The start of the Islamic special month of Ramadan has seen a clutch of new channels launched. Some are wholly secular and look to target in on the month when Arab viewing is at its highest. Others reflect the special religious focus of the month. Arabia Entertainment’s Arabia Drama has gone live after a soft […]
The Middle East has around 30 all-news channels, with plenty more in the offing, including BSkyB’s upcoming Arabic-language service launching early next year. To that number must now be added a proposed Lebanese-Syrian all-news channel, called Al-Khamisah (“the fifth”). Launch date is October 1, at least for a ‘soft launch’ service, with a full-scale launch […]
There are challenges ahead in sustaining content investment across the UK broadcast industry, according to Mike Darcey, Chief Operating Officer, BSkyB, who expressed fears that there are no guarantees that there will always be the same level of incentive to invest. Darcey’s comments at the Future of Broadcasting conference came after the broadcaster revealed plans […]
Rupert Murdoch has warned that China will encourage piracy and limit opportunities for its own movie market if it does not open up to foreign films. Delivering a speech on ‘Film Dream in the Era of Capital’ at the Shanghai International Film Festival, the News Corp. chairman praised China’s optimism, global aspirations and creativity, saying […]
New films and high quality TV dramas are becoming increasingly reliant on projected video entertainment sales revenue in order to be green-lighted for production, according to an independent survey conducted by Oxford Economics. The study, commissioned by the British Video Association, shows that video revenues account for 47 per cent of revenues of feature films […]
Sky has announced plans to significantly increase its support for Britain’s creative industries as it continues to broaden the range of programmes enjoyed by customers. Speaking at an event organised by the leading independent think tank, Reform, Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch said the company intended to increase further its investment in commissioning and producing […]
International news channel euronews has unveiled a range of developments which it claims will take the channel to a new dimension. As 2011 gets under way, the service is switching to a 16/9 format and introducing a range of presentational, organisational and distribution initiatives. euronews is to open 11 news desks during the coming year […]
Formula 1’s move to HD television coverage in 2011 has been officially confirmed by Formula One Management (FOM). All TV channels that have rights to the sport will receive an HD feed. FOM has invested in equipment that is good enough to ensure that it can download the data to broadcasters at a rate of […]
Michael D. Eisner‘s Web studio, Vuguru, will produce half a dozen scripted Web video series for AOL. “We feel like we are building the future of great high-quality video content,” said Tim Armstrong, the chief executive of AOL. Eisner said the partnership was proof that “story-telling series, emotional series” were coming to the fore on […]
The BBC is to invest more in R&D for online TV and is appointing specialist in Internet standards to work with Future Media & Technology. The BBC says the move demonstrates its commitment to HTML 5 use in video – it has received criticism that the use of Flash in the iPlayer shows a lack […]