Category: Software

MUMBAI: David Gale has been named to the newly created position of MTV US executive VP, new media and specialty film content.

In this new role, Gale will find, develop, acquire and produce long-form narrative content and branded films for all platforms including online, wireless, theatrical, DVD and VOD.

As the technology, delivery platforms and audience experiences for films continue to expand Gale will help lead MTV‘s efforts in finding new, cutting-edge talent to bring a diverse slate of content to audiences, from branded films and long-form narrative productions, to documentaries and more.

In addition to continuing to work with MTV, he will bring projects to all global MTVN brands, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1, Logo and CMT, coordinating his efforts with their production teams. In this new position, Gale will will also continue to run the day-to-day operations of MTV Films until his successor is named.

Gale’s new role helps fulfill a key component of MTV‘s global digital strategy — to combine its mission to discover, produce and showcase unique new talent and entertainment, with its continued goal of launching audience-engaging platforms such as MTV’s Overdrive, Comedy Central’s Mother Load, VH1‘s VSpot, Nickelodeon‘s Turbo Nick, countless 3G wireless channels and MTV Networks‘ recently launched digital music service URGE.

MTV chairman Judy McGrath says, “Our amplified efforts in creating visually rich experiences on television, as well as on computers, wireless screens and in theaters, allow us to personalize each entertainment experience our audience engages in. With David‘s new role, we’re looking to launch a new paradigm in finding, producing and distributing long-form digital content across the globe.”

In addition to coordinating with each of the MTV Networks’ International Brand and Group Leaders (MTVN Entertainment president Doug Herzog, MTVN International president Bill Roedy and Nickelodeon & MTVN Kids & Family Group president Cyma Zarghami) for new content under the specific brands, Gale will also work closely with key executives for digital platforms on the release of film and other original long-form projects.

Gale will also continue to work with the Paramount specialty film divisions, Vantage and Classics, to seek out the type of unique and original feature films that have made the MTV brands so distinctive in the entertainment industry.

MUMBAI: From being a virtually non- existent market in 2003, the IP video test and measurement market saw significant growth in 2005.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World IP Video Test & Measurement Market, finds that this market earned revenues of $52.2 million in 2005 and is likely to reach $289 million in 2010.

With telecom and cable TV companies aggressively offering triple play services, there is a rising trend among test equipment and solution vendors to offer IPTV test capability ‘within the same box‘. Telecom companies are increasingly launching VoIP and offering bundled video, data and voice services to meet the intense competition from cable TV providers and the growing migration of customers to VoIP-based telephony and wireless networks.

IPTV enables telecom companies to leverage their DSL access networks, and thereby offer their customer base an additional video service to supplement existing voice and data offerings. By adopting such measures, they are able to contain losses while retaining valuable customers.

“With such intense competition among service providers, subscriber experience and quality of service become key differentiators, compelling them to roll-out monitoring systems and protocol analyzers at the same time as they launch their IPTV services,” remarks Frost & Sullivan industry manager Jessy Cavazos. “This factor is considered to be a strong driver, particularly for the network monitoring systems market segment, and is expected to have a very high impact on market revenues throughout the forecast period.”

Tolerance levels in IP video services are minimal compared to VoIP services, in which the conversation can be continued even if a couple of packets are lost. Thus, it becomes highly essential to have effective monitoring and troubleshooting tools when networks are deployed in the present market scenario, increasing the demand for suitable test equipment.

Again, the emphasis on quality is higher in the IP video and TV market than in the VoIP market. This poses a significant challenge to test equipment providers catering to this market. The capital costs of the test equipment used for IPTV and video are very high, running into billions of dollars. Since these costs eventually get passed on to the users, it is hardly surprising that they demand the highest quality possible to get maximum value from the service.

The challenge for test equipment providers is to keep pace with the latest technologies in IP video and TV and to be able to develop suitable solutions to test them.

“With end users looking at channel change time issues before roll-out and measuring channel change infrastructure in networks after deployment, this presents a significant opportunity for test vendors,” says Cavazos. “Frost & Sullivan believes that channel changing performance test to assess the functioning of one or more devices under test (DUT) or systems under test (SUT) in IPTV deployment is the biggest opportunity, from a customer target application perspective, in the near future.”

MUMBAI: American Telecom Services, Inc., has launched a pilot of three complementary two-minute Direct Response Television (DRTV) spots to promote the Pay N‘ Talk bundled service program with cordless multi-handset phones powered by IDT Telecom. The series of short-form TV spots will air on multiple occasions on several national cable networks

The company is a provider of both internet phones and Pay N‘ Talk pre-paid long distance communication services bundled with cordless multi-handset phones.

This initiative is intended to expand brand awareness of American telecom as well as attempting to educate the consumer on the value of the Pay N‘ Talk service program. This form of DRTV supports the marketing plan to drive consumer sales through retail channels, states an official release.

The DRTV spots feature Pay N‘ Talk home phones bundled with free minutes that provide consumers with an introduction to the Pay N‘ Talk service bundle which provides the option to purchase more minutes at some of the lowest long distance rates in the industry, by simply pressing the “Money Saving Green Button” that appears on every telephone handset.

The proprietary Money Saving Green Button on each phone provides “One-Touch Access” to American Telecom‘s Pay N‘ Talk service, for making calls, adding funds or setting up auto-payment on the prepaid system, or changing user information and is powered through the company‘s exclusive relationship with IDT Telecom, adds the release.

MUMBAI: Titan Global Entertainment, Inc. has announced the release of the second generation web music entertainment portal “Titan Tunes.” The “Titan Tunes” portal is the first of a series of portals that will be launched from the “Titan Universe” Entertainment Distribution Center.

The US-based, Titan Global Entertainment. Inc., is a multi-faceted entertainment company that specialises in audio and video digital distribution through its state of the art web portal — www.TitanTunes.com.

The new website is designed to provide users with the ability to customise both look and feel, creating a personalised design and a feeling of total control over the experience. The single-page navigation design concept and fixed viewing screen keep all of the controls in the user‘s hands providing the simplest and most comfortable experience available in the marketplace, as per an official release. This general concept will reduce the amount of steps making the purchase process an easy, fast and secure one.

Titan Global Entertainment co-chairman & CEO Jim Pugh states, “This is another completed milestone in the company‘s development. The music portal will provide users a full music and music video experience. The portal is currently being loaded with content from all over the world. It will contain a complete selection of international music and music video for all ages. Individuals will be able to access music and music videos for listening, viewing, downloading as well as purchase. Also included in ‘Titan Tunes‘ is the ability to listen live to your favorite radio station as well as delayed broadcast of syndicated radio shows.”

Just like iTunes, this site will not only offer a vast selection of music and audio but will take the revolutionary next step and will also feature music video, the release further adds. Most websites that provide the option for online purchase have a system involving multiple steps. This results in more than half of the consumers (57 per cent) abandoning the shopping cart before finalizing the purchase. Titan Tunes‘ unique design has differentiated itself from the rest of online music stores reducing the amount of steps. The user is provided a new online buying experience which makes the purchase process an easy, fast and secure one while never leaving the Titan Tunes page.

Titan Tunes will not only sell music and video, but will also sell artists‘ merchandise of all types from CD/DVDs, clothing lines and other merchandising items such as T-Shirts, hats, jackets and gifts. This merchandise will be provided by Titan artists, independent artists and other licensed third party merchandisers approved by the company.

Titan has acquired music publishing licensing from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), for the rights to stream and sell music video and audio through the internet

MUMBAI: GlobeVISION, Inc., a global media company with North American headquarters in Los Angeles, will distribute the hit Korean television drama Spring Waltz through its on-demand Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service for Asian-Americans and Asian-Canadians.

The Korean TV drama will make its North American premier from 1 July 2006 through GlobeVISION‘s PIE service.

GlobeVISION‘s deal with Yoon‘s Color, the television drama production studio in Korea, is the first time an independent television production studio is directly distributing its programs to North America without the support of a Korean broadcaster, according to an official release.

GlobeVISION‘s PIE service is available in limited markets now and will launch nationwide later this year with thousands of Korean titles ranging from movies to television series to news and sports.

Spring Waltz is a twenty-episode drama series viewed by 31 per cent of the country when it aired on KBS in Korea, the highest rating for a drama this year. It is the fourth and final in a season-themed sequence from director Yoon, Seok Ho, whose Winter Sonata went on to be the highest rated Korean drama ever broadcast in Japan. This series represents the best of the new Korean wave of culture known as Hallyu.

“This deal to premiere Spring Waltz in North America demonstrates how GlobeVISION‘s PIE service is the perfect platform for all production and content companies across Asia to directly reach Korean-Americans and Korean-Canadians,” states GlobeVISION CEO Edward Bach. “We are excited to bring such a big hit from Korea directly to the television sets of North America,” he adds.

Korea‘s two largest private broadcasters (MBC and SBS), largest cable media group (CJ Media), top movie studio (CJ Entertainment), and largest Christian programming broadcaster (CGN TV) have recently signed deals positioning
GlobeVISION and the powerhouse distribution channel for Korean content in North America. The service will quickly expand to include programming from all over Asia including China and India, the release adds.

MUMBAI: UK based — Packet Vision, the addressable IPTV advertising specialist, will commercially launch its new TV advertising delivery platform in September at the International Broadcasting Convention 2006 (IBC2006).

The exhibition will kick off from 8 September and culminate on 12 September at Amsterdam.

The platform has been designed to enable both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ advertising: enabling ads to be highly personalized to match viewer demographics, even down to individual household level, and allowing subsequent viewer interaction that is much more sophisticated than is currently possible, according to an official statement.

“Addressable IPTV advertising has huge potential but its development has been hampered by the lack of appropriate technology to deliver it,” says Packet Vision managing director Patrick Christian. “Our platform makes it possible for TV advertising to achieve the level of personalization that tends to be associated more with the internet: not only in how ads are carried and the ways in which consumers can interact with them, but also with regard to their measurability ­ which can be instant and precise.”

The release adds that the demonstrations of the network-based Packet Vision delivery platform, which combines all the functions of video server, splicer, IP router and management system in a small, scalable unit, will be available throughout IBC2006.

Christian envisages that the platform will appeal to a wide range of advertisers, network operators and broadcasters: “It makes TV advertising feasible even for smaller niche or locally-oriented businesses, as well giving large advertisers an easy platform on which sophisticated and highly interactive ad campaigns can be built.”

He adds, “We have taken some lessons from the highly successful internet advertising model and our business model will make it possible even for smaller network operators and those without advertising sales operations to generate income from television advertising.”

MUMBAI: The online digital sheet music, Musicnotes.com, has announced a new, long-term distribution agreement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

According to an official release, Musicnotes.com will produce and sell digital sheet music and guitar tablature for songs from throughout Sony/ATV‘s extensive catalog.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson joins an impressive list of music publishers and administrators already offering sheet music for their artists on the Musicnotes.com web site. These publishers include Alfred Music Publishing (encompassing the Warner/Chappell catalog), BMG, Zomba, EMI Christian, Word Music and dozens of additional publishers.

Musicnotes.com will offer digital sheet music downloads for songs from Sony/ATV‘s impressive roster of songwriters. This sheet music includes songs written by Beck, Sarah McLachlan, Richie Sambora, Gretchen Wilson, Stevie Nicks, Oasis, KT Tunstall and Fall Out Boy — as well as the seminal rock and roll group, The Beatles.

“As a music publisher, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to promote our songs and songwriters,” said Sony/ATV chairman and CEO David Hockman. “We are delighted to work directly with Musicnotes.com, whose expertise and large, loyal customer base makes them the clear leader in the digital sheet music marketplace.”

As a result of the agreement, the official release adds that Musicnotes will also be offering guitarists a wide selection of interactive lessons for Sony/ATV‘s songs in Musicnotes‘s popular Guitar Guru Sessions(TM) format.

“The addition of Sony/ATV‘s song catalog to our site is wonderful news for our customers,” said Musicnotes CEO, Kathleen Marsh. “These songs represent some of the best-known and adored works of all-time, and we are extremely excited to work with Sony/ATV in allowing musicians to learn to play these works using our market leading format.”

MUMBAI: The IPTV company, Kasenna has announced that Cavalier Telephone and TV, a telecommunications services provider, has gone live with the United State‘s first MPEG-4-based (H.264) Broadband TV service, powered by Kasenna‘s PortalTV solution.

Kasenna PortalTV, integrated with other MPEG-4 video elements, such as video headend, encryption system, network equipment and set top boxes, has enabled Cavalier to deploy an end-to-end MPEG-4 based broadcast-quality video network.

This will have a Triple-Play package including advanced features such as on-screen caller ID, Broadcast TV and VOD.

According to an official release, Kasenna PortalTV combines streaming server, middleware, management, client, and content offerings into the end-to-end, pre-integrated IPTV solution. The fully interactive electronic program guide lets Broadband TV customers smoothly move through the service suite; from setting parental controls and viewing on-screen caller ID, to watching broadcast, pay-per-view and VOD programs.

“Cavalier offers a world-class, broadcast-quality, interactive television service that gives consumers much greater degree of interactivity and much higher video quality, “said Kasenna CEO Kumar Shah. “We are delighted that Cavalier has chosen PortalTV, the industry‘s first MPEG-4 based IPTV infrastructure, to deliver their customized, advanced Broadband TV services.”

Cavalier CEO Brad Evans said, “Our mission is to deliver a superior and interactive television experience with the industry‘s most advanced voice, video and data services. We are very proud to be the first service provider in the US that has rolled out MPEG-4 based Interactive Broadband TV. Kasenna and its fully-integrated PortalTV solution are key to our success – having enabled us to quickly deliver advanced, custom-branded, interactive IPTV services to multiple cities on our regional network. Furthermore, Kasenna‘s open, standards-based middleware platform allows us to stay on the cutting edge with future service offerings to our customers.”

On completion of the rollout, Broadband TV will be available to two million homes passed with its Triple Play service. In addition, Cavalier is also planning its next-generation services including TV mail, interactive programming and gaming to make Broadband TV even more entertaining and convenient, adds the release. 

MUMBAI: If Rajinikant fans found their screen idol‘s complexion a tad fairer in Sivaji- the Boss than he normally is, digital grafting was responsible for it.