MUMBAI: UK pay TV service provider Sky is stepping up its commitment to original British drama with the announcement of a line up of brand new original drama, featuring stars including Dominic Cooper, Vanessa Redgrave, David Harewood and Kylie Minogue.

The slate - the biggest in Sky?s history - includes a drama based on the life of Ian Fleming, a season of films from acclaimed female screenwriters and the directorial debuts of actors Idris Elba, Matt Smith and Marc Warren.

Running across Sky?s portfolio of entertainment channels, the raft of new drama commissions, complemented by popular returning series, is part of Sky?s drive to bring more high-quality, exclusive programmes to customers. It is supported by Sky?s commitment to invest ?600 million a year in home-grown programming by 2014, an increase of 50 per cent over three years.

The new commissions include:

• ?Fleming? (Sky Atlantic), starring Hollywood actor Dominic Cooper in the lead role in a series based on the life of Bond creator Ian Fleming
• ?The Reckless Season? (Sky Living), a season of five original dramas from some of Britain?s most renowned and critically-acclaimed female screenwriters, including Sally Wainwright, Gwyneth Hughes and Annie Griffin.
• The return of ?Playhouse Presents? (Sky Arts) this year features the directorial debuts of Idris Elba, Matt Smith and Marc Warren, with Elba and Warren both also scripting their films. The season of dramas - which will be complemented by a further collection of one-off comedy films - has again attracted high-calibre casts including Kylie Minogue, Mat Horne, David Harewood, Anna Friel and Vanessa Redgrave.
• ?Mad Dogs The Finale? (Sky 1), a two-part conclusion to the Bafta-nominated drama starring Max Beesley, Philip Glenister, John Simm and Marc Warren.

In addition, a brand new medical drama from Jed Mercurio, under the working title ?Critical? is currently in development for Sky 1.

The slate was commissioned by Sky?s Head of Drama, Anne Mensah. She said, "At Sky we have a strong ambition to deliver modern, original dramas that are both entertaining and intelligent. We seek to bring our customers the most innovative and bold pieces produced by some of the brightest talent in drama programming today. Our broad range of entertainment channels has allowed us to commission this diverse and rich drama slate, providing customers with a wealth of choice and I?m thrilled to be able to unveil this fantastic line up. The most exciting thing is that this is just the part of the growing drama story at Sky."

Sky director entertainment channels Stuart Murphy said, "We?re absolutely delighted to be announcing such a strong group of dramas for our customers. These new commissions bring together world-class talent, both on and off screen, and are unique pieces of television that exemplify the scale of our ambition. I am excited and fully supportive of Anne Mensah?s vision as she drives forward a strategy that will deliver our customers the highest-quality programming."

MUMBAI: German broadcaster Sky Deutschland has retained the broadcast rights, internet, IPTV and mobile rights for US PGA Tour for Germany and Austria until the end of 2015.

Sky Deutschland SVP Sports Burkhard Weber said, "The extension of the rights to the US PGA Tour means that Sky will remain the number one golf broad-caster for years to come. Martin Kaymer may have moved from the European to the American tour, but his fans in Germany will still be able to watch him play in all tournaments live, exclusively on Sky."

The agreement comprises a total of 40 events, including highlights such as The Players Championship in May, the Tour Championship by Coca Cola in September and The Presidents Cup in October, the biennial tournament in which the US competes against the rest of the world minus Europe.

The first event of the New Year will take place from 4 to 7 January 2013 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii. Sky will be on hand to offer over 12 hours of live coverage in HD.

With Sky Go, Sky customers also have the chance to experience all US PGA Tour tour-naments live when they are on the go. All broadcasts are available live and some are shown on-demand at skygo.sky.de, and on the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and the Xbox 360.

MUMBAI: Distribution company Mance Media CEO Matthew Mancinell announced that his company founded less than a year ago, has sold over 100 hours of programming from their Mipcom slate to European and Asian Broadcasters.

He said, "We were very pleased at the results our sales team turned in from the market. We acceded our projections by 20% besting our Mip sales by more than 20 hours. We were especially gratified because traditionally our type of programming which consists of non-scripted programming does better during the Spring market when Mipdoc attracts all the reality and documentary buyers".

Sales included: Sky Arts-UK- ?Cirque Berzerk? for cable/satellite and VOD. Telemedi TV Georgia -?Bikini Destinations?-television rights, New Zealand Airlnes-?Billabongg?s J Bay?-in -flight rights. Ananey Communications- Israel- ?Fit Nation? cable/satellite rights, mobile and VOD, Antena TV-Romania-?Fit Nation?,-cable/satellite rights and Doruk Film-Turkey- ?Bikini Destinations? -television rights.

Bombridge International Mance Media?s sub-distributor for Asia licensed the television rights for ?Fit Nation? to Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. The company also sold the IPTV, mobile and VOD rights in Singapore to Mediacorp.

MUMBAI: UK pay TV service provider Sky is estimated to support a ?5.4 billion contribution to UK GDP in calendar 2011.

The impact made by Sky on the UK economy is revealed for the first time in an independent study conducted by the leading economic consultancy, Oxford Economics.

The report, The Economic Impact of Sky on the UK, finds that Sky makes a contribution to the economy in terms of GDP, jobs and taxes paid. It also shows how the company has stimulated economic activity in a wide range of associated companies and industries, through relationships with thousands of UK suppliers and business partners. 

In 2011, Sky generated sales of ?6.4 billion and over 75 per cent of this revenue was retained in the UK.

Sky?s direct contribution to GDP of ?2.2 billion is equivalent to around 40 per cent of the contribution made by the entire TV and radio creative sector in the UK.

For every ?1 billion Sky contributes directly to GDP itself, it generates another ?1.4 billion in the rest of the economy through its purchase of goods and services and staff spending their wages.

In 2011 Sky used 4,000 suppliers across the UK, including 645 independent suppliers in sports production and 110 independent producers in entertainment and the arts.

"Sky?s footprint is UK wide and its contribution is felt in almost every part of the country," the report said.

At the end 2011, Sky employed 22,800 people in the UK, more than half as many as the entire pharmaceuticals industry. This included 9,400 people in London, 6,430 in Scotland, and 1,560 in Yorkshire and Humberside.

According to the report, 2,600 people are employed by Sky in producing and commissioning content. This is set to grow as Sky increases its investment in original British content to ?600 million by 2014. By the end of 2011, Sky had already increased its UK content spend to ?450 million a year.

In the last three years, Sky has hired 3,800 young people (16 to 24 years), including nearly 300 graduate trainees and apprentices.

Sky employs 800 engineers in software development and testing, representing 1 per cent of all people employed in the UK?s software development industry.

In total Sky is estimated to support 118,600 jobs in the UK through its procurement of goods and services and consumer spending out of the wage income of its staff. This includes 1.2 per cent of all employment in London and 0.6% of all jobs in Scotland.

The study also pointed out Sky?s contribution to tax revenues. These include:

- In the financial year 2010/2011, Sky directly contributed a total of ?941 million to the Exchequer.

- Of this, ?337 million came through corporation tax and business rates, with the balance collected on behalf of HM Treasury through employees? labour taxes and customers? VAT payments.

- In total, Sky is estimated to support a ?2.3 billion contribution to tax revenues, including Sky?s procurement of inputs and direct and indirect staff spending is included. This is equivalent to ?36 for every person in the UK.

Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said, "We have grown rapidly since our business was established just over 20 years ago. Along the way we have taken risks, invested billions of pounds and been a driving force for innovation and change in our sector. As a result we have transformed UK consumers? experience of television and home communications, while generating significant returns for our shareholders and contributing positively to the UK economy as a whole.

"This report from Oxford Economics measures and explains the scale of our economic impact for the first time. We hope that Sky?s story provides a good example of the important contribution that a successful British company can make, particularly at a time when economic growth is harder to come by. As we look ahead, our appetite to invest remains strong and we hope to contribute even more in the future."
 

MUMBAI: People in the UK are more concerned with the portrayal of age on TV than on other platforms. Age is considered much less of an issue on radio, as participants could not readily tell the age of contributors and would choose a radio station that reflects their needs and interests.

Younger people are most concerned with how they are portrayed on TV, and many feel they are portrayed negatively. This view was also shared by some older people.

The Creative Diversity Network (CDN) has published the findings of its research in portrayal of age in the media, ?Serving All Ages?. The research was commissioned by the BBC as current chair of the CDN.

The CDN is a partnership of media companies made up of ITV, Channel 4, Sky, S4/C, Pact, MTV, Media Trust, Turner and Bafta, which exists to improve diversity across the industry.

The key findings are:

- Older people are less concerned with portrayal on TV, but some expressed a feeling of invisibility. This was particularly the case for middle aged and older women and more so in some genres (news and factual) than others

- Audiences wanted television in particular to reflect reality and wanted to avoid stereotyping and see a focus on accurate portrayal of all ages

- Industry experts focused on the need to find imaginative and creative ways to challenge existing stereotypes without being formulaic and stressed the importance of tracking and reviewing progress

BBC DG and CDN chair Mark Thompson said, ?There are lessons here for the BBC and the rest of Britain?s broadcasters. It is young people who are most concerned with the way they are portrayed and we need to look at this. But we should also note the concern, expressed by older people generally, about the need for greater visibility for older women. While of course there are many older women presenters and actors across our airwaves, this is something that needs to be addressed.?