ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • DivX and UTV announce new content partnership in India

    DivX and UTV announce new content partnership in India

    MUMBAI: UTV and DivX, Inc., the digital entertainment company that created the DivX media format, announced a partnership today to make available more movies to Indian consumers by offering a range of premium movie content in the high-quality DivX format. The content is licensed from UTV of India.

    All titles are encoded in high-quality, secure DivX format, compatible with millions of DivX-Certified consumer electronics devices from major manufacturers. Titles that will be available in DivX for the Indian market include: The Myth, Swades, Main Meri Patni Aur Woh, Sin City, Unleashed and Pulp Fiction.

    “As new technologies emerge to give consumers greater control and more choices in viewing entertainment content, UTV is very happy to partner with DivX. Distributing our content in the DivX format will give our consumers more options. Our goal is to enable our users to enjoy more content, quality and value in entertainment whenever and wherever they choose,” said UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala.

    “By partnering with UTV, DivX can continue to expand and reach the global community in effort to create and build a better media future for consumers everywhere. DivX technology enables several movies to fit on a single DVD, and by bundling premium content from UTV with popular DivX-Certified consumer electronics devices such as DVD players, we can work together to improve the digital media experience and allow more users to enjoy higher-quality content in more places,” said DivX, Inc business development Aparna Vashisht-Rota.

  • PHL promises a bonanza of Rs 10 million if India wins the Hockey World Cup

    PHL promises a bonanza of Rs 10 million if India wins the Hockey World Cup

    MUMBAI: Premier Hockey League (PHL), an initiative of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), ESPN Star Sports (ESS) and Leisure Sports Management (LSM), has announced a cash reward of Rs. 10 millione if India wins the Hockey World Cup.

    The Indian team will be richer by Rs. 5 million if they finish as runners-up and Rs. 2.5 million in case they win a bronze medal. PHL introduced the concept of a third umpire for the first time in the history of hockey.

    It will sponsor a video analyst for a period of one year to help the Indian hockey team in their international campaign. The video analyst has already joined Indian Hockey team in Germany in their quest for glory at the Hockey World Cup. The league will also take care of the medical rehabilitation cost of the injured drag flicker Sandeep Singh.

    ESS India MD RC Venkateish said, “The premier hockey league has been a great success and has given a chance to many youngsters to groom themselves in the early stage of their career by rubbing shoulders with the best players in the world. The league will only become bigger in times to come.

    “Supporting the Indian team is a critical part of our strategy. Success at international level will attract more and more youngsters to look upon hockey as a lucrative career option. Therefore, the Premier Hockey League will reward the Indian team with prize money of Rs 10 million in case they win the Hockey World Cup. In order to help the Indian team to win consistently at the international level, the Premier Hockey League will also sponsor the video analyst for the Indian team starting with the Hockey World Cup in Germany for the next one year.“

    IHF president KPS Gill said, “It is indeed a big day for Indian hockey. The Premier Hockey League has achieved all that it has promised till date and I am confident that it will continue to do so in the future as well. The progression to support international team from the domestic front is natural, after the entire league’s aim is make Hockey popular in India.
    “The team has gelled well under Bhaskaran and has shown an increasingly improved performance. The rewards announced by PHL will inspire the Indian team to give their best shot at the Hockey World Cup in Germany. The hockey world is becoming more and more competitive. There is not much gap in the top teams of the world. The introduction of the video analyst will help the Indian hockey team to strategise in a better way.”

    PHL will also take care of rehabilitation cost of Sandeep Singh including his physiotherapy abroad so that the drag flicker resumes duty for the Indian team as soon as possible.

    LSM MD SS Dasgupta said, “It’s a very good development for Indian hockey and PHL, I would like to thank ESPN Star Sports for their unrelenting effort to revive Indian hockey.”

    Meru Sports Technology, a firm that has been offering its service to various cricket bodies around including BCCI to offer video analysis services to the Indian Hockey team during the World Cup to be conducted in Germany in Sep 2006. Meru has developed a product called HockeyMate for match analysis of field games, incorporating the specific needs of Indian team hockey coaches V.Bhaskaran and Harendra Singh.

    Meru Sports Technology will be providing technique analysis as well as match analysis. Technique analysis is study of body movements and positions and is based on bio-mechanics. It is generally confined to training/coaching. Match analysis is for developing strategies by studying the game of one’s own team as well as opponents. IHF will evaluate the performance of the video analyst after the world cup.

    The Indian Hockey team’s chief coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran says, “I am pleasantly surprised by the announcement made by Premier Hockey League. There are not many examples in the world wherein a domestic league has come out to help the national team. The league has already thrown many youngsters like Raghunath, Sandeep Singh and has therefore contributed to make our team a much better unit. The announcement has been morale booster for the Indian team. With wishes from hockey supporters back home, I am sure that we will do creditably well.”

    “The video analysis is as much a training tool as it is a strategy tool. The video analyst is already working on specific requirements given by us. We are confident that the team performance will improve with the addition of the Video analyst,” added Bhaskaran.

    The Indian hockey team’s skipper Dilip Tirkey, said, “It is very heart warming. The team is touched by the gesture. We are especially glad for Sandeep Singh who missed the bus for the world cup. This is very reassuring for the players. The video analyst also will help us in preparing us against the best teams of the world. We will give it our best at the World Cup.”

  • AXN looks at paranormal phenomenon with ‘Supernatural’

    AXN looks at paranormal phenomenon with ‘Supernatural’

    MUMBAI: The action oriented AXN will be a new show Supernatural. It will air every Thursday from 3 August at 11 pm

    The show blends action, drama, mystery with a dash of science-fiction. Supernatural is a tale of two brothers, bound by destiny and disaster to battle the evil forces of the paranormal. Poles apart, the Winchester brothers are compelled to travel all around the country to hunt out the eerie creatures of urban legends and folklore that you thought were all just made-up.

    When their mother, Mary, was taken from the family 20 years ago by unseen evil forces, the brothers’ father John embarked on a mission against the supernatural to avenge his wife’s death. Bringing the two young boys with him on his strange missions, John brought them up to hunt and fight the unexplained – whether they wanted to or not.

    Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) is the younger brother – the “normal” one. A law student trying to escape the eccentric lifestyle his father mapped out, Sam gladly traded his ghost-hunting for college and a perfect girlfriend, and hasn’t seen his brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) for 4 years. When the latter turns up suddenly on Sam’s doorstep with the news that their father has vanished, he has little choice but to join Dean in a search for their father.

    Supernatural is about fate, family and the choices we make – taking viewers into the dark and twisted world of phantom-hunting. In between the undercurrents of rivalry, the estranged brothers learn more about themselves and their family, and face up to a journey in which anything can happen – and does.

    The younger Winchester brother, Sam never fully understood the path his father and brother have taken, and consequently has tried to separate himself from them by leaving for college straight from high school. With an affectionate and caring girlfriend and a potential law career, Sam almost has the perfect life he yearns for, until his estranged older brother turns up at his door with news that their father has disappeared.

    Despite the dislike for his family’s strange lifestyle, Sam is obliged to leave his peaceful life, and return to his tumultuous destiny in a search for his missing father. Armed with heavy reluctance and grounded practicality, Sam is thrown into the sinister world he tried so hard to avoid – and while chasing bogeymen, phantom legends and angry child spirits, comes to relearn more about his brother and himself, and begins to accept the fate and father he rejected.

    Worlds apart from his brother Sam, Dean has taken his father’s mission on himself – pursuing all things supernatural and evil. Arrogant, brash and impulsive, the older Winchester brother’s fearlessness and indifference to the law in the face of his quest belie the emotional scars his mother’s death left on him, as well as an unexpected softer side.

    Dean is older and thus remembers more of his mother’s death, and understands why his father was driven obsessively to avenge himself on the paranormal. This bad-boy carries his fierce aggression into his work, and is wild enough to do just about anything, especially taking on the terrifying path he has chosen for himself. His father’s sudden vanishing however leaves him unsettled, and forces him to come out of his strange life to reunite with his younger brother for a quest unlike any they have ever experienced before.

  • Yahoo and Canaan Partners invest US$8.95 mn in BharatMatrimony

    Yahoo and Canaan Partners invest US$8.95 mn in BharatMatrimony

    MUMBAI: Yahoo! Inc., and Canaan Partners, a global venture investor in technology companies, have announced that the companies have both invested US $8.65 million in BharatMatrimony.com Pvt. Ltd. Both investors will be represented on the board of the company. Veda Corporate Advisors acted as a strategic advisor to the transaction.

    The BharatMatrimony Group plans to significantly expand its presence on-ground and will also invest in the global personals space. BharatMatrimony already offers content in six Indian languages and soon plans to offer content in two more languages. As part of its expansion plans, BharatMatrimony Group expects to double its headcount to 700 by the end of this year.

    The company also plans to increase the number of BharatMatrimony Centres (BMC), its offline initiative, from 38 to over 300 across the country by 2008. BharatMatrimony has plans to open offices in UK and in key South East Asian markets to cater to the Indian Diaspora and to open up religion / country based matrimony portals, informs an offcial release.

    The matrimony service provider with 7.5 million registered members, BharatMatrimony Group CEO Murugavel Janakiraman said, “It gives me immense pride that two of the world’s leading companies in the technology and Internet space have invested in our business. More importantly, the global knowledge, partnerships and experience that both these investors bring will help us scale our business globally. The infused capital will be used to further sustain our leadership position in the matrimony sector. The investment will also be used to enhance our portfolio of services and take them to leadership positions in their respective sectors.”

    Canaan Partners executive director – India Alok Mittal said, “We are very excited to be an investor in BharatMatrimony. The company is very well positioned to grow rapidly and maintain its leadership in the Indian Internet landscape while continuing to be a highly valuable company from a social standpoint. The company’s services truly change the lives of millions of Indians around the world. India is one of the key markets for Canaan Partners and we are looking at creating lasting partnerships in the technology space and generating shareholder wealth over the coming years.”

    Mittal, who will represent Canaan Partners on the Board, was the founding managing director of a prominent job portal, JobsAhead.com. Janakiraman says that Mittal’s experience and expertise will give a strong competitive advantage to BharatMatrimony’s ClickJobs.com, adds the release.

    Commenting on Yahoo!’s investment in BharatMatrimony, , Yahoo! Inc. chief financial officer Susan Decker said, “India is one of the fastest growing Internet markets and our investment in BharatMatrimony furthers Yahoo!’s plans to extend our leading position in the country.”

    Yahoo! India managing director George Zacharias said, “BharatMatrimony Group’s strength in matrimonial and other services complements the strong offerings we already provide in the Indian market across communications, search, and mobile. On completion of the investment, Yahoo! India and BharatMatrimony Group will cooperate through a business partnership”.

  • Crocs to debut Disney footwear

    Crocs to debut Disney footwear

    MUMBAI: Crocs, Inc., will introduce a limited edition line of footwear featuring some of Disney’s most popular characters. The new line called “Disney by Crocs” will be available at select US retail locations prior to the 2006 holiday season with an expanded product line launch occurring next year.

    Crocs CEO Ron Snyder said, “We are incredibly proud and excited to be aligned with one of the world’s leading brands and to bring a truly unique type of product to our customers. Disney characters symbolize fun and magic, and we think they are a particularly good fit with the Crocs brand.”

    The Disney by Crocs line, which is targeted towards children and adults, will debut with special-edition Mickey Mouse die-cut Adult Beach and Kid’s Cayman models. These styles will be available in a broad range of two-toned color pallets including Mickey’s signature black and red.

    Other models include an array of unique designs emphasising the distinctive personalities of Disney’s characters including Mickey and Friends, Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Disney Princess, Disney Fairies, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean and Disney Pixar’s Toy Story and Cars.

  • ABC cancels Gibson’s proposed show on the holocaust

    ABC cancels Gibson’s proposed show on the holocaust

    MUMBAI: Looks like Oscar winning actor Mel Gibson’s tirade against the Jews after being arrested for drunk driving is starting to cost him big time.

    US broadcaster ABC has announced that it has pulled out of the deal with the star for a show on the holocaust.

    ABC though says that the project has been in the pipeline for the past couple of years and they have not yet seen a script. Gibson was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last week. He launched into a tirade against Jews, asking the arresting officer if he was a Jew and blaming the Jews for starting all wars.

    The actor is a strong conservative Catholic. His father, media reports indicate, is a Holocaust denier. At the time of the release of Passion Of the Christ Gibson’s father said that reports on the Holocaust were exaggerated. The next day after his arrest Gibson apologised for his remarks and has entered a rehabilitation programme to treat alcoholism.

    On the film front though Disney will go ahead with its plans to release Mel Gibson’s film Apocalypto on 8 December 2006. Hollywood has a strong Jewish presence. That includes Sony Pictures chairwoman Amy Pascal and Laura Ziskin.

  • Bose introduces a SoundDock product

    Bose introduces a SoundDock product

    MUMBAI: Bose India has introduced the SoundDockdigital music system.

    The product is specifically designed to expand and enhance the customer’s enjoyment of the music stored on the iPodor iPod mini.

    The company says that the high-gloss black finish will complement the darker hued iPods and add a new level of sophistication to the customer’s décor.

    Identical to the glossy white SoundDock, the new high-gloss black finish will seamlessly integrate with and simultaneously recharge one’s iPod as one plays favourite stored songs.

  • Screwvala’s target for UTV: Rs 5 billion turnover by 2008

    Screwvala’s target for UTV: Rs 5 billion turnover by 2008

    MUMBAI: Hardly has the ink dried on the landmark deal he stitched with Walt Disney, and UTV’s founder-promoter Ronnie Screwvala is already looking to the future. The Indian media pioneer is bullish on turning his company into a Rs 5 billion company by 2008.

    This will mean a jump in turnover of Rs 3 billion, but Screwvala believes high growth will come, particularly from movies and animation. Besides, he is eyeing acquisitions in gaming and expects air time sales to zoom. Incremental growth from TV content business is also expected.

    On the movie front, Screwvala is close to announcing three international co-production movie deals. While global major Fox will be involved in one venture, Ronnie says the other two will also be with major studios. In an earlier project, UTV has partnered with Fox Searchlight Pictures and Entertainment Farm to produce the $9.6 million Mira Nair-directed film The Namesake.

    “They are three mainline movies and will have a big star cast. Unlike The Namesake where we have three co-producers, these will be two-way partnerships,” Screwvala says. When queried, he rules out the involvement of Disney in any of these projects.
    Screwvala aims to have an annual pipeline of 12 movies, one or two international co-productions and possibly an animation film. Already lined up are three movies with Rakeysh Mehra. “We are making Ashutosh Gawarikar’s next movie and three films with other directors. We have also tied up with Vishal Bhardwaj,” he says.

    The film business will be production-led. “We do not have an aggressive distribution agenda at the moment. We may acquire just one or two movies for distribution. But we will be distributing all the movies that we produce,” Screwvala says.

    Gaming is a new area UTV is planning to enter as an extension of its businesses in animation, post production and special effects. “We are eyeing acquisitions of domestic and overseas gaming companies. There is a model for international companies to look at India as an outsourcing model and an Indian story for going overseas. We are spending a lot of time evaluating the gaming business,” he says.

    UTV has made investments in setting up the animation infrastructure and is having a pipeline across the value chain. “We have a good order book in outsourcing and are involved in originating content as well,” says Screwvala.

    The big script with Disney will also begin with both companies in process of identifying areas where they can work together. “We are looking at animation, movies, TV and gaming. On the movie front, we are exploring possibilities of co-producing with them for Hindi films as well as going mainline with English. Home videos is another area we are looking at to expand our Indian movies overseas through their strong retail network,” says Screwvala.

    UTV will be cash rich by Rs 2.36 billion between the sale of Hungama, fresh equity to UTV and Screwvala’s warrants. “We can leverage the company with a 1:1 debt-equity ratio and have a Rs 5 billion war chest. In media, that offers lots of opportunities,” Screwvala says, clearly relishing the challenges ahead.

  • CNN.com showcases the power of citizen journalism

    CNN.com showcases the power of citizen journalism

    MUMBAI: CNN.com has announced the launch of “CNN Exchange,” a comprehensive user-generated content destination that features user-submitted video, audio, articles and graphics and also allows users to interact directly with the site’s news reports, commentaries and polls.

    CNN.com senior VP, executive producer Mitch Gelman says ,”User-generated content has the potential to play a pivotal role in journalism whether it’s online or offline. With CNN Exchange, we’ve essentially created a one-stop shop for CNN.com users to share their contributions with other Internet users, as well as to weigh in on the day’s most pressing news.”

    Located at www.CNN.com/Exchange, CNN Exchange organizes all of CNN.com’s user-generated content features into a single, easy-to-navigate catalog. The page includes a spotlight section featuring the best user contributions; a section featuring CNN.com’s Web logs, including the popular Anderson Cooper 360° Blog; sections for polls, commentaries and links to other “citizen journalism” sites; and an online toolkit with tips from CNN producers, correspondents and photographers on creating and submitting stories.

    Extending user-generated content across multiple platforms, CNN Exchange will be populated in large part by I-Reports, compelling content captured by CNN viewers with personal cell phones, cameras or other devices. This access will enable viewers to tell the world what is happening where they are through the reach of CNN’s television networks and CNN.com.

    Users can submit material wherever they find a “Send Your I-Report” link at CNN.com or by e-mail at ireport@cnn.com. Submissions will be considered for all of CNN’s networks. All submitted material will be reviewed by CNN prior to publication online or on air.

  • Nick India GM and VP Hema Govindan resigns

    Nick India GM and VP Hema Govindan resigns

    MUMBAI: Nick India general manager and vice president Hema Govindan has put in her papers. An official release cites personal reasons as the reason for her departure from Nick after being at its helm for close to a year.

    MTV Networks India managing director and MTV Networks Asia executive vice president Amit Jain said, “Within the short span of her tenure Hema has done a commendable job with Nick to put it on the right trajectory of growth path. Over the last eight months, Nick’s ratings have tripled and viewership has risen by over 30 per cent. More than anything else, she is leaving behind a team that is one of the most competitive teams in this space.”

    “Nick is a priority brand for MTV Networks India and we will continue to invest substantially in this business to help it attain a leadership position in this country, as it has done across the rest of the world markets, where it occupies the no. 1 or no. 2 position in every territory.”

    Govindan will continue in her current assignment till a replacement is finalised and in this period Jain would work closely with the Nick team to continue to pursue Nick’s growth objectives for the year.