venture channel between Reliance Broadcast Network and Europe‘s RTL Group that goes with the tag line Action ka Baap showcases the best internationally acquired content dubbed in Hindi.

    Targeted at male audiences (15-44 years), Big RTL Thrill promises to offer edge of the seat entertainment with content that ranges reality shows, action series, wrestling, extreme sports, game shows and action movies.

    RBNL CEO Tarun Katial said, “Big RTL Thrill has performed excellently in the regional market of Uttar Pradesh, consistently delivering strong numbers. The Channel, with its distinctive international dubbed content has already outperformed other regional male targeted channels and now makes its entry into the metros of Mumbai and Delhi.”

    The channel is positioned to create a new genre of entertainment for male audiences across the Hindi speaking markets.

    Until now, male skewed entertainment has been sporadically available across channels but there is no channel that caters exclusively and comprehensively to male audiences and their entertainment needs.

  • DD’s DTH gets an additional transponder on INSAT 4B

    DD’s DTH gets an additional transponder on INSAT 4B

    NEW DELHI: The Prasar Bharati Board has been asked to take an expeditious decision on expanding the number of channels on Doordarshan‘s direct-to-home (DTH) platform DD Direct Plus to 97, following the decision of the Department of Space to give it an additional transponder of INSAT 4B.

    The Space Department had initially declined to give an additional transponder, forcing Prasar Bharati to lower its expansion plan for the country‘s only free-go-air DTH platform to 75 from the current 59.

    Prior to the latest decision of the Department of Space, Prasar Bharati had already received and processed the tenders for upgradation to 75 slots.

    Prasar Bharati‘s ultimate plan is to increase the number of channels on the platform to 150.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry stated this when answering a query from indiantelevision.com relating to an observation by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology relating to delay in expansion of DD Direct Plus.

    The sources said that Prasar Bharati had earned revenue of Rs 920.5 million from the auction of 37 slots on the platform. The remaining 22 channels are those of Doordarshan itself.

  • Around 6.6 mn STBs still to be installed in 38 cities of Phase II of DAS

    Around 6.6 mn STBs still to be installed in 38 cities of Phase II of DAS

    NEW DELHI: A total of 6.59 million cable television homes in the 38 cities which are to be covered in Phase II of digitisation have still to receive set-top boxes, just three weeks ahead of the deadline of 31 March.

    The level of digitisation in the cities had reached 58.84 per cent including 25.85 per cent of direct-to-home homes as on 8 March.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources claimed a total of 5.28 million cable homes had received set top boxes as on 8 March, apart from 4.14 homes on DTH.

    The sources said a total of 16.01 million total TV sets had to be digitised by making provision of 20 per cent for multiple TVs in houses and TVs in offices/shops. The total number of TV Households according to Ministry statistics is 13.34 million.

    Of the 38 cities, Bangalore leads with 7,50,181 STBs installed, followed by Hyderabad with 7,33,729, while Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam, and Srinagar were at the bottom of the list with no STB installation as on 8 March.

    The Ministry has set up a Task Force exclusively for Phase II cities to oversee and monitor the digitisation process. A public awareness Committee has also been constituted in the Ministry for spearheading awareness campaign and all TV channels have started to run a scroll informing consumers about the deadline for cable TV digitisation, as also an animated commercial.

    All India Radio has also started broadcasting of the radio jingles on its National and regional networks for creating public awareness. Several other initiatives like SMS campaign, video spots and print advertisements etc. are on the anvil. The State Governments/UTs have already nominated nodal officers in 38 cities of Phase II. The Ministry had recently conducted a workshop for them.

    It is planned to organise a second workshop shortly to take stock of preparedness in Phase II cities. A regional workshop was also held recently at Bangalore to sensitise local MSOs, cable operators and other stakeholders.

    The Ministry had set up a Control Room during Phase I, which has continued to function to address the queries of consumers, cable operators and others. The Control Room which also has a toll free number has been receiving a number of calls from consumers of Phase II cities.

    In order to facilitate cable TV digitisation in 38 cities of Phase II, the Ministry has already issued provisional registration to 30 Independent MSOs to operate in Phase II cities. This would enable these MSOs to operate in their respective cities to provide digital cable TV services.

    For the second phase, the 38 specific cities and areas which have been listed in the notification are Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Patna, Indore, Bhopal, Thane, Ludhiana, Agra, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Vadodara, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Rajkot, Meerut, Kalyan-Dombivali, Varanasi, Amritsar, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Solapur, Allahabad, Jabalpur, Srinagar, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Howrah, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Mysore and Jodhpur.

  • Cinegy expands in Latin America with Avcom

    Cinegy expands in Latin America with Avcom

    MUMBAI: Cinegy has announced further expansion into Latin America with Venezulan based Systems integrator and reseller Avcom.

    Avcom was chosen based on the work it has done in designing and implementing diverse newsrooms, audio and video studios, control rooms, play out centers, automation, outside broadcast vehicles, digital head ends, media asset management systems among others across Venezuela and Latin America.

    Avcom director Alberto L. Dillon said, “We chose to partner with Cinegy due to the fact that it offers a platform which is cost effective, scalable and with a very open architecture. This will permit us to offer our customers solutions that are tailored to their current needs but that can grow in time as their requirements expand”.

    Avcom can now take advantage of Cinegy´s products and solutions and further expand their presence to a whole new level of customers in the market. With Cinegy, Avcom’s customers can start with a specific solution and grow it into a fully integrated database driven production workflow.

    Following Cinegy’s global reputation in the market, the Avcom team believe that by offering Cinegy in their product range there are many key benefits which Cinegy can offer their customers.

    “We believe that Cinegy can offer our customers a reliable, scalable and affordable solution along with an integrated archive and Mam and production solution” added Dillon.

  • Plans for MipCube unveiled

    Plans for MipCube unveiled

    MUMBAI: Creative platform MipCube will have a line-up of events and conferences which includes speakers from Twitter, Warner Bros. and Machinima, a new Brands and Content Masterclass and the inaugural Women in Tech and Media networking breakfast.

    MipCube 2013 will feature innovators in the digital content space. An integral part of MipTV, the world‘s content market, MipCube takes place in Cannes, France from 8-11 April.

    As part of a series of case studies, Twitter UK head of broadcast partnerships Dan Biddle will explore how the future of the micro-blogging site is linked to TV, thanks to its ability to cultivate audiences. MipCube participants will also get an insight into what tomorrow‘s media business will look like in the hands of the new media moguls.

    Content producers Warner Bros. director/producer Kevin Tancharoen and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution head of digital programming and development Lance Sloane will explain how they produced ‘Mortal Kombat: Legacy‘, a split-screen blockbuster which was the most-viewed web series in 2011.

    Experts in the interactive content space will describe how to attract, build, and scale audiences, with contributions from video entertainment network Machinima president, co-founder Philip Debevoise, and 22-year-old entrepreneur Jamal Edwards who is SB.TV Global founder, CEO.

    Cisneros‘ AdsMovil company COO Jorge Rincón will also be on hand to provide a focus on the mobile Hispanic population. Meanwhile branding agency Huge chief strategy officer Gene Liebel, who developed the strategy and built the HBO Go digital platform, will discuss the importance of intuitive design and user interface in encouraging audiences to consume more content.

    In a session on reinventing distribution in the ‘anywhere‘ age, digital media company Base79 founder Ashley MacKenzie, which is YouTube‘s biggest content partner in Europe, will discuss which distribution models exist for professional content creators, and how best to leverage them.

    Underlining the networking opportunities which MipCube offers, a string of matchmaking sessions will involve broadcasters, including Canal + Head of Digital, Fabienne Fourquet; Canada‘s CBC executive director, studio and unscripted content Julie Bristow; brand representatives such as Paolo Bonsignore from Illy Café; and branded content experts such as Victor Knaap of Media Monk.

    A new feature this year is the Brands and Content Masterclass, sponsored by Ogilvy and Mather and in partnership with Hyper Island. The Masterclass will bring together more than 80 executives working in branded entertainment from brands, agencies, production companies, TV networks, digital platforms and social networks. The objectives of this Masterclass are to learn how to create engaging branded entertainment, meet potential partners in this field, and to share best practices from a selection of some of the most successful branded entertainment campaigns.

    The Masterclass will be introduced by Hyper Island CEO Johanna Frelin, and will feature contributions from ITV MD Commercial, Online and Interactive Fru Hazlitt; McLaren Group Brand Director John Allert, and Framestore executive producer Simon Whalley. Other participating brands include Renault and Swarovski, while the Newcast (Publicis), MEC and Havas agencies will also take part. In the following lunch, the 2013 Brand of the Year award will be delivered (succeeding 2012 Heineken and 2011 Amex).

    Another new feature is the Women In Tech and Media Breakfast, during which the challenges women face as they shoot for greater influence in the industry will be discussed. The talents of tomorrow will be showcased in the Content 360 Pitch Competition for transmedia producers and creative agencies, this year sponsored by Russian independent broadcaster CTC Media and telco MTS; the MipCube Lab, an international competition for startups innovating in the TV field; and the TV Hack Day, featuring 15 selected developers and designers who have 48 hours to come up with what might be the next big app. All of the winners plus Brand of the Year will be showcased in the Innovation show.

    MipCube also provides hands-on opportunities through workshops like the YouTube Creators Masterclass for Content Producers, run by Head of YouTube Next Lab EMEA at Google David Ripert or the Social TV Bootcamp, which will provide a live consulting session on strategies to build social TV projects.

    On 7 April, as a preamble to the main event, MipCube Plus will offer a one-day think-tank dedicated to unlocking fresh business opportunities for new content creation, user engagement and monetisation models.