ITV

Tag: Denmark

  • Nordic households caught in the act: piracy up 16 per cent as illegal IPTV continues to boom

    Nordic households caught in the act: piracy up 16 per cent as illegal IPTV continues to boom

    MUMBAI: Piracy in the Nordics isn’t just about dodging subscription fees anymore—it’s now fuelling organised crime. New research by Mediavision reveals over 1.5 million households in the region are paying for illegal IPTV services, up 200,000 homes (16 per cent) from spring 2024. These services offer cut-price, unlawful access to premium TV channels and streaming content.

    While Finland lags slightly in pirate uptake, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are sailing in the same leaky boat. Behind the scenes? A report in late 2024 had disclosed that the web of illegal operators had ties to trafficking and drug cartels.

    “Piracy continues to pose a serious threat to the industry,” said Mediavision.  senior analyst Adrian Grande. “As illegal IPTV keeps growing, it is encouraging that the issue is on the agenda, but it is also clear that action is needed to tackle the problem”.

    The reason: rising living costs and high OTT prices were pushing households into piracy’s arms.

    And it’s not just a fringe issue—25 per cent of 15–74-year-olds in the region streamed or downloaded content illegally in mid-2024 alone. The Nordic Content Protection (NCP) had in 2024 sounded the alarm, not just on copyright theft but its criminal underbelly. 

    To fight back, the NCP had teamed up with TV 2 Denmark, Viaplay Group, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Allente to launch high-impact anti-piracy campaigns, fronted by local TV personalities. These aired throughout 2024, hoping to shock users into realising that their dodgy stream might be bankrolling crime.

    In Norway, legislators are exploring a bold fix: a payment ban on IPTV services, similar to restrictions already placed on offshore gambling. Meanwhile, Sweden’s laws remain murky, with NCP pushing for stricter, clearer rules.

    As pirates loot the digital seas of Europe, Indian broadcasters and streamers would be wise to keep their periscopes up. How much of a revenue loss they are incurring on account of  the Nordic pilferage only a deeper inquiry can ascertain.

  • SPNI to broadcast Davis Cup tie between India-Denmark on 4 and 5 March

    SPNI to broadcast Davis Cup tie between India-Denmark on 4 and 5 March

    Mumbai: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has acquired the exclusive media rights to broadcast Davis Cup tie between India and Denmark on 4 and 5 March.

    As part of the deal signed with the All India Tennis Association, SPNI will broadcast the tournament on Sony Ten 2 channels across India and the subcontinent including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well as live-stream the tournament on their OTT platform, SonyLIV.  

    The Davis Cup World Group play-off tie between India and Denmark will be played at Delhi Gymkhana Club’s grass court. Under the leadership of captain Rohit Rajpal and mentorship of coach Zeeshan Ali, the Indian team comprises Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan. Denmark will feature Mikael Torpegaard, Johannes Ingildsen, Christian Sigsgaard and Elmer Møller.

    The Davis Cup matches are scheduled to start from 4 March, with a 15-minute opening ceremony, followed by the final day of the Indian leg on 5 March.   

    “We are pleased to acquire the media rights of the highly anticipated Davis Cup Tie between India and Denmark,” said SPNI chief revenue officer distribution and head – sports business Rajesh Kaul. “With India being the host for the tournament, tennis fans in India are looking forward to watching Team India serve up Denmark with the home ground advantage. Our viewers will get to cheer on top Indian players like Rohit Rajpal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan who will be playing for their country.”

  • Netflix expands in Europe, brings in two originals, hires 400

    MUMBAI: Netflix, the world’s leading global internet TV service, has announced the creation of 400 jobs at its new European customer service hub which opened this week in Amsterdam. Supporting customers across 11 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the UK), the multilingual hub will employ initially a workforce of 170, growing to 345 by the end of 2017 and surpassing 400 by the end of 2018.*

    Amsterdam is the location also of Netflix’s recently expanded European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters, which has doubled its workforce since the beginning of 2016.** More than 120 employees from 18 countries work at the EMEA HQ in business development, marketing, PR, public policy and corporate functions such as finance, legal and recruiting.

    The ongoing expansion of Netflix’s workforce in Europe complements the company’s ever-growing investment in European productions (licensed, original and co-productions). Marking the global launch last month of Las Chicas del Cable, Netflix’s first original series from Spain, the company confirmed plans to announce at least six new European original projects before the end of 2017. The first of these, Dogs of Berlin, was announced on 28 April and will be written, produced and shot in Germany before launching in 2018. The second, a new French original called Osmosis, was announced today and is expected to begin production in France in 2018. Netflix has committed more than $1.75 billion to European productions since entering Europe in 2012, including to date more than 90 original productions in various stages of development.

    “We are delighted to announce the creation of jobs in Europe and the opening of our new customer service hub in Amsterdam, as well as two new European original series. Europe is a creative centre for great storytelling that resonates around the world and we continue to invest in European content,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and CEO.

    “The decision by Netflix to add a customer support centre along with its EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam illustrates that our business climate is exactly what leading companies are seeking when investing in their future,” said Jeroen Nijland, Commissioner for Foreign Investment, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA). “The Netherlands’ fast internet speeds, e-commerce strengths and multilingual talent pool make our country a great match for the Netflix expansion to support its rapidly growing European market.”

    *Netflix’s new European customer service hub in Amsterdam is the latest addition to the company’s growing portfolio of internal service centers, the others being located in the USA (Salt Lake City and Utah) and Yokohama, Japan.

    Netflix’s European original series are available to Netflix’s more than 100 million members around the world and include:

    Marseille, Netflix’s first original series from France, now in production for a second season;
    the Golden Globe-winning The Crown set in the UK, now in production for a second season;
    Las Chicas del Cable, Netflix’s first original series from Spain, launched 28 April and already in production for a second season;
    Dark, Netflix’s first original series from Germany, due to launch late 2017;
    Suburra, Netflix’s first original series from Italy, due to launch late 2017;
    Dogs of Berlin, Netflix’s second original series from Germany, due to launch in 2018; and
    Osmosis, Netflix’s second original series from France, due to begin production in 2018.

  • Tata Sky Kids’ Showcase service launched; features films from across globe

    Tata Sky Kids’ Showcase service launched; features films from across globe

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky, pioneer of innovative services in the DTH industry, will be launching an exclusive array of kids-based cinema from multiple countries with the launch of Tata Sky Kids’ Showcase service.

    Launched on 21 May, Kids’ Showcase features films from across the globe; including Denmark, Norway, France, Japan, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, United Kingdom and United States of America apart from Indian movies. The bouquet of over 40 kids film on Kids’ Showcase will feature Indian, English, foreign feature & short films. 

    Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli said, “With Kids’ Showcase, Tata Sky aims to create an opportunity for our kids to enjoy some unique, mostly unseen, high quality content, coming with different perspectives from India and around the world. Not just as some fun times, this could be an opportunity for them to share some quality time with their parents, hopefully stimulating reflections and discussions around a broad range of beautiful, diverse and meaningful stories.”

    Children can look forward to an exciting mix of award winning and nominated films, features and shorts from renowned studios such as Celluloid Dreams, Ghibli, Trust Nordisk, Folimage, Entertainment One and many more. Some of the movies acquired for the platform are The Nut Job, Labrinthus, Giraffada, Secret of Kells, Gattu, Jalpari, La Cage and many more.

    This new showcase service will air children’s films selected with the help of eminent children’s content curator, Monica Wahi, who is the founder of South Asian Children’s Cinema Forum and curated kids content at festivals such as The Mumbai Film Festival.

    Kids Showcase will run movies all day back-to-back and children can watch what they like on both the television and the Tata Sky Mobile App. With a bouquet of 21 kids channels, and 4 unique interactive services, Tata Sky has been continuously bolstering offerings for children.

     

  • Tata Sky Kids’ Showcase service launched; features films from across globe

    Tata Sky Kids’ Showcase service launched; features films from across globe

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky, pioneer of innovative services in the DTH industry, will be launching an exclusive array of kids-based cinema from multiple countries with the launch of Tata Sky Kids’ Showcase service.

    Launched on 21 May, Kids’ Showcase features films from across the globe; including Denmark, Norway, France, Japan, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, United Kingdom and United States of America apart from Indian movies. The bouquet of over 40 kids film on Kids’ Showcase will feature Indian, English, foreign feature & short films. 

    Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli said, “With Kids’ Showcase, Tata Sky aims to create an opportunity for our kids to enjoy some unique, mostly unseen, high quality content, coming with different perspectives from India and around the world. Not just as some fun times, this could be an opportunity for them to share some quality time with their parents, hopefully stimulating reflections and discussions around a broad range of beautiful, diverse and meaningful stories.”

    Children can look forward to an exciting mix of award winning and nominated films, features and shorts from renowned studios such as Celluloid Dreams, Ghibli, Trust Nordisk, Folimage, Entertainment One and many more. Some of the movies acquired for the platform are The Nut Job, Labrinthus, Giraffada, Secret of Kells, Gattu, Jalpari, La Cage and many more.

    This new showcase service will air children’s films selected with the help of eminent children’s content curator, Monica Wahi, who is the founder of South Asian Children’s Cinema Forum and curated kids content at festivals such as The Mumbai Film Festival.

    Kids Showcase will run movies all day back-to-back and children can watch what they like on both the television and the Tata Sky Mobile App. With a bouquet of 21 kids channels, and 4 unique interactive services, Tata Sky has been continuously bolstering offerings for children.

     

  • Per Pedersen has been appointed chairman of the Grey Global Creative Council

    Per Pedersen has been appointed chairman of the Grey Global Creative Council

    MUMBAI: After being with Grey for 25 years, Per Pedersen has been appointed chairman of the Grey Global Creative Council. 

    Pedersen is the co-founder of Uncle Grey in Denmark and served as chief creative officer of Grey Germany. Since 2010, he has been based in New York as deputy worldwide chief creative officer, prior to that he has served as global creative leader on Febreze.

    Pedersen has helped oversee Grey’s senior creative leaders to identify creative opportunities, crafting smarter award submissions and ranking the quality of Grey’s work. In this role, Pedersen becomes the leading global creative evangelist, strengthening creative culture and the quality of work across the entire network.

    He played an important role in achieving Grey’s best year ever at Cannes in 2015 with a watershed performance that brought home 113 Lions from 18 countries including a record 4 Grand Prix. He has led the award-winning “Breathe Happy” blindfold campaign and the Lion avalanche that made Grey New York the 2015 Cannes North American Network of the Year.

    With 300 awards, including 43 Cannes Lions, Pedersen ranks among the most awarded creative people in the industry and has served on most award show juries from Cannes to the Clios.

  • Per Pedersen has been appointed chairman of the Grey Global Creative Council

    Per Pedersen has been appointed chairman of the Grey Global Creative Council

    MUMBAI: After being with Grey for 25 years, Per Pedersen has been appointed chairman of the Grey Global Creative Council. 

    Pedersen is the co-founder of Uncle Grey in Denmark and served as chief creative officer of Grey Germany. Since 2010, he has been based in New York as deputy worldwide chief creative officer, prior to that he has served as global creative leader on Febreze.

    Pedersen has helped oversee Grey’s senior creative leaders to identify creative opportunities, crafting smarter award submissions and ranking the quality of Grey’s work. In this role, Pedersen becomes the leading global creative evangelist, strengthening creative culture and the quality of work across the entire network.

    He played an important role in achieving Grey’s best year ever at Cannes in 2015 with a watershed performance that brought home 113 Lions from 18 countries including a record 4 Grand Prix. He has led the award-winning “Breathe Happy” blindfold campaign and the Lion avalanche that made Grey New York the 2015 Cannes North American Network of the Year.

    With 300 awards, including 43 Cannes Lions, Pedersen ranks among the most awarded creative people in the industry and has served on most award show juries from Cannes to the Clios.

  • CBC Canada heads for Banijay International’s Comedy on the Edge

    CBC Canada heads for Banijay International’s Comedy on the Edge

    MUMBAI: Leading distributor Banijay International has sold the entertainment format Comedy on the Edge to Canada. The format, created by DR in Denmark, has been acquired by national broadcaster CBC for English speaking Canada.

    The local version, which will consist of 13 x 30’ episodes, will be produced by Frantic Films and is set to launch in early 2015.

    Comedy on the Edge, a show which aims to bring back a local community’s lost sense of humour, was originally created by and aired on Denmark’s public broadcaster DR. The successful Spanish adaptation was recently renewed for a second season on TV Catalonia, and multiple seasons of a local version have also aired on TV2 Norway.

    Sebastian Burkhardt, Head of Sales at Banijay International, said, “Our friends at DR have created a format which perfectly blends comedy with factual entertainment. More than anything this format is about bringing people together and connecting viewers with even the most remote places in the country using shared humour.”

    Each week in Comedy on the Edge, a comedian-host heads to a small town that find themselves on the decline due to industries closing, unemployment rising and people moving away. They’re often stigmatized in the media, but the comedian will demonstrate that they are also places with proud residents, where you’ll find quirky people and unusual practices. The comic will spend several days in the town, joining in local customs, discover unique trades, see secret beautiful sights and uncover the town’s creative outlets. At the end of the visit, in front of an audience of residents, the host will deliver a stand-up routine based on everything they have seen, to celebrate the locals’ sense of humour about themselves, and give viewers a new perspective.

    Comedy on the Edge will return to Cannes next month along with a raft of new formats from Banijay International. The distributor’s slate of new launches includes Extraordinary Masters, the new high-octane studio entertainment format from Brainpool, the creator of Stars in Danger: The High Dive and Beat Your Host. In each thrilling episode, pairs of contestants duel it out in brand new disciplines never before seen on TV, from extreme physical events to feats of dexterity or super-human intelligence. The winner of each duel wins the national title, and then it’s up to the audience to choose their favourite Master of the day, who will be back to meet an international competitor and fight for the world title. The original German series drew nearly 4m viewers per episode.

    Also launching at MIPTV is The 7 Weddings. This unique and ambitious documentary-style format follows 7 couples from the moment they make their wedding vows through the highs and lows of the first 7 years of their marriages. What really lies ahead for these couples, and what does it take to make a marriage work? Produced and shot like a feature film, the series picks up on the nuances from 7 very different couples. Can they beat the odds and make their marriage last in a society where the divorce rate is rising and relationships are under more pressure than ever before? The carefully crafted production consists of seven episodes per year, for seven years, one for each couple, up until the notorious “seven year itch”, often seen as the make-or-break point for marriages. This fascinating series provides voyeuristic access into the ongoing challenges, joys, obstacles and changes that lie at the heart of any marriage. Some will thrive, some will struggle, some may fail entirely, but each will offer a fascinating window into the modern world of love, and what it takes to truly make a relationship work.

    Other titles to debut at MIPTV include youth-skewing “sciencetainment” format Tested on Humans, factual entertainment My Week Your Week, in which each partner in a relationship takes total control for one week to try to get things back on track, and trivia-meets-sightseeing game show Street Smart.

  • Coke’s slurp shuts noisy movie goers

    Coke’s slurp shuts noisy movie goers

    MUMBAI: In an era when marketing isn’t just showing advertisements on television or putting on newspapers, brands are finding ways to reach out to its customers.

    Every now and then, a brand engages in customer engagement initiatives to get audiences to notice it. The same was done by Coca Cola in Denmark, a couple of weeks back but with a twist. The exercise, this time, embarrassed the customers.

    In a cheeky manner, the cola giant along with its creative agency Saatchi Denmark helped encourage moviegoers to keep quiet by showing their noisy antics in a mock film trailer.  

    In India too, brands are leaving behind even global brands when it comes to engagement especially on the social media. The reason behind engagements is really simple: brands are no longer just about building awareness; they also need to bring themselves to the forefront of consumers’ consciousness by engaging with them. Engagement now is about clutter breaking and loyalty creating.

    For example, in 2013, Coca Cola had installed high-tech vending machines in the malls of Lahore (Pakistan) and New Delhi (India) – two cities separated by only 325 miles, but seemingly world apart due to decades of political tension. The brand then invited shoppers to set aside their differences and share a simple moment over a Coke.

    Click here to watch the video

    Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha saw a rise in its sales in the month of February, thanks to customer engagement programmes. New product launch along with innovative ongoing customer-centric activities boosted the volumes to an all new level, the company had said, then.

    Such stunts are increasingly used by brands to gain traction globally. Irrespective of where the stunt or activation was held (in this case, Copenhagen), chances of it going viral globally are high if the central idea and execution is great.

    However, with Indians being too touchy, Coke’s Slurp won’t work in India. Unless the audiences can laugh at itself, such initiatives can be harmful.  

    To think of brands which would use similar engagement programs is for telecom service providers. With most of the Indians lacking phone etiquettes, the telcos can think of coming up with something different. Hope Airtel or Vodafone are listening.