ITV

Tag: AFP

  • The Trusted News Initiative forms Asia-Pac network

    The Trusted News Initiative forms Asia-Pac network

    Mumbai: The Trusted News Initiative (TNI) partners have agreed to expand their global representation by establishing a regional Asia-Pacific network.

    TNI’s new Asia-Pacific network of media organisations has received training funded by the Google News Initiative to help their journalists navigate the disinformation environment.

    The TNI is an industry collaboration led by the BBC of major news and global tech organisations working together to stop the spread of disinformation where it poses a real-world risk. The Asia-Pacific network will allow the TNI’s regional partners to share their insights on combating disinformation and discuss regional trends. Through the TNI cooperative framework, they will draw on their expertise to share best practices and findings with the larger TNI and alert each other to the most dangerous forms of disinformation.

    The TNI is expanding its Asia-Pacific presence with the addition of various groups of independent news organisations, including ABC (Australia), Dawn (Pakistan), Indian Express (India), Kompas (Indonesia), NDTV (India), NHK (Japan), and SBS (Australia). 

    BBC News International Services senior controller & BBC World Service director Liliane Landor said, “With the creation of TNI’s first regional network, we are bringing together trusted Asia-Pacific news-publishing organisations to further reinforce our collaboration and to make it even more efficient and productive.” 

    Google News Lab head Matt Cooke said, “As part of the Google News Initiative’s ongoing efforts to strengthen journalism and fight misinformation, we’ve worked with a range of academics, news organisations and nonprofits across the globe for several years. Now, we’re supporting the Trusted News Initiative to deliver targeted, expert training workshops on a variety of digital tools to help journalists as they seek to continue day-to-day verification and fact-checking in newsrooms across the region.”

    AP, AFP, BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Financial Times, Google/YouTube, The Hindu, Information Futures Lab, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Microsoft, The Nation Media Group, Reuters, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Twitter, and The Washington Post are current TNI partners. 

    The TNI partnership works collectively in four main areas:

    Fast alert: creating a system so organisations can alert each other rapidly when they discover disinformation that threatens human life or disrupts democracy.

    Intelligence sharing: a real-time conversation of equals between news organisations and tech platforms about the evolving nature of harmful disinformation. 

    Media education: sharing insights and research on how audiences and users react to disinformation, thus informing best practice and supporting better digital literacy.

    Engineering solutions: sharing information on engineering solutions for authentication of trusted news sources and improving the information environment.

    This is entirely separate from, and does not in any way affect, the editorial stance of any partner organisation.

  • Facebook plans to stream sports, comedy, reality & gaming TV series

    MUMBAI: Cable cutters never had it this good. Now, a broad range of streaming services is available on all your devices, including those that offer live TV.

    Social networking giant Facebook, with around two billion monthly users, plans to start production on high-quality gaming shows and television series possibly investing up to $3 million (Rs 193 million) an 30-minute episode which would be broadcast on its platform. Facebook may announce its first batch of TV-like shows this summer, targeting 13-34 age-group audience but focusing on 17-30 range, PTI and WSJ reported. With that, Facebook is set to take on Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu.

    The online platform, which has around two billion monthly users worldwide, is working on the project with a small group of partners and hopes to start putting out episodes of its forthcoming series by the end of the summer. The company is also reportedly keen on sit-com programming having signed deals for short-form content from partners such as Vox Media, ATTN, and BuzzFeed earlier this month.

    It was in mid-April that Facebook originally planned to unveil its shows around its developer conference, then in time for the Cannes Lions festival, which started mid-June. But, it did not happen.

    Facebook vice president for media partnerships Nick Grudin, in a statement to AFP, said its goal was to make Facebook a place where people could come together around video, observing that Facebook and its collaborators would “experiment with the kinds of shows you can build a community around — from sports to comedy to reality to gaming.”

    Facebook is funding the shows on its own at first, he said, “but, over time, we want to help lots of creators make videos funded through revenue sharing products like Ad Break,” a software tool that allows adverts to be directly inserted into Facebook’s online content.

    Facebook could possibly not have shows about teens, or “political dramas, news [or] shows with nudity and rough language.” So, it seems Facebook wants to be the safest, most straight-down-the-middle TV network on the web. Facebook may share ad revenue with creatives who contribute short-form content. And, in a major change from the way online competitors have been doing business, it will also open up its viewership data to “Hollywood” — presumably production partners.

  • 9XM to launch crowd sourced music AFP with Askme

    9XM to launch crowd sourced music AFP with Askme

    MUMBAI: Getting innovative with advertiser funded programming (AFP), music channel 9XM has partnered exclusively with Askme.com to present a one-of-a-kind crowd sourced music show on Indian television. Titled #Asktrack, this advertiser funded show will curate its play list for each episode from audiences’ request on a variety of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp.

     

    “Normally in a channel, it’s the programming team that decide what songs to play. But through this new show we are asking our audience to tell us what to air for them. In this endeavour we are happy to have Askme.com on board as our partners for#AskTrack and are confident that this viewer’s request show will resonate with the music lovers across India,” explains 9X Media chief revenue officer Pawan Jailkhani.

     

    9XM viewers can select their favourite songs from the shortlisted songs presented across 9XM social media platforms. The songs, which garner the maximum number of votes will be used in the playlist for the 90 minutes break less music band.

     

    Known for its innovative brand collaborations, the channel is banking on Askme.com’s brand concept to bring light to their new show through this partnership with the website.

     

    “Askme.com as client has a similar target audience as what as a channel and broadcaster 9XM delivers to. The eyeballs we want to grab are also whom Askme.com wants to reach out to. Both Askme.com and the show share a similar brand identity. Therefore it also makes sense for them to ride on our target audience to deliver their brand message,” Jailkhani shares, adding that the show, which took six months to bring into place, was conceptualised keeping Askme.com’s crowdsourcing model in mind.

     

    Pointing out that the whole concept is more of a trail for the channel, 9XM is not looking to heavily monetise it yet. For the AFP, 9XM will have Askme.com as the exclusive partner and is not looking to monetise the show with other brands. “This is more like an experiment for us to bring such a concept to Indian television for the first time. Askme.com as a brand finds it immensely synergised with their brand communication and hence they are onboard with us. It’s a larger commercial deal, which involves sponsoring and other things that we are doing for the show,” Jailkhani says.

     

    When it comes to marketing, the channel is going digital heavy as that is where their target audience is. “Apart from promoting the show across our networks electronically, we are focusing greatly on social media. Therefore a majority of our marketing spends are going into the digital campaign,” Jailkhani shares.

     

    Speaking about the association, Askme.com head digital strategy and CMO Manav Sethi said, “We are excited to partner with 9XM to launch #AskTrack, a unique concept, which will allow customers to request songs through social media. With this initiative we are continuing with our objective of offering another unique service to our consumers who are inclined towards music. We are confident that this partnership will be beneficial for both – 9XM and Askme.”

     

    The new show that goes on air on 21 December will be aired from Monday to Friday at 5:30 pm.

     

    Viewers can click on the FB/Twitter link to vote for their favourite songs; the playlist will also be shared on www.9xm.in/asktrack to enable seamless voting experience for the viewers.

  • News agency nnis ties up with AFP to supply video clips to Indian media

    News agency nnis ties up with AFP to supply video clips to Indian media

    NEW DELHI: Indian video news agency nnis has tied up with global news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) to deliver high quality in-depth video content to Indian TV and online media.

     

    The partnership allows TV and online broadcasters to access AFP’s global TV coverage alongside nnis extensive coverage of India, according to a joint statement by AFP and nnis.

     

    Through this partnership innovative, industry-leading video content will be developed and disseminated to cater to the precision of digital with the scale of TV.

     

    “We are excited by this partnership because nnis will allow us to reach a wide range of clients in India’s rapidly expanding video market,” AFP chairman and CEO Emmanuel Hoog said.

     

    Hoog said AFP’s extensive global network and vast experience in international news coverage would ensure that Indian on-line and TV broadcasters receive the best coverage available.

     

    nnis CEO Arup Ghosh said his company had been on the lookout for new opportunities to change, expand and strengthen its position for future success.

     

    “I am thrilled to announce that in AFP we have found the perfect partner to help us achieve our goals and take our business and services to the next level,” he said.

     

    nnis produces a comprehensive slate of more than seven hours of daily fresh content/coverage across News, Sports (Domestic and International), Entertainment, Special Feature Stories, LIVE Feeds, Events and Customized content.

     

    nnis’ content is subscribed by host of national/regional TV clients, online publishers, OTT platforms and leading VAS players. To meet the need for breaking news, nnis also offers LIVE video feed to its TV subscribers.

     

    The Paris-headquartered AFP operates 200 bureaus in more than 150 countries and territories. AFP currently transmits some 200 videos a day on global events in English, French, German, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. AFP’s daily file includes live coverage of major global events. 

  • Mobile media company News Republic launches in India

    Mobile media company News Republic launches in India

    MUMBAI: News Republic, a global mobile media group and the winner of “The Best Mobile Media And Publishing App” at Mobile World Congress 2015, is set to enter the Indian market. This innovative, “born mobile” company has operations in America and Europe and it recently launched in both Russia and China.

     

    It will launch two free news apps: News Republic, which focuses on global news and Appy Geek, which will majorly bring technology news to the subscribers.

     

    Both apps deliver fully licensed articles, photos and videos from over 1100 leading news organizations from around the world like Reuters, BBC, AFP, Bloomberg, India Today, Guardian, HuffingtonPost and Mashable. The content can be fully personalized for a news flow uniquely customized for each reader in a beautiful and seamless mobile interface.

     

    “We are passionate about the news because it is connective tissue for humanity. Those who read better know better and do better. It is our mission to spark global conversations about issues that matter. And, no global conversation is complete without India,” said News Republic chief brand officer Shafi Saxena.

     

    India engages vibrantly with both news and mobile. It is the biggest newspaper market in the world with more than 70,000 newspapers. India’s unique visitors to online news and information sites grew 45 per cent, from 31 million in 2011 to 45 million in 2014 as per comScore data and mobile Internet users will number over 200 million by June. Mobile, with 24/7 access to content, will transform the media landscape.

     

    “We live in an age where connectivity risks connection. We’d like to change that. Too much information can overwhelm and result in what’s important going unseen, The News Republic team believes that Intelligently informed citizens become powerfully empowered citizens – this is what galvanizes us,” Saxena adds.

     

    “This is why News Republic hones its best in class semantic algorithms to deliver insightful, hyper-personalized news in a fast, contextual flow to our readers. You get the news that you care about without the noise that you don’t,” explains Saxena. 

     

    News Republic India country director Radhika Shukla will spearhead the company’s operations. Shukla will widen and deepen the company’s content and OEM partnerships to enrich user experience for Indian readers and to help bring Indian media perspectives to News Republic’s global audience. News Republic publishes 13 editions in six languages.

     

    In India, News Republic has partnered with Hindustan Times, India Today, Aaj Tak, Business Today, Sportskeeda.com, The Mobile Indian, trak.in, autoportal.com and Bollywood Hungama amongst others. Its apps also incorporate RSS feeds to cover specialized reader interests.

     

  • Green TV to go the AFP way, soon

    Green TV to go the AFP way, soon

    MUMBAI:  India’s first agriculture oriented private TV channel launched on 21 October has already managed to penetrate 11 per cent of the total TV homes in the country.

    However, the channel headed by Nomad Films managing director Junaid Memon, has not been able to get any advertiser on board but it soon plans to change that. “Within the next few days you will see some advertiser funded programmes on Green TV,” says Memon. However, unlike other channels, they won’t be entertainment or news shows but awareness-based programmes that will educate farmers.

    It is looking at one year tie ups with brands wherein shows will be created on ground first and then aired on the channel. Though he did not wish to reveal the names, he says that talks are on with FMCG brands. Memon says that the channel is not going by conventional advertising since is very limiting. “What we can offer is allowing brands to meet their buyer. We are beyond just a TV channel, we can offer two-way communication,” he says.

    “We are picking people from agriculture institutes and then teaching them how to talk to the farmers and how to create shows for TV,” he adds. Currently, the channel has about 160 people which he soon looks to increase to 250.

    The primetime bands are morning 9 am to 12 pm and evening 4 pm to 7 pm with about six hours of original content being produced now. It will be soon taken up to eight hours. Morning shows consist of business, commodity market and daily updates on crop, afternoon is targeted to women with health and education programmes and evening is dedicated to information based technical shows. Memon advises that ‘agriculture’ is just a word but the channel’s scope involves a variety of things including horticulture, pisciculture, etc. All programmes are being shot in HD but currently telecast only in SD.

    The research team consists of 13 people, which he will be increasing to 23 by January. The group CEO is Ravi Bhatnagar, programming head is Nitin Sukheja, sales head is Sudeep Bhattacharya, and distribution head is Devinder Verma.

    It is soon going to bring on board an ad sales company. The marketing for the channel will begin in January with creatives being done by Guava Creative Solutions.
    So far, its distribution team has seeded about 2000 of the targeted 8000 boxes to LCOs.

    It is also closing in on deals with two DTH operators.

     

  • GSTV to deploy WASP3D workflow solution

    GSTV to deploy WASP3D workflow solution

    MUMBAI: Gujarat Samachar will deploy Beehive Systems WASP3D workflow based on-air graphics solution for its recently launched television channel GSTV.

    GSTV will largely broadcast live news content along with some entertainment and advertiser-funded programs (AFP), targeting Gujarati community in and outside the state.

    WASP3D is being used for creating all its on-air graphics (tickers, name bands, bugs, and scrolls etc.), virtual sets and is integrated with Octopus Newsroom NRCS and Harris play out automation system.
     
    GSTV Promoter Shreyansh Shah said, "This project is of great strategic importance to our group and we looked to WASP3D because of their experience in broadcast graphics space. We wanted a graphics solution that is powerful yet flexible to handle variety of programming."

  • News Corp forms Fox Television Studios India; Deepak Segal is head

    News Corp forms Fox Television Studios India; Deepak Segal is head

    MUMBAI: Star India looks to be aiming to move a significant part of its production activities, particularly relating to format shows and advertiser funded programming (AFP), in house.

    For that purpose, News Corp’s Fox Entertainment Group has set up a wholly owned subsidiary Fox Television Studios India Pvt Ltd (FTSI) and put Star India executive vice-president content and communication Deepak Segal in charge of leading it. Segal, who is currently “on deputation” to FTSI from Star, will officially move to the new company once it is fully operational. Segal summed up the broad logic of the move by News Corp as “backward integration”.

    FTSI is setting up relevant infrastructure for creating channel, pre-production, production and post-production facilities for content and storage of content.

    The format shows produced by FTSI will have a mix of product developed in India as well as those licensed from abroad and adapted for telecast in India, Segal reveals.

    According to Segal, while FTSI’s focus is on formats and AFPs, his team is working on a narrative show as well. Queried as to when any of these shows were expected to go on air, Segal said it would only be in the next fiscal. A point of note is that Star’s financial year is from 1 July to 30 June.

    As regards the executive structure within Star following Segal’s departure, it will more or less follow the changes incorporated in July 2005 when new portfolios were created for Shailja Kejriwal as senior creative director – Star network and Harsh Rohatgi as GM – Star network.

    While Kejriwal oversees programming and on-air promotions, Rohatgi is responsible for broadcast operations, network planning and presentation.

    About the only change in terms of functionality would be that Channel [V] head honcho Amar Deb, who used to report to Segal, now reports directly in to Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair.

  • News agency AFP secures deal with Refresh Mobile for WC updates

    News agency AFP secures deal with Refresh Mobile for WC updates

    MUMBAI: Global news agency AFP has struck a deal with mobile magazine developer Refresh Mobile to allow football fans to keep up to date with the World Cup via their phones.

    AFP’s deal with the mobile agency involves it supplying football-related content, including a World Cup diary, match previews, results and standings via mobile magazines.

    Refresh Mobile is present in the UK. It plans to launch in Germany this week and by the end of the year in the US.

    The magazines will be published twice daily and can be downloaded by texting a keyword to 63333.

    AFP’s partnership with Refresh Mobile is set to last beyond the World Cup with both parties involved in discussions about a continual service.

    Despite having ad space available, Refresh has so far failed to sign up any brands for the AFP publication.

    Refresh Mobile marketing director Elaine Devereux said that the company plans to take its mobile magazines to new markets in the near future.