ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • SifyMax launches city-centric broadband portal

    SifyMax launches city-centric broadband portal

    BANGALORE: www.sifymax.in, the broadband portal from Sify Limited, has launched www.bangalorelive.in, the country’s first city-centric broadband website.

    Bangalorelive.in will showcase original Bangalore-centric video content, created exclusively for an online audience. The videos will focus on city news and events, entertainment, celebrities, lifestyle, commerce and politics, anchored by Net Jockeys (NJs), a new concept introduced by Bangalorelive in India. The Net Jockeys will also present daily news bulletins on video, covering the latest happenings in the city extensively.

    The broadband website also features, for the first time in India, live video feeds from traffic web-cams stationed at key junctions of the city including Brigade Road and Hosur Road, states an official release.

    A key aspect of Bangalorelive is the options for users to publish their views, participate in Bangalore-specific discussions and upload their own content in images and videos, the release adds. They can also message greetings through Short Message Service (SMS) to their friends who are using the site that will scroll across the home page on a ticker. The idea is to make Bangalorelive the online resource and home for Bangalore’s citizens, and the perfect way for Banglorian living elsewhere to stay in touch with what’s happening in their home city.

    Nikhil Chinapa, the popular MTV VJ from Bangalore, now based in Mumbai, says, “Considering that people from Bangalore have a really strong emotional bond to what they consider ‘their’ city, a site like Bangalorelive.in is a great way for them to stay in touch with all that’s happening in the city. No matter where they are now, Bombay, Delhi, Canada or the US, every Bangalorean can keep up to date on what’s happening in Bangalore-the clubs, the music, the buzz, news, hot topics, and in recent times, the latest traffic as well.”

    Sify Limited senior VP Surya Mantha says, “This is one of the most exciting web initiatives in recent times, and we believe that the people of Bangalore will embrace it and truly make it come alive! The site is India’s first city-centric broadband website designed to be the Bangalore citizens community media channel for airing their views, discussing hot local topics and building their own personal space online”.

    Mantha added, “With 24×7 live video coverage of the city’s traffic, news & events, reviews, news from around town presented by India’s first Net Jockeys, television-style newscasts and most importantly, video and image galleries for users, Bangalorelive is all set to change the online experience of people from Bangalore, whether they are in the city or elsewhere. The website also features Bangalore-specific classified advertisements for jobs, matrimony, real estate and automobiles which can be posted and viewed by the users free of cost”.

    Bangalore residents who log on to www.bangalorelive.in can take part in the four-week long contest, which ends on March 18th 2006, offering the all-new Scorpio as the mega prize! Users just have to watch three videos, and answer one question on each, to be eligible to win the Scorpio. Contestants also win iPods and World Space Receivers every week!

    The launch of Bangalorelive began with a four week-long event across the city billed the “Battle of the DJs”. Three of Bangalore’s best DJs are competing for the ‘Favourite DJ’ title. Bangaloreans can vote for their choice by sending an SMS to 4545, Sify’s short code for text messages. The DJ with the most popular votes wins! The grand finale starts at 7 pm on 18 March at Freeway 19, Palace Grounds.

  • Journalist to start news portal

    Journalist to start news portal

    Another print medium journalist bites the dot com bullet. Managing editor of Outlook newsmagazine, Tarun Tejpal, has quit to start tehelka.com, claimed to be India’s first independent news portal.

    Tehelka Communications Ltd, the company that will manage the affairs of tehelka.com, will have majority shareholding by the Tejpals (52.5 per cent), while 25 per cent will be held by adman Suhel Seth.

    “It’s an ambitious project and we are looking at a really comprehensive horizontal portal which will not only provide news, but also information on issues like literature, etc.,” Tehelka Communications’ chief executive Tarun Tejpal said, claiming it will be India’s first independent news portal.

    The board of this new dotcom company will include illustrious personalities like Khushwant Singh, R.K. Laxman, V.S. Naipaul and Russi Mody.

    In the initial phase the investment to be made in tehelka.com project is to the tune of approximately $ 2 million. The project, likely to be up by mid-May, is looking at attracting investments up to $ 10 million by second quarter of this year. According to Suhel Seth, involved in this venture in his personal capacity, tehelka.com will cater to both the high and low brow as it will have the zing necessary to attract hits. Though Seth was unwilling to divulge more financial details, IT industry sources said that venture capital funding will be tapped too. “In the initial phase about 10 per cent is likely to be offloaded to the venture capital fund which invests in the company,” a source close to Tehelka Communications said, adding, “Talks are already on with a Mumbai-based VCF.”

    A certain quantum of the equity stake in the company has been reserved for the employees stock option plan (ESOP), Tejpal said. This has been necessitated as some of the finest brains in journalism will be joining the project, including some from Outlook magazine.

    Tehelka.com is looking at having more than one model for generating revenue. One is the traditional one of making the site and detailed information susbcription-based. Another stream of revenue being looked at is facilitating downloading of magazines and excerpts from yet-to-be-published books for a price.

    But tehelka.com will have to face competition from existing news sites and portals like india-today.com and indiatimes.com and some like GO4i (go for India) which are in the offing and backed by big media houses.

    For example, in a two-pronged Internet strategy, The Hindustan Times Ltd, through an offshore company, based in the United States, has formed a joint venture with Chase Capital Partners with equal equity participation from both for development of a horizontal portal, tentatively called GO4i (go for India).

  • Aditya Shastri quits UTV as motion pictures COO

    Aditya Shastri quits UTV as motion pictures COO

    MUMBAI: Aditya Shastri, who had joined UTV as COO motion pictures production in late 2004, has quit the company. “We mutually agreed to part ways,” a source in UTV said.

    Shastri had moved to UTV from Twentieth Century Fox where he served as managing director. At Fox, he had handled and released several blockbusters such as Moulin Rouge, Die Another Day and The Day After Tomorrow.

    “I have left UTV. I am joining a new company on 15 April,” Shastri told indiantelevision.com.
    UTV has been enjoying major successes on the movie front this year with productions like the Aamir Khan superhit Rang De Basanti and Taxi No 9211 hitting the jackpot.

    The company has also distributed products in various territories including heavyweight titles such as Lagaan, Lakshya, Mission Kashmir, Parineeta and Viruddh.

  • CDF to increase stake in USL

    CDF to increase stake in USL

    Century Direct Fund (CDF) of Mauritius LLC, which currently holds 18.42 per cent equity stakes in United Studios Ltd, will be increasing its stake by another one percent as TCFC Finance Ltd is selling out its stake in United Studios.

    United Studios Ltd is a company under the umbrella of Unilazer group. Other group companies include United Teleshopping, United TV (UTV), a TV software production organisation, and UTV Interactive which is a wholly-owned susbidiary of UTV.

    TCFC Finance Ltd held 71,000 equity shares constituting 0.77 per cent of the current paid up capital of United Studios. The investmend had been made as co-investor along with CDF to which TCFC was an advisor.

    As a result of a restructuring of the operations of TCFC Finance, it has ceased to be an advisor to CDF and has agreed to sell its investment in United Studios to Century Direct Fund.

    The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approved United Studios proposal recently. The other foreign shareholder in United Studios is Mitsui group of Japan which holds 18,49,990 shares aggregating to 20 per cent of the total paid up equity capital of the company.

    Total foreign equity in United Studios amount to 38.42 per cent amounting to 35,54,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each.

    Earlier, the government had given permission for foreign direct investment in United Studios subject to:

    *All future laws on broadcasting will be applicable to United Studios and it will not claim any privilege or protection by virtue of prior approval.

    *The company will not undertake any broadcasting from Indian soil unless specially permitted to do so by the government.

    * There will be no obligation on the part of Doordarshan to buy TV software from the joint venture company, United Studios.

    Earlier this year, Intel Pacific and GE Capital Mauritius Equity Investment picked up 12.86 and 6.98 per cent, respectively in United Teleshopping & Marketing Co. Ltd. Subsequently, the foreign equity in United Teleshopping has increased from 45.45 to 57.14 per cent amounting to Rs 360 lakh. United Teleshopping is in the process of issuing fresh equity of 13,50,000 shares of Rs 10 each in the revised paid up capital of Rs 630.07 lakh which will be subscribed as follows:

    * Draper India International Mauritius– 17.86 per cent
    * Walden-Nikko Mauritius Company, Mauritius– 19.44 per cent
    * Intel Pacific Incorporation, USA — 12.86 per cent
    * GE Capital Mauritius Equity Investment –6.98 per cent.

    Last year, UTV promoters had decided to buyout Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corp’s 37 per cent equity stake in the Indian media house. Part of the additional funding for this News Corp shareholding buyback came from FII, Warburg Pincus.

  • Nimbus signs more global broadcasters for India cricket

    Nimbus signs more global broadcasters for India cricket

    MUMBAI: Nimbus Communications Limited, the global media rights partner of the BCCI, has entered into TV licensing agreement for terrestrial broadcast of Indian cricket in Kenya, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    The company has also closed a four year deal with Super Sport, the South African pay TV service.
    Nimbus, in an official release, claimed that it worked out a comprehensive telecast strategy for the Middle East with the signing of the radio rights deal with Hum FM and the TV rights deal with Ten Sports.

    According to the official communiqué, the Sinhala ‘edutainment’ channel Derana has secured the terrestrial TV rights for Sri Lanka for the ongoing England series. The series’ non exclusive pay TV rights for Hong Kong and Sri Lanka have been acquired by Ten Sports.

    Says Nimbus VP International & Syndication Vikram Das, “We are proud to be associated with the phenomenal expansion of the reach of Indian cricket. In a very short space of time we’ve achieved outstanding results in terms of reach, revenues and platforms.”

    With the latest round of deals announced, Indian cricket is now going live onto every continent: America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia and is available on television, radio and internet broadband, the release adds.

  • Star News launches ‘Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera’

    Star News launches ‘Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera’

    MUMBAI: Star News has launched a reality news show Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera, starting today. The weekly programme, airing at 6:30 pm, reflects upon social issues, real life incidents and general human-interest stories.

    “The programme will involve itself in the real-time resolution of these issues, often involving an intense debate from conflicting points of views amongst the chief protagonists involved.

    Resolutions in these often-emotional play-outs may or may not always be possible; however there will eventually be a conclusion. The conclusion itself will provide a real-time broad commentary on the ‘state of the nation,” informs an official release.

    Exploring a range of stories from victims of atrocities to drawbacks of the system, Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera aims to pack in a high voltage of human emotions and fervour. The programme format is structured in a flexible manner to accommodate, whenever required, live audience interactions and suggestions.
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  • India England series holds on to ratings

    India England series holds on to ratings

    MUMBAI: Holding on to the cricket loving audience. That is what the first test match in the India England series has managed to do. Tam figures indicate that the ratings achieved were similar to what had been done when India played Sri Lanka last year and only slightly less than what was achieved when India toured pakistan..

    Tam data c&s 4+ shows that for the first test match DD had a rating of 1.6 while Sahara One managed a rating of 0.9. This is similar to the ratings that the India Sri Lanka test series got last year.

    DD had a rating of 1.6 while Zee Sports had a rating of 0.8. Of course one must consider the fact that Sahara One has better connectivity than Zee Sports. Where Sahara One fared better was in the Hindi Speaking Markets. It managed a rating of 1.3 compared to the 0.9 that Zee Sports managed during the India Sri Lanka test matches.

    The good news is that the test ratings for the India England series was only slightly less than what Ten Sports managed for the India Pakistan tests which was 2.9 c&s4+. The India England series delivered 86 per cent of the audience for the India Pakistan series c&s4+.

    Test cricket rates better among men. For males c&s ABC 15+ DD managed a rating of 2.2 while Sahara One managed a rating of 1.2. The India Sri Lanka test series managed a rating of 2.3 on DD and 1.2 on Zee Sports. Ten Sports got a rating for 4.3 for the India Pakistan test matches.

  • Panamsat reports four per cent revenue growth

    Panamsat reports four per cent revenue growth

    MUMBAI: Global satellite service provider Panamsat has reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended 31 December, 2005

    For the year, total consolidated revenues of $861. million increased by 4.1 per cent from 2004 while video services revenues grew by 7.3 per cent over 2004. This year was significant as the company was acquired by Intelsat for $3.2 billion.

    The company paid down $676 million of long-term debt and paid out $300.3 million of dividends to shareholders as a result of strong financial results and a successful IPO. The company also achieved a year end 2005 cash balance of $126.3 million compared to $39 million at year end 2004.

    Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2005 were $229.2 million, compared to revenues of $207.7 million for the same quarter last year, an increase of 10.4 per cent.

    Panamsat CEO Joe Wright said, “Panamsat finished the year in an extremely strong position as we completed one of the most successful years in the company’s history. Our management team has now met or exceeded guidance for four years in a row while also continuing to increase our revenues and profitability. The utilisation on our satellite

    fleet increased to 73 per cent compared to an industry average of less than 60 per cent, while our fleet reliability remained at an industry high of 99.9 per cent.

    “Equally as important as our strong financial results, we made real progress in the three major strategic areas that we identified early last year for future growth: 1) High Definition video in North America and expansion of Direct-to-Home (DTH) video services in international markets. 2) satellite-based connectivity in rural America and remote regions of the world and 3) servicing the U.S. Government. We capped off the year with an agreement to merge with Intelsat.
    “In the first strategic area of video expansion, we expanded our industry leading HD

    neighborhood in the U.S. on Galaxy 13 by signing a multiple year, multiple transponder contract with HDNet as well as by adding new channels to the platform including the Outdoor Channel. In addition, to meet strong demand for Ku-band capacity in North America, we signed an agreement with JSat to co-develop the Ku-band Horizons-2 satellite for the US market, which will support expanded HDTV, digital video, and IP-based content distribution

    networks to broadband Internet and satellite news gathering (SNG) services.

    “We also launched Vis-a-TV, an ethnic programming service for the U.S. marketplace. Vis-a-TV represents a milestone for the industry as it is the first time an operator will partner with its customers to bring the world’s programming to the U.S. Internationally, we developed the PanGlobal TV DTH

    platform in Australia, which currently offers 25 different channels of ethnic programming content and will be duplicated in additional international markets, including New Zealand, this year.

    “In our second strategic area, providing satellite-based connectivity to developing markets, several of our initiatives have already developed into real growth opportunities. In South Africa, we joined the Liberty Foundation and are providing over 1,000 schools with general curriculum and other teaching aids from Johannesburg. We are also using our satellites to provide health education to citizens across the country via a network of government healthcare clinics. In Mexico, we have joined with our partner Grupo Pegaso to expand satellite-based broadband services to government, enterprises and consumers.

    “Our G2 Satellite Solutions unit, formed several years ago, also made significant progress during the year. This Panamsat subsidiary now accounts for nearly $90 million in annual revenues and is recognised as one of the

    premier full-service total solutions providers to the U.S. Government. In 2005, the G2 team created a managed network solution specifically for the US government and its various agencies.

    “The network uses high-powered Ku-band beams around the globe to deliver voice, data, video and Internet connectivity. At the end of 2005, this service was installed in over 300
    locations and is projected to be the fastest growing part of the business. And, equally important, we were able to clearly demonstrate the value of our satellites in the case of emergencies such as Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. We were ready then and will be in the future to provide communications services in the event of an emergency, either natural or man-made,” adds Wright.

  • Disney Channel to air ‘Finding Nemo’ this summer

    Disney Channel to air ‘Finding Nemo’ this summer

    MUMBAI: Disney Channel will be airing Finding Nemo in summer. The movie will premier on the channel as a special treat comprising the summer programming lineup.

    Finding Nemo is an Academy Award winner global box office hit and has been regarded as a timeless classic complete with imaginative, visually appealing and excellent storytelling.

    Walt Disney Television International (India) director programming and production Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “Creativity in content and presentation is paramount in Disney’s philosophy to reach out to kids and families. We, at Disney, love to tell stories that touch people’s hearts while presenting positive values that are relevant across generations and geographies. Finding Nemo has a brilliant story line – a splendid tale of family and friendship. I am certain this blockbuster title will take Disney Channel viewers on an under-water adventure to cool off the summer heat.”

    Last week Disney also announced that it has acquired the telecast rights to Sahara One Motion Pictures’ animated film Hanuman. Disney Channel wll also air the movie this summer as an eight part series.

  • TV18 Group creates new division TV18 Media Networks, names Saikumar CEO

    MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl’s Television Eighteen Group has fused all its marketing and sales operations under a new division TV18 Media Networks. The group has promoted its VP sales and marketing B Saikumar as CEO of the division.

    Speaking on the rationale behind the move, TV18 CEO Haresh Chawla said, “TV18, today stands as the largest news network with four news channels. It is merely to consolidate all the sales and marketing activities.”

    When quizzed if the group was adopting a similar model to that of NDTV Ltd’s subsidiary NDTV Media (which manages the company’s ad sales and marketing), Saikumar said, “This is a division and very much part of the group. We are involved in activities of designing promos besides sales and marketing.” He declined to comment any further on the matter.

    As CEO of TV18 Media Networks, Saikumar will have all the heads of sales and marketing from various channels of the news network – English business news channel CNBC TV18, Hindi consumer channel Awaaz, English news channel CNN-IBN and Hindi news channel Channel7 (soon to be re-named as IBN7) reporting in to him. Saikumar, meanwhile, continues to report in to Chawla.