Category: Software

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has appointed GlobeCast as its technical broadcast partner in an attempt to deliver high-quality cricket from the ICC World Twenty20 from West Indies to the rest of the world.

ESS, the International Cricket Council‘s global distribution and broadcast partner, has close to 40 broadcast and syndication partners that will show the action in over 181 territories across the world.
 
GlobeCast is deploying engineers at each of the three venues: Providence Stadium in Guyana, Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia, and Kensington Oval in Barbados. Additionally, GlobeCast will provide a 24-hour satellite booking centre and helpdesk during live transmission.

For the world feed, the signal is sent from the various locations in the West Indies to GlobeCast‘s partner teleport in London, where it is uplinked to several international satellites reaching audiences in North America, Western Europe, South Africa, Oceania, Middle East and Asia. 
 
For ESPN Star Sports‘ unilateral path, GlobeCast downlinks the feed in London and sends the signal directly via fiber to GlobeCast in Singapore for uplink. An SNG in New Delhi then downlinks the feed and routes it to ESS facilities in India for additional production before ingesting into its networks.

The ICC World Twenty20 comprising 27 men‘s matches are being covered live by ESS from 30 April to 16 May. Additionally, the Women‘s semi finals and the final are beamed across the world, giving similar exposure to women‘s Twenty20 cricket worldwide.

NEW DELHI: Bids for the 3G auction continue to rise even on the 28th day, and stood at over Rs 144.66 billion after 157 rounds today, about 313 per cent more than the base price of Rs 35 billion.

But though there are applications for price increment for the main service centres, there are clear signs of slow down.

Mumbai continues to have the highest bid with Rs 26.62 billion, with Delhi at Rs 26.12 billion.
 
Karnataka closed at Rs 15.03 billion, Tamil Nadu at Rs 13.94 billion, the rest of Maharashtra at Rs 12.09 billion and Andhra Pradesh at Rs 11.95 billion. Gujarat closed at Rs 10.44 billion, West Uttar Pradesh went up to Rs 42.56 billion, and Kolkata clocked Rs 4.20 billion. East Uttar Pradesh rose to Rs 3.05 billion, Punjab at Rs 2.09 billion, Bihar to Rs 1.59 billion, Orissa went up to Rs 457.1 million, the North-East rose to Rs 361.5 million, and Assam went up to Rs 358 million.

The bids for Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh remained unchanged.  
 
With no applications for price increment for tomorrow, the bids for nine service centres are expected to slow down. These are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, West Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Some other service centres like Orissa, Assam and the North-East are also unlikely to see much increase with the price increment at Rs 45,000 or less.

The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.

The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.

MUMBAI: Telecom service operator Aircel has partnered with Balaji Telefilms to launch an interactive and detective mobile series, Kriminal Kaun.

The series is introduced by New Media, the digital entity of Balaji Telefilms.

Kriminal Kaun is a series of ‘audiosodes‘, wherein Aircel users can subscribe to this service and listen to the stories in Hindi or Tamil.
 
The stories focus on mystery – be it murder, kidnap or robbery. There is a fresh series every week like – Crime in Fashion World, The Trap and Wedding Night Murder.

Each series has four episodes, updated daily. In the first episode, the consumers get to hear the story; the second episode focuses on investigation; the third episode is dedicated to subscriber interaction where they get to guess the “Kriminal” in the series and in the fourth episode, the detective inspector Avinash solves the crime.

The detective series is available to all Aircel voice users for Rs 30 per month as subscription and for 10 paise per minute. 
 
Said Aircel COO Gurdeep Singh, “We have partnered with Balaji Telefilms to offer our consumers a thrilling and entertaining experience with the first ever interactive and detective daily audio series on your mobile phone in India.”

Added Balaji Telefilms Group CEO Puneet Kinra, “Considering the busy lifestyles of Indian consumers, we decided to offer entertainment on the move. With these ‘audiosodes‘, mobile entertainment will no longer be restricted to gaming and music. This is the first time that an interactive daily detective series has been introduced to cellular phone users in India, and we look forward to creating more such creative content.”

MUMBAI: SingTel and pay TV operator Starhub in Singapore have secured the non-exclusive rights to broadcast ‘live‘ all 64 matches of the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. The value of the deals have not been disclosed. SingTel and StarHub finally came to an agreement with Football Media Services (FMS), the sales agent licensed by football‘s world governing body Fifa, to sell the broadcast rights.
 
They will air all 64 matches live. They said that customers who purchase the 2010 Fifa World Cup package in May will enjoy the early-bird subscription of $70.62 including the goods and service tax. 
 
Starhub COO Tan Tong Hai says, “We negotiated hard for the World Cup rights for over a year, with the best interest of the nation at heart. We are thrilled to be able to bring viewers in Singapore to the heart of the sporting action in South Africa.”
 

MUMBAI: Digital pay-TV technology solutions provider NDS has appointed Anoop Varma as director of sales for India. Based in Gurgaon, Varma will report to NDS general manager India Alan Dishington.

In his new capacity, Varma will be responsible for identifying and developing new business opportunities for NDS‘ end-to-end pay-TV solutions in cable, satellite (DTH), IPTV and mobile TV markets.
 
Said NDS SVP and GM Asia Pacific Sue Taylor, “NDS recognises the potential for the rapid growth of digital pay-TV technology in India. With his many years of experience in the industry, Anoop is ideally suited to develop new business opportunities and contribute to the growth of the Indian pay-TV market. This appointment reaffirms our commitment to India, as we continue our expansion in this high-growth market by tapping into local expertise.”

Prior to this appointment, Varma spent two years working for Viaccess where he spearheaded their business development activities and marketing to pay-TV operators in South East Asia and the Middle East.
 
Commented Anoop Varma, “This is a great opportunity to work with NDS in one of the world‘s most dynamic pay-TV markets. I am looking forward to leading the NDS team that will help pay-TV operators offer new digital and interactive services to audiences in India.”

Prior to joining Viacess, Varma worked in the broadcast media industry in various roles across the APac region. He worked for Star News as VP – content distribution & corporate affairs; Aaj Tak News as senior manager for five years; and four years as sales manager with Star TV distribution & marketing.

India‘s established DTH and cable pay-TV market leaders – Bharti Airtel, Tata Sky, DEN (Digital Entertainment Network), Hathway Cable & Datacom, and GTPL use NDS systems to protect and enable their pay-TV services. From a base of over 21 million digital TV homes at the end of 2009, MPA has predicted over 62 million digital TV homes by 2015.

MUMBAI: US sports broadcaster ESPN has announced that ESPN International VP digital media Tom Gleeson will expand his responsibilities to include oversight of all ESPN digital media efforts outside of the US.

Gleeson currently oversees the company’s growing digital businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA),

In his new role, he will direct the company’s Internet, mobile and broadband businesses in EMEA, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific region. Gleeson will be based in London and will report to ESPN International executive VP, MD Russell Wolff.
 
Wolff said, “Tom brings a blend of business intelligence, content know-how, technical understanding and leadership to the job, which will help us find ways to creatively serve fans and effectively monetise our content and services across mediums.” 
 
Gleeson says, “Digital media crosses boundaries and borders in the same way that passion for sport does. I am looking forward to continuing the growth and innovation of our global sites, services and social connection to fans through digital media”.

Gleeson joined ESPN in 2007, when the global sports media company acquired Cricinfo, where he as CEO. He will now be working closely with ESPN’s regional MDs around the world to develop digital businesses in their regions, as well as working with management for ESPNDeportes (the company’s Spanish-language business in the US).

NEW DELHI: Bids for the 3G auction continue to rise even after 26 days, and stood at Rs 134.74 billion after 148 rounds, almost Rs 100 billion more than the base price of Rs 35 billion.

However, there are clear signs of slow down with applications for price increment for the first round tomorrow coming down to Rs 243 million from Rs 400 million last week for Mumbai, which has so far attracted the highest bid and today stood at Rs 24.34 billion as against Rs 23.73 billion for Delhi.
 
Karnataka closed at Rs 14.02 billion, Tamil Nadu at Rs 12.87 billion, the rest of Maharashtra at 11.50 billion, and Andhra Pradesh at Rs 11.14 billion. Gujarat closed at Rs 10.34 billion, West Uttar Pradesh went up to Rs 3.93 billion, and Kolkata clocked Rs 3.84 billion. East Uttar Pradesh rose to Rs 2.84 billion, Punjab closed at Rs 1.93 billion, Bihar rose to Rs 1.07 billion, Orissa went up to Rs 402.4 million, the North-East rose to Rs 330.9 million, and Assam went up to Rs 327.7 million

The bids for Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh remained unchanged. And with no applications for price increment for tomorrow, the bids for some service centres are expected to slow down 
 
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.

The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.

MUMBAI: Abbott, a global health care company, has appointed Ignitee Digital Solutions as the digital marketing agency for their brand, Digene.

Abbott is a global healthcare company that specializes at discovering new medicines, new technologies and new ways to manage health. 
 
As part of its new mandate, Ignitee will be handling the online media and creative activities of Digene to take the brand forward.

Said Ignitee Digital Solutions national business director Shankar B, “Healthcare industry faces the challenge to bring the knowledge about their products to consumers. From the technology stand point, Ignitee will ensure the full project delivery mechanism which makes interface between the consumers and the brand. It will help them to get easier access to all information about the brand. We are certain that with the talent and minds back at Ignitee, we will see these wins increasing even furthermore.” 
 
Some of the clients that Ignitee handles include Ministry of Tourism, Tata Building India, Aircel, Reliance Life Insurance, Teach for India, Aviva life Insurance, Essar Steel Hypermart ,Kidzee, Whirlpool, ITM, CRI Pumps, Dubai Based Continental Coffee and Babyshop. 

MUMBAI: Dish TV, the market leader in the direct-to-home (DTH) business, expects to be cash positive this fiscal as subscription revenues pick up and it starts benefitting from economies of scale.

The company has posted a revenue of Rs 10.85 billion for the fiscal ended 31 March 2010, an increase of 48 per cent over the previous year, with subscription income swelling each quarter to end at Rs 8.35 billion for the year.

“Subscription revenues are expected to rise to around Rs 12 billion this year. Dish TV can leverage its increase in revenue and pay back interest,” a media analyst who closely tracks the company said on request of anonymity.
 
Dish TV has a debt of around Rs 9.5 billion and expects to reduce it from this fiscal‘s fourth quarter.

The company‘s net loss for the year narrowed to Rs 2.61 billion, as against Rs 4.76 billion a year ago. The fourth quarter net loss is down to Rs 597.73 million, compared to Rs 786.68 million in Q4 of FY‘09.

Backed by growth in subscribers and gross sales, operating revenues of the company jumped to Rs 3.03 billion for the fourth quarter, a 46 per cent growth as compared to Rs 2.07 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra said, “Dish TV’s performance demonstrates the underlying strength of its subscription business and the company’s ability to manage costs effectively, both of which have led to positive operating profits for the fiscal. An innovative business approach with an eye on operational efficiencies has resulted in Dish TV delivering encouraging numbers and the company crossing the Rs 10 billion mark in revenues this year. With the DTH industry in India witnessing unprecedented growth, the year ahead promises to be even better for Dish TV.”

Dish TV mopped up 1.8 million new subscribers in FY‘10 as compared to 2.06 million added during the previous fiscal, mainly because of price war and competition with players like Sun Direct, Airtel Digital TV and Big TV. For the fourth quarter, Dish TV added 0.44 million subscribers. 
 
The company’s gross subscriber base stood at 6.9 million while the net subscriber base as on 31 March 2010 stood at 5.7 million.

“Dish TV is in a position to mop up 2.5 million subscribers this fiscal as it is a year filled with major sporting events including the T20 World Cup, the soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the ICC World Cup,” the analyst said.

The expenses for the quarter, which include subscriber related expenses, employees and administrative cost, stood at Rs 3.53 billion, up from Rs 2.67 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Dish TV‘s ARPU (average revenue per user) stood at Rs 138 for the year, lower than the previous fiscal‘s figure of Rs 143. For the fourth quarter, the ARPU was at Rs 138, compared to Rs 135 in the previous three-month period. “It looks like the ARPU is bottoming out,” said the media analyst.

Dish TV‘s financial performance reflects the strength of an integrated business model. “We have been steadily targeting break-even at the operational level. Game changing innovations for subscriber acquisition and brand building along with focus on customer satisfaction have helped us continue as the largest DTH player in the India,” said Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel.

NEW DELHI: Bids for the 3G auction show no signs of abating, with a steep rise to close at almost Rs 128.51 billion after 143 rounds on the 25th day today.

Applications for price increment for the 144th round tomorrow, however, slowed down to Rs 230 million for some centres.
 
The bid for Mumbai closed at Rs 23157.9 million and Delhi was at Rs 22085.9 million respectively.

Karnataka closed at Rs 13745.1 million, with Tamil Nadu at Rs 11717.5 million, the rest of Maharashtra at 11274.7 million, and Andhra Pradesh at Rs 10708.4 million. Gujarat closed at Rs 10238.6 million and Western Uttar Pradesh went up to Rs 3740 million. Kolkata clocked Rs 3517.9 million, East Uttar Pradesh rose to Rs 2760.5 million, Madhya Pradesh was at Rs 2583.6 million, Punjab rose to Rs 1766.6 million, Bihar rose sharply to Rs 702.3 million and Orissa went up to Rs 354.5 million. Assam and the North-East rose to Rs 315.1 million each and even Jammu and Kashmir showed a small increase to 303 million.
 
The bids for some states remained unchanged: Kerala at Rs 2746.2 million, Rajasthan at Rs 2711.6 million, Haryana at Rs 2225.8 million, West Bengal at Rs 1236.3 million, and Himachal Pradesh at Rs 300 million.

With no applications for price increment for tomorrow, the bids for some service centres are expected to slow down. These include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Haryana, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, the North East and Jammu and Kashmir.

The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.

The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.