Tag: Baby TV

Fox International Channels elevates Swati Mohan as business head

MUMBAI: Fox International Channels India has elevated Swati Mohan as its business head. She was previously vice president – content and programming.

In her new role, Mohan will take over the India operations from NGC Network India & Fox International Channels managing director Keertan Adyanthaya, effective 30 March, 2015.

Mohan will be reporting into the Hong Kong office and will be heading the network portfolio of all existing Fox International Channels in India including National Geographic Channel and Fox Life as well as the other network channel properties like Baby TV, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Adventure, Nat Geo Music and National Geographic Channel HD.

Prior to this, since January 2012, Mohan has been spearheading the programming and content portfolio for the bouquet of channels including National Geographic Channel and Fox Life. She has over 16 years of experience in the industry, with a wide spectrum of work across companies including Group M, O&M, FBC Media and Endemol previously.

Adyanthaya said, “Swati has been leading the content team at Fox for the past three years and has done a stellar job. When it was time to choose a new leader for our business, we didn’t have to look beyond Swati. She has a keen understanding of the content and having been a key part of the hard working & dedicated team here, she will lose no time in propelling our company to even greater heights.”

Mohan added, “It’s been an enriching experience to have worked under the leadership of Keertan, and I thank the organisation for the opportunity to be able to take forward what he has built here at FIC India in the last five years. We have a great and diverse bouquet of offerings and I am excited about building the business further with the support of the capable team here.”

March 20, 2015
Ditto TV adds Fox International HD channels

MUMBAI: Zeel’s OTT distribution platform Ditto TV has partnered with Fox International Channels (India) to host three of its HD channels. Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People and Baby TV will be available Live to Ditto TV viewers.

The former two channels will have a range of wildlife and adventure shows that portray the culture and lifestyle of people from across the globe. Baby TV on the other hand will show content for kids and parents.

Ditto TV business head Manoj Padmanabhan said, “Our partnership with Nat Geo will give the consumers access to high quality, exciting and entertaining content in HD. This is the first time HD channels streaming is being made available on an OTT platform. We hope to continue our efforts to provide the maximum value and a seamless viewing experience to our consumers.”

Fox International Channels (India) distribution SVP Farhan Hoda commented, “We are very excited to partner with a premium service like Ditto TV for our content. The immense penetration of the internet and the growing number of internet-enabled mobile devices are stimulating demand and we believe this will transform into a very significant viewing platform in time. This partnership will enable us to showcase top quality content to our avid viewer base in India and the SAARC markets.”

Currently Ditto TV has channels from IndiaCast, Multi Screen Media, Bennett Coleman and Co, TV Today Network, BBC, Turner India, Bikini TV, ZEE etc. It claims to have over four million users.

June 5, 2014
Hathway’s HD rush; launches Fox International Channels in Bengaluru

MUMBAI: It‘s getting hot on HD. One of India‘s leading MSOs Hathway Cable & Datacom is looking at taking its HD subscriber base to 200,000 in a year‘s time and has just signed a deal to roll out Fox International Channels (FIC) HD channels into its HD packages.

The service provider has currently launched the FIC channel HD bouquet only in Bangalore initially but will be extended to Hyderabad soon and then to the rest of the country by end of the year.

Hathway currently caters to a modest HD subscriber base of approximately 25,000 nationwide (out of which most number of subscribers reside in metros).

Says Hathway CEO Jagdeesh Kumar: “We have currently launched the HD zapper box only in Bengaluru because we are using the city as a test case to gauge response. But we will soon unveil the DVR box as well in the next six to eight months.”

The HD service costs Rs 4,500 and comes with a set top box (STB) with a package of 20 HD channels that excludes the recently acquired Fox International Channel (The set includes: National Geographic Channel (NGC), FOX Traveller, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Adventure, Nat Geo Music and Baby TV in HD.)

“We have plans to carry 35 HD channels,” adds Kumar. “We aim to get in a bulk of the DTH subscribed audience back to cable in time to come, and we are confident of doing so as we have more bandwidth at our disposal hence giving a better picture to our subscribers. We can deliver consistent and better quality pictures and our viewers would not have to worry about interruptions in signals during torrential rains.”

For Bengaluru, Kumar is pushing a promotional campaign to sign up HD subscribers early. Says he, “We are trying to keep very competitive prices and offer a good discount for early bookings. We are confident that with our superior quality and better clarity, we would be able to deliver the best for our viewers.”

All the content available with FIC is being shot in HD and Ultra HD and the channel currently has close to 100 hours of content to showcase. The group banks on its prime property NGC, being the oldest channel in the cluster, to get in the viewers and to build a loyal fan base.

“We are delighted to partner with Hathway in offering a better viewing experience to our audience; our channels would be available in enhanced picture quality across Hathway‘s extensive network,” says NGC Network India and Fox International Channels MD Keertan Adyanthaya. “We are currently looking at activation plans and thus do not have many advertisers on board to boast of, but we are sure that once we start getting an audience, the advertisers will follow.”

June 17, 2013
Baby TV to launch in Indonesia next month

MUMBAI: Baby TV and Dori Media International have signed an agreement with Indovision, Indonesia’s first Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) provider, to launch Baby TV, the television channel dedicated to infants and toddlers.

Baby TV is the first television channel designed especially for children under 3 years old. Broadcasting 24 hours and free of commercials or ads, Baby TV is geared towards learning, activity, fun and parent-child interaction. The channel is produced in collaboration with leading child psychologists and infant development experts and is a unique service for parents and grandparents.

Baby TV is already available on over 25 different platforms in 15 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and is expected to be launched in Indonesia in Bahasa Indonesia language in May 2006.

The agreement is for a period of 10 years during which, Indovision will pay Baby TV and DMI a consideration from any income derived from the channel.

DMG president and CEO Nadav Palti says, “Although our business continues to be focused on Telenovela, our relationship with Indovision, the largest DTH operator in Indonesia, following the successful launch of our TV channel Televiva Vision 2 has given us a unique position to partner with other channels looking to enter the Asian market. Baby TV is a successful channel which is quickly establishing itself in the global market and Indovision, being the largest DTH operator in Indonesia is the natural partner. Baby TV offers a very unique service and we believe it will be very popular with parents and families in Indonesia.”

Dori Media Group is an international entertainment group active in the production, distribution and broadcasting of Telenovela. The group owns and sells high-loyalty TV content and branded merchandise attracting a wide variety of audiences in over 45 countries. In Israel, Dori Media Group owns and operates the Viva dedicated TV channels and Darset Productions production company.

April 12, 2006