ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • IBN 7 to launch real estate show ‘Property Bazaar’

    MUMBAI: IBN 7 has launched a 30-minute real estate show titled Property Bazaar. Slotted at 12:30 pm every Saturaday, the show will kick off on 7 July.

    Property Bazaar will guide aspiring buyers on the various nuances of the real estate market, intricacies of acquiring home loans, and help viewers make informed decisions about their property investments.

    Besides, Property Bazaar will address topics like investment in commercial property and where to get best furnishing to renovate. It will analyse current property trends and rates in identifying the best buys within various budgets, showcase celebrity homes and offer viewers interesting tips on interiors and aesthetics.

    IBN 7 managing editor Ashutosh said, “We are launching Property Bazaar at a time when more and more people are investing in real-estate whether for personal or commercial purposes. The show is meant to guide and inform our viewers on various aspects related to property.”

  • BBC World Service audience touches 183 million

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service now claims to have more listeners than any other international radio broadcaster, with an increase in its audience to a record 183 million, a rise of 20 million on the previous year.

    According to the annual review for BBC World Service, audiences rose in the Middle East, the wider Islamic world and Africa.

    BBC World Service on FM is available in 152 capital cities, up from 150 last year. The report says BBC’s international news websites attracted a record 763 million page impressions in March 2007, up from 546 million compared to March 2006. Around the world, there were a record 38.5 million online users in March 2007, up from 32.8 million a year ago.

    BBC Global News services – which include BBC World Service, the BBC World television channel and BBC international online news sites – attracted a record global weekly audience of over 233 million during 2006 – 2007.

    BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman says, “Audiences overall are going up in some of our biggest markets in Africa and Asia, including India, Pakistan and Nigeria. This is a significant achievement because these markets too are highly competitive and such large numbers are always vulnerable to rapid falls. But English language audiences for radio dropped back in parts of Africa, contributing to a decline from 42 million to 38 million in the global English radio total. Official discouragement of partnerships which would enable us to broadcast English programme material on any scale in Nigeria is a major obstacle.

    “In Bangladesh, troubled by political unrest, the weekly audience figure almost doubled in a year, demonstrating once again how listeners return to the BBC at times of crisis. In Afghanistan, the first nationwide survey showed that there were 10 million listeners a week, 60 per cent of the adult population.

    “The work of our technical teams enables BBC World Service to compete effectively in some of the world’s toughest environments. Five sites are now solar powered to keep them on the air independently of local supplies”.

    “It is clear that a tri-media approach, combining radio, television and online is essential if BBC World Service is to compete in the multi-platform digital age.” But it is a more mixed picture in other regions. The difficulties we can face as markets develop are apparent in Latin America and parts of Eastern Europe, such as Romania and Ukraine, where burgeoning choice has led to a decline in our audiences. In Russia, distribution problems in a difficult political climate have been a further setback, leading to the loss of FM services in Moscow and St Petersburg and a decline in listening to under one million. In China, poor access to BBC news content in what is now a bustling aggressively competitive market has resulted in a further loss of audience.

    “The silver lining is the success of new online partnerships in China, including one deal with a key national portal. They offer access to BBC educational material and 90 per cent of the traffic to BBC content in China now comes from these partner deals.

    “The worldwide growth in online audiences, led by the BBC’s international news site bbcnews.com, has steadied and it is recognised we need to build this audience further in the coming years. The spectacular growth rate of the early days of the internet is much harder to achieve now that most initial adopters of the technology have found us. As in China, we are building partnerships with major portals to showcase our work better and increase traffic.

    “Continued investment in technology will be necessary for us to compete in a world where the ability to find and share information and content is fundamental. In the most sophisticated markets, the generation growing up with social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace takes sharing video content for granted. We have taken significant steps this year with the launch of broadband video news in six languages and new sites for downloading content to mobile devices.”

    He added, “Everything from audio and video technology for reporters in the field to the way programmes are put together and distributed is now being digitised, giving us the flexibility to deliver programmes in new ways. The opening of the Production House of the Future at Bush House which is a digital production space is a first, showing the way forward for the whole of the BBC and other media organisations. Investment in production centres overseas has brought us closer to audiences. More than 30 per cent of BBC World Service’s production staff is now based in the countries to which it broadcasts.

    Preparations to launch BBC Arabic Television in the autumn of 2007 were on track and its staff will be the first part of BBC World Service to occupy the new Broadcasting House centre that we will eventually share with all the BBC’s domestic news operations. The go-ahead for a Farsi television service announced in October 2006, was very welcome, he said.

    “In this far-reaching transformation of our activities, one thing which is not changing is our commitment to traditional BBC values, starting with the quality of programmes. The past year has been one of further innovation in programme making, helping audiences to make sense of a world that is increasingly globalised and interconnected. Generation Next gave a voice to the under-18s who are often neglected in the mainstream media. India Rising offered a deep insight into winners and losers in this booming Asian economy. Business Daily shed new light on long-term trends taking place behind the world of work”.

  • Sarah Cooper is BBC Worldwide COO

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has promoted Sarah Cooper to COO. She was previously director of business and legal affairs .

    Cooper will have direct responsibility for all of BBC Worldwide’s corporate operations including legal and business affairs, talent accounting and corporate governance.

    In addition, she will also lead key corporate-wide projects such as the impending company relocation, the marketing review and the development of brand strategy across the business. The role will also continue to support the implementation of core joint ventures and acquisitions.

    Sarah will continue to report to BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith and will act as his Deputy in his absence.

    Smith said, “I am delighted to announce this new position as Sarah has been pivotal in driving transformation in our business. She has demonstrated strong leadership and great judgement, and I know that she will embrace this role wholeheartedly.”

  • Audiences want BBC to be more innovative

    MUMBAI: The BBC Trust has published the BBC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2006/2007 and highlighted demands from the UK public for more innovation as a priority for the BBC to address.

    In line with the new Charter requirements, this year’s Annual Report is in two parts with the Trust’s commentary on the BBC’s performance separate from the detailed analysis and financial accounts prepared by the BBC Executive Board.

    In advance of implementing in full the new governance frameworks of Purpose Remits and Service Licences, the Trust limits its assessment this year to provisional conclusions, but these are based on evidence gathered during the Trust’s first six months.

    This evidence includes the findings of its first major audience research project on BBC priorities and performance, and responses from the public and the commercial sector to consultations about the draft Purpose Remits and the new Service Licences. All of these are published by the Trust today. The public ranks education and news as its top two BBC priorities and awards its highest performance scores to both genres. Entertaining programmes are the public’s third priority and there is clear recognition for the wide range of programmes provided.

    But both audience research and the majority of respondents to the Trust’s Purpose Remit consultation highlighted the provision of innovative and distinctive content as the area they wished to see the greatest improvement from the BBC: 72 per cent of audiences rated innovation as important, but only 51 per cent agreed that the BBC is performing well in this area.

    BBC chairman Sir Michael Lyons said, “The Trust works for the public which owns and pays for the BBC. We listen to a wide range of voices, seeking to understand all opinions and expectations to inform our judgements.

    “The Trust’s assessment of the BBC this year is necessarily provisional and incomplete, but some messages are already coming through strongly: the public trusts the BBC and values much of what it produces, but audiences want the BBC to be more innovative. Whilst public approval of the BBC remains stable, audiences have also told us that fresh and new programme ideas must be a high priority and more effort is needed.

    “This message, alongside a desire for high quality – which need not necessarily mean high cost – is consistent across all groups who have participated in our consultations and it is one of the key factors we will consider when deciding the BBC’s strategic priorities in the autumn.

    “The BBC’s unique system of funding provides the necessary security for creative risk-taking that few other broadcasters can afford. Essential to the BBC’s success are the desire to be distinctive, bold ambition for trying new things, respect always for the public’s money, and confidence amongst the creative teams. As Trustees we prize the professionalism and creativity of BBC staff and fully recognise that, in truly seeking to meet these aims, occasional failures will inevitably feature alongside great successes.

    “One of our early priorities has been to focus on impartiality and we have published a number of studies. Accuracy and independence are essential to public confidence in the BBC and we will continue to promote active debate both within and without the corporation.

    “Our objective as the BBC’s sovereign body is to ensure that the BBC adds significantly to the creative and economic vigour of the UK. This requires a robust system of governance, a clear strategic framework with a focus on quality and value for money for all UK communities, and recognition that the BBC must be careful not to use its considerable economic power in ways that might stifle enterprise or innovation from elsewhere. The Trust looks forward to meeting this objective in the years ahead.”

    In the Annual Report, the Trust notes that the BBC is becoming more efficient and highlights the £228 million in savings achieved in the last two years as part of the three year plan. The efficiency drive continues, with a further target of £127 million for the current financial year (2007/2008) and a commitment by the Trust to set future efficiency targets for the BBC in discussion with the National Audit Office.

    There is greater transparency of spend by BBC service in this year’s document, with each service’s proportion of spend on items such as rights and news gathering costs identified. Information on distribution and infrastructure costs such as marketing, on-air trails and market research is also allocated to each service. The report includes a new metric which helps inform assessments of value-for-money – Cost per User Hour (CPUH) which combines service spend and consumption of a service. BBC Parliament has the highest CPUH at 24 pence per user hour, and Radio 2 the lowest at 0.4 pence per user hour, and BBC One is 7 pence.

    The Trust has also published its forward workplan for the remainder of 2007/2008. In addition to deciding the BBC’s six year strategic plan and completing implementation of the new governance framework which will ensure the Trust is equipped to hold management to account for meeting the public’s priorities, the workplan includes an external study into the BBC’s major role in the talent market, and the Trust’s first full service review, which will be on bbc.co.uk.

    BBC DG Mark Thompson said, “This has been a momentous year. We secured a strong 10-year Charter and Agreement, a secure, but challenging, licence fee settlement, created a new Executive Board with five non-executive directors, and began working with the new BBC Trust. It has also been a year of continuing change to ensure the BBC is in strong creative shape to provide real value to audiences over the next 10 years.

    “We launched Creative Future outlining our editorial blueprint for the on-demand world and continued to try and make the BBC a simpler, and more open organisation. Saturday nights on BBC One were completely revitalised thanks to Dr Who, Strictly Come Dancing and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria. Drama had a real injection of energy, Planet Earth continued to inspire awe, and factual content captured broad new audiences through programmes like Springwatch, The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den. News 24 was put at the heart of our journalism and Panorama moved back to primetime on Monday nights. BBC Radio continued to grow while strengthening its reputation for excellence through initiatives like the Electric Proms and our online and interactive sites broke one record after another.

    “There were bumps along the way. Editorial mistakes around phone lines, while unintentional, went to the heart of our contract of trust with audiences and we are taking steps to minimise the chance of it happening again.”

  • Alka Saxena quits MH1 News

    MUMBAI: Alka Saxena has made an early exit from MH1 News where she was working as CEO and editor-in-chief.

    MH1 group CEO Pradeep Gangal has taken over Saxena’s role. “Gangal is now also the CEO and editor-in-chief of MH1 News,” said group chairman Mahender Bathla.

    When contacted, Saxena confirmed that she had quit MH1 News. She, however, did not reveal where she was headed.

    Earlier Alka Saxena used to host the live chat show Aap Ka Mat on Broadcast Iniitiatives’ news and current affairs channel Janmat. She has also worked as editor in Zee News.

  • Iran launches English news channel

    MUMBAI: Iran’s state broadcaster has launched an English news channel Press TV, aiming to break the stranglehold of the West over the world’s media. Its competition ioncludes BBC, CNN, France 24 and AL Jazeera.

    The channel will focus on Middle East news. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been quopted in reports saying that the network should stand behind oppressed nations but not make up news in their favour.

    The channel would, thus, pave the way for people’s acquaintance with an alternative voice and view. Press TV programmes hover on half hour news bulletins, reports, live talk shows and documentaries.

  • Triveni Group to launch two news channels by year-end

    MUMBAI: Triveni Media Limited, part of the Rs 30 billion Triveni Group, is all set to launch two news channels in October-November. The company is also planning to come up simultaneously with a lifestyle channel.

    Triveni will make its appearance in the broadcasting space with a national Hindi news channel. It will also have a channel aimed at the UP-Uttranchal region.

    “We are coming up with a bouquet of four channels in October-November. This includes three launches and a religious channel which we acquired. We have obtained all the government clearances,” says Triveni Infrastructure Development Company managing director Madhur Mittal.

    The company is going to re-launch Sadhna, a religious channel.

    With an investment of Rs 2 billion, the company plans to set up 18 channels in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Maharasthra, Punjab and West Bengal within two years.

    “The debt component of the investment of Rs 2 billion will be 30 per cent. We are not looking at diluting equity now,” says Mittal.

    The channels will be uplinked from Noida, near Delhi. “The inflow of data from the different news bureaus will be collected at a single centre and disseminated into the various regional languages. By using this approach, we will keep our costs low,” says Mittal.

    Triveni Media has roped in Aaj Tak technical director Rahul Kulshetra to head the operations. Ram Kripal, also from Aaj Tak, is appointed as the group editor.

  • CNN relaunches website with integrated features

    MUMBAI: News brpadcaster CNN has relaunched its site cnn.com. The aim is to be an intuitive, integrated Web site that puts users within a click of the global, international and local news and information they find most relevant to them.

    With the site’s enhancements and redesign, users can access the news of the day through a story package that provides text, images, video, related stories and user-generated content. Also, the live online video content that was available through the subscription-only CNN Pipeline becomes woven into the fabric of CNN.com and is available to all CNN.com users for free, making the service even more dynamic and user-friendly.

    CNN News Services executive VP Susan Grant says, “To simply describe this relaunch as a site redesign grossly understates what we’re doing at CNN.com. This goes beyond the next level of online news and jumps straight into a fully integrated experience in which articles, videos, images and user-generated content all come together to give users a more enriching, immediate interaction with the news content and information they need and want.”

    Improvements to CNN.com and its international edition include:

    • Integrated multimedia storytelling that puts text, videos, photos, maps, charts and more all accessible on one page. Tabbed elements allow easy access to a variety of media types, allowing users to determine themselves how they get the news they want.

    • Presentation of video has been improved. This includes CNN’s online video archive stretching across its 27 year history – all free of charge without need for downloads. A new on-demand video player offers a Flash-based, play-in-page experience complete with larger and higher quality video and tools to create playlists and provide feedback. A live player provides access to up to four live video streams, one of which is guided by CNN.com-exclusive news anchors – the only offering of its kind on the Web.

    • More ways for users to engage in news through feedback, content submissions from users with I-Report articles, video, photos and and blog commentaries.

    • Locally relevant content, allowing users to personalize CNN.com to offer enhanced weather forecasts and personalized local headlines. This content comes from various sources and content-sharing relationships, including CNN.com’s affiliates and the recently announced strategic alliance with Internet Broadcasting, the US’ largest publisher of TV station Web sites.

    • Links to content available on other news and information sites and blogs as part of CNN’s commitment to being a good web citizen.

    • Better TV promotion on the site to improve the complementarity of CNN’s TV and online services

    There is a Hot Topics section front that provides in-depth multi-media content based on timely, newsworthy stories; The All About pages give users access to an archive of stories that CNN.com – and other selected media sources – have published on almost any subject; The We Recommend feature, which presents users with stories and videos from CNN.com and other content partners based on the user’s past CNN.com browsing history.

    · “From the Blogs” feature, which aggregates comments from blogs around the Web discussing either a specific story or topics related to one published on CNN.com.

    · Highlights at the top of every article, which enable users to scan and digest story details quickly, and a “Next” link, which allows them to browse through story highlights quickly. CNN.com also directs users to related content, one way in which the site reveals connections between stories.

  • Amrita TV launches Newstrack

    MUMBAI: Amrita TV has launched “Newstrack”, a daily news bulletin at 6.00 pm.

    The news bulletin features five major news breaks and stories. There will be one “Big Story” of the day which will be analysed in-depth with guests coming on live from its various news bureaus in Kerala and Delhi.

    Part of the show “In-Brief” segment wraps up the key highlights of national and global news. “Newstrack” will also have a live report filed from the Amrita TV sports desk.

    Backed by innovative graphics,new-look scrolls and tickers, “Newstrack” is aimed at news-centric Keralites around the world.

  • BBC Worldwide profits up 24 per cent to ?111 million

    MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of UK pubcaster the BBC, has published its Annual Review for 2006-07. Profits are up 24 per cent to ?111.1 million. It recorded sales of ?810.4 million including BBC Worldwide’s share of joint ventures (2005-06: ?785.1m).


    The proportion of sales to outside the UK was up by five per cent year on year to 46 per cent. Investment in BBC-commissioned programmes was also up at ?96.3 million from ?89 million in 2005/06, with total programme investment at ?103.6m.


    Highlights of the year include continued strong profits growth, healthy international sales of hit shows and formats around the world, the refreshing of the company’s wholly owned channel portfolio and laying the foundations for strong digital revenue growth.



    BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith says, “BBC Worldwide has achieved a three-fold increase in profits in the last three years. We have exceeded expectations in most of our businesses over the past 12 months, reflecting healthy returns from our new Channels business, strong TV catalogue sales and growing demand internationally for BBC formats. We are now investing to build our digital offering and strengthen our position in markets such as the US, China, India and Australia, creating one of the world’s premier content networks.”


    BBC Worldwide non-executive chairman Etienne de Villiers says, “BBC Worldwide has reached a watershed. It has proven capable of delivering against a demanding business plan with commercial efficiency; it now is poised to grow significantly with new product lines and in exciting markets.”


    BBC DG Mark Thompson says, “BBC Worldwide continues to deliver excellent returns for licence payers from the content they help fund us to make. Its success is increasingly critical to our ability to invest in original creative programming for audiences in the UK, and the company is playing major part in taking those programmes out to the rest of the world.”




    Global Channels recorded sales of ?169 million and profit of ?20.9 million. 28 channels are available in over 259 million homes around the world, broadcasting in 15 different languages. New BBC-branded channel portfolio was developed. These are BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and BBC HD.


    BBC Entertainment replaced BBC Prime in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. It launched in India earlier this year together with the pre-school brand, CBeebies.


    Global Channels joined forces with the distribution and ad sales teams from BBC World allowing the teams to present a single face to market for all six BBC-branded channels. UKTV, the joint venture with Virgin Media, had a good year with its Sky carriage deal being renewed, commercial audiences growing by 18 per cent and an ad sales performance above the market average.


    BBC Worldwide recorded global TV sales of ?216.4 million and profit of ?40.2 million. BBC Worldwide TV sales and content and production revenue broadly accounted for 38 per cent of total UK TV exports last year (compared to 32 per cent the previous year).


    The year’s most successful new titles included Doctor Who, Robin Hood, Torchwood, Life on Mars, 9/11 – The Twin Towers and Planet Earth. The latter was viewed in 95 countries and territories and grossing in excess of ?22m in global sales to date.


    Sales to Europe (ex-UK) were up by 23 per cent from ?46.5 million to ?57.1 million, aided by a country by country analysis of market tastes and tailored sales strategy.


    Sales to the Americas were up by 17.2 per cent but profits were impacted by a high proportion of co-production deals on which BBC Worldwide makes lower margins and the US dollar weakening against sterling.


    In the rest of the world profits were up 26.9 per cent although the strong pound had some impact on results. The BBC’s first ever co-production with China was secured – Wild China with CCTV. In Australia drama was a particularly powerful revenue driver.


    The key event of the year remains BBC Showcase. This, BBC Worldwide says, is the world’s largest trade event hosted by a single distributor. In February 2007, the event boasted 600 hours of new content and attracted over 550 buyers from all over the world. BBC Worldwide’s catalogue now includes 2000 hours of programming available for digital distribution and over 220 hours of High Definition content.


    BBC Worldwide’s FM radio joint venture with Mid Day Multimedia Ltd saw the re-launch of the radio station in Mumbai, plus new stations launching in Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.


    In the Content and Production division sales were ?52.9 million. Profit was ?9.5 million. Growth was driven by the success of Dancing with the Stars, a hit in over 41 countries. Existing formats continued to deliver, such as Weakest Link in France, Friends Like These and The Generation Game in South Africa, and It Takes Two and Honey We’re Killing the Kids in Australia and New Zealand.


    Just the Two of Us became the first BBC entertainment format to be licensed to a Chinese broadcaster (Hunan TV). In Australia, where it plays as It Takes Two, a second series launched in 2007. The format has also been licensed in Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia, Croatia and the Ukraine. A joint venture deal was announced with Australian independent producer, the Freehand Group. A worldwide network of local production offices was planned. BBC Worldwide is also developing loveearth.com, a natural history portal to support the launch of Earth the movie in autumn 2007/08.


    Magazines sales were ?171.3 million and the profit was ?20 million. The firm says that the magazines division performed well in a flat market, growing its circulation revenues and increasing its share of advertising revenues. One in four UK adults reads a BBC title every month. The year’s best-performing magazines were Top Gear, Good Food, Doctor Who Adventures and CBeebies Weekly in terms of circulation growth. Subscriptions across portfolio now up to 650,000. International licences up to 33 across 57 territories.


    Worldwide Media, a JV with the Times of India, secured licence to publish Hello! in India in May. Magazine websites bbcgoodfood.com and radiotimes.com were improved and relaunched. Countryfile magazine will be launched later this year.


    Losses in children magazines (previously a stand-alone business) continued and the business was moved into Home Entertainment where it can benefit from the combined management expertise in publishing and licensing. Sales from merchandising licences grew to almost ?9 million (highest level for five years); Doctor Who was the fastest-growing licence in the UK children’s market in 2006.


    Digital media sales were ?13.9 million. The division concluded a series of video on demand (VOD), web distribution and mobile deals around the world. New VoD customers included Netflix in the US and Telstra Big Pond in Australia. Investments went into key propositions bbc.com and the commercial media player. Digital Media is now responsible for the delivery of new websites or the re-launches of existing sites across all areas of BBC Worldwide.


    A global content agreement was announced with YouTube in March. Four million videos were viewed on the BBCW channel on YouTube in its first month of operation. New mobile clients included mobile operators TU Media in Asia, Vodafone’s New Zealand network and the 3 network in Ireland. BBC Motion Gallery, which is BBC Worldwide’s TV clip sales business, announced a clip distribution deal with China’s state broadcaster, CCTV.