ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Vijay TV set to launch ‘Kallaka Povadhu Yaaru 2’

    Vijay TV set to launch ‘Kallaka Povadhu Yaaru 2’

    MUMBAI: Tamil channel Vijay TV is gearing up to launch the second series of its popular comedy show Kallaka Povadhu Yaaru. The show, slotted for Fridays at 10 pm, will launch on 28 July.

    The promotional campaign idea for the show revolves around the thought that “Its Fresh”. As a part of the on air promo campaign which showcases the Hutch Kallaka Povadhu Yaaru 2 brand as a fresh glass of juice, fresh and healthy Atta and many such interpretations of freshness. 

    The off air campaign has got a road show being held across six cities in Tamil Nadu where preview of the HKPY 2 is being shown on a giant screen and the winners of HKPY 1 would accompany this van as a part of the promotion, according to an official release.

    States Vijay TV GM Ravinath Menon on the initiative, “I am sure Hutch Kallaka Povadhu Yaaru 2 will live up to the expectations of viewers as well as advertisers. Our team has managed to source extraordinary talents even from remote places. The show is big with lots of surprising elements in store. The brand enjoys great equity in media and in the film industry. If the huge interest levels in the audition phase is any indication, the show is sure going to be another super hit like its first part.”

  • Time Warner chairman, CEO Parsons is Mipcom’s Personality of the Year

    Time Warner chairman, CEO Parsons is Mipcom’s Personality of the Year

    MUMBAI: Reed Midem which organises the television event Mipcom in Cannes France has named Time Warner chairman and CEO Richard D. Parsons as the Mipcom 2006 Personality of the Year.

    Parsons will receive the accolade on 11 October. Mipcom takes place from 9 to 13 October 2006 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.

    Reed Midem CEO Paul Zilk says, “We are extremely pleased to honour Richard Parsons as our Mipcom Personality of the Year. Under his leadership, Time Warner informs, entertains and connects people all over the globe through its leading brands and programming.

    “In an ever-evolving world defined by constant technological and demographic change, Time Warner – with its long tradition of innovation and creativity – continues to shape not only our industry, but the culture we live in.”

    Parsons says, “I am very honoured to be this year’s Personality of the Year and to join the notable ranks of past honourees. I am particularly pleased to be recognised at Mipcom, the veritable hub of the worldwide television market, which gathers industry leaders together from across the globe.

    “This award is a testament to the more than 85,000 Time Warner employees who are the creative source for all that we do. I dedicate it to them and to the hundreds of millions of people around the world who continue to inspire us to provide the best in entertainment and information in these rapidly changing times.”

  • CNN doc traces the footsteps of Osama bin Laden

    CNN doc traces the footsteps of Osama bin Laden

    MUMBAI: News broadcaster CNN will air a documentary In The Footsteps Of bin Laden on 23 August at 5:30 pm. The two-hour investigation paints a portrait of bin Laden and his transformation from child to man using first-hand accounts of the people who have known him throughout his life.

    From his peaceful teenage years to orchestrating the events on 9/11, viewers are taken on a global journey, tracing the path of bin Laden’s life from his childhood home and school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to his residence in Peshawar, Pakistan, where al-Qaeda was born, and to the mountains of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where he is being hunted today.

    Using never-before-seen photographs, video and even the minutes of the meeting in which al-Qaeda was created, the special weaves a story of the world’s most notorious terrorist.

    CNN International senior VP Rena Golden says, “In The Footsteps Of bin Laden is a unique insight into the world of a man who is both feared and revered in equal measure around the world. For the first time his life, for so long cloaked in myth and mystery, has been documented by Christiane Amanpour for CNN’s international audience.”

    Filmed in 10 countries on four continents, the documentary features 21 first-person accounts of bin Laden from his relatives, childhood friends, former schoolteacher, co-jihadists, bodyguard and even the wife of an al-Qaeda suicide bomber — many of them breaking their silence for the first time on camera.

    The documentary ties the evolution of bin Laden’s philosophy to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism from the late 1970s through the unique personal perspective of Amanpour.

    “The story of militant Islamic fundamentalism did not begin with September 11,” said Amanpour. “The Islamic Revolution that swept Iran in 1979 and forced the pro-American Shah from power was the first sign that Fundamentalist Islam had awoken as a movement in the Middle East and the entire world continues feeling its shockwaves today.”

    The special is based on the book The Osama bin Laden I Know by CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. His book offers numerous new details about bin Laden’s transformation from a quiet, well-bred boy to the Western world’s most wanted terrorist. Bergen, an author and a Fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., was a CNN producer at the time of the interview with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in March 1997. Bergen, along with others, is featured in the CNN documentary and is credited as a co-producer.

  • Broadcast Bill: Ficci to examine legal implications

    Broadcast Bill: Ficci to examine legal implications

    NEW DELHI: A meeting on the draft Broadcast Bill 2006, which has been tormenting the media industry over the draconian clauses it contains, has decided that a core committee should be formed to examine legal implications of the proposed legislation.

    Organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here today, representatives of media organizations were unanimous on one issue: the draft Bill should be opposed; either partially or fully. Indiantelevision.com learns after talking to various participants that Ficci would join issue with other apex media organizations to frame a representation to the government on issues bothering the media industry.

    For example, while a representative of one media organisation opined that instead of opposing the Bill in its entirety only certain sections should be opposed, others felt that the whole Bill ought to be junked.

    However, after sifting through various opinion it seems that participants were more worried over two issues — cross media restrictions and government’s powers to crack down on TV channels, including news, for reports that it thinks are ‘biased’ and ‘against’ national interest.

    Additionally, there were some discussions on the proposed mandating of 15 per cent of a week’s total programming to locally sourced content on TV channels and its merits and whether it makes sense for private broadcasters to air or fund a certain quantum of content categorized as public service broadcasting.

    In the absence of any official communication — the meeting was not open to general media reporters though the issues related to media in general — it is also learnt that some cable operators did support the Bill partially, pointing out that the Indian broadcasting industry cannot do without any regulation and legislation.

    Those who attended the meeting included Reliance’s Amit Khanna, Discovery India EVP and MD Deepak Shourie, Sony Entertainment Television India CEO Kunal Dasgupta, Zee Group’s Jawahar Goel, cable industry reps Rakesh Dutta and Roop Sharma, Moving Pictures’ chief Ramesh Sharma, a couple of media corporate lawyers and executives of ESPN Star Sports, Star India and the Times of India Group.

  • Star India to weave advertiser funded shows

    NEW DELHI: Having dominated the Indian satellite airwaves for over six years, Star India is rolling out more big ticket initiatives on the programming, marketing and new business fronts.

    And, like the legendary archer Arjuna, the company is only looking at the target: further domination of viewing space and upping its annual revenue, which has already seen a substantial jump (some say in the region of 20-30 per cent) in FY06 ended 30 June, beating industry growth rate.In FY07, with an eye on monetizing on-air popular properties, Star India has hit upon a plan, which it describes as advertiser funded shows.

    This would involve big advertisers getting a chance to have their products woven into the script and thus advertised by characters with whom millions of Indians identify — a bigger and refined version of in-film and in-serial placements of ads.

    This initiative will be kicked off from middle to end August beginning with Star Plus shows.
    “We are looking at long and strategic engagement with our clients as we don’t want to confine it to small incentives,” Star India president, ad sales and distribution, Paritosh Joshi pointed out, while explaining the rationale behind the advertiser funded shows.

    Though Joshi and marketing head Satya Raghavan were not ready to divulge further details on this, they admitted companies from various segments like automobiles, fast-moving consumer goods and telecommunication had evinced interest.

    This particular plan is most likely to be seen in channels like Star Plus, Channel [V], Star One and Star Vijay where the company has control over content creation.

    “In due course of time, our producers of shows will be informed of this move so that content can be intelligently scripted to have place for products,” Joshi said.

    As part of the gameplan for FY06, the Hindi blockbuster movies will be back on Star Plus with the charge being led by Aamir Khan-starrer neo-angst flick Rang De Basanti to coincide with India’s Independence Day on 15 August.

    The other big films include this year’s present biggest grosser Krrish, Bluffmaster, Taxi No. 9211, Amitabh bachchan-starrer Family, Chup Chup Ke and Prakash Jha’s take on the Bihar cottage industry called abduction-of-people-for-ransom Apaharan.

    After premiering on Star Plus, these movies will air on Star Gold, which, according to Raghavan, has established itself. Star Movies will bond with the best of thrills and frills via the entire series of Bond flicks.

    New shows on flagship channels Star Plus and Star One will include the epic Ramayan set in the future in Antariksh, Balaji’s Karam Apna Apna, Ektaa Kapoor-Smriti Irani joint production Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan, the adventures of an Indian Indiana Jones in Lucky, Balaji’s Kis Rishte Se and Sanjog.

    The approach for Star Plus for the coming year is simple: bring more stories with identifiable plots and characters that will hook the entire family and not any particular segment of the audience only.

    Then, of course, Star will roll out initiatives on the gaming and Internet front too to take interactivity a notch higher than what is presently seen on Star channels, says Raghavan.

  • Sri Lanka amends levy on foreign television content

    Sri Lanka amends levy on foreign television content

    MUMBAI: Sri Lanka government has amended the commercial levy imposed on foreign television content, including teledramas, films and advertisements. The government has also decided to form a national media policy to regulate content aired on local television channels.

    As per the new rate card, the tax for 30 minutes or less block of English language imported teledramas and films have been reduced to Rs 10,000 from Rs 75,000. The tax for the programmes of the other languages of 30 minutes will be Rs 75,000. The levy for the imported programmes dubbed into a local language is Rs 90,000 per a 30 minute or less block. The tax reductions have come into effect from 24 July.

    The tax amendment was reached in a meeting held between the president of Sri Lanka and the heads of private television channels, heads of the advertising firms, artistes and the officials of the treasury and the ministry of media and information.

  • Inox Leisure Q1 net doubles to Rs 83.7 million

    Inox Leisure Q1 net doubles to Rs 83.7 million

    MUMBAI: Inox Leisure Ltd’s net profit has more than doubled to stand at Rs 83.7 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2006, as compared to Rs 40.8 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

    Total income was at Rs 40.53 million as against Rs 22.57 million during this period. Inox has launched two new properties, Inox Darjeeling and Inox Kota, to take its tally up to 41 screens in 11 multiplexes across 10 cities. In June, Inox also entered into a term sheet for an all share swap deal with Calcutta Cinema Private Limited (CCPL) for acquiring CCPL and its brand of multiplexes – ‘89 Cinemas.’

    Inox plans to take its screen count up to 108 screens by mid-2008, spread across 26 multiplexes in 18 cities. Inox Nagpur with three screens and Inox Chennai with five screens are scheduled to open in August and September 2006 respectively.

  • TV18 net up 65% at Rs 138.21 million

    TV18 net up 65% at Rs 138.21 million

    MUMBAI: Television Eighteen’s consolidated net profit has shot up 65 per cent to Rs 138.21 million for the first quarter of this fiscal, as against Rs 83.51 in the year-ago period.

    TV18’s revenue has also seen a 55 per cent jump to stand at Rs 416.07 million. In the first quarter of FY06, the company’s turnover was Rs 269.17 million. Early this year, TV18 had picked up a stake in Jagran TV, the managers of the Hindi news channel –Channel7.

    Revenue from news operations rose to Rs 364.52 million, from Rs 257.31 million a year ago. TV18’s internet business has crossed $1 million during this quarter. The new media assets include the recent acquistion of jobstreet.com (Indian arm). The group plans to hive off its internet business this year.

    TV18’s operating profit has gone up 57 per cent to Rs 213.76 million, up from Rs 136.45 million. The company has maintained an operating margin of over 50 per cent.

    TV18’s restructuring scheme, which would make it compliant with the uplinking guidelines laid down by the government, has been approved by Delhi High Court.

    “Our revenues continue to show robust growth and we expect to benefit significantly from the increase in distribution platforms for our services – via DTH, broadband, digital cable and mobile,” Television Eighteen MD Raghav Bahl says:

  • CAS: MSOs at odds over carriage, basic tier fee sharing

    CAS: MSOs at odds over carriage, basic tier fee sharing

    NEW DELHI: MSOs are divided on the issue whether carriage fee is retained by them and the basic tier fee of cable channels by local cable operators.

    While the Hinduja-owned IndusInd Media and Communications and Siti Cable (now renamed WWIL) opposed MSOs retaining carriage fee and LCOs keeping the basic tier fee, Rajan Raheja-controlled Hathway Datacom has supported such a model.

    In their submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), both Siti Cable and IndusInd have said MSOs should also get a share of the basic tier fee, which is collected by LCOs.
    Adding spice to the whole affair, the Cable Operators’ Federation of India (COFI) has suggested all round sharing of basic tier fee and carriage fee between MSOs and LCOs.

    All the three MSOs, responding to Trai’s call for feedback on interconnect regulations, have said that distribution of signals to subscribers should only be through digital set-top boxes as analogue boxes lack credentials.

    Trai had invited feedback from industry stakeholders on the proposed standard forms of interconnect agreements for CAS areas, draft regulation to mandate these standard forms and revenue sharing arrangements.

    The specific issues that were raised were the following:

    Should there be a uniform revenue share percentage between all broadcasters and MSOs and between MSOs and LCOs.
    Should the revenue share percentages for different broadcasters prevailing in Chennai be adopted in other CAS notified areas?
    Is there any other alternative method of arriving at the revenue share percentages amongst industry stakeholders.
    Upholding the rights of cable operators that it represents, COFI has suggested that franchisees of MSOs could be given a commission ranging between 5-10 per cent for selling set-top-boxes and other equipment to subscribers.

    The complete gist of comments of Hathway, Siti Cable, IndusInd and COFI on interconnect agreement is available on the regulator’s website at ww.trai.gov.in.

  • Walt Disney to buy out Hungama TV, take 15% stake in UTV

    Walt Disney to buy out Hungama TV, take 15% stake in UTV

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company today announced that it has entered into an agreement to wholly acquire Hungama TV and take a 14.9 per cent equity interest in media company UTV Software Communications Ltd, in each case subject to regulatory approval.

    Disney has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of United Home Entertainment LTD (Hungama TV) at an enterprise valuation of $30.5 million and purchase equity stake of 14.9 per cent of expanded capital in UTV Software Communications LTD, at a consideration of $ 14 million. So, the total combined investment is $ 44.5 million.

    The announcement confirms the news first put out by Indiantelevision.com that Disney would be buying into Hungama TV and picking up a small stake in UTV.

    Hungama TV COO Zarina Mehta will be working closely with the Disney team for the next three months to ensure a smooth organisational and operational integration of Hungama TV into Disney’s portfolio of kids channels. Post that Mehta will be working with Disney as a consultant for a period of six months to a year.

    Once final, the acquisition will firmly establish Disney’s ties in a rapidly growing media market where local content product is key. The combination of the three kids’ channels — Disney Channel, Toon Disney and Hungama TV — will establish Disney as a strong contender against the market leader Turner India (Cartoon Network and Pogo).

    “India is a long term strategic priority for the Walt Disney company. The acquisition of Hungama TV and the investments in UTV will significantly advance our presence in India and allow us to develop a strategic relationship with one of the countries leading integrated media companies,” said Walt Disney International president Andy Bird.

    “Not only will we be acquiring a great channel asset, we will also be able to participate in UTV’s diversified businesses and bring to UTV our global media and synergy expertise, including developing and distributing high quality family friendly content in nearly 200 countries worldwide and expanding related franchises across film, TV, music, merchandise, new media and live entertainment,” said Bird.

    When queried on Disney’s plans to launch a theme park in India, Bird answered in the negative. “We are not looking at a theme park in India,” he said.

    “TV is and will continue to be the major growth engine in building franchise affinity in India. Integrating Hungama TV in the Walt Disney Company’s existing India channel portfolio of Disney Channel and Toon Disney will allow Disney to fortify its already strong presence in India’s kids TV market,” said Disney Channel Worldwide president Rich Ross.

    When queried about the integration process of Hungama TV into Disney, Walt Disney Television International (Asia Pacific) senior vice president and managing director Nicky Parkinson said, “At present we are not sure how the integration will take place. We are in the process of finding out a way to best talk to kids. We are not here to cannabalise the market place. India is a relatively nascent market but one which has phenomenal potential.”

    “Hungama TV has proven its appeal to Indian children and families with compelling entertainment choices and has in a brief period built a strong management team and sucked out a leadership position in the competitive children’s TV environment. We are also delighted that Disney has chosen to make a strategic investment in UTV, which will augment our business in India and around the world,” said UTV group CEO Ronnie Screwvala.

    Launched in September 2004, Hungama is a 24-hour Hindi-language entertainment cable channel for children and is currently in a close fight with Turner’s Pogo channel for the the number two position in the Indian kids space behind leader Cartoon Network. Hungama TV has a staff strength of 71.

    Disney currently reaches over 107 million television homes in India through a programme block on Doordarshan and Disney Channel and Toon Disney/Jetix reached approximately 30 million homes on cable and satellite in India.

    UTV has a diversified set of businesses, which includes television and film production and distribution, animation production, and other services.