ITV

Tag: U.K.

  • Colors Infinity takes Mr. Robot across 12 countries via Facebook Live

    Colors Infinity takes Mr. Robot across 12 countries via Facebook Live

    MUMBAI: This week on Facebook Live, fans of the award-winning series MR. ROBOT witnessed a widespread global marketing stunt courtesy Colors Intinity. For the unique, coordinated campaign, the show’s iconic fsociety “hacked” the MR. ROBOT Facebook page between 1.30AM IST and 7.30PM IST on July 8, to issue a global message against Evil Corp and deliver rants from “fsociety members,” who subscribe to the group’s tenets and mission.

    The international movement kicked off in the United States and then rolled out across 12 countries including the U.K., Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India — all of which will premiere Mr. Robot’s second season next week.

    While the distinct rants are tonally and thematically similar, each propaganda message was customized by country and delivered in the region’s native tongue. All rants began with the same declaration: “Brothers and sisters, we are fsociety,” an expression of their unified mission — and closed with their hope for the future, “Together we can build a new world where we are finally free.”

    Following each Facebook Live rant, a two minute clip from the series’ July 14 Season 2 premiere was unveiled to fans. The clip featured a flashback of stars Rami Malek and Martin Wallström minutes before their characters, Elliot and Tyrell Wellick, executed the five/nine hack on Evil Corp.

    Viacom18 programming head of English entertainment Hashim D’Souza said, “Passionate fans around the globe have embraced the spirit of MR. ROBOT, and we were excited to have India as part of this phenomenon. The fan fervor and interest in the show inspired us to be part of this coordinated global campaign around the second season premiere. Adding to the excitement, week-on-week fans in India will get to watch their favorite show immediately after its US telecast through Instant Premiere on the channel starting with a 2-hour special premiere episode.”

    The multiple award-winning and critically acclaimed drama MR. ROBOT was one of the most buzzed about series of 2015. The second season of Mr. Robot is all set to premiere with two back-to-back episodes on Thursday, July 14 at 12 noon only on Colors Infinity.

  • Colors Infinity takes Mr. Robot across 12 countries via Facebook Live

    Colors Infinity takes Mr. Robot across 12 countries via Facebook Live

    MUMBAI: This week on Facebook Live, fans of the award-winning series MR. ROBOT witnessed a widespread global marketing stunt courtesy Colors Intinity. For the unique, coordinated campaign, the show’s iconic fsociety “hacked” the MR. ROBOT Facebook page between 1.30AM IST and 7.30PM IST on July 8, to issue a global message against Evil Corp and deliver rants from “fsociety members,” who subscribe to the group’s tenets and mission.

    The international movement kicked off in the United States and then rolled out across 12 countries including the U.K., Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India — all of which will premiere Mr. Robot’s second season next week.

    While the distinct rants are tonally and thematically similar, each propaganda message was customized by country and delivered in the region’s native tongue. All rants began with the same declaration: “Brothers and sisters, we are fsociety,” an expression of their unified mission — and closed with their hope for the future, “Together we can build a new world where we are finally free.”

    Following each Facebook Live rant, a two minute clip from the series’ July 14 Season 2 premiere was unveiled to fans. The clip featured a flashback of stars Rami Malek and Martin Wallström minutes before their characters, Elliot and Tyrell Wellick, executed the five/nine hack on Evil Corp.

    Viacom18 programming head of English entertainment Hashim D’Souza said, “Passionate fans around the globe have embraced the spirit of MR. ROBOT, and we were excited to have India as part of this phenomenon. The fan fervor and interest in the show inspired us to be part of this coordinated global campaign around the second season premiere. Adding to the excitement, week-on-week fans in India will get to watch their favorite show immediately after its US telecast through Instant Premiere on the channel starting with a 2-hour special premiere episode.”

    The multiple award-winning and critically acclaimed drama MR. ROBOT was one of the most buzzed about series of 2015. The second season of Mr. Robot is all set to premiere with two back-to-back episodes on Thursday, July 14 at 12 noon only on Colors Infinity.

  • ‘Star Wars’ propels Disney’s 2015 global box office to $5 billion

    ‘Star Wars’ propels Disney’s 2015 global box office to $5 billion

    MUMBAI: With final numbers now in, Star Wars: The Force Awakens rose above estimates to post an all-time industry-high $248 million in North America plus $281 million internationally for an all-time record global debut of $529 million since opening day-and-date 16 December. This excludes any grosses from China, where the film opens 9 January, as well as Greece and India, where it opens this week.

     

    Domestically, Disney now holds four of the top five debuts of all time. In addition to posting the biggest Thursday preview gross ($57 million) and the biggest Friday and single-day ever ($119.1 million), Star Wars: The Force Awakens set a new Sunday record of $60.5 million. Internationally, it was the biggest opening weekend ever in numerous territories including the U.K. (four-day), Australia, Russia, and Germany.

     

    Yesterday, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said of the historic debut, “Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves. To all of the fans around the world who not only came out in Force to make this such an exciting and astronomical debut but who treated this film as their own and helped preserve the experience for their fellow fans by not spoiling it—thank you, we do.”

     

    Company Box Office Milestones Reached:

     

    The galactic debut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has pushed The Walt Disney Studios to its highest year on record. Today, Disney will cross the $5 billion mark in global box office in a calendar year for the first time ever, surpassing the previous full-year record of $4.73 billion set in 2013. The studio has also reached new highs domestically with $1.851 billion and internationally with $3.134 billion through 20 December. The previous best for each was also set in 2013 with $1.719 billion domestic and $3.013 billion international.

     

    These 2015 milestones were reached with outstanding performances from films across Disney’s brands, including Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron ($459 million domestic; $946 million int’l; $1.4 billion global), Disney• Pixar’sInside Out ($356.4 million domestic; $499 million int’l; $855.4 million global), Disney’s Cinderella ($201.1 million domestic; $341.4 million int’l; $542.5 million global), Marvel’s Ant-Man ($180.1 million domestic; $339 million int’l; $519.1 million global), as well as Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 2014 release Big Hero 6 ($305 million globally during the 2015 calendar year).

  • GroupM ups U.K. ad growth forecast to 7% for 2015 & 2016

    GroupM ups U.K. ad growth forecast to 7% for 2015 & 2016

    MUMBAI: U.K advertising spending in 2015 is anticipated to grow by seven per cent, and in 2016 GroupM predicts strong demand for digital advertising will usher another year of strong advertising growth (also seven per cent), pushing total U.K. advertising investment above ?17 billion. 

    The new GroupM forecast released raises the prior 2015 estimate by one point (six to seven per cent) and raises the 2016 outlook by two points (five to seven per cent).

    If GroupM’s forecasts prove accurate, 2016 will mark the fifth straight year in which U.K. ad spending has outpaced the Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth (2012-2016). The U.K. is again the fastest-growing mature advertising market worldwide and is among the world’s fastest-growing markets full stop.

    “Digital technology and media platforms continue to expand the role media plays in marketing and as a result media investment is both growing and shifting. Digital advertising represents a tremendous opportunity for clients to create more targeted media campaigns that activate consumers, but it has also added enormous complexity and our group continues to solve this with strategy, innovation and investment. The year ahead is a promising one for growth of overall media investment as we work with clients to tap into empowering economic trends we see empowering U.K. consumerism,” said GroupM, United Kingdom CEO Nick Theakstone. 

    GroupM identified a number of economic factors underpinning its U.K. predictions. The nation currently enjoys the highest recorded employment rate in its history with 74 per cent of the working-aged populace in jobs. Additionally, workers’ real wages have risen near to their 2008 peak, while consumer-price inflation has not similarly risen, at least not yet. Low energy prices and property wealth are additional tailwinds for a very positive outlook on U.K. consumerism, and as a result GroupM believes U.K. consumers will be spending more next year. U.K. advertisers will marshal their efforts to seize this opportunity with a strong increase in media investment.

    GroupM’s forecasted distribution of advertising investment growth across media formats is detailed below:

    With this updated forecast, GroupM introduces a new category dubbed ‘Pure-Play Internet,’ which is ‘Digital’ minus TV and print content repatriated back to its parent media. This allows for broadcaster VOD and digital platforms to be considered together with ‘TV,’ and likewise for print media to have the benefit of their digital assets when viewing the pace of their contraction.

    GroupM believes this more sober view of how ad investment is shifting across categories better supports industry dialogue and trend analysis. However, while delineating Pure Play Internet gives legacy media a fairer consideration, the impact is slight on the still rapid growth of the internet category which is estimated to be 13 per cent in 2016. On like-for-like comparison, this is a slight deceleration from 2013 to 2014, but Pure Play Internet will still grow far faster than second-fastest-growing TV which will realize 7.4 per cent growth in 2016. It should be noted that the growth performance of TV is strong in its own right, and the prediction holds for a fractional share gain in 2015 and 2016.

    “The influence of digital is everywhere. It suggests that legacy media channels must think and behave like media brands or what could be dubbed ‘audience brands.’ Digital’s influence is also pulling trading toward a more common GRP basis versus the idiosyncratic variety of the present, creating urgency to discriminate between correlation and causality, and driving demand for better reporting standards,” said Futures director Adam Smith. “With this year’s U.K. forecast we seek to make better sense of the investment trends across categories with ‘Pure Play Internet.’ We feel this is essential as content continues to rise with the browsing appetites of our increasingly digital culture.”

  • Stephen Fry to host BAFTA for the ninth time

    Stephen Fry to host BAFTA for the ninth time

    MUMBAI: Writer, broadcaster and comedian Stephen Fry is returning as the host of BAAFTA, 2014.

     

    “The awful truth is out — in 2014 l’ll be hosting the @BAFTA Film Awards for the 9th year,” Fry tweeted.

     

    The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) will dish out its movie honors on 16 February, 2014 at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden.
    Last year’s BBC One show enjoyed its highest ratings since 2004. The ceremony will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One in the U.K. and in all major territories around the world.