ITV

Category: Factual

  • Discovery was greatest global commissioner of TV shows in 2021: Ampere

    Discovery was greatest global commissioner of TV shows in 2021: Ampere

    Mumbai: The greatest global commissioner of TV shows in 2021 was Discovery, with a record-breaking 556 first-run TV show titles commissioned in the year, according to market-leading data and analytics firm Ampere. This extends Discovery’s lead of 46, recorded in 2020, to 153 titles by year-end 2021.

    ViacomCBS pipped Netflix for second place with 406 titles compared to Netflix’s 403. Three other contenders – Disney, the BBC and Comcast – came close with 387, 373, and 353 first-run shows respectively, it said.

    This group of six pulled further ahead of their global rivals through 2021 with each supporting the expansion of their own subscription video on demand (SVoD) services. WarnerMedia also accelerated through the year but not enough to rank in the top six.

    However, for 2022 it is those shows commissioned but not yet released, the in-production slate, that will be key, noted Ampere study. Discovery’s typical commissions (largely documentaries) have a shorter production timescale and are lower cost and less high-profile than titles on Netflix’s still predominantly scripted slate. Netflix is set to release most of its 243 in-production TV titles in 2022 (with an additional 106 films) which will push the streamer’s overall slate of original releases to over 2,000 titles.

    It should be noted that the above figures for 2021 exclude the US majors’ growing SVoD film slate.  The US majors combined commissioned 74 film titles specifically for SVoD. However, adding Netflix’s 203 commissioned films in 2021 would push the global streamer into first place, albeit via a less direct comparison.

    Through their in-production TV show commissions for their VoD platforms, studios’ intentions are laid bare. Among all the TV shows currently being produced by Disney, 58 per cent are now originals for its streaming platform, Disney+. WarnerMedia follows closely behind with 85 titles for HBO Max, representing 48 per cent of shows it currently has in production. Titles destined for VoD make up 39 per cent of ViacomCBS’s current slate and 28 per cent of Comcast’s.

    The year 2022 will see further additions to these slates as the studio-backed VoD services continue to expand both their original catalogues and subscriber bases, both domestically and, increasingly, internationally.

  • Discovery and Samsung join forces for tiger conservation

    Discovery and Samsung join forces for tiger conservation

    Mumbai: Discovery Inc in partnership with Samsung is raising awareness among global audiences for the need to protect and conserve tigers in the wild through a content partnership around Discovery’s Project CAT (Conserving Acres for Tigers). 

     

    The collaboration entails the production of a short film “Eye to Eye with the Tiger,” which follows wildlife photographer Yashas Narayan as he journeys through India on a mission to track, and film and photograph a tiger in the wild with Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. “The jungle is full of symbiotic relationships. It’s remarkable to see how animals depend on each other. I am delighted to have captured some raw moments that emphasise how important tigers are in the circle of life,” said Narayan.

    Directed by BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Vikram Singh, “Eye to Eye with the Tiger” shines a light on the dangers this majestic animal faces in the wild. Guided by a local conservationist Narayan searches for tiger tracks and takes note of signs from prey species while taking video footage and still images simultaneously with the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. The film reaches its climax when he comes face to face with a tiger hunting prey, a shot that brings to life the mission of Project CAT.

    “Discovery is a purpose-driven company with a strong commitment to conservation and protecting wildlife. Tigers are among the most revered species on the planet and today we extend our mission to ensure a future for tigers so there will always be stories to tell through this first of its kind partnership with Samsung and Project CAT,” said Discovery global vice president – standards and social good Jessica Beatus.

    Discovery supports nearly six million acres of tiger habitat across India, Bhutan and Russia through its Project CAT. Launched in partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the initiative aims to help protect and support the conservation of a transboundary tiger landscape that is a global priority for tiger conservation. This key area also supports local economies, alternative livelihoods, and climate justice for the most marginalised. Discovery joined the ambitious goal of conservation groups to double the wild tiger population by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac, said the statement.

    “Through our collaboration, we look forward to both showcasing the beauty of one of the world’s most majestic animals with our super high-resolution camera whilst simultaneously raising awareness around the importance of the conservation of tigers in the years to come,” stated Samsung Electronics VP and head of global digital marketing group & mobile communications business Jung Suh.

  • Discovery acquires assets of ad-tech company Zedo

    Discovery acquires assets of ad-tech company Zedo

    Mumbai: Discovery Inc on Wednesday announced that it has acquired the assets, technology and intellectual property of Zedo, an advertising technology company based in both the United States and India.

    The acquisition will bring Zedo’s technology in-house and enable faster innovation across Discovery’s ad solutions. This acquisition brings key ad technology platform capabilities, including a supply-side platform (SSP) and real-time bidding (RTB) capabilities, which enhances Discovery’s global direct-to-consumer (DTC) platforms, improves the consumer experience and drives monetisation, said the media company in a statement. 

    As part of the acquisition, Discovery will also onboard employees of Zedo based in India and the United States, it added.

    “This deal will bring the Discovery and Zedo teams together to enhance the overall consumer ad experience, as well as help push new innovation by integrating Zedo’s capabilities with our global direct-to-consumer platform,” said Discovery Inc executive vice president DTC – global technology Sudheer Sirivara. “We are excited to welcome the Zedo team to the rapidly growing technology presence in our India development center, which is a strategic priority for us to build talent and expertise across the country to help scale globally.”

    “Discovery entered the streaming space with the launch of discovery+ and quickly became an industry leader,” said Zedo co-founder and chief executive officer Roy de Souza. “With the acquisition of Zedo’s assets, Discovery will have its own proprietary real-time bidding (RTB) platform and SSP to sell advertising programmatically. Discovery’s advertisers will soon have one place to buy advertising on a high-quality set of streaming platforms and reach Discovery’s vast global audiences.”

    The Zedo asset acquisition builds on Discovery’s acquisition of AdSparx’s assets in 2020, which brought server-side-ad-insertion (SSAI) capability to Discovery’s global tech platform. The combination of Zedo’s technology with Discovery’s SSAI and global video platform will deliver unparalleled video and ad experiences to our consumers worldwide.

  • Discovery’s ‘Into the Wild’ featuring Ajay Devgn reaches 13.6 mn TV audiences

    Discovery’s ‘Into the Wild’ featuring Ajay Devgn reaches 13.6 mn TV audiences

    Mumbai: Discovery India’s “Into the Wild” with Bear Grylls and Ajay Devgn which premiered on 25 October on the Discovery Channel has garnered a unique reach of 13.6 million across the network channels. It became the highest-rated show in the infotainment genre this year with 605K AMAs (average minutes audiences; 2+ India).

    The show has garnered a high TSV of 19 minutes. Discovery channel alone is rated higher than all infotainment channels put together and accounts for 55 per cent channel share in the infotainment genre.

    The journey started with a special edition of “Man Vs Wild” with Bear Grylls and PM Modi which was billed as the TV event of the year. Followed by “Into The Wild” with superstars Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, generating record TV ratings and viewership for the cult new franchise. The latest episode of “Into The Wild” with Bear Grylls and Ajay Devgn has continued the legacy for being the most-watched show in the genre this year too.

    “Within its first-week premiere on discovery+, the show opened to rave reviews from the audience witnessing a strong momentum in subscription because of its gripping content and also with its truly out-of-the-box and disruptive marketing innovations,” said a spokesperson from the company.

    (Source: BARC India| TG: All 2+ I Market: India (U+R) |Period: Week 43’2021|AMAs)

    (Source: BARC India| TG: All 2+|Market: India(U+R) |Period: Week 43’2021 | 8pm-9pm |ATS)

    (Source: BARC India| TG: All 2+|Market: India(U+R) |Period: 25th Oct 2021 8pm-9pm |Channel Share %)

  • Discovery ends Q3 with $20 mn DTC subs, $425 mn next generation revenues

    Discovery ends Q3 with $20 mn DTC subs, $425 mn next generation revenues

    Mumbai: Discovery Inc ended Q3 with 20 million DTC (direct-to-consumer) subscribers, an increase of three million subscribers since the end of Q2. The company generated $425 million of next generation revenues (growth of approximately 100 per cent versus the prior year quarter) with global D2C ARPU of approximately $ five and $ seven blended discovery+ ARPU in the US, supported by our over $10 ARPU for the discovery+ Ad Lite product.

    Discovery Inc recently launched discovery+ in Canada and the Philippines in addition to finalising a multi-year US distribution agreements with DirecTV and Verizon. The company also successfully broadcast the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, which reached over 372 million people in Europe across TV and digital platforms, and delivered 1.3 billion minutes of Olympics content on its streaming services, it said in a statement.

    Total US networks revenues increased 12 per cent to $1,858 million compared to the prior year quarter. Total revenue reported was $3,150 million; increased 23 per cent compared to the prior year quarter.

    Among the reporting segments, starting with the US, Q3 advertising revenues increased five per cent year-over-year. There was strong demand for discovery+ Ad Lite product, which contributed to the growth in the quarter. Distribution revenues increased 21 per cent year-over-year, largely due to the continued growth of discovery+ as well as linear affiliate rate increases, in part helped by successful renewals with DirectTV, Verizon, Hulu, and Altice.

    International advertising increased 26 per cent versus last year as the global advertising marketplace continued to recover from the pandemic. International distribution revenues grew six per cent during the quarter, primarily due to the growth in direct-to-consumer subscribers, which have nearly tripled over the past year across our footprint outside the US, in part aided by Olympics sign-ups.

    Investment losses for the quarter were in the low $200 million range, slightly better than last quarter.

  • NTO 2.0: Discovery Communications India publishes new RIO

    NTO 2.0: Discovery Communications India publishes new RIO

    Mumbai: Discovery Communications India has published its reference interconnection offer (RIO) issued under telecommunications (broadcasting and cable) services interconnection (addressable systems) regulations, 2017 for all distribution platforms. The new RIO will be effective from 1 December onwards. 

    The tariffs for TV channels mentioned in the RIO adhere to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) new tariff order (NTO) 2.0.

    The channel operates nine standard definition pay-TV channels and five high definition pay-TV channels. It is also offering eight bouquets to TV subscribers.

    The implementation of the new tariff order 2.0 is on hold as broadcasters under the aegis of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) have challenged the Trai order in the Supreme Court. The final hearing on the matter is scheduled for 30 November

  • National Geographic to premiere ‘It Happens Only in India’ on 26 Oct

    National Geographic to premiere ‘It Happens Only in India’ on 26 Oct

    Mumbai: National Geographic has announced an original series ‘It Happens Only in India’ which will be hosted by Indian actor, producer, and philanthropist Sonu Sood. The show will premiere on 26 October starting at 8:00 p.m.

    The 10-part series will have Sonu Sood presenting stories from across the nation – from modern to the mystic, people to places, myths to natural wonders, talented innovators, astounding megastructures to the latest in space technology that is all distinctly Indian.

    “At National Geographic, we harness the power of exploration to uncover stories and provide unique insights into the world around us,” said a spokesperson from the channel. “We have been constantly working towards making our relationship with our viewers more personal and connected; bringing a wholesome meaning to our stories through localisation. With ‘It Happens Only in India’, our focus is to celebrate the uniqueness of India across multiple spheres, and we couldn’t think of a better host than Sonu Sood to present these enriching stories.”  

    “No matter how much you learn about India, you can’t know enough,” said Sonu Sood. “The country’s diversity has tons of incredible stories that are yet to be revealed and this show will take viewers on a fascinating journey; bringing them closer to the incredible culture, nature, heritage, and marvels of our nation and make them proud to be a citizen of this country,” said Sonu Sood.”

  • Discovery set to premiere ‘Into The Wild with Bear Grylls and Ajay Devgn’

    Discovery set to premiere ‘Into The Wild with Bear Grylls and Ajay Devgn’

    Mumbai: Discovery India is all set to premiere “Into The Wild with Bear Grylls and Ajay Devgn” on 25 October on Discovery channels and digitally on 22 October via streaming platform discovery+.

    The broadcast premiere of the show is scheduled at 8 p.m IST on 14 linear channels including Discovery Channel, Discovery HD, Discovery Tamil, Animal Planet, Animal Planet HD, TLC, TLC HD, Discovery ID, Discovery ID HD, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Kids, Eurosport, and Eurosport HD. 

    The broadcaster has also released a trailer giving a sneak peek into the episode.

    “This is my first ever expedition into the wild and I can tell you it wasn’t child’s play!” said Devgn. “My father was an action director and in my career span of 30 years in the Indian industry, I have had the fortune to play several roles including some dangerous action ones too. And, this was one of those times when I had to put those learnings to the test again.”

    The special episode has attracted marquee advertisers including Vini Cosmetics and Citroen as ‘co-powered by’ sponsors. While Dell, Omron Healthcare, Spotify, and Amazon Alexa have come on board as ‘associate’ sponsors, LIC is the ‘partner’ sponsor for the title.

    “Into the Wild with Bear Grylls is one of our most acclaimed and loved series and with the new episode, the motive was clear – to make it bigger, better and widen our audience base. The show has been appreciated worldwide and we expect to land big with this special season,” said Discovery Inc managing director – South Asia Megha Tata.

    Produced by The Natural Studios and Banijay Asia, the show will be available in seven languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla, Malayalam, and Kannada. The episode will exclusively premiere on discovery+ India and the Philippines followed by other EMEA regions, including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It will also be showcased on Discovery’s network of channels in over 140 countries.

    “To get to take the legendary Ajay into the wild and have an adventure with him was a privilege,” said Bear Grylls. “Desert islands are always tough to survive on and Ajay showed total commitment to do what we needed to get out in one piece. He was also incredibly honest, sharing so many insights into his life and career and I value that honesty so much.”

    “Into The Wild with Bear Grylls” has featured many recognised faces in the Indian film industry including Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, and also featured India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.

  • discovery+’s new original documents India’s space programme

    discovery+’s new original documents India’s space programme

    Mumbai: Streaming platform discovery+ is coming up with its all-new original titled “India’s Space Odyssey.” The documentary premiering on 7 October, celebrates the 60-year-long successful journey of India’s space programme. 

    Produced by Miditech Studios, “India’s Space Odyssey” features former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr G Madhavan Nair, along with other ISRO experts and space historians and researchers. 

    Using a combination of expert interviews, archive footage and graphic representations, the film documents India’s journey to pioneering space technology and becoming a leader in space exploration that was started by Dr Homi J Bhabha and Dr Vikram Sarabhai, and how their able successors like former president of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Prof Satish Dhawan, and Dr G Madhavan Nair scripted the success story with the SLV3- India’s first individual rocket launch vehicle, and more recently the ‘Chandraayan’ and ‘Mangalyaan’ missions.

    “Since its inception the Indian Space programme has achieved significant feats, thanks to the contribution of all the people who have worked on it. We are delighted that a platform like Discovery is taking these initiatives to the people in an attempt to encourage and inspire them,” stated ISRO chairman and DOS secretary Dr K Sivan.

    The docu-film will showcase the different technologies developed by ISRO including the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which recorded a success rate of 95 per cent and is the workhorse of ISRO’s satellite launch programme, and its most ambitious ‘Gaganyaan’ programme which will be India’s first manned mission to space.  

    The actor and space enthusiast R Madhavan will narrate the film in Hindi. “Curiosity has brought humans to where we are today, and it will continue to do so. I thank Discovery India for this wonderful learning opportunity, and I feel honoured to have lent my voice to a project that could inspire future generations to embark on their quest to explore space,” said the actor.

    “Discovery is invested in being a worldwide leader of original edutainment with an immersive range of space-related documentaries and is now bringing a detailed and truly inspirational documentary on the much-appreciated Indian Space Programme,” said Discovery Inc South Asia original content head Sai Abhishek. “We believe India’s Space Odyssey will delight Discovery fans and draw in all the space enthusiasts from across the country.”

  • &PrivéHD unveils its programming lineup for October

    &PrivéHD unveils its programming lineup for October

    Mumbai: &PrivéHD returns with its flagship property ‘Privé World Box Office’ starting 8 October onwards at 9 p.m. Powered by Hershey’s Sofit soya milk, the channel will bring viewers films from around the world every Friday.

    The content lineup includes films that are blockbusters in their country of origin with titles from varied genres. The channel will telecast Spanish film “Pain & Glory” which is directed by Pedro Almodóvar and starring Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz. The film has been nominated for multiple Academy awards and was recognized as Time Magazine’s best film of the year.

    The channel will also bring Mexican musical comedy “Casi Divas” which is directed by Issa Lopez and scored by Hans Zimmer to Indian viewers.  

    Norwegian classic “Max Manus” starring award winning actor Aksel Hennie will also be part of Privé World Box Office. The film reocunts the life of Max Manus one of the most important leaders of resistance against German Nazi party.

    “It’s incredible to see how in the past year, there has been a gradual growth in an audience base that have a strong affiliation for foreign and International content,” said a Zee spokesperson. “This has enabled channels to consistently keep up with the popularity, and trend in providing a library of internationally acclaimed films transcending the language barrier that once existed. The evolving preferences of our consumers assure us of our understanding of the non-conformist viewer and going a step beyond in enabling our viewers to discover great content beyond mainstream Bollywood and Hollywood.”