Tag: distribution

Premier League to move production & distribution of matches in-house

MUMBAI: This one is for football fans. The Premier League today announced that it will establish a new house in-house media operations business come season 2026-27. This was approved by all clubs at a Premier League shareholder meeting on 22 November. For 20 years, this service has been provided in partnership with IMG, operating as Premier League Productions (PLP).

Since 2004, PLP has been the gateway to the action and emotion of Premier League football for broadcasters and hundreds of millions of fans in more than 180 countries. Throughout this time, the Premier League and IMG have worked together to bring quality and innovation in live events production, pioneering new technologies and on-screen talent to provide full coverage of all 380 Premier League matches each season, as well as wide-ranging support programming.

The two organisations will continue to deliver the next two Premier League seasons to broadcasters and remain committed to providing a first-class viewing experience for fans around the world.

Premier League Chief Media Officer Paul Molnar said: “IMG has been a fantastic partner for the Premier League over the past 20 years. They have worked tirelessly on our behalf to provide world-class content and services to our international partners. During this time, our partnership has been at the forefront of broadcast innovation to deliver top-class programming week in, week out throughout the season. This has all come together to play a vital role in growing our global audiences and popularity.

“As we move the media production operations in-house, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a best-in-class content service to our partners and millions of passionate fans around the world.”
IMG EVP, Studios Barney Francis said: “Our work with the Premier League has been game-changing, both for how fans enjoy football, and for the growth of the Premier League’s international audience and business. Working at the cutting edge of sports production for 20 years, we are proud to have launched many innovations together – from PLTV in 2010, which opened up the global TV rights market, to the transition from SD to HD, and then to 4K.

“We have built a state-of-the art virtual studio, produced award-winning digital content and introduced new cameras and feeds that have made the Premier League’s programming a gold standard for global sports broadcasting. With IMG’s wider production work for rights holders such as the EFL, MLS and Apple, the Saudi Pro League, EuroLeague and ETP, we are continuing to power live sports broadcasting, leveraging new technologies and reaching wider audiences as our business continues to grow internationally.”
Further details regarding the Premier League in-house media operations business will be announced in due course, prior to its launch in 2026.

November 22, 2024
Dandelooo grabs worldwide distribution rights for ‘Our Piggy’

Mumbai: Emmy Award-winning French animation production and distribution company Dandelooo has struck a deal with the Emmy Award-winning Czech film and television production company Bionaut for the new adorable comedy series Our Piggy.

The deal gives Dandelooo exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the 2D animated series targeted at 2–4-year-olds produced by Bionaut, the producers of the highly successful Hungry Bear Tales series.

Created and based on the book by Jaromir Plachy, nominated for the Golden Pinwheel, Young Illustrators Competition Award 2021, Our Piggy discovers the magic of ordinary objects and invites children into his extraordinary world through inquisitiveness and play.

Commenting on the deal, Dandelooo co-founder Emmanuèle Pétry Sirvin said, “This new series is based on the director’s observation of his own child, which explains the charm of this delightful character. I fell in love immediately with this series, which illustrates the well-known quote ‘keep it simple.’ Bionaut is one of the most talented studios in Central Europe and we are proud to distribute their programmes internationally.”

Dandelooo is a French award-winning creative company based in Paris dedicated to the development, production, and distribution of original and ambitious animated programs. It runs its own studio, Ooolala, in la Cartoucherie (Valence, France) and has a sales office in Barcelona, Spain, and Milan, Italy.

September 26, 2022
9X Media’s Senior VP – finance H R Saxena to take additional charge

Mumbai: 9X Media’s senior vice president – finance Himindraa R Saxena has taken additional charge of distribution for the network.

Himindraa has been associated with the network for over 15 years. In his new role, he will lead the distribution mandate for the network ensuring better connectivity for 9X Media’s music television channels. He will report to 9X Media director & chief financial officer Bhupendra Makhi.

Himindraa’s experience in the distribution finance space and his active participation in dealing with direct-to-home (DTH) operators, major multi system operators (MSOs) and cable operators will hold him good while increasing the connectivity of the channels and negotiating on the placement deals with service providers across India. He will also be in charge of international distribution of the channels on various platforms, including OTT.

Prior to joining 9X Media, Himindraa has had successful stints with Times Now Network and with Star India where he has won many awards for his work in the distribution finance department.

Himindraa R Saxena said “I feel honoured to take the additional charge of distribution at India’s largest music television network! Distribution plays a crucial role in the success of any television channel and in case of free-to-air (FTA) channels the right placement and reach become extremely important. My priority as distribution head is to ensure better reach and connectivity for all our channels.”

“Himindraa’s acumen regarding the distribution of the channels has already started showing results as under his leadership 9XM has attained the No. 1 spot in the 13-21 ABC HSM urban category for the Week 25 ending 24th June 2022,” said the statement.

July 6, 2022
Travelxp 4K ties up with Magyar Telekom to expand Europe footprint

Mumbai: Travelxp 4K has announced its partnership with Hungarian telecom company Magyar Telekom to distribute the channel to viewers across Hungary.

Travelxp 4K is one of the world’s leading travel channels. Earlier, its premium travel and lifestyle content was available only to Telekom 4K mini pay package viewers on channel number 74 since November 2021. “The channel’s shows have been fully localised keeping in line with its commitment to connect with audiences in their own language. Travelxp is already localised in 13 European languages and distributed in over 20 countries across Europe,” said the statement.

“Magyar Telekom is a great platform for airing the premium HDR content of Travelxp 4K in HLG HDR, 10-bit REC 2100 color space and 50 frames,” said Travelxp managing director – Europe Sumant Bahl. “According to a study I came across recently, television is the most widely consumed type of media in Hungary, reaching 8.3 million viewers in 2021. Apart from showcasing the beauty of the world in stunning resolution, we are also excited about introducing the people in Hungary to the original and engaging content we create, which has been known to not only invoke wanderlust in viewers across the globe but also challenge their notions of the world and broaden their horizons.”

“We are very pleased to extend our 4K channel line-up with a high-quality travel channel like Travelxp 4K,” said Magyar Telekom director of TV and entertainment Annamaria Rajki. “In 2021 first in Hungary Magyar Telekom launched a 4K mini pay package for the Telekom TV subscribers. Now our 4K portfolio, which contained sport and nature-oriented channels thus far, is enriched with a new genre and provides astonishing contents for travelers in those times people could hardly travel.”

Travelxp is distributed in over 80+ countries, localised in over 15+ languages and has 1000+ hours of premium travel and lifestyle content. It is also one of the largest producers of travel content and a global innovation leader in 4K HDR technology. With a diverse programming mix, all Travelxp shows are original in-house productions filmed across 55+ countries with multi-cultural hosts from across the world.

March 10, 2022
Snapdeal opens 130 new distribution hubs across India

Mumbai: E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal announced that it has opened 130 new distribution hubs across all of India since January, covering 26 states and two union territories. The expanded network is designed to cater to the surge in demand ahead of the festive season starting in India from early October.

The e-tailer further shared that the maximum number of these hubs are located in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. In addition, Snapdeal has augmented its logistics network in Jammu & Kashmir and in the North-East.

The network expansion serves the growing demand for online shopping from smaller cities, said the e-tailer, such as Baramulla (J&K), Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Khammam (Telangana), Alwar (Rajasthan), Sambalpur (Odisha), Tumkur (Karnataka), Latur (Maharashtra), Dimapur (Nagaland) and is designed to speed up deliveries for customers in these cities and in surrounding areas.

“The new hubs are located in areas where there is either growing buyer demand or higher seller concentration. The new facilities are designed towards rapid pick-ups from sellers and faster deliveries to buyers”, a Snapdeal spokesperson said. “The network expansion will also reduce the distance that some of our shipments travel by helping fulfill some of the demand from within the region,” the spokesperson added.

With the addition of these new hubs, Snapdeal now serves over 26,000 pin codes, reaching over 90 per cent of Indians across India, including metros, tier 1 & 2 cities, and most of tier 3 and 4 towns of India, stated the e-tailer.

The growing importance of online consumers from India’s smaller cities in driving India’s e-commerce growth was highlighted in a recent report by global consulting firm Kearney. The report shared that aspiring & mass households earning less than Rs 10 lakh per annum account for nearly 70 per cent of India’s non-food, value-driven retail demand. However, this segment today accounts for only 16 per cent of value e-commerce demand. This is expected to grow to 38 percent by 2026 and to nearly 50 per cent of value e-commerce demand by 2030.

Growing internet adoption and whittling away of resistance towards online shopping during the pandemic is driving online adoption in this segment. The Gen-Z users in India’s smaller cities are digitally savvy and they are joining the millennials as independent shoppers, which is expected to accelerate the growth of value e-commerce in India.

The rise of value-conscious shoppers, especially beyond the bigger cities in India is expected to be one of the key drivers of value e-commerce growth in India, the Kearney report added.

September 10, 2021
Wurl takes celebrity news channel Hollywire to India on Samsung TV Plus

Mumbai: Wurl has partnered with celebrity news channel Hollywire to distribute and provide monetisation services for the digital channel globally.

Most recently, Wurl has secured distribution for the service on Samsung TV Plus India, adding to previous launches facilitated by Wurl on Samsung TV Plus platforms in the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

Hollywire is a global, 24/7 celebrity news channel that includes Bollywood news coverage, celebrity interviews, and red carpet event coverage for its channel on Samsung TV Plus India, which launched on 28 July.

“WURL offers an incredible team that has helped Hollywire expand internationally and grow to heights we didn’t know were possible,” said Hollywire CEO Tony Moras. “Their company is constantly educating us and providing Hollywire with worldwide business opportunities that have encouraged our business development effectively and easily!”

“Hollywire is a great success story. This celebrity news channel has parlayed its social media, Snapchat and YouTube fueled popularity into a full-fledged OTT digital channel,” said Wurl, SVP Business Development, Craig Heiting “Through our Wurl Network, we are taking Hollywire to the next level, expanding upon its brand’s success to bring it to an international audience.

India will have one billion video screens by 2024, 85 per cent of which will be broadband ready, according to Media Partners Asia. AVOD revenues are expected to be $2.4B by 2026.

August 3, 2021
TCCL implements ATEME’s Titan Live solution for its cable TV platform

Mumbai: ATEME on Tuesday announced that Thamizhaga Cable TV Communication Pvt Ltd (TCCL), one of the largest cable distribution companies in India, has chosen to implement its TITAN Live solution for their cable TV platform.

The Tamil Nadu-based multi-system operator has recently upgraded its headend platform to complement its existing cable service offering. ATEME’s TITAN Live is being used to deliver a high-quality cable-TV offering to TCCL customers. “TITAN Live enables TCCL to improve its subscribers’ viewing experience while reducing operational costs by providing exceptional video quality at low bitrates. Its full software approach also attempts to simplify deployments and operations, and profile reconfigurations, automatic switchovers, and fast updates also become much easier,” said the company in a statement.

Speaking on the collaboration with ATEME, TCCL managing director Sakilan said, “We have always had a strong emphasis on quality of service and content. ATEME’s TITAN Live met our need for the best quality of image coupled with the most efficient bandwidth saving – better than any other vendor. We are very pleased with our choice – both in terms of the product and the unparalleled support we received from the ATEME team, which understands our priorities and our need to provide content of the best quality to our current and future audiences.”

ATEME’s vice president, APAC – sales, Gautier Vandomme said, “We are very excited to be on this journey with TCCL. Viewers in India have such a rich variety of content to choose from; it is a great satisfaction to be helping them view this content at the best quality.”

June 22, 2021
TRAI introduces new regulations for technical compliance of CAS & SMS

KOLKATA: In a bid to put an end to content piracy in the pay TV ecosystem, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday amended the interconnection regulations 2017, incorporating a framework for technical compliance of CAS & SMS.

The authority has been receiving several complaints about the unauthorized distribution of signals and under-declaration of subscribers by distribution platforms, despite the implementation of the new regulatory digitization of the cable TV industry.

“Sub-standard CAS and SMS also render the distribution network vulnerable to hacking and content piracy,” it said in a statement.

According to TRAI, the framework is the first step to define an indigenous set of specifications in the line of international standards. A tightly synchronised working of CAS and SMS, as specified by the framework, will enable factual reporting of subscriber base etc. Eventually, this will reduce the revenue loss to stakeholders on account of erroneous subscription reporting.

“Better assurance of due revenue, in turn, may encourage the stakeholders to invest for further improvement in quality of content and service thereby benefiting the end consumer,” TRAI noted. Moreover, it will also usher-in better content security in the distribution value chain.

The authority came out with a consultation paper seeking views on standardization of these systems last April. It also held an open house discussion later. The comments of the stakeholders received by TRAI during the consultation process were analysed. In view of the technical nature of the matter, the Authority decided to form a committee of members across the industry, related institutions.

The committee, after extensive deliberations, recommended introducing a testing and certification regime for CAS and SMS to ensure better conformity to the standards and to improve the customer experience.

Distribution platform operators will now need to obtain certification for their CAS and SMS systems from the certification and testing agency. The framework will be implemented through a testing and certification agency.

June 11, 2021
Viacom18 launches Colors Gujarati in UK

Kolkata: Viacom18 Media has launched its regional entertainment channel, Colors Gujarati, in the UK. IndiaCast Media Distribution, jointly owned by TV18 & Viacom18, partnered with Sky & Virgin Media for the channel launch.

The channel is available to Sky subscribers from 1 June on Channel No. 794 and will be available for Virgin Media’s- Asian Mela Pack subscribers from 8 June on Channel No. 825. The network currently offers its flagship general entertainment channel Colors along with the premium entertainment channel Colors Rishtey as well as the movie channel Colors Cineplex in the UK.

With this new addition, Colors Gujarati becomes the only Gujarati language channel available to UK viewers. The channel will bring the best of Gujarati content all through the week along with movie premieres on Sundays at 7 PM.

BT Media and Broadcast director Faisal Mahomed said: “As a leading provider of media services in the UK, BT Media and Broadcast is at the forefront of broadcast innovation. With a successful partner track record, we’re pleased to continue to help Viacom18 capture larger UK audiences through our cutting-edge technology, and as always, we look forward to supporting Viacom18 with their growth plans – both in the UK and internationally.”

Colors Gujarati has been launched with its ‘Dil Thi Gujarati’ motto which mirrors the essence of the fun-loving Gujaratis in the UK. Colors Gujarati creates content that cuts across age groups with genres ranging from drama, comedy, mythological shows, movies, awards, events, and lifestyle. The channel will largely showcase the same shows as India. Some of the popular shows include Bhakta Gora Kumbhar, Rashi Rikshawali, Prem Ni Bhavai, Kahu Chu Sambhlo Chu, and the soon-to-be-launched ManMilap.com.

IndiaCast international business executive VP Govind Shahi said: “We have a large Gujarati speaking population in the UK and they have made their presence felt in the social and cultural fabric of the country. But currently, there is no single Gujarati channel in the UK even though there are various TV channels for Punjabi, Urdu, Bangla, and other regional language audiences. The launch of Colors Gujarati will fulfill this need-gap in the UK. The channel will constitute of best-in-class Gujarati content from our hugely popular India library – including fiction, non-fiction series, and movies”.

With this launch on both Sky and Virgin, Colors Gujarati will reach out to a vast majority of subscribers who can sample and enjoy quality content in sync with their strong socio-cultural identity.”

June 3, 2021
Broadcasters write to Bombay HC requesting timely verdict on NTO 2.0 case

KOLKATA: Broadcasters have lodged an application before the Bombay high court requesting speedy pronouncement of verdict in the amended new tariff order (NTO 2.0) case.

The petitioners have mentioned that detailed arguments on the case were heard in September-October 2020. Subsequently, the judgement was reserved via an order on 20 October. However, the revised tariff regime has not been implemented so far and TV broadcasting ecosystem has continued to operate under the NTO price regime implemented in 2019.

“It is submitted that the judgement remains reserved and since the issues pending for adjudication before the honourable court are substantial, an early pronouncement of judgement will be in the best interest of all stakeholder,” the petition read.

In this regard, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also wrote to Bombay high court in late February requesting urgent listing of the case, so that a verdict may be passed soon in the matter. An industry source close to the developments in the court said at that time: "With this filing of application before the Bombay high court, the newly appointed chairman of TRAI, PD Vaghela has made it clear that the authority seeks to implement NTO 2.0 as soon as possible. “

TRAI’s decision to implement NTO 2.0 in the beginning of 2020 came as a shocker for the broadcasting industry. In an unprecedented move, all major broadcasters came together to challenge the new tariff regime in court. Following continuous hearings from the end of February to early March 2020, the judgment was reserved on 4 March, after which the lockdown was imposed. A praecipe dated 15 June was filed by TRAI for the verdict. Post that, the matter was heard throughout September- October. The parties in conflict have wrapped up their arguments and written submissions have also been filed.

The authority has defended its decision saying the amendments will usher in better consumer offerings. On the other hand, the industry stated the over-interference of TRAI, especially in the area of pricing, is hurting the stability of the sector. TRAI released directives for immediate implementation of NTO 2.0 even during the pandemic, which was restrained by the Bombay high court.

March 9, 2021