ITV

Tag: Malaysia

  • Bachchan to announce IIFA Weekend at House of Commons

    Bachchan to announce IIFA Weekend at House of Commons

    MUMBAI: On Wednesday 8 November, the House of Commons will play host to the official announcement of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and the IDEA IIFA Awards in Yorkshire in June 2007.

    IIFA’s Brand Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan will be speaking at the reception alongside dignitaries, including Secretary of State, Tessa Jowell, Leader of the House, Jack Straw, and the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Kamlesh Sharma, to celebrate the return of the IIFA Weekend to the UK, informs an official release.

    As the leading location for investment in Europe, dignitaries will be speaking about the economic benefit for both national and regional business partnerships with India. One of the key members of the Indian delegation is Sanjeev Aga, president of Birla Nuevo, one of India’s leading investors in Britain. Additionally, Judith Donovan, chairperson for the Yorkshire Tourism Board and Tom Riordan from Yorkshire Forward will be announcing details of IIFA Weekend and the anticipated impact for Yorkshire business and tourism, the release adds.

    Speaking about the launch of the Idea IIFA Awards, Idea Cellular MD Sanjeev Aga says, “After the phenomenal success of the Idea IIFA Awards in Dubai, Idea is eagerly looking forward to the Idea IIFA Awards in Yorkshire. IIFA offers us the best platform to demonstrate the true essence of mobile and entertainment convergence. With IDEA IIFA, our privileged customer will have access to specially created merchandise, contests, video and MMS downloads and several other value added services. Only Idea can and will take you there.”

    Bachchan, who was voted BBC’s Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 pushing behind Hollywood’s biggest stars and heartthrobs, will focus on the rising popularity of Indian cinema as a major global business, with an estimated global audience for the IIFA Awards in 2007 of over 480 million.

    Now in its eighth year, the IIFA Weekend has previously visited Amsterdam, Dubai, Singapore, London, Malaysia and South Africa. As a direct consequence of the IIFA celebrations, tourism and business investment to each of these destinations has increased tremendously, making a major impact. Yorkshire was successful in its bid to attract the event organizers attention and the bid presentation was supported by prime minister Tony Blair.

    The House of Commons launch event will be followed by a five-city launch the next day in the company of the Mayors of York, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford, who will flag off the IIFA Weekend announcement along with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. The five-city launch will be held at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (NMPFT), Bradford.

    Previous IIFA Weekend events have hosted popular celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Shekhar Kapur, Ashok Amritraj, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bo Derek, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and others. IIFA Weekend celebrations, which were launched at the Millennium Dome in 2000, have travelled across South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Amsterdam and Dubai. IIFA Weekend Yorkshire marks the return of the celebration which has already become one of the world’s most-watched and sought after event.

  • Nokia unveils TV enabled Nokia N92 mobile phone

    Nokia unveils TV enabled Nokia N92 mobile phone

    HONG KONG: Nokia stamped its commitment to broadcast mobile TV by live simulcast demonstration of pay-TV channels on its Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) enabled Nokia N92.

    Being showcased for the first time at the Casbaa convention, which brings together the leading participants in the Asia-Pacific region’s television industry, the demonstration includes the first-ever broadcast of Casbaa TV channel that is broadcasting the conference proceedings live, and several other international pay-TV channels during the convention.

    “The first-ever broadcast of the Casbaa TV channel and several pay-TV channels on the Nokia N92 at the annual Casbaa convention gives the industry further proof that broadcast mobile TV using DVB-H technology is a reality,” 
    an official statement quoted Jawahar Kanjilal, Director, Multimedia Experiences, Asia-Pacific, Nokia, as saying.

    “With pay-TV subscriptions approaching saturation in many countries, the industry’s leading participants now have first-hand evidence of how the mobile device can help extend their broadcast footprint across the region,” he added.

    During the week of the convention, Casbaa delegates and officials have been issued with Nokia N92 multimedia computers, which will enable them to stay connected with the conference while enjoying the personal television experience.

    “Nokia is fully committed to broadcast mobile TV and the DVB-H technology, and we will strive towards an open and competitive ecosystem similar to the one that has made GSM/WCDMA-based mobile telephony so successful today,” 
    added Kanjilal.

    In September this year, Nokia and the Vietnam Multimedia Corporation, Vietnam’s leading national broadcaster and operator in digital broadcasting, announced the decision to launch commercial broadcast mobile TV services to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi by the end of 2006.

    Consumers in both cities will enjoy seven digital TV channels and a near video-on-demand service – on the Nokia N92, from a catalog of selected titles offered by VTC.

    In June this year, the DVB-H Asia Pacific Alliance (DAPA), comprising Australia’s The Bridge Networks, MECA from Indonesia, Malaysia’s MiTV, and Nokia was established to promote the sharing of best practices and to keep member companies appraised of new business and technological developments in broadcast mobile TV.

    The group will also support regulatory preparation and discussion to facilitate the adoption of DVB-H as the standard for mobile TV in the Asia Pacific region.

    Nokia also announced interoperability agreements with Sony-Ericsson and Motorola earlier this year.

    During the FIFA World Cup in Germany this year, multivendor interoperability was showcased with the Nokia N92 multimedia computer and DVB-H enabled devices from other manufacturers, in a pilot project run by German mobile network operators E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

    In the Asia Pacific region, Nokia has participated in broadcast mobile TV trials in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan (R.O.C).

    Globally, pilots and market research studies so far have shown high positive feedback for broadcast mobile TV services.

  • AXN goes mobile to spread the buzz

    AXN goes mobile to spread the buzz

    MUMBAI: The mobile is increasingly becoming a way for channels to reach their consumers. A case in point is the action oriented AXN.

    AXN Mobile, a mobile Wap entertainment portal by AXN, is ready to be launched in Asia and will be available to consumers from early November 2006.

    Now viewers acros Asia will not only get to catch high-octane action and adventure programmes on TV; supplement their programme knowledge and have fun with games and contests via the website; live the AXN lifestyle by participating in specially formatted made-for-TV challenge-reality shows… but to top it all off, AXN Mobile is now available to continue providing the AXN buzz while on the move – giving consumers an adrenaline-charged “power snack bar” to get them freshened up for their next appointment.

    Through the mobile AXN is looking to catch viewers whether they are on a lunch or coffee break from work, commuting on public transport to meet friends, or soaking their stress away in the Jacuzzi.

    AXN Mobile offers exclusive streaming video on demand (SVOD) services and downloadable personalisation products such as ringtones and wallpapers from the channel’s flagship programmes that have garnered a huge loyal following around the region.

    In Singapore and Malaysia, AXN has expanded its partnership with affiliates like StarHub to carry the mobile products on their platform and with Astro to distribute AXN mobile to major telcos. In the Philippines, AXN has partnered with Smart Communications. Direct deals with major telcom firms are also in negotiation in Hong Kong and Taiwan, which will be announced at a later date.

    The channel says that a clear differentiation about AXN Mobile, is the exclusive made-for-mobile contents offered to consumers, in an effort to ensure the desirability and relevance of AXN Mobile. Unlike other mobile TV services that are mostly an extension of the TV contents (like news updates or the linear channel service), AXN offers a library of video clips from its stable of signature shows that are specially produced for streaming via mobile.

    AXN Mobile will be available in various Asia markets in early November, in conjunction with the much-awaited premiere of AXN’s biggest original production – The Amazing Race Asia. Special made-for-mobile contents have been created that will allow viewers of The Amazing Race Asia to supplement their knowledge of the show – like host Allan Wu’s Host Video Diary, where he shares his thoughts at the end of each race day; interviews with eliminated teams on their reflection of what may have caused their elimination and their thoughts on which team they believe will emerge victorious.

    In the final stages of the race, viewers can also download clips of interviews with the remaining teams after every episode to see what would be each team’s strategy going into the next leg of the race. These videos will serve to “whet the appetite” of viewers as they wait in anticipation for the next episode. Of course, there will also be the ever-popular “unseen footages” or “behind-the-scene” shots of the funny moments, big arguments or even too-hot-for-TV catfights…

    Similar offerings from other shows like Mondo Magic Singapore and The Contender are also in the pipeline, as well as a special segment known as AXN Moments featuring great moments of fun, courage, and laughter from some of the best daredevil record-breaking challenges from AXN original productions and events.

    SPE Networks Asia GM Ricky Ow says, “AXN has always been a leading trendsetter, being the first action and adventure channel, the first to bring the reality craze to Asia, the first in Asia to take on such a mega scale production like The Amazing Race Asia. And now we will also be the first to provide a true-blue entertainment WAP portal that allows our viewers to have a seamless, well-rounded, enriching entertainment experience that complements their TV viewing.

    “Mobile technology is very much a part of our viewers’ lifestyle, our core audience being the working executives and professionals. With the rapid advancement and pick-up of mobile technology in Asia, we feel that it is the right time to venture into mobile TV, and I am confident that our viewers will appreciate the unique content offerings we have.”

  • Buena Vista to distribute Jet Li’s first Chinese film on TV

    Buena Vista to distribute Jet Li’s first Chinese film on TV

    MUMBAI: Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP) has received the television distribution rights to
    Fearless, starring international action superstar Jet Li, produced by Bill Kong and directed by Ronny Yu.

    This is BVITV-AP’s first Chinese-language feature for television distribution. 

    Under this agreement, BVITV-AP has the rights to distribute Fearless in various markets across Asia including Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. The martial arts epic is expected to make its television debut later this year on Star Chinese Movies in Singapore, the Philippines and Taiwan, where it has been licensed by BVITV-AP.

    Coming from the producer of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers, Fearless is based on the tragic life of one
    of China’s most renowned martial arts masters Huo Yuanjia (1868-1910) who is played by Jet Li and supported by an international cast lead by Japanese actor Nakamura Shido. 

    BVITV-AP senior VP, MD Steve Macallister says, “We are thrilled to be extending our portfolio with this Asian box office hit and underlines our commitment to carefully enhancing our portfolio with quality local content. We look forward to the movie’s continued success as it launches later

    this year on Star Chinese Movies in various markets across Asia.”

    Star GM Chinese programming Jason Siu said, “We are delighted to work with BVITV-AP in adding yet another blockbuster to Star Chinese Movies, the world’s most powerful Chinese movie channel. We are confident that Fearless, with its huge box office success and the mass appeal of Jet Li, will give viewers another spectacular viewing experience.”

    The film was recently released in theatres in the US. It opened in various Asian markets earlier this year including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan, and has
    grossed nearly $60 million to date at the worldwide box office.

     

  • Nat Geo Intl looks to bring Malaysia to the world

    Nat Geo Intl looks to bring Malaysia to the world

    MUMBAI: National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) and National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia (FINAS) have announced a partnership agreement.

    They have commissioned two one-hour documentary programmes in high-definition (HD) to showcase Malaysia to the world and to encourage local filmmaking talents. 
    NGCI executive VP- production Bryan Smith says, “We are pleased to partner with Finas to produce high-definition documentaries for the global audience and to cultivate local filmmaking talents.”

    Finas DG En Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim said, “This is the first time that National Geographic Channels International and the National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia have come together to promote the local filmmaking industry.

    “We are excited to be associated with this partnership as Malaysia has a pool of highly creative talents and Finas would like to encourage, preserve and enable growth and development of the filmmaking industry in Malaysia.”

    NGCI will kick-off the launch with a call-for-entries to all Malaysian-based production companies, the finished programmes will be aired globally on National Geographic Channel’s network in 164 countries.

    The successful grantees will be guided by NGCI’s senior producers to ensure a consistently high-quality production. The winning producers can also expect future opportunities with NGC.

    The call-for-entries is given a further lift as each successful grantee will receive up to $200,000 to make a one-hour of original production in high-definition. The local filmmaking talents are given an excellent opportunity to commission a high-definition documentary and rise to the Malaysia to the World challenge.

  • Malaysian MotoGP Live on Ten Sports

    Round 13 of MotoGP takes place this weekend in Malaysia and all the action will be live on Ten Sports.

     

    Ten sports coverage of the race begins on September 10th at 9-30IST.

     

    With five rounds remaining the Championship is still wide open with as many as five riders still capable of being crowned 2006 champion.

     

    Championship leader Nicky Hayden will be looking to put behind him his poor performance in the Czech Republic last time out and try to cement his position at the top of the points table.

     

    Team mate Dani Pedrosa was able to close the gap on Hayden to just twenty five points with his third place last time out and his consistency has led to many pundits predicting that he could well be the man to finally end Valentino Rossi’s run of five successive titles.

     

    The diminutive Champion has moved in to third place in the rankings a further thirteen points back and with five races left you certainly cannot rule him out from claiming a sixth straight championship.

     

    Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi, winner in the Czech Republic, are two and twelve points further back respectively and they too have outside chances of capturing the title by the time the final race takes place in Spain in late October.

     

    Timings: September 10th 9-30IST

     

    ABOUT TEN SPORTS: Only launched in April 2002, Taj TV’s Ten Sports is watched by more viewers than any other sports channel in the sub-continent and is available in more than 50 million cable/ satellite households worldwide. Ten Sports is the world’s biggest producers of cricket. The Channel broadcasts cricket from Sharjah, the West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Morocco throughout the Indian sub-continent and Asia, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. Other cricket properties broadcast by Ten Sports in certain territories include internationals from India, the World Cup 2003 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2004.

     

    FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TEN SPORTS PROGRAMMES, CONTACT:

    Murtuza Madraswala – Taj Television India Pvt Ltd, 403 Manish Commercial Complex, Dr. A.B. Road, Mumbai, India. Tel no: +91 22 6662 3101; Fax no: +91 22 6662 629; Email: murtuzam@tajtv.com or visit www.tensports.com

  • Animax turns 24×7 in Malaysia; available on Astro

    Animax turns 24×7 in Malaysia; available on Astro

    MUMBAI: Animax, the animation channel in Asia has announced that it will be available 24×7 in Malaysia starting 31 August and will be carried exclusively on cable provider, Astro.

    As part of the channel’s expansion plans, Animax will upgrade from a time-block channel to a full service channel to provide target demographic – youths and young adults. It will thus reach out to over 1.9 million Astro subscribers.

    Animax viewers in Malaysia will get to watch cutting edge animation in both English and original Japanese language, with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles during the primetime belt (6pm-8.30pm), informs an official release.

    Animax Asia vice-president Betty Tsui says, “We are excited to launch Animax in Malaysia with a strong partner like Astro and bring viewers exceptional anime entertainment like never before.”

    Greater youth-driven plans are in the pipeline, beginning with a Malaysia edition of on-air initiative, Imagine-Nation, featuring local talents that go beyond the ordinary. Imagine-Nation was launched last June in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines. It features famous people connected to the creative world of games, film and design, sharing their visions and inspirations with viewers in a series of candid interviews, adds the release.

    In keeping with the channel’s commitment to engage and inspire the youth, recently two lucky Malaysia Animax contest winners gained exclusive backstage tours and met with top gamers at the World Cyber Games 2006 Asian Championship, where Animax was a principal partner.

    Tsui adds, “The host of talent in creative fields are aplenty in Malaysia and I am thrilled to be able to share creative passion with the youths in Malaysia. We hope to inspire them through the Imagine-Nation project and more.”

    Animax Asia, a regional youth cable and satellite TV channel dedicated to Japanese animation (anime) programming under SPE Networks – Asia, brings to Asian viewers animation from Japan and anime-inspired original productions and activities.

    Offering programmes of various anime genres from sci-fi (Ghost in the Shell), action (Blood+), romance and fashion (Honey and Clover, Paradise Kiss) to drama (Black Jack, Girl from Hell) and anime favorites (Dragon Ball), Animax will showcase a line up of high-quality programmes targeted at its youths and young adults demographic in the coming months – including first-run series, Girl From Hell during Halloween this October 2006, adds the release.

  • VSNL International to invest US$ 200 million in undersea cable

    VSNL International to invest US$ 200 million in undersea cable

    MUMBAI: VSNL plans to pump in US$ 200 million to build undersea telecom cable linking Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

    The telecom major will make this investment through its Singapore arm, VSNL Singapore Pte Ltd (VSNL International).

    The new intra-Asia cable will enable VSNL International to service its global customers doing business in and with the burgeoning Asia-Pacific markets, the company said in an official statement.

    The investment of US $ 200 million follows the recent announcement by VSNL to build a new system from India to Europe that will provide connectivity to the Gulf region and the African continent.

    The intra-Asia cable, when combined with the Tata Indicom Cable System (TIC) and the TGN-Pacific cable system (both of which are built with eight fibre pairs capable of supporting 7+ Tbil/s of traffic), will complete VSNL International’s multi-Terabit capability from India to Asia and onward to the US.

    “With Asian bandwidth demand forecasted to grow at an average of 27 per cent CAGR, VSNL International is taking steps to expand its capacity to serve customers in the booming intra-Asia market,” comments VSNL International president Vinod Kumar. “This new high-capacity cable system, soon to be one of the region’s largest, combined with our existing C2C capacity and TGN-P capacity, will enable us to deliver high-performance bandwidth at the most cost-effective pricing and fulfil our strategy to become the market leader in bandwidth supply.”

    VSNL International will commence construction of the new intra-Asia cable by December 2006. The scheduled build time for the project is 12-14 months. The Company is already in the process of finalising design details, selecting suppliers and identifying additional partners for the project. Future potential landing stations for the cables include locations in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Guam.

  • Malaysia’s Astro eyes significant FM presence in India

    Malaysia’s Astro eyes significant FM presence in India

    MUMBAI: South East Asia’s leading media group Astro All Asia Networks plc is eyeing a major expansion of its activities in India. It is currently in advanced discussions with strategic partners on various initiatives, including participation in a nationwide consortium of FM radio networks.

    Speaking to reporters after Astro’s third AGM at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Group CEO Ralph Marshall said, “We expect to finalise partnership arrangements in the coming months. Appropriate announcements will be made in due course.” Added Marshall, “We expect that we would have a 20 per cent interest in a nationwide radio licence as soon as we receive the approvals.”

    Astro already manages two FM radio stations in Kolkata. Astro’s direct FM operations in India are managed through AMSI (Airtime Marketing & Sales India). Astro, working with its local Indian partners Power107.8 FM and Aamar 106.2 FM, provide studio facilities and airtime sales and marketing services to the two FM radio stations in Kolkata.

    Additionally, Marshall mentioned that Astro also wants to create content for distribution in both India and China.

    A key part of Marshall’s interaction with the media yesterday was devoted to Astro’s plans to invest $135.8 million over the next three to five years to build up its business in Indonesia. The pay-TV operator is to take a 20 per cent stake in a joint venture in Indonesia, known as PT Direct Vision (PTDV). Terms and conditions of the joint venture are expected to be finalised in six to eight weeks, reports Malaysia’s Business Times. Astro also expects to introduce more services, including pay and premium programming, in Malaysia and Brunei once it has access to MEASAT’s new satellite transponder capacity on Measat-3.

    “We will have a significant number of new services for our customers in Malaysia and Brunei once we have access to new satellite transponder capacity on Measat-3. Malaysia remains a growth market for us and content is key to driving future growth and customer retention. Our programming team has lined up a suite of local and international programmes of various genres and languages. In this regard, we are pleased to have received confirmation from satellite owner and operator Measat Global of a new launch slot for M3 between 28 November 2006 and 26 January 2007,” said Rohana Rozhan CEO Astro TV.

    The company will soon also launch Astro MAX, its next generation set-top box that incorporates an 80GB integrated hard disk drive.

    “Outside Malaysia, the Group is focused on expanding our distribution platforms and content development, particularly multi-lingual, multi-ethnic content, for the regional markets,” said Marshall.

    It was just last month that Astro and Prannoy Roy’s NDTV jointly announced the launch of a 24 hour news, infotainment and lifestyle channel called Astro Awani in Djakarta, Indonesia. The language of the channel is primarily Bahasa Indonesia. Astro Awani is the first channel launched by NDTV outside of India.

    With this launch Astro Awani became the first news channel in Astro’s bouquet, and is being distributed throughout Indonesia on PT Direct Vision’s platform, that is currently licensing the ‘Astro’ trademark.

    Astro Awani is the first channel launched by NDTV generating news that is not India-related and is specifically for viewers of that country. NDTV will be launching a similar channel with Astro in Malaysia by this year-end.

  • Astro teams up with Thomson for STB with DVR

    Astro teams up with Thomson for STB with DVR

    MUMBAI: Thomson, the provider in digital video technologies, has entered into an agreement with Astro, the satellite TV operator in Malaysia to provide a new set-top box with digital video recorder. 

    At present, Thomson is providing Astro with an entry-level digital satellite TV set-top box in support of the operator’s ongoing customer acquisition programme. The new Thomson set-top box will enable Astro to launch Malaysia’s first DVR service, according to an official release.

    The deal to provide the new set-top box with digital video recorder coupled with an extension to the existing contract for entry-level set-top boxes is the fruit of Thomson’s commitment to broaden both its media and entertainment product offering and client base globally including in the Asia Pacific region.

    Thomson technology to help drive Astro’s growth strategy

    With over 1.8 million residential TV subscribers across Malaysia, Astro is the largest multi-channel TV business in Asia, outside Japan. The company is continuing to increase subscriber numbers by extending the content and services it provides customers.

    The new Thomson set-top box will enable Astro to launch the DVR service. In addition to the recording functionality, advanced features such as pausing or rewinding live TV, will give Astro subscribers greater control, choice and flexibility over what they watch and when, than ever before. Customer acquisition is a priority for Astro and Thomson’s set-top box expertise and technology will provide it with fully-featured products to help the operator achieve its new subscriber targets and tap new revenue streams, informs the release.

    “We are very excited to be launching the new DVR technology in Malaysia, re-enforcing our position of product innovator in the television domain. The continued expansion of our subscriber base in Malaysia is testament to the quality and variety of programmes and services we offer and the new generation platform is a perfect example of our desire to lead the field. We are very pleased to renew our long term partnership with Thomson drawing on its innovations, expertise and proven international track record.” said Astro Group COO David Butorac.”We are delighted to have achieved yet another milestone as Astro’s lead supplier for set-top boxes,” said Thomson CEO Satellite, Terrestrial and Cable Business unit Koen Van Driel. 

    “In selecting our DVR solution, Astro has demonstrated its confidence in Thomson’s ability to bring advanced content-delivery platforms to market. When taken with our agreements with major operators in the region such as Starhub in Singapore, AUSTAR in Australia and Tata Sky in India , this contract places Thomson at the forefront of the Asia-Pacific set-top box market,” he concluded.