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  • BBC newsreaders overpaid; Jack Straw

    BBC newsreaders overpaid; Jack Straw

    MUMBAI: House of Commons leader Jack Straw said that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) newsreaders are paid too much. He mocked those journalists who ‘prance’ around TV studios. At the same time, Labour MP Chris Mullin alleged that the tabloid virus is beginning to infect BBC television news.

    Straw became the leader of the House of Commons earlier in May. During a debate at the House of Commons, he preferred presenters to actually sit at a desk and read the news.

    As reported by BBC News, BBC newsreaders are overpaid and should not ‘prance around studios’, Commons leader Jack Straw has said.

    The former foreign secretary said he thought that was what newsreaders were paid for – “and too much”.

    A spokesman for BBC News said: “We welcome feedback from all quarters of our audience.”

    Straw was responding to Labour MP Chris Mullin, who complained that BBC newscasters “walk around the studio like a couple of ham actors emoting”.

    Mullin said: “Can we find time to debate the extent to which the tabloid virus is beginning to infect BBC television news? “Have you noticed that newscasters increasingly no longer read news to camera, but they walk around the studio like a couple of ham actors emoting?

    “I think it is called news with attitude.”

    Mullin also said the Six O’Clock News was “cynically edited” to delete the fact that the prime minister had quoted former Conservative leader Michael Howard during prime minister’s question time.

    “Do you agree with me that if the BBC can’t do better than this it is going to have difficulty justifying its licence fee?” he asked. Straw said he would pass his remarks on but editorial decisions were a matter for the BBC, not for MPs.

    “On the issue of accuracy, all journalists, including the BBC, have a responsibility to ensure that quotations are attributed accurately,” he said.

  • Media stocks plunge as Sensex sheds 452 points

    Media stocks plunge as Sensex sheds 452 points

    MUMBAI: Media stocks crashed along with the benchmark Sensex Index which shed 452.80 points to close the day at 10,938. Pulled down by brokers who sold heavily to cover margin requirements and foreign funds to reduce their exposure in the derivatives market, the negative sentiment was also visible in the Nifty Index which ended at 3279, down 109 to previous close.

    The major media scrips which recorded a two figure drop include HTMT, Adlabs, Zee Telefilms, Sun TV Ltd, NDTV, Saregama, TV18, Galaxy Entertainment, Gemini Communications and Navneet Publications.

    HTMT took the deepest plunge, going down by Rs 48.30 to close at Rs Rs.701.75 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Sun TV also stood weaker, recording a fall of Rs 38.25 to close at Rs.1192.35. Adlabs went down by Rs 26 to close at Rs 271.45 while NDTV ended the week at Rs 220.00, falling by Rs 21.10. Gemini Communications recorded a drop of Rs 22.8 to touch Rs Rs.433.30.

    TV 18 went down by Rs 19 .35 to close at Rs 636.15, while the Zee TV stock dropped by Rs 15 to end the week at Rs 229.60. Navneet Publications recorded a fall of Rs 15, to close the week at Rs 304.30. The Saregama scrip shed Rs 11.35 to touch Rs 250. Galaxy Entertainment went down by Rs 13.55 to end the week at Rs 268.

    Other important media scrips which saw the red at the week’s close included UTV, BAG Films, Mid Day Multimedia, K Sera Sera, Pritish Nandy Communications and ETC Networks.

    Stock analysts feel the Sensex is undergoing an overall valuation adjustment. “The correction in the valuation of media stocks is in line with the stock market crash which fell around 11 per cent in the week. There is no unusual reason to worry about the media stocks,” says ING Vysya fund manager Manish Bhandari.

    So will the fall continue? “The sensex has already lost heavily. It may further dip by about 3 per cent. But a heavy fall like this is definitely ruled out,” says Bhandari.

    The media scrips which bucked the trend are TV Today Ltd and Balaji Telefilms. Both recorded minimal gains of Rs 1.35 and Rs 0.75 respectively. “Balaji’s strong fourth quarter result has protected the scrip’s fall,” adds Bhandari.

  • Star Plus & BR Films announce prime time serial ‘Viraasat’ launch

    Star Plus & BR Films announce prime time serial ‘Viraasat’ launch

    MUMBAI: Star Plus has slotted the BR Films production Viraasat in its 9 pm weekday primetime slot. The serial features Sangita Ghosh and Rohit Roy in the title roles.

    “Our currently running 9 pm soap Miilee had reached its logical conclusion, so it is imperative for us to launch a show which could fit well into the bigness of primetime 9 pm band and be a through and through entertainer, too. With Viraasat that’s exactly what we are getting for the viewers,” says Star India Content EVP Deepak Segal.

    “Our endeavor is to dole out a classic family entertainer as it goes on to set its own mark, one which has no precedence, and thereby expect Viraasat to help us consolidate the channel’s supremacy in the primetime slot after having already done so, successfully in the weekend band” he elaborated further.

    Viraasat, would be a multi-starrer family drama that will have a strong line-up of television’s popular faces including Kiran Kumar, Deepak Quazir, Aman Verma, Amarr Upadhyay, Jayati Bhatia and Pooja Raval Ghai.

    The serial will tell the story of two people Rahul Lamba- played by Rohit Roy & Priyanka Kharbanda – played by Sangita Ghosh, who are madly in love with each other, however are bound by an age old enmity between their warring families, the release adds.

  • Amaru inks deal with Sony Pics TV International for VOD rights in Singapore













    MUMBAI: The US-headquartered Amaru Inc., a global player in broadband media entertainment business, has secured a multi-year deal with Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) for video-on-demand rights on film titles from both Sony Pictures Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for M2B viewers. The agreement has been done through Amaru‘s Hollywood-based company M2B World Inc.


    The distribution deal, initiated at the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) conference held in Las Vegas in January 2006, allows for first-run films to be available, on-demand, to subscribers of Amaru‘s Global Broadband TV service (M2BTV), accessible through the company‘s soon to be launched Set-Top Box, informs an official release.


    In addition, a selection of films will be available via pay-per-view on Dimension88 — a Singaporean premium movie channel offered at www.Dimension88.com that can be accessed via a broadband Internet connection. This deal will give M2B viewers access to SPTI product in the window after local video release.


    The deal reflects the rapidly developing interest by consumers worldwide in the at-home on-demand entertainment market. An independent study commissioned last month by the M2B brand on consumer attitudes towards broadband entertainment found that 72 per cent of domestic respondents alone were interested in accessing first-run Hollywood films online. Through distinctive content and distribution agreements over the last few years, including this agreement with SPTI, the M2B brand has been a visionary leader at the forefront of the transforming entertainment market, the release adds.


    “This agreement is a result of the unique synergy that traditional Hollywood entertainment companies are looking towards. It is essentially the melding of the highly recognizable content that viewers are looking for with easily accessible distribution vehicles, such as our broadband channels, that offer consumers the highest quality feeds in a way that fits within their limited schedules,” says Amaru Inc. CEO Colin Binny. “Our philosophy has always been to offer wide-ranging content as our viewing demographic continues to broaden — and partnering with Sony Pictures Television International is reflective of that intention. We look forward to working with SPTI, and expect that the addition of these titles will be extremely well-received by our viewers.”


    “Viewers worldwide have been receptive to VOD and we‘re pleased to make our extensive library available to M2B viewers”, adds SPTI‘s vice president pay television Paul Littmann.

  • China plans nationwide launch of digital cable













    MUMBAI: China is planning to launch digital cable television across the country this year. The country had tested the switch from analogue to digital through a three-year pilot programme and the positive result has inspired the government to go ahead with the expansion plan.

     

    The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television administration vice director Zhang Gaitao said at a national conference on cable TV that the right time had come for China to popularize digital cable TV, as the country now has the technology and hardware following the three-year trial program.

     

    Reportedly, the pilot program has been testing the switch from analog cable television to digital cable television in 49 areas since 2003. The digital switch has already taken place in the cities of Qingdao, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Mianyang and now the process has moved to municipalities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong and Guangxi.


    China has more than 120 pay television channels licensed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, with over one million digital cable TV users

  • Nokia wins GSM expansion deal with Sichuan Unicom in China

    Nokia wins GSM expansion deal with Sichuan Unicom in China

    MUMBAI: Nokia has won a GSM network expansion deal with Sichuan Unicom, a subsidiary of China Unicom.

    Under the agreement, Nokia will deploy its GSM radio and core networks, including the Nokia MSC Server mobile softswitch, in four cities in the Sichuan Province.

    Deliveries have started and the network expansion will be fully operational by August 2006, informs an official release.

    The is Nokia’s first agreement with Sichuan Unicom and is a milestone for Nokia, entering the GSM market in Sichuan and West China.

    The deal also highlights Nokia’s position in mobile softswitch systems deployment in the China area. The Nokia MSC Server mobile softswitch is a circuit core network architecture fully compatible with GSM/Edge and WCDMA 3G.

    “We are extremely delighted with our progress in the GSM business and deepening cooperation with mobile operators in China. The mobile market and the number of subscribers in China are growing fast and steadily. With our global experience and strong end-to-end localization commitment, we support mobile operators in bringing state-of-the-art mobile services to their customers,” said China Area Networks Nokia vice president Yuan Wei.

  • China plans nationwide launch of digital cable

    China plans nationwide launch of digital cable

    MUMBAI: China is planning to launch digital cable television across the country this year. The country had tested the switch from analogue to digital through a three-year pilot programme and the positive result has inspired the government to go ahead with the expansion plan.

    The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television administration vice director Zhang Gaitao said at a national conference on cable TV that the right time had come for China to popularize digital cable TV, as the country now has the technology and hardware following the three-year trial program.

    Reportedly, the pilot program has been testing the switch from analog cable television to digital cable television in 49 areas since 2003. The digital switch has already taken place in the cities of Qingdao, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Mianyang and now the process has moved to municipalities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong and Guangxi.

    China has more than 120 pay television channels licensed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, with over one million digital cable TV users.

  • ABC online shows record 3mn viewers

    ABC online shows record 3mn viewers

    MUMBAI: Walt Disney Co. Networks, ABC today claimed that over three million viewers have watched their online television shows, launched in May 2006. As part of a two month internet trial, the company offered full episode streaming of four of its most popular shows Desperate Housewives, Lost, Alias and Commander in Chief.

    Reuters reports that the numbers provide an early sign of demand for television content on the Web and challenge the “ad-free”, but paid content available via Apple’s iTunes.

    “The evolution of ABC.com is just one piece of our comprehensive, digital media multi-platform business initiative,” said Disney Media Networks co-chair and Disney-ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney.

    These episodes are available online the day after they are broadcast on TV and only the last aired episode is currently available for streaming. Each online episode includes a 10-second sponsorship message from a single advertiser, followed by three commercials that air during breaks in the program.

    This allows users to rewind, fast-forward and pause shows, however, they can not skip advertisements, which automatically play at certain segments. The same shows are also available to download through iTunes for $1.99 an episode without commercials.

  • RVBS launches online Fifa game for Philips

    RVBS launches online Fifa game for Philips

    MUMBAI: Rolland Virtual Business Systems Ltd. (RVBS) has launched an interactive game on the internet for Philips, the official sponsor of the Fifa Club World Championship.

    This promotional game provides online players with the opportunity to win prizes by testing their virtual soccer skills.

    The RVBS’s logo is displayed on the game website. There is also a link from the game to the RVBS website, providing RVBS the opportunity to make its technology better known worldwide.

    The game’s URL is http://www.thegamefoot.com.