ITV

Tag: Matthew Amroliwala

  • India will shape mobile innovation: Ajit Mohan

    India will shape mobile innovation: Ajit Mohan

    MUMBAI: The digital consumer is on his way to become the king of media and entertainment. It is he who will dictate future content trends, platform specifics and most importantly revenue flows. How can the vast media and entertainment ecosystem channelise its vision towards a sustainable revenue system reaping off the all encompassing digital landscape – overhauling payment gateways, broadband speed and consumer sensitisation?

     

    Seeking answers to these questions, a panel discussion was held in FICCI Frames 2015 moderated by BBC Global News presenter Matthew Amroliwala. The panel comprised Star India digital head Ajit Mohan, Yahoo India MD Gurmit Singh, UCWeb India MD Kenny Ye and Airtel global voice and data business CEO and director Srinivasan Gopalan.

     

    The digital platform is yet to have a concrete revenue model and most of the content available now is free content. Mohan said, “India is going to shape innovation in mobile and not the United States and hence we need to have our own model and cannot refer to any other. My observation is that consumers are underserved and they are absolutely ready for real and fresh content in the VOD platform. It is a mass market and quality content will find recognition and appreciation.”

     

    Yahoo’s Singh added, “Yahoo is a 20 years old company that has seen technological evolution. Every 10 years, we have a new technology, which shapes the processing and the same will happen when 4G and 5G comes in. All the existing devices will talk to each other, complement each other and advertisers will have a choice of platform. The advantage of digital is that proper analysis can be done, which makes reaching the target audience easy and accurate. This will also ensure higher returns.”

     

    Talking about the Indian circumstances, UCWeb India’s Ye said, “The government of India launched a digital India campaign, which is highly encouraging and mobile will play a very important role in making India digital. The revenue model is yet to be figured out and a lot of that will be decided by development in infrastructure in the near future. Better online payment infrastructure and more credit and debit card holders will make the revenue model easier.”

     

    The online ventures need communications and carriers to carry the signal from provider to consumer. Airtel’s Gopalan asserted, “About 93 per cent of internet usage is in mobile and it’s high time that content makers and service providers collaborate in order to make things more efficient and revenue generating. We should bundle content and put it in a package for the consumers. And data is not expensive in India and it’s mobile data, which is expensive and there are different reasons behind it.”

     

    Star India’s digital platform Hotstar was free and it got a lot of encouragement in terms of viewership. Commenting on the success of the venture, Mohan said, “Hotstar is not free. The content needs data and the consumers are paying premium rates to see content and hence the myth is baseless.”

     

    It remains to be seen what revenue model the digital platforms accept and if the formula of content is king is followed.

  • Freedom of press under danger in India

    Freedom of press under danger in India

    MUMBAI: While the fourth estate is known both as a conscience keeper of society as well as shaper of public opinion, is the freedom of speech for the media under pressure in recent times? Speaking on the same were BBC Global News presenter Matthew Amroliwala, NDTV managing editor Manika Raikwar, Equus founder and Counselage India managing partner Suhel Seth, and FICCI entertainment committee co-chair Ramesh Sippy at a panel discussion at the ongoing FICCI Frames 2015. The session was moderated by Association of International Broadcasters UK CEO Simon Spanswick.

     

    The witty Seth had the audience in constant applauding mode. He began saying that the current Censor Board chief in India was an idiot. “If words like Bombay are banned in a film, why don’t the jokers also approach the High Court of Bombay? Again, we have some very good judges and some very bad judges. Society must mirror the varied aspirations of society,” Seth said.

     

    He was of the strong opinion that the press in India had abused its power for far too long. “Most channels today are on sale and are driven by commercial interests. Times Now is clean but is a noise factory. We are in very troubled times and there is grave danger to the freedom of press in India. We are ruled by a right wing party and fringe elements have arisen. Instead of discourse and debate, people are resorting to violence,” he opined.

     

    When questioned by Spanswick on ethics being compromised because of revenue, Raikwar posed a counter question, “How do you get revenue for a costly business medium?” She was of the opinion that transparency was the key by informing the masses about which news packages were sponsored and which were not. “Mint, for example and NDTV too, clearly mention to viewers if there is a conflict of interest in their stories either in a box or a scroll,” she informed. It was upto the audiences then to make a choice in believing what stories were true or were planted.

     

    Agreeing with her, Amroliwala opined that if indeed audiences knew what they were reading and watching, then they would be able to pin point closely what the news factor was in a story. “The BBC is all about trust and we don’t deviate from it, which is our USP,” he remarked.

     

    Seth at this point said that increasingly today TV editors were writing newspaper columns and newspaper editors vice versa appeared on television. “These editors appear on television because they can’t write. They are supposed to inform people through their writing about strong opinions of current events,” he said. He then went on to attack the Badal family of Punjab. “The Badals own the biggest channel in Punjab and also control the distribution system,” he added.

     

    Spanswick queried if people trusted these channels, to which Seth implored, “What else will people watch? They don’t have a choice.”

     

    As the talk revolved around journalistic ethics, Sippy commented that unparliamentary language was become parliamentary language across the world and everyone was in a race to grab eyeballs. Raikwar felt that the edit page of a newspaper was largely important as it is today becoming the main news page. “There is space for opinion but it has to be clearly narrated and spaced,” she voiced. She also noted that there would be times when journalists would commit unintentional errors in their stories. In such a scenario, the best way forward was to issue to apology and move on. “It is all about trust,” she stressed upon.  

     

    Spanswick then quizzed the panel if the media in India was able to reflect society well enough through their creative products? Seth was of the opinion that every film reflected a certain section of society. “While the film Haider was dedicated to Kashmiri pundits, the narrative of the film had nothing to do with them. We have to evolve through self-restraint. It’s also sad to note how religion today is being used as a political weapon whereas people of feeble intellect are running the censor board,” he said.

     

    “How can one counter this?” asked Spanswick. Seth said that Sippy and Inc. could come up with movies that spoke of such phenomenons without going overboard. Sippy replied that in recent times two films, Oh My God and PK touched upon religion. “They were using restraint through humour,” the filmmaker highlighted. Raikwar said that the attitude of ‘sab kuch chalta hai’ (anything goes) should stop and the consumer being the key would be the ultimate judge of a news item.

     

    Amroliwala in conclusion stated that the pictures the BBC used for a particular story, the content and the language used was very important to the pubcaster. “This is absolutely crucial in our news reporting,” he highlighted.

  • BBC to cover Barack Obama’s India visit live

    BBC to cover Barack Obama’s India visit live

    MUMBAI: BBC World News’ ‘Global with Matthew Amroliwala’ and BBC World Service’s international debate and discussion show ‘World Have Your Say’ will broadcast live from Delhi marking India’s Republic Day and US President Barack Obama’s visit.

    Global’s three days of live broadcasts, from 26 to 28 January, come as BBC’s international services launch a three month season of new content across TV, radio and online, which includes a raft of India focused programming.

    BBC World Service’s international debate and discussion show ‘World Have Your Say’ will be broadcast from Delhi on 30 January.

    The season opens with a live TV debate from the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland on 23 January, 2015 on BBC World News TV and then will move around the world offering a huge variety of programmes, online reports, news features, graphics, short films, social media call-outs and debates across January, February and March.

    Life in emerging markets such as China, India and countries across Africa will be put in the spotlight together with more established economic powers such as the USA.

    With a dedicated website at bbc.com/richerworld, a hashtag #bbcricherworld and features on the Facebook pages, the services’ global audience will be encouraged to participate.

    Whether it’s sharing the contents of their fridges to discuss consumption patterns, suggesting the best night clubs in East Africa or taking part in radio or TV debates their experiences and thoughts will be represented.

    World Service Group director Fran Unsworth said, “The Richer World Season brings together the best of our international services to provide dynamic, engaging content for our 265 million viewers and listeners around the world. With projects such as Soup and Fridgeonomics the teams bring creative new angles to hard and soft news stories that affect people around the world. The BBC occupies a unique position – only we have the worldwide expertise, from our World Service journalists to our global news gathering teams, to deliver seasons like this.”

    Highlighting the BBC’s Indian content, BBC Global News COO Naveen Jhunjhunwala said, “The BBC has been broadcasting to and from India since the 1930s – people started relating to BBC via the World Service Radio, and we were one of the first to broadcast news. We are very proud of our channel’s heritage here and our continuing relationship with Indian viewers. This season of dynamic, engaging content delivered across all platforms reaffirms our editorial and business commitment to this important market, as we work to tell the Indian story around the world.”

    The highlighting points for India are:.

     

    Fridgeonomics: As research suggests about two thirds of India’s population do not have a fridge, WS’s The Food Chain and World Have Your Say together with WN Talking Business examine what food and access to fridges say about changing wealth, consumption and lifestyles. “World Have Your Say” will host a radio debate in India presented by Anu Anand on 30 January, 2015 while former editor of Focus On Africa will be exploring how fridges are changing Africa in a special radio documentary.

     

    Tata: India’s Global Giant TV and radio documentary with accompanying online feature takes a look at an India’s largest and most global company with a reputation for ethical capitalism. As Tata funds a day of sport for British school children it’s an intriguing sign of our changing times. Tata has turned around Jaguar and is shoring up Europe’s steel-making industry with its purchase of the Anglo-Dutch Corus group in 2008. It now earns 70 per cent of its revenue overseas.

     

    Living India: A three part radio series by Rupa Jha explores the new India through the lives of ordinary people and asks why so many people are still living in poverty, without basic amenities and whether a change of government is offering any hope to the silent majority.

     

    Witness: In 1998, India’s first call centre business opened. It was the birth of a huge new industry for the country, which now employs hundreds of thousands of Indians. Pramod Bhasin was the businessman who opened the first call centre. He will be seen speaking to “Witness” it will be followed by another edition by Justin Rowlatt presenting five stories of “our times” told by the people who were there. This edition explores Goan Independence, the last days of the Raj, the Partition of India, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the epic TV series Ramayan with those who witnessed events first hand.

     

    The Birth of Empire: The East India Company – Dan Snow will travel throughout India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionised the British lifestyle and laid the foundations of today’s global trading systems.

     

    Our World: Bringing “Back Business” – From Walmart to Apple, from Colorado to California, companies across the United States say they are bringing jobs back from overseas. As wages rise in countries such as China and India the show will debate, if the tide turning on one of the biggest trends in globalisation – the outsourcing of work from the rich to the developing world.

     

    Global with Matthew Amroliwala: The flagship daily TV show to be the home of the Richer World season on BBC World News, with guests and discussions around the key themes, including three days of live broadcasting from Delhi.

     

    Talking Business with Linda Yueh: Featuring reports and discussions including Fridgeonomics.

     

    Indian Business Report: Weekly look at all aspects of the country’s rapidly developing economy.

  • BBC World News announces new presenter for Global

    BBC World News announces new presenter for Global

    MUMBAI: BBC World News has today announced the new presenter for its flagship programme Global. Matthew Amroliwala joins the international news channel from the BBC’s UK service.

     

    Matthew will take over from Jon Sopel who was appointed the BBC’s North America Editor in April. He will be on air from September.

     

    Matthew joined the BBC in 1989. He is currently a lead presenter on the BBC News Channel and has previously worked as a foreign correspondent, a political correspondent and as a news reporter. He has covered many of the major news stories in the last two decades both at home and abroad. As a presenter he broadcast continuously for six hours on the day of the 7/7bombings in London while as a foreign correspondent he has reported from Bosnia, New York and Washington.

     

    Matthew has also been at the forefront of the BBC’s UK political coverage on the News Channel having presented all the major set piece events of the Westminster political calendar such as the Budget and the Queen’s Speech, as well as covering the negotiations on the formation of the current coalition government.

     

    He was nominated by the Television and Radio Industry Club as Reporter of the Year in 1993 for his reporting on the Troubles in Northern Ireland and went on to cover the IRA ceasefire in 1997 and the Good Friday Agreement.

     

    Looking forward to his new role, Matthew said:

     

    “I am absolutely thrilled to be given the opportunity to present Global. It is a tremendous programme and I can’t wait to join such a creative team. For me, it takes me full circle. I first started presenting on BBC World in 1997, before joining the News Channel and I return to a place that is unrecognisable from those days, in terms of its quality and confidence. BBC News has a global reputation through BBC World News and is now also the leader in global breaking news. It’s a huge privilege to be joining the teams putting together that coverage.

     

    “Global is prime time for our viewers in Asia, particularly India and I am excited to be able to bring people the stories that matter both from at home and around the world.”

     

    Welcoming Matthew to the channel James Stephenson, Head of News for BBC World News commented:

     

    “Matthew is an outstanding presenter with a distinguished track record in TV journalism stretching back over twenty five years. I am delighted that he has agreed to take up this key role at the heart of the BBC World News schedule.”

     

    Global is broadcast on BBC World News Monday to Thursday from 6.30pm to 8.00pm.