News Broadcasting
PCCW selects ICTV ActiveVideo Distribution Network for ‘now TV’ interactive services
MUMBAI: ICTV, which creates on-demand solutions that blend the choice and control of broadband video with the quality and responsiveness of television, and Hong Kong based telecom firm PCCW have announced that the ICTV ActiveVideo Distribution Network (AVDN) has been selected to enable interactive channels via television to subscribers of PCCW’s now TV service.
The first ActiveVideo channel offered by now TV is the completely interactive “Movie Trailer Channel” that PCCW has launched in partnership with United Artists, one of the leading cinema groups in Hong Kong. The Movie Trailer Channel allows subscribers to preview movies, choose cinema locations, check programme times, request seat locations, and buy tickets using just their standard remote controls. The channel is the first in a series of ActiveVideo channels and applications that will deliver more interactive services to now TV’s 654,000 subscribers.
The ActiveVideo Distribution Network is a usage-based content distribution service that enables operators, programmers and advertisers to bring video programming and advertising models from the Internet to the
television, including high-CPM ads that are targeted, auditable, interactive and actionable. AVDN delivers Web-driven programming and live and VOD streams – all with superior TV quality – over the existing two-way network infrastructure to any digital set-top box.
PCCW MD television and content Dominic Leung says, “ICTV has provided the quality and scalability that have enabled us to offer the most powerful interactive television platform in the world. ICTV has provided the quality and scalability that have enabled us to offer the most powerful interactive television platform in the world.
“The Movie Trailer Channel is the first example of how ActiveVideo Distribution Network will enable our subscribers to find and control an entirely new series of television channels of high-quality video with interactivity and
information that specifically meets their individual preferences.”
ICTV president and CEO Jeff Miller says, “Over the past two years, PCCW has established now TV as a world leader in the deployment of IPTV. We believe that the ability of ActiveVideo to bring standards-based, Web-driven programming and Internet-style advertising to the television will be a significant factor in helping operators like PCCW to dynamically
expand the scope of their offerings and capture new subscriber and advertising revenue.”
One of the world’s largest and most advanced IPTV deployments, now TV enables subscribers to choose their preferred programmes from more than 110 channels. The service provides 15 channels at no charge, and allows subscribers to select others using an “a la carte” pricing system.
Capitalising on the ability to deliver Web programming as MPEG video to any digital set-top box, the ICTV ActiveVideo platform is entirely standards-based, requiring no custom integration or proprietary development. Live and VOD programming can be blended seamlessly with content that is created and modified quickly using standard Web tools and
talent, and distributed via standard Web infrastructure.
The ActiveVideo platform utilises existing on-demand infrastructure, delivering all programming from the headend as MPEG video while using the on-demand return path to receive user input to control the programming and provide interactivity. This approach requires little set top resources and integrates with and extends existing set-top based interactive approaches.
With ActiveVideo Channels, network operators and programmers can enhance the value of existing channels by allowing viewers to take active control of what they see and when they see it. As an example, through simple clicks on their remote controls, television viewers can select an ActiveVideo Channel from the standard programme guide and enter a broadband experience that includes multiple video windows, navigational elements, channel branding, banner advertisements, and links to different video segments and images.
Screens can be manipulated to reflect personal viewing interests and purchasing preferences. Clicking on advertisements within the ActiveVideo experience enables interaction with sponsor messages, including “telescoping” to let consumers request more information, watch a demonstration or make a purchase.
News Broadcasting
Newsrooms rethink AI, trust and revenue models
Editors and tech leaders debate tools, deepfakes and viability.
MUMBAI: If yesterday’s newsroom ran on caffeine and chaos, tomorrow’s may well run on code but with a human still holding the pen. At the 22nd edition of the Video Broadcast and Broadband Tech Summit hosted by IndianTelevision.com, some of the sharpest minds in Indian media gathered to examine how artificial intelligence, automation and shifting audience behaviour are reshaping journalism. The session, titled The Newsroom of Tomorrow Tools, Trust, and Business Viability In Focus, did not descend into techno-utopian hype. Instead, it wrestled with a more uncomfortable question: how do you stay relevant, credible and profitable when the audience is changing faster than the headline cycle?
The panel featured Govindraj Ethiraj, Editor of The Core, Dr Nilesh Khare, COO of Sakal Media Group; Prakaran Tiwari, Chief Executive Producer at NDTV Profit; Manoj Padmanabhan, Head of Business Media and Entertainment at AWS; Neeraj Mishra, Key Account Manager at Vizrt and session chair; and Mayuresh Konnur, Bilingual Correspondent at Collective Newsroom, publisher for BBC in India.
Govindraj Ethiraj set the tone with a frank assessment. “The reason people do not consume as much news through us is because they are consuming news through other sources they trust more,” he said. In a fragmented ecosystem flooded with content, trust has become the real differentiator.
Yet AI is undeniably transforming workflows. Ethiraj admitted he now uses AI tools to proofread his own articles. “Sometimes it is scary how much it picks, but it helps,” he said. What once required layers of sub-editing can now be assisted by machines trained to flag errors, inconsistencies and structural weaknesses.
He pointed to how newsroom roles have evolved. The desk editor, widely advertised over the last 15 years, barely existed in its current form before the internet boom. As digital publishing accelerated, tasks such as curating listicles, ranking stories and optimising headlines became specialised functions. Now, many of those responsibilities can be performed or at least supported by AI systems. The disruption is not hypothetical; it is operational.
Dr Nilesh Khare approached the issue from both a business and technological standpoint. Sakal Media Group is developing its own large language model, built on 60 years of text and photo archives. The goal is independence. “We won’t need to depend on other platforms to develop ours,” he said, underscoring the strategic value of proprietary data.
For Khare, AI represents opportunity as much as anxiety. It can help expand content across geographies and languages, particularly in bridging North and South Indian markets. It can streamline production and reduce costs. He did not shy away from the implications. “As a journalist I feel bad but as a content producer I feel good that we will require less manpower,” he said, articulating a tension many in the room recognised but few openly admit.
He also highlighted how audience behaviour is evolving. Today, a retail investor can follow a stock using Gemini or GPT instead of toggling between multiple news channels. News is no longer consumed linearly; it is queried, personalised and synthesised. The newsroom must therefore produce content that survives not just on screens but within AI-generated summaries.
Prakaran Tiwari offered a more philosophical reflection. “AI has developed itself and adapted on the basis of how news is consumed. It’s all about giving a perspective,” he said. In his view, the competitive edge will not lie in speed alone but in interpretation. Facts are increasingly commoditised; context is not.
He also suggested that formats are fluid. While short-form video dominates social feeds, long-form audio is resurging. Govindraj Ethiraj noted that in the United States the 2024 election was described as the “podcast election”, reflecting how audiences are investing time in deeper, long-form discussions. The newsroom of tomorrow must cater to both scrolling and sustained listening.
Manoj Padmanabhan of AWS reframed the debate. Technology, he argued, is not an existential threat but an amplifier. “The power is given to the human journalist with all this technology in their hand, with it acting as a support or assistant to deliver the correct and relevant news to the people,” he said.
The traditional divide between a “normal” newsroom and a “digital” newsroom is fading. “It will not be two newsrooms,” he said. “It will be one newsroom.” In that integrated environment, the storyteller remains central. AI may assist with research, editing and distribution, but editorial judgement remains human.
Neeraj Mishra of Vizrt echoed the assistive narrative. India, he said, is a market of organised chaos, where news broadcasters are pushing ever-increasing volumes of content. AI will help manage scale. It is not here to replace people but to assist them.
Production barriers are already collapsing. “You don’t need a green screen to produce content now,” Mishra observed, hinting at virtual production tools and real-time rendering technologies. And this, he said, is only the beginning. In a cost-conscious market like India, AI adoption in both B to B and B to C segments is likely to rise sharply. The skills are available, he argued, the real question is whether organisations are willing to invest.
If opportunity was one half of the conversation, risk was the other. Mayuresh Konnur warned that fake news is now being peddled with alarming ease using AI tools. Deepfakes, synthetic audio and fabricated visuals can damage credibility overnight. Several journalists, he said, have already faced instances where manipulated content was circulated in their name.
“Eventually it becomes a question of how authentic you are in the market,” Konnur noted. In a crowded information economy, credibility is the ultimate moat. Regulations and clear guidelines, he argued, are necessary to curb misuse without stifling innovation.
Mishra added a note of caution against overuse. “AI should not be everywhere. It has to be used optimally,” he said. The value lies not in blanket automation but in strategic integration.
One of the most resonant metaphors came from Padmanabhan. AI, he suggested, is like a brush in a human hand. Powerful, versatile, transformative but inert without the artist. It cannot survive without the human touch.
Konnur distilled the session’s core takeaway, AI is inevitable, but the art of storytelling will never disappear.
In a media landscape defined by speed, shrinking attention spans and intense competition, the newsroom of tomorrow is not simply a technological upgrade. It is a recalibration. Between efficiency and ethics. Between automation and authenticity. Between reducing manpower and retaining meaning.
The algorithms may write cleaner copy and generate sharper graphics. They may even predict what audiences want before audiences know it themselves. But the enduring task remains unchanged to tell stories that inform, interrogate and inspire.
And for that, the human newsroom is still very much open for business.
