(Dec 15, 2013) RTL CBS Asia Entertainment Network, the recently formed venture of RTL Group and CBS Studios International, has appointed two senior management executives. Jennifer Batty has joined as executive vice president of programming and Daniel Fung as executive vice president of distribution.
Read more at Rapid TV News
(Dec 13, 2013) A+E Networks is to replace its BIO channel with the new brand FYI as it looks to a more upscale audience.
The launch will be overseen by Jana Bennett, the former BBC head of television, who is now president of FYI and Lifetime Movie Networks at A+E Networks.
Read more at Broadband TV News
Impressive number of nominations for both Golden Globes and SAG Awards kick off the awards season for FIC in APAC and Middle East
Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, 13 December 2013 – Nominations were revealed this morning (Hong Kong time) for the 71st Golden Globe Awards and FOX International Channels (FIC) earned an impressive 25 nominations for shows and movies broadcast on its channels across Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Demonstrating exactly why FIC is Asia’s leading pay-TV network, 14 series and films across its leading entertainment and movie channels received nominations, including an impressive 21 in the top tier categories.
The Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be held on 12 January, 2014 at 8pm EST celebrating the best of film and television from the past year. The presence of so many shows broadcast by FIC illustrates its commitment to providing the best entertainment around, whatever the genre.
The nominations were led by the historical-epic motion picture, 12 Years a Slave, for which FIC has acquired the pay-TV rights to broadcast on its leading Hollywood movie channels FOX Movies Premium (FMP) in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia and STAR Movies in Taiwan. It received a staggering seven nominations, including ‘Best Motion Picture – Drama’, ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama’ for Chiwetel Ejiofor, and ‘Best Screenplay – Drama’ for its writer, John Ridley. Other motion pictures for which FIC has secured the pay-TV rights earned a total of 15 nominations and include the biographical sports drama, Rush and the animated fantasy Frozen, both of which received two nominations each, as well as one of 2013’s biggest movies, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Several of FIC’s big television hits have also been honoured, receiving an impressive 10 nominations in total. FMP’s gripping crime drama Ray Donovan, the hugely popular sitcom Modern Family on FOX in HK, SEA and Japan, and horror anthology American Horror Story: Coven on FX in HK, SEA and Korea each received two nominations, including the coveted ‘Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical’ for Modern Family, ‘Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television’ for American Horror Story: Coven and ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama’ for Ray Donovan’s lead, Liev Schreiber.
“We are proud that our shows have again received so many nominations for such prestigious awards celebrating the television industry and it is testament to the quality of the content that we select and broadcast,” said Brian Lau, Senior Vice President of Content and Communications at FIC Asia. “We strive every day to bring to our fans and viewers only the very best shows and movies on offer, and the number of nominations we received this year affirms that we are making the right choices.”
The nominations for the Golden Globe Awards follow just one day after the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards nominations, officially opening the awards season and honouring the best acting and performances in film and primetime television. FIC received a total of 22 SAG Award nominations for top shows and movies on its channels across Hong Kong, Taiwan and SEA, including a nomination for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries’ for Rob Lowe, forhis portrayal of American president John F. Kennedy in National Geographic Channel’s original production television movie Killing Kennedy.
Golden Globe Awards nominations for television programmes shown on FIC’s channels (10):
FOX Movies Premium (HK/SEA)
Ray Donovan (2 nominations):
Best Performance by and Actor in a Television Series – Drama –Liev Schreiber
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television – Jon Voight
FOX (HK/SEA, Japan & Middle East)
Modern Family (2 nominations):
Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television – Sofia Vergara
FX (HK/SEA & Korea), FOX (Japan)
American Horror Story: Coven (2 nominations):
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television – Jessica Lange
FX (HK/SEA)
Nurse Jackie (1 nomination):
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical – Edie Falco
STAR World (HK/SEA), FOX (Korea), STAR World (Taiwan)
Scandal (1 nomination):
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama – Kerry Washington
STAR World (HK/SEA), FOX (Japan & Middle East)
New Girl (1 nomination):
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical –Zooey Deschanel
STAR World (HK/SEA)
Parenthood (1 nomination):
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television – Monica Potter
Golden Globe Awards nominations for films for which FIC has acquired the pay-TV rights (15):
FMP (HK/SEA) & STAR Movies (Taiwan)
12 Years A Slave (7 nominations):
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama – Chiwetel Ejiofor
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Lupita Nyong’o
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Michael Fassbender
Best Director – Motion Picture – Steve McQueen
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture – John Ridley
Best Original Score – Motion Picture – Hans Zimmer
Rush (2 nominations):
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Daniel Brühl
Frozen (2 nominations)
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Original Song – Motion Picture – “Let It Go”
Saving Mr. Banks (1 nomination):
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Emma Thompson
The Croods (1 nomination):
Best Animated Feature Film
The Book Thief (1 nomination):
Best Original Score – Motion Picture – John Williams
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (1 nomination):
Best Original Song – Motion Picture – “Atlas”
SAG Awards nominations for television programmes shown on FIC’s channels (14):
FOX Movies Premium (HK/SEA), STAR Movies (Taiwan)
Homeland (3 nominations):
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series – Claire Danes
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
FOX (HK/SEA)
Modern Family (3 nominations):
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series – Ty Burrell
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series – Julie Bowen
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
FX (HK/SEA)
30 Rock (3 Nominations):
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series – Alec Baldwin
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series – Tina Fey
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
FOX (HK/SEA), STAR Movies (Taiwan)
The Walking Dead (1 nomination):
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
National Geographic Channel (HK/SEA& Taiwan)
Killing Kennedy (1 nomination):
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries – Rob Lowe
FX (HK/SEA)
American Horror Story: Coven (1 nomination):
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series – Jessica Lange
FX (HK/SEA)
Nurse Jackie (1 nomination):
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series – Edie Falco
STAR World (HK/SEA & Taiwan)
Scandal (1 nomination):
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series – Kerry Washington
SAG Awards nominations for films for which FIC has acquired the pay-TV rights (8):
FMP (HK/SEA) &STAR Movies (Taiwan)
12 Years a Slave (4 nominations):
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role – Chiwetel Ejiofor
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – Micheal Fassbender
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – Lupita Nyong’o
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Rush (2 nominations):
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – Daniel Brühl
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Saving Mr. Banks (1 nomination):
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Emma Thompson
The Wolverine (1 nomination):
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
-End-
About FOX International Channels (FIC)
FOX International Channels (FIC) is 21st Century FOX’s international multi-media business. We develop, produce and distribute 300+ wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, factual, sports, movie and lifestyle channels across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, in 45 languages. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions, reach over 1.6 billion cumulative households worldwide.
In Asia, FIC operates or distributes 30+ channel brands, including the FOX, STAR and National Geographic brands, with over 100 feeds across 14 markets. As the leading pay-TV network in the region, we reach more than 550 million cumulative subscribers across Asia Pacific and the Middle East with offices in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Australia and the UAE.
For more information, please visit www.foxinternationalchannels.com.
This press release was issued on behalf of FOX International Channels Asia by Tactic Public Relations Limited (Tactic). For further information, please contact:
FOX International Channels
Tactic Public Relations Limited (Tactic)
Kelly Jang
Director, Pan Regional Trade Marketing & PR
DID: +852 2621 8875
kelly.jang@fox.com
Kristen Gallagher
Tactic – Hong Kong
DID: +852 2114 4345
FAX: +852 2114 0880
kristen.gallagher@tacticpr.com.hk
Diana Low
Tactic – Singapore
DID: +65 6325 8264
FAX: +65 6325 8262
diana.low@tacticpr.com.sg
(Dec 12, 2013) Bloomberg Television has announced it has entered into a partnership with former Malaysian Minister and founder of ntv7, Dato Sri Mohd Effendi Norwawi’s Encorp Group. Bloomberg Television and Encorp Group will cooperate to create the first business news channel in Malaysia in 2014.
Read more at C+T
Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Dec 13th. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!
Christopher SlaughterCEO |
What we used to call an “article” is — in these Twitterifying times — now referred to as a “long read”… as in “tl”. But if you have the attention span, The New Republic recently accused Netflix of waging a war on mass culture. Despite the slightly breathless headline, it’s a fairly thoughtful piece, and author Tim Wu (a professor at Columbia Law School, focusing on media) manages to work in references to Nabokov, Steinbeck… and “I Love Lucy.” |
Jill GrindaExecutive Vice President |
Few have been able to put a price tag on the cost to the industry of a la carte programming, but Needham & Co. media analyst Laura Martin took a stab at it in her study. The report based on the US market finds that a la carte TV pricing would cost the industry billions of dollars. |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
UK Police have been working hand-in-hand with creative industry reps to address the problem of pirate websites using piracy to drain the life force out of content creation. D’ya think we could get some Asian police forces interested in being so pro-active? |
Christopher SlaughterCEO |
Get ready: delivering more content digitally is going to cost a LOT more. ESPN’s Kelly Cooke, the co-chair of CASBAA’s OTT Committee, pointed out this article on recent predictions from PwC that digital content will account for 87% of new spending at media companies over the next five years. |
Sara MaderaDirector, Member Relations & Marketing |
Discovery Communications is looking to rewrite the script with Scripps with reports emerging of a bid in the US for non-fiction television specialist Scripps Networks Interactive. |
Jane BuckthoughtAdvertising Consultant |
From great expectations to managing our expectations, GroupM has downgraded its 2014 ad-spend forecast from 5.1 per cent growth initially projected back in August to 4.6 per cent due to persistent economic sluggishness in a number of markets. China remains the largest single source of ad spending growth, accounting for 37 percent of new dollars in 2013 and a projected 31 percent in 2014. |
Desmond ChungAssociate Director, PR & Communications |
My dream of a speedy daily commute is evaporating in front of my eyes. With a 133% surge in mobile and tablet video views in the past year, I can only assume the number of slow walking, and totally-oblivious-to-the-fact-that-there-are-other-people-in-the-world pedestrians is only going to increase! |
| Some additional links you might be interested in: |
BBC Motion Gallery’s Education division has been re-named BBC Worldwide Learning effective 9th December 2013. The new brand identity reflects BBC Worldwide Learning’s position as a provider of premium short-form educational videos and the division’s renewed focus on brand and content partnerships.
BBC Worldwide Learning will continue to work with the international education business community as well as helping to develop a digital offering to complement textbooks and learning programmes. Content will be taken from blue chip partners including BBC Television and NHK Television. BBC Worldwide Learning will also work closely with the public service activities of BBC Learning in the UK to offer topical, relevant curriculum content to learners outside the UK.
Stephen Davies, Director, BBC Motion Gallery said, “The introduction of BBC Worldwide Learning helps strengthen our position as a leading content provider and as a partner for co-branded opportunities in the global education market.”
The business’ new website, to be launched at BETT in January 2014 will offer thousands of educational videos, from clip licensing to fully produced short form video segments, encompassing all major curriculum subject areas.
BBC Worldwide
Jeanne Leong/ Director, Communications
Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com
+65 68495292
Amy Castle-Young / Emma Cooney, Communications Managers
amy.castle-young@bbc.com / emma.cooney@bbc.com
+44 (0) 207 612 3136 / 3146
About BBC Worldwide Ltd.
BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). BBC Worldwide exists to support the BBC public service mission and to maximise profits on its behalf. It does this 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 builds the reach and reputation of the BBC brand overseas and champions British creativity. In 2012/13, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £156m and headline sales of £1,116m and returned £156m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website:
http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview
bbcworldwide.com
twitter.com/bbcwpress
(Dec 11, 2013) Elemental Technologies has announced the successful demonstration of full frame rate 4K Ultra HD high-efficiency video coding (HEVC). At an event in London, the company showed an end-to-end workflow in which live 4K@p60 HEVC content was encoded for display in real-time. At sixty frames per second, the demonstration proves the industry leadership Elemental has attained with its HEVC implementation and heralds a new age of highly immersive viewing for consumers.
Read more at Advanced Television
(Dec 11, 2013) Global ad expenditures will increase 4.6 per cent in 2014 to $531 billion, according to GroupM’s latest spending forecast – a downgrade from the 5.1 per cent growth that the firm initially projected for 2014 back in August. But persistent economic sluggishness in a number of markets worldwide prompted GroupM to issue the downwardly-revised forecast.
Read mroe at Advanced Television
So far, lots of hope, but not much payment
Two recent articles described the developments and problems in Vietnam’s OTT television industry.
OTT (Over The Top) is an irresistible trend, not only in the telecom market. Even Vietnam’s TV service providers are joining in. So far, VTVcab, FPT Telecom and VTC have jumped into the market, but user fees are proving hard to get.
VTVcab is the first official service provider; its service branded VTV Plus began in January 1/2013. It is the product of cooperation between VTVcab and the Communications Network and Services Corp. (Medianet Corporation). This application allows you to view multiple live TV channels, additional features and especially the completely new experience for interactive television.
VTV Plus allows viewers to recognize the device being used to select the signal flow and appropriate resolution to help the audience watch TV with the best quality on all devices, even though in motion.
Mr. Pham Anh Chien, Medianet Chairman, said VTV Plus offers coverage on all display systems (iOS, Android and Windows Phone, as on every screen phone, tablet, PC, Laptop or SmartTV.) Consumers need only to download the app; the channels provided on the system are on VTV VTVcab Plus
FPT Telecom provides its FPT Play app on the Apple and Google app stores. Since its initiation in 10/2013, FPT Play has attracted over 100,000 users downloads and installations.
FPT Play offers about 85 channels including SD and HD signals, and integrated entertainment features such as music videos, and television shows. It also has the ability to identify types of clients connected, so that the conversion quality can match. This enables users to see the contents with stable quality on all types of connections including 3G or WIFI. It also offers automatic notification to users of compelling new content.
Mr. Vu Anh Tu, Chief Technology Officer of FPT Telecom, said FPT Play’s superiority is the ability to transmit stable, high quality and rich content. In the upcoming version of FPT Play “Play HD” will provide connectivity between the two products, allowing users to interact better with the TV and use the content in a consistent manner on all TV screens, tablets, and mobile devices.
VTC has developed “VTC Play” OTT over the past year. It offers software support for both iOS and Android and the most common set top box receivers in the common market. VTC is running technical trials, allowing phone and tablet users to download the software, as well as laptops connected to the site.
Autumn is for testing fees
VTV Plus began offering service from 01.01.2013 and from 01.07.2013 began testing fees. To date, there are more than 2.5 million registered user accounts. However, Pham Anh Chien said, despite the high numbers there is very little payment. This despite the fact that VTV Plus gives viewers flexibility in payment – they can use monthly, weekly or even daily subscription, or pay per view of premium subscriber content.
“The amount of growth is very good but so far it is mainly free users; amounts paid are very little,” Chien said. Currently VTV Plus is still in the investment stage; its next task is to create a set of paying customers. Mr. Chien said that OTT TV is full of potential service providers, all of which hope to collect user fees from the content or through interactive TV services.
Mr. Vu Anh Tu said, FPT Play is currently being offered free of charge to all users. Commercialization of digital entertainment apps in Vietnam will take a long time and require particularly well-thought commercial strategies to take account of the special ways of thinking and style of the Vietnamese consumer. The evidence is that a lot of users already access online sites to watch movies that are full of ads, and even malware (malicious software such as viruses, trojans, etc.). The only reason they will tolerate this is to see a DVD-quality movie for free.
In addition, FPT Telecom views mobiles and tablets as a component of the ecosystem of products catering to video services — it provides user priority for Vietnam’s FPT Telecom products.
Similarly, Le Hoang Son – VTC Digital Director said, VTC will provide free services as well as services to its customers. But in the long run, for increased content, customers will have to be charged.
(This is a machine-assisted translation of the original article in Vietnamese, which can be found here)
(Dec 11, 2013) Elemental Technologies, a supplier of video solutions for multiscreen content delivery, has been named the multiformat and OTT video processing market leader across multiple regions by research released from SNL Kagan. The ranking follows an ABI Research report issued which was issued earlier this year and cited Elemental as the leader in live multiscreen encoder global market share.
Read more at Advanced Television
