ITV

Tag: UK

  • NDTV is no 1 in the UK

    NDTV is no 1 in the UK

    MUMBAI: NDTV, UK’s longest running Indian news channel is the top choice for the Indian elections coverage. Backed by a huge marketing campaign on radio, television and online, NDTV 24×7 is witnessing record audience figures since it joined the audience measuring body, BARB. Data for week ending 27th April shows the channel is the most watched Indian news broadcaster. NDTV has sustained consistent viewership for the last four weeks.

    Today, 16 May NDTV will present non-stop programming from 7am when viewers will be able to watch Prannoy Roy, India’s election Guru on India Decides – The Final Countdown, starting from 7:00am (IST) on NDTV 24×7, presenting the first and most credible look at who India has voted for.

    The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) is the official source of television viewing figures in the UK. It commissions specialist research companies Ipsos MORI, Kantar Media and RSMB to collect data that represent the television viewing behavior of the UK. On a weekly basis, BARB publishes a weekly reach data of the channels who’ve subscribed to BARB. As per BARB official data NDTV 24×7 is no.1 / most viewed Indian news channel in UK. Following is the last 4 week published data.

    NDTV’s 10 most popular programmes are

     

  • IndiaCast to build ‘News 18 India’ brand internationally

    IndiaCast to build ‘News 18 India’ brand internationally

    MUMBAI:  Within a year of it first launching in the UK, IndiaCast is playing on the on-going general elections card and taking the news brand News 18 India to other parts of the world.

     

    The channel that first began broadcasting in the UK in July last year and had content from CNN –IBN with customisation to fit local taste, has now gone ahead and launched it in Singapore and the middle east as well. Deals have been inked with Mio TV by SingTel in Singapore and e-Vision by Etisalat in the Middle East.

     

    The channel will offer news from the country which includes current affairs, politics, local weather and business news. “We want to expand the news business globally but differently. We are creating a hybrid channel with a lot of business content as well. We have the expertise with CNBC and moneycontrol.com. So ‘News 18 India’ will feature market opening, market closing, daily market roundup, weekly market roundup etc. The programming will be made for our international feed by teams here but won’t be shown to the Indian channels,” says IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi speaking to indiantelevision.com.

     

    The world has shifted its focus to India due to the general elections, giving IndiaCast, a good enough reason to launch it now. Within the next two- three months, the channel will also be launched in the US, Canada and other global markets.

     

    The network feels that News 18 India in the UK was a huge success leading it to being build globally. Going forward it is also exploring options of inserting capsules of local news. “We want to make it an international service for looking into India. Outside India, people don’t want to carry four channels but they want to know the political news and business news. So we are providing them one wholesome channel. India is important to the world and now since elections are happening we have upped the game on News 18,” adds Gandhi.

     

    This apart, five of its ETV GECs have been launched on e-Vision’s platform eLife TV- ETV Marathi, ETV Bangla, ETV Telugu, ETV Gujarati and ETV Urdu.

     

    Additionally, Rishtey which recently set its foot on the Indian soil will also be traveling countries very soon. US and Australia are the next markets to launch Rishtey but with different, customised feed. “We launched Rishtey first in UK as an FTA channel.  Then we saw potential for it in India and so we got it as an FTA channel here too. When we launch it in other parts of the world, it won’t be FTA, but a pay TV service,” highlights Gandhi.

     

    Rishtey in the UK has content from both India as well as Pakistan and it aims to keep its differentiation in other markets too. As of now, Rishtey in India, which just finished distribution across various platforms, is now looking at getting advertisements. 

     

    The network also recently launched the Asia-Pacific feed for its flagship channel Colors.

  • Sony’s video service Crackle leaves UK shores

    Sony’s video service Crackle leaves UK shores

    MUMBAI: The Sony run video service – Crackle – is no more crackling among UK users and the media conglomerate has had to take the tough call of shutting it down completely from 1 April.  

     

    The company posted a notice about the closure on Crackle’s UK homepage that read: “We’d like to thank all those who have supported and enjoyed Crackle UK. As of April 1, 2014 Crackle’s UK service will no longer be operating.”

     

    Crackle offers viewers free, ad-supported video content, including full-length movies and TV series. The service also operates in US as well as Canada, Australia and close to 20 countries across Latin America, and those operations will not be affected by this closure.

     

    One of the major reasons for the call to shut shop in UK seems to be the increasingly competitive market in the country. Netflix entered UK two years ago and reached out to an estimated 1.5 million subscribers and there is also Amazon, which has been fighting hard to stay relevant by closely aligning its Lovefilm service with its core brand.

     

    Both companies have also tried to outbid each other on content rights for British viewers, undeniably raising the costs for Crackle and any other third-party service to compete. And in the case of Crackle, Sony also had to monetise the service through ads, which may be even harder in a comparably small market like UK.

  • Keshet UK hires Sammy Nourmand as COO

    Keshet UK hires Sammy Nourmand as COO

    MUMBAI: Keshet UK, part of Keshet International, has appointed Sammy Nourmand to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer, as it steps up the pace of its UK production business and underlines its commitment to the UK market. Nourmand’s appointment is effective immediately giving him oversight of ITV’s version of Keshet’s interactive talent show RISING STAR and several more projects in the development pipeline with UK broadcasters.

    Based in London, Nourmand will report to Alon Shtruzman, CEO of Keshet International which also has local production offices in Canada, Australia, Keshet/DCP in the US in addition to the company’s distribution arm.

    Sammy brings over 20 years’ experience in the UK’s independent TV sector, having worked on a large number of shows including big budget productions for broadcasters in both the UK and US. He was most recently CEO of DCD Media before leaving in late 2012 to take up various consultancy roles with UK and US-based production companies, includingKeshet.

    Keshet International, CEO, Alon Shtruzman said “As our UK office goes from strength to strength I’m delighted to have Sammy on board to navigate our journey during this significant growth period. The experience he has built over many years in the industry will be a great asset to us.”

    Sammy Nourmand added “The lure of Keshet’s impressive track record in creating successful shows and Alon’s irrepressible enthusiasm were hard to resist. I’m pleased to be joining Keshet at this exciting time.”

    Nourmand began his career at Michael Hurll Television, working on the British Comedy Awards. He joined September Films in 1998 and went on to become CEO in 2005. Under his stewardship, the company enjoyed its longest period of sustained growth and stability, more than trebling its turnover and establishing a US office. It was acquired by DCD Media in August 2007.

    Nourmand served as DCD’s Interim COO in 2009 and became an Executive Director in 2011 before his appointment as CEO in February in 2012. During this timehe played a key role setting up joint ventures with UK production companies Matchlight, Rize Television USA and bringing Sequence Post Production into the Group.

     

  • UK TV ad market reached record high in 2013

    UK TV ad market reached record high in 2013

    MUMBAI: According to last year’s complete revenue figures released by Thinkbox – compiled on the basis of figures provided by UK’s commercial broadcasters – the total TV advertising revenue in UK rose 3.5 per cent in 2013 to ?4.63 billion ($7.75 billion).

     

    Last year marked the fourth consecutive year that TV ad revenue had growth in the UK. TV ad investment is forecast to increase again this year, boosted by the World Cup in Brazil. The Advertising Association/Warc predicts growth in revenue for the TV ad market of six per cent in 2014.

     

    There were 737 new or returning advertisers to TV for the year, accounting for two per cent of total TV ad revenues. TV advertising prices for the year were also the cheapest on record, some 38.5 per cent less expensive than 20 years ago.

     

    Commercial impressions (the number of TV ads watched at normal speed) during 2013 were up 1.6 per cent on 2012, and have grown by 10.4 per cent over the last five years. The average viewer watched 47 ads a day. This is four ads more a day than five years ago. Collectively UK watched an average of 2.8 billion ads a day in the first half of the year.

  • TV sets preferred in UK as viewing medium

    TV sets preferred in UK as viewing medium

    MUMBAI: According to a recent research from Thinkbox, 98.5 per cent of television viewing in the UK in 2013 was through a TV set, with just 1.5 per cent on other devices.

    The average Briton tuned in to just under four hours of TV a day, with the bulk of that, 3 hours and 52 minutes, dedicated to linear television. The average viewing was down slightly in 2012, largely due to the lack of any major sporting events.

    Meanwhile, there was an average of 3 minutes and 30 seconds a day of viewing on tablets, smartphones and laptops, largely on-demand but also including some live streaming. Non-TV-set viewing is up slightly on the 1.2 per cent from 2012.

    Thinkbox – using data from BARB – also points out that the average person watched 2 hours and 33 minutes of commercial television a day, accounting for 68 per cent of linear viewing, up from 66 per cent in 2012. Among those aged 16 to 34, commercial TV accounted for 76 per cent of linear viewing.

  • Star Life OK to show Asia Cup 2014 live in UK & Europe

    Star Life OK to show Asia Cup 2014 live in UK & Europe

    MUMBAI: All the cricket hungry fans across UK and Europe have reason to celebrate. Star Life OK for the first time will be showing live cricket in the region.

     

    This move comes as an effort to offer cricket as a live experience to the large Asian population in the UK and Europe and build a strong viewer connect.

     

    The Asia Cup 2014 tournament will be exclusively televised on Star Life OK starting 25 February at 8:00 am.

     

    A total of 11 matches will be played with the opening game on 25 February and the final on 8 March 2014, scheduled to be held in Bangladesh.

     

    Star UK & Europe sr. VP Yeshpal Sharma said: “Given the passion for cricket amongst Asians worldwide, we are very proud to bring the Asia Cup 2014 to our viewers in the UK and Europe, and offer them live cricket on television.”

     

    This tournament certainly holds promise to be one of the most competitive cricket played in the Asian sub-continent for some time now.

     

    It will feature one day internationals played between leading Asian countries – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh along with Afghanistan. Afghanistan will be participating in a major ODI tournament for the first time.

  • Sterling 2 Ent unveils its next project with Sylvester Stallone

    Sterling 2 Ent unveils its next project with Sylvester Stallone

    Sterling 2 Ent, the multi-entertainment production and investment agency established by the UK based media entrepreneur Teji Singh, has announced its second high-profile global entertainment project for 2014: An Evening with Stallone, taking place on 11 January, at Central Hall, Westminster, London.

     

    Demand had soared to see the action hero of the silver screen c on stage. Famed for his roles in cult classics like Rocky, Rambo, Demolition Man and The Expendables, Stallone will treat the audience to an intimate evening of anecdotes about his illustrious career, private insights from his life.

     

    The event is presented by leading entertainment impresario and event organiser Rocco Buonvino and entrepreneur Joe Ricotta, in association with film producer and founder of entertainment company Sterling 2 Ent Teji Singh.

     

    Rocco Buonvino in association with Sterling 2 Ent recently presented the sell-out event An Evening with Al Pacino. Rocco Buonvino is aninternationally-renowned events and promotions supremo who has been at the forefront of staging some of the biggest world-wide entertainment events. He has worked with global superstars such Robin Gibb, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Beverley Knight, Susan Black and now Sylvester Stallone.

     

    Speaking about bringing Stallone to London, Rocco Buonvino said in a release: “I’ve had the pleasure to work with many major artists around the world, many of whom are dear friends. None come bigger than Sylvester Stallone, a true heavyweight of the silver screen, who is responsible for some of the world’s most iconic, cult film hits of our time.”

     

    Founder of Sterling 2 Ent Teji Singh, said: “We are delighted to be part of this event. Sylvester Stallone is a global icon and seeing him in London is going to be very much a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

     

    Seen as one of Hollywood’s most iconic stars, Sylvester Stallone will be seen at Christmas 2013 starring in Grudge Match with Robert DeNiro. In March, 2014, Rocky the Musical will open at The Winter Garden on Broadway. The musical is based on the original film written by Sylvester Stallone with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

  • Zee Lamhe launches on Freeview in UK

    Zee Lamhe launches on Freeview in UK

    MUMBAI: Zee’s entertainment channel, Lamhe, has found a place on Freeview in the Greater Manchester area as a part of the basic digital terrestrial service. Estimates put the reach of the channel at 1.2 million and increasing the reach of Zee Lamhe to 13 million homes in UK.

     

    Lamhe was launched earlier this year to showcase good quality south Asian entertainment such as drama, classics and Bollywood, lifestyle, cookery and travel. The FTA channel is also available on Sky Digital.

     

    Speaking to media247, Zee FTA channels business head Archana Kanade said, “Lamhe has been going from strength to strength in a short period of time since it started broadcasting earlier this year in June. The channel offers a distinct viewing experience by offering content that is not available anywhere else and it is outperforming other GEC channels that have been in the market for longer and beating them at certain slots since being BARB rated. Over 10% of Manchester’s population is South Asian, with Freeview being a popular platform here. It is great that an even wider audience will now be able to enjoy the unique offerings of Lamhe.”

     

    Lamhe broadcasts old shows that it feels is of quality that can engage UK viewers.  Freeview is UK’s only FTA digital terrestrial TV service.

  • Milk to create VFX for next ‘Doctor Who’ series

    Milk to create VFX for next ‘Doctor Who’ series

    The company behind the VFX for the BBCs popular show Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, Day of the Doctor – Milk Visual Effects – has been commissioned by the broadcaster to work on the eighth instalment of the series, starring new Doctor Peter Capaldi.

     

    The company is currently working with BBC to create the VFX for the one-hour Doctor Who Christmas special, The Time of the Doctor, in which Matt Smiths Doctor will regenerate into Capaldis incoming thirteenth Doctor.

     

    The 50th anniversary broke records on 23 November when it drew an average audience of 10.2 million in the UK and was simulcast in 94 countries and in more than 1500 cinemas across the world.