Category: TV Channels

Walt Disney Internet Group signs distribution agreement with Boonty

MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) has inked a distribution agreement with Boonty, a global expert in the digital distribution of video games, to make some of WDIG’s most popular downloadable games available to consumers in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

The agreement further raises WDIG’s profile in the downloadable games category and expands its ability to deliver digital content across multiple platforms.

Disney fans across Western Europe can now access exciting games in local language featuring favourite Disney characters, including The Lion King Grubalicious, the Little Mermaid Bubble Blast, Pirates of the Caribbean Pinball and Aladdin Magic Carpet Racing, by going to Boonty’s network of major portals and online retailers such as T-OnLine, Alice, AOL, TF1 and Eurosport.

“The Walt Disney Internet Group intends to make Disney games content readily available to a broadening audience of consumers around Europe by expanding our distribution channels with leading aggregators. Boonty has the expertise, reach and robust infrastructure required for effective digital distribution, and we are pleased to add them to our network of partners,” said Walt Disney Internet Group, Europe managing director Attila Gazdag.

According to media research consultancy Screen Digest, the European casual gaming market is expected to reach close to $400 million by 2009. Much of this growth is coming from the non-traditional gaming audience – up to 65 per cent of casual game players are female and 48 per cent are aged 35-54 – who are particularly attracted by the Disney-branded games experience.

“We are seeing the gaming industry embrace digital distribution globally with increasingly sophisticated services. The intuitive interface and design simplicity of the Disney games are very appealing to our users and we are delighted to be able to add this content to our portfolio,” said Boonty founder and CEO Mathieu Nouzareth

April 11, 2006
Sivasankaran buys 14.98 % in Sahara One for Rs 1.2 billion

MUMBAI: If the news and radio space swung into acquisition mode early this year, it is the other areas of media business which are now attracting investors. NRI businessman C Sivasankaran is pumping in Rs 1.2 billion to acquire 14.98 per cent stake in Sahara One Media & Entertainment Ltd.

Indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that Sivasankaran was in talks to put in around Rs 1.2 billion for a minority stake in Sahara One. Ernst & Young had valued the company at Rs 7 billion.

Sahara One will make a preferential allotment of 32,25,000 shares (of Rs 10 each) at Rs 372 per share to Aircel Televentures Ltd (Sivasankaran’s company). With this divestment, the promoters will hold 73 per cent, according to a Sahara Group spokesperson.

BCCL’s (Times Group holding company Bennet Coleman & Co Ltd) stake will be less than 6 per cent and Aircel Televentures will have 14.98 per cent while the rest will be with the public.

“Aircel Televentures has recognized the potential of the movies and TV business in which Sahara One operates and agreed to invest. The funds generated through this move will be utilised in expanding our business in movie and television business,” the spokesperson said.

The Sahara One board has approved the proposal of issuing the equity shares to Aircel Televentures on preferential basis. The board, which met today, has also called for an Extraordinary General Meeting of the company on 8 May. The shares will be issued subject to shareholders’ approval.

Sahara is also planning to raise up to $50 million, for which it has obtained an enabling resolution. “Sivasankaran’s investments will be used for expanding the business. We also plan to raise up to $50 million,” a company executive said.

Sahara is launching a music channel, adding up to a bouquet of general entertainment and movie channels. Sahara Group also owns a string of news channels.

Sivsankaran’s first media investment was in ETC Networks where he held 40 per cent stake. He went on diluting equity and exited from the company which was later acquired by Zee Telefilms.

April 10, 2006
Sun TV raises Rs 6.3 billion through IPO

MUMBAI: Sun TV Ltd. is set to fix a price of Rs 875 per share, mopping up Rs 6.3 billion ($134.2 million) from its initial public offering (IPO) of 6.9 million shares.

The IPO has received an overwhelming response and has been oversubscribed 47.05 .times. Total bids received from investors stood at 324110480. Sun had fixed Rs 875 as the price at the top end.

The IPO offered a fresh equity issue of 68,89,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash. The shareholding of Sun TV Ltd principal promoter Kalanithi Maran will now reduce to 89.99 per cent from 99.99 per cent (61,999,969 shares).

April 10, 2006
SCM sells digital TV solutions business to Kudelski

MUMBAI: The California headquartered SCM Microsystems, which provides solutions that open the digital world has sold its digital TV solutions business to the Swiss based Kudelski Group. It has got $11 million in cash for the deal.

Kudelski Group chairman and CEO Andre Kudelski says, “SCM pioneered removable security for digital broadcasting and has helped build a market for open systems in the digital TV industry. Removable security modules will become a key enabler of digital pay-TV services as the retail market continues to grow and develop.”

SCM Microsystems CEO Robert Schneider says, “The sale of our Digital TV business furthers our strategy to consolidate and restructure our organisation around a more focused business model. With one headquarters and operational center in Germany, one development facility in India and a seasoned sales team in the U.S., we believe that we will be able to take advantage of market opportunities more efficiently and cost effectively.

“Going forward, we intend to put our entire attention on leveraging our smart card and media reader businesses by providing industry-leading solutions for emerging markets such as e-health, e-passport, secure physical access, electronic payment and digital photo printing.”

Under the terms of the agreement with Kudelski, SCM will sell substantially all of the assets that relate to its digital TV solutions business, including its office building in France, certain inventory, contracts, trademarks and intellectual property.

In addition 40 employees in Europe and Asia are expected to join Kudelski’s newly created business focussed on providing secure pay-TV modules compatible with consumer electronic products for the digital TV industry. The products that Kudelski is acquiring include SCM’s DVB and OpenCable compliant conditional access modules, used to securely decrypt digital television broadcasts, as well as
controller chips used in set-top boxes that interface with the decryption modules.

The Kudelski Group works in the field of digital security. Its technologies are used in a wide range of applications requiring access control and rights management, whether for securing transfer of information (digital television, broadband Internet, video-on-demand, interactive applications, etc.) or to control and manage access of people or vehicles to sites and events.

April 10, 2006
Sify launches online magazine store

MUMBAI: www.sifymall.com, the online store on portal Sify has launched magazine subscription service online.

The store has magazines from both Indian and foreign publications across categories like advertising, audio/video, automotive, aviation, beauty and fashion, business, films, music, travel and leisure and women to suit users interests.

Sify senior VP, interactive services, Surya Mantha says, “Our aim is to ensure that the best offers are always available on SifyMall for users to experience real value for money. Be it the popular Deal of the Day, occasion based online gifting, or shopping online, we work to ensure customer delight in a number of ways. Our online magazine store extends this philosophy with subscriptions that offer real value to users with a wide range of magazines to suit their interests. We’ve also redesigned SifyMall to enhance the shopping experience for our users”.

All a user needs to do is to go online on www.sifymall.com to the Magazine Store, and choose the title of his/her choice from an array of 130 magazines, with more to be added in future. The magazines are arranged conveniently by topic, publishers as well as alphabetically for users to locate the magazines of their choice easily and quickly.

April 10, 2006
Jaya TV obtains clearance for news channel

MUMBAI: This is a piece of news that would bring some cheer in the Jayalalitha camp, after the assembly election debacle. Mavis Satcom Ltd, which operates Jaya TV, has been awarded the Wireless Protocol Clearance (WPC) to launch its news channel Jaya Plus.

“We have now obtained all the necessary permission to launch Jaya Plus. We have the infrastructure in place and a recruitment drive will be launched soon. The channel will be launched at the earliest, after the Tamil Nadu assembly election results,” Jaya TV vice president of administration and legal S Ranganathan told indiantelevision.com.

That puts an end to a clueless wait and a series of court battles for Mavis Satcom. The broadcaster had obtained the required permission from the information and broadcasting ministry way back in 2004, and since then it had been fighting for the WPC certificate.

To speed up the proceedings, Mavis Satcom approached the Madras High Court early this year. In February, the Centre had assured the court that it would take a final decision on an application by VSNL to permit it to receive and uplink Jaya Plus on or before 9 March. The broadcaster didn’t press on the matter further as assembly elections were approaching.

“At this crucial time, we can’t afford to indulge in court battles. We don’t want our attention to get diverted. We are making our best efforts possible covering the elections,” Jaya TV VP News Sunil K P had told indiantelevision.com at the time.

Jaya Plus will primarily be a news and current affairs channel but have small doses of talk shows and quiz programmes. The channel will have seven to eight news bulletins. Reportedly, Jaya Plus will be politically aligned towards Jayalalitha.

The entry of Jaya Plus as a news channel will end Sun TV’s solo run in the television news space in Tamil Nadu. Presently, Sun TV and its news channel sibling Sun News literally control the space since competitors Jaya TV, Raj TV and Star Vijay don’t have the necessary permission to telecast news and live programmes.

April 10, 2006
US women’s channel Lifetime gets ‘Desperate Housewives’

MUMBAI: The women of Wisteria Lane have just found a second home! US women’s broadcaster Lifetime Television has acquired the basic cable rights from Buena Vista Television, along with the repurposing rights, for the show Desperate Housewives.

In India the show airs on Star World while in the US it helped turn around the fortunes of ABC.

Along with the repurposing rights starting in September 2008, Lifetime will begin airing the first season of Desperate Housewives on a weekly basis this August.

The show is in its second season on ABC and Star World. Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria and Nicollette Sheridan star in this comedic look at suburbia — where the secret lives of housewives aren’t always what they seem. It averages 22.5 million total viewers and 8.3 million women ages 18-49 during its run on ABC and is the number one scripted series among that age group in the current 2005-06 broadcast season.

Lifetime Entertainment Services senior VP, planning, scheduling and acquisitions Leslie Glenn-Chesloff, , said, “This brilliant water-cooler series makes us laugh and makes us cry with its insightful windows into the lives, emotions, dreams and disappointments of diverse women. As a pop-culture icon with powerful appeal to women viewers, Desperate Housewives is a perfect addition to our schedule.”

Buena Vista Television executive VP, general sales manager Jed Cohen says, “We view Lifetime, the leader in women’s television, as the ideal partner for Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives has had a tremendous impact on the primetime landscape and we believe that Lifetime Television is the perfect environment to extend the success of this distinguished and popular series.”

April 10, 2006
Global adoption of mobile TV to disappoint this year: Deloitte report

MUMBAI: Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) industry group predicts that, in 2006, search will displace email as the most used digital application, girls will hit the video games, and subscription radio will soar.

At the same time, mobile television will disappoint, 3G adoption will be slower than expected, and the digital divide will grow.

Deloitte China’s TMT Group leader Charles Yen says, “While the technology, telecom and media/entertainment industries are certainly converging we have identified the key trends in each sector that we expect for 2006. There will be some big winners and some big losers — and some, like always, that gain acceptance at a slower rate than their initial hype forecast.”

Key trends identified in the reports include:

Technology

— Search displaces email as the most-used application — due to rising functionality, higher speed connectivity, and the 20 exabytes of new digital data expected to be created in 2006. At the same time, there are unlikely to be major advances in search engine user interfaces, implying even more potential value to be captured in the future.
— Connectivity transforms devices into services — devices from cameras to cars will be able to be remotely upgraded and updated. Updates
will extend from personal computers and mobile phones to GPS receivers, in-car computers, and set-top boxes, creating an opportunity for manufacturers to improve their understanding of
customer needs, provide higher quality service and identify new revenue opportunities.
— The “digital divide” deepens, rather than improves — historically, the digital divide has been most noticeable between developed and developing countries. This is likely to continue in 2006. Efforts to bridge the digital divide fail to address the underlying problems, including economic, political and social issues. Those on the “losing” end of the divide will be increasingly disadvantaged by their lack of access to the media, to the internet, to electronic communications, and to information.

Media & Entertainment

— Mobile television disappoints — while it will be promoted as the next big thing, and tens of millions of promotional dollars will be spent, consumer acceptance will lag.
— Video games seek new audiences — in the wake of the success of new video game platforms, the industry will strive to sustain its growth by creating a considerably larger audience. It will reach out to new demographics, most notably young girls.
— Subscription radio 2.0 — radio will follow television as its business model evolves from being advertising-dominated to subscription-dominated, providing added flexibility for customers and new opportunities for providers. New delivery mechanisms, such as internet-based services, will be launched. There are currently over 12 million US satellite radio subscribers; this market is expected to grow 35 per cent through the end of the decade.

Telecom

— 2006 will be a frustrating year for 3G — customers’ needs are being met by existing standards; they don’t understand the benefits of 3G and why they should pay for them. 3G will add tens of millions of subscribers, but nowhere near enough to pay back the tens of billions of dollars invested. 2G will continue to represent most of the growth, revenue and margin for the mobile sector.
— Connectivity inside everything — the telecom industry will capitalise on maturing machine-generated communications to build connectivity inside machines and devices, resulting in remote process monitoring, asset tracking, traffic flow monitoring and more.

April 10, 2006
Meredith Vieira to replace Katie Couric on NBC’s ‘Today’ show

MUMBAI: American television personality Meredith Vieira has been named co-anchor of US broadcaster NBC News’ Today,

This announcement follows the departure of Katie Couric to CBS News.
NBC Universal Television Group CEO Jeff Zucker says, “”This is an announcement that I couldn’t be happier to be making. Meredith’s vast experience as an award-winning journalist, as well as talk show host, make her the ideal candidate for this job. She joins a distinguished legacy of Today show co-anchors: from Barbara Walters to Jane Pauley to Katie Couric. We are lucky to have her as the newest member of Today and I am thrilled to welcome her to the NBC family.”

Vieira said, “Before Jeff changes his mind, I am honored to accept this amazing opportunity. Not only is the Today show a great program within a superb news organisation, it’s also where America turns to begin the day. I look forward to joining Matt, Ann and Al in giving America the best each morning.”

Matt Lauer who co-hosts the Today show says, “Meredith is a real pro, and I think it speaks volumes that NBC has brought her here to Today. I have been her fan for years and I can’t wait to be her partner. She has the perfect background and personality to make a real mark on this show and in morning news in general. I’m thrilled to welcome her aboard.”

NBC News president Steve Capus says, “It is a tribute to everyone at ‘Today,’ and all of NBC News, that someone of Meredith’s caliber has joined our team. She is an eight-time Emmy award winner, a 60 Minutes veteran and real pro — her skills will be invaluable at ‘Today’ and throughout the division. We can’t wait to get started.”

Vieira has been moderator of ABC’s The View since the show’s inception in 1997. She has been the host of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire since 2002. She started at the network in 1993 when she joined their news division as chief correspondent of Turning Point which debuted in March 1994 and where she earned her seventh Emmy Award.

Vieira spent more than a decade at CBS News, where she garnered five Emmy Awards for her work as a correspondent on the top-ranking news magazines 60 Minutes and West 57th.

April 10, 2006
Hanmer & Partners bags a slew of new accounts

Mumbai, February 9, 2006: Hanmer & Partners Communications Pvt. Ltd. (Hanmer & Partners) has bagged the Public Relations mandates for a slew of top corporate clients over the past three months.

In all, Hanmer Public Relations has won 40 new mandates in the quarter, which went by. Some of the notable wins including those accounts won in multi-agency pitches include Aviva Offshore Services, Breadtalk Group Ltd., Emirates Airlines, Enam Securities Pvt. Ltd., General Motors India Pvt. Ltd., Global Broadcast News Ltd. (CNN-IBN), Indian Institute of Management (IIM – Lucknow), LG’s IT & GSM Business, LifeCell, Optimix Asset Management Company (An ING Company), Sahara Aamby Valley Lake City & Starcom MediaVest.

Hanmer & Partners is already working as the public relations agency for prestigious clients such as Nirma, Kinetic Motor Company, CNBC-TV18, LG Electronics, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company Ltd, Gujarat Ambuja Cements Limited, Goodlass Nerolac, Mudra Communications, Western Union Money Transfer, HDFC Mutual Fund, Baume & Mercier, Discovery Network, Star Gold, Star Utsav and SpiceJet Ltd, amongst others.

Over the part few years, Hanmer & Partners has set up several strategic initiatives thereby bringing together, on a single platter, a range of services being a first in the country for a Public Relations Consultancy. In addition to Hanmer Public Relations which continues to be the core business and will remain so, Hanmer Interactive, the Digital communication division was launched in 2004. Hanmer Reach, India’s first regional PR network (also in 2004), which is now active in 20 cities and adds to the already existing 11-city network. Hanmer Events, which today is a profitable events & promotions division conceptualizing and delivering events across the length and breadth of India and soon overseas, came into existence in 2002. And finally Hanmer Advertising, a full service, fully accredited Advertising Agency which was run under a different name until recently when the Hanmer & Partners Management team decided to “dub” all brands Hanmer and bring them under a common umbrella which finally happened in the autumn of 2005.

Speaking about this meteoric rise, Sunil Gautam, Managing Director, Hanmer & Partners evinces “Within a short span of six years, we have notched up an impressive list of clients across various practices. Today, we work with some of the world’s best and India’s leading corporate entities. It is to the team’s credit that Hanmer & Partners is among the fastest growing Public Relations Consultancies in India today.”

Hanmer & Partners, with a presence in 31 cities in India, offers a bouquet of services including strategic counseling, corporate image management, brand support, financial public relations, events and promotions, and crisis communications, apart from media relations.

The company is also the sole affiliate of Manning, Selvage & Lee, US, (part of the Publicis Group) which is one of the leading global public relation firms, and has an alliance with advertising firms Saatchi & Saatchi, Ambience Publicis, Publicis India, Mudra Communications and Network Advertising.

For further information on the services offered by Hanmer & Partners Communications Private Limited please log onto www.hanmerpr.com, www.hanmeradvertising.com, www.hanmerevents.com or contact

Sunil Gautam
Hanmer & Partners Communications Pvt. Ltd.
Cell Phone: 098200-33755
E-mail: sunilgautam@hanmerpr.com

Jaideep Shergill
Hanmer & Partners Communications Pvt. Ltd.
Cell Phone: 098210-42514
E-mail: jaideep@hanmerpr.com

April 9, 2006