Category: Software

MUMBAI: While Americans still love their TV sets for watching television programming and DVDs, it appears that online video offerings accessed on the PC have tapped a vein with mainstream America as well.

At the end of last year, well over half (58 per cent) of Americans age 12 or older with Internet access had streamed some form of video content online, this according to recent findings released by Ipsos Insight from Motion – the company’s biannual study of digital video behaviors.

This translates to 44 per cent of the overall US population age 12 or older having ever streamed a digital video file off of the Internet – or approximately 100 million Americans. Ipsos Insight Technology and Communications practice executive VP Brian Cruikshank says, “Clearly the YouTube phenomenon has caught on with Americans, and given their appetite for video, the ability to select and watch exactly what you want online has become a strong lure for many consumers. And it’s instant gratification for entertainment lovers.

“While streaming video online has clearly emerged as Americans’ favorite way to access video online, it also may be blazing a trail for other video formats and acquisition methods in the future.” Cruikshank goes further to point out that over one in four (28 per cent) Americans age 12+ have downloaded a digital video file, with a significant amount of overlap between these two types of digital video formats – so many consumers who stream video also experiment with downloading video online.

Streaming Video Online Strongest Among Teens And Young Adults: Among those that stream video online, teens and young adults are the most likely to do so: three in four of all teens age 12-17 and young adults age 18-24 in the US have ever streamed digital video content online. Not only does the demographic of the typical video streamer skew younger, they are more likely to have higher incomes, and be highly educated, even more so than others with Internet access. When compared to those without Internet access, the differences are even more profound. As a result, the streaming market is key to delivering the audience that advertisers covet the most.

“Perhaps more impressive than simply how many young adults are currently tapping the Internet for their video entertainment, is that given how important it is for many marketers today to reach this group, we could be witnessing a tipping point in the evolution of digital video offerings online,” added Cruikshank.

Indeed, this highly coveted audience appears to increasingly be watching digital video on their PC or on a portable device, while slowly eschewing more traditional ways to view and acquire video content. Today, teens and young adults, on average, have stored 20% of their entire video library either digitally (stored on a hard drive) and/or have burned this content onto DVD-R. So, while this still means most video libraries consist of purchased DVDs or are on VHS cassettes, the size of consumers’ digital video libraries will continue to grow as the streaming and downloading market matures.

Short Video Clips Trump Full-length Videos: Among the various types of video streams offered online, shorter video clips, such as those found on video file sharing sites like YouTube, are by far the most preferred type of video file accessed today by Internet users.

In fact, three quarters of all digital video streamers have streamed short news or sports clips, while two thirds have streamed amateur or homemade video clips. The popularity of short video clips has been more than likely driven by the universal appeal of YouTube, as roughly 40 per cent of those that have streamed or downloaded video content have accessed this site, many of whom have visited YouTube in the past 30 days.

Other video file sharing sites such as MySpace and Google Video are also common destinations for video streamers, with about one in five ever having accessed these two sites overall. In addition, the streaming of movie and TV show trailers, as well as music videos, are also extremely prevalent among those that stream video content, although these types of digital video files have been relatively mainstream for years and do not seem be as influenced by the current YouTube phenomenon.

While short video clips have become the rage, most Americans still have never streamed or downloaded a full-length TV show or movie. However, despite the relatively low prevalence levels of downloading movies and TV shows among US adults today, many appear to find the idea appealing: 43% of all digital video downloaders and streamers express some level of interest in downloading full length movies in the near future, while 38% express interest in full length TV show downloads.

Unwillingness to Pay: The most common barriers to downloading are users’ unwillingness to pay for this content, as well as a perceived difficulty or inability to burn these files onto DVD – presumably so users can watch this content on their living room TV.

Cruikshank adds, “Obviously, with more technology coming onto the market facilitating the sharing of video files between PC and TV, some of today’s purchase barriers may soon begin to dissipate at some level. Yet, this also seems to illustrate the virtues inherent with streaming shorter video clips for today’s video enthusiasts: easy 24/7 access to preferred content for reasonable fees or free via entirely ad supported models.”

MUMBAI: From next month, South Koreans will be able to watch free TV programmes on their mobile handsets not merely in Seoul and its vicinity, but also across the country.

Media reports state that KBS and MBC, Korea‘s two top TV outlets, have been offered the license to start nationwide mobile broadcasting called terrestrial DMB, short for Digital Multimedia Broadcasting.

The system lets people on the road enjoy seamless video, theater-like audio and data via in-automobile terminals or cell phones. KBS will blaze this trail, launching the service in May, with MBC following up in August. The idea is to cover approximately 75 percent of the territory, or almost all residential areas.

A report in Korea Times notes that the system lets people on the road enjoy seamless video, theater-like audio and data via in-automobile terminals or cell phones.

Terrestrial DMB debuted in December 2005 for the first time in the world but its coverage has been restricted to Seoul and the surrounding Kyonggi Province.

Yahoo Groups‘ IM Swaminathan is of the opinion that availability of UGC has had a huge impact on advertising and PR with more opportunities for viral marketing. “Bloggers are invited along with traditional media to press conferences and product launches. Marketers are now using them as samplers before launching their product into the market.”

But all talks of UGC being advertiser friendly are still premature? The biggest hurdle is the revenue model adopted by mainstream medium. In the case of news and music channels, there are no set remunerations for the content provided. While news content is packaged as ‘social responsibility of citizens‘, music channels are still conducting contests or purely providing a platform for good talent.

In this case, Thakkar tries to explain Sumo.TV‘s revenue model. “In our case its the broadcaster who pays for content. The revenue received from the broadcaster is then shared by all parties involved. Revenue also comes from the mobile downloads, which is where the operator comes in.
What happens in the UK where we have a 24-hour channel is that people send photos and MMS‘ to us, and we aggregate content and choose on the basis of relevance. We then process it – restore it to make it broadcast quality. In fact, we‘re developing our own restoration tool. People then download this content via the mobile, so we need to have proper license in place and contact the user for his content. This way we make sure their IPR is protected.”

The company is still looking at television to distribute this user generated content since television in India has a “long tell effect” he says. Thakkar also argues that traditional media like print and television are themselves not very encouraging when it comes to user generated content. “Consumers who have so far had only the option of professionally produced content are neither aware nor proactive about this new genre.”

The next wave?

Web 2.0 is a social experiment and like any other experiment it could fail. But it‘s an experiment that has allowed scores of anonymous faces, voices and all kinds of talent to crop up and have their moment in the sun. By extension that also means that a lot of content out there is downright nonsensical. The pay per click or pay per download model would perhaps ensure that a lot of this material is either filtered or relegated to the ‘back pages‘.

Industry watchers however are more optimistic that in the long run there would be a shift from amateur content to professionally generated content. And this is when proper monetary systems would also be put into place.

As this UGC juggernaut rolls on some of the issues that it will have to contend with are – copyright infringement, monetization and multiple platforms. But for now, I am completely immersed in reading up on every blog and site that talks about user generated content. I‘ve also made up my mind to shoot my own short film. Any takers?

NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry may reject the demand for setting encryption mandates for Doordarshan‘s terrestrial signals, with consensus eluding the technical sub-group studying the issue.

Meanwhile, the ministry is reported to have widened the mandate before the sub-group to reject encryption or consider other options wherever necessary.

Ministry sources said that a draft report prepared by the sub-group headed by All India Radio director-general Brajeshwar Singh has already been circulated among the members in an effort to arrive at a consensus.

While declining to comment on the differences among members of the sub-group, Singh confirmed to indiantelevision.com that a final meeting was expected to take place on 11 April to take a decision on the issue.

The sub-group is also reported to have considered the offer made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India before finalizing its draft report in about ten to fifteen days.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah had told indiantelevision.com last month that it was prepared to undertake cost of around Rs 20 million for the encryption of all 1,400 Doordarshan transmitters and the work could be completed in about two weeks.

The purpose of setting mandates for the encryption was suggested after private broadcasters said sharing live sporting events with DD leads to piracy. The Union Cabinet had suggested while setting up the sub-group that DD signals should be encrypted in a manner that only DD‘s terrestrial transmitting centres receive the feeds.

During his reply to the discussion on the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Bill, the Minister had said it was not safe for the public broadcaster to de-code all its 1,400 DD transmitters together as it would affect ‘the public service obligation‘ of the channel.

ESPN Star, Nimbus and Zee, among other broadcasters had demanded that DD signals be encrypted as the public broadcaster had a reach spanning a vast area from West Asia to Singapore. The Cabinet had also asked the technical committee to meet the stakeholders ESPN Star, ZEE, Nimbus, and BCCI and find out a common device to protect the signal which cannot be pirated abroad.

NEW DELHI: TataSky will on Monday (9 April) pray before the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal the Sun TV be disallowed from being aired in any cable or DTH platform.

Reason: The South Indian broadcast major‘s refusal to comply with the court‘s order to stream signals of all its channels to the News Corp backed DTH operator on a non-discriminatory basis.

The court had issued an order to this effect and the last date of compliance was over today.

“Sun had on the last day of hearing even withdrawn its review petition, which means it does not dispute the order, and even then, they have not complied with it, so we are going to press for this penalty,” Ramji Srinivasan, senior counsel for TataSky told indiantelevision.com today.

Srinivasan pointed out that the court in previous instances of non-compliance (for instance in a different between two other parties case on data access) levied a fine of Rs 1 lakh, and there have been instances of day-to-day fines being ordered.

Asked whether TataSky has written to Sun lately on this, Vikram Kaushik, TataSky CEO, told indiantelevision.com: “My writing to them or otherwise means nothing, because this is a court order and has to be complied with. In any case, we have lots of subscribers in the south and they have been waiting for long for this to happen.”

Attempts to contact a Sun spokesperson for a comment on these developments proved futile till the time of filing this report.

On 19 March, TDSAT had passed an interim order asking Sun TV to stream its signals on an a la carte basis to TataSky, at 50 per cent of the cable charges.

The order meant that Sun was obliged to give TataSky the channels that the DTH operator wanted, and the price Sun would have to offer it was at 50 per cent of the price for the same channels that it received from the MSOs in the cable TV field.

On the last day of hearing of the review petition filed by Sun on the interim order, the latter had raised several issues, especially demanding that TataSky should pay Sun for its entire subscription base, and other questions.

The court had been upset and accused Sun of “taking us round and round” without complying with the order, and had strictly said that the order must be complied with by 7 April.

The court had also said that it would either dismiss the petition or Sun could withdraw it, and the broadcaster had opted for the latter course of action.

Srinivasas says this withdrawal meant Sun had accepted the order and would have to comply with it, which it has not done so far.

This is the message that LG Electronics will look to communicate in its new global integrated
marketing campaign focusing on the company‘s premium Full HD 1080p flat-panel high-definition televisions (HDTVs).

The global campaign will first be seen in the US and will roll out to more than 70 countries worldwide over the next month.

LG Electronics will invest approximately $25 million in the US and substantially more globally to highlight the ultimate viewing experience delivered by LG‘s innovative 1080p liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma HDTVs.

The key elements of the campaign include a series of broadcast, print, outdoor and online advertisements in three creative concepts all featuring an LG Red Couch, which serves as a symbol of the consumers‘ all-encompassing high-definition viewing experience. The campaign also incorporates LG‘s corporate sponsorship of the Cannes Film Festival and
targetted public relations activities highlighting LG‘s 1080p Full HD technology and stylish flat-panel designs.

LG Electronics USA VP consumer electronics marketing Allan Jason says, “The Red Couch campaign is a key initiative that addresses the growing high-definition market and the expansion of our HDTV product line. LG is a global leader in flat-panel HDTV technologies, and no company is better positioned to deliver the Full HD 1080p high-definition viewing experience.”

The global campaign, developed by Young & Rubicam‘s BrandBuzz, was produced in high-definition and recently made its network premiere in the US.

The US broadcast spots focus on two sports, leading off with golf and then introducing a bobsledding spot in the fourth quarter. Consumers sitting on a Red Couch are in the middle of the action, capturing the realistic viewing experience of LG 1080p HDTVs. The spots were filmed on location in South Africa by director Paul Butterworth.

The television commercials will run globally throughout the summer and fall on primetime network and cable television, complemented by print ads in major consumer publications. Completing the integrated marketing package, LG also will be launching a Red Couch online component where visitors can experience exclusive content and learn more about 1080p HDTV and LG‘s Red Couch campaign.

This year LG is launching a dozen new Full HD models in the US. The expanded 1080p lineup includes nine LCD HDTVs in screen sizes ranging from 37 to 52 inches, and three plasma models (in 50-, 60- and 71-inch sizes).

MUMBAI: The association of electronic interactive marketers has announced to connect game marketers with Madison Avenue by confirming Burger King Corporation president of global marketing, strategy and Innovation Russell Klein, as the keynote speaker for its second annual MI6 conference & awards from 8 to 9 May in San Francisco. Klein drives the brand‘s strategic branding, R&D, marketing, advertising and media.

“Russ Klein‘s work has been recognised by multiple organisations within the interactive games and advertising industries,” said MI6‘s newly appointed vice president Jill Lindeman. “The MI6 Board and I agree that we can all learn from Klein‘s marketing accomplishments throughout his career, and be inspired by his innovative approach to marketing the burger king brand in today‘s media. We‘re delighted to welcome him to open the MI6 2007 Conference.” Also confirmed on stage at this year‘s event are Electronic Arts‘ chief creative officer William Bing Gordon, Microsoft‘s corporate vice president interactive entertainment business Peter Moore and Nintendo of America‘s senior vice president, marketing and corporate communication George Harrison. Moore will discuss the future of the gaming industry during a blue ribbon session that includes Gordon and other soon-to-be-announced panelists and Harrison will take participants through the marketing strategies behind the launch of Wii,
says an official press release.

The conference, which kicks off on 8 May 2007 will witness participation of top game marketing, advertising and entertainment executives. Companies represented on the current speaker lineup include 1UP, 2K, ABC television, Activision, Burger King, Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games, Midway Games, Nintendo, OTX, PLAY, Sony Online Entertainment, Spike TV, Starcom MediaVest Group, The Ant Farm, Trailer Park, VOOM HD Networks and Xbox, with more to follow.

NEW DELHI: Faced with an obvious resource crunch because of rising costs of filmmaking and rampant video piracy cutting into profits, more and more filmmakers are now opting to make their film on digital technology and video.

As many as 545 Indian feature films out of the total 1636 certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) during the calendar year 2006 were in video format. Thus 1091 films were in the celluloid format. Among the non-features, the CBFC certified 5569 in the video format against 1748 in the celluloid format.

A total of 7097 certificates were issued to video films during the year. Of these, there were 545 Indian feature films, 744 foreign feature films, 5494 Indian short films, 235 foreign short films, 75 Indian and 4 foreign films belonging to the “Others” category (long films other than feature)

The CBFC issued a total of 10551 certificates during the year 2006, as against 7417 during 2005. A total of 3454 certificates were issued to celluloid films and 7097 certificates to video films during this period, which included 336 foreign feature films in Celluloid format.

In the Indian feature films category, the highest number 245 were in the Telugu language, followed by Hindi with 223 films, and Tamil with 162. Films in Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Kannada and Marathi language were next with 77, 76, 75 and 73 certifications respectively.

Out of the 1636 Indian feature films (Celluloid and Video) certified during the period, 1130 were granted “U” certificates, 270 “UA” certificates, and 236 “A” certificates. Similarly, of the 1080 foreign feature films certified in the year, 460 were granted “U” certificates, 269 “UA” certificates, and 351 “A” certificates.

The Board certified a total of 7242 Indian short films during the period January to December, 2006, of which 6717 were granted “U” certificates, 359 “UA” certificates, 165 “A” certificates.

NEW DELHI: Conscious of the degradation of archival material and taking advantage of new technologies, different wings of the information and broadcasting have launched ambitious plans to digitize their holdings, some of which has great archival and historical value to the nation.

Doordarshan has already digitized 1400 hours of programmes. DD Archives has so far released 51 titles in the market. The public broadcaster has drawn a detailed plan for digitizing its holdings of approximately 70,000 hours of programme on analogue video tapes in its central archives.

The Films Division has so far digitized 188 informative and educative films, while 480 films have been transferred on High Definition tapes, and 825 films on international tracks (transferred on DVD). This is part of an exercise to digitize 8100 celluloid films and transfer them on high definition tapes. After completion of this work over the next few months, Films Division will embark on its second phase of restoration of all its celluloid material which over the years has suffered different degrees of decay and decomposition.

During the year 2006-07, the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) acquired 1561 reels of picture and sound negatives from the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) branches in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, apart from about 1500 reels of valuable film material from the Bombay Film Lab and Film Centre and Cine Lab in Mumbai and Rutik Memorial Trust in Kolkata, and Marryland Studios in Thiruvananthapuram. The Children’s Film Society, India , also transferred 684 reels of negatives for preservation.

A total of 600 hours of programmes have been identified for the DD MTNL broadband video on demand project. These are exclusive content relating to culture, travel, personalities, historical places, health, fitness, lifestyles, crafts etc.

The future comprehensive plan in this regard includes digital migration, facilitating broadband convergence, commercial exploitation of the holdings amd preparing DVDs/CDs/VCDs.