26 Jan,2016 – The BBC today announced the encryption of the SD feed of its award-winning 24 hour international news channel, BBC World News, across the APAC region.

The move aims to bring the SD feed in line with the HD offering and counter piracy by ensuring that consumers can now only view the channel through approved suppliers. The encryption has been through a two month testing phase and will be enforced across all 119 sites in the region by the end of January.

Colin Lawrence, BBC World News Director of Distribution, said, “We are constantly looking for ways to improve the service we offer our partners and affiliates across APAC and this is the latest in a long line of investments we’re making to further strengthen our international news offering in the region and ensure that our commercial relationships are fully protected. ”
In September, a new state-of-the-art digital newsroom and studio opened in Singapore and saw all of BBC World News’ Asia broadcasts switch to HD. The facilities, which are the main hub for BBC World News and bbc.com in Asia, bring the BBC’s news, business and digital teams together.

The BBC also appointed Karishma Vaswani as its new Asia Business Correspondent and launched bbc.jp – a Japanese-language version of its global website bbc.com.

Last month, BBC World News won an Asian TV Award for its investigative journalism piece on the illegal trade of stolen Chinese babies – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-31834743
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For more information please contact Virginia Braynsmith on Virginia.Braynsmith@BBC.com or call 6507 4234.

Notes to Editors
BBC World News and BBC.com, the BBC’s commercially funded international 24-hour English news platforms, are owned and operated by BBC Global News Ltd. BBC World News television is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and over 433 million households and 1.8 million hotel rooms. The channel’s content is also available on 178 cruise ships, 53 airlines and 23 mobile phone networks. BBC.com offers up-to-the- minute international news and in-depth analysis for PCs, tablets and mobile devices to more than 85 million unique browsers each month.

BBC Advertising sells advertising and sponsorship solutions on behalf of the BBC’s worldwide commercial portfolio across broadcast, online and mobile platforms globally.

25 Jan, 2016 – Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has appointed Amit Arora (pictured) as vice president of strategy and business development, Asia, with immediate effect.

Arora will be based in Singapore and serve on the Asia leadership team, reporting to Mark Whitehead, executive vice president and managing director for Asia. He will also be working closely with the global strategy team in New York. In this newly created role, Arora will drive the cross-business growth strategy and business development opportunities in Asia to help shape the organisation’s decision-making.

Most recently, Arora was with BBC Worldwide in Singapore as head of business development and strategy, Asia. He joins VIMN Asia with 15 years of experience in the media, telecom, cable and technology industries including business development, analytics and strategic advisory roles in well-known media businesses such as ABC Television/The Walt Disney Company, Turner Broadcasting, and Time Warner Cable in the U.S.

Read more at Marketing Interactive

22 Jan, 16 – After seven years of partnership, Bloomberg L.P. and Business Broadcast News have decided to end their media licensing agreement in India on 31 March, 2016.

Both parties have mutually ended the licensing agreement and will pursue their respective new business strategies.

While Business Broadcast News will continue to operate the TV channel with fresh branding effective 1 April, subject to regulatory approval, Bloomberg will announce a new media partner in due course of time.

22 Jan, 2016 – Looking to offer TV and media firms a way to make big business from big data, Ericsson has unveiled a data analysis toolkit which it claims allows companies to aggregate, analyse and act upon large amounts of data.

The broadcast technology and services provider says that in the current multiscreen, on-demand broadcast world, content owners, broadcasters and TV service providers require an analytics solution capable of delivering accurate business intelligence. Indeed, it goes so far as to suggest that to remain relevant, media players need to not only ensure their delivery channels are performing optimally, but also understand what their users want, what they value most and what they don’t need or appreciate.

Read more at Rapid TV News

21 Jan, 2016 – AsiaSat is set to launch its second free-to-air ultra high definition (UHD) channel on AsiaSat 4 in conjunction with video delivery infrastructure supplier Harmonic.
The channel, named 4K-SAT2/HVN, will launch across Asia on 1 March 2016, with 4K video content from Harmonic’s video library, as well as content from NASA TV’s new UHD channel. Operating in 2160p60 resolution with HEVC Main 10 profile, the channel will utilise an end-to-end UHD video processing system from Harmonic.

“With the cost of UHD TV sets dropping dramatically over the past year, demand for UHD content in Asia is expected to grow exponentially in the next couple of years,” said Sabrina Cubbon, vice president, marketing & global accounts, AsiaSat.

Read more at Rapid TV News

19 Jan, 2016 – The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) has given the go-ahead for AsiaSat 6 to distribute broadcasters’ video to cable headends in China.

19 Jan, 2016 – The first to take up the satellite operator’s service is Shanghai Interactive Television (SiTV), a subsidiary of Shanghai Oriental Pearl Media. The company has signed a contract with CITICSat, the exclusive marketing rights holder for AsiaSat 6 capacity in China, to broadcast ten high definition (HD) pay-TV channels.

“AsiaSat satellites have been serving this market with high quality satellite services since 1990. This new permit marks a major breakthrough for AsiaSat with our re-entry into the video services market in China. We are thrilled to work alongside CITICSat in offering broadcast clients in China a better choice for high quality satellite capacity to support advanced HD broadcasting,” said William Wade, president and CEO of AsiaSat.

Read more at Rapid TV News

SINGAPORE, January 21, 2015 — Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks, Asia continues to dominate the pay TV landscape in key Asian markets with AXN and ONE leading the pack in their respective genres.

Trendsetter and Korean powerhouse ONE is the top-rated international channel collectively in Singapore and Malaysia during primetime, ahead of movie, kids and other entertainment channels*. In Indonesia, ONE is among the top entertainment channels on pay TV giant Indovision, ranking number two among 120 total channels.**

ONE’s success is attributed to its powerful mix of hit programming and marketing, including Korean celebrity fan meet-ups across the region. In May 2015, the channel launched the hugely successful “Ppali Ppali” primetime belt which ensures Korea’s most popular series are delivered within 24 hours of the original broadcast. After the launch, “Ppali Ppali’s” ratings surged more than 30 percent as viewers responded with vigor to the express delivery.

AXN grew its market dominance in 2015 as the top-rated English general entertainment channel in Southeast Asia — collectively in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines — by more than doubling the primetime ratings of the next English GE channel*.

Buoyed by a diverse programming lineup with wide audience appeal, including the record-breaking “Asia’s Got Talent” and new FBI drama series “Quantico”, AXN’s ratings grew by 28 percent in the region. In September 2015, AXN refreshed its brand identity to include a dynamic new logo and on-air graphics, and a promise to redefine action as an attitude, not a genre.

Virginia Lim, vice president of content and marketing, SPT Networks, Asia, said, “The strength of our English and Asian entertainment portfolio is meeting a growing demand across the region for premium content from both genres. We’re taking this content beyond the linear screen, so it becomes part of viewers’ lifestyles via social conversations, large-scale events and other unforgettable experiences.”

Sony Channel, the stylish female-skewing companion channel to AXN, also gained momentum in 2015, improving its ratings by 277 percent*. The channel is home to some of Hollywood’s hottest series including the critically acclaimed “How to Get Away with Murder”, starring Viola Davis, and “Madam Secretary”, starring Tea Leoni. This month, Sony Channel kicked off its comedy nights, which features a different series each weeknight at 8:20pm, with titles like “Younger” and “Odd Mom Out”.

Japanese anime channel Animax grew its loyal fan base to 11.2 million in 2015 up from 10 million in 2014 in Southeast Asia***. Offering the biggest anime titles simulcast with Japan, Animax fans fell in love with the newly-launched, SPT Networks-created OO-Kun, a mischief-making blue raccoon that now features his own line of merchandise and short-form animation.

In October 2015, SPT Networks, Asia launched GEM, a joint venture channel with leading Japanese broadcaster, Nippon TV. Specializing in premium Japanese entertainment amongst others, the channel enjoys exclusive access to Nippon TV’s coveted content library of premium content. The channel is currently available in four markets and is set to expand its footprint in 2016.

Subhash Chandra, the promoter of Essel Group and ZEE, is an unlikely mogul. Hailing from a small town in Haryana, where his family ran grain mills, Chandra has been a perennial outsider, repeatedly aiming high and breaking into businesses where he was considered an interloper.

Starting work as a teen to pay off family debts, Chandra had to rely on bluff, gumption and sheer hard toil to turn things around. A little bit of luck and political patronage saw him make a fortune in rice exports to the erstwhile USSR.

Always a risk-taker, Chandra then had the vision of getting into broadcasting early, even as established media players failed to see its potential. His Zee TV, India’s first private Indian TV channel, changed the rules of the game and tickled the fancy of a public starved of entertainment.

Several gutsy initiatives followed, though not all of them were successful. Chandra’s attempts to launch satellite telephony and a cricket league came a cropper. But the man continues to reinvent himself; he is now also focusing on infrastructure and smart cities.

This is an unusually candid memoir of a truly desi self-made businessman who came to Delhi at age twenty with seventeen rupees in his pocket. Today, he has a net worth of $6.3 billion and annual group revenues of in excess of $3 billion.

From the book:
IT WAS 14 DECEMBER 1991 when Ashok Kurien of Ambience ad agency and I reached Star TV’s office in Hong Kong. There were ten to twelve senior and junior executives in the room. Richard Li, head of Star TV, was not there. So we waited awhile. It was like waiting for the king to come in and give his blessings.

Richard walked in suddenly and sat opposite me. ‘OK, Indian channel … Hindi channel. Where is the money in India? ’ Richard was very dismissive. ‘I am not interested in a joint venture.’

Most of us in the room, including his executives, were shocked. It appeared that Richard had already made up his mind about the futility of the project.

So I addressed him directly. ‘Mr Li, if you are not interested in the joint venture, can you consider leasing the [satellite] transponder to us?’

‘There is no transponder available for less than $5 million per year,’ Richard said. It was a haughty statement to put me off.

‘That is fine. I will pay $5 million!’ It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I did not realize the implication of what I had said …

Author Bio:
Subhash Chandra is the promoter of ZEE and Essel Group of companies, which is a major player in the fields of media and entertainment, packaging, technology, infrastructure and education.
Twitter handle: @_SubhashChandra

Pranjal Sharma has been in print, digital and TV media for twenty-five years. He has led teams at India Today Group and CNBC Network 18, and was founding executive editor of Bloomberg TV in India. He currently writes for Businessworld and hosts a show for Zee Business.
Twitter handle: @pranjalsharma
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For more details, reviews and interviews please contact:
HarperCollins India
Amrita Talwar
Email: amita.talwar@harpercollins-india.com

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)
Jayshree Kumar / Arantxa Gonsalves
Mobile: +91-9769286661 / 9820336890
Landline: +91- 22 – 7106 1367 / 7108 5464
Email: jayshree.kumar@zee.esselgroup.com / arantxa.gonsalves@zee.esselgroup.com

18 Jan, 2016 – India seems to be becoming a hot spot for over-the-top (OTT) services. Close on the heels of OTT giant Netflix’s launch in the country, Hong Kong-based PCCW Media Group has revealed plans to launch its OTT multi-screen video service Viu in India. The service will be progressively rolled out in Malaysia, Indonesia and India with an expanding premium Asian content catalogue of Korean, Japanese, Chinese titles and more.

Read more at Television Post