ITV

Tag: TV

  • VSNL to set up cyber cafes at railway stations

    VSNL to set up cyber cafes at railway stations

    MUMBAI: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is setting up cyber cafes at major railway stations across the country to create user-friendly public internet access points.

    The company, which has been awarded franchisee rights for running of cyber cafes at 68 locations, plans to make all of them operational in the next few weeks. The first of this was inaugurated at the Bangalore railway station by VSNL president of broadband and retail business Shashi Kalathil.

    Speaking on the occasion, Kalathil said, “This effort will enable VSNL implement the promise made in the Union Railway budget of setting up such cyber cafes across the leading railway stations in the country. We are keen on making internet easily available so that passengers can stay connected even while on the move.”

    All Tata Indicom dial-up internet and broadband subscribers can use this facility by using their existing accounts. “Each of these cybercafes will be equipped with 10-20 high end multimedia PCs with flat panel monitors and will be open 24 X 7. Travellers can now avail Internet browsing and gaming facilities at very affordable rates. We also plan to offer other value added services like printing, scanning, mobile charging and CD writing through these cafes. Passengers can also use the cyber cafes for making onward bookings, checking their bank statements, tracking their investment portfolio and making ISD calls at affordable prices,” VSNL said.

    Tata Indicom will also create select areas in the railway station that are Wi Fi enabled, allowing passengers to experience the internet on their laptop or Wi-Fi enabled PDAs.

  • UK pay TV provider Sky looking to launch another sports channel

    UK pay TV provider Sky looking to launch another sports channel

    MUMBAI: UK pay television service provider Sky is looking to launch a fifth sports channel to add to its Sky Sports 1, 2 and 3 and Sky Sports Xtra channels.

    Sky won a new TV licence from media regulator Ofcom. The licence has been issued under the name Sky Sports 4.

    A report in brandrepublic.com states that Sky already has a Premiership rights package, which was extended last month. It also has the rolling sports news channel Sky Sports News, which, as well as being broadcast on satellite and cable channels through Sky, is also broadcast on Freeview channel 83. In addition to Premiership football rights, Sky’s live sports coverage includes cricket, rugby, golf and boxing.

  • BBC to offer live broadband streaming of Wimbledon to UK audiences

    BBC to offer live broadband streaming of Wimbledon to UK audiences

    MUMBAI: In a move that will offer UK tennis fans even greater access to Wimbledon, the BBC has announced that, for the first time UK broadband users will have access to five courts of live tennis action during the 2006 Wimbledon Championships.

    The service, available free from BBC Sport’s dedicated Wimbledon website – bbc.co.uk/wimbledon – will feature coverage from BBC’s live terrestrial coverage and its digital interactive feeds, enhancing the site’s news, latest scores and results service.

    In addition to the live streaming of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, tennis fans will also have the opportunity to catch any action they miss with the short, three-minute highlight packages rounding up each day’s play.

    For Wimbledon fans across the globe, these highlights will also be available to an international audience.

    BBC head of general sports Barbara Slater said, “This is an exciting opportunity that will ensure Wimbledon reaches an even wider audience. The live streaming coverage will make one of the biggest sporting events in the world available to broadband users in the UK, wherever they are at home or in the office so they never have to miss a game.”

  • Webaroo launches free soccer resource pack- World Soccer 2006

    Webaroo launches free soccer resource pack- World Soccer 2006

    MUMBAI: Webaroo, the provider of the searchable web offline launches ‘World Soccer 2006’ web pack just in time for the World Cup.

    The pack is a compilation of the top web pages about the game and the World Cup, all of it searchable offline and can be downloaded free from www.webaroo.com.

    With content ranging from team profiles and pub guides, to comprehensive World Cup history and trivia, the Webaroo World Soccer 2006 web pack has everything a soccer fan could need, informs an official release.

    In addition to the one-step pack, they can identify favourite web sites they wish to take with them – such as the Fifa site, sports blogs and ESPN – and automatically download these sites to search offline, anywhere, anytime.

    How soccer fans can have fun with Webaroo:
    – Quickly look up stats on your favourite players during the game
    – Dig up dirt on rival teams before running into a heated debate
    – Win soccer bets at the local pub

    How can Webaroo be accessed? The release explains that with the Webaroo ‘World Soccer 2006’ pack in your pocket there is no need to search for an internet café to have all the best football information. Go to www.webaroo.com, download the free application and the ‘World Soccer 2006’ web pack to your laptop and sync your mobile devices, and that’s it. You can then search and browse the cached web content anytime. Webaroo updates web content automatically in the background whenever laptops are connected to the web.

  • MTV launches animated series ‘Wulffmorgenthaler’ on mobile TV

    MTV launches animated series ‘Wulffmorgenthaler’ on mobile TV

    MUMBAI: Created exclusively for MTV Mobile TV, MTV Networks International has launched its made-for-mobile animated series Wulffmorgenthaler inspired by the world famous comic strip of the same name.

    The Wulffmorgenthaler shorts, a coproduction between MTVNI and Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler.

    Comprising 20 short animations featuring the comical twists of different characters and storylines, it is available on MTVNI’s mobile TV channels and mobile video on demand across Europe, Australia and the US for eight weeks.

    It will be distributed on MTVNI’s broadband services, according to media reports.

    MTVNI has 20 mobile TV channels in 19 countries.

    “Wulffmorgenthaler delivers on our promise to provide audiences with the most original, compelling content on multiple platforms around the world. These edgy animations will offer audiences a new, bite-sized burst of humour and creativity that only MTV can offer,” said MTVNI senior VP digital media Gideon Bierer.

    The Wulffmorgenthaler shorts join MTVNI’s other made-for-mobile productions including Head and Body, produced in partnership with Motorola.

  • OpenTV to offer advanced digital television solutions to Time Warner Cable

    OpenTV to offer advanced digital television solutions to Time Warner Cable

    MUMBAI: OpenTV Corp. a provider of enabling technologies for advanced digital television services has announced a multi-year license agreement with Time Warner Cable to deploy the cable operator’s digital navigator on the Open TV platform.

    The Time Warner Cable digital navigator will enhance existing programme guides, facilitate cross platform integrated services and speed to market new product introductions on the company’s Motorola set-top boxes.

    Additionally, OpenTV’s Core 2.0 software and related interactive television services will be available to Time Warner Cable divisions running Motorola equipment for deployment.

    This licensing agreement represents the first US cable deployment of OpenTV’s advanced digital solutions and applications, informs an official release.

    Initial launch of OpenTV’s solutions is expected in late 2006 on Time Warner Cable’s Motorola set-top boxes, ranging from the DCT-2000 to more full-featured Motorola set-top boxes. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    OpenTV will provide its Core 2.0 set-top software, interactive applications, and infrastructure systems for application delivery, set-top messaging, and advanced two-way communications.

    As part of the deal, OpenTV has agreed to make available a variety of interactive applications for Time Warner Cable’s use, and expects to write additional applications for the OpenTV platform, OCAP, and other platforms that Time Warner Cable introduces within its Divisions.

    “This deal marks a historic milestone for OpenTV and the culmination of many years of work,” said OpenTV CEO James A.Chiddix. “Gaining a strong foothold in the U.S. cable market has long been a goal of OpenTV, and with an anchor customer like Time Warner Cable we now have a firm foundation from which to continue extending and enhancing our solutions and services as digital television moves ahead in the market. We look forward to fostering this new relationship with Time Warner Cable and furthering its commitment in delivering choice, quality, and value to its subscribers with the most advanced digital television services.”

  • How not to break news

    How not to break news

    our news television medium seems to have finally begun to distinguish between truth-telling and ideological discourse. Indeed, this seems to be an increasing trend among most news channels today. Take the tagline for Zee News, for example: Haqeeqat jaisi, waisi khabar. Seemingly holding a defiant mirror to society and policymakers in the wake of post-Gujarat criticism, news channels in India have created truths far beyond the imagination of pre-liberalisation policymakers. Rising ratings for news are perhaps the closest endorsements to this trend. Why, then, do we see all around us a growing scepticism about our news channels?

    The reasons have to do with audiences themselves: the question is, do audiences expect news to tell them what’s happening, or what editors think they should know? News television channels would do well to overhaul their thinking, because the technology they use provides them with the inherent power to democratize news. For example, many channels are still experimenting with “breaking news”. An editor even spoke on a platform recently (an event, hosted by another channel), and said that breaking news was passe. Even as he was doing so, his channel was flashing “Breaking News”. Gone are the days when news was just news. Today, the delivery of news has the capacity to attract new eyeballs. A cognitive research done in the US in January 2005 showed that the attention span of a television channel-surfer is so low that his/her decision whether to switch channels is made in the first 0.15 seconds. So what’s on the screen is what either sells or doesn’t.

    Gone are the days when news was just news. Today, the delivery of news has the capacity to attract new eyeballs
    _____****_____

    Research conducted in the US last year concluded after a nationwide survey that news channels regularly use hard, unplanned news to mean breaking news – not something that necessarily takes the newsroom by surprise. The problem with this trend has to do with viewer credibility. It’s simple: ever heard of the “crying wolf” story? Breaking news can work the same way. (Actual example: “Breaking News: Salman reaches court for hearing”) If, for story after story, the attention-grabbing flash continues to disappoint the viewer, breaking news ends up breaking TRP dreams. The Salman Khan “breaking news” is based on the age-old “late news” or “just in” principle: it conveys to the viewer that the story just got in. But with live news now, the concept must undergo a change in our editors’ minds: news stories every half hour should be “just in”.

    News channels only need to stick to their own agenda in order to score: if their claim is to present investigative stories, do so without diluting the definition of an investigative story
    _____****_____

    So how can channels break through the viewer’s attention-span problem? By using a judicious mix of emotive and rational approaches. The pace of news stories is important, and many of our channels are inept at this skill. Because VT editors are armed with the latest techniques and gadgets that allow them to cut rapidly, they often forget basics like establishing scene, sequence and story. Channels seldom depend on visual richness, but too often on anchor branding. News anchors gain credibility and brand strength over time and after much sweat. Merely marketing them like an FMCG product will rarely rake in the returns. And on that note, 57 students of journalism who conducted a comparative content analysis of television channels in 2005 said that the excessive amount of advertising on many news channels is enough to lead away audiences from news.

    Clearly, therefore, news channels only need to stick to their own agenda in order to score: if their claim is to present investigative stories, do so without diluting the definition of an investigative story. However, my prediction is that news channels cannot afford to distinguish their product so clearly, and must present a mix of reportage and discussion. The writing is on the wall: our nascent TV news audiences have been hoping that the news media are an answer to pull up a failing administration. In many ways, our media have lived up to that expectation. However, that may soon change if news channels do not settle down to understanding that news audiences invariably grow more knowledgeable over time, and expect more from their television.

    (The writer heads a media institute in Pune, and is a former news channel employee.)

    (The views expressed here are those of the author and Indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to the same)

  • B.A.G Films ties-up with Korean production firm Sieundesign

    B.A.G Films ties-up with Korean production firm Sieundesign

    MUMBAI: Anurradha Prasad’s B.A.G Films is pursuing opportunities in new media avenues and also eyeing the animation frontier. The company has entered into a joint venture with a Korean firm Sieundesign, which has a presence in the production, distribution and licensing of animated movies and TV series.

    The JV is proposed to be named “Sieun & B.A.G. Animation Pvt. Ltd.” with both companies holding an equal stake. The business model will involve both creation of IP for global audiences as well as servicing outsourced projects.

    Speaking about the development, Prasad shared,“This initiative represents B.A.G. Films’ entry into the exciting and strongly growing animation business. We are delighted to tie up with Sieundesign Co Ltd, which is a leading international animation player and look forward leveraging its experience to building a strong presence in India.”
    B.A.G, is already running a media school –iSOMES (International School of Media and Entertainment Studies) and through the new JV, the company will be extending into animation education too.

    “We understand that we require a huge work force and so we will be training people as a backward integration excercise. The animation course starts in October,” remarked Prasad.

    “As a content company B.A.G films has always stayed at the forefront of cutting edge technology and even in the animation JV, the idea is to create a synergy, a best of both the worlds where we will utilise India’s expertise in animation production and combine it with the Korean strength of concieving characters and content,” concluded Prasad.

    Sieundesign presently owns more than 30 IPs of cartoon character content, which include Black Jelly, Booby, Yamm, Newton, Flower Terry, Tomato, 205 Friends, Little Tinny, Mr. Cool, Dear Alice, Dennis Family, Eyeme Angel, Emily, Pumpkin Seed, Oh-Baby, Brambly and Moose Bear besides the children performance Rise Up Monster character development. It also supplies cartoon content to several Korean mobile and on line services.

    All animation and character licenses owned by Sieundesign internationally will be owned in India by the joint venture entity.

    At the same time, B.A.G. Films is also looking at initiatives including video streaming, DVD, animation and gaming, interactive content for broadband, mobisodes, wireless transmission and the internet, besides identifying new uses for existing technologies such as digital libraries, interactive story telling and distance learning, according to a posting today on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

    The company is also contemplating providing voice content including news, cricket & sports, jokes, astro forecasts, celebrity interviews, Bollywood reviews and music album reviews in four languages namely Hindi, English, Tamil and Malayalam.

    B.A.G is already working the major cellular operators Airtel and Hutch on IVR.

    On the movie front, the production house proposes to release two films during the current calendar year. Zindagi Rocks, with Sushmita Sen and Shiney Ahuja as the lead actors is directed by Tanuja Chandra with music composed by Anu Malik. Then there is a Punjabi love story directed by Gurbir S Grewal with Jimmy Shergil and Kulraj Randhawa as the lead actors.

  • Intelsat ranked first among teleport service providers

    Intelsat ranked first among teleport service providers

    MUMBAI: Intelsat has announced that it placed first on the World Teleport Association’s (WTA) annual rankings of the top teleport operators. Intelsat led the list of the 2006 global top twenty.

    Intelsat is a provider of fixed satellite services.

    WTA’s global top twenty ranks companies based on revenues from all satellite-related sources which includes independents, satellite carriers, fiber carriers, and technology providers.

    Intelsat SVP global marketing Vicki Warker said, “Our leadership in this sector of the satellite industry is a testament to the growth of our hybrid GlobalConnexSM managed solutions business. Since its introduction in 2002, our GlobalConnex revenues have grown dramatically and now represent an annualised run-rate of approximately $130 million.”

    “We provide seamless, secure and easy delivery of voice, data, video and IP traffic anywhere in the world through bundling our satellite capacity with our global teleports, points of presence and ground network infrastructure,” he added.

    Intelsat’s GlobalConnex services are among its highest growth services, driven by demand for corporate data and voice over IP applications, asserts an official release.

    The offering also provides end-to-end support for media, internet trunking, WiFi hotspots, distance learning, and point-of-sale transactions. Another component of Intelsat’s teleport services includes hosting disaster recovery facilities for broadcasters and other operators, adds the release.

  • ABC puts viewers through ‘The Con Test’

    ABC puts viewers through ‘The Con Test’

    MUMBAI: The UK game show The Con Test is coming to the US in a production deal between FremantleMedia North America and ABC.
    The Con Test is a game show where one person could walk away with over one million dollars without ever having to answer a single question right.

    The Con Test is a game for those who have the wit, nerves and guile to bluff their way to an exorbitant amount of cash. Dont understand the questions? Fake it. Dont know the answers? Lie. All that matters is that the opponent thinks you do.
    Each episode wil be in a question-and-answer format, with the contestants unaware of how they are faring against their opponents. This allows those who are trailing to advantageously bluff their way to victory.

    ABC says that the show is a unique and fresh game show concept and sees this series as a fun outlet for viewers who want to sit back, be entertained and scream at the TV set as if the contestants can hear them.

    FremantleMedia North America CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz says, “We’ve seen tremendous success with a variety of game shows that have come over from the UK to America. We believe that The Con Test has all the elements of a hit and are extremely enthusiastic about introducing it to the US audience.”