Category: Software

MUMBAI: Viasat Ukraine has acquired the exclusive satellite TV rights of the Football Channel, as well as to Football Extra that is to be launched next year.

The Football Channel has the exclusive broadcasting rights in Ukraine for matches from the Ukrainian Premier League as well as matches from Spain‘s La Liga, and the French, Dutch, Portuguese and Scottish football leagues. 
 
Football will be included in Viasat Ukraine‘s premium package, Prestige, and will be available at the end of the month.

Football and the soon-to-launch Football Extra add to Viasat Ukraine‘s sports offering, which also features Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, ESPN Classic and Viasat Sport East.  
 
The Football Channel, which so far is only available through cable, is broadcast 18 hours per day and Football Extra would also be broadcast 18 hours per day.

MUMBAI: The Kudelski Group has, through a successfully completed tender offer, acquired 60 per cent of the shares of OpenTV, giving it 91 per cent of the voting rights in the developer of interactive TV software and advertising solutions.

Last month, Switzerland-based Kudelski offered $1.55 per share in cash for the shares of OpenTV it did not own. The offer, worth $215 million, expired 12 November.
 
Kudelski and its subsidiaries previously held 32.3 per cent of OpenTV‘s total outstanding shares and controlled 77.2 per cent of the voting power.

Kudelski, the holdings of which include conditional-access vendor Nagravision, had launched a takeover bid in February for $1.35 per share, that OpenTV‘s board rejected as ‘inadequate‘.

Kudelski said last Friday that it is providing a subsequent offering period to acquire all of the remaining outstanding Class A shares of OpenTV that will expire on 20 November for the same purchase price of $1.55 per share.  
 
Kudelski said OpenTV shareholders who don‘t sell their shares “risk holding an illiquid stock” and that it will seek to delist OpenTV from the NASDAQ.

OpenTV‘s middleware has been deployed in more than 127 million digital set-top-boxes and TVs worldwide.

Customers of the San Francisco-based company include Time Warner Cable, Comcast Spotlight, Dish Network, Charter Communications, NBC Universal and Suddenlink Communications.

MUMBAI: Reliance Entertainment‘s online gaming portal Zapak.com has launched an online multiplayer cricket tournament in association with Hewlett-Packard.
 
The contest will end on 22 November.

HP India manager-corporate marketing Srihari Gopinath says, “We are excited to present the first online multiplayer cricket game with Zapak.com. The format is engaging and fresh. It‘s a whole new way to play the game of cricket which is a passion for millions across the country. We are looking forward to discovering new gaming champions with this game.”
 
Zapak Digital Entertainment CMO Arun Mehra says, “Gaming thrives on tournaments and cricket has been the number one game on Zapak.com since the portal was launched. ‘MP2 Online Multiplayer Cricket Tournament‘ along with HP is a novel initiative to introduce cricket in an online multiplayer format.”

MUMBAI: HomeShop18 will now be available on DishTV, Airtel digital and Videocon d2h.
 
While the channel will be available on channel 645 on Dish TV, it will be on channel 124 on Airtel and channel 617 on Videocon. 
 
HomeShop18 CEO Sundeep Malhotra says, “HomeShop 18 has been constantly expanding its distribution footprint to reach its services to a wider audience and this tieup with DTH players is another step forward for us.” 

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Australia has made its long-form content available on mobile platforms for the first time in New Zealand after the conclusion of a deal with Telecom for its Mobile TV service.
 
Subscribers can now stream episodes of Top Gear, Doctor Who, Little Britain, The Office and Extras through the XT Network’s mobile site, TWorld.

The deal includes content, with comedies such as The Catherine Tate Show and The Mighty Boosh slated for future launch.

BBC Worldwide Australia digital sales manager Louisa Bayles says, “This deal brings drama, comedy and entertainment programming direct to mobile. Streaming through Telecom‘s Mobile TV service means that fans of Doctor Who and Top Gear can now enjoy them whenever they want, but this is also a fantastic opportunity to reach out to new audiences.”
 
Making content available on digital platforms is a core part in BBC Worldwide‘s objective of securing the broadest possible distribution strategy for its television content.

MUMBAI: Rainbow Media, Measat Satellite Systems and Ascent Media have, by way of an agreement, have decided to distribute Sundance Channel and WE TV across the Asia-Pacific region via the Measat-3a satellite.

Under the agreement, Ascent Media will deliver a complete file-based workflow and fully automated play out system, operated in a shared network environment, and will provide the HD uplink to the Measat -3a satellite. Ascent‘s world-leading talent will also create promotional spots for both channels suited to the Asian market, as well as provide other post-production services.
 
Said Rainbow Entertainment Services chief operating officer Ed Carroll, “We are pleased to announce this significant deal that paves the way for the Sundance Channel and WE TV to be available in Asia for the first time. By working with Measat and Ascent, we are looking forward to Sundance Channel expanding its reach into another major world market and the launch of WE TV beyond the United States.”

The agreement marks a milestone for both brands, which will be made available for the first time throughout Asia. The channels will be distributed in high and standard definition. 
 
Available in nearly 74 million US households, WE TV is the premier source for women looking to satisfy their curiosity with fascinating, original stories and entertaining, informative content that is relevant to key stages of their lives.
 

MUMBAI: The government has finally come out with a Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) policy, allowing the use of ‘C‘ and ‘Ku-band‘ in a technology that would help boost digitisation of cable TV services across the country.

HITS operators will have to uplink from India and will have to install SMS and encryption system.

The government has allowed 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) for HITS service providers, higher than the 49 per cent cap for cable TV operators. However, prior FIPB (foreign investment promotion board) approval will be required if the FDI is beyond 49 per cent.
 
 
“The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal of my Ministry to issue policy guidelines for HITS operators, that provide for a framework within which the service providers will operate,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters.

In a bid to avoid vertical integration and promote competition, the cross media holding restriction of 20 per cent of total paid up equity has been prescribed for various segment of broadcasting services.

There is no restriction on number of permissions. All those found to be eligible and fulfill the terms and conditions can apply for license to the government in the Ministry of I&B.

Though the operators are not permitted to provide signals directly to subscribers, the policy suggests that if the HITS operator is also an MSO/cable operator, he can do so through his distribution network.

Existing permission holders of HITS – like Essel Group – will have to comply and migrate to the new policy regime within three months, failing which their permission will be cancelled. Wire & Wireless (India) Ltd has already launched HITS.  
 
The policy also states that sufficient provisions exist under the guidelines for monitoring of content, inspection and national security related issues.

The policy does not mandate for either the cable operators or subscribers to necessarily obtain signals from a HITS platform/network wherein subscribers and cable operators can continue with the existing system. The cable operators, thus, have the liberty to switch over to HITS provider network, if desired.

Under the HITS policy, the operator uplinks signals of TV channels of different broadcasters to their satellite, enabling cable operators to downlink these signals for further distribution to subscribers through their cable network in a digital form.
 

MUMBAI: Diamond comics has associated with Rediff.com making its titles exclusively available on your GPRS mobile phones.

The titles include Chacha Chaudhary, Billoo, Pinky, Phanton, Shaktimaan, Panchatantra, Tenalirama, Vikram Betal, Akbar Birbal, Ramayan and Mahabharat.
 
This service can be used by logging on to mobile.rediff.com/comic or by sending an SMS to ‘Chacha‘ to 57333. The telecom operator will charge Rs 10 for a 24-hr session for unlimited access to all the comics from the library. 
 
Earlier this year, Diamond comics announced to launch a kids channel – Diamond Comics channel. It also tied up with License India to launch its comic characters on to the animation and character licensing platform. As per the deal, the characters will be introduced as cartoons in animated films and mobile games and also used for apparel merchandising, toys and stationary.
 

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory of India (Trai) has worked out the representative operational figures of various stakeholders in the value chain for use in tariff fixation. This follows the Supreme Court directive asking the sector regulator to examine de novo the matter relating to tariff for Cable TV services in non-Cas areas.
 
Trai has asked all stakeholders to compare these representative operational figures in respect of their respective companies/enterprises and submit objections if any by 18 November, duly supported by full data in the format already prescribed by the Authority.

If no objections are received, the Authority will presume that the stakeholders are in agreement with the figures derived by the Authority. 
 
Following the Court order of 13 May, Trai had earlier this year sought information in prescribed formats from various stakeholders such as Broadcasters, Aggregators (i.e. authorized distributors of the Broadcasters), DTH Operators, Multi System Operators, Cable Operators and Consumer Advocacy Groups to obtain a realistic understanding of the financials and the operation of various stakeholders.
 

MUMBAI: MGM‘s classic 1960’s anime series, Prince Planet, is available on Hulu and Youtube.
 
Prince Planet is the English name given to one of the earliest Japanese TV anime series (Planet Boy Popi) when it was first televised in America in the mid-1960’s.

More than 45 episodes will be made available as Prince Planet tells the story of a member of the Universal Peace Corps from the Planet Radion coming to Earth on a mission to determine if this world meets standards for membership in the Galactic Union of Worlds and assist its inhabitants during his stay.

As part of an initiative to mine the studio’s library, Prince Planet was a hidden gem in the archives of the MGM library. Noticing a trend in how well anime is performing on digital platforms, MGM executives took steps to restore the series for the new media world. 
 
Says MGM Worldwide Digital Media director Yaoshiang Ho, “We are pleased the tech team here at MGM invested the time and resources in digital restoration services to bring this series to life for the new digital age.

“From fans of classic animation to anime connoisseurs, viewers will be able to enjoy Prince Planet on demand and online in a way they’ve never seen it before through MGM’s digital media partners.”