ITV

Tag: Hurricane Sandy

  • NGC to air one hour long documentary on the natural calamity in Uttarakhand

    NGC to air one hour long documentary on the natural calamity in Uttarakhand

    NEW DELHI: National Geographic Channel is known for inspiring its viewers and satisfying the innate curiosity through its innovative shows that challenge what we know and how we perceive our world. NGC has created award winning documentaries that capture events with a global impact such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Bhopal Gas Tragedy & Hurricane Sandy through shows like “Seconds from Disaster” & “Trapped”. These special documentaries go beyond the headlines, explore deep inside the events leading up to the catastrophe as well its aftermath and humanise the tragedy through personal accounts of survival & loss.

     

    NGC is now producing a special documentary on the recent natural calamity in Uttarakhand, which will attempt to understand why this happened and how it happened. The documentary would take viewers back to the initial terrifying moments of the catastrophe and also the rescue and evacuation efforts spearheaded by the Armed Forces, with insights from valorous soldiers who rescued thousands of trapped civilians. It would also showcase interviews with experts and scientists who will shed light on the entire disaster. As the nation still struggles to come to terms with the destructive flood that washed away everything in its path, the documentary would track the events as it unfolded.

     

    Commenting on the documentary, Fox International Channels VP content programming Swati Mohan said, “The floods in Uttarkhand are extremely unfortunate and have once again unraveled our helplessness when faced by nature’s wrath. The mass devastation and destruction caused is appalling. Through this documentary we intend to look into the calamity from multiple points of view. From exploring factors that led to the flood, to looking at the mammoth task of recovery and rehabilitation that lies ahead – the documentary will provide our viewers a deeper and better understanding of the ‘Himalayan Tsunami’.”

  • SUS multi-channel video subscriber universe sees small growth in 2012: SNL Kagan

    SUS multi-channel video subscriber universe sees small growth in 2012: SNL Kagan

    MUMBAI: US multichannel subscribers grew slightly in both Q4 2012 and for the full year, reversing the negative quarterly trends of the earlier two quarters. The small gain that brought total multichannel subs to 100.4 million illustrates the continued popularity of multichannel video alongside evidence that alternative access is siphoning the segment‘s growth potential, according to SNL Kagan.

    Multichannel service providers in the US collectively added 51,000 new customers in fourth quarter 2012, according to company reports, private MSO surveys and SNL Kagan estimates for total subscribers served by cable, satellite and telco video packages. The gains for the full year hinged on fourth-quarter performance following declines in the seasonally weak second and third quarters that essentially erased the 2012 first-quarter bump.

    The three platforms collectively added 46,000 video customers year over year in 2012, finishing the year with more than 100.4 million. While the industry has never posted a full-year decline in video subscribers, growth has proven difficult above the 100 million-household mark. For the year, SNL Kagan estimates that U.S. cable subs declined to 56.4 million, DBS subs grew to 34.1 million and telco video subs grew to 9.9 million.

    External factors continue to hold a place in the discussion, including persistent high unemployment and other macroeconomic weights along with widespread disruption to East Coast systems from Hurricane Sandy.

    However, the modest fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 subscriber growth suggests the segment is not rebounding with the broader economy, and customer formation is lagging the rebounding housing market. According to the fourth-quarter 2012 figures from the US Census Bureau housing survey, occupied housing continued to ramp up, adding nearly half a million new units when including occupied, seasonal and occasional-use households.

    The year-over-year comparison, which benefits from a standard backward revision in the survey, offers a broader perspective that supports the same trend line. The metric points to an annual net gain of 974,000 occupied, seasonal and occasional-use households, more than 21x the increase in multichannel subscribers over the same period. The result is a persistent dip in the multichannel penetration of occupied households in the US.

    According to SNL Kagan‘s overlay, the three primary platforms accounted for 84.7 per cent of the occupied homes in the US, down both sequentially and annually and off of the high point of 87.3 per cent registered in first quarter 2010.

    The cable industry posted a net loss in fourth quarter 2012 that was a significant improvement over the previous two quarters, but outpaced the segment‘s performance in the year-ago quarter. SNL Kagan estimates the industry dropped 418,000 video subs, a 0.7 per cent sequential decline. The segment lost 1.66 million video customers in 2012, an improvement over the 1.8 million dip in 2011.

    The telcos are experiencing slowing growth as their penetrations rise. The industry was still the driving force in subscriber growth, with more than 1.4 million new video customers in 2012. However, the momentum is slowing, down from nearly 1.6 million in 2011.

    DBS providers built on their slice of the video segment, but with net adds of 288,000 in 2012 — down from the nearly half a million new subs added in 2011 — growth is becoming more difficult to come by.

  • IPTV Q4 growth decelerates in the US: Study

    IPTV Q4 growth decelerates in the US: Study

    MUMBAI: The growth of the US Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) market continued to decelerate in the fourth quarter of 2012, due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy and the slowing expansion of Verizon‘s FiOS service.

    The two major US IPTV players, Verizon and AT&T, reported a combined gain of 326,000 video subscribers in the fourth quarter, down by 19 per cent from the 402,000 acquired during the same period in 2011, according to the IHS Screen Digest.

    This marked the second consecutive year of slowing subscriber growth in the fourth quarter, with the total for the last three months of 2011 down 7 percent from 430,000 in 2010, as presented in the figure below.

    For the year 2012, net subscriber adds for the two US IPTV services amounted to 1.3 million, down 14 per cent from 1.5 million in 2011.

    Through 2017, both the major US IPTV players will continue to see their subscriber gains moderate as the market becomes more mature. By 2017, IHS Screen Digest expects that IPTV in the United States will account for 13.4 million pay-TV households, or 10.8 per cent of all pay-TV subscribers.

    IHS senior analyst for television research Erik Brannon said, “Verizon‘s Fios accounted for the majority of the slowdown, as the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service added only 134,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2012, down from the 194,000 gained during same period in 2011.

    “The disruption caused by hurricane Sandy may have slowed FiOS‘s progress. However, the major reason for the deceleration is that FiOS is largely finished expanding its footprint into new geographic areas of the United States. FiOS‘s penetration is significantly higher than that of U-verse, causing long-term growth to slow for Verizon‘s IPTV service.”

    Fios Slowing-but Still Growing: Fiox in 2012 increased its video subscriber base by 553,000 to reach 4.7 million, up 13.3 percent from 4.2 million in 2011. This represents a 21 percent reduction from the 701,000 increase in 2011.

    Fios‘ video penetration now stands at 33.3 percent, compared to 31.5 per cent at the end of 2011. Still, the largest US IPTV provider grew its video subscriber base by 13.3 per cent this past year.

    The Expanding U-verse: AT&T continues to maintain its growth in its U-verse video services, as 192,000 subscribers joined in the fourth quarter of 2012, only 8,000 less than during the same period in 2011.

    U-verse video subscribers grew 19.6 percent for the year and now stand at 4.53 million, closing in on FiOS‘s total video subscribers. With a much broader rollout of U-verse, the fiber-to-the-node service passes 72 percent more eligible video homes than FiOS. Given a significantly larger reach and low video penetration of just 18.7 percent, AT&T is also able to maintain steady growth in gains for its IPTV services.

    All told, U-verse added 745,000 subscribers in 2012, down just 7.3 percent from 2011‘s net gain of 804,000 subscribers.

    IPTV for Everybody: IPTV growth continues in the US, although at a reduced pace. Plenty of room for expansion remains as Fios focusses on penetration levels and U-verse stresses marketing to its lightly penetrated footprint.

  • Dish TV, History TV18 to telecast concert for Hurricane Sandy

    Dish TV, History TV18 to telecast concert for Hurricane Sandy

    MUMBAI: Zee Network‘s DTH company Dish TV India will air the global event ‘12-12-12 Concert‘ to contribute to the Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts.

    The Concert for Sandy Relief will take place at the Madison Square Garden, New York City December 12, 2012. It is expected to run for over four hours.

    Big names in the music industry have come together for the concert. It will be aired online as well as on-air. Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Eddie Vedder, Roger Waters, Kanye West, The Who and Paul McCartney will take part. Also on the bill are actors and comedians including Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kristen Stewart, Chris Rock, Susan Sarandon, Adam Sandler, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jimmy Fallon, Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino.

    The event will be telecast on 13 December 2012 from 5:30 am onwards (IST) and the repeat will telecast at 8 pm on the same day. It will be available to all Dish TV customers free of cost.

    Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor said, "Being the pioneer and industry leader Dish TV has always endeavored to stand strong with the global community in times of need. We are extremely pleased to be a part of the Relief Efforts organized by Robin Hood Relief Fund for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. By broadcasting this concert to be held on the historic date of ‘12-12-12‘, we are glad to take a step towards spreading awareness among Indian masses about the relief campaign for the hurricane victims."

    Robin Hood organisation is organising this concert at 7:30 pm (EST). This four-hour concert is expected to reach over 1 billion people worldwide, while Dish TV will be broadcasting the entire event for its customers in India on channel no. 90 for HD subscribers and channel no. 252 for SD subscribers.

    Infotainment broadcaster History TV18 will also air the concert on 13 December at 5:30 pm. The concert will also be live streamed on Youtube, Hulu, AOL, iHeartRadio and Time brands‘ websites.

  • Hurricane Sandy wallops ship used in Pirates of the Caribbean

    Hurricane Sandy wallops ship used in Pirates of the Caribbean

    MUMBAI: HMS Bounty, the famous ship that was featured in Hollywood films like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man‘s Chest has gone down with huge waves churned up by hurricane Sandy off the North Carolina coast.
    Only 13 of the 16 people aboard got off the ship safely, initially, and only one of the three washed overboard made it into a raft, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Robert Parker has reportedly said.
    The Bounty‘s longtime captain, Robin Walbridge remained missing as night approached yesterday, Lt Mike Patterson, a coast guard spokesman was reported as saying. The body of the second, deckhand Claudine Christian, was found yesterday evening.
    The 180-foot, three-mast ship, a replica of the famous British vessel, foundered about 144 kilometres off North Carolina as Sandy‘s fury churned the Atlantic into 18-foot seas, its owner, Bob Hansen, told CNN affilliate KUSA.
    Hansen said Walbridge was attempting to head east, away from the hurricane, when the ship began taking on water. “At that time it wasn‘t considered an emergency, even though they had several feet of water inside the boat,” he said.
    The ship was built for the 1962 film version of Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, and appeared in the 2006 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man‘s Chest.
    It was once owned by America‘s Cup winner and CNN founder Ted Turner, who acquired it in 1986 along with the rights to the MGM film library.