ITV

Tag: Broadcast

  • Nextgen TV powered by ATSC 3.0 to be the focus for CES 2022

    Nextgen TV powered by ATSC 3.0 to be the focus for CES 2022

    Mumbai: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is all set to open in Las Vegas on 5 January with ATSC again taking exhibit space to showcase the expansion of next-generation TV by broadcasters and the growing list of consumer technology companies who are supporting the effort with integrated ATSC 3.0 receivers.
     
    With the recent expansion of Nextgen TV service in Los Angeles, CA and Washington DC, the next-generation broadcasting now reaches nearly half of all American viewers, it said on Monday. Stations in 46 US markets now offer Nextgen TV powered by ATSC 3.0, and market-by-market service launches are expected to continue throughout 2022.

    “With South Korea in its sixth year of ATSC 3.0 services, Jamaica launching commercial services in 2022 and other countries also considering the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standard, next year is promising to carry forward the tremendous momentum of 2021,” said ATSC President Madeleine Noland.  “We’re excited to carry that message to CES in Las Vegas, as the consumer technology industry gathers to mark new innovations for the coming year.”

    Over 2200 exhibitors are confirmed to exhibit in person at CES 2022, which is set to begin on 5 January. According to organisers, in the last two weeks, 143 additional companies have signed up to exhibit in person. The event will also close one day early on January 7 in view of the current health protocols.

  • AIR doubles transmission time for programmes in six languages

    AIR doubles transmission time for programmes in six languages

    Mumbai: Stepping up its outreach to neighbours through airwaves, All India Radio (AIR) has decided to double its transmission time in six languages, starting 3 January.

    Making the announcement, the External Services Division of AIR said, the broadcast time has been doubled from the existing 1- 1.5 hours to three hours. The six languages include Dari, Pashto, Tibetan, Nepali, Baluchi, and Mandarin Chinese. The transmission would now be available daily for 1.5 hours every morning as well as evening.

    While Balochi is spoken in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, Dari and Pashto are spoken in Afghanistan which is currently under Taliban rule.

    Keeping its mandate of reaching out to regions across the globe the External Affairs Division of AIR currently broadcasts in French, Sindhi, Indonesian, Tibetan, Mandarin Chinese, Baluchi, Urdu, Pashto, Arabic, Swahili, Punjabi, Saraiki, Bengali, Persian, Nepali, and Dari.
     

  • Global pay-TV, telecom services to reach $1.5 trillion in 2021: report

    Global pay-TV, telecom services to reach $1.5 trillion in 2021: report

    Mumbai: Worldwide spending on telecommunications and pay-TV services is forecast to reach $1.5 trillion in 2021, representing an increase of one per cent over 2020, according to the latest report released by Intelligence Data Corporation (IDC).

    This growth will largely be driven by remote working, collaboration, and rising online media consumption said the market intelligence firm. The fastest expansion is still expected in the Asia-Pacific region.

    While the value of fixed voice and mobile voice services segments will gradually decline, the value of fixed data and mobile data services portions will slowly grow.

    As per the report, the major driver in the mobile segment will be a gradual recovery of roaming revenues fuelled by the recuperation of the global tourist industry. The market for traditional pay-TV services will continue to decline slowly due to the migration of customers to over-the-top (OTT) video services platforms, it added further.

    The overall market’s growth rates are expected to remain stable during the entire forecast period and even speed up slightly in 2025.

    5G will constitute 38.8 per cent of total mobile connections and 41.3 per cent of total mobile spending by the end of the forecast period in 2025.

    “The troubles related to Covid-19 are still not in the rear-view mirror as the worsening pandemic dynamics in some low-income countries and the global supply-chain disruptions threaten to harm the fragile recovery of the market,” said IDC research director, telecommunications Kresimir Alic. “But because of the resiliency the industry showed during 2020, we are convinced that the market will remain in a positive mood for at least the next couple of years.”a

  • Sony Sports channels to broadcast ‘WWE Crown Jewel’ on 21 October

    Sony Sports channels to broadcast ‘WWE Crown Jewel’ on 21 October

    Mumbai: Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) will telecast the return of ‘WWE Crown Jewel,’ the final event before the changes of the WWE draft goes into effect for both ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown.’ The mega-event will take place in Saudi Arabia on 21 October and the live studio show will be broadcasted at 8:30 p.m IST and the main event will begin at 9:30 p.m IST, shared the channel. 

    “The event will be broadcasted live on Sony Ten 1 channels in English, Sony Ten 3 channels in Hindi and Sony Ten 4 channels in Tamil and Telugu as well as livestreamed on OTT platform SonyLIV. The main event will be preceded by a live studio show “Extraaa Dhamaal” which will feature WWE Legend and hall of fame, Booker T, who will interact with fans and answer their questions on ‘WWE Crown Jewel,’ live on the show,” said the statement.

    The third installment of the WWE pay-per-view (PPV) event will see the return of WWE superstar, Brock Lesnar after he challenged Roman Reigns at the end of ‘SummerSlam 2021.’ Both superstars will be seen in the title match of ‘WWE Crown Jewel 2021’ with Roman Reigns defending his universal championship title.

    The event also provides for an interesting match card with another championship match where SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch will engage in a triple threat bout with Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks. The Scottish warrior, Drew McIntyre will also seek to reclaim his lost WWE title against the current title-holder, Big E, who will defend his title for the first time at a major PPV event, making it an explosive showdown. Goldberg and Bobby Lashley will also be seen in a no-holds-barred match. Viewers will also witness yet another Raw tag team match between SmackDown winners RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) and former winners AJ Styles and Omos at the event.

    Apart from the above matches, the event will also feature an iconic hell-in-a-cell match between long-standing rivals, Edge and Seth Rollins. ‘WWE Crown Jewel 2021’ will also host the finals of the ‘King of the Ring’ tournament as well as the ‘Queen’s Crown Tournament,’ making it symbolically apt to crown the new king and the queen at the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • NDTV records best-ever Q1 with a profit of Rs 13.9 cr

    NDTV records best-ever Q1 with a profit of Rs 13.9 cr

    Mumbai: The NDTV Group has reported over two-fold increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 16.56 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June, marking its best first quarter result in over a decade.

    Its TV news channel-  NDTV Ltd raked in a profit of Rs 13.9 crores in Q1, along with NDTV Convergence, the digital arm of the Group, which has delivered an increase of 41 percent in revenue over the same time last year.

    According to the regulatory filing, the company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 7.55 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal. Its consolidated revenue from operations during April-June 2021 stood at Rs 85.02 crore as against Rs 72.73 crore in the year-ago period. Total expenses stood at Rs 77.92 crore, compared with Rs 64.64 crore a year ago, the company said. The Group’s total liabilities have been reduced by Rs 23 crores in this quarter; bank borrowings are down by Rs 8.7 crores.

    “NDTV, with the support of each employee, has worked to mitigate any uncertainty caused by the impact of the pandemic on the economy and all businesses. It thanks its team for their superlative reporting and commitment to providing news as an essential service at this difficult time. Given the economic landscape, the Management will control expenses and focus all efforts on ensuring the Company’s financial position strengthens further,” it said in the filing.

    The company also said that its board has appointed Grant Thornton Bharat LLP (formerly Grant Thornton India LLP) as its internal auditors for one year, with effect from 11 August.

  • I&B Minister Anurag Thakur meets the NBA Board

    I&B Minister Anurag Thakur meets the NBA Board

    New Delhi : The newly appointed union minister for Information and Broadcasting  Anurag Thakur met the board members of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Saturday to discuss various pertinent issues concerning news channels and the broadcast industry.

    Led by NBA president and chairman and editor-in-chief of India TV, Rajat Sharma, the delegation included ABP Network CEO  Avinash Pandey, Zee News, editor-in-chief and CEO, Sudhir Chaudhary, News24 chairperson and managing director Anuradha Prasad Shukla, India Today Group vice chairperson Kalli Purie, and NDTV editorial director Sonia Singh.

    The discussions delved into various issues including that of attaining a stable regulatory climate in the industry and other positive changes that can be introduced in the television ecosystem.

    Speaking about the meeting, spokesperson of NBA said, “Effective communication is extremely important for us to uplift the broadcast industry and implement positive changes. The discussion helped us provide direction to various issues within the industry. We are looking forward to working closely with the union minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur to take the broadcast industry to greater heights.”

    Further, NBA members discussed the industry landscape in the post-COVID scenario and apprised the minister about their concerns. The meeting also threw light on creating a strong policy roadmap for growth in the post-Covid era for the broadcast industry. 

  • Zee Entertainment’s net profit rises 604% in June ’21 quarter

    Zee Entertainment’s net profit rises 604% in June ’21 quarter

    New Delhi: Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ consolidated net profit rose 604 per cent to Rs 213.8 crore in the quarter ended June 2021 as against Rs 30.37 crore during the previous quarter ended June 2020. The company announced its Q1 FY22 results on Friday.

    Sales rose 35.29 per cent to Rs 1774.98 crore in the quarter ended June 2021 as against Rs 1312.03 crore during the previous quarter ended June 2020. With lockdowns in most states, TV viewership again jumped during the quarter, though lower than Q1 of last year.

    Domestic ad revenues for both Q1FY22 and Q1FY21 were impacted by lockdowns. However, the impact this year was much lower, reflected in 127.9 per cent YoY growth. Compared to Q1FY20, domestic ad revenues were lower by 22.7 per cent.

    In terms of subscription revenue, the network said embargo on pricing change due to NTO 2.0 litigation continued to hurt domestic television pay revenue growth. The 2 per cent growth over Q1FY21 was driven primarily by digital business.

    The programming cost increased YoY as original content production largely continued across the states during the lockdown at alternate locations. Increase in marketing cost on a YoY basis was on account of the release of Radhe and continued investments in ZEE5. The marketing costs in Q1FY21 was lower on account of much lower original content production.

    Lower ad revenues on one hand and increase in costs due to lockdown Rs. 271mn on the other affected EBITDA for the quarter.

    Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi movies continued strong performance, however, Zee TV, Zee Marathi and Zee Tamil performance was soft during the quarter, indicating headroom for growth in key markets. The company also said it will revamp the programming line-up for Hindi, Marathi and Tamil programming in Q2.

    Streaming platform ZEE5 witnessed 80.2mn global monthly active users and 7.1mn global daily active users in Jun ’21. It recorded a total of 190 minutes’ average watch time per viewer per month in Q1. As many as 11 original movies and shows were released during the quarter.

  • Times Network rejigs top leadership, elevates Rahul Shivshankar to editorial director

    Times Network rejigs top leadership, elevates Rahul Shivshankar to editorial director

    Mumbai: The Times Network on Tuesday announced key appointments and elevations in its leadership team. On the editorial front, Rahul Shivshankar has been elevated to editorial director. In addition to the new role, he will continue to lead the editorial mandate of Times Now as its editor-in-chief.

    The announcement comes at a time when the broadcast network is gearing up for the launch of its Hindi news channels, Times Now Navbharat HD and ET Now Swadesh. On Monday, the company named Times Network group editor Navika Kumar as the editor-in-chief of the new channel.

    Times Network, MD and CEO, MK Anand said, “2020 was a tumultuous year for the broadcasters and while we were severely tested by the pandemic, Times Network not just managed to harness every headwind in its path but continued to march ahead successfully by setting new industry benchmarks. The superior talent of our leadership team is one of key pillars that drove the network’s significant growth during these unprecedented times and accelerated our overall digital transformation efforts. Their elevations are a recognition of their contribution to the growth of the company.”

    Strengthening its digital portfolio, the company has elevated Vivek Srivastava to president, strategy & operations – Broadcast & Digital. He will lead the digital operations of the network and oversee product strategy, audience development and operations planning for both digital and broadcast businesses.

    Savvy Dilip has been appointed as executive vice president & head- digital growth. Savvy will lead product development, content led audience growth, technology based digital consumer experiences, social media amplification and online marketing for all the digital platforms of the Network. A seasoned professional, Savvy brings in-depth expertise across Marketing, Media, Product, Technology and Entrepreneurship. In her new role, Savvy will be reporting to Vivek Srivastava.

    Other senior management promotions include Manish Wadkar, senior vice president & head – Legal, Pranav Bakshi, senior vice president – digital, Hina Jafri, vice president & head – Corporate Communications, Poonam Bavdanker, vice president – Human Resources, Saurabh Bhowal, vice president & head – content and programming, Zoom & The Zoom Studios and Mihir Bhatt, vice president & executive editor, Times Influence.

    Continuing to play a pivotal role in aiding the Network’s growth, leadership team comprising Jagdish Mulchandani – chief operating Officer and executive president, Jignesh Kenia, executive vice president & head – corporate strategy & digital transformation, Gaurav Dhawan, executive vice president – revenue and S. Srivathsan as executive vice president and Head – human resources will drive their respective portfolios for the Network.

  • Times Network unveils logo of its upcoming Hindi News Channel

    Times Network unveils logo of its upcoming Hindi News Channel

    New Delhi: Setting the stage for the launch of its new Hindi news channel, the Times Network on Sunday officially unveiled the new logo of its upcoming television channel, which has been titled as Times Now Navbharat HD.

    The media network has decided to take the HD route for its latest new offering. According to sources, the preparations are in full swing, and the launch could be announced anytime soon.

     

     

    Times Network is the television division of BCCL, the parent company of the Times Group, which owns and operates brands like The Times of India and the Economic Times. It also houses the television channels – TIMES NOW, Times Now (World), ET NOW, Mirror NOW, Movies NOW & Movies Now HD, MN+, Romedy NOW and Romedy NOW HD, MNX and MNX HD and Zoom.

    The upcoming launch comes almost 15 years after the launch of its English news channel, Times Now, which was launched in January, 2006 and is currently led by the editor-in-chief Rahul Shivshanka and group editor Navika Kumar.

  • I&B ministry may adopt TV rating committee’s recommendations : Anurag Thakur

    I&B ministry may adopt TV rating committee’s recommendations : Anurag Thakur

    New Delhi:  The ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) has analysed and evaluated the recommendations made by the committee led by Prasar Bharti chief executive officer Shashi Shekhar Vempati to review the current guidelines on TV rating agencies in India.

    The newly inducted I&B minister Anurag Thakur told the Lok Sabha on Friday, that the recommendations will be incorporated into the existing TV rating guidelines wherever required. “The recommendations have been analysed and evaluated vis-à-vis their being translated, if required, into the existing guidelines where-ever required,” said Thakur while responding to a question on the action-taken report of the said committee.

    The union minister said the existing guidelines have provisions like methodology for audience measurement, panel selection, viewing platform secrecy and privacy, data analysis, transparency etc. which are essential for a transparent and accountable rating system in India.

    The guidelines, inter-alia, prescribe that the panel homes shall be drawn from the pool of households selected through an establishment survey. The procedure adopted for selection and rotation of the panel homes shall be made transparent. Further, the panel size shall be increased in a graded manner and has to remain representative of all TV households in the country.

    The guidelines also prescribe that the rating agency shall publish the detailed methodology on its website. These parameters have been included in the existing guidelines to ensure transparency and representative collection of panel homes.

    “Based on the recommendations of the Committee headed by CEO, Prasar Bharati along with recommendations of TRAI, the present guidelines have been analysed / evaluated vis-à-vis strengthening of transparency / panel homes and other parameters,” the minister told the Parliament.

    The TV rating system in India came under scanner when in October 2020, the Mumbai police claimed in a press briefing that they had unearthed a case of manipulation of TRPs and found some incriminating evidence. The police said the accused were allegedly bribing households with BARC bar-o-meters installed to keep a particular channel running, leading to several arrests. In light of the controversy, BARC had temporarily suspended publishing of weekly data for news channels.