Video Age International articles from March 2006

Video Age International archives from March 2006

Kids' formats grow up to be big business.
March 1, 2006... While kids' finished TV product has long been a staple in the international marketplace, a more recent trend has been an increased interest in buying kids' formats. Even though Sesame Street has sold its format around the world for years, the...

The big issue: worries of show business.
March 1, 2006... If a pollster stopped you in the aisles of the Palais at MIP-TV and asked what you thought was the single biggest issue facing the industry today--like many of those whom Video Age stopped in the corridors of their own offices--you'd probably...

Awaiting L.A. screenings with comedic trepidation.
March 1, 2006... Just after attending MIP in Cannes, and right before donning sunglasses to disperse throughout the world for summer vacations, there is one more stop TV executives make on their yearly travel schedules: the L.A. Screenings. This year's...

TV nets, ad buyers face shaky future at upfronts.
March 1, 2006... As they have done for years, this May, the U.S. broadcast networks will once again present their new line-up of primetime shows to an audience of hungry ad buyers. But this year's edition of the traditional advertiser/advertisee institution...

Studios join DVD format battle.(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... Consumers looking to upgrade to high-definition DVD players are now faced with two warring formats. As early as this month, major retailers will begin stocking both HD DVD and Blu-ray format players and movies. Japan-based Toshiba, a chief...

Leonardo World heads to Oz.(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... Sitcom Group's international Italian-language channel, Leonardo World, is expanding into new territories. Thanks to a new agreement with Australian satellite and cable operator Selectv, the 24-hour lifestyle channel will reach an estimated...

Jerusalem Studios' deal with Sun Wah.(Jerusalem Capital Studios)(Sun Wah Group )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Israel's leading production studio, Jerusalem Capital Studios (JCS), has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hong Kong's Sun Wah Group (SWG). Under terms of the agreement, JCS will advise SWG on advancing Israeli media and advertising...

Mumbai Film Fest grows.(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... The 9th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF), held in India's home of Bollywood, saw increased foreign participation with more than 600 films from 35 countries. The Fest ran in early February and screened documentaries, shorts and animated...

Televisa, Univision continue feud.(Televisa S.A. files a case against Univision Communications Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Tensions are continuing to mount between two Latin partners: U.S. Spanish-language TV giant Univision and Mexican programming powerhouse Televisa. A trial has been scheduled for February 2007, when Televisa will attempt to relieve its 25-year...

IPTV is unclear to consumers.(WORLD)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Consumer confusion and ambivalence are two challenges that may be slowing the take-up of IPTV around the globe. According to a new cross-continental study by international management and technology consultancy Accenture, companies looking to...

ITV enters full U.K. kids mkt.(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... As U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV enters the kids' channel market, it'll aim to be considered "fashionably late," rather than "behind the times." CITV, the new digital children's channel--which launched in five million homes on free-to-air...

DTT takes aim at Euro pay-TV.(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... The pan-European adoption of digital terrestrial television (DTT) is causing quite a few concerns among the region's pay-TV players. Subscriber numbers have fallen for pay-TV channels, including Italy's Sky Italia, Germany's Premiere, the...

Pay-TV gets bigger in India.(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... According to a recent study published by research group Media Partners Asia, Asia's pay-TV industry will see some major increases in revenue and viewer penetration over the next decade. And the country set to experience the largest amount of...

Imax is up & up for sale.(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... Following a very good financial year, the Toronto, Canada-based Imax Corp. is considering putting itself up for sale. But executives have stressed that the deal is not essential, and the company can carry on with or without a major investment....

U.S. public access: Telcos' victim?(WORLD)
March 1, 2006... U.S. television's weird and wacky world of cable TV public access channels may soon become extinct. Due to a clash between the country's Telcos and giant cable providers in Washington, D.C. the diverse voices of public access could be silenced...

Beating resentment: Vancouver Vs. Toronto and Ottawa: the CBC is often accused by producers in West Coast Vancouver of only producing and airing programming made by (and for) Canadians in Toronto and Ottawa.(On Location: Canada's Television Industry in a Global Market)(Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)(Book review)
March 1, 2006... In On Location--Canada's Television Industry in a Global Market (University of Toronto Press, 2005, C$24.95), author Serra Tinic presents a "study of television production in Vancouver, British Columbia," in an effort to make readers reconsider...

Indies, broadcasters aim for lower viewer ages.(The Youth Factor)
March 1, 2006... s more broadcasters look to adopt digital platforms--that can increase much wanted revenue streams--the hunt is on for younger viewers. As Fox has proved in the U.S., targeting the 18-to-34 demographic makes for some very good business. Not...

The flip-flop crowd hits the corporate suites.(The Youth Factor)
March 1, 2006... Studios and networks are courting a younger demo--for their corporate offices. As traditional media is poised to undergo dramatic changes and digital distribution platforms evolve and mature, old school executives will increasingly become...

Timely U.S. event puts NATPE on the buzz court.
March 1, 2006... Despite NATPE's successful attempt to reinvent itself as a global-minded and tech-focused market, the announcement of the demise of the UPN and WB networks on the first day of the conference helped bring the focus back to NATPE's traditional...

CBS Paramount cashes in on Chris.(Laughing Matters)
March 1, 2006... Traditionally, U.S. comedies don't fly overseas, but CBS Paramount's Everybody Hates Chris seems to be beating the odds, after being sold into 150 territories just one season into its run on U.S. television. The show is already drawing...

Rituals to become less ritual at mart.(MIP-TV Preview)
March 1, 2006... MIP-TV continues to represent something different for everyone involved, though not necessarily on the same scale. Nonetheless, the event is important enough that, after 43 years, it is still considered the premier international TV market. For...

The merry-go-round of executive moves.(Carousel)
March 1, 2006... It has long been an accepted truth that ours is a "people business." It is also an undeniable reality that, increasingly, these people move. That is, perhaps, why some of our products are called "movies." Here, VideoAge offers a brief round up...

Fireworks buzzing with ContentFilm.(acqusition of Fireworks West International)
March 1, 2006... Just last year, American company ContentFilm purchased the U.K.-based distribution business, Fireworks, then owned by Canada's Can West. Greg Phillips, president of Fireworks International (which remains the name of the company's TV...

Strong formats business puts Germany's SevenOne on top.(Company Profile)
March 1, 2006... German commercial TV conglomerate ProSiebenSat.1's TV program sales unit, SevenOne International (which handles productions from Sat. 1, Prosieben, Kabel 1 and N24)--just entering its second year in the business--has established itself as a...

Changing German TV. Saban's sticky stake.(Territory)
March 1, 2006... It would not quite have been German TV if there hadn't been a surprising turn. After the German cartel authority turned down German publishing house Axel Springer's takeover of German commercial TV conglomerate ProSiebenSat.1 Media out of fear...

Saban and Proslebensat. 1's unsteady history decoded.(Diary entry)
March 1, 2006... 2003 March: The insolvent administration of Kirch Media closes a deal with U.S./Israeli billionaire Haim Saban's investment group, making Saban the ruler of German commercial TV conglomerate ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The deal, which...

Telcos add more TV outlets to the equation.(IPTV)
March 1, 2006... Look out U.S. and international TV cable operators, 'cause here comes Telco TV. In pilot markets across the United States, AT&T and Verizon have begun offering hundreds of television channels via Internet Protocol. Whether called IPTV, Video On...

iWatch now awaits IPTV explosion.(internet protocol television)(iWatchNow)
March 1, 2006... One company anxiously awaiting the inevitable mass consumer switchover to IPTV is Santa Monica, California-based media player iWatchNow. The video-on-demand Internet distributor is trusting that the growing popularity of IPTV and increased...

Fledgling medium focuses on early days.(conferences)
March 1, 2006... The second annual IPTV World Forum, which was held at London's Olympia exhibition center last month, took the form of a series of seminars and exhibition of companies offering goods and services aimed at the nascent IPTV market. And IPTV...

DRM confusion lessens television scope: but even when consumers want to buy product for their libraries, rights issues and DRM concerns prevent that.(Digital Platforms)
March 1, 2006... ApS the push to exploit digital platforms becomes an increasing priority for networks and studios, so does the need to protect that content from piracy. But the quest to implement technologies that enforce predefined policies controlling access...

In production ... 2006-07 network-commissioned pilots *.(lists of television programs)
March 1, 2006... ABC Comedy 52 Fights Focuses on the transition from dating to marriage; based on a book A Day in the Life Each episode focuses on different points-of-view on one wedding The Guys A group of men become unlikely...

Let's do lunch.(calendar)(Brief article)(Calendar)
March 1, 2006... RAI TRADE SCREENINGS MARCH 29-31 Taormina, Italy TEL: (39 06) 3749-8341 FAX: (39 06) 370-1343 www.raitrade.it MIPDOC APRIL 1-2 Cannes, France TEL: (212) 370-7470 FAX: (212) 370-7471 ...

My two cents.
March 1, 2006... If we really stop to think about it, we'll soon discover that this industry survives by a stream of miracles and good luck. We're fortunate that the public has a love of entertainment, second only to its love of food. Just imagine if, by...