Category: Software

MUMBAI: Asiasat has announced that Spacecom, the operator of the Amos satellite fleet, has signed a contract for the exclusive use of Asiasat 2, an Asiasat satellite formerly located at 100.5 degrees East, and has now been relocated to 17 degrees East and renamed Amos-5i. 
 
Amos-5i provides high powered C-band and Ku-band capacity for a variety of satellite communications services to the African continent until AMOS-5 is launched and commences service in mid 2011. Spacecom has also contracted AsiaSat to provide satellite operation and Telemetry, Tracking and Control (TT&C) services for Amos-5i.

Spacecom president, CEO David Pollack said, “Amos 5i provides us an excellent opportunity to start developing our new orbital slot of 17 degrees East before the new satellite Amos-5 is launched. Asiasat is Asia’s most reputable satellite operator for service quality and reliability, we are glad to have AsiaSat as our partner who offers us quality satellite capacity that enhances our fleet coverage over the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and reliable satellite operation service for AMOS-5i.” 
 
Asiasat CEO Peter Jackson says, “We are very proud that AsiaSat 2 has successfully completed over 13 years of service life in Asia and will continue to serve other parts of the world at a new orbital location. Asiasat 2 is a very valuable asset for the company. We anticipate that Asiasat 2’s quality and reliable service will continue to be of great value to Spacecom and its users.”
 

MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) is embracing the digital medium in an aggressive manner. Earlier this month, it had announced a deal with Google wherein all matches would stream live on YouTube.
 
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said on his twitter account that the IPL Governing Council is working on applications for itunes, android and blackberry.

Tickets for matches will go on sale in the first week of next month. 
 
When asked why the IPL was not available for broadcast on radio in the country, he said that it is not an issue of money. “We want to broadcast in radio. But radio policy guidelines do not allow FM radio broadcast.”

Talking about the US market, Modi noted that IPL would be shown live on Direct TV and so also Willow on broadband. You Tube will be delayed. To complement these efforts, the IPL is also hoping to bring some games to the US market soon. For this, cooperation would be sought from the IPL franchisees.

Modi noted that globally IPL would be in HD everywhere. “I hope that broadcasters broadcast it in HD and don‘t
downgrade the signal to SD,” he added.

MUMBAI: Sameer Manchanda-promoted Den Networks Ltd has posted a fiscal third-quarter consolidated net profit of Rs 77.2 million.

The multi-system operator (MSO), which boasts of a subscriber base of approximately 10 million in 77 cities across India, reported a revenue of Rs 2.35 billion in the quarter, up 6 per cent from the previous three-month period. 
 
EBIDTA stood at Rs 286.9 million, up 35 per cent from the quarter ended September 2009.
Den Network chairman Manchanda said, “The results are a reflection of rapid consolidation of our position in the fast growing television industry. We expect the trend to continue over the next few years, which should also see the emergence of unique value added service offerings.”

Total expenses for the quarter stood at Rs 2.2 billion. Den launched a 24-hour music service spanning 10 genres on its digital platform. This includes ‘new Hindi movie hits‘, ‘old classics‘, ‘latest English‘ and ‘old English classics‘ and regional music. 
 
Den also launched micro-blogging service ‘blog.telly‘ on its digital platform, wherein subscribers can blog on TV through SMS or via the Den‘s digital website.

Den recently listed on the bourses after raising Rs 3.64 billion through an initial public offering.
 

MUMBAI: Scripps Networks International‘s Food Network roll-out in the Middle East continues with the launch of the channel on Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) on 1 February.

OSN is the platform for exclusive premium Western and Arabic entertainment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
 
 
Food Network will reach OSN‘s subscribers in the Middle East with a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week broadcast in English and subtitled in Arabic. The Middle East launch follows Food Network‘s November debut in the United Kingdom.

“The introduction of Food Network to viewers in the Middle East is another major step in our developing international expansion strategy. Orbit Showtime is a great distribution partner for Food Network and we look forward to working closely with them as we capitalize on the universal appeal of food programming and grow this business,” said Scripps Networks International president Greg Moyer. 
 
OSN CEO Marc-Antoine d‘Halluin says, “We are pleased with launching Food Network on OSN as part of our 75 channel platform. Food programming is among the popular shows in the region and I am confident that viewers will enjoy this new and dedicated cuisine channel.”

In the Middle East, Food Network will showcase cooking series from chefs including Ina Garten‘s Barefoot Contessa and Rachael Ray‘s 30 Minute Meals, alongside brand new episodes of the entertainment show Food Network Challenge and new premieres of primetime series including Iron Chef America and Chopped.

MUMBAI: E1 Entertainment has signed a series of deals at NATPE as a result of which titles such as Majority Rules, Stormworld and Remedy Me will be aired on pay TV in Latin America shortly.

The tween comedy Majority Rules that was sold to Cartoon Network revolves around the life of Becky whose world is turned upside down as she juggles friends, family, high school, relationships and politics. 
 
Acquired by HBO Ole, Stormworld follows Jason and Lee, who get caught in a swirling vortex. It will premiere in March.
The lifestyle series, Remedy Me and Skin Deep, were sold to Discovery.  
 
Each week, Remedy Me follows two different people suffering from the same disagreeable ailments and having exhausted their options with conventional medicine are ready to try something new.

Skin Deep presents the emotional journey taken by the increasing number of women and men who feel driven to alter their bodies. 

MUMBAI: Vigyaapan Technologies has launched the first iphone application for Ishqiya, an upcoming film with Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah in lead roles.

The application includes photos, videos, songs, information about the cast and crew of the film. 
 
Vigyaapan Technologies founder and CEO Founder Ankush Gupta says, “The application provides an experience that allows users to relive scenes from the movie. It will help market the movie to about 650,000 NRI iphone users, increasing awareness of the movie. The application also allows the users to get closer in contact with the movie.”

Vigyaapan‘s iphone application is completely integrated with twitter and facebook. The application offers quizzes and contests to users to test their knowledge on the movie.  
 
Ishqiya, produced by Raman Maroo and Vishal Bharadwaj, is a story about love arising in characters, portrayed uniquely according to their own personal traits.

The IPhone application will be available online as well as in Apple stores.

MUMBAI: The IT education and training services provider Aptech Ltd has agreed to buyout the animation and multimedia education company Maya Entertainment Ltd (MEL) for an enterprise value of Rs 760 million in cash and stock deal.

With the deal in place, Aptech will expand its footprint in the animation education business with 70 Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) centers. Aptech has around 150 centers under Arena Multimedia brand. 
 
Aptech said that its board has approved the proposal to acquire up to 100 per cent of the share capital of MEL, subject to the execution of necessary definitive agreements.

Aptech will issue 2.25 million preferential shares to some of the MEL shareholders as part of the deal, the company said. It will also issue new shares by way of preferential allotment to certain shareholders of MEL.
 
At present, Enam Securities holds 45 per cent stake in MEL while Bhukhanwala Holdings holds 20 per cent and Intel Capital, with three rounds of funding, around 12 per cent.

MUMBAI: Kudelski Group‘s Nagravision SA, a provider of value-added content protection solutions, has announced the execution of a conditional access system (CAS) agreement with Dish Network, LLC, a subsidiary of Dish Network Corporation.
 
The new ten-year agreement with Nagravision and NagraStar LLC aligns Dish Network‘s and Nagravision‘s interests to optimize the resilience of Dish Network‘s security solutions, including the deployment of next generation security smart cards in addition to a broader scope of signal protection covering traditional and emerging piracy threats.

Said Dish Network chairman CEO and president Charlie Ergen, “Nagravision‘s flexible solutions in supporting new services, features and functionalities as well as their pragmatic approach have helped us grow our pay-TV business in an innovative way. In an increasingly competitive environment, Nagravision is clearly a strong partner to be with today and going forward.” 
 
Added Kudelski Group president and CEO Andre Kudelski, “Our mutual commitment enables customization of our solution roadmap to address Dish Network‘s specific needs over the next few years and support their growth.”

MUMBAI: Indian Film Company‘s(IFC) Striker is set to premiere on YouTube along with its Indian theatrical release on 5 February.

Through this, IFC aims to look outside of conventional theatrical release and move towards alternate modes of distribution. 
 
In US, Striker will be available for rent on YouTube. Outside the US, Striker will be available for free on www.youtube.com/studio18.

In order to ensure that the revenues from the Indian theatrical release are maximised, the film will be not be available for the YouTube traffic originating from India. 
Commenting on the development, The Indian Film Company India CEO Sandeep Bhargava said, “The premiere of Strike on YouTube is yet another feather in our cap as YouTube is the world‘s most popular online video community. We are excited about this association as this will help us reach out to our audience in a focused manner and a very cost-effective way.”

Striker, directed by Chandan Arora, stars Telugu superstar Siddharth Narayan of Rang De Basanti fame along with Anupam Kher, Aditya Panscholi, Vidya Malavade among others.

MUMBAI: Soon after buying out Taj Television from Bukhatir Group, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has created a separate distribution entity for its sports channels, much like ESPN Star Sports.

Zee Sports and Ten Sports will be distributed by Zeel‘s subsidiary, Taj Television (India) from 1 February. The two channels are currently handled by Zee Turner.
 
“Ten Sports and Zee Sports are distributed across 4,000 cities and towns. This will be discontinued from the midnight of 31 January,” Zeel said.

All the multi system operators (MSOs), local cable operators (LCOs), direct to home (DTH) and IPTV shall pay the subscription fee for the period after 1 February to Taj Television (India).  
 
Said Zeel Sports business CEO Atul Pande, “Sports distribution has specific requirements for which a dedicated team catering to this market is a must, we have thus set up a nationwide team of experienced professionals under Taj Television India who would help enhance the servicing and maximize values for us and our associates.”

The company claims a reach of 71 million C&S homes across India through the two channels.