News Broadcasting
News Corp, VeriSign to form global mobile entertainment firm
MUMBAI: US media conglomerate News Corp and VeriSign have announced a joint venture to form what they claim is world’s largest provider of mobile entertainment.
News Corp will pay $188 million for a controlling interest in VeriSign’s wholly-owned Jamba subsidiary and will combine it with Fox Mobile Entertainment assets. VeriSign operates intelligent infrastructure services that enable and protect interactions across voice and data networks anytime, from anywhere on multiple devices.
The new company will merge a technologically advanced platform with mobile content production and delivery capabilities and will serve 30 territories with a potential reach of more than a billion mobile subscribers. The new company intends to retain the Jamster brand in the US and the Jamba brand worldwide.
Former Fox Mobile Entertainment president Lucy Hood will become CEO of the joint venture. With key centers in Los Angeles and Berlin, the new entity will be the industry’s only vertically integrated mobile entertainment company with unique capabilities to produce, market, sell and distribute mobile content.
News corp president and COO Peter Chernin says, “This is an important step in News Corp.’s strategy of becoming the world’s leading digital media company. We are the most powerful media company on the web with Fox Interactive Media, our aggressive digital content deals have given consumers access to News Corp programming on every conceivable platform and we have already demonstrated innovation in this emerging space with the Mobisode and Mobizzo.
“Wireless technology gives us an enormous opportunity to reach billions of mobile phone users with our content. With this new venture we’re looking forward to inventing new and compelling ways to engage this exciting new audience.”
VeriSign CEO Stratton Sclavos says, “We are excited to combine our unique mobile entertainment expertise and direct to consumer assets with one of the most forward-thinking media companies in the world. We look forward to working with News Corp. to create compelling, interactive services that make an impact on the next generation of wireless users”.
Jamba was founded in 2000 and is considered a global leader in off-deck delivery of mobile entertainment. The company currently delivers content in 30 territories and has one of the industry’s most advanced technology platforms. Jamba can immediately distribute content in all of its territories, which is critically important in an industry where most of the users are young people always looking for the ‘next cool thing.’ With its cutting-edge analytic tools, Jamba has the real-time ability to track and optimise marketing, quickly reacting to consumer needs and interests in order to be able to monetize products and services.
News Corp’s Fox Mobile Entertainment group got its start with American Idol text voting, which generated nearly 65 million text messages this past season, up from 12,000 messages in the first season in 2001. In a long list of firsts, the company also invented the Mobisodes Series category, which led with the 24: Conspiracy series, the first made-for-mobile program to be Emmy-nominated, and launched the first ad-sponsored video series Prison Break: Proof of Innocence.
The company also launched the first media-backed cross-carrier mobile entertainment service for consumers, Mobizzo.
The new Jamba will offer an aggregation of content from music and media companies, as well as original content created exclusively for mobile. Jamba partners include: Universal Music Group and Warner Music, among others. In addition, Jamba and Fox Mobile Studios have units that create original content ranging from the highly successful Crazy Frog, to multiple animated characters, to genres such as Manga, Activism, and X-Sports. The unit is expected to draw from not only top Fox divisions but also News Corp companies around the world.
The new company will immediately become the largest customer for VeriSign’s Digital Content Services (DCS) group, which specialises in providing intelligent infrastructure and connectivity solutions to enable the delivery of rich content over mobile and broadband networks. Mobile operators, portals, media companies and consumer brands around the world leverage the DSC platform to power their interactive entertainment experiences. Fox’s Mobizzo unit and Jamba are existing customers of DCS.
Under the agreement, Jamba will soon release its first products and offerings as a new entity, following the close of the transaction, including:
MySpace Mobile Store: In an alliance with social networking site MySpace with more than 74 million users worldwide, Jamba will be MySpace’s global m-commerce partner. Jamba will build a unique m-commerce engine to enable MySpace users to download ringtones, graphics and animations from top music and media companies.
The Simpsons Mobile: Coming soon, Jamba will exclusively offer mobile content from the series The Simpsons through the industry’s first subscription package tied to exclusive content called the Yellow Plan. Available to consumers for the first time, the “Yellow Plan” will include an array of uniquely designed Simpsons mobile content, such as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones and video.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
