ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Granada International inks deal with Korean broadcasters

    Granada International inks deal with Korean broadcasters

    MUMBAI: Television content distributor Granada International’s regional office in Hong Kong has signed a raft of deals in Korea.

    EBS, Korea’s public free to air broadcaster, has acquired a package of drama programming including UK dramas Cracker and Dracula, Hollywood TV movies Life Is Not A Fairytale and Wildfires and titles from Granada International’s feature film library including Sophie’s Choice and Bugsy Malone. Also included in the EBS deal is the children’s wildlife show Get Bushwise.

    Granada International has concluded its first deal with CJ Media, part of one of Korea’s largest conglomerates, which includes the acquisition of reality series Poor Little Rich Girls and lifestyle shows Trinny and Susannah Undress… and Dinner Takes All.

    The science show Brainiac has been acquired by cable TV’s e-channel and two series of Megastructures which air in India on National Geographic Channel (NGC) have been picked up by MBC. Joongang Broadcasting has bought eight feature films from the Granada International library including My Left Foot and Jesus of Nazareth.

    Cable broadcaster On Media has acquired the second series of Hell’s Kitchen USA starring Gordon Ramsay and series two and three of Nanny 911.

    Granada International’s Regional Director based in the company’s Hong Kong offices James Ross says, “I am delighted to be working so closely with many of Korea’s top channels. The demand for our programming in Asia continues to grow and we are very fortunate to have a constant supply of dramas, documentaries and entertainment shows with high production values and great storylines that travel well to the region.”

  • MPA conducts anti piracy training seminar in Andhra Pradesh

    MPA conducts anti piracy training seminar in Andhra Pradesh

    MUMBAI: On 24 February 2007 the Motion Picture Association (MPA), in association with the Andhra Pradesh Film Producers’ Chambers held a movie piracy training seminar at the Andhra Pradesh Police Academy, Himayat Sagar, Hyderabad.

    The seminar had more than 400 attendees, including public prosecutors, magistrates, police officers, as well as industry representatives 

    The seminar, with Chief Guest Justice T.Ch. Surya Rao, Honorable Judge, Andhra Pradesh High Court, as its chief guest, saw enforcement authorities and rights holders sharing information on movie piracy and efforts to take action against pirates. The seminar also focussed on the need to raise public awareness of the damage caused to local industry by piracy.

    MPA senior VP and Regional Director, Asia-Pacific Mike Ellis says, “We are delighted to have joined with the Andhra Pradesh Film Producers’ Chambers and local enforcement authorities to take action against piracy in Andhra Pradesh.

    “It is clear that arrests, prosecutions and significant custodial sentences are necessary in order to create a real deterrent to this criminal activity that so badly damages local economies.”

    MPA head of operations Col. Anil Nayer says, “The Andhra Pradesh Police and the Film Producers’ Chambers are our partners in the battle against film piracy. The seminar aims to provide more insight to the enforcement authorities on film piracy and create a stronger team.”

    MPA says that piracy in India affects the Indian film industry more than American producers and distributors. It is estimated that only 20 per cent of pirated goods infringe the copyrights of foreign film titles. The remaining 80 per cent of pirated product infringes the copyrights of domestic films. According to Government estimates, the entertainment industry loses up to 1,700 crores annually on account of piracy.

    Since the beginning of 2004, the MPA has conducted close to 1,000 raids and seizure operations in India in cooperation with law enforcement authorities. Additionally, civil raids have been conducted through court-appointed Local Commissioners in civil suits initiated by MPA member companies.

    A comprehensive study aimed at producing a more accurate picture of the impact that piracy has on the film industry including, for the first time, losses due to internet piracy, recently calculated that the MPA studios lost $6.1 billion to worldwide piracy in 2005. About $2.4 billion was lost to bootlegging, $1.4 billion to illegal copying and US$2.3 billion to Internet piracy. Of the $6.1 billion in lost revenue to the studios, approximate $1.2 billion came from piracy across the Asia-Pacific region, while piracy in the US accounted for $1.3 billion.

    In 2005, the MPA’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region investigated more than 34,000 cases of piracy and assisted law enforcement officials in conducting more than 10,500 raids. These activities resulted in the seizure of more than 34 million illegal optical discs, 55 factory optical disc production lines and 3,362 optical disc burners, as well as the initiation of more than 8,000 legal actions.

  • Manna Dey sings for Prasar Bharati’s archival collections

    Manna Dey sings for Prasar Bharati’s archival collections

    NEW DELHI: Age has not withered his voice or affected his sense of humour. And though the grey lines are beginning to show, legendary playback singer Manna Dey still shows the same enthusiasm while performing that he had been popular for two decades ago.

    Expectedly, he left the audience entranced as he sang some his most popular numbers here last night at a concert organised by Doordarshan. The entire performance was recorded by Doordarshan for telecast and for being converted with CDs and VCDs as part of the archival collection of Prasar Bharati.

    Apart from the singer, the evening also saw the recitation of poetry by well-known lyricist Gopal Das Neeraj who in fact has also written some of the songs that the 86-year old Manna Dey sang.

    The singer obliged by singing some of Neeraj’s lyrics, including ‘aye bhai, zaraa Dekh ke chalo’ from the film ‘Mera Naam Joker’ made by probably the best showman of Indian cinema, Raj Kapoor, and ‘Aie mere pyaare watan, aie mere bichchde chaman’ from ‘Kabuliwala’ based on the story by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and ‘Poochho na kaise maine ran bitaayi’. Both Manna Dey and Neeraj received the National Awards for this song from ‘Mera Naam Joker’.

    The maestro chose to pick his own songs, and though he had a book in front of him with the lyrics written in them, he seldom had need to look down as he got carried away and the words came on their own from the corners of memory.

    Other songs rendered by Manna Dey included ‘Umarya Katti Jaye’, ‘Phul Gendwa Na maaro’, ‘Jeevan se lambe hain jeevan ke raste’, ‘Ai meri Zohra Zabeen tujhe maloom nahin’, and so many others including a Bengali song inspired by a famous coffee house in Kolkata which used to be frequented by artistes and filmmakers like Satyajit Ray.

    He also sang a composition of his favourite music director S D Burman– ‘Piya Maine Kya kiya, hame chhodh ke jayyo na’ and a few verses from ‘Madhushala’ composed by Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

    He was accompanied on the tabla by Indranath Mukherji, Richard Mitra on electric guitar and Mahendra Gokhale on keyboard.

    Manna Dey ‘s soulmate and ”inspiration” of his art Sulochana was also among the audience.Earlier, CEO Prasar Bharati BS Lalli welcomed Manna Dey with a bouquet of flowers and presented him a shawl. Senior officials of Doordarshan and All India Radio were also present.

    Born in 1920 in Kolkata, Manna day learnt the basic nuances of singing from his uncle Krishna Chandra Day and Ustad Dabir Khan. Later, when he came to Mumbai in 1942, he perfected his art under the tutelage of Sachin Dev Burman and under two stalwarts, Ustad Aman Ali Khan and Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan.

  • Catholic forum forces Discovery to cancel plans to air documentary on ‘Tomb Of Jesus’ in India

    Catholic forum forces Discovery to cancel plans to air documentary on ‘Tomb Of Jesus’ in India

    MUMBAI: Looks like Catholics in India are more than a little touchy when it comes to Jesus on film and television. Earlier this year, they had opposed the movie The Da Vinci Code. The film was eventually released with a note before and after the film that it was a work of fiction.

    Now the Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) has forced Discovery to cancel plans to air the documentary The Lost Tomb Of Jesus. As has already been reported by Indiantelevision.com, the programme claims to show that scientific analysis of limestone ossuaries (bone boxes) and physical evidence found in a 2,000-year-old tomb in Talpiot, Jerusalem, provide credible new information that the tomb once may have held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.

    James Cameron served as executive producer on the show. It has been directed by Simcha Jacobovici. The documentary, which will have its global television premier tomorrow (4 March), claims to present the latest evidence from experts in Aramaic script, ancient DNA analysis, forensics, archaeology and statistics

    In India, the CSF had written to Discovery in New Delhi requesting it to refrain from broadcasting the feature. CSF argued that the show trivialises the credibility of the Bible and the Christian faith.

    CSF secretary Joseph Dias was quoted in reports as stating that the show hurt religious sentiments in a pluralistic society and was an attempt to commercialise religion for selfish profit and commercial gains or cheap publicity.

    With references to Jesus as a human being with a family; mentions of Judah as the secret offspring of Jesus through Mary Magdalene; a portrayal of Mathew, one of the writers of the Gospels, as a maternal relative of Jesus and a mention of the burial of Jesus’ siblings in the same tomb, the CSF says the documentary attacks the basic tenets of Christianity.

    While cancelling plans to telecast it in India, Discovery “expressed regret that the channel had inadvertently hurt religious sentiments of the Christian community”. the CSF had threatened an agitation on the day of telecast and legal action if the channel went ahead with the telecast.

    The CSF even sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other ministers, including information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, demanding that the telecast be scrapped.

    CSF is also looking to prevent the release of the book and DVD in the country.

  • Disney goes 24/7 in Africa

    Disney goes 24/7 in Africa

    MUMBAI: Disney Channel announced that it would now transmit 24 hours a day on MultiChoice’s DStv platform across South and sub-Saharan Africa.The channel first launched with a 16 hours per day schedule and has now expanded its programming schedule to 24 hours..

    In a multiyear agreement with MultiChoice in September 2006, Disney Channel was made available to more than 1.3 million DStv subscribers across South and sub-Saharan Africa. At launch, Disney Channel aired daily from 6 am to 10 pm

    It also follows a 2004 edict mandating that Chinese cartoons had to account for at least 60 per cent of a channel’s animation output.

    The channel claims to enjoy the position of number one kids’ channel in multichannel homes in South Africa with shows like That’s So Raven, Zack & Cody and the new series Hannah Montana .

    An official statement also mentions that with an average 16-percent audience share, the network ranks as one of the top three performing Disney Channels worldwide.

    “From day one we have made a huge impact on the South African market, which demonstrates there is a real appetite for Disney Channel programming,” said Disney Channel UK, Scandinavia and emerging markets managing director Rob Gilby.

  • National Award for Miditech co-founder Niret Alva

    National Award for Miditech co-founder Niret Alva

    MUMBAI: Miditech co-founder Niret Alva has been awarded the National Award for his ‘Outstanding Effort in Science and Technology in the Electronic Medium’. President APJ Abdul Kalam hosted a special felicitation ceremony for the winners and was also attended by Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor.

    The National Awards instituted in 1988 by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication, Ministry of Science and Technology encourages and recognizes efforts in the area of science popularization.

    Alva was presented the award for using the electronic medium to powerfully convey the traditional science and current developments in the country.

    Accepting the award Alva said, “I am truly overwhelmed by this moment. I wish to thank the Government of India for giving me this honor and recognition. It will be my endeavor to continue using the electronic medium in a more progressive and powerful manner”.

    He has developed and built major brands like Indian Idol, Galli Galli Sim Sim (Sesame Street), Wheels, and Living on the Edge. Alva has also anchored travel shows (Great Escape), automobile (Wheels) and environment (Living on the Edge and Earth Report).

    Niret Alva will also be representing India at the Asia 21 Young Leaders Forum in Kochi from 3 to 5 March. Alva had earlier chaired the first session of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in Seoul last year where the focus was on value-based leadership.

    The Asia 21 initiative unites professionals from across the Asia-Pacific region representing varied spheres, ranging from business and politics to media, arts and culture. The meet in Kochi is designed to share and discuss best practices in leadership and problem solving.

    Excited at representing India at the Asia 21, Niret Alva said “I am honored to be a part of this forum. This is a great opportunity for me to interact and collaborate with dynamic people from various regions and understand the challenges faced by our society. I hope to contribute to this forum to the best of my experience and knowledge. “

    The first meeting of this year’s class of fellows will address topics related to protecting cultural heritage, human security, environmental protection, economic development, corporate social responsibility, public health issues.

    Shaffi Mather, Malini Mether and Logsang Sangay are other delegates chosen to represent India at the forum.

  • BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    MUMBAI: Google’s YouTube may be facing the heat from the likes of Viacom on copy protection issues but the popularity of the online video network continues to grow. The British Broadcasting Corp. has struck a multi-year content deal with YouTube that will make programming available via three branded channels on the search giant’s video-sharing site.

    Three YouTube channels — one for news and two for entertainment — will carry content from BBC. BBC Worldwide will air promotional trailers for new programmes and clips from its old hit series on the website.

    The aim is to bring new audiences to the proposed BBC iPlayer service, and to secure commercial revenue via BBC Worldwide, its commercial subsidiary, to supplement the licence fee. 
    While the current deal includes its promotion of its non news programming, the publicly funded broadcaster also said that news clips will be added in the near future.

    From the BBC channel there will be content based on current hits such as Life on Mars and Doctor Who, while from BBC Worldwide there will be clips from old favorites such as Spooks and Top Gear, which are sold globally.

     
    The BBC Worldwide arm also plans to offer around 30 news items a day, though the advertising-funded news clips will not be available to users in Britain who pay the license fee that funds the BBC. The news channel will be launched later this year.

    The output will include specially created video diaries such as actor David Tennant taking viewers around the sets of Doctor Who and reporter Clive Myrie on the streets of the red zone of Baghdad.

    This would mirror the type of deal that YouTube has in place with US sports organisation NHL. Under the original deals the partners have used the platform for promotional purposes. Channel 4, for example, has a branded promotional channel plugging Ugly Betty.

    Several large broadcasters in the US have similar arrangements with YouTube including CBS, which claimed 200,000 extra viewers for The Late Show with David Letterman after clips from the show were posted on the video-sharing website.

     
    BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said: “This ground-breaking partnership between the BBC and YouTube is fantastic news for our audiences. YouTube is a key gateway through which to engage new audiences in the UK and abroad.

    “The partnership provides both a creative outlet for a range of short-form content from BBC programme makers and the opportunity to learn about new forms of audience behaviour. It’s essential that the BBC embraces new ways of reaching wider audiences with non-exclusive partnerships such as these.”

    Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt said,”We’re delighted to be joining forces with the BBC to bring the best TV programming available to the YouTube community. We will continue to invest in our platforms and technologies to help our partners make the most of the enormous opportunities presented by the billion people now online.”

    YouTube CEO and Co-Founder Chad Hurley said, “We’re constantly looking for innovative ways to bring the best content to our community. The BBC is a premier source for quality programming, and we’re excited that they are leading the way in enabling two-way dialogue and real engagement with an entirely new audience. We hope to open up an entirely new audience for their content, while deepening their relationship with their existing viewers.”

  • Net Insight ‘s solution to improve transport system for TV on mobile

    Net Insight ‘s solution to improve transport system for TV on mobile

    MUMBAI: Net Insight, which develops scalable optical transport solutions for media, IP and broadcast networks, announces the Nimbra 360 multiservice access/edge switch.

    This solution integrates transport of digital terrestrial television (DTT) TV operators deploying Digital Terrestrial TV based on Nimbra 360 not only get a DTT network but a multi-service transport infrastructure that opens up new business opportunities.

    The multicast feature makes it easy to distribute both digital TV and radio. Adding a higher-speed backbone and plug-in modules for uncompressed video and audio services turns the network into a media contribution platform. The built-in GbE interface and Ethernet multicast features make the solution very suitable for IPTV distribution or WiFi/Wimax aggregation. The same platform can also be used for mobile TV whether distributed over IP or ASI MPEG.

     
    DTT and Mobile TV often require a Single Frequency Network (SFN) where the transmitter stations must be synchronized to send their signals at exactly the same time. Nimbra 360 has a time transfer capability that allows accurate distribution of real time over the same network that carries the video signals. This eliminates the need for costly and potentially vulnerable GPS receivers in the network.

    DTT networks are being built, and are going to be built in many countries during the coming years. In Norway, Norkring AS delivers infrastructure and network services to premier broadcasters. The company, owned by Telenor ASA, has nation-wide transmission networks for television and radio where Nimbra 360 nodes are being deployed.

    Net Insight CEO Fredrik Tragardh says, “The Nimbra 360 was especially designed for Digital Terrestrial and Mobile TV networks and has several unique features for these applications. In addition, Nimbra 360 offers a flexible and cost-effective solution for delivering advanced multimedia services in broadcast and media networks and for IPTV/CATV distribution.”

    With four built-in multirate SONET/SDH SFP ports and one Gigabit Ethernet port the product is ready-to-go for demanding applications already in its basic configuration. In addition, up to 16 DVB-ASI ports or other combinations of multiservice access and trunk interfaces are available using the two slots for plug-in modules.

     
    TV operators deploying DTT based on Nimbra 360 not only get a DTT network but a multi-service transport infrastructure that opens up new business opportunities. The unique multicast feature makes it easy to distribute both digital TV and radio. Adding a higher-speed backbone and plug-in modules for uncompressed video and audio services turns the network into a very powerful media contribution platform.

    The built-in GbE interface and Ethernet multicast features make the solution very suitable for IPTV distribution or WiFi/Wimax aggregation. The same platform can also be used for mobile TV whether distributed over IP or ASI MPEG.

  • Ripley’s Believe it or Not available as mobisodes

    Ripley’s Believe it or Not available as mobisodes

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures International secured the rights from Ripley Entertainment Inc and plans to distribute “mobisodes,” or segments of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! television show on mobile phone and Internet.

    The segments include unbelievable and completely wacky humans, incredible feats and animal oddities ranging from a microchip dog to mountain stilt hikers.

    “The show segments are expected to be available to the public later this year and will be available through mobile devices, Internet, airline in-flight entertainment and on-demand channels.

     
    The three-year deal signed with CPT Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television International showcases the need for mobile information and content for the Internet.

    “We are pioneers in the broadcasting of weird and wacky and unbelievable material, both on radio and television. Through the years, we have proven that truth is absolutely stranger than fiction,” said Ripley Entertainment president Bob Masterson.

    “These shows transcend time and we’re fortunate to have the ability to adapt the clips for use in today’s popular media platforms through our partnership with Sony, ” he added.

     
    Norm Deska, Executive Vice President of Intellectual Property for Ripley Entertainment, agrees that most of the show segments are timeless.

    “When we worked with Sony years ago on the production of these shows, we never dreamed this footage would have any use other than that of television. We are excited that a whole new generation will have the opportunity to witness amazing Believe It or Nots! through a more contemporary channel of communication.”

    Sony Pictures Television will draw in material from the 79 one-hour episodes of the Ripley Believe It or Not! Television hosted by Jack Palance that aired in the 1980s and from the 88 one-hour episodes in the Dean Cain series that ran between 1999 and 2003.

  • Zee Kannada’s kerchief campaign draws good response

    Zee Kannada’s kerchief campaign draws good response

    MUMBAI: The handkerchief signature campaign on Zee Kannada is said to have drawn a good response from people across the country.

    The campaign was kicked off by Essel Group and Zee Network chairman Subhash Chandra signing the first handkerchief followed by Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, other personalities in the state such as Home Minister M P Prakash, Infosys Member of the Board & Director HR Mohandas Pai, Jain Group of Institutions chairman, Chenraj Jain state artiste Umashree and swimmer Nisha Millet amongst others who wanted to express their solidarity with the Indian cricket team by signing wishes on their handkerchiefs.

    Zee Kannada’s ‘Handkerchief Signature Campaign’ team has been traveling across Karnataka collecting wishes to be passed on to the Indian players.

    The channel has already received good response from several schools, colleges, NGOs, institutes for the physically challenged, malls, theatres and Government offices.