Video Age International articles from January 2000

Video Age International archives from January 2000

Where Are the Cisneros Groups Going?
January 1, 2000... A "public" talk with Carlos Cisneros Where is the Venezuela-based Cisneros Television Group going?" asked a TV executive from Argentina. "They have some extremely valuable investments and strategic alliances, [but] in which direction the...

NATPE Brings Renewed Hope to Syndication.
January 1, 2000... The 1999 U.S. fall television season was far from the most outstanding in recent memory. The recurring question seems to be: "'Where has the audience gone?" The U.S. TV industry is seeing shows with a two-point household rating branded a...

My Two Cents.
January 1, 2000... Since we live in an era of rampant mergers and acquisitions, I'd like to propose a unique consolidation opportunity: a merger between the organizers of the Monte Carlo TV Market in the principality of Monaco and those of MIFED in Milan, Italy....

Seoul Offers 10 TV Licenses.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... South Korea's Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced it will add 10 new channels in an effort to bolster its anemic cable industry which was initiated just six years ago. This is in addition to 29 current channel offerings. Kim Eung-sok, an...

Lebanese Cable Pirates Face Charges.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Following the passage of an intellectual property rights bill last June by the Lebanese Parliament, Hollywood moviemakers hope to crack down on cable pirates with criminal charges. Six U.S. film studios (Fox, Columbia TriStar, MGM, Warner...

Chinese Sports TV Coverage Booming.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Sports programming is becoming increasingly in demand among television viewers in China. There are nearly 850 terrestrial television stations in operation, offering more than 600 channels. In addition, there are 1,178 cable stations and 31...

Canada: CTV Takeover & WIC Split.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Canada's largest private broadcaster, CTV, is rumored ripe for a takeover following a heavy trading period of its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Western International Communications (WIC), a Vancouver company with interests in...

Brazil Sports Sales & Debt Restructuring.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Grupo Abril's pay-TV arm, TVA, announced late last year it would sell its 50 percent stake in ESPN Brasil to ESPN International as part of its strategy to focus on channel distribution. In other Brazilian pay-TV news, Globo Cabo...

BSkyB and KirchGruppe to Merge Pay TV.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... At long last, Rupert Murdoch will be able to place his fingers into the European pay-TV market pie with the merger between BSkyB (the U.K.) and the KirchGruppe's pay-TV service (Germany). BSkyB last month announced a deal to take a 24.9 percent...

Japan Promotes Digital Receiver Standard.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has proposed a common receiver for digital-TV broadcasts from communications and broadcast satellites as well as from terrestrial sources. A single receiver for all three signals is expected to...

Letters.
January 1, 2000... TO THE EDITOR My wife's name is Danae Karas; we were married on the island of Paros in Greece on 21 October 1999. Danae is a postproduction coordinator for Hallmark in London. Several friends from "the business" were in attendance: Ingrid...

Web Weaver Spins His Tale.(Review)
January 1, 2000... Although a history delineating the creation of the World Wide Web may seem intimidating to non-technocrats, Weaving the Web (Harper San Francisco, pp. 226) by Tim Berners-Lee with Mark Fischetti, is penned by the man credited with giving birth...

U.S. TV Stations Discover the Dot-Com Gold Rush.
January 1, 2000... The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), the association of local U.S. TV stations dealing with matters related to advertising, has released a White Paper concerning Internet advertising for local TV stations. Indeed, online and Internet...

ATVEF Weds TV to Internet.
January 1, 2000... Italy was venue of presentation A team of four experts flew to Italy recently to demonstrate the virtues of the Advanced Television Enhanced Forum (ATVEF) to a cross-section of Italian multimedia executives. Held in the resort town of...

Opportunity Is Morphing on the Net.
January 1, 2000... Seemingly overnight, the age of e-commerce has roared to life -- in the final two months of 1999 more than $6 billion was spent online, with estimates for e-revenue in 2000 ranging between $26-42 billion. A top priority for network executives...

Digitalia: Digital TV Dilemmas in Italy.
January 1, 2000... Two major developments characterize the digital TV landscape in Italy: 1) There are more than 2,500 TV broadcasters in 142 countries and 600 of them are located in Italy. 2) The Italian government doesn't yet have a blueprint of how...

Barba Taps the Web to Give Broadcasters the World.(Carlos Barba)
January 1, 2000... Carlos Barba is back! Once again, with an innovating project. The veteran broadcaster, producer, distributor and advertising executive has now embraced the Internet. Basically, Barba took the idea of Rafael Gutierrez and sought the...

Gathering of TV Execs at the U.N. Gives Italy & the World a Forum.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... The "Impact of Television on Peace and Development" was the theme of last year's United Nations World Television Forum. Another thematic question that the Forum attempted to answer was whether television is a "Mirror or a Map?" of society. ...

A Name Change Brings Int'l Council to the Dot-Corn Era.
January 1, 2000... Hectic end of the century it was. The last two months of the 20th century were witness to a flurry of television activities. It began with the Fort Lauderdale Film & TV Festival, followed by the PROMAX & BDA Latin America conference in nearby...

France's Great Expectations.
January 1, 2000... A collection of French TV distributors and producers is ready for NATPE 2000 France opens the new century in style (typically), appearing in New Orleans this year with a roster of companies much larger than last year's and a showcase of...

Monte Carlo Banks on the Format Frenzy.
January 1, 2000... Market attendance expected to blossom despite dire predictions Banking on last year's format success, the 22nd Monte Carlo TV Market (February 20-23) will showcase its second format seminar. This year should also mark Monte Carlo's second...

Latin TV Topics Move Crowds in Florida.
January 1, 2000... Two back-to-back events in South Florida late last year focused on the growing importance of the Latin American television market. On November 5, Fort Lauderdale hosted the first Latin American TV Distribution conference as part of its 14th...

Siete razones para la transmision web estandar en la TV.
January 1, 2000... Como director del Forum Mejorado de la Television Avanzada (ATVEF), hablo con ejecutivos de toda la industria televisiva alrededor del mundo. Los programadores de television estan adoptando rapidamente la especification del ATVEF porque...

Normas y regulaciones: quien las quiere y quien no.
January 1, 2000... Regulaciones, Normas del Gobierno, Desregulacion... [Upside down question mark ]Quien los quien y quien no? Las regulaciones son deseadas par aquellas personas que han perdido su empleo coma resultada de las politicas de desregulacions que...

Latin America Shows Its Programming Strength.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... As television executives prepare for the first year in which digital broadcasts are expected to gain some ground over analog program formats worldwide and television's convergence with the Internet remains the hot topic du jour, the Latin...

Associazione Produttori Televisivi.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... (Association of Italian Independent Television Producers) APT-Associazione Produttori Televisivi was established in 1994 to represent its members to public authorities and television networks (both public and private), to protect their...

CRACKARTOONS studios.
January 1, 2000... C.so Magenta, 52 20123 Milan Italy Jacob (30') TV special. Available fall 2000 Barbones (13 x 7') Currently in pre-production. Trailer available. The Afghan Bandersnatch Currently in pre-production. Production...

UBIK.(Italian visual effects production company)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... C.so Magenta, 52 20123 Milan Italy UBIK is the only visual effects production company in Italy. Its services start from the proposal stage, rendering ideas through storyboards, animatic, design and testing. Its art and technical...

GA&A Productions.
January 1, 2000... P.zza Martiri di Belfiore, 2 00195 Roma Italy The Train to the Opera A journey through memory and music, the opera inspires three Roman peasant women with an unforgettable passion that gives them the strength to face the trials...

GRUPPO MINERVA INTERNATIONAL.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Via D. Cimarosa, 18 00198 Roma Italy Stringimi forte i polsi (Hold Me Tight) Cast: Erika Savastani Director: Walter Martin Cabell A lady who has an erotic relationship with her doctor discovers that the presumed doctor is...

HDH COMMUNICATIONS.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Via Lusardi, 7 20122 Milan, Italy Ferrari: The Legend of the Prancing Horse 30 eps. x 30 mins The life of Enzo Ferrari, the races, the drivers and the legendary Ferrari cars everyone dreams of possessing. The whole Ferrari...

MEDIATRADE.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Mediatrade S.p.A., part of Mediaset Group, is in charge of international acquisitions of rights for film, TV movies, miniseries, cartoons, documentaries and sports programming. Mediatrade is also in charge of fiction co-productions with both...

GRUPPO MEDIASET RTI.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... R.T.I. S.p.A., part of Mediaset Group, owns and operates the networks Canale 5, Italia 1 and Retequattro and heads the Televisione Commerciale Italia division. In addition, R.T.I. controls Videotime S.p.A., Elettronica Industriale S.p.A. and...

RAI RADIO TELEVISIONE ITALIANA.(contract with La Scala)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... RAI Trade confirms the first set of arts showcases as part of its new five-year agreement between La Scala Theatre (Milan) and Italian broadcaster RAI. The new series of musical events begins January 2000 with Francesco Cilea's Adriana...

REVER.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Viale Cirene, 5 20135 Milan Italy 7th Carnaby Street The real heart of London, the youngest, most eccentric, revolutionary street is both background and co-star of this series. Sports, show business, fashion, music -- everything...