ITV

Tag: iTunes

  • Disney Records celebrates 50 years; unveils classics on iTunes, ‘The Music Behind the Magic’ CD & exhibition

    Disney Records celebrates 50 years; unveils classics on iTunes, ‘The Music Behind the Magic’ CD & exhibition

    MUMBAI: In celebration of the 50th anniversary, Walt Disney Records has lined up a preservation and restoration process for the label’s earliest classic recordings and an archival CD collection and exhibition titled The Music Behind the Magic.

    As part of this celebration, the label will begin releasing these restored titles and will be available through digital outlets, including iTunes, marking the release of Disneyland and Buena Vista records. The vast quantity of archive song material consists of classic Disney songs, original material performed by popular artists of the day and movie soundtracks. These songs will be digitally restored beyond the sonic brilliance of the original masters, allowing them to sound better than they did when they were first issued nearly 50 years ago, informs an official release.

    Walt Disney Records’ The Archive Collection is a special iTunes digital-only release featuring 50 WDR recordings from a wide range of artists including, Cliff Edwards (voice of Jiminy Cricket), Mary Martin, Hayley Mills, Burl Ives, Louis Prima, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Armstrong, Little Richard, Peter Frampton, They Might Be Giants, The Cheetah Girls and many more. The Archive Collection will be available on iTunes beginning November 7.

    In addition to the digital releases, the label will also unveil a special two disc commemorative edition, Disney’s The Music Behind the Magic. The collection highlights 50 of the most loved musical classics from movies, television shows, theme parks, Broadway musicals and unique WDR recordings.

    These will include, Some Day My Prince Will Come from Snow White (first soundtrack), When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio (theme song for TWDC), The Ballad of Davy Crockett (first single from a television show), Tall Paul by Annette Funicello (the label’s first teen sensation), tracks from Mary Poppins (album held the #1 position on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart for 14 weeks) and Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King (soundtrack earned WDR its first Diamond Award from the RIAA, certifying sales of 10 million units), adds the release.

    The 50th anniversary celebration will continue as Walt Disney Records’ and The Walt Disney Company’s legacy is brought to life with an exhibit, also titled Disney: The Music Behind the Magic. Opening 5 November, the exhibit will be housed at Seattle’s Experience Music Project (EMP) for one year before traveling to cities across the U.S. and around the world.

    Disney: The Music Behind the Magic claims to be the first comprehensive exhibit devoted to exploring and examining the role music has played in The Walt Disney Company’s successes and its cultural impact over the past 80 years.

    “There is no other record label in the history of the industry with as diverse and eclectic a catalog as Walt Disney Records,” said Walt Disney Records Sr vice president/general manager Robert Marick. “Our catalog is comprised of 15,000 recordings including releases from a variety of superstars from every era — from Louis Armstrong to Peggy Lee to Annette Funicello and Christina Aguilera.”

    Marick adds, “Music has always played an integral role in the success of all facets of The Walt Disney Company. The Experience Music Project exhibit captures, for the very first time, the lasting legacy and impact Disney has made in the music industry and pop culture around the world. The exhibit, along with our catalog preservation efforts, Commemorative Edition two-disc release and Billboard Tribute Issue are terrific ways to celebrate the label’s 50th Anniversary.”

    Since its launch as Disneyland Records by Walt and Roy Disney in 1956, the label has earned more than 275 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards from the R.I.A.A., 22 Grammys and 18 Academy Awards. The label started as an extension of The Walt Disney Company’s film, television and theme park projects. Well-known offerings such as High School Musical (3x platinum), the Disneymania franchise (3 million units), The Lion King franchise (15+ million units) and Mary Poppins (3x platinum) showcase the enduring popularity of WDR’s catalog, with several releases ranking among the top-selling singles and soundtracks of all time.

    Details of the label’s contribution to the music industry and The Walt Disney Company for its 50th celebration will be featured in the forthcoming Billboard Magazine Tribute issue, on sale 4 November.

  • It is CBS’ turn to dance to iTunes

    It is CBS’ turn to dance to iTunes

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster CBS and Apple have announced that prime time programming from the network is now available on the iTunes Music Store at www.itunes.com.

    This means that some shows from all the four major American networks – CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox are available at iTunes.

    CBS shows that will be available for purchase and download include the reality show Survivor, the dramas Numb3rs, NCIS and the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) franchise CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami CSI: NY.

    iTunes now offers over 100 TV shows for $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod, and claims to be the world’s most popular online video store with over 30 million videos sold.

    CBS Digital Media president Larry Kramer said, “We are bringing popular and acclaimed programmes from the most watched television network — including CSI and Survivor — to iTunes. iTunes has proven that people enjoy viewing shows on their computer or iPod, which provides an opportunity to reach new audiences with our hit shows and gives our existing viewers a chance to catch up on missed episodes.”

  • Fox makes ‘24’, ‘The Shield’ available on iTunes

    Fox makes ‘24’, ‘The Shield’ available on iTunes

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster Fox and Apple have announced that shows from Fox, FX, Speed, Fuel TV and the 20th Century Fox Television library is now available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com).

    The launch, which features 16 series, including 24, Prison Break and The Shield is the largest to date on iTunes and spans several genres – drama, comedy and reality genres, plus several classic favorites. iTunes now offers over 90 TV shows for $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod.

    Fox Digital Media president Peter Levinsohn said, “As this partnership demonstrates, were committed to delivering our content to consumers in as many ways as possible. Today, with some of the worlds premier television content, Fox is bringing unprecedented depth in a single launch to the iTunes store.”

    Fans can now purchase current dramas like 24 and Prison Break, comedies like Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Stacked; reality series, including Fox’s Unan1mous, FXs Black. White, and 30 Days; and favorites from the 20th Century Fox Television library, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Lost in Space.

  • TWI comes out with podcast show on golf on iTunes

    TWI comes out with podcast show on golf on iTunes

    MUMBAI: Former golf pros and Sky pundits Richard Boxall and Robert Lee will be sharing their expertise with golf fans in a podcast show on iTunes.

    Golf ‘n Around, a half-hour weekly show hosted by the duo, produced by TWI and sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, will provide listeners with an insightful and light hearted look at the world of Golf.

    The first edition of the show will provide a look back at the Volvo China Open and discuss the Verizon Heritage on the PGA Tour, as well as previewing this week’s European Tour event in Shanghai and the BMW Asian Open. Regular features will also include golf tips and miscellaneous items of interest.

    As well as having unparalleled access to the players and back-up personnel, Richard and Robert also promise to share anecdotes previously recounted amongst the close-knit golfing community. They joke, ‘What we know about golf you could write on a postage stamp with a paint brush. That’s why we’re pooling our knowledge to share it with the world.’

    Golf ‘n Around is produced by TWI who has agreed a distribution contract with Audible, the leading distributor of spoken-word content on iTunes.

    TWI head of audio sales and distribution Miles Palmer said, “TWI is delighted to work with key broadcasting talent such as Robert and Richard to produce unique content for the downloading public. TWI intends to set the bar for sport content in the podcasting world and this is a great start.”

  • MTV, VHI US go Pink in association with Honda

    MTV, VHI US go Pink in association with Honda

    MUMBAI: MTV and VH1 in the US will paint their broadband and mobile platforms Pink with content from an exclusive flashmob concert in New York City with platinum-selling
    LaFace/Zomba artist Pink. The concert footage features music from Pink’s latest album, I’m Not Dead.

    The concert was the result of a contest launched last year in conjunction with Honda and its advertising agency RPA to promote the launch of the 2006 Honda Civic. MTV and VH1 worked with Honda to develop the extensive 12-week Honda Civic Under The Hood campaign featuring a series of music-based interstitials that drove viewers to various media platforms to enter their zip codes, giving the region with the most entries a “flashmob” concert by a national music artist.

    VH1 and MTV joined forces for the first time ever in creating a cross-channel multiplatform campaign that amplified the reach of the networks’ live music franchises to support the launch of the 2006 Honda Civic.

    On 5 April, text messages and emails went out to contest entrants informing them of the Pink “flashmob” concert in New York that evening. The first 200 to respond to the message won access to the event at Crobar. Pink Across All VH1 and MTV Platforms

    From tomorrow 13 April, footage from the exclusive concert, including full songs from Pink’s performance will be available on VH1 and MTV’s broadband channels VSpot (vspot.vh1.com) and Overdrive (overdrive.mtv.com).

    Fans will also be able to enjoy video clips of the concert on MTV Mobile and VH1 Mobile cross-carrier. Pink appeared on MTV’s Total Request Live the day of the concert and upon her exit took a few of the members of the audience and escorted them to the show. In addition, a half-hour version of the concert will air on MTV on 14 April.

    VH1 will also produce a video podcast interview with Pink that will be available for download on VH1.com and iTunes.

  • Indiantelevision.com’s Media, Advertising, Marketing Special Report

    New emerging technologies are going to change the way we consume media. It is a dynamic and constantly morphing scenario that confronts media researchers and marketers. Indiantelevision.com introduces the first of a series of studies by Group M’s Maxus, which will cover a wide range of issues.

    Indiantelevision.com would welcome such similar studies that add to a better understanding of our media landscape.

    In this, the first such paper, Maxus dwells on Television and Generation Next.

    “Incredibly Young India”! This might well be an appropriate coinage given the current demographics of the Indian population. Over the next decade, marketers are looking at the most lucrative and influential youth market in Indian history.

    But crucial to profiting from this increasingly critical section of our society will also be a proper understanding of this fickle and extremely hard to please generation.

    The fact that India is getting ‘younger’ is also reflected in our advertising – in 2005, advertising directed at the youth comprised 20 per cent of total ad spends, up from 16 per cent a few years ago. (Maxus estimates)

    However, worryingly, youth engagement with TV is on the wane – time spent on TV is progressively declining.

    Time Spent on TV viewing per day Index to 2002
     
    (Source: TAM, 15-24 years, SEC A)

    A look at similar numbers for housewives confirms that this is a youth only trend – housewife viewing is at best flat with spikes in some years.

    Time Spent on TV viewing per day Index to 2002
     
    (TG: Housewives, 25-44, SEC A)

    So while more money is chasing the youth on TV year after year, the worry for marketers is the declining returns on their investment. TV channels aimed at the youth need to also contend with this problem. How do they get Gen Next to watch more TV?

    Why is this happening?

    The growing propensity to multi task also makes inroads into the TV preserve – not only is the youth much more on the move (college, tuition, evening job, partying…), they are also consuming multiple media simultaneously – SMS a friend, while on a chat site with FM blaring. The SMS shorthand has also shortened attention spans making the youth clamor for constant newness.

    But of course, the biggest change agent has been the Wiring of Gen Next’ – a phenomenon sweeping urban India – SMS, internet, gaming, iPods…

    Apart from the technology, these gadgets fulfill a very basic youth need of providing a network: their virtual, private world offers them the peer group belonging and security, exchange of information and a social cocoon that helps fight loneliness characteristic of nuclear families today.

    Most of the entertainment options that appeal to this whole new segment is actually done with others and not alone. Be it going to multiplexes, hanging out in coffee pubs, sweating it out at gaming parlours or chatting online – all are group acts.

    Hence the cult rise of IPods, chat rooms, networks, Google, iTunes and PodCasts, on line messengers…

    All the gadgets and entertainment options mentioned above are:

    Interactive and/or consumer created
    Warm and friendly inviting active participation
    Platforms where there are very few pre-set norms or content limitations
    So, is it doomsday for TV?

    Certainly not! TV has some inherent strengths – the challenge for TV is to amplify its strengths and leverage the new digital world to expand its youth catchment.

    The starting point of course has to be content. In the convergence era of information, communication and entertainment, the last remains a bastion for a (relatively) large screen, audio-visual medium like TV.

    This is the area that TV needs to build on and develop far greater depth in content. The question is how? For one, we really need to stop thinking of the youth as one amorphous mass of wired, accessorised, colloquialised beings.

    The content generators have to realize that there are at least four life stages that are spawned in the decade of 15-24 years – leaving school, college years, early work life and in some cases, matrimony – each with their own share of angst and joy. While some content has meaningfully focused on the first two, nothing has been done on the rest

    The possibilities are many:

    A soap completely scripted by the audience through emails and the winning contestant being sent on a creative writing course to a US university
    A news hour exclusively showcasing reports from “Citizen Journalists” (anyone with camera-mobile), who can SMS/email in their content
    A muti-contestant Gaming platform on TV completely enabled at the back-end to require just a mobile phone to participate
    A few ideas, like the ones above, have in fact been experimented with by various channels. However, these have been a smattering on the larger landscape of music countdown shows! One way to increase impact for these shows would be to package them in a ‘youth’ time slot. We have an afternoon band for the ladies at home, one early evening for kids, but no time band exists which invites youngsters into ‘their’ world.

    The second big focus area for TV needs to be on becoming a part of the digital youth network. In this regard, content providers need to augment their content through the digital world as well as sample it through the digital world.

    Snippets of programming converted into mobile/mail friendly formats like 3GP or MPEG and mailed/SMS’d out
    Creation of specific chatrooms on popular portals that help the prospective audience understand (and augment) the programming intent
    Previous episodes easily accessible online, but for the fresh episodes they have to tune in
    In the end, TV will be an integral part of the digital world – the challenge for TV will be to retain its glory as the defining point of entertainment – just like its content be it cricket or serials dominates the drawing room and kitchen conversations, will it also dominate the canteen, the SMS, the blogs and other ways in which the youth communicate?

     

  • World’s first broadband environmental channel green.tv launched

    World’s first broadband environmental channel green.tv launched

    MUMBAI: The world’s first broadband TV channel dedicated to environmental issues green.tv, developed with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has been launched, aiming to become a “one-stop shop” of broadcast information on the environment covering everything from climate change to children’s stories on wildlife.

    UNEP said green.tv would also go live today as a podcast on iTunes as well as having a front-page listing, courtesy of Apple computers. It will carry films from around the world produced by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community filmmakers, public sector bodies and companies with a firm interest in protecting the environment.

    “Green.tv is a truly innovative project which will no doubt influence the field of environmental film-making and research. It will eventually offer a comprehensive ‘one stop shop’ for environmental TV programming – something that has so far not been available,” said UNEP’s Division of Communications and Public Information director Eric Falt.

    “Green.tv has the potential to become a broadband reference point or benchmark in this field.”

    It will have seven channels covering: air, land, water, climate change, people, species and technologies, in each of which there will be a feature, a news item and a children’s story. With the look and feel of a global TV channel, green.tv will combine this with the best elements of the internet, giving users access to online chatrooms and the ability to watch video on demand, UNEP said in an official release.

    Director-producer Ade Thomas, who first thought up the idea, compared it to the popular Google search engine. “If you want to see a news item about climate change, watch a kids’ story about penguins or a feature about wind farms, go to www.green.tv and you’ll be able to see some engaging and thought-provoking films about the environment, at a time when a greater understanding and awareness of these issues is critical,” he said.

  • Amazon talking to Hollywood studios for online film downloads

    Amazon talking to Hollywood studios for online film downloads

    MUMBAI: Online retail giant Amazon.com is considering the launch of a service that would allow visitors to download movies and television shows.

    Media reports indicate that the move is aimed at offering an alternative to Apple’s iTunes. Amazon is believed to be in talks with Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros for the store.

    The market for video downloads has gained momentum due to broadband penetration growing. Apple has been strengthening its iTunes offerings. The company just launched a new subscription service that lets consumers purchase TV shows through a monthly subscription.

    AOL, meanwhile, also has been active in expanding its media offerings, creating a service through which users can download videos and other entertainment content. The company is also busy developing its own online TV properties. All of this comes as a challenge to the traditional retail outlets.

    Reports further indicate that Amazon.com’s store is expected to allow users to buy, burn and keep DVD’s and differ from Apple’s current policy on its American store by only allowing visitors to download for viewing on the computer or iPod video.