ITV

Tag: Malaysia

  • Thailand’s Chuo Senko enters India via JV with DDB Mudra

    MUMBAI: Thailand‘s media communications group Chuo Senko (Thailand) Public Company Limited is entering India through a joint venture company with DDB Mudra Group.

    The two agency networks have floated an entity named Chuo Senko India Co Ltd, 49 per cent of which will be owned by DDB Mudra and 51 per cent by Chuo Senko (46 per cent through Chuo Senko and five per cent through Ad India Ltd).
    Incidentally, this is DDB Mudra Group‘s first joint venture as it plans to aggressively expand its business in India. Omnicom has 51 per cent stake in DDB Mudra while the remaining 49 per cent is held by Mudra.

    Chuo Senko has invested Rs 5 million for its equity stake in ChuoSenko India.
    The JV company has been formed with the intention of launching agencies and firms in the business of advertising, public relation, media, shop decoration and other related advertising services.
    Sources said an announcement of the first agency under this JV company will be made as soon as by the end of this month. When contacted, both Chuo Senko and DDB Mudra did not respond to repeated mails and calls.
    For DDB Mudra, this deal means tapping into a larger pool of clients. In 2012, the group grew organically with accounts like Ashok Leyland, Adidas, Amway, Bank of Baroda, Carrier Midea and Castrol among others.

    Starting in 1963 as a total solution advertising agency in Japan and later shifting its centre of operations to Thailand, Chuo Senko has taken the joint venture route to expand in other Asian markets. It currently has presence in four South East Asian markets apart from Thailand – Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia.
    In November 2012, the agency formed a business alliance with Japanese agency Daiko Advertising in a bid to expand into the larger markets of the region. Under this business alliance, Chuo Senko enables Daiko to meet wide variety of client needs by utilising six offices of Chuo Senko in Southeast Asia, besides existing Daiko offices, three in China, two in Vietnam, and one each in Taiwan and India. Meanwhile, Chuo Senko will be able to support its existing clients’ business development in both the Chinese and the Japanese market, utilising the Daiko network in Japan and overseas.
    Chuo Senko has clients like Honda, Hitachi, Bangkok Tokyo Department Store, Thanachart Bank Public Company, Epson, and Wan Thai Food Industry.

  • The Hobbit pushes Life of Pi to second spot collecting $ 91 million in second weekend

    The Hobbit pushes Life of Pi to second spot collecting $ 91 million in second weekend

    MUMBAI: Opening in 35 markets, New Line/MGM‘s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey swept the foreign theatrical circuit for the second consecutive weekend bagging $91 million in more than 18,600 screens in 59 markets. It thereby pushed Life of Pi to second place.
    The Hobbit drew a mighty opening gross in Russia ($16.8 million from 2,129 venues including previews), taking 75 per cent of the weekend market. Distributor Warner Bros said that in Russia, 65 per cent of the total box office came from 3D venues.
    To underscore the growth in recent years of the Russian territory, the distributor noted that the weekend debut paced 313 per cent ahead of the opening Russia gross of Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, released in 2003 and the biggest foreign grosser of the LOTR titles.
    Director Peter Jackson‘s fantasy tale of the first installment of the director‘s $500 million trilogy based on the J R R Tolkien novel took a relatively small dip of 34 per cent from its opening round and has totaled a foreign gross intake to date of $284 million.
    Meanwhile, Paramount‘s latest Tom Cruise action title, Jack Reacher that premiered in seven offshore markets including Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Lebanon collected an estimated $2.5 million from 365 locations.
    Universal opened Les Miserables co-starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway in 348 locations in Japan for a weekend total of $4.2 million for a per-location average of more than $12,000.
    Universal also opened director Judd Apatow‘s comedy, This Is 40, in eight screens in Slovenia. Results is expected to be out today.

  • Twitter partners with Komli Media

    Twitter partners with Komli Media

    MUMBAI: Digital media technology platform Komli Media has signed a partnership agreement with Twitter for Southeast Asia.

    The partnership aims to expand the availability of Twitter’s Promoted Products suite of advertising products to marketers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

    Under the partnership, Komli will manage all Southeast Asia sales of Twitter. It will also help develop the regional market for Twitter and its Promoted Products through education and training programs for agencies and advertisers.

    Komli Engage sales team specialising in Twitter’s advertising products will be offering advertising solutions including promoted tweets, promoted accounts, and promoted trends which are currently available to marketers in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Latin America.

    Twitter vice president of international revenue Shailesh Rao said, “We‘re really excited to be working with Komli as we enter into Southeast Asia, which is one of Twitter’s fastest-growing markets. We are seeing significant interest from marketers who want to use our Promoted Products to build their businesses and connect with consumers, and working with Komli, and its management team, gives Twitter a strong partner with a footprint throughout the region."

    Komli Media VP International and managing director – SEA Akshay Garg said, “We are really excited to partner with Twitter. Together, we will offer marketers new and relevant opportunities to engage audiences in SEA and drive brand value. Social media growth in this region is among the highest in the world, and Twitter is one of the most recognized and utilized platforms in our region.”

  • The Dark Knight Rises still at No. 1 with $34.2 mn intake

    The Dark Knight Rises still at No. 1 with $34.2 mn intake

    MUMBAI: Fighting the hot temperatures in the UK and the Olympics, The Dark Knight Rises remained at the No. 1 spot with an intake of $34.2 million.
    According to Warner Bros., the film is tracking 46 per cent ahead of the comparable take of its predecessor The Dark Knight “at today‘s exchange rates.” The Christopher Nolan film has grossed $445.3 million in foreign locales to date, $23.7 less than the overseas total amassed by the first version.
    The film‘s top weekend markets included the UK, France and Brazil.
    Opening in 13 foreign territories day-and-date with its No. 1 US debut was The Bourne Legacy, the fourth episode of the espionage franchise. The film drew $7.8 million from 694 locations — averaging nearly $11,300 per site — in Eastern Europe, India, the Caribbean and in Asia (Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam).
    The film‘s top debut market was the Philippines followed by Singapore, while its No. 2 take was in Taiwan with an intake of $1.2 million from 67 sites for a per-location average of nearly $18,000.
    The three previous Bourne titles had grossed a total of $419.6 million on the foreign circuit with the 2007‘s The Bourne Ultimatum leading with an overseas tally of $215 million. 2004‘s The Bourne Supremacy collected $112.3 million offshore while 2002‘s The Bourne Identity registered $92.3 million.

  • CNN to invest in expanding newsgathering network

    MUMBAI: In the biggest expansion of international newsgathering resources in its 27-year history, CNN Worldwide has announced plans to significantly increase the number of correspondents worldwide, open a regional newsgathering hub in the United Arab Emirates, invest in a London-based digital-production unit, and make major investments in CNN’s International Newsource and CNN’s in-house wire operations.

    CNN International executive VP, MD Tony Maddox says, “This is all about owning more content; these new resources will have a huge impact across all of CNN’s networks and platforms. Owning the content we broadcast, publish and make available to affiliates and other platforms is the backbone of this business. This multi-million dollar investment in staff and resources bolster our world-class, award-winning journalism as well as give us the power to move swiftly into developing new business models.”

    New operations are also planned for India, Afghanistan, Belgium, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland and Vietnam. CNN will also appoint two new correspondents for the network’s Johannesburg bureau and add an additional correspondent at both its London and Istanbul bureaus.

    Investments are underway in CNN’s Asia Pacific newsgathering hub in Hong Kong to increase staffing, and the network plans to assign additional correspondents in Beijing, Jakarta and Pakistan.

    At the same time, CNN is also revitalizing its Tokyo bureau to encompass additional reporting duties in South Korea to work within the current structure.

    CNN will expand both its newsgathering and production facilities in the United Arab Emirates, bringing to bear more resources across the region in terms of programming and reporting, including more business coverage.

    CNN is also expanding its international online services with the creation of a digital production unit that will be primarily based in London, with additional staffing also in Hong Kong and Atlanta. This unit will produce and feed the rapidly growing number of new platforms that CNN services globally. This team will work alongside the television operation and will be responsible for providing content for CNN International, CNNArabic.com, CNNMobile and new CNN services on TV-to-broadband sites.

    CNN’s International Newsource operation will also expand to provide additional editorial, content and newsgathering services to CNN’s more than 1,000 affiliates worldwide. CNN’s in-house wire service is also being strengthened with additional staff to ensure swift and accurate dissemination of all of the additional material becoming available across all of CNN Worldwide services and networks.

    In Mexico, CNN en Español will strengthen its presence with the hiring of an anchor and correspondent and an additional editor working from the network’s Mexico City newsgathering bureau and production center. CNN en Español also will add to its editorial team in Atlanta to better service the increased volume of affiliate and stringer content and the development of new digital services.

  • Al Jazeera Children’s Channel signs MoU with Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Corporation

    Al Jazeera Children’s Channel signs MoU with Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Corporation

    MUMBAI: Middle East broadcaster Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Multimedia Development Corporation in Malaysia (MDeC),

    Al Jazeera Children’s Channel vice chairman Dr. Sheikh Hamad bin Nasser al-Thani says, “I am pleased to see the attempts and efforts of the past months come to fruition. This extended collaboration demonstrates our mutual commitment to pursue common projects and develop business alliances to ensure high standard Television and Media productions”.

    The strategic partnership with JCC is expected to benefit the Malaysian content industry as it created opportunities for local players to take up content development work tailor-made to the requirements of JCC in the areas of animation, games, mobile and digital content.

    MDeC will work with JCC to create and promote awareness among the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) member countries on policies and key issues affecting the development of the content industry.

  • IPTV subscribers in Asia Pacific expected to reach 27.4 million by 2013: Frost and Sullivan report

    IPTV subscribers in Asia Pacific expected to reach 27.4 million by 2013: Frost and Sullivan report

    MUMBAI: The Frost and Sullivan research service titled Asia Pacific IPTV Market provides an in-depth analysis of IPTV scenario in 12 markets across Asia Pacific.

    The research service identifies the market demand, competitive landscape, key drivers and restraints for the IPTV market.

    Further, the study presents detailed forecast patterns for revenues and ARPU trends for various countries in Asia Pacific. In this research service, Frost and Sullivan’s expert analysts thoroughly examine the markets of Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

    Growth of Broadband Spurs IPTV Deployments

    Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is fast making headway across the entire Asia Pacific region. The deployment of IPTV in the region has been further hastened by the explosion of broadband in various high growth markets across Asia Pacific, even as service providers across the region have invested heavily in the network infrastructure required for offering these services.

    IPTV has generated a new revenue stream, amidst dwindling fixed line revenues, and rapid advancements in compression, transmission, and watermarking technologies have enabled more and more service providers to jump onto the IPTV bandwagon. In line with these trends, the Asia Pacific IPTV market is set for considerable growth over the forecast period, with the number of IPTV subscribers expected to increase from the existing 1,47,000 to 27.4 million by 2013.

    However, poor broadband infrastructure in key growth markets such as China, India, and the Philippines coupled with lack of quality content have restrained the growth of IPTV in the region. Furthermore, access to quality content has been a common challenge for service providers.

    The analyst of this research service said, “While partnerships with content providers and broadcasting companies go a long way in securing access rights, the cable TV providers or the IPTV market leaders already have exclusive access to this content. This arrangement makes it difficult for other service providers to scale their service to meet the users’ requirements.”

    China and India expected to be high growth ,arkets

    With respect to individual regional markets, Hong Kong is already a mature market for IPTV services, and is expected to be heading toward saturation by 2009. China and India are perceived as high growth markets for IPTV by 2009. By 2013, China along with Hong Kong is expected to contribute nearly 60 per cent of the total Asia Pacific IPTV revenues. With 47.8 million subscribers, China has the largest broadband subscriber base in Asia Pacific in 2006, out of which nearly 70 per cent are residential subscribers.

    In Australia, IPTV is entering a crucial stage in its development, moving away from a technology under trial, into full commercial deployment. While it could take another three years for IPTV to enter the growth stage, service providers’ early adoption of IPTV services and aggressive pricing strategies are expected to contribute to the success of the technology in Australia.

    Presently, IPTV is deployed in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The service is expected to be introduced in India and the Philippines in 2007, and despite the lack of bandwidth in most markets, the demand for interactive entertainment has lured service providers to offer IPTV-based content in the form of video-on-demand (VoD) and channel-based offerings.

    Analyst further added, “As the service providers take the first few tentative steps, response from IPTV users has been positive in most markets. Service providers need to look beyond immediate revenue opportunities to understand the long-term importance of IPTV as a carrier distribution platform, over which many consumer communication and entertainment services can be offered simultaneously.”

  • IPTV revenues to touch $512 million in 2007: Frost & Sullivan

    IPTV revenues to touch $512 million in 2007: Frost & Sullivan

    MUMBAI: Dwindling wireline revenues, consumer demand for greater control over viewing preferences, and the explosion of broadband in various high growth markets across Asia-Pacific represent the impetus for the development of IPTV in the region.

    While service providers across Asia-Pacific have invested heavily in the network infrastructure required to offer such services, the key success factor for IPTV lies in the gamut of content that service providers are able to provide consumers.

    New analysis from global growth consulting company, Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific IPTV Market, reveals that revenues in this market – covering 12 major Asia-Pacific countries ex-Japan – is estimated to increase from $353.4 million in 2006 to $512.4 million next year. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 37.5 per cent (2006-2013), the region’s IPTV market is forecasted to be worth $3.3 billion by end-2013.

    Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Aravind Venkatesh says, “IPTV is the next notable wave in the consumer telecom space and service providers are planning to leverage this new technology to offer high quality interactive services to customers. While revenues from fixed-line services continue to decline, IPTV is likely to reduce churn, increase ARPU (average revenue per user) levels, and generate revenue streams in the long term.”

    IPTV is presently available in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, and is expected to be introduced in India and the Philippines in 2007. Countries like China, India and Australia are expected to be high growth markets by 2009.

    China, in particular, holds immense potential as it has the largest broadband subscriber base in Asia-Pacific. Residential subscribers constitute approximately 70 per cent of China’s 47.8 million broadband subscriber base. China together with Hong Kong, which is said to be one of the most sophisticated IPTV markets in the world, is expected to account for nearly 60 percent of the region’s IPTV revenues by end-2013.

    While initial response from end users has been positive, service providers face the challenge of procuring quality and regional content, most of which is exclusively offered by cable and satellite operators. The lack of quality content is a common problem for service providers across the region. Although partnerships with content providers and broadcasting companies aid in securing access rights, cable TV providers or IPTV market leaders already have exclusive access to the content.

    Venkatesh adds, “The lack of sufficient bandwidth and highly skewed broadband distribution are major inhibitors for the growth of IPTV in Asia-Pacific. While Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Japan are mature markets for broadband, developing markets like China, India and Malaysia have dismally low broadband penetration.”

    The lack of bandwidth in developing markets requires the implementation of high compression codecs and watermarking technologies to achieve the expected quality of service (QoS) levels. This may however be only a short-term solution. Service providers should scale their networks rapidly to offer bandwidth-hungry applications to consumers.

  • Zee inks deal with Media Overseas for launch in Indian Ocean Islands and Africa

    Zee inks deal with Media Overseas for launch in Indian Ocean Islands and Africa

    MUMBAI: Zee Network has tied up with Media Overseas, subsidiary of Canal+ Group, for the launch on their multi channel satellite pay-television platform, for three of its channels Zee TV, Zee Cinema and Zee Muzic.

    The service will be available on three Media Overseas platforms including, Canal Sat Reunion in Reunion Island, Canal Sat Maurice in Mauritius and Canal Sat Horizons in more than 20 countries in Africa such as Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, Mauritiana, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, informs an official release.

    The service was launched commercially on 14 December for Indian Ocean Islands including Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mayotte and Camoros and shall be available from 15 January 2007 onwards for French speaking countries in rest of Africa. The cinema and TV channels shall be available with sub titles in French.

    The Zee channels will be uplinked on NSS7 and Eutelsat W2 from the playout centre of Canal in France.

    International Business CEO Dheeraj Kapuria said, “We take great pleasure in announcing the tie up with Media Overseas for the launch of three Zee channels with French sub titles for Zee TV and Zee Cinema. French is the main language in many countries in this region and by bringing Zee channels with French sub title, not only our proximity with the viewer is closer than ever, but also opens a new market for us.”

    “Based on extensive research and feedback, we decided to launch this service for the segment which has great fondness for the content from Indian sub continent but a gap exists due to language barrier.”

    “After Multichoice, with whom we already have a tie up, Canal Sat is the next major pay television platform in the region and through this tie up Zee has widened its reach, its products in Africa and enforces its position as market leader.”

    In continuation of offering services bringing closer to viewer through specific feeds for each region and sub title or dubbing in local language, this is yet another expansion of Zee’s reach in International market. Zee has in the past one year launched its sub titled or dubbed services in Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Middle East and announced plans for entry into China, adds the release.

  • FremantleMedia sells shows to Asian channels at ATF

    FremantleMedia sells shows to Asian channels at ATF

    MUMBAI: Following its attendance at the recently concluded Asia Television Forum (ATF), television format creator and distributor FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has announced a number of deals concluded at the recent market in Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

    In the Philippines celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s shows were sold. Jamie’s Kitchen, Jamie’s Great Italian Escape and Oliver’s Twist were sold to ABS-CBN’s Lifestyle Network, marking the first time that Jamie will appear on a Filipino network. Jamie’s shows form part of a larger lifestyle package sold to ABS-CBN, which includes a range of other programmes from FremantleMedia Enterprises’ star-studded line up.

    FME VP, sales, Asia Pacific Paul Ridley tied up a deal seeing a package of entertainment, factual, reality and drama programming going to Onmedia a pay TV operator in Korea. The package includes American Idol, Project Runway, Jamie At Home, Jamie’s Return to School Dinners, The Apprentice, Martha, How Clean Is Your House, Property Ladder, Falcon Beach, The Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency.

    In Malaysia the focus was on reality, where broadcaster Media Prima acquired some of the biggest US ratings hits including American Idol, The Apprentice, Project Runway and American Inventor.

    Tying up the deals concluded at the ATF is the raft of programming on its way to Mediacorp TV in Singapore, which acquired a mix of reality and factual programmes, with programmes such as Project Runway, American Idol, The Apprentice, Prehistoric Park, Bills Food, and Jamie at Home heading to Singaporean screens.

    FME CEO David Ellender commented, “Such an impressive list of sales is a credit to both Paul and Ganesh, whose commitment to building and fostering key relationships in the Asia Pacific region is reapinggreat benefits for FME, both in terms of sales and development. After such a successful ATF, we now look forward to continuing that momentum as we look towards Natpe and beyond into 2007.”