ITV

Category: Television

  • With more news & more shows Times Now beats nearest competition!

    With more news & more shows Times Now beats nearest competition!

    Mumbai, August 16th: TIMES NOW, the 24 hours English news television channel with more news and more shows has established, when it comes to big stories, it has the viewer’s attention. In the last two weeks, it is clearly ahead of CNN IBN and has narrowed the gap with NDTV 24 X 7.

    The interactive and comprehensive coverage of the Prince story saw TIMES NOW emerge as the leading English News channel on the news which had the entire country hooked.

    TIMES NOW has 30% share to NDTV 24 X 7’s 31% in prime time, with 6 Times Now shows featuring among the top 10 English news genre shows (ref: TAM Top 10 list). In the last week, Times Now’s 31% share in Prime Time to CNN IBN’s 18% share establishes the channels growing popularity.

    Further, at an all day level, TIMES NOW has a 21.5% share of Viewership to CNN IBN’s 17.4% share, again with 4 of the top 10 shows.

    Commenting on TIMES NOW’s leading viewer ship growth, Sunil Lulla, CEO, TIMES NOW said, “With more news & more shows, Times Now is clearly winning the minds and hearts of viewers. It will continue to up the ante to build leadership in the market place”.

    (Data source: TAM 1 Million+ Markets, SEC AB, 25 + M, Weeks 23rd July to 5th August)

    About TIMES NOW

    TIMES NOW is a 24 hour English news television channel that provides the Urbane viewers the complete picture of the news that is relevant, presented in a vivid and insightful manner, which enables them to widen their horizons & stay ahead.

    TIMES NOW is brought to you by Times Global Broadcasting, a Times Group & Reuters service. Times Now operates out of its dual centers at Mumbai and Delhi and has bureaus in all major locations across India, complemented by the news gathering teams of The Times of India and The Economic Times, in India and globally by the Reuters international network.

    The Times Group is the largest media conglomerate in south Asia, with Leadership in newspaper publishing; magazines; music retailing; FM Radio; Internet; interactive media; mobile services and lifestyle television.

    Reuters is a global information company providing indispensable news and financial information to financial professionals, media organizations and consumers around the world. Its news operation of 2300 editorial staff in 196 bureaux serving 129 countries, makes Reuters the world’s largest international multimedia news agency

    Reuters and the sphere logo are the trade-marks of the Reuters group of companies

     

    For further enquiries:

    Vishakha Singh Ruchi Agrawal/ Ashwin Shetty
    TIMES NOW Genesis Burson Marsteller A Times Group & Reuters Service 1st Flr, Elegant House Times Global Broadcasting Co. Ltd. Raghuvanshi Mills Compound Trade House, 1st Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, S.B.Marg, Lower Parel Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel,
    Mumbai-400 013, India Mumbai – 400013, India Email: Vishakha.singh@timesgroup.com Email: ruchi.agrawal@bm.com
    ashwin.shetty@bm.com
    Phone: 9820100941 Phone: 9869063217
    Website: www.timesnow.tv Website: www.genesispr.com

  • Disney reorganises global home entertainment division Buena Vista Home Entertainment

    Disney reorganises global home entertainment division Buena Vista Home Entertainment

    MUMBAI: Less than a month after laying off 650 employees US media conglomerate Disney has announced a major restructuring of its home entertainment division.

    Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment International will be integrated into one global division — Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment (BVWHE).

    BVWHE president Bob Chapek says, “With the rapidly changing landscape facing the home entertainment industry, we need to embrace not only new technologies but the global nature of our business as well. This new
    organisation addresses the need for global strategies and allows for market customisation.”

    Chapek will lead BVWHE along with executive VP worldwide sales, distribution and trade marketing Pat Fitzgerald; executive VP of worldwide marketing, creative content and business development Gordon Ho, VP worldwide HR and communication Richard Ramsey and senior VP worldwide business and legal affairs Kristin McQueen.

    In addition to this core worldwide team, Bill
    Segil has taken on the newly created position of senior VP worldwide operations. In this capacity, he will broaden his operational scope to include all worldwide supply chain strategies under Fitzgerald. Andy Siditsky has been named senior vice president of Worldwide Creative Services & DVD Production and will continue to lead the development of worldwide creative advertising and DVD production under Ho.

    Siditsky will also add new programming to his responsibilities. Eric Maehara will serve as VP of worldwide communications and will manage worldwide publicity along with trade and home entertainment communications for the new division under Ramsey.

    Commenting on the new global team Chapek said, “Pat Fitzgerald is one of the most aggressive and savvy executives in this industry. I am delighted that he will bring his considerable talents to overseeing our worldwide sales and operational teams.

    “Gordon Ho has been an industry leader and major force in our key marketing and product strategies for BVHE titles. His creative and strategic contributions will be critical to our continued success in the global marketplace. Richard Ramsey has helped build the best team in the industry and will play a key role in building our global team. Kristin McQueen
    possesses a tremendous ability to quickly assess legal situations and gauge their commercial implications. We are confident that she will continue to successfully lead BVHE business and legal affairs in the global marketplace.”

    In addition to the worldwide team, the new division will incorporate regional teams to manage day to day operations in the markets. The three regions include North America, Asia Pacific/Latin America, and Europe/Middle East and Africa. Lori MacPherson has been named the new GM for the US. Daniel Solnicki has taken on the role of GM for Asia Pacific and Latin America.Julie Sneddon continues in her position as GM for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

    Chapek adds, “Lori MacPherson’s tremendous managerial and leadership skills will continue to drive the North American business. Her successful track record as a marketing leader will continue to innovate with consumer and trade programmes and keep us at the forefront of the market.

    “Strong regional marketing, sales and distribution executives are key to the successful integration of BVHE product into the marketplace. Daniel Solnicki and Julie Sneddon have demonstrated their formidable talents and abilities to integrate our marketing and sales strategies into diverse cultures. We are delighted that they will help lead our international organisations.

    “Entertainment is a rapidly changing business and with our dynamic and talented team in place we are poised to maximise our opportunities across the globe,” said Chapek.

  • SS Music attempts to grow ‘younger’ in its sixth year

    SS Music attempts to grow ‘younger’ in its sixth year

    MUMBAI: Southern Spice Music (SS Music), the Chennai-based multi-lingual music channel targeting the youth, has entered its sixth year of operations. The channel is firing on all cylinders to keep up with its young and contemporary image, and on the anvil are a few new properties.

    This year, the new program line-up begins with Reliance Launchpad, a new programme aimed at discovering new singing talents. The show will be a contest for aspiring singers, hosted by a VJ/singer and judged by a prominent personality. All shortlisted participants will be promoted by the channel and the public will vote to choose the winners.

    Cinema Central is a new film-based programme on Southern Spice Music, hosted by VJs Pooja and Gibran. Cinema Central focuses entirely on film personalities and their respective films. It flows as either a film-based episode or artist-based episode. Each episode shall be a weekly, 30 minutes programme featuring about a film or film-star. The interaction mainly focuses on the star’s entry into the film Industry and the developments in career of the artiste to date. Cinema Central screens exclusive clips of an particular film star and also focusses on the performance of the team behind the camera.

    Briefing indiantelevision.com, SS Music programming & production manager James D’Cruz states, “It is popularly observed that it is a mammoth task to retain attention of the youth for any period of time. A vibrant youth-targeting channel as ours needs to retain not only their interest and viewing, but also encourage involvement through interactions with our VJs. And this quest for new programming from our end has led to introduction of new programs, currently welcomed by our target viewers. We do hope that our upcoming properties will go on to make a big success of themselves and in the process, help maintain the top of the line ranking among music channels, particularly in South India.”

    Alternately, Southern Spice Music will propose a theme for every month and scenes from movies within that theme will be telecast accordingly. For instance, if it’s the Vijay month, the viewer will have the pleasure of getting to see excerpts from four movies starring Vijay that month. This will be accompanied by interviews and reviews of the star.

    The channel will retain its ‘senior-most’ property Reach Out, which is into its sixth year. VJ Craig continues to host the show.

    One of the recent properties SS Music has launched, Room with a View, delves into the glitzy world of cinema with our movie aficionado VJ Shyam, who interviews stars, reviews the latest block-busters and takes you into the world of movie-making. An add-on to this show is the premiere night titled Red Carpet, which covers film premieres and celebrity parties.

    New properties Is-cool and Between the Lines mainly target viewers, who are looking for non-film/non-music content. Is-cool is a programme that captures the snapshots of the school life. The show incorporates the history of the school that is being profiled, its vision, academic curriculum and extra-curricular activities. Is-cool was launched in March.

    Between the Lines, which also launched in March 2006, is a 20-minute talk show. The programme features high profile personalities from the world of literature and the fine arts.

  • Nat Geo Intl commissions two hour global special on ‘Bin Laden’s Spy’

    Nat Geo Intl commissions two hour global special on ‘Bin Laden’s Spy’

    MUMBAI: Following the success of the documentary special Inside 9/11, National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) and National Geographic Channel have commissioned Towers Productions for a two-hour special Bin Laden’s Spy in America.

    Bin Laden’s Spy in America, details the secret case of an Islamic fundamentalist who joins the US Army while playing a key role in terrorism plots on the road to 9/11. The two-hour documentary will premiere in the US on 28 August and internationally on 10 September 2006.

    NGCI executive VP content Sydney Suissa says, “This is an unknown and astounding story of the deception that allowed 9/11 to happen. It’s far more riveting than any spy novel could ever be”.

    The film tells the story of an ex-Egyptian Special Forces major who infiltrated the US intelligence community while working for terrorist organisations like Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda. He successfully enlisted in the US Army despite having been listed as a suspected terrorist on a State Department’s watch list.

    While serving in the US Army, he provided training to several of the terrorists who took part in the 1993 World Trade Center attack. He also compiled an al Qaeda terror manual using information from documents taken during his stay at Fort Bragg; and coordinated bin Laden’s relocation from Afghanistan to the Sudan. He later became an FBI informant at around the same time that he was training terrorists in al Qaeda camps in the Middle East.

    The documentary is in part based on the upcoming investigative book Triple Cross by Peter Lance. Following its premiere, Bin Laden’s Spy in America will be available for international distribution at the television event Mipcom, which takes place in Cannes in October.

  • Sesame Workshop promotes Schneiderman to manager of international TV distribution

    Sesame Workshop promotes Schneiderman to manager of international TV distribution

    MUMBAI: Sesame Workshop has promoted Celia Schneiderman to manager international television distribution. Responsible for program sales in Asia, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and in-flight, Schneiderman will report to Sesame Workshop international television distribution vice president Renee Mascara.

    Schneiderman was recently international television distribution coordinator where she oversaw details of the Workshop’s participation at international television trade shows including Mipcom, MipTV, Natpe, LA Screenings and Asia TV Forum. She was responsible for generating sales reports and served as a liaison to the Workshop’s broadcasters.

    “Since joining Sesame Workshop, Celia has demonstrated a deep interest in learning all aspects of international television sales and has developed a strong knowledge of the market that will be an asset to our broadcasters,” said Mascara.

    Previously, Schneiderman was a research specialist at Cushman & Wakefield where she wrote market reports and provided market analysis information. She also served as an advertising service coordinator at Cahners Publishing.

  • Al Jazeera International ropes in ITV News’ Shiulie Ghosh as news anchor

    Al Jazeera International ropes in ITV News’ Shiulie Ghosh as news anchor

    MUMBAI: The Doha based Al Jazeera International, the proposed 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel has appointed renowned correspondent Shiulie Ghosh as news anchor.
    Ghosh joins a large team of diverse on-screen talent based around the world at the channel’s broadcast centres: from Ghida Fakhry and Dave Marash at their Washington DC centre, to Veronica Pedrosa and Teymoor Nabili in Kuala Lumpur through to Felicity Barr and Stephen Cole and at the channel’s London broadcast centre, informs an official release.

    Speaking on Ghosh’s appointment, Al Jazeera International director news Steve Clark said, “I am pleased to have Shiulie on board. She brings a wealth of experience in news reporting to the channel and is a great addition to the team.”

    Ghosh joins Al Jazeera International from ITV News where she was a correspondent and a presenter covering a range of major events around the world. Her reporting from Thailand on the Asian tsunami was awarded the 2006 Alfred I. Dupont Columbia News Broadcasting Award. During the conflict in Kosovo, Ghosh was based in southern Italy, where she reported on the bombing missions flown by NATO crews. She secured the first television report from the British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible heading for action off the coast of Montenegro. Post-conflict, she reported on the continuing tensions in the divided town of Mitrovica.

    She first joined ITV News as a general reporter in January 1998 and later spent three years as Home Affairs Editor of ITV News. She has covered a wide range of prominent domestic stories for ITV News including the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the May Day disturbances and the death of the Queen Mother.

    In 2001, Shiulie was named Best Television News Journalist at the British Telecom Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards.

  • Marketing rights for 2010 Fifa World Cup to reach €3 bn

    Marketing rights for 2010 Fifa World Cup to reach €3 bn

    MUMBAI: The value of the marketing rights for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa is set to take a further leap to reach close to €3 billion.

    This compares with about €1.9 billion for this year’s World Cup in Germany.

    The figures are contained in Sportcal.com’s recently-published World Cup 2006: The Commercial Report. Fifa estimates that media rights, including new media, would be worth about €1.8 billion in 2010, while sponsorship would be worth €1.1 billion. Many of the main television rights deals for the 2010 event have already been concluded, together with a reduced number of six, more lucrative, deals with top-tier Fifa partners.

    The figures represent a massive increase on even a World Cup as recent as that of 1998, when the media rights were worth only about €100 million and the sponsorship rights about €70 million.

    Overall commercial revenues for the 2010 World Cup look certain to be pushed above €3 billion once ticket revenue is taken into account. For this year’s event, ticket revenues were worth about €200 million.

    The largest single contributor to 2010 World Cup revenues is once again set to be ARD and ZDF, the Germany public-service broadcasters, which are paying €200 million to acquire the television rights for the tournament in Germany. This compares with the €170 million they paid for the rights for this summer’s event.

    This year’s soccer World Cup generated €1.9 billion in marketing revenue, with the sale of television and new media rights raising €1.2 billion and the remaining €700 million deriving from other sources such as sponsorship and hospitality.

  • Sahara One comes under control of promoters

    Sahara One comes under control of promoters

    MUMBAI: Sahara Group promoters have taken back operational control of Sahara One Media and Entertainment Ltd.

    Seemanto Roy, the younger son of Sahara chairman Subroto Roy, has been made head of the company and CEO Shantonu Aditya will report directly to him.
    Earlier, Percept promoter Shailendra Singh was managing the operations and Aditya was in effect reporting to him.

    “Percept was acting as the representative of Sahara for the Group’s entertainment business. Sahara One employees were involved with Percept. Under the new arrangement, Roy will be directly involved,” a source close to the company says.

    Singh, however, will continue to advise Roy. In an internal circular, the company has communicated the structural change.

    “In order to strengthen the activities of Sahara One, Seemanto Roy will head Sahara One’s business. Shailendra Singh will be the advisor to Roy,” the circular says.

    Incidentally, Subroto Roy’s elder son Sushanto was earlier looking at Sahara’s media and entertainment business.
    Seemanto will also be responsible for setting up Sahara’s film city in addition to Amby Valley housing project, which falls in his portfolio.

    Sahara One runs two TV channels and is also engaged in the movie business.

    The company clocked Rs 2.12 billion in revenues and earned a net profit of Rs 72.27 million for the fiscal ended 31 March 2006.

    According to Singh, direct involvement of the promoters is a progressive move as the company is on a major expansion drive.

    “We continue to be in the same position as strategic advisors. We succeeded in taking Sahara One’s businesses to some level and put a team in place. Now that the scalability of the game is bigger, the direct involvement of the promoters is essential to take Sahara One to the next level,” he adds.

    Percept has completed 11 out of the 15 movies it was to produce for Sahara. “We are ready with the other four, which we will be doing for them,” says Singh, stressing that the relationship with Sahara has not changed much.

    Sahara had entered into a management joint venture with Percept almost two years back to handle its entertainment business.

    The Hindi general entertainment channel needed to be fixed as it was floundering in a genre which had strong players like Star Plus, Sony TV and Zee TV. Special focus had also to be laid on the movie production business.

    Early this year C Sivasankaran’s Aircel Televentures bought 14.98 per cent stake in Sahara One Media and Entertainment Ltd for Rs 1.2 billion.

    Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd, owners of Times of India and Zoom television channel, also acquired a small stake in the company for approximately Rs 380 million.

  • DD Urdu channel starts beaming

    DD Urdu channel starts beaming

    MUMBAI: Doordarshan’s Urdu channel — DD Urdu — was officially launched on 15 August to coincide with India’s 60th Independence Day.

    With its launch, DD Urdu now becomes the second service after ETV Urdu, managed by the Hyderabad based Eenadu TV, to have a 24-hour channel dedicated to the language.

    DD Urdu was officially launched by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who said that with the combined force of globalization and television, which would reach every nook and corner of the world.

    The advent of this channel will strengthen the civilisational foundations of the country and would promote unity, Singh said.

    Urdu is a symbol of rich, cultural and literary mosaic of our country and the new channel would help take this role of Urdu language further forward, he added.

    In a speech laced with poetry and erudition, the PM dwelled on the social and literary achievements of Urdu and celebrated the language’s contribution in the cultural journey of the nation, according to an official release.

    Information & broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said the new channel will fulfill the media needs of over 50 million Urdu speaking people in the country. The UPA government is committed to this cause and will provide all support in this regard, Dasmunsi stated.

    Referring to great Urdu poets like Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir and Firaq Ghorakpuri, Dasmunsi said that Urdu language and literature have had a deep impact on our culture. “During the freedom struggle, famous Urdu slogans motivated and inspired the youth. Urdu had brought about a new culture and promoted the concept of unity in diversity,” he added.

    In his welcome address, Prasar Bharti chairman MV Kamath described Urdu as a pan Indian language. He said that DD Urdu would preserve and promote the great cultural heritage and literary aspect of this rich language.

    UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, several Union ministers, personalities and senior officials of the I&B ministry and Prasar Bharti were present on the occasion.

    DD Urdu channel has been conceived as a heritage channel, which will have segments on entertainment and enrichment for culture and information. It will initially have a daily transmission of seven hours which would subsequently be extended to 24 hours per day.

    It is worth noting here that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has been scouting for joint venture partners for launching television news channel services in Urdu, beside Hindi, in India.

    Sahara news network, which manages a bouquet of news channels, had also targeted to launch a Urdu news and information channel on 15 August. But, the channel is likely to be on air by the end of the current year.

  • Fox to offer films for online download

    Fox to offer films for online download

    MUMBAI: Fox Interactive Media (Fim) and Twentieth Century Fox have announced a multi-year agreement to provide feature films and television shows on a download-to-own basis across the Fim network.

    Fim’s network of properties reaching more than 75 million people a month in the US (ComScore MediaMetrix) will have access to Fox Entertainment Group’s films such as X-Men The Last Stand and The Omen. On the television front, episodes of series like 24 and Prison Break can be downloaded.

    IGN Entertainment will be the first Fim property to offer a selection on its Direct2Drive site in October 2006, with additional Fim properties, including MySpace.com.

    Fox president digital media Peter Levinsohn says, “Our drive to deliver Twentieth Century Fox content via the most powerful online platforms is advanced substantially by this agreement. Offering Fox content in conjunction with Fim properties enables viewers to access the best movies and TV shows from multiple platforms in the Fox family.”

    Initially, Fim will offer films from Twentieth Century Fox, including new releases, made-for-TV movies, direct-to-video releases and select content from the Twentieth Century Fox film library on IGN’s Direct2Drive site. The site will also offer current television series from various Fox entities such as Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fuel TV, Speed and FX, with a selection of shows available within 24 hours of initial broadcast.

    In an industry first, purchased movies and television shows will be immediately transferable to Windows Media compatible portable devices, providing users with a convenient way to take the video content with them on the go.

    Fim president Ross Levinsohn says, “Today marks an important step as we continue to build a bridge between the worlds of user-generated and top-quality, professional content, further enhancing our range of consumer offerings across both free, ad-supported and paid download business models.

    “With more than 75 million monthly users and one of the largest entertainment communities on the web, we are thrilled to begin offering our users exciting content from Fox.”

    The agreement with Twentieth Century Fox will enable Fim to expand its offerings with premier TV and movie content. Direct2Drive will promote the new offering throughout the IGN Entertainment network, including IGN.com, Rotten Tomatoes and Film Force, among other sites.