Category: Television

Dan Rather to leave CBS News after four decades

MUMBAI: News veteran Dan Rather will leave US broadcaster CBS News after 44 years.

CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus said, “Of all the famous names associated with CBS News, the biggest and brightest on the marquee are Murrow, Cronkite and Rather. With the utmost respect, we mark the extraordinary and singular role Dan has played in writing the script of not only CBS News, but of broadcast journalism. There will always be a part of Dan Rather at CBS News. He is truly a ‘reporter’s reporter,’ and he has helped to train several generations of broadcast journalists. His legacy cannot be replicated.”

CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves says, “For more than four decades, Dan Rather has approached the job of broadcast journalist with a singular passion, dedication and, always, an unwavering desire to tell the story to the American public. The unique mark he has left on his craft is indelible.”

CBS News is currently finalising plans for a primetime special on the newsman’s legendary career at CBS News. It is scheduled to be broadcast sometime this yea. CBS News also will make a contribution to Rather’s alma mater, now called Sam Houston State University.

Rather joined CBS News in 1962. He covered virtually every major event in the world for CBS News in the past 44 years. Rather regularly landed the biggest interviews with the world’s most important and compelling figures, from the famous to the infamous. CBS says that his passion for the news, for getting the story and for taking on the most challenging assignments in journalism is unmatchedsomething his competitors knew only too well–and he has dedicated himself to delivering to the American public coverage that is fair and accurate, no matter the size and scope of the story. Rather has interviewed every US president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bill Clinton and virtually every major international leader of the past 30 years. He landed two news-breaking interviews with Saddam Hussein. The first occurred in 1990 after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Then, in February 2003, with coalition forces poised to invade the country, Rather secured the most sought-after interview in the world, an exclusive one-on-one with Saddam in Baghdad, the first the Iraqi leader had conducted with a Western journalist since 1991. Rather and his team at 60 MINUTES II also broke, arguably, the biggest story of the year–the abuse of prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison–in April 2004.

June 21, 2006
MTV Asia to hold first movie awards show in October

MBAI: MTV Asia will roll out the red carpet and welcome the biggest stars of Asian and international movies when it stages its first movie awards show on 7 October 2006 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

As part of the creative vision of the event, the iconic Southeast Asian performance venue will be fitted-out in true Hollywood glitz and glamour to accommodate the star-studded night and will set the tone for a night of awards, superstar presenters, musical tributes and celebrity antics.

As is the case with the US show the MTV Asia Movie Awards will take a unique twist to ‘traditional’ movie kudofests by offering off-the-wall categories appealing to MTV’s audience such as “Best Kiss” and “Best Fight” filling out the list of golden popcorn trophies awarded on the night.

The awards will also feature live performances from international and regional acts, making the event a blend of movie glamour and popular music.

MTV notes that Asian stars, directors and films are increasingly captivating the global movie buffs. The show will feature the biggest names from Hollywood to Bollywood. Industry A-listers from India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore will share the spotlight with international headline-grabbing celebrities who top the list of nominees, presenters and attendees taking part in the MTV Asia Movie Awards.

MTV executive VP creative David Flack says, “The MTV Asia Movie Awards will give a unique spin to the only telecast hailed as the wackiest awards show around. With so many Asian filmmakers, stars and movies impacting global pop culture, there has never been a better time for MTV to celebrate and highlight the Asian Movie Industry with its unique sense of fun and humour.”

The MTV Asia Movie Awards will be staged under the US$50 million strategic alliance formalised between MTV Asia and the Singapore Tourism Board in February 2006. Singapore will host 17 MTV and Nickelodeon events under the alliance; the first MTV Fashionably Loud event featured Placebo in March, with Coldplay performing at the upcoming MTV Centrestage in July.

June 21, 2006
The human side of business

SINGAPORE: While the talk of High Definition and digital training remained the buzzword for the major part of the day, there were also a few presentations that focussed on people who make these changes possible. Though, not too many attended these sessions, a few who made it added the human dimension to it.

So how can broadcasters survive in the rapidly changing world where they can perish at the very next moment? How do managers, policy makers, programmers understand the real needs of people in the developing nations? Also, the huge media boom in the Asia Pacific region has brought in certain manpower and human resource issues which were discussed.

In all, the afternoon session on the training needs of the media and entertainment industry across the world emphasised the need of training individuals to deal with change. Moving away from traditional methods of face-to-face training, the experts present offered many solutions – like distance or e-learning with the help of CDRoms, training by societies and engineers, self training for broadcasters. The session also turned out to be pretty interesting with live demonstrations.

Broadcast Electronics Inc, USA’s Charles W Kelly, set the tone when he said, “If we ask the viewer what do they want – more resolution on the TV screens or better writers, the answer is obviously better writers who can write newer concepts and bring in fresh programming.” So, if there are 100 channels why do they all look the same? The answer perhaps lies in capacity building of people involved in the industry and training them.

Here the panelists discussed the need of training writers who can change the face of television. This is again related to the lack of trained human resources, because of which channels have to bank on amateurs; which in the long run takes a toll on the business.

There are training needs to be met at the senior level. Say for example, how does an executive from the radio industry make a transition to the television industry or the other way round.

Drawing on his experiences from the Philippines, SBETP president Armand Ursal said, “It is very essential to train broadcast engineers to adapt to the changing technology needs. Also, when they have to deal with things like digital radio, and TV, it can take its toll.”

I think engineer training is very important for the coming of age of the broadcast industries in all countries. Also, the manufacturers have to be brought into the loop to understand consumer demands.”

Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia programme officer Rukmini Vemraju emphasised the need for face-to-face training along with interactive. Marcel Gomez, Programme Manager, AIBD, Malaysia said, “We can help TV professionals across the world transit to the interactive world with the help of CDs.”

Gomez, who has been involved in the project of developing such CDs gave live demonstrations to the people present. He said, “We develop instructional, interactive CDs on topics like how to develop your writing skills, learn news reporting etc. A rather expensiive exercise wherein we get experts from across the world to develop such content.”

The final word came from Charles W Kelly, who summed up the whole session. “TV is not just an investment but also a responsibility, and we as an industry have to continue to keep learning to adapt to the rules, so that we are able to address the real needs of the people.”

June 21, 2006
Animation & Visual Effects seminar discusses industry challenges

SINGAPORE: There’s an animated atmosphere here at the third day of BroadcastAsia 2006. Besides sessions on the new broadcasting technologies, Day 3 saw a special session on animation called – Animation and Visual Effects seminar.

The speakers for the morning session comprised Crest Animation Studios CEO A K Madhavan, Blackmagic Design Singapore director of creative services Peter Barber, Rhythm & Hues USA visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer and Intense Animation Studio managing director Tony Sealy. Throwing light on the success of Crest Animation Studios in the last four years or so in the space, Madhavan said, “We began as a production house for TV commercials 14 years ago, and then moved on to providing post production facility. Four years back, we decided to get into animation; acquired an American company – Rich Animation and I think we have done a fairly decent job.”

What’s more, Crest has progressed from providing animation content on the television platform, to the DVD platform and now is moving on to the theatrical space. One of it’s 3D show, Arthur, is going to release in the US next month as a DVD feature. The company has also signed a deal with renowned French producer Marathon for a new 3D animated series and it’s DVD feature Casper is also due to launch. Crest also inked a deal with Lion’s Gate International for Silvester and the Magic Pebble, which will hit the screens in the summer of 2008.
“One needs to understand the sensibilities, likes and dislikes of various markets to create a show for them. There is a lot of background research that goes behind making shows for various international markets,” Madhavan said.

When queried as to whether the company was doing enough more for the local Indian market, he said, “We are providing some amount of content locally but the market has not yet developed. Apart from that, the budgets are very low and the animation industry still hasn’t got the push. But, I see the Indian animation industry exploding in the next 10 years’ time.”

Over the last three years, Crest Animation Studios has delivered over 126 series to broadcasters like PBS, Fox and Cartoon Network. Some of the series that Madhavan spoke about were – Jakers, Pet Alien and Bratz.

Rhythm & Hues’ Westenhofer explained in detail the process of the making of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. “It was a huge challenge especially where hybrid characters like the Centaurs were concerned. We extensively used pre-visualisation in this. It took us six months of motion capture, which included eight weeks of horse capture as every creature has it’s own unique fighting style,” he said.

“With all the new technology coming in, it becomes imperative for filmmakers to know what the tools are. Digital photography is going to change the paradigm of how we do things,” he added.

Intense Animation Studio managing director Tony Sealy, whose company has conceptualised -11 – an animation soccer comedy show for broadband television, threw light on the various challenges that the animation industry faces in Singapore.

“Originally, Intense Animation Studio was intended to be a creative agency, but there was a serious lack of talent in Singapore. So, I first opened a training center and we were the first company in Singapore to teach Maya. We also conduct seminars and workshops to teach people more about computer animation,” Sealy said.

The show 11 was pitched to M2B World, which is a leader in broadband media entertainment business, and a major provider of interactive entertainment-on-demand, education-on-demand and e-commerce streaming over broadband channels, internet portals, and 3G devices. “With M2B, we had a far wider reach over broadband on-demand, 3G and internet. Broadband TV provides a great diversity of delivery,” Sealy said.

Pointing out the difficulties that the animation industry in Singapore faces, Sealy said, “One needs to address the lack of private investment in the creative projects and educate the investors about the scope of animation. We also need to lift the training standards and address the current subsidies for training and internships. Apart from this, studios must develop their own IP.”

June 21, 2006
Europe leads the world in the interactive TV trial

SINGAPORE: While some parts of the world are still trying to understand what interactive TV means, and some other markets are still in its infancy as in the Asia Pacific region; it looks like Europe will set the rules of the new game. With more than 380 interactive services on air in 2006, Europe clearly leads the way.

As of now there are more than 50 million digital households across Europe and experts predict the number will go up to 125 million by 2010. Also, with growing consumer spend the gross margins (not turnover) is expected to cross 700 million Euros by 2010 with growing consumer spend.

Quoting from a study conducted by AFDESI (The French professional organization for interactive television), delegate Jean Dacie said, “Europe is definitely leading the way on the ITV market with most of the technologies developed there since the first trials which started in the UK in 1994/95 and first commercial ITV services which began in France in 97.

Just a look the figures reveals that UK is the largest market with 17.8 million subscribers followed by Germany, 11.2 million and France with about 8.7 million. In recent times, France has recorded the fastest ever technology adoption by users, with about 2 million DTT households one year after its launch. While BSkyB is the most profitable platform in the world for interactive services (660 million Euros in 2005) and UK is the country that has generated the highest revenues from interactivity yet.

The study reveals that with the analog switch-off planned by national governments by around 2010, UK will perhaps emerge as the only country with the near objective with 69 per cent of digital homes, which means 125 million households in western Europe will have digital TV.

With the standalone and enhanced TV services offered by ITV, consumers are already benefiting with the use of interactive services via TV like messaging, video conferencing, on demand extension of linear advertising breaks, betting live on broadcast sports and participating in quiz shows live apart from using utilities like bank services and shopping. The study says that there are more than 150 interactive services available in the UK. While advertisers are benefiting through well-executed interactive advertisements that can deliver benefits for brands.

So, what are the business models that are driving the European digital market.

“Premium calls (calls via the return path line of the set top box are charged a premium rate)
” Subscription (users contract a monthly subscription to services)
” advertisement and sponsorship
” Indirect profitability (the service cost is entirely supported by the operator)

In the UK, with more than 8 million set top boxes at the beginning of 2006, BSkyB records an average annual revenue per user of 33 Euros for its interactive services with a long term objective of 70 euros. With the growing number of digital TV homes, this is bound to go up by leaps and bounds

June 21, 2006
2,339 companies mark presence as overseas participation hits new highs

SINGAPORE: BroadcastAsia 2006, which kickstarted on 19 June, has attracted more than 847 exhibiting companies (88.5 per cent from overseas) from 46 countries. The conference saw 5,000 pre-registered visitors, out of which 48 per cent were from overseas.

All in all, BroadcastAsia 2006 and CommunicAsia/EnterpriseIT has attracted 2,339 companies from 67 countries this year as compared to last year’s 2,238 exhibiting companies from 55 countries.

The opening ceremony of the conference was held this morning with Singapore’s information, communications and arts minister Dr Lee Boon Yang as guest of honour.

While 33 Indian companies are participating in BroadcastAsia 2006, 47 are participating in CommunicAsia/ EnterpriseIT.

The highest number of participating companies are, not surprisingly, from Singapore, with 276 companies participating in CommunicAsia/ EnterpriseIT and 97 in BroadcastAsia 2006. Countries like China, Korea, USA, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand also saw a large number of participating companies.

In addition, delegations from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are also expected at this year’s BroadcastAsia.

Keeping in mind the new digital age and the boom in this sector, this year, BroadcastAsia and CommunicAsia will also launch a new event – DME – The International Digital Media and Entertainment Exhibition and conference.

Exhibitors from India at BroadcastAsia2006 include: ADI-Media Pvt Ltd represented by Madhu Gupta, All India Radio (AIR) represented by RR Prasad, Cable Quest represented by KK Sharma, Essel Shyam Technologies Pvt Ltd represented by Pankaj Agrawal, IndiaSign represented by Anoop Bhatia, Monarch Computers Pvt Ltd represented by Bhushan Motiani, Satellite and Cable TV Magazine represented by Dinyar Contractor, Studio Systems represented by Manoj Madhavan and Indian Television Dot Com Pvt Ltd.

BroadcastAsia 2007 will be held from 19 to 22 June 2007 at the Singapore Expo.

June 20, 2006
Changing media scenario a challenge for broadcast training institutes

SINGAPORE: As the downpour continues in Singapore, Day 2 of Broadcast Asia 2006 kickstarts at the Expo City. The first session addressed the issue of capacity building of the broadcast sector.

In the fast changing world of technology, broadcasters have to move twice as fast just to keep to where they are. The question then arises – How will they keep up with the explosion of new technologies and report on a world that is changing so fast? Engineers, programmers and managers in a broadcasting company are quite similar. The answer to this lies in training!

Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in Malaysia has been training broadcasters for the last 30 years. According to AIBD programme manager K P Madhu, there are five core components to training. These are:

1) Need assessments – Current deficiencies, future requirements, assessment of training readiness, training objectives and training needs analysis.

2) Design – Courses/programmes, media – methods/needs, planned activities, evaluation schemes, target group specific training.

3) Preparation – Presentations, leading discussion, management of practical session, evaluation of feedback, logistics.

4) Training Evaluation – Training appraisals by trainees, analysis of adequacy, results.

5) Feedback to Management – Human resources, assessment of future training needs.

“We need to look at the developmental needs of broadcasters and there has to be sustained action for capacity building of broadcasters in the region. These need to be revisited and revised every year. Summits, conferences, workshops, courses, dialogues to address different group of people like managers, programmers, executives, producers etc need to be held for capacity building of broadcasters,” said Madhu.

However, one of the major challenges that AIBD faces in training is that there has been a huge boom in the media space and training needs have multiplied manifold. Hence, in spite of all the facilities and training requirements that AIBD has, it has been difficult to keep pace with the ever changing media scenario. “The needs are much more than we can meet,” said Madhu.

He further added, “One of the biggest hindrance for us here is funds. While the government and the broadcasters are ready to pump in money in a whole lot of other things, they are not very keen on investing in training. To convince them to put in funds for training is our biggest challenge.”

June 20, 2006
Toonskool signs MOU with Karnataka State Open University for animation course

MUMBAI: Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) signed an MOU with Toonskool Advanced Animation Academy Bangalore yesterday for a three year degree program in Animation.

With the signing of this MOU, Toonskool becomes the first accredited institute in the country to train students for a B.Sc. Degree to be awarded by KSOU in the field of Animation.

Announcing the program, KSOU vice chancellor Prof. K. Sudha Rao said, “India has tremendous opportunity to be an animation outsourced country. This Degree program in Animation has been thoughtfully and timely launched by KSOU to enable the students to be a part of the growing animation industry. Even if one student from each village becomes an accredited animator it will add to the pool of much needed reservoir and bring in financial support. Besides the advent of this programme adds to the avenues available to them and they can now look beyond the traditional B.A, B.Com degree courses.”

Explaining the nature of animation, KSOU IT director Viswanatha Rao said,” Animation is both an art and science. While the end result achieved can be defined as art, the process of achieving it is science.” He added, ” From $250 million in 2005, the Indian animation industry is anticipated to soar upto $950 million by 2009. With the industry flourishing at such a rapid pace, by 2008, a minimum of 3,00,000 animation professionals will be required to fill the vacuum.” He also commended the efforts of Shri Govardhan CTO Toonskool in spreading animation awareness in the country.

Speaking at the occasion, Toonskool MD Ashwin Ajila said, “In India, animation today is no longer merely a pursuit. Animation has globally evolved into a $70 billion industry, playing a vital role in all disciplines of life ranging from medicine, to sports, interactive media to defence. It entails systematic academic procedures and studies to attain a professional level as demanded by the industry. India has begun to attract high end, complex animation projects that can only be executed by highly qualified animators. It is therefore essential for aspiring animators to go through a long term industry-supported course in animation. With this MOU, aspirants can become graduates and attain the desired level of proficiency to face the competitive global market in animation.”

This joint programme facilitating B.Sc. Degree in Animation will be made available through the KSOU approved study centres all over the country. To begin with the first degree program will be launched from August 2006 in three colleges; NITTE Education Trust-NITTE Institute of Technology-Bangalore, Thakur College- Kandivli Mumbai and H L Sonawane College- Kalyan Maharashtra who are already the approved Study Centres, states an official release.

The content devised by Toonskool comprises script to screen processes. The course is holistic in nature and covers all the aspects ranging from identification of individual aptitude to specialization in the areas of interest. The program structure is academically and professionally streamlined to put the student on a definite growth path through the semesters. The course curriculum involves foundation art, classical animation, production process, digital techniques and creative ideation.

June 20, 2006
Toonskool signs MOU with Karnataka State Open University for animation course

MUMBAI: Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) signed an MOU with Toonskool Advanced Animation Academy Bangalore yesterday for a three year degree program in Animation.

With the signing of this MOU, Toonskool becomes the first accredited institute in the country to train students for a B.Sc. Degree to be awarded by KSOU in the field of Animation.

Announcing the program, KSOU vice chancellor Prof. K. Sudha Rao said, “India has tremendous opportunity to be an animation outsourced country. This Degree program in Animation has been thoughtfully and timely launched by KSOU to enable the students to be a part of the growing animation industry. Even if one student from each village becomes an accredited animator it will add to the pool of much needed reservoir and bring in financial support. Besides the advent of this programme adds to the avenues available to them and they can now look beyond the traditional B.A, B.Com degree courses.”

Explaining the nature of animation, KSOU IT director Viswanatha Rao said,” Animation is both an art and science. While the end result achieved can be defined as art, the process of achieving it is science.” He added, ” From $250 million in 2005, the Indian animation industry is anticipated to soar upto $950 million by 2009. With the industry flourishing at such a rapid pace, by 2008, a minimum of 3,00,000 animation professionals will be required to fill the vacuum.” He also commended the efforts of Shri Govardhan CTO Toonskool in spreading animation awareness in the country.

Speaking at the occasion, Toonskool MD Ashwin Ajila said, “In India, animation today is no longer merely a pursuit. Animation has globally evolved into a $70 billion industry, playing a vital role in all disciplines of life ranging from medicine, to sports, interactive media to defence. It entails systematic academic procedures and studies to attain a professional level as demanded by the industry. India has begun to attract high end, complex animation projects that can only be executed by highly qualified animators. It is therefore essential for aspiring animators to go through a long term industry-supported course in animation. With this MOU, aspirants can become graduates and attain the desired level of proficiency to face the competitive global market in animation.”

This joint programme facilitating B.Sc. Degree in Animation will be made available through the KSOU approved study centres all over the country. To begin with the first degree program will be launched from August 2006 in three colleges; NITTE Education Trust-NITTE Institute of Technology-Bangalore, Thakur College- Kandivli Mumbai and H L Sonawane College- Kalyan Maharashtra who are already the approved Study Centres, states an official release.

The content devised by Toonskool comprises script to screen processes. The course is holistic in nature and covers all the aspects ranging from identification of individual aptitude to specialization in the areas of interest. The program structure is academically and professionally streamlined to put the student on a definite growth path through the semesters. The course curriculum involves foundation art, classical animation, production process, digital techniques and creative ideation.

June 20, 2006
Zee Sports to telecast WTA Eastbourne live

MUMBAI: Zee Sports will telecast one of the most prestigious women’s events in world, WTA Eastbourne. Taking place from 19 to 24 June 2006 and finishing just 48 hours before the start of Wimbledon. The importance of this US$ 6,00,00 tournament goes without saying, as it offers players a last opportunity to fine tune their game on grass before taking to the courts of the All England Club. Zee Sports telecast of the tournament will start from Quarter Finals onwards.

This year’s Eastbourne tournament features some of the most successful tennis stars in the world. The quality of entries at the Championships is highlighted by the fact that the four semi finalists at this year’s French Open Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne, Kuznetsova and Vaidisova will be swapping clay for grass when they battle it out again at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park. They will be joined in Eastbourne by three former top five players, Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daniela Hantuchova, all of whom are intent on lifting the prestigious trophy.
Zee Sports, ace tennis presenter Tina Sharma along with rising Indian Tennis star Sanaa Bhambri will present the preview and review show of each match. Sports Cafe, Zee Sports daily news programme, will present the highlights and analysis of the best moments of the matches, to complement the outstanding live coverage.

Schedule of WTA Eastbourne

WTA Eastbourne Quarterfinals 3:30 pm onwards

WTA Eastbourne Semi Finals 3:30 pm onwards

WTA Eastbourne Finals 5:00 pm onwards

June 20, 2006