ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • News channels see digital platforms driving subscription income

    NEW DELHI: News Channels have seen exponential growth over the last few years and can still “find the pot of gold,” but from a long term perspective, will have to focus on higher subscription revenues, speakers at The Indian News Television Summit 2007 said here today.

    Audience share has increased from less than one per cent in 2000 to seven – eight per cent as the genre has exploded with over 40 channels beaming news content. “The genre has taken away viewers from the general entertainment channels and brought in new advertisers. News channels have the people to take this pot of gold forward,” Tam India CEO LV Krishnan said.
    The pace of growth is set to accelerate as over 40 applications are waiting for clearance from the information and broadcasting ministry. NDTV, in fact, is expecting a 20 per cent year-on-year growth.

    “New sources of revenue are still to be tapped like content syndication, overseas expansion and internet presence. Besides, there is scope for local news channels with sectors like retail seeing rapid growth,” said NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak.

    Agreed Starcom Mediavest Group CEO South Asia Ravi Kiran, “We will see dramatic changes in the way news is going to be consumed over the next three -five years. Media organizations will need to gather, aggregate and distribute news.”

    The session on “Searching for revenues: Advertising and Distribution, Finding the pot of gold” was moderated by Indiantelevision.com editorial director Thomas Abraham.

    The digital era will throw open more revenue opportunities for news channels. “There will be subscription opportunities. News and sports, for instance, will drive Mobile TV. In the digital era, however, brands will be important,” said SET Discovery president Anuj Gandhi.

    Al Jazeera Network director – global distribution Phil Lawrie said that it would be interesting to see how business models are going to evolve in India in a digital environment.

    However, Hinduja TMT president – corporate services Ashok Mansukhani wasn’t too bullish on the potential to accommodate so many news channels. “The Cas (conditional access system) data shows that consumers are not willing to pay for news channels. And on analogue cable TV, there is a distribution cost. It remains to be seen how this battle for the marketplace is going to shape up,” he said.

  • Government not forcing regulator on broadcast media: Swarup

        
    NEW DELHI: Ministry for information and broadcasting secretary Asha Swarup today reiterated the fact that the government had no intention of forcing checks on broadcasters in the country and that the aim of the Broadcast Regulatory Authority Bill (BRAI) was only to set up an independent regulator.

    She also denied reports that there was any proposal under the proposed Bill or Content Code to bar television channels from conducting sting operations. However, the aim was to ensure that there was no violation of the right of privacy of any individual, as had been seen in some sting operations.

    Swarup was delivering the keynote address at the Indian News Television Summit organised by Indiantelevision.com in the capital. The day-long meet culminating with the NT (News Television) Awards in the evening has been endorsed by the ministry.

    The secretary expressed optimism that the Broadcast Bill would be introduced in Parliament during the monsoon session. She said incorrect reports about the Bill in the media only resulted in more delays in finalizing the draft of the legislation.

    She said in reply to a question that the public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati would also be brought under the ambit of the Bill.

    Both the legislation and the Code were being drawn up keeping in view the sensitivities of the Indian viewer, she said. It was therefore in the interest of the industry that there should be a Bill and a Regulator who is independent and impartial.

    She urged private news channels to share the duty of the public service broadcaster by showing some public service programming. There was need for more positive stories which could motivate people. 

    She noted that there were almost 90 to 100 news channels in the country if one counted all regional channels and those that have news bulletins. There had been an annual growth of 18 per cent in the television industry. But all this gave rise to the basic question – what kind of news do Indians deserve?

    She also said that while there was need for news channels to show care and sensitivity while presenting news, she said accuracy and impartiality should also not be given a go-by. She said that there was also need to help in the maintenance of public order. Repetitive telecasts of old clips of violence only sent out wrong messages. 

    Answering a question after her presentation, she said that the Content Code was being shown to representatives of associations of various stakeholders on 20 July and would then be finalised for being put on the ministry site mib.nic.in for eliciting the views of people.

    Earlier, Indiantelevision.com CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari said that the future of the television industry was very bright with more entrepreneurs getting into the industry, both in India and overseas. He announced that indiantelevision.com would be organizing a Digital Summit in October.

    Indiantelevision.com editorial director Thomas Abraham said in a presentation that news channels had earned Rs 9.8 billion as revenue from advertisements during 2006-07. He said that this was expected to go up to Rs 12.5 billion this year. India today had 116 million television homes of which 75 million were connected to cable and satellite.

    Asking if the news broadcasters were being able to reach out to specific genres and segments, he observed that news has to be more interactive and has to find ways to reach out to all communities.

    In a presentation giving the Citizen’s Voice, ICICI Bank executive director V Vaidyanathan said that a total of 51.9 million mobiles were being added every year and one in every Indian today owned a personal computer. And now people were taking to web phones. Growth was no longer an option, it just had to happen. He said that communication methodologies were changing both for the urban and the rural Indian.

  • Star Ananda felicitates ‘Shera Bangalis of 2007’

    MUMBAI: Media Content and Communications Services’s (MCCS) Star Ananda has felicitated ten personalities from diverse fields at the ‘Star Ananda Shera Bangalis of 2007’. The award recognises and honours achievements by individuals that has made Bengal proud.

    Asim Ghosh and Pranab Mukhjerjee with the Star Ananda Shera Bangali Award Star Ananda feliciated minister for defence Pranab Mukherjee, Hutchison Essar MD Asim Ghosh, Hindalco MD Debu Bhattacharya, economist and Nobel Peace prize 2006 winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus, academician and elephant expert Dhritikanta Lahiri Choudhury, painter Arpita Singh, former captain of Indian cricket team, Sourav Ganguly, film director Anurag Basu and actor Mithun Chakraborty.

    MCCS VP Barun Das said, “We at Star Ananda have dedicated ourselves to reflecting and catalysing the growth and resurgence of Bengal and thus continually contribute in this process. ‘Shera Bangali’ is an effort in that direction to recognize those successful Bengalis who not only have excelled in their respective field, but have also helped in putting Bengalis in the international limelight. ”

    The ‘Shera Bangali’ award ceremony was presented by Camellia Group in association with Priya Biscuits, Sriniketan, Asian Sky Shop and Surf Excel. The media partners for the event are Ananda Bazar Patrika, Friends 91.9 FM and Selvel. The event and trophy partners are Millenium EMS and Senco Gold respectively.

    The awared ceremony was followed by performance by Shaan, Koena Mitra, Tanushree Dutta, Jeet, Koyel Mullik, June Maliah and Nachiketa.

  • NDTV net loss Rs 21.2 million in Q1

    MUMBAI: NDTV posted a net loss of Rs 21.2 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2007, as compared to a loss of Rs 105.4 million during the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

    On a consolidated basis, the net loss stood at Rs 149.2 million for the first quarter of FY08, compared with a consolidated net loss of Rs 82.4 million during the corresponding period last year.

    During the period, the company’s consolidated total income was at Rs 736.9 million. Consolidated costs include expenditure on roll out of new businesses including entertainment and lifestyle channels.

    A statement by the channel said its first Lifestyle channel was due to be launched in the next few weeks, and NDTV Convergence had developed new high revenue initiatives. With the receipt of $120 million dollars in funding, NDTV Networks had achieved funding for present business plans.

    It also claimed that while costs are stabilized, NDTV is the only news channel not to become tabloid and to retain credibility and highest standards and advertisers were responding positively to this exclusive positioning by NDTV. NDTV Profit continued to enjoy the highest viewership among business channels, the statement said.

  • TV 18 shines at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards 2006

    MUMBAI:TV 18 has received the maximum number of awards at the ‘Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards 2006-07’ including the ‘Journalist of the Year – Broadcast’ being conferred to Rajdeep Sardesai, CNN-IBN and IBN 7 editor-in-chief.

    The other awards include ‘Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award’ for ‘Uncovering India Invisible – Broadcast’ to Living Positive of CNN-IBN’s Nilanjana Bose, excellence in ‘Environmental Reporting – Broadcast’ to The Last Dance of the Sarus of CNN-IBN’s Bahar Dutt.

    Rohit Khanna from the CNN-IBN’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) won the ‘Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award’ for ‘Political Reporting – Broadcast’ for a special investigation on Netas for Sale.

    Hiral Sachde and Khushboo Narayan of CNBC-TV18’s have won the ‘Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award’ for ‘Business and Economic Journalism’ for the show Uncovered.

    CNN-IBN and IBN 7 editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, “I am really humbled on having won this title and am very proud to have been considered worthy of this award by the Ranmath Goenka Memorial Foundation. This would not have been possible without the team at CNN-IBN and I also congratulate Nilanjana, Bahar and Rohit for their achievements.”

  • The Gotham Group inks deal with Yahoo! Studios to produce original animated content

    The Gotham Group inks deal with Yahoo! Studios to produce original animated content

    MUMBAI: The Gotham Group, a management firm representing animation and family entertainment talent and content, has teamed up with Yahoo! Studios for a strategic relationship to produce and distribute original animated content on the Internet. 

    According to an official release, veteran in the entertainment industry Jon Vein initiated the deal and negotiated the agreement on behalf of The Gotham Group, which will draw upon the company’s base of pre-existing animated shorts as well as from original new content.

     
    “Gotham is committed to finding innovative ways to distribute our artists’ creative work and today’s agreement with Yahoo! furthers that business strategy to mutual benefit,” said Gotham Group CEO and founder Ellen Goldsmith-Vein. “We pride ourselves on finding new revenue streams for our content creators and Yahoo! provides a fresh and exciting opportunity for the world to interact with the great talent we represent.”

     
    “We are always looking for opportunities to make dynamic and entertaining content available on Yahoo!,” said Yahoo! Studios general manager Drew Buckley. “We are thrilled to work with Gotham to create and program compelling animated content for our users.” 

    Yahoo! Studios focuses on the development and production of event-based, original and user-generated content across the Yahoo! Media Group properties, including Yahoo! Entertainment and Yahoo! TV.

  • BBC Worldwide restructures in US for growth

    MUMBAI: Five months into the job, BBC Worldwide America president Garth Ancier has restructured his senior team to take BBC Worldwide’s American-based businesses to the next level.

    He says, “By creating new roles, bringing in some fresh faces and promoting talent within the organisation I am positioning the company for growth. The BBC produces more quality television content than any other company and is one of the premier media brands in the world. We now have a strong team working together to expand that brand across the US, focussing on growth areas including channels, content and production and digital.”

    In the newly-created role, BBC executive VP, business development and digital media, Luke Bradley-Jones transfers to the company’s New York headquarters, starting 1 September. Most recently head of strategy at BBC Worldwide in London, Bradley-Jones will work closely with Ancier and Michael Ross, recently appointed executive VP, business affairs and operations, to develop new revenue streams and identify acquisitions and joint ventures to help the business grow aggressively in this market. He will also oversee US digital media initiatives, including setting and implementing the company’s digital on-demand strategy, and ensure that BBC Worldwide America is strategically aligned with global digital media activities, including bbc.com and global distribution deals.

    Chris Carr has been appointed as COO, US channels. A member of the original BBC America launch team, Carr was formerly CFO. In his new role, he assumes responsibility for all channel operations. Andrew Bott’s role as CFO is expanded across the whole company to include BBC America.

    Paul Telegdy continues to head the company’s growing West Coast production house, responsible for Dancing with the Stars. His promotion to executive vice president, content and production, reflects the company’s scale of ambition and addition of a second production base, in New York, focussed on the cable industry.

  • News Corp to launch Fox Business Network on 15 October

    MUMBAI: News Corp. will launch Fox Business Network (FBN) on 15 October in a bid to rival business cable channels CNBC and Bloomberg Television, a company statement said.

    To be headquartered in New York with established news bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and London, FBN has secured distribution agreements with leading U.S. cable operators including Comcast and Time Warner cable. This is expected to provide the network with at least 30 million subscribers, when it debuts.
    News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch had previously said it would launch the business channel in the fourth quarter, but did not provide a date.

    FBN “will look and feel different”, with more emphasis on entertainment than mere market coverage. The past several months have been spent designing the channel under the eye of senior vice president Fox News veteran Brian Jones.

    Jones reports to Fox News executive VP Kevin McGee who will manage the day-to-day operations of FBN.

    Currently, Murdoch is in the midst of talks on a $5 billion offer for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. The deal would provide the new FBN with reporting staff and content from one of the most respected business newspapers.

    However, if the deal is through, a content sharing deal between rival CNBC and the Journal that is active till 2012, is expected to complicate any possible synergies between FBN and the Journal.

  • Ofcom-based news code set for public debate

    NEW DELHI: A clear chapter on news content code based on Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, will be put up on the website of the I&B ministry in the next few days, early enough to be well debated before the FICCI seminar on the issue on 23 July.

    Sources in the ministry told Indiantelevision.com, that the broad features of the news content code has been taken from Ofcom, though they clarified that “we have not bodily lifted the Ofcom regulations, but modelled it on the same principles.”

    One official explained: “No regulation can be lifted form one country and cultural base and grafted on to another cultural context. So we have adjusted it according to our cultural context, but it will have the same principles, especially on accuracy and privacy and such issues.”

    Does that mean it is a loose regulation that could be open to governmental interpretation and arbitrary clamp downs?

    “We have said and I am reiterating that the government does not want to play the editor. But yes, there will be reasonable restrictions within the boundaries of Indian sensitivities,” officials stressed.

    The code on news, though, will not be as watertight as that of Ofcom: “We have not been so rigid like Ofcom, which makes the Ofcom regulaton so bulky… we did not want that.”

    The official also clarified that there will not be two separate bodies of codes, one generak and one on news. “It does not make sense, but this will be a clearly delineated chapter in the overall code.”

    One of the key issues as revealed by officials arises out of the government’s concern over privacy, which had been breached, it feels, by TV channels covering court cases. Officials said that there are going to be parameters set for that.

    However, officials sought to dismiss the fears that sting operations would not be allowed: “We have never said that, but there must not be intrusions into privacy and they must have a broader and larger social interest.”

    Basically that means sting expose on official corruption or issues of public interest would still be allowed, so long as they do not indulge in vulgarity or invade privacy.

    Officials said also that it has to be more self-regulatory because no regulator could possibly monitor the content of 300-odd channels.

    “But the concerned persons need to understand that though the debate would be started soon with the code being uploaded in the MIB website, it is not something which will be put into effect in any hurry,” officials said.

    The code will not come into effect unless the Broadcast Act is past and the Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India is set up, which will take some time in coming.

    The reason that the ministry is hurrying with the publication on the website is that on 23 July, the Ficci is organising a government-industry interface on the issue of content.

    Currently, the code is awaiting the clearance of I&B minister PR Dasmunshi. As he is deeply involved with the presidential elections, the code is expected to be put on the site around 20 July, if not earlier, sources said.

  • BBC Worldwide appoints Global Licensing as agent for key brands

    MUMBAI: The British pubic broadcaster BBC’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide Australasia has appointed Global Licensing NZ as its merchandise representative for its hit properties Doctor Who, Top Gear and In the Night Garden.

    Global Licensing will hold exclusive merchandise rights, including rights for both the classic and new series of Doctor Who. Toys of Doctor Who will be launched this month at The Warehouse, Kmart, Farmers and Toy World, including the famous Cyberman Voice Changer Helmet, the UK’s Toy of the Year, 2006.

    Global Licensing is expected to appoint local partners for all properties across a broad range of categories including apparel, accessories and games ranges.

    Doctor Who first aired in 1963, and was re-launched in 2005. A co-production between BBC Wales and CBC in Canada, the fourth series is about to go into production in Cardiff. Series 3 will air on Prime, New Zealand’s third free-to-air network, from August.

    Top Gear has consistently been the most watched programme on BBC2 in the UK. Now seen in more than 120 countries around the world, it has become famous for its combination of wit, irreverence and unbiased honesty.

    In the Night Garden is currently airing on TV2 in New Zealand. Filmed in real woodland, the programme weaves together the very latest technical innovations in live-character costume technology and computer animation to create a compelling experience for young viewers. 17 licensees are already in place in the UK.

    A full merchandise programme is planned in New Zealand to complement the launch and other existing platforms. Hasbro, the master toy licensee, has announced an October toy launch, apart from books from Penguin and DVDs from Roadshow.

    Global Licensing NZ is planning an early 2008 launch for an extensive apparel range, and will roll out home wares, apparel accessories, stationery, footwear, bags, games and puzzles.

    Global Licensing NZ head Mark Paul says, “Doctor Who has a long history in New Zealand and the success of the new TV series and UK merchandising programme will provide some great opportunities for NZ retailers and licensees. For Top Gear we intend to create a comprehensive lifestyle programme with products and promotions appealing to the whole family. In The Night Garden is a fantastic production and we anticipate great demand for infant/preschool products beginning with the new toy line from Hasbro”.