ITV

Tag: Europe

  • Isro to ramp up number of satellite launches

    Isro to ramp up number of satellite launches

    BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has responded positively to the increasing demand for satellite space. Speaking at the launch of the Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment (ISITE) facility in Bangalore, Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair hinted at Isro upping its ante in this area.

    “Presently, we are doing about one and a half Insat class satellites a year and one remote sensing satellite launch in every eighteen months. The demand from all segments is high and rising and we should actually be doing around four Insat class satellites, two to three remote sensing satellites and around three to four micro satellites of the around 100 kg payload,” said Nair.

    Nair added that Isro had its hands full with many projects including a couple of commercial satellites for Europe. He said Isro was expecting orders for two more satellites from this region.

  • Discovery commissions new travel series ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’

    Discovery commissions new travel series ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’

    CANNES: Discovery Networks International, has commissioned a new lifestyle series, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It is based on the popular series of travel guides, for launch on Discovery Travel & Living in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

    The 5×30-minute series will reach 147 million homes outside the U.S. when it launches this fall. The series is executive produced by Helen Veale for Outline Productions and Robert Curran for Discovery Networks International.

    Discovery Networks International executive VP of creative development and brand management Rebecca Batties said, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith goes beyond the standard travel series format to focus on luxury, style and design trends in some of the most inviting locales in the world. The series embodies the true essence of the Discovery Travel & Living brand as it encourages viewers to explore their world, imagine possibilities and live life to the fullest.”

    In each episode of the series, the co-creators of the books-Andrew Grahame and Juliet Kinsman-will investigate rural spa retreats, funky boutique hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and other sites in locations around the world to determine which deserve a place in the latest Mr. and Mrs. Smith guide.

  • Discovery’s revenue grows by 13 per cent

    Discovery’s revenue grows by 13 per cent

    MUMBAI: Global media firm Discovery Communications has announced its results for 2005. DCI’s revenue for the fourth quarter increased by 11 per cent to $772 million and 13 per cent in 2005 to $2.7 billion. DCI’s operating cash flow increased by one per cent in the quarter to $184 million and four per cent in 2005 to $687 million.

    In the US, its revenue increased by eight per cent in the quarter to $444 million and nine per cent in 2005 to $1.7 billion. Operating cash flow increased by six per cent in the quarter to $148 million and eight per cent in the year to $643 million. The growth in revenue was due to increases in distribution revenue for both periods combined with a five per cent decrease in ad revenue in the quarter and flat ad revenue for the year.

    Net distribution revenue increased by 24 per cent in the quarter and 22 per cent for 2005 as the US networks had a 10 per cent increase in paying subscribers in 2005 combined with contractual rate increases. Operating expenses increased by eight per cent in the quarter and 10 per cent in the year due to an increase in programming expense as the company continued its investment across all US networks in original productions and series and specials.

    Internationally, its revenue increased by 25 per cent in the quarter to $214 million and by 24 per cent in the year to $731 million. Operating cash flow increased by 27 per cent in the quarter to $33 million and 10 per cent for the year to $109 million. The increases in revenue were due to growth in distribution and advertising revenue. Net advertising revenue increased by 26 per cent in the quarter and 28 per cent in the year primarily due to higher viewership in the UK and an increased subscriber base in the UK and Europe.

    Net distribution revenue increased by 29 per cent in the quarter and 25 per cent in the year due to increases in paying subscription units in Europe and Asia combined with contractual rate increases in certain markets. Operating expenses increased by 25 per cent in the quarter and 27 per cent for 2005 due to an investment in the lifestyles category designed to develop and grow that market opportunity combined with an expected increase in headcount as the business expands.

  • Asia still a sport specific television market: Sportel

    Asia still a sport specific television market: Sportel

    MUMBAI: At the recently concluded sports television market Sportel Asia 2006 in China, Mediametrie’s International director, Jacques Braun, noted that “year 2005 was a good year for TV consumption throughout the world, despite the lack of worldwide sports events”.

    He stressed the fact that 2006 is the year of the Soccer World Cup in Germany starting in June in Munich. This is a worldwide event, but if Europe prefers soccer, the Winter Sports like Alpine skiing and ice hockey are still the preference of more than 7 countries.

    Asia is still a very specific market. China’s best sports TV audience of 2005 was the opening ceremony of the National games with more than 54 billion viewers, and India preferred cricket to soccer just like their neighbour Pakistan.

    In 2005, the Brazil FI grand prix won a large audience in Germany with 7.3 billion viewers who followed this GP on RTL and also with 6.2 billion viewers on Rai 1. In China, the Monaco grand prix realized an audience of more than 5.4 billions viewers.

    Braun says, “Once more, TV audiences are even better when the events are local or broadcast in prime time”.

    The winter Olympic Games of Torino saw the men’s free skating competition meet with great audience success in the USA (their national competitors finished 3rd and 5th) with more than 19 billion viewers (delayed broadcast in prime time), and also in Switzerland (TSR2 realized a market share of 37,2%) and France where more than 6 billion viewers (average audience on France 2) were waiting for the French competitor.

    Eurodata TV Worldwide will publish its report One TV Sport Year in the World – 2006 issue by mid april 2006 and offers studies about all the big events with the sport event reports about the Torino OG or the next Soccer World Cup.

  • Globecast delivers ESPN Classic to the UK via satellite

    Globecast delivers ESPN Classic to the UK via satellite

    MUMBAI: US sports broadcaster ESPN has struck a deal with GlobeCast, a global content management and delivery company, to deliver ESPN Classic, the company’s first UK-dedicated sports channel, to the Sky Digital platform.

    Launched this week using Globecast’s capacity on the Eurobird satellite, ESPN Classic is devoted entirely to the greatest moments and legends of sport with a mix of all-time classic highlights, matches, movies, interviews, profiles and documentaries.

    GlobeCast’s solution for ESPN includes connectivity from the broadcaster’s playout facility in West London to GlobeCast, where the feed is encoded, multiplexed then sent to GlobeCast’s Brookmans Park teleport for uplink to the Sky Digital platform using GlobeCast’s Eurobird capacity. ESPN Classic is available 24 hours a day on Sky’s EPG channel 442.

    GlobeCast has an established relationship with ESPN Classic, providing a content and delivery services for the channel’s existing French, Italian and European feeds via Astra at 19.2ºE, Hotbird at 13ºE and Sirius 2 4.8ºE respectively.

    Globecast is a subsidiary of France Telecom. It is a global content management and delivery company. Via its worldwide satellite and fibre network, the company manages and transports 10 million hours of video and other rich media yearly for its core customer base of broadcasters, as well as corporate, government and retail clients.

    Globecast is network agnostic and ingests once to deliver content to any network via multiple platforms, including direct-to-home satellite, cable, video-to-mobile, IPTV/video-over-ADSL, desktop broadband, and more. The company’s global presence includes 15 teleports and technical operations centres throughout Europe, America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Australia.