ITV

Category: Television

  • News Corp looking to do content deals in the mobile space

    News Corp looking to do content deals in the mobile space

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate is targetting the mobile space in a big way. A few days ago it hatched an alliance with VeriSign to form a global mobile entertainmet firm.

    The new company will merge a technologically advanced platform with mobile content production and delivery capabilities and will serve 30 territories with a potential reach of more than a billion mobile subscribers. News Corp will fork out $188 million for VeriSign’s subsidiary Jamba.

    Now News Corp is looking at opportunities to partner with key players in the mobile space to distribute content. Media reports quote News Corp COO Peter Chernin who delivered the opening keynote speech for day two of the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment 2006.

    He says that as of now only four per cent of the 219 million mobile subscribers in the US watch mobile TV on their handsets. However if it rises to even 20 per cent and each viewer spends $10 a month on mobile video, mobile TV would generate nearly $5 billion in revenue. $10 to put things in perspective is a little less than the price of a movie ticket in some theatres in the US.

    If makers and sellers of ringtones could increase their client base by just five per cent in a year, there would be an additional revenue of $1 billion.

    He went on to state that operators and handset makers need to make sure content can be found more easily. He emphasised the need for developing easy-to-use search methods and also simpler business models, so that consumers know how to buy mobile content. Finding mobile entertainment on cell phones is very difficult right now, he said.

    Chernin says that the deal with VeriSign is a sign that News Corp practices what it preaches. News Corp will launch a subscription-based mobile content service from The Simpsons and hopes to build a Jamba-powered engine to power an application which can be downloaded for its mobile franchise, MySpace.

  • RED FM’s Festive Bonanza for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata

    MUMBAI: Red FM, brought alive Navratri festivities on radio for their listeners in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. The station with a ‘Bajaate Raho’ attitude, in an endeavour to build greater connect with listeners, covered the celebrations extensively in each city.

    From reporting live from the biggest dandiya events in Mumbai to covering the major Puja pandals across Kolkata, RED FM captured it all for its listeners.

    Speaking on the marketing activities around the festival, RED FM COO Abraham Thomas, said, “RED FM aims at providing its listeners a complete feel of the festive season. Various innovative on-air programming initiatives and marketing tie-ups were undertaken to reach masses and build greater listener engagement with the radio station.”

    In Mumbai, RED FM’s on ground activities included an exclusive tie-up with Sankalp ’06, Mumbai’s most rocking Dandiya Raas presented by none other than the Dandiya Queen Falguni Pathak.

    RED FM listeners were given free passes for mega events like Sankalp ’06, Manthan Luster Dandiya, Growel’s 101 Navratri Event and Dandiya with ‘King the Beaters’ at Wadala as part of the on air and on spot contests. Designer Dandiyas, Celebration Hampers and opportunities to interact with the RED FM’s RJ’s were part of RED FM’s rocking Navratri celebrations in Mumbai.

    Along with on-ground activations and tie-ups, RED FM presented ‘Majaa Ma,’ a special on-air segment on Navratri. A complete Gujarati fare, the ‘Majaa Ma’ specials had segments like ‘Majaa Ma’ Jokes; ‘Majaa Ma’ interviews with eminent Gujarati theatre and television personalities and ‘Majaa Ma’ Movies-one minute hilarious and witty movie capsules.

    RED FM brought alive the Durga Puja on Kolkata’s Puja Dhamaka at city centre on the 23rd September with live Remix Show by Jimmy Tangree and the entire RED FM Kolkata Team. It associated with almost all major Durga Puja events in Kolkata that included over 748 puja pandals and 42 puja specific events.

    RED FM had a host of special, fun filled segments and contests all set to capture the mood of listeners. Celebrity chats, live Puja updates and news from the top Dandiya festivities in the city added more colour to the festive fervor and made Durga Puja memorable for RED FM listeners.

    In Delhi Red FM brightened the festivities by associating with Hindustan Times Dandiya Masti at the Garden of Five Senses with RJ Neeti of Mera Wala Gaana fame. Contests like “Mera wala dancing couple”, “Mera wala style award”, “Mera wala best choli award”, “Mera wala non-stop Dandiya award”, “Mera wala little champion” were devised to involve participants. Live polls were conducted for the best Dandiya song and celebrity guests were chosen to play that song for the winners. RED FM ‘Phal-Haar’ contest was conducted along with ‘Ravan Jalaao’ wherein listeners spoke about one evil thing like poverty, pollution, bad roads and eve teasing that they would like to burn.

  • UN broadcast rights treaty comes for debate next year

    UN broadcast rights treaty comes for debate next year

    MUMBAI: As per the World Intellectual Property Organization (Wipo), a new proposal for an international agreement to protect broadcasting rights will be negotiated during a conference, which is scheduled to take place from 11 July to 1 August 2007.

    The proposed treaty, which aims among other things to prevent broadcasting and cable signals being stolen and retransmitted elsewhere, was approved by a key committee of the UN agency.

    Wipo director general Kamil Idris has been quoted in media reports as saying that the positive spirit of the discussions will further strengthen consensus on these issues in the months leading up to the diplomatic conference. Wipo deputy director general Rita Hayes described the meeting a tremendous success after eight years of work, and said a lot of the contentious issues could be resolved.

    According to reports, a coalition of representatives from electronics and telecommunication companies, including Dell, Intel and Sony, as well as consumer rights organizations, said in a joint statement ahead of the Wipo meeting that they weren’t convinced such a treaty was needed and that the most important intellectual property issues were already addressed under existing law.

  • NDTV launches viewers’ choice News Bulletin ‘My News’

    NDTV launches viewers’ choice News Bulletin ‘My News’

    MUMBAI: In a bid to woo its viewers, NDTV announced the launch of viewers’ choice news bulletin, My News.

    The content of the news bulletin will be decided by the viewers of both the channels, NDTV India and NDTV 24X7. All that they have to do is simply vote for what they want to see through SMS. My News will debut on 18 September 2006 at 6.00 pm on NDTV India, and followed by 6.30 pm on NDTV 24X7.

    Announcing the launch, NDTV 24X7 managing editor Sonia Singh said, “This is yet another first by NDTV. We are known for our innovative programming, and for connecting with our viewers. With My News, we turn our viewers into News Editors once a day. We’re very excited about this new initiative, and we think it really reflects our commitment to showing what affects our viewers.”

    Every day, NDTV will offer viewers a news menu on both NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India. This menu will list the top 20 stories of the day. Viewers will then have to select stories, type SMS: MY, followed by the story number to 6388.

    The top 10 stories selected by the viewers’ will be shown in the half-hour news bulletin everyday.

  • Zee Sports off-air in Mumbai’s major cable networks, signs truce with SCV

    Zee Sports off-air in Mumbai’s major cable networks, signs truce with SCV

    MUMBAI: Cricket fans in many pockets of Maharashtra and Tamil Naidu will not be able to watch India play West Indies in the DLF Tri-Series on Thursday. Zee Sports is yet to restore signals to the cable operators who have not signed agreements with the sports channel.

    Zee Sports, however, is back on SCV, the dominant multi-system operator (MSO) in Tamil Naidu. Though the MSO had approached TDSAT, the matter got sorted out after today’s hearing. Zee Sports and SCV reached a commercial agreement today.

    Says Zee Sports VP marketing Gaurav Seth, “We have closed the deal with SCV. We had switched off signals to many cable networks in Tamil Naidu and Maharashtra with whom we had no commercial agreements. We are in negotiations with them and hope to arrive at a settlement soon.”

    In Mumbai, the channel has been off-air on two major networks Hathway Cable & Datacom and Incablenet. Even in Pune, a major chunk of viewers will be deprived of watching the live telecast of the India-West Indies match as the sports channel is not available on Intermedia Cable Communication, a leading MSO in the city.

    Meanwhile, the Pune District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, which heard the injunction filed separately by two individuals, today directed Zee Sports to restore the signals till further hearings on 21 September.

    “The court order will be respected and the signals will be restored (or may have been restored as it does not take too long). But we will challenge this order in a higher court,” says Seth.

    Zee Sports has priced the channel at Rs 10 per subscriber.

  • Star One to beef up prime time with ‘Saathi Re’

    Star One to beef up prime time with ‘Saathi Re’

    MUMBAI: Zee TV driver show Saath Phere producer Sphere Origins has now teamed up with Star One for a prime time soap. The serial Saathi Re will launch in October.

    “We are planning to launch Saathi Re in October. The plan is to let Nach Baliye 2 (launching on 25 September) get settled and then follow the big launch with this soap. Saathi Re will be a daily soap,” states Star India senior creative director Shailja Kejriwal.

    Saathi Re is the story of Suman, an ideal Indian girl, who is torn between her family and love life. The soap stars Arjun Punjj, newcomer Parakh Madan, Neena Gupta, Kiran Karmarkar and Amir Dalvi doing the key roles.

    “Just because the heroine has someone else also, other than her husband, in her life, it doesn’t mean that Saathi Re is a tale of adultery. The subject has been handled in such a way that, it will appeal to the whole family,” says Kejriwal.

  • Indigo Kids Edutainment brings I theatre Singapore musical to India

    Indigo Kids Edutainment brings I theatre Singapore musical to India

    MUMBAI: Indigo Kids Edutainment, a new company launched to capture the imagination of children all over India has invited I theatre from Singapore to perform a musical play Rainbow Fish from 19 – 31 September across four cities; Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

    Rainbow Fish is based upon Marcus Pfister’s award winning book. I theatre is known for imparting social and moral lessons through their musicals. Rainbow Fish focuses on the lessons of equality of all and acceptance of diverse breeds. It also creates an awareness of ocean ecology. The musical is suitable for children between the ages of 15 months to 12 years, informs an official release.

    On this new initiative, one of the founding members Pinky Daga said, “This is a very new type of entertainment in India for children—parents have only malls, video game parlors, and movies—today’s parents want a little more–they want something enriching. The types of events and programs Indigo Kids will offer will guarantee that each child will take with them an unparallel learning experience each time. This venture is unique, as it is the first time in India that edutainment will be explored on such a large scale.”

    The organisation will kick off its activities with drama. However, they also have a Circus workshop scheduled for November.

    Indigo Kids was born out of a vision to offer internationally researched programs and events designed to nurture each area of a child’s total development. The organisation holds events, workshops and programmes for children across India and aims to introduce activities for kids away from the academic curriculum.

    The initiative was started by three mothers-Pinky Daga, Ekta Shah, and Sheetal Savani. The idea emerged from what is called the Indigo phenomenon that has been recognized as one of the most exciting changes in human nature ever documented in society. The Indigo label describes the energy pattern of human behavior, which exists in over 95 per cent of the children born in the last 10 years. A phenomena occurring globally, children Indigo’s are easy to recognize by their unusually large, clear eyes, extremely bright, precocious children with an amazing memory and a strong desire to live instinctively. These children are sensitive, gifted souls with an evolved consciousness, adds the release.

    Pinky Daga brings to Indigo Kids a depth of media, marketing, and entertainment industry experience from her years as a magazine journalist in Boston, New York, and London. A graduate of early childhood education from CMYT, New York Ekta Shah provides an integral understanding of the development of a child’s psyche with her experience. Whereas, Sheetal Savani brings to the team, business expertise and accounting skills gained from pursuing a CA degree, adds the release.

  • Star replants ‘Nach Baliye’ in Tamil; Vijay TV set to launch ‘Jodi No.1’

    Star replants ‘Nach Baliye’ in Tamil; Vijay TV set to launch ‘Jodi No.1’

    MUMBAI: If it is Nach Baliye 2 set to sizzle television’s Hindi entertainment space, the Tamil language will soon get its own celebrity couple dance show. Star India’s Tamil language channel Vijay TV is all set to launch Jodi No.1, the Tamil version of Nach Baliye.

    Jodi No.1, launching on 7 October, will run Friday-Saturday at 8 pm.

    “Jodi No.1 is going to be a revolutionary show for Tamil general entertainment television. It’s going to change the way media looks at television stars here. Like Super Singer, we will push the envelope every time we come up with a new show,” says Vijay TV GM Ravinath Menon.

    Vijay TV has roped in four real life couples and four reel life couples for the show. There will be both reality and studio episodes on this version as well. The reality episodes will capture the candid moments, while the studio episodes will reveal the performance episodes on the set where the celebrity showcase their dancing talents in front of the judges, states an official release.

    The introductory episode of the show will witness the performance of all the pairs. Each pair would be assisted by a dedicated choreographer. Every week one couple gets eliminated. There would be a wildcard round in the seventh episode, which would provide an opportunity to one of the eliminated couples to have a look in again.The wildcard winner would then compete with the final shortlisted couples for the title. Interesting themes have been planned for the couples to perform, the release adds.

    The 4 reel life couples: Shilpa & Bharat Kalyan / Kutty Pooja & Prem / Pooja & Rishi / Tharika & Deepak

    The 4 real life couples: Devadarshini & Chetan / Rashna & Vijay Adhiraj / Latha Rao & Rajkamal / Preetha & Raghav

  • Get connected with India and Indians Worldwide with Go Yaar.com

    Get connected with India and Indians Worldwide with Go Yaar.com

    MUMBAI: The Indian community in India and around the world now has an exciting and easy-to-use tool to connect and interact with friends, batch mates and colleagues online- GoYaar.com.

    Go, Yaar! is unique among social networking websites in India that build directly on the communities that are already important to individuals — their schools, universities, and companies. The site was launched by an Indian-born former McKinsey & Company consultant in September 2006.

    Registering using a company email address automatically validates a user as a member of a company community. Alternatively, users can indicate their school and over 3,000 college affiliations in India, the US, and Canada if registering using their personal email addresses.

    Once registered, a user can design a personalized profile, interact with and meet new members of their academic and company communities, invite friends to events, and form groups. In addition, Go, Yaar! provides a set of highly flexible and fully integrated email, video, photo album, blogging, instant messaging and peer-to-peer collaboration tools, all as a one-stop source informs the release.

    “With more than 40 million Internet users, India has just discovered the potential of social networking,” says Go, Yaar!’s CEO and founder, Phalgun Raju.

    “There is a tremendous opportunity for Go, Yaar! to redefine the space and become India’s premier social networking destination given its focus on India and NRIs, its multitude of features, and its rapidly growing member base,” adds Raju.

    The website is entirely free. “According to an April 2006 study by Nielsen/NetRatings, the top social networking sites in the U.S. are experiencing 47% annual growth,” explained Raju. “The social networking market in India is well positioned to grow even faster given India’s extremely rapid growth of Internet users and PC penetration.”

    Go, Yaar! provides its members with customized privacy settings, which enable them to control who can view their content, and an ever-evolving robust set of interactive tools to create and share information while building relationships.

    “To continuously enhance our users’ experience, we are targeting adding key new features every month to the site,” said Raju. “The growth of 4.5 million new mobile phone subscribers per month across the country will be a key driver for Go, Yaar!’s growth as we unveil mobile capabilities in the future.”

  • Star appoints David Butorac as president, Platforms

    Star appoints David Butorac as president, Platforms

    MUMBAI: Star has appointed David Butorac as its president, Platforms. Butorac will report to Star CEO Michelle Guthrie.

    In this newly created role, Butorac will be responsible for developing opportunities in platform businesses across Asia to enhance the delivery of Star’s content to the consumer. He will also work to strengthen the operations of Star’s joint venture platforms, especially in light of the recent launch of the Tata Sky satellite service in India.

    Commenting on the appointment, Guthrie said, “As we continue to drive more quality content to more people across Asia, the distribution platform side of our business has become increasingly important to the success of our future growth. The need for someone of David’s calibre became apparent. David’s pay-TV experience in Asia, as well as with News Corporation platforms Foxtel and BSkyB, gives him credentials that are unmatched, and we feel very fortunate to have attracted him to Star.”

    Butorac said, “With diverse services and businesses that span Asia and beyond, Star is a unique media company, and I am very excited to come on board and work with Michelle as well as with the rest of Star’s talented team. With a lot of growth still to come in the region, I look very much forward to playing a part in Star’s further development, particularly with its platform businesses.”

    Butorac will join Star in November, upon the completion of his current duties as Group COO, Astro Asia Allnetworks Plc.

    Butorac, 44, has vast experience in the field of broadcasting. Prior to joining Astro as COO in 2002, he worked for 14 years at British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) where he held a series of positions, including head of Operations, BSkyB, from 1992 to 1995 and Station Manager from 1995 to 2002. While on temporary reassignment from BSkyB, he served as Operations director for the launch of Foxtel in Australia in 1995 and undertook consultant roles for other News Corporation broadcast companies. Prior to 1989, Butorac worked in television news broadcasting in Australia and the UK, states an official release.