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  • 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.

  • Curtains close on 2006 Banff World TV Fest

    Curtains close on 2006 Banff World TV Fest

    MUMBAI: The 2006 Banff World Television Festival came to a close on 14 June, with a combined 1,700 delegates attending both the television festival and its sister-event, nextMedia-The Future of Digital Content.

    Banff World Television Festival CEO Robert Montgomery said, “This year’s elite lineup of VIP guest speakers and record number of U.S. delegates really is a reflection on how important this Festival is, globally.”The Festival included a host of panel and session rooms along with special events. It also generated the signing of new deals and an opportunity for delegates to turn their project ideas and concepts into real productions, informs an official release.

    Some of the notable deals inked this year included, David Paperny of Paperny Films who sealed a $1.4-million financing deal with both the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and CTV Inc. for a new documentary.

    Chris Haddock’s latest procedural drama, Intelligence will be viewed in the U.S., an outcome of the deal between U.S. distributors Program Partners and Thunderbird Films.

    In addition, last year’s pitching finalist, Sinking Ship Enterprises, announced that their children’s project Roll Play is slated to air this fall on Canada’s Treehouse TV.

    “We not only saw a significant number of deals being signed, but also facilitated the development of a plethora of future programming,” added Montgomery.

    The winners this year include:

    CTV Canadian Documart 
    First prize and $50,000 was presented to The Dolphin Dealer by Leigh Badgley, OMNI Film Productions Ltd.

    Second prize and $30,000 was presented to Inventing The Future: Atanasoff, Mauchly And The First Computer by Mila Aung-Thwin, EyeSteelFilm.

    Third prize and $20,000 was presented to Web Warriors by Edward Peill, Tell Tale Productions Inc.

    Pitch It : Drama and Comedy 
    Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Ian Johnson, Guru Inc. won a development prize of $10,000 from Showcase for the completeness of the pitch-its setting and characters.

    Pitch It : Lifestyle and Reality 
    High School Reunion Stories by Antonio Hrynchuk, Fahrenheit Films with a development prize of $10,000 from Life Network for an appealing concept and endless potential for conflict in the stories.

    Pitch It : Children’s Programming
    The World According To Ella by Mark Montefiore, Polenta Productions won for fleshed characters, a nice, simple concept and brilliant writing and casting.

    Kodak Audience Award
    Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Ian Johnson, Guru Inc. received $5,000 in film stock from Kodak Canada for being the all-round favourite pitch, chosen by the audience.

    iPitch
    Raven Tales by Michael Ockenden, Sand Box Media Games with Joanne Levy, APTN won a development prize of $10,000 from the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund for an incredible game element and portraying beautiful Canadian stories.

    nextMedia-The Future Of Digital Content
    nextMedia finished on a high note following an impressive three day schedule of speakers, panels, keynotes and networking events. The sold-out event featured more than 260 delegates, representing a 10 per cent increase over last year.

    The Banff World Television Festival owned by the Banff Television Festival Foundation, is produced by Achilles Media Ltd. on behalf of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and Board of Governors, representing international producers and broadcasters. Achilles Media is a management organization for some of the world’s leading television and new media industry events including the Banff World Television Festival, the World Congress of History Producers and nextMedia – The Future of Digital Content.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • ‘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.

  • 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.

  • VSNL to set up cyber cafes at railway stations

    MUMBAI: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is setting up cyber cafes at major railway stations across the country to create user-friendly public internet access points.


    The company, which has been awarded franchisee rights for running of cyber cafes at 68 locations, plans to make all of them operational in the next few weeks. The first of this was inaugurated at the Bangalore railway station by VSNL president of broadband and retail business Shashi Kalathil.


    Speaking on the occasion, Kalathil said, “This effort will enable VSNL implement the promise made in the Union Railway budget of setting up such cyber cafes across the leading railway stations in the country. We are keen on making internet easily available so that passengers can stay connected even while on the move.”


    All Tata Indicom dial-up internet and broadband subscribers can use this facility by using their existing accounts. “Each of these cybercafes will be equipped with 10-20 high end multimedia PCs with flat panel monitors and will be open 24 X 7. Travellers can now avail Internet browsing and gaming facilities at very affordable rates. We also plan to offer other value added services like printing, scanning, mobile charging and CD writing through these cafes. Passengers can also use the cyber cafes for making onward bookings, checking their bank statements, tracking their investment portfolio and making ISD calls at affordable prices,” VSNL said.


    Tata Indicom will also create select areas in the railway station that are Wi Fi enabled, allowing passengers to experience the internet on their laptop or Wi-Fi enabled PDAs.

  • Bangalore to host CII India Innovation Summit 2006

    Bangalore to host CII India Innovation Summit 2006

    BANGALORE: The first ever International Innovation Summit in India will be held in Bangalore on 16 – 17 June 2005. The summit will cover innovations in business, governance and social causes worldwide. The UB Group chairman Dr Vijay Mallya will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session.

    The Innovation summit aims to provide a forum for organisations to learn from and interact with those who have ‘lived’ the journey from ‘concept to realization’ and bring to the forefront the importance of innovation as well as provide a forum for learning from actual practitioners who have faced the challenges, states an official release.

    Eminent personalities who have proven excellence as researchers, entrepreneurs, businesspersons, innovation managers, business executives and social change evangelists will be invited to speak. The summit will bring together innovation practitioners, managers of both Indian and international companies, government representatives and students, adds the release.

  • Louis J Horvitz returns as director for the Emmy Awards

    MUMBAI: Emmy Award winner Louis J. Horvitz will return for his 12 time as director of the US Academy of Television Arts and Sciences‘ (Atas) 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards


    The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air live in the US on 27 August on NBC.


    In March, Horvitz directed The 78th Annual Academy Awards. This marked his 10th year at the helm of the Oscars.