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  • Half of video production may see greater RoI migrating to IP

    MUMBAI: Ooyala, a global provider of video monetization technology and services, and the Digital Production Partnership (DPP), the media industry’s business change network, launched the industry’s first report analyzing the benefits of adopting Internet Protocol (IP)-based processes and technologies in video production, “The Business Benefits of IP Production.” The findings show that by 2022, more than half of the video-production environments analyzed in the report will recognize greater business benefits, efficiencies and return-on-investment (ROI) by adopting IP.

    Surveying nearly 30 companies across the video supply chain, including ITV, Sky, BBC and Sony, the report shows where IP migrations will result in greater cost savings, cost avoidance, creative benefits and competitive advantages. Tracking against ten different production environments, five will see the greatest ROI by adopting IP, including:

    ● IP Distribution: Companies with internet-first distribution services, OTT

    ● Live Streaming: Companies distributing live content across devices and social
    platforms

    ● Single Camera Shooting: Companies accessing on-site footage via the cloud

    ● Media Management: Companies managing, moving and storing media

    ● Cloud Playout: Linear TV stations adopting cloud-based services

    The findings show media companies with online distribution at the heart of their business, particularly OTT services, will find the greatest value and ROI in adopting IP-based technologies. Other areas that IP disruption will impact are asset management, cloud playout and post-production, benefiting from technologies that reduce manual-labor costs such as automating metadata insertion.

    “The fact is, the move to IP has inherent benefits for many processes, but only specific environments will see the greatest benefits and highest returns today,” said DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison.

    “Within a few years, IP infrastructure may be essential in doing business because of the impact it is having across media companies and distribution.” “As the first in the industry, the report brings to light the ROI opportunities for producers, broadcasters and media companies to adopt IP processes,” said Ooyala Co-founder and SVP of Products and Solutions, Belsasar Lepe. “Media logistics solutions like Ooyala Flex provide the ability to connect inherently disconnected and on-premise systems so companies can take
    advantage of IP benefits immediately or incrementally as needs change over time.”

    Ooyala and the DPP will host a special NAB morning event on Tuesday, 25 April at 8am PST in Ooyala’s booth, SV1000, to discuss the report and the future of IP production alongside BT Sport and PBS.

    Built with superior analytics capabilities for advanced business intelligence, Ooyala’s solutions help broadcasters, operators and media companies build more engaged and more profitable audiences, with personalized experiences across every screen.Vudu, Star India, Sky Sports (U.K.), ITV Studios (U.K.), RTL Group (Germany), M6 (France), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain), America Television (Peru), and Media Prima (Malaysia).

  • FICCI Frames 2017: Birth of other mediums cannot kill traditional TV

    MUMBAI: The fast changing scenario and the content ecosystem have gone through a significant change over the years and are keeping all the production houses and the broadcasters on their toes.

    The ‘Grammar of the new TV content’ on the second day of FICCI FRAMES 2017 was discussed as experts from the industry sharing vital pointers in regards to the future of the television content and how this is expected to evolve with many changes coming its way, on a regular basis.

    Moderated by Star India president and content studio head Gaurav Banerjee, the session saw Balaji Telefilms creative director and joint managing director Ekta Kapoor, Keshet International Asia head Gary Pundey, Trailer Park senior producer Robin Humbert, BBC Worldwide Asia Content VP Ryan Shiotani, Discovery Networks International South Asia head and GM Karan Bajaj, and GoNews founder and editor-in-chief Pankaj Pachauri expressing their views..

    Answering a question on TV content, Shiotani said: “As a business we focus on high quality content across the genres. We focus primarily on three areas, one is the distribution of the content around the world, running of branded BBC channels and the third thing is the production around the world. For us, it is very clear to focus on high quality storytelling and production value. The emotional connection with the audiences is something we will continue to do in India and other markets around the world.”

    Sharing her experience, the czarina of the Indian TV ecosystem Ekta Kapoor said: “Television is India’s biggest, most prominent and aggressive medium of entertainment. Women’s Day was celebrated by television. But technology cannot marginalize such a large medium and such a large voice. It challenges, actually give birth to fresher and more interesting content.”

    Bajaj added: “In countries like the US, the UK and all developed broadcast markets, the smart TV penetration has shot through the roof. From 10 to 12 per cent smart TV penetration has reached 50 to 60 per cent in the last six months.”

    Voicing a different viewpoint, Pachauri said: “We are talking about essentially television and digital. We have not touched yet how to change the grammar of the content. India and Bharat are going to come together because of digitization. As far as digital content and its grammar is concerned, we have to change are attitude towards television and no one is trying to change that. We started India’s first digital news television on phone because there are more phones in India then television. Within five years, TV as as we know it would just die. We need new grammar for this new television.”

    Taking the cue, Banerjee claimed that radio was supposed to die in the 1950s, the film industry was over in the 70s, and Doordarshan was expected to be over in the 80s. “We keep foretelling these deaths but the reality is, it is not going to happen. Even in America where a lot of these changes have happened, TV is still incredibly big. The big advantage television has is its reach. Even people watching on digital will watch on television as well.”

    But Pachauri said in India, from 2011 to 2016, the total reach of news television has gone down by 15 per cent according to Nielsen data. “I am not saying that the news will die, or serials or TV will die. There is a new player in the market and we have all to align with that,” he added.

    Talking about the content Balaji produced, Kapoor said: “A lot of questions are raised by India and answered by Bharat. Unfortunately we have to be aware of the problems. If there wouldn’t be any identification to these stories, they won’t be told.”

    She said, “There are three mediums which actually cater to the same people in three different ways. We all have the family phase, the outside world phase, and the individual phase (‘us’ phase). TV is the family phase where the whole family watches the same content. Film is the communal viewing, a screen with 300 people viewing, and digital is content that you want to consume alone. Clearly, for me it is the stories that matter and I cannot say this through other two mediums.”

    Bajaj added: “Discovery is going through intense localization drive, and in the last ten years we have produced 5 to 10 hours of local content, and this year in September we will be moving to 300 hours local content. The learning for us is also this- that it is not the numbers of local hours but that the storytelling in India is different. We are used to very larger than life and entertaining stories so for 200 to 300 hours of local content, we have to shift from the documentary maker to the storytellers and its an interesting journey for us.”

  • WeTransfer appoints Httpool as India partners

    MUMBAI: Httpool has added another global major to their extensive kitty of partners, with WeTransfer. The international cross-channel advertising network, that has partnered to monetise WeTransfer Ad inventories in 15+ markets in Europe, will also now be representing them in India.

    Founded in 2009, WeTransfer is the pioneer of effortless file transfer. With seamless and deeply integrated access they have over 40 million active users every month! WeTransfer provides brands with an extensive ad inventory to reach their target audience effectively through full-screen background or wallpaper spots.

    Httpool; an international cross-channel ad network, is an optimal partner for media agencies seeking integrated digital advertising solutions. Httpool employs the most advanced proprietary and licensed technologies to offer the broadest range of ad network products and ad tech solutions across display, video, engagement, social and performance channels, on all devices. It represents Twitter, LinkedIn, BBC, AOL, Spotify and other selected global and local publishers across 30+ Central and Eastern European and Asian markets. Httpool India was founded in 2010 and has offices in Mumbai and Delhi that work with all major agencies and brands.

    WeTransfer’s John De Lang explains: “Httpool brings with them extensive experience and leadership in the digital space. We have been working with them for a while now and they have been representing us in multiple markets across Europe and Asia; we are pleased to have them represent our platform within the Indian market too.”

    Httpool India managing partner Amit Gupta adds, “WeTransfer experiences a lot of traction from varied target groups belonging to diverse fields, making it a great platform for advertisers. We look forward to this exciting and challenging journey in an exhaustive market like India”

  • BBC Academy launches content in five additional languages including Bangla & Spanish

    MUMBAI: The BBC Academy has further expanded its global outreach, adding content in five languages.  Free resources, dedicated to journalism and language use in Bangla, Kyrgyz, Somali, Spanish and Ukrainian, are now live with mobile-first new design (in the first iteration of the sites) – bringing the total number of BBC Academy’s non-English-language sites to 23.

    The BBC Academy puts skills development at the heart of the BBC, supporting its mission to inform, educate and entertain.  Through a wide portfolio of staff training, it develops skills enabling it to meet the challenges of an ever-changing media world. BBC World Service delivers news content around the world, on radio, TV and digital, reaching a weekly audience of 246 million.

    Academy International Sites editor Najiba Kasraee says: “Language and journalism are inseparable.  It’s important to provide journalists not only with skills training but also to make them aware of the importance of observing language standards that have been honed by BBC journalists, based on our guidelines of unbiased, accurate and fair reporting.”

    The new websites, which offer content in three main categories – Language, Skills and Standards – provide a guide to the BBC’s editorial principles and core values.  Journalists will find language tools that ensure standards such as impartiality and accuracy are maintained as they translate materials or create and deliver original content.

    Covering a wide range of multimedia skills – television, radio and digital production – the sites focus on presentation, writing, and use of social media.  A special focus is given to helping journalists produce and present under pressure of tight deadlines.

    The new content adds to sites for BBC journalism in Arabic, Burmese, Chinese in simplified form, Chinese in traditional form, French, Hausa, Hindi, Indonesian, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Pashto, Persian, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, Urdu, Uzbek and Vietnamese. This development is in line with BBC Academy’s pledge to provide support for all of the BBC World Service languages – including the new language services that will start delivering content as part of BBC World Service’s expansion.  

    The sites are available via the BBC Academy International Language Sites and can be accessed via homepages of respective BBC World Service languages websites.

    Also Read:

    BBC rewards TV18 factual for digital initiative

  • Zee, Bennett, Discovery, Disney, NDTV, Viacom 18, BBC & Raj TV among 112 channels awaiting clearance

    NEW DELHI: Even as the government claims to have permitted 892 private satellite television channels as on 28 February 2017, applications of a total of 112 channels have been awaiting clearance, some of them since October 2010.

    Stating this, the minister of state for information & broadcasting told the Parliament that the government has no plan to place a ceiling on the number of TV channels in the country.

    Meanwhile, a list annexed to the minister’s reply showed that Cinema 24*7 leads the list of those awaiting clearance with seven channels. Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd and Zee Media come next with six channels each.

    Six companies are awaiting clearance for three channels each: Yogi Networks, Vedic Broadcasting Ltd, Eduall India, Media Worldwide Ltd, Raj TV Network and Neo Broadcast Pvt Ltd.

    Those who have applied for two channels each include Springtide Infotainment Media, Vrinda Channel, Enter 10 TV, AETN 18 Media, Viacom 18, Chaman Broadcasting, Kasthuri Media, BBC Global News India, Discovery Communications, Dev Varsha Jatropha Bio-Energy Ltd, Kamyab TV, Sowbhagya Media Pvt Ltd, and Sudarshan TV.

    All others including NDTV Lifestyle and Disney International have queued up for one channel each.  

    Also Read:

    892 pvt TV channels against 1500 targeted in 12th Plan

    Total of television channels in India rises to 892, with three cleared in June

    81 teleports permitted to uplink, downlink TV channels

     

  • BBC rewards TV18 factual for digital initiative

    MUMBAI: A+E Networks | TV18 won two awards at the BBC Knowledge National Digital Marketing Conference & Awards. HISTORY TV18 was declared the winner under the ‘Best Use of Video Series’ category and FYI TV18 won under the ‘Best Use of Digital Media in Advertising and Marketing’ category.

    A+E Networks | TV18 Vice President & Head Marketing Sangeetha Aiyer, ‎said, “We ‘ve always worked hard at being pioneers in the digital space and the awards are a reaffirmation of our belief in our “Digital First Strategy”. With the OMG! Yeh Mera India video series we have created a digital property that has not only engaged millions of Indians but also has cultivated a sense of national pride. And with the FYI TV18’s Kuch Bhi Poochofy campaign we managed to create awareness about FYI TV18 through tapping on the insight of people asking questions. Winning these accolades only inspires us to push the envelope even more.”

    History TV18 won the award for OMG! Yeh Mera India, best known for showcasing the mindboggling facts of India and Indians. The series featured Kalaripayattu maestro Meenakshi Amma also fondly known as “Samurai Amma” who received over 10 million views on Facebook within three months. The buzz generated by the videos help propel the Kalaripayattu exponent to internet sensation to Padma Shri winner.

    FYI TV18 was rewarded for their interactive social media campaign called AMA (Ask Me Anything) – ‘KuchBhiPoochhofy’ by Chetan Bhagat and Chef Vicky Ratnani, a platform for all the impending answers to the viewers’ questions. The campaign ‘KuchBhiPoochhofy’ was trending nationwide for over 5 hours where the hosts answered 40,000 questions and attracted 8.34 million people online.

    The BBC Knowledge Digital Marketers’ Awards are designed to recognize exceptional work done by the marketing fraternity to take their brands into the digital era. These awards recognize and reward leaders for the pioneering job of online asset creation amongst their peer-set for their brands. The entries are judged by an exceptional jury who not only look at results but also the leadership ability in creating an innovative marketing environment that has the ability to change the game for the branding and marketing industry.

  • Anchor receives CMO design award, Penta to be top brand by ’18

    MUMBAI: Anchor Electricals (A Panasonic group company) was the proud recipient of Stars of the Industry Group Design Plus Excellence Awards associated with BBC Knowledge and powered by CMO Asia for Product Design Excellence.

    The Design Plus Excellence Awards are divided in four broad frame categories comprising of Product / Industrial Design, Communication / Multimedia Design, Architecture / Interior Design and Fashion Design with 25 sub-categories. Anchor won this award for its newly introduced range of Penta Modular switches, the Modular Switch that boasts of a contemporary look, higher aesthetic appeal and safety features at the lowest price-point.

    Receiving the award, Anchor DGM – advertising Lalit Malhotra stated, “The award is a tribute given to the company’s design expertise as the new Penta Modular range design was done in-house using the guidance of Panasonic Japan. The design is registered with the Government of India as well.”

    Anchor director – sales and marketing Ashok Gangar stated, “Brand Penta holds a special place in the heart of every Indian as it was the first Piano Switch of India. Penta Modular is the latest offering under the brand, a Modular offshoot of Penta with unique design and better safety features across the lowest price-point. We introduced this switch range last year, eyeing the aspirations of the youth with a clear focus on keeping it as a value plus offering from Anchor by Panasonic. Our idea was to design a modular switch that offers unrivaled safety features at the most affordable price-point, eyeing the impetus given by the government on affordable housing and infrastructure development. The range amongst many others, boasts of feature such as a socket with Urea backpiece that is fire-retardant. Penta Modular range has grown to be a 2000 million INR brand under a span of 18 months and we have also introduced color plates and chrome-collared plate additions in the same. We expect to grow this brand to cross the Rs 5000 million mark over the next two years.”

  • Google, MS agree to crack down on online content piracy site

    NEW DELHI: A global war on content piracy, including in India, just got a leg up. For the first time, global tech giants Google and Microsoft have agreed to tighten up their search engines as part of a crackdown on content piracy websites illegally streaming events and films with the UK regulator Ofcom backing it.

    Google and Microsoft’s search engine Bing have signed up to a voluntary code of practice and will ensure offending websites are demoted in their search results, according to a PTI report from London, which goes on to state that he entertainment industry reached the agreement with the tech giants after talks brokered by the UK government.

    The initiative will run in parallel with existing anti-piracy measures, which includes initiatives by PIPCU or the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), which is a specialist national police unit dedicated to protecting the UK industries that produce legitimate, high quality, physical goods and online and digital content from intellectual property crime.

    PIPCU operationally independent and launched in September 2013 with £2.56million funding from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the UK until June 2015, got additional funding from the IPO in October 2014 till 2017. The unit is dedicated to tackling serious and organized intellectual property crime (counterfeit and piracy) affecting physical and digital goods (with the exception of pharmaceutical goods) with a focus on offences committed using an online platform.

    The PTI report, quoting BBC and dwelling on Google and MS moves, stated that the code said to be the first of its kind in the world is expected to be in operation by the middle of this year.

    Jo Johnson, the UK’s minister for universities, science, research and innovation, was quoted in the report as saying that the search engines’ “relationships with our world leading creative industries needs to be collaborative”. He added: “It is essential that (consumers) are presented with links to legitimate websites and services, not provided with links to pirate sites.”

    Google has indicated that the effort would provide a way to check that its existing anti-piracy efforts were effective, rather than committing it to adding new measures. “Google has been an active partner for many years in the fight against piracy online. We remain committed to tackling this issue and look forward to further partnership with rights holders,” a Google spokesperson was quoted by PTI as saying.

    The UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) led the discussions, with the assistance of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Britain’s communications watchdog, Ofcom, supported the talks by exploring techniques that could be used to ensure internet users avoid coming across illegal content.

    Trade body Alliance for Intellectual Property director-general Eddy Leviten told the BBC, according to the PTI report, “Sometimes people will search for something and they will end up unwittingly being taken to a pirated piece of content. What we want to ensure is that the results at the top of the search engines are the genuine ones. It is about protecting people who use the internet, but also protecting the creators of that material too.”

    Besides demoting copyright infringing sites, search engine auto-complete functions, a time-saving feature that suggests what users may be looking for, are also expected to remove terms that may lead to pirated websites. Compliance with the code will be monitored by the IPO over the next few months.

  • New digital player Go News voluntarily submits to NBA self-regulation

    MUMBAI: ‘Nayi Nazar, Asli Khabar, Mobile Par’ (new outlook, real news, on mobile phones). The tagline in itself exemplifies the vision of Pankaj Pachauri’s news venture Go News.

    Catchy tagline apart, it could well turn out to be the first digital news provider to voluntarily come under News Broadcasters Association (NBA)’s self-regulatory code. Reason: it wants to be a responsible news broadcaster following journalism ethics and breaking the `noisy’ norm presently prevalent on most TV news channels.

    The app-based service, which is planned to be available on hand-held devices, is yet to get a formal approval from NBA for a membership of the Association.  

    “We have applied for NBA membership. Go News (probably) is the first digital news venture to voluntarily apply for it because our aim is to become a responsible broadcaster,” Pachauri told Indiantelevision.com.

    Positioned to be a digital news channel with new method of delivery and thrust on news, the mobile-only news platform (to begin with) is racing against the clock to go live by the second week of March 2017. The channel will initially host news and short format videos in Hindi language.

    However, as growth and reach does come with servicing consumers of different languages, next in line for Go News is an English feed, followed by an Indian language.  Six months down the line, the app plans to provide news feed in three languages.

    Pachauri, a former NDTV news anchor and media advisor to the former PM Manmohan Singh, spearheads the new venture that currently boasts of a team consisting of 40 professionals, including 10 anchors and six reporters. Professional boosts come from the likes of former BBC and NDTV anchor Darain Shahidi, a former colleague of Pachauri.

    Pointing out that people are getting away from television news as the number of viewers decline, both for English and Hindi genre, Pachauri said, “English audience is annoyed with the way news is treated on TV channels…and they are walking away. The news space is crowded and loud, and journalism is dying.”

    So, in an effort to bring back in vogue traditional and good journalism, Go News plans to do things differently and make an effort to provide video news of international quality. But haven’t we heard that before too from other stars like Arnab Goswami and Barkha Dutt?

    Go News is a tech-heavy platform, which would be compatible with smart televisions and smart mobile phones and would aim at providing news for the “smart citizens.” Pachauri explained, “We want to break the grammar of TV news by giving people the liberty to choose a time, day and platform to consume news.” The app would also allow consumers offline viewing and as also no-pay downloaded content.

    Apart from reporting on urban cities, sports, business, politics, which are the usual stuff, the channel will report on and from the rural pockets of India and will collaborate with people from the hinterlands — for news. “The experts and teachers can talk about several issues and events on the digital platform,” Pachauri added.

    Targeted at the 25-49 years age group, the channel has no advertiser or sponsor on board — yet. That means no immediate revenues. Does that frighten Pachauri and his band of ethical journalists as several of them must have chipped in with funding of this not-for-profit news venture?  Seems not.

    “No annoying ads, no annoying anchors and no annoying attitude. We have received many enquiries (for advertisements and sponsorships) but, for now, we are not looking at the business side. If we do good journalism, business will follow,” Pachauri said.

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  • AXN campaign for ‘Sherlock’ with Social & Uber succeeds

    AXN campaign for ‘Sherlock’ with Social & Uber succeeds

    MUMBAI: He came, we saw and he conquered. That is how Sherlock S4 in India can be summed up. AXN premiered the BBC drama in India with an integrated 360-degree marketing campaign. Taking cues from the global campaign, AXN India adapted the international thought ‘It’s not a game anymore’ and created an India-specific, clutter-breaking campaign.

    The fans loved the concept which in turn garnered quality social media conversations around the campaign tagline and the show.

    Sony Pictures Networks India EVP and business head – English cluster Saurabh Yagnik said, “AXN is an aspirational brand for the youth so we strategically partnered with other aspirational youth brands – Social and Uber. We were able to engage with our target audience more efficiently and effectively creating a win-win proposition for all. The response from viewers has been phenomenal. We trended on Twitter for over 110 hours during the campaign period. AXN is home to Sherlock and we reinforced our position as the best destination for iconic shows and characters.”

    With an aim to further the Sherlock craze, all marketing elements like on-air promotions, social media buzz, on-ground association, outdoor campaigns, radio spots and PR tools were strategically used to make the premiere a huge success.

    The integrated activities began with a month long on-air campaign that included one-of-a-kind association with India’s leading app Uber and buzziest youth hangout joint Social. The first step was for Uber travelers to unlock the Sherlock code on the Uber app. This resulted in top 100 winners of the activity to watch exclusive screening of Sherlock season 4 episode before the India premiere.

    Uber GM Mumbai and West Shailesh Sawlani added, “We tied up with AXN to give our riders across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore a first-hand flavour of Sherlock, this season. The campaign saw a great response across the three cities and it was a phenomenal experience for the ardent fans to simply enter a promo code to attend the exclusive screening.”

    The three-week long collaboration with Social enabled fans to experience Sherlock’s eccentric lifestyle by being part of an exciting treasure hunt across key Social outlets in India. The fans also got photographs clicked at the Sherlock zone created at the venue, which was equipped with Sherlock props, and win exclusive AXN hampers.

    AXN got on board stand-up comedian of EIC fame, Azeem Banatwalla to take viewers through the Sherlock voyage. A 5-minute crash course to all the previous episodes coupled with his wacky humour, got the more than one million views creating tremendous buzz online.

    Impresario (parent company of Social) director – marketing and strategy Shobita Kadan added, “We were delighted to partner with AXN and provide a platform for the first ever screening of Sherlock for which we share a common audience. Our patrons; true Sherlockians got the opportunity to enjoy the screening well before anyone else in the country. A 360-degree brand experience was curated through various touch points such as a fun treasure hunt, an interactive photo booth and fun giveaways to reinstating the culture-defining Social experience.”