ITV

Tag: English language

  • Zees mega push in Europe

    Zees mega push in Europe

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) has got Europe on its radar. India’s largest private international broadcaster is looking at launching a wellness channel Veria Living in the UK; mulling a Russian launch for it; studying the prospects for an English language factual entertainment brand; and partnering with a European OTT service provider Voddler.

    This was disclosed by company chairman Subhash Chandra to Digital TV Europe. Chandra said the Indian market is ripe for healthcare content programming. “We should be launching in the coming early summer – maybe an April, May, June kind of timeframe,” he told Digital TV Europe.

    Extending its programming to Russia, Zee is also looking at having a majority stake in an existing health and wellness channel there and later pumping in dubbed content from Veria Living.

    Add to this, Zee has inked a deal with Swedish VOD firm Voddler to globally stream its premium content with initial focus on people in India, USA and Indonesia.

    The Voddler deal comes after Zee launched its Ditto TV service last year, which provides live streaming and TV on demand from Zee channels on tablet, mobile and internet platforms. Initially launched in India, Ditto TV now covers UK, Australia and New Zealand as well.

     

    A Voddler release said Zee will brand and market the OTT service globally. With Zee already delivering content to 670 million people across 168 countries globally, the deal is set to take Zee to the online platform while cashing in on the broadcaster’s over 100,000 hours of television and film programming.

     

    “Voddler is committed to bringing great content online with the world’s best cloud-based streaming technology. We’re thrilled to partner with Zee to offer their premium series and movies to fans globally. The Voddler solution scales at all data levels and makes true global online streaming feasible, both from a financial and technical perspective. To continue to build the world’s most efficient cloud-based streaming solution, we couldn’t hope for a more visionary partner than Zee,” said Voddler CEO Marcus Bäcklund in the release.

     

    Starting off with a pilot VOD service, the chosen three markets are the ones that have shown interest in Bollywood. It is due to release early 2014. Voddler’s cloud based service called VoddlerNet is capable of storing large videos at superior quality as well as save on streaming cost.

     

    Chandra said in the release: “Zee turned 20 years this fall. As we now step into our third decade, we are transforming ourselves from a broadcaster to a narrowcaster that will cater to every screen. Voddler’s solution, with its innovative streaming technology and almost limitless cloud solution, enables us to execute on that strategy fast and efficiently.”

     

    A digitaltveurope.com report reveals that at a function last week where Chandra received his doctorate of business administration from the University of East London, the Zee head honcho revealed there are four types of programming he is looking at : South Asian programming; South Asian programming repurposed for given markets, dubbed or subtitled in different languages; local production in the local languages; and global programming, produced in English language and distributed globally, again dubbed in local languages.

  • Animax goes all English from 15 August

    Animax goes all English from 15 August

    NEW DELHI: Animax, the international animation channel, adopts a complete English language feed as a continuation of the Animax Refresh to meet the requirements of an ever growing and discerning Indian viewership starting this month.

    With slick blockbuster animation series and shows that are more youth and young adult focused, Animax is punching into a different market segment to better attract the 15 to 24 years old, an age group with the real purchasing power. Operating a single English language feed is meant to better serve this segment.

    Animax has been a pioneer seeking to change the face of animation in India by offering Indian viewers animation for grown-ups, and not just cartoons for kids. Animax programming tends to be more developed, dramatic animated series portraying human emotions and conflicts.

    These series attract viewers that want intelligent, substantial themes along with the fun in their animated entertainment. The Animax audience are young adults who enjoy daily viewing of their favorite animated series on Animax.

    Says Animax-Country manager- Sunder Aaron, “We’ve converted the Animax feed into English-only to better meet the interests of our target audience in the metros. We’ve targeted the young adults of India who we all see at cyber cafes, playing video games, downloading music and wearing branded clothes. Animax is focused on engaging this discerning audience with our programming. Broadcast in English also meets the demands of our various user-groups who have expressed this preference to us online. “

  • Rabindra Mishra to head BBC World Service in Nepal

    Rabindra Mishra to head BBC World Service in Nepal

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service has appointed 39-year-old Rabindra Mishra as the new head of BBC Nepali.

    Mishra is responsible for the editorial output of BBC Nepali broadcasts, the staff in London and Kathmandu and contributions from freelance journalists located throughout Nepal. He first joined BBC World service in 1995 as a producer with BBC Nepali.

    Later, he worked on English language flagship programmes, including World Today and Newshour, and in the BBC World Service Newsroom before returning to BBC Nepali to be its desk editor. He said, “I have an excellent team to work with, both in the UK and Nepal, and I am sure we will continue to meet the expectations of our valued audience. News from Nepal is presently dominating the world headlines and accurate reporting by the BBC is, now more than ever, absolutely vital.”

    Before joining the BBC, Rabindra worked with Pakistan’s English language daily, The New International and with Nepal Television.

    BBC Nepali has been serving audiences for 35 years. BBC Nepali programmes cover a wide spectrum of news stories, features, and regular analyses on Nepalese issues. It currently broadcasts 30 minutes daily on shortwave, which is rebroadcast by nine FM stations in Nepal. There is also a growing audience of Nepalese living outside the country who go to bbcnepali.com for programmes, in text and audio.

  • IBN deal part of CNN’s strategy in English language segment: Cramer

    IBN deal part of CNN’s strategy in English language segment: Cramer

    NEW DELHI: The Indian news market with its diverse products is a bonanza for viewers in terms of choice, according to CNN International MD Chris Cramer.

    “It’s an extraordinary news market , which was starting to explode in 2004 when I last came, and is still doing so. It’s also a very good thing for consumers in terms of choice,” Cramer told Indiantelevision.com.

    On a visit to India, Cramer is touching base with various constituents of the broadcast and cable industry, including CNN’s partner, Global Broadcast Network (GBN), which runs the CNN IBN news channel.

    Pointing out that CNN IBN has shaped up extremely well, Cramer said, “After seeing the news channels here, one can say that they are world class products offering consumers a variety of choice.”

    Along with some new local level and India-wide news channel launching over the last six months to add to the over 25 existing such products, India, probably, is the only country in the world where so many news channel have mushroomed and have managed to survive in a market that is estimated to be wroth slightly over Rs. 5 billion.

    Though a hint of uncertainty did creep in with Jagran TV-promoted Channel7 selling management control to Television Eighteen-led GBN and talks of India TV in early stages of negotiations with another media company in the air, Cramer refused to hazard a prediction on the consolidation phase . “I have no predictions on consolidation as I am not very well acquainted with the ground situation and other details. But this is a very energetic market,” he said.

    Cramer is responsible for the CNN International directorate, which is comprised of the five flagship CNN International services in English, CNN en Espa’Pol and CNNj (Japan), together with joint ventures such as CNN IBN, CNN+ and CNN Turk, in addition to the international newsgathering operation outside of the US.

    Though Cramer has ruled out any immediate introduction of a Hindi language version of CNN, he did admit that as a policy the company is always on the look out for opportunities to extend the CNN brand in as many market segments as possible.

    “The CNN IBN deal is part of CNN’s strategy to look for opportunities in the English language segment and vernacular languages with or without local partners. But if you are asking me whether we have any definite plans for Hindi, there’s nothing in the horizon,” Cramer said.

    According to him, for a CNN IBN type of deal to be replicated in other Indian languages, it is a matter of exploring the market to find the “right deal.”

    CNN International’s English language service, which completed 20 last year, continues to be the No. 1 product in most market places without getting complacent about its leadership position.

    “We continue to reinvent ourselves as we have done recently with a new look and feel in a crowded (global) news market place. We found that increasingly the business of consuming news was becoming difficult. So we have de-cluttered the screen (for the viewer),” Cramer said, giving a glimpse of the thinking that goes on in CNN International, a Time Warner company.

    India is one of the rare instances where CNN lags behind BBC because of “legacy issues” involving the Mark Tully effect. Tully had been the head of BBC radio operations in India for many decades and helped in spread awareness about brand BBC.

    “CNN reaches out to about 10 million (C&S) homes in India, compared to BBC’s 14 million, “Cramer said, adding, “But I am comfortable with the loyalty of the audience here.”

    Even though CNN’s new service CNN Pipeline broadband service has received “overwhelming and enthusiastic response in the US,” Cramer feels such a service will take some time to take off in India.

    Pointing out that the company has been profitable every year since 1989 in the expensive business of news dissemination, Cramer said global advertising revenue has been “pretty good” last year too.

    Globally CNN International has three broad revenue steams: advertising, subscription and content sale.. While advertising and subscription contribute 45 per cent each, the remaining 10 per cent comes from selling content.

    Cramer is based in CNN’s world headquarters in Atlanta and is a member of the CNN executive committee. He also sits on the board of directors for the German news channel n-tv and the Spanish network CNN +.

    Before taking on the role of overseeing international newsgathering and becoming managing director of CNN International, he was previously president of CNN International Networks. He was CNN International’s executive vice president from August 1997 to January 1998, and senior vice president and managing editor from February 1996 to July 1997.

    Since joining CNN International, Cramer has led the introduction of 80 hours of new programming each week and, in September 1997, launched “regionalisation,” an initiative that led to the creation of five separately scheduled English language international CNN channels that serve Europe/Middle East/Africa, Asia Pacific, South Asia, Latin America and North America.