News Broadcasting
BVITV inks agreements with Miravista, TF1 Vision & CGV Choice at Mipcom
MUMBAI: Buena Vista International Television (BVITV) has secured the international TV distribution rights for Miravista, The Walt Disney Company- owned label for Buena Vista International Latin America’s local theatrical co-productions. BVITV will offer titles from the Miravista portfolio to international TV buyers for the first time at Mipcom.
As announced by Buena Vista Worldwide Television president Laurie Younger and The Walt Disney Company Latin America president and Walt Disney Television Latin America general manager Diego Lerner.
Titles include the forthcoming Only God Knows which recently had its North American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, and will launch across the US in 2007. Other titles include Ladies Night and Romeo and Juliet Get Married.
BVITV has also signed an agreement with TF1 Vision, such that movie releases and blockbusters from BVITV’s portfolio will be available on demand on the TF1 Vision website. This agreement is in line with The Walt Disney Company’s focus on the application of technology to enhance its content and expand its distribution, informs an official release.
With this broadband VOD rental agreement, almost 100 titles are available on the TF1 VOD website. Titles will include recent releases such as Cinderella Man, Flightplan, Derailed and Dark Water, and box office hits such as Pretty Woman, Dead Poets Society, Face Off and Pearl Harbor. Brand new titles can be downloaded for a fixed price of 4,99 euros each (all taxes included) and library movies can be rented for 1,99 euros each (all taxes included).
BVITV EMEA executive vice president and managing director Tom Toumazis said, “We are pleased to be working once more with TF1 to bring content from our portfolio to consumers in France in new flexible ways, as and when they want to watch it.”
In addition, Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP), the international television distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company, has also concluded a multi-year agreement with Korean pay-per-view (PPV) and video-on-demand (VOD) operator CGV Choice, a subsidiary of CJ Media, for current and library features from BVITV-AP’s features portfolio.
Under this licensing agreement, subscribers to CGV Choice are able to enjoy a selection of Hollywood blockbusters from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films.
Titles include Disney’s second highest grossing film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl, Flightplan, National Treasure and Casanova.
BVITV-AP’s senior vice president and managing director Steve Macallister said, “This is another groundbreaking new media deal for BVITV in Korea and reflects our commitment to finding new and innovative ways to deliver our quality content whenever consumers want it.”
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
