ITV

Tag: TV

  • Samsung launches mobile tracker phones in India

    Samsung launches mobile tracker phones in India

    MUMBAI: Samsung Telecommunications India Ltd. announced the launch of its range of secured phones SGH-C140, SGH-X520 and SGH-E250 in India. The technology boasts revolutionary security features like mobile tracker, emergency SMS and privacy lock in slider, clamshell and bar form factors, these phones transcends the current market offering by empowering consumer’s security during mobility.

    Mobile Tracker helps consumers to track their lost phone. Emergency SMS acts as personal bodyguard and alerts close relatives or friends about his distress or emergency situations. Privacy lock protects the data, photos, voice memo, multimedia messages, images and sound stored in the phone from intrusion.

    Speaking on this occasion Samsung Telecommunications India managing director Ryu Hyun Chul said, “Close to 50 million worth of mobile phones are lost or stolen annually. Our personal experience shows that when we lose our phone we just buy the new one. We don’t know how to track our lost phone. We are also not aware what will happen, if these lost or stolen phones fall into wrong hands.”

    Elaborating on the security features of the phone Chul added, “Samsung understands Indian consumer needs and through our secured phones, we have tried to address three of the larger issues of mobile security that is securing your mobile phones and preventing any untoward usage or incident through Mobile Tracker, securing the safety of near and dear ones through emergency SMS and securing the confidential data’s that are stored in that phone. We will keep launching global phones with localized features.”

  • Sony Pictures pushing licensing in Korea

    Sony Pictures pushing licensing in Korea

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) announced that it is expanding its operations in Asia by opening a TV licensing office in Korea. Soojin Chung has been appointed as executive director of licensing and will head SPTI’s office in Seoul. She reports to SPTI senior vice president, distribution, Asia Ross Pollack.

    “Opening a licensing office in Korea demonstrates our continued efforts to better serve our Korean clients and to offer more choices to our customers throughout Asia where SPTI already has numerous commitments,” said Pollack. “We are delighted to have Soojin join our team. Her experience and impressive track record as a TV executive is widely recognized in the Korean marketplace. She will be a great fit with the rest of our Asian team based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing.”

    In her new position, Chung is responsible for the licensing of SPTI’s series and features, along with the Company’s growing lineup of successful international productions, to traditional and new media partners in Korea. In addition, she will provide support to SPTI’s Asian product acquisition efforts by assisting in the ongoing evaluation of, investment in and distribution of Korean content for SPTI in Asia and worldwide. SPTI currently has a Korean TV drama distribution deal with CJ Media in addition to distributing select movie titles from CJ and Korean anime from other partners.

    Chung joins SPTI from Buena Vista International Television where she was head of sales for Korea since 2004. Prior to Buena Vista, she held a number of positions in Korea, including content acquisition manager at SBS Productions and acquisition manager at Hollyvision Saehan Media.

    SPTI has been active in distributing Asian entertainment worldwide. Two of the highest grossing Asian movies of all-time Kung Fu Hustle and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were distributed through SPTI. SPTI’s office in Seoul will be located in the Kyobo Tower and opens in February 2007.

  • Provision for penalty for defaulting channels in new telecast ordinance

    Provision for penalty for defaulting channels in new telecast ordinance

    NEW DELHI: Television channels that fail to comply by the ordinance promulgated late last week for compulsory sharing of live feeds with the national broadcaster Prasar Bharati would have to pay a penalty up to Rs 10 million and also face possible revocation or suspension of license.

    The Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Ordinance 2007 promulgated on February three has retrospective affect from 11 November, 2005 when the government had issued its guidelines for downlinking of TV channels. The Uplinking Guidelines had been issued on December 12, 2005. It has also been stipulated that no action no action of the government would be challenged in any court of law.
    With the Guidelines coming in the ambit of the Ordinance which is expected to be replaced by an Act of Parliament in the ensuing Budget session, the government has taken upon itself the powers to enforce them with retrospective effect. The guidelines are already the subject matter of the petition in the Delhi High Court by Nimbus Communications on the Indo-West Indies series telecast. Nimbus, which owns Neo Sports channel, had expressed apprehensions that the government may resort to coercive methods for share their exclusive.

    The ordinance also provides for a revenue sharing formula between private and public broadcasters. Advertisement sharing between private and the public broadcasters would be in the ratio of 75:25 in case of TV coverage in favour of the rights holder and 50:50 in case of radio coverage.

    Meanwhile, Neo Sports yesterday announced live telecast of the India-Sri Lanka one-day international cricket series for the Hero Honda Cup starting in Kolkata tomorrow with the Hindi feed on Neo Sports Plus. Neo Sports also announced a cricket show called Extra Cover, a pacy pre, mid and post the live match on Neo Sports plus, featuring some of the games’ stalwarts like Javagal Srinath, Dean Jones and Arjuna Ranatunga.

    Of the four match series, the first tie at Kolkata will be telecast from 1 pm to 11:30 pm, while the three other matches at Rajkot on 11 February, at Margao on 14 February and in Vishakhapatnam on 17 February will be telecast live from 7:30 am to 6 pm.

    Neo sports holds the rights to all the international and domestic matches played in India . This is in addition to 67 per cent rights of all confirmed international cricket series featuring the Indian team till March 2010.

    All India Radio will also broadcast live commentary of all the matches alternatively in Hindi and English. The commentary can be heard between 1400 and 2230 hrs for the first ODI in Kolkata, while it would be broadscast between 0830 to 1730 hrs for all the other three matches.

    Earlier this week, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi indicated it was also contemplating action to ensure that private broadcasters gave good quality feed to Doordarshan. When asked what kind of action was contemplated, the Minister said on the sidelines of the Editors Conference on Social Sectors: ”When you do something, do not reveal what you are doing.”

    He denied the charge that private broadcasters were losing in business by sharing sports feed with the Doordarshan.

    The Ordinance was resorted to as Nimbus refused to share live footage of the just concluded India-West Indies cricket series with public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio. However, Doordarshan was permitted to show a seven-minute deferred telecast and All India Radio was allowed running live commentary following an order by the Delhi High Court.

    After promulgation of the ordinance, Nimbus which holds exclusive rights to broadcast all international matches to be held in India until 2010 will have to share live feeds of all cricket matches to be played in the country with Prasar Bharati, besides sharing advertisement revenue from joint feeds.

    Furthermore, the ordinance will help millions of viewers across the country having the facility of only terrestrial or free-to-air channels to enjoy live sports events of national and international importance.

    Talks between Nimbus, which holds the rights given by the Board for Control of Cricket in India and Prasar Bharati broke down just a day before the India-West Indies cricket series was to begin on January 21. Nimbus had refused to permit the signals to be shown on any DTH platform and said the signals would have to be encrypted.

    Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati has already filed an appeal against the order of the single bench of the High Court, and it is expected to come up for hearing late next week.

    The issue of sharing feed with Doordarshan and All India Radio has been controversial from the beginning, with private sports broadcasters arguing that it was unfair to them as it would affect their revenue. They contend that telecast rights are obtained at the expense of large amounts and sharing their signals with DD and AIR would make the business less remunerative.

  • Guild critical of autocratic behaviour towards ‘Parzania’

    Guild critical of autocratic behaviour towards ‘Parzania’

    NEW DELHI: The Film and Television Producers Guild of India and many of its members have expressed regret over recent attempts to intervene in screening of films by certain multiplexes of Gujarat.

    In a release, the Guild said: “Given our rich and diverse tradition it is disturbing to see such a repressive attitude towards the recently released film ‘Parzania’ by these authoritarian individuals.”

    The release added: “Surely the release of a film cannot be tantamount to the whims and fancies of certain exhibitors. Hence the Guild considers it as a sacrilege towards the fundamental rights of citizens and also considers this as a hindrance on their creativity.”

    The Guild is “positive that artistic independence of our talented filmmakers will not be curbed nor will free and fair broadcast be stopped through undemocratic means. The Guild assures the filmmakers that their interests will always be safeguarded.”

  • Delhi High Court protects ‘Zee’ trademark

    Delhi High Court protects ‘Zee’ trademark

    NEW DELHI: No other company selling anything or providing any service from now on will be able to use the trade mark “Zee”, the Delhi High Court has ruled last weekend.

    In the order passed on February 5 on a writ petition filed by c., the Court restrained the Registrar of Trade Marks of all branches from processing pending applications pertaining to trade mark “Zee”.
    The Registrar is forbidden also from advertising any further applications that may be filed pertaining to the Trade Mark “Zee” or “deceptively similar mark by any third party”, the court has ruled.

    Arvind Mohan, Executive Vice President of the Essel group told Indiantelevision.com today: “This is a landmark decision and establishes our sole right to use the brad and trade mark that the company has so painstakingly developed over the years.”

    The court has also stayed the order dated 11.9.2000 and 15.9.2000 of Registrar of Trade Mark, Mumbai, by virtue of which the company Shri Venkateshwara Group of Industries obtained the registration of trade mark or logo “Zee” for its products known as Zee Gutkha and Zee Pan Masala.

    Zee Telefilms had filed a writ petition under Article 227 invoking extraordinary jurisdiction of Delhi High Court, challenging acceptance orders directing advertising passed by Registrar of Trade Mark permitting advertisement of at least 100 trade mark applications for registered mark or logo “Zee” or deceptively similar marks filed by Shri Venkateshwara Group of Industries, which is completely violative of the statutory provisions and contrary to the law.

    Various offices of the registrar situated at Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi have also been made respondents in the case, apart from the Union of India through Secretary, Information & Broadcasting and Copyright Board, New Delhi.

    The counsels for Zee, Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayyar and Prathiba M. Singh pointed out that trade mark registrars have permitted advertising of around 100 trade mark applications for registration as “Zee”, or look-alike, deceptive marks and they continue to do so despite the detailed representation made by the Zee Telefilms Ltd.

    The argued also that this is also in complete disregard to the prevailing injunction order dated September 4, 2001 of the Division Bench of Mumbai High Court against the Shri Venkateshwra Group, restraining them to use the mark Zee Gutkha or any other deceptive look-alike mark.

    Zee Telefilms Ltd. had said that they are registered proprietors and lawful owners of the trade mark in India as well as in several other countries abroad., Besides, they also own the Common Law Rights, Statutory Rights as well as Copyrights in the “Zee” logo, written in any manner whatsoever.

    Zee reminded the court that it has several channels with the “Zee” mark, which are watched by 180 million viewers out of which 120 millions are in India. In fact, the broadcaster owns the trade mark since 1992.

    The most significant of the court’s orders are that it said that “before the Registrar of Trademarks proceeds to advertise a mark registration whereof is sought, the Registrar is obliged to cause a research to be made amongst the registered trademarks as also pending applications for purposes of ascertaining, whether there are on record, in respect of same goods or services or similar goods or services, any mark identical with or deceptively similar to the mark sought to be got registered.

    “The principle of the dilution of the trademark has been extended for the mark in question. Yet, in spite thereof, Registrar of Trademarks is admitting for registration, applications by hundreds of individuals who seek registration of the trademark “Zee” for purposes of sale of their goods.”

    In the meanwhile the court restrained all branches of the Registrar of Trademarks from processing pending applications pertaining to registration of the trademark “Zee”.

    “Further injunction is issued restraining Registrar of Trademarks from advertising any further application which may be filed pertaining to the trademark “Zee”, the court ruled.

    The court also stayed the order of the Registrar under which the other respondents had been allowed to use the Zee trade mark.

    Mohan opined that a brand is one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. “Brand experience develops expectations creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities and characteristics that make it special or unique,” he explained.

    He said also that the court order will help the consumers stay clear of false impressions about the identity of those companies not related to Zee’s activity, that is, providing healthy entertainment on television.

  • Valentine’s Day hampers on Radio City Bid2Win

    Valentine’s Day hampers on Radio City Bid2Win

    MUMBAI: Radio City and Cellcast Interactive announce a special Valentine’s Day Surprise Hamper that listeners can win by bidding for it. ‘Radio City Bid2Win’ will be part of the Valentine’s day programme line up in Mumbai, Delhi , Jaipur, Lucknow, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

    The surprise hampers comprise of premium, lifestyle products varying from exotic cruise-liner packages to a bouquet of luxury fashion accessories valued up to Rs.1.5 million.

    Listeners can win these hampers for a nominal amount by submitting the lowest unique bid via SMS to CITY BID (amount) to 6644. Based on the ‘lowest’ and most ‘unique’ bid, the winners for the hampers would be declared on-air on 13 February at 10.30 am.

    Bidding for these hampers begins from 8 February 8 and closes on 12 February.

    Speaking on the development Radio City vice president and head – strategic planning and alternate revenue Hemant Jain says “Reiterating our commitment to consistently provide innovative and exciting initiatives to enhance listener delight, we launched Radio City Bid2Win early last month across all our stations after the initial success in Mumbai. The Valentine’s Day Special Hamper, exclusive to our listeners brings them the perfect and most simple gifting opportunity to win a specially selected bouquet of luxury and lifestyle brands and celebrate the season of love with Radio City. Hence by using technology to create interactive radio programming formats we have provided opportunities for Radio City listeners to benefit in multiple ways”.

    According to Radio City executive vice president and head – corporate sales Ashit Kukain “Radio City Bid2Win will provide an opportunity for an array of lifestyle brands to showcase their products to a huge audience and will also help them widen consumer base through experiential marketing. Most certainly, Radio City listeners are in for an amazing treat with the high value products on offer through a unique interactive experience.”

    ‘Radio City Bid2Win’ is a unique reverse auction bidding platform developed by Cellcast Interactive India as the ‘backchannel’ that enables listeners to take an active role in a real-time auction using their mobile phone. Radio City has used this innovation in its prime time show Kase Kai Mumbai in November 2006. The popularity of the format was later replicated across Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad from 9 January.

  • Amway launches kid’s nutritional drink ‘Nutrilite Chocoblast’

    Amway launches kid’s nutritional drink ‘Nutrilite Chocoblast’

    MUMBAI: Amway India, direct selling FMCG company, has launched a balanced nutritional drink for children – Nutrilite Chocoblast. The company is hoping to make a dent in the Rs 1200 crore milkfood drinks segment with this product.

    “The quality of your children’s diet can affect their health now, and for the rest of their lives,” says Amway MD and CEO Bill Pinckney. “Ensuring that children grow up with adequate nutrition, can be challenging for the discerning parent, as junk foods are available at almost every street corner and alluring advertisements portraying them as cool, family oriented eats. In such an atmosphere, it is essential that we – as parents – try to strike that balance between lifestyle and health. And Nutrilite Chocoblast gives parents that option.”

    Chocoblast provides carbohydrates, proteins, nine essential vitamins and six minerals needed to develop the overall health of children. Chocoblast is the third wellness product for children from Amway – after Berry Blast (a strawberry flavoured nutritional drink) and Kids Chewable (a multi vitamin, multi mineral chewable supplement), states an official release.

    The product is available in pack sizes of 500 gms, at an MRP of Rs 819 and is available with all Amway business owners.
    The company claims to have received a compelling response from the Indian market, director – marketing and distributor relations Stephen Beddoe said, “Amway had started business with six products and from five offices: today we have around 80 products and 74 offices across the length and breadth of the country, with home deliveries to over 2500 towns and cities.”

    “The Amway business was driven by the 450,000 active distributors providing them an income earning opportunity. Amway contributed more than Rs 175 crores to the Government exchequer in 2006 by way of direct and indirect taxes and duties,” he adds.

     

  • Jeff Zucker elevated to NBC Universal president, CEO

    Jeff Zucker elevated to NBC Universal president, CEO

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate NBC Universal has announced that Jeff Zucker is its president and CEO.

    He succeedes Bob Wright, who has served in this role for 21 years..

    NBC Universal’s parent firm General Electric Company Chairman and CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt says, ” Jeff will succeed one of the true giants in media — Bob Wright — to whom we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for helping to build this great media company. By any measure, Bob is one of the most successful media executives ever.

    “He transformed NBC from a broadcast network into a diversified global media company. He was always able to see what was coming next, whether it was cable, satellite, Hispanic broadcasting or digital media. Bob’s strategic vision and execution kept NBC growing.”

    Zucker, 41, is a 21-year veteran of NBC Universal. As president and CEO, he will have responsibility for the strategic direction and operations of all NBC Universal properties. Zucker is one of the industry’s most experienced executives and has spent much of his career working in NBC’s news, sports, and entertainment divisions. As CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group since 2005, Zucker has overseen the company’s television programming and distribution operations, which account for two-thirds of the company’s overall profits.

    Immelt adds, “Jeff Zucker is a terrific talent and the right person to guide NBC Universal on the next stage of its growth. His 20-plus years with NBC give him deep knowledge of the company’s strategy, people and culture. In the past few years, Jeff has shown that he is an energetic, focused leader who can rise to a challenge. His creative experience, expertise in news and broadcasting and intense passion for the business were immensely appealing to the Board and to me during this succession process.

    In addition to serving as a vice chairman of GE, Wright will assist with the leadership transition at NBCU.

    Zucker said, “Bob has been a terrific mentor to me throughout my career, and I am honored to be his successor and fortunate to assume responsibility of a company that is so well positioned for future growth. I’ve spent my entire career at NBC and had the privilege to work with the best in the business every day. I look forward to continuing to work with this talented management team as we take NBC Universal to the next level.”

  • DVB-H set to be future of mobile TV: report

    DVB-H set to be future of mobile TV: report

    MUMBAI: The concept of providing television services on a mobile device is generating much enthusiasm among the wireless industry, in turn driving the growth and development of digital video broadcasting-handheld (DVB-H) technology. Overwhelming support from the wireless industry is likely to be one of the major drivers for the growth of the technology, as will be the increasing demand for content on the move. In short, DVB-H could well become a global standard similar to Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), creating an altogether new market for television viewership.

    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, DVB-H Technology-Market and Potential Analysis, reveals that revenues in this market totaled $60 million in 2006 and is likely to reach $2.04 billion in 2010.

    “Many participants in the wireless industry support the DVB-H technology as it is an open industry standard, and this non-proprietary feature of the standards is likely to vastly assist its growth in the wireless market,” notes Frost & Sullivan research analyst Nagarajan Sampathkumar. “Furthermore, DVB-H delivers an improved end-user experience over current video streaming services that utilize cellular networks, while also providing, broadcasters, cellular operators, handset manufacturers and silicon providers with tremendous growth opportunities.”

    This apart, the quality of service (QoS) is likely to be better due to the use of a dedicated broadcast network. Additionally, though DVB-H claims speeds of 25 frames per second (fps), trials show practical speeds of 15-16 fps, which seem to be sufficient for existing screen sizes and resolutions. However, in future, these speeds are likely to increase to 20-25 fps for fixed digital TV in Europe.

    Despite the promise, one of the biggest challenges to adoption of DVB-H by mobile operators is the issue of business and revenue models. With DVB-H, mobile operators are likely to prefer to continue operating in their area of domain expertise service provisioning, billing, and customer care and therefore, broadcasters would have ownership of the content and the overall visual experience.

    “Hence, mobile operators would need to differentiate their offerings and provide value to ensure customer loyalty and remain profitable,” says Sampathkumar. “This also means that mobile operators are likely to serve only as a link to customers and would not be in a position to negotiate for better revenue splits with others in the value chain.”

    Service providers would be required to work very closely with content creators, aggregators, and broadcasters, and ensure secure content and support digital rights management in an effort to protect copyrighted content. While revenue issues could be addressed through subscription models, event-based, pay per view, and even interactive services, the most important challenge is likely to be the optimizing of battery life of the handsets, the study concludes.

  • Vijay Kumar joins Infomedia India board of directors

    Vijay Kumar joins Infomedia India board of directors

    MUMBAI: The board of directors of Infomedia India Limited has appointed Vijay Kumar as additional director of the company.

    Currently Kumar is with the NIIT Group as group executive vice president and his areas of responsibility include strategic corporate finance and new initiatives.

    Having worked in the banking and information technology sectors in a career spanning over 30 years Kumar brings experience in the areas of corporate strategy, finance, mergers and acquisitions.

    He has been involved in various specialized areas such as set up of strategic alliances, joint ventures and subsidiaries as well as in the areas of project financing and investment banking, informs an official release.