Category: Software

MUMBAI: Indian Internet advertising network Ozone Media Monday announced the appointment of Sanjay Vasudeva as senior vice president – sales.

Vasudeva joins Ozone Media after a stint at Zapak and would be responsible for driving customer growth, develop new business relationships and oversee client servicing across the country.

He has 22 years of experience in sales with top media companies which includes Times Internet, Navbharat Publications, Business World and Ananda Bazar Patrika.

“Our deep understanding of audiences has propelled our growth so far, we now aim to delve deeper and build intelligence around our offerings,” said Ozone Media founder and CEO Kiran Gopinath.

“Sanjay’s understanding of media industry is unparalleled amongst his peers. This critical knowledge, coupled with Sanjay‘s extensive media sales experience, prepares us for our next phase of growth.”

Sanjay Vasudeva added, “Today, the internet is a key component in a media planner’s agenda. At Ozone Media we can deliver much more value to our clients with the steps we are taking to better understand the consumer’s behaviour and use this intelligence to propel campaigns. I am thrilled to join Ozone Media, and look forward to contribute to the momentum we already have in the market.”

Headquartered in Bangalore, Ozone Media has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi and expanded to US in 2011.

MUMBAI: Americans spend more than 33 hours per week watching video across the screens, according to the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report.

The way content is being consumed, however, is changing. Demonstrating that consumers are increasingly making Internet connectivity a priority, 75.3 per cent pay for
broadband Internet, up from 70.9 per cent last year; 90.4 per cent pay for cable, telephone company-provided TV or satellite.

Homes with both paid TV and broadband increased by 5.5 per cent since last year.

Changes are afoot, however, as consumers seek out the entertainment option that makes the most sense for them. The number of homes subscribing to wired cable has decreased 4.1 per cent in the past year at the same time that telephone company-provided and satellite TV have seen increases of 21.1 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

Broadcast-Only/Broadband Homes in Focus: Though less than five per cent of TV households have broadband Internet, broadcast TV are on the rise—growing 22.8 per cent over last year. These households are also found to exhibit interesting video behaviours: they stream video twice as much as the general population and watch half as much TV.

Whether they’re cord-cutters or former broadcast-only homes that upgraded to Internet service, these homes represent a very small but growing group of U.S. consumers.

Interestingly, roughly the same percentage of consumers in broadcast-only/broadband homes watch traditional TV, stream or use the Internet as in all cross-platform homes; the difference between these groups to time spent on these activities falls. Even broadcast-only/broadband homes spend the majority of their video time watching traditional TV: 122.6 minutes, compared to 11.2 for streaming on average each day.

NEW DELHI: Anguished by frequent arbitrary action of cable operators to switch off cable without assigning any reason, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) today urged the government to take cognizance of the same and take necessary action against such cable operators and individuals.

The NBA has condemned ‘such illegal and arbitrary actions by cable operators or the powers that be‘.

It described this as a direct attack on the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

NBA said recently the audio of news channels was switched off in Punjab.

Similarly, “it is understood that a novel method was chosen to black out television news channels when electricity was switched off” in Athani and Belgavi in Karnataka to ensure that the reporting of the incidents in Karnataka Assembly could not be telecast.

MUMBAI: 9XM, the Bollywood music channel from the 9X Media stable, is relaunching in the UK on 14 February, a top executive confirmed.

The channel is reentering the UK market after a gap of two years and has signed on World Media Connect to handle its sales and marketing for the channel.

The free-to-air channel will be available on the Sky Digital platform Channel No 851.

9X Media Sr VP and business head Punit Pandey said, “The launch of 9XM in the United Kingdom is part of our growth plans. Bollywood music today has fans across the globe and we hope that the channel will have the similar success it had last time.”

In August 2009, the cash-strapped company had closed the general entertainment channel 9X and changed 9XM in UK to a hybrid music and entertainment channel. However, things didn’t turn up and the hybrid channel was also closed down in early 2010.

Pandey said that 9XM will have the initial format of back to back music with the animated characters. “The format remains the same like we have here and the characters will talk in relevant language,” he said.

9XM UK will have to fight with other music channels like B4U Music, Music India, Zing and Brit Asia TV.

9XM UK will air music apart from animated shows presented by animated characters, including Bade, Chote who host the most popular ‘Bakwaas Band Kar’ show, Bheegi Billi, Ullu Da Patha and Bollywood XTRA Large.

Also Read:
9XM to cease operations in UK

MUMBAI: Sameer Manchanda-promoted Den Networks‘ cable business has posted a 6.6 per cent jump in its net profit for the three-month period ended 31 December compared to the year-ago period.

The multi-system operator (MSO) with a pan-India footprint has posted a net profit of Rs 65.2 million (before ESOP expenses) compared to Rs 61.2 million in the year-ago period from its cable business. However, after ESOP expenses, the net comes down to Rs 30.8 million.

In the trailing quarter, the net profit was at Rs 26.9 million.

Total revenue from the cable business during the quarter jumped 20.7 per cent to Rs 1.69 billion as against Rs 1.4 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. In the three-month period ended 30 September, the revenue was at Rs 1.63 billion.

Den‘s profit from operations before other income, interests and exceptional items (Ebitda) jumped 18.4 per cent (before one-time expenses of Rs 12.8 million) at Rs 310.2 million compared to the earlier year (Rs 261.9 million), while in the trailing quarter Ebitda was at Rs 284.7 million.

Den said that it has secured adequate supplies of set-top-boxes necessary for digitising its subscriber base in the initial phases and has invested heavily in a nationwide digital footprint with digital headends operating in 17 locations across the country and capable of serving subscribers across markets. It added that it has built a comprehensive customer services platform with multiple touch points including a toll free call centre that addresses consumer queries on digitisation and helps subscribers in Den territories obtain set-top-boxes for their homes.

Den has also strengthened its online presence with a consumer focused website that educates consumers about digitisation and the company’s offerings.

Den Networks CEO SN Sharma said, “We are pleased with the company’s performance during the past quarter. Den exhibited strong revenue growth of 21 per cent and robust Ebitda margins in a tough economic environment while the company continues to invest in digitisation. We are working actively with our partners in making full digitisation a reality.”

On a consolidated basis, Den has posted a net profit of Rs 35.3 million (after ESOP expenses), as against Rs 91.8 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. In the trailing quarter, the net profit was at Rs 44.4 million (after ESOP expenses).

Total revenue was up at Rs 2.82 billion, compared to Rs 2.68 billion in the year -ago period and Rs 2.59 billion in the trailing quarter. Expenses surged to Rs 2.50 billion, from Rs 2.38 billion in the year ago quarter and Rs 2.28 billion in the trailing quarter.

Den clarified that consolidated financials of the past year (Q3 FY’11) are not strictly comparable with the financials of Q3 FY’12. “Current consolidated financials of Den effectively consolidate 25 per cent of MediaPro financials, which is not comparable to the figures of the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year that consolidated 50 per cent of Star Den financials, the company said.

MUMBAI: News broadcaster NDTV has extended its quality control, delivery and branding capabilities with digital broadcast solutions from Harris Broadcast Communications — including the Harris Selenio media convergence platform for its master control environment.

NDTV chose Selenio, which combines traditional baseband video and audio processing, compression and IP networking to concentrate its standards conversion, transcoding and trans-wrapping for streaming in one simple 3RU frame.

NDTV will initially use Selenio for master control tasks including loudness control, colour correction, video clipping, Dolby audio processing, up/down/cross conversion and back up logo generation.

NDTV CTO Dinesh Singh said, “Convergence is vitally important to us, because our audiences demand our content on the device that is most convenient to them at the time. The logical progression from that is to move all of our production and delivery capabilities toward a tapeless, file-based environment. Selenio is a remarkable device that bridges the baseband and file worlds like no other.”

NDTV has also committed itself to meeting the newly defined international standards on loudness, ensuring consistency of perceived volume across the whole of a channel’s output. The Harris solution is unique in that within its modular infrastructure format, it can check for loudness errors, correct them without damaging the aesthetic qualities of the sound balance, and provide a confirmed, final quality check to demonstrate compliance.

Harris Broadcast Communications regional head South Asia Somu Patil said, “Loudness control is not mandatory yet in India, but customers like NDTV are looking to adopt some kind of audio management control as their channels are transmitted across Europe and the USA, which mandate them to manage their audio output”.

NDTV has also recently installed a number of Harris IconMaster modular control and branding solutions to enhance the on-air look across all its channels and outputs.

In the rapidly expanding Indian broadcast market, it is vital for channels to have a distinguishable brand as a means of attracting and retaining viewers. As the channels are also available to the Indian community living overseas, readily identifiable branding helps viewers find the content they seek.

IconMaster provides a simplified workflow for automated channel branding and squeezing graphics over commercial breaks, the company said.

MUMBAI: 3D and 4k technologies will go under the spotlight at SVG Europe’s inaugural Football Production Summit, scheduled to take place in Paris on 29 February.

Moderated by SVG Europe’s Advisory Group chairman Peter Angell who is director of production and programming at Fifa World Cup host broadcaster HBS, this forward-looking session will examine what can be learned from the implementation of 3D across the continent in the English Premier League, Bundesliga, Uefa Champion’s League and other sports.

It will also look at whether 4k can gain a foothold on the continent, or is it a technological dead-end on the path to super hi-vision and 8K?

Joining the debate at this event are panellists BSkyB 3D operations and development manager Robin Broomfield; 3ality Technica CEO Steve Schklair, Cameron Pace Group co-founder Vince Pace and Can Communicate creative director Duncan Humphreys.

The experts will discuss how 3D is affecting the production of sport despite the pace of technological change across Europe not being even and the perception in some markets that 3D is just a gimmick. Some countries have been HD for years and are vastly experienced in 3D production; others, however, are still producing in SD, 4:3. These are challenges that the panel of experts will address.

The event will also feature an opening address from Uefa’s head of TV production Bernie Ross, representatives from Italian football club AC Milan, English Premier League club Manchester City and England’s Football League. They will be joined by speakers from Sony, Perform, Stats, Opta, deltatre and Wasserman Media group in panels covering ‘Football Broadcast Technologies’, and ‘Football Club Perspectives’.

NEW DELHI: Criminal proceedings will continue against Yahoo India which had moved the Delhi High Court against a lower court order summoning it for allegedly hosting objectionable content.

Refusing to stay the criminal proceedings against the website, Justice Suresh Kait refused to pass any order “at this stage” and fixed the matter for 1 March, saying he will hear the case before the trial court hears it on 13 March.

Appearing for Yahoo India, senior advocate Arvind Nigam claimed that the company‘s name did not figure in the complaint and submitted that the high court should stay the proceedings.

Vinay Rai, the complainant before the lower court, submitted that he had not received a copy of the petition as yet and it would be difficult for him to file the reply.

Earlier on 20 January, the High Court had issued notice to the Delhi Police on a plea by Yahoo India challenging the summons issued to it by the magisterial court for allegedly hosting objectionable content. The court had then allowed Yahoo India‘s plea that its case be heard separately.

Yahoo India had said the complaint and the order of the magistrate dealt with alleged objectionable material retrieved from various websites including Zombie, Orkut, Youtube, Facebook, Blogspot and none of them pertained to Yahoo, which said it was only a provider of email and chat services.

The magisterial court had on 23 December issued summons to 21 websites for allegedly committing offences of criminal conspiracy, sale of obscene books and obscene objects to young persons.

The Centre had earlier filed a report before the lower court saying there was sufficient material to proceed against the 21 websites for alleged offences of promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration.

Out of the 21 websites, Google India and Facebook India had also moved the high court against the magistrate‘s order, saying the summons be quashed as they did not commit any offence.

MUMBAI: Space launch company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and AsiaSat has inked an agreement to launch in 2014 two communications satellites using SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket.

The regional satellite operator in Asia will, thus, expand its fleet from four to six satellites in 2014.

Asiasat president, CEO William Wade said, “We are pleased to have SpaceX as our launch partner for the two upcoming missions. We look forward to the timely and successful launches of AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8, thereby expanding our fleet from four to six satellites in 2014 to provide more high quality and comprehensive satellite services in the Asia-Pacific region”.

AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 are scheduled to launch in the first half of 2014 from SpaceX‘s launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA.

Asiasat 6 will have 28 high-powered C-band transponders while Asiasat 8 will have 24 Ku-band transponders and a Ka-band beam. The high-powered transponders on the satellite will enable the use of small antennas on the ground. The two SS/L 1300 satellites will serve Asia, the Middle East and Australasia.

SpaceX CEO, CTO Elon Musk said, “SpaceX is proud to be the choice of AsiaSat, a pioneer in advancing satellite communications in Asia. We are producing the most advanced launch vehicles in the world, and the international launch market has responded–commercial launches now represent over 60 per cent of our upcoming missions.”

MUMBAI: The global broadcasting and cable TV market is expected to touch $314 bn by 2015, according to Global Industry Analysts (GIA).

Increase in television broadcasting including pay-TV, digital broadcasting, portable-TV broadcasting and satellite-TV broadcasting have been instrumental in propelling rapid growth in the global broadcasting industry.

The sector has taken strides over the last few years, backed by increasing inflow of ad revenues and unprecedented growth and acceptance of the pay-TV market.

The broadcasting sector has been making continuous technological advancements through efficient deployment of the pioneering technologies. New models of entertainment are changing the dynamics of traditional broadcasting and consumers are increasingly moving towards enjoying content on their own devices, according their own schedules and at the time of their choice, not heeding to the dictates of traditional linear broadcast channels.

In tandem with the trend, commercial broadcasters worldwide are showing increased enthusiasm towards embracing the numerous online opportunities and investing generously in developing content compatible for all platforms. Cable and satellite continue to be strong competitors for traditional linear broadcast channels.

Transformation to digital business models is still minimal within traditional broadcasting while compared to a more flexible switchover in the satellite and cable broadcasting.

Increasing digitisation of content is a major challenge confronting the traditional broadcasting services industry.
Digital content for entertainment is all set for a major evolution and growth over the next five years and key factors pushing growth are the increasing need for mobility as well as rapid technological advances.

Digital entertainment is forcing broadcasters and other media companies to rethink on their age-old business models. A shift to digital business models is still minimal within traditional broadcasting compared to a more flexible transformation happening in the satellite and cable broadcasting. Traditional broadcasters are finding it hard to compete with the better digital quality and greater variety of channels offered by satellite and cable.

Free-to-Air (FTA) TV would continue to rule the roost for the next few years but the advancements in the technology would dent its undisputed leadership in the long run. The other entertainment modes such as PCs, game computers, DVDs, and even mobile phones are all at the gaining end of the technological development spectrum with even mobile phones providing all the features of a TV in a conduced form.

In an era where customer relationship is of core importance, FTA lags in developing effective customer relations with the computer-backed industry, which is well set to snatch the pace from TV. Internet-TV has begun to show its glitter in the developed economies and the day is not far when this medium penetrates into developing economies as well, luring the advertisers to change loyalties from FTA to Internet TV creating troubles for the broadcasting sector as a whole.

The research report, titled ‘Broadcasting: A Global Outlook‘, provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report offers a bird‘s eye view of the global broadcasting market and identifies major trends, issues, challenges and growth drivers.

Regional markets briefly abstracted and covered include India, US, Canada, France, Germany and Africa.