ITV

Tag: NBC

  • TV households in US fall by 500,000

    MUMBAI: The number of TV households in the US has decreased by 500,000, according to a report by Bloomberg quoting ratings provider Nielsen.

    The weekly ratings provider in the US has said that this trend is a reflection of the increase in popularity of online viewing.

    The number of US TV households stands at 114.2 million, New York-based Nielsen Holdings NV said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg. This is the second straight year it has reduced the number of homes with TVs. In May 2011, Nielsen adjusted the number to 114.7 million, a one per cent drop and the first decline since 1990.

    “We have had no household formation over the past several years, and I believe there is a modest amount of cord-cutting happening in younger households and in lower-income households,” Bloomberg Industries North America director research Paul Sweeney was quoted in the publication.

    This thus has given rise to the suggestion that it may be time to redefine TV households as a whole. The ratings agency conceded that it is currently working with TV and advertising clients on what should constitute a TV home and how to account for new products such as tablet computers. Online viewing is already being incorporated into ratings.

    Three out of the four largest broadcast networks experienced drops in audiences ranging from two to eight percent in the past year. Comcast Corp‘s (CMCSA) NBC, bolstered by the Olympics and football, increased its viewership by 19 percent, according to Nielsen data.

  • Olympics viewership growing among younger viewers in the US

    Olympics viewership growing among younger viewers in the US

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC has announced that through seven days of its coverage of the on-going 2012 London Olympic Games, overall viewership is up double digits among teens and teenage girls.

    Overall viewership for teen girls, 12-17, is up 54 per cent versus 2008 (8.3 rating vs. 5.4 rating) and overall viewership for teens 12-17 is up 29 per cent versus 2008 (7.2 rating vs. 5.6 rating).

    Teen viewership of the London Games is more than six times higher than traditional broadcast viewing habits, and teen girl ratings for NBC‘s coverage of the London Olympics is 89 per cent higher than the No. 1 rated prime-time show on broadcast television in the same demographic (Glee/Fox), according to an official statement from NBC.

    Teen girl ratings for the London Olympics are also more than double the rating of the number one prime-time shows on remaining competing broadcast networks.

    The NBC data provides more viewership details. More than three times as many female teens watched the London Olympics in prime-time than purchased a movie ticket to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

    Around 171 per cent more teens watched NBC‘s coverage of the London Olympics than shopped at Abercrombie and Fitch in the last three months, NBC stated.

    In addition to an increase in broadcast viewing habits, young people are also engaging with NBC Olympics digital content.

    Through the first seven days of the London Olympics, NBC is averaging 1.7 million teen viewers, the most for any non-US Summer Olympics since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Through the same time period, 174.9 million Americans have watched the Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal, ahead of Beijing‘s 174.1 at the same point through the Games.

  • Shyam Benegal retrospective at first edition of DCSAFF

    Shyam Benegal retrospective at first edition of DCSAFF

    MUMBAI: The first annual Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF), to be held from 1 to 3 June, promises to have something for audiences of all ages and ethnicities.

    The festival will kick-off with an exclusive opening night screening of Shyam Benegal’s film Mammo. The festival would also premiere Manan Singh Katohora’s award-winning film 9 Eleven and will close with Deepti Naval’s directorial debut Do Paise ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane ki Baarish.

    Highlights of the weekend include a Shyam Bengal retrospective, acting and filmmaking workshops, short films directed by local artistes and the Washington DC premieres of a number of exciting new films.

    A weekend of cinematic entertainment and workshops would be attended by the likes of Shyam Benegal, Ketan Mehta, Deepti Naval, Rajit Kapur and Raima Sen.

    The festival will also have a number of prominent artistes including Ajay Naidu and Samrat Chakrabarti. It will also screen Deepa Mehta’s upcoming film Midnight Children, NBC’s 30 Rock, HBO’s In Treatment and Manan Singh Katohora’s Flavors, Arya, When Kiran Met Karen, Extrospection, Come To My Window and Date # 25, 9 Eleven.

    DCSAFF is to be sponsored by Ceasar Productions, a company founded by Manoj Singh and Geeta Singh.

  • FCC rules TV channels to disclose political ads

    MUMBAI: US media and telecommunications regulator Federal Communications Commission has approved a controversial proposal requiring television stations to disclose details of political ads aired on their channels.

    The FCC pushed through the legislation 2-1 despite stiff opposition from broadcasters with the Democratic commissioners in favour and the lone Republican opposed to the measure.

    With the proposal through, local television stations like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox need to publish detailed information about political advertising, including the cost of specific commercials on their websites. Starting 2014, all the TV stations will be brought under the ambit of the new rule.

    The move has come in from criticism from National Association of Broadcasters which believes the rule will jeopardize the competitive standing of stations.

    The broadcasters have criticised the FCC‘s proposal to include specific rates for individual advertisements contending that the disclose will hurt them financially and will put them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis their rivals. The broadcasters are also unhappy that the new rules won‘t apply to cable or other media platforms as well.

    The television broadcasters stand to rake in more than $3 billion in political ads this year, say media watchers.

    The commission staff spent 61 hours and incurred nearly $1,700 in copying costs to get the public file from eight stations in Baltimore, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said before the vote.

    Earlier he had termed broadcasters who resisted the move as “against technology, against transparency and against journalism”.

  • Academy to honour Winfrey on 12 November

    Academy to honour Winfrey on 12 November

    MUMBAI: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and sciences will honour Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith with Oscar statuettes at the Governors Awards on 12 November. 

    The 57-year old Winfrey will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award that honours philanthropic and humanitarian contributions. Incidentally, Winfrey supports various charitable and educational causes including her own namesake foundations and Academy for Girls in South Africa.

    Jones and Smith will receive honorary Oscars for their outstanding careers. Jones, who has appeared in more than 50 films, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1971 for The Great White Hope.His other credits include Field of Dreams, Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October.

    Starting his career in 1945 as NBC‘s first makeup man, Smith won an Oscar in 1984 for his work on Amadeus and was nominated again in 1989 for Dad. He also worked on The Godfather, ‘The Exorcist and Taxi Driver.  

  • Court dismisses lawsuit on Walt Disney, Pixar

    Court dismisses lawsuit on Walt Disney, Pixar

    MUMBAI:A UK screenwriter‘s lawsuit against The Walt Disney Co. that alleged the animated films Cars and Cars 2 was copied from his own work has been dismissed by a federal judge.

    In March last, Jake Mandeville-Anthony had claimed that the Pixar films infringed the copyright on a three-part screenplay titled Cookie & Co, about the true-life adventure race-car driver Michael Owen Perkins, who won a 1988 race, and a second work titled Cars that included a treatment, sample screenplay, 46 animated car character descriptions, 10 cars character sketches, and a marketing and merchandising plan.
     
    Mandeville-Anthony said that he sent copies to Disney and also met in person with a Lucas film executive with his works created about 20 years ago.But in a short summary judgment, California federal judge Valerie Baker Fairbank found the works were dissimilar and the claims were barred because the statute of limitations had expired.

    In recent weeks, copyright theft lawsuits have been thrown out over ABC‘s Modern Family, Sony‘s You Don‘t Mess with the Zohan, and NBC‘s My Name is Earl.

  • Oscar gets a 9% drop in viewership

    Oscar gets a 9% drop in viewership

    MUMBAI: Though the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony was watched extensively around the globe, it failed to beat last year’s ratings.

    In its three-hour presentation, the Oscar ceremony drew an audience of 37.6 million. But compared to that of last year, there was a drop of 9 per cent in total viewership and another 12 per cent in the 18 to 49 demographics.

    Among the broadcasters, ABC finished on top among its network rivals like Fox, CBS and NBC. As per Oscar night tradition, the predictable bonanza of other-network repeats failed to make a dent in the recent Academy awards.

    Meanwhile, during the live telecast on Sunday, ABC Television President announced a contract extension of six additional years till 2020.

  • NBC to celebrate Thanksgiving with ‘Seinfeld’ retrospective

    NBC to celebrate Thanksgiving with ‘Seinfeld’ retrospective

    MUMBAI: It has been several years since Seinfeld left television screens in the US. Now NBC has announced that it will celebrate the best memories of the classic comedy with a special The Seinfeld Story, which will air on 25 November.

    The special will be telecast in high definition. As a result of new film transfers, this will mark the first time that Seinfeld has ever been broadcast on HDTV. The TV special will coincide with a special edition DVD release.

     
    Jerry Seinfeld will host the TV special. Fellow cast members Jason Alexander, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as co-creator and executive producer Larry David Curb Your Enthusiasm will all be interviewed.

    During the interviews, each cast member will talk about the series’ genesis and concentrate on the first four years when Seinfeld formed its unique style until it emerged as an acclaimed comedy classic.

    Seinfeld ran from 1989-1998, primarily on Thursday nights. In India the show aired on Zee English. Dubbed “the show about nothing,” the program earned a total of 10 Emmies and 70 nominations.

  • NBC to look at the Posh life of Victoria Beckham in reality show

    NBC to look at the Posh life of Victoria Beckham in reality show

    MUMBAI: Football star David Beckham’s better half Victoria Beckham who was formerly known as Posh Spice has signed a deal with US broadcaster NBC for a new reality series from Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment.

    It will give viewers an exclusive inside look at Beckham’s glamorous life as she makes the move across the pond from London to Los Angeles. The six, half-hour episodes are slated to premiere this summer.

    NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly says, “The series will give viewers a glimpse into what makes Victoria so popular and admired as one of the most glamorous women in the world. She makes news wherever she goes and our audience can now become insiders in this fascinating personal view of what being ‘Posh’ truly represents.”

    Beckham says, “I am so excited to be making this show for NBC with Simon Fuller. He has so much success around the world with his TV shows and the respect and trust of everybody he works with. This show is really something different, it’s pushing the boundaries and I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people.”

    Fuller says, “For the past few years, I’ve been inundated with requests to make a show based on Victoria’s real life. After much thought, we have finally decided to do it. NBC will be our partners. Both Kevin Reilly and Craig Plestis have been extremely supportive in allowing us to do something a little different. This show will cross all genres and hopefully will pleasantly surprise a few people!”

    Beckham burst onto the scene as a member of the pop group The Spice Girls. Known around the world as “Posh Spice,” the group sold millions of albums worldwide before it disbanded in 2001.

  • Mobile content service firm Motricity gets $50 mn investment from Carl Icahn

    Mobile content service firm Motricity gets $50 mn investment from Carl Icahn

    MUMBAI: The US based Motricity, which provides mobile content services and solutions has announced the completion of $50 million in equity funding from Carl Icahn, through an affiliated company.

    It has also appointed Brett Icahn, an investment analyst with Icahn Associates and affiliated companies, to the Motricity board of directors.

    Motricity chairman and CEO Ryan Wuerch says, “Carl has proven himself as one of the leading investors of all time, with an incredible ability to identify top performing companies and drive shareholder value. This investment bolsters our balance sheet and positions us to continue to aggressively grow the business and consolidate the industry.”

    Over the past year, Motricity’s business has expanded substantially, quadrupling its customer base to include some of the leading wireless operators and media and entertainment companies, including Cingular, Alltel, Sprint, Tracfone, MTV, BET, NBC, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Turner and several others.

    icahn says, “Motricity has an excellent management team and leading technology. They are well positioned for dominance in mobile content, a sector for which we forecast strong growth in the coming years.”

    Motricity is provides mobile content services and solutions that enable consumers to receive the right content at the right time, every time. Its solutions create end user experiences and deliver mobile content offerings for partners such as MTV, BET, CBS, NBC, Turner, Cingular, Alltel, Sprint Nextel and Palm. Its mobile content delivery platform, Fuel, received the 2006 GSM Association Award for “Best Service Delivery Platform” and was also named 2005 Premium Mobile Content Platform of the Year by Frost and Sullivan.