Tag: ITV

  • WPP snaps up InfoSum, promising a data-driven bonanza for brands

    WPP snaps up InfoSum, promising a data-driven bonanza for brands

    MUMBAI:  WPP has bagged InfoSum, the data collaboration cutting edge solutions provider. This acquisition, a proper “data-licious” deal, promises to supercharge WPP’s AI-driven marketing arsenal, giving clients access to a treasure trove of data signals.

    “At WPP, we have been building the technology and data infrastructure that will give our clients a unique competitive advantage in the AI era. Bringing InfoSum into WPP is a major step forward for our data capabilities and the results we can deliver for our clients,” said WPP CEO Mark Read. “It allows clients to stay in complete control of their first-party data, while also giving them access to vastly greater quantities of high-quality, privacy-compliant data and pioneering technology that is not available anywhere else in the market today.”

    InfoSum’s patented cross-cloud tech allows brands to mingle their data with billions of signals from big hitters Channel 4, DirecTV, ITV, Netflix, News Corp, and Samsung Ads, as well as major retailers around the world and five billion identifiers through identity and data partners like Experian, TransUnion, Circana, Dynata, and NCSolutions. 
     
    “InfoSum’s mission has always been to reimagine how data powers marketing in a secure, privacy-first, and, most importantly, impactful way for advertisers and consumers. WPP and GroupM are the perfect partners to help us accelerate our impact on a truly global scale. We couldn’t be more excited to join forces with the team at GroupM as privacy and security become non-negotiables, and AI allows us to redefine what’s possible for advertisers and our network of media and data partners,” quipped InfoSum  chief executive Lauren Wetzel, who’ll now be pulling double duty as GroupM’s chief solutions officer.

    GroupM chief executive officer Brian Lesser was equally enthusiastic, stating, ” Directly integrating InfoSum’s global data network and technology infrastructure will allow our clients to create even more value from their first-party data and enable us to train client AI models against the most data, from the most places, at unprecedented scale and speed. Our approach recognizes the importance of identity data to today’s marketing strategies while allowing us to take advantage of the limitless opportunities for growth we can create by moving beyond them. As more and more clients leverage our AI-first solutions, every client model, every audience, and every campaign will benefit from network effects that will exponentially increase their intelligence and competitive advantage.” 

    The deal allows WPP’s clients to train custom AI models in secure environments, delivering smarter audiences, optimised campaigns, and better business outcomes. Basically, it allows the ability to get your hands on all the juicy information, without anyone else seeing your private bits.

    InfoSum’s network boasts hundreds of billions of data signals, and five billion identifiers, allowing for a level of insight that’s previously been the stuff of marketing fantasies. No more relying on those crumbling cookie-based systems, which are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

    This acquisition represents a bold leap into the future of predictive performance and AI-driven marketing intelligence. WPP is betting big on AI, and with InfoSum in its pocket, it’s ready to unleash a marketing storm that’ll leave competitors scrambling for cover.

  • NT Summit & Awards: Industry experts to discuss critical topics in the news television space

    NT Summit & Awards: Industry experts to discuss critical topics in the news television space

    Mumbai: The dynamic Indian news television space has gone through various transformations over the last couple of years. With the introduction of new concepts and shows, the news television segment has evolved and caught the audience’s attention. The pattern of consuming news content has changed among the audience lately.

    The industry has also demonstrated constant expansion and many new channels have penetrated the market & have become market leaders. Indiantelevision.com will discuss in the ‘NT Summit and Awards’ the challenges and opportunities in the news television segment. The event, which will be co-sponsored by Dalet, will be held at Holiday Inn, Delhi on 10 June 2022.

    Experts will deliberate their views on topics like the future of the newsroom, how newsrooms are adapting to remote technology, the impact of new technology on the news production process, and the need for professionals to reshape the future newsroom. The summit will bring together marketing & advertising veterans to discuss the marketing opportunities as well as the problems in the news television industry.

    Further, GTPL, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, JW Player, and Live U will be industry support partners at the NT Summit 2022, with The Ayurveda Company as a gifting partner. This year’s event will feature sessions with 10+ speakers, 50+ winners, and 20+ jury members.

    Speakers for the NT summit will include industry experts like Dentsu Creative India chief executive officer Amit Wadhwa, 24 Newsgroup COO Anil Ayroor, Zee Media Corporation Limited marketing head Anindya Khare, Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd. COO- media & communications Anita Nayyar, ABP Network chief revenue officer Mona Jain, Just Dial chief marketing officer Prasun Kumar and many more. 

    There will also be speakers on the panel like BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, Samajwadi Party national secretary and spokesperson Rajeev Rai, INC national spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed, Times Now editorial director and editor-in-chief Rahul Shivshankar, Zee Media Corporation chief content officer and Zee News editor Rajnish Ahuja, CNN-News18 managing editor Zakka Jacod as speakers and Star News former president and media professional Ravina Raj Kohli as moderator. 

    The NT Awards will honour work in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla, Gujarati, and Kannada, among other languages. Each language will have five categories including, ‘Programming Awards’, ‘Personality Awards’, ‘Promo, Design and Placing Awards’, ‘Sales and Marketing’, and ‘Special Awards’.

    The esteemed jury for the awards includes H+K Strategies India chief executive officer Abhishek Gulyani, Sri Adhikari Brothers chairman and managing director Adhikari Markand, OMD India CEO Anisha Iyer, Airtel VP-media Archana Aggarwal, Upstox senior director-marketing Kunal Bhardwaj and more. 

    The summit is a one-of-a-kind initiative that will bring together industry experts to allow you to meet and connect with them. The NT summit will also provide you with the opportunity to pick up insights and strategies from like-minded individuals. The interesting sessions will also help you learn from the experts by listening to their journeys and experiences.

  • Gone too soon: IndianTelevision’s Ravi Soni is no more

    Gone too soon: IndianTelevision’s Ravi Soni is no more

    Mumbai: It is with a heavy heart and profound grief that the Indian Television Dot Com team shares the news of the untimely demise of our colleague Ravi Soni on 10 April. He was all of 28 years old.  

    “Like a rainbow, fading in the twinkling of an eye, gone too soon…
    Like a comet, blazing ‘cross the evening sky, gone too soon…,” go the lyrics of a song “Gone Too Soon” by Michael Jackson.

    The words seem fitting to describe the passing away of a young, promising, liked-by-all colleague.

    Having joined ITV as production executive while still fresh out of college, Ravi would have completed exactly seven years in the organisation on this 13 April. Just three days short of his tragic, premature death.

    “To work with diligence and commitment, to provide possible solutions for issues that arise,” Ravi’s LinkedIn bio read.  

    And providing solutions he did. To every single production challenge or technical snag that arose, he had a single-word, swift response: “Done”

    And the issue was sorted, just like that – without any pressures mounting, temperatures rising or war-of-words in the heat of deadlines to be met in an online news organisation. It was all in a day’s work for Soni.

    Ravi’s responsibilities included managing archived content for the website, migrating content to the server, preparing newsletters, editing images and maintaining an image library for the site. He was also involved in the building, maintaining and updating of web-based applications. He worked closely with the creative and editorial teams at ITV and could always be counted upon to save the day when it came to any glitches or last-minute changes while publishing content on the website.

    Associated with the publication’s web production and day-to-day running, he was known to be a self-motivated, industrious, and proactive worker who ensured news was uploaded, updated and brought to readers instantaneously.

    To his colleagues, he was a gentle, cheerful, ever-helpful, and noble soul who loved cricket passionately. Tragically, it is also on the cricket field that he met his end, during a match on Sunday.

    All of us at IndianTelevision and everyone who has known him will miss him deeply and pray that his soul rest in peace. In this sorrowful time, we also extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.

    Gone too soon…

  • Ram Jethmalani memorial lecture series returns with second edition

    Ram Jethmalani memorial lecture series returns with second edition

    Mumbai: In a tribute to a legendary jurist and MP, Ram Jethmalani lecture series is back with its second edition and will be streamed LIVE on NewsX this Saturday from 5 p.m.

    The lecture series will address a pertinent issue this year which has recently found itself at the hotbed of Indian politics in 21st century. India’s Who’s and Who will share their take on whether ‘Disruption to parliamentary proceedings is an MP’s privilege and/or a facet of parliamentary democracy?’

    Vice president and Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu will be the guest of honour at the lecture series and will be joined by other esteemed panelists including union cabinet minister of law Kiren Rijiju, the attorney general for India KK Venugopal and solicitor general of India Tushar Mehta. Union cabinet minister for women & child welfare Smriti Irani, Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, former solicitor general of India Gopal  Subramaniam, former solicitor general of India Ranjit Kumar, Tughlak editor S Gurumurthy and former Rajya Sabha MP Pavan Varma will also mark their presence at the memorial series and share their views on the topic.

    iTV Network founder Kartikeya Sharma said, “In tribute to one of India’s greatest jurists and MPs I can’t think of a more fitting subject that merits the focus of stakeholders in this panel of speakers. Democratic systems often lead to deadlock, but surely there is a way to bring back the poignancy of debate that Ram Jethmalani embodied at the bench, both in court and parliament. The object is to keep India forging ahead. I’m hoping that such efforts to recall whence we came will help us chart whither we go.”

    NewsX managing editor Rishabh Gulati said, “The people of India now have great expectations from those who are elected to serve. Parliament has become raucous often times as has the Indian media. We had the opportunity to get some of India’s most committed minds discuss the Indian media in the first edition of this memorial lecture series,  it’s a merit that so many stakeholders are willing to take on a vexatious topic like this.”

    Apart from the NewsX channel, the series will be aired on all our social media channels and major OTT platforms – Zee5, Dailyhunt, JioTV, Shemaroo, Mzaalo, Watcho, Flipkart, Paytm, Tatasky and MX Player.

  • Indiantelevision.com partners with TVU Networks for NT Summit & Awards

    Indiantelevision.com partners with TVU Networks for NT Summit & Awards

    SHANGHAI: Indiantelevision.com (ITV) recently concluded the fourth edition of its annual property News Television Summit & Awards (NT Awards). It successfully partnered with TVU Networks to broadcast the two-day long summit and awards ceremony. NT Awards and Summit has been a part of ITV’s annual calendar since 2007. 

    The two-day summit saw eminent industry leaders talking about subjects that matter to the broadcast news industry – regulations, controversies, content, programming, ratings, technology and others.

    NT Awards felicitated the best in the broadcast news industry across multiple categories such as – Programming Awards, Personality Awards, Promo Design and Packaging Awards, Sales and Marketing Awards, and Special Awards. Over 750 entries were rigorously screened by a 37-member jury including senior members of the industry.
    NT Awards and Summit has been a part of ITV’s annual calendar since 2007.

    Given the current restrictions on social gatherings, the summit and award show were moved online, and TVU Networks, a market and technology leader in cloud and IP based live video solutions, deployed a suite of TVU remote production solutions – TVU Producer, TVU Partyline and TVU Anywhere – to help with the three-day event which included live presentation, guest interaction and broadcast to viewing audiences on major social media channels.

    TVU Networks helped ITV in providing a low latency, professional HD quality broadcast experience for all panel participants along with an uninterrupted award ceremony held on 6 November 2020 across social channels. Indiantelevision.com used the previously mentioned TVU remote production solutions – TVU Producer, TVU Partyline and TVU Anywhere.

    The guest speakers used the TVU Anywhere mobile app or TVU Partyline browser link to participate in the session using just their smartphone or laptop. The speakers joined by scanning or typing in a user code or by logging into the TVU cloud account through TVU Partyline, ensuring reliable transmission quality and clear video and audio interaction between participants. 

    “We thank the organisers for their trust in TVU. It is a great honor to participate in this event,” TVU Networks VP sales – south Asia, Middle East, Africa Sushant Rai. “With this event, TVU has made TVU Partyline™, TVU Producer and TVU Anywhere visible to the news television industry in India. TVU's products and technologies will bring immense possibilities to India's future broadcast industry as demonstrated by our efforts with the NT Summit & Awards.”

  • NT Awards announces its jury

    NT Awards announces its jury

    NEW DELHI:Indiantelevision.com’s unique summit and award property that honours the crème de la crème of the television news industry is all geared up for its 2020 edition. Scheduled to be held over two days – 29-30 October 2020 – the News Television (NT) summit will focus on the overall industry and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of it. The award ceremony that will be held on 6 November will felicitate news channels and the technical and editorial talent.

    The summit and award ceremony is powered by TVU Networks.

    The important decision of screening and selecting the winners will be taken by our esteemed jury. Every member of the panel is a stalwart with considerable experience in the news, media, and the brand space.

    Here’s our honoured 37-member jury for NT Awards 2020:

    The awards will recognise the leading players in the news television space across 51 categories in news programming, personality, technical, and sales & marketing domains. For more information, head on to http://ntawards.tv/index.php

  • ITV conducts webinar on content production during lockdown

    ITV conducts webinar on content production during lockdown

    MUMBAI: Broadcasters and OTTs are trying their best to keep the show running amid the restrictions of social distancing in the wake of the Covid2019 pandemic. In this context, indiantelevision.com  organised a webinar on 5 May, 2020 to help the fraternity to tide over the current crisis in production. The theme of the webinar was ‘Challenges in producing news and entertainment in the times of lockdown and Covid2019'.

    The webinar featured TVU Networks, a technology and market leader in IP- and cloud-based live video solutions. TVU demonstrated how remote and effective TVU technology can be used as a production tool to run news bulletin/shows from remote locations, without having to use a studio.

    The webinar enabled programme heads/CTOs to share ideas and acquire industry-leading knowledge, insights, knowhow and expertise.

    Those who attended the webinar are:

    Jared Timmins, SVP Solutions, TVU Networks,

    Devendra Maurya, technical head, TV9 Networks

    Sukanta Rana, Head technical & engineering, Odisha Television

    Hoicho VP – content Anindo Banerjee

    Ajit Nambiar, chief promo director, Asianet News Network.

    Senior TV journalist Bhupendra Chaubey

    Manish Sharma, Sr VP broadcast technology and operations, ABP News Network

    Fakt Marathi co-promoter Shirish Pattanshetty

    Bijumohan R from Mathrubhumi Television

    The session was moderated by Indian Television Group founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.  

    The Mountain View, California-headquartered TVU has been working is technology and market leader in IP- and cloud-based live video solutions. It is working with India broadcasters through its Business Continuity Initiative to help identify and offer the tools needed by customers to help sustain businesses while supporting the larger local community during this unprecedented time. As a part of this initiative, TVU is providing TV stations with the TVU Anywhere mobile app for reporting and anchoring, TVU Producer for cloud-based production and TVU Grid for video pool feeds and cross-sharing of video content for free through the end of May 2020.

    TUV associates with news stations and government offices in certain countries, including the USA, to set up video pool feeds using TVU Grid, TVU’s IP switching, routing and distribution solution, to streamline the sharing of critical information on Covid2019.

    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • Vivel celebrates freedom of choice in new campaign

    Vivel celebrates freedom of choice in new campaign

    MUMBAI: ITC’s personal care brand, Vivel, has launched its impactful TVC integrating the brand’s philosophy of ‘Ab Samjhauta Nahin’. Vivel believes that being empowered is about having the freedom to make a choice. A choice to be yourself, the way you think, behave or even dress.

    The new Aloe Vera soap film tells a story of one such choice. A lot of women feel the pressure to behave or dress like men in order to be successful and accepted in workplaces as equals. 

    The 30-second story encourages women to retain their softness and empathy while being assertive. She rather believes that softness is not her weakness but rather her identity and strength.

    The TVC features veteran TV actor Supriya Pilgaonkar and her daughter Shriya Pilgaonkar. The narrative opens with Shriya Pilgaonkar being depicted as the daughter, who is confident of her choices and expresses it in her soft yet assertive way irrespective of circumstances or individuals. She believes in her strengths and is unwilling to dress like men just to fit in.

    The film introduces a fresh and a more meaningful understanding of confidence that is aimed to make a positive and an emotional connection and resonates with the product promise of softness in Vivel Aloe Vera soap. The ad showcases the strength of identity in a woman’s inherent values.

    Brand David executive vice-president Ajay Menon says, “We are thrilled to have partnered with ITC to bring alive a campaign that is creating a platform for the brand to engage with its consumers in a much more authentic and deeper level.”

  • Half of video production may see greater RoI migrating to IP

    MUMBAI: Ooyala, a global provider of video monetization technology and services, and the Digital Production Partnership (DPP), the media industry’s business change network, launched the industry’s first report analyzing the benefits of adopting Internet Protocol (IP)-based processes and technologies in video production, “The Business Benefits of IP Production.” The findings show that by 2022, more than half of the video-production environments analyzed in the report will recognize greater business benefits, efficiencies and return-on-investment (ROI) by adopting IP.

    Surveying nearly 30 companies across the video supply chain, including ITV, Sky, BBC and Sony, the report shows where IP migrations will result in greater cost savings, cost avoidance, creative benefits and competitive advantages. Tracking against ten different production environments, five will see the greatest ROI by adopting IP, including:

    ● IP Distribution: Companies with internet-first distribution services, OTT

    ● Live Streaming: Companies distributing live content across devices and social
    platforms

    ● Single Camera Shooting: Companies accessing on-site footage via the cloud

    ● Media Management: Companies managing, moving and storing media

    ● Cloud Playout: Linear TV stations adopting cloud-based services

    The findings show media companies with online distribution at the heart of their business, particularly OTT services, will find the greatest value and ROI in adopting IP-based technologies. Other areas that IP disruption will impact are asset management, cloud playout and post-production, benefiting from technologies that reduce manual-labor costs such as automating metadata insertion.

    “The fact is, the move to IP has inherent benefits for many processes, but only specific environments will see the greatest benefits and highest returns today,” said DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison.

    “Within a few years, IP infrastructure may be essential in doing business because of the impact it is having across media companies and distribution.” “As the first in the industry, the report brings to light the ROI opportunities for producers, broadcasters and media companies to adopt IP processes,” said Ooyala Co-founder and SVP of Products and Solutions, Belsasar Lepe. “Media logistics solutions like Ooyala Flex provide the ability to connect inherently disconnected and on-premise systems so companies can take
    advantage of IP benefits immediately or incrementally as needs change over time.”

    Ooyala and the DPP will host a special NAB morning event on Tuesday, 25 April at 8am PST in Ooyala’s booth, SV1000, to discuss the report and the future of IP production alongside BT Sport and PBS.

    Built with superior analytics capabilities for advanced business intelligence, Ooyala’s solutions help broadcasters, operators and media companies build more engaged and more profitable audiences, with personalized experiences across every screen.Vudu, Star India, Sky Sports (U.K.), ITV Studios (U.K.), RTL Group (Germany), M6 (France), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain), America Television (Peru), and Media Prima (Malaysia).

  • Pubcasters still account for more than half of broadcast TV viewing, claims Ofcom

    Pubcasters still account for more than half of broadcast TV viewing, claims Ofcom

    NEW DELHI: Even as Prasar Bharati continues to struggle with the Sam Pitroda report which was largely a reiteration of earlier reports, the British Broadcasting Corporation last year brought out a Green Paper to review its working and make changes.

    Now, a report by the British media regulator Ofcom says public service broadcasters (PSBs) still account for more than half of broadcast TV viewing and around three in four viewers are satisfied with their services.

    Investment by PSBs in programmes on their public service channels appears to be stabilising after several years of decline and spending has increased on new factual programmes and original drama. However, spending on children’s shows, the arts and classical music and religion has continued to decline.

    Ofcom has said in is latest PSB Annual Research Report published this week that has shown that 16 to 24 year old people have particularly embraced on-demand services, and spend around a third of their daily viewing time watching free (e.g. BBC iPlayer, All 4, ITV player) or paid (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Video) on-demand services. Live TV accounts for 36% of daily viewing in this age group, a 14 percentage-point decrease in two years.

    The study was based on BBC, ITV, STV in Scotland, UTV in Northern Ireland, Channel 4, S4C in Wales and Channel 5.

    The main five public service channels provided by PSBs1 reached 84% of the TV population in a typical week, and accounted for 51% of all broadcast TV viewing in 2015, according to a report on the OfCom website.

    This share is similar to the last three years but represents a decline from ten years ago when PSBs held a 70% share of viewing. When PSBs’ ‘portfolio’ channels – such as BBC Four, ITV2 or E4 – are included, their share of viewing was 71% in 2015.

    Overall, TV viewing has fallen in recent years with viewers now watching 26 minutes less a day than in 2010. While the average person watched three hours and 36 minutes of TV per day in 2015, there is a widening generational gap in the viewing habits of the youngest and oldest audiences.
    People under 25 are watching around a quarter less broadcast TV than in 2010, while the average viewing of those aged 55 to 64 has only declined by 5%.

    The PSBs spent £2.50 billion on new UK programmes3 on their public service channels in 2015, a 2% increase since 2013; the most recent comparable year due to the absence of major sporting events4 .

    PSBs’ spending on new UK factual programmes rose by 8% to £522m, more than any other genre and the highest investment in this type of programme since 2008. They also spent more in 2015 on original UK drama (up 12% to £311m), and showed more of it – 416 hours, up from 371 hours.

    However, the hours of original UK children’s programmes decreased in 2015 – from 672 in 2014 to 580. This was the first time fewer than 600 hours of original UK children’s programmes have been broadcast since 1998. Spending on this genre was £77m, 13% down on 2014.

    The PSBs also spent less on new UK arts and classical music programmes in 2015 – £36m, down 14% from 2014 – as well as religion and ethics (down by 6% to £12m). Original UK comedy also decreased (by 4%, to £99m).

    Audiences continue to value programmes from the public service broadcasters: 73% of viewers said they were satisfied with PSB public service broadcasting overall, while 7% were dissatisfied.
    Nearly nine in ten (86%) viewers of public service channels cited trustworthy news programmes, and showing programmes of a high quality, as an important purpose of public service broadcasting.

    This was the most-cited purpose, followed by programmes that help viewers understand what is happening in the world (83%).

    The BBC, along with ITV, STV and UTV (the ‘Channel 3′ licence holders), spent a combined £270m on programmes specifically directed towards viewers in the particular nations and regions of the UK in 2015.

    At least seven in ten regular viewers are satisfied with BBC One and Channel 3’s delivery of nations and regions news.

    S4C spent £63m on original Welsh-language programmes in the 2015/16 financial year, a slight increase from the previous year.

    Jane Rumble, Director of Market Intelligence at Ofcom said: “Our research shows that UK audiences still watch and value public service broadcasting. But there are significant differences in the viewing habits of older and younger audiences.

    “As media and technology continue to evolve, it is important that broadcasters respond to these changes, so they can keep meeting the needs and expectations of viewers.”

    OfCom clarified that its data was from Ofcom Digital Day research 2016 as there is currently no single industry-wide measurement for understanding the share of viewing to all forms of viewing across all screens.

    It also found that Public service channels typically spend more in even-numbered years (2014), which contain major sporting events such as World Cups, European Championships, Olympic or Commonwealth Games. Spending here covers new UK network programming only, and excludes nations and regions content.