ITV

Tag: Vodafone

  • ‘We see GEC as a long-term game. We are playing a Test match and not a T20’ : Indrani Mukerjea – INX Media Pvt Ltd founder-CEO

    ‘We see GEC as a long-term game. We are playing a Test match and not a T20’ : Indrani Mukerjea – INX Media Pvt Ltd founder-CEO

    From starting as a human resource (HR) consulting firm in 1996 to entering the fast-growing broadcasting space, INX Media has travelled a long way.

    INX’s music channel 9XM has notched the top position in its genre while the general entertainment channel (GEC) 9X is making slow but steady strides.

    Next in the roll-out pipeline is NewsX. Despite controversies dogging the news channel venture with the exit of Vir Sanghvi and his senior editorial team, plans are being put in place to launch the channel in March. Regional channels are also part of INX’s growth agenda.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com , Mukerjea talks about her company’s growth plans.

    Excerpts:

    INX was a recruitment search consultancy company that you ran successfully for years. What pulled you to the broadcasting space?
    Despite being a human resource consulting firm, INX has been very inclined towards media placements. In the last 10 years, a majority of our placements have been in this sector. Besides, Peter (Mukerjea – husband, chief strategy officer INX Media and former Star India CEO) has 14 years of experience in the television industry.

    But isn’t the mainstream broadcasting space too cluttered?
    More and more channels are launching and doing fairly well. There is clearly a new emerging audience. You have seen how our music channel 9XM has grown ever since its launch. What is happening is that the gap between the number one and number two channels is decreasing. We are even seeing it in the GEC (general entertainment channel) space. The viewer base is also expanding; more and more TV sets are being bought. Moreover, viewership is getting fragmented; different viewers are liking different genres of entertainment.

    Though 9XM has shown rapid growth in the ratings game, it is a channel that runs songs without breaks. What does the revenue front look like?
    I think viewers like to watch full songs. That is why we are getting good ratings. When it comes to revenue, there are Coca-Cola and Vodafone who have joined 9XM as platinum partners. Also, though we have not put in so much of commercials, we still follow the pattern of 12-minute break. We use this duration to show our channel promos. As more ads come in, the same space will be used.

    Isn’t the growth of 9X, your flagship Hindi general entertainment channel, on the slower side?
    If you notice, we started with only two hours of prime-time programming and have added another half an hour in the last fortnight. Only by the end of June, we will be completing our four hours of prime-time programming. And that is the strategic decision we took very consciously.

    We see GEC as a long-term game. We are playing a Test match and not a T20. We want to build this block by block. The critical part is to stay there. It is very important to sustain. So, we have a five-year plan in the horizon to which we are sticking, and this is what I believe is going to make us sustain.

    So you are thinking of breaking even after five years?
    No no, breakeven will be before that. We are talking about long-term plans with short-term goals. And we are executing all our plans; you’ll see it in the coming three months.
    ‘We’re well funded. So it’s easy for us to make long-term plans‘

    But there are other channels like NDTV Imagine that have shown faster growth in a short term?
    We have been funded very well, and that’s why it is very easy for us to plan ahead. When you are backed by strong financers, you can make long-term plans. We don’t have to run and do full-time programming.

    Your programme ‘Mission Ustaad’ failed commercially?
    We did Mission Ustaad as part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR). We were very clear from day one. The priority was also to establish the brand first. Now people know that there is a brand called 9X. You go to any part of the country, and people know about 9X.

    Aren’t you pumping in a huge amount of money for distribution and promotion?
    Absolutely! For us, 9X is an institution and not just a channel. It’s very important to establish a brand, and once that is done, it becomes important to keep the hammer ready. This is what happens when any new channel comes into play: first, it establishes the brand; then it waits for the right moment to strike “big”.

    Also, whoever goes up quickly has a tendency to go down as well. So we are patient. Our investors are long-term players. It’s not that if we pull out a programme, things will crash. We have not launched a channel based on one programme.

    And now, as we’ve established ourselves, I think we need at least another five months to bring in full programming. Strategically, it’s like a baby in my mind: a baby takes shape in nine months and we feed it when it’s born.

    On the ratings front, only one show has TRP of over one. Besides, isn’t it true that the channel’s GRPs are mainly being driven by movies?
    No, the report which we’ve got from Tam shows that 32 per cent of our GRPs are from movies while 54 per cent are from serials and 14 per cent from other shows. At the end of the day, when you are planning a channel, you have to think about overall GRPs, and we have taken a conscious decision not to bombard viewers. Now we have Chak De Bacche, Yeh Hai Jalwa and other programmes lined up. We are also having some serials which we will announce in due course.

    As a syndication deal, have you paid Sony Rs 400 million for 60 movies?
    That’s absolutely wrong information. The actual amount is not even half of it.

    What do you think about syndication of movies as a business model?
    It is a very good decision because at the end of the day the viewer is entertained and we, as a result, stand to gain. For example, with Jab We Met, we got fabulous advertisers, ratings. If I am calling it a family channel, I will have to provide content for the entire family.

    Mythologies seem to be coming back on Indian television. Is Ekta Kapoor doing Mahabharata for you?
    No, Ekta is not doing Mahabharata for us. I have also heard it, but Ekta and I have not spoken about making Mahabharata.
    But what do you have to say about the invasion of mythos?
    Mythological content has always been a part of Indian television. Be it Sai Baba, Sri Ganesh, Jai Maa Durga, Jai Hanuman – they have always been there. But it’s important for a channel not to overuse such content. You have to have a combination of movies, serials, soaps, fantasy, reality, etc. A good mix is essential.

    When are you launching NewsX?
    Our test signals are already on, and we have roped in Karan Thapar’s firm Infotainment Television (ITV) as editorial advisor to the channel while Arup Ghosh is our newsroom head. We will hopefully launch the news channel sometime in March; I can’t specify the date, but it will be in March.

    What content will the channel focus on?
    It will be analytical, in-depth news.

    How will it be different?
    You have to watch it to notice the difference. Our main studio is in Delhi; our Mumbai studio is under construction and is almost done.

    Are we going to see more channel launches from INX Media in 2008?
    The first priority is to complete the schedule and get NewsX up and running. We will also be launching regional channels.

  • Thomas Geitner joins BBC Worldwide board

    MUMBAI: Thomas Geitner has joined the board of UK pubcaster the BBC’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide as a non-executive director. Geitner joined Vodafone in 2000 as an executive director with responsibility for global business integration. He left the company at the end of last year.

    As a non-executive member of the BBC Worldwide board, Thomas Geitner will be particularly advising on new media developments, investments and international growth as BBC Worldwide gears up for some major digital business launches over the coming months.

    He said, “I am delighted to join the board of BBC Worldwide at this point where the business is setting out to expand its global brand and the range of its products into new media opportunities.”

    BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith said, “Thomas’s appointment means we now have our full complement of non-executive directors. His vast experience in telecommunications, particularly mobile services, will be highly valuable as we look to launch more direct to consumer businesses.”

    Geitner had held his most recent post at Vodafone from April 2006 and had been a Board director there since May 2000. He was responsible for establishing Vodafone as a global brand, for the creation and successful launch of Vodafone live! in 2002 and the establishment of a global supply chain organisation.

  • BBC Worldwide holding showcase for global buyers in the UK

    MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide’s trade event BBC Showcase is taking place in Brighton England till 1 March 2007. 560 buyers from all over the globe are in attendance. The annual event sees BBC Worldwide generate programme sales and broker international funding deals for co productions on behalf of the BBC, other UK networks and independent producers.

    Delegate numbers the BBC says have grown as buyers from traditional television networks are increasingly joined by a new generation of buyers looking to license content for digital media platforms such as mobile television, independent video on demand services and digital extensions to traditional television networks.

    The past year has seen BBC Worldwide secure content deals around the world with major digital media platforms across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas, including Vodafone, Orange, T-Online, Telstra, ONO, Netflix, Amazon US, Hanaromedia Korea and Telefonica. Combined with strong growth in traditional programme sales, these new markets for content are seeing BBC Worldwide’s Global TV Sales division well on target to make around £190million (US$370million) this financial year, up from last year’s £171million (US$333million).

    BBC Worldwide Global TV sales MD Mark Young, said, “We secure the best deal for our content and this involves a much wider number of viewing platforms in each ter-ritory than previously. Traditional television platforms remain a central part of our business, but there is a great deal of room to embrace new platforms alongside them. Viewing habits are changing and our business is changing with them.”

    In line with the increasing digitisation and convergence of its client base, BBC Worldwide is taking steps to future-proof its content and delivery capabilities. Already, over 1,000 hours of programming has been digitised and BBC Worldwide is now investing heavily in digitising all current and back catalogue in order to protect quality, improve delivery across a wider range of devices and move towards a tapeless business.

  • Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, 3UK report results from

    Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, 3UK report results from

    MUMBAI: Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, and 3UK have announced the results of their successful joint technical trial of TDtv in the US.

    TDtv is the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard for mobile television solutions. The trial provided insights into the technology’s capability and successfully demonstrated how existing spectrum can be used to deliver mobile television and other multimedia services.

    The participants are now discussing next steps and exploring how the findings from the trial could be used to develop commercial models.

    Key Trial Results

    • Reliable delivery of mobile TV services using TDtv technically viable

    • Up to 11 to 14 high quality channels can be delivered in 5MHz of TDD spectrum

    • Coverage comparable to WCDMA but using fewer cell sites

    • Performance consistent when moving at speed

    • Dual mode handset viable

    The TDtv trial, announced in October 2006, aspired to test key performance and deployment aspects of the mobile TV technology. Covering a large area of Bristol in the UK using only 12 macro-cell sites, the trial proved that the technology has the ability to offer reliable television delivery at the data rates that are needed to provide high quality mobile TV services.

    The trial showed that eleven high quality channels could be delivered across the service area, with the potential to deliver up to fourteen channels with planned future technology developments. Significant coverage gains were demonstrated when using key TDtv performance enhancement technologies including macro site combining and receive diversity in the user device. The gains from these technologies demonstrated in the trial indicate that TDtv may be able to provide the same coverage as WCDMA when deployed on 35% of the WCDMA sites.

    TDtv also proved its ability to perform at motorway speeds during the trial, allowing it to address a wide range of use cases such as when travelling on a train.

    Initial coexistence testing to explore the simultaneous operation of 3G FDD and TDD also proved the theoretical viability of a dual mode WCDMA/TDtv handset.

    Finally, the TDtv network also proved very reliable with 99 per cent availability during the trial.

    Professor Michael Walker, who is the director of research and development at Vodafone said, “Trials are an extremely important part of our strategic product development and help us build a comprehensive understanding of how the technologies work and the customer experience they will offer. The outcome of this trial will help us evaluate the commercial potential of TDtv as part of the MBMS assessments we are undertaking.”

    Telefónica Móviles España MD Technology and Services Cayetano Lluch Mesquida says, “The TDtv trial in Bristol has proven the ability to effectively use our unused TDD spectrum for a wide variety of Mobile Broadcast Services and the potential of a SFN deployment to support impressive coverage gains.

    ” Nevertheless, we would like to see the next steps taken to ensure a wide variety of terminals and interoperable services are available for the platform.”

    Orange executive VP, IT Networks and product support Vivek Badrinath said, “We are committed to fuelling the growth of mobile TV by ensuring our customers are offered the best quality and content now and in the future. The TDtv trial forms an important part of our research into potential technology solutions for the future, equally important is the collaboration of other industry players, who are now working together to learn and build from our shared experiences.”

    3UK CTO David Cooper said, “3 is pleased to support this initiative. The results of this first trial demonstrate TDtv has the potential to deliver a mass market Mobile TV solution. As the first network to launch 3G services in Europe, we’re always looking at ways to develop the service we offer customers.”

  • Jump Games, Virgin Comics tie-up for worldwide release of mobile games

    Jump Games, Virgin Comics tie-up for worldwide release of mobile games

    MUMBAI: Jump Games, mobile and web games developer and publisher has joined hands with Virgin Comics in an agreement to expand the Virgin Comics Shakti series characters into mobile games. With this association, action and role-playing games based on three Virgin Comics properties – Devi, The Sadhu and Ramayan 3392 AD are slated to launch globally in January, March and April 2007 respectively.

    Jump Games (previously Paradox Studios) CEO Salil Bhargava told Indiantelvision.com that the company had lined up telecom operators across the globe for this worldwide release including DoCoMo in Japan, Horizon in US, Vodafone in Europe. Ofcourse, in India he emphasised that they were in talks with all mobile players including the usual suspects Reliance, BSNL and Idea. The price points will be based on a pay-per download system as per expected rates.

    All these mobile games contain multiple levels of game challenges with varying difficulties. Jump Games has developed the mobile applications and will be responsible for marketing the games worldwide.

    These comics were released across the US and UK four months ago however, the titles have not yet arrived in India, the company is targeting December end for its launch. In addition, the comany is also looking at releasing localised versions of the same across Europe by the end Q1 ’07.

    There is a need to build the comic industry in India by targeting primarily Indian youth (15-25 year olds) which comprises the voice of a new generation, says Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan.

    Commenting on the new relationship filmmaker and Virgin Comics co-founder Shekhar Kapur said, “Mobile Gaming is predicted to be the fastest growing sector in the entertainment business worldwide, and I am excited by our collaboration with Jump Games. The clearly stated intention of Virgin comics, and indeed my personal ambition has been to showcase Indian talent to bring it to the forefront of international entertainment. I am sure that together we will create some of the most successful mobile gaming platforms in the world.”

    Bhargava said, “Virgin is one of the world’s most powerful youth brands and collaborating with Virgin Comics on this venture has been an excellent experience. Virgin’s larger-than-life characters provide us with a tremendous scope to recreate the magic of a comic book both on 2D as well as 3D gaming platforms. Our games based on the Shakti series are not only suited well for Indian audiences but also have a strong global appeal. Working with Virgin Comics has been a great start for Jump’s vision and focus on emerging as a leader in 2D and 3D Mobile gaming.”

    In addition to Devi which depicts an Indian female superhero created by Shekhar Kapur, Ramayan 3392 AD is a futuristic sci-fi story inspired by the original Ramayan mythology, also created by Kapur along with author Deepak Chopra. The third is The Sadhu, which follows the story of a British soldier who discovers the mystical powers of Indian sadhus. Actor Nicolas Cage has been roped in to play the role of The Sadhu in the feature film. A fourth mobile application based on Deepak Chopra’s recent book Kama Sutra will explore Chopra’s views on the connection between spirituality and sexuality.

  • Sybase completes acquisition of mobile 365

    Sybase completes acquisition of mobile 365

    MUMBAI: Sybase, Inc. a provider of enterprise infrastructure and mobile software has announced its completion of the acquisition of Mobile 365, Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at $417 million. Net of acquired cash, the transaction is valued at $397 million.

    Mobile 365 will now operate as Sybase 365, a wholly-owned subsidiary. Sybase Inc. senior vice president corporate development and marketing Marty Beard will lead the new subsidiary as president, asserts an official release.

    The Sybase mFolio business will be integrated into Sybase 365 immediately, and certain assets of Sybase AvantGo will be integrated into Sybase 365 early in 2007, adds the release.

    Sybase chairman, CEO and president John Chen said, “Built on unique intellectual property and a comprehensive global network, Sybase 365 provides the messaging infrastructure-of-choice for interoperability and content delivery. With this acquisition, we expand our unwired enterprise offerings and our ability to deliver information anytime, anywhere, to any type of device.”

    Through its network of approximately 700 mobile operators, including Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Cingular, Telefonica and China Mobile, Sybase 365 will continue to focus on enabling the content providers and global brands, such as Citibank, Yahoo!, AOL, MSN and Twentieth Century Fox to mobilise their content and applications.

    Verizon Wireless vice president wireless internet and multimedia services Jim Straight said, “As we approach the fifth anniversary of Mobile 365 launching carrier services here in the U.S., i’m pleased they have found a corporate parent who brings additional resources and opportunities to the market and that Mobile 365 will continue to serve us as they have in the past.”

    “The acquisition solidly positions Sybase between mobile operators, content providers, and global brands-further extending our worldwide leadership in enterprise mobility,” said Beard.

  • E! inks Asiapac mobile deals with Foxtel, Vodafone

    E! inks Asiapac mobile deals with Foxtel, Vodafone

    HONG KONG: E! Network has inked two mobile deals in Asia-Pacific with Foxtel by Mobile and Vodafone in Australia.

    The announcement was made today by E! Networks MD Asia Christine Fellowes.

    According to her, “E! continues to lead the way in digital media, having established a specialized production unit last year named Short Form programming and New Content Unit or Spanc designed to develop short form and new media content.”

    Foxtel by Mobile will offer E! content on its 3G platform beginning this month, offering 90 minutes looped video feed of E1’s content featuring the latest in entertainment news information, celebrity profiles and providing consumers with a linear experience similar to traditional TV.

    E! Network’s present wireless partners in Asia-pacific include Telecom New Zealand, 3 Australia and Starhub Singapore.

    The E! Everywhere initiative, which first launched in early 2006, is designed to empower E! audiences to consume content whenever, wherever and however they choose.

  • 3UK, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone trial Mobile TV powered by TDtv Technology

    3UK, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone trial Mobile TV powered by TDtv Technology

    MUMBAI: 3UK, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone have announced the launch of a technical trial of TDtv, the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard-based solution. 

    As per an official release, the trial is expected to provide valuable insights for mobile operators into the potential of using their existing spectrum and infrastructure to deliver mobile television and other multimedia services.

    The TDtv trial, which is scheduled to run to the end of the year, will test key performance and deployment aspects of the mobile TV technology. TDtv base stations provided by IPWireless have been deployed on 12 cell sites covering parts of Bristol in the UK to provide broadcast services to TDtv enabled smart phones. MobiTV, Inc., the international mobile and broadband television services company, will provide the client application, as well as facilitate the mobile content and operational components of the trial, the release adds.

    TDtv operates in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900MHz and 2010MHz. It allows UMTS operators to further utilize their existing spectrum and network infrastructure to offer subscribers attractive mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services.
     

  • Citigroup picks up 6.3 % stake in VSNL

    Citigroup picks up 6.3 % stake in VSNL

    MUMBAI: The telecom sector is attracting investments not only in the global market but also in India. Citigroup Inc. has acquired a 6.3 per cent stake in telecom service provider Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL).

    Disclosing this in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Citigroup has said that it now owns 18.61 million shares of VSNL. The The stake was bought through American Depositary Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

    VSNL expects to see volume growth in voice and data business. The company recently bought out the internet assets of 7 Star, a Mumbai-based cable operator. VSNL also acquired for Rs 750 million Direct Internet Ltd and its wholly owned subsidiary Primus Telecommunications India Ltd to strengthen its broadband presence in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) segment.

    The phone market is expanding rapidly in India. This has attracted global giants like Vodafone Group which bought a 10 per cent stake in Bharti Tele-Ventures.

     
     

  • Content providers criticize proposed EU broadcasting rules

    Content providers criticize proposed EU broadcasting rules

    MUMBAI: ITV, BT Group, Vodafone, Yahoo, Intel and Cisco are leading an alliance among the media and technology companies that have teamed to criticize proposed European Union broadcasting rules that they believe will restrict the growth of new media formats.

    The European Commission is proposing that rules for traditional media be extended to new media, like content provided over broadband or mobile phones. Such regulations would include limits on hate speech, advertising and children-appropriate content.

    The alliance takes up the issue of proposed legislation that calls for mobile content and IPTV programming to abide by the same rules as that on traditional broadcasters. The consortium maintains that these rules-including restrictions on advertising-would inhibit investment in multiplatform content.

    “Citizen media such as blogs, videocasts and the like are one of the most exciting developments enabled by new technology,” the companies said in a statement. “This phenomenon has the potential to create new businesses … but this proposed regulation severely risks stunting its growth.”
    The EU didn’t respond to the group, but has repeatedly insisted that they don’t intend to regulate the internet. It would need the support of the European Parliament and 25 member governments in order to be approved.