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  • Fifa World Cup: ESS’ Goal That All Ride It

    It was around January that the team at ESPN Software India, led by managing director RC Venkateish, decided to evolve a game plan encompassing marketing, promotion and programming for the biggest spectacle in the world aka the soccer World Cup.

    Somewhere in the subconscious was also the fact that the Fifa event needed to be put up on a scale in India that would neutralise the lack of Indian cricket (considered the biggest sporting draw in the India sub-continent) on ESPN and Star Sports, which are managed in Asia by a joint venture company ESPN Star Sports.
    ESPN Software India MD RC Venkateish

    A successfully implemented soccer strategy would not only get in distribution gains, but would also partially offset (notional) revenue losses for lack of Indian cricket for which ESS has made a lunge twice without success till now.

    Considering ESPN’s parent Disney, according to international media reports, had forked out a whopping $100 million for the English-language rights to broadcast the World Cup across ABC and ESPN, it was worth giving their all, Team Venky probably must have thought.

    From here germinated the idea to have an integrated marketing, programming and promotional strategy for the Fifa show that culminated almost four months later into Duniya Goal Hai (loosely meaning the world would be watching soccer) — the punch line for ESS’ football campaign that is now being ramped up big time as D-Day for the opening event of the globe’s biggest sporting spectacle draws ever nearer. Of course, there were dollops of creative inputs from JWT, the agency for ESS in India.

    “Soccer is getting much bigger in India than it was in 2002, the last World Cup (that was shown on Ten Sports in India). Over 55 million people have watched the European League this season,” a bullish Venkateish says.

    After all, the matches of the Fifa World Cup, holding centre stage from 9 June to 9 July, have convenient timings with some starting at 6:30 pm IST just ahead of prime time viewing and when people would be trooping back from office.

    About 75 million Indians sampled the telecast of World Cup 2002 on Ten Sports and DD with a cumulative audience reach of 30.2 million in India. For the last World Cup, which marked the debut of Ten Sports in India, despite its limited spread in terms of distribution, the channel had ratings of over 50 per cent in places like Kolkata for the final.

    On the other hand, ESPN, which aired an India-Sri Lanka cricket ODI on the day the final match of 2002 WC was played, could muster ratings of just 14-15 per cent.

    The Euro 2004 continued the growth and had a cumulative audience reach of 32.3 million viewers in. This interest in soccer in India now touches even EPL that had a reach of 42.8 million for the season till date, according to ESPN.

    “This means that nearly one in every two individuals in cable homes across India has sampled the EPL,” Venkateish points out, adding that ESS hopes to further heighten this popularity through Fifa World Cup matches and other related programming.

    No wonder, concurring with Venkateish is ESPN India’s vice-president (sales and marketing) and distribution head Sricharan Iyengar, “For us the Fifa is the biggest event that any channel could have this year. It’s bigger than Indian cricket also.”

    What has made it challenging for ESS is that Indians don’t have any direct stake in the World Cup as India is still far far away from playing in the soccer fiesta. Any strategy for India would have to keep this in mind so as to make available the matches in such a manner that it involves Indians and entertains them too.

    Says ESPN India associate director marketing Paras Sharma, “As sports broadcast leaders, the challenge was to present the World Cup to Indians in a different way. The marketing strategy has been built up keeping that in mind.”

     

    Broad Tenets of the Indian Strategy

    At the base of the strategy is the aim “empowering the Indian audience to have a unique and customized interaction” with the property.
     

    This is being delivered thru the following:

    • Engagement: making the viewers play before the actual play begins.
    • Recognition: rewarding the viewers for their passion for the game.
    • Experiential: physically transporting them into the thick of the action
    • Entertainment: providing a peep into the fun side of Fifa.
     
    ESPN Software India associate director marketing Paras Sharma

    The marketing strategy, therefore, has been to focus at the larger sporting fan base and look at their motivations with respect to this sporting spectacle as this audience is looking for a lot more than just viewing pleasure. The two key drivers for building interaction: entertainment and engagement.

    Similarly, at a strategic level, the objective is to create ‘visible’ interest and traction for the event much before it kicks off, thereby extending the Football Fever to deliver on revenue and sponsor interests.

    “The challenge therefore was to position the World Cup in India not only as the ‘biggest international football event with no Indian stake’ but as the `biggest sporting spectacle’ that transcends boundaries so as to catch larger audiences and build sustainable traction for the property and the sport,” points out Sharma.

    Strategic Initiatives

    In the month of June and July the campaign will highlight how the entire world becomes eight inches in diameter (referring to television programmes and live telecasts). And that is summed up in the campaign punch line, which says Duniya Goal Hai.

    The idea is in Hinglish. Translated in English it means that ‘World is round’ wherein ‘goal’ in punned in Hindi to round and the soccer goal. This central thought would be taken forward in all marketing and communication activities.

    Phase 1: This is the Magnum Opus stage and kicked off in April. Here the aim is to create saliency for the forthcoming event two months prior by building upon the most scalable and media interesting hooks of the property. The campaign highlights the unique facets of the event and, in addition, seeding in similar key points in national and regional vernacular media. 

    Both ESPN and Star Sports have started airing programming related to the Fifa show, pushing the event besides putting out special World Cup stories.

    Phase II: The phase of the campaign revolves around creating interest around the history of the event. 

    This will be done by highlighting the unique constituents of the property itself in form of past and current players, milestones etc. 

    Phase III: This offers an Indian take through on-ground activities. The aim is to engage Indian audiences to play the WC.

    In this regard, ESS has started an initiative in association with a channel sponsor Coca-Cola called Gyraah Hindustani, which aims to take selected Indians to watch the WC in all its glory, spectacle and grandeur.

    The Adidas+ Challenge sees Indian school students competing against each other in football matches for the right to go to Germany. It is being rolled out across major cities.

    ESPN Software India marketing director Nirmal Dayani

    Explains ESPN marketing director Nirmal Dayani, “A one of its kind unique consumer involvement and activation exercise has been undertaken along with two of the leading the global sponsors of Fifa, Coca Cola and Adidas.”

    Phase IV: This, Sharma describes, as the In the Middle of Action stage. The aim is to increase new sampling and longer duration relationship with the current audience. 

    ESS will do consumer promotions related to matches, stars, and teams. According to Iyengar, once the World Cup starts, there will be contests in association with one of the channels’ sponsors, Airtel.

    ESS is also working on a tie-up for those who would be part of the flag bearing team for Fifa through a programme initiative called Learning Ground, which is being attempted to be integrated with Fifa-related initiatives to search for Indian kids who would be flag bearers during the event.

     

     

    The Programming Line-Up

    Any sports broadcast, be it cricket or hockey or football, depends heavily on analysis to hook in viewers. For this purpose, ESS has established an enriched studio panel of presenters for the football World Cup.

    These commentators will offer different perspectives on the goings on at the World Cup and leading up to the spectacle when it begins in June. Gerry Armstrong, former Irish international and now a soccer expert with ESS, Steve McMahon, former England and Liverpool player and an ESS presenter and Harsha Bhogle will handle the presentation.
     

    For those looking for a desi or local touch, the broadcaster will also have Indian soccer experts like Novy Kapadia, Noel Da Kima Leitao as guests every week during the event. 

    On the ground in Germany, the broadcaster will have two dedicated teams comprising Anand Narsimhan, Dave Roberts and Jason Dasey, who will capture the World Cup craze. Additionally, a special Indian ESS production team will travel across India to catch the enthusiasm.
     

    Of course, the specials have already been flagged off in a bid to build up viewer interest leading up to June. One such initiative last month was Fifa World Cup Stories. Six episodes of half an hour duration provided different angles to chapters of the event.

    The show featured stories on the most surprising and shocking results in the World Cups, Golden Boot winners of the previous editions, dramatic penalty shoot outs, young stars of the sport and rise to top of some of the underdogs. 

    Born To Play, airing Mondays to Fridays till early May, was a series on some of the best soccer stars the world has witnessed. The 13-episode series brought alive the magical moments from World Cup performances of Pele, Maradona, Baggio, Platini, Beckenbauer and others.

    Fifa Preview, a 16-spisode series running from 3-24 May is another programming initiative.

    Running Mondays to Fridays, this previews the 2006 Fifa World Cup Germany through exciting blend of originally shot footage from qualifiers and other innovative feature based content.

    The series will bring to life the football-ing passion and current form of all qualified nations. The series will profile stars, coaches and will also analyse each nation’s prospects against teams within their groups.

    Some other programming line-up include the six-episode Fifa Stories, Fifa Official Films (13 episodes till 19 May) that will ferret out films from the Fifa archive to research fascinating histories of the some of the most successful nations in World Cup football.

    Local feed: Another strategy that sports channels are following is having feed in Hindi for special events. ESS is no exception.

    To cater to the Hindi speaking markets, ESS will have a special Hindi feed. This will help ESS broad base the appeal of soccer for those who do not understand English and for those who might have difficulty following the accents of ESS’ foreign experts. 

    The sponsors on ESPN and Star Sports, including Fifa global associates, include Coca Cola India (presenting sponsor) Bharti ‘Airtel’ Cellular (joint presenting sponsor), Adidas India (associate sponsor), Mirc Electronics (associate sponsor) and IOC (associate sponsor).
     

    How Different Media Being Used

    ESS’ strategy hasn’t overlooked using other media to further its aim of Duniya Goal Hai in India.

    ESPN Software India VP sales & marketing Sricharan Iyengar

    As part of this game plan, cable operators and MSOs or trade affiliates are being made aware of the importance of the World Cup.

    Pointing out that exclusive events are opportunities to monetize them, Iyengar says, “The fundamental reason for doing initiatives with cable operators in various parts of the country is to create awareness in general about football and Fifa in particular. Football in terms of business and viewership is massive in states like West Bengal, Kerala and Goa.”
     

    Television: This will be the primary medium to reach the wide geographical spread of Indian audience. Spots will air on two leading national channels along with a large mix of regional channels. Innovative promotional activities with these channels are being looked at thus increasing the noise and exposure levels manifold.

    ESS is also negotiating with news channels to offer them footage from the event. Dayani admits that ESS has tied up for the Kolkata region with the newly-launched 24 Ghanta news channel for promotion of WC whereby the news channel will have access to news footage at no extra cost, but will help in ESS’ in branding activities.
     

    Radio: FM radio will be the target vehicle. It is learnt that Radio Mirchi will be the preferred partner for the Fifa event. 

    Print: To increase awareness and build on the tactical requirements, regional press has been roped in. Unique means like customised editorials have been started as a build up to the Cup so as to increase audience’s knowledge and interest in the event. 

    Cinema Halls: Sharma notes that cinema as a medium occupies a pride of place in urban India and is being used as a hype creation mechanism in addition to its value as a communication vehicle.

    Cinema halls across the metros in the country are being painted in Fifa WC colours a month prior to the event by highlighting the most entertaining aspects of the event

    Bollywood: Not leaving any stone unturned, ESS would be roping in Bollywood actors to promote the World Cup.

     

    The Likely Gains

    At the end of it all, it all boils down to economics and not charity. ESS, too, is looking at all round gains. But most of all in the distribution arena.
     

    A spectacle like World Cup might not have helped Ten Sports in 2002 the way it had been envisaged, but ESS seems to be better placed. The fact that out of the 64 matches, ESS will share with pubcaster Doordarshan only four events — the semis, final and the inaugural — gives the sports broadcaster an added advantage.
     

    With an eye on distribution gains, ESS feels that de-activated networks or those that had replaced ESPN and Star Sports with more in-demand channels in the area of their operations due to lack of adequate bandwidth would return within the ESS fold.

    “Fifa has given us a chance to get all the de-activated cable networks back on the roster. We expect 7-8 per cent of the networks which had de-activated ESS, will start showing the channels again now that the football fever is spreading,” Iyengar said, pointing out that trade activities with distribution affiliates are aimed towards this also.

    However, a bigger challenge post the World Cup would be to see how the Fifa show can be leveraged for other football properties that ESS has and whether the Fifa eyeballs could be converted into regular viewership for other programmes.

    “That’ll be a key challenge. The Fifa fever needs to rub off on events like PPL, Spanish League and other football properties and those we think would drive viewership and our subscription revenue,” Iyengar says.

    An optimistic Venkateish feels that the World Cup will “generate ratings, which are equivalent or higher than India international Test ratings.”

    And, if that actually happens, it would encourage ESS to weave strategies around non-cricketing properties in India in a big way.

    (Inputs from Anjan Mitra in New Delhi)

    Photo Credits: RC Venkateish, Nirmal Dayani, Paras Sharma by Sanjay Sharma/Indiapix Network; Duniya Gol Hai and Fifa logo courtesy ESPN

     

  • Disney and Optus to launch Disney Connection in Australia

    Disney and Optus to launch Disney Connection in Australia

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) and Optus have signed an agreement to launch an interactive broadband service Disney Connection on the Optus broadband portal.

    The service will offer kids and families a broad range of media-rich Disney entertainment and learning activities. It will be available to Optus broadband customers in July 2006.

    The agreement marks the Australian launch of the popular Disney-branded internet channel, which is available in eight other countries, including the US, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Argentina.

    “We’re very pleased to work with Optus to make this high-quality broadband content available to Australian consumers,” said Walt Disney Internet Group International executive vice president and managing director Mark Handler.

    “Disney Connection provides unique, high-quality and differentiated online entertainment that kids and families can enjoy. We look forward to bringing more of our rich library of online interactive entertainment to this market,” he added.

    Disney Connection will offer Optus broadband customers a regularly-updated slate of interactive games and activities, as well as video, based on both classic and new Disney characters. Its Studio Showcase will provide video shorts from Disney, including Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney clips, cartoon shorts, music videos, and movie trailers.

    “As Australians increasingly embrace broadband, we are pleased to launch an interactive and educational entertainment destination designed especially to meet the needs of children and families,” said Optus Consumer group director products and delivery Chris Lane.

    “This is a cornerstone deal in Optus’ strategy of featuring the internet’s leading online brands and entertainment providers. It is another step in Optus’ vision of a digital future where PC and mobile phones become sources of everyday entertainment,” he added.

    Disney Connection content on the Optus broadband portal will be refreshed every other week. Kids and families will be able to personalise their site experience through the “My Disney” link by selecting their favourite theme – from Buzz Lightyear to Disney Princess – and choosing their preferred games and other content to appear on the Disney Connection home page.

    A separate mobile section will highlight Disney-branded mobile content available on the Optus Zoo WAP portal.

    In the Asia Pacific region, Disney.com has well-established, localized Internet sites in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Australia. WDIG launched its first broadband content service in Japan in 2003 with NTT FLET’s broadband network, reaching more than 7.9 million subscribers. In June 2005, it launched its first broadband service in Taiwan with Chungwa Telecom’s HiNet ADSL, the country’s leading broadband provider, with more than 3.5 million subscribers.

    WDIG has mobile content distribution in 13 markets in the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Macau. In this region, more than 695 million mobile consumers have access to Disney-branded mobile content.

  • Tata Sky ties-up with Humax for set-top-boxes













    MUMBAI: Tata Sky Ltd, the joint venture between the Tata Group and Star, has inked a partnership with Humax to support the launch of its Direct-to-Home (DTH) service in mid 2006.


    Humax, a provider of digital satellite set-top boxes (STBs), will manufacture set-top boxes in India and also provide after-sales service and support network for Tata Sky customers.

     

    Tata Sky LTD CEO Vikram Kaushik said, “We are committed to building a state-of-the-art DTH operation in India and offer customers with the best satellite TV services available. Our DTH service will completely redefine the television viewing experience in India and our agreement with Humax takes us a step closer to our goal.”

     

    “We are excited to be a part of one of the largest DTH businesses in India. Our worldwide set-top box experience and expertise in the development of the most advanced digital television solutions will play a pivotal role in Tata Sky‘s new business growth,” said Humax head of digital media business unit Dr. J U Kim.

    Tata Sky had recently joined hands with Thomson for STBs to support the launch of its DTH service and also teamed up with NDS Group Plc in order to deploy NDS solutions to support and provide range of digital and interactive TV services, ahead of launch.


    Also read:

    Tata Sky partners with Thomson for set-top-boxes


    Tata Sky ties-up with NDS Systems to create interactive service

  • USA Network to take WWE to the next level with film based initiative

    USA Network to take WWE to the next level with film based initiative

    MUMBAI: American cable network USA Network is looking to build on its relationship with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

    The network is unveiling plans to develop and produce action movies aimed at the WWE audience.

    USA Network president Bonnie Hammer said, “The return of WWE to USA has been a knockout for both parties. We are looking forward to building and expanding on our audience as well as the Raw fan base with high impact, adrenaline-fueled, larger-than-life action just like they’ll find in the ring.”

    One film is called Hunting Rabbets. This features Jack and Bobby Rabbet, hard luck brothers who operate a failing repossession business. When Bobby neglects to pay their axes, a secret
    government agency confronts the Rabbets with an ultimatum: go to prison, or work off the debt.

    Now, as unofficial government employees, Jack and Bobby must use their repossession skills to search America for classified items the government cannot admit it has lost.

    Another film is called Crush. Bodyguards have to be tough, and Able ‘Crush’ Cross was one of the toughest. But the business of protection is a hard one. Forced out for not being a team player, Crush makes a living as bouncer at Los Angeles hot spots. However, Crush is pulled back into the bodyguard business when he is hired by a wealthy CEO who fears for the life of his daughter. This is an original film by Phoef Sutton (Analyze This, Boston Legal).

    In The Last Tough Guy, the protagonist Jack Cooper is one of the best stunt men in Hollywood. Unfortunately, his hard-drinking lifestyle and gruff demeanour have left him with few jobs and fewer friends. When Jack witnesses the death of his former mentor, producer Rudy Solomon, he goes to the police, who prove uncooperative.

    Reconnecting with his former flame (who happens to be Rudy’s estranged daughter), Jack decides to take matters into his own hands. As he tracks down Rudy’s killers and bring them to justice.

  • Disney and Optus to launch Disney Connection in Australia













    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) and Optus have signed an agreement to launch an interactive broadband service Disney Connection on the Optus broadband portal.


    The service will offer kids and families a broad range of media-rich Disney entertainment and learning activities. It will be available to Optus broadband customers in July 2006.



    The agreement marks the Australian launch of the popular Disney-branded internet channel, which is available in eight other countries, including the US, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Argentina.


    “We‘re very pleased to work with Optus to make this high-quality broadband content available to Australian consumers,” said Walt Disney Internet Group International executive vice president and managing director Mark Handler.


    “Disney Connection provides unique, high-quality and differentiated online entertainment that kids and families can enjoy. We look forward to bringing more of our rich library of online interactive entertainment to this market,” he added.


    Disney Connection will offer Optus broadband customers a regularly-updated slate of interactive games and activities, as well as video, based on both classic and new Disney characters. Its Studio Showcase will provide video shorts from Disney, including Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney clips, cartoon shorts, music videos, and movie trailers.


    “As Australians increasingly embrace broadband, we are pleased to launch an interactive and educational entertainment destination designed especially to meet the needs of children and families,” said Optus Consumer group director products and delivery Chris Lane.


    “This is a cornerstone deal in Optus‘ strategy of featuring the internet‘s leading online brands and entertainment providers. It is another step in Optus‘ vision of a digital future where PC and mobile phones become sources of everyday entertainment,” he added.


    Disney Connection content on the Optus broadband portal will be refreshed every other week. Kids and families will be able to personalise their site experience through the “My Disney” link by selecting their favourite theme – from Buzz Lightyear to Disney Princess – and choosing their preferred games and other content to appear on the Disney Connection home page.


    A separate mobile section will highlight Disney-branded mobile content available on the Optus Zoo WAP portal.


    In the Asia Pacific region, Disney.com has well-established, localized Internet sites in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Australia. WDIG launched its first broadband content service in Japan in 2003 with NTT FLET‘s broadband network, reaching more than 7.9 million subscribers. In June 2005, it launched its first broadband service in Taiwan with Chungwa Telecom‘s HiNet ADSL, the country‘s leading broadband provider, with more than 3.5 million subscribers.


    WDIG has mobile content distribution in 13 markets in the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Macau. In this region, more than 695 million mobile consumers have access to Disney-branded mobile content.

  • TiVo in deal with Brightcove to offer Web TV













    MUMBAI: Digital video recording (DVR) pioneer TiVo Inc. is joining hands with online video service provider Brightcove to deliver web-based programming to TiVo‘s broadband television boxes. This will enable TiVo users to record internet-based videos from Brightcove‘s content partners.

     

    Initially, all content will be offered for free to TiVo subscribers and advertising will be carried within the content.


    Brightcove‘s technology gives producers the solution to create online videos and then syndicate them through Brightcove‘s distribution channels, of which TiVo has become the latest.

     

    Brightcove also has a deal with Time Warner Inc. to start distributing videos this summer on AOL‘s Web portal.

  • MTV Germany to continue broadcasting ‘Popetown’

    MTV Germany to continue broadcasting ‘Popetown’

    MUMBAI: MTV Germany has decided to broadcast the cartoon series Popetown in its entirety. Following the broadcast of the first episode last Wednesday, the remaining nine episodes will be broadcast from today – 10 May.

    A couple of years ago the BBC had pulled the plug on the show due to pressure from the Catholic community. The show is set in a fictional Vatican.

    MTV Germany programming director Elmar Giglinger says, “We have decided to broadcast all episodes of Popetown. Our decision is based on the reaction of the viewers, who were clearly in favour of the programme’s broadcast, as well as the FSF’s assessment that the submitted episodes of Popetown are legally unobjectionable.”

    Internet users were asked their opinion on Popetown in a recent poll, conducted by market research institute PhoneResearch on 3 and 4 May 2006. More than 94 per cent of those asked said that this type of series should be broadcast.

    Comments from ‘MTV News Mag Special – Popetown’, the live discussion programme which took place on 3 May, were also taken into account in the decision-making process. During the discussion, representatives from the Federation of German Catholic Youth, the FSF, the Junge Liberale (Young Liberals Organisation), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Cologne Conference (international film and television festival) and members of the music and entertainment communities voiced their opinions on Popetown, with nobody calling for a ban of the show.

    Viewers were also invited to take part in the live discussion both online and by telephone. The response was enormous. During the show, the Berlin MTV Studio switchboards were jammed and over 15,000 comments were submitted to the online forum at www.mtv.de/popetown, with the overwhelming majority of people supporting the broadcast of Popetown.

    In the run-up to the broadcast of MTV News Mag Special – Popetown, a random representative household sample of 1,004 people between the ages of 14 and 39 were asked their opinion on Popetown by PhoneResearch. Asked whether this type of series should be allowed to be shown on German television, 78 per cent answered “yes”, 16 per cent “no” and the rest were undecided. Ninety one per cent of those asked found the televised discussion and the network’s handling of criticism generally good.

  • Playhouse Disney launches ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’

    Playhouse Disney launches ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’

    MUMBAI: Playhouse Disney, the preschoolers block on Disney Channel has launched the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a learning-focused series for tiny tots. The show is named after Disney’s favorite mascot.

    The show will be aired on Saturdays and Sundays at 8:30 am.

    The series has been created by producer Bobs Gannaway, producer and director of the Emmy Award-winning Disney’s Mickey Mouse Works. The series later evolved into Disney’s House of Mouse, that featured not just Mickey, but virtually all of the Disney animated characters.

    Although the character designs are referential to 1940s drawings, the show has 3D computer animation, a logical next step for the characters that have evolved, along with film technology, from black and white, to color and now to digitally rendered 3D.

    In order to ensure that each episode is entertaining and comprehensible to this core audience, Disney Channel writers and researchers visited preschools where they read story books based on the shows to students to see if they enjoyed it, if they understood the concepts and were engaged enough to participate.

    “The shows that have worked best with young kids are interactive ones, where the audience feels they’re playing along as opposed to just sitting back and watching. It’s always been Mickey’s way to connect one-to-one with kids, making him the perfect choice to further develop a close relationship with kids in a preschool learning environment,” said Walt Disney Television International (India) director programming and production Nachiket Pantvaidya.

    “The show helps to broaden the definition of math skills to include not just counting, but learning shapes, patterns, colors and fractions. Early math skills are key to preschoolers’ development because if it is embedded right from the beginning, kids will embrace the subject. The wonderful thing is that kids of this age love to count and master skills. They don’t see it as a chore or a lesson, they’re really proud of being able tell you what’s bigger and what’s smaller, what’s near and what’s far. It’s not work to them, it’s really fun,” he added.

    Mickey Mouse Clubhouse will help define the series’ educational goals and have an age-appropriate curriculum with the help of the Sensational Six: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Daisy and Donald.

  • Al Jazeera International lines-up weekly sports magazine ‘Sportsworld’

    Al Jazeera International lines-up weekly sports magazine ‘Sportsworld’

    MUMBAI: Doha based – Al Jazeera International, yet to launch 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel has revealed their line-up of sports presenters and also the sports offering.

    The channel’s weekly magazine programme Sportsworld will also take viewers behind the scenes of some of these major sporting events. The team will interview not only the leading stars but also the unsung personalities – adhering to the channel’s aim of giving our viewers a 360 degree perspective on what is happening in the world of sport, both professional and amateur.

    Al Jazeera International’ sport head Stuart Young, has assembled a team of experienced reporters and presenters, whose diversity and own areas of expertise complement each other: Carrie Brown formerly of Eurosport; Brendan Connor formerly of CBC Canada; Imran Garda formerly of South Africa’s Supersport channel; Joanna Gasiorowska who joins the channel from ITV’s Evening News; Dara McIntosh formerly of ESPN and NBC in the USA; Rahul Pathak from the UK’s Five News as well as Andrew Richardson formerly of Five News in the UK.

    Young says, “I am delighted to have such a group of individuals whose breadth of knowledge, depth of experience and all-round strengths will take us to the forefront of sports reporting.”

    “Together, we will work to bring viewers around the globe the latest from the world of sport. From countries often overlooked, on sports often under-reported, we hope to inform and enlighten as well as entertain and excite,” he continued.

    In keeping with the channel’s fresh approach, the sports coverage will be a mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the expected and the surprising, which includes the football leagues in Europe and South America, the tennis grand slam events, the golf majors, cricket test matches, rugby internationals, Formula 1 and MotoGP, North American sports, athletics, boxing, cycling, sailing and winter sports.

  • Time Warner plans job cuts at AOL

    Time Warner plans job cuts at AOL

    MUMBAI: Time Warner Inc. is planning to cut about 1,300 jobs at its AOL internet unit. This is in line with the company’s plans to reduce costs by $1 billion.

    AOL will close its call centre in Florida and will eliminate jobs in its other call centres located in Ogden, Utah and Tucson. It will be cutting 780 jobs in Jacksonville. The Tucson call center will eliminate 300 jobs and Ogden will cut down 125.

    Two years ago, Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons had decided to cut costs of the organisation. Accordingly, AOL cut its workforce by 700 people in the fourth quarter. It also eliminated 400 jobs in other divisions, including its publishing outfit.