ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Essel targets January 2007 launch of digital venture; plans web portal

    Essel targets January 2007 launch of digital venture; plans web portal

    MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group will unveil a set of digital initiatives under the banner of its newly-formed digital arm Digital Media Convergence Ltd (DMCL) by January 2007, including a web portal.

    The plan is to explore new media platforms such as mobile and IPTV and the online space in a full-fledged manner to distribute various formats of digitised content.

    “We will be unveiling our initiatives in three months time. We are going to create various in-house formats and shows. Apart from this, we are speaking to various foreign players as well to acquire internationally acclaimed formats. We are sending a special programming delegation for the upcoming Mipcom session. Though the stress is on delivering fresh content, we are keen on the Zee digital library as well,” says DMCL CEO Abhijeet Saxena.

    DMCL will concentrate on acquiring, digitising and making available content on various delivery platforms. “Apart from our library products, we are keenly looking at providing our services to all the content owners who want to distribute their content in these platforms. The company will also be exploring the interactivity segment to tap the potential this space offers to the maximum,” Saxena adds.

    To enrich its platforms, DMCL will be creating special interest content, apart from making use of the Zee Network library on a selective basis. DMCL has already initiated talks with various Indian as well as international companies to acquire programming formats and various genres of content.

    According to Saxena, the company is thinking beyond mobisodes and other existing mobile value added services (VAS). He says the plan is to launch multiple formats of shows, targeting various segments of the consumer.

    “We have thought about the viability of the services from a consumer point of view and the practicalities of making it a popular medium. Hence, we will offer various price rates depending on the duration and uniqueness of the formats. For example, we are working on multiple formats for movies, not just abridged versions. To market these multiple segments, we have classified the services into premium and mass oriented,” Saxena offers.

    DMCL expects to contribute to the mobile VAS in a significant manner with the initiatives. “The existing mobile VAS market size comes about $500 million and this space is expected to reach $10 billion by 2010. DMCL expects to be a major contributor to the expansion,” says Saxena.

    DMCL has recently roped in Intel and IBM for its back-end technology support. The company has already brought most of the telecom operators on board for the initiative.

  • CNN-IBN reaffirms the numnero uno slot

    New Delhi, September 4, 2006: CNN-IBN, has reinforced and consolidated on its No. 1 position in the English news genre. The latest TAM report indicates that CNN-IBN has achieved a leadership position across the day in all markets, taking a lead ahead of its competitors. As per the latest TAM report (Week 34, August 20 – August 26, 2006) available, CNN-IBN leads with a market share of 37% (TG Male 25+ All India).

     

    Source – TAM, Target Audience – Male 25+
    MARKETS: All Markets
    Week 34, August 20 – August 26, 2006

    Day part Channel Channel share
    0700 – 2400 CNN-IBN 37%
    NDTV 24×7 33%

     

     

     

     

    Highlighting the success Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-chief, CNN-IBN said “It is a moment of pride and delight for all of us and it just accentuates the faith that the viewers have in our content. We consider this success as an encouragement to take the process of newsgathering a step higher. It’s the commitment to good journalism that will always count, and that’s where we always try to measure ourselves against,”

     

    About CNN-IBN

     

    TV18 and Time Warner have joined hands to bring CNN-IBN, India’s first and very own world-class English news channel, headed by one of the most credible faces of news journalism, Rajdeep Sardesai. CNN-IBN brings news as well as feature programs. With editorial and network resources across every nook and corner of India and the globe, CNN-IBN is committed to bring to the discerning Indian viewer only the best of television journalism.

    For further information please contact:
    Parul Bhasin/ Namrata Bhalla PR Pundit, New Delhi
    Tel: 93502 65351 / 9873313613

  • Sify Gamedromes announces national tournament

    Sify Gamedromes announces national tournament

    MUMBAI: Sify Gamedrome, the gaming chain from Sify Limited will conduct a national online Counter Strike Condition Zero (CZ) tourney for the first time. The tournament will be held across 202 Gamedromes in 60 cities over a period of 45 days.

    Counter Strike Condition Zero Battle is one of the leading online action games globally, and is the headliner at competitive gaming tournaments around the world. The Grand National finals will be held on 2 October. Around 10,000 gaming enthusiasts and seven million registered online users are expected to participate in this first ever National Online Tourney.

    Speaking on the announcement of this exciting new online games initiative, Sify Access Media president Pijush Kanti Das, said “The first ever Gamedrome National Online Counter Strike CZ Battle Tourney is being supported by an exclusive tie- up with Animax for television coverage. An online campaign with a microsite on www.gamedrome.co.in, banners on the homepages of the increasingly popular www.sifymax.com and www.sify.com, as well as promotional e-mailers and wallpapers across our over 3400 iWays and Gamedromes will spread the excitement. For we are committed to developing the community of online gamers in India, and expect this national level tournament to be the first of many such initiatives”.

    The contestants will have an opportunity to win prizes worth Rs 1 million right from the Mock Tournaments at the regional levels to the Grand National Finals. The Tourney will start with mock tournaments at each participating Sify Gamedrome. The winners at each Gamedrome will then play at the Gamedrome level on 22-23 September. The winners at the Gamedrome level will then play the city finals on 30 September. The zonal level, regional level and the grand final tournament will take place on September 1st 06 and September 2nd 06 respectively.

    The national winners of a team of five players will get Sony Erricson (W) series handsets worth more than a lakh of rupees. At a regional level, gift hampers from Gigabyte worth Rs 25,000 will be distributed to each winning team of five players. The zonal level and Gamedrome level will receive prizes worth Rs 10,000 each and gift hamper worth Rs 1,000 each respectively.

    Online games have witnessed rapid growth in the recent past with 202 Gamedromes across 60 cities in the country with a growing number of dedicated online gamers. In addition, over 1000 iWays across the country have games enabled PCs. Sify’s Gamedromes and games enabled iWays have both the latest and most popular games across all genres, including racing, action, sports, strategy and online games on high-end multi-media computers.

  • CNN to air summit with former US president Clinton

    CNN to air summit with former US president Clinton

    MUMBAI: History shows that the world is plagued with the casualties of religious and ethnic conflicts. With recent struggles in Lebanon and Israel and daily clashes in Iraq, the Middle East is a hotbed of religious and ethnic conflict. CNN will air the hour long documentary In God’s Name: A Global Summit With President Clinton on 23 September at 5:30 pm and on 24 September at 3:30 pm.

    . This asks whether religion is the solution or the problem. The special is moderated by CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour and features former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the third and final CNN special program. Joining them is an expert panel including Israeli Vice Premier, Shimon Peres; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Dina Powell; Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan; Former United Nations Special Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi; Former U.S. Senator and Northern Ireland peace negotiator, George Mitchell and editor-at-large of Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, Rami Khouri.

    CNN International senior VP Rena Golden says, “Once again this edition of the Clinton Global Summit is tackling an issue that affects our audiences worldwide,” said . “By bringing together these distinguished experts, we hope to find some common understanding into what fuels so many of the world’s religious conflicts.”

    During his tenure as US President, Clinton was deeply involved in bringing peace to the Middle East, Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) has chosen mitigating religious and ethnic conflict as one its four major goals.

    CGI is a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Each September, CGI convenes a meeting for global leaders including heads of state, non-profit organizations and business leaders to discuss challenges facing the world today.

    President Clinton’s vision in bringing together this group is to merge ideas from both the public and private sectors to devise a plan to identify and implement solutions. Over US$2.5 billion was committed toward concrete solutions for global problems at CGI’s conference last year. The forum takes place September 20-22 this year.

  • Pay channel rates: HC seeks government response

    Pay channel rates: HC seeks government response

    MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the central government for its response to a petition filed by Star India challenging the Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) order capping pricing of pay channels at Rs 5 under conditional access system (CAS).

    The matter will come up for next hearing on 15 November. The court will examine whether Star’s fundamental right to do business in India stands affected by the price regulation.

    Star has the option to approach the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

    “Our writ petition has been admitted by the court and has been slotted for hearing on 15 November. We will only know then if our plea stands accepted or rejected,” says a Star India spokesperson.

    Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Star, argued that the regulation of broadcasting was beyond Trai’s jurisdiction.

    Star had filed an appeal in the court, challenging the basis of Trai’s recent announcement on pricing for CAS. The matter came up for hearing today.

  • Al Jazeera International announces African line-up

    Al Jazeera International announces African line-up

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera International, the long-delayed Qatar based international English news channel, today announced its full line up of bureaux and correspondents across Africa. It will have bureaux in Cairo – Egypt, Abidjan – Ivory Coast, Nairobi – Kenya, Johannesburg – South Africa and Harare – Zimbabwe.

    Al Jazeera International, which is now targeting a year-end launch, will be sharing the resources of the Al Jazeera Arabic Channel’s African bureaux located in Ndjamena – Chad, Tripoli – Libya, Nouakchott – Mauritania, Rabat – Morocco, Dakar – Senegal, Mogadishu – Somalia, Johannesburg – South Africa and Khartoum – Sudan.

    “Our reporting from Africa will be unparalleled. We will have more bureaux and resources dedicated to Africa than any other global broadcaster,” said Al Jazeera International managing director Nigel Parsons.

    Speaking from Doha, director of news Steve Clark said, “Africa is one of the most pivotal places in the world to report from. It is a continent of hope and change.”
    “We are planning other bureaux across the continent of Africa and will be announcing them in due course,” Clark continued.

    “The teams we have in place show a level of dedication and understanding that I am sure will give us a distinctive edge,” said Africa bureau chief Andrew Simmons.

  • Priyadarshini Academy honours 13 eminent personalities

    Priyadarshini Academy honours 13 eminent personalities

    MUMBAI: Priyadarshini Academy honoured outstanding national as well as international achievers in the 22nd Anniversary Global Awards function held in Mumbai today.

    There were 13 categories for which the awards were given, which included a trophy and a scroll. Each awardee in some way or the other has contributed to society through their respective fields. The awards were given by Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.

    “These awards are a recognition for those who have given their se rvices to the nation despite being in different profession,” said Nath.

    Former Chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, NR Naryan Murthy received the award for his contribution to the IT Sector, former Chairman and MD of ONGC Subir Rana for the oil sector and Cricketor Arjuna Ranatunga for his contribution to Sports.

    The other awardees included Dr HS Dhillon who received the Overseas Indian Award, Olara A Otunnu received the award for Contribution to Human Rights, Yamha Toru Hasegawa for Corporate social Responsibility, Raj Loomba for contibution to Education of Children and Welfare of widows, Dr B K Goyal for his contribution to Medicine, Noel Hon for his contribution to humanitarian services, Jignesh shah was awarded for Innovative Enterepreneurship, Unna Huh, for contribution to It Education and Professor Arindam Chaudhari was awarded for his contribution in the field of management.

    On receiving the award, NarayanMurthy modestly said, “I feel I have received more from the society than I have given them. But this award reinforces my faith in the community and will definately help me to serve them better.”

    Priyadarshini Academy is an NGO engaged in socio-cultural and educational activities and has been holding the biennial award function since its inception in 1984.

    “When Indians were bestowed with International awards, it use to make news. So I thought that why not we create such an award in India which would honour who’s who from across the world. And over the years this award function is considered equivalent to Nobel Prize in the asia Pacific region,” said Chairman of Priyadarshini Academy Nanik Rupani.

    This year, the prestigious Smita Patil Memorial Award award was given to actress Kareena Kapoor, for her contribution to Indian cinema.

    In the past, distinguished celebrities like Yash chopra, Karishma Kapoor, Urmila Matondkar, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit have been bestowed with this prestigious award.

  • Star Plus changes 8 pm tactic; brings in sci-fi series ‘Antariksh’

    Star Plus changes 8 pm tactic; brings in sci-fi series ‘Antariksh’

    MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment space will soon witness an interesting contest between soap operas and a sci-fi series, as Star Plus has announced the launch its first ever sci-fi series Antariksh.

    The show, scheduled to launch on 2 October, has been positioned in the crucial Monday – Thursday 8 pm slot.

    Produced by the duo of Ashim Samanta and Jyotin Goel from Wild Fire Entertainment, the concept of the show is designed to interest the younger viewers on the prime-time band. Antariksh, which is set in a modern jet-set atmosphere, will draw its inspiration from the Indian mythology of Ramayana, as the story’s basic premise is that of a war between good versus evil, as per an official release.

    States Star India EVP Deepak Segal, “Aimed at our younger viewers, Antariksh, is a revolutionary mix of utopian vision of justice and prosperity, which we are launching exclusively in the weekday prime-time band, for our younger viewers. It’s a story full of new-age imagination that will see the use of hi-fi gadgets, which is sure to create a cult amongst them.”

    “With our already established, unmatched leadership in this genre, we are hopeful this show of space-age heroism will prove to be a treat for all the sci-fans, and consequently help us in further consolidating the prime-time slot on the channel,” Segal adds.

    Antariksh will be an action tale, of fictitious and imaginative characters living in space. This animated drama will be packaged with intense creativity coupled with heavy-duty computer generated graphics and illustrations, by Jyoti Sagar from Sagar Arts Productions and Prasad Ajgaonkar from Interactive Realities Ltd, the release claims.

  • Online TV alternative to traditional music channels launched in the US

    Online TV alternative to traditional music channels launched in the US

    MUMBAI: An independent Internet television channel cheekily called Not Mainstream Typical Videos (NotMTV.tv) has been launched in the US.

    The network went live a few days ago with three programming pods. In addition to music coverage on their flagship series, Not Mainstream Typical Videos, the network will feature two additional pods of programming: Culture Captured and Investigate This!

    The network positions itself as an independent Internet television channel made by the fans and for the fans. The network notes that consumers all across America and around the world are supporting independent music as never before and they want cutting-edge cultural content. The network will aim to show the underground and unexplored aspects of the music industry and delivering to them the issues, stories and trends that interest them.

    NotMTV.tv also hosts an independent music video vault where indie bands are able to submit videos the network will stream and make available to members for download in four different formats (Windows media, QuickTime, iPod video and PSP video). Membership is free.

    One of the founders talent producer Terry Merrill stated, “An emerging and enduring multimedia challenge is to conceive, design and produce Internet television projects for niche
    audiences and diverse consumers. NotMTV.tv is one extraordinary example of an emerging trend: Talented teams of independent producers changing the face of entertainment as we know it.

    “This network will deliver new music and culture content for an Internet generation telling network executives loud and clear they prefer the content of wherethehellismatt.com and YouTube than rehashed reality shows and by-the-book sitcoms.”

  • Cornershop Entertainment launches SMS based information service ‘Info on the Go’

    Cornershop Entertainment launches SMS based information service ‘Info on the Go’

    MUMBAI: Cornershop Entertainment has launched an SMS based information service called Info on the Go. Ask 757577 is a service that works on any mobile phone with a text messaging facility.

    It claims to be simple and user-friendly, as one can SMS questions to 757577. This service helps extend the virtual boundaries of knowledge and is available to all pre-paid and post-paid mobile users, informs an official release.

    Ask757577 is a service that delivers Info on the go. You can now get quick and easy access to restaurants, weather, movie timenigs, emergency services, sports scores, directions, and more. At Ask757577 we are singularly focused on helping users find what they need through ever-changing mobile technologies. Ask757577 promises to be committed to meeting the search challenge of users.

    “Innovation in services is key to reaching out to people, we believe in innovating against demand, and there is a strong demand for accurate info based services in the wireless market place” said CornerShop director Chirag Shah. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through the delivery of highly personalized location based services.

    CornerShop claims to be the first to launch SMS voting/polling on reality TV in India for shows like Sa Re Ga Ma, Business Baazigar, Zee Cine Awards. The company also powers India’s first 24 hour live interactive gaming channel ‘PlayTV’.