Tag: Paolo Agostinelli

Tata Sky brings global content for Indians, premiering Gomorrah on 19 Mar

MUMBAI: Tata Sky, India’s innovative content distribution platform, has launched Tata Sky World Series – the exclusive home of much admired global content. The pop-up service will premiere first with popular Italian language crime drama, Gomorrah, on 19 March.

Tata Sky, a joint venture between the Tata Sons and 21st Century Fox, is one of India’s leading content distribution platform providing Pay TV and OTT services.

‘Gomorrah’ will be the first TV series on Tata Sky World Series and shall run for one month with English subtitles. On television, the pop-up service, Tata Sky World Series will run one new episode a day along with previous episodes available throughout the day. Gomorrah will be available to all Tata Sky subscribers for a period of one month via Tata Sky’s Set-Top-Box & Tata Sky Mobile App at no additional cost.

Tata Sky Chief Content & Business Development Officer Paolo Agostinelli said, “Tata Sky constantly pushes the boundaries of innovation by providing an assorted and rich array of content to our subscribers on platforms of their choice; be it the Set-Top-Box or the Tata Sky Mobile App. This new service will enable our subscribers to consume global content which otherwise would not have reached the Indian sub-continent through the conventional mediums of television. Gomorrah being the first of many international TV shows on Tata Sky World Series, is a scintillating drama on the much-romanced Italian Mafia, that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.”

Today subscribers are increasingly involved on social media and latch on to popular content digitally. In line with this trend, the ‘Tata Sky World Series’ service will be accessible on Tata Sky On-demand for binge watching, for the entire month, both on STBs and on digital devices via Tata Sky Mobile.

Tata Sky World Series will showcase fresh and exciting global content from Italy, UK, Cuba, Norway, Czech Republic and South Korea on Indian screens exclusively for Tata Sky subscribers throughout the year.

‘Gomorrah’ is Italy’s popular television series based on the best-selling book by the journalist Roberto Saviano. The novel has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and inspired the film Gomorrah, which won the 2008 Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The series, set in the suburbs of Naples in Italy, focuses on the inside story of the Camorra, the fierce Neapolitan crime organization, and is told through the eyes of Ciro Di Marzio (Marco D’Amore), the right hand of the clan’s godfather, Pietro Savastanno (Fortunato Cerlino).

March 17, 2017
24×7 Oscar movies on Tata Sky Hollywood Winners

MUMBAI: With the Oscars just around the corner, it is that time of the year to run down the memory lane and recall the earlier masterpieces that made it to the Oscars and watch them. Tata Sky has launched a new showcase service called Tata Sky Hollywood Winners. Available in both SD and HD, Tata Sky Hollywood Winners will be complimentary for all Tata Sky subscribers. Starting this week, the service will run for a period of one month, up to first week of March.

“The last Oscars was watched over 200 countries with a viewership of over 30mn. Apart from viewership the demand for Oscar nominated or winning movies also goes up during this time of the year. True to our objective of providing world-class quality content, Tata Sky hence went about collating a bunch of acclaimed Oscar movies that would appeal to viewers across age groups and genres. We have in the past seen a positive sentiment and higher loyalty with HD subscribers whenever we launch such unique and differentiated services. We look forward to many more subscribers enjoying our offerings,” said Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli.

Catering to the trend of watching movies on the move the service will also be available on the Tata Sky Mobile App.

This service will showcase select movies that were winners or nominated for ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Actor/Actress in a lead role’ in the previous years’ Academy Awards. It will run Oscar movies all day throughout the week. Some of the best films on offer are The Wolf of Wall Street, The Hurt Locker, Crash, The Reader, American Hustle and many more.

The service comes as a prelude to the Oscar Awards on 27 February.

Tata Sky has been the pioneer on differentiated offerings such as Punjab De Rang, Tata Sky Bangla Cinema, Tata Sky Mumbai Film Festival and Kids Showcase.

A list of some coveted titles that will be showcased on Tata Sky Hollywood Winners:

February 14, 2017
Tata Sky ties up with MediaCorp; launches a new English news channel

MUMBAI: Tata Sky has tied up with Singapore based media company MediaCorp and announced the launch of Channel NewsAsia International on Tata Sky. The memorandum was signed on November 19.

The pan-Asian channel will be available to the subscribers on channel number 535. Channel NewsAsia will be clubbed with the other English news channels available on the DTH platform and is priced at Rs.8. The channel will be a part of the a-la-carte and is a part of Tata Sky’s English news pack.

Channel NewsAsia started in March 1999 and is a Singaporean English language Asian cable television news agency and news channel. The channel is ranked among the top three most preferred English news channels in Asia and has bagged two awards in the 8th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival.

NewsAsia’a distribution and marketing VP Chuk Chan Woon says, “Winning awards is just icing on the cake for us”, the channel’s programming is home to award winning content. The channel, in the past five years, has picked up 18 regional and international awards for their content. In the recent New York fest, the channel has bagged 8 awards. The channel has been nominated for 24 top level categories in the Asain Television awards.

Channel NewsAsia is all charged up to face the competition with the existing English news channels on Tata Sky, though the Chief Content and Business Development Officer of Tata Sky Paolo Agostinelli strongly avers that the launch of Channel NewsAsia in India is not just for competition or numbers. The opening of the channel in India will just expand the news channel list and will provide an additional source of information from around the globe for the sophisticated and evolving news hunters in India.

“Technology spreads awareness amongst the consumers. People are curious because of the internet, increasing literacy rate, the curiosity to know about what is happening around them. Our subscribers want more than what the Indian English news channels offer to them. They consume more news from the International news channels. We want to expand our International news bouquet for our subscribers by giving them a 360 perspective on what is happening. Adding Channel NewsAsia is just one step closer to our vision”, adds Agostinelli.

Channel NewsAsia’s relentless strive to be the leading news channel across Asia by delivering a much wanted content seems to make a huge difference in the eco system across Asia. Beyond reporting current issues, the channel also documents content to show Asia’s success. With this new perspective brought in India, the channel foresees a successful penetration in the Indian business.

Speaking with indiantelevision.com, Woon asserted, “We are truly proud to be partnering with Tata Sky. We believe that the platform will give us reach to people pan-India. We are well placed to provide the audience in India a better understanding of the whereabouts around them in a better and efficient way than the rest of Asia.”

Channel NewsAsia is geared up to launch in India with the same feed that is available in the global eco-system. The channel aims at providing increasing cosmopolitan Asian audiences an avenue to know what’s happening in the rest of Asia. The channel’s main focus will not be just reporting stories to the viewers but will also engage the onlookers about everything happening around in a story telling format. The other aim of the channel in India is to reach out to the Indian companies who wish to reach out to the Asian audience.

With the introduction of Channel NewsAsia International, Tata Sky has now expanded its bouquet of news channels to 96, which includes 14 English news channels, 22 Hindi news channels and 57 regional news channels.

November 19, 2015
The Epic Channel goes HD on Tata Sky

MUMBAI: With increasing penetration of High Definition (HD) television sets, more and more channels are now adding the HD feed for a better consumer experience.

The Epic Channel, which focuses on the Indian history, folklore and mythology genre, recently launched its HD version on Tata Sky.

The Epic Channel HD will be available on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform’s channel no 133.

The Epic Channel will shoots all its content in HD so viewers can experience the shows on Indian history and mythology in HD.

The Epic Channel managing director Mahesh Samat said, “Since the inception of the channel, Epic has stood out for its unique and unparalleled content offering. We have grown considerably and built a loyal viewer base over the course of the year and with the channel now being available in High Definition on Tata Sky, the viewer’s experience is only going to get enhanced. This makes it a complete viewing experience for Tata Sky subscribers, letting them watch the best in Indian history and mythology.”

Tata Sky chief contend and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli added, “High definition content truly does justice to the intriguing historic and mythological story telling that Epic channel brings to the viewers. We continue to bring the best viewing technology for our Tata Sky subscribers and this is one of the biggest reasons why we have a growing subscriber base.”

The channel’s standard definition (SD) feed is currently available across key DTH players like Tata Sky, Airtel, Videocon d2h, Dish TV, and Reliance Digital TV along with major cable players like Hathway, Den and more.

October 2, 2015
BBC Worldwide inks VOD deal with Tata Sky

MUMBAI: In its first VOD deal in India, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Worldwide has signed an agreement with direct to home (DTH) provider Tata Sky’s SVOD and TVOD services.

As a part of this deal, subscribers in eight Indian metros will have the opportunity to access the best of the BBC’s drama and comedy via BBC On-Demand, on Tata Sky. Viewers can also access it online via their TVs, PCs, tablets and mobiles.

Programmes that will be available on the service includes Luther, starring Idris Alba, who won a Golden Globe for his role as a brilliant but emotionally impulsive murder detective; The Honorable Woman starring Maggie Gyllenhaal who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of a powerful businesswoman haunted by events from her past in a thriller set in the Middle East; and Burton and Taylor, based on the legendary acting duo, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor starring Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter.

The block will kick-start with the classic hit Yes, Prime Minister, contemporary comedy, Citizen Khan and the endearing drama, Being Erica.

“In a study commissioned by BBC Worldwide earlier this year, we found that quality of content, British humour, and a love of original British dramas were the top reasons why people, including Indians, enjoy British television programmes. We are very excited to be working with Tata Sky to bring these award winning and high quality programmes, many never before seen in India, to Tata Sky’s subscribers, where they can access them anytime, anywhere,” said BBC Worldwide India SVP and GM Myleeta Aga.

Tata Sky chief content officer Paolo Agostinelli added, “We are very pleased to be partnering with BBC Worldwide to launch BBC-on-demand, Viewing habits and customer needs in the industry are evolving as fast as ever. We are committed to remain the best choice in the country when it comes to premium entertainment, which means we must be able to offer top branded content and the best viewing experience, including increasingly popular time-shifted and device-shifted binge viewing content. We are confident that this is only the start of a very fruitful relationship with BBC.”

August 4, 2015
Big Magic strengthens distribution network with Tata Sky

MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from Reliance Broadcast Network, Big Magic, has strengthened its distribution with direct-to-home (DTH) player, Tata Sky.

Starting 1 February, the channel will be available on Tata Sky channel number 138 to subscribers across the country. This move helps Big Magic to gradually fortify its space in the comedy genre in India with original differentiated content.

This announcement enables Tata Sky to offer its viewers a differentiated content around comedy with Big Magic’s programming mix targeted to a relevant and discerning audience base across relevant markets. Big Magic’s original programming mix is a comical line up of hilarious sitcoms, a side splitting historical comedy; laugh out loud weekend specials, festive specials and comedy blockbuster films. Its shows include Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal, Uff Yeh Nadaniyan, Bal Gopal Kare Dhamaal and more catering to wholesome entertainment for each segment and age group. With new shows coming up centered around comedy, Big Magic is poised to engage, enrich and entertain its new audiences across the country.

Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli said, “For Tata Sky, catering to consumers across age groups with the growing preference towards comedy, Big Magic as a channel would be a rather unique offer suiting the needs of our customers across the country. We will finally showcase the range of offerings from Big Magic on our platform.”

Added Reliance Broadcast Network COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “We are happy to announce our availability on Tata Sky, which allows Big Magic to immediately grow its reach across the geography. We are confident of our product with differentiated comedy content and designed as per audience needs for the entire family. Strengthening our distribution spectrum is a strategic move towards focusing on growing the channel with additional new content that is expected soon.”

January 30, 2015
HBO on Demand gets on board Tata Sky

MUMBAI: The Home of Box Office (HBO) just got cosier with ‘HBO on Demand’. The new and innovative service offered for free exclusively to subscribers of the HBO Premium Channels – HBO Hits HD and HBO Defined HD – will be available on the direct to home (DTH) platform starting today.

The service provides flexibility, choice, and convenience to subscribers giving them complete control of what they watch, when they watch and how they watch. HBO Hits and HBO Defined are distributed by Turner International in India.

“HBO and Turner have always been ahead of the curve with innovations on content delivery that are designed to entertain consumers like never before. We have received a very enthusiastic response from the discerning subscribers of HBO Defined HD and HBO Hits HD and are very happy to now extend their premium advertising-free television viewing experience with the additional feature of ‘HBO on Demand’ on Tata Sky,” said Turner International India, network and content distribution, senior director Kishan Cheranda in a press statement.

Based on the Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) model, the service will give HBO Premium subscribers access to a wide selection of HBO original content. At launch, subscribers can catch all seasons of HBO shows such as Game of Thrones (Season 1-3), True Detective (Season 1) and Banshee (Season 1-2). Thereafter, additional content including HBO original series and movies will be added on an ongoing monthly basis thus allowing subscribers to view them at a time of their choice completely advertising free.

Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli stated, “At Tata Sky, we work towards providing our premium subscribers with world class television experience with best content to offer. Apart from just bringing entertainment to their homes, now our subscribers can enjoy the programs showcased on HBO premium channels at any time that is convenient to them. Moving with time, we are aware of the changing consumption patterns of our viewers, hence we are pleased to launch the first ever ‘HBO On Demand’ model in India.”

March 21, 2014
ZeeQ now available on Tata Sky

MUMBAI: ZeeQ, the kids channel from Zee group is now also available on Tata Sky; channel no. 627. Accessible under the ‘Supreme Sports Kids’ pack, viewers can enjoy watching ZeeQ with the English and Hindi feed.

ZeeQ caters to the 0-14 year age segment. For the preschool viewers, the channel offers internationally acclaimed shows, such as ‘Dinosaur Train’ and ‘Zou’. Based on extensive research done by an expert panel, ZeeQ chooses internationally recognized programs, which inculcate curiosity among kids to question and learn. Through its association with BBC Worldwide, ZeeQ also showcases a time band of award-winning programs from BBC’s preschool brand — CBeebies. Apart from this, ZeeQ also airs a mix of live action and animated shows. Some of its prominent shows include Science with BrainCafe, Sid the Science Kid, The Weekly Wrap, Dinosaur Train, Zou, M.I. Four – The Multiple Intelligence quiz.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Subhadarshi Tripathy, Business Head, ZeeQ said, “Our aim is to reach to maximum number of households in India and provide a unique and engaging TV viewing experience to kids and their parents. Based on our philosophy of ‘doing what is right for the child’, our content is carefully chosen under the guidance of early childhood development experts. We are excited to be on Tata Sky.. We take it as our responsibility to offer safe, clean and engaging content that provides edutainment to kids.”

Paolo Agostinelli, Chief Content & Business Development Officer at Tata Sky commented, ”At Tata Sky, we are committed to providing Indian families with world class experience of best content to offer on television. It is not only entertainment but edutainment that we focus on for our young viewers. ZeeQ aims to build essential life skills among children through programs and stories that educate and inform them in a fun, entertaining and engaging manner. We are pleased to offer ZeeQ on our platform adding value to our subscribers.”

Tata Sky offers options for ZeeQ subscription; through Add-On (Kids) packs, which contains 12 popular kid’s channels. Those who wish to make their own pack or take the channel on a-la-carte basis can choose ZeeQ under their ‘make your own pack’ option.

March 3, 2014