ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Former I&B minister Pramod Mahajan dead

    Former I&B minister Pramod Mahajan dead

    NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader and former information & broadcasting (I&B) minister Pramod Mahajan passed away this afternoon at Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital following multiple organ failure.
    Mahajan, who was shot and grievously wounded by his youngest brother Pravin on the morning of 22 April after an argument at the BJP leader’s apartment in Mumbai’s upscale Worli area, had remained in a critical condition ever since the attack 12 days ago.

    The 56-year-old former I&B minister had three bullets lodged in his body and suffered what ultimately proved fatal damage to his liver, pancreas and intestines. Mahajan is survived by his wife and a son and daughter.

    Hinduja Hospital has been virtually under media seige these past days with television crews stationed there 24/7. Mahajan’s condition, which has had blanket coverage across all news channels, began deteriorating rapidly since yesterday and officials anounced his demise at 4:10 pm this evening.

    It was on Mahajan’s watch that Star India in 1998-99 made its first concerted effort to get a direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast service going with its ISkyB venture. Mahajan had in end-1998 indicated that DTH clearances would come within two-and-a-half months.

    Doordarshan’s news channel is also a brain child of Mahajan, who floated the idea in 1999. The idea of starting such a channel was mooted immediately after the BJP came to power in March 1998. Mahajan gave the green signal for starting the channel after he became I&B minister in December.

    It was also Mahajan who got the idea to upgrade the facilities of Kashmir DD centre to counter Pakistani propaganda unleashed by Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV in 1999-2000. Though a dedicated Kashmir channel was started with the help of private broadcasters when Arun Jaitley became the I&B minister after Mahajan in 2000, the former had sanctioned a $100m package for the upgradation of DD Kashmir’s centre.

    After Mahajan was shifted to the telecom ministry, holding also the infotec portfolio, he expressly scotched an idea of merging the telecom and I&B ministry to form an ICE ministry for the proposed convergence era.

    It is not wise to make one out of three important ministries of telecom, information and broadcasting and information technology, especially in view of the amount of work involved and number of employees associated, Mahajan had said in his capacity as information technology & communication and parliamentary affairs minister, while opposing a merger of the three ministries.

    The media savvy Mahajan was also the brain behind the “India Shining” campaign that his party, which was then ruling at the Centre, used unsuccessfully to fight the last general elections in 2004.

  • Asianet Film Awards 2006 scheduled for 19 March

    Asianet Film Awards 2006 scheduled for 19 March

    MUMBAI: The annual Asianet Film Awards, which honour the best in Malayalam cinema, has entered its eighth year. This year’s edition of the awards will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on 19 March.

    Asianet will select the best performers from the line-up of artists, technicians and producers, based on popular votes and an in-house jury verdict. The winners will be announced on the channel on 11 March. Prior to the awards, the channel will telecast a curtain raiser on 19 March.

    Asianet has roped in Ujala as the title sponsor of the event for the fourth consecutive time. The associate sponsors include Asian Paints, Anchor, Rasna, Godrej, Nestle, Horlicks and Rasna.

  • Pepsi launches cellphone portal ‘Pepsi Globe Smart Client’

    Pepsi launches cellphone portal ‘Pepsi Globe Smart Client’

    MUMBAI: Soft drink major Pepsi has launched a mobile portal called the ‘Pepsi Globe Smart Client’ for the youth. Powered by Yahoo! India., this portal will show on mobile handsets as a ‘Pepsi Globe’ and will provide easy access to the Pepsi Zone.

    With this, cell phone users can access Pepsi cricket, Bollywood and music previews, contests, television advertisements, promotions and purchase wireless content and also watch videos without actually having to log on to the net. With this initiative, Pepsi will triple its mobile user interface mediums with SMS, WAP and WAP Client, states an official release.

    PepsiCo India EVP marketing Vipul Prakash says, “We believe that by tailoring technological innovations to user comfort, Pepsi has been able to communicate its brand attributes to its target audience in a much more effective manner. In the past, Yahoo! has delivered on phenomenal user interface innovations for us, and the Pepsi Globe Smart Client reiterates our ‘dare for experience’ and innovative edge in developing mobile content. With this service, Pepsi promises to deliver a superior and unparalleled content browsing experience to subscribers.”

    Users can access the portal by sending ‘THIRST’ as SMS to 8243, a WAP site under the URL http://in.wireless.yahoo.com/pepsi. This is for the first time in India that a Pepsi Smart Client is being offered for high-end WAP subscribers that opens a new world of excitement and entertainment at one’s fingertips, states the release.

    The portal supports mobile content purchase through SMS, WAP and IVR, thereby enabling service providers to brand and market their data services more effectively. Pepsi supports handsets from all leading OEMs, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens and Panasonic.

    While announcing the new initiative, Yahoo! India country manager Neville Taraporewalla says, “Pepsi has always challenged us to develop something special. The Pepsi Globe Smart Client has been developed keeping the end mobile user’s comfort in mind. With the help of this software a mobile user will now be able to easily access everyday information at the click of a button on his mobile.”

    The Pepsi Smart Wap Client is built on the following open platforms:
    * Symbian Series 60 and UIQ
    * J2ME MIDP 2.0 and JTWI

  • Dave Sibley is MTV Australia MD

    Dave Sibley is MTV Australia MD

    MUMBAI: MTV Asia-Pacific president Nigel Robbins has announced that Dave Sibley is MTV Australia MD.

    Sibley will be responsible for leading the charge of MTV and VH1’s businesses in both the pay television and digital media worlds throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as sit on the board for Nickelodeon Australia, a joint venture between MTV and XYZ Entertainment. Sibley takes up this post in July.

    Sibley has a decade of service with MTV International, having most recently served as senior VP and GM, international marketing partnerships in London. In this role, he pioneered the marketing partnerships model, a concept born of Sibley’s belief in the need for a more creative and innovative approach to client engagement with brand media. MTV is now acknowledged across the globe as a leader in this field.

    Robbins says, “Dave’s leadership history with MTV Networks makes him an ideal choice to take the charge and continue to develop our businesses in Australia and New Zealand, as well as capitalize upon the brands’ momentum and growth. With MTV’s profile at an all time high and VH1’s growing fan base, Dave’s appointment comes at not only an exciting time for our company but a high-growth period for the pay television industry as a whole.”

    Sibley says, “To take the reins of a business as robust as MTV Networks Australia during this time of growth is a real thrill, and I’m very excited about helping further the connection MTV and VH1 have with their audiences, advertisers and business partners. MTV now has truly established itself in Australia as the premier brand for youth, thanks to the commitment of a very talented team. I’m looking forward to capitalizing on this trajectory and taking our businesses to the next level of growth.”

    Sibley will report directly to Robbins and be based at the company’s Sydney headquarters.

  • MTV launches broadband and mobile community platform in Korea

    MTV launches broadband and mobile community platform in Korea

    MUMBAI: MTV Asia Pacific has entered into a collaboration with Korean multimedia developer Wizmax to launch a customizable on-demand music and entertainment broadband and mobile community platform in Korea called MTV BoomBox.

    The venture has established a state-of-the art prototype that will serve as a model for customisable MTV platforms in the broadband and wireless content services arena across Asia.

    MTV Boombox will be an online entertainment destination utilizing state of the art technology across online and mobile platforms. The service will provide Korean consumers a digital community featuring local and international MTV programming on-demand, a wealth of user-generated content and a vast library of local and international music video and audio downloads, all celebrating the vibrant culture of music. MTV Boombox marks the first MTV-branded broadband network in Asia and the first video-based music community site to launch in Korea.

    Featuring a combination of free and paid streaming and downloading services including MTV programming, music, music videos, radio and more, MTV Boombox will allow users to customise their experience with video blogs, podcasting, file uploading and personalized homepages all designed to seamlessly connect with PCs, mobile phones and MP3 players. MTV Boombox will roll out in three phases beginning in May with full applications available to consumers by the third quarter of the year.

    MTV Asia Pacific president Nigel Robbins says, “Korea’s advanced technology allows us to deliver our world-renowned content in ways never seen before, and sets the tone for our future digital growth throughout the region.”

    Wizmax CEO Geoffrey H. Keum says, “The strategic alliance between the world’s best content provider and Wizmax’s digital multimedia service and technology will certainly make a global impact. MTV Boombox will introduce the next generation of new media services to Korea and throughout Asia.”

    MTV Boombox will provide users with an entertainment gateway, showcasing music and pop culture in MTV’s distinct editorial voice with applications allowing the user to customize and share their experience with others. Along with full episodes of original programming such as TRL Seoul available on-demand.

    MTV Boombox will also feature video clips from shows like Laguna Beach and access to events like the MTV Asia Awards. MTV says that the new venture also allows a wealth of sponsorship opportunities including full TVC streams and exclusive sponsored content not available on the free to access sections. Sponsors can provide MTV Boombox subscribers click-thru content such as the pre-release of music, performances and MTV series only available on broadband.

    MTV Boombox also offers advertisers creative re-skins reflecting corporate branding, all seamlessly integrated into the look and user-friendly design of MTV Boombox.

    MTV Boombox is the sixth MTV-branded broadband network launched by MTV Networks. MTV Overdrive was launched in April 2005 in the US, followed by the September launch of a customized service for Latin America called MTV Revolution. mtvU, MTV’s US-based college network, launched Uber in 2005, marking the company’s first network to be available in its entirety on broadband.

    Another localised service for MTV Overdrive launched in conjunction with the debut of MTV Canada in March 2006 and MTV Overdrive in the U.K and Ireland launched last month. The company has plans to launch additional online, on-demand services for MTV and Nickelodeon internationally throughout the year.

  • Podcast firm Podtech’s new branded show will examine social media’s impact on marketing

    Podcast firm Podtech’s new branded show will examine social media’s impact on marketing

    MUMBAI: US media firm PodTech.net which is dedicated to podcasting and delivering Fresh Voices for the iPod generation has debuted a new podcast brand

    The new brand Marketing Voices will debut on the InfoTalk network.

    PodTech will feature discussions on different topics. One of these will be on how media tools such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and online videos are changing marketing throughout the world. Marketing Voices will be hosted by
    marketer, Jennifer Jones.

    Jones has counseled many of Silicon Valley’s
    premier companies including Apple Computer, Goldman Sachs, and Mayfield venture capital during her more than two decades in the technology industry.

    PodTech.net CEO John Furrier says, “Marketing Voices is unique in the podcasting industry. There is no other show being offered today that has this type of guest or content. Offering fresh voices who are driving the new perspectives of marketing is key to the podcast’s success.

    “Given Jennifer’s marketing savvy and strategic expertise in branding and marketing, her background in technology and broadcast news and love of communicating new concepts, I am certain the show will resonate with our
    podcast audience.”

    The first guest on Marketing Voices is Institute for the Future (ITF) senior counsel Steve King. King’s focus at ITF is how new media technology is impacting consumers and marketing.

  • MTV US unveils student-developed viral video game

    MTV US unveils student-developed viral video game

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster MTV has announced that mtvU, its college network, in partnership with the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and the International Crisis Group have launched a viral video game.

    The game was conceived and developed by a group of digital activists from the University of Southern California. mtvU had launched the Darfur Digital Activist competition — “Darfur is Dying.

    The viral, online video game aims to spread awareness of the genocide taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan. It looks to serve as a call to action, and further empower college students to help stop the killing.

    Darfur is Dying is available for play at www.darfurisdying.com. Gold medallist Joey Cheek in February donated his $40,000 Olympic prize purse to relief efforts in Sudan and helped spark additional donations approaching $1 million.

    The game is a narrative-based simulation where the user, from the perspective of a displaced Darfurian, negotiates forces that threaten the survival of his or her refugee camp. Humanitarian aid workers with extensive on the ground experience in Darfur advised the students throughout the development process, helping to ensure the game accurately captured and was sensitive to the refugees’ plight.

    Darfur is Dying was designed to engage users and provide a window into the refugee experience — offering a faint glimpse of what it’s like for the more than 2.5 million who have been internally displaced by the crisis in Sudan. Calls to action are a fundamental part of the game and the user is presented with several opportunities during game play to become involved.

    Kiosks will be set up across the US where people can play the game, send it to others and take immediate action to help end the crisis. mtvU will also be exhibiting the student-filmed documentary Translating Genocide: Three Students Journey to Sudan. The film captures the devastation of the genocide in Darfur and was entirely filmed by college students.

    MTV adds that several artists and student groups from across the US participated in the online launch of the game a couple of days ago.

    mtvU GM Stephen Friedman says, “College students were among the first to cry out for an end to the atrocities in Darfur and this game is another way mtvU is serving as their
    megaphone. Darfur is Dying is a powerful tool college students can use to help stop the genocide in Sudan and we applaud the USC team for their important contribution to this
    critical cause.”

  • Reality TV strengthens focus on true stories

    Reality TV strengthens focus on true stories

    MUMBAI: Reality TV will air shows on real people with true stories this month.

    The line up includes Daring Capers, Patient Files, Campus Vets, Dr G and Exhibit A.

    Patient Files is a dramatic documentary series that explores the world of an emerging generation of medical pioneers and their patients. The stories are set in North America’s renowned Sunnybrook & Women’s College Hospital, one of the first hospitals in the world geared towards the research and treatment of women’s health.

    Each episode will feature patients as they make critical journeys from illness to recovery – all at the hands of courageous and compassionate medical teams dedicated to women’s medicine. It will portray the challenges patients and medical professionals face in receiving and delivering care differently.

    The series will draw audiences into the dramatic stories of women facing everything from cardiovascular disease to cervical cancer; from high-risk pregnancy to facial reconstruction and more.

    Campus Vets continues to tell the dramatic stories of student veterinarians at one of the most renowned veterinary schools in North America, the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.

    Exhibit ‘A’ combines documentary truth with the emotional power of dramatic recreation. It takes a look into forensic science and how it is used to solve crimes that might otherwise remain unsolved. It’s the science with the power to put suspects behind bars or to set them free.

    Each programme follows real detectives and forensic scientists as they unravel the mysteries of a criminal case. The show explores the science of crime including the biology of DNA, the toxicology of poisons, the entomology of bugs, the anthropological analysis of bones and the behavioural and geographic profiling of criminal activity.

    The channel will also air Medical Miracle Day. Programmes like Conjoined at the Head, Medical Miracles, No Arms Needed, Miracle Steps, Joined for Life and Born Against The Odds will be featured.

  • Creative Eye forays into sports marketing, celebrity management

    Creative Eye forays into sports marketing, celebrity management

    MUMBAI: Production house Creative Eye Ltd has made a foray into sports marketing and celebrity management. The company has begun the innings by marketing the telecast rights of the on going EurAsia Cup Cricket Series. It is planning to include tennis also under the purview.

    “Creative Eye’s aim is to function as an event promoter and rights holder of sports properties. We will be negotiating with private broadcasters as well as Doordarshan. We have started with the EurAsia cricket series and propose to hold the series every year, thus establishing our mark in the field of sports. Another segment we are very serious about is tennis,” states Creative Eye director Dheeraj Kumar.

    In an official communiqué, Creative Eye said its foray into sports had opened new avenues for the company in terms of revenue generations and also added new horizons for the company’s overall growth. “We are targeting revenue of $3 million out of the first EurAsia Cup series,” says Kumar.

    The first edition of the EurAsia Cup Cricket Series is currently underway in Abu Dhabi. As already reported, Sahara One Media & Entertainment Ltd. acquired the satellite rights of the series from Creative Eye. Now the production house has brought Prasar Bharati also on board to telecast the series from 29 April, when the second leg of the series begins. The matches will be aired live on DD Sports from 4 pm onwards, apart from the satellite telecast on Sahara One’s Hindi movie channel Filmy.

    Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust , in association with the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council has conceptualised the EurAsia Cup Cricket Series, which features India A, Pakistan A, Sri Lanka A, Holland, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust’s sports wing V K Sports then signed Creative Eye to market the telecast rights of the event.

    “Regarding EurAsia, our responsibility is to market the telecast rights and also ensure that the logistics are in place. This is a cash-less deal. Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust’s interest in the initiative is to promote the young cricketing talents in this country,” explains Kumar.

    Creative Eye is planning to market two more sports events this year, including a tennis tournament. Celebrity management is another area the company is planning a foray into. “We have already initiated with prominent sportspersons of the country, including various new talents in cricket. We will be divulging the names as soon as the deals are through,” says Kumar.

  • BBC Magazines to sell Origin Publishing

    BBC Magazines to sell Origin Publishing

    MUMBAI: BBC Magazines in the UK has announced that it has sold Origin Publishing and all of the non-BBC related titles published by it to a management buy-out team led by its current MD, Andy Marshall.

    BBC Magazines will retain the BBC-branded titles previously produced by Origin in a new subsidiary to be called Bristol Magazines which will be chaired by BBC Magazines MD Peter Phippen.

    BBC Magazines conducted a tender process involving a number of companies and accepted Origin’s MBO proposal as the highest bid put forward. BBC Magazines will retain a minority stake in Origin Publishing for a period of time in a staged exit and Origin will continue to provide management services to certain BBC titles during this period. Andy Marshall will also act as Bristol Magazines MD.

    Phippen says, “It is sad to have to sell Origin, and to be saying farewell to some very talented people but this is in line with the new remit for BBC Magazines. Origin is an excellent company and I’m sure the MBO team will ensure the business continues to prosper. For our part, we remain committed to Bristol as a publishing centre. Indeed, we are moving Homes & Antiques there and have recently announced our next launch, BBC Mind Games. I’m very excited about our new venture.”

    Marshall says, “I am delighted that we have the chance to take Origin forward as part of an MBO. We have a fantastic team here with great vision and passion and I know that the business will continue to grow and develop under their leadership. I am also delighted to have been asked to manage the development of the BBC’s new venture here in Bristol.”

    BBC Worldwide’s advisers in managing the sale process and in evaluating the bids were Ernst & Young. The non-BBC titles being sold include Blonde Hair, Hair Ideas, Your Hair, Beautiful Cards, Koi and 220 Triathlon.