MUMBAI: The Commercial Broadcasters Association (COBA) in the UK has released a report stating that its members invested more than ?600 million in UK content in 2011, of which nearly ?500 million was first run.

Investment in UK content has increased by more than ?140 million since 2009. Over a third of originated content investment goes towards supporting the independent production sector.

Almost 70 per cent of independent investment is spent with smaller producers. Almost 9,000 people are employed by Coba members in the UK. UK employment has increased by more than 1,000 people since 2009. Spend on non-domestic channels based in the UK contribute around ?400 million to the UK economy.

Coba members contributed ?4.2 billion in total in Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 20111. In addition to the investment made directly by the UK channel businesses, further investment into UK content is made by other companies in multinational groups. Coba members invested in excess of ?60 million in UK content at group level in 2011, not captured in the expenditure of the UK channel businesses.

The UK is the leading European media hub for Coba members. In addition to their UK channel businesses, much of their European operations are based and broadcast out of the UK. Non-domestic channels targeted at other European markets are much more likely to be situated in the UK than any other European country.

Coba members spent almost ?2.2 billion on content investment in 2011. Of this, just under a third (?623 million) was spent on UK content in the form of in-house productions, external commissioning of originated content and co-productions.

In addition, there was investment in UK secondary rights, i.e. the purchase of rights to broadcast repeats of content commissioned by other broadcasters and previously aired on other channels. Investment also goes into reversioning of non-UK content ? both English spoken and non-English spoken - to adapt it to the UK broadcast market.

The direct impact of Coba members on the UK economy in 2011 was just over ?2.1 billion. The direct impact can broadly be divided into investment in UK content, operational costs, wages and taxes. Investment in UK channels was just over ?1.7bn in 2011, of which more than a third was investment in content and a further half on wages and other operating costs. Spend on non-UK channels based in the UK, in the form of cash expenditure and wages, contributed another ?0.4 billion.

Investment in new UK children?s commissions (in-house, external and co-productions) rose from ?16 million in 2009 to ?25.5 million with investment in secondary UK rights rising from ?1.7 million in 2009 to ?3.1million in 2011. Coba members employ around 9,000 people in the UK.

Employment grew by over 1,000 between 2009 and 2011. There are two sources of employment within the UK ? the UK channel businesses themselves, but also non-UK channels that are based and broadcast out of the UK. In addition, for some non-UK channels broadcast outside the UK, the majority of staff is still located in UK media centres.

The majority of jobs are with the UK channels, although employment related to non-UK channels has seen even higher growth. The wage bill for these employees paid in the UK came to almost ?500 million in 2011, with around a fifth of this for employees on non-UK channels. Using employment multipliers, in addition to the nearly 9,000 people employed directly by Coba members, their activities and direct investment are estimated to have supported additional employment of almost 47,000 people in their supply chains. These people in turn support further employment across the UK through their spending of wages on goods and services.

MUMBAI: Lachlan Murdoch, the eldest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has invested $102.7 million in DMG Radio Australia to purchase the remaining 50 per cent stake in the company that was owned by UK media conglomerate Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT).

Lachlan had in November 2009 bought 50 per cent stake in the company through Illyria Investment. DMG Radio Australia operates commercial radio networks in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia.

"We are pleased to move to 100 per cent ownership of DMG Radio Australia," Lachlan said in a statement.

"When we acquired our 50 per cent interest in DMGRA in November 2009 we set out to create one of Australia?s leading media companies. Over the past three years, working alongside DMGRA?s wonderful staff, we have successfully implemented our growth strategy."

"In that time Nova has regained its position as the number one national network for people 18-39 and we have successfully launched SmoothFM. The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of DMGRA has doubled and the IRR (internal rate of return) on our initial investment is more than 60 per cent.

"We have great confidence in the continuing potential of radio, great confidence in the management team we have built under Cathy O?Connor, and look forward to further growing DMGRA in the coming years."

MUMBAI: Viacom18 will soon launch Rishtey in UK, a new mass entertainment Hindi entertainment channel that will complement its existing flagship channel Colors.

Rishtey will be launched in UK first by IndiaCast, showcasing content from a spectrum of genres including format shows, fiction, music and news.

The free-to-air (FTA) channel will be available on Sky Digital, it is learnt. Test signals are on and the launch is expected next month.

Rishtey will air re-run shows of Colors and also have original content.

Viacom18 operates a bouquet of channels including MTV, Nickelodeon, Vh1, Colors, Sonic and Comedy Central. It is also engaged in the film business through Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

Says Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, ?While we have a horizontal presence across television entertainment, with the launch of Rishtey, we now begin the phase of strengthening our presence in each vertical as well.?

Colors CEO Raj Nayak adds, ?With ?Rishtey?, we intend to create a new category within the general entertainment space, and given the rich mine of content within the Viacom18 Group, we?re confident of ?Rishtey? resonating well with both ? viewers as well as advertisers.?

IndiaCast COO Gaurav Gandhi states, ?Rishtey offers a wide range of variety entertainment programming that will engage, entertain and delight the South Asian audiences in the UK. As a free-to-air service, Rishtey perfectly complements our flagship brand Colors, by reaching out to a much wider audience base and giving them a taste of our much loved programming."

MUMBAI: Delivering a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Elisabeth Murdoch made a push for the media industry to embrace morality, while stressing that profit without purpose would be a recipe for disaster.

This contradicted her brother James Murdoch?s stand three years ago who at the same event had said that profit was the only guarantee of independence. "James was right that if you remove profit, then independence is massively challenged but I think that he left something out: The reason his statement sat so uncomfortably is that profit without purpose is a recipe for disaster," said Elisabeth Murdoch.

?As an industry?and indeed I would say as a global society?we have become trapped in our own rhetoric. We need to learn how to be comfortable with articulating purpose and reject the idea that money is the only effective measure of all things or that the free market is the only sorting mechanism.?

She also unlike her brother supported the BBC. James Murdoch had taken aim at the UK pubcaster for its guaranteed and growing income from the license fee paid by UK TV owners. But Elisabeth Murdoch said, "Let me put it on record that I am a current supporter of the BBC?s universal license fee".

Addressing the phone hacking issue which led to the closure of News Of the World, she said that she had told James to step back and that Rebekah Brooks should resign. "It was said within closed walls and Rebekah did resign."

?News Corp is a company that is currently asking itself some very significant and difficult questions about how some behaviours fell so far short of its values. Personally, I believe one of the biggest lessons of the past year has been the need for any organisation to discuss, affirm and institutionalise a rigorous set of values based on an explicit statement of purpose.?

She also said that she does not want to succeed her father at the company.

MUMBAI: News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has defended British tabloid The Sun?s decision to publish nude pictures of Prince Harry claiming that doing so was necessary to demonstrate lack of "press freedom" in UK.

The issue has raised a stink ever since it was published on Friday sparking criticism from public and politicians alike. In fact, the Press Complaints Commission has received more than 850 complaints from public against The Sun for publishing the pictures.

It is believed that the members of Royal family had asked the PCC to request media not to publish those pictures to which the latter agreed and none of the British newspapers used it. However, on Friday The Sun at the behest of its owner Rupert Murdoch decided to publish those pictures thereby causing embarrasment to St James?s Palace.

No sooner the pictures appeared it kicked up a storm with many questioning the motive behind the move. Many also argued that publishing pictures were an invasion of privacy and one that doesn?t serve any public interest.

According to one school of thought in the British press, the move was Murdoch?s way of warning his critics (read Lord Justice Leveson) who is probing the phone hacking scandal at the now defunct News of the World.

However, Murdoch is unperturbed by the criticism and the media baron took to Twitter to defend the The Sun, "Needed to demonstrate no such thing as free press in the UK. Internet makes mockery of these issues. 1st amendment please."

Murdoch?s defiance notwithstanding fears are being raised that The Sun?s actions will give a reason to Lord Justice Leveson to come down harder on press.

He later came out in defence of Prince Harry saying people should give him a break. "Prince Harry. Give him a break. He may be on the public payroll one way or another, but the public loves him, even to enjoy Las Vegas," Murdoch said somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

MUMBAI: The opening ceremony of the London Olympics set a new viewership record with 26.9 million viewers in UK tuning in, according to public broadcaster BBC.

The average viewing figure for Friday?s four-hour show was 22.4 million thereby becoming UK?s 13th most-watched programme ever.

In contrast, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games in 2008 averaged at 5 million and peaked at 5.4 million.
The programme also had an 82 per cent share - almost twice that of the previous high for an Olympic opening ceremony, in Barcelona in 1992.

In US, The Nielsen Company said London?s ceremony was the most-watched opening ceremony of any summer or winter Olympics with a record 40.7 million watching it on NBC.

The viewership topped the previous mark of 39.8 million people who watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympics begin, and the 34.9 million who watched the opening ceremony of Beijing games four years ago.