ITV

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  • WWE looks to spread Christmas cheer to US troops in Afghanistan

    MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Raw stars and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon will visit US Troops stationed in Afghanistan and the Middle East to spread joy and comfort this Christmas season.

    From 7-9 December, 2005 the wrestlers will live and sleep in the barracks and eat in the mess halls along with the soldiers, while filming a series of appearances with the troops. The tour will culminate in a live performance of Monday Night RAW presented as the WWE’s Tribute to the Troops holiday special. In India WWE airs on Ten Sports.
     
    The programme which will air in the US on USA Network on 19 December 2005 will have matches featuring the likes of WWE champion John Cena, Triple H, Ric Flair, and Mick Foley.

    The WWE Tribute to the Troops tour also marks the largest celebrity production to visit troops in Afghanistan, with WWE Raw superstars visiting virtually every base across the country.
     
    McMahon says, “It is important to us that we reached as many of the troops as we can to not only entertain them, but thank them for their service to their country.”
     

  • NDTV looks to Profit at CNBC TV18’s expense

    MUMBAI: Buckle up for the big fight. Monday on, the next big battle in the news channel space will be truly joined. 17 January is when NDTV’s business channel Profit officially starts beaming into Indian homes, taking head on the tried and tested CNBC TV18.

    With the proposed Times Group channel still another six months away, as per the timeline given by company officials, it is CNBC TV18 and Profit that will constitute the main drawcard as far as the business news slugfest is concerned.

    And while CNBC TV18’s sibling Awaaz, touted as India’s first ‘consumer channel in Hindi’, got off the blocks earlier (it launched Thursday, 13 January), one point that promoter Dr Prannoy Roy and co will draw on is that the language differentiation ensures that there is no real face-off between Awaaz and Profit. Still, what Awaaz does is that clubbed with CNBC-TV18, it will allow promoter Raghav Bahl to aggregate audiences in English as well as Hindi target segments.

    Bahl’s aim is to widen audience reach through Awaaz, a Hindi channel with focus on news relating to investment, saving and spending decisions of the middle class. Says CNBC-TV18 chief executive officer Haresh Chawla, “CNBC targets the corporates, while Aawaz is positioned as a channel for the consumers.”

    In fact, just as CNBC TV18 enjoyed five years of undisputed leadership, Awaaz for the present at least, looks like it will enjoy a similar free run. And this despite it being 45+ days since Zee Telefilms launched its business news channel Zee Biz. The problem for Zee Biz from the start has been that it has existed on the fringes with no adequate push from the company.

    And it Zee Biz faces an even more daunting situation now with the arrival of Awaaz. A rather ironic point of note is that both Awaaz and Zee biz will constitute a part of the Zee-Turner distribution platform’s new channel bouquet that also includes HBO, Pogo and VH1.

    As for Profit and CNBC TV18, both channels are harping on two things – quality and unique differentiating programmes.

    “We will bank on NDTV’s credibility, and the image and strength of our two existing channels. Besides, we are introducing some driver programmes which we can’t reveal now,” says NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak. It will be on the weekends and “traditional prime time” that these programme differentiators will come into play. Lifestyle, food, books and art shows, international programming hosted by Indians… these will constitute the infotainment part of the channel’s offering.

    Having said that, as far as the business prime time from 9 am to 5 pm (which is when the stock markets are on) is concerned, neither will have much by way of differentiators to offer. Says a source in NDTV, “In the prime time space, there is very little opportunity to do anything dramatically different. It will be a straight apples for apples fight. It will all boil down to whose apples look and taste better.”

    One area where NDTV hopes it will have an edge over CNBC is on breaking news. It believes that its much wider network of reporters that are in place nationwide will make a critical difference as far as business news gathering is concerned. Whether this premise holds true will of course be known in due course.

    And what of the Times business channel proposition? While channel executives remain close-lipped about the channel’s positioning, it will be interesting to see if it wants to compete at all within the narrow space of a CNBC-TV18 or NDTV Profit. That it will have the highest quotient of non business news in its content offering among the three is more than likely. Could it turn out looking almost like what NDTV 24×7 is currently but with a far heavier skew towards business. That is not too far fetched a possibility.

    FUTURE PERFECT?

    Just why are so many channels getting into financial TV news? Competition will grow the market, says Nayak. “Being a monopoly player, CNBC-TV18 had limitations in expanding the market for business news. We expect the entry of new players will grow this segment to Rs 1 billion within the first year.”

    Agrees Chawla: “We fought the war alone for five years. Competition will help business channels emerge as a category. There will be fight for share, but the market will also grow and we can charge premium on advertising rates,” he says.

    Competition, in fact, fuelled growth in the entire news channel business. When Star News was the only private news channel, the segment was a small revenue-earner. But the entry of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak and NDTV really exploded the market which today is estimated at Rs 5 billion.

    PROFIT WILL HAVE HIGH VISIBILITY FROM DAY 1

    According to sources in Sony-Discovery, Profit will launch with most of the top cities already signed up. He cites the example of the two biggest MSOs in Mumbai, InCableNet and Hathway, as having already signed on. To stress the point, the executive said Profit’s distribution was comparable to the success Star One achieved right from Day 1 of launch.

    Profit will be launching as a free-to-air channel

    Though business contributes to a meagre amount in the news segment, it can open doors for subscription revenue. CNBC-TV18 earns Rs 180 million in its pay business. Not big money, but it allows NDTV to look ahead to going pay at some point.

    One of the reasons given for NDTV’s other two channels staying free-to-air has been that there is little room to manouvre since Hindi news space leader Aaj Tak as too its English sibling Headlines Today, are free. Going by the logic that the leader sets the agenda, NDTV could well Profit from going pay. But that is not going to happen anytime soon. As discussed earlier, Profit’s free status will make it that much easier to push it up on the cable spectrum band. Something it needs to do at any cost because it is taking on a channel that is superbly positioned on most cable networks.

  • MTV looks to build brand in Canada

    MUMBAI: CTV which claims to be Canada’s largest private broadcaster and MTV have announced a new strategic alliance to build and grow the MTV brand in Canada.

    The alliance will create an MTV branded analogue channel available to 4.4 million households. A commitment between CTV and MTV will create original Canadian programming, for airplay in Canada across numerous CTV platforms – and on MTV channels around the world.

    CTV will have exclusive access to the MTV brand and library of programming for use in Canada across CTV’s conventional, and specialty services It will also have access to MTV’s array of digital media assets in Canada, including online, wireless, interactive and Video On Demand, as well as development of new digital media content for Canadians.

    The two parties state that the venture means that Canadians can access the true MTV experience in 360 degrees; with customised content not just across digital, specialty and conventional television platforms, but for the first time across a comprehensive assortment of interactive assets as outlined above. The MTV brand is not only back in Canada, but it has returned in a broader, deeper way than ever before they state.

    CTV’s talktv, an analogue specialty service currently available in 4.4 million Canadian households, will be re-born as a Canadian programmed and managed MTV channel. It will have interactive, lifestyle, talk and documentary programming. The channel will continue to be fully compliant with its license condition of 68 per cent Canadian programming (71 per cent in prime time), representing one of the highest Canadian-content requirements of any Canadian service.

    Additionally, CTV has filed an application with the CRTC for a new Category-2 Digital Television Service – Canada’s next music television station. This new digital television service, along with the new MTV analogue channel, will provide alternate high quality entertainment options to all Canadians, and represent a great boost to local production and culture.

    Finally, MTV programming will continue to air across Canada inside a newly created MTV branded block of programming on CTV.
    MTV’s business in Canada will be overseen by Brad Schwartz who has been named MTV Canada GM, senior VP.

    Schwartz said, “Our focus is to build a clearly Canadian interpretation of the MTV brand – one that will engage and excite all Canadians. With the array of resources and expertise available from both the CTV and MTV families, we’re going to rapidly establish our presence in Canada, and become a vital and valued member of Canada’s creative and production communities.”

    MTV states that its content has a proven track record with Canadian viewers. The Osbournes became a Top 20 ratings winner for CTV when it launched in 2002. Additional MTV success stories on CTV include Newlyweds, Nick and Jessica, Punk’d, and Pimp My Ride.

  • News Corp looks to grow business in Russia

    MUMBAI: His son Lachlan Murdoch may have suddenly quit the company a few days back but media moghul Rupert Murdoch is not spending much time brooding over it. He is said to be looking to expanding the business by buying a stake in Russian broadcasting and production outfit Ren TV.

    Media reports indicate that the Russian steel group Severstal wants to sell part of its stake in mid-sized television station Ren-TV to News Corp. Top News Corp executives met a couple of days ago for talks with senior executives from the Russian industrial conglomerate Severstal. Ren TV is one of Russia’s largest independent stations.

    News Corp is said to be looking for a 35 per cent stake in Ren TV. The Kremlin, which has taken direct or indirect control over most of Russia’s television stations, has been reluctant to allow foreigners to buy into major local television broadcasters.

    Last month, Severstal agreed to pay electricity monopoly UES $100 million for 70 per cent of Ren-TV. This was seen as a sign the state was tightening its grip over the media. Severstal’s chief shareholder, Alexei Mordashov is said to be loyal to the Kremlin. Ren TV boasts a reach of nearly 100 million viewers.

  • Pakistan Cricket Board looks to launch TV channel

    MUMBAI: It is not only the Indian cricket board (BCCI) that is looking to launch a television channel. Across the border the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed similar intentions.
     

    The PCB is believed to have requested the Pakistan Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to allot a television channel for sports. In a letter to the secretary of the ministry Shahid Rafi PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said, “A sports channel would respond to the huge public demand in Pakistan for sports coverage on television.”

    A report in the newspaper Dawn states that the board wants to either have the channel to itself or share it with other sports like hockey, tennis, squash, athletics and soccer.
     
     

    “The PCB has the financial capital to play a lead role in setting up and running this sports channel and would therefore be prepared to take the initiative in setting up a PCB channel,” Shaharyar said in the letter.

    As had been reported last month by indiantelevision.com two Indian cricket board officials had presented to the media a feasibility study on having a sports channel of its own. Howevr at that time a senior member close to the organisation president had debunked the announcement saying it was an “unauthorised” move.

    According to the two BCCI officials, the capital expenditure required for the sports channel, primarily depending on cricket, is about Rs 400 million. The revenue projections say Rs. 160 billion could be generated over a period of five years.

    With the fiasco over the Indian cricket rights last year the BCCI members have despite their internal differences realised that launching their own channel is perhaps the only way of not killing the golden goose.

  • NGC US looks to capitalise on ‘Star Wars’ hype with ‘Extraterrestrial’ special

    MUMBAI: As the conclusion to the Star Wars saga Revenge of The Sith takes the world by storm National Geographic Channel (NGC) in the US has announced a special documentary Extraterrestrial which will air on 30 May.
     

    Tthe show will feature an array of new and bizarre planetary creatures. What makes them unique is the fact that they are scientifically based visions of life as predicted by some of the world’s leading scientists.

    The show creates two worlds which scientists believe could exist in our own Milky Way galaxy, putting evolution into motion to investigate what life forms could survive there. Utilising a combination of computer generated imaging (CGI) and 3-D effects, Extraterrestrial takes viewers on a galactic journey to come face-to-face with these fantastic alien life forms.

    The show reflects the contributions of leading scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), prestigious
    universities and organisations like the Ecospheres Project and the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The experts anticipate discoveries to be made in the near future, when super-powerful new telescopes will begin watching the fringes of the Milky Way for signs of life.
     
     

    Using super computers powerful enough to make predictions about the Earth’s climate Extraterrestrial’s scientists modeled the weather and climate for a planet that would orbit a red dwarf star, one of the most common stars in our galaxy. To their astonishment, the resulting profile indicated that the planet would be capable of supporting life.

    Based on the latest scientific results and deep space observations, two planets are identified to
    represent statistically likely celestial bodies and are subsequently named Aurelia and Blue Moon. Extraterrestrial then brings the science team’s
    visions of their respective inhabitants to the screen through CGI modelling and animation.

    One of the Planets Aurelia, which circles a red dwarf star, is representative of one of the
    most habitable types of planets. The scientists are confident of finding something very similar to Aurelia. It’s very much in the cards according to them.

    A place of extremes, one side of Aurelia is permanently exposed to starlight, the other in eternal freezing darkness. There are no seasons, days or nights. Cloud and lightning storms cover the center of the light side,
    while a giant ice cap smothers much of the dark side. As viewers descend into the light side, violent storm clouds give way to a landscape of immense rivers and vast flood plains, several times bigger than the Amazon.

    Evolutionary biologists and biomechanists then conceived of life forms they believe could survive on Aurelia — nicknaming them Stinger Fans, Gulphogs and Hysteria among others.
    Stinger Fans on Aurelia resemble tall plants with giant fans at the top, but they are flesh-and-blood animals that feed on the sun’s energy.

    Large slithery tentacles constantly move them slowly across the mud, jostling for the best place to capture the sun’s precious rays.
    The Gulphog is the largest predator in the Stinger Fan forest, standing nearly 15 feet high, massive as a buffalo, but with a giraffe-like neck and prominent central teeth. Although it looks ungainly, scientists’ calculations show that the Gulphog can run as fast as a racehorse. Its long legs often help it outrun an indigenous predator, dubbed the deadly Hysteria.

    Hysteria look like tadpoles, peacefully eating tiny creatures that live in Aurelia’s lagoons. But the Hysteria can undergo a terrifying transformation
    when they come together as one undulating creature, rising from the water to bore into land-based victims and releasing a flesh dissolving toxin.