ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • BBC forks out $33mn to retain film host Jonathan Ross

    BBC forks out $33mn to retain film host Jonathan Ross

    MUMBAI: Jonathan Ross who presents film shows for UK pubcaster the BBC like Friday Night and Film 2006 has renewed his contract despite fierce bidding from rival channels. Reports indicate that Ross will be paid $33.1 million over a three year period.

    With his tongue firmly in cheek Ross said, “I am delighted to be staying with the BBC if only because it is the only studio I can drive to without getting lost. It is the best channel in the country, and I’m proud they want me back.”

    This deal covers BBC Television and BBC Radio. Channel 4 and ITV were competing for Ross. However, when the BBC matched Channel 4’s offer Ross decided to stay put with the pubcaster.

  • American Red Cross to benefit from sale of American Idol Taylor Hicks’ single

    American Red Cross to benefit from sale of American Idol Taylor Hicks’ single

    MUMBAI: As the ‘soul’ survivor of US broadcaster Fox’s music based reality show American Idol’s fifth season, the Alabama native, Taylor Hicks, had signed a record deal with 19 Recordings Limited/Arista Records.

    A portion of the proceeds from the sales of his single Do I Make You Proud will benefit the American Red Cross.For every CD sold, $0.25 will go to the American Red Cross, as well as $0.15 for every digital download sold, and $0.20 for every ringtone and ringback. The single to be released tomorrow 13 June marks the fourth American Idol single to provide financial support to the mission of the Red Cross and the people it serves. Sales of the past three recordings generated more than a quarter million dollars in donations.

    BMG US president and COO Charles Goldstuck says, “It has been a privilege these past three years to support the American Red Cross in their fundraising efforts and on behalf of the RCA Music Group and 19 Entertainment we are proud of our association with them.

    “With an active hurricane season predicted, what better time to continue support of their enormous efforts and everything they stand for.”19 Entertainment’s Simon Fuller says, “Great traditions are meant to be extended. It’s been a wonderful experience working with the American Red Cross over the years and 19 Entertainment is proud to continue helping those who need their services the most.”

  • Radio City launches autobiography series ‘Meri Kahani’

    Radio City launches autobiography series ‘Meri Kahani’

    MUMBAI: Starting 11 June, Radio City will launch a series on autobiography of the stars by the stars. The series Meri Kahani will be aired across the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Lucknow on every Sunday at 1 pm.

    The series kicks off with the autobiography of Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar. In this one-hour show, the queen of the Indian melody reminisces her soulful moments and milestones of her extraordinary life and career that will strike a chord, leaving a lasting impression in the minds of millions of fans across the country, according to an official statement.

    Besides, Lata Mangeshkar Radio City will feature Subhash Ghai, Jitendra, Shilpa Shetty, Tabu, Khayyam and many more through the series.

    The show Meri Kahani incites the stars to talk about their lives, childhood stories, the backgrounds in which they have grown up, the start of their careers, struggling years, turning points and the important people who have been instrumental in shaping up their great lives. The stars also talk about their future plans and views on the Indian film and music industry.

    “At Radio City, it has always been our aim to connect with our listeners and the experts of the entertainment industry in a unique way. The unique format of this new show will enable listeners to connect with some unforgettable and unheard aspects in the journey of their favourite stars as they relive their past,” says Radio City national programming head Vikas Verma. “

  • Philips launches global Fifa World Cup preparation center

    Philips launches global Fifa World Cup preparation center

    MUMBAI: In order to provide consumers with top-notch entertainment experiences, Philips has launched the O.G.P.F.W.C.PC. (Official Global Philips Fifa World Cup Preparation Centre) enabling football enthusiasts from India to gain information tips and entertainment surrounding the Fifa World Cup.

    This preparation center is fully interactive, allowing visitors to “walk” through different rooms, much like a video game. While in each room, football fans will learn a variety of humorous and entertaining preparation tips pertaining to their Fifa World Cup experience, ranging from the best way to decorate a football home and celebrate a victory, to an online game that will award lucky fans with tickets to the 2006 Fifa World Cup.

    A “room” in the preparation center has been made to meet the needs and demands of any football fan.

    Some features that can be found on this site are:

    Goal Celebration Preparation: In this room, visitors will see how fans around the world celebrate a goal or team victory, providing tips and ideas for fun-filled celebrations for any football fan.

    Prepare to win: While visiting this room, football fans can play a football game and win tickets for Fifa World Cup.

    Living Room Preparation: The living room is the most important part of Fifa World Cup home viewing; while in this room, fans will learn expert tips on the best way to prepare a living room for the critical matches in June.

    The Preparation Center is live and fans can experience this exciting site by visiting www.philips.com/fifaworldcup, by clicking on the dedicated banner.

  • Microsoft, Club Internet team up for GenX digital TV

    Microsoft, Club Internet team up for GenX digital TV

    MUMBAI: Club Internet and Microsoft Corp. have come together for an exclusive digital television service, which will be launched later this month. This new triple-play offering will be the first in France to be based on the Microsoft TV software platform.

    Club Internet is a provider of internet services in France and will now lead the delivery of next-generation digital television services.

    Part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, Club Internet, which created TV on the web in 2002, will be the first of the Group and among the first in the world to launch a triple-play offering that will be powered by the Microsoft TV Edition software platform and will revolutionise the way people watch TV.

    Club Internet’s triple-play service will provide a complete digital television service together with voice and data services that soon will be supported by a set-top box with integrated hard disk from Linksys. The offering is high-definition (HD)-ready and digital terrestrial television (DTT)-ready and will include a vast range of on-demand programming, broadcast channels and advanced digital video recording (DVR) functionality, enabling consumers to control when and how they watch live and recorded TV.

    The Microsoft TV-based solution can be tailored to suit the viewers’ preferences, turning television into a more personalised entertainment experience for each individual.

    This new Internet Protocol television (IPTV) solution is designed to be intuitive and flexible, offering a simple and user-friendly interface.

    Some of the other benefits of the service include:

    Changing channels is instantaneous compared with one to two seconds for other digital TV and IPTV solutions.The picture-in-picture feature enables viewers to follow two programs simultaneously.The digital recorder will provide 50 hours of recording time and will be integrated into HD- and DTT-ready set-top boxes.

    The TV and video-on-demand (VOD) content is wide-ranging and proprietary to Club Internet: 1,000 VOD and subscription VOD programs and 150 TV programs will be available for the back-to-school season.

    In addition to these, Club Internet’s triple-play offering uses a simple and intuitive guide for programming up to two weeks ahead, and the entire library of content can be searched by program or even actor name while viewers continue to watch a current program.

    “We are delighted with our alliance with Microsoft TV. Equipped with 1,000 VOD and SVOD programs and 150 TV programs, Club Internet television service will provide the consumer with real added value thanks to its user-friendly interface. With this new generation of digital television, Club Internet is revolutionizing IPTV and inventing television on demand,” said Club Internet/T-Online France president Marie-Christine Levet.

    “Working together, Microsoft and Club Internet are helping to create a revolution in TV entertainment for consumers across France. Club Internet can combine its experience in pioneering innovative Internet services with the power of next-generation IPTV technologies to deliver unique TV and communications services that are truly integrated,” said Microsoft TV general manager marketing Christine Heckart.

  • It is CBS’ turn to dance to iTunes

    It is CBS’ turn to dance to iTunes

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster CBS and Apple have announced that prime time programming from the network is now available on the iTunes Music Store at www.itunes.com.

    This means that some shows from all the four major American networks – CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox are available at iTunes.

    CBS shows that will be available for purchase and download include the reality show Survivor, the dramas Numb3rs, NCIS and the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) franchise CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami CSI: NY.

    iTunes now offers over 100 TV shows for $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod, and claims to be the world’s most popular online video store with over 30 million videos sold.

    CBS Digital Media president Larry Kramer said, “We are bringing popular and acclaimed programmes from the most watched television network — including CSI and Survivor — to iTunes. iTunes has proven that people enjoy viewing shows on their computer or iPod, which provides an opportunity to reach new audiences with our hit shows and gives our existing viewers a chance to catch up on missed episodes.”

  • Wenner Media acquires Disney’s 50% stake in ‘Us Weekly’

    Wenner Media acquires Disney’s 50% stake in ‘Us Weekly’

    MUMBAI: Wenner Media has acquired Disney’s 50 per cent stake in Us Weekly LLC, which publishes Us Weekly, and now once again owns the magazine in its entirety.

    Disney had invested in Us Weekly and formed the 50/50 Us Weekly LLC joint venture with Wenner Media in February 2001, advancing Us Weekly’s transition to the weekly frequency. Under the joint venture, which was managed by Wenner Media, Us Weekly revamped its format, spearheading the evolution of the celebrity magazine genre, and doubled circulation from 850,000 to 1.75 million, making it one of the fastest growing titles in the publishing industry. During that same period, advertising pages also doubled.

    For the first six months of this year, Us Weekly’s circulation grew by seven per cent (from H1 2005), with newsstand sales surpassing the one million mark for the first time. For the same period, ad pages grew by four per cent to 912 pages.

    Wenner Media chairman Jann Wenner said, “Disney has been a superb partner and we will miss them. I am deeply grateful for their vote of confidence in Us at a time when not everyone thought we had much of a future or there was a future in celebrity magazines.”

    Disney CEO and president Robert Iger said, “Jann Wenner and his team have been great partners over the course of our involvement with Us Weekly. They have managed this business extremely well and we wish them continued success.”

    Launched as a bi-monthly publication in 1977, Us Weekly was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986. The magazine moved from a monthly to a weekly format in March 2000. Privately held Wenner Media also owns and publishes Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal.

  • Endemol CEO Joaquim Agut quits

    Endemol CEO Joaquim Agut quits

    MUMBAI: Endemol CEO Agut Bonsfills has quit the global television format firm citing personal reasons.The Supervisory Board has taken steps to arrange for Bonsfills’s succession without delay. The company expects to make a further announcement shortly.

    According to an official release, while the Endemol Board regretted Bonsfills’s decision, it also respected it and thanked him for his valuable contribution and achievements over the last two and a half years.

    Meanwhile, Jan Peter Kerstens has been appointed as the company’s CFO.

  • BVITV concludes deal with Australian pay TV platform Foxtel

    BVITV concludes deal with Australian pay TV platform Foxtel

    MUMBAI: Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP), which distributes television shows of Disney, ABC has concluded a multi-year multi-genre volume agreement with Australian pay TV provider Foxtel for subscription TV rights to live action and reality series, ABC News documentaries, daytime programming and TV specials.

    Foxtel channels will access shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, My Wife and Kids, Hope and Faith and Extreme Makeover, and renewals of comedies like Home Improvement and Scrubs.

    This agreement also continues to provide Foxtel’s channels rights to 19 time Emmy award-winning talk show The View, which recently announced the addition of new co-host Rosie O’Donnell, as well as a portfolio of ABC News documentaries such as Haunted Town and Toughest Jail.

    BVITV-AP senior vice president and managing director Steve Macallister said, “Commitment to our clients drives BVITV’s business and the conclusion of this agreement, which builds on an already successful decade-long relationship with Foxtel is a prime example of that commitment. BVITV programming continues to have strong international appeal and we are delighted to be providing some of the hottest programs on television, including Lost and Desperate Housewives to pay TV viewers in Australia.”

  • UK broadcasters join forces in DTT high definition trial

    UK broadcasters join forces in DTT high definition trial

    MUMBAI: UK broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five have joined forces to launch the UK’s first high definition (HD) trial broadcasts to terrestrial aerials.

    A specially selected 450-strong audience sample have collected their trial HD set top boxes (STBs) for the closed technical digital terrestrial television (DTT) technical trial, which is due to last six months.

    HD, the parties state, is a step change in television technology, which provides far clearer and more detailed pictures than normal standard definition TV. Each picture contains up to five times as much digital information as an ordinary TV picture.

    The trial will offer participating broadcasters and their technical partners valuable lessons about delivering HD broadcasts on a digital terrestrial network and also research how the audience enjoys this new format.

    It will help to discover whether there could be HD broadcasts on Freeview in future. The trial is being conducted under an Ofcom licence, which strictly limits the number of receivers and forbids reception of the trial stream by general members of the public. Humax and Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) have supplied the HD set top boxes for the trial.

    The DTT HD trial consists of low power transmissions from Crystal Palace in London on frequencies that are not suitable for high power broadcasting.

    National Grid Wireless (NGW) is transmitting the BBC’s HD stream, which went on air last month, and Red Bee Media provides play-out services.

    Arqiva is transmitting the multiplex shared by ITV, Channel 4 and Five, with Grass Valley, a business within Thomson, providing broadcast playout and video encoding equipment.

    Siemens Business Services is providing technical support for the BBC’s HD trial. The test broadcasts will use MPEG4 video coding, 8K carriers and 64QAM modulation at launch – different parameters may be tested during the trial period.

    The BBC’s trial DTT HD stream will offer identical programming to its HD trial broadcasts on satellite and cable over the trial period.

    That includes the BBC’s World Cup coverage, major Wimbledon matches and programming highlights such as Planet Earth and Bleak House.

    ITV will offer its own World Cup coverage in HD, completing the full line-up of World Cup games, as well as drama such as Agatha Christie’s Poirot specials Death on the Nile and Murder in Mesopotamia, documentaries such as Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Adventures and classic films including All Quiet on the Western Front and The Big Sleep.

    Channel 4’s HD trial broadcasts will include hit US drama series Lost and Desperate Housewives, FilmFour films and other Channel 4 programming.

    Five will be showing episodes of CSI in addition to commissioned programmes such as Tim Marlow at MOMA and movies like Cocktail.

    Research company TNS Media is conducting the research. The audience panel was selected from online volunteers who registered on a website in April. All had existing HD Ready television sets and will be supplied with special DTT HD set top boxes.