ITV

Category: Software

  • ‘Do Knot Disturb’ released on DTH platform

    MUMBAI: Three DTH service providers will premiere Do Knot Disturb on their pay-per-view (PPV) channels.
     
    Airtel Digital TV and Dish TV subscribers can watch the film from 29 October at Rs 50. Big TV, on the other hand, will release the film on 1 November. 
     
    Directed by David Dhawan, the Govinda starrer Do Knot Disturb is a comedy based on a rich and married businessman who tries to hide his extramarital affair from his wife. The film also stars Riteish Deshmukh, Lara Dutta and Sushmita Sen.

  • Pogo, Cartoon Network, CNN now on mobile

    MUMBAI: Turner International India has partnered with Apalya Technologies, an end-to-end mobile video solution enabler, to provide Pogo, Cartoon network and CNN on mobile nationwide.


    Through this alliance, Turner aims to strengthen its presence in the wireless and emerging technologies business in India.
     
     
    To begin with, under the agreement, CNN, Cartoon Network and Pogo will now be available to subscribers of Airtel, Aircel (Tamil Nadu), BSNL, Idea Cellular, Reliance Mobile (GSM), Tata Indicom ( CDMA), Tata Docomo and Vodafone. The service is also available on 3G networks namely BSNL (East and North) and MTNL (Delhi).


    Said Turner International India VP and deputy general manager Siddharth Jain, “The latest New GenerationsTM reveals that 93 per cent homes in India have mobile phones – highlighting a phenomenal growth in kids‘ ability to access entertainment on mobile phones.
     
    “The partnership with Apalya Technologies allows us to respond to this lifestyle trend, and now by introducing Pogo on mobile, we are available to offer a 360 degree experience for Pogo lovers, anytime and anywhere,” Jain added.  
     

  • Cinedigm subsidiary receives commitment letters for credit facilities

    MUMBAI: Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp has announced that its subsidiary, Access Digital Cinema Phase 2 Corp, has received commitment letters from GE Capital‘s Media, Communications & Entertainment business and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking for credit facilities totaling up to $100 million.


    Access Digital Cinema Phase 2 Corp serves as the funding vehicle, administrator and technology integrator for the company‘s 10,000-screen digital cinema rollout plan. 
     
    Once closed, these facilities will reportedly support the deployment of up to 2,133 digital systems as contemplated under Cinedigm‘s ongoing 10,000-screen digital cinema rollout in 2010.


    Cinedigm anticipates the closing of this new loan facility, together with support from digital cinema equipment vendors Christie Digital Systems and Barco Inc, by 31 December with installations targeted to commence in early 2010.  
     
    GE Capital‘s commitment covers the financing of up to about 1,600 digital systems and Societe Generale‘s commitment covers the financing of up to an additional 533 digital systems.
    Both commitments by GE Capital and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking are subject to certain closing conditions, including the execution of loan documentation satisfactory to GE Capital, Societe Generale and Cinedigm‘s Phase 2 subsidiary. 

  • Zapak elevates Chirag Shah to head national ad sales

    MUMBAI: Gaming company Zapak Digital Entertainment has elevated Chirag Shah to head national ad sales.


    In his new capacity, Shah will look after ad sales for all businesses – Zapak.com, Zapak Gameplex and Zapak live, the company‘s activation arm and will report to chief marketing officer Arun Mehra.
     
    Joining Zapak in 2006 as assistant vice-president, sales, Shah played a key role in creating and maintaining revenues in the West and South regions.
     
    Says Mehra about Shah‘s elevation, “Chirag has consistently managed to introduce the non-traditional companies in India to enter the world of gaming, especially the companies in the Finance and FMCG sector. With his extensive experience in the media segment, he will now lead the team to deliver profitable revenue growth across our core industry segments.”

  • AOL names its board of directors









    MUMBAI: US net service provider AOL has named nine members to serve on its board of directors.


    They are Richard Dalzell, Karen Dykstra, William Hambrecht, Patricia Mitchell, Michael Powell, Fredric Reynolds, James Stengel and Jim Wiatt. They will join the AOL board when the separation from Time Warner is complete, with AOL CEO Tim Armstrong serving as chairman of the board.

     

    In May, Time Warner had announced that its board of directors had authourised management to proceed with plans for the complete legal and structural separation of AOL from Time Warner.


    Says Armstrong, “AOL is very fortunate to have an exceptional group of proven leaders to serve on our board of directors. AOL is on a mission to help create the future of media and content and the AOL board will play a central part in helping us focus the strategy and also operate the company with the highest ethical standards.


    “These individuals bring independent judgment and a dedication to building shareholder value, and they will be a tremendous resource for our company, our employees, and our future.”


    Dalzell was Amazon.com senior VP, CIO until 2007. Dykstra is a partner at Plainfield Asset Management. Bill Hambrecht founded and has been WR Hambrecht chairman and CEO since 1998. This is a financial services firm specialising in Internet and auction processes.

  • BBC to sub-let spectrum capacity on Freeview multiplex B









    MUMBAI: In advance of the roll-out of Freeview HD starting in December 2009, UK pubcaster the BBC will clear Multiplex B of all current Standard Definition (SD) streams.

     

    This will result in the closure of one BBC Red Button interactive video stream and the BBC News Multiscreen stream.


    The News Multiscreen will still be available on Sky and Virgin Media and its video content can be seen via BBC Online.


    The BBC says that it remains committed to delivering the very best video content to Freeview viewers via its remaining interactive stream.


    While Multiplex B will be fully reserved for HD services in the parts of the UK that have been through digital switchover, the BBC will, through a competitive tender, offer to the market the two vacant streams available in other parts of the UK in the interim period to 2012.


    The two streams will be available in approximately 80 per cent of the UK from the end of 2009, and coverage will reduce to zero when switchover is complete in 2012.


    The BBC has launched its competitive bid process which will provide third parties the opportunity to launch new services for audiences in the UK.


    BBC COO Caroline Thomson says, “The BBC has identified an opportunity to release temporary spare spectrum capacity to any interested companies that wish to launch new services for audiences in the UK.


    “Not only does this mean that we are ensuring that spectrum is used as efficiently as possible but it will also deliver better value for money for licence fee payers.”


    Multiplex B was awarded to the BBC after the collapse of ITV Digital. It is one of two multiplexes held by the BBC. It is licensed to BBC Free-To-View a wholly-owned BBC company by Ofcom. Ofcom consulted on converting Multiplex B to HD on 21 November, 2007.

  • Vdopia raises $4 mn from Nexus Venture Partners; gets new CEO

    MUMBAI: Vdopia, the online and mobile video advertising network, has raised $4 million in its first round of funding.


    Vdopia has got the funding from Nexus Venture Partners, a venture capital fund with a corpus of $320 million.


    In a release, the company said the experience and expertise of the new investors will “help Vdopia to further accelerate and consolidate its leadership position”.


    Vdopia has also announced appointment of Rohit Sharma as president and CEO. 
     
    “Building on its innovations in integrated video advertising platform, Vdopia is pioneering new, integrated advertising experiences for online consumers in India,” said Nexus Venture Partners co-founder and Vdopia board member Suvir Sujan. “We invested in Vdopia with the firm belief that digital content and new media markets show great potential for radical growth, and the founding team at Vdopia is accelerating innovation in a new generation of digital media platform for advertising in traditional online and new media markets.”


    Vdopia claims that in a short span of two years, it has experienced enormous growth and is the leader in the online video monetisation space. Some of the available services from Vdopia are Talk2Me ad platform, Live Streaming Ad Insertion and Video pre rolls that have helped them achieve the default video monetization player in the market.


    “Vdopia Ads are complimenting the TV campaigns and are now must buy for marketers,” added Vdopia co-founder Saurabh Bhatia.


    Vdopia co-founder Srikanth Kakani added, “We are working towards our goal for making Vdopia the next great digital media company based on ground-breaking technology and tapping in to one of the largest markets in the world – advertising.” 
     
    Meanwhile, Sharma, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with experience in the venture capital industry, will work with company co-founders. His mandate is to grow revenue and lead the company to develop new business models for digital media.


    Sharma has held technology leadership roles with companies as ONI Systems. As EVP and CTO of ONI Systems, Sharma created the optical switching technology that paved the way for the foundation of ONI in 1997. He also was a member of the investment team at Mohr, Davidow Ventures (MDV) in the IT area before arriving at Vdopia.


    “Advertisers are always looking to meet the needs of consumers, to respond to emerging technologies, and Vdopia is perfectly placed to lead the way. As more consumers come online and spend an increasing amount of time online, Vdopia is very well positioned to drive the monetisation of this market trend. This investment by Nexus will give us the resources to execute our growth plans and transform the advertising experience for brand advertisers and consumers alike,” Sharma said.

  • Komli Media, Artivision, Neo@Ogilvy partner for online video content









    MUMBAI: Digital advertising and technology company Komli Media and Artivision, which works in the area of video advertising, have announced a strategic alliance to introduce ad solutions for online video content publishers.


    Neo@Ogilvy and OgilvyOne would set up India’s first online video creation facility and work closely with the Komli– Artivision partnership to maximise the potential of online video for its clients. Komli Media will deliver Artivision’s Target-Ad technology in India, allowing intelligent placement of ads in all types of online video content.

     

    Artivision’s Target-Ad is a value-added in-video monetisation service, generating smart ad placements that adapt in real time for optimal performance and viewing experience. Target-Ad uses advanced video content analysis to automatically find and map IAB standard ad units within areas that do not interfere with the user’s viewing experience.


    This allows to scale and monetise according to content, user engagement and consumption. Target-Ad integrates with a publisher’s video player and effortlessly adds new ad inventory, while driving high performance and improved click-through rates for advertisers and better monetisation opportunities for publishers.


    Artivision senior VP Amir Segev says, “The Indian market, like so many markets throughout the world, is looking to enhance online video revenue and engagement. We are pleased to provide publishers and advertisers with additional revenue streams and more importantly, providing their viewers a more enjoyable experience.”


    With video viewership seeing growth across sites, media agencies are touting online video advertising as one of the fastest-growing and most promising online advertising formats.


    Neo@Ogilvy and OgilvyOne executive director – digital services Prasanth Mohanachandran says, “Komli and Artivision will definitely create a new market for online video. Re-purposing TVCs for the web is archaic and we look at using Artivision’s technology to make digital video more engaging and interactive.”Adds Komli Media COO Prashant Mehta, “We are confident that Target-Ad will evoke significant interest from Indian advertisers while helping publishers uncover additional ad inventory and revenue opportunities.”

  • SoftBank, Indea Capital invest in Den









    MUMBAI: SoftBank of Japan and Indea Capital have come in as anchor investors as Den Networks‘ IPO (initial public offering) opens Wednesday.


    “SoftBank and Indea Capital are investing into Den. They are coming at the upper end of the IPO price band,” a source tells Indiantelevision.com. Den has fixed its IPO price band at Rs 195-205.

     

    Post IPO, SoftBank and Indea Capital will hold 1.8 per cent in Den, a cable TV company floated by IBN18 Broadcast Ltd joint managing director Sameer Manchanda and Lucid Systems. “SoftBank will have a major portion of this,” the source adds.


    In July, Den had raised Rs 750 million from EMSAF Mauritius, part of the $10 billion Emerging Markets Management LLC. Earlier, Den had raised Rs 2 billion in two tranches from funds managed by IL&FS Investment Managers (IIML).


    The valuation of Den, which has set its footprint across India by acquiring cable TV networks, works out to Rs 27.04 billion on the upper side and Rs 25.73 billion at the lower end of the price band.

  • NewsX goes mobile

    MUMBAI: Indi Media-owned English news channel NewsX will now be available on mobile platforms.



    NewsX’s live feed will be available on mobile URL m.newsx.com/live.


    NewsX head of online Ajatshatru Singh said, “NewsX has created multiple distribution points for news by being India’s only channel to have a triple play. Whether it is TV, web or mobile, we are available to our viewers in any form.”



    With this move, NewsX aims to tap the fickle young audience. “By being available on mobile, we can provide news on the go especially to our younger and upwardly mobile corporate audience who are significantly aligned to the digital medium,” Singh added.


    The channel is planning to create customised news content for the mobile. Meanwhile, it is also focusing heavily on the new news consumption trends, and believes that “viewers will increasingly move from watching their news on television sets to digital forms like the internet and mobiles”.