MUMBAI: Sony has just confirmed that the fourth installment of the Men in Black (MIB) franchise is definitely on the way. It was revealed that the studio has hired a writer to pen the fourth film, said The Hollywood Reporter.
The sci-fi quadrilogy is still in its early stages, so there’s still no word on Will Smith’s association yet. Last year, Sony released the third installment in their hit MIB franchise, MIB 3 which went on to gross a franchise best $624 million and received warm reviews.
Oren Uziel, who is also penning the sequel to 21 Jump Street, has been hired to write MIB 4. 21 Jump Street already has a release date of 6 June 2014.
Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are back reprising their roles as underachieving cops and so are Phil Lord and Chris Miller as directors.
Tag: MIB
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Sony has confirmed a fourth installment for the Men in Black franchise
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MIB wants MSOs-b’casters to sign DAS agreements within 15 days
NEW DELHI: A meeting of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) officials with aggregators including multi system operators has been convened in the coming week to sort out problems being faced by MSOs and local cable operators relating to agreements and billing of digital access system (DAS) .
This decision was taken in a meeting of the Task Force of Phase II of DAS.convened by the information & broadcasting ministry, which said that the agreements must be signed within the next 15 days.
Failure to sign agreements by broadcasters and MSOs has in turn led to problems of LCOs billing consumers.
Several channel aggregators who are not licensed are also said to be creating problems with regard to signing agreements. On the other hand aggregators have complained to the Trai that MSOs are using strong arm tactics. (DAS Phase II: Indiacast-Hathway- GTPL slugfest on DAS deals)
Signing of agreements between the broadcasters and MSOs is a pre-requisite under the TRAI’s achieving various benchmarks for a smooth switch over to DAS under the Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems) Regulations 2012.
Some nodal officers also allege that there is no uniformity in the installation charges levied by MSOs or LCOs. However, ministry officials said this problem had to be addressed at the state government level.
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Four cities go fully digital ahead of sunset date: MIB
MUMBAI: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has said that 67 per cent digitisation target has been achieved in 38 cities with four cities – Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Allahabad – achieving nearly 100 per cent digitisation.
Eight other cities – Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, and Ghaziabad – have achieved 75 per cent digitisation.
Another 28 cities have achieved digitisation of more than 50 per cent individually, the MIB said. These cities are Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Allahabad, Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Vadodara, Sholapur, Kanpur, Varanasi, Bangalore, Indore, Ranchi, Lucknow, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhopal and Howrah.
As on 23 March, a total of 10.8 million set-top boxes (STBs) have already been installed in Phase-II cities against the target of 16 million, as per the data received from the DTH operators and the MSOs.
The sunset date for the phase II of digitisation is 31 March after which analogue signals will be switched off in these 38 cities. During phase I, the three metro cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata have gone digital. In Chennai, digitisation could not be completed as the Madras High Court issued a stay order on a petition filed by local cable operators.
The MIB said it has been consistently monitoring the progress made towards digitisation during Phase II of the process with I&B Minister Manish Tewari reviewing the progress on a daily basis.
The Task Force set up by the MIB has also been meeting every week to take stock of the progress of digitisation in Phase-II. The Ministry has already conducted second round of meeting with nodal officers of 38 cities on 8 March to ascertain preparedness in these cities.
As part of the public awareness campaign to sensitise the consumers on the benefits of digitisation, the Ministry has also stepped up the Public Awareness campaign through print and electronic media. All India Radio as well as private FM broadcasters have been broadcasting radio jingles on its National and regional networks for creating public awareness.
The Ministry has already brought out a print advertisement in all 38 cities in the respective regional languages. SMS campaign is presently underway in these cities.
As part of the awareness initiative, television channels have been frequently running video spots, black out advertisements, and scrolls to make the people aware regarding the benefits of the process and the deadline of the switch over from analogue to digital in the 38 cities set to be digitised under Phase II.
The Control Room of the Ministry, which also has a toll free number, has been receiving a number of calls from consumers of Phase-II cities.
In order to facilitate a seamless transition on the due date of 31 March 2013, the Ministry has asked major MSOs to depute their representatives in the Control Room to address and clarify various queries relating to acquisition of STBs, various schemes of purchase of STBs and package rates offered by MSOs.
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Hindi GECs use star power to raise DAS awareness for phase-2
MUMBAI: As the deadline for the second phase of digitisation nears, the Hindi General Entertainment Channels (GECs) have pulled out all stops to promote, educate and inform audiences in the 38 cities that are required to switch to digital cable by 31 March.
The four leading channels in the space- Zee TV, Star Plus, Colors and Sony – have come together to create PSAs featuring their most popular protagonists.
Actors like Mahima Makhwala and Roopal Tyagi (Rachana and Gunjan from Zee TV‘s Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke), Deepika Singh and Anas Rashid (Sandhya and Sooraj from Star Plus‘ Diya Aur Baati Hum), Deepika Samson (Simar from Colors‘ Sasural Simar Ka) and Shivaji Satam (ACP Pradyuman from Sony‘s C.I.D) have been roped in to inform viewers about DAS.
The Task Force constituted by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for Phase-II DAS has paved the way for the rollout of digital addressable system (DAS) II in 38 cities in India. The second phase of digitisation covers the one million plus cities across the country.
The four metros – Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata – were part of the first phase of digitisation. Chennai which was also expected to go digital in the first phase has been caught in legal wrangle.
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Trai seeks clarity from MIB on its powers to act against ad duration violation
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which had last year issued regulations relating to advertisement time on television channels has now sought clarity from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on its powers in acting against violators.
Upset over inaction on complaints against broadcasters, Trai wants to know if it is empowered to enforce rules on duration and format of TV advertisements if it wants to avoid possible “embarrassment” and litigation.
According to newswire PTI, Trai has written a letter to the I&B ministry in this regard, noting that “broadcasters continue to breach the rules repeatedly.
“Movies screened on entertainment channels that should, at best, last for three hours (for two and half hour film) easily stretch to four or more hours,” the letter noted.
“This has led to a groundswell of public opinion against the blatant violation of the rules and, more importantly, against the perceived inaction by the government in terms of enforcement of the rules,” the letter said.
Referring to a sample report provided to it by the Ministry, Trai noted that there has been substantial number of complaints reported to the Ministry regarding violations of the advertising code with respect to the duration and format of advertisements.
“The report provided by Ministry, leads the Authority to observe that, so far, almost none of the reported violations to it have culminated in any tangible action against the respective service providers,” the Trai letter was quoted as saying by the sources.
From sample report, Trai has observed that popular entertainment programmes consistently have advertising breaks well in excess of the 12 minutes per hour limit imposed in the rules.
Trai had issued standards for Quality of Service on duration of advertisement in television channels in May 2012. The regulation has been challenged by broadcasters in Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) and jurisdiction of Trai to issue such regulation has been raised in the case.
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Tewari unveils e-version of Rozgar Samachar
NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari Tuesday unveiled the e-version of Rozgar Samachar in Urdu by the Publication Division. He said the issue could contain two to four pages of such content in its future editions.
He said the launch of the e-version of Rozgar Samachar in Urdu was another milestone in reaching out to the people who understood the language in form and spirit. The initiation of the e-version also reiterated the perseverance of Publications Division in a competitive environment where content was balanced with the prevailing business models. The initiative also reflected the use of technology in reaching out to the people in a form and language understood by them.
With a circulation of over 400,000 copies per week, the Employment News informs about job opportunities in the organizations of Central and State Governments to aspiring youth across the country; published in Hindi, English and Urdu simultaneously.
To provide benefits of technology to Urdu reading masses, E-Rozgar Samachar (Urdu) is being launched. e-Employment News (English) and e- Employment News (Hindi) are also available to subscribers since August 2012.
The Minister said the unveiling of a new logo of Employment News with the motto “Opportunities for all” was a manifestation of the commitment to reach out to job seekers thereby seeking to fulfill their aspirations and harness their skills and capabilities.
Through this new initiative, the publication would not only get a new brand identity, it would also become attractive to the aspiring youth. Lauding the Publications Division for its effort, the Minister said the new logo depicting the search for jobs from a lens would easily be identified by the target audience.
Tewari also stressed the need for government publications to add content on issues of public interest which pertained to the common people such as issues related to development, national and international affairs.
Tewari also released ‘India-2013‘ and ‘Bharat-2013‘ a reference annual which provides exhaustive and authentic repository of information about the activities, progress and achievements of various ministries and departments of Government of India during the year since 1957. In this context, the minister mentioned that the publication provided a comprehensive and authentic information about the country‘s march forward and was a must read publication for key stakeholders.
The logo of employment news was selected from entries of an in-house competition of College of Arts, New Delhi. The logo depicts the search for jobs from a lens. The holder showing nib on one side and the wrench on the other shows that the Employment News is both for skilled and unskilled jobs. The hand is the human element of the logo.
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IAA announces India’s first ever IAA Leadership awards
MUMBAI: The International Advertising Association‘s (IAA) India chapter has established the IAA Leadership Awards to honour individuals in the fields of marketing, advertising and media, who have made enormous professional contributions and delivered business success to their companies.
The first edition of these annual awards will be held in an on-ground function scheduled for February 2013 in Mumbai. Union Minister of State (independent charge) of Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari will be present at the inaugural awards ceremony as chief guest.
The IAA Leadership Awards celebrates the individual‘s innovative thinking and performance excellence that lead to outstanding success of the product/brand. The awards also indirectly seek to acknowledge the fact that the disciplines of marketing, advertising and media have to come together for the brand‘s success, by having all three functional disciplines honoured simultaneously.
International Advertising Association president Srinivasan Swamy said, “The IAA Leadership Awards salutes the brilliance of top professionals whose contribution makes our industry what it is. These annual awards, over time will be seen as the most coveted recognition an industry practitioner will receive for all his hard work and leadership qualities, which brought about success to the product/brand.”
IAA has appointed the experienced marketing research company A C Nielsen to execute the nomination and voting process. Further Ernst & Young has been appointed to conduct audit and validate the entire process. The winners will be decided in a two-stage selection process; the first stage will include nominations and shortlisting by seasoned marketing, media and advertising professionals; and the second stage will be the final selection of winners by a voting process among the shortlisted nominees, by respective senior industry peers.
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No need for new laws to check mis-leading ads
NEW DELHI: The Government has ruled out any new legislation to check the menace of misleading advertisements on the electronic or print media and feels the present laws are adequate to deal with the problem.
Apart from enforcement of the Advertising Code and hearing of complaints by the Inter-Ministerial Committee of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, misleading advertisements are also checked by the Advertising Standards Council of India.
In addition, there are various laws which contain provisions with regard to advertising: the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1955, Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply, and Distribution) Act 2003, and Consumer Protection Act 1986 among others.
Under the Consumer Protection Act 1986, making false or misleading representation materially misleading the public, giving false or misleading facts etc. have been notified as unfair trade practices and a consumer has the right to seek redressal in consumer forums for any loss suffered on account of such misleading advertisements.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority prescribe for penal action against misleading advertisements pertaining to food products.
Rule 7(5) of the Advertising Code is clear that no advertisement shall contain references which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special or miraculous power or supernatural property or quality, which is difficult of being proved.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources also said the ASCI carries a scroll below advertisements where it attempts to say that the product advertised has not been tested by the Council.
While the Press Council of India takes up all issues relating to misleading advertisements in the print media, the Inter-Ministerial Committee has been referring to ASCI all complaints received by it relating to various TV channels.
The sources said that the advisories issued by the ASCI have been adhered to by the TV channels in almost all cases over the past two or three years.
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Chennai cable ops to file fresh petition challenging Govt‘s notification on DAS
MUMBAI: The Chennai Metro Cable Operators Association (CMCOA) is all set to file a fresh petition challenging the notification of digitisation issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) in April this year.
CMCOA General Secretary M R Srinivasan told Indiantelevision.com that the two member bench of Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Aruna Jagadeesan told the cable operators to file a fresh petition against the government notification of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 2012.
"We will file a new petition challenging the government‘s notification order," Srinivasan said.
The CMCOA had filed a petition seeking postponement of cable digitisation in Chennai by at least three months till 31 January citing shortage of set-top boxes (STB). The deadline for the first phase of digitisation in the four metro cities was 31 October.
The Madras High Court had on 31 October stayed the digitisation in Chennai till 5 November. The Court again extended the deadline till 9 November following which it was again put off till 19 November.
The Court had on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of CMCOA‘s petition to Wednesday due to recusal of Justice P.P.S. Janarthanaraja from the case. The judge recused himself from the case citing possible conflict of interest since his son works for Sun TV, whose lawyer is representing one of the respondents in the case.
Justice Janarthanaraja, along with Justice Paul Vasanthakumar, was expected to hear the petition. This will now be heard by the new bench comprising Justice Dharma Rao and Jagadeesan.
CMCOA‘s Srinivasan said that the local cable operators (LCOs) in Chennai are a confused lot since state-run Arasu Cable, the dominant MSO in the state, is yet to receive a DAS (digital addressable system) licence for Chennai.
The cable operators like in other parts of Tamil Nadu can‘t align with any other MSO other than Arasu. He also reasoned that the LCOs will not buy STBs from any other MSO fearing that if Arasu gets the licence then all their investments would go waste.
"LCOs in Chennai have no choice but to go with Arasu. The I&B ministry should take a decision whether or not it wants to give a licence to Arasu. This will at least bring some clarity," he lamented.
As many as 11 MSOs have got DAS licence to operate in Chennai.
In the event of Arasu failing to get a DAS licence, the LCOs would take a call independently on their MSO partner, Srinivasan said. But for that the government needs to take a decision immediately, he added.
As Indiantelevision.com had reported, the MIB is having second thoughts on granting licences to Arasu fearing that similar demands might come from other state governments.
Add to that the latest diktat by MIB to the broadcast sector regulator Trai to bring rules in place to keep a check on monopolies in the cable TV distribution space at a local, state and regional level.
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Madagascar 3 likely to edge out Prometheus
MUMBAI: Hollywood could be in for a wild ride at the domestic box office with Madagascar 3 likely to beat Prometheus for the top place in the US box office. Elsewhere, MIB 3 is set to surpass its predecessor at the worldwide box office.
Most box office observers believe Madagascar 3 will come in ahead of 20th Century Fox‘s Prometheus, although opinion is divided as to how close the race will be.
A wide range of opening numbers are being offered up for both Ridley Scott‘s highly anticipated sci-fi epic Prometheus and animated event pic Madagascar 3: Europe‘s Most Wanted.
DreamWorks Animation and Paramount have been predicting a $45 million to $50 million launch for Madgascar 3, but others believe it could play in the $55 million range or higher because of the popularity of the successful franchise.Madgascar 2: Escape to Africa debuted to $63.1 million in early November 2008, while the first Madagascar scored $61 million over the long Memorial Day weekend in 2005.