ITV

Tag: TV

  • Tourism Australia ties up with BBC for “Peschardt’s People”

    Tourism Australia ties up with BBC for “Peschardt’s People”

    NEW DELHI:Tourism Australia has signed an agreement with BBC World to sponsor the popular series Peschardt’s People, which profiles famous and infamous people in the Asia-Pacific region.

    The deal, announced by the BBC’s 24-hour news and information channel yesterday, covers the channel’s South Asia/Middle East feed and reaches nearly 25 million viewers. It is the first regional sponsorship for the series and provides Tourism Australia with a strong presence in India – considered to be one of its most important tourism markets, a press statement issue by the broadcaster said today.

    Presented by the BBC’s Michael Peschardt, the series provides viewers with a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the lives of some of the most famous and infamous people in the Asia-Pacific region.

    The series is also a perfect fit for Tourism Australia as it has a strong Australian flavour. Michael Peschardt, is a well-respected BBC journalist based in Australia and the series also features several famous Australians. The line up of guests include; former ‘Australian of the Year’ and world-leading plastic surgeon Atticus Fleming; Narayana Murthy – one of India’s most respected business leaders; New Zealand actor, Sam Neill and cricketing legend Rod March.

    Michael spends an average of three days with each of his guests, interviewing them about the people, places, and issues that really matter to them, in a relaxed and informal style, encouraging them to open up and talk sincerely and passionately about their lives.

    BBC World’s VP of sales for Asia and Australasia, Sunita Rajan, says: “We are delighted to have Tourism Australia showcase their destination message on BBC World. BBC World is the leading international news channel in India, and the country is now one of the world’s largest democracies and its influential and affluent individuals are travelling more than ever.”She said also that the fact that BBC World was voted as the leading television channel for travellers two years in a row also makes this the perfect environment for Tourism Australia to launch its campaign in.

  • IOL Broadband to raise $390 million via QIP

    IOL Broadband to raise $390 million via QIP

    MUMBAI: IOL Broadband Ltd is in the process of raising Rs 390 million through qualified institutional placement (QIP) to part-fund its IPTV roll out in new cities. Prime Securities is lead managing the issue that will close on Saturday.

    “We are raising Rs 390 million which will be used for expanding into new cities,” says IOL Broadband executive director Oberai.

    IOL Broadband will soon soft launch its IPTV services on the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) network in Bangalore.

    The company, which has a non exclusive tie up with BSNL for setting up the content delivery network, is also looking at launching IPTV in Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Bhopal.

    IOL is yet to make a commercial launch of its IPTV services in MUmbai, the first city where it kickstarted operations on the MTNL network.

    The company has also signed a revenue share agreement for its IPTV service with Anytime, a consortium of major Hollywood Studios comprising Disney, Fox, Warner, and Universal which will provide access to Hollywood movies.

    Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), which is the holding company of the Times Group, has picked up a small stake in IOL Broadband for Rs 50 million.
     

  • Cricket reality show ‘Cricket Star’ to kick off on DD & Zee on 14 January

    Cricket reality show ‘Cricket Star’ to kick off on DD & Zee on 14 January

    MUMBAI: Cricket based reality talent hunt show called Cricket Star will hit television on DD National and the Zee Network on 14 January.

    The show will run for eleven weeks, with three weekly simulcast episodes on DD National and Zee Sports, on Sundays at 11:30 am, Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:30 pm and a weekly episode on Zee TV on Saturdays from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm.
    Investors In Cricket, a company specializing in the creation and management of sports rights that have relevance to the Asian Sub continent has conceptualized the show Cricket Star. The company then signed on cricket gurus Kapil Dev and Saurav Ganguly to be the selectors while Ajay Jadeja has been appointed as a cricket analyst and co-anchor. The show will be hosted by TV personality Shweta Salve.

    After weeks of mini and regional auditions conducted across the nation in 11 cities including Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Rajkot, Lucknow, Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore, 23 participants were shortlisted. These 23 will now be competing with each other to be the Cricket Star of India.

    The winner of the first series, Cricket Star India, will win a one-year all-expenses-paid contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club and attractive cash prizes and will also achieve international celebrity status. The final 11 contestants will also have the opportunity to participate in the global rollout of Cricket Star, which is slated for a UK launch in summer 2007 and a subsequent launch in Pakistan, where there is significant interest in the format, informs an official release.

    With Sourav being away in South Africa, the selection was conducted under cricket gurus Kapil Dev (Selector) and Robin Singh (Director of Academy). Ajay Jadeja (Cricket Analyst) was present throughout the regional rounds providing support and tips to the young cricket participants. Cricket Star aspirants will play a series of 20:20 cricket matches as part of the programme, which will be telecast on Zee Sports on Sundays at 3 pm – 6 pm.

    Each week at the Cricket Star Academy contestants will be subjected to specialized cricket tests, personal challenges and master class inputs from legends of the game, along with cricket coaching and fitness training. Based on their performances each week, the judges will nominate the bottom four performers, out of whom the other contestants will evict two. Following which, the final eleven contestants, will be voted by television by phone or SMS. The contestant receiving the maximum votes cumulatively will be declared the Cricket Star. The show will culminate in the final episode in the end of March.

    The IIC has signed on Miditech Pvt. Ltd as the production house for the show.

  • Cellcast launches Sumo.TV in India

    Cellcast launches Sumo.TV in India

    MUMBAI: Cellcast Interactive India has launched Sumo.TV, a pioneering product offering India’s first end-to-end user-generated content (UGC) solution for broadcasters.

    “Sumo.TV invites individuals to share their personal or creative videos that could be featured on prime time television”, said Cellcast Plc, UK, vice president Mahesh Ramachandra. Sumo.TV has already been launched in the UK and China markets.

    “In the UK market we have started a 24-hour channel with the content contributed solely by viewers. This exceeds what even YouTube or MySpace can provide for their communities,” Ramachandra added. All content can be contributed through the newly-launched website, at www.sumo.in, where individuals can view, share and manage their own content.

    Said Cellcast Interactive India CEO Pankaj Thakar, “UGC reflects a fundamental change in audience behavior, especially in the 18-34 age group in India where most of them are spending time online or on mobile creating and sharing their own content. Sumo.TV offers them an outlet to share their content with millions through the power of television.”

    “Importantly, the content contributors can earn revenue whenever their videos are watched or shown on television,” he added. Every time a user’s content is downloaded by another user, shown on television, or streamed on mobile services, he will receive a percentage of received revenues. Effectively, Sumo.TV users are being invited to set up their own mini-channels.

    Sumo.TV, said Thakar, brings together a compelling consumer proposition, offering users new ways of finding that ‘15 minutes’ of fame, new ways of making money from personal content and new ways of expressing themselves and making friends. In the U.K., the Sumo.TV website (www.sumo.tv) alone has an average of 80000 unique visitors per day.

    “India is experiencing a truly dynamic phase in media technology convergence and we, at Cellcast, are delighted to launch the revolutionary product Sumo.TV in the market that will help us derive the benefits over a long period. Cellcast India plans to air the video content on local television and are currently in talks with a number of television channels about the same,” he added.

    All the best videos submitted to the website or via mobile phone are selected by trained staff and broadcast on Sumo.TV channels and programmes. Broadcasters who license Sumo.TV have immediate access to all the components of next-generation UGC programming including original user-generated content, UGC-oriented interactive TV formats, 3D video jukebox, content management system and production tools Video-sharing and community website mobile services. These tools and services allow a broadcaster to create anything from an hour-long weekly television show to an entire UGC-driven 24/7 television channel.

  • Disney to postpone ‘Hungamathon’ in Delhi and Kolkata

    Disney to postpone ‘Hungamathon’ in Delhi and Kolkata

     MUMBAI: Following the pandemonium that took place at the ‘Hungamathon’ (8 -15 year olds) organized by Disney owned kid’s broadcaster Hungama TV in Mumbai on 7 January, the channel has decided to postpone the mini marathon slated to kick off in the other two cities of Delhi and Kolkata on 14 and 28 January, respectively.

    A scroll running on the channel will indicate the change in schedule. However, a fixed date for the same has not been announced yet, confirms a Walt Disney spokeperson.

    An official statement issued by the channel prior to the event claimed that they had “received an overwhelming response of more than 90,000 entries across three cities in India, with close to 30,000 entries only from Mumbai.” However, later reports say that the organizers, Total Sports Asia, were only equipped to handle 15,000 registered participants.

    The Britannia Tiger sponsored ‘Hungamathon’ was to be planned, promoted and executed by Total Sports Asia in association with the Athletic Federation of India and conducted across the three major metros. However, the unexpected turn out in the number of participants and spectators gave way to a disorderly situation, in which a few children received injuries. This has now put the other two events on hold.

     

  • Apple launches iPhone, Cisco lawsuit

    Apple launches iPhone, Cisco lawsuit

    MUMBAI: A day after Steve Jobs introduced the latest must have gizmo from Apple Inc – the iPhone – computer networking giant Cisco has announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court seeking to prevent Apple from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco’s registered iPhone trademark.

    With its lawsuit, Cisco is seeking injunctive relief to prevent Apple from copying Cisco’s iPhone trademark, informs an official release.
    “Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Cisco senior vice president and general counsel Mark Chandler. “There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission.

    “Today’s iPhone is not tomorrow’s iPhone. The potential for convergence of the home phone, cell phone, work phone and PC is limitless, which is why it is so important for us to protect our brand,” Chandler concluded.

    Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 after completing the acquisition of Infogear, which previously owned the mark and sold iPhone products for several years. Infogear’s original filing for the trademark dates to 20 March 1996. Linksys, a division of Cisco, has been shipping a new family of iPhone products since early last year. On 18 December Linksys expanded the iPhone family with additional products.

    Apple fired back a rejoinder Wednesday claiming that several companies besides Cisco were currently using the iPhone brand name.

    “We believe that Cisco’s US trademark is tenuous at best,” Katie Cotton, Apple’s vice president for worldwide communications, has been quoted as saying. “We are the first company to use the iPhone name for a cellphone and we’re confident we will prevail.”

    How this case pans out will be closely watched but one certainty is that intellectual property lawyers will be laughing all the way to the bank as a consequence of this particular tussle.

  • Kasenna announces IPTV services innovation

    MUMBAI: The Indian arm of IPTV firm Kasenna Incorporated – Kasenna India today announced PortalTV 2.0, a suite of integrated products sporting a user interface and a Web services architecture designed to integrate the Internet and television.

    The “dynamic HTML-based smart client enables service providers to brand, control and differentiate their IPTV service experience and offerings,” a company release claims.

    “PortalTV 2.0 is based on open platforms and systems, enabling service providers to reduce their capital and operating expenditures by incorporating the standard server hardware and operating system of their choice – there are no proprietary integrations to work around,” said Kasenna CEO Kumar Shah.

    The PortalTV 2.0 suite comprises Kasenna LivingRoom 2.0 (IPTV middleware), LivingRoom Smart Client 2.0.1 (IPTV STB client), MediaBase 8.2 (the video delivery platform), vFusion 1.3 (video network management system), and content from ViewNow, a Kasenna company. Together, this suite of products – running on any industry-standard server – enables service providers to deliver an end-to-end system for interactive television, the release states.

    “PortalTV 2.0 has delivered to our telco customers the ability to be the first in offering next-generation MPEG-4 high-definition television,” said Hirendra Gupta, Managing Director and VP – Kasenna India and South East Asia.

    In India as well as throughout Asia, the future of IPTV lies in its ability to make programming come alive with interactive features such as gaming, quizzes or voting, or with the ability of users to click anywhere on the screen to buy or receive more information on a product or service. Kasenna is taking a leadership position in helping service providers roll out feature-rich interactive-TV services today, while providing a platform for marketing new services rapidly as they become available.

  • Visiware releases IPTV game channel

    Visiware releases IPTV game channel

    MUMBAI: Visiware has announced the release of its IPTV game channel, a turnkey solution with portals, back office and the Playin’TV catalog of casual games, available on Flash and HTML.

    This channel is fully compatible with Playin’TV triple play game offering, allowing players to continue to play and compete on TV, mobile and Internet.

    More than 25 games are already available, all of them specially made for the big screen experience and remote navigation. Visiware has already provided IPTV networks such as UCC in Kuwait and T-Online in Germany, asserts an official release.

    Visiware chairman Laurant Weill said, “This is a great opportunity for networks to generate new revenues and for Visiware to reach new markets. We will not only provide technology and content but also a 10 years expertise in successfully marketing iTV games.”

    “Agreements with major IPTV partners raises the bar for compelling IPTV games which are missing from most current IPTV offers usually ported from the net, but on the web this is a very different experience and human interface. We are looking forward to deploying on many more markets within the next months,” he added.

    The triple play offer includes specific advantages: cross-platform contests and leaderboards, ranking and offering a game to a friend, adds the release.

  • Cinemax sets IPO price band at Rs 135-155

    Cinemax sets IPO price band at Rs 135-155

    MUMBAI: Cinemax India Ltd, which runs a chain of exhibition theatres, has set a price band of Rs 135 to Rs 155 for its forthcoming 8.9 million-share initial public offer (IPO).

    The issue, which constitutes 31.86 per cent of the fully diluted share capital of the company, will enable Cinemax to raise Rs 1.38 billion at the top end of its price band.
    “We will be using the IPO proceeds to widen our presence from 33 screens in 10 properties to 141 screens at 42 locations by FY09. We will have a pan India presence, though our focus will be in strengthening our position in the northern and western regions of the country. We currently have a presence in Maharashtra,” Cinemax chairman Rasesh Kanakia said at a press conference.

    The company owns 8 of its properties while two are leased. “This is a major differentiator from the other theatre operators. But moving forward we would look at the rental model to ramp up the numbers. Our locations are at high catchment areas in affluent and middle class neighbourhoods,” he said. Inox is the other theatre exhibitor which has a predominantly ownership model.

    Cinemax plans to set up a eight-screen multiplex in Chandigarh and have seven gaming zones at its new locations. The company earns 76 per cent of its revenues from ticket sales and five per cent from advertisements, Kanakia said, adding that the company enjoyed leadership position in Mumbai with a 33 per cent market share.

    For the first half of the current fiscal, Cinemax posted a revenue of Rs 347.32 million and a net profit of Rs 21.39 million. In the previous year, it reported a turnover of Rs 438.6 million while its net profit stood at Rs 75.05 million. The company had 2.73 million patrons in the first half of this fiscal as against 3.67 million in FY06.

    Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd, which is also into the cinema exhibition business, recently raised Rs 844.4 million through an IPO and ended trading at the BSE on Wednesday at Rs 189.95.

  • SC reserves order in Sea vs Star case

    SC reserves order in Sea vs Star case

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today completed hearing arguments from both sides, Star TV and Sea TV, a franchise of WWIL, on the question of whether an a broadcaster’s agent could also be an MSO, and reserved its orders.

    The parties concerned have been asked to file written submissions within a week.The case relates to Sea TV, a WWIL franchise MSO based in Agra, which had requested signals from Star.

    However, Star had asked Sea TV to take the signals from one of their agents, Moon TV. It is then that Sea TV had pointed out that Moon TV is actually an MSO in competition with it, and had filed a case in the TDSAT, asking whether a broadcaster’s agent could also be an MSO.

    The TDSAT had earlier last year ruled against Star , who had then filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.

    The court heard the final arguments for two days over lengthy sessions, and reserved its orders.