ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Bennett Media Worldwide announces programming line up at Mipcom 2006

    Bennett Media Worldwide announces programming line up at Mipcom 2006

    MUMBAI: Bennett Media Worldwide (BMW), the Bennett Group’s global distribution operation, has announced at Mipcom 2006, their programming slate for global broadcasters. It will feature three all-new high-defintion series, including Playing In Paradise, Beyond the List and Oh, No! It’s Kato!

    Said BMW president Paul Rich, “The Bennett Group reflects our company’s new industry positioning as a full-fledged, fully-integrated entertainment studio, with all areas of production and distribution all under one corporate ‘roof.’ Through Bennett Group’s four distinct divisions, we have the capacity to take a project from concept through every phase of production and post-production, as well as domestic and international distribution.”

    “Our new high-def line-up further underscores our company as the production leader in this burgeoning format,” said Bennett Productions president Casey Bennett. “We are recognized as a pioneer in the production of HD programming having created and produced high-def series and specials as far back as 1998. Today, Bennett Productions is widely regarded for our HD productions which are backed by complete surround sound audio.”

    The new-to-Mipcom Bennett Media Worldwide slate includes:

    Playing In Paradise – Viewers experience a new dimension of exotic travel as top bikini models guide the audience through the world’s most desirable locations from the Bahamas to Thailand.
    Beyond the List – It covers the hippest threads, cars, gadgets and what it takes to get a sneak peek into the world’s most exclusive lifestyles where only a recognized face or name on the list gains entrance.

    Oh, No! It’s Kato!- After being rejected by Hollywood, Kato Kaelin takes his quick wit and sharp tongue to hot spots around the world in Oh, No! It’s Kato! From crashing the sidelines for the inside story at the Lingerie Bowl to sneaking into the Spring Break bikini pageant in Cancun, viewers are able to join Kato on his mission-possible journeys where the perfect mix of comedy and adventure drive each episode, informs an official release.

    In addition to Bennett Media Worldwide, the newly established Bennett Group, housed at its West Los Angeles headquarters, encompasses: Bennett Productions, the content development and production division that includes state-of-the-art in-house soundstages; Bennett Music, a newly-created producer and supplier of both production and original music that is also home to complete recording studios as well as recording, mixing and mastering facilities utilizing the most current in digital recording technology; and Bennett HD/LA, one of the few fully-HD post-production facilities in Los Angeles.

  • MPA face-off: ICC reaches out to Indian players

    MPA face-off: ICC reaches out to Indian players

    MUMBAI: The jousting being played out through the media between the ICC and the Indian cricket board shows no signs of any let-up. In a clear attempt to demarcate what it sees as the BCCI’s commercial interests and that of its players, the ICC today explained that the Members’ Participation Agreement (MPA) for ICC events from 2007-2015 will provide greater flexibility for all the players taking part.

    ICC general manager – Cricket, David Richardson, said, “The new MPA will be more flexible for players than previous agreements regulating participation in ICC events.

    “In drafting the player terms that fall within the MPA we have taken on board the views of players, including views expressed from India, to build a framework of agreements that will provide added benefits to players.”

    Richardson’s comments are pertinent if you consider the kind of statements that Indian cricket board officials have been issuing on the subject. The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India vice-president Lalit Modi was quoted by Agence France Presse news service as saying: “The MPA in its existing form affects BCCI’s commercial interests, gives ICC the right to change agreements unilaterally and affects the players’ interests. The MPA would affect the BCCI and the players’ interests for a period ranging from six to nine months. We are very unhappy with the way the MPA has been drafted.”

    Countering Modi’s line, Richardson says, “Players will be faced with fewer restrictions regarding their own endorsement deals and will have greater control over the use of their own player attributes before, during and after ICC events.

    “The formal and informal discussions that we have had with players and their representatives indicate widespread support for these developments. The new system will have the added benefit of incorporating clearer guidelines and opportunities for all.

    “While the ICC is required to deal directly with the Indian board on player issues, I’ve always enjoyed a good relationship with the Indian captain Rahul Dravid and several of their leading players and, should the BCCI permit, I’d welcome an opportunity to answer any queries they may have.”

    India, which hosts the ICC’s Champions Trophy from Saturday, won the right to hold the 2011 World Cup jointly with neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    The ICC has given the BCCI till next Monday (9 October) to notify it of any and all difficulties it has with the MPA. About the deadline, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told AFP. “We have been given a deadline till Monday to inform the ICC of our objections and we will meet that date.”

  • Zee News exposé ‘Operation Mani’

    Zee News exposé ‘Operation Mani’

    Zee News exposé: Operation Money
    New Delhi, Feb 04: In an exclusive exposé, Zee News has unravelled the reality of prisons and prisoners in Uttar Pradesh. For the first time in the Indian television history, Zee News has successfully captured the unimaginable state of affairs of the U.P jails on the record.

    A prison, as per the dictionary meaning, is a place or condition of confinement or forceful restrains, but not in the Uttar Pradesh. Here, if you are a politician lodged in a jail, especially a close associate of the ruling party, you are not in a forceful imprisonment but in a fiefdom of your own.

    In what seems to be a scene from a Hindi film, U.P.MLA Amarmani Tripathi, officially lodged in the jail, is running his business and serving his constituency freely from it.

    When Zee News correspondent entered the jail premises, he was aghast to see the situation there. Amarmani was not confined to a prison cell along with other fellow prisoners. Instead, the entire barrack, officially designated to host 24 prisoners, was converted as his courtroom. In the barrack, Amarmani held his ‘darbar’ in which all his supporters came with their list of works and complaints.

    When our correspondent sought a favour from Amarmani, he took out his mobile from his pocket- the access of mobile phone to prisoners is officially prohibited- and dialled the concerned official immediately from there in. Not only Amarmani, but also his fellow accomplishes in ‘Madhumita’ murder case had access to everything: mobile sets, liquors and other drugs too. They were also carrying their business as usual
    from there. As a result of Zee News exposé, the Central government has sought explanation from the U.P government in the matter.

  • Open TV comes out with integrated solutions for mobile TV

    Open TV comes out with integrated solutions for mobile TV

    MUMBAI: OpenTV, which provides enabling technologies for advanced digital television services and mobile technology firm weComm, have announced a partnership.

    They will provide integrated mobile television solutions to OpenTV’s worldwide pay TV customer base and to other broadcasters and programmers interested in providing an experience across traditional broadcast television and mobile TV.

    OpenTV senior VP and MD Europe, Middle east and Africa Ben Bennett says, “We are delighted that we will be able to offer a seamless solution to our customers that bridges the pay TV experience with the mobile phone experience in a user-friendly manner.

    “This integrated solution is intended to make it easy for our customers to extend their TV experience across multiple platforms and devices, and to allow those viewers to personalise that experience in ever more compelling ways. One simple example of this Mobile TV is to enable OpenTV’s PVR users to record programmes seamlessly and remotely from the mobile handset.”
    The integrated solution combines features and functionalities from OpenTV’s advanced digital television software, in particular its middleware offering, and weComm’s wave technology. The solution extends OpenTV’s middleware features into the mobile environment, allowing direct access on the mobile phone to electronic programming guides (EPGs) that have been ported to OpenTV’s platform.

    The solution also enables mobile phone users to remotely programme their PVRs and to view live or on-demand television programming by navigating through the EPG resident on their phone.

    weComm COO Oliver Sturrock says, “Integrating weComm’s Interactive Mobile TV technology with OpenTV’s industry-leading technologies offers a solution that will seamlessly extend TV-based interactive services to the mobile phone. We think that these solutions will help broadcasters and operators extend their content and services to a younger and more mobile audience.

    “And we think that by combining OpenTV’s and weComm’s expertise and technologies, we can do that in an effective and seamless way that will eventually lead the market.”
    The weComm solution is available on Symbian OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile and Java phones and has been ported to over 100 handsets, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, LG and the RIM Blackberry.

  • Vijay TV to launch celeb dance show ‘Jodi No.1’ on 7 October

    Vijay TV to launch celeb dance show ‘Jodi No.1’ on 7 October

    MUMBAI: The Vijay TV celebrity dance show Garnier Fructis Jodi No.1 is set for its commencement from 7 October Fridays and Saturdays 8 pm. As reported earlier, Jodi No.1 is a celebrity dance show featuring real life and reel life couples of the Tamil television world.

    There are three-jury members for the show; dance master Kala, actor Prashanth and actress Ramya Krishnan to judge the performance of the eight Jodi’s. The programme will be anchored by Aravind Aakash and Dhivyadarshini.

    The Judging Criteria: 

    Expression/Attitude & Costume – to be judged by Ramya Krishnan
    Chemistry and Body language – to be judged by Prashanth 
    Choreography & Co-ordination – to be judged by Kala Master

    Each reality episode will be given one theme that has to be followed by the eight jodi’s. The couples will perform for different songs from the same theme. Each of the three jury will award points on a scale of 1 to 10. The individual score (out of 10) of each of the judges will be totaled to 30 and then will be ranked in an order. Also, after every reality episode, the least scoring Jodi will be eliminated, adds the release.
     

  • Star to distribute Nimbus’ sports channels

    Star to distribute Nimbus’ sports channels

    MUMBAI: Nimbus Sports Broadcast, the Nimbus Communications subsidiary operating its sports broadcasting business, has entered into a deal with Star India wherein the News Corp network will be distributing its soon to launch bouquet of Neo Sports channels.

    The Star-Nimbus distribution deal is a five-year one that runs till 2010 and will apply to the two sports channels that will be launching by the end of the year as well as any future sports channels from the Neo Sports stable.

    Both companies also issued categorical denials of a report that appeared in pink paper Economic Times today that News Corp. would be buying roughly a third of Nimbus for around Rs 4 billion ($86 million).

    The release stated that Nimbus “is currently not engaged in any dialogue for inducting any new investors, whether financial or strategic.”

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair was equally categorical that there were no discussions on issues of equity. “This is a specific to India distribution deal, underpinned by cable and of course looking to leverage the potential that DTH offers.” Nair said. The Neo Sports channels will be distributed on the Tata-Sky DTH network in which Star has a 20 per cent stake.

    The first of the channels, the cricket centric Neo Sports, is set to be launched within the next three months. This will be followed by Neo Sports Plus, a sports entertainment channel, which is expected to be launched by the end of the year, states a joint statement issued by the two companies.

    With nearly 200 days of cricket every year lined up on Neo Sports, of which over 100 days will be live India cricket including all BCCI events and between 3-4 international series every year; Neo Sports expects to reach a majority of the cable & satellite homes.

    Nimbus paid $612 million for the telecast rights to the Indian cricket board’s matches for 2006-10.

  • Tom Freston quits; Philippe Dauman named new Viacom CEO

    Tom Freston quits; Philippe Dauman named new Viacom CEO

    MUMBAI: Barely eight months after Viacom chairman Summer Redstone split the global media powerhouse into two units — CBS Corp and Viacom Inc — one of his anointed CEOs has announced his resignation.

    Viacom CEO Tom Freston’s decision, which was sudden and unexpected, comes at a time when the company’s stock price was falling (down 20 per cent since January when the split from CBS became effective). The key properties under Freston’s charge were MTV Networks, which he literally created and built, as well as Paramount Pictures.

    Viacom announced today that the 60-year-old Freston was being replaced as president and CEO by Philippe P. Dauman.

    The Viacom board also named Thomas E Dooley to the newly created position of senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer. Dauman will report to Redstone, while Dooley will report to Dauman.

    Both Dauman, 52, and Dooley, 49, have previously held a number of executive positions at the company, and both currently serve on Viacom’s board.

    The official release quoted Freston as saying: “I’ve spent over 26 years at Viacom, 18 of them with Summer. With my exceptional colleagues, we built a worldwide powerhouse of brands and businesses, literally from scratch. I leave many good friends knowing that they have an unmatched track record, a great plan going forward and incredible abilities to execute on it in this digital age.”

    Official comments apart, it is clear that Freston was forced out by Redstone. Newswire service Associated Press quoted Redstone as telling analysts on a conference call that the board wanted a more entrepreneurial and aggressive management team that would have a closer relationship with investors.

    Investors didn’t seem too thrilled by the news though, sending the company stock down nearly 6 per cent in early trading.

    But far more than the slip-sliding stock price, what probably had the biggest hand to play in Redstone’s dumping a loyal lieutenant who built MTV into a global entertainment powerhouse was over Freston’s failure to aggressively chase MySpace, the youth social networking phenomenon that has taken the world by storm.

    It irks Redstone no end that a site that was a perfect fit as far as MTV’s youth demographic is concerned was snapped up from right under Viacom’s nose by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation for what in hindsight has turned out to be a steal at $ 580 million.

    “We bought a lot of little things and you can add it all up, but it’s not MySpace,” Redstone has been quoted as saying of the start-up that had been “sitting out there for a long time” before News Corp bought it out.

    Freston’s departure comes less than two weeks after Viacom announced it was parting ways with Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise’s production company, ending a 14-year relationship. Redstone’s stated reason for dumping Cruise was that his “erratic” behaviour made the association an unviable one.

    Viacom’s brands include MTV Networks (MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, TV Land, Logo and more than 120 networks around the world), BET Networks, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, DreamWorks and Famous Music.

  • ABC expands site with enhanced features for ‘Lost’, ‘Dancing With The Stars’

    ABC expands site with enhanced features for ‘Lost’, ‘Dancing With The Stars’

    MUMBAI: In order to expanding its network and channel brands across multiple platforms and connecting viewers with their favorite shows anytime and anywhere, the Disney-ABC Television Group in the US has announced that it will offer enhanced features and additional content, including over 100 short-form videos each week at www.ABC.com.

    ABC Entertainment VP digital media Alexis Rapo says, “We are adding a significant amount of unique content, especially video, to ABC.com to make it the primary destination for fans of our programming.”

    “We have increased the amount of short-form video content including, trailers and originals, by 330 per cent from last season. We are seeing success already — on the premiere day for Dancing with the Stars. 60 per cent of the video viewed on the site was for that show alone.”

    Fresh to ABC.com this year are new sites for five returning series The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Greys Anatomy and Lost. There are also sites for four new series The Knights of Prosperity, The Nine, Six Degrees and Ugly Betty. Additional content includes blogs, podcasts, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with the cast and producers.

    Dancing with the Stars gets a new website design with enhanced features and content. There is original online video content backstage interviews, dancer/celebrity spotlights, rehearsals. There is also an online voting component, a mobile SMS campaign, an online dancing game and blogs.

    Greys Anatomy has weekly podcasts with producers, weekly blogs from show writers, exclusive online behind-the-scenes features.

    For Lost ABC will be coming out with a new website design with many interactive features created for fans, as well as new viewers, including The Lost Theories Board, Lost Connections backstory feature Weekly podcasts and video podcasts with producers.

  • Synovate appoints Uday Kagal to head Mumbai operations

    Synovate appoints Uday Kagal to head Mumbai operations

    MUMBAI: Global market intelligence firm, Synovate has appointed Uday Kagal as its head of Mumbai branch operations.

    Kagal will report into Synovate India MD Alok Shanker and will primarily be responsible for new sector forays and revenue generation for Synovate’s largest branch office in India.

    Kagal is backed with 19 years of experience in market research in different capacities – both on the agency and client side. So, apart from stints with erstwhile Marg (now, ACNielsen Org Marg) and TNS Dubai as research director and senior group account director – he has experience with a multitude of large corporations, states an official release.

    His assignment with HLL was that of CMI manager responsible for brand tracking and ad-pre-testing; his stint with HSBC Bank as senior VP-customer connect analytics and relationships (CCAR), entailed Implicit research, brand tracking, customer satisfaction, market potential modelling and customer lifetime value segmentation. Kagal is credited with setting up the CCAR division for HSBC Bank.

  • OpenTV previews its vision for the future at IBC 2006

    OpenTV previews its vision for the future at IBC 2006

    MUMBAI: OpenTV, which provides enabling technologies for advanced digital television services, will showcase its latest technologies under the banner of “television is changing … open it up!” at the IBC show in Amsterdam.

    The event takes place from 8-12 September 2006.

    The theme, grounded by the premise that today’s television viewers are demanding greater choice, flexibility, and access, encompasses the entire range of OpenTV’s products on display. By ‘opening up’ the technologies that serve as a foundation for set-top boxes and digital television, OpenTV says that it is taking a leadership position by enabling the adoption of flexible business models and compelling viewer experiences in the television industry.

    OpenTV chairman and CEO James A. (Jim) Chiddix says, “Today, the central technologies for building and maintaining social networks around the world are the phone and the internet.

    “OpenTV believes that TV is next, and that the way to survive in this changing world is to embrace explore, and enable that change. When we say we are ‘opening up’ television, we are extending our tradition of pioneering middleware and related solutions to new content sources, new navigation models, new forms of television advertising, and new experiences in participation with television.”

    Featured products at IBC will include solutions for advanced digital
    television; advanced advertising; and participation television.

    — OpenTV Vision: Supporting its theme for IBC, OpenTV will debut a supermodal, zoomable user interface (ZUI) that fundamentally changes the way viewers navigate and make viewing choices from the massive amounts of available content, by providing navigation tools that create relevance and match interests.

    — Advanced Digital Television:– OpenTV will showcase a number of live HDTV services from OpenTV customers as well as a wide array of HD set-top boxes from ADB, Pace, Philips, Scientific Atlanta, and Thomson.

    — OpenTV will demonstrate the power of its popular Core2/PVR2
    set-top software through the demonstration of a HD guide
    developed by Nagravision. The guide features key elements such
    as time-shifting, scheduling, and series linking, as well as
    push VOD.

    — OpenTV will demonstrate IPTV, highlighting a solution for
    hybrid IPTV deployments by cable and satellite operators.

    — OpenTV Core2/PVR2 supports multiple application execution
    environments including HTML and Flash(R). OpenTV will showcase
    its Flash solution, based on the award-winning MachBlue(TM)
    from Bluestreak Network, supporting rapid authoring of enhanced
    programming using standard Adobe(R) Flash authoring tools.

    OpenTV will also demonstrate its industry -leading HTML
    solution with home networking applications.

    — OpenTV has also integrated technologies with ICTV(TM) and will
    be demonstrating a personalized mosaic that delivers
    alternative navigation and Internet-type programming and
    advertising capabilities to OpenTV-enabled set-top boxes.

    As far as advanced advertising:solutions are concerned the company will conduct demonstrations that will feature an end-to-end production system for enhanced advertising that engages audiences by enabling compelling, interactive advertising applications to be created, validated, scheduled, and launched more quickly and less
    expensively.

    — Also shown will be OpenTV’s advertising sales and inventory
    management solutions with a demonstration of OpenTV’s ad
    decision engine for dynamic insertion of targetted ads.