ITV

Category: Television

  • Zee Sports to telecast Italian Open 2006 live

    Zee Sports to telecast Italian Open 2006 live

    MUMBAI: Zee Sports will telecast the WTA Alice Cup Italian Open live and exclusive. This Tier I $1.34 million, tournament will be played from 15 May to 21 May on Red Clay. Zee Sports will start the telecast of the matches from quarter finals onwards.

    The top seeded players, including Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain, Estonia’s Maret Ani Nathalie Dechy of France, Ai Sugiyama of Japan, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, Russian Nadia Petrovas, Elena Dementieva Svetlana Kuznetsova, Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, Italian Francesca Schiavone and comeback girl Martina Hingis will play for the honours in this tournament, said an official release.

    Zee Sports presenter Tina Sharma along with Indian tennis star Ankita Bhambri will present the preview and review show of each of the match. SportsCafe, Zee Sports daily news program will present the highlights and analysis of the best moments of the matches.

    The quarter final matches will be played on 18 May and 19 May, from 4 pm onwards. Semi finals will be held on 20 May and the matches will begin at 9:30 pm. The final is scheduled for 21 May at 7 pm.

  • SAARC nations to evolve strategy to exchange information during calamities

    SAARC nations to evolve strategy to exchange information during calamities

    MUMBAI: The Press Information Bureau additional principal information officer B S Chauhan will be heading the Indian delegation at the Third Conference of Editors and Working Journalists of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries at Male. On the agenda is SAARC countries evolving a strategy to exchange information on media usage during calamities

    The prime criteria is that reaching out is a must in disseminating critical information for those in the concerned affected areas.

    India has reiterated that SAARC Nations should make special efforts through media so that the people, especially women and children of these areas can be brought closer to the mainstream.

    With a view to reach out to people affected by terrorist acts and hilly terrain in India, Chauhan emphasised that radio coverage should be strengthened to reach the affected zone, informs an official release.

    Sharing the experience of India on media management during Tsunami crisis, he said, all stations of All India Radio in southern states of India and East Coast including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where continuously broadcasting information on the developing situations in the affected areas are based on live inputs by districts and State authorities from different locations.

    Radio and TV stations also broadcast information about relief measures like helplines and measures to combat epidemics. He said that, the media must be involved as a participatory agency which combines the media, government officials, government multimedia implementing agencies, NGOs, public opinion representatives and the beneficiaries.

    Apprising the member countries of transparency measures being taken by India, Chauhan said India had recently adopted a legislation in Parliament relating to the Right to Information (RTI). The RTI Act is a major stride in further increasing transparency in the country and is expected to go a long way towards making officials more responsive to people’s urges articulated through the media. This is an idea, which the other countries in SAARC region may like to emulate.

    SAARC is an association of eight countries of South Asia including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The two-day conference is being attended by the representatives of the SAARC countries except Nepal.

  • PBS and Discovery Education partner to distribute PBS programs to schools

    PBS and Discovery Education partner to distribute PBS programs to schools

    MUMBAI: PBS and Discovery Education have inked a major multi-year media partnership through which PBS has licensed hundreds of hours from its most acclaimed series and specials for distribution to schools through Discovery Education’s digital learning services.

    PBS titles to be made available via Discovery Education include The Civil War and other Ken Burns documentaries; Freedom: A History of US; the complete CyberChase series; and selected episodes from Nova, American Experience, Frontline and others.

    A number of local PBS stations already partner with Discovery Education in delivering its flagship video-on-demand service and united streaming as part of their portfolio of local education offerings.

    “For both PBS and our local stations, this new partnership represents an important opportunity to bring PBS content to a growing audience of educators. PBS is entering into a number of new, non-exclusive licensing relationships to broaden the reach of our award-winning education resources, and we are pleased that the first of these new partnerships is with Discovery Education,” said PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger.

    Beginning this fall, schools nationwide will have the opportunity to receive the PBS library as a supplement to united streaming. As with all content delivered through united streaming, the PBS programs will be correlated to state curriculum standards, chaptered into content-specific video clips and offered for teachers to stream or download for instructional use.

    “This expansion of Discovery Education’s relationship with PBS underscores the alignments of our values and missions. We’re delighted that this arrangement will give teachers and students the opportunity to access these high-quality titles — on-demand — through our award-winning platform,” said Discovery Education president Steve Sidel.

  • MTV to explore internet and MVAS markets in China

    MTV to explore internet and MVAS markets in China

    MUMBAI: Viacom owned music broadcaster MTV is planning to broaden its sphere in the areas of internet and mobile value-added services (MVAS) in China, according to China Daily.

    MTV Networks vice chairman and MTV Networks International president William Roedy has been quoted in a report as saying that, the company will launch broadband services in China at the earliest. According to Roedy, MTV’s services in China will be provided either by partnership with local firms or through acquisitions.

    The report said, MTV and China Mobile, one of China’s mobile carriers, had agreed last year to offer MTV content to China Mobile users in the form of ring tones, music and picture downloads.

    In China, MTV is aired only in the Pearl River Delta in southern province and at a number of upscale residential compounds and hotels in other areas.

  • Fox and Burger King bring hit shows to MySpace.com

    Fox and Burger King bring hit shows to MySpace.com

    MUMBAI: News Corporation’s Fox Entertainment Group and Burger King Holdings, Inc. have teamed to offer hit Fox programming free of charge to the more than 75 million members of MySpace.com.

    MySpace.com is Fox Interactive Media’s popular online social networking site. This promotion marks the first time that network TV content is being made available on a series basis through MySpace, as well as MySpace’s entry into the ecommerce arena.

    The promotion launches 22 May, in conjunction with the season finale of the record-breaking fifth season of 24. MySpace users will be able to download-to-own two episodes of the Fox drama at no cost from a special ‘Have It Your Way’ page provided by Burger King. Both the very first episode from 24’s first season and the first episode of the current season will be available. Also offered at launch will be an episode of Speed’s Pinks and Fuel TV’s FirstHand.

    In addition, MySpace will create a social network around 24, where users can interact with each other, create user generated content and download the entire first and fifth seasons of the top-rated drama for $1.99 per episode.

    “This is truly the perfect marriage of compelling content, an extremely creative advertising partner and the Internet’s leading site for young adults. It really exemplifies our overarching strategy of doing deals that make sense organically, and we have high hopes that MySpace users will find it an attractive offering,” said Fox Entertainment Group president digital media Peter Levinsohn.

    “It’s the ultimate ‘Have It Your Way’ experience. We’re giving consumers what they want with the choice of free shows – wherever and whenever they want to watch them – and the ability to talk about those shows in the social networking environment of MySpace,” said Burger King Holdings senior director media Gillian Smith.

    “MySpace is the largest video site on the web with more video uploaded every day than any other site on the Internet. Our members are avid fans of these shows and are consuming video at a rapid pace, making MySpace the perfect distribution channel for programmers looking to innovate new models,” said Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn.

  • Pix acquires 47 episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio’

    Pix acquires 47 episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio’

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television’s (SET) English channel Pix has acquired its first international programme – Inside the Actors Studio.

    Pix has acquired 47 exciting and revealing episodes of this series. Some of the guests interviewed include: Will Smith, Antonio Banderas, Hugh Grant, Charlize Ttheron, Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Al Pacino.

    James Lipton, the executive producer and host of Inside the Actors Studio since its inception in 1994, has interviewed more than 200 artists – ranging from actors and directors to musicians and comedians. Lipton, in his numerous years of studious research has inspired his guests to open up and confess their deepest thoughts about their craft and careers.

    From its origin, Inside the Actors Studio has followed an interesting and unique format in which the show is taped in front of an audience made up of students from the renowned Actors Studio’s Master of Fine Arts program. The interviewees, all famous Hollywood celebrities, share intimate and personal experiences that influenced their choice of career and what it is that continues to fascinate them about showbiz. The interview then concludes with a standardised questionnaire of 10 questions that requires very candid answers, leading to hilarious and sometimes touching moments on the show.

    Inside the Actors Studio also transcends all demographic boundaries. The program introduces viewers to icons of the entertainment industry in a very natural and personal way. The show is produced by Bravo in conjunction with Betelgeuse Productions.

    This popular award winning Hollywood talk show has been on air in the US for more than 11 years and is now broadcast in over 125 countries.

    The show has also bagged numerous awards including two 14 July, 2005 nominations, for Outstanding Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Nonfiction Series, 11 Emmy award nominations, the Cable Ace Award as Best Talk Show and The New York Festival Award for the World’s Best Talk/Entertainment.

  • Zee TV tightens hold on 2nd spot in prime time

    Zee TV tightens hold on 2nd spot in prime time

    MUMBAI: The last time indiantelevision.com analysed the Hindi General Entertainment Channel rankings (CS4+HSM) in February 2006, Zee TV had gone ahead of its nearest competitor Sony in the all day time band. Also, there was a neck and neck fight going on in the coveted prime time band.

    The big question was, would Zee TV be able to post a convincing win over Sony in the prime time, while sustaining its all day performance?
    Now, after a couple of months it is time to update the score card. Analysing the Tam data (2 April 2006 to 30 April 2006, CS4+ HSM), we have Zee TV proving that its good show in the past months was not a mere flash in the pan. The channel has not only retained the second rank in the all day part with a clear margin, but also reached the number two position (behind Star Plus) in the prime time band.

    Zee’s ad sales wing also rose to the occasion. Based on the good performance, Zee Telefilms increased the ad rates for certain Zee TV shows last week. The programmes in question are on the expected lines: Saath Phere (an increase from Rs 75,000 to Rs 80,000 for 10 seconds), Kasamh Se (from Rs 40,000 to Rs 70,000) and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – Ek Main aur Ek Tu (Rs 40,000 to Rs 70,000.).
    “The logic behind the rate hike is fine performance. We wanted our inventories to meet the demand-supply situation. And hence, we have increased the ad rates of some shows, which passed the bench mark. For the upcoming shows Johnny Ala Re and Shabash India, we have zeroed in on decent rates, which we think are right,” says Zee Network EVP Sales Joy Chakraborthy.

    The data says it all: In the prime time band, the average channel share Zee TV has posted within the above five week period is 14.6 per cent, against Sony’s 14.2 per cent. In the all day time band, Zee holds a significant 18.6 per cent of channel share, while Sony’s share now stands at a meagre 12.4 per cent.

    Apart from the channel driver Saath Phere, the serials which powered the good show include Kasamh Se and debutant Jabb Love Hua. Saath Phere and Kasamh Se are running in the range of 4 TVRs (see the programme rating chart below), according to Tam. Zee TV programming head Ashwini Yardi considers Jabb Love Hua as the latest find. “The soap opened with 0.6 TVRs in the opening week and the following week it recorded a far better 1.7 TVR. The storyline is going to gather much steam in the coming weeks and we are confident of the soap giving a solid performance,” she says.

    Zee’s best prime time band performance in this five week duration came from the week beginning 23 April. The week was a significant one for Hindi GEC since three prime time shows launching (Jabb Love Hua on Zee and Aisa Des Hai Mera and Thodi Khushi Thode Gham in Sony) simultaneously on 24 April. Now, as per Tam, the day favoured Zee TV, as the channel improved its share by 20 per cent in the week – from 15.4 per cent to 17.6 per cent. Meanwhile, Sony’s channel share dropped from 17.4 per cent to 12.4 per cent.

    Yardi attributes the jump to a good opening by the soap Jabb Love Hua. “Zee TV’s ratings for that particular slot went up by about 400 per cent on 24 April. That played a key role in the surge,” she says.

    According to Yardi, Zee TV is not about to rest on its laurels. The channel is planning various strategies to further improve the performance of its prime time soaps. “For example, Saath Phere is going to be in the spotlight in the coming week. The story will take a major turn as we reveal a well-kept secret in the serial. We also have a new show coming in to fill the Kam Ya Zyaada slot,” Yardi offers. The channel dropped the Manoj Bajpai-anchored gameshow two weeks ago. Re-runs of the celebrity show Jeena Isika Naam Hai has replaced Kam Ya Zyaada temporarily.
    Channel
    Key properties
    April-May average ratings combined
    Star Plus Kyunki…, Kahaani…, Kasauti… 12.64 TVR
    Star One Laughter Challenge, Mano Ya Na.., Kya Hoga.. 2.61 TVR
    Zee TV Saath Phere, Kasamh Se 4.44 TVR
    Sony Idol final & Idol Muqabla, Fear Factor, CID 3.36 TVR
    Sahara One Cricket, Woh Rehne Wali.., Hanuman (film) 2.76 TVR
    Sab TV Caravan (film), Idol Takka Tak, Wah Wah, Lo Kal.. 0.52 TVR
    (Source: TAM Peoplemeter System TG: CS 4 years+ Hindi Speaking Markets Period: 2/4/06 to 6/5/06)

    Hasn’t Zee TV’s big ticket reality show Business Baazigar’s non-performance dampened the mood a bit? “Business Baazigar is totally different from all the other reality shows that happened on Indian television so far. The format is new and people are taking their time to get into the loop. The show is delivering a TVR of 0.6 on an average and we expect this go up in the coming weeks,” Yardi reasons.

  • Nickelodeon promotes Williams to senior vice president research and planning

    Nickelodeon promotes Williams to senior vice president research and planning

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon has upped Marsha E. Williams to senior vice president research and planning at Nickelodeon Networks. In her new position, Williams is responsible for consumer insights for Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., including all brand, programming and production, merchandising, public affairs, online and other corporate consumer research for Nickelodeon.

    The announcement was made by Nickelodeon executive vice president marketing and worldwide partnerships Pam Kaufman, to whom Williams will report.

    Williams leads Nickelodeon’s research department with senior vice president of research and planning, Ron Geraci. Geraci oversees programming and advertising sales research for Nickelodeon and digital channels Noggin, The N and Nicktoons Network related to analyzing viewer trends, and positioning Nickelodeon in the marketplace as it relates to advertising sales and the creation of sales pitches.

    “Marsha has done tremendous things in her years at the company, including establishing Nickelodeon as the leader in information and research about kids. Marsha’s keen insight into audiences and trends, as well as her experience working with Nickelodeon and other kids’ brands, make her ideal to lead the Research and Planning initiatives at Nickelodeon with Ron. She is a well-respected and talented executive and this new role acknowledges her expertise and contribution to the success of the network,” said Kaufman.

  • PBS and Discovery Education partner to distribute PBS programs to schools

    MUMBAI: PBS and Discovery Education have inked a major multi-year media partnership through which PBS has licensed hundreds of hours from its most acclaimed series and specials for distribution to schools through Discovery Education‘s digital learning services.


    PBS titles to be made available via Discovery Education include The Civil War and other Ken Burns documentaries; Freedom: A History of US; the complete CyberChase series; and selected episodes from Nova, American Experience, Frontline and others.


    A number of local PBS stations already partner with Discovery Education in delivering its flagship video-on-demand service and united streaming as part of their portfolio of local education offerings.


    “For both PBS and our local stations, this new partnership represents an important opportunity to bring PBS content to a growing audience of educators. PBS is entering into a number of new, non-exclusive licensing relationships to broaden the reach of our award-winning education resources, and we are pleased that the first of these new partnerships is with Discovery Education,” said PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger.


    Beginning this fall, schools nationwide will have the opportunity to receive the PBS library as a supplement to united streaming. As with all content delivered through united streaming, the PBS programs will be correlated to state curriculum standards, chaptered into content-specific video clips and offered for teachers to stream or download for instructional use.


    “This expansion of Discovery Education‘s relationship with PBS underscores the alignments of our values and missions. We‘re delighted that this arrangement will give teachers and students the opportunity to access these high-quality titles — on-demand — through our award-winning platform,” said Discovery Education president Steve Sidel.

  • Paul Yanover appointed MD and EVP of Disney Online

    MUMBAI: Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online (WDPRO) head Paul Yanover has been named executive vice president and managing director of Disney Online (DOL).


    DOL is the business unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) that produces the top entertainment destination for kids and families on the internet. The appointment was announced today by WDIG president Steve Wadsworth and is effective immediately.


    He will be succeeded at WDPRO by Edward Kummer, who previously served as vice president of creative development and production for that business.


    “Paul has been a driving force in digital media within our company for more than a decade, most recently with our Parks and Resorts group, building its website portfolio into a substantial e-commerce business. I‘ve worked closely with him for the past three years and know he brings a strong vision that will take our business to the next level during this time of great opportunity for Disney Online, when more and more consumers are turning to the Internet as a key source of entertainment,” said Wadsworth.
    In his new capacity, Yanover will assume responsibility for all of DOL‘s strategic, creative, technical and marketing initiatives surrounding the presence of the Disney brand on the internet, including flagship site www.disney.com, which will undergo a major redesign and strategic development initiative over the next several years; DOL‘s acclaimed suite of premium broadband products including online games; a large portfolio of divisional Web sites for The Walt Disney Company (TWDC); and Web sites www.familyfun.com, www.go.com and www.movies.com.


    Yanover will succeed Ken Goldstein, who is leaving Disney to pursue another opportunity. “Ken has made great contributions to WDIG over the past eight years. We wish him well in his next venture,” said Wadsworth.


    Yanover was responsible for developing and launching Virtual Magic Kingdom, Disney‘s online multi-player adventure game that allows Disney fans to experience the magic of Disney Theme Parks from their own home.