MEDIABLAB NOVEMBER 26
November 27th 2007 01:40
From MediaBlab, compiled by Peter Olszewski for Dow Jones' Factiva
MOSCOW TIMES GOES MOBILE
Finland’s SWBusiness reports that the English-language The Moscow Times, launched its mobile version early in November, allowing readers to access the latest information on their mobile phone s immediately after publication.
Updates outside of Russia, and the service is available through all major operators in Russia.
Moscow Times Mobile uses he latest version of Sendandsee Ltd’s patented Mobiprint Mobile Publishing platform.
The Moscow Times has published since 1992. The newspaper is typically given out for free at venues where English-language expats attend, including hotels, cafés and restaurants. Until 2005, the paper was owned by Independent Media but was then was acquired by the Dutch-Finnish publishing group Sanoma.
SINGAPORE TO ISSUE FOUR MOBILE TV CHANNEL LICENSES NEXT YEAR
Singaporean mobile phone users will be able to watch sports and other program on their handsets next year, when several mobile TV channels debut.
Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union reports that Singapore’s Media Development Authority will issue up to four licences to run mobile TV services in the second half of next year.
Each operator is expected to broadcast between three and 20 channels, likely to include news and sports programs.
Mobile TV has so far caught on in South Korea and Japan, with each country having more than five million viewers tuning in.
The trend is expected to mushroom, with the European Commission forecasting 200 million to 500 million users globally by 2011.
To grow the budding industry, the Media Development Authority is keeping rules simple.
But Ling Pek Ling, Media Development Authority’s director of media policy, said it wants operators to follow existing TV programming codes so that objectionable content is not shown to young phone users.
The authorities are asking for feedback by January 4 for the proposed mobile TV rules
NEW MURDER MEANS SIX PAKISTANI JOURNALISTS HAVE BEEN KILLED THIS YEAR
Pakistan journalist, Zubair Ahmed Mujahid, a correspondent of the national daily Jang, was murdered on November 23, in Mirpur Khas, in the southern province of Sindh. His elder brother said he was "killed because of his articles criticising the situation of the poor" in the area.
Reporters Without Borders said, "We call on the federal and provincial authorities to quickly appoint a team of investigators to arrest the killers and identify those who ordered the murder Mujahid was a committed and courageous journalist. If impunity again prevails in this murder, all of Pakistan's journalists will feel even more threatened. This tragedy is further proof that the authorities are unable to ensure journalists' safety."
Mujahid is the sixth Pakistani journalist to be killed since the start of the year. Pakistan is now the world's third most dangerous country for the media, after Iraq and Somalia.
He was shot in the stomach by a man on a motorcycle as he was returning home by car with Wahid Hussain, the vice-president of the Mirpur Khas press club. He died instantly.
A veteran reporter, Mujahid wrote a weekly column for Jang called "Crime and Punishment" in which he often criticised landowners and police. After one of his articles about the mistreatment of members of a low cast by landlords, the Supreme Court ordered the suspects arrested. Another of his reports led to arrests of local policemen involved in violence against villagers.
GERMAN EDITION OF VANITY FAIR SUED OVER INTERVIEW WITH NEO-NAZI
The Jerusalem Post reports that an interview with one of Germany's most notorious neo-Nazis has landed the German-edition of Vanity Fair in trouble.
Arno Lustiger, a Jewish historian and holocaust survivor, has started proceedings to sue the magazine's German edition for publishing an interview with Horst Mahler, the former left-wing extremist who transformed into one of Germany's most rabid neo-Nazi public figures.
FAIRFAX BUSINESS MEDIA TO TAKE ACTION OVER THE FREE ABSTRACTING OF ITS CONTENT
Mediaweek Australia reports that far from freeing up the online version of the Australian Financial Review, Fairfax Business Media try to stop organisations abstracting or using material for free.
Fairfax Business Media ceo Michael Gill told Mediaweek that he doesn’t like giving away specialist financial information for free, and he doesn’t want other people doing it either.
Mediaweek, pointed out that the new free online venture, Business Spectator abstracts stories from the Australian Financial Review and said, “Simply type in the name of the paper in the search engine at Business Spectator and you’ll get a neat list of all abstracts of the major stories in the paper.”
Gill told Mediaweek that action is being taken about this which will “become more obvious shortly.”
He said, “We are looking at all our options in dealing with it. In the past the issue wasn’t as important as it is today.”
Meanwhile, US Media Week quoted MarketWatch.com founder Larry Kramer saying, "People don't realise making the Wall Street Journal free doesn't automatically mean it becomes the biggest site."
He said WSJ.com would require a major adjustment in publishing philosophy to compete with the biggest sites. "WSJ.com is about producing analytical reports with an eye towards publishing once a day," he said. "It's not a real-time enterprise."
PRIVATE SATELLITE TV CHANNEL TO QUIT DUBAI AFTER ITS TRANSMISSION WAS BLOCKED
Pakistan's most popular private satellite channel Geo Television Network is to move its base from Dubai to Hong Kong after having its transmission blocked, Gulf News reports.
“We are making arrangements to air the transmission from Hong Kong because we are losing around half a million dollars every day since the Dubai Media City blocked satellite signals for our news channel on November 17,’ said Imran Mir, station head of Geo Television Network in Dubai.
He also said the Dubai Media City has since place new conditions before allowing them to resume broadcasting.
Dubai Media City had blocked the satellite signals for two popular Pakistani news channels, Geo and ARY, saying the decision was in line with the United Arab Emirate’s policy of neutrality and non-interference.
The ARY network was allowed to resume its regular news transmission on Thursday, as reported in MediaBlab, after the channel signed a letter promising to abide by regulations.
But Salman Iqbal, chief executive officer of ARY, said that the network was also considering moving out of Dubai after new conditions were imposed.
C-BAND SPECTRUM FOR SATELLITE TV IN ASIA TO BE PRESERVED
The Asia Pacific pay-TV industry has greeted an International Telecommunication Union decision on the preservation of C-band spectrum for satellite TV services in Asia as “a long-awaited positive outcome on a contentious issue”.
According to the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia, the November 16 decision taken in Geneva, by the United Nations-led International Telecommunication Union World Radio Conference recognised the central role that broadcasting, and in particular pay-TV services, plays within the Asian communications market.
While acknowledging the new development of terrestrial Wimax broadband services as important, the World Radio Conference meeting concluded that the uninterrupted use of C-band in Asia was essential to preserve quality broadcast communications.
The World Radio Conference also gave Asia Pacific satellite system operators assurances that any future International Mobile Telecommunications networks will be fully protected from interference.
“The interference-free operation of C-band satellite services is essential for mainstream satellite TV and cable TV platforms, mobile communications, Internet delivery and disaster recovery communications,” said Simon Twiston Davies, ceo of CASBAA, which represents 128 Asia Pacific satellite and cable TV providers across Asia.
The landmark decision by 191 UN member states at the World Radio Conference will now allow for further development of new markets and services for satellite services.
“This much welcomed international endorsement provides our industry the assurance of a secure future for much anticipated market growth and services developments in the years to come,” said Twiston Davies. “This positive outcome demonstrates the serious recognition of the importance of C-band for the broadcasting industry and satellite operators.”
BRITAIN’S SUN NEWSPAPER TO ENTER INDIAN MARKET VIA MOBILE PHONE CONTENT DEAL WITH STAR
Star India’s mobile entertainment Plus has partnered with personal financial portal Myiris.com, Zoom TV, UK’s The Sun, and the National Geographic Channel to enable consumers to access information ranging from entertainment to business news.
Exchange4Media said Star Mobile Entertainment’s agreement with Myiris.com will enable it to provide business and financial information and news to all Plus subscribers, and Myiris.com will provide content like market news, company news, sector news and mutual fund news. Initially the service would be offered free.
The agreement also brings Britain’s The Sun into the Indian market through mobile content, and Plus will be the exclusive gateway in India for lifestyle-related content from The Sun, targeted at urban youth.
AUSTRALIA’S NEW GOVERNMENT TO LODGE COMPLAINT OVER RADIO ELECTION ERECTION BROADCAST
The Australian Labor Party will lodge an official complaint after national broadcaster ABC radio last Friday in Adelaide aired sexually suggestive comments from a woman pretending to be Nicole Cornes, the party’s failed glamour candidate in the Adelaide seat of Boothby in the federal election.
The impostor said South Australian Treasurer Kevin Foley had an erection when he asked her to run for Boothby.
AUSTRALIAN IDOL FINALE ATTRACTED 1.78 MILLION VIEWERS
The Ten Network said a peak audience of 1.78 million watched its 2007 Australian Idol finale on Sunday night.
An average 1.41 million viewers watched the segment of the finale spectacular where Natalie Gauci took the 2007 Idol crown, and half of the 18-49 audience watching commercial television at that time was tuned to Australian Idol.
The Sydney result was even stronger, with a 57.4 percent share in 18-49 tuned to Ten.
Ten’s chief programming officer, David Mott, said: "Australian Idol continues to perform, as the 1.78 million peak audience attests. Even after five years, this show is as much a part of Australia's television landscape as ever, consistently delivering wins in the target 18-49 audience against unprecedented competition.
"Australian Idol looked and sounded better than ever this year in High Definition.”
Earlier in the night, Australian Idol – The Final Verdict and Australian Idol - Live from the Opera House averaged 1.42 million and 1.30 million viewers respectively and dominated their timeslots in the target demographics.
Over the 2007 series, Australian Idol won its Sunday night timeslot in 18-49, attracting a 38 percent average commercial share and 1.37 million viewers. Monday's Live Verdict averaged a 39 percent share in 18-49 and 1.17 million viewers.
Average weekly unique visitors to the Australian Idol website increased 18 percent on 2006 to nearly 120,000; average time spent online was up 36.5 pe cent to more than 11 minutes. Video views have more than doubled on last year, hitting over 7 million.
On the mobile phone front, Telstra streamed live episodes to fans' Next G mobiles, while programs were available via Bigpond directly after the broadcast.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL: WEAK US DOLLAR LOWERS ITS PROFIT GUIDANCEBeyond International’s managing editor said at it annual general meeting that it is projecting a pre-tax operating profit for the six months to December 31, 2007 in the lower range of the guidance given in the annual report of net profit and EPS growth of 15-20 percent excluding the break fee and professional costs to date in relation to the Mariner Financial and Navis Media take over proposals.
The weak US dollar has negatively impacted the revenue and margins in the distribution and production business units, where significant portions of revenues are generated in US dollars. The impact of this is being managed through a combination of foreign currency hedging on production contracts and tight cost controls across the divisions.
Its Beyond Productions is focused on expanding production activity in the US. During the 2007 financial year the business produced programs for a number of US channels including The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, TLC, The Science Channel, National Geographic, Home and Garden Television and The History Channel.
Television series being produced by Beyond Productions in 2007/2008 include Backyard Science, Hot Property, Mythbusters,
South Side Story, Taboo, and What’s Good For You, as well as a number of new series and short form programs.
Beyond continues to expand its production operations. Sydney-based
Eurocam was acquired on August 30, 2007. Eurocam focuses on
the production and distribution of sports programming, producing
coverage for Australian and international events including the 2007 Red Bull Air Race and X Fighters Motocross series, the Tour Down Under Road Cycling event, and various other sports such as surfing, beach volleyball, athletics, motor sports, and extreme based genres.
Pacific and Beyond completed the third series of the pre-school program New MacDonald’s Farm for the Nine Network in 2007.
The company also produced the children’s series Milly Molly and will produce series 2 of Milly Molly in 2008.
DSP Beyond produced Australia’s Best Backyards and is producing the series Bush Doctors for Seven. In addition DSP Beyond is producing The Singing Office for Fox 8.
To date broadcasters have committed to 60 percent of total expected production revenues for financial year 2007/08.
International sales of finished programs continues to grow as a result of demand for long running factual programs such as Mythbusters,
Beyond Tomorrow, What’s Good For You, I Do…Let’s Eat and Lonely Planet as well as strong children’s series such as New MacDonald’s Farm, Milly Molly, Amazing Extraordinary Friends and Backyard Science.
Force Entertainment Pty Ltd, a 51percent owned subsidiary acquired in September 2006 contributed positive earnings in line with expectations for 2007.
Significant DVD releases during the year included Baywatch Series 1 and 2, South Side Story and Mythbusters series and box sets.
Force continues to focus on acquiring digital rights to increase its business in emerging media such as video on demand and internet download services.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL: DESTRA TIPPED TO BE THIRD COMPANY TO LAUNCH TAKEOVER BIDDigital media group Destra is tipped to make a full takeover bid for Beyond International in less than three weeks, after launching a surprise raid last week to take a 10 percent stake in the television and film production house.
The Australian newspaper this morning said it understands Destra is preparing to put in a bid for Beyond, which has produced a number of Australia's highest-profile films and TV shows, by mid-December at the latest.
It said Destra chief executive Dominic Carosa admitted last week he was interested in Beyond, but declined to announce his intentions for the group. "I can't speculate on what we plan to do, but we're reviewing all our options and keeping them open."
Yesterday, Carosa told The Australian, "We believe Beyond is a good company, and the price we paid was good value." He would not comment further.
SUBSCRIPTION TV AND FREE TV SLUG IT OUT IN AUSTRALIA
The Multi Channel Network, or MCn, has launched an information campaign rebutting the attack on subscription television last week by the free-to-air industry body.
MCn ceo Anthony Fitzgerald said the FreeTV position on television ratings reflects a mindset that’s out of touch with the realities of a changing media landscape.
He said, “This year has been a tipping point in subscription television growth and ratings performance. The performance of subscription television is great news for television overall and for advertisers and it surprises me that FreeTV continues to take pot shots at us. Television is the best medium for communicating with consumers and subscription television is TV’s greatest growth asset.”
MCn’s Ostrich advertisement launched yesterday is aimed at revealing the full ratings picture and the changing television landscape. It features an ostrich with its head in the sand, ignoring a graph highlighting the consistent ratings growth of subscription TV over the past decade.
MCn’s information campaign highlights the fact thyat 31.2 percent or 6.1 million Australians have subscription television.
WOMAN’S DAY MAGAZINE TO TRY TO UNITE MISSING AUSTRALIANS WITH THEIR FAMILIES FOR CHRISTMAS
Australia’s Woman’s Day magazine has teamed up with the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal, which is aiming to donate more than $450,000 gifts to Australian families this Christmas.
The Woman’s Day Make My Christmas Day project will see the magazine donate more than $40,000 in gifts to the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal and send celebrity helpers to Kmart stores in each state to assist in promoting the retailer’s wishing trees and encouraging donations for less fortunate families.
Ricki-Lee Coulter will be the first identity to take part in the Woman’s Day Make My Christmas Day Initiative.
The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal works with The Salvation Army amongst other nationwide charities to distribute gifts to needy families.
The project is the latest not-for-profit Christmas campaign for Woman’s Day. The magazine has also just launched ‘Make Contact’ campaign, working with the Australian Federal Police’s Canberra-based National Missing Person’s Coordination Centre to help reunite people for Christmas.
Using a confidential email address, anyone can contact Woman’s Day to tell them they’re alive and well.
People don’t need to reveal their whereabouts, or be reunited if they don’t want, but a single email allows the magazine to pass on information to the National Missing Person’s Coordination Centre who will contact families on behalf of the missing individual, and relieve the agony of ‘not knowing’ this Christmas.
Editor Amy Sinclair said both schemes were meaningful ways to being the true meaning of Christmas to life.
MOSCOW TIMES GOES MOBILE
Finland’s SWBusiness reports that the English-language The Moscow Times, launched its mobile version early in November, allowing readers to access the latest information on their mobile phone s immediately after publication.
Updates outside of Russia, and the service is available through all major operators in Russia.
Moscow Times Mobile uses he latest version of Sendandsee Ltd’s patented Mobiprint Mobile Publishing platform.
The Moscow Times has published since 1992. The newspaper is typically given out for free at venues where English-language expats attend, including hotels, cafés and restaurants. Until 2005, the paper was owned by Independent Media but was then was acquired by the Dutch-Finnish publishing group Sanoma.
SINGAPORE TO ISSUE FOUR MOBILE TV CHANNEL LICENSES NEXT YEAR
Singaporean mobile phone users will be able to watch sports and other program on their handsets next year, when several mobile TV channels debut.
Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union reports that Singapore’s Media Development Authority will issue up to four licences to run mobile TV services in the second half of next year.
Each operator is expected to broadcast between three and 20 channels, likely to include news and sports programs.
Mobile TV has so far caught on in South Korea and Japan, with each country having more than five million viewers tuning in.
The trend is expected to mushroom, with the European Commission forecasting 200 million to 500 million users globally by 2011.
To grow the budding industry, the Media Development Authority is keeping rules simple.
The authorities are asking for feedback by January 4 for the proposed mobile TV rules
NEW MURDER MEANS SIX PAKISTANI JOURNALISTS HAVE BEEN KILLED THIS YEAR
Pakistan journalist, Zubair Ahmed Mujahid, a correspondent of the national daily Jang, was murdered on November 23, in Mirpur Khas, in the southern province of Sindh. His elder brother said he was "killed because of his articles criticising the situation of the poor" in the area.
Reporters Without Borders said, "We call on the federal and provincial authorities to quickly appoint a team of investigators to arrest the killers and identify those who ordered the murder Mujahid was a committed and courageous journalist. If impunity again prevails in this murder, all of Pakistan's journalists will feel even more threatened. This tragedy is further proof that the authorities are unable to ensure journalists' safety."
Mujahid is the sixth Pakistani journalist to be killed since the start of the year. Pakistan is now the world's third most dangerous country for the media, after Iraq and Somalia.
He was shot in the stomach by a man on a motorcycle as he was returning home by car with Wahid Hussain, the vice-president of the Mirpur Khas press club. He died instantly.
A veteran reporter, Mujahid wrote a weekly column for Jang called "Crime and Punishment" in which he often criticised landowners and police. After one of his articles about the mistreatment of members of a low cast by landlords, the Supreme Court ordered the suspects arrested. Another of his reports led to arrests of local policemen involved in violence against villagers.
GERMAN EDITION OF VANITY FAIR SUED OVER INTERVIEW WITH NEO-NAZI
The Jerusalem Post reports that an interview with one of Germany's most notorious neo-Nazis has landed the German-edition of Vanity Fair in trouble.
Arno Lustiger, a Jewish historian and holocaust survivor, has started proceedings to sue the magazine's German edition for publishing an interview with Horst Mahler, the former left-wing extremist who transformed into one of Germany's most rabid neo-Nazi public figures.
FAIRFAX BUSINESS MEDIA TO TAKE ACTION OVER THE FREE ABSTRACTING OF ITS CONTENT
Mediaweek Australia reports that far from freeing up the online version of the Australian Financial Review, Fairfax Business Media try to stop organisations abstracting or using material for free.
Fairfax Business Media ceo Michael Gill told Mediaweek that he doesn’t like giving away specialist financial information for free, and he doesn’t want other people doing it either.
Mediaweek, pointed out that the new free online venture, Business Spectator abstracts stories from the Australian Financial Review and said, “Simply type in the name of the paper in the search engine at Business Spectator and you’ll get a neat list of all abstracts of the major stories in the paper.”
Gill told Mediaweek that action is being taken about this which will “become more obvious shortly.”
He said, “We are looking at all our options in dealing with it. In the past the issue wasn’t as important as it is today.”
Meanwhile, US Media Week quoted MarketWatch.com founder Larry Kramer saying, "People don't realise making the Wall Street Journal free doesn't automatically mean it becomes the biggest site."
He said WSJ.com would require a major adjustment in publishing philosophy to compete with the biggest sites. "WSJ.com is about producing analytical reports with an eye towards publishing once a day," he said. "It's not a real-time enterprise."
PRIVATE SATELLITE TV CHANNEL TO QUIT DUBAI AFTER ITS TRANSMISSION WAS BLOCKED
Pakistan's most popular private satellite channel Geo Television Network is to move its base from Dubai to Hong Kong after having its transmission blocked, Gulf News reports.
“We are making arrangements to air the transmission from Hong Kong because we are losing around half a million dollars every day since the Dubai Media City blocked satellite signals for our news channel on November 17,’ said Imran Mir, station head of Geo Television Network in Dubai.
He also said the Dubai Media City has since place new conditions before allowing them to resume broadcasting.
Dubai Media City had blocked the satellite signals for two popular Pakistani news channels, Geo and ARY, saying the decision was in line with the United Arab Emirate’s policy of neutrality and non-interference.
The ARY network was allowed to resume its regular news transmission on Thursday, as reported in MediaBlab, after the channel signed a letter promising to abide by regulations.
But Salman Iqbal, chief executive officer of ARY, said that the network was also considering moving out of Dubai after new conditions were imposed.
C-BAND SPECTRUM FOR SATELLITE TV IN ASIA TO BE PRESERVED
The Asia Pacific pay-TV industry has greeted an International Telecommunication Union decision on the preservation of C-band spectrum for satellite TV services in Asia as “a long-awaited positive outcome on a contentious issue”.
According to the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia, the November 16 decision taken in Geneva, by the United Nations-led International Telecommunication Union World Radio Conference recognised the central role that broadcasting, and in particular pay-TV services, plays within the Asian communications market.
While acknowledging the new development of terrestrial Wimax broadband services as important, the World Radio Conference meeting concluded that the uninterrupted use of C-band in Asia was essential to preserve quality broadcast communications.
The World Radio Conference also gave Asia Pacific satellite system operators assurances that any future International Mobile Telecommunications networks will be fully protected from interference.
“The interference-free operation of C-band satellite services is essential for mainstream satellite TV and cable TV platforms, mobile communications, Internet delivery and disaster recovery communications,” said Simon Twiston Davies, ceo of CASBAA, which represents 128 Asia Pacific satellite and cable TV providers across Asia.
The landmark decision by 191 UN member states at the World Radio Conference will now allow for further development of new markets and services for satellite services.
“This much welcomed international endorsement provides our industry the assurance of a secure future for much anticipated market growth and services developments in the years to come,” said Twiston Davies. “This positive outcome demonstrates the serious recognition of the importance of C-band for the broadcasting industry and satellite operators.”
BRITAIN’S SUN NEWSPAPER TO ENTER INDIAN MARKET VIA MOBILE PHONE CONTENT DEAL WITH STAR
Star India’s mobile entertainment Plus has partnered with personal financial portal Myiris.com, Zoom TV, UK’s The Sun, and the National Geographic Channel to enable consumers to access information ranging from entertainment to business news.
Exchange4Media said Star Mobile Entertainment’s agreement with Myiris.com will enable it to provide business and financial information and news to all Plus subscribers, and Myiris.com will provide content like market news, company news, sector news and mutual fund news. Initially the service would be offered free.
The agreement also brings Britain’s The Sun into the Indian market through mobile content, and Plus will be the exclusive gateway in India for lifestyle-related content from The Sun, targeted at urban youth.
AUSTRALIA’S NEW GOVERNMENT TO LODGE COMPLAINT OVER RADIO ELECTION ERECTION BROADCAST
The Australian Labor Party will lodge an official complaint after national broadcaster ABC radio last Friday in Adelaide aired sexually suggestive comments from a woman pretending to be Nicole Cornes, the party’s failed glamour candidate in the Adelaide seat of Boothby in the federal election.
The impostor said South Australian Treasurer Kevin Foley had an erection when he asked her to run for Boothby.
AUSTRALIAN IDOL FINALE ATTRACTED 1.78 MILLION VIEWERS
The Ten Network said a peak audience of 1.78 million watched its 2007 Australian Idol finale on Sunday night.
An average 1.41 million viewers watched the segment of the finale spectacular where Natalie Gauci took the 2007 Idol crown, and half of the 18-49 audience watching commercial television at that time was tuned to Australian Idol.
The Sydney result was even stronger, with a 57.4 percent share in 18-49 tuned to Ten.
Ten’s chief programming officer, David Mott, said: "Australian Idol continues to perform, as the 1.78 million peak audience attests. Even after five years, this show is as much a part of Australia's television landscape as ever, consistently delivering wins in the target 18-49 audience against unprecedented competition.
"Australian Idol looked and sounded better than ever this year in High Definition.”
Earlier in the night, Australian Idol – The Final Verdict and Australian Idol - Live from the Opera House averaged 1.42 million and 1.30 million viewers respectively and dominated their timeslots in the target demographics.
Over the 2007 series, Australian Idol won its Sunday night timeslot in 18-49, attracting a 38 percent average commercial share and 1.37 million viewers. Monday's Live Verdict averaged a 39 percent share in 18-49 and 1.17 million viewers.
Average weekly unique visitors to the Australian Idol website increased 18 percent on 2006 to nearly 120,000; average time spent online was up 36.5 pe cent to more than 11 minutes. Video views have more than doubled on last year, hitting over 7 million.
On the mobile phone front, Telstra streamed live episodes to fans' Next G mobiles, while programs were available via Bigpond directly after the broadcast.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL: WEAK US DOLLAR LOWERS ITS PROFIT GUIDANCEBeyond International’s managing editor said at it annual general meeting that it is projecting a pre-tax operating profit for the six months to December 31, 2007 in the lower range of the guidance given in the annual report of net profit and EPS growth of 15-20 percent excluding the break fee and professional costs to date in relation to the Mariner Financial and Navis Media take over proposals.
The weak US dollar has negatively impacted the revenue and margins in the distribution and production business units, where significant portions of revenues are generated in US dollars. The impact of this is being managed through a combination of foreign currency hedging on production contracts and tight cost controls across the divisions.
Its Beyond Productions is focused on expanding production activity in the US. During the 2007 financial year the business produced programs for a number of US channels including The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, TLC, The Science Channel, National Geographic, Home and Garden Television and The History Channel.
Television series being produced by Beyond Productions in 2007/2008 include Backyard Science, Hot Property, Mythbusters,
South Side Story, Taboo, and What’s Good For You, as well as a number of new series and short form programs.
Beyond continues to expand its production operations. Sydney-based
Eurocam was acquired on August 30, 2007. Eurocam focuses on
the production and distribution of sports programming, producing
coverage for Australian and international events including the 2007 Red Bull Air Race and X Fighters Motocross series, the Tour Down Under Road Cycling event, and various other sports such as surfing, beach volleyball, athletics, motor sports, and extreme based genres.
Pacific and Beyond completed the third series of the pre-school program New MacDonald’s Farm for the Nine Network in 2007.
The company also produced the children’s series Milly Molly and will produce series 2 of Milly Molly in 2008.
DSP Beyond produced Australia’s Best Backyards and is producing the series Bush Doctors for Seven. In addition DSP Beyond is producing The Singing Office for Fox 8.
To date broadcasters have committed to 60 percent of total expected production revenues for financial year 2007/08.
International sales of finished programs continues to grow as a result of demand for long running factual programs such as Mythbusters,
Beyond Tomorrow, What’s Good For You, I Do…Let’s Eat and Lonely Planet as well as strong children’s series such as New MacDonald’s Farm, Milly Molly, Amazing Extraordinary Friends and Backyard Science.
Force Entertainment Pty Ltd, a 51percent owned subsidiary acquired in September 2006 contributed positive earnings in line with expectations for 2007.
Significant DVD releases during the year included Baywatch Series 1 and 2, South Side Story and Mythbusters series and box sets.
Force continues to focus on acquiring digital rights to increase its business in emerging media such as video on demand and internet download services.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL: DESTRA TIPPED TO BE THIRD COMPANY TO LAUNCH TAKEOVER BIDDigital media group Destra is tipped to make a full takeover bid for Beyond International in less than three weeks, after launching a surprise raid last week to take a 10 percent stake in the television and film production house.
The Australian newspaper this morning said it understands Destra is preparing to put in a bid for Beyond, which has produced a number of Australia's highest-profile films and TV shows, by mid-December at the latest.
It said Destra chief executive Dominic Carosa admitted last week he was interested in Beyond, but declined to announce his intentions for the group. "I can't speculate on what we plan to do, but we're reviewing all our options and keeping them open."
Yesterday, Carosa told The Australian, "We believe Beyond is a good company, and the price we paid was good value." He would not comment further.
SUBSCRIPTION TV AND FREE TV SLUG IT OUT IN AUSTRALIA
The Multi Channel Network, or MCn, has launched an information campaign rebutting the attack on subscription television last week by the free-to-air industry body.
MCn ceo Anthony Fitzgerald said the FreeTV position on television ratings reflects a mindset that’s out of touch with the realities of a changing media landscape.
He said, “This year has been a tipping point in subscription television growth and ratings performance. The performance of subscription television is great news for television overall and for advertisers and it surprises me that FreeTV continues to take pot shots at us. Television is the best medium for communicating with consumers and subscription television is TV’s greatest growth asset.”
MCn’s Ostrich advertisement launched yesterday is aimed at revealing the full ratings picture and the changing television landscape. It features an ostrich with its head in the sand, ignoring a graph highlighting the consistent ratings growth of subscription TV over the past decade.
MCn’s information campaign highlights the fact thyat 31.2 percent or 6.1 million Australians have subscription television.
WOMAN’S DAY MAGAZINE TO TRY TO UNITE MISSING AUSTRALIANS WITH THEIR FAMILIES FOR CHRISTMAS
Australia’s Woman’s Day magazine has teamed up with the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal, which is aiming to donate more than $450,000 gifts to Australian families this Christmas.
The Woman’s Day Make My Christmas Day project will see the magazine donate more than $40,000 in gifts to the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal and send celebrity helpers to Kmart stores in each state to assist in promoting the retailer’s wishing trees and encouraging donations for less fortunate families.
Ricki-Lee Coulter will be the first identity to take part in the Woman’s Day Make My Christmas Day Initiative.
The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal works with The Salvation Army amongst other nationwide charities to distribute gifts to needy families.
The project is the latest not-for-profit Christmas campaign for Woman’s Day. The magazine has also just launched ‘Make Contact’ campaign, working with the Australian Federal Police’s Canberra-based National Missing Person’s Coordination Centre to help reunite people for Christmas.
Using a confidential email address, anyone can contact Woman’s Day to tell them they’re alive and well.
People don’t need to reveal their whereabouts, or be reunited if they don’t want, but a single email allows the magazine to pass on information to the National Missing Person’s Coordination Centre who will contact families on behalf of the missing individual, and relieve the agony of ‘not knowing’ this Christmas.
Editor Amy Sinclair said both schemes were meaningful ways to being the true meaning of Christmas to life.
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