ITV

Tag: FremantleMedia’s

  • Gary Carter to head FremantleMedia’s new platforms division

    MUMBAI: Format creator FremantleMedia has announced that Gary Carter, who is the company’s senior executive VP, worldwide entertainment, has been appointed to the newly created position of chief creative officer, new platforms.
    In this new role, he will be responsible for creating new brands and concepts specifically for new platforms such as mobile, broadband, game consoles and IPTV.
    Carter will manage a team of development executives whose focus will be to create new brands and concepts specifically for new platforms and will also work closely with executives in FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide (FLW) who are already responsible for exploiting the company’s TV brands across multimedia channels.
    In addition, he will also work with third party developers to acquire formats that can be developed for new platforms. Carter is based in London and Amsterdam.
    Carter has also been appointed FLW acting CEO. In his acting position, Carter will be responsible for exploiting FremantleMedia’s many strong brands off screen and developing product and promotional associations that enhance and extend consumers’ experience of each property, including brand licensing, music publishing, online and interactive, home entertainment, business diversification and archive sales.
    Carter has worked in FremantleMedia Worldwide Entertainment since January 2005, having been a consultant for the company since August 2003. He worked closely with the division to set the overall strategic and creative direction and the operational agenda. He also provided central support to the development, acquisition and exploitation of entertainment formats, which have international potential and drove entertainment development activities across the company globally.
    Carter said, “I believe that we are living through profound changes in entertainment, not just in production and distribution, but in form. I’m excited to have this opportunity to explore the world of entertainment creativity is opening up through technology.”
    In related news Simon Spalding is Fremantle Asia Pacific director of operations.

  • FremantleMedia’s Catherine Mackay steps down

    MUMBAI: After 10 years with FremantleMedia, Catherine Mackay has decided to leave the company to become CEO of a new internet search engine.
    Mackay will step down from her role as CEO of FremantleMedia’s Enterprises and New Platforms divisions and as a FremantleMedia operating board member with immediate effect.
    Commenting on her departure, FremantleMedia CEO Tony Cohen said, “I am very sorry that Catherine has decided to leave FremantleMedia after so many years with the company. In her time with the company she has had a profound impact on the overall development of FremantleMedia, both on its strategy and as a divisional CEO where she has been responsible for a very significant proportion of the company’s total profits. We all wish her well in the future.”
    Mackay added, “I have really enjoyed working in such a unique, global company as FremantleMedia. I am very grateful for all the opportunities the company has given me and I would like to thank all the people I’ve worked with over the last ten years.”
    Mackay’s many roles have included being the regional CEO for FremantleMedia’s businesses in the US, Australia and Asia, when they have had some of their most successful years.
    In addition, she drove the considerable growth of the Enterprises divisions, which she originally established some years ago. In the late 1990’s Mackay played an integral role in establishing FremantleMedia’s business in the US and in Asia, which is where she was based when she first joined the company in 1995.

  • ITV to launch mobile portal with FremantleMedia’s ‘The X Factor’

    MUMBAI: ITV and FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide (FLW) have inked a mobile video agreement for The X Factor.
     
     
     

    Fans of the UK’s biggest ever televised talent search will be able to watch clips of memorable events from the show. There will also be news and gossip via SMS and MMS alerts, ringtone and wallpaper downloads plus competitions, games and quizzes. The X Factor will be the first programme brand to be launched on the new ITV Mobile portal.
     
     
     

    ITV commercial development director Jane Marshall said, “The X Factor is producing some of the best entertainment on TV right now and we’re therefore pleased to be launching our portal with it. This marks the start of a major roll-out of mobile content services by ITV.”

    FLW vice president, licensing Dom Wheeler added, “We are always looking at innovative ways to translate our brands into the multi-media space and mobile is a very important medium for us. By providing top-quality programme clips and exclusive footage from The X Factor direct to mobile phones, our fans will be able to continue enjoying and experiencing the highs and lows of the show whenever and wherever they like. Last year, The X Factor was one of few programmes on British TV to interact with its audience via several different platforms and we hope that the show will be just as successful this year.”

    The first series of The X Factor proved a massive ratings winner for ITV with over 10 million viewers (42.2 per cent share) tuning in to see Steve Brookstein walk away with a one million pound Sony BMG recording contract. The results show ranked No. 1 in its timeslot and in its target demo of young adults, was the highest rating show of the day across all channels.

    Once again, FLW is representing all ancillary rights to the show and is targeting a core audience of 16-24-year-olds with a comprehensive licensing programme.