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Tag: ABC

  • ‘Alias’ celebrates 100th episode this week in the US

    ‘Alias’ celebrates 100th episode this week in the US

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster ABC has anniounced that its action packed show Alias will air its milestone 100th episode on 26 April 2006. In India the show airs on AXN.

    In late February, cast members from the present, as well as the past, gathered together with the “Alias” crew to reminisce and celebrate the landmark occasion on the APO set at the Disney Studios. Creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams, along with Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment, made humorous-yet-touching speeches about working with everyone involved with the show for the past five seasons.

    In the 100th episode, Sydney’s maternity leave is cut short when she learns that Will has been abducted by her nemesis, Anna Espinosa. Meanwhile, Sloane finds himself one step closer to obtaining the cure for daughter Nadia. The lead characters is played be jennifer Garner.

  • Disney-ABC to offer hit shows online in May and June

    Disney-ABC to offer hit shows online in May and June

    MUMBAI: Get ‘Desperate’ and ‘Lost’ online! With an aim to expand its network and channel brands across multiple platforms and connecting viewers with their favorite shows anytime and anywhere, Disney-ABC Television Group will be offering ad-supported, full-length episodes of four ABC primetime series online at www.abc.go.com.

    However, this offer will be a part of a two-month-long experiment. Current episodes of Lost, Desperate Housewives and Commander In Chief, as well as the entire present season of Alias, will be available for streaming during May and June, marking the first time a broadcast network has made multiple series available for viewing online, free of charge to consumers.

    “The evolution of ABC.com is just one piece of our comprehensive, digital media multiplatform business initiative. This announcement highlights the momentum we’ve achieved both in launching new broadband services and working with strategic partners in the digital media space, to ensure that our high-quality, informative and entertaining content is available to consumers whenever and wherever they choose,” said Disney Media Networks co-chair and Disney-ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney.

    ABC is also exploring ways to work with its local broadcast affiliates on these online offerings as they continue to evolve. “Our ultimate goal is to find an effective online model, one in which our affiliates can take part. To that end, we’ll be sharing information from this two-month test in our discussions going forward, and working on ways for them to participate in this new method of delivering ABC programming,” added ABC Television Network president operations and administration Alex Wallau.

    “Our mission with this trial is to gather key learning about the technology and the consumers who utilize it in order for ABC.com to become the leading broadband digital entertainment experience, packed with innovative, immersive content for our viewers. In the months ahead, ABC.com will not only deliver a high quality, on-demand viewing experience to users, but will also gain valuable knowledge and research to help us better understand and serve our consumers in the rapidly evolving digital world,” said Disney-ABC Television Group executive vice president digital media Albert Cheng.

    As part of the trial, ABC has offered 10 advertisers the opportunity to test possible in-stream broadband advertising models as well as the ability to take advantage of sponsorships. The unique interactive video ads will take many different forms and will be seen within each episode. The advertisers include AT&T, Cingular, Ford, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever’s Suave, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, among others.

    “We have said all along that we are dedicated to finding ways to bring our advertiser partners along with us as we embrace new ways of doing business in the world of digital media. This unique project has allowed us to offer our advertisers the ability to deliver increased effectiveness in their messaging through targeted and engaging interactive ads that offer compelling consumer experiences,” said ABC Television Network president sales and marketing Mike Shaw.

    Combining an all-new sleek, modern design with user-friendly functionality, ABC.com will offer episodes the day after they premiere on the linear channel. Consumers will be able to pause and move back and forth between “chapters” within each episode, but will not have the ability to fast-forward through advertisements. Episodes will be streamed in 16×9 formatting which offers a cinema-like feel to the viewing experience.

    Encoded and streamed in Flash 8, which offers the best video quality and allows users on both Mac and PC platforms to watch the video episode, will be offered in two different sizes. The standard viewing size is 500×282 pixels (streamed at 400kbs), and the larger viewing size is 700×394 pixels (streamed 700 kbps).

  • US women’s channel Lifetime gets ‘Desperate Housewives’

    US women’s channel Lifetime gets ‘Desperate Housewives’

    MUMBAI: The women of Wisteria Lane have just found a second home! US women’s broadcaster Lifetime Television has acquired the basic cable rights from Buena Vista Television, along with the repurposing rights, for the show Desperate Housewives.

    In India the show airs on Star World while in the US it helped turn around the fortunes of ABC.

    Along with the repurposing rights starting in September 2008, Lifetime will begin airing the first season of Desperate Housewives on a weekly basis this August.

    The show is in its second season on ABC and Star World. Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria and Nicollette Sheridan star in this comedic look at suburbia — where the secret lives of housewives aren’t always what they seem. It averages 22.5 million total viewers and 8.3 million women ages 18-49 during its run on ABC and is the number one scripted series among that age group in the current 2005-06 broadcast season.

    Lifetime Entertainment Services senior VP, planning, scheduling and acquisitions Leslie Glenn-Chesloff, , said, “This brilliant water-cooler series makes us laugh and makes us cry with its insightful windows into the lives, emotions, dreams and disappointments of diverse women. As a pop-culture icon with powerful appeal to women viewers, Desperate Housewives is a perfect addition to our schedule.”

    Buena Vista Television executive VP, general sales manager Jed Cohen says, “We view Lifetime, the leader in women’s television, as the ideal partner for Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives has had a tremendous impact on the primetime landscape and we believe that Lifetime Television is the perfect environment to extend the success of this distinguished and popular series.”

  • AL Jazeera International ropes in ABC Richard Gizbert to present ‘Listening Post’

    AL Jazeera International ropes in ABC Richard Gizbert to present ‘Listening Post’

    MUMBAI: The soon to launch 24- hour English news and current affairs channel Al Jazeera International has designed a news show Listening Post. The show will be presented by the former ABC news journalist, Richard Gizbert.

    A weekly insight Listening Post will bring news from around the world into how the news is handled by the world’s media and assess how news reporting changes depending on where it is coming from. It will monitor and examine all forms of media, all over the world. From the biggest network to the most obscure web bloggers Listening Post will report critically on what they cover – and what they don’t. It will examine the big stories and explain how and why coverage of them differs in different parts of the world, informs an official release.

    Listening Post is a fully commissioned jointly owned programme with Moonbeam Films Ltd. As a commissioning house, Al Jazeera International’s programmes will include material gathered from freelancers and independent companies all across the globe through a unique commissioning site: www.ajicommissioning.net

    Gizbert joins Al Jazeera International’s line-up of on-screen talent from ABC News where he worked since 1993. Starting as a correspondent in their London bureau, he has reported abroad on many of the major international stories such as the conflicts in Iraq and the continuing unrest in the Middle East.

    Al Jazeera International programme director Paul Gibbs said, “Listening Post is Al Jazeera International’s eyes and ears on the world’s electronic media. It’s a fantastic addition to our line-up of extensive programmes.”

    Graduated from Algonquin College in Ontario, Gizbert, previously worked as a correspondent-producer for CJOH-TV in Ottawa, where he produced in-depth features for Sunday Edition, the national current affairs programme. Prior to that, Gizbert was CJOH’s parliamentary correspondent for five years, responsible for national political coverage. For his reporting of a bus hostage situation on Parliament Hill, he received the National Award for Breaking News Coverage.

    From 1983 to 1985, he was a correspondent and political editor for CFTO-TV in Toronto, covering federal politics and co-anchoring special events coverage.

  • FCC hits CBS with record fines for indecency

    FCC hits CBS with record fines for indecency

    MUMBAI: Renewing a campaign against broadcast indecency, the US Federal Communications Commission ( FCC) upheld a decision to fine television broadcasters for violating federal decency limits, including a record $3.6 million for stations that aired a show depicting group sex.

    The agency also upheld its decision to fine 20 CBS stations $550,000 for singer Janet Jackson’s faux pas during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.

    All four big-timers–ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC-were fined for indecent content. But, CBS incurred the highest penalties and were fined $3.63 million, the most ever, for an episode of the show Without A Trace that depicted a teen orgy. The fine is to be shared by 111 CBS stations, according to media reports.

    Marking the first proposed fines in more than a year, the FCC addressed more than 300,000 backlogged indecency complaints and issued long-awaited decisions the agency said were aimed at giving broadcasters a better idea of what they could and could not air.

    “Although the scene contains no nudity, it does depict male and female teenagers in various stages of undress,” the FCC said, adding there were shots depicting intercourse and group sex. CBS denied wrongdoing in the cases and said it would “pursue all remedies necessary to affirm our legal rights.” The stations could appeal to the FCC and the federal courts.

    FCC chairman Kevin Martin fired back. “We appropriately reject the argument that CBS continues to make that this material is not indecent.That argument runs counter to commission precedent and common sense.”

    Martin added, “These decisions, taken both individually and as a whole, demonstrate the commission’s continued commitment to enforcing the law prohibiting the airing of obscene, indecent and profane material. We believe that they will provide substantial guidance to broadcasters and the public about the types of programing that are impermissible.”

    The FCC has tightened its reins on all broadcast programming significantly since the Super Bowl incident. A batch of radio rulings will also be forthcoming, quoting FCC officials.

    Federal regulations bar television and radio broadcast stations from airing obscene material and limit them to airing indecent material, such as profanity and sexually explicit content, during late-night hours when children are less likely to be in the audience.

    Congress has been considering boosting fines for violating decency limits to as much as $500,000 per violation from the current maximum of $32,500.

    Around 50 TV shows were put under the scanner, with the FCC refusing to take action on complaints about material in 28 programs, including an episode of Oprah in which teenage sexual activity was discussed.

    On the other hand, Fox was found guilty of violating indecency standards with its 2003 telecast of the Billboard Music Awards. The Parent Television Council was none too pleased when Nicole Richie and costar Paris Hilton used two profane words . Fox was not fined at the time because the FCC was not taking action then against individual uses of expletives. But Martin has said that the agency should be fining each “offensive utterance”.