Zee forays into OTT segment with Ditto TV
Insearchindia.com Team
(29 February 2012 2:10 pm)
MUMBAI: Zee's digital arm, Zee New Media, today launched India’s first and only OTT (Over-The-Top TV) distribution platform, Ditto TV, with an aim to offer TV channels and On Demand Video Content to consumers on their mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, entertainment boxes and connected TVs.
Along with this India launch, Ditto TV will also be available in the global markets of UK, UAE, New Zealand and Australia with US soon to follow by the end of this quarter.
Currently hosting 21 channels, Ditto TV has already partnered for content with Multi Screen Media (Sony Entertainment Television), TV Today Network, BBC, and Zee. It expects to offer 50 channels shortly.
Ditto TV allows for complete customization, both in cost as well as choice of content- users are given the option to handpick a basket of channels as per their own personal preferences. Different price points offer absolute control of
channel selection, with prices starting as low as Rs 49.
It offers features such as adaptive streaming, an elaborative electronic programme guide, a content recommendation
engine and an elegant user interface, all of which will be integral to enhance the user experience.
Ditto TV has partnered with Siemens Communication and Media Technology to develop a strong technology platform that will offer adaptive streaming.
As an application, Ditto TV is available on application stores viz. Apple App Store, Android Market, & BlackBerry Application World; Ditto TV’s prepaid cards will be retailed at high footfall outlets like Croma and Vijay Sales with whom Ditto TV has entered a distribution alliance. For Windows and MAC PCs, the same can be downloaded from www.dittotv.com.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
HistoryTV 18 launches Urdu feed
Insearchindia.com Team
(24 February 2012 1:55 pm)
MUMBAI: History TV18, a joint venture between A+E Networks and TV18, is launching its eighth regional-language feed, this time in Urdu.
The factual entertainment channel already has a presence in seven languages - Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, English and Gujarati.
Insearchindia.com had reported in January 2012 that the channel was planning to launch two more language feeds.
History TV18 will air a local show for the first time. Titled The Greatest Indian, the show will be an initiative on the lines of the greatest Briton where people vote for whom they think is their greatest Indian.
Insearchindia.com Team
(24 February 2012 1:55 pm)
MUMBAI: History TV18, a joint venture between A+E Networks and TV18, is launching its eighth regional-language feed, this time in Urdu.
The factual entertainment channel already has a presence in seven languages - Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, English and Gujarati.
Insearchindia.com had reported in January 2012 that the channel was planning to launch two more language feeds.
History TV18 will air a local show for the first time. Titled The Greatest Indian, the show will be an initiative on the lines of the greatest Briton where people vote for whom they think is their greatest Indian.
Sony Max expects to rake in R1,200 cr from IPL-5
Sony Max expects to rake in R1,200 cr from IPL-5
Despite the dismal form of a number of big-ticket cricketers, coupled with reluctant advertisers, host broadcaster Sony Entertainment is confident of raking in R1,100-1,200 crore in advertising revenue from the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It is aiming for a 10% jump over the on-air revenue generated during IPL-4. This, despite a number of big spenders like LG, Coca-Cola and Maruti shying away from committing big moolah.
Despite the dismal form of a number of big-ticket cricketers, coupled with reluctant advertisers, host broadcaster Sony Entertainment is confident of raking in R1,100-1,200 crore in advertising revenue from the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It is aiming for a 10% jump over the on-air revenue generated during IPL-4. This, despite a number of big spenders like LG, Coca-Cola and Maruti shying away from committing big moolah.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
OneAlliance, Neo rework distribution deal
Insearchindia.com Team
(6 February 2012 9:45 pm)
MUMBAI: Soon after MSM Discovery terminated its distribution pact with Neo Sports Broadcast, the two companies have reworked a fresh deal that would reduce the payout to the sports broadcaster as it had lost the rights to telecast international cricket played in India.
Though the financials have not been disclosed, sources familiar with the development said the new agreement is effective only for a year with the option to renew it. The deal was signed last week and has come into effect from 4 January.
Indiantelevision.com had first reported that MSM Discovery (which operates under TheOneAlliance brand) had terminated its distribution deal with Neo Sports Broadcast on 3 January. Neo Sports Broadcast operates two channels, Neo Cricket and Neo Sports.
Sony Entertainment Television India (now called MSM) had agreed in mid-2010 to pay a minimum guarantee of Rs 2.7 billion net for the three-year distribution of Neo Cricket and Neo Sports.
"The need to thrash out a fresh deal was because Neo lost the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) rights. The value of the old deal obviously needed to be brought down. By doing a one-year deal in new commercial terms, TheOneAlliance gains as its payout drops and it also gets to distribute sports channels that still have Euro Cup and Asian Cup as valuable properties," a source said.
Neo will telecast Asia Cup (March 1-12), UEFA Euro 2012 (June 8 to July 1), French Open (May 27 to June 10) and World Series Hockey (February 29- April 2).
"TheOneAlliance will be able to strengthen its third bouquet that had would been weak without the two sports channels. Their collections on the ground will improve," said the head of a leading multisystem operator (MSO) who did not want his name to be revealed.
TheOneAlliance bouquet also has the Indian Premier League (IPL) content which will be broadcast exclusively on Max.
Said MSM Discovery president Rajesh Kaul, "The sports genre has always been a strong growth driver. We are happy to welcome back Neo to TheOneAlliance bouquet. The blockbuster lineup on Neo channels coupled with DLF IPL on Max will ensure the bouquet is poised for further growth."
For Neo, the one-year distribution deal will give it breathing space to strengthen its distribution team or weigh its partner on new terms.
"Neo, which is somewhat crippled by the loss of BCCI rights, will have time to rebuild and strengthen its properties. It has a strong distributor in TheOneAlliance and can decide on its future course of action after a year," a media analyst said.
Insearchindia.com Team
(6 February 2012 9:45 pm)
MUMBAI: Soon after MSM Discovery terminated its distribution pact with Neo Sports Broadcast, the two companies have reworked a fresh deal that would reduce the payout to the sports broadcaster as it had lost the rights to telecast international cricket played in India.
Though the financials have not been disclosed, sources familiar with the development said the new agreement is effective only for a year with the option to renew it. The deal was signed last week and has come into effect from 4 January.
Indiantelevision.com had first reported that MSM Discovery (which operates under TheOneAlliance brand) had terminated its distribution deal with Neo Sports Broadcast on 3 January. Neo Sports Broadcast operates two channels, Neo Cricket and Neo Sports.
Sony Entertainment Television India (now called MSM) had agreed in mid-2010 to pay a minimum guarantee of Rs 2.7 billion net for the three-year distribution of Neo Cricket and Neo Sports.
"The need to thrash out a fresh deal was because Neo lost the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) rights. The value of the old deal obviously needed to be brought down. By doing a one-year deal in new commercial terms, TheOneAlliance gains as its payout drops and it also gets to distribute sports channels that still have Euro Cup and Asian Cup as valuable properties," a source said.
Neo will telecast Asia Cup (March 1-12), UEFA Euro 2012 (June 8 to July 1), French Open (May 27 to June 10) and World Series Hockey (February 29- April 2).
"TheOneAlliance will be able to strengthen its third bouquet that had would been weak without the two sports channels. Their collections on the ground will improve," said the head of a leading multisystem operator (MSO) who did not want his name to be revealed.
TheOneAlliance bouquet also has the Indian Premier League (IPL) content which will be broadcast exclusively on Max.
Said MSM Discovery president Rajesh Kaul, "The sports genre has always been a strong growth driver. We are happy to welcome back Neo to TheOneAlliance bouquet. The blockbuster lineup on Neo channels coupled with DLF IPL on Max will ensure the bouquet is poised for further growth."
For Neo, the one-year distribution deal will give it breathing space to strengthen its distribution team or weigh its partner on new terms.
"Neo, which is somewhat crippled by the loss of BCCI rights, will have time to rebuild and strengthen its properties. It has a strong distributor in TheOneAlliance and can decide on its future course of action after a year," a media analyst said.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Will BCCI and Sahara patch up?
Insearchindia.com Team
(4 February 2012 10:20 pm)
MUMBAI: Blow hot, blow cold. That could be the approach of Sahara India as it announced that it would walk out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and withdraw from all sponsorships under India's cricket board, while founder-promoter Subroto Roy indicated later in the day that a reconciliation could be possible if the BCCI adopted a flexible approach.
"We are not rigid," was the quick response from Roy during a press conference when asked whether there is ground for reconciliation. Roy also said that he will think "twice" about his decision if there is player's interest at stake.
Will the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Sahara Group reconcile? Well, that could or could not be a possibility but if the noises emanating from both sides is any indication, then a patch-up is not that difficult a task. After all, there is a lot at stake for both parties.
Talking to Indiantelevision.com, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that the BCCI is open to reconciliation with the Sahara Group, which had bought the IPL Pune franchise for a whopping $370 million and sponsored the Indian team at a fee of Rs 33 million per Test match, ODI and T20.
The BCCI, of which IPL is a sub-committee, has not received any official notice from the Sahara Group on termination of contract.
"Whatever we have heard is through the media. We haven’t received any notice from them," said Shukla.
"They have been our partners for a long time, we can sort out the differences with them (Sahara)," he added, while stressing that the IPL cannot change rules for just one franchise.
He also found comparison between Champions League and IPL unfair since the two are different tournaments altogether. IPL is a qualifying tournament for CL T20, which involves top clubs from six cricket playing nations.
Sahara had in a media statement stated that the BCCI had bended rules during last year’s CL T20 by allowing Mumbai Indians to replace their injured Indian player with a foreigner which meant that the team fielded five foreign players instead of the rules permitting only four to be part of the final eleven.
The company had requested the BCCI to allow it to carry the prize purse of Yuvraj Singh, who has been ruled out of IPL season 5 due to lung tumour, into the players auction which the BCCI flatly refused thereby triggering a strong reaction from the Lucknow headquartered group.
The IPL chairman said that the BCCI would have given the same concession to any other IPL team who had qualified for Champions League if they had been confronted with the same situation.
"That is not just Mumbai Indians. We would allow other franchises in Champions League to avail that facility, but IPL is a different case. They (Sahara) should not compare IPL with Champions League," Shukla affirmed.
Shukla also hinted that the IPL might go back to the original format if things don't work with Sahara. "The IPL was originally an eight team event and was quite successful," Shukla revealed.
Earlier in the afternoon, Roy indicated that Sahara would be accommodative if the BCCI changed its inflexible approach. He was responding to a question at a press conference held in Mumbai.
Roy then went on to recount instances wherein the company went out of its way to accommodate BCCI's requests which the latter never reciprocated.
Sahara had issued a statement in the morning stating that it was unhappy with the BCCI due to the fact that they haven’t taken into consideration any of its suggestion like having an open player auction, which according to Roy would have given all the teams an even playing field and strengthened the IPL.
He was also annoyed with the fact that they had to pay the same franchise fee despite the BCCI cutting down on the number of matches to 74 instead of the 94 matches that was promised during franchise auctions.
Roy believes the franchise was paying 25 per cent more franchise fee due to the cutting down of total matches. The company had also requested the BCCI to take the matter to an arbitrator and sort it out but the BCCI refused.
He also clarified that the company's decision to back out of Team India's sponsorship had nothing to do with team India's performance, but more with the fact that it did not want to deal with a body with which it had fallen out.
Meanwhile, the BCCI in a statement today made it clear that rules would not be bent for any IPL franchise. It would, however, still reach out to its long-term partner "as soon as practicable to clarify its intentions".
"We understand that Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has issued a statement in which it indicates an intention to withdraw from its involvement in Indian cricket, including as regards the Indian Premier League. We intend to contact Sahara Adventure Sports Limited as soon as practicable to clarify its intentions," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.
"If we understand Sahara Adventure Sports Limited's statement, it intends not to participate in the 2012 IPL Auction or in the 2012 IPL Season," the statement added.
"During the last few days Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has requested that IPL vary its Player Regulations by allowing it to increase its Auction Purse from $1.6 million to $3.4 million in light of Yuvraj Singh's unfortunate illness. Whilst all within IPL and BCCI have a huge amount of sympathy for Yuvraj Singh and wish him all the best for a speedy recovery, it is unable to vary the Player Regulations," the BCCI insisted.
Insearchindia.com Team
(4 February 2012 10:20 pm)
MUMBAI: Blow hot, blow cold. That could be the approach of Sahara India as it announced that it would walk out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and withdraw from all sponsorships under India's cricket board, while founder-promoter Subroto Roy indicated later in the day that a reconciliation could be possible if the BCCI adopted a flexible approach.
"We are not rigid," was the quick response from Roy during a press conference when asked whether there is ground for reconciliation. Roy also said that he will think "twice" about his decision if there is player's interest at stake.
Will the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Sahara Group reconcile? Well, that could or could not be a possibility but if the noises emanating from both sides is any indication, then a patch-up is not that difficult a task. After all, there is a lot at stake for both parties.
Talking to Indiantelevision.com, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that the BCCI is open to reconciliation with the Sahara Group, which had bought the IPL Pune franchise for a whopping $370 million and sponsored the Indian team at a fee of Rs 33 million per Test match, ODI and T20.
The BCCI, of which IPL is a sub-committee, has not received any official notice from the Sahara Group on termination of contract.
"Whatever we have heard is through the media. We haven’t received any notice from them," said Shukla.
"They have been our partners for a long time, we can sort out the differences with them (Sahara)," he added, while stressing that the IPL cannot change rules for just one franchise.
He also found comparison between Champions League and IPL unfair since the two are different tournaments altogether. IPL is a qualifying tournament for CL T20, which involves top clubs from six cricket playing nations.
Sahara had in a media statement stated that the BCCI had bended rules during last year’s CL T20 by allowing Mumbai Indians to replace their injured Indian player with a foreigner which meant that the team fielded five foreign players instead of the rules permitting only four to be part of the final eleven.
The company had requested the BCCI to allow it to carry the prize purse of Yuvraj Singh, who has been ruled out of IPL season 5 due to lung tumour, into the players auction which the BCCI flatly refused thereby triggering a strong reaction from the Lucknow headquartered group.
The IPL chairman said that the BCCI would have given the same concession to any other IPL team who had qualified for Champions League if they had been confronted with the same situation.
"That is not just Mumbai Indians. We would allow other franchises in Champions League to avail that facility, but IPL is a different case. They (Sahara) should not compare IPL with Champions League," Shukla affirmed.
Shukla also hinted that the IPL might go back to the original format if things don't work with Sahara. "The IPL was originally an eight team event and was quite successful," Shukla revealed.
Earlier in the afternoon, Roy indicated that Sahara would be accommodative if the BCCI changed its inflexible approach. He was responding to a question at a press conference held in Mumbai.
Roy then went on to recount instances wherein the company went out of its way to accommodate BCCI's requests which the latter never reciprocated.
Sahara had issued a statement in the morning stating that it was unhappy with the BCCI due to the fact that they haven’t taken into consideration any of its suggestion like having an open player auction, which according to Roy would have given all the teams an even playing field and strengthened the IPL.
He was also annoyed with the fact that they had to pay the same franchise fee despite the BCCI cutting down on the number of matches to 74 instead of the 94 matches that was promised during franchise auctions.
Roy believes the franchise was paying 25 per cent more franchise fee due to the cutting down of total matches. The company had also requested the BCCI to take the matter to an arbitrator and sort it out but the BCCI refused.
He also clarified that the company's decision to back out of Team India's sponsorship had nothing to do with team India's performance, but more with the fact that it did not want to deal with a body with which it had fallen out.
Meanwhile, the BCCI in a statement today made it clear that rules would not be bent for any IPL franchise. It would, however, still reach out to its long-term partner "as soon as practicable to clarify its intentions".
"We understand that Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has issued a statement in which it indicates an intention to withdraw from its involvement in Indian cricket, including as regards the Indian Premier League. We intend to contact Sahara Adventure Sports Limited as soon as practicable to clarify its intentions," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.
"If we understand Sahara Adventure Sports Limited's statement, it intends not to participate in the 2012 IPL Auction or in the 2012 IPL Season," the statement added.
"During the last few days Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has requested that IPL vary its Player Regulations by allowing it to increase its Auction Purse from $1.6 million to $3.4 million in light of Yuvraj Singh's unfortunate illness. Whilst all within IPL and BCCI have a huge amount of sympathy for Yuvraj Singh and wish him all the best for a speedy recovery, it is unable to vary the Player Regulations," the BCCI insisted.
Sahara pulls plug on cricket sponsorship, IPL franchise
Sahara pulls plug on cricket sponsorship, IPL franchise
Insearchindia.com Team
(4 February 2012 3:30 pm)
(Updated 10:35 pm)
MUMBAI: In a development that will surely have deep implications, Sahara Group has announced its withdrawal from all cricketing activities including Team Indian sponsorship and IPL franchise Pune Warriors India.
The announcement was made before the commencement of the IPL player's auction in which the Pune Warriors India did not participate.
Sahara has given several reasons for its decision to opt out of cricket but the main trigger is believed to be the BCCI's decision to disallow the franchise to use the price of Yuvraj Singh, who has been ruled out of IPL season 5.0, in today's auction purse.
It also pointed out that under similar circumstances, the BCCI promoted Champions League T20 rules were bended for Mumbai Indians when they were allowed to bring in replacements for their injured players. Sahara feels that this peculiar situation of Singh is silent in the rule book because it probably talks only about players who are temporarily injured.
"Incidentally, once during the Champion's League tournament, one of the Indian IPL teams had a lot of injured players so they were rightly, out of natural justice, allowed to break the rules and take one extra foreign player. We appreciated this natural justice," Sahara said in statement.
Sahara also noted that its first entry into IPL was thwarted in 2008 when it was disqualified, owing to a small technicality on the whims and fancies of BCCI.
It further pointed out that when the company had bought the Pune franchise for $370 million, it was promised that there would be 94 matches in the IPL which was later reduced to 74 matches. Despite reducing the number of matches, the BCCI did not reduce franchise fee.
"We are still pursuing continuously with the BCCI to refund the extra bid money proportionately. It has been denied on the basis of strict rules," it added.
Sahara was also unhappy with the fact that BCCI did not go for an open auction which did not give the two new franchises - Pune and Kochi - a level playing field.
"In the interest of the tournament, we repeatedly tried our best to pursue the BCCI for open auction of all players so that we achieve level playing field and all teams are equally balanced from the quality players' point of view. Again, as per BCCI's strict rules it was denied and again, we were deprived of natural justice. 12 of the best players were retained by the existing teams then," the statement averred.
On the sponsorship front, it says that will continue for a few months as the BCCI will take time to find another sponsor.
Sahara's fresh four-year sponsorship contract for the national team, pegged at $115 million, runs through to December 2013.
"We really feel such one-sided emotional relationship cannot be dragged any further. We are withdrawing from all cricket under BCCI/ However, we don't want to give any problem to the BCCI and we also feel that the players should not suffer.
"BCCI will definitely take 2-4 months to get a new sponsor and we will continue paying the sponsorship money till then. All other IPL team players, coaches and other such associates will definitely get their due this year, in case they do not get a chance to play," the statement said.
Meanwhile, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has blamed BCCI president N Srinivasan's arrogant style of functioning for the current mess in IPL Sahara Group's pulling out of the league.
"Sahara termination - shows how unhappy the major sponsor and franchise owner is with the way BCCI deals with its partners. This is really a sad day. Sahara has been sports biggest supporter and pillar," Modi wrote on his twitter page.
"It's a black day for Indian Cricket. All due to One ego maniac. Wonder how we allow that to continue. It will ruin cricket completely," read another tweet.
"All I can say is that whenever sports was in trouble - we could always count on Sahara being there. They were one solid company one could always bank on coming thru," he added.
"When another Team owner is a state association president, BCCI president and just showed that he controls ICC thru his clout. And does things only in favour of himself. This was bound to happen."
Laying the blame of shunning BCCI sponsors and partners at Srinivasan's door, Modi said the current president had no moral authority to continue.
"BCCI President needs to go. He has no concept of taking people along. The Fans, Players, Sponsors, Franchisee owners, are the people who make us what we are. And they need to be listened too. Not shunned away," he added.
"BCCI has made all posts redundant in BCCI and want to do the same in ICC. They want only one door to be opened for cricket. That door has a Plate on it - N Srinivasan. Owner CSK, president TNCA, President BCCI, controller ICC," he added.
Insearchindia.com Team
(4 February 2012 3:30 pm)
(Updated 10:35 pm)
MUMBAI: In a development that will surely have deep implications, Sahara Group has announced its withdrawal from all cricketing activities including Team Indian sponsorship and IPL franchise Pune Warriors India.
The announcement was made before the commencement of the IPL player's auction in which the Pune Warriors India did not participate.
Sahara has given several reasons for its decision to opt out of cricket but the main trigger is believed to be the BCCI's decision to disallow the franchise to use the price of Yuvraj Singh, who has been ruled out of IPL season 5.0, in today's auction purse.
It also pointed out that under similar circumstances, the BCCI promoted Champions League T20 rules were bended for Mumbai Indians when they were allowed to bring in replacements for their injured players. Sahara feels that this peculiar situation of Singh is silent in the rule book because it probably talks only about players who are temporarily injured.
"Incidentally, once during the Champion's League tournament, one of the Indian IPL teams had a lot of injured players so they were rightly, out of natural justice, allowed to break the rules and take one extra foreign player. We appreciated this natural justice," Sahara said in statement.
Sahara also noted that its first entry into IPL was thwarted in 2008 when it was disqualified, owing to a small technicality on the whims and fancies of BCCI.
It further pointed out that when the company had bought the Pune franchise for $370 million, it was promised that there would be 94 matches in the IPL which was later reduced to 74 matches. Despite reducing the number of matches, the BCCI did not reduce franchise fee.
"We are still pursuing continuously with the BCCI to refund the extra bid money proportionately. It has been denied on the basis of strict rules," it added.
Sahara was also unhappy with the fact that BCCI did not go for an open auction which did not give the two new franchises - Pune and Kochi - a level playing field.
"In the interest of the tournament, we repeatedly tried our best to pursue the BCCI for open auction of all players so that we achieve level playing field and all teams are equally balanced from the quality players' point of view. Again, as per BCCI's strict rules it was denied and again, we were deprived of natural justice. 12 of the best players were retained by the existing teams then," the statement averred.
On the sponsorship front, it says that will continue for a few months as the BCCI will take time to find another sponsor.
Sahara's fresh four-year sponsorship contract for the national team, pegged at $115 million, runs through to December 2013.
"We really feel such one-sided emotional relationship cannot be dragged any further. We are withdrawing from all cricket under BCCI/ However, we don't want to give any problem to the BCCI and we also feel that the players should not suffer.
"BCCI will definitely take 2-4 months to get a new sponsor and we will continue paying the sponsorship money till then. All other IPL team players, coaches and other such associates will definitely get their due this year, in case they do not get a chance to play," the statement said.
Meanwhile, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has blamed BCCI president N Srinivasan's arrogant style of functioning for the current mess in IPL Sahara Group's pulling out of the league.
"Sahara termination - shows how unhappy the major sponsor and franchise owner is with the way BCCI deals with its partners. This is really a sad day. Sahara has been sports biggest supporter and pillar," Modi wrote on his twitter page.
"It's a black day for Indian Cricket. All due to One ego maniac. Wonder how we allow that to continue. It will ruin cricket completely," read another tweet.
"All I can say is that whenever sports was in trouble - we could always count on Sahara being there. They were one solid company one could always bank on coming thru," he added.
"When another Team owner is a state association president, BCCI president and just showed that he controls ICC thru his clout. And does things only in favour of himself. This was bound to happen."
Laying the blame of shunning BCCI sponsors and partners at Srinivasan's door, Modi said the current president had no moral authority to continue.
"BCCI President needs to go. He has no concept of taking people along. The Fans, Players, Sponsors, Franchisee owners, are the people who make us what we are. And they need to be listened too. Not shunned away," he added.
"BCCI has made all posts redundant in BCCI and want to do the same in ICC. They want only one door to be opened for cricket. That door has a Plate on it - N Srinivasan. Owner CSK, president TNCA, President BCCI, controller ICC," he added.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Sony posts Q3 loss of $2.04 bn
Insearchindia.com Team
(4 February 2012 12:20 am)
MUMBAI: Hammered by the floods in Thailand, strong yen and weak global demand, Japanese consumer electronics and media conglomerate Sony announced net losses of $2.04 billion for the third quarter.
Sony recorded net income of 72.3 billion yen for the same quarter in 2010.
Sony Pictures increased sales by 7.7 per cent to $2.06 billion, but profits took a beating and fell by 85 per cent to $9 million.
At the same time, India proved to be a shining light. Overall Sony continues to see double digit growth from India and Brazil.
Sales in the music segment decreased by 12 per cent and operating income decreased ¥4.2 billion year-on-year to ¥15.3 billion.
Sales decreased primarily due to fewer new significant releases in the current quarter compared with the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, and the appreciation of the yen.
Operating income decreased due to the lower sales, partially offset by lower marketing expenses. Overall, the company has forecast a full-year operating loss, due to bad losses in its TV operations despite restructuring efforts.
Sony VP, corporate executive officer, CFO, Masaru Kato noted that sales decreased significantly year-on-year due to the impact of floods in Thailand, deterioration in the market environment in developed countries, and even greater relative impact of exchange rates. The floods in Thailand were one of the major factors behind the significant decrease in sales and deterioration in operating results for the quarter.
"Several of our manufacturing facilities incurred direct damage, resulting in a halt in production, and the delayed launch of certain products. Moreover, the supply chain across the entire industry was impacted, and the demand decreased as companies we do business with were affected. The decrease in sales and significant deterioration in equity in net income of affiliated companies caused us to record an
operating loss for the quarter," he said.
Kato noted that China has reached the plateau and the
company, thus, cannot expect the figures for their growth.
Insearchindia.com Team
(4 February 2012 12:20 am)
MUMBAI: Hammered by the floods in Thailand, strong yen and weak global demand, Japanese consumer electronics and media conglomerate Sony announced net losses of $2.04 billion for the third quarter.
Sony recorded net income of 72.3 billion yen for the same quarter in 2010.
Sony Pictures increased sales by 7.7 per cent to $2.06 billion, but profits took a beating and fell by 85 per cent to $9 million.
At the same time, India proved to be a shining light. Overall Sony continues to see double digit growth from India and Brazil.
Sales in the music segment decreased by 12 per cent and operating income decreased ¥4.2 billion year-on-year to ¥15.3 billion.
Sales decreased primarily due to fewer new significant releases in the current quarter compared with the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, and the appreciation of the yen.
Operating income decreased due to the lower sales, partially offset by lower marketing expenses. Overall, the company has forecast a full-year operating loss, due to bad losses in its TV operations despite restructuring efforts.
Sony VP, corporate executive officer, CFO, Masaru Kato noted that sales decreased significantly year-on-year due to the impact of floods in Thailand, deterioration in the market environment in developed countries, and even greater relative impact of exchange rates. The floods in Thailand were one of the major factors behind the significant decrease in sales and deterioration in operating results for the quarter.
"Several of our manufacturing facilities incurred direct damage, resulting in a halt in production, and the delayed launch of certain products. Moreover, the supply chain across the entire industry was impacted, and the demand decreased as companies we do business with were affected. The decrease in sales and significant deterioration in equity in net income of affiliated companies caused us to record an
operating loss for the quarter," he said.
Kato noted that China has reached the plateau and the
company, thus, cannot expect the figures for their growth.
Ad war between Times of India and Hindu gets uglier
BY URVI MALVANIA
Insearchindia.com Team
(3 February 2012 9:48 pm)
MUMBAI: The war between the two print titans has got even uglier with The Times of India hitting hard at The Hindu in a new ad campaign. The splash created by The Hindu’s ‘Stay Ahead of the Times’ campaign seems to have finally elicited a response from The Times of India, heating up the ad war further.
The Chennai edition of the TOI carried a copy on 3 February that stated: “We congratulate the competition for finally waking up to the Times of India.”
The copy went on to say that the flagship news daily from Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd (BCCL) enjoyed reacting to the competitor’s recent campaign and looks forward to them following its footsteps in connecting with the readers.
It concluded by saying, “We now look forward by emulating our approach to connecting with readers, led by a new editor and CEO who’ve cut their teeth at the TOI. We wish them good morning and good luck.”
Taproot India handles the creative duties for TOI and is behind this particular ad as well.
Considering that The Hindu campaign focused on the trivialisation of content in print journalism, BCCL CMO Rahul Kansal said, “We at TOI believe in searching and operating on the middle ground and establishing a reader connect. We carry news that is relevant to different sections of the reading masses and not only for those interested in serious information.”
Reacting to the new ad, The Hindu Group VP advertising Suresh Srinivasan told Indiantelevision, “We do not know what to make of this ad. It has appeared in a publication that is anyway going to reach the TOI readers only. The most I can say is that we are amused. Also, by the ad’s logic, every school and college in the country should stand up and take credit for training professionals in the field out there.”
The Chennai edition of the TOI was launched on 14 April 2008 and has been trying to catch up with the forerunner The Hindu since then. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation (January-June 2011), The Hindu’s circulation in Chennai is 356,826 copies, followed by the Deccan Chronicle at 243,581 and the New Indian Express at 89,546.
Since the TOI Chennai edition is not registered with the ABC, accurate data regarding the daily’s circulation figures could not be attained.
The ad war started about four months back with TOI taking potshots at the mundane content of The Hindu and asking readers to ‘Wake up to the Times of India’.
In response, The Hindu created a campaign that elucidated that it’s content is much more relevant in this globalising age and is not "Bollywoodised" or "trivialised" in any way.
BY URVI MALVANIA
Insearchindia.com Team
(3 February 2012 9:48 pm)
MUMBAI: The war between the two print titans has got even uglier with The Times of India hitting hard at The Hindu in a new ad campaign. The splash created by The Hindu’s ‘Stay Ahead of the Times’ campaign seems to have finally elicited a response from The Times of India, heating up the ad war further.
The Chennai edition of the TOI carried a copy on 3 February that stated: “We congratulate the competition for finally waking up to the Times of India.”
The copy went on to say that the flagship news daily from Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd (BCCL) enjoyed reacting to the competitor’s recent campaign and looks forward to them following its footsteps in connecting with the readers.
It concluded by saying, “We now look forward by emulating our approach to connecting with readers, led by a new editor and CEO who’ve cut their teeth at the TOI. We wish them good morning and good luck.”
Taproot India handles the creative duties for TOI and is behind this particular ad as well.
Considering that The Hindu campaign focused on the trivialisation of content in print journalism, BCCL CMO Rahul Kansal said, “We at TOI believe in searching and operating on the middle ground and establishing a reader connect. We carry news that is relevant to different sections of the reading masses and not only for those interested in serious information.”
Reacting to the new ad, The Hindu Group VP advertising Suresh Srinivasan told Indiantelevision, “We do not know what to make of this ad. It has appeared in a publication that is anyway going to reach the TOI readers only. The most I can say is that we are amused. Also, by the ad’s logic, every school and college in the country should stand up and take credit for training professionals in the field out there.”
The Chennai edition of the TOI was launched on 14 April 2008 and has been trying to catch up with the forerunner The Hindu since then. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation (January-June 2011), The Hindu’s circulation in Chennai is 356,826 copies, followed by the Deccan Chronicle at 243,581 and the New Indian Express at 89,546.
Since the TOI Chennai edition is not registered with the ABC, accurate data regarding the daily’s circulation figures could not be attained.
The ad war started about four months back with TOI taking potshots at the mundane content of The Hindu and asking readers to ‘Wake up to the Times of India’.
In response, The Hindu created a campaign that elucidated that it’s content is much more relevant in this globalising age and is not "Bollywoodised" or "trivialised" in any way.
Disney buys out Ronnie Screwvala’s stake
Disney buys out Ronnie Screwvala’s stake
Insearchindia.com Team
(3 February 2012 11:15 pm)
MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company (South East Asia) Pte Ltd (TWDC SEA) has bought out all the shares of Ronnie Screwvala and Unilazer and Unilazer HK in UTV Software Communications.
Screwvala and his associates, who were holding 8.053 million shares, or 19.82 per cent of the media company, will take home Rs 8.05 billion after exiting.
The shareholders' agreement between Screwvala, Unilazer Exports and Management Consultants Ltd, Unilazer Hong Kong Ltd and TWDC SEA has been terminated with effect from 2 February, UTV said.
In July last year, UTV had announced that Disney has offered to buy out all the shares of UTV, which it already does not own, for Rs 20 billion approximately.
The deal got approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in December last year.
As of 31 December, the promoter and promoter group shareholding in UTV stood at 70.04 per cent, including 50.28 per cent owned by Walt Disney Company (South East Asia) Pte Ltd.
Screwvala ceases to be UTV managing director but will continue as a whole time director. He takes over as Walt Disney Company India as managing director.
UTV shares closed Friday at Rs 1,061 per share, down 0.57 per cent on the BSE.
Insearchindia.com Team
(3 February 2012 11:15 pm)
MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company (South East Asia) Pte Ltd (TWDC SEA) has bought out all the shares of Ronnie Screwvala and Unilazer and Unilazer HK in UTV Software Communications.
Screwvala and his associates, who were holding 8.053 million shares, or 19.82 per cent of the media company, will take home Rs 8.05 billion after exiting.
The shareholders' agreement between Screwvala, Unilazer Exports and Management Consultants Ltd, Unilazer Hong Kong Ltd and TWDC SEA has been terminated with effect from 2 February, UTV said.
In July last year, UTV had announced that Disney has offered to buy out all the shares of UTV, which it already does not own, for Rs 20 billion approximately.
The deal got approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in December last year.
As of 31 December, the promoter and promoter group shareholding in UTV stood at 70.04 per cent, including 50.28 per cent owned by Walt Disney Company (South East Asia) Pte Ltd.
Screwvala ceases to be UTV managing director but will continue as a whole time director. He takes over as Walt Disney Company India as managing director.
UTV shares closed Friday at Rs 1,061 per share, down 0.57 per cent on the BSE.
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