ITV

Tag: dip

  • Casbaa, Thai Dept of IP examine pay-TV piracy

    Casbaa, Thai Dept of IP examine pay-TV piracy

    MUMBAI: The Royal Thai Governments department of Intellectual property (DIP) and regional pay-TV industry body, the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) , yesterday staged a high-level workshop on Intellectual Property Rights protection in Bangkok Thailand.

    Opened by General of the DIP deputy director Boonaris Suwanapool and co-hosted by Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies, the one-day forum attracted speakers from the US, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore.

    The invited delegates included Thai IP court officials, officials from the Attorney Generals office, the Royal Thai Police, the Department of Customs and other officials and industry executives with responsibility for creating and enforcing vital intellectual property rights within Thailand.

    Those presenting at the seminar included senior executives drawn from broadcasters Time Warner and ESPN Star Sports, European security firm Irdeto, the Motion Picture Association of America (representing the seven major Hollywood studios), global Intellectual property rights legal experts, Herbert Smith and Casbaa (representing 110 pay-TV related companies operating in the Asia Pacific).

    One issue highlighted during todays forum was that while Asias pay-TV market is growing rapidly, and making substantial economic contributions, Thailand hasnt been benefiting as much as it should, said Davies. The meeting was in general agreement that this can change with newly pro-active approaches.

    Meanwhile, it was claimed that among middle-income Asian countries Thailand remains the market with the worst piracy problem. Three out of every four households connected to Thai pay-TV systems are estimated to be tapping into pirated pay-TV programming. In the end, this damages everyones interests because every level of the value chain is a victim of theft, added Davies.

    According to industry estimates, the cost of piracy to the community in Thailand is high to the industry and to the government, which loses at least 2.5 billion baht in taxes, fees and revenues every year, with the problem growing at a rate of about 20 per per year.

    Speakers at the seminar generally agreed that while Thailand has made some incremental strides in the battle against Intellectual Property Rights theft, there was a need to create a modern, competitive industry, regulated on a level playing field.

    Participants in the seminar looked forward to more effective law enforcement and increasingly severe penalties for pirate cable operators.

    The development of effective regulatory agencies will hugely benefit Thailand, a country with proven media sophistication and clear economic achievements, stated Davies.

    Its great to have so many of the stakeholders in Thailands pay-TV industry working together at a seminar like this, said Casbaa chairman Marcel Fenez. With the support of the likes of the Department of Intellectual Property and representatives of the IP courts standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the legitimate industry, progress has been made today.

  • Havas revenues dip for the first half of 2005

    MUMBAI: Global advertising and communications services group Havas has announced that revenues for the first half of 2005 fell to 700 million Euros, compared to 748 million Euros a year ago.

    The net impact of scope of consolidation changes in the first half was a negative 50 million Euros due primarily to the disposal programme completed in 2004. The impact of exchange rate variations was a negative 14 million Euros mainly due to the dollar and the pound sterling.

     

     
    Organic growth for the first half of the year was 2.2 per cent. Since the beginning of the year, the Group has experienced an improvement in business that generated organic growth of three per cent in the second quarter compared to 1.4 per cent growth in the first quarter. This improvement in organic growth was driven largely by good performance from the traditional advertising businesses and media expertise.

    The UK showed an improvement at a four per cent organic growth in the second quarter compared to minus 3.3 per cent in the first quarter. Europe (excluding France and the UK) enjoyed organic growth of 14.1 per cent in the second quarter, giving an overall figure of 8.5 per cent growth for the first half. This performance was driven by the momentum of countries such as Spain, which benefited from an impressive performance by MPG, but also in Eastern European countries and Belgium, all of which experienced very high rates of organic growth, some in excess of 20 per cent.

     
     
    Business in the Asia Pacific region was down by 5.9 per cent organic growth over the half year mainly as a result of the loss of Intel, a particularly important account in this region. The US was essentially stable over the half year with organic growth of 0.4 per cent. Not surprisingly, after first quarter organic growth at 1.8 per cent, the second quarter was slightly negative at minus – 0.9 per cent as the full impact of the losses of Intel and the Volkswagen media account in the US were felt.

    New business for the second quarter was nearly 500 million Euros. In June 2005, Havas was ranked second in new business by Lehman Brothers. Key accounts won in the second quarter of 2005 included Diesel (France), RadioShack (US), Sony Electronics (US), News Corp (UK), Citroen (Russia), Turkiye Is bankasi (Turkey), Superdrug Stores (UK), CareFirst (USA) and Sogecable
    (Spain). In the marketing services section it won the account of the 2007 Rugby World Cup (France)

     
     
    At the 52nd International Advertising Festival in Cannes, earlier this year the Havas Group won awards in a number of categories. Euro RSCG Worldwide shared top slot as the most awarded network in the Cyber category, Euro RSCG 4D Sao Paolo was ranked as the third best interactive agency and Euro RSCG Fuel was awarded four Lions including one in the Titanium category for best integrated communication campaign.

  • Hindi general entertainment channels dip, Sony bucks the trend

    MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment (GEC) space was in jeopardy in 2004 with the genre dipping in share year-on- year. Across all Hindi GEC channels, 2004 saw a few consolidating their positions and a few dip. The only two channels that bucked the dipping trend were Sony and Zee.

    Sony’s day-part channel share jumped to 21 per cent in 2004, up from 19 per cent in 2003, according to TAM data in the C&S 4+ Hindi speaking markets (HSM). Zee, on the other hand, witnessed a one per cent rise to 13 per cent in 2004.

    Compare this with Star Plus which dipped from 59 per cent share in all day C&S 4+ HSM to 55 per cent in 2004. Sahara One and Sab TV also witnessed a dip of one per cent each.

    Talking specifically in terms of viewership, Sony witnessed a growth of 4.62 per cent while Zee grew 2.38 per cent. Star Plus dropped by 12.81 per cent, Sahara One by 20.83 per cent and Sab TV by 20 per cent. The overall GEC space saw a dip of 6.40 per cent.

    Prime time, defined as 8 – 11 pm, again saw Sony as the only channel to grow its share from 19 to 25 per cent. Zee maintained status quo at 9 per cent, all the rest witnessing a dip. The Hindi general entertainment genre saw a nine per cent fall in category viewership in prime time.

    In the male C&S 4+ TG, Sony recorded a growth of 3.57 per cent in all day viewership and a 16.59 per cent surge in prime time viewership. The female C&S 4+ TG also grew by 3.9 per cent in all day viewership and 16.6 per cent in prime time viewership. All other channels witnessed huge dips in their all day and prime time viewership. Hindi general entertainment as a whole slid by 5.7 per cent in the female c&s 4+ all day viewership and by 8.3 per cent in prime time viewership. Males C&S 4+ Hindi GEC dipped by 7.56 per cent in all day viewership and by 10.38 per cent in prime time viewership.

    SONY MILESTONES IN 2004

        The only channel to grow in Primetime
        Recorded highest growth across the day
        Grew its shares in prime time from 19% to 25%
        Brought in 1million new viewers in 2004
        ‘Indian Idol being the highest rated launch in 2004 with over 39 million viewers

    PROGRAMMING INITIATIVES

    2004 saw Sony focus on their positioning statement, dishing out distinct and unique content. The channel’s key shows saw strategic revivals of Kkusum, Crime Patrol and CID which now features regularly among the Top 50 slots.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Sony business head Tarun Katial points out, ” Sony did a re-activation number this year following a dynamic programme strategy path for genres on television in India. Considering, the overall GEC category dipped by 9 per cent, Sony has single handedly managed to grow it prime time shares from 19 to 25 per cent.”

    Fridays also went through a make-over with Crime Petrol sporting a new look, new faces on Devi and CID and the launch of Aahat 2.

    Coming to the special programming initiatives, a special episode on CID marked Independence Day which delivered a TVR of 2.9 in the C&S 4+ HSM. Also the show entered the Guniess book of records for its record breaking special shoot( a 110 minute long single-shot episode) delivering a rating of 4.7 TVR.

    The channel also launched ten new shows with the aim of increasing the depth of original programming. Leading the lot was Indian Idol which had been the highest rated launch in 2004 with over 39 million viewers. The show consistently featured among the top 10.

    Sony, consciously, also reduced their movie content and increased original content, as too much dependence on movies they believed was not healthy. Although, the channel did go for strategic acquisitions like Koi Mil Gaya and Kal Ho Na Ho.

    Aap Jaisa Koi, an event organised in this year showcasing all the stars on Sony in a dance and musical performance will now become an annual property. Katial explained that the event gave them leadership slots and did well for the popularity of their stars.

    DISTINCTIVE MARKETING INITIATIVES:

    Sony in 2004 also unleashed some of the most innovative and aggressive communication campaigns. The first being the Jassi anniversary special cover with a special cancellation stamp, Satya Paul for Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin collection as well as Jassi visiting the Secretaries association in Delhi where she gave out the best secretary award.

    The launch of Ye Meri Life Hai saw road shows branded notebooks at colleges and conducted contests and promotions in 300 schools to ensure popularity of the show.

    The ‘Sab Kuch Bhula De’ campaign for Indian Idol weaved in street singers, branded rickshaws, post-its with contestant calls for votes stuck on newspapers. The channel also raised the confidence level of their stakeholders as they won various awards and accolades for its distinctive programming and marketing efforts at prestigious Television Awards such as the Promax, Indian Telly Awards, HHITA, Apsara Guild Awards and Industry Awards such as the Provogue Achiever’s Award, EMVIES, Awards by Dainik Bhaskar.

    LOOKING AHEAD

    Katial says, ” Taking our positioning forward is key in 2005.”
    This year will witness the makeover of Pooja from YMLH, the much awaited makeover of Jassi and an Indian Idol.

    On the anvil is also a slew of reality products and docudramas. The first of the lot being Rihayee featuring Rajeshwari Sachdev and Nakul Vaidya which is slated for launch in February.

    Reality-talent shows though will continue to be an integral component of the channel’s programming strategy with shows incorporating real life issues led stories. Four differentiated mass soaps will also be launched this year, with the finale of Jassi…

    Another key focus will be the afternoon slot and efforts will be made to spruce up that band.

    All in all Sony, surely packed in a lot of punch in 2004. The channel’s growth is definitely a good sign considering the holistic picture of the general entertainment space. Will 2005 be the turning point for the number two general entertainment channel or will it continue to play second fiddle? Let us wait and watch!