Video Age International articles from April 2002

Video Age International archives from April 2002

Good future for trade shows, but caveats galore: fortune cookies at a roundtable luncheon.(trade shows)(Panel Discussion)
April 1, 2002... Just as at the NATPE trade show in Las Vegas this past January, the general talk among the participants at February's MILIA show in Cannes and the AFM market in Santa Monica was the poor state of the world economy, the tough market environment...

Future of DTT in doubt.
April 1, 2002... The cable industry's urgent embrace of digital technology and its aggressive deployment of services such as VOD and SVOD (subscription VOD) is causing some experts to question the global future of digital terrestrial television (DTT). ...

New season, new challenges & the L.A. Screenings.
April 1, 2002... Just count the ways one can slice a new U.S. TV series: network broadcast sale (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.), repurposing (repeats on a cable network shortly after a broadcast run), split-sale (showing on cable and second runs on broadcast in the same...

New wave of kids action shows.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The biggest influence currently shaping kids programming is a heightened awareness of personal responsibility on the part of both producers and distributors. In the action genre, this has proven to be quite a juggling act. As Jonathan...

My two cents.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... In my view, the world is divided into those who crave simplicity and those who thrive on complexity. I'd put the Americas, Africa and the Pacific in the first category; Europe, the Middle East and the Far East in the second. Why should we...

Australia's voice in Asia. (World).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) recently launched a new regional satellite service, ABC Asia Pacific TV, which will provide free-to-air news and entertainment across Asia and the Pacific. The service is supported by funding...

Canadian bids for new station. (World).
April 1, 2002... The Algoma Broadcast Group (ABG), an upstart Canadian organization led by former CTV news producer Craig Huckerby, has petitioned the Canadian Radio-TV and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to back its bid to start a new TV station in...

Austria's ATV gets license. (World).(private terrestrial television broadcast license)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Austrian cable channel ATV was recently awarded a license for national private terrestrial television broadcasts by Austrian media authority Komm-Austria. ATV will soon launch an extensive publicity campaign for its slate of all-new...

Aussie pay rivals work together. (World).
April 1, 2002... Australia's two chief pay-TV operators, Foxtel and Optus, have agreed to resell content and capacity on their rival networks, in a landmark deal that has the potential to revolutionize the troubled industry. Under the deal, which has yet...

Hong Kong meets Hollywood. (World).(CineFinance underwrites Hong Kong movies)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... American finance company CineFinance set up Hong Kong's first movie underwriting business in January, 2002. The company took this leap into the Asian film market aiming to help filmmakers secure loans and make investments easier. ...

Canadian lobby group shaking cable regs. (World).(Canadian Cable Television Association)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), the lobby group for Canadian cable companies, appealed to a Parliamentary committee to make significant changes in the country's Broadcasting Act. At the top of the list was the request to...

German films on the rise. (World).(reports 2001 film industry figures)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... The German Federal Film Board's 2001 annual report was chock-full of glowing gains for the German film industry. Combined with a slew of homegrown cinematic successes, the industry could well be on its way out of the doldrums caused by failed...

Pay for Pay-TV in Hong Kong. (World).(Pay-television operators want harsher penalties for illegal set-top box use)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Pay-TV operators in Hong Kong want harsher penalties for the illegal use of set-top boxes than the government plans to impose. The Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau proposed instituting civil actions against pirate viewers, a...

RTL eyes British channel. (World).(RTL Group interested in investing in Channel 5)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Europe's RTL recently made public its interest in investing in the U.K.'s Channel 5, continuing its foray into the British market. The broadcaster has referred to Channel 5 as a key vehicle for growth. With RTL's large investment, the channel...

Big studio in the big Apple. (World).(Studio City in development phase)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... In a move that marks the biggest construction plan since the terrorist attacks, New York City's developers have announced the advent of the largest studio space on the island. Studio City, a $375 million project covering a...

Future for Russia's TV-6? (World).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin is, at press time, still hopeful that the reporting team of TV-6, which was recently shut down amid a flood of internal political turmoil, may be put in charge of temporary broadcasting on the channel,...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... I picked up a copy of VideoAge at MILLA recently, and I would like to congratulate you on the continuing excellence of your magazine. Peter Clark Media Ventures, London, UK You accomplished a monumental task in contextualizing all...

A Gut feeling on the real Jack Welch. (Book Review).
April 1, 2002... CEOs and their stories have become so cliche over the last decade, that whenever a new executive volume is published, the temptation is to pigeon-hole it as another rags-to-riches biography, or a master class in management strategies. Just by...

Panel examines challenges of brave new digital world. (Webcasting Magazine).(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Although the dotcom fallout and the unexpected economic downturn conspired to delay the long-anticipated digital revolution, advances such as subscription VOD (SVOD) and brands like MusicNet and Movies.com are bringing wide-scale digital media...

Big brother in set-top boxes. (Webcasting Magazine).(tracking software included in set-top boxes)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A new "digital rights management software" that allows cable and satellite providers to track what programs viewers watch, what commercials they skip and how they use their downloaded programming, is popping up in set-top boxes. Program...

Canadian TV primed for VOD. (Webcasting Magazine).(Rogers Communications is first to offer video-on-demand television services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... After several false starts in different parts of the world, video-on-demand A (VOD) is finally taking off in Canada. In mid-February, Toronto-based Rogers Communications became the first Canadian cable company to offer VOD to its customers,...

Internet TV takes root in Japan. (Webcasting Magazine).(Nippon Telegraph and Telephone alliance formed to introduce television over the Internet in Japan)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) recently formed an alliance with three major commercial Japanese broadcasters to bring television over the Internet to the forefront of Japanese broadcasting. NTT, Fuji Television Network, and Asahi...

Reality TV hits croisette: budget cuts, less shows. (MIP-TV Preview).(television broadcasting industry figures)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... The buzzword for MIP-TV 2002 will be "budget cuts" since most companies will be in Cannes with budgets slashed anywhere from 25 to 75 percent. Although companies are reluctant to miss MIP-TV, they are nevertheless planning every trick in...

AFM buying reflected economic downturn. (Film Markets).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... At the 22nd annual AFM, the number of exhibitors increased by three percent to 342 from last year. The number of films screened also increased to 408, becoming the second highest total in the market's history. However, the number of buyers...

SportelAmerica down but still up.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... With 600 participants, the 6th annual SportelAmerica, held March 25-28, registered "only" a 20-percent drop compared to last year. Considering that most TV markets saw average declines of 40 percent, the organizers are happy with the results....

Venice TV Fest gets good first impression.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The first Venice International Television Festival, which ended on March 25 in Venice Lido, Italy, gave a total of 13 Canal Grande Awards to 11 dramas, one documentary and one cartoon. Held at the 65-year old Palazzo del Cinema in Lido, the...

The Gospel on program sales according to religious TV. (Higher Talling).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... In an age when all things godly are either shunned or fanatically embraced -- even the U.S Supreme Court is currently debating whether or not state sponsored school vouchers can used for religious schools -- the Virginia-based National...

Staying fresh: what's cooking in the format biz? (Pre-Packaged Deals).(realty shows find success)
April 1, 2002... Despite recent ratings lows in the U.S. for formerly beloved favorites such as Who Wants to be Millionaire, Survivor, and The Weakest Link, the international format sector continues to churn out new ideas, hoping that one of them will emerge as...

New policy opens Israeli television. (Territories).(Open Sky Policy)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The new year brought a new policy to Israeli television that has both cracked it wide open for new competition, and shaken it up economically. The Open Sky Policy has mandated free competition under fair and equal conditions for all carriers...

U.S. Studios seeking new business models: new TV season a $500,000 fee test case. (Finances).
April 1, 2002... Despite stop-n-go signs of economic rebound, the global realities of ever-increasing audience fragmentation and ballooning production costs are forcing studios to look for innovative, cost-cutting business models and to rethink traditional ways...

New satellite TV system for airlines. (TV in the Sky).(AirTV)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... AirTV a New York-based TV service company, is developing a new satellite distribution system that it is said will revolutionize the way video content is delivered to airline passengers on al] of the world's major air routes. The satellite...