MUMBAI: Disney Star India is in the running for this year’s IBC2024 Innovation Awards which are to be held on 15 September at 18 hours. The category for which it has been shortlisted is the social impact award for its work with India Signing Hands through which it brought the IPL 2024 coverage to almost 67 million hard of hearing and 34 million visually impaired fans on Star Sports.

Late last month, the IBC announced the finalists for the IBC Innovation Awards which celebrate and honour collaborative initiatives leading to ground-breaking solutions that address real-world media, entertainment and technology industry challenges. This year’s awards bring together under one roof IBC’s innovation and social impact awards to create a unified celebration of industry advances, with five categories now being judged: content creation, content distribution, content everywhere, social Impact, and environment & sustainability.

“This year’s entries once again showcased the global reach and appeal of the IBC Innovation Awards with projects of the highest quality received from six continents,” said chair of the 2024 IBC Innovation Awards jury Fergal Ringrose. “Meanwhile, constantly evolving delivery methods and audience consumption patterns demand that content producers around the globe must innovate dynamically in order to stay relevant and competitive in the modern media and entertainment technology ecosystem. I would like to sincerely thank our panel of judges for their diligence and ability to adapt, as we brought our three content categories together with environment and sustainability and social impact this year for our new-look IBC Innovation Awards.”

Former news anchor Sasha Qadri is set to host the awards in the auditorium complex at the RAI on Sunday.

This year’s finalists in the Content Creation category include:

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* The National Football League (US), ESPN, Disney/Pixar and Beyond Sports for creating the first fully animated, real-time NFL alternative broadcast set in the Toy Story universe.

* Olympic Broadcasting Services and partners for live broadcast production with more than 200 smartphones contributing video for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony and a sea-based 5G network for sailing competitions in Marseille.

* Aspire for working with Vislink and FocalPoint VR to develop a virtual reality over RF wireless solution for the inaugural season of Aspire’s Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL).

The organisations named as finalists in Content Distribution are:

* Claro for creating a new approach to pay TV in Brazil, integrating streaming channels and applications, delivering entertainment to consumers with a complete pay TV offer.

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* NBCUniversal Operations and Technology for its pioneering project to transform the way its TV channels are delivered to consumers worldwide.

* The National Hockey League (Canada and US) in partnership with Verizon, AWS, Zixi, Vizrt and Evertz, for producing a 5G and Edge compute framework for assembly, control and delivery of live broadcast.

The Content Everywhere finalists are:

* LaLiga for working with Play Anywhere and Ease Live to enable true fan interactivity for itself and its worldwide broadcast and streaming partners.    

*Red Bull Media House for bringing together real-time GPS tracking, data management and advanced visualisation to transform viewing experience across live broadcast, web widgets and AR mobile app.

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* Franceinfo (France Télévisions) for working with PimpMyCompany to aggregate text/audio/video/photo messages from various platforms and broadcasting them live on air.

Apart from Disney Star, the  Social Impact finalists are:

* CultureQ for a new technology platform developed by indigenous-owned tech company Kiwa Digital that enables indigenous peoples globally to revitalise their language and culture at scale, while retaining sovereignty

* Sesame Workshop for its Watch Play Learn Distribution Hub which allows government agencies and aid organisations to preview and request videos for children in crisis settings.

The Environment & Sustainability finalists are:

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* France Télévisions for reducing CO2 emissions by 300 tons via a pioneering 100% glass-to-glass cloud production and private 5G network.

* GreeningofStreaming for addressing growing industry concerns about the energy impact of the streaming sector, with international reach and over 30 member organisations.

* Anton/Bauer for Salt-E Dog which harnesses the power of sodium chemistry to enable sustainable television production practices.

The Innovation Awards ceremony will also feature the presentation of the IBC International Honour for Excellence, which goes to an individual or organisation that has made an outstanding impact in the industry, and the best technical paper, with all papers being presented at the 2024 IBC Conference that runs 13-15 September in the auditorium complex of the RAI.

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Mumbai: Hyundai Motor India Ltd. showcased its technologically advanced products at the first ever Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2024. Based on the theme “Mobility for All”, the Hyundai Motor India Pavilion at Hall 6, Pragati Maidan presented the company’s vision for India and highlighted its commitment to India.

Commenting on Hyundai Motor India’s participation at Bharat Global Mobility Expo 2024, Hyundai Motor India, AVP & vertical head, corporate affairs, Puneet Anand, said,” We would like to congratulate Government of India and ministry of commerce & industries for envisioning this unique Bharat Global Mobility Expo 2024. It gave us an opportunity to showcase our products & technologies to the audience. As Hyundai Motor India, we take pride in our journey of localisation, epitomising the ‘ Made in India, for the World ‘ spirit. Our commitment goes beyond cars; it’s a commitment to India’s engineering prowess and growth. Achieving 100 per cent localization in vital components reflects our dedication to the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Our state-of-the-art facilities across the nation, coupled with ongoing investments, underscore our vision for excellence. Hyundai’s journey in India is more than just automobiles; it’s a narrative of progress, community development, and a relentless pursuit of innovation, reflecting our enduring commitment to India’s future.”

Key Highlights at Hyundai Motor India Pavilion:

Localisation Zone

Localisation has been pivotal in Hyundai Motor India’s journey since its inception. As the foremost exporter of “Made in India” cars globally, Hyundai’s specialised localisation zone exemplifies the extensive utilisation of parts from Indian manufacturers, showcasing the nation’s engineering prowess. In its ongoing commitment to enhancing localisation, Hyundai has achieved 100 per cent localisation in key components such as tires, panoramic sunroof, alloy wheel, and more. The company is also working towards enhancing localisation ratio for manufacturing vehicles in India, including key car components, ECM based inside rear view monitor (IRVM), higher grade AGM technology battery, and a wide range of other components. Reinforcing its commitment towards localisation, a dedicated team has been established to intensify its efforts, particularly for high-volume models, aligning with the government’s “Make in India” initiative. The zone not only highlights Hyundai’s advanced manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur but also showcases the R&D facility in Hyderabad, corporate office in Gurugram, and the recently acquired Maharashtra facility, firmly establishing Hyundai’s presence on the Indian map. The comprehensive zone is complemented by a film illustrating Hyundai’s manufacturing excellence, emphasizing the company’s dedication to delivering the highest quality vehicles globally.

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Commitment to India

Since its inception in 1996, Hyundai Motor India has consistently demonstrated a commitment to India, becoming the first OEM to export “Made in India” vehicles worldwide and holding the position of the largest passenger vehicle exporter from India. Hyundai has been a pioneer in the Indian automobile industry, introducing global technologies and features, and standardising 6 airbags and 3-point seatbelts across its entire range.

Aligned with Hyundai’s global CSR guideline of ‘Continue,’ the Hyundai Motor India Foundation, initiated in 2006, has undertaken various social initiatives, including Art for Hope, telemedicine clinics, sports labs, dhyan-Do, drive for progress, BeTheBetterGuy, and more, focusing on community development, healthcare, education, vocational training, and promoting safe mobility practices.

In 2023, Hyundai Motor India signed a MoU with the government of Tamil Nadu, committing Rs 20,000 Crore over next 10 years for capacity expansion, new products, establishing a battery pack assembly facility, and improving charging infrastructure. In 2024, an additional commitment of Rs 6,180 Crore was declared by the company including Rs 180 crore towards ‘Hydrogen Valley Innovation Hub’ in collaboration with IIT Madras. Additionally, the company has signed a MoU with the state of Maharashtra for a long-term investment of Rs 6,000 crore for infrastructure upgradation and capacity expansion for its 1 million capacity goal. These endeavours underscore Hyundai Motor India’s enduring commitment to India, paving the way for its sustained success in the country.

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Mumbai: There’s a tremendous opportunity for new entrants in the media and entertainment sector, despite the transformation it is undergoing and the pressure of revenues it has been facing. That was the conclusion of senior industry leaders who were part of a half-day conclave We Communique that Mumbai-based MBA institute  We School  – aka Welingkar Institute of Management – organised in partnership with Indiantelevision.com  on 17 January for postgraduate students of the media and entertainment course.

Among the leaders who took part in panel discussions and a fireside chat included:  Cosmos Maya India CEO Megha Tata, Enterr10 director Akshat Singhal, Shemaroo broadcast business head Sandeep Gupta, Elara Capital media analyst Karan Taurani, Friday FilmWorks CEO Devendra Deshpande, Madison Media Sigma COO Vanita Keswani,  Wavemaker general manager Sejal Lodaya, Lodestar UM IPG Associate vice-presidents Shrikant Shenoy and Bhavesh Shah,  Disney Star India’s Prashant Khanna and Carat India director integrated media planning  Swarali Halepati. Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari chaired all three sessions.

The speakers were spread across two sessions  “Evolution of Media, Sports, and Entertainment Trends” and “Media and Marketing in 2024. ”

Almost all the speakers agreed that students need not be demotivated by news reports of doom and gloom that the media and entertainment industry are facing. “Yes, 2024 is going to be a year of consolidation with mergers and acquisitions seeing the course of conclusion,” said Taurani.  “Jobs are evolving but you have to get the basics right,” said Shenoy in the marketing and media session. “Learn about viewership trends, GRPs, reach etc and continue keeping abreast of developments.”

“There is no shortage of jobs in media,” said Shah. “We are always hiring in media,” added Lodaya.  According to Keswani, the media executive’s job is becoming more about numbers and this can be fun as well.  Both Lodaya and Halepati emphasised that longevity in an organisation works very well as far as an executive’s career progression is concerned. “You should not be hopping around every few years for that marginal increase in salary,” they opined. “As long as you are learning and growing stick to the job.”

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The television panel opined that even though there is a shrinkage in the broadcast sector on the advertising inventory front (read: ad revenues), the television industry has a lot of legs. “Free TV is growing,” said Singhal, “Though pay TV is  struggling..”

“Yes, production budgets are also slimming down,” explained Deshpande. “As are OTT series budgets.”

He added that producers have to thus work within these budgets, and extract profits without compromising on quality through efficient production pipelines.

Gupta extolled the student and WeWork alumni audience to learn as many skills as they can, but they need to focus on only one.

Most of the panellists concurred that animation, gaming, VFX, AI, and ML are the most promising verticals that students should keep an eye on. “VFX studios are popping up everywhere in India and they will need talented individuals to work with them,” highlighted Taurani.

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The conclave was extremely well received with students rating it high on the knowledge enrichment chart.