8 Jan, 2016 – Television Broadcasts Ltd. is expanding to fee-based TV services with the launch an online TV platform in March.

The network’s myTV Super service, which will air programs via a set-top box, will feature its existing line-up of five free-to-watch channels, 13 fee-based channels and an interactive Disney channel, Ming Pao Daily reported.

Subscribers will be able to watch existing programs on-demand with a monthly fee similar to those of Netflix, which has just announced its service fees in Hong Kong earlier this week.

Read more at ejinsight

11 Jan, 2016 – Star India’s English entertainment bouquet, consisting of Star World, Star World Premiere HD and FX, is known for showcasing the best and latest in English entertainment from across the world. Star India remains the first choice for premium urban audiences seeking quality English entertainment. Cast from some of its leading and critically acclaimed shows like Taraji P Henson (Empire), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Maura Tierney (The Affair), Lady Gaga (American Horror Story – Hotel) and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) have struck gold at the 2016 Golden Globe awards this year.

The leading lady from Empire, Taraji P Henson, won her first Golden Globe for best actress in a television series drama for her groundbreaking role as Cookie. Taraji’s character is the heart of the series and provides unforgettable catchphrases, heartbreaking line readings, and natural comedy in a tour de force performance that makes you miss her every second she’s not on screen. Empire Season 2 is currently airing on FX and FX HD every Sunday at 10 pm.

Read more at Indian Television

13 Jan, 2016 – Having identified India as a major market for growth for its television broadcast business, Sony is seeking to tap diverse regions of the country by expanding its offerings with a variety of contents and is evaluating acquisition of some regional channels.

The company’s arm Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), formerly Multi Screen Media, which yesterday announced launch of two sports channels in partnership with ESPN, plans to add two more, besides widening digital content as the parent backs new investments in the country.

Read more at Economic Times

13 Jan, 2016 – YuppTV who provide converged OTT live TV and video on-demand solutions picks Germany’s premier international news channel Deutsche Welle (DW) in English for viewers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.

YuppTV continuously enriches and enhances viewers experience with 5000 hours of new on-demand content being added to YuppTV platform every day. The company’s vision is to make it seamless for broadcasters to deliver news, information and entertainment in as many countries as possible across the world. With this endeavor, YuppTV has been able to accomplish its goal of being one of the world’s fastest growing OTT content players.

DW has been a trusted source of reliable, unbiased news and information for more than 60 years. Viewers of YuppTV will now be able to enjoy news, features and award-winning documentaries covering topics from breaking news to science, politics, arts, culture and sports.

Read more at NexTV India

(January 13, 2016 – Hong Kong) LeEco (formerly Letv) premiered its new brand and logo during the “Global Brand Upgrade” press conference under the theme of “A New Eco World”. The company unveiled its new brand logo for the Le Ecosystem and its seven sub-ecosystems.

The new logo consists of the letters “L” and “E”, conveying the quintessence of the LeEco world with its simple and elegant design. The four strokes which comprise “LE” each represent one of the four tiers of the Le Ecosystem – Platform, Content, Device and Application. The dot formed by the overlapping of two strokes symbolizes the pivot of the entire ecosystem: EUI and Le Fans. The connection and interaction between the letters “L” and “E” expresses the LeEco spirit of constant disruption, breaking boundaries and eco synergy. The three colors of blue, red, green and grey represent the integration of technology, culture and the Internet within the Le Ecosystem.

The current upgrade of the Le Ecosystem brand means that LeEco is looking beyond the Chinese domestic market to compete with global Fortune 500 giants and is ready to make disruptive changes on the global scale.

The word “TV” has been eliminated from all sub-ecosystem logos, showing that LeEco has fully grown from a video website in 2004 into a full-featured “eco world” integrating Platform, Content, Device and Application.

LeEco also announced the name change of Letv.com to Le.com, the adoption of its new global top-level domain “le.com”. Besides, it announced the global strategies of Le Vision Pictures and Le Cloud in 2016, opening a new chapter in Le Ecosystem’s development as it fully gears up for global expansion.

“Letv is where we started, but LeEco is our future,” said Ablikim Ablimit, Le Holdings’ Vice President of Strategy, “We will create a more beautiful eco world with new value for our users. And our brand-new logo will bring users into this exciting world.”

After the full implementation of LeEco’s seven sub-ecosystems in 2015, LeEco’s strategic focus in 2016 will be on globalization, global open ecosystem, and achieving perfect synergy among the sub-ecosystems, according to Le Holdings’ Vice President of Strategy Ablikim Ablimit.

LeEco’s strategic goal of globalization is to not only make its products available in major global markets but also bring its entire ecosystem to major regions and countries of the world, and provide the ultimate experience and superior value to users in those countries and regions. LeEco’s strategic priorities in this regard are countries and regions with huge potential for breakthrough innovation or with high-speed growth such as the U.S. and India. Meanwhile, it will also keep on expanding in Southeast Asia markets including Hong Kong.

– END –

About LeEco
Founded in November 2004 by Jia Yueting, Le Holdings is committed to creating the “Le Ecosystem,” a next-generation Internet engine that is vertically-integrated to offer an online platform complete with content, device and application. Le Holdings is engaged in a rich array of businesses, spanning from Internet TV, video production and distribution, smart gadgets and large-screen applications to e-commerce and Internet-based electric vehicles. Le Holdings comprises a number of subsidiaries, including Le.com, Le Vision Pictures, Le Holdings, Le Finance and Le Mobile. In 2014, the aggregate sales of Le Holdings amounted to approximately RMB 10 billion.

Le.com made history on August 12, 2010 when it was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, making it the world’s first IPO company in the sector. Le.com was also the first video company listed on China’s A-share market. Prolific as well as successful, Le.com currently offers more than 100,000 episodes of TV dramas and over 5,000 movie titles. In addition, the site draws an estimated 250 million page views per day, 350 million users per month, 100 million daily content viewers on mobile devices, and 10 million daily content viewers on large-screen TVs.

LeEco Hong Kong, as the headquarters of Asia Pacific region, was officially set up in August 2014, marking an important milestone of the company’s expansion in the overseas market. The company provides Hong Kong with an established vertically integrated ecosystem of “Platform + Content + Terminal + Application”. LeEco has held 13 online flash sales in Hong Kong, with thousands of smart devices sold on every occasion. Currently, LeEco Hong Kong offers various sales channels for users, including online pre-ordering services and 1,800+ offline outlets in Hong Kong and Macau. As the only entertainment platform with over 1,500 hours of 4K programs in Hong Kong, LeEco has always been committed to providing rich and diverse online content including movies, dramas, variety shows and concerts to its fans.

(Singapore, Wednesday, 13 January 2016) … Sherlock: The Abominable Bride is a hit in cinemas in Asia, rising to the top of the box office when it launched earlier in January.

The one-off 90 minute special set in Victorian London, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride stars Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). Both return as the well-loved Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the acclaimed modern retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic stories.

The special was released in more than 6,000 cinema screens in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and has already been seen by over five million people in these countries. It took number one spots in China, Hong Kong and South Korea for English language releases. When it premiered in China on 4 January, the special took the number one English language release spot in the box office for four days, from 4th to 7th January. In Hong Kong, it was number one from 2nd to 6th January, and in Korea, Sherlock over took Star Wars: The Force Awakens in its opening week.

In China it has raked in more than USD19 million (RMB 124 million), while in South Korea, it has taken over US$7 million (KRW 9,090,645,000).

“We know that Sherlock has a sizeable fan base in Asia, so in conjunction with Hartswood Films we decided to release the one-off special in cinemas, to give Asian fans of the show the opportunity to be part of the global event – and to watch it on the big screen,” said David Weiland, EVP, Asia, BBC Worldwide. “We are very pleased at how well Sherlock has done in cinemas here and will continue to look for new and innovative ways to bring more global events to our fans here.”

Sherlock is written and created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, and inspired by the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock is produced by Sue Vertue and the executive producers are Beryl Vertue, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat for Hartswood Films, Bethan Jones for BBC Cymru Wales, and Rebecca Eaton for Masterpiece. Sherlock: The Abominable Bride aired on BBC One in the UK on 1 January 2016.
– Ends ̶
For more information, please contact:

For BBC Worldwide:
Jeanne Leong
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com

Gladys Sim
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Gladys.Sim@bbc.com

Notes to editors:
About BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Its vision is to build the BBC’s brands, audiences, commercial returns and reputation across the world. This is achieved through investing in, commercialising and showcasing content from the BBC around the world, in a way that is consistent with BBC standards and values. The business also champions British creativity globally.

In 2014/15, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £138.6m and headline sales of £1,001.8m and returned a record £226.5m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website: http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview

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LUXEMBOURG, 13 January 2016 – SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced the transmission of a record number of TV channels on board its satellite fleet as of 31 December 2015. SES’s TV channel count grew by 11.3% to 7,268 channels during 2015, compared with an overall growth of 2% for the rest of the industry. The superior development was driven by the continued introduction of new High Definition (HD) channels across Europe and North America, as well as the further expansion of SES’s Video business across emerging markets. Nearly 60% of all channels on the SES fleet are now broadcast in the MPEG-4 compression standard.

The penetration of HD channels across all markets continues to be an important driver of growth for SES.
The number of HDTV channels served by SES’s fleet of over 50 satellites grew by 18% to 2,230 channels, representing 31% of the total TV channels on SES satellites. In contrast, the number of HDTV channels carried over satellite for the rest of industry grew by 13% to about 6,400 channels.

The number of total TV channels in Europe served by SES increased by 9% to nearly 2,600 channels, while the total channels in North America was unchanged at about 1,800 channels. The continued penetration of HDTV channels, which require more satellite capacity than Standard Definition (SD) channels, was the principal contributor to growth, as the number of HDTV channels grew by over 25% to nearly 700 channels in Europe and by over 3% to more than 1,200 channels in North America.

The growth of SES’s global channel count has been particularly pronounced in the emerging markets, where the company is successfully expanding its presence in global Video, as a key element of SES’s differentiated strategy. SES now carries close to 2,900 TV channels across a range of fast-growing emerging markets, such as Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (40% of the total of channels). This compares to just over 2,300 channels at the end of 2014 representing a growth of 25% in only one year. It also includes a doubling in HDTV channels to well over 300.

These trends have been a consistent driver in the superior development of SES’s channel count, which has grown by a compound annual rate of more than 9% per annum over the last three years. Over the same period, the number of HDTV channels broadcast over the SES fleet has increased by a compound rate of nearly 15% each year.

Looking to the future, SES remains at the forefront of the commercial introduction of Ultra HD, the next step-change in broadcast quality and viewing experience. SES was the first satellite operator to introduce

Ultra HD in Europe and North America and to secure capacity agreements for Ultra HD, with seven channels to broadcast commercial Ultra HD channels on SES satellites worldwide in 2015, and the outlook is for significant growth in the coming years as more commercial offerings gain momentum.

“With more TV channels than ever before, this confirms SES’s leading role as a TV broadcasting infrastructure and driver of global digitisation, as well as emphasising the essential role of satellite for video distribution,” said Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer of SES. “SES is exceptionally well placed to leverage major growth opportunities, especially in new and emerging markets. Our current launch programme is a dynamic engine for this future growth, delivering a 21% increase in capacity in the emerging markets by the end of 2017. In particular, the launches of SES-9 and SES-10 will drive growth by delivering a total of 80 additional transponders in Asia and Latin America, with important pre-fill rates underwritten by customer agreements. With more and more channels being broadcast in HD quality, and broadcasters entering the era of Ultra HD, 2016 and beyond will see continued growth and accelerated development for SES’s video segment.”

See “SES channel growth” infographic here: http://www.ses.com/channel-growth-2015

12 Jan, 2015 – Content giant AMC Global has announced the premieres of the Night Manager and Fear the Walking Dead.

The Night Manager, an eight-part espionage drama starring Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston, will premiere beginning Monday 22 February in AMC Global markets. Series two of Fear the Walking Dead, the companion series to the global hit The Walking Dead, will debut on Sunday 10 April, simultaneous to the AMC US premiere, with repeats later that evening in primetime in local markets.

Talking Dead, the review show hosted by Chris Hardwick, will be seen in conjunction with each episode of Fear the Walking Dead, and will air exclusively for the first time in most AMC Global markets throughout series two.

Read more at Rapid TV News

13 Jan, 2016 – New York– AMC Global has announced the exclusive premieres of its new and returning original series including The Night Manager, Fear the Walking Dead, and Talking Dead.

The Night Manager will premiere beginning 22 February in AMC Global markets. Season 2 of Fear the Walking Dead, the companion series to The Walking Dead, will debut on 10 April. Talking Dead, the lively review show hosted by Chris Hardwick will air in conjunction with each episode of Fear the Walking Dead.

Read more at On Screen Asia

12 Jan, 2016 – Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) who will be launching two sports channels namely Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD in collaboration with ESPN on 17 January is also planning to launch a new multi-sport mobile app in the next few months.

“The revenue model of the app is yet to be decided, but whatever we do, we believe in monetizing it to the maximum. We will evaluate together the best possible way forward and come to a consensus on revenue model,” declared Michael Morrison, Asia Pacific vice president at ESPN.

Read more at NexTV India