ITV

Tag: AOL Time Warner

  • Zee unlikely to agree to India cricket re-bid proposal

    Zee unlikely to agree to India cricket re-bid proposal

    MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Zee Telefilms, which the Bombay High Court has given till Tuesday to decide whether it is agreeable to a re-bid process for the India cricket rights, is almost certain to reject the court’s proposal when its board meets on Monday to discuss the issue.

    While Zee Telefilms officials refused to comment on the issue saying the matter was sub judice, the feedback indiantelevision.com has received from a wide spectrum of industry sources indicates that Zee will inform the courts on Tuesday that it is not willing to accede to a revisit of the bid process and would argue its case on merits.

    What this means is that the issue of Zee’s eligibility to bid for India cricket rights, which was the argument around which ESPN Star Sports moved the courts, will in all probability be argued between the opposing counsels on Thursday. The case is being heard by a two-judge Bench of Chief Justice DS Bhandari and Justice DY Chandrachud.Indiantelevision.com further learns that Subhash Chandra’s media company is unlikely to enter into any equity collaboration a foreign partner outside of content agreements. This more or less puts paid to any chance of the Zee Group and AOL Time Warner entering into a JV for the sports channel that is scheduled to launch on 2 October (the anniversary of Zee TV’s launch).

    Speaking of content, the question that comes up is around the sort of programming that will go into channel when it launches. As per indications, for the first three months after launch, Zee Sports (as the channel has been christened) will be primarily cricket-led.

    And what happens if the legal tussle is not resolved by the time the Australian team lands in India in the first week of October? The argument looks like being that it is for the Board for Control of Cricket in India to sort out.

    To recap, the Bombay High Court on Thursday morning proposed that if both parties were agreeable, ESS and Zee Network could submit fresh sealed bids to the Registrar General of the High Court on Wednesday. The inference being that when the bids were opened, the rights would automatically go to the highest bidder.

    The court had stipulated that only ESS and Zee would be allowed to submit afresh and one rider the court has inserted was that there would be no further avenue of appeal if this route was accepted by the two claimants in the case.

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Zee Telefilms has already made the initial payment of $20 million to BCCI for telecast rights of the India cricket matches.

  • DOORDARSHAN RECORDS ALL TIME HIGH REVENUES; MULLS JVs WITH PRIVATE PLAYERS

    DOORDARSHAN RECORDS ALL TIME HIGH REVENUES; MULLS JVs WITH PRIVATE PLAYERS

    The national broadcaster Doordarshan’s commercial and advertising revenues have soared to an all time high of Rs 6.1 billion for the financial year 1999-2000 as against last year’s Rs 4.14 billion. Above all, the revenue projection for the forthcoming year is Rs 7.75 billion due to the decision of Prasar Bharati to hike ad rates.

    Telecast of cricket matches contributed Rs 1.6 billion to the kitty while Prasar Bharati procured revenues of Rs 900 million from All India Radio (AIR). Plans are on the anvil for a new FM channel for news.

    For the year 2000-2001, the Prasar Bharati Corporation is getting a whopping grant of Rs 11,330 million from the government, which implies that it will finally enjoy the long-awaited financial autonomy. Of the Rs 11,330 million, Rs 9,630 million is grant-in-aid, while the remaining Rs 1,700 million is in the form of a loan. The corporation has received its first installment of the grant — a sum of Rs 1,880 million to meet its expenses for the first two month of the new financial year. The grant will be used to run All India Radio and Doordarshan. Rs 5,500 million of the Rs 11,330 million is to be spent on salaries for its huge roll of 40,000 employees.

    DD has shrugged off its shyness and is mulling joint ventures and strategic partnerships with international broadcasters and players including BBC, CNN, AOL-Time Warner, NHK and Sony. Prasar Bharati has decided to digitalise the signals for DD and AIR. The ventures with the foreign players will be in the areas of transfer of technology for digitalisation and programming exchange.

    DD has appointed Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) for monitoring technical and distribution issues. It will keep a tab on cable operators whether they deliver DD on the prime band or not.

  • Print and Reality TV team up for a hybrid avatar

    Print and Reality TV team up for a hybrid avatar

    NEW YORK: Cable television has always managed to spill a lot of ink and ideas in print and on Internet. This time on its the reality television culture, which is spawning magazine concepts.

    In the fray to cash in on the reality-pop culture are Primedia and Hearst magazines, both of which have been showing keen interest in the ‘reality magazine’ concept. While Primedia is planning to test launch the yet unnamed reality magazine by mid-January as a special offshoot of Soap Opera Weekly, Hearst is also believed to be looking out for a reality-based magazine concept.

    Transforming cable properties into magazine format is getting to be the latest big idea in the media business.So, while the first of its kind ‘reality magazine’ is all set to test waters early next year, others are in preparation mode for their share of the plunge.

    The rationale behind the interest is that if the Soap Opera Digest can notch up a circulation of around 0.5 million and AOL Time Warner’s This Old House can go close to 1 million, there is a potential market for reality-based magazine that will talk about reality TV personalities like the construction worker turned millionaire Evan Marriott of Joe Millionaire.

    Notwithstanding the excitement around the reality-mag concept, eyebrows are being raised over the soundness and sustainability of this business idea. Also more recently, the reality TV formula has shown some signs of wear. All the same, magazine publishers of the likes of Primedia Inc obviously think otherwise.

  • Greg Matson is senior VP, business dev, Universal Studios Networks

    LOS ANGELES: Greg Matson has been promoted to the post of senior VP, business development and legal affairs, for Universal Studios Networks (USN).
    USN is the international cable networks arm of Universal Television Group. Matson will oversee all new development initiatives for the international networks business, as well as all areas of legal support for the international cable networks. They include Sci Fi UK, Sci Fi Germany, 13eme Rue (13th Street) in France, Calle 13 (13th Street) in Spain, Studio Universal Italy, Studio Universal Germany, 13th Street Germany, and USA Network Latin America and Brazil.
    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Vivendi sold the entertainment assets of Universal to NBC. NBC’s parent General Electric’s main point of interest will be the cable networks. This will allow it to compete with the likes of AOL Time Warner and Viacom.
    USN president Patrick Vien says, “Greg has played a critical role as chief negotiator and strategist for all our international networks at USN. This promotion is highly deserved and I look forward to Greg entrenching himself in both operations and the crafting of our global expansion plans.”

  • AOL Time Warner officially drops ‘AOL’ on 16 October

    NEW YORK: The world’s largest media company will officially drop “AOL” from its name on Thursday, returning to the name “Time Warner Inc.”
    “AOL” was added to the name after America Online merged with Time Warner at the height of the Internet boom in early 2000.
    The new changes were decided upon last month at a board meeting of AOL Time Warner (AOL). The company said the changes would end confusion between “AOL” the online service and “AOL” as shorthand for the entire corporation, whose vast media holdings include CNN, HBO, Time magazine and Warner Bros.
    Veterans from the Time Warner side of the company had long pressed for AOL to be removed from the company name as disappointment over the merger mounted. Federal regulators have been investigating questionable accounting at the AOL division.
    The drive for a name change gained momentum after Jonathan Miller, head of the AOL division, made a personal appeal to chairman and CEO Richard Parsons that the change be made in order to help AOL regain control over its own brand.
    The company’s shares also will resume trading under their former ticker symbol of “TWX” on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, instead of the current “AOL.” The company will also change its Web site to http://www.timewarner.com from http://www.aoltimewarner.com. 

    Also read:
    It’s Time Warner after AOL drops off name tag
    AOL Time Warner could get rid of AOL tag

  • HBO’s new independent movie distribution wing

    LOS ANGELES: US cable network HBO has launched a new division under its HBO Films label. The company which has produced critically acclaimed content such as Six Feet Under, Conspiracy is looking to leverage its reputation and expand into the world of independent film distribution.
    A Reuters report states that the new division, HBO Films Domestic Theatrical Releasing, will be headed by Dennis O’Connor. HBO Films is also joing forces with sister company New Line Cinema and its Fine Line specialty film label to distribute films theatrically. The companies are all owned by AOL Time Warner
    The first film that will be distributed is American Splendour. The movie blends non-fiction and fiction filmmaking in a story about comic book writer Harvey Pekar. Earlier this year, the film won the Grand Jury Prize for the best drama at the Sundance Film Festival. It will hit US cinemas next month.
    HBO believes that its clout it has managed to generate will help give a boost to offbeat films that otherwise get lost in the shuffle. The deal with New Line/Fine Line gives HBO an immediate foot in the door in art-house theaters around the world, states the report.

  • Zee Turner announces a la carte prices

    NEW DELHI: Zee Turner Pvt. Ltd has conveyed to the government its a la carte price with the promise that in every city where CAS is being sought to be implemented, subscribers would be given discounts on their most-preferred four to five channels and the package would work out to around Rs 55 per month for the Zee Turner channels
     According to Sunil Khanna, chief executive of Zee Turner, a 74:26 distribution joint venture between Zee Telefilms and AOL Time Warner company Turner International India, “The logic behind the pricing is that we think consumers have few preferred channels, which differs from city to city, and those channels should be given to them at an affordable rate. We will work out the package in such a way that the preferred channels’ package would cost around Rs 55 for a consumer.”
    The a la carte price of the Zee Turner channels, according to Khanna, are Zee TV Rs 25; Cartoon Network, Zee Cinema and CNBC India Rs. 20 each; Zee MGM Rs. 15; Zee News and Zee English Rs. 10 each; CNN, Reality TV and Alpha channels Rs. 5 each and Trendz Rs. 10.

  • AOL TW, Microsoft to collaborate on digital media initiatives

    AOL TW, Microsoft to collaborate on digital media initiatives

    NEW YORK: Bill Gates software major Microsoft and media conglomerate AOL Time Warner have announced an agreement to collaborate on long-term digital media initiatives that will accelerate the adoption of digital content. They have also agreed to settle the pending litigation between their companies.

    The two companies have agreed to a new royalty-free, seven-year license of Microsoft’s browsing technology and steps designed to ensure that their products work better with each other.

    An official release informs that under the digital media agreement, the companies will work together on a series of initiatives to support the more rapid deployment of digital media for consumers and support new business models for content owners through digital rights management technology.

    The companies aim to help develop a successful digital media environment that is secure from piracy, open to all companies across multiple industries, and offers consumers access to broad content in a compelling manner that is easy to use.

    As part of this agreement, the two companies have entered into a long-term, non-exclusive license agreement allowing AOL Time Warner to use Microsoft’s Windows Media 9 Series and future software for creating, distributing and playing back high-quality digital media.

    The legal settlement resolves the private antitrust lawsuit filed against Microsoft in January, 2002 by AOL Time Warner’s America Online on behalf of its subsidiary, Netscape Communications.

    As part of the settlement, Microsoft will pay $750 million to AOL Time Warner. Microsoft has agreed to provide AOL Time Warner’s AOL online service with a new distribution channel for its software to certain PC users worldwide.

    In addition, the two companies will cooperate to ensure the best possible AOL member experience on current and future Microsoft operating systems, including commitments by Microsoft for technical cooperation and information disclosures.

    Microsoft’s chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates has been quoted in the release saying: “With Microsoft’s media technology expertise and AOL Time Warner’s content expertise, we believe we can accelerate the adoption of digital media for the Internet and help content providers across the entire industry. While our companies will continue to compete, I’m pleased that we’ve been able to resolve our prior dispute and I’m excited about the opportunity to work together collaboratively to make the digital decade a reality.”

    The agreements announced include the following elements:

    Digital Media Technology: As part of the companies’ agreement on digital rights management, they have established a long-term, non-exclusive license agreement allowing AOL Time Warner to use, if it so chooses, Microsoft’s entire Windows Media 9 Series digital media platform, as well as successor Microsoft digital rights management software.

    This agreement gives AOL Time Warner access to Microsoft’s flagship digital media and DRM technologies, which provide an end-to-end solution for high-quality, secure online content distribution.

    Windows Media addresses the entire value chain from the original digital encoding of content, through playback by a consumer, and offers options for advanced digital rights management that respects content business rules and security.

    This agreement will help enable AOL Time Warner to expand its distribution of digital content with confidence as its business needs evolve, making it easy and profitable to provide consumers with convenient access to the vast selection of content that AOL Time Warner distributes.

    Digital Media and Digital Rights Management Initiatives: The two companies have agreed to work together and in collaboration with others to develop solutions to issues that have been slowing the movement of high-quality digital content to consumers, including:

    Increasing the available options for consumers legally to obtain high-quality content; technical protection measures emphasising interoperability and content rule compliance in a mixed analogue-digital environment; seeking areas where they can align on public policies and legal actions that will advance the interests of consumers and the relevant industries; and building consumer awareness around intellectual property and the need to respect copyrighted works.

    The companies will work to broaden consumer access to high-quality digital content, in such areas as: online music services offering single downloads and/or monthly subscriptions; authorised Internet access to movies; and high-definition video content with more compelling interactive features all on a single optical disc.

  • Simpson is AOL Time Warner’s senior VP, global mkting solutions

    Simpson is AOL Time Warner’s senior VP, global mkting solutions

    NEW YORK: This is an executive appointment made by AOL Time Warner with the aim of driving growth of its cross-divisional advertising and marketing initiatives. The media conglomerate has appointed Cleary Simpson, a 24-year veteran of Time as senior VP, global marketing solutions.

    Reporting to AOL Time Warner’s president, global marketing solutions Michael J Kelly, Simpson will be responsible for working with some of the company’s most important existing clients to further develop and implement cross-platform marketing solutions that take full advantage of all of AOL Time Warner’s businesses.

    The appointment was made on the basis of Simpson’s reputation for providing intelligent, innovative solutions for advertisers and understanding of how media partnerships work.

    Simpson spent 13 years at Time magazine. She was advertising director for Time from 1978 to 1991 and associate publisher of Life magazine from 1991 to 1992.

  • Murdoch is not the largest shareholder in NewsCorp

    Murdoch is not the largest shareholder in NewsCorp

    MUMBAI: Media baron Rupert Murdoch has been, thus far, known as the biggest share holder of NewsCorp. Turns out that he shall not be the title-holder henceforth.

    According to the media reports, Murdoch no longer owns the larger economic stake in News Corp. Liberty Media’s John Malone’s, popularly known as Cable-TV magnate, is the larger share holder.

    Though the NewsCorp executives may jocularly say that Murdoch runs the company as if it is his mom-and-pop’s sweet shop, the company has been publicly traded for 24 years and has more than five billion shares outstanding and a market value exceeding $31 billion. The misconception has been prevalent so far as the septuagenarian owner has an iron grip on the company for almost 49 years. Both his authority and his strategic vision has ever been challenged.

    News Corp being a U.S. public media companies has voting and nonvoting classes of stock. Under the entity Cruden Investments Pty, the Murdoch family owns 624 million, or 29.8 per cent, of the voting stock. In addition to that Murdoch and Cruden owns 220 million ‘preferred’ shares, or 6.8 per cent of the nonvoting stock. Malone on the other hand owns nonvoting shares.

    When both the classes of shares are combined, the results show that Malone controls 18 per cent of the stock outstanding while Mr. Murdoch controls 17 per cent. That makes Malone the largest shareholder.

    However as of now there aren’t signs of friction between Messrs. Malone and Murdoch. Malone has always refused a board seat as it would put him in potential conflict with other investments of his, such as AOL Time Warner and Viacom.

    The distinction isn’t as important today, but there are several doubts raised as to who will inherit the company after him. Murdoch’s sons Lachlan and James are currently holding key positions in News Corp today, but it is likely that they will be a tussle between them and the current President and COO Peter Chernin, of the Murdoch empire, for the bigger portion of the pie.