ITV

Tag: capitalise

  • NDTV, Malaysia Tourism board look to capitalise on F1 fever

    MUMBAI: Malaysia – Truly Asia! With Narain Kartikeyan joining the Formula One team of Jordan, F1 fever is on a gradual rise in India.

    In order to capitalise on the excitement and lure Indians to Malaysia, the Malaysia Tourism Board has announced a tie up with news broadcaster NDTV. One of the races takes place in Sepang Malaysia from 18-20 March 2005.

     
     
    NDTV is all geared up for a heavy promotion across its three channels (NDTV 24×7, NDTV Profit and NDTV India) from 28 February. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, at a corporate do on 22 February, NDTV CEO Raj Nayak said, ” We will be conducting a Speed to Sepang Contest. Viewers get the chance to win an all expense stay in Malaysia to see the race . Advertisers are already showing interest in F1 and the sport will grow in popularity faster than people think. Till now it has been all cricket.

    “However with Kartikeyan and Sania Mirza in tennis doing well sponsorship money will go to these sports. Of course a lot will also depend on how these two fare as the year goes on.”

     
     
    Nayak added that in 1997-98 when he was selling ESPN Star Sports, Kingfisher sponsored a F1 car. “They must be kicking themselves that they did not continue with the sponsorship. There is a need for corporates to encourage sports other than cricket. We at NDTV will put our best foot forward. In the promos you will see shots of Kartikeyan as well as what facilities Malaysia has to offer. While we would love to use Kartikeyan as a promotional tool he is very busy travelling. We might also tie up with Fosters for cross branding in pubs and restaurants.”
     
     
    Malaysia Tourism Board representative Manoharan pointed out that Malaysia is a tourists’ paradise. ” In 2003 we had used Celina Jaitley and got a 1000 visitors from India. Last year because of the elections in India the number of people travelling to Malaysia came down. This year we are targetting at least 2000 visitors from India for the race. If we reach 5000 we will be over the moon. Overall we are looking at 120,000 visitors. In 1999 when we started we got 80,000 visitors.

    “We chose NDTV because of its reach and the fact that people that can afford to spend watch the channel. I am sure that Indians will cheer Kartikeyan on and if given a chance they would visit our country. It is cheaper than Europe and also the plane ticket cost is cheaper than some domestic flights in India. Hopefully we will be able to get Celina again though I understand that she is busy making films. If we cannot get her then we will look at roping in another Bollywood star.”

    The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) organises and promotes the 2005 Formula One Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix. Manoharan added that in India the board promotes its customised packages among corporate sponsors. This marks a change in strategy from a few years ago when their promotions revolved around creating awareness about the country and what it offered. The board has initiated dialogue with 60 sponsors. Emailers are one important promotional tool for the board. The board has also in the past used channels like CNN for a cross regional promotion. Print insertions will also appear in select Indian publications urging people to visit the country.

    “For Formula One attendees there will also be a Gala dinner. We expect several thousand attendees. The proceeds will go towards helping the victims of the Tsunami natural disaster.”

  • NGC US looks to capitalise on ‘Star Wars’ hype with ‘Extraterrestrial’ special

    MUMBAI: As the conclusion to the Star Wars saga Revenge of The Sith takes the world by storm National Geographic Channel (NGC) in the US has announced a special documentary Extraterrestrial which will air on 30 May.
     

    Tthe show will feature an array of new and bizarre planetary creatures. What makes them unique is the fact that they are scientifically based visions of life as predicted by some of the world’s leading scientists.

    The show creates two worlds which scientists believe could exist in our own Milky Way galaxy, putting evolution into motion to investigate what life forms could survive there. Utilising a combination of computer generated imaging (CGI) and 3-D effects, Extraterrestrial takes viewers on a galactic journey to come face-to-face with these fantastic alien life forms.

    The show reflects the contributions of leading scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), prestigious
    universities and organisations like the Ecospheres Project and the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The experts anticipate discoveries to be made in the near future, when super-powerful new telescopes will begin watching the fringes of the Milky Way for signs of life.
     
     

    Using super computers powerful enough to make predictions about the Earth’s climate Extraterrestrial’s scientists modeled the weather and climate for a planet that would orbit a red dwarf star, one of the most common stars in our galaxy. To their astonishment, the resulting profile indicated that the planet would be capable of supporting life.

    Based on the latest scientific results and deep space observations, two planets are identified to
    represent statistically likely celestial bodies and are subsequently named Aurelia and Blue Moon. Extraterrestrial then brings the science team’s
    visions of their respective inhabitants to the screen through CGI modelling and animation.

    One of the Planets Aurelia, which circles a red dwarf star, is representative of one of the
    most habitable types of planets. The scientists are confident of finding something very similar to Aurelia. It’s very much in the cards according to them.

    A place of extremes, one side of Aurelia is permanently exposed to starlight, the other in eternal freezing darkness. There are no seasons, days or nights. Cloud and lightning storms cover the center of the light side,
    while a giant ice cap smothers much of the dark side. As viewers descend into the light side, violent storm clouds give way to a landscape of immense rivers and vast flood plains, several times bigger than the Amazon.

    Evolutionary biologists and biomechanists then conceived of life forms they believe could survive on Aurelia — nicknaming them Stinger Fans, Gulphogs and Hysteria among others.
    Stinger Fans on Aurelia resemble tall plants with giant fans at the top, but they are flesh-and-blood animals that feed on the sun’s energy.

    Large slithery tentacles constantly move them slowly across the mud, jostling for the best place to capture the sun’s precious rays.
    The Gulphog is the largest predator in the Stinger Fan forest, standing nearly 15 feet high, massive as a buffalo, but with a giraffe-like neck and prominent central teeth. Although it looks ungainly, scientists’ calculations show that the Gulphog can run as fast as a racehorse. Its long legs often help it outrun an indigenous predator, dubbed the deadly Hysteria.

    Hysteria look like tadpoles, peacefully eating tiny creatures that live in Aurelia’s lagoons. But the Hysteria can undergo a terrifying transformation
    when they come together as one undulating creature, rising from the water to bore into land-based victims and releasing a flesh dissolving toxin.

  • Thomson looks to capitalise on Asia media space

    Thomson looks to capitalise on Asia media space

    MUMBAI: French Electronics and media services company Thomson has outlined a strategic growth map for the next two years.

    As far as the media and entertainment sector is concerned the company is looking to broaden the offering to existing clients and expand client base including Asia.

    The company is looking to double the number of clients with whom it generates over E25 million in sales. It is also looking to add at least five new revenue-generating activities to its portfolio.

    One major change is that the company will no longer manufacture television sets. It will sell its tubes and display business. Instead the group will focus on media technologies like technology for set top boxes. It plans to raise its profile in technology-related debates and industry choices.

    It is looking to double revenues in technology from the current E150 million. The core research budget will go up by 50 per cent in 2005 and 2006.

    Thomson chairman and CEO Frank Dangeard said, “Our two-year plan is driven by the way in which we see our core markets and client base evolving through 2010. Based on this long-term view, we have defined our 2006 strategic priorities and, in each case, we have clear roadmaps and targets.

    “The group has new momentum, reflected in a simple and flexible organisation. By 2006 we will be fully focussed on the media and entertainment industries, have a more diversified spread of activities and a broader client base, and will be uniquely positioned to benefit from the rapid pace of technology change in these industries.”

    In the framework of its two year plan, Thomson has significant revenue generating business units which will remain “locomotives” for growth. This includes physical media in the form of film and DVDs.

  • Mumbai-based companies claim to launch India’s first indigenous STBs

    Mumbai-based companies claim to launch India’s first indigenous STBs

    MUMBAI: Even as several multi system operators have announced tie ups with global conditional access companies and vendors for imports, a few Indian set top manufacturing companies have announced plans to launch their products and capitalise on the huge opportunity to go global.
     

    Broadband Pacenet India has announced that its set-top boxes are highly sophisticated indigenous “home genies” that include features such as a peoplemeter and ethernet output (to enable Internet surfing).

    Another Mumbai-based company Telenext Convergence has also announced the launch of an indigenous set top box (STB) in joint collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
     

    Six persons from the Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology at IIT and a team of 26 engineers from Bangalore based VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) have worked for over two years to produce this indigenous set-top box for Telenext. The STB will be priced at Rs 3,500 and the organisation is in talks with MSOs and cable operators, as consumers cannot directly buy it, as the encrypted smart card of their cable operators may not match this.

    Broadband Pacenet India CEO S Ravindran says that their advanced STBs (rather ‘home genies’) will be economically priced around the same level of Rs 3,500. ETC Networks JS Kohli says that he expects penetration to touch 50-60 per cent levels if the current “pay channels” remain “pay”.

    Experts say the primary issue will relate to the smart-card user identification elements such as the public and private keys. “Pacenet’s STBs have RSA data security for enhanced security. The 128-bit configuration will take 50 years to crack whereas the 1024-bit configuration is almost impossible to crack. Pacenet home genies have the latter,” says Ravindran.

    Ravindran goes on to add: “Our ‘home genies’ will have elements such as RSA 1024-bit; DES (Digital Encryption System) and AES (advanced encryption systems); with peoplemeter facilities. We have plans to get these STBs certified by companies such as Business Proton and Tata Consultancy Services and then sell them in the global markets.”