ITV

Category: TV Channels

  • BBC Worldwide appoints Simon Danker as director, digital media

    BBC Worldwide appoints Simon Danker as director, digital media

    MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has appointed Simon Danker as the director of the digital media. Prior to taking up this new role Simon Danker was director of UK and Ireland TV within BBC Worldwide’s Global TV sales division.

    Danker will be reporting into BBC Worldwide managing director Digital Media & director of Strategy David Moody.

    Danker will lead the team looking at widening the availability of programmes on new technology platforms such as the Internet and mobile phones.

    This will include the development of BBC Worldwide’s iPlayer, a commercial version of the BBC’s proposed iPlayer, which would allow people to download television and radio programmes via the internet, according to an official release.

    Danker’s portfolio will also cover music, determining new commercial opportunities for BBC Worldwide’s music rights and working closely with record labels. Developing partnerships with music and new media industry players both domestically and internationally will be a key part of his role.

    Simon Danker said: “New distribution platforms will give audiences what they really want – access on-demand to an unprecedented choice of programming. The quality and breadth of BBC Worldwide’s catalogue and our global reputation as a distributor, means we are in a great position to work with platform owners and producers to generate new income streams in this space.

    Digital Media & Director Strategy managing director David Moody said: “Simon brings to this new role a wealth of experience. His proven track record in developing strategies for TV Sales, building relationships with third parties and his knowledge of new media distribution make him perfect to join this increasingly important area of the business. I’m delighted to have him on board.”

    Danker joined BBC Worldwide in 2000. More recently, Danker has managed and grown the development of programme sales to Video on Demand (VoD) platforms such as BT and Homechoice.

    Danker’s prior position as director of UK and Ireland TV within BBC Worldwide’s Global TV sales division is to be filled by Lisa Cfas, currently head of business affairs in the Independents Unit and Children’s. 

    She joined BBC Worldwide in August 2003 before which she was part of the business affairs team in the BBC, supporting drama commissioning for Indies and later BBC Films.

    Cfas will take over Simon’s role gradually over the next two to three months.

  • MediaCorp Radio launches Chinese FM station on Visual Radio

    MediaCorp Radio launches Chinese FM station on Visual Radio

    MUMBAI: MediaCorp Radio has announced the launch of Singapore’s hit music station Y.E.S. 93.3FM, which is the first Chinese language radio station to be made available on Visual Radio.

    This makes MediaCorp Radio the first broadcaster to launch the service in Chinese.

    Developed by Nokia and offered by Hewlett-Packard (HP), Visual Radio adds a new dimension to FM radio with interactive content and services for mobile radio listeners, increasing listener loyalty for radio station operators while providing an opportunity to increase data services usage for mobile operators., states an official release.

    In conjunction with the launch of Y.E.S. 93.3FM, HP has also integrated M1 as the second mobile operator in Singapore to offer the Visual Radio service to their customers.

    M1 will be offering the Visual Radio service to its customers with Nokia devices with the Visual Radio application. With Visual Radio, M1 customers can access appealing visuals, information and entertainment of what’s playing over the air, check upcoming concert dates, purchase ring tones and other mobile content of the artiste, participate in radio station promotions, polls, contests, and interact with radio DJs and special guests.

    HP first engaged MediaCorp Radio to bring Visual Radio to Singapore and in December 2005, 987FM became the first radio station in Singapore and Asia Pacific to launch the Visual Radio service, adds the official release.

    Y.E.S. 93.3FM is now the second MediaCorp radio station to offer the service. HP continues to improve the mobile content available on Visual Radio by partnering with major record labels such as Sony BMG, EMI, Universal Music and Rock Records, to provide Visual Radio users with the coolest, original mobile artist content to download as they listen to the artist’s songs over radio.

  • 5 million visit Fifa website on Day 1 of WC

    5 million visit Fifa website on Day 1 of WC

    MUMBAI: With the Fifa World Cup in full swing, comScore Networks analysis reveals that over 5 million users worldwide visited the official website hosted by Yahoo! at Fifaworldcup.yahoo.com on the opening day of the Fifa World Cup.

    According to the digital media measurement company comScore, this was followed by an average of 4.4 million visitors during the opening weekend.

    Additionally, comScore revealed the site served more than 400,000 video streams on the opening day and averaged approximately 375,000 streams per day throughout the weekend.

    As per a release issued by the company, 57 per cent of the page views occurring during the opening weekend were from the English-language section of the site. While in the non-English language content, the Spanish language section made up 14 per cent of page views.

    The Asian language content also drew significant traffic with six per cent of the pages viewed in Japanese, three per cent in Chinese and just one per cent in Korean, combining for more than 18 million page views per day, adds the release.

  • Endemol appoints Rodriguez-Viña as chairman and CEO

    Endemol appoints Rodriguez-Viña as chairman and CEO

    MUMBAI: Endemol N.V. has appointed Elías Rodriguez-Viña Cancio as chairman and CEO of the company. This appointment follows the resignation of Joaquim Agut Bonsfills.

    Rodriguez-Viña will chair the company’s management board, joining its other three members: chief operating officer Tom Barnicoat, chief creative officer Peter Bazalgette and chief financial officer Jan Peter Kerstens.

    Rodriguez-Viña comes from Telefónica SA, where he has been responsible for the Group’s non-core subsidiaries. Before that, he was CFO of Terra Lycos and has worked for companies such as Arthur Andersen, General Electric and UBS.

  • ‘Lost’, ‘24’ get Television Critics Association nominations in the US

    ‘Lost’, ‘24’ get Television Critics Association nominations in the US

    MUMBAI: The shows Lost and 24 are among those competing for top honours at The Television Critics Association awards in the US.

    The winners will be announced on 23 July in Pasadena, California.

    They have been nominated for programme of the year. Joining them are Grey’s Anatomy, The Office and The Sopranos. NBC leads the list of most nominations by a broadcaster with 10 nominations on the strength of its comedy series. Freshmen series, My Name Is Earl and The Office. Each received three nominations. The West Wing received two nominations, including the Heritage Award..

    The Sopranos and 24 also earned three nominations apiece.

    PBS programmes dominated the news and information category, locking up four of the five nominations. Public television received seven notices overall. Fox received six nods, including a nomination for newcomer “Prison Break.”

    The 22nd annual TCA Awards honour the finest work of the 2005-2006 season as selected by the association’s 200-plus member critics and journalists.

  • Viewership of Fifa World Cup in Europe beats expectations

    Viewership of Fifa World Cup in Europe beats expectations

    MUMBAI: Since kicking off last Friday 9 June, the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany has received a strong response not just in terms of stadium attendance but also in terms of television viewership in Europe.

    Initial viewing figures have been provided by football governing body Fifa’s and Infront’s research agency Sponsorship Intelligence, from the first three days of play.

    In Germany, the ZDF coverage of the tournament’s opening game featuring the host nation was watched by 20.13 million, a market share of 76 per cent. It was the most viewed Fifa World Cup opening match in history of German television.

    England’s opening match against Paraguay reached 84 per cent market share in the UK. 12 million people tuning in BBC One’s coverage, which matched the average for England’s group stage games in 2002. This rating does not include the out-of-home viewing television audience, which is expected to be significant due to the air time of this match which was on Saturday 10 June at 2 pm.

    Even countries that were not playing in the time period when the ratings were taken have fared well on the television ratings front. A case in point is France. The first three games broadcast on TF1 have shown much improved ratings on average than all the games in 2002 not featuring France (12).

    Netherlands’s qualification for the 2006 event (the country failed to qualify in 2002) has helped boost the ratings in the country. Around 5.5 million fans watched the team beat Serbia-Montenegro on NL 2. The market share of 89.4 per cent, was well over half more than tuned into the 2002 final.

    In Poland, the audience for the game against Ecuador surpassed the 2002 top TVR which involved the final. Poland’s opening game got a TVR of 25.7 versus 25.3 for the 2002 Brazil versus Germany final. The match was covered by TVP 1.

    In Portugal the team’s efforts against Angola drew 2.9 million viewers (a market share of 81 per cent). This was over 30 per cent higher than the top rated audience four years ago. In Norway England’s game against Paraguay on TV 2 attracted a market share of 81 per cent .

    At the moment, the assessment of the viewing patterns is based on ‘overnights’ and audiences could be significantly higher once “out of home” viewing is added in to the total. This is likely to run at record levels for this World Cup, given the current public viewing trend and the effect of new media options.

    Infront Sports and Media will provide further summary highlights of television audience figures worldwide on a regular basis throughout the course of the tournament.

    The company is responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales of the broadcast rights to the 2006 Fifa World Cup. It has made the event more widely available than ever before. There are over 500 broadcasters covering the Fifa World Cup and coverage is being provided in virtually every country of the world.

  • Former ‘Will and Grace’ star Megan Mullally to host chat show for NBC

    Former ‘Will and Grace’ star Megan Mullally to host chat show for NBC

    MUMBAI: One of the former stars of the sitcom Will And Grace which came to an end last month on US broadcaster NBC Megan Mullally will host a chat show on the channel.

    The one hour The Megan Mullally Show will be a hour featuring a mix of celebrities, real people, music and comedy. Mullally will interview celebrities and also introduce the world to guests of all kinds from quirky characters to funny kids to off-beat experts.

    NBC is hoping that the show will bring the best of classic and current talk-variety television to the daytime audience this fall.

    The Megan Mullally Show has been sold in more than 92 per cent of the US and in all top 20 US markets. NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution has assembled the majority of its production staff. Ken Fuchs will be the show’s director.

  • Summer vacation fuels ‘Narnia’ DVD sale in India

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company has claimed that its The Chronicles of Narnia, has become the highest selling DVD in India. The DVD, released last month, acquired the feat by dethroning the Lion King DVD by over 30 per cent in sales.


    The DVD sales were fueled on account of summer vacation and the unique sales promotion activities aimed at children.
    The Narnia DVD has been topping the international DVD charts for continuous weeks since its release, according to an official release.


    Buena Vista Home Entertainment International VP Daniel Solnicki says, “The success of the DVD has been phenomenal in India echoing its success worldwide (as the highest selling DVD of 2006). The growing hardware (DVD / VCD players) penetration and the aggressive marketing efforts by our partner in India are taking the home entertainment business to new heights.”


    The Walt Disney Company (India) managing director Rajat Jain said, “Creativity and great stories traverse all boundaries and this movie has been a great Disney experience that audiences across India have embraced with equal fervor.”


    Says M N Kapasi Excel Home Videos, “The DVD being a value product with its inbuilt language selection feature (English, Hindi) enabling the viewer to watch the movie in the language of his/her choice has further helped the cause. The pan India response has prompted us to add more Indian Languages to future editions. The huge success has also been attributed to the summer vacations and the unique sales promotions activities for children.”


    Says Mehul Rathod, Movies and More,(India ‘s only exclusive chain for Movie DVDs).”The DVD has received a huge response, with the summer vacation and the unique sales promotion activities aimed at children. The DVD with its competitive pricing has done extremely well across the country. The product has been a best seller since its release, and has been our highest selling product in terms of its volume and value. “

  • Cellebrum & ICE 365 in alliance to offer Mobile Interactive community VAS

    Cellebrum & ICE 365 in alliance to offer Mobile Interactive community VAS

    BANGALORE: Integrated telecom VAS solutions provider Cellebrum.com Pvt. Ltd and ICE 365, UK’s mobile interactive community service provider, have entered into an alliance to offer community VAS (Value Added Services) to global markets. This partnership intends to build India’s single largest mobile interactive VAS provider, informs an official release.

    ICE 365 Ltd CEO Paul Shoker says, “Through such alliances, we hope to bring to the table much more exciting and interactive value added services which cater to the communication and entertainment needs of Indian mobile subscribers. ICE 365 and Cellebrum both share the same core values and customer satisfaction, in terms of services that will be delivered to existing and potential customers. This association is consistent with ICE 365’s strategy of developing our global footprint in growth markets, where we can create value for our stakeholders.”

    Cellebrum.com COO Saket Agarwal adds, “Mobile value added services are poised for rapid growth globally and we are excited to partner with UK’s premier mobile interactive community service provider, to tap the booming telecom domain across the globe.”

    The association will further enhance the foothold of the two VAS providers in the booming Indian telecom market apart from augmenting presence in the global markets. Moreover, the association will offer Cellebrum with seamless access to ICE 365’s global experience in this space. Both Cellebrum and ICE 365 will share knowledge on focused parameters based on market propositions, technical and infrastructure know-how that will address GPRS and 3G applications, the release adds.

    Cellebrum is already operating across all bearers in mobile telecom solutions domain and is a leading global roaming services provider in India with BSNL as one of its major customers. With this partnership, ICE 365 will offer forward-looking fresh and Funciting TM multimedia viral mobile content and applications thereby, connecting directly with the minds of consumers. This will help mobile operators and content providers identify, build, execute and manage compelling mobile interactive content for a number of mobile device viral community application solutions and address the global telecom market with local content by tapping the local cultures and audiences, the release further adds.

  • News Corp acquired site IGN launches an online TV channel

    News Corp acquired site IGN launches an online TV channel

    MUMBAI: Video game and entertainment information destination IGN.com, which was acquired by News Corp recently has launched IGN TV.

    The channel focusses on television shows for the 18-34 year-old male demographic. The IGN.com TV channel (IGNTV.com) covers the world of television through in-depth feature stories, interviews with top stars, ‘what to watch’ suggestions and video clips. Visitors to the site will also have the opportunity to contribute to the dialogue through blogs, building out elements of fan pages for their favourite shows and by contributing entries to the site’s TV database.

    IGN.com’s entertainment division publisher Steve Horn says, “IGN.com’s move into daily coverage of television marks an exciting time for television fans. We have built a destination that brings the trusted voice and personality of IGN together with robust user tools, blogs, boards and a comprehensive user-controlled database.

    “IGN TV is the place for the hardcore television fan to get info on their favourite shows, meet fellow fans, and participate in the news dialogue by using the tools to express their very own opinions.”

    IGN.com claims to have the largest online concentrated audience of 18-34 year-old males. This move it says will see it become an even more comprehensive offering for its core audience with the launch of IGN TV. The channel will cover 25 shows in detail with mini-sites created around each, staffed by confirmed television geeks who have been following the shows for years, with at least one massive feature each week that explores the world of television in greater detail.

    To celebrate the launch of IGN TV, the site’s first major feature will be the The TV Top 100 a collection of quotes from 100 entertainment industry leaders about their favourite television memories. Till 16 June 2006, 20 people will be showcased each day, from writers to directors to musicians to stars of screens big and small. Each person will share thoughts about their favorite events, episodes, lines and series.

    Notable participants include Kate Bosworth, Brandon Routh who stars in the upcoming film Superman Returns, John Goodman, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi, Lindsay Lohan and director Wolfgang Petersen, Troy.