ITV

Tag: Asia-Pacific

  • CNBC ropes in HSBC as sponsor for on-air and online activity

    CNBC ropes in HSBC as sponsor for on-air and online activity

    NEW DELHI: Business news channel CNBC has announced that it has signed HSBC bank as sponsor for the channel.

    As per the deal, HSBC will sponsor on-air and online activity across CNBC in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

    As reported by UK-based Media Week, the deal was negotiated through the Exchange and Invention teams at Mindshare Worldwide, London.

    HSBC will sponsor 60-second vignettes based around a new 13-part series Alternative Investing, wherein the focus will be at non-traditional investments.

    Additionally, bank-sponsored hotboards will air around CNBC’s flagship programme, Squawk Box Europe.

    The deal also covers sponsoring of a dedicated programme page for Alternative Investing on CNBC.com, which will include episodes of the programme, relevant market data and a guide to different types of alternative investments. This page will be supported by 30-second promos running on CNBC.

    In Europe, CNBC claims a reach of 110 million homes, 1,400 banks and financial institutions, and hotels.

  • BBC to launch its first world news hub

    BBC to launch its first world news hub

    MUMBAI: BBC has integrated its international expertise into one central world news hub. BBC World News television, BBC’s world online and newsgathering teams and representatives from BBC World Service radio and online will combine forces to support the BBC’s international news services.

    BBC World News television is also launching a new hour-long World News Today with Mishal Hussain which targets the evening peak audience across Asia Pacific.

    The show will bring viewers up-to-date with the latest global, regional news, analysis and interviews.

    BBC World News will begin broadcasting from its new studio at BBC Television Centre in London. The new larger studio design has been created to fit with the recent channel rebrand, and will showcase a more creative on-screen look and incorporate bolder visuals. The studio has a large graphics screen and presenters will use a new ‘soft set’ area for lighter live interviews. The set aims to create a more vibrant and flexible environment for both breaking news reports and longer-form news programming, allowing presenters to take a more informal approach standing in front of the big screen.

    Finally, the 10 pm news programme will also change from its regular half-hour format to an hour-long show to include more live events and breaking news.

    BBC World News News head Richard Porter says, “We’ve already made some significant changes this year with our new name of BBC World News and the channel rebrand. Now our international news talent is in one location, we can further strengthen our output across TV, online and radio platforms. These changes, along with the new studio and news programming, demonstrate our commitment to providing viewers with the best international news and information available.”

  • CNBC to introduce new shows for Asia Pacific

    MUMBAI: CNBC is planning to expand further into the Asia Pacific region by introducing new programmes and shows.

    CNBC will be launching new local programming initiative and introduce an expanded local news and operations team on October 2, said an official release.

    The business news channel is planning to launch two new shows which includes Trading Matters and Australia This Week to be anchored by Australian business news journalist Oriel Morrison. Morrison was formerly with the Nine Network, Sky News, Channel 7 and Bloomberg.

    The Trading Matters will provide Australian investors with real time, actionable information on local share and market performance with access to the country’s investors and money managers- revealing the inside track on opportunities for both the institutional and retail investor. While the half hour show Australia This Week will screen a summary of the key events after the close of trade that shaped the week – deals, market and policy decisions.

    CNBC Asia Pacific president and managing director Jeremy Pink said,”CNBC has enjoyed tremendous growth in Asia Pacific this year. These new Australian initiatives are part of a significant investment that we have committed to further expanding in the region.”

    CNBC Asia Pacific director, news and programming John Casey said, “We take our business seriously because there is nothing more important than getting it right when people’s money is on the line. 60 per cent of CNBC’s viewers act on the accurate and unbiased information they get from us so we are sure CNBC’s new initiatives will resonate with the business and investing communities, both in Australia, and also around in the region.”

  • RigNet contracts MEASAT-3 for distn of VSAT services

    RigNet contracts MEASAT-3 for distn of VSAT services

    MUMBAI: MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. announced that RigNet Pte Ltd global provider of managed communications solutions to the oil and gas industry had signed an agreement contracting capacity on the MEASAT-3 satellite for the distribution of VSAT services.

    MEASAT has been supporting RigNet since 2005 with satellite capacity for the distribution of VSAT services via MEASAT-1.

     
    Said MEASAT senior director sales and marketing Yau Chyong Lim, “We are delighted that RigNet has selected the recently launched MEASAT-3 satellite, which has been designed to be one of Asia-Pacific’s premier satellites with extensive coverage over more than 100 countries, to distribute their services to their upstream oil and gas customers. MEASAT-3 has an excellent footprint that covers Asia Pacific, Middle East and parts of Africa. This increased satellite footprint size is vital to RigNet’s hyper-growth in these regions”.

     
    Said RigNet Vice President for the Asia Pacific region John Troup, “RigNet is extremely pleased that MEASAT-3 was successfully launched and in service. With this new satellite, RigNet will be able to provide coverage for our customers’ drilling rigs seamlessly across regions. MEASAT-3 also complements RigNet’s global satellite coverage across all upstream oil and gas regions.”

    MEASAT-3’s powerful C-Band beams will allow RigNet’s host of VSAT terminals to communicate with multiple offshore locations via high-speed, reliable and secure satellite links. MEASAT-3’s bandwidth will facilitate cost-effective operations and heightened efficiency in RigNet’s global network.

  • HT Mobile selects Intec architecture solution

    HT Mobile selects Intec architecture solution

    MUMBAI: Intec, a BSS/OSS software vendor for fixed, mobile and next-generation networks, announced today that HT Mobile, Vietnam’s newest nation-wide mobile communications service provider has selected Intec’s full suite of billing and operations support systems, including interconnect, mediation, convergent billing, and charging solutions and the provision of managed services.

    The Intec solution architecture will form a part of the operator’s strategy to offer advanced mobile services in Vietnam.

    This new contract further adds to Intec’s long-term relationship with the Hutchison Group, particularly its market-leading 3G operations. Intec provides both retail and interconnect billing, plus convergent mediation, to a number of ‘3’ branded operations, including the UK, Australia, Austria, Sweden, and Italy.

    Together the two companies have developed unmatched expertise in the creation of an advanced BSS/OSS architecture that delivers a wide variety of next-generation mobile services to both pre-paid and post-paid customers.

    HT Mobile recently launched its advanced CDMA2000 1XEV-DO network in Vietnam, with a network presence in all 64 provinces together with a suite of products and services ranging from prepaid, postpaid, SMS and MMS to high-speed internet as well as infotainment services. The adoption of the Intec Solution Architecture is driven by a compelling need to reduce operational complexity, total cost of ownership, increase service flexibility, reduce and facilitate rapid launch and revenue generation IP-based third generation services.

    HT Mobile CEO Elizabete Fong says, “We chose Intec because of its proven track record as an established BSS/OSS vendor across the globe, and because its integrated solution architecture offers us a proven solution based on best-of-breed components. We are confident that its experience will help us to rapidly address the needs of the developing communications market in Vietnam.”

    Intec CPP Asia Pacific Norm Halvorson said, “Intec is delighted to work with HT Mobile to deliver leading edge technology, robust performance and benefits of next generation services to a broader section of the Vietnamese society. Our carrier-grade, next-generation BSS/OSS solution supports the business strategies of the world’s leading carriers and Intec remains committed to continue to enable the rapid rollout of new and innovative services.”

  • Zone Reality enters the psychic realm

    Zone Reality enters the psychic realm

    MUMBAI: When Ricky Reel didn’t come home from a night out with his friends, his mother Sukhdev knew something was very wrong. The 20-year-old Asian student disappeared after he was subject to a racist attack on the night that he died. Ricky’s body was found in the Thames seven days later.

    An investigation into his death returned an open verdict, but his family believes that he was murdered and have criticised the police over the way they handled their investigation.

    Zone Reality will air a show Psychic Private Eyes from tonight 21 February 2007 every Wednesday and Thursday at 9 pm. Britain’s best known psychics set their extra-sensory sights on an unsolved case in history and try to help Ricky’s grieving mother unearth the truth.

    At the heart of each one-hour episode is a detective story, with families searching for answers to the mysteries surrounding the untimely deaths of their loved ones.

    Psychic Private Eyes portrays real life psychic investigations by top psychics into 15 high profile mysterious and harrowing cases. Colin Fry, Tony Stockwell and female psychic medium T.J. Higgs use their skills to unearth mysteries surrounding strange deaths and disappearances that have long been erased from public memory, and attempt to contact the dead victims for clues.

    Zonemedia regional marketing manager Asia Pacific Flecka Picardo says, “Whether you are a sceptic or a believer, Psychic Private Eyes makes for compelling television and we feel that the series only serves to strengthen Zone Reality’s diverse line-up of real-life programming.”

    Fry says, “The people we’re reading for have already had the worst happen to them. They want to know the facts and need to know them, no matter how gruesome. If we can tell them it was over quickly or there was no pain, then this can take away some of their anguish and help them move on.”

    The mediums are not given any information about the victim before they meet the families or conduct readings of photos and belongings. During the course of the series they will use many of the secret techniques developed in their work with the police, such as literally walking in the victim’s shoes.

    This 15 episode series taps into the public’s growing fascination with the paranormal. Psychic Private Eyes is a co-production between Zone Reality and television company IPM.

  • Disney’s Ugly Betty sits pretty as No.1 show in NZ

    Disney’s Ugly Betty sits pretty as No.1 show in NZ

    MUMBAI: The 2007 Golden Globes is an affirmation of the phenomenal popularity of Walt Disney Company’s Ugly Betty. Riding high on all the adulation, the series has just got a fillip as it premiered in New Zealand. The series, aired on TVNZ’s TV2 on 16 January at 8:30 pm, was the highest rated show of the night.

    The show was telecast in New Zealand a day after its awards romp at the Globes. Attracting an average audience of 613,600 viewers, the series captured a remarkable 18.58 per cent rating share in age group 18-39. Similar to its performance in the US, it was the nation’s female viewership that drove a massive 70 per cent share of its viewership.

    “We couldn’t be more pleased with Ugly Betty’s performance in New Zealand,” commented BVITV’s senior vice president and management director in Asia Pacific Steve Macallister. “We are confident that this endearing and universal fish-out-of-water tale will continue to warm the hearts of viewers as it launches across the region.”

    l In Asia Pacific, Ugly Betty has already been licensed by The Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP) to ten broadcasters. TVNZ was the first to premiere in the region. The next launch dates across the region include Korea (KBS) on 3 Feb, Singapore (MediaCorp TV) on 5 Feb, Malaysia (8TV) on 6 Feb and Hong Kong (TVB Pearl) on 15 March. Australia (Seven Network), pan-regional (STAR World), India (STAR India), Korea (CJ Media Channel CGV) and Fiji (Fiji TV) have also licensed the series with air dates not yet announced.

    On 15 January Ugly Betty received a Golden Globe for Best Television Comedy with series star America Ferrera taking home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical.

    Ugly Betty (Touchstone Television) is the number one new comedy of the 2006-07 television season with both total viewers and adults 18-49 in the US. Ugly Betty has greatly improved the time period for ABC, nearly doubling its year-ago delivery in both total viewers and adults 18-49. The series was launched in the UK on Friday 5 January with the highest premiere ratings for a US comedy on Channel 4 in 10 years.

    The series is licensed by Disney’s Buena Vista international Television (BVITV).

  • Disney powers it up with the first ‘Power Rangers’ tour in India

    Disney powers it up with the first ‘Power Rangers’ tour in India

    MUMBAI: Setting the stage for a mammoth on-ground initiative, the Walt Disney Company has brought the Power Rangers to India for the first time in a multi-city tour called ‘Jetix Live.’ This also marks their first visit to the Asia Pacific region.

    One of the key properties of Disney, the Power Rangers that airs weekly at 4 pm on ‘Jetix’, the action adventure block on Toon Disney, will tour six cities. It will perform a sequence of four half-hour live shows in each city.

    As a prelude to the event, Disney hosted a special welcome for the action heroes at the Gateway of India in Mumbai today.

    The company has launched a mass media campaign and has conducted a three week contest on the Disney Channel, Hungama TV and Jetix that short listed children to attend the performances, as entry is by invitation only.

    The three city outdoor campaign for ‘Jetix Live’

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Walt Disney Television International (India) director marketing and communications Tushar Shah said that besides using outdoor and print in the six cities, radio will also be used in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata. The company has roped in sponsors to initiate a multimedia co-promotional activity. Partnering Disney are Dabur, Real Fruit Juice, Colgate, Boost ChocoBlast and Nerolac on radio and retail activation.

    Additionally, a special edition of the Power Rangers game was added to the official website www.toondisneyindia.com. While on the mobile route, the Power Rangers Gaming Challenge across principal mobile networks in the country was used to promote the arrival of the super heroes.

    Mumbai’s Inorbit Mall will house the first show on 14 January. Other cities on the agenda include Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The channel promises that the shows will be charged with high octane music, dynamic action, interactive games and on ground contests in each of the six cities.

    Disney MD Rajat Jain strikes a pose with the Power Rangers at the Gateway of India in Mumbai

    Welcoming the action heroes was Walt Disney Company (India) Managing Director Rajat Jain. He said, “Power Rangers is amongst the most popular action adventure series of all time around the globe. With over two years of television viewing on Jetix in India, Power Rangers has created a captivating experience for Indian audiences in the form of merchandise, on air contests, mobile gaming and home entertainment. Power Rangers Dino Thunders Live performance in the country will complete our 360 degrees entertainment offering to consumers around this popular franchise. “

    The Power Rangers franchise lends itself to a range of kid’s merchandise including toys, books, clothes, bags, stationary and bed linen. The Power Rangers mobile game claims to be the most downloaded game in India with over a million downloads.

    The schedule for the six city tour is as follows:
    Mumbai, January 14, at In Orbit Mall
    Ahmedabad, January 18 at 10 Acres Mall
    Delhi, January 21 at Ansal Plaza
    Kolkatta, January 26 at City Centre
    Bangalore, January 28 at Garuda Mall
    Hyderabad, January 31 at Spencers Mall

  • 63 mn IPTV subscribers by 2010: Study

    MUMBAI: California-based market research firm iSuppli has released a study that predicts that the number of subscribers to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services worldwide is expected to nearly triple in 2007.

    This will help drive a strong increase in sales of wired communications equipment and related semiconductors for the year.

    Global IPTV subscribers will reach 14.5 million in 2007, up 192.4 per cent from 4.9 million in 2006, iSuppli predicts. By 2010, worldwide IPTV subscribers will amount to 63 million

    The study notes that in the long run, the Asia Pacific region will lead the global revolution in IPTV in terms of subscribers, service revenue, infrastructure etc. The region’s broadband penetration, supportive regulatory framework, will fuel the growth.

    China has potential; The US will be a difficult market for IPTV: Worldwide IPTV service revenue is forecast to reach $ 38 billion in the year 2009. The worldwide IPTV subscribers are forecasted to reach 53 million in the year 2009. The Americas and Western Europe are expected to be the biggest markets in terms of revenue per user basis.

    IPTV market potential varies highly across the world depending upon the local Pay-TV market and regulatory conditions. China will be the future IPTV dragon due to rapid urbanisation, fast growing economy and expanding middle class.

    The US will be a more difficult market for IPTV, due to high existing pay-TV penetration, and stiff price and service competition that is likely to come from the entrenched operators in the cable and satellite sectors. Consumer familiarity with IPTV service is very low although youth today are much more aware of it when compared with people belonging to other age groups. In terms of the principal barriers to IPTV adoption, the cost is by far and away the most significant factor across all countries and age groups.

  • “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Ghost Whisperer” and “What About Brain” to air for the first time on terrestrial television Indonesia

    “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Ghost Whisperer” and “What About Brain” to air for the first time on terrestrial television Indonesia

    Singapore: In an inaugural deal, Buena Vista International Television–Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP), the international television distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company, announced today an agreement to license a live action series package to Indonesian terrestrial broadcaster JAK-TV, a leading local channel targeting Greater Jakarta’s urban and upscale audience.

    For the first time on terrestrial television, viewers will be able to enjoy a selection of BVITV’s hottest series including the No.1 show currently on US television, “Grey’s Anatomy” (seasons 1 and 2), as well as J.J. Abrams’s (creator of “Lost”) “What About Brian” and “Ghost Whisperer”, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. The series’ are expected to launch early next year.
    “We are delighted to be bringing for the first time to JAK-TV viewers some of our most talked about series,” commented Steve Macallister, BVITV-AP’s senior vice president and managing director. “This deal reflects our commitment to expanding the reach of our programming into key markets such as Indonesia.”

    JAK-TV’s president director, Erick Thohir, added “It is a great honor for JAK-TV to exclusively carry BVITV’s hottest series, since BVITV is known around the world for its high quality and entertaining programming. This is the kind of programming that we are looking for our viewers: the young, smart, and cosmopolitan community such as the Jakarta citizens. It also shows the world that there is trust and cooperation between the two that can be built successfully. We look forward to a long-lasting relationship with BVITV.”

    Starring Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh and Emmy-nominee Patrick Dempsey, “Grey’s Anatomy”, has already been sold to over 200 territories worldwide and a consistent timeslot winner in countries like Australia, New Zealand, France and Spain. In New Zealand, “Grey’s Anatomy” is one of the top two series in 2006 (to date) on TV2 for P18-49, behind “Desperate Housewives”, with a rating / share of 18 / 47%.

    Licensed to more than 165 territories around the world, “Ghost Whisperer” made its international debut earlier this year on Seven Network Australia as the No.1 program of the night. And the series has been consistently leading its hour in markets such as New Zealand, UK and Germany. “Ghost Whisperer” is one of the top two U.S. series this year to date in Singapore and Malaysia, on Channel 5 and 8TV, respectively.

    Although not yet launched internationally, “What About Brian” has already been licensed to over 60 territories across the world.