ITV

Tag: BBC

  • Fox Reality acquires shows from outside the US

    Fox Reality acquires shows from outside the US

    CANNES: Fox Reality channel has announced a slate of new acquisitions at MipTV, taking on programs from the BBC, Endemol, Sony Pictures Television International and Eyeworks Distribution.

    Fox Reality CEO and GM David Lyle said, “We like to be innovative and introduce some classics and some of the most irreverent and entertaining reality shows from outside the U.S. to domestic audiences for whom these shows are new experiences.”

    From the BBC, the channel has secured five seasons of Castaway, seasons one and two of Driving School and three episodes of The Bronx Crime & Justice. Driving School follows a number of would-be drivers as they prepare to take their driving tests. In Castaway, a number of Britons are stranded on the remote Scottish Island of Taransay in the Hebrides. The Bronx Crime & Justice offers a look into the New York legal system.

    Through Endemol, Fox Reality has secured the rights to the controversial dating show There’s Something About Miriam, and with SPTI, it has taken the broadcast rights to the British (three seasons) and Australian (one season) of Dragon’s Den.
    And from Eyeworks, the channel acquired the ten-episode adventure reality Going Straight.

  • Al Jazeera International ropes in Channel Five’s Barbara Serra as presenter

    Al Jazeera International ropes in Channel Five’s Barbara Serra as presenter

    MUMBAI: The yet to launch 24-hour English news and current affairs channel Al Jazeera International has announced that they have appointed Barbara Serra as presenter in their London broadcast centre.

    Serra will report from across Europe during the week and will present the news on weekends.

    Before joining Al Jazeera International, Serra was one of the main presenters on the UK’s Channel Five News. She was the first, and to date the only, second-language English speaker to present a flagship news programme on terrestrial British television, informs an official release.

    Speaking on Barbara’s appointment news director Steve Clark said, “I am pleased to confirm that Barbara Serra has joined the news team in London. Over the coming weeks we will be announcing more of our on-air talent around the world.”

    Al Jazeera International London bureau chief Sue Phillips said, “I am delighted that Barbara is joining the team here in London. She brings a wealth of experience and talent to our impressive line-up of presenters.”

    Barbara Serra said, “Much of today’s international politics focuses on the Middle East, so it’s great to be a part of the only global news channel headquartered in the region. Al Jazeera International’s journalists come from all over the world and we’ll be able to give a truly global perspective on the news to a potential world audience of one billion English speakers.”

    Seera’s career started at the BBC, where she worked as a presenter/reporter for BBC London News, produced on Radio 4’s Today Programme and regularly presented EuroNews on BBC Radio Five Live.

    In 2003, she joined Sky News as a reporter, working on both domestic and international assignments. She has covered a wide range of stories, from the death of Pope John Paul II in Rome, to the Michael Jackson trial in California. She trained as a journalist at London’s City University.

  • BBC scouting for partners in India for Hindi and Urdu news channel services

    BBC scouting for partners in India for Hindi and Urdu news channel services

    MUMBAI: The British Broadcasting Corporation is scouting for joint venture partners for launching television news channel services in Hindi and Urdu languages in India.

    “We are launching a 24-hour news channel in Arabic next year and we are looking at television services in Hindi and Urdu. They will be joint ventures,” BBC World Service business development manager Michel Lobelle told reporters in Colombo, according to news agency PTI report.

    The expansion of television saw a slight dip in radio listenership in India but, it is on the rise again with more people tuning into radios, he said.

    In India, the Corporation has already entered into partnership on various fronts such as magazine and radio. The BBC Worldwide owns 50 per cent of the Times of India’s magazines subsidiary including its selling titles, FilmFare and Femina. In August 2005, Top Gear magazine launched in India making it the first BBC magazine from the joint venture.

    On the radio front, the BBC Worldwide has partnered with Radio Mid-Day West (India) Private Ltd. The company has won bids for six cities including Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune.

    The Corporation also announced its rebroadcasting deal with Sri Lanka’s state-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) radio.

    The SLBC radio will rebroadcast nine hours of BBC programmes under the new deal, Lobelle said, adding that the deal provides an opportunity for Lankans to easily access BBC programmes through a network of FM channels.

  • BBC viewers can download tardisodes of ‘Dr. Who’

    BBC viewers can download tardisodes of ‘Dr. Who’

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that Doctor Who viewers are in for an extra treat when the new series launches next month.

    In addition to watching 13 new adventures – with David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose – viewers in the UK will be given the opportunity to download thirteen 60-second mini-episodes via their mobile phones, or stream them on broadband as part of the BBC’s TV Plus trials.

    The Tardisodes, which are part of the BBC’s trials exploring ways of broadening the output of leading brands, offer the audience an insight into what’s going on in the Doctor Who universe that week. These downloads will be available on Saturdays after the main show has gone out.

    They will include footage that won’t be seen on TV, and show the characters and adventures coming up in the next episode – from meeting the Cat Women who can cure all illnesses, joining Mickey as he discovers some alien activity in a local school, to witnessing the Cybermen upgrade process.

    BBC director of television Jana Bennett says, “What better way of travelling with the Time Lord than to have a Tardisode come to you on your phone or PC? The Tardisodes are an exciting development, delivering mini-episodes which will let viewers access the vortex and explore new worlds before the Doctor arrives himself.

    “We know that there is a huge appetite for Doctor Who and we want to make the whole experience bigger and better for viewers. These TV Plus trials will continue to help us understand more about the different ways in which viewers want to enjoy Doctor Who.”

    Created by the team behind Attack of the Graske, the Christmas interactive mission, the mini-episodes will have the same high quality elements as the main show.

    Tardisodes co-producer Jo Pearce says, “Our aim, when planning the development of all these projects, is to make the interactive content around Doctor Who series two compelling, exciting and intriguing as well as enticing a broader audience to Doctor Who by positioning it on different platforms.”

    The Tardisodes are part of the BBC’s TV Plus pilots, offering audiences a new way of engaging with BBC TV programmes to enhance their viewing experience. The pilots include preview clips on mobile phones, programme premieres on broadband a week ahead of their TV transmission, and a rich interactive experience on-demand through broadband and digital TV.

    From 1 April 2006, the audience can text the word Tardis to 81010 to subscribe to the service. The user will then be sent a text message with a link to the download (this text will cost between 12 and 15p). They will then be asked to bookmark the link and to come back every Saturday at the end of the Doctor Who programme to see the new Tardisode.

    If the user does not have a compatible handset they will be told before they download the content and asked to go to the Doctor Who website to watch the Tardisode. The BBC does not charge for its mobile content. However, the operators charge for using the internet on your phone and for the text messages to access the service will apply.

    Costs vary from operator to operator. Operators may charge for time spent browsing or amount of data downloaded. Registering for the service is simple, participants will be asked to subscribe via text message and then will receive a weekly alert to inform them that new content is available.

  • BBC leads the Bafta list of television nominations

    BBC leads the Bafta list of television nominations

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster, the BBC led the British Academy Television Awards nominations announced by the British Academy of Film and Television (Bafta). The awards will be presented on 7 May at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

    In the drama serial category, BBC’s Bleak House is up against its own Fingersmith, Funland and To the Ends of the Earth.

    The single drama nominations went to The Government Inspector (Mentorn Productions/Channel 4), Much Ado About Nothing (BBC/BBC1), The Queen’s Sister (Touchpaper Productions/Channel 4) and Red Dust (BBC Films/Distant Horizon/Videovision Entertainment/Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa/BBC2).

    The BBC’s business based reality show The Apprentice has been nominated in the features category, alongside Dragon’s Den and Top Gear and Channel 4’s Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

    In the entertainment category the nominees are Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, Have I Got News For You, Strictly Come Dancing: The Grand Final and The X Factor.

    The nominees for best actress are Gillian Anderson for Bleak House, Lucy Cohu for The Queen’s Sister, Anne-Marie Duff for Shameless and Anna Maxwell Martin for Bleak House. And, competing for best actor are Bernard Hill for A Very Social Secretary Denis Lawson for Bleak House, Mark Rylance for The Government Inspector and Rufus Sewell in a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

  • BBC to have an Easter parade in the UK

    BBC to have an Easter parade in the UK

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC will celebrate Easter, a significant event in the Christian calendar, next month.

    It will take viewers and listeners from traditional worship through to a modern interpretation of the Passion of Christ; a forensic examination of history’s most noteworthy religious paintings and an emotional return to the communities blighted by the Balkan War.

    Live from Manchester city centre on Good Friday 14 April, Keith Allen presents a contemporary re-telling of the last few hours of Jesus’ life for BBC Three. Manchester Passion tells the Easter story through the music of Manchester, including classic sounds such as New Order’s Blue Monday and Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now by The Smiths.

    In The Private Life of An Easter Masterpiece on BBC Two, three great paintings – The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci; Salvador Dali’s The Christ of St John of the Cross and Resurrection by Piero della Francesca – are forensically examined and explained. Each programme shows how particular techniques have been mastered by the artist, how complex ideas are conveyed to the viewer and how each work is a unique reflection of its own life and times.

    In The Cross and the Bomb (Good Friday Liturgy on Radio 4) the Bishop of London, Rev Richard Chartres, reflects on religious conflict in the context of Jesus’ Passion on the Cross. The programme comes from St Ethelburga’s – the medieval city church nearly destroyed by the Bishopsgate bomb in 1993 and rebuilt as an innovative Centre for Reconciliation and Peace. Set against the backdrop of the recent terrorist attacks in London, this is a powerful and thought-provoking meditation.

    Greater Love Hath No Man on BBC One explores the impact of the Great Plague on one small village in Derbyshire. The plague was transported to Eyam from London in 1665 and claimed its first victim soon after. As the devastating disease took hold, the villagers isolated themselves to protect the surrounding village communities. Their self-sacrifice saved thousands of lives and is a fitting theme for Good Friday.

  • BBC to show World Cup, Wimbledon in high definition

    BBC to show World Cup, Wimbledon in high definition

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced that it will broadcast its 2006 World Cup coverage and major Wimbledon matches in high definition (HD) as part of its pioneering trial.

    The BBC HD trial will kick off with the BBC’s share of World Cup matches up to and including the 9 July 2006 final. World Cup 2006 will be the first major sporting event to be broadcast in HD in the UK. The BBC’s summer of HD sport will continue with Wimbledon matches from Centre Court and Court One.

    The BBC explains that HD is a new kind of television which delivers more detailed pictures and sharper shots of fast-moving action than conventional ‘standard definition’. The HD format will be an extra stream alongside conventional analogue and digital broadcasts.

    It will only be accessible to viewers who have all of the following: HD Ready televisions, HD set top boxes and HD services from satellite or cable providers. News about the World Cup and Wimbledon in HD follows finalisation of the technical and partnership arrangements for the trial.

    The BBC’s HD trial will last for about 12 months. It will enable the BBC to test technical delivery of HD and to understand how the audience values a BBC HD service. Any ongoing BBC HD service will be subject to approval by the BBC Trust.

    BBC director of sport Roger Mosey said, “High definition works particularly well for sport. It gives fantastic picture quality, from the blades of grass that are being played on right to the back of the stands, and although only limited numbers of people will be able to see this trial we hope it will be a glimpse of the future.”

    BBC HD TV head Seetha Kumar said, “We believe that in the long term the BBC can help provide the benefits of HD to everyone, free to air, in the same way that we backed colour, stereo, widescreen and online in the past. With this trial, the BBC is taking the first crucial steps to support the development of HD broadcasting in the UK.”

    BBC HD will start broadcasting on 15 May with a test stream previewing forthcoming programmes. The first live HD programme will be the opening World Cup match Germany Vs Costa Rica on 9 June.

    BBC commentary and studio coverage in HD will wrap up the HD feed from German host broadcasters HBS (Host Broadcaster Services). Standard definition digital and analogue BBC One coverage will also draw on high definition images, both for the World Cup and for Wimbledon where the BBC is the host broadcaster.

    The BBC HD trial will run for about a year. It will feature BBC shows such as natural history series Planet Earth and Galapagos, drama documentary Hannibal and some BBC Proms concerts including the First and Last Nights, in HD quality.

    The amount of new programming each day will vary, averaging between one and two hours. Some programmes will be simulcast with BBC One or, in a few instances, BBC Two.

    Others will be time-shifted or offer another chance to view past highlights such as dramas Bleak House and Hotel Babylon in high definition for the first time.

    The BBC will provide its HD trial stream on all technically capable platforms, including satellite and cable, once available, from commercial providers. It is not currently possible to provide HD transmissions on Freeview because of limited space on the airwaves. The BBC will run a simultaneous technical trial of HD on digital terrestrial television (Freeview). That trial will be confined to few hundred trial households in London, which will be chosen shortly.

    Freeview could accommodate some high definition broadcasting after switchover between 2008 and 2012. Ofcom’s Digital Dividend Review later this year is deciding how that spectrum should be used.

  • BBC’s new campaign features network’s achievements

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC is launching a brand new television marketing campaign in the UK. This will demonstrate the extreme lengths its staff experience daily to produce quality programming for its audience.

    The campaign – the first of its kind since 1997’s Perfect Day – will feature real life examples of BBC achievements, large and small. Each trail will feature a different story demonstrating the passion and commitment of individuals working for the organisation – punctuated by the simple endline – This is what we do.

    Four trails will launch tomorrow 25 March. Kabul tells the story of John Simpson and his news team’s struggle to broadcast the fall of the Afghan capital when a lorry carrying satellite equipment broke down in the mountains.

    Instead of assuming defeat the team dismantled the satellites and put them on donkeys – enabling them to arrive in Kabul 20 minutes before they were due to go live on air. The Office asks the audience: “Who would commission a sitcom from someone who had never written, directed or acted in one before?”, before showing a clip from the hit BBC Two sitcom.

    Wall shows a BBC cameraman in action during a conflict between Iraqi and British troops. Snow Leopard tells the story of the search for an animal rarely caught on camera – and the efforts that were made to get it on film for BBC ONE’s Planet Earth.

    BBC head brand and planning Helen Kellie said, “What truly sets the BBC apart is the extraordinary lengths our people go to to get great content for our audience. This campaign shows the public some of that magic.”

    The campaign, which was developed for the BBC by Fallon, uses existing behind-the-scenes footage – no director or production company was required or involved.

  • BBC outlines online strategy

    BBC outlines online strategy

    MUMBAI: Speaking at the MIX06 conference in Las Vegas, the director of the BBC’s new media and technology division Ashley Highfield, outlined the public broadcaster’s online strategy.

    At the Microsoft-organized event for web developers, designers and business professionals, Highfield stressed that the BBC has to be technologically innovative, and key to that strategy is working with partners like Microsoft.

    Highfield said, “We have a duty of universality. So it’s vital that we innovate through a number of strategic partnerships with technology companies and distributors such as Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Homechoice, NTL and Telewest. Both the BBC and Microsoft are ultimately looking for ways to empower our audiences; to put them in control, and in this we have an alignment of strategic objectives.”

    He added, “The challenge is to create an end-to-end infrastructure for all our programming, to deliver content to all our audiences in the most cost-effective, simple and flexible way possible. The last ten yards of railway track-seamless delivery from the PC to the TV-is still to be built within the home.”

    Highfield also used the keynote to showcase BBC’s iMP (Integrated Media Player), which just completed a five-month trial. The technology allows users to download programs onto their PCs and is “aimed at putting our audience in the driving seat,” he said.

  • News channels gear up for Clinton

    News channels gear up for Clinton

    It is that time when cameramen will jostle to get a good angle and TV journalists will hanker for a sound byte from the US President, Bill Clinton, and Indian President and Prime Minister. After all, Clinton’s visit to India is big media event.

    And almost all the satellite channels and Doordarshan are trying to find how they can be different from the others. As managing director of TV Eighteen India Ltd, Raghav Bahl, said about the coverage on CNBC India, “It will be hectic time, but we will be focussing more on the business aspect of Clinton;s visit and what it means for the two countries.”

    What’s more, with the Indian government giving permission to almost all the channels to go live, the channel managements are leaving no cameras unturned to bring to their audience round the world the event which is being billed as one of the the biggest media events of 2000.

    CNN which is not only flying down celebrity anchor Riz Khan to do special interviews with the likes of Yashwant Sinha relating to Clinton’s visit, but the channel’s special event team too is coming (with the US president) to see there are no last minute glitches.

    “CNN has planned a special series of stories on the US President’s visit and the countdown has already begun with some stories already on air,” a senior executive Turner International India, the parent company of CNN, said, adding, most of the programmes will be live.

    Zee News, like Star News, will attempt to be different from the likes of CNNs and BBCs. Beginning with a story on presidential aircraft, put out yesterday, Zee News, as a senior executive of Zee pointed out, “will be hoping to do some value additions on the other aspects of Clinton’s visit too, apart from the political and business angles.”

    Since a major portion of Zee News’ audience are Hindi-speaking, the channel is trying to do a voice over in Hindi for important speeches, etc made by the US president.

    There’ll be every day, beginning Monday, a 30-minute programme on Clinton’s visit from 8.30-9 p.m. till Saturday.

    “This apart, we will be following the Clinton family and the President in Hyderabad, Agra, Rajasthan, Mumbai, etc,” a senior executive of Star News said.

    British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is planning one of its biggest ever series of live broadcasts from South Asia during the Clinton visit to the region.

    Special television and radio programmes will be aired from Delhi and Islamabad anchored by the BBC’s South Asia correspondent and regional bureau chief Mike Wooldridge.

    “This is a historic visit for the region and a crucial news story for BBC. South Asia is and always has been one of the cornerstones of BBC’s international broadcasting and this tour will showcase our unrivaled expertise and resources in broadcast news,” Wooldridge said.

    BBC had covered the last presidential visit to the region by Jimmy Carter when many of the news organisations around today did not even exist, according to Wooldridge.

    The BBC’s deputy bureau chief Satish Jacob, who covered the Carter visit to India for the BBC in 1978, will also be part of the commentary team. India correspondent Daniel Lak who is traveling the country with the Clinton entourage and BBC’s Washington correspondent Richard Lister as part of the White House Press Corp to give the inside information from the Clinton camp.

    The live coverage on BBC World television and BBC World Service radio will start from March 20 evening.