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DIC Entertainment & AOL partner to create strategic TV & online programming block

MUMBAI: DIC Entertainment (DIC), an independent global brand management company based in the US, and AOL online kids destination, KOL, have formed a partnership to co-produce a new Saturday morning branded programming block, KOL’s Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party on CBS, which will premiere 16 September 2006.

DIC and KOL will also develop online and on-air co-production initiatives in conjunction with the block. DIC and KOL are also now in development on programs for the 2007 season, informs an official release.

As per the agreement, KOL and DIC will co-produce programming for the 2006 broadcast season, including the new television series Dance Revolution. This series is inspired by Konami’s hit video game franchise Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). The new dance competition series will be hosted by Radio KOL DJ Rick Adams, who will also continue to maintain his live online radio show for kids available on KOL.

In addition, KOL and DIC will develop a website designed to transform the programs airing on KOL’s Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party on CBS into a comprehensive and interactive experience for kids. KOL will also offer special online programming including games, program clips, behind-the-scenes features and more to drive on-air viewership.

Dance Revolution and the online activities will support the schedule of programming debuting this fall on the E/I compliant branded block. Other programming on the Saturday Morning line-up includes Cake, Horseland, The Animated Trollz and Madeline.

Additionally, KOL will create public service announcements on healthy eating, to air during the block and online utilizing KOL’s popular original animated character Princess Natasha, adds the release.

DIC will seek initial guidance on all programming to air on the KOL’s Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party on CBS, from children’s experts from the DIC Educational Advisory Board — a group comprised of leading media experts, educators and pediatricians created to provide information, guidance, advice and general expertise to DIC in the development of multimedia programs and projects for children.

“With AOL’s expertise in developing online programming and our success in building brands such as ‘Princess Natasha’ and Radio KOL, appealing to millions of kids, we are confident that this landmark partnership with DIC will be a tremendous success,” says AOL Kids & Teens SVP Malcolm Bird. “Once again, AOL is leading the industry by building another initiative that taps the power of television and the online medium to ultimately grow a larger audience across both platforms.”

“Kids today continue to expand their entertainment options beyond television, and our new partnership with KOL will provide us with a tremendous opportunity to reach kids through the launch of the new Saturday morning programming block on CBS as well as through KOL’s growing online destination,” comments DIC Entertainment chairman & CEO Andy Heyward. “We are thrilled to work with KOL to co-produce innovative programming and to create a unique cross-promotional program that will drive kids online; increase on-air viewership and provide our clients with an effective way to reach kids in a progressive safe environment.”

June 28, 2006
GlobeVISION to distribute Korean television drama

MUMBAI: GlobeVISION, Inc., a global media company with North American headquarters in Los Angeles, will distribute the hit Korean television drama Spring Waltz through its on-demand Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service for Asian-Americans and Asian-Canadians.

The Korean TV drama will make its North American premier from 1 July 2006 through GlobeVISION‘s PIE service.

GlobeVISION‘s deal with Yoon‘s Color, the television drama production studio in Korea, is the first time an independent television production studio is directly distributing its programs to North America without the support of a Korean broadcaster, according to an official release.

GlobeVISION‘s PIE service is available in limited markets now and will launch nationwide later this year with thousands of Korean titles ranging from movies to television series to news and sports.

Spring Waltz is a twenty-episode drama series viewed by 31 per cent of the country when it aired on KBS in Korea, the highest rating for a drama this year. It is the fourth and final in a season-themed sequence from director Yoon, Seok Ho, whose Winter Sonata went on to be the highest rated Korean drama ever broadcast in Japan. This series represents the best of the new Korean wave of culture known as Hallyu.

“This deal to premiere Spring Waltz in North America demonstrates how GlobeVISION‘s PIE service is the perfect platform for all production and content companies across Asia to directly reach Korean-Americans and Korean-Canadians,” states GlobeVISION CEO Edward Bach. “We are excited to bring such a big hit from Korea directly to the television sets of North America,” he adds.

Korea‘s two largest private broadcasters (MBC and SBS), largest cable media group (CJ Media), top movie studio (CJ Entertainment), and largest Christian programming broadcaster (CGN TV) have recently signed deals positioning
GlobeVISION and the powerhouse distribution channel for Korean content in North America. The service will quickly expand to include programming from all over Asia including China and India, the release adds.

June 28, 2006
GlobeVISION to distribute Korean television drama

MUMBAI: GlobeVISION, Inc., a global media company with North American headquarters in Los Angeles, will distribute the hit Korean television drama Spring Waltz through its on-demand Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service for Asian-Americans and Asian-Canadians.

The Korean TV drama will make its North American premier from 1 July 2006 through GlobeVISION’s PIE service.

GlobeVISION’s deal with Yoon’s Color, the television drama production studio in Korea, is the first time an independent television production studio is directly distributing its programs to North America without the support of a Korean broadcaster, according to an official release.

GlobeVISION’s PIE service is available in limited markets now and will launch nationwide later this year with thousands of Korean titles ranging from movies to television series to news and sports.

Spring Waltz is a twenty-episode drama series viewed by 31 per cent of the country when it aired on KBS in Korea, the highest rating for a drama this year. It is the fourth and final in a season-themed sequence from director Yoon, Seok Ho, whose Winter Sonata went on to be the highest rated Korean drama ever broadcast in Japan. This series represents the best of the new Korean wave of culture known as Hallyu.

“This deal to premiere Spring Waltz in North America demonstrates how GlobeVISION’s PIE service is the perfect platform for all production and content companies across Asia to directly reach Korean-Americans and Korean-Canadians,” states GlobeVISION CEO Edward Bach. “We are excited to bring such a big hit from Korea directly to the television sets of North America,” he adds.

Korea’s two largest private broadcasters (MBC and SBS), largest cable media group (CJ Media), top movie studio (CJ Entertainment), and largest Christian programming broadcaster (CGN TV) have recently signed deals positioning
GlobeVISION and the powerhouse distribution channel for Korean content in North America. The service will quickly expand to include programming from all over Asia including China and India, the release adds.

June 28, 2006
Sahara One Motion Pictures names Sharang Sharma as business head

MUMBAI: Sahara One Motion Pictures, the movie production and distribution wing of the Sahara Group, has promoted Sharang Sharma, head of acquisition, distribution and movie syndication, as business head.

Sharma fills the post that become vacant after COO Sandeep Bhargava quit the company earlier this month. Prior to joining Sahara One Motion Pictures, Sharma was with Sony Pictures Releasing of India Ltd. He reports in to Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO Shantonu Aditya.

Sharma will oversee acquisition as well as syndication deals with both domestic as well as international channels.

Speaking about his plans, Sharma said, “I’m looking at taking the company to newer heights and aim to make this outfit the most prolific production boutique.”

Sharma expressed confidence that the forthcoming releases under the banner — which include Madhur Bhandarkar’s Corporate, Signal and Sandwich (starring Govinda) — would bring in more cash flow just as Hunuman and Malamaal Weekly have done in the recent past.

June 28, 2006
Women increasingly tuning in to the soccer World Cup

MUMBAI: If you thought that only men follow soccer think again! Soccer’s governing body Infront’s governing body Infront has announced the results of a study that show that women are increasingly following the football World Cup.

It thus reaches far beyond the traditional male football audience in its universal appeal.

Almost four in 10 viewers are women. The figures reveal that an impressive 37 per cent of the global adult audience watching the Fifa World Cup are women. Sponsorship Intelligence, a UK-based research driven consultancy appointed by Infront Sports and Media and Fifa Marketing and TV, has thus farcollated overnight ratings in 44 markets globally.

The audience in Argentina demonstrates the greatest equality – 50 per cent of the viewers are women. 44 per cent of Argebntian’s viewership during the 2002 World Cup were women. Indeed, evidence to date, suggests that the Fifa World Cup TV audiences in Latin America especially Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Mexico, are more gender-balanced than in many other parts of the globe.

In Korean 45 per cent of viewers in this country are reportedly women. This trend continues across Asia with audiences in Singapore and Malaysia comprising 45 per cent and 41 per cent women respectively.

Germany has experienced a 17.6% percentage upsurge in the number of women viewers since the 2002 Fifa World Cup (40 per cent versus 34 per cent) and the Netherlands (38 per cent ), Hungary (38 per cent) and Switzerland (37 per cent) also experienced substantial increases.

The female viewership figures are higher for Portugal (43 per cent), Italy (42 per cent) and Serbia (40 per cent). Major football markets like the UK and Spain are not far behind, with 36 per cent of viewers being women. In France, the figure is 34 per cent.

However in the Czech Republic and Greece the World Cup is mainly watched by men. 24 per cent of women watch the World cup in these two countries.

June 28, 2006
Packet Vision to launch addressable IPTV advertising delivery platform

MUMBAI: UK based — Packet Vision, the addressable IPTV advertising specialist, will commercially launch its new TV advertising delivery platform in September at the International Broadcasting Convention 2006 (IBC2006).

The exhibition will kick off from 8 September and culminate on 12 September at Amsterdam.

The platform has been designed to enable both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ advertising: enabling ads to be highly personalized to match viewer demographics, even down to individual household level, and allowing subsequent viewer interaction that is much more sophisticated than is currently possible, according to an official statement.

“Addressable IPTV advertising has huge potential but its development has been hampered by the lack of appropriate technology to deliver it,” says Packet Vision managing director Patrick Christian. “Our platform makes it possible for TV advertising to achieve the level of personalization that tends to be associated more with the internet: not only in how ads are carried and the ways in which consumers can interact with them, but also with regard to their measurability which can be instant and precise.”

The release adds that the demonstrations of the network-based Packet Vision delivery platform, which combines all the functions of video server, splicer, IP router and management system in a small, scalable unit, will be available throughout IBC2006.

Christian envisages that the platform will appeal to a wide range of advertisers, network operators and broadcasters: “It makes TV advertising feasible even for smaller niche or locally-oriented businesses, as well giving large advertisers an easy platform on which sophisticated and highly interactive ad campaigns can be built.”

He adds, “We have taken some lessons from the highly successful internet advertising model and our business model will make it possible even for smaller network operators and those without advertising sales operations to generate income from television advertising.”

June 27, 2006
Packet Vision to launch addressable IPTV advertising delivery platform

MUMBAI: UK based — Packet Vision, the addressable IPTV advertising specialist, will commercially launch its new TV advertising delivery platform in September at the International Broadcasting Convention 2006 (IBC2006).

The exhibition will kick off from 8 September and culminate on 12 September at Amsterdam.

The platform has been designed to enable both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ advertising: enabling ads to be highly personalized to match viewer demographics, even down to individual household level, and allowing subsequent viewer interaction that is much more sophisticated than is currently possible, according to an official statement.

“Addressable IPTV advertising has huge potential but its development has been hampered by the lack of appropriate technology to deliver it,” says Packet Vision managing director Patrick Christian. “Our platform makes it possible for TV advertising to achieve the level of personalization that tends to be associated more with the internet: not only in how ads are carried and the ways in which consumers can interact with them, but also with regard to their measurability which can be instant and precise.”

The release adds that the demonstrations of the network-based Packet Vision delivery platform, which combines all the functions of video server, splicer, IP router and management system in a small, scalable unit, will be available throughout IBC2006.

Christian envisages that the platform will appeal to a wide range of advertisers, network operators and broadcasters: “It makes TV advertising feasible even for smaller niche or locally-oriented businesses, as well giving large advertisers an easy platform on which sophisticated and highly interactive ad campaigns can be built.”

He adds, “We have taken some lessons from the highly successful internet advertising model and our business model will make it possible even for smaller network operators and those without advertising sales operations to generate income from television advertising.”

June 27, 2006
Bahl floats movie company, Sandeep Bhargava to head

MUMBAI: Movies is where moolah is! And everyone wants in on it. TV18 promoter Raghav Bahl is the latest to be bitten by the film business bug. Bahl is floating a separate company to fulfill his big screen plans of a movie production boutique.

The company will be involved in producing and distributing movies. Although, at this juncture, it is not clear if the company may get into distributing international movies. However, the buzz in the broadcasting industry is that the movie production company will not be restricted at merely producing and distributing but is contemplating at looking into the movie acquisition market as well.

Former Sahara One Motion Pictures COO Sandeep Bhargava is tipped to spearhead the movie production house. Bahl will have to compete with likes of the well entrenched long time players such as Yash Chopra’s Yash Raj Films, Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts, Sahara One Motion Pictures, Ronnie Screwvala’s UTV Motion Pictures, Ram Gopal Verma’s The Factory and Rakesh Roshan’s FilmKraft.

In his movie business ambitions, Bahl joins the likes of Subhash Chandra who earlier betted big on tinsel town with Gadar-Ek Prem Katha, live action-animated Bhagmati and Indo-French production One Dollar Curry.

TV18, at present manages four news channels; the English business news channel CNBC-TV18, the Hindi consumer news channel Awaaz, the English news channel CNN-IBN and the Hindi news channel Channel7.

June 27, 2006
StarHub, OpenTV ink deal to develop cutting edge applications

MUMBAI: Singapore’s largest pay TV operator StarHub and a provider of enabling technologies for advanced digital television services OpenTV Corp announced that StarHub has become the first network operator to fully-deploy OpenTV Core 2.0 software in connection with its recent launch of Smart TV. The two companies are working closely to bring more market-leading applications to StarHub’s subscribers.

Leveraging the OpenTV platform, StarHub anticipates the introduction of various Smart TV remote access applications through mobile and internet devices. It is expected that Smart TV users will be able to schedule recordings, through a mobile phone or the internet, on their digital video recorder set-top boxes while they are away from home. StarHub and OpenTV are also exploring the introduction of internet access services through a Smart TV television portal.

StarHub’s Smart TV service allows users to record and playback their favorite TV programs so that they can watch them at their convenience. Among the features Smart TV users are presently enjoying are the ability to pause or replay ‘live’ TV, one-touch recording, TV SMS, and access to their i.Mail email accounts. StarHub also intends to introduce more features to Smart TV service in the near future, such as video-on-demand (VOD) and chat.

StarHub head of integrated products and marketing Mike Reynolds said, “Hubbing is much more than a way to play off our name ‘StarHub.’ It represents our passion to better serve the needs of our customers through the interaction and value creating applications across our payTV, broadband, and mobile platforms. Cable TV, Mobile, and Online are three important pillars of StarHub’s business, and we are constantly exploring ways to drive more value and direct benefits of Hubbing to our customers, beyond the value of traditional discounts and rewards. That is why we came up with the idea of extending the access of Smart TV beyond the remote control, to mobile and online platforms as well.”

“With its cable, wireless and mobile network, StarHub is perfectly positioned to leverage OpenTV’s advanced digital television technologies and solutions. With the recent commercial launch of Smart TV, StarHub became the first operator to fully deploy OpenTV Core 2.0. And it is easy to see where StarHub intends to take this technology — giving its customers a converged experience through Smart TV with mobile, online, and television applications working seamlessly together. We very much look forward to working with StarHub on these initiatives and helping it develop tomorrow’s television experience for the Singapore market,” said OpenTV senior vice president and managing director (Asia Pacific) Mike Ivanchenko.

StarHub and OpenTV share a longstanding working relationship. OpenTV is also one of StarHub’s technology partners for its digital cable services launched in 2004, providing the middleware to support an open multi-vendor set-top deployment.

Reynolds added, “StarHub’s partnership with OpenTV comes naturally. We have a proven track record of offering innovative products and services, while OpenTV is well-known for integrating innovative technology. We are thankful for OpenTV’s support and commitment, despite the relatively small size of the Singapore market. Events like BroadcastAsia is a good occasion for all industry players to facilitate the exchange of ideas and share experiences, and we are confident that we will have more to share regarding our new Hubbing applications in the near future, well before the next regional event.”

June 27, 2006
Guba launches online video store with Warner Bros. Entertainment content

MUMBAI: Guba, a leading online multimedia entertainment site, announced its new video service featuring Warner Bros. Entertainment content. This offering allows users to rent and buy, on a download basis, movies and television shows online. With the launch, Guba becomes the first US video sharing community to distribute licensed Warner Bros. Entertainment’s content online.

Guba enables its users to search, upload and share video posted to Guba and Usenet. Guba transcodes video so that users can view content on a wide range of video formats and portable devices. Now, Guba enables users to download DRM-protected films and TV shows from Warner Bros. Entertainment.

More than 200 of Warner Bros. Entertainment’s latest movie releases are currently available from Guba, including Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Everything is Illuminated, as well as catalog titles such as The Matrix, Batman Forever, and Best in Show. TV programming includes Babylon 5, Dukes of Hazzard, The Flintstones and The Jetsons. All video content can be downloaded and played on compatible home computers, streamed to the TV, and loaded onto portable devices.

“Guba, has been working directly with the Motion Picture Association and has instituted filtering and security measures to ensure the protection of copyrighted films and television content,” said Warner Bros. Technical Operations executive vice president distribution technology and operations Darcy Antonellis.

Rental prices start at $1.99 per movie for unlimited views during a 24-hour period. Viewers can buy extra viewing days for reduced fees without the need to download the film again.

Guba also allows users to buy movies and television shows. Catalog films will retail for $9.99 and new releases, available on the same date that DVDs are released in stores, will retail for $19.99. Television shows will retail starting at $1.79 per episode. Users may keep permanent copies of purchased titles, load purchased titles onto portable devices, and stream purchased and rented content through their home network.

“This new service brings premium studio content to an Internet audience in an easy-to-use and intuitive way, without the necessity of downloading additional software. For years we’ve been making access to online video easy — now we’re bringing that experience to Warner Bros.’s catalog of films and TV shows. Warner Bros. is a pioneer in internet distribution and is creating a new online video rental market. Warner has great content that I know our millions of monthly visitors will enjoy,” said Guba CEO and co-founder Tom McInerney.

“We’re pleased to open our movie and TV content to Guba’s community through the launch of this service. Guba’s platform is user-friendly and easily accessible which is critical for the emerging online digital distribution market. With Guba, more Internet users will be able to legally and securely buy and rent our films and TV series. Warner is committed to providing our programming to fans when, where and how they want it, and this deal is another example of our commitment to do that,” said Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group senior vice president digital distribution Jim Wuthrich.

June 27, 2006