ITV

Tag: Television

  • US Network NBC drops broadcast of 2022 Golden Globes

    US Network NBC drops broadcast of 2022 Golden Globes

    New Delhi: US television network NBC has announced that it will drop its broadcast of the Golden Globes ceremony in 2022. The decision comes after the Hollywood backlash over the lack of diversity and the ethics of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), whose members vote on the annual awards for film and television.

    It is for the first time since 1996 that NBC has decided not to broadcast the awards.

    Actor Tom Cruise joined a revolt led by a host of streaming platforms and top studios, and urged others to join the call for action. The Mission Impossible star also returned the three awards he won for his roles in the movies Jerry Maguire, Magnolia and Born on the Fourth of July to register his protest, Variety magazine reported on Tuesday.

    The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has been facing severe allegations of corruption and impropriety, and lack of diversity. The members have also been accused of making sexist and racist remarks

    Streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Studios, WarnerMedia and several top PR companies have earlier said they would no longer work with the HFPA unless it made far-reaching changes.

    WarnerMedia, which includes cable channel HBO and movie studio Warner Brothers, had even written to HFPA expressing concerns over “racially insensitive, sexist and homophobic questions” at press conferences and events during the nominations and awards process.

    In wake of the criticism, the HFPA had agreed to make some changes over the next year, which were initially welcomed by NBC. But later, the network said it would wait to see if the reforms worked.

    “Change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organisation executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023,” NBC said in a statement, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

    Soon after the announcement, the HFPA said it is implementing “transformational change”  on priority and also reiterated that by August 2021, it would approve a new code of conduct and provide diversity and sexual harassment training among other steps.

    The annual Golden Globes ceremony has become one of the biggest Hollywood awards shows in the run-up to the Oscars. But it has been under close scrutiny following an investigation published in February by the Los Angeles Times that showed the group of 87 journalists had no Black members. The association has faced further criticism for this year’s slate of nominations, which did not include several Black-led Oscar contenders such as Da 5 Bloods, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Judas and the Black Messiah in the nominees for the group’s top award.

  • Rahul Kanwal elevated to executive director, Business Today

    Rahul Kanwal elevated to executive director, Business Today

    NEW DELHI:  India Today Group has elevated Rahul Kanwal to the role of executive director of its business magazine, Business Today.

    The new business responsibility is in addition to his current role as news director of news channels Aaj Tak and India Today. Apart from leading news gathering operations for the India Today network, Kanwal hosts India Today’s flagship prime-time broadcast, Newstrack. He carries an experience of 20 years in broadcast media.

    The magazine recently went a content refresh to align with the increasing demand of digital news and focus on ‘digital first’ approach.

  • Fox Corp profits shoot up in Q3, despite ad revenue dip

    Fox Corp profits shoot up in Q3, despite ad revenue dip

    New Delhi: Fox Corporation on Thursday reported increase in quarterly net income which rose to $582 million as compared to the $90 million reported in the prior year quarter.

    A change in how the TV broadcasting company valued some of its assets is being considered a key reason for the increase in net income.

    However, the total quarterly revenues dropped to $3.22 billion as compared to the $3.44 billion reported in the year ago quarter. According to the New York-based company, this was primarily due to the absence of the ad revenue from the broadcast of Super Bowl LIV. Advertising revenues fell 24 per cent to $1.20 billion as compared to the $1.57 billion reported in the prior year quarter. Fox News, too recorded a seven per cent drop in ad revenue.

    Though, it was partially offset by the consolidation of it’s free streaming platform Tubi and the impact of additional NFL regular season and playoff broadcasts in the current year quarter, said the company.

    The affiliate revenues increased 10 per cent with 18 per cent growth at the television segment and six per cent growth at the Cable Network Programming segment.

    Overall, the cable news giant Fox News continued to make vast majority of the Fox Corporation’s profits, said the company.

    Executive chairman and chief executive officer Lachlan Murdoch said the company has delivered operationally and financially with the year-to-date revenues, despite the impact of Covid and the comparison against a Super Bowl year. 

    “Consistent with our expectations, Fox News reclaimed its leadership position as America’s number one cable news network and the most watched cable network in primetime, while Fox Sports reached a landmark agreement with the NFL to extend our Sunday NFC rights package with expanded digital rights. These strategic milestones, coupled with a slate of complementary, high-growth, digital-focused assets, led by continued record growth at Tubi, provide a powerful platform to grow our business for the long-term,” he detailed.

    Murdoch went on to add that the company would lay emphasis on digital media and the new business was likely to be found in podcasting, digital venues, and a new weather-news unit Fox had been building in its Fox News Media unit.

    The net Income attributable to Fox Corporation stockholders was $567 million ($0.96 per share) as compared to the $78 million ($0.13 per share) reported in the prior year quarter. 

    The company also used the occasion to announce the acquisition of OutKick Media, the news outlet founded by Clay Travis.

  • Concerns about fake news on the rise in India: Ormax report

    Concerns about fake news on the rise in India: Ormax report

    Mumbai: Two out of three news consumers consider fake news a major challenge facing the country’s news organisations, showed the latest report released by media consulting firm Ormax Media.

    According to the report Fact or Fake?, at least 65 per cent of the news consumers surveyed highlighted fake news as a major concern. The share of such individuals rose by four percentage points from last year, when the agency released the first edition of the report. Only 35 per cent news consumers feel that the news category in India doesn’t have any major fake news concerns, down from 39 per cent in September 2020.

    The findings are based on a survey of news consumers, which was conducted to measure the credibility of various news media, as well as their overall perception towards ‘fake news’. The survey covered around 1,000 urban news consumers (15+ years) from as many as 17 states and Union Territories in India. The questions were asked through computer-assisted telephonic interview.

    This is the second edition of the report, based on data collected in April 2021. The first edition was released on September 2020.

    According to the report, print media continued to lead in terms of credibility, as 62 per cent of news consumers generally considered the medium to be credible. Radio held on to the second position with 56 per cent consumers considering it as credible compared to 57 per cent in 2020. However, all other media platforms showed significant decline in credibility – television’s credibility index dropped from 56 per cent to 53 per cent and digital news apps and websites from 42 per cent to 37 per cent.

    The number of consumers (from the sample) who consider social media platforms to be credible also dropped from 32 per cent to 27 per cent and messenger apps from 29 per cent to 24 per cent. 

    Within social media, despite a drop since the last track, Twitter continues to rank on top with a news credibility Index of 47 per cent. No other social media or messenger app platform manages to touch even the 30 per cent mark, showed the survey.
     
    Ormax Media, founder and CEO Shailesh Kapoor said, “Concerns around fake news have been escalating worldwide over the last few years. But a drop from an already-low score of 39 per cent to 35 per cent within just seven months, does not augur well for the Indian news industry. In the midst of a pandemic, credibility of news becomes even more important. We hope to see television news and digital platforms address this concern more proactively, before it becomes a brand safety issue for advertisers using these media, and a cause for rejection for subscribers of paid news services”. 

    The report defines Media Credibility Index as a percentage of news consumers who find the news in a particular medium generally credible, respectively.

  • TIMES NOW suspends its election results coverage on 2 May

    TIMES NOW suspends its election results coverage on 2 May

    MUMBAI: In an unprecedented move, English news channel Times Now on Saturday announced that it will suspend its coverage of Assembly elections results for four States and one union territory on 2 May, citing “the biggest health emergency” that the country is facing.

    The Times Group-owned channel said that it will track the “biggest national story”- keep COVID news as its main priority and suspend its usual special election coverage ‘on 2 May and beyond.’ 

    “As part of the coverage, viewers can expect COVID-related news reports, the latest on the status of the vaccination drive, information on helplines, and can interact with healthcare and mental wellness experts on the channel,” it stated in a social media post. However, it will still carry flash news updates on the counting and results, but refrain from covering poll-related celebrations.

     

     

    “The second wave would have been better controlled had we avoided two of the mega risk events – Kumbh Mela and elections in five states in normal campaigning mode. But, as the wave keeps climbing, with it claiming more innocent lives, it is clear that there has been a serious lapse in leadership at all levels- across the political spectrum,” the channel averred expressing concerns over the deteriorating situation and said that it has been vocal against these lapses.

     

     

    After the final phase of polling for West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry assembly elections got over, all eyes are now set on 2 May when the counting of votes will take place for the four states and one UT. As many as 822 seats out of 824 scheduled for election went to poll between March 27 and April 29.

    However, the results have been overshadowed by the massive surge in Covid2019 cases and the resultant oxygen shortage at hospitals which has put the lives of millions of Indians at risk. The country is facing one of the biggest health crises, as daily cases crossed an unprecedented 4 lakh on Saturday. As many as 3,523 more people succumbed to the infections during the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 2.11 lakh.

    A staggering 69 lakh new infections were detected in the country during April when campaigning for the Assembly elections was on in several states. This was the highest tally for any month in any country so far- another dismal global record, raising a question mark on conducting regular elections during the crisis.

  • Colors Tamil strengthens its primetime line-up with ‘Bommi B.A, B.L’

    Colors Tamil strengthens its primetime line-up with ‘Bommi B.A, B.L’

    New Delhi: Colors Tamil is all set to launch its new show Bommi B.A, B.L, bringing compelling stories revolving around the issue of deep-rooted prejudice and bias faced by women in the society.

    The social drama is all set to hit the airwaves on 3 May and will be aired Monday to Saturday at 6:30 PM.

    Set in pre-independence Calcutta, Bommi B.A., B.L. traces the journey of an eight-year-old Bommi (played by Aura Bhatnagar) who is married off to a 60-year-old man. But as fate would have it, her life takes a sudden tragic turn. Her fate leads her to her husband Anirudh, a London-return barrister who wishes to help women facing discrimination. Both of them embark on a journey together where Bommi goes on to become a barrister and challenges the system with her tough and thought-provoking arguments.

    Colors Tamil business head Anup Chandrasekhara said, “At Colors Tamil, we are committed to showcasing engaging content and thought-provoking. In tune with this, we are delighted to launch Bommi B.A, B.L, which will bring in a whirlwind of change in our social fabric with its unique and bold storyline. With a focus on diverse and engaging content, we are confident that Bommi will become a household favourite instantly.”

    Colors Tamil is available on all leading cable networks and DTH platforms – Sun Direct (channel 128), Tata Sky (channel 1515), Airtel (channel 763), Dish TV (channel 1808), and Videocon D2H (channel 553). Viewers can also tune in to Voot any time to watch the show at their convenience.

  • Disney to pull the plug on southeast Asia/HK networks

    Disney to pull the plug on southeast Asia/HK networks

    New Delhi: In what may come as a huge surprise for viewers in southeast Asia and Hong Kong, Disney is mulling over closing as many as 18 channels in the region from October this year. The end-of-an-era move could have a major impact on the entire video entertainment supply chain in the region.

    Disney staffers were told about the decision at a town hall out of Singapore on Tuesday, according to sources close to the development. The efforts are aimed at enabling the organisation “to align its resources more efficiently and effectively to current and future business needs.” However, an official statement is yet to be released.

    The move is believed to be part of The Walt Disney Company’s global efforts towards a direct-to-consumer-first model and further stimulating the growth of its streaming services.

    A senior mediaperson said India is unlikely to be affected by the move, which, while unfortunate, is not entirely unexpected. Last year, the M&E colossus restructured its global operations; this involved separating its India and Asia Pacific businesses after APAC president and Star & Disney India chairman Uday Shankar’s departure, and hiring new talent to spearhead its SVoD push in the southeast region.

    With Disney pulling the plug, as many as 18 channels could disappear from the airwaves, which includes Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life, and FX, movie channels including Fox Action Movies, Fox Family Movies, Fox Movies, and Star Movies China and some sports channels — Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2. Popular kids channels including Disney Channel and Disney Junior, music channel Channel V and actual services Nat Geo People; and SCM Legend could also go off air in the region. This leaves a question mark over how the other pay-TV platforms will fill the void.

    The multimedia giant is quickly gaining in the streaming space. Since its launch over a year ago, Disney+ has transformed itself into a streaming leader, with membership numbers flying past long-term forecasts.

    So far, Disney has rolled out Disney+ in Singapore along with a separate Hotstar app, and hybrid service Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia. Launches in other parts of southeast Asia and Hong Kong are likely this year. Disney+ has 2.6 lakh paying subscribers in Singapore as of April 2021 and 4.5 million in Indonesia, according to estimates presented by regional industry analysts Media Partners Asia.

  • Negligible content investment for the urban viewer segment: Tata Sky’s Harit Nagpal

    Negligible content investment for the urban viewer segment: Tata Sky’s Harit Nagpal

    KOLKATA: The pay-TV industry in India has been highlighting the regulatory overburden in the industry for some time now. The players have been battling several legal issues, the amended new tariff order (NTO 2.0) being the most discussed one. According to Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal, it has not only impacted the growth of the industry, but put a halt on broadcasters’ plans to bring any change in pricing since January 2020, despite rising industry costs.

    Speaking at the recently concluded APOS 2021, the Tata Sky CEO said broadcasters will not be able to make up for this period, even if they are allowed to alter prices tomorrow. “A hole has already been created in the ability to generate revenue for the industry. There is a logjam between broadcasters and regulators via legal cases, which we are hoping settles down soon, so that broadcasters can raise prices,” he explained.

    According to Nagpal, the price hike will enable broadcasters to invest in creating more differentiated content and help them cater to increasing needs of viewers from various segments. “There has been a negligible investment for the urban viewer segment, even though it is one of the growing segments,” he pointed out, during a virtual session with Media Partners Asia executive director and co-founder Vivek Couto.

    But the Tata Sky CEO highlighted that he still remained optimistic about the growth of linear TV in India. “Both will survive; both will grow but not at the cost of each other. The people who can afford a broadband connection at home, and can subscribe to SVoD, can also afford TV because TV is much cheaper than that,” he added. “And viewers who cannot OTT subscriptions will watch content that comes only through cable and satellite. TV viewing remains a habit for Indians.”

    Recalling the days he spent days walking in and out of 1,200 customer homes in the rural area, Nagpal said there was rarely a home without a television set in India. “It’s like background noise. A family collectively consumes six to 10 hours of TV content per day. It is one segment that leaves a high opportunity for the growth of traditional TV,” he shared.

    Despite that, there are still around 100 million homes that don’t have a TV in India. The data shows that TV sales have picked up in the last few years. But there is still a gap in TV penetration this year due to the ongoing crisis, which will be filled in the next few years, he noted.

    “We have not seen signs of on-demand content or even broadband penetrating the kind of numbers that we have been hearing for the last few years. Despite the best efforts of most of the broadband operators, we have not seen numbers reaching the level that we are talking about,” said Nagpal.

    Tata Sky has embraced the change in the industry with the launch of Binge products – its smart boxes which offer both TV and OT content. The DTH operator has also marketed the product aggressively last year. 

    “We never expected these services to reach the level of DTH. We said both will grow. Maybe Binge will grow faster in terms of percentage because we have got a small base. But there is enough headroom for the satellite TV market to grow. We are pretty happy with the numbers of both sides,” Nagpal stated. 

  • TV advertising shows record growth in Jan-Mar 2021: BARC

    TV advertising shows record growth in Jan-Mar 2021: BARC

    NEW DELHI: The overall growth in television ad volumes during the first two months of the year has further consolidated in March, said Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) on Friday.

    According to the television monitoring agency, 456 million seconds of ad volumes was recorded during the January to March period, the highest since 2018.

    The latest data offers a glimmer of hope to the television industry which has been struggling to get back on its feet amid the second wave of Covid2019.

    The growth in ad volume was observed across all genres. While the news genre recorded a growth of 25 per cent, the surge in the GEC space was 21 per cent. The movies genre saw an uptick of 23 per cent.

    According to BARC, growth of ad Volumes on TV observed in Jan-Mar 2021 was broad-based, with advertisers across the spectrum accounting for the higher levels. The top 10 advertisers, as well as the next 40, registered healthy growth at 37 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.

    E-commerce sector continued to show a healthy growth of 13 per cent in January to March 2021 compared with the same period in 2020.  

    The digital-native brands under education (3X growth), pharma/health care (7X growth) and BFSI (55 per cent growth) categories also continued to propel growth of the ECOM sector in Jan to March 2021 compared to 2020. The top 20 advertisers drove more than 50 per cent of ad Volumes during this period, showed the data.

    Festivals and special events like Sankranti and Republic Day in January garnered the highest ever ad volumes in 2021 since 2018, reported BARC.

    With a promising start to the year, the expectations for higher ad spends have definitely gone up for the coming months.

  • MPL says ‘Hai Akal, Khelo MPL’ in IPL 2021 campaign

    MPL says ‘Hai Akal, Khelo MPL’ in IPL 2021 campaign

    MUMBAI: Cashing in on the IPL fever, skill-gaming platform, Mobile Premier League (MPL) has launched its latest campaign on TV and digital media platforms. Revolving around the theme ‘Hai Akal, Khelo MPL’, the adverts feature a humanoid brain as the protagonist, driving in the message that anyone with ‘akal’ (brains) can play the game.

    There are a total of seven films in the campaign, of which three are already live and the rest will be released as the IPL progresses. The three films released are a humorous play on the words of popular Hindi language idioms like ‘Akal badi ya bhains’, ‘Akal ke dushman’, and ‘Dimaag ghaas charne gaya hai’. The films push the central idea that one can create their fantasy team on the e-sports platform with basic know-how of cricket during the ongoing T20 tournament. MPL has roped in veteran actor Vijay Raaz for the films’ voice-overs.

    The campaign has been conceptualised by The Womb and brought to life by Early Man Films and was directed by Abhinav Pratiman. “This IPL, we decided to go back to the basics of fantasy cricket- which is to make the best possible team by using your knowledge of the game and your thinking skills. By giving the human brain its own manifestation as a protagonist and by using some very well-known Hindi sayings that we can all relate to,” MPL senior vice president – growth and marketing Abhishek Madhavan said.

    “Passion and love for the game of cricket can at best make someone a great fan of the game. But to play the game either in real life or in the form of fantasy one needs skill. Skill in the form of strong analytical skills and strategic abilities to create the best teams game after game. Our attempt was to bring this alive by creating the brain itself as a device. The campaign uses popular idioms associated with the brain to generate popular appeal,” The Womb founding partner Navin Talreja added.