Hong Kong– Laureen Ong will join STAR as Chief Operating Officer in June 2007 to replace Steve Askew, who resigned for personal reasons. Ong reports to Paul Aiello, Chief Executive Officer of STAR, and will support STAR's expansion of its content portfolio across all platforms in its key Asian markets.Previously Ong was founding President of Fox International's National Geographic Channel network. She launched NGC in 2001 which became one of the fastest growing networks in the US … [Read more...] about Laureen Ong succeeds Steve Askew as STAR’s Chief Operating Officer
format licensing
FremantleMedia Australia rejigs management
Sydney- FremantleMedia Australia has appointed five new executives as part of a senior management restructure orchestrated by Chief Executive Mark Fennessy and Chief Operating Officer Carl Fennessy. Tony Skinner signs on as Managing Director of FremantleMedia Melbourne and Director of Game Shows and Participation TV FremantleMedia Australia, effective May 14. Most recently Skinner was Head of Game Shows at the Nine Network. Other appointments include Brian Tuckey as General … [Read more...] about FremantleMedia Australia rejigs management
Jane Smith plants a new Seed
Sydney- Jane Smith, former Chief Executive of the New South Wales Film and Television Office, has joined Seed Australia, the production company headed by Hugh Jackman, John Palermo and Deborra-lee Furness. Smith, who signs on Vice President, will work with Lisa Shaunessy in developing projects for Seed with the principals/founders. Launched last August, Seed aims to produce four or five films per year, each budgeted at less than A$10 million (US$8 million), and to work on live theatre and … [Read more...] about Jane Smith plants a new Seed
China to launch High Def broadcasts in October
Beijing- China Central TV, the national broadcaster, will start broadcasting high-definition programs in October, and the Chinese standard on terrestrial digital broadcasting will be implemented in August, according to Zhang Haitao, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). At the opening of the 15th China Content Broadcasting Network exhibition, Zhang said SARFT had formed six working groups in cooperation with several other … [Read more...] about China to launch High Def broadcasts in October
Higher learning On-air, on-line and on-the-ground, industry partners are joining forces to heighten awareness of High- Definition TV.
Improving the viewer experience? Or simply selling more HD TV sets and services? It’s hard not to be cynical when take-up of HD doesn’t come cheap. Apart from needing an HD-ready TV set, currently starting at over US$700, HD set-top boxes are around $200, and, in Singapore for example, StarHub’s HD Plus service costs around $10 per month for two channels: Discovery HD and National Geographic Channel – on top of subscribing to a minimum of 3 StarHub Digital Cable Basic … [Read more...] about Higher learning On-air, on-line and on-the-ground, industry partners are joining forces to heighten awareness of High- Definition TV.
M&A’s predicted for Hong Kong media industry
In Hong Kong’s thriving media industry, everything seems to be going up. Broadcast TV and on-line advertising revenues are showing healthy gains. So are pay-TV subscriptions. And mobile TV is tipped to start generating significant coin in 2008. Moreover, some experts expect there will be more mergers and acquisitions in the next two years, driven by convergence and by private equity’s growing appetite for the media sector. These deals, probably strategic alliances and partnerships … [Read more...] about M&A’s predicted for Hong Kong media industry