ITV

Category: Television

  • Star India acquires four films including ‘Rang De..’ from UTV for Rs 160 million

    Star India acquires four films including ‘Rang De..’ from UTV for Rs 160 million

    MUMBAI: Star India has acquired the telecast rights to the Aamir Khan starrer Rang De Basanti from UTV. The block buster film has been bought over along with three other UTV productions as a package for around Rs 160 million, according to market sources.

    The other three movies Star has acquired are Chup Chup Ke, The Blue Umbrella and an un-titled David Dhawan project.

    Confirming the acquisition to indiantelevision.com, Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair said Star channels would premiere Rang De Basanti in the last quarter of the calendar year. “We have acquired four movies, including Rang De Basanti, from UTV through a package deal. We will telecast Rang De Basanti some time around October 2006,” says Nair. However, Nair refused to confirm the acquisition price.

    Rang De Basanti has been the biggest grosser for UTV Motion Pictures this year. The movie, starring the ensemble cast of Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi and Alice Patten, is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

    Scheduled for a 9 June release, Chup Chup Ke will see popular director Priyadarshan delivering yet another South remake. The film is the Hindi version of the Malayalam blockbuster laugh riot Punjabi House. Chup Chup Ke stars Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav and Om Puri.

    The Blue Umbrella, directed by Vishal Bharadwaj has Pankaj Kapur donning the title role. Released in December 2005, this low-budget movie had won a lot of critical acclaim. The fourth movie in question is a David Dhawan venture which is about to go on floor.

    The new UTV collection beefs up Star India’s blockbuster bank. The network has already acquired titles such as Krrish, Taxi No.9211 and Bluffmaster. Some of the other movies Star has acquired this year include Apaharan, Ankahee, Shikhar, Family and Aksar.

    While Star India has pocketed a significant number of big movies to telecast this year, competitiors Zee Cinema and Max are gearing up for some tough fight. Zee Cinema has re-branded its driver property Shaniwaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath and recently telecast the big movie Garam Masala. Other key telecast rights the channel holds include Umrao Jaan, Pyare Mohan and Home Delivery, according to sources.

    On the other hand, Max is banking on some of the 2005 blockbusters such as Salaam Namaste, Kalyug and Zeher. It is expected that Yash Raj Films’ latest release Fanaa and the upcoming biggy Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna will also go to Max.

  • Sony begins 10 pm band revamp with ‘Vaidehi…’

    Sony begins 10 pm band revamp with ‘Vaidehi…’

    MUMBAI: Sony is all set to launch a new show Vaidehi… Ek Aur Agni Pareeksha. Produced by Aroona Irani, the show will be launched on 5 June and will be aired on Mondays at 10 pm.

    After revamping their 8 to 9 pm band, Friday line up and their afternoon band with new shows, Sony is now targetting the 10 pm slot. New one hour weeklies will be launched at 10 pm, the first of which is Vaidehi… The channel will be introducing a couple of more shows in the coming days.

    After Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi went off the airwaves last month, Sony had introduced a new limited episode show – Khauffnaak in the 10 pm slot.

    Vaidehi… is a story of a middle class girl with stars in her eyes and dreams in her heart but who eventually gets caught in an unusual situation.

    Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India COO N P Singh said, “After Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, the 10 pm slot on the channel will have a variety of interesting genres — drama, real life stories, thriller and detective series, which make for wholesome entertainment. Vaidehi Ek Aur Agni Pareeksha at 10 pm is a show that will find echo in millions of women across the country who spend their life in subjugation and despair. Adding strength and vitality to the story is the suspense, thrill and romance that makes for prime time viewing. Also, working with a successful producer like Aroona Irani, we look forward to an involved audience with Vaidehi…”

    “I am glad that Sony Entertainment Television has liked the concept and I hope that Vaidehi… will match up to Sony’s expectations. Vaidehi is a story of a girl, her dreams and the reality and also has a social message for viewers. It is all about living life to the fullest and following your own dreams,” said Irani.

  • Channel7 executive editor Ajit Sahi quits to join United Nations Millennium Campaign

    Channel7 executive editor Ajit Sahi quits to join United Nations Millennium Campaign

    MUMBAI: Global Broadcast News (GBN) and Jagran TV partnered Channel7’s programming head Ajit Sahi has quit the news organisation to join United Nations Millennium Campaign as communication co-ordinator South Asia.

    The United Nations Millennium Campaign has been initated by the United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan with the aim to stimulate a global movement to press governments to translate pledges made at the UN’s 2000 Millennium Summit into a reality.

    Before GBN bought into Jagran TV-promoted Channel7, Sahi was the executive editor of the news channel. After the restrucuturing, Ashtosh from Aaj Tak had been brought in as the editorial head and Sahi was given other responsibilities.

    Sahi had filled the position of head of Channel 7 after Arup Ghosh quit as news director in 2005.

    A print medium journalist-turned-TV man, Sahi has also worked with Star News and the defunct Buisness India TV where he worked as a senior producer. There, he worked under political analyst and mediaperson Vinod Dua and TV18’s present promoter Raghav Bahl.

  • Max announces ‘Sabse Bada Deewana’ contest

    Max announces ‘Sabse Bada Deewana’ contest

    MUMBAI: Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in September, the telecast rights holder Max is attempting to create a buzz in the market. Driving the initiative is a search for the ‘Sabse Bada Deewana’ to be launched across the country.

    Through the hunt, Max will choose the biggest “deewana” from across the country through auditions on-ground across six cities- Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhopal, Surat, Kolkata and Mumbai. Participants could either register by sending a sms “Deewana” to 2525 or turn up for an audition at the venue, said an official release.

    Speaking on the onset of Sabse Bada Deewana, Max EVP & business head Albert Almeida says, “This campaign will capture the true passion and fervor of the viewer and showcase what fuels his or her Deewanapan. The idea is to identify these deewanas, capture their deewanapan and present them to other passionate viewers of the channel.”

    According to Almeida, the on ground activity will be supported by an extensive off air and on air marketing campaign.

    Max will take the biggest deewana and movie fanatic of all times – Sajid Khan across these cities and hunt down the Sabse Bada Deewana of the nation. After rolling out auditions in six cities, the campaign moves further as the six deewanas chosen from the city will then be eliminated by viewer votes and the Sabse Bada Deewana would be chosen from amongst them, adds the release.

  • Tandberg Television brings IPTV video head-ends to Globalcomm 2006

    Tandberg Television brings IPTV video head-ends to Globalcomm 2006

    MUMBAI: The Globalcomm 2006 to be held in Chicago this month will see Tandberg Television making its advances in the global standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) IPTV video head-end market.

    With the recent acquisition of SkyStream, Tandberg Television comes to Globalcomm with expanded compression capabilities. The acquisition combines two highly-complementary technology lines, providing Tandberg Television with increased encoding density and new transcoding solutions and expanding its premium SD video quality and HD AVC encoding. Thus, it is able to provide the industry with the broadest and most flexible IPTV video head-end solution set, informs an official release.

    The expanded range of Tandberg Television IPTV products is designed to provide both large and small telcos with the necessary choice and flexibility to efficiently advance their IPTV service roll-outs. The enlarged product line, packaged in telco or broadcast chassis form factors, presents the industry’s widest selection of encoding and video processing technologies for streaming, transrating, transcoding, high density encoding and premium encoding with solutions that are shipping today for standard definition and high definition MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and SMPTE VC-1, adds the release.

    As a result of the acquisition, Tandberg Television’s Globalcomm booth will show fully operational SD and HD IPTV video head-ends with a number of new innovations including:

    — Unified IPTV head-end control and management with Tandberg nCompass will provide integrated control for all Tandberg IPTV solutions, enabling telcos to save money through improved operational efficiency.

    — Advancements in Picture in Picture (PiP) with the launch of SD PiP on the NEBS-certified, telco-designed Mediaplex and iPlex platforms, as well as SD and HD PiP on the Tandberg premium encoding range.

    — Launch of a new HD encoder designed to meet the needs of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 Telco/IOC markets. Called the Tandberg EN5960, the HD platform has been well-received initially with several successful U.S. carrier deployments already completed. The EN5960 extends Tandberg Television’s market leadership in HDTV.

    Tandberg Television will also continue its tradition of open integration by working with leading systems integrators, middleware providers and consumer device manufacturers to provide operators with complete systems. The Globalcomm booth will include live demonstrations with both Myrio TotalManage, Myrio Interactive and Microsoft TV IP-TV Edition middleware and leading set-top box vendors.

    Tandberg Television EVP Jim Olson said, “Globalcomm will see Tandberg Television cement its lead as the IPTV compression powerhouse. Our unique offering of choice and flexibility enables operators to mix and match their head-end infrastructure investment to maximize utilization of existing network infrastructures (SONET, ATM and IP), to leverage increased bandwidth efficiencies and to select the most appropriate video compression performance and density to support picture quality requirements on a per channel/per program basis.”

    “What’s more we will show telcos at Globalcomm how they can integrate our IPTV video head-end systems with our range of revenue-generating solutions for advanced IPTV services. These include Push/Pull video on-demand, interactive television, mobile TV and ad insertion, all of which will truly differentiate a telco’s offering from standard cable services in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets,” he added.

    HD and SD Picture-in-Picture

    According to the release, Tandberg Television is showcasing its latest developments in Picture-in-Picture (PiP) technology that increase operator options for real consumer benefits, such as enabling second channel live viewing, advanced video mosaics, next-generation video programming guides, user configurable multi-view screens and the simultaneous delivery of content to mobile, handheld or web streaming devices.

    Tandberg Television will launch SD PiP on both the iPlex and Mediaplex video head-ends. These carrier-class platforms are complete head-end systems in a single chassis that enables a new level of converged services over any last mile access infrastructure (xDSL, FTTx, and CATV). The Mediaplex and iPlex video platforms are the industry’s first fully-integrated switched digital video head-ends to deliver MPEG-4 AVC encoding, MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 AVC transcoding, PIP encoding, transrating, remultiplexing and routing. With flexibility, and highly-dense capacity of up to 48 MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC encoders or transcoders, Tandberg Television’s Mediaplex and iPlex platforms can distribute hundreds of high-quality video channels in multiple formats and rates to millions of subscribers simultaneously.

    In addition, HD PiP capabilities will be shown on the Tandberg premium HD platform. Delivering outstanding quality and 3-in-1 resolution choices, the Tandberg EN5990 encoder is able to output MPEG-4 AVC HD main video (either 720p or 1080i), “HD-PIP” which is user selectable with resolutions from 192×192, SIF through to full resolution SD running between 256Kbit/s -> 5Mbit/s and “Micro-PIP” with 96×96 (PAL) / 96×80 (NTSC) resolution. This ability to deliver a full resolution SD version of the HD channel opens up several possibilities for broadcasters and operators and enables a number of HD user multiview applications. With HD source in and both HD and SD versions of the same channel out, SD only subscribers would get a chance to see the HD channel content. Tandberg Television has been shipping SD PiP in its premium EN5920 and EN5930 MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 encoders since last year.

  • User content sites will not replace television: BBC

    User content sites will not replace television: BBC

    MUMBAI: A few days ago UK broadcaster BBC One controller Peter Fincham
    delivered a speech to the Royal Television Society. The speech was called BBC One – Risk, Creativity, Challenges and Audiences.

    He debunked the notion that video clips on the net would replace traditional broadcast television. He says that predictions that video on- demand and 30-second clips on the video content site YouTube would replace traditional viewing showed breathless over-enthusiasm. This he says is reminiscent in some ways of the dotcom boom of the late Nineties, when all conventional businesses were apparently heading for the scrap heap.

    “It also reminds me of the late Sixties – yes, I can just remember them – when a bloke I met in a youth hostel assured me that Western civilization was on its last knees and the future lay in self-sufficient collectives living in Wales. The trouble is, it’s missing the point. Conventional television – old media, linear, whatever you want to call it – and new media don’t exist in opposition to each other. In fact, they’re perfect partners.”

    “Any anthropologist will tell you that our ancestors, although they lived in caves, had exactly the same brains and bodies that we have. Evolution just doesn’t move that fast I guess the equivalent to those cave-dwelling ancestors is people who sat in front of cathode ray televisions with a choice of two channels, the BBC and ITV. Nowadays they’ve got hundreds to choose from. And yet the evolution of taste, like evolution itself, is a very different thing. YouTube’s great. Google’s great. It’s all great. But if the conclusion you draw – and some people love drawing it – is that television is over, I think you might just be wrong.”

    He was responding to an article in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago, by Jeff Jarvis. The headline was ‘Television is dead’. Jarvis had argued that all the old definitions of TV are in shambles. Television need not be broadcast. It needn’t be produced by studios and networks. It no longer depends on big numbers and blockbusters. It doesn’t have to fit 30 and 60 minute moulds. It isn’t scheduled. It isn’t mass. The limits of television – of distribution, of tools, of economics, of scarcity – are gone.’ Jarvis had said that his teen son and his friends are getting hooked on new series not via TV but through the web and iTunes.’

    Jarvis, Fincham points out assumes that where technology leads, our tastes will follow. “He thinks that to embrace the new, it’s necessary to reject all that’s familiar. I think he’s wrong”. Fincham points to the new adaptation of Jane Eyre. “It was watched by seven million viewers. Jane Eyre had been widely admired and acclaimed – quite rightly in my view. Adaptations of classic novels don’t come much better than this. Does Jeff Jarvis’ new world of television mean there’s no room for adaptations of Jane Eyre? And if so, is that something we’ve gained? Or something we’ve lost? ”

    “People like programmes. Seems like a pretty obvious thing to say, but in our noisy and novelty-driven world it can’t be said often enough. They also like, in my view, an intelligently-balanced linear schedule. Yes, of course video on demand will enable us to create our own schedules and time-shift programmes at will. But we won’t want to do that all the time, will we? ”

    “Video on demand is to linear viewing what the microwave is to conventional cooking. Quicker, more convenient, more attuned to a busy, modern life. But it won’t improve the flavours of the cooking. User-generated content is a wonderful thing, but it won’t simply replace the professional stuff. There’s such a thing as a user-generated garden shed – you buy it from Homebase and put it together yourself. Or there’s the other sort, which I must admit I prefer – you get somebody else to do it for you. The two markets don’t cancel each other out – they co-exist. In the future, a short clip on YouTube might be all we’ve got time for. Sounds plausible, doesn’t it, but the evidence doesn’t back it up.”

  • Macau Tourism celebrates heritage year with a new advertising campaign on BBC World

    MUMBAI: BBC World has produced a series of commercials for Macau Tourism to celebrate the country’s 2006 heritage year.

    The campaign, airing in Asia Pacific and Europe, focusses on Macau’s position as a heritage city and also highlights on three key annual events that take place in Macau – a fireworks festival, music festival and grand prix. Macau Tourism has partnered with BBC World for the past two years but this is the first time the advertising campaign has widened to include Asia Pacific and Europe.

    The three events highlighted in the BBC World advertising campaign include:

    – 20th Macau International Music Festival (MIMF) is to be held from 6 October to 5 November The eclectic programme of 28 performances promises to delight audiences in historical settings such as the Dom Pedro V Theatre, St. Dominic’s Church and Mount Fortress.

    – Wynn Macau – 18th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest to be held during September and October, features teams from Germany, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Portugal, Australia, the United States, Japan, France and China.

    – The 53rd Macau Grand Prix from 16 to 19 November is the single most important race in the Formula 3 season each year. Former Macau Grand Prix winners include great names such as Ayrton Senna, Michael and Ralf Schumacher, and David Coulthard.

    BBC World VP, Asia and Australasia Sunita Rajan, says, “BBC World is delighted to be able produce these commercials for Macau Tourism, which also showcase our creative excellence. The campaign, which focuses on music, sport and entertainment, targets the international traveller seeking new and different experiences. BBC World’s audience of 65 million viewers a week largely comprises of business and leisure travellers, so this partnership with Macau Tourism creates perfect synergy.”

    The Director of Macau Tourism, Joel Manuel Costa Antunez says, “It is our great pleasure to co-operate with BBC World again to showcase Macau – a unique tourist destination. Through leveraging the extensive network of BBC World, we are sure that Macau’s image, as one of the leading tourist destinations in the region, will be enhanced amongst our target audiences across the globe. We look forward to a fruitful and mutually beneficial co-operation with BBC World.”

    Macau Tourism is among a number of tourism boards to advertise on BBC World. Other boards include Tourism New Zealand, Palau Tourist Authority, Maldives Tourism, Beijing Tourism and Hangzhou Tourism.

  • Dubai developer Nakheel doing an ad campaign on BBC World

    MUMBAI: Nakheel, a Dubai development company, has launched an extensive advertising campaign on BBC World.

    Responsible for the waterfront developments The Palm, The World and Dubai Waterfront, Nakheel plans to raise its corporate profile through three commercials to air on BBC World during the next few months.

    This is the first time Nakheel has advertised with BBC World and the first commercial, which recently went on air profiles the company’s corporate image and focuses on Nakheel’s role in the development of Dubai.

    The other two commercial presentations, to be produced by BBC World, are based around the Jumeirah Family of brands, which includes the recently launched Jumeirah Park and the eagerly-awaited commencement of handover of the first residences of of the man-made palm tree-shaped island – The Palm Jumeirah. These will air on the channel in Europe, South Asia, the Middle East and Asia Pacific later in the year.

    BBC World’s regional director Mena and Pakistan Hani Soubra says, “The fact that Nakheel has chosen BBC World for their campaign is testament to the credibility of the channel. We are delighted to be working with Nakheel and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

    Nakheel director of marketing, sales and customer service Manal Shaheen says, “The aim of these three profiles is to highlight Nakheel’s role in the ongoing transformation of Dubai to an international audience. The BBC is one of the world’s most respected media organizations and BBC World has an appropriate reach for our target markets. We are delighted to be partnering with BBC World in this instance”.

  • Star India CFO G Subramaniam, AVP Vidyuth Bhandari quit

    Star India CFO G Subramaniam, AVP Vidyuth Bhandari quit

    MUMBAI: After the exit of Puneet Johar as Senior VP, Marketing and Communication last week, Star India has two more key executives leaving the organisation. According to reliable sources in the market, Star India CFO G Subramaniam and AVP Vidyuth Bhandari have quit the organisation.

    Subramaniam, who will be leaving the organisation at the end of June, is set to join a prominent cellular phone company. Bhandari has already joined Adlabs Radio as Interactivity Activation and PR head.

    Subramaniam and Bhandari were not available for comment at the time of filing this report.

    A chartered accountant by qualification, Subramanian joined Star India as Star Digital Platforms Group CFO in 2001. He was elevated to CFO of the network in 2003. Prior to joining Star, he worked with the BPL Innovision business group in their telecom ventures including four years with BPL Mobile, Mumbai as the CFO. The new move sees him returning to the telecom sector.

  • MTV Networks chief digital officer Jason Hirschhorn quits; Nick Lehman to be interim digital head

    MTV Networks chief digital officer Jason Hirschhorn quits; Nick Lehman to be interim digital head

    MUMBAI: Viacom division’s MTV Networks chief digital officer Jason Hirschhorn has resigned from his post.

    MTVN digital executive vice president Nick Lehman will replace Hirschhorn as an interim replacement.

    Hirschhorn was appointed as chief digital officer last year in November. He had joined MTVN in 2000 with the acquisition of his music-centered Mischief New Media. He will stay on through the summer to ease the transition.

    Hirschhorn was instrumental in developing the digital music service Urge, which is a tie-up between MTV and Microsoft Corp. He also spearheaded MTV’s digital media business and interactive strategy aimed at reaching audiences via the Internet and mobile devices.