ITV

Tag: Channel 4

  • Drama revolving around autism wins attention – and a place in Cannes

    Drama revolving around autism wins attention – and a place in Cannes

    MUMBAI: The A Word, a series revolving around autism. by Fifty Fathoms and Keshet International and aired on BBC One on 22 March at 9.00 pm claimed a viewership of an average 4.7 million viewers which went up to 5 million in the final 15 minutes.

    The numbers were double that of the competition on ITV1 and Channel 4 and 1.2% above the average annual share for the slot. It is based on the original Israeli drama Yellow Peppers by Keren Margalit who is also executive producer on the UK series.

    Directed by Peter Cattaneo and written by Peter Bowker, the series has also been selected as one of the 12 high-end drama series to make an international debut at the inaugural MIP Drama screenings on 3 April. The series will be the first of all the dramas to debut at JW Marriot Hotel in Cannes from 10.10 am.

    The impact of the premiere was also demonstrated through social media activity which revealed a nationwide conversation about viewers’ emotional response to the series, which was also trending on Twitter in the United Kingdom.

    Bowker is a multiple BAFTA winner and Golden Globe nominee (Marvellous, Blackpool.) Cattaneo is an Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner (The Full Monty Rev).

    The A Word is a smart, contemporary drama about a messy, extended family with Joe, a child with autism, which is unable to communicate because of a gulf between their deepest feelings and how they express them.

    Alison played by Morven Christie and Paul Hughes enacted by Lee Ingleby are a mid-30s couple building a life in the Lake District for themselves and their two children. They live in close proximity to their extended family which includes Nicola played by Vinette Robinson and Steve enacted by Greg McHugh who are grappling with unfaithfulness in their marriage. Maurice played by Chris Eccleston plays a recent widower who is owner of the family brewery.

  • Drama revolving around autism wins attention – and a place in Cannes

    Drama revolving around autism wins attention – and a place in Cannes

    MUMBAI: The A Word, a series revolving around autism. by Fifty Fathoms and Keshet International and aired on BBC One on 22 March at 9.00 pm claimed a viewership of an average 4.7 million viewers which went up to 5 million in the final 15 minutes.

    The numbers were double that of the competition on ITV1 and Channel 4 and 1.2% above the average annual share for the slot. It is based on the original Israeli drama Yellow Peppers by Keren Margalit who is also executive producer on the UK series.

    Directed by Peter Cattaneo and written by Peter Bowker, the series has also been selected as one of the 12 high-end drama series to make an international debut at the inaugural MIP Drama screenings on 3 April. The series will be the first of all the dramas to debut at JW Marriot Hotel in Cannes from 10.10 am.

    The impact of the premiere was also demonstrated through social media activity which revealed a nationwide conversation about viewers’ emotional response to the series, which was also trending on Twitter in the United Kingdom.

    Bowker is a multiple BAFTA winner and Golden Globe nominee (Marvellous, Blackpool.) Cattaneo is an Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner (The Full Monty Rev).

    The A Word is a smart, contemporary drama about a messy, extended family with Joe, a child with autism, which is unable to communicate because of a gulf between their deepest feelings and how they express them.

    Alison played by Morven Christie and Paul Hughes enacted by Lee Ingleby are a mid-30s couple building a life in the Lake District for themselves and their two children. They live in close proximity to their extended family which includes Nicola played by Vinette Robinson and Steve enacted by Greg McHugh who are grappling with unfaithfulness in their marriage. Maurice played by Chris Eccleston plays a recent widower who is owner of the family brewery.

  • WPP’s Landor acquires majority stake in UK motion design studio

    WPP’s Landor acquires majority stake in UK motion design studio

    MUMBAI: WPP’s strategic brand consulting and design firm Landor has acquired a majority stake in the UK based motion design studio ManvsMachine.

     

    ManvsMachine is based in London and has worked on a range of global campaigns for clients that include Nike, Microsoft, Honda and Audi, as well as identity campaigns for broadcasters such as Channel 4, Discovery, NBC Universal and ITV2.

     

    The acquisition is part of an ongoing strategy at Landor to broaden its creative capabilities, in this instance in screen-based and multi-channel branding.

     

    ManvsMachine’s unaudited revenue for the year ended 31 May, 2015 was ?3.4 million, with gross assets of ?1.9 million as at the same date. 

     

    This acquisition continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important sectors and markets.

  • GSN & Channel 4’s Walter Presents acquires ‘Deutschland 83’

    GSN & Channel 4’s Walter Presents acquires ‘Deutschland 83’

    MUMBAI: Global Series Network (GSN) and Channel 4 new video streaming brand – Walter Presents, which is slated to launch in January 2016, has acquired the German drama Deutschland 83.

     

    Walter Presents will showcase the world’s best foreign-language drama free-of-charge to UK viewers and will be exclusively available in the UK via Channel 4’s new digital hub, All 4.

     

    To celebrate the launch of the service, Deutschland 83 will premiere on Channel 4 before being available exclusively as a box-set on Walter Presents. A taut, gripping and stylish eight-part German thriller set amidst the menaces of a divided Germany in the early 1980s, Deutschland 83 is one of Germany’s most hotly anticipated dramas of recent years and the first German-language drama ever to air in the US.

     

    Further announcements regarding other acquisitions on the service will be made at MIPCOM.

     

    Capitalising on the growing demand for premium world drama, Walter Presents will eventually host more than 600 hours of drama that will be available for box-set viewing on All 4, and will include the option to download episodes to watch on the go. In addition, a selection of the best series from Walter Presents will also broadcast on Channel 4 and More 4, the latter within a dedicated, regular scheduled slot.

     

    Titles that will be available through Walter Presents in the first year will originate from a wide range of territories, including Brazil, France, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Israel, Belgium, Poland, Chile and Denmark among others.

     

    GSN chief creative officer and Walter Presents curator Walter Iuzzolino said, “We live in the golden age of serial drama – with French and Scandi thrillers gripping audiences in their millions. This is the perfect time to introduce UK viewers to a much broader choice of the very best dramas and box sets from around the world, which they never previously knew existed.”

     

    Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt added, “Channel 4 has steadily grown its reputation for bringing the best of world drama to the UK – from The Returned to Saboteurs. The remarkable Deutschland 83 is a perfect launch for Walter presents – which will allow UK audiences to enjoy hand-picked global hits.”

     

    Directed by Edward Berger and Samira Radsi, FremantleMedia International holds the global distribution rights to the series. 

     

    FremantleMedia International EVP and head of sales and distribution Jamie Lynn said, “With its strong characters and bold story lines, the series is an ideal and key series for the Walter Presents launch. We’re thrilled to be working with the teams at GSN and Channel 4 to bring one of the most anticipated series of 2015 to the UK.”

     

    Created by German-American couple Anna Winger and Joerg Winger, the series reveals the experiences of Germans from both sides of the wall during heightened Cold War tensions. The series was the first German-language drama ever to air in the US. 

  • French football to air on UK terrestrial TV for first time

    French football to air on UK terrestrial TV for first time

    MUMBAI: The UK’s Channel 4 will air French league matches from the middle of this month in a deal with TWI, who will also produce the show.
     

    It will be the first time France’s Ligue 1 (the LFP – Ligue de Football Professionel) is shown on terrestrial television in the UK. And it will bring the French game to a new generation of football fans as C4 did previously with its coverage of Football Italia.

    The action will kick off with a series of Saturday night games shown from 13 November, followed by matches and highlights on Sunday mornings from 9 January.
     
    It will feature games by players like French international and former Manchester United star Fabien Barthez, who now plays with Ligue 1 side Marseille, or ex- Arsenal player Sylvain Wiltord, now with Lyon.

    TWI recently won a four-year deal for the international broadcasting rights to Ligue 1. It also already produces the sports magazine show Trans World Sport, which is shown on C4 on Sunday mornings, and gains a 260 million audience across 131 countries.
  • Facebook making people cling to TV

    Facebook making people cling to TV

    CANNES: Whoever said Facebook and others of its ilk were responsible for driving audiences away from television would be forced to do a rethink after this gem of a revelation from Facebook VP of partnership, Dan Rose.

    “Facebook now talks of television. And discussions or comments between friends are more about content aired on television,” said Rose in his keynote address on the inaugural day of Mipcom.

    And it didn’t end there. He went on to announce: “We have expanded our list of data partners across the globe.”

    Among the ten global TV companies with whom Facebook has partnered is Star India for beta test- this being its first partnership in India. Says Star India, EVP marketing and communications Gayatri Yadav: Star India will be the first media brand in India to partner with Facebook as part of a beta to use their APIs in our programming. The goal is to work closely with Facebook to develop this offering and leverage this tool to gain rich insights into social conversations on Facebook related to our content. Today the first port of call for consumers when they want to talk about content is often social media people love sharing their thoughts and feelings about the latest shows online. This will help us better understand audience reactions to programming and deliver better real time consumer insight.”

    The other networks include: TF1, Esporte Interativo, Canal+, CBC, Food Network, Channel 4, ProSieben, and Discovery.”

    Rose explained how social media had become an inseparable part of television. “There is now an intersection of social media and TV. In fact, now, TV is leveraging new technology to improve its experience with social media,” he said, while addressing a packed auditorium at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.

    Referring to Facebook as the second screen, Rose said: “So while everyone thought we were driving people away from TV, the second screen is in fact making them cling to TV.”

    Substantiating his statement with facts, Rose elaborated: “There were 29 million interactions on Facebook about Wimbledon. When MTV Video Music Awards was aired, there were 26.5 million interactions about the awards on Facebook. Also, NBA finals received close to 125 million interactions.”

    Statistically speaking, there are 1.15 billion people on Facebook today. An average mobile user in the US spends approximately 14 hours every month on FB and nearly six hours on Instagram. 18 million people in France are active users of Facebook, of which 11 million use mobile phones for it.

    Asked what keeps Facebook alive and ticking, Rose said: “There are three best practices to follow: One, to spark the conversation. Facebook has added #Hashtags and also come up with trending topics to spark conversations. Two, we connect with fans through public figures. People on Facebook love hearing from public figures. And thirdly, leverage tools. We launched public feed API that gives real time feed of public posts.”

  • SES launches Astra 2F Satellite

    SES launches Astra 2F Satellite

    MUMBAI: Leading satellite operator SES has said its new Astra 2F satellite has been successfully launched on 28 September, on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. This is SES’ 36th successful launch on Ariane.

     

    Astra 2F was built by Astrium in Toulouse using a Eurostar E3000 platform and carries Ku- and Ka-band payloads for the delivery of high-performance Direct-to-Home (DTH) and next generation broadband services. It is the first of a three satellite investment programme (Astra 2E, 2F and 2G), that provides replacement and growth capacity for the UK and Ireland at the 28.2/28.5 degrees East neighbourhood.

    The new satellites in this neighbourhood will, as of October 2013, also use additional frequency spectrum for which the right of use was granted to SES by Media Broadcast pursuant to an agreement entered into in 2005. The new Astra 2F spacecraft also provides Ku-band capacity for pan-European services and for Sub-Saharan Africa. Its Ka-band payload will allow SES Broadband Services to support download speeds of up to 20 Mps.

     

    “The successful launch of Astra 2F is part of our fleet replacement and expansion programme,” said SES CEO Romain Bausch. “Astra 2F will provide seamless replacement capacity for our UK customers like BSkyB, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and will allow us to operate additional capacity at 28.2/28.5 degrees East on SES satellites. This orbital neighbourhood today serves close to 13 million DTH homes in the UK and Ireland. We would like to thank our long-standing partners Astrium and Arianespace for this mission success.”

    Astra 2F had a launch mass of 6 tons, generates 13 kW of power, and has a design life of 15 years. It is the fifth Eurostar satellite in the SES fleet. The new spacecraft will be brought into commercial service in the next few weeks following the completion of the extensive in-orbit testing programme.
  • Sky News, Channel 4 triumph at Intl Emmy Awards

    Sky News, Channel 4 triumph at Intl Emmy Awards

    MUMBAI: The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Iatas) has announced the 2010 International Emmy Awards winners for its News and Current Affairs categories.

    UK coverage of The Taliban in Pakistan won in both categories. Sky News Pakistan-Terrors‘ Front Line presenting exclusive coverage revealing that the Taliban are in control of a large part of Pakistan, won the News Category. Dispatches – Pakistan‘s Taliban Generation, a special produced by October Film for Channel 4, which investigates how the war on terror is creating a generation of child terrorists- both inside and outside Pakistan, won the Current Affairs Category.

    Iatas president and CEO Bruce L Paisner says, “We congratulate the men and women behind these ground-breaking reports. Despite the danger surrounding them, they are committed to journalistic excellence and we are pleased to be recognising their outstanding work with an Emmy.”

    Nominees for 10 other International Emmy Awards categories will be announced on 4 October at the television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, France. Winners will receive their awards at the 38th International Emmy Awards Gala on 22 November in New York City.

  • Channel 4 postpones sex shows after Shetty controversy

    Channel 4 postpones sex shows after Shetty controversy

    MUMBAI: Following the criticism of racism on its show Celebrity Big Brother which saw Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty win, UK broadcaster Channel 4 has decided to postpone a series of shows on sex.

    The series of programmes were to be themed around masturbation. One show media reports state was a documentary about a charity ‘masturbate-athon’. Another programme called Virgin School, was to feature a 40-year-old former vicar being taught sex techniques in Amsterdam

    A spokesperson for the channel though was quoted saying that they will evenutually air. Clearly the channel does not want to air content that has the potential to lead to more negative publicity.

    Meanwhile the row over Celebrity Big Brother continues to make headlines.

    Reports state that one of Shetty’s three alleged tormentors, glamour model Danielle Lloyd, has met police for a three-hour discussion about the race row.

  • Global revenue from online video will grow to nearly $1.5 billion by the end of 2007

    Global revenue from online video will grow to nearly $1.5 billion by the end of 2007

    MUMBAI: Global revenue from online video sales, rentals or subscriptions will total just $298 million this year, but will grow to nearly $1.5 billion by the end of 2007.

    A report from research firm Strategy Analytics states that With more than 100 million TV shows, movies and other programs downloaded, 2006 will be remembered as the year in which online sales of prerecorded video finally became a real business.

    Kicked off by a strong push from Apple Computer and other media companies, online video sales will be driven by a fast-growing broadband audience seeking new ways to find, watch and pay for video.

    TUsing demand elasticity analysis and feedback from 1,700 broadband users, Strategy Analytics projects that by 2010 global revenue will surge to $5.9 billion, accounting for eight percent of total home video industry revenues. Regions covered in this global forecast report include Asia Pacific, Central and Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and North America.

    Companies covered in this report include ABC, Amazon, AOL, Apple, BitTorrent, British Telecom, Channel 4, CinemaNow, Deutsche Telekom, Glowria, Google, Guba, LOVEFiLM, Microsoft, MovieLink, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Starz Entertainment, Viacom, Wal-Mart, the Walt Disney and YouTube.