ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Genios secures US distribution rights to Tartan titles

    Genios secures US distribution rights to Tartan titles

    MUMBAI: The US-based producer and distributor of home entertainment products Genius Products, Inc. is adding a library of more than 60 independent films to its slate of DVD releases through an exclusive distribution agreement with Tartan Video USA.

    The deal was announced by Genius Products CEO Trevor Drinkwater and Tartan Video USA President Tony Borg.Established in September 2004, Tartan USA boasts a library of more than 60 world-renowned eclectic-and often controversial-feature length independent films. The library includes Tartan’s Asia Extreme line of horror films, a fast-growing contemporary genre featuring the best of cinema from the Far East with such cult favorites as the 2004 Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner Oldboy, A Tale Of Two Sisters, and Takashi Shimizu’s Marebito. The library generated approximately $6 million of net revenue in 2005 and is expected to grow to $9 million in 2006, states an official release.

    In addition to distributing Tartan’s library of critically acclaimed films, Genius will distribute all new releases from Tartan Video USA, the American arm of Hamish McAlpine’s Tartan Films. The first titles set for release this summer represent both the Asia Extreme and Tartan Video brands.

    “The Tartan Video library is a remarkable line-up of films that have been recognized around the world as not only entertaining and inspiring, but thought-provoking as well. The titles represent another example of the ever increasing quality of content distributed by Genius through the expanded infrastructure we created to handle major titles from The Weinstein Company. With our newly implemented Vendor Managed Inventory system, we anticipate even greater success for Tartan’s library,” says Drinkwater.

    “Our agreement allows us to expand our distribution reach with a partner whose product line complements our own. We believe our world-renowned independent films, critically acclaimed Asia Extreme catalog and future branded labels are a great match with Genius’s already impressive catalog,” adds Borg.

  • Fox, Toyota partner for ‘Prison Break’ mobisodes

    Fox, Toyota partner for ‘Prison Break’ mobisodes

    MUMBAI: A sponsorship deal has been signed between Fox Broadcasting and Toyota that will have the car maker as the primary advertiser for episodes of Prison Break set to air on mobile phones. Earlier this month, Fox had announced that it would be rebroadcasting its content on the internet, with a revenue share deal for its local station affiliates.

    Fox’s Prison Break will serve as the centerpiece of a new marketing partnership between several News Corporation divisions-including Fox, FX and Fox Mobile Entertainment-and Toyota that will include a series of mobisodes inspired by the show.

    The promotion coincides with the launch of Toyota’s new Yaris Liftback and Sedan and will comprise Fox Broadcasting, Fox Mobile Entertainment (FME), Fox Interactive Media (FIM) and the FX cable channel.

    The News Corp. subsidiary is teaming with Toyota to produce 26 short videos that are set to be released every few days for subscribers of Sprint Nextel Corp.’s Power Vision service.

    Saatchi & Saatchi LA will produce 10-second marketing messages for Toyota that will air at the beginning of each mobisode, followed by a two-minute episode that parallels the current Prison Break storyline.The Toyota vehicles will be prominently featured in the 26 mobisodes.

    Prison Break: Proof of Innocence introduces the character Amber McCall and follows her attempts to exonerate her friend L.J., who has disappeared after being framed for murder. L.J. is the son of the show’s lead character-death row prisoner Lincoln Burrows. The mobisode series is produced by Eric Young of Sparkhill, producer of the award-winning 24: Conspiracy series.

    Toyota VP of marketing Jim Farley noted, “We’re utilizing this emerging entertainment medium as a way to provide fans of Prison Break with details about the show courtesy of Yaris. Our partnership with Fox provides an exclusive portal to showcase Yaris to consumers in a fun way where they can discover more about the car on their own time.”

    Fox Interactive Media will also create a Toyota-branded Prison Break microsite within Fox.com, offering content tied to the series. Also, Fox is providing Toyota with “category exclusivity” for auto advertising during several upcoming Prison Break broadcasts, with the first airing today. Fox will also drive viewers to both the Toyota-branded microsite and the mobisodes with co-branded advertising in daily and weekly national publications. Toyota was also sponsor of the FX cable channel’s Prison Break marathon last month.

  • Viacom acquires online game service for $102 million

    Viacom acquires online game service for $102 million

    MUMBAI: With a view to let Viacom and its MTV Networks unit connect online gamers, Viacom has acquired Xfire, a Silicon Valley company that makes free instant messenger software for computer game players.

    Owner of MTV Networks, Nickelodeon and the Paramount movie studios, Viacom said it will buy Xfire for $102 million in a bid to dominate the youth market on the Internet as it has on television.

    Social networking and online gaming sites are two of the hottest investment areas for top U.S. media companies as they try to hold on to younger consumers dividing their time between the Internet and traditional outlets like television.

    As part of MTV Networks, Xfire will be better able to maximize its advertising revenues through more aggressive marketing, greater global penetration and comprehensive integration with the company’s other digital and cable properties that address the gaming demographic.

    Launched two years ago in California, Xfire has 4 million registered members who use its software. Its 1 million active users average 91 hours per month, with an average session length of over three hours. The ad-supported application supports hundreds of the latest PC games and provides social networking, instant messaging and information for online gamers.

    Viacom’s chief executive Tom Freston said. “It’s a wonderful component of our overall digital strategy, particularly on the gaming front. Our key audiences are and probably will remain kids, teens, young adults–we want to be anywhere these audiences are. On both a strategic and an economic level, this is a terrific deal for Viacom. Xfire is far and away the leading PC gaming communications and community platform, has outstanding management, and is a perfect fit with our growing digital businesses at MTV Networks. It’s a bull’s eye against our young audiences.”

    Freston said Viacom continues to look at other Internet properties as potential acquisitions, mostly deals valued much less than $1 billion, and said further purchases were possible this year. At the same time, he said, Viacom is investing in building up entertainment channels it already owns into new formats for its audience.

    MTV last year acquired NeoPets.com, a site that allows users to invent and care for virtual pets. Rival News Corp. purchased social networking site MySpace.com as well as gaming company IGN Entertainment.

    Xfire’s services are advertising based and its features will be incorporated into MTV’s online properties. The company’s technology also allows users to share such entertainment as their favorite music videos, lending itself well to distribute video from MTV.

    Xfire has a distinct combination of tools, including:

    > Friend List for Gamers – Users can see when their gamer friends are online and what games they are playing.

    > One-Click Join – Users can see what games their friends are playing and use the one-click join feature to play alongside their friends instantly.

    > Xfire In-Game Messaging – Xfire users can send and receive instant messages while playing in many games without having to minimize or leave the game.

    > Stats Tracking – Through automatically updated player profiles, Xfire displays what games users are playing and how many hours they have played them.

    > File Downloads – Xfire’s file download system delivers demos, patches, trailers, and other files to users via a closed peer-to-peer distribution system.

    > Voice Chat – Allows gamers to talk to each other over a private peer-to-peer chat network.

    “Online gaming is an intensely social phenomenon, with millions of young adults around the globe interacting constantly. Xfire is the leading gamer community platform, and we look forward to integrating its services and user base into our multiplatform strategy at MTV Networks, which already includes assets like Neopets, GameTrailers, iFilm and more,” said MTV Networks CEO Judy McGrath.

    McGrath said MTV would seek to expand Xfire’s base regionally, particularly in countries with ardent gaming communities like Japan and Korea. MTV will also promote the community network, possibly with plugs on its television shows and Internet sites.

  • BBC World Service’s English teaching initiative completes 10 years

    BBC World Service’s English teaching initiative completes 10 years

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service has announced that its English language teaching service celebrates 10 years online this month. The site receives 10 million page impressions a month – 19 million if one counts English Language Teaching material on partner websites.

    Special features on www.bbclearningenglish.com to mark the anniversary include:

    A mini retro site displaying classic pages from the archives
    A specially commissioned piece by linguist David Graddol discusses who will be learning English in the future and how and what they will be learning
    A blogging facility providing daily language support to individual bloggers via a teacher’s weblog

    The website also features Flatmates – BBC World Service’s first interactive soap; Ask About English, where experts answer users’ questions; and Keep Your English Up To Date, in which Professor David Crystal discusses new words.

    And there are interactive teaching games Back of the Net and Commentary Box and a range of short audio programmes with quizzes, glossaries and downloadable scripts on lifestyle and entertainment.

    For teachers of English, weekly lesson plans based on topical news stories are available.

  • Animal Planet’s contest looks to unearth talent

    Animal Planet’s contest looks to unearth talent

    MUMBAI: This is a piece of news that should interest aspiring filmmakers who are passionate about animals.

    Animal Planet is searching for the next great wildlife filmmaker globally. The four-part reality series Unearthed will follow six contestants on an intensive training course as they learn the essential skills and realities of creating a natural history documentary.

    The budding directors and animal enthusiasts will carry out their challenges at the award-winning Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa in July 2006, competing to ultimately have their film chosen the winner.

    Industry experts and wildlife filmmakers Lyndal Davies and Andrew Barron will guide the contestants through their tasks on the course. The tutors will provide invaluable inside knowledge to help the students each shoot and edit their own short wildlife film.
    An international panel of experts will judge the final documentaries, and the winner will have his or her film broadcast on Animal Planet in 160 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

    To apply for one of the six places on this amazing course all participants have to do is to go to www.animalplanet.co.uk/unearthed and download the application form and send it in by 5 May, 2006 to the following address:

    Animal Planet – Unearthed
    Discovery Networks India
    9/1 B Qutab Institutional Area
    Aruna Asaf Ali Marg
    New Delhi-110 067, India

  • Nielsen US’ research council to study ways to improve TV measurement

    Nielsen US’ research council to study ways to improve TV measurement

    MUMBAI: US television ratings service provider Nielsen has announced that The Council for Research Excellence will soon begin its first detailed study into one of the fundamentals of television audience measurement — the quality of the research samples from which the ratings are drawn.

    The Council for Research Excellence was created by Nielsen last year via a dedicated $2.5 million R&D fund, and renewed for an additional $2.5 million earlier this year. The Council serves as an independent forum for Nielsen to gain greater insights and to ensure that client priorities are reflected in Nielsen’s R&D spending.

    The Council’s first study will explore “non-response bias” in Nielsen’s national and local samples, including People Meters and Diary methodologies. The study will seek to understand if there are differences in viewing behavior between those households or persons that agree to participate in Nielsen’s samples and those that refuse to participate.

    Do these differences have a material impact on reported ratings? The study is expected to take two years to complete at a cost of more than $1 million. A panel of experts will provide independent analysis and interpretation of the research that will be conducted by Nielsen Media Research.

    This study will try to measure all non-responders,.Nielsen says that this is a first step in understanding if the television viewing among cooperators differs in any material way from viewing habits among people who refuse to participate in Nielsen’s samples. Since the ratings are used as currency for more than $70 billion in television advertising, we need to make certain that these estimates are as accurate as possible.

    The chair of the Council is Ford global media manager Mark Kaline. He says, “This is an important subject and I am very proud of the work that’s been done already to dimension the scope of this research project. This is a great example of how the Council will work to benefit all who rely on audience research.”

    Nielsen senior VP and chief research officer paul Donato says, “This proposal shows that the Council will produce research of the highest quality. This research has the potential to bring significant improvements to audience measurement. Results could offer new models for recruitment as well as improved sample representation.”

    The research project will use questionnaires to collect responses. Incentives will have a key role in the study.

  • ‘Alias’ celebrates 100th episode this week in the US

    ‘Alias’ celebrates 100th episode this week in the US

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster ABC has anniounced that its action packed show Alias will air its milestone 100th episode on 26 April 2006. In India the show airs on AXN.

    In late February, cast members from the present, as well as the past, gathered together with the “Alias” crew to reminisce and celebrate the landmark occasion on the APO set at the Disney Studios. Creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams, along with Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment, made humorous-yet-touching speeches about working with everyone involved with the show for the past five seasons.

    In the 100th episode, Sydney’s maternity leave is cut short when she learns that Will has been abducted by her nemesis, Anna Espinosa. Meanwhile, Sloane finds himself one step closer to obtaining the cure for daughter Nadia. The lead characters is played be jennifer Garner.

  • Alan Johnston to host BBC’s ‘From Our Own Correspondent’

    Alan Johnston to host BBC’s ‘From Our Own Correspondent’

    MUMBAI: Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter who was kidnapped in Gaza last year, is the new presenter of From Our Own Correspondent (FOOC) for BBC World Service.

    During his career, Alan has written a series of dispatches for the long-running BBC Radio programme from the Middle East as well as Central Asia and Afghanistan.

    In one of the pieces that he wrote in Gaza before he was kidnapped, he admitted that the possibility of being taken hostage terrified him.

    During the 114 days he was kept prisoner by the Army of Islam, he spent hours working out how, once free, he would tell his story on FOOC. In October last year, an entire edition of the programme, some 27 minutes, was given over to Alan’s story.

    Commenting on his new job, he said, “I hope that the show might benefit from having a regular presenter, and one who has both contributed to it and been a fan for many years. The structure of the programme will stay the same however – the extraordinarily successful FOOC formula would be very hard to improve.”

    In a world where the correspondents’ stories must often be condensed into a minute or less, or perhaps confined to a single answer to a programme presenter’s question, FOOC gives them an opportunity to say a little more – to provide some of the context to the stories they are covering, to describe some of the characters involved and some of the sights they see as they watch events unfold.

    The show’s producer Tony Grant said, “I am delighted to be working more closely with Alan. In the past, most of our conversations were down crackly phone lines. He may have done loads of pieces for our programme, but I never got to meet him until after his kidnap ordeal. It will be great now to work side by side with him; he’ll make a really terrific presenter.”

  • Times Now business channel sibling to launch in 2008 2nd half

    Times Now business channel sibling to launch in 2008 2nd half

    MUMBAI: After rolling out English news channels, it has been a trend for broadcasters to follow it up with a business channel. Joining the bandwagon is Times Global Broadcasting.

    After tasting success with its English news channel Times Now, Times Global Broadcasting has firmed up plans for a business news channel. The English language business news channel is expected to beam some time in the second half of the year.

    Confirming the plans for a business news channel, Times Global Broadcasting CEO Sunil Lulla says, “Times Global Broadcasting will be rolling out its business channel in the second half of the year. We are working out the logistics.”

    However, when asked if Reuters Service will have a stake in the upcoming business channel, Lulla refused to divulge anything more.

  • ARY rolls out QTV and Musik on EchoStar’s Dish Network

    ARY rolls out QTV and Musik on EchoStar’s Dish Network

    MUMBAI: Pakistan’s ARY Digital Network has launched two more channels in the United States and North America .

    After the success of its flagship general entertainment channel, ARY Digital and its 24 hour news and current affairs channel ARY One World, the network now rolls out QTV – the 24 hour Islamic channel and a music channel Musik.

    Both these channels became available on the EchoStar’s Dish Network platform from 20 April.

    “One of our basic objectives is to help our music, entertainment, language, and basically our culture find a voice and reach the world over,” says ARY Digital Network president and CEO Salman Iqbal.

    “Our channels are trying to bridge the geographical divide that exists for that huge population of people that have migrated from their homelands.”

    The Network continues to expand its reach and distribution – with launch of Musik in the United Kingdom on 2 May 2006, adding to the existing ARY Digital, ARY One World and QTV packages.

    In June 2006, ARY Digital Network will also be launching ARY Digital, ARY One World and QTV in New Zealand and Australia.

    “We are proud to say that we are the largest South Asian Television network in the world with the most channels being distributed internationally, ” stated Iqbal. “It’s important for a network to be able to provide options to suit the taste buds of a wide cross section of viewers, be it in any region.”

    The Islamic channel QTV is also visible in India.