ITV

Tag: Frost

  • Sony Studios elevates Frost, Parnell & Clodfelter

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) recently announced that Jeff Frost has been named president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, the production side of SPE’s television business. Frost will report to SPE chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra.

    Concurrently, Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter have been named co-presidents of Sony Pictures Television Studios, reporting to Frost. Collectively, they will comprise a new “Office of the President” which will oversee all U.S. production and programming for Sony Pictures Television (SPT).

    Parnell and Clodfelter’s oversight will include all creative aspects of the television studio including U.S. Drama and Comedy Development, Reality & Syndication, U.S. Scripted & Current Programming, Talent & Casting, Movies & Miniseries and TriStar Television.

    “Jeff, Chris and Jason are the perfect team to run our U.S. television business,” said Vinciquerra. “Over the last several weeks, I have been able to see first-hand the strong leadership qualities possessed by Jeff, Chris and Jason, the high energy and vitality of everyone in their groups and throughout SPT and the outstanding collaboration that exists between them all. I am confident they will not only grow our robust television business, but also strengthen the integration between SPT and SPE’s other lines of business and with the other Sony Group companies.”

    “I am thrilled to take on this new role at SPT and honored to work with some of the most talented and creative individuals and teams in the business,” said Frost. “I am particularly excited about working with Chris and Jason. The landscape of our business continues to rapidly evolve, and SPT is in an ideal position to take advantage of industry shifts due to our diversity of programming and ability to air across a broad array of broadcast, cable and digital platforms. We have had great success over the past 10 years and I look forward to working with the team to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead. I want to thank Tony for this opportunity.”

    “We are proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last several years and are excited about building on that in this new role,” said Parnell and Clodfelter. “We want to thank Tony for this opportunity and look forward to working with Jeff and the entire SPT team to grow the roster of high-quality programming the industry and audiences have come to expect from SPT.”

    SPT’s International Productions will continue to be led by Wayne Garvie, Chief Creative Officer for SPT International Production, who will report to Vinciquerra.

    As Executive Vice President, U.S. Business Affairs, Frost has played a lead role in SPT’s overall strategy and negotiations with the studio’s broadcast and production partners and talent, and has been central to the studio’s greatest successes over the last 10 years. Frost joined SPT in 2008 from ABC Studios, where he served as senior vice president, business affairs for the studio’s traditional production arm, as well as their digital media group. Frost joined ABC in 1997 as an attorney in the litigation department and, beginning in 1999, held posts in the legal affairs and business affairs departments for the production company, Touchstone Television, through 2003, when he segued into ABC Cable Networks as senior vice president and head of legal affairs. He rejoined Touchstone Television in 2005 as senior vice president, leading the legal department before taking on his role at SPT business affairs.

    Parnell and Clodfelter joined SPT in 2003 and 2006, respectively; both most recently serving as Executive Vice President, U.S. Drama Development and Programming for SPT. Together they have guided the development of scripted programming for drama series, working with writers and producers on projects for broadcast, cable, and streaming outlets. Both have been driving forces behind the studio’s most successful dramas, including Breaking Bad, The Blacklist, Outlander, Bloodline, Masters of Sex, Franklin & Bash, Powers, Helix, Preacher, Justified, The Night Shift, The Get Down, Mad Dogs, Sneaky Pete, Houdini & Doyle, Game of Silence, Unforgettable, Damages and Drop Dead Diva. Prior to joining Sony in 2006, Clodfelter served as director, then vice president of development for Spelling Television, Inc., where he developed the series Wanted and Saving Grace, and as director of development for John Wells Productions.

  • Indian DTH market could touch 100 mn subscriber mark by 2018: Frost & Sullivan

    Indian DTH market could touch 100 mn subscriber mark by 2018: Frost & Sullivan

    MUMBAI: The Indian direct -to-home (DTH) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.2 per cent to get to the 100 million subscriber mark by 2018, according to Frost & Sullivan research report.

    While the DTH market is on an exceptional growth trajectory, the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) market in India is still in its early days and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 79.5 per cent to touch the 6 million subscriber mark by 2018.

    The growth in the IPTV market can be stupendous if the dismal infrastructure and broadband penetration is taken care of, the report added.
    "Riding high on the digitization mandate, the DTH market is on an unprecedented growth trajectory, and India is set to become the largest DTH market in the world. Growing television penetration, emerging middle class and rising disposable income has resulted in increased spending and rising demand for quality viewing experience,” says a Frost & Sullivan analyst.

  • IP Video Test and Measurement market to witness high growth

    IP Video Test and Measurement market to witness high growth

    MUMBAI: From being a virtually non-existent market in 2003, the IP video test and measurement market saw significant growth in 2005.

    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World IP Video Test & Measurement Market, finds that this market earned revenues of $52.2 million in 2005 and is likely to reach $289 million in 2010.

    With telecom and cable TV companies aggressively offering triple play services, there is a rising trend among test equipment and solution vendors to offer IPTV test capability ‘within the same box’. Telecom companies are increasingly launching VoIP and offering bundled video, data and voice services to meet the intense competition from cable TV providers and the growing migration of customers to VoIP-based telephony and wireless networks.

    IPTV enables telecom companies to leverage their DSL access networks, and thereby offer their customer base an additional video service to supplement existing voice and data offerings. By adopting such measures, they are able to contain losses while retaining valuable customers.

    “With such intense competition among service providers, subscriber experience and quality of service become key differentiators, compelling them to roll-out monitoring systems and protocol analyzers at the same time as they launch their IPTV services,” remarks Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager Jessy Cavazos. “This factor is considered to be a strong driver, particularly for the network monitoring systems market segment, and is expected to have a very high impact on market revenues throughout the forecast period.”

    Tolerance levels in IP video services are minimal compared to VoIP services, in which the conversation can be continued even if a couple of packets are lost. Thus, it becomes highly essential to have effective monitoring and troubleshooting tools when networks are deployed in the present market scenario, increasing the demand for suitable test equipment.

    Again, the emphasis on quality is higher in the IP video and TV market than in the VoIP market. This poses a significant challenge to test equipment providers catering to this market. The capital costs of the test equipment used for IPTV and video are very high, running into billions of dollars. Since these costs eventually get passed on to the users, it is hardly surprising that they demand the highest quality possible to get maximum value from the service.

    The challenge for test equipment providers is to keep pace with the latest technologies in IP video and TV and to be able to develop suitable solutions to test them.

    “With end users looking at channel change time issues before roll-out and measuring channel change infrastructure in networks after deployment, this presents a significant opportunity for test vendors,” says Cavazos. “Frost & Sullivan believes that channel changing performance test to assess the functioning of one or more devices under test (DUT) or systems under test (SUT) in IPTV deployment is the biggest opportunity, from a customer target application perspective, in the near future.”

  • IPTV touted as the new growth frontier for telecom, internet service providers

    IPTV touted as the new growth frontier for telecom, internet service providers

    MUMBAI: IPTV is being touted as the new growth frontier for both telecom and internet service providers with over 30 deployments globally to-date.

    Most providers are offering triple-play services of video, data and voice to prevent churn and arrest falling revenues from traditional telephony.

    Frost And Sullivan has come out with a report IPTV: Remote(ly) in Control. Frost and Sullivan principal consultant Jayesh Easwaramony says, “Despite the rapidly developing IPTV market, penetration remains low in most countries, leaving even the largest IPTV provider in the red.

    “Decision makers are seized with doubts on the right service mix to entice consumers, the ideal business model and the payoff from sizeable investments in upgrading their networks,” adds Easwaramony.

    Unfamiliarity with the unique appeal of relevant content adds a new dimension to IPTV services and the challenge of making it a viable venture.

  • IPTV subscribers in Asia Pacific expected to reach 27.4 million by 2013: Frost and Sullivan report

    IPTV subscribers in Asia Pacific expected to reach 27.4 million by 2013: Frost and Sullivan report

    MUMBAI: The Frost and Sullivan research service titled Asia Pacific IPTV Market provides an in-depth analysis of IPTV scenario in 12 markets across Asia Pacific.

    The research service identifies the market demand, competitive landscape, key drivers and restraints for the IPTV market.

    Further, the study presents detailed forecast patterns for revenues and ARPU trends for various countries in Asia Pacific. In this research service, Frost and Sullivan’s expert analysts thoroughly examine the markets of Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

    Growth of Broadband Spurs IPTV Deployments

    Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is fast making headway across the entire Asia Pacific region. The deployment of IPTV in the region has been further hastened by the explosion of broadband in various high growth markets across Asia Pacific, even as service providers across the region have invested heavily in the network infrastructure required for offering these services.

    IPTV has generated a new revenue stream, amidst dwindling fixed line revenues, and rapid advancements in compression, transmission, and watermarking technologies have enabled more and more service providers to jump onto the IPTV bandwagon. In line with these trends, the Asia Pacific IPTV market is set for considerable growth over the forecast period, with the number of IPTV subscribers expected to increase from the existing 1,47,000 to 27.4 million by 2013.

    However, poor broadband infrastructure in key growth markets such as China, India, and the Philippines coupled with lack of quality content have restrained the growth of IPTV in the region. Furthermore, access to quality content has been a common challenge for service providers.

    The analyst of this research service said, “While partnerships with content providers and broadcasting companies go a long way in securing access rights, the cable TV providers or the IPTV market leaders already have exclusive access to this content. This arrangement makes it difficult for other service providers to scale their service to meet the users’ requirements.”

    China and India expected to be high growth ,arkets

    With respect to individual regional markets, Hong Kong is already a mature market for IPTV services, and is expected to be heading toward saturation by 2009. China and India are perceived as high growth markets for IPTV by 2009. By 2013, China along with Hong Kong is expected to contribute nearly 60 per cent of the total Asia Pacific IPTV revenues. With 47.8 million subscribers, China has the largest broadband subscriber base in Asia Pacific in 2006, out of which nearly 70 per cent are residential subscribers.

    In Australia, IPTV is entering a crucial stage in its development, moving away from a technology under trial, into full commercial deployment. While it could take another three years for IPTV to enter the growth stage, service providers’ early adoption of IPTV services and aggressive pricing strategies are expected to contribute to the success of the technology in Australia.

    Presently, IPTV is deployed in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The service is expected to be introduced in India and the Philippines in 2007, and despite the lack of bandwidth in most markets, the demand for interactive entertainment has lured service providers to offer IPTV-based content in the form of video-on-demand (VoD) and channel-based offerings.

    Analyst further added, “As the service providers take the first few tentative steps, response from IPTV users has been positive in most markets. Service providers need to look beyond immediate revenue opportunities to understand the long-term importance of IPTV as a carrier distribution platform, over which many consumer communication and entertainment services can be offered simultaneously.”