ITV

Category: Software

  • SC postpones IBF petition on digitisation to 8 July

    SC postpones IBF petition on digitisation to 8 July

    NEW DELHI: The supreme court has once again rejected an application by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) for staying the court proceedings in the Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh high courts.

    Chief justice Altamis Kabir, justice Vikramjit Sen and justice S A Bobde fixed 8 July as the date for further hearing on the petition by the IBF challenging the orders in the Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh high courts.

    It also listed along with these cases a petition by IBF against the multi-system operator Digicable.

    Some more MSOs from Andhra Pradesh including Chalasani Narendra Varaprasad were allowed to be impleaded in the case.

    The IBF petition seeks to ensure that digitization is implemented as scheduled and without hindrance.

    When the special leave petition had been mentioned before the court on 16 April, it had declined the prayer to stay any of the proceedings in the various high courts as it was informed that the Karnataka high court judgment on the subject was due. The bench presided over by chief justice Altamas Kabir felt it would await the judgment of the high court before taking up the matter.

    The Karanataka, Gujarat and Allahabad high courts have since dismissed as having no merit the petitions seeking extension of the switch-of dates for phase II of digitisation in Bengaluru, Mysore, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut and Varanasi.

    Petitions challenging digitisation are currently pending in the Madras, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh high courts. These affect the cities of Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam Bhopal, Indore, and Jabalpur.

  • BroadcastAsia2013 returns with an integrated offering for the Indian broadcast industry

    BroadcastAsia2013 returns with an integrated offering for the Indian broadcast industry

    MUMBAI: BroadcastAsia2013, a media and communications event is set to feature “groundbreaking” technologies, and spotlight hottest industry trends for the broadcast and film value chain. It is to be held at the Marina Bay Sands Singapore from 18 – 21 June.

    The Indian Media and Entertainment industry grew from Rs 728 billion in 2011 to Rs 820 billion in 2012, registering an overall growth of 12.6 per cent. Given the impetus introduced by digitisation, continued growth of regional media, upcoming elections, continued strength in the film sector and fast increasing new media businesses, the industry is estimated to achieve a growth of 11.8 per cent in 2013 to Rs 917 billion. Going forward, the sector is projected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 15.2 per cent to Rs 1,661 billion by 2017, according to the FICCI – KPMG Media & Entertainment 2013 report.

    The report also states that although television will continue to be the dominant segment, strong growth is posted by new media sectors, animation/ VFX and a comeback in the Films and Music sectors on the back of strong content and the benefits of digitisation.

    Film digitisation and TV distribution infrastructure, growth in new media like increase in mobile and wireless connections; greater sophistication of and segmentation in content with digitisation and finally encouraging regulatory and policy support has been a key enabler of growth for the Indian media sector. The continued cable DAS rollout, Phase III licensing for Radio and 4G rollout this year will spur growth from the medium term.

    The report further stated that by 2017, newer media segments such as digital advertising, gaming, animation and visual effects will post double-digit growth. While digital advertising at present accounts for Rs 2,170 billion, it is expected to increase to Rs 87.20 billion by 2017. The Indian film industry is also expected to grow from Rs 112.40 billion to Rs 193 billion by 2017.

    BroadcastAsia2013 registers strong Indian participation.

    Speaking at the press conference held in Mumbai Calvin Koh, who is assistant project director for BroadcastAsia from organiser Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) said, “With the advent of innovative technology and the recent large scale digitisation, Indian broadcasters and consumers are both at a threshold of a technology revolution. As demand grows for advanced technology and content for the dynamic Indian audiences, the industry, like never before, is embracing world class practices and formats. BroadcastAsia2013 is an ideal platform for the Indian players to partner with world leaders as well as reach out to clients beyond India.”

    The Indian companies exhibiting at BroadcastAsia2013 include Further Broadcast Automation Systems, Canara Lighting Industries, Diversified Communications India, Essel Shyam Communication, Indiasign, Rudraksha Technology and WASP3D.

    Indian experts including Zeel business head – new media Vishal Malhotra and Shemaroo Entertainment director, owner Jai Maroo will be part of a panel at the BroadcastAsia2013 International Conference.

    With the rise of Smart TVs and the blurring of the boundaries between TV and social networks, consumers will be watching TV within social networks and vice versa, impacting the way they engage with TV. BroadcastAsia2013 will be addressing this latest phenomenon with showcases from leading industry bigwigs, as well as up-to-date conference topics, such as 4K TV, OTT, Multi-Screen Streaming, DVB-T2, Satellite/Terrestrial/Cable Broadcasting, Production and Post-Production Software.

    New and returning top-notch exhibitors, including Axon, Dalet, Canon, Envivo, Evertz, Ericsson TV, GoPro, GrassValley, Harmonic, Harris, Hitachi, Ikegami, Miranda, Orad, Panasonic, PCCW, Playbox Technology, Quantel, Sennheiser, Snell, Sony, Quantel, Wasp3D, Yamaha will demonstrate their competencies in: future tv / ott / cloud broadcasting, multi-platform broadcasting, satellite / terrestrial / cable broadcasting, digital media asset management / file-based production, DVB-T2, digital tv / hbbtv / hdtv / internettv, broadcast automation, infrastructure and facilities, production / post production software, content editing / colouring restoration, pro audio technology, video content delivery network, broadcast it networking and security.

    To complete the entire value chain, ProfessionalAudioTechnology2013 will see professional audio companies showcasing the latest audio products and services for the broadcasting and film ecosystem.

    The highly anticipated Cinematography/Film/Production Zone will once again return this year to provide visitors with comprehensive updates on featured technologies such as Animation and Video Effects, Motion and Film Production, Camera, Lenses and Tripods and beyond.

    As Asia‘s film and TV industry continues to flourish, the BroadcastAsia2013 International Conference progresses to the next level with four new tracks, four specialised sessions and for the first time, a half day workshop. This will focus on the shift in consumer demand for high quality content on-the-go, on multiple platforms and the emerging business opportunities for OTT in Asia. More than 100 speakers from 31 countries/regions will lead the numerous discussions over four days.

    Some of the key confirmed speakers include Peter Hutton (managing director of ESPN Star Sports), Dato Amrin Awaluddin (group managing director of Media Prima Berhad), Graham Kill (CEO of Irdeto), Kurt Hoppe (director of Smart TV Innovation of LG Electronics), Benjamin Grubbs (APAC head of partner marketing of YouTube) and Jay Fulcher (CEO of Ooyala).

    The Creative Content Production Conference, back for its fourth successful year, is themed “Producing and Distributing Successful Content in Asia.” The conference will address the challenge of producing appealing and high-quality content for global audiences. Numerous industry stalwarts – AETN All Asia Network, Fox International Channels, Lucas film Singapore, Sony Pictures Television and Viacom International Media Networks will provide their insights on the future of the industry at the two-day conference. A series of new topics and speakers including a ‘Producers Dialogue‘ have been developed to serve as additional forums for participants to address and anticipate the upcoming trends and demands of the industry.

    CommunicAsia2013 and EnterpriseIT2013, held alongside BroadcastAsia2013 at the Marina Bay Sands, will feature a complete range of key technologies, such as cloud computing, enterprise mobility, mobile broadband and applications, developments in LTE/4G as well as Over-the-Top (OTT) and more. EnterpriseIT2013 will also highlight the latest technology solutions for enterprises from different vertical industries such as banking and finance, education, government, healthcare, hospitality, and logistics and transportation.

    The last edition of BroadcastAsia, together with CommunicAsia, attracted close to 2,000 exhibitors and over 50,000 professional attendees from around the globe.

  • Subhash Chandra ropes in retail and life style veteran Wadhwa to head Siti Cable

    Subhash Chandra ropes in retail and life style veteran Wadhwa to head Siti Cable

    Mumbai: There’s tremendous promise and potential in Indian cable TV. No one knows this better than Essel group and Zee TV
    chairman Subhash Chandra who floated cable TV firm Siti Cable more than 19 years ago – in the early stages of cable and satellite TV in India.

    And with the Indian cable TV sector now undergoing digitisation under a government mandate, he clearly believes he can take India’s leading MSO to greater heights.

    Today Chandra announced the appointment of V D Wadhwa as CEO of Siti Cable Network. The cable TV network has close to 10 million subscribers nationally. Reaching out to over 10 million viewers.

    As Siti Cable CEO , Wadhwa will be based out of Noida and will be responsible for taking forward the organisational aspirations of growing the business of Siti Cable multifold through digitisation.

    His last assignment was with Timex Group India where he was managing director & CEO for business operations in India and Saarc countries. Wadhwa brings with him over 28 years of general management experience in consumer life style and retail industry and largely credited with the profitable turnaround of Timex operations in India and establishing its retail operations in India and south Asian countries.

    Wadhwa is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He has served on various Ficci and Assocham committees besides serving as president of the Horological Federation of India.

    Says Chandra: “We are delighted to have Wadhwa at the helm of Siti Cable. With his strong business acumen and strategic inputs, we expect the company to touch new highs with the aggressive growth plan in the digital regime. I am confident that Wadhwa’s association with the group will add immense value to the Company and all its stake holders.”

  • 41.5% spend around 1-5% of their marketing budget on social media: E&Y

    41.5% spend around 1-5% of their marketing budget on social media: E&Y

    MUMBAI: 41.5 per cent spend around 1 per cent to 5 per cent of their marketing budget on social media, as per the Ernst & Young‘s new report titled ‘Social Media Marketing – India Trends Study 2013‘. Most social media budgets are below Rs 10 million.

    The findings of the report are based on a survey of 48 social media-savvy organisations in India as well as secondary research. The key questions that the study attempts to answer include what is the business objective for using social media, what are the commonly used strategies and measures, the average social media budget and its future prospects.

    Community building and highlighting company news are the top reasons for social media use by organisations in India. They are also increasingly using social media to generate leads, provide customer service, conduct research, get customer feedback, understand customer behavior and do competitive benchmarking, according to the report.

    The report further states, Facebook is the most popular social media platform in India with more than 62 million users, and is the favorite playground for social media savvy organisations to banter in everyday conversations and engage in promotions and contests for its fans. Additionally, almost half of the organisations surveyed are already using emerging platforms such as Pinterest, Google Plus, and Foursquare.

    “Social media is fast emerging as a means of partnership between organisations and their customers, leading to continuous engagement and deeper loyalty. Many Indian organisations are already using social media in an advanced manner, even though there are ample growth opportunities. The future is looking bright with increase in scale and sophistication; however, social media savvy organisations need to analyse their maturity level and explore new opportunities. They can move beyond marketing and see which other departments can benefit from using social media. Clarity of purpose and engaging universally accepted approaches in calculating ROI from social media marketing will help organisations make bigger investments in this area,” Ernst & Young advisory director and leader – customer practice Dinesh Mishra opines.

    More than half of the social media-savvy organisations in India, who participated in the survey, post two to three updates on their Facebook pages a day. A quarter of the organisations surveyed said that they post one update per day on their Facebook pages. About one-third said that they post more than three tweets a day on Twitter, while 28.9 per cent said they tweet two to three times a day. On the speed of response – one-fourth of the surveyed organisations respond to fan queries on Facebook within an average of 30 minutes of the query being posted, which indicates a robust monitoring and response structure in place. On Twitter, 28 per cent respond to their fans and followers within 30 minutes. However, 14 per cent of the organisations still take 13-24 hours to respond.

    With social media becoming a key component of the marketing strategy for companies, the need to appease online fans comes as a natural extension. 64.6 per cent of the surveyed organisations said they have organised exclusive deals for online fans and 20.8 per cent said they are likely to organise such deals in the future. 83 per cent of the surveyed said that they have used social media advertisements majorly to promote a contest/campaign or for brand awareness and 88.6 per cent said they find social media advertisements beneficial in achieving their objectives.

    Almost all of social media efforts in India are managed by in-house teams: 76.7 per cent of the surveyed expressed that social media is handled by their marketing department with the rest being managed by a cross-functional team or by the public relations and communications team. Other than using it for marketing activities, 34.6 per cent said they use social media for thought leadership while 26.9 per cent use it to promote corporate social responsibility. A majority (70.2 per cent) said they have an in-house social media expert in middle management.

    Knowing how the social media governance situation looks like within an organisation comes with many benefits such as recognising strategic opportunities, enhancing competitive advantage, conducting efficient recruitment, cost reduction, generating revenue, creating valued relationships and controlling strategic, operational, reputational and legal risks.

    “Social media-savvy organisations are very optimistic about the role of social media in their organisations. Organisations have realised that social media generates great insights and helps engaging with customers on a continuous basis, and in some cases also generates sales and leads. Social media has helped organisations to create their own communities of fans, customers and prospects. The huge growth and demand of internet connected devices in India is only going to further strengthen the influence and power of social media in customer engagement, and organisations may well look at meeting their strategic goals and business needs through this channel in future,” Mishra concluded.

  • Timescity launches app for Android, iOS & Blackberry10

    Timescity launches app for Android, iOS & Blackberry10

    MUMBAI: Timescity.com, a lifestyle portal of Times Internet has launched its mobile app for android, iOS and Blackberry10.

    The app offers one-click, up-to-date access to favourite food / nightlife listings and reviews, movies and events in the city.

    It‘s a quick, easy location-based app with instantaneous, up-to-date and relevant information about restaurants, pubs, bars, theatres, movies in addition to events like music concerts, fairs, exhibitions and festivals.

    Timescity.com, Times Food and Nightlife Guide content have now been merged thereby allowing users to read reviews, lookup their addresses and phone numbers get directions and call restaurants from within the App.

    Users can also view cinema listings, movie trailers and movie reviews for each selection. The app features listings and recommendations based on location, type of venue or date. Users can filter the listing based on their preference of distance, ratings and price. From pubs to foodie heavens, from curry houses to cafes, the app has all features of the website and much more, thus becoming the virtual city guide, to suit every occasion and budget.

    Users can also view critic reviews in the restaurants reviews section. Critics like Rashmi Uday Singh, Marryam Reshii, Karen Anand and Suresh Hinduja add detailed critics reviews in all centers weekly.

    Timescity.com & Times Food and Nightlife Guide business head Siddhaarth Jalan said: “We are happy to launch the Timescity app on Andriod, iOS & Blackberry 10 to let the users discover the best of going out in their city in an intuitive, easy-to-use format. We will be launching the app on all other platforms shortly”.

  • JainHITS signs Ingram Micro as logistics partner

    JainHITS signs Ingram Micro as logistics partner

    BENGALURU: Headend in the sky (HITS) service provider JainHITS has got another aspect of its business piece in place. It has forged a strategic alliance with marketing and logistics company Ingram Micro which has come on board as its logistics partner.

    “Our goal is to reach and partner 60,000 cable operators and help them not only survive but also maintain their entrepreneurial business and grow further. In the first year, JainHITS will do transactions across India with 2000 local cable operators. JainHITS believes that 20 per cent of this would turn to be the market for broadband and 10 per cent for Cloud Broadband, Gaming etc,” says JainHITS managing director Ankur Jain. “Ingram Micro is one of the leaders in providing Logistics Solutions on pan India basis. Through this partnership, Ingram Micro will provide an effective and efficient solution to JainHITS to reach a large number of cable operators across India.”

    “We are proud to be chosen by JainHITS as logistics partner. The partnership will enable JainHITS to leverage our pan India network” says Ingram Micro senior director – mobility business Atul Gaur.” We provide a very strong value bridge between customers and vendors, bringing the latest products and services to market in least possible time. For JainHITS, we will ensure quick delivery of products to the customers.”

    JainHITS has promised to offer broadband, connected homes, multi-screen, and other value added services along with some innovative consumer products such as cloud broadband, hybrid broadband TV (HBB TV) etc, besides offering digital Cable TV which can carry up to 1000 TV channels.

  • Triumphant I&B sec Varma says Phase II digitisation 99% complete

    Triumphant I&B sec Varma says Phase II digitisation 99% complete

    NEW DELHI: Information & braodcasting ministry secretary Uday Kumar Varma – along with his ministerial team – has almost singlehandedly been working on aggregating and consolidating India‘s fragmented cable TV sector by pressing the digitisation accelerator and pushing the members of the ecosystem to forge ahead no matter what.

    His touch stance seems to be working if one goes by the numbers that he announced today. Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Varma stated that almost 99 per cent digitisation had been achieved in the 38 cities that were part of Phase II of Digital Addressable System (DAS) for cable television.

    Addressing a meeting of nodal officers from different states yesterday, Varma expressed satisfaction at the work being done by the additional secretary C Viswanath, joint secretary (broadcasting) Supriya Sahu and other senior officials.

    Varma also asked the nodal officers to send show cause notices to all MSOs who had still not switched off analogue signals.

    The nodal officers generally expressed satisfaction with the cooperation they received from stakeholders.

  • Den Networks offloads 24 per cent equity; raises $160 million

    Den Networks offloads 24 per cent equity; raises $160 million

    MUMBAI: India‘s John Malone is on a roll. Earlier this week, the Sameer Manchanda headed cable TV MSO Den Networks announced that it was going for a preferential allotment to Goldman Sachs affiliates ($110 million) and a qualified institutional placement (QIP of $50 million) which would allow it to raise a total $160 million (Rs 865 odd crore). This is the largest transaction in the Indian cable TV sector.

    It informed the BSE today that the deals had gone through – the preferential allotment went through the day before and the QIP yesterday – and that the divestment amounts to 24 per cent of Den Network‘s equity. Goldman Sachs had J. Sagar Associates as an advisor while the Hong Kong office of Herbert Smith Freehills acted as the international legal counsel. Den Networks had Amarchand Mangaldas as its advisor.

    Indiantelevision.com caught up with a very cheerful and confident Den Networks COO M.G. Azhar late this evening. This is what he had to say: “We are delighted to have Goldman Sachs as our partner. It has a long history of constructively driving consolidation, digitisation in various markets across the world. Their association will help us in transitioning through various cycles as business transforms.”

    Azhar adds that the deal should encourage other private equity firms and investors to invest in Indian cable TV. “It needs lots of investment. Millions of homes have to be digitised over the next year or so. The investment in Den clearly reflects that the progress of digitisation has helped regain investors‘ confidence in cable TV,” he says. “Other Indian cable TV firms should also benefit.”

    Azhar points out that Den Networks will not be looking for any more funds as the current cash stash should meet its needs for at least two years. He says that the money will be used to “drive digitisation, further consolidation and expansion, broadband and also make investments in scaling up Den Networks to handle the changing business environment.”

    The company says it is going to start its broadband services in the not-too-distant future in one metro and one tier II city and take it up from there.

    He explains: “Digitisation has progressed well in phase I and phase II. Now we have to segment the market. Digitisation has freed us to offer PVR services, HD feeds, PPV, and other value added services. The average revenue per user undoubtedly will go up. There is a lot of potential; there is a lot of value that has to be unlocked.”

  • Chhota Bheem now available on Worldoo

    Chhota Bheem now available on Worldoo

    MUMBAI: Chhota Bheem, a cartoon and animation series hero, is now available on worldoo.com.

    Worldoo is the “first-of-its-kind” ‘ever-evolving online ecosystem‘ for kids, launched this April and is targeted to kids of the age group between 6-12 years.

    Worldoo and Chhota Bheem‘s web partnership comes at a time, when the latter has launched its second film.

    Kids in Worldoo can watch Chhota Bheem videos, play Chhota Bheem games, read Comics, choose Chhota Bheem “avatars” and design their homes with specially designed Chhota Bheem themes as well.

    “Worldoo promotes popular content for young minds and Chhota Bheem is one of the most iconic characters, today. Kids can express themselves by bringing Chhota Bheem to their homes on ‘worldoo‘ and much more,” Worldoo head experience and brand Harsh Wardhan Dave said.

    “We are very happy to associate with Worldoo, their concept is very unique and opens up a wonderful world for children,” Green Gold Animation VP-strategy Srinivas Chilakalapudi added.

  • Fic secures pay-TV rights to ‘Iron Man 3’ in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia

    Fic secures pay-TV rights to ‘Iron Man 3’ in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia

    MUMBAI: Fox International Channels (Fic) has secured the exclusive pay-TV rights in Hong Kong and south east Asia for Marvel Studio‘s film ‘Iron Man 3‘. The film will be broadcast on Fox Movies Premium. The third film in the superhero franchise is expected to be a summer blockbuster.

    ‘Iron Man 3‘ recorded the highest opening weekend ever across most markets in south east Asia, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, even eclipsing ‘The Avengers‘, which itself was one of the most successful film releases of recent years. In the US, ‘Iron Man 3‘ grossed a reported $175.3 million, making it the second biggest domestic opening ever, behind only The Avengers.

    The film is part of Fox Movies Premium‘s line-up of blockbuster movies.

    ‘Iron Man 3‘ will also be available on Fox Movies Play, the channel‘s authenticated online catch-up service to complement the linear experience. Fox Movies Play is available to Fox Movies Premium channel subscribers at no additional cost and features content, including movies, series, live events and documentaries.