MUMBAI: Building on their partnership forged since the creation of the OCS in 2008, HBO and Orange Cinema Series, a movie and series service in France have renewed their multi-year agreement.

HBO president, programming sales Charles Schreger said, "HBO has been with OCS since the beginning. The respect and care given to our programming has been everything we could ask for from a partner. We could not be happier to continue this relationship and to have them serve as the home for our premieres in France."

OCS said this agreement confirms and bolsters our position as the first exclusive broadcaster of HBO programming in France. OCS will continue to air HBOs new series and to offer them 24 hours after their premiere broadcast in the US. OCS subscribers will, among others, be able to view season two of ?Girls? in January, season three of ?Game of Thrones? in April, season six of True Blood in June and season 4 of Boardwalk Empire in September 2013.

In addition, OCS subscribers will be able to view on-demand past seasons of shows including ?The Newsroom?, ?Veep?, ?Game of Thrones?, ?Boardwalk Empire?, ?True Blood?, ?The Sopranos? and ?The Wire?.

Orange head of content, OCS president Serge Laroye said, "For OCS, this new agreement with HBO, reinforces its editorial promise and contributes to its development. OCS is a unique service which boasts innovative services combined with rich, high-quality film and series. HBO series are must-watch events. They are central to OCS? positioning and help enrich its offering. We are very pleased to be able to pursue our partnership with HBO and, with this agreement, bring it to another level."

OCS is a bouquet of five thematic channels dedicated to cinema and series which offers its subscribers exclusive first run programming allied with innovative functionalities. Viewers have the opportunity to watch all of the programs live or on-demand. Among the innovative services there is "US+24", which gives fans of US series access to a selection of exclusive series, available on demand, 24 hours after they are first broadcast in the United States. There is also startover function, so that a program can be rewound to the beginning while it is being broadcast.

After successful launches in 2012 on Canalsat, SFR, Parabole R?union and Tahiti NUI, OCS continues to enrich its offering and to extend the distribution of its service to other operators.

MUMBAI: ?Homeland? from US cable network Showtime got four Golden Globe nominations including one for best television drama. The awards, organised by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), recognise achievements in film and television and will be held in Beverly Hilton next month.

Also competing for best drama are two shows from HBO - ?Boardwalk Empire? and ?The Newsroom? as well as AMC?s ?Breaking Bad? and PBS? ?Downton Abbey: Season 2?. Missing from the list is ?Mad Men?.

In total, HBO picked up 17 nominations while Showtime got seven nods. ABC has five nominations, CBS and NBC four each, and Fox two.

The nominees for best comedy television show are ?The Big Bang Theory? (CBS), ?Episodes? (Showtime), ?Girls? (HBO), ?Modern Family? (ABC) and ?Smash? (NBC). ?Modern Family? got three nominations.

The Golden Globe Awards will be hosted by comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, both of whom have been nominated for ?30 Rock? and ?Parks and Recreation? respectively.

The nominees for best miniseries or television movie are ?Game Change?, ?The Girl?, ?Hatfields and McCoys?, ?The Hour? and ?Political Animals?.

  MUMBAI: HBO Asia has partnered with Bollywood movie production major Eros International to roll out two premium ad-free channels for the Indian pay-TV market, a move that many in the industry believe can be a game changer if audiences decide to subscribe to expensive content.

The channels, HBO Defined and HBO Hits, are priced together at Rs 100 and will arrive in the Indian digital market in the first quarter of 2013. Both will have a mix of premium Bollywood and Hollywood movies to to make them attractive for Indian audiences.

HBO?s existing formats will also be sourced for development as well as creation of original content for the Indian television market and international distribution.

The two channels will be home to Eros? new Bollywood releases and big-ticket Hollywood titles. Though Eros will not have equity in the venture, it will have economic interests by making its rich movie pipeline available exclusively to the two channels.

?We are not going to invest any fresh capital in this. We are monetizing our movie catalogue and have worked out a revenue share arrangement with HBO by giving them an exclusive window. India has 75 million digital subscribers, going up to 175 million digital subscribers in 2016. The channels will be available as a premium service. It will be similar to the service in US for the original HBO Series as well as the movie premieres after theater release on these two channels,? says Eros International executive chairman Kishore Lulla.

The revenue to be shared by both the partners has a two-layered structure. The three movie studios ? Paramount, Warner and Eros ? will take away 16 per cent each of the distributable income (45 per cent of the subscription income collected by the distribution platforms will go to the broadcasters). The balance revenue will then be shared equally between HBO and Eros after taking care of the operating costs.

Eros can make its movies available to other broadcasters after the first screening window is exploited by the two HBO channels. The existing library which Eros has sold to other broadcasters will also fall into the HBO lap after their contractual period expires.

?We will be wholly owning the two channels. We will not only have Eros? Bollywood content. But Eros will drive the Bollywood content which will roughly amount to a ratio of 30 per cent. The balance 70 per cent will be Hollywood content,? says HBO Asia chief executive officer Jonathan Spink.

Spink believes that Indian audiences love both Hollywood and Bollywood content. ?The opportunity to work with Eros is tremendous and together we will aim to deliver a first class cinema experience. We are excited to work with Eros in developing compelling original content for the Indian audience,? he says.

When asked the reason for having hybrid channels, HBO South Asia country manager Shruti Bajpai said that the aim is to expand the genre. ?Most Indians watch Hindi movies and Hollywood. We do not want to segment the audience. Some of our content will be dubbed in Hindi. Going forward, we will look at other languages if it makes sense. These channels are one of a kind. A team from HBO and Eros International will take decisions pertaining to the two channels.?

Bajpai adds that the current HBO channel that is also available on analogue will continue to carry ads. ?Just because the environment is changing, it doesn?t necessarily mean that you shift from one business model to another.? In terms of new movies premiering, she notes that some movies will premiere first on the ad free channels but others will premiere at the same time as HBO.

Cable and direct-to-home (DTH) companies said the cost of the channels will not make it possible to place them as part of a bundle in their channel package tiering. They also admitted that such channels can only lift their low ARPUs (average revenue per user) but the evolution of the market will depend on how many consumers subscribe to them.

HBO Hits

HBO Hits is more broad-based and will focus on action and adventure oriented content. It will also air content in genres like horror, thriller, crime and science fiction.

The action driven block, Prime Cuts, starts at 8 pm. Some of HBO?s Original Series will air on weekends at 1 pm. The series will be available in dual language ? English or Hindi.

Hollywood premieres will take place on Friday at 10 pm.

The channel will also feature Bollywood movies from Eros premiering for the first time on Indian television ? straight after its theatrical run (4-6 weeks after theatrical run).

HBO Defined

HBO Defined will offer a more refined experience similar to what exists in the US. Most of HBO?s Original Series will premiere on this channel shortly after airing in the US. They will air on weekdays at 9 pm.

Sunday nights at 10 pm will be the destination for award winning films as well as HBO?s movies and documentaries. Essentially this channel targets a more discerning viewer and will allow HBO to showcase more of its own content compared to the past.

Premieres will be shown on Saturday nights at 10 pm.

HBO defined will deliver top blockbusters to India first through exclusive output licensing deals with major Hollywood studios.

The channel will also have Bollywood movies from Eros premiering for the first time on Indian television.

The channel is subtitled in English. Selected programmes are also available with dual language options of either English or Hindi.

How the industry perceives the deal

According to Times Television Network CEO, English Entertainment Channels Ajay Trigunayat, success would depend on how much the consumer is willing to pay. ?One has to see how they go about tackling distribution. Will the channels be pushed aggressively? Will there be a lot of marketing? I am also not clear about their TG. A hybrid channel, however, can work if you get it right,? he says.

So will Movies Now follow a similar strategy? ?This is not going to be our strategy. A lot will depend on the titles being brought both by HBO and Eros. Also how much content will be dubbed? I think that the third year is when the revenues will start coming in,? he replies.

Many industry experts feel that subscription is the way forward. Says Maxus business head Jigar Rambhia, "Premium audiences dislike ads. If you offer quality at a slightly extra cost without ads, there are enough people willing to pay for content. Already people record on DVR boxes from DTH service providers like Tata Sky and forward ads when they view the content later on. For the premium international channels, subscription revenue growth is very important."

Asked whether the new channels will cannibalise the existing channel HBO, Rambhia replies in the negative. "People will buy channels genre wise. It is not that you take two channels in a genre and drop one. Also while some people will pay a premium for the new channels, other people may not and be satisfied with the existing HBO channel."

Some HD channels like Discovery World HD carry a very limited amount of ads. But Discovery India VP marketing Rajiv Bakshi says that for the proposition to rely mostly on subscription to work, the content has to be unique. "You cannot have an HD channel with limited ads and expect to be carried by affiliates if the content is not unique. The content cannot be the same as what is being shown on other channels. Selling a channel mainly on the basis of no ads has some advantage for a viewer but in my view that advantage is limited. Discovery World HD is programmed differently from Discovery Channel."

MUMBAI: Multiple Grammy winner, entrepreneur and actress Beyonc? will be the focus of a feature-length HBO documentary film debuting in the US on 16 February 2013.

Directed by the superstar, the film is a fusion of video that provides access to the icon and high-voltage performances.

HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said, ?Everybody knows Beyonc??s music, but few know Beyonc? the person. Along with electrifying footage of Beyonc? onstage, this unique special looks beyond the glamour to reveal a vibrant, vulnerable, unforgettable woman."

Beyonc? said, ?HBO has a history of pushing every boundary with class and authenticity. Some of my favourite shows are on HBO, so I am excited that my film will be part of its bold programming. This film was so personal to me, it had to have the right home."

The film is a multi-faceted portrait of the 16-time Grammy Award-winning singer, businesswoman, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, wife and mother, showing off the extraordinary gifts that have made her a global phenomenon, and stripping away the veneer of stardom. It includes extensive first-person footage, some of it shot by Beyonc? on her laptop, in which she reflects on the realities of celebrity, the refuge she finds onstage and the transcendent joy of becoming a mother last year.

The film sheds light on her childhood in Houston, with home movies revealing the close bond she built with her family and charts the challenges Beyonc? felt when she decided to manage her career and build her own company, Parkwood Entertainment. The film also captures the intense physical and emotional demands she goes through in the studio, preparing for live performances, running a business and her family life including her return to the spotlight after the birth of her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in January 2012. Beyonc? also serves as the film?s executive producer.

HBO will announce the international broadcasting details and dates of this documentary later.

MUMBAI: BBC and HBO have announced that ?Family Tree?, a new eight-part comedy series co-written and co-created by filmmaker Christopher Guest ?Best In Show? and Jim Piddock and starring Chris O?Dowd ?Bridesmaids?, is in production in the UK.

The show is being directed by Guest. Filming will continue until early next year on location in the UK and Los Angeles, to air on BBC Two and HBO next year.

Chris O?Dowd will be joined by Nina Conti ?For Your Consideration? in the role of his sister Bea, and Tom Bennett The Hunt For Tony Blair? playing his best friend Pete.

?Family Tree? follows the world and journey of 30-year-old Tom Chadwick (Chris O?Dowd). Having recently lost his job and girlfriend, Tom has a rather unsure sense of his own identity. But when he inherits a mysterious box of belongings from a great aunt that he never met, he starts investigating his family lineage and uncovers a whole world of unusual stories and characters and a growing sense of who he is and who his real family are.

?Family Tree? will be a single-camera, improvisational, documentary-style comedy, a style that Christopher Guest?s films have pioneered.

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said, ?I am delighted to welcome Christopher Guest to BBC Television. It will be his first television series for British audiences and one I am proud to have here on the BBC. It has a stellar cast led by the fantastic Chris O?Dowd and is an exciting collaboration with NBCU International and HBO. Family Tree will form a key part of the channel?s comedy next year.?