ITV

Tag: India

  • MPA issues Asia Pacific pay TV slowdown warning

    MPA issues Asia Pacific pay TV slowdown warning

    MUMBAI:  Digital pay TV is slowing down in Asia. That was the key takeaway from Media Partners Asia (MPA) executive director Vivek Couto’s annual report on the Asia Pacific market during the Asia Pacific Operators Summit in Bali, last week.

     

    MPA estimates are that entire Asia Pacific pay television ecosystem added 26 million net new customers in 2013, the lowest annual growth since 2007. This reflects a marked deceleration in China and India as well as softer growth in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, which was the weak link in the region.

     

    MPA which was until this year bullish on the digital pay-TV universe in Asia Pacific seems to have turned cautious if not bearish. It says that net new additions will accelerate in APAC over 2015-16, largely due to some gains in India associated with next, delayed phase of digitisation but the general trend is one of deceleration. Overall, MPA has downgraded pay TV growth for the region at 9 per cent CAGR until 2018.  Adjusted for multiple subscriptions, the data firm indicates that pay-TV penetration will increase from 52 per cent market share in 2013 to 60 per cent by 2018. 

     

    In India, phase I and II of digitisation boosted growth in 2012 but with that done and amidst various structural factors plus the macro environment along with currency depreciation, growth slowed in 2013. “Now we see the next delayed phase of digitisation that is phase III, boosting net new subscribers to 8 million a year in 2015 and 7 million in 2016 before decelerating again by 2018,” informed Couto.

     

    He estimates that on an active paying basis, India has more than 60 million paying digital subscribers. Of this, while 37 million come from DTH, 23 million is from cable. 

     

    “Over the last 24 months, it’s been a transitionary process for the cable industry in India. While in the analogue regime, the multi system operators were at Rs 11 per subscriber, in the digital era, the MSOs are now getting anywhere between Rs 50-70 in Mumbai and Delhi. They will now need to get to Rs 100-110 to start breaking even on video excluding carriage,” said Couto.

     

    Net additions in southeast Asia slowed by almost half last year from 3.7 million to 1.9 million and the two big DTH platforms in Indonesia in particular and Malaysia contributed more than 45 per cent to that growth.  According to MPA, the net additions will reaccelerate in southeast Asia to about 2 – 2.5 million a year driven largely by Indonesia, steady growth in Malaysia and the Philippines but the expectation is that disruption to continue in Thailand and only incremental growth to show up in Vietnam while Singapore will remain somewhat flat.

     

     

    The brakes have been slammed on cable TV growth in China – the other large TV market globally – courtesy direct competition from IPTV, internet TV (the most popular of which are services provided by Wasu, LeTV, XiaoMi and BesTV’s own OTT service platform), and to some extent, online video. Couto said that IPTV in China saw a steady growth of 5.6 million net additions in 2013, driven by content and increasing broadband reach.

     

    North Asia, consisting of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, saw a rise last year only because of Korea, which contributed 80 per cent to growth due to new customers on IPTV and DTH in a market where penetration exceeds 100 per cent.

     

    “Looking at the macro landscape, you can see pay-TV penetration marginally improve in China over the next five years and this will deliver real pay models, driven largely by IPTV. It might improve further as operators become challenged by the new regulatory policy that establishes a set-top box internet-TV model. A number of online video operators have formed partnerships to enter into the internet TV space,” informed Couto.

     

    In China, India and Indonesia too, the growth in TV houses and wireless broadband users will drive increases in consumption of content. Fixed broadband subscribers across the APAC region will increase too, from 310 million in 2013 to 400 million by 2018 – driven by China, India, Thailand, Philippines and Australia.

     

     

    For Couto, the growth of video on demand (VOD) is now starting to take shape.  “Our metrics just cover pay-TV but this 13 per cent average annual growth to almost US$ 4 billion is driven by China, Korea and Japan while in southeast Asia, Malaysia is the clear market leader with Astro being the best,” he said.

  • Indian copyright law is one of the strongest in the world: USTR report

    Indian copyright law is one of the strongest in the world: USTR report

    NEW DELHI: Despite vehement and exhaustive submissions arraying the strength of the Indian IP regime, India continues to be on the watch list in the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 2014 Special 301 Report.

     

    Others in the list are China, Russia, Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela.

     

    The report, however, commends India for its achievements like digitisation and upgradation of IP offices and active copyright enforcement by the Delhi High Court through injunctive relief, to name a few. In the report, the US has also recognised the role of bilateral engagements between US and India to resolve concerns relating to Intellectual Property.

     

    “FICCI in its response to Hearing Testimony of India before USTR had strongly asserted that India has a well-established legislative, administrative and judicial framework to safeguard IPRs which meets its obligations under TRIPS, and has withheld the test of severe international scrutiny. We are glad to note that India has not been given the Priority Country status as this could have had serious ramification on economic, political and trade sanctions”, according to FICCI secretary general Dr A Didar Singh.

     

    “Indian IP law is TRIPS Compliant and more. Indian copyright law is one of the strongest and best in the world. India protected computer programmes by copyright much earlier than the US. The Indian Copyright Act 2012 law is in full conformity with international treaties of WIPO. The legislative and statutory measures are supplemented by appropriate administrative measures by the Governments both at the Centre and in the States for enforcement of IPRs; this includes Inter-Ministerial Committee on Enforcement of IPR laws, Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council (CEAC), Enforcement Cells, Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) and Automated Recording and Targeting System (ARTS) portal of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).”

     

     The national IP strategy gives utmost importance to IPR Portfolios. Recent upgradation of the Intellectual Property Offices in accordance with the international standards has been one of the significant steps taken by the Indian government to make it more service oriented and user friendly.

     

    With effect from 15 October 2013, Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has also started functioning as International Search Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority under PCT.

  • India back as No1 ranked T20I side

    India back as No1 ranked T20I side

    MUMBAI: India has become the number-one ranked Twenty20 International (T20I) side after the annual update of the Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings, which was announced on 1 May.

     

    India has swapped places with ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 champion Sri Lanka.

     

    In the past 12 months, India has lost just one T20I (against Sri Lanka in the recent ICC WT20 Final in Bangladesh), while Sri Lanka has lost four matches. The 2013-2014 results are weighted at 100 per cent whereas, the results in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are now weighted at 50 per cent. Therefore, Sri Lanka’s strong performances in those two earlier years now count for less. 

     

     In the other major change, the West Indies has slipped two places. This drop has moved Australia and New Zealand up by one place each.

     

     The updated table now reflects all T20I matches completed after 1 August 2011. All T20I matches played until the start of May 2015 will be added to this table, so that by May 2015, the ratings will be based on just under four years of results.

     

    In all 14 countries have played sufficient T20I matches to be ranked on the table.  Three countries are unranked, as they haven’t played the minimum number of eight matches during the rankings period, but do have a rating.

     

    Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings (as of 1 May, after annual update)

    Rank   (+/-) Team              Rating (+/-)

    1          (+1) India                  131   (+1)

    2          (-1)  Sri Lanka           130  (-3)

    3          (-)   Pakistan             123   (+3)

    4          (-)   South Africa      121   (+3)

    5          (+1) Australia            112   (+2)

    6          (+1) New Zealand    110   (+3)

    7          (-2) West Indies       110    (-4)

    8            (-)  England               97     (-4)

    9            (-)  Ireland                 87     (+2)

    10           (-) Bangladesh          72     (+1)

    11        (+1) Netherlands        68    (+6)

    12        (-1) Afghanistan         62     (-4)

    13            (-)   Zimbabwe         52     (+2)

    14             (-)   Scotland            51     (+1)

     

    Not ranked as fewer than eight T20I matches played since August 2011

    Nepal   63

    Hong Kong 30

    UAE     0

     (Developed by David Kendix)

  • Cognizant acquires American digital video solutions vendor, itaas

    Cognizant acquires American digital video solutions vendor, itaas

    NEW DELHI: Digital video solutions vendor, itaas, is being acquired by Cognizant, though no details of the financial terms involved have been disclosed.

     

    The Atlanta, Georgia-based itaas assists television providers and broadcasters, particularly cable channels, to deliver live streaming and video services on digital platforms.

     

    The digital video solutions vendor has approximately 200 professionals in the United States, Canada and India.

     

    The acquisition will enable Cognizant to capitalise on the demand for interactivity, personalisation, and content delivery in the multi-screen and video market.

     

    Cognizant said that the expanded capabilities will also support other industries such as banking, retail, and healthcare, which are rolling out advanced customer and business platforms centered on video.

     

    Cognizant IT services CEO Rajeev Mehta said: “This acquisition continues our long-standing strategy of acquiring sharply focused business capabilities that complement our existing offerings.”

  • Zee hunts for actors with ‘Cinestars ki Khoj’

    Zee hunts for actors with ‘Cinestars ki Khoj’

    MUMBAI: Add a dash of glamour to reality and you have a crowd puller! That’s what happened back in 2004 when Zee TV launched its massive talent hunt, India’s Best Cinestars Ki Khoj. A decade later, the channel is all set to revive the popular format, albeit with slight alterations in approach and presentation.

     

    Post IPL, the Essel Vision produced show will replace Zee TV’s current favourite, Dance India Dance (DID) Li’l Masters, which airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9pm.

     

    Auditions are already on while for participants from outside India, the makers are deploying another casting process. It is learnt that 20 versatile contestants (Indians) from across the globe will compete for the crown of ‘cinestar’.

     

    The first auditions started on 15 April in Amritsar to scout out the most impressive candidates. It will be followed by other countries like UK, North America, South East Asia and many more. 18-40 years of age can participate and showcase their talent which can open up a million new doors to a career in Bollywood.

     

    They will be groomed by Bollywood’s most popular casting directors, filmmakers, actors and choreographers, and will in turn showcase their acting and dancing talents to an international audience over a span of 15 weeks. Celebrity judges, exhilarating dance numbers and performances will mark the show.

     

    “We are inviting Indians from all over the world to come and participate. We are not doing massive public auditions but have another casting process which is being used. We have not formulated the exact flow but have already started working with the communities and offices there,” says Zee TV programming head Namit Sharma, who is hoping to attract talent from everywhere.

     

    “Zee TV has always stood for celebrating the talent of India’s common man. In 1995, the channel created the Mecca of singing talent in the country with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and introduced the entertainment fraternity to some of its leading singers. Year 2009 saw a landmark day in the history of Indian television when we launched Dance India Dance, giving hope to a million dance enthusiasts across the country. The show not only emerged as one of reality television’s biggest successes but opened up several new career avenues in dance for its participants,” says Sharma.

     

    After revolutionizing the worlds of singing and dancing, Zee TV is all set to make a similar impact in the world of acting with its reality series India’s Best Cinestars Ki Khoj. “We have a knack of identifying the right talent; we look forward to an interesting season of this show!” he adds.

     

    About the format of the show, Essel Vision producer Nitin Keni reveals: “We are working on a different design, but nothing is finalized as yet. We are still ideating, but the series will be about finding out the best actor/actress through various levels and then from the EVPL side, we will also be giving them a chance to act in our projects.”

     

    Repeating the property was a conscious decision, following the response to the last season. “There is a lot of aspiration among people in the country to become actors/actresses. And now that we have a production house, we require actors all the time and we are also into films,” says Keni.

     

    As the producer of DID which is being replaced by the newbie, Keni says it will be a good break. “With back-to-back launches, there is too much of DID happening. Whether it’s Cinestars ki Khoj or otherwise, DID needs to be given rest,” he says.

     

    With the show’s earlier outing having produced stars the likes of Ankita Lokhande (Pavitra Rishta), Sarwar Ahuja (Punar Vivaah), Aditi Sharma (Ladies vs Ricky Bahl), Sharad Malhotra & Divyanka Tripathi (Banoo Main Teri Dulhann), Yuvika Chaudhary (Om Shanti Om) and Himanshu Malhotra (Bhagonwali), all eyes are peeled on the return of the star maker.

  • Cadbury India is now Mondelez India Food

    Cadbury India is now Mondelez India Food

    MUMBAI: Cadbury India, a subsidiary of Mondelez International, has changed its name to Mondelez India Foods. The change in name of Cadbury is in line with the gradual changeover of the name of all subsidiaries of Mondelez International globally.

     

    The company is focused on creating delicious moments of joy that is encapsulated in its name – “monde” for world and “delez” for delicious.

     

    The change in name of the company will have no impact on the names or packaging of its popular products like Cadbury Dairy Milk, 5 Star, Gems, Bournville, Perk, Celebrations, Choclairs, Halls, Bournvita, Tang and Oreo, which will continue to be sold under the same brand names as before. The only change consumers will experience is that the new name of the company will appear on the back of pack of the products.

     

    Commenting on the development, Mondelez India Foods managing director Manu Anand said, “With the change in name of the company to Mondelez India Foods Limited, we conclude the process of transition that began over two years ago.  We are today the pre-eminent and most loved food company in India with leadership in fast growing categories, strong route to market, robust innovation pipeline and world class talent and facilities. We view this change as yet another milestone in this exciting journey of success and leadership.”

  • Omron’s “your voice, their world” campaign goes online

    Omron’s “your voice, their world” campaign goes online

    MUMBAI: OMRON group in India has extended their flagship CSR project ‘Your Voice, Their World’ to the online sphere to create world’s first-of-its  kind online audio library of poems for the visually disabled in association with the National Association for the Blind (NAB), Delhi.

    Riding on the corporate philosophy of working for the benefit of society, this online campaign is an effort to further strengthen company’s support to visually impaired to help them fulfill their dreams of education and overall development via audio-based accessible content. While the first leg of the project (started in Dec, 13) focused on creation of Accessible Digital Library for blind students at NAB, Delhi premises, this online camp aign focuses on creation of an audio library of poems for them by engaging the public at large. The repertoire shall be donated to NAB, Delhi which shall in turn be sharing it with its own students and thousands of other visually impaired connected through its network.

    Conceptualized in association with McCANN Health, the campaign reaches out to the people in the form of following touch points: website – www.yourvoicetheirworld.com, Facebook application (on the OMRON India’s page), Android & iOS apps and exclusive videos being promoted on You Tube. All these vehicles provide an interface where people can record one of the poems available in the database or one from their own collection.

    Commenting on this initiative, Mr. Takuichi Shimizu, president, Omron Management Centre of India, said, “Believing in the untapped potential of human – voice based education tools for the visually impaired, the bohemian campaign has a fresh appeal to enthuse people to do their bit towards this relevant cause in an interesting and simple manner. We believe that it shall certainly be helpful in contributing towards the cognitive development, social development of the visually impaired and above all in helping them become a better human being.”

     

    The campaign received its first submission from OMRON’s brand ambassador Farhan Akhtar who lent his voice to a beautiful poem written by famous lyricist and Chairman, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, McCANN Worldgroup India and South Asia, Prasoon Joshi. According to him, “To run a campaign with poetry at its heart and to serve the visually impaired through it, is an unique opportunity and I was more than happy to pen a poem to get this kick started. OMRON is a valued partner for us and I am glad that we have partnered with them to steer such a novel initiative.”

     

    Owing to his association with the campaign since the beginning, Farhan has been endearingly promoting the cause. In order to keep increasing the reach of the campaign, it has also been promoted on OMRON’s social networking platforms – Facebook and Twitter pages, through other online portals and on-ground activations too. With more than 1700 poems submitted so far, OMRON is hopeful of keeping the momentum alive to create a meaningful collection of around 3000 poems by May, 2014. All the poems submitted are available for voting. The first phase of the campaign has been met with a overwhelming response with over 33,000 visitors to the website, a 20% increase in Facebook Fans, massive growth in Facebook reach to 3 million, more than 100 % rise in Twitter
    followers and more than 1,28,000 views of the campaign videos on You Tube.

     

    Being an intrinsic part of the strategy of the campaign since its inception as creative partners, McCANN Health feels that for a company that’s built on sensing technology, the best way to fulfill their CSR aspirations is to back an initiative that’s dedicated to the senses. “The visually impaired pay more attention to what their other senses can tell them and our idea was to serve this reality. It’s a beautiful idea and we are proud to be part of it ‘says Sohan Shah, SVP, McCANN Health.

    Sounding optimistic about the campaign and the association, Mr. Prashant Ranjan Verma, Joint Secretary-NAB , Delhi, said: “ Education based on accessible formats is one of the most effective tools to help the visually impaired people become more capable, financially independent, better human beings and a part of the mainstream. Taking this thought forward, we started production of audio and e-books with the support from OMRON. Believing that visually impaired people have the same needs of edutainment as any other normal human beings, this online initiative is the next level focusing on creating a database of meaningful poems which unfortunately, so far, has been a largely ignored domain.”

    The Ist phase concluded today with the Meet with Farhan event where the participants with maximum votes for their poems got to meet Farhan Akhtar at Mumbai.

     

  • India tops in making largest number of requests for blocking pages on Facebook in 2014

    India tops in making largest number of requests for blocking pages on Facebook in 2014

    NEW DELHI: Even as Indians are among the foremost consumers of social media in the world, Indian law enforcement agencies requested Facebook to block content in 4,765 instances citing local laws as the reason. The request for blocking content was made between July and December last year, the largest by any country.

     

    The social networking giant said it blocked content after government officials and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) reported that such posts were violating laws like criticising a religion or the state.

     

    As per data from the second Government Requests Report by the California-headquartered firm, India made the highest requests for restricting content, followed by Turkey (2014), Pakistan (162), Israel (113), Germany (84) and France (80).

     

    In India, which accounts for over 100 million Facebook users, second only to the US, law enforcement entities made 3,598 requests for information on 4,711 users in the last six months of 2013, Facebook said.

     

    On blocking content, Facebook said: “We restricted access in India to a number of pieces of content reported primarily by law enforcement officials and the ICERT under local laws prohibiting criticism of a religion or the state.”

     

    Facebook’s report also revealed that India made the second largest number of user requests at 3,598 after the US, which sought information on about 12,598 Facebook users in the second half of 2013.

     

    In total, Facebook received more than 28,000 government data requests during July-December 2013. 

     

  • IND-PAK may face-off in 6 test series between 2015 and 2023

    IND-PAK may face-off in 6 test series between 2015 and 2023

    MUMBAI: If there is one face-off in the sport of cricket that is more anticipated and watched than the Ashes, it has to be India taking on arch rivals Pakistan.

     

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed interest in rekindling its relationship with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play at least six home and away test series between the boards in the next eight-year FTP cycle between 2015 and 2023, which will also include an “off-shore” home series in the United Arab Emirates. 

     

    According to a few media reports, the PCB awaits a final confirmation from the BCCI following its working committee meeting that is expected to take place in the next 15 days. It will then enable the PCB to work out a long-term broadcasting deal with regular India series at its centre. 

     

    Earlier PCB chairman Najam Sethi had made it clear that Pakistan’s conditional support for the ICC revamp depends on the promise of said number of series against India. The change in the PCB’s stance has taken place on the condition that Pakistan would be involved in bilateral series against all Full Members, including India. 

     

    It is learnt that all the nine member boards have confirmed their earlier commitments with PCB until 2020 and are chalking out a fresh plan for the period from 2020 to 2023. 

     

    The BCCI could look to slot in as many as six series against Pakistan, due to the gaps that are available in the existing FTP calendar. The first of these bilateral series could take place in the UAE in the winter of 2015.

     

    India and Pakistan have not played a full series since the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan visited India for a short limited-over series in December 2012 which included three ODIs and two T20 Internationals. The PCB estimates that after committing to the ICC revamp, the financial benefits could reach PKR 30 billion from the bilateral ties, the major chunk of which will be earned from hosting India.

  • IndiaCast to build ‘News 18 India’ brand internationally

    IndiaCast to build ‘News 18 India’ brand internationally

    MUMBAI:  Within a year of it first launching in the UK, IndiaCast is playing on the on-going general elections card and taking the news brand News 18 India to other parts of the world.

     

    The channel that first began broadcasting in the UK in July last year and had content from CNN –IBN with customisation to fit local taste, has now gone ahead and launched it in Singapore and the middle east as well. Deals have been inked with Mio TV by SingTel in Singapore and e-Vision by Etisalat in the Middle East.

     

    The channel will offer news from the country which includes current affairs, politics, local weather and business news. “We want to expand the news business globally but differently. We are creating a hybrid channel with a lot of business content as well. We have the expertise with CNBC and moneycontrol.com. So ‘News 18 India’ will feature market opening, market closing, daily market roundup, weekly market roundup etc. The programming will be made for our international feed by teams here but won’t be shown to the Indian channels,” says IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi speaking to indiantelevision.com.

     

    The world has shifted its focus to India due to the general elections, giving IndiaCast, a good enough reason to launch it now. Within the next two- three months, the channel will also be launched in the US, Canada and other global markets.

     

    The network feels that News 18 India in the UK was a huge success leading it to being build globally. Going forward it is also exploring options of inserting capsules of local news. “We want to make it an international service for looking into India. Outside India, people don’t want to carry four channels but they want to know the political news and business news. So we are providing them one wholesome channel. India is important to the world and now since elections are happening we have upped the game on News 18,” adds Gandhi.

     

    This apart, five of its ETV GECs have been launched on e-Vision’s platform eLife TV- ETV Marathi, ETV Bangla, ETV Telugu, ETV Gujarati and ETV Urdu.

     

    Additionally, Rishtey which recently set its foot on the Indian soil will also be traveling countries very soon. US and Australia are the next markets to launch Rishtey but with different, customised feed. “We launched Rishtey first in UK as an FTA channel.  Then we saw potential for it in India and so we got it as an FTA channel here too. When we launch it in other parts of the world, it won’t be FTA, but a pay TV service,” highlights Gandhi.

     

    Rishtey in the UK has content from both India as well as Pakistan and it aims to keep its differentiation in other markets too. As of now, Rishtey in India, which just finished distribution across various platforms, is now looking at getting advertisements. 

     

    The network also recently launched the Asia-Pacific feed for its flagship channel Colors.