ITV

Tag: expand

  • Mediacom, HBO expand distribution agreement

    MUMBAI: Mediacom Communications Corporation, through its operating subsidiaries and Home Box Office announced that they have expanded their carriage agreement for HBO and Cinemax and the core HBO and Cinemax digital packages offered by the premium network.

    The long-term agreement includes the distribution of the subscription video on demand (SVOD) services, HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand; as well as high definition channels like HBO HD and Cinemax HD.

    Mediacom Communications will include HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand at no additional charge to HBO subscribers of its Digital Star Paks featuring HBO and Cinemax in areas that Mediacom offers on demand capabilities and in additional markets as they are launched.

    HBO On Demand offers subscribers unlimited access to HBO’s award-winning original programming as well as Hollywood theatricals. Cinemax On Demand offers the best films from the big screen, drawing from the biggest premium television movie library. Both services allow consumers to fast-forward, rewind and pause the programming at will.

    The HBO HD and Cinemax HD services mirror the main channels, providing 75 per cent and 70 per cent of daily programming in true high definition, respectively.

    Both HBO HD and Cinemax HD will be accessible in markets where Mediacom offers its HDTV service and will continue to be rolled out to customers as the services become accessible in additional markets.

  • Asians In Media launches new forums to expand site interactivity

     MUMBAI: The UK based publication Asians in Media (AiM) which looks at how Asians are faring in the UK media space has launched two new forums to expand the website’s interactivity.
     

    The move takes the number of forums to seven and reflects the growing popularity of the website. The first new forum is geared towards online networking and making contacts through the website. It aims to help those working in the media industries to expand their networks and collaborate with others.

    Visitors can post information about themselves and respond to other messages that they find interesting or useful.
     
     

    The Fashion forum has been launched as a result of growing interest in areas of photography, modelling and the fashion industry on the website. Aimed specifically at those sectors, it will help professionals and newcomers to those industries to flourish.

    AiM editor Sunny Hundal says that the move was inevitable. “The forums are now almost as popular as the daily news updates. With an increasing number of readers using the website to discuss news and issues, make contacts, and learn about the industry, we must grow with them.”

    Almost 3,000 readers have now registered to use the forums. Meanwhile a report in AiM states that Asian magazines Snoop, Desi and Memsahib will re-launch on 20 March, 2005

    Snoop the nine year old Asian lifestyle magazine initially started as a thin, free newspaper focused on the burgeoning Asian music and entertainment. It has since expanded into a fully fledged glossy magazine with its own brand of irreverent humour.

    Sister publication Desi was launched in 2000 with a focus on Asian TV, films from India & Pakistan, and local news. The magazine became popular in a short span. The success of Desi prompted the launch of women’s magazine Memsahib in October 2002. It was launched with great fanfare and an exptensive marketing campaign, but stopped publishing after the second issue.

  • Chinese cable op uses BigBand Digital TV mgt to expand programme lineup

    MUMBAI: With the aim of expanding its programme lineup and maximising bandwidth efficiency Nanjing Radio and Television Network has done a deal with BigBand Networks which provides network platforms for video, voice and data services in China.
     

    Nanjing has deployed the BigBand Broadband Multimedia-Service Router (BMR) for its digital television services. The operator, one of China’s largest, is using extensive functionality of the BigBand Digital TV Management solution to deliver live programming in its network with more than 800,000 subscribers.

    This BMR platform deployment will also allow Nanjing to introduce more advanced services and functionality. Nanjing states that it chose BigBand Networks as it distinguished itself from alternatives with a complete and flexible solution design that accesses content from various sources, achieves total control over program lineups and bandwidth efficiency, and performs the necessary processing for reliable delivery to Nanjing subscribers.
     
     

    The BigBand BMR provides a complete solution for Nanjing’s current needs and also has next-generation capabilities to evolve with our expanding initiatives such as Gigabit Ethernet networking between facilities. The Nanjing deployment utilises multiple BigBand Digital TV Management functions for end-to-end delivery. The modular port flexibility of the BigBand BMR is leveraged to access content from a variety of program source types, including satellite downlinks, terrestrial broadcast feeds and local storage.

    The operator determines which of the accessed programmes to carry and what channel lineups to utilise, which is realised through statistical remultiplexing with RateShaping bit rate adaptation maintaining video quality while maximising bandwidth efficiency. The content is modulated by broadcast QAM modules on the BMR for robust delivery to any digital subscriber device including support for DVB Simulcrypt security.

  • Warner Bros to expand ‘Sesame Street’ in China with books

    NEW YORK: Now Chinese children will be able to explore the world around them with their favourite friends from Zhima Jie, the Chinese version of Sesame Street.
     
     
     

    Warner Bros. Consumer products has announced the launch of three new publishing series. The books are based on the television series that encourages children to learn to count, to read, and to respect and appreciate others. Zhima Jie, which first aired on Shanghai Television in 1998, is based on Chinese culture and social environment and helps prepare young children for success in school. The books were developed by Sesame Workshop, the non profit educational organisation and creator of Sesame Street.

    The new publishing series include:

    Sesame Street School Readiness (11 titles), which helps children learn the fundamental skills they need to succeed in school with such concepts as colours, numbers and telling time.

    Sesame Street Thinking Child (six titles). These encourage children to learn more about being a productive member of their community.

    Sesame Street Learning Environment (four titles), which invites children to explore careers as they learn what different people in a neighbourhood do every day.

    Sesame Workshop’s VP, GM Scott Chambers says, “Books capture the imagination of children and encourage them to explore the world outside their window. By creating relevant content featuring the familiar faces of Sesame Street, young children will be even more engaged and ultimately develop a love of learning.”

  • Bharti Cellular to expand operations in north India

    MUMBAI: Bharti Cellular Limited, India’s leading cellular service provider, today announced major expansion plans for AirTel in Uttar Pradesh (west) and Uttaranchal with a planned additional investment of Rs 800 million in the financial year 2003. This will take the total investment made by AirTel, to Rs 2.3 billion within 22 months of operation in the region.

    In a press release, AirTel also announced its plans to roll out services in 25 new towns of UP (west) and Uttaranchal in Firozabad, Hathrus, Gajraula, Philkua and Mawana by the end of November. AirTel also announced its plans of installing 104 new base stations thereby taking the total number of base stations in the region to 340.

    The release claims that this will be the highest number of base stations by any service provider and reflects AirTel’s commitment of providing an unmatched mobile service experience on a congestion free network. AirTel also announced a slew of initiatives customised to the needs of its customers in UP (west) an Uttaranchal.

    Announcing this, Bharti Cellular north central region CEO Sanjay Nandrajog says: “AirTel is a promise of the best network, customised service and a complete mobile service experience. Having firmly established our leadership position in Delhi and most of the other markets in the country, we are all set to replicate the experience in UP (west) and Uttaranchal. With a planned roll out of our services in 25 new towns and with significant investments on infrastructure, we are also well on course to ensure that the AirTel mobile service experience is available to a larger base of customers within a very short time.”

    In phase II, services will be rolled out in Sambhal, Pilibhit, Badaun, Shamli, Deoband, Haldwani, Radrapur, Kathgodam, Kashipur, Bajpur, Kicha, Chandausi, Bilaspur, Kaladhunghi, Ramnagar and Fatehpur Sikri.

    AirTel has also launched the North India Roaming Facility. The service comprises of the following features:

    * North India Roaming service will be available to customers without any additional security deposit.

    * The service will be available at a monthly rental of only Rs 30. However, the service will be free of rental till 30 October 2003.

    * The mobile circles of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan form a part of the North India roaming service.

    * A customer while roaming in these circles will be able to make outgoing calls to all the five circles of North Roaming and his home circle. They can however, receive calls from anywhere in the world

    AirTel has also announced special ISD rates to the Middle East till the end of the month for both postpaid as well as prepaid customers.

    * ISD Calls to Middle East in September can be made at Rs 11.99 per minute instead of the usual rate of Rs 15.99 per minute for post-paid and Rs 16.99 per minute for pre-paid customers.

    * These rates are 50 per cent cheaper than landline rates for ISD calls.

    AirTel customers will now be able to make STD calls to Delhi at Re 1.00 per minute on a post-paid connection and Rs 1.99 per minute on pre-paid connection during weekends.

    Bharti Tele-Ventures (BTVL) claims to have an aggregate of 4.9 million customers as of 31 August 2003, consisting of approximately 4.4 million mobile and 469,000 fixed line customers. We are the largest mobile service provider in the country. The all-India market share as on 31 August 2003 was 25.2 per cent.

    For the quarter ended 30 June 2003, revenues and EBITDA as per un-audited IAS accounts were Rs 10.36 billion and Rs 2.89 billion respectively. As on 30 June 2003, the company has made a gross investment of over Rs106.50 billion (US$ 2.3 billion) in building telecom in India.