ITV

Tag: makes

  • ESS makes further inroads into Cambodia

    MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has concluded agreements with three new affiliates in Cambodia, further expanding its distribution coverage and list of partners across Indo-China.
     
     

    The deals bring the total number of affiliates in Cambodia to five for ESS. This includes previous distribution deals with Cambodia Cable TV and Phnom Penh Municipal Cable TV.
     
     

    ESS senior VP affiliate sales and syndication, Adam Zecha said, ” We are pleased to conclude our agreements with the three affiliates – STAR Cable TV, Sunday Cable TV and Banteay Mean Chey Cable TV. It reinforces our commitment of continued growth in Indo-China, particularly in Cambodia. We have invested a great deal to enhance our world-class sporting line-up and we are delighted that sports fans in these areas will now be able to experience the best in sports television.”

    ESS states that its distribution reaches out to 134 million households for ESPN and over 59 million households for Star Sports.

  • UTV scrip makes impressive debut

    MUMBAI: UTV Software Communications debuted today on the stock market, scaling to 30.8 per cent in early trade on its listed price of Rs 130.
     

    On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the UTV scrip opened at Rs 165 at a premium of 27 per cent. And on strong buying support rose to Rs 170 during intra-day trade. It finally closed the day at Rs 168.

    On the NSE the scrip listed at a premium of 15 per cent.

    According to a market analyst, UTV is valued at Rs 3.27 billion on its close price of Rs 168. Going forward, films and television will significantly drive the topline and profits of the company, the anyayst said.

    Discussing its debut, another analyst said that the market expects UTV to post earning per share (EPS) of Rs 8 and Rs12 for FY 05 and FY 06 respectively.

    The company’s initial public offer raised Rs 910 million through an issue of nearly 7 million shares, representing 34.1 per cent of its post-issue equity capital.

    UTV’s IPO was oversubscribed 26.35 times when it closed on 25 February.
     
     

    A media analyst asserts that on the over-value denominator it is seen that with most scrips the similar allegations are made and these would include the likes of TV Today, NDTV, TV-18 and Zee.

    Commenting on the comapny’s debut on the stock market UTV MD Ronnie Screwvala said, “I’m very happy at the scrip’s performance.”

    Elaborating further, Screwvala said the company has lined up a new show for Sony namely, Tarana. There are two to three shows which have still to be finalised but should come on air soon, he added.

    On the film front, Screwvala said UTV is slated to distribute six to seven movies in this calendar year.

    The movies include Rang De Basanti directed by Rakyesh Mehra (releasing in June), Blue Umbrella directed by Vishal Bharadwaj (Maqbool), will be out for release post-Cannes in April. The movie has been adapted from a Ruskin Bond book. Some of the other movies are Shaadi No I and Parineeta.

    Speaking on the performance of the Hungama Channel, he pointed out that the kids’ channel has progressed and It is third in the league after Pogo. In fact in many day-parts the channel has taken over Pogo.

    Highlighting that Hungama channel garners more TVR’s (0.56 per cent) on Friday’s than even Cartoon Network (0.64 per cent), leave alone Pogo (0.27 per cent) and Disney (0.10 per cent), Screwvala expressed confidence that Hungama would continue to do well.

  • Cop drama ‘NYPD Blue’ makes its final bow

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster ABC’s cop drama NYPD Blue has come to a close after being on air for 12 years. The final episode aired last night.
     

    The show is considered by many to have broken new ground in the police genre. The 261st and last episode saw detective Andy Sipowicz played by Dennis Franz settling in to what seems like a thankless job commanding the detectives of the 15th Precinct.

    What was unique is that unlike Friends where a lot of fuss was made about the final episode, NYPD Blue bowed out quietly with grace. The final episode did not have gimmicky twists and manipulation. Before the final episode aired ABC had a Final Tribute special.
     
     

    In keeping with the tone of the series the finale was a portrait of a family of colleagues in the midst of change, redefinition, and redemption.

    The show began its life in controversy over its nudity and language. When the series started one of the main characters Sipowicz was a racist, alcoholic, loose-cannon detective. In the final episode he was Sgt. Sipowicz, running the squad himself and guiding two rookie detectives, and the rest of the 15th Precinct, through a politically sensitive case involving a murdered prostitute and a Japanese diplomat who confessed to the crime.

    Franz is just one of two actors who stayed with the show for its entire duration. The other actor was Gordon Clapp who played Detective Greg Medavoy. The show also gave a major boost to the careers of David Caruso, Amy Brenneman and Kim Delaney.

  • BBC Worldwide makes US Library Sales appointment

    LONDON: Focussing on increasing its share of the global stock footage market, BBC Library Sales has appointed Jan Ross to manage its activity in the US. Her designation is BBC Worldwide America’s senior vice president, Library Sales.

    Reporting to BBC Library Sales managing director Simon Gibbs and based in Los Angeles, Ross will manage the overall strategy in the US for the company’s motion imagery licensing business.

    Gibbs was quoted in an official release saying, “Ross’ track record in the industry will be invaluable in driving forward our ambitious business plans. She has become a member of the team at a time when our business is going from strength to strength on both sides of the Atlantic and I am looking forward to her further increasing our profile in the US market.”

    With more than 20 years’ senior management experience in stock footage marketing, film production and the commercial film licensing business, Ross was a founder of the Energy Film Library. She led the company’s global expansion, conversion of its digital assets to digital media, and the development of its Internet strategies, prior to selling Energy assets to Getty Images in 1997.

    Following this acquisition, she served as the chief executive officer of Getty’s film division and as a member of the senior management team of gettyone, the creative channel of the company.

    After leaving Getty in 2000, Ross has served as an executive of Blacklight Films, which recently produced the broadcast series, America! BBC Library Sales operates from offices in London and regional offices in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Sydney and Tokyo.