ITV

Tag: Ugly Betty

  • BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    MUMBAI: Google’s YouTube may be facing the heat from the likes of Viacom on copy protection issues but the popularity of the online video network continues to grow. The British Broadcasting Corp. has struck a multi-year content deal with YouTube that will make programming available via three branded channels on the search giant’s video-sharing site.

    Three YouTube channels — one for news and two for entertainment — will carry content from BBC. BBC Worldwide will air promotional trailers for new programmes and clips from its old hit series on the website.

    The aim is to bring new audiences to the proposed BBC iPlayer service, and to secure commercial revenue via BBC Worldwide, its commercial subsidiary, to supplement the licence fee. 
    While the current deal includes its promotion of its non news programming, the publicly funded broadcaster also said that news clips will be added in the near future.

    From the BBC channel there will be content based on current hits such as Life on Mars and Doctor Who, while from BBC Worldwide there will be clips from old favorites such as Spooks and Top Gear, which are sold globally.

     
    The BBC Worldwide arm also plans to offer around 30 news items a day, though the advertising-funded news clips will not be available to users in Britain who pay the license fee that funds the BBC. The news channel will be launched later this year.

    The output will include specially created video diaries such as actor David Tennant taking viewers around the sets of Doctor Who and reporter Clive Myrie on the streets of the red zone of Baghdad.

    This would mirror the type of deal that YouTube has in place with US sports organisation NHL. Under the original deals the partners have used the platform for promotional purposes. Channel 4, for example, has a branded promotional channel plugging Ugly Betty.

    Several large broadcasters in the US have similar arrangements with YouTube including CBS, which claimed 200,000 extra viewers for The Late Show with David Letterman after clips from the show were posted on the video-sharing website.

     
    BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said: “This ground-breaking partnership between the BBC and YouTube is fantastic news for our audiences. YouTube is a key gateway through which to engage new audiences in the UK and abroad.

    “The partnership provides both a creative outlet for a range of short-form content from BBC programme makers and the opportunity to learn about new forms of audience behaviour. It’s essential that the BBC embraces new ways of reaching wider audiences with non-exclusive partnerships such as these.”

    Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt said,”We’re delighted to be joining forces with the BBC to bring the best TV programming available to the YouTube community. We will continue to invest in our platforms and technologies to help our partners make the most of the enormous opportunities presented by the billion people now online.”

    YouTube CEO and Co-Founder Chad Hurley said, “We’re constantly looking for innovative ways to bring the best content to our community. The BBC is a premier source for quality programming, and we’re excited that they are leading the way in enabling two-way dialogue and real engagement with an entirely new audience. We hope to open up an entirely new audience for their content, while deepening their relationship with their existing viewers.”

  • Banff World Television Festival announces participants for Master Class series

    Banff World Television Festival announces participants for Master Class series

    MUMBAI: The Banff World Television Festival organisers have announced participants for its Master Class Series.

    The event takes place in Banff, Canada from 10-13 June 2007.

    The lineup will include Mike Clattenburg who wrote, directed and produced the comedy series The Trailer Park Boys, Greg Daniels who is an executive producer of The Office, Lifetime Entertainment Services president entertanment Susanne Daniels and Ben Silverman who is an executive producer of The Office, and Ugly Betty.

    Clattenburg and Daniels will participate in this year’s Master Class sessions, which focus on the development and production of TV’s most popular series and provide a framework for dialogue between the “Master” and the audience. Globe & Mail columnist John Doyle (in addition to taking part on a panel discussing TV criticism and its impact on the industry), will be interviewing Clattenburg for the latter’s Master Class appearance.

    Daniels and Silverman will be interviewed by New York Times reporter and best-selling author Bill Carter for the In Conversation… series at this year’s Festival. These one-hour forums are an opportunity for high profile television visionaries and creators to be interviewed one-on-one by equally engaging media personalities, in front of the Festival audience. These informal conversations draw out insights from participants and are among the most popular with delegates.

  • ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘The Office’ triumph at Sag Awards

    ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘The Office’ triumph at Sag Awards

    MUMBAI: At the Screen Actors Guild (Sag) Awards in the US, ABC’s medical soap Grey’s Anatomy, which airs in India on Star World, and NBC’s sitcom The Office won the top prizes for best ensemble in a drama and comedy respectively.

    With the exception of The Office most of the other wins in television followed the same pattern as the Golden Globe awards. Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons won for their roles in HBO’s Elizabeth I.

    Alec Baldwin, who stars in 30 Rock and America Ferrera, who stars in Ugly Betty, won in the comedy categories. In the drama category the trophies went to Hugh Laurie for House and Chandra Wilson for Grey’s Anatomy.

    In film, all the acting wins were the same as the Golden Globes. So Mirren won for The Queen, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson won for Dreamgirls and Forest Whitaker won for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The only differance is that the ensemble award went to the comedy Little Miss Sunshine which beat Dreamgirls, The Departed, The Queen and Babel.

    At the Oscar Awards which will air on Star Movies on 26 February 2007, the acting awards should mirror both the Sag and Golden Globes. With this kind of predictability a lot will depend on what the host Ellen DeGeneres and the organisers come up with to sustain viewer interest. The big one Best Picture is up in the air though Little Miss Sunshine is a little bit in front having won both Sag and the producers guild awards.

  • Disney’s Ugly Betty sits pretty as No.1 show in NZ

    Disney’s Ugly Betty sits pretty as No.1 show in NZ

    MUMBAI: The 2007 Golden Globes is an affirmation of the phenomenal popularity of Walt Disney Company’s Ugly Betty. Riding high on all the adulation, the series has just got a fillip as it premiered in New Zealand. The series, aired on TVNZ’s TV2 on 16 January at 8:30 pm, was the highest rated show of the night.

    The show was telecast in New Zealand a day after its awards romp at the Globes. Attracting an average audience of 613,600 viewers, the series captured a remarkable 18.58 per cent rating share in age group 18-39. Similar to its performance in the US, it was the nation’s female viewership that drove a massive 70 per cent share of its viewership.

    “We couldn’t be more pleased with Ugly Betty’s performance in New Zealand,” commented BVITV’s senior vice president and management director in Asia Pacific Steve Macallister. “We are confident that this endearing and universal fish-out-of-water tale will continue to warm the hearts of viewers as it launches across the region.”

    l In Asia Pacific, Ugly Betty has already been licensed by The Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP) to ten broadcasters. TVNZ was the first to premiere in the region. The next launch dates across the region include Korea (KBS) on 3 Feb, Singapore (MediaCorp TV) on 5 Feb, Malaysia (8TV) on 6 Feb and Hong Kong (TVB Pearl) on 15 March. Australia (Seven Network), pan-regional (STAR World), India (STAR India), Korea (CJ Media Channel CGV) and Fiji (Fiji TV) have also licensed the series with air dates not yet announced.

    On 15 January Ugly Betty received a Golden Globe for Best Television Comedy with series star America Ferrera taking home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical.

    Ugly Betty (Touchstone Television) is the number one new comedy of the 2006-07 television season with both total viewers and adults 18-49 in the US. Ugly Betty has greatly improved the time period for ABC, nearly doubling its year-ago delivery in both total viewers and adults 18-49. The series was launched in the UK on Friday 5 January with the highest premiere ratings for a US comedy on Channel 4 in 10 years.

    The series is licensed by Disney’s Buena Vista international Television (BVITV).

  • Disney’s Ugly Betty sits pretty as No.1 show in NZ

    Disney’s Ugly Betty sits pretty as No.1 show in NZ

    MUMBAI: The 2007 Golden Globes is an affirmation of the phenomenal popularity of Walt Disney Company’s Ugly Betty. Riding high on all the adulation, the series has just got a fillip as it premiered in New Zealand. The series, aired on TVNZ’s TV2 on 16 January at 8:30 pm, was the highest rated show of the night.

    The show was telecast in New Zealand a day after its awards romp at the Globes. Attracting an average audience of 613,600 viewers, the series captured a remarkable 18.58 per cent rating share in age group 18-39. Similar to its performance in the US, it was the nation’s female viewership that drove a massive 70 per cent share of its viewership.

    “We couldn’t be more pleased with Ugly Betty’s performance in New Zealand,” commented BVITV’s senior vice president and management director in Asia Pacific Steve Macallister. “We are confident that this endearing and universal fish-out-of-water tale will continue to warm the hearts of viewers as it launches across the region.”

    l In Asia Pacific, Ugly Betty has already been licensed by The Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP) to ten broadcasters. TVNZ was the first to premiere in the region. The next launch dates across the region include Korea (KBS) on 3 Feb, Singapore (MediaCorp TV) on 5 Feb, Malaysia (8TV) on 6 Feb and Hong Kong (TVB Pearl) on 15 March. Australia (Seven Network), pan-regional (STAR World), India (STAR India), Korea (CJ Media Channel CGV) and Fiji (Fiji TV) have also licensed the series with air dates not yet announced.

    On 15 January Ugly Betty received a Golden Globe for Best Television Comedy with series star America Ferrera taking home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical.

    Ugly Betty (Touchstone Television) is the number one new comedy of the 2006-07 television season with both total viewers and adults 18-49 in the US. Ugly Betty has greatly improved the time period for ABC, nearly doubling its year-ago delivery in both total viewers and adults 18-49. The series was launched in the UK on Friday 5 January with the highest premiere ratings for a US comedy on Channel 4 in 10 years.

    The series is licensed by Disney’s Buena Vista international Television (BVITV).

  • Disney licenses ‘Ugly Betty’ to Spanish broadcaster Cuatro

    Disney licenses ‘Ugly Betty’ to Spanish broadcaster Cuatro

    MUMBAI: Disney’s international TV distribution arm, Buena Vista International Television (BVITV), has announced that Spanish free TV broadcaster Cuatro will launch the Golden Globe -winning show Ugly Betty to its viewers later this year.

    Yesterday the show won a Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. America Ferrera (who plays Betty Suarez) also received a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

    The show was adapted in India by Sony as Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin. Ugly Betty follows Betty Suarez, a seemingly plain, but intelligent and hard-working, secretary at fashion magazine Mode. Few people get to know her because in the world of fashion, Betty is the oversized square peg in the petite round hole. When publishing mogul Bradford Meade hands the reigns of his fashion magazine over to his son Daniel (Eric Mabius), he hires Betty as his son’s new assistant, because she’s the only woman in NYC who Daniel won’t sleep with. Neither of them knows the ins and outs of the fashion world, but together they’re a formidable team against the label-wearing sharks who will do anything to see them fail.

    Ugly Betty is based on Yo Soy Betty La Fea the Colombian telenovela. Cuatro has also picked up the other Touchstone Television series Day Break and Six Degrees. Taye Diggs stars in the thriller Day Break that takes a bad day and multiplies it by infinity. Detective Brett Hopper (Diggs) is having a hellacious day; the kind of day where nothing goes his way and he just can’t wait to put it behind him… only he can’t, because he’s living the same day over and over again. Only when Hopper figures out why his life is broken and how to fix it will he awaken to a brand new day.

    Six Degrees created by J.J Abrams Lost, is an ensemble drama which follows the notion that everybody is connected to one another by a chain of six people, which means that nobody is a stranger for long. Six very different New Yorkers go about their lives not realising the impact they’re having on each other – yet. A mysterious web of coincidences will gradually draw them closer, changing the course of their lives forever.

  • Ugly Betty bags two Globes in its first season

    Ugly Betty bags two Globes in its first season

    Mumbai : The stars rained down on the 64th Annual Golden

    Globe awards as Hollywood turned out in full force to cheer the best in television and motion pictures held at the Bevery Hilton Hotel. Glittering in diamonds and driving the media frenzy were actors like Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Hugh Grant Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hanks, Salma Hayek, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Dustin Hoffman, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lopez, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Hilary Swank, Reese Witherspoon and Renee Zellweger amongst others. Over 50 Hollywood presenters were selected by the HFA and Golden Globe including Leonardo Di Caprio nominated for Blood Diamond and The Departed and Meryl Streep a 6 time Golden Globe winner who won the best actress in a comedy for her role of a wicked fashion editor in The Devil Wears Prada.

    While Hollywood star power takes centre stage at the ceremony the Golden Globe awards is also a time for the best in television entertainment to be honored.And the top honours went to ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy for best television series (drama).

    Kyra Sedgwick won the best actress award in a television series (drama) for her role in TNT’s Closer while Hugh Laurie took home the Golden Globe for the best actor performance in Fox’s House in the same category.

    Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives both highly watched series on ABC were pitted against each other in the best televisions series musical or comedy. Ugly Betty originally a hit Spanish-language telenovela brought to the United States and shown on ABC, won for best musical or comedy series and its star, America Ferrera, was best actress in a comedy. NBC’s 30 Rock won Alec Baldwin a globe for his performance as the best actor in a comedy.And HBO ensured itself a hatrick of awards with its mini series. Helen Mirren as best actress, Jeremy Irons as best supporting actor and the best mini series was bagged by Elizabeth I.

    Helen Mirren has had an exceptionally brilliant run as she was a triple nominee for Monday’s Golden Globe for The Queen and Elizabeth I as well as the television film Prime Suspect: The Final Act.She won best actress awards for playing two Queen Elizabeths: one for the television mini-series Elizabeth I and the second for portraying Elizabeth II in the film The Queen. BBC with its mini series Gideon’s Daughter won Bill Nighy the best actor and Emily Blunt the best supporting actress in a mini series awards.

    Tom Hanks presented actor Warren Beatty with this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for his outstanding contribution to the entertainment field. The Cecil B. DeMille award winners are chosen by the HFPA board of directors and presented each year.

    The Disney-Pixar film Cars won best animated feature in the debut category for animation at the Globes.

    The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards is telecast across 150 countries worldwide and is one of the few awards ceremonies to span both television and motion picture achievements.

    Each year HFPA members interview more than 250 actors, directors, writers and producers, as well as reporting from film sets and seeing more than 300 films.

    Hollywood stars have a special reason to be seen at the Golden Globes.The awards, which are voted on by nearly 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are a major stop on the road to the 25 February Academy Awards because winners here often go on to compete for Oscars — the film industry’s top awards.

    The top honours in motion picture category were picked up by Babel for best motion picture drama while Martin Scorsese won the best director for his film The Departed giving it a shot in the arm for the Oscars as well.The Academy award has deluded the director despite repeated nominations.

    Dream Girls picked up a host of awards including awards for Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy. The comedy Borat won Sacha Cohen a best actor in a motion picture comedy and could throw up some surprises even at the Oscars.

    The Oscar nominations will be announced on the evening of 23 January and the awards will be given out at the star studded event on 25 February.

     

  • Star World to telecast ‘Golden Globes’ live on 16 January

    Star World to telecast ‘Golden Globes’ live on 16 January

    MUMBAI: Star World is ready to kick off the year with the live telecast of the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards on 16 January at 6.30 am and a prime – time special telecast at 8 pm.

    This year the film that that leads the race as the most nominated film overall is Babel, which receives seven nods, including one for Best Motion Picture (Drama). Clint Eastwood has drawn dual director nods for his World War II epics Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, while Leonardo DiCaprio grabs two nominations for his starring roles in The Departed and Blood Diamond.

    The British comedy actor Sacha Baron Cohen is nominated Best Actor (Comedy or Musical) with his controversial comedy film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which will also compete with The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine and Thank You for Smoking for the award of Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical). Beyoncé Knowles received a nod for Best Actress (Comedy or Musical) for Dreamgirls, while Jennifer Hudson, the American Idol runner-up turned Golden Globe front-runner, received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Comedy or Musical), informs and official release.

    For television, Heroes, the brand new drama series, has been nominated for two awards – Best TV Series (Drama) and Best Supporting Actor (Drama). Masi Oka, the Japanese actor who propelled his way from anonymity into one of the most beloved characters of the show, will compete with veteran character actors like Jeremy Irons and Jeremy Piven, for the acting award.

    Apart from Heroes, another brand new series Ugly Betty is also generating almost the same amount of attentions, receiving two nods – for Best TV Series (Comedy or Musical) and Best Actress for America Ferrera’s leading role. The other hot newcomer is 30 Rock, for which Alec Baldwin has been nominated for the award of Best Actor (Comedy or Musical). He is competing against Zach Braff (Scrub), Steve Carrell (The Office), Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) and Tony Shalhoub (Monk).

    Also in the centre of the Golden spotlight is Grey’s Anatomy. The medical drama has received four nominations, including Best TV Series (Drama). Patrick Dempsey is nominated for Best Actor, when Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigel receive nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Last year’s winner of Best TV Series (Comedy or Musical), Desperate Housewives, is back again this year to do battle with Entourage, The Office, Ugly Betty and Weeds, adds the release.

    The evening will welcome star-studded presenters like Reese Witherspoon, Felicity Huffman, Salma Hayek, Ben Stiller and Justin Timberlake, George Clooney, Rachel Weisz, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Stamos, Cameron Diaz, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hilary Swank, James Woods amongst others.

    Warren Beatty will receive this years’ Cecil B. DeMile Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who organizes the event, for his outstanding contribution to the entertainment field. The Golden Globes honour outstanding achievement in both motion pictures and television, making it one of the few ceremonies to cover both industries.

    The telecast for the same will follow the schedule below:
    – 16 January at 9am HKT (Live), 8pm HKT (prime-time special telecast)
    – 17 January at 00:20am and 11am
    – 21 January at 12pm (repeat).
     

  • ABC to keep ‘Lost’ fans entertained through moments

    ABC to keep ‘Lost’ fans entertained through moments

    MUMBAI: To keep fans enticed until the second half of the adventure show Lost premieres in February 2007, US broadcaster ABC and ABC.com will feature Lost Moments.

    From today 15 November the first Lost Moment will premiere randomly during the new drama Day Break. Comprised of 30 seconds of footage of upcoming episodes, there will be a total of 12 Lost Moments, one during each airing of Day Break. After Day Break the Lost Moments will be available on ABC.com. In India Lost airs on Star Movies.

    How did Locke ended up in a wheelchair? Will Sawyer be killed? Did Walt and Michael make it off the island? To answer these questions fans can can help create a Lost wiki with discussions on the latest episode, updates about season three or discussions about the previous seasons; definitions; mythology; message boards; profiles of the characters and how theyre connected; and even haiku! The Lost wiki is hosted and powered by Wetpaint.

    Also recently added to the Lost site on ABC.com are the Lost Theories board and weekly audio podcasts and regular video podcasts. All six complete episodes from season three will remain on the site available to viewers for free, to keep fans connected and allow new viewers to get caught up for the second half of the season.

    There were nearly 19 million episodes initiated online at ABC.com in the first six weeks since relaunching the enhanced broadband player on 22 September 2006. The broadband video player, winner of an Interactive Emmy in the category of enhanced or interactive programming-new delivery platforms, is a permanent feature on the website. The player offers full episodes of six primetime series including Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Six Degrees and The Nine, the day after they air on ABC.

  • ABC to air ‘Ugly Betty’ full season

    ABC to air ‘Ugly Betty’ full season

    MUMBAI: The American version The Ugly Betty or the original Colombian show Yo Soy Betty La Fea or the Indianised version Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin has charmed audiences of all territories. 

    The US network ABC has given a full-season order to Ugly Betty, which has emerged as the most-watched new series of the 2006-07 season.

    Produced by Salma Hayek and stars America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, the show has already established itself a solid second to CBS’ Survivor at 8 pm. 

    Among the age bracket of 18-49 years, the show Ugly Betty has drawn an average rating/share of 4.7/13, while holding the top position on average with adults 18-34 year (4.0/12). The show has improved the time period for ABC by 96 per cent in total viewers (15.3 million against 7.8 million) and by 92 per cent in adults 18-49 (4.8/14 against 2.5/7) over the same nights last year, according to media reports.

    ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson noted, “In just two weeks Ugly Betty has given us an impressive foothold leading into the Grey’s Anatomy hour on Thursday night. The show has proven to be competitive in a very strong time period, and we’re thrilled with Ugly Betty’s performance.”

    In India, the version Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin aired on Sony and had won 3.6 average TVR for the first week of its launch in 2003. The show and the lead character Jassi had become the unofficial mascot for Sony. 

    SET CEO Kunal Dasgupta told to indiantelevision.com in 2004, that Jassi had fetched Sony four million new viewers in the general entertainment category, while the slot sampling too has grown by 300 per cent in the first one year. “The TVRs, naturally, have also shot up by over 300 per cent,” he says.