MUMBAI: ABC Commercial and Open Channel have expanded their existing partnership to include a new pitching competition that will be held during the Generation Next Kids Conference, taking place on 22 July and 23 July.

The competition is open to all emerging producers, writers and creators, who are asked to submit a one-page concept for the chance to win $2,000. This includes development money and time with a mentor to develop the idea further. Supported by Film Victoria and Screen Australia, Open Channel?s Generation Next series of conferences is in its third year.

ABC content sales manager Natalie Lawley said, "We?re excited to be working with the Open Channel in supporting and nurturing new talent. The pitching competition is an opportunity for emerging practitioners to really show us what they can do. I am looking forward to seeing some really fresh and creative concepts originate from this project."

Open Channel acting executive director Marc Gracie added, "This is evidence that we are delivering real opportunities and I am very pleased that ABC Commercial is committed to working with Open Channel to support the talent of the future. It is in our interests to offer up mentoring initiatives, when so many have ceased."

MUMBAI: ITV Studios? 12 Yard Productions is producing Pressure Pad, a game show led by John Barrowman, for BBC One, where it is scheduled to begin airing in the fall.

Pressure Pad is filmed in a quizzing amphitheater with a high-resolution LED screen under the floor. The 25x45-minute high-tech program looks on as contestants compete in a series of timed general knowledge games. The format was developed by Liz Gaskell and James Woolley.

12 Yard Productions MD Andy Culpin commented: "Pressure Pad?s interactive floor makes for a visually spectacular quiz show, and John Barrowman is the perfect frontman to bring the format?s addictive play-along rounds to life."

BBC Daytime commissioning executive Pam Cavannagh said: "Pressure Pad is a great addition to our quiz show lineup and we are thrilled to have John Barrowman hosting."

Barrowman added: "Pressure Pad is dramatic, edge of your seat entertainment with a stunning high tech set. I can?t wait to be part of this fantastic quiz show and bring it into your living rooms this autumn."

MUMBAI: beIN Sport channels, which recently began airing in Indonesia, are scheduled to debut in Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan next month.

The launch, which is supported by MP & Silva Group, involves a trio of high-definition networks: beIN Sport 1 HD, beIN Sport 2 HD and beIN Sport 3 Premier League HD. Programming will consist of complete coverage of the Barclays Premier League (BPL), among other top sporting events. The first two channels are traveling to Hong Kong, while all three are headed to the Philippines and Taiwan. beIN Sport 1 HD is slated for broadcast in Thailand.

beIN Sport chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi noted: "Asia is a very important market for beIN Sport and we hope to continue the pace of expansion here as we seek new opportunities for growth."

MP & Silva Group CEO Andrea Radrizzani said: "We are very excited with the pay-TV growth potential in those markets and we hope that beIN Sports international sports content offer will intensify this process."

"MP & Silva has developed a strong expertise and leadership in the Asian market and beIN Sport has excelled in delivering high quality sports programs internationally," she added.

MUMBAI:He already has one foot in the media business through his investment in the Network18 group. He and his wife own a successful and prized cricket team. And he has hired former TV executives to acquire and pool TV and filmed content for his 4G services which he hopes to introduce in the not-too-distant future

Now billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani has been identified as the second of the investor venture capitalists who are funding former Disney India boss Mahesh Samat?s Epic Television Networks Pvt Ltd. The company has been cobbling together plans to set up a specialty TV channel called Epic TV, which has applied to the government for regulatory clearances for uplinking. The company has yet to get its licence at the time of writing. But newspaper reports suggest that it is looking at an August 2013 launch.

According to media reports based on registrar of company findings, Ambani and Mahindra & Mahindra boss Anand Mahindra each own around 25 per cent in the company with the remainder being with Samat and associates. Ambani?s investment is reportedly being made in his personal capacity and through Reliance Ports & Terminals.

Samat had identified Anand Mahindra as an investor a month or so ago in his venture.

Sources indicate that Samat has a commitment of Rs 175 crore from investors/venture capitalists for the channel, which could increase depending on the requirement.

He has planned Epic TV as a channel , which will have content based on the nation?s history, folklore, and mythology but created in a contemporary format. Samat hopes to cash in the demand that is slated to arise for specialty channels in a digitized India with the increasing spread of digital cable and DTH

Amongst the shows he has commissioned include one based on Indu Sundaresan?s fictional work on Emperor Jehangir?s powerful empress Nur Jahan, and called The Twentieth Wife.

MUMBAI: Online video ad network YuMe is looking to raise $65 million via an initial public offering (IPO) and trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ?YUME? symbol, according to an S-1 filed on 2 July.

YuMe, founded in 2004, has developed a proprietary platform designed to deliver targeted video advertising campaigns to a growing variety of IP-connected devices. The company said it delivered over eight billion video ad impressions last year across PCs, smartphones, tablets, set-tops, game consoles and connected TVs. According to the S-1, it also counts 64 of the top 100 US advertisers as customers.

For the three-month period ended 31 March 2013, YuMe recorded a net loss of $3.3 million on revenues of $26.6 million, a 33 per cent increase from the year-ago period. For all of 2012, YuMe recorded net income of $6.3 million, versus a net loss of $11.08 million in 2011. YuMe also posted 2012 revenues of $116.7 million, up from the $68.56 million it generated in 2011.

As of 31 March, the company had an accumulated deficit of $25.3 million, had cash and cash equivalents of $26.83 million, and had an employee base of 357. YuMe has raised $74.4 million so far.

Its competitors include Hulu, Google (via YouTube and DoubleClick), Tremor Video, as well as a range of privately-owned ad exchanges, including Adap.tv. Tremor Video?s IPO is off to a rough start after debuting on the NYSE on 27 June at $10 each. Shares in Tremor closed Friday (5 July) at $7.12 each, down 38 cents for the day.

YuMe?s S-1 outlines several growth strategies, including expanding into new geographies and look to pursuing strategic acquisitions.

Citigroup Global Markets, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Barclays Capital are acting as joint book-running managers for YuMe's IPO.

MUMBAI: Ion Media Networks has grabbed the off-network rights to cable series of two veteran USA network series: Burn Notice and White Collar. The acquisition of these one-hour dramas brings the network?s off-cable slate to five, joining Psych, Leverage and Monk. Other shows in Ion?s lineup include Criminal Minds, Cold Case, House and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

"Burn Notice and White Collar have the creative quality and originality we look for to serve smart and engaged audiences with our

?Positively Entertaining? brand promise," said ION Media Networks chairman and CEO Brandon Burgess. "And strategically, we are making a concerted bet on top-performing, high-quality, off-cable shows balancing our strong broadcast series portfolio."

Burn Notice is currently airing its seventh and final season, while White Collar will return for season five this fall. Both shows are the top-rated scripted cable series on their respective nights among adults 25-54.

Burn Notice is an American television series created by Matt Nix and stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, Sharon Gless and Coby Bell. The series which was first aired on 28 June, 2007, premiered its seventh season on 6 June 2013.The series is about how a spy recently disavowed by the US Government uses his special ops training to help others in trouble.

White Collar, a USA network series is created by Jeff Eastin, starring Matt Bomer as con-man Neal Caffrey and Tim DeKay as Special Agent Peter Burke. The show is about a white collar criminal agreeing to help the FBI catch other white collar criminals using his expertise as an art and securities thief, counterfeiter and racketeer. First premiered on October 23, 2009, the fifth season of the show will be aired in September this year.