MUMBAI: Taj Television has bagged the worldwide television rights for Zimbabwe cricket till 2019.

The value of the deal is $20 million, according to sources. The four-year rights had earlier fetched $6 million.

The agreements with Taj Television cover the Zimbabwe cricket seasons in excess of an eight-year period from 2012 through to 2019. 

Taj Television will be telecasting 220 days of cricket including 15 days of India cricket consisting of two series.

With the acquisition of these cricket rights, Taj Television now has the rights of five cricket boards - South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has returned to Test after a self imposed exile of six years, with an inspiring win against Bangladesh. Over the next two years, Zimbabwe will be playing Test Cricket with New Zealand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka providing Zimbabwe a benchmark to measure their progress in the sport.

Zimbabwe Cricket MD Ozias Bvute said, "We are happy to extend our existing contract with Taj Television Limited as this plays a pivotal role in ensuring that Zimbabwean cricket is seen by those who love the game as well as introduced to new audiences. With its superior telecast standards, world class television production capabilities and strength to telecast the Zimbabwe Cricket worldwide, Taj Television Limited will add a lot of value to game of cricket."

Taj Television India CEO Atul Pande said, "We‘re extremely pleased to extend our partnership with Zimbabwe Cricket. This is a testament to our commitment to the game of cricket and fans as we cement our relationship with Zimbabwe Cricket.

"Through our television channels-Ten Cricket and Ten Sports, our website www.tencricket.com and our various wireless platform initiatives, we are confident of taking the rights of Zimbabwe Cricket to new heights by working along with various partners and are committed to set new benchmarks in broadcasting and distribution."

MUMBAI: Malaysia has stitched 16 deals worth $70 million at the recently concluded Mipcom.

The deals with foreign partners included India, India, the US, Singapore, South Africa, Australia, NZ, UK, Germany, France, Spain, China, Korea and Lebanon. Thee were in the areas of international co-productions, distributions and global product launches.

The companies who engaged with the foreign partners were Animasia Studio, Backbone Entertainment, Cartoon4Kids, Double Vision, Ed-Online Technologies, Escalade, Funcel, InfiniteMotion, Lemon Sky Animation, Payang Group, Sirius Pictures, Tulus Fikir, Vision Animation and Vision New Media. 

Sirius Pictures of Malaysia and Heart Command Films of India have agreed to co-produce a slate of films and documentaries for television and new media platforms. Sesame Workshop has appointed Vision Plus Entertainment of Malaysia to distribute and co-produce localised content for programme catalog of Sesame Street in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, comprising Play with Me Sesame, Elmo?s World, Abby?s Flying Fairy School and Jalan Sesama.

Animasia Studio of Malaysia has signed a production servicing contract with Strika Entertainment to continue the third season of the soccer series ?Supa Strikas? which aits in over 70 countries worldwide, including Disney Asia, ESPN Star Sports, Nickelodeon Asia, Orange and SABC.

Animasia Studio of Malaysia and ZN Animation of China will co-produce an animation series ?My Ugly Little Brother?. Backbone Entertainment of Malaysia, Neonpumkin of Korea and Millimages of UK will co-produce a 3D animated TV series ?Call for ChiChi?.

Cartoon4Kids of Malaysia and Baleuko of Spain will co- roduce a 3D animated TV series ?Smolitoon?. Double Vision of Malaysia and FFP New Media of Germany have agreed to co-produce a tele-movie ?Re-United in Malaysia?. This is the second successive co-production tele-movie project, after ?Rendez-vous in Malaysia?.

Escalade of Malaysia and Latin Media Corporation from the US will co-produce a telenovela drama series ?Only You?Sofea Hana? for the local and global market, promoting Malaysian cultural values and traditions through suspense and mystery, with a strong storyline.

Funcel of Malaysia and August Media of Singapore will co-finance and co-produce a slate of three animated series of 52 episodes each. Funcel will be the animation production partner for the slate of series, while August Media along with its Scottish subsidiary ? Red Kite Animation would be responsible for development, finance, executive production and distribution. The titles of the three series are expected to be announced before the end of the year.

Infinite Motion of Malaysia and DuArt Film And Video of the US will co-produce an undisclosed animation series title, inclusive of script writing and dubbing. Infinite Motion of Malaysia and Three Black Cat of UK will co-produce an animation series ?Ella Brella?.

Lemon Sky Animation of Malaysia, Lion Rock Ventures of NZ and Media Tropics will co-produce a Pre-School animation series ?Buzzy Bee and Friends? that is based on a popular NZ-brand, as seen on TVNZ. Distributed by Australia?s Beyond Distribution, the series is a finalist of this year?s Mipcom Junior?s Kids Jury Award.

Malaysia?s official contingent to Mipcom more than doubled since last year from 30 creative content companies to 75 this year.

The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia joined forces with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and Multimedia Development Corporation, in association with the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation to reshape and enhance the local film and digital content industry by exposing multiple content properties to the global marketplace.

The Malaysian contingent?s objective this year was to put innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship at the forefront of the global film and multimedia content supply chain and to make this industry as an engine of growth and contributor to national GDP. Its primary aim is to capitalise on past investments in cellular and data networks, by building the vertical industries, such as the creative content and application industry, as the next engine of growth. The end-result will be to enhance Malaysia?s capacity and capability to create many original, locally produced content and develop competency in content-related services to the regional market.

In regards to strategically and effectively promoting Malaysian content to its fragmented target audience, the Government?s priority will be to allign all its plans to help the local industry create a greater presence in the local and international broadcast market with a special focus on global IP development through formalisation of international co-production deals and partnerships with international distributors.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has sold natural history epic ?Frozen Planet? to 12 international broadcasters.

The landmark series, produced by Alastair Fothergill at the BBC?s Natural History Unit and narrated by naturalist Sir David Attenborough, has been acquired by Australia (Nine Network), Japan (NHK), Belgium (VRT), Finland (YLE), South Africa (BBC Knowledge), New Zealand (TVNZ), Netherlands (NPO), Italy (RAI), Denmark (DR), Norway (NRK), Russia (Channel 1) and Sweden (SVT) and will be on offer to buyers at next week?s television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, France.

BBC Worldwide Sales and Distribution president, MD Steve Macallister said, "BBC Worldwide has a long history of bringing to market the most captivating, and spectacular natural history series in the world. Frozen Planet, the latest offering from BBC Earth is nothing short of phenomenal and it?s no surprise to me that so many broadcasters have snapped it up before it has even gone to air."

Joining Frozen Planet on the natural history slate at Micpom is another series, ?Great Barrier Reef?. From the producer behind ?Wild China? and ?Planet Earth?, the series offers a definitive guide to the Australian reef, investigating how the reef was created, how it works, the intricate relationships between its inhabitants and how climate change and other factors might shape its future.

?John Downer?s Earthflight? will also wing its way to Cannes. More than three years in the making, the series shows viewers astonishing aerial images of the world as seen by migrating birds. In addition, inquisitive natural history series How Life Works uses cutting-edge technology to discover the secrets of our most crucial habitats and reveal why they are so special.

In science, Planet Dinosaur presents a brand-new global perspective on the prehistoric era. Using unique hi-tech graphics to bring to life the most awesome and amazing creatures that ever lived, the series is a completely immersive visual experience studded with curious facts and jaw-dropping action from the charismatic monsters.

Also fresh are ?How Plants Made Us?, a series offering a perspective on Earth history and ?Origins of Us?, which explores the anatomical changes that have given us, and our ancestors, the edge.
 

MUMBAI: The shifting of the second edition of the the Indian Premier League to South Africa has cost the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dearly.

Cricket?s richest body suffered a loss of Rs 420 million due to the event, resulting in drop in profits to Rs 212 million in 2009-10.

The BCCI has told the Income Tax Department that the IPL is losing money. The department is seeking to recover tax from the BCCI fully for the assessment year 2008-09. The BCCI has to pay taxes after it lost its tax exempt status.

The department had conducted first survey on the IPL in April last year and followed that with an investigation of IPL franchises. The BCCI made a profit of over Rs 3 billion in 2007-08 on an income of over Rs 10 billion. This was the first time that its income touched this level.

However, BCCI?s income fell by 28 per cent while profit fell by a huge 85 per cent in 2008 as result of the first edition of the IPL. Its surplus dropped to Rs 632 million in 2009-10, which was further worsened by the Rs 420 million loss mentioned earlier.

The profit could drop further as the assessment of income returns of 2009-10 are still pending. The BCCI is yet to submit accounts for the 2010 and 2011 IPL editions to the department. The IT Department gets revenue in the form of tax deducted at source (TDS) on payment to players, coach, umpires, commentators, event managers, besides other professionals.

The BCCI has paid Rs 1.31 billion in taxes for 2007-08 and Rs 1.18 billion in 2006-07.

MUMBAI: In a sign that the cricket broadcast rights market is booming and the fact that the older formats of the game are very much viable notwithstanding the rise of the Twenty20 format, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced its biggest ever commercial broadcasting deals.

It has made a record R1.5-billion ($202 million) in broadcasting deals following the sale of its exclusive media rights, of the Proteas? home matches, to Zee-controlled Taj Television and Willow TV International.

The agreements cover the South African cricket seasons, including two India tours, over an eight-year period from 2012-13 through to 2019-20.

Taj Television will cough out $180 million for the exclusive media rights covering Asia and the Middle East compared to $75 million that it had paid last time for the four-year rights, according to market estimates.

The exclusive media rights agreement with Willow covers the US, Canada and Mexico.

CSA CEO Gerald Majola noted that this was the biggest deal that CSA had ever concluded. He added that it is probably one of the biggest in the history of South African sport. "It amounts to a combined sum of around R1.5-billion and gives both Taj Television and Willow TV exclusive rights in their respective geographical regions to all home matches played by the Proteas over a period of eight years. It is once again confirmation of the high regard in which the Proteas? brand and CSA is held internationally. The contracts cover the period from the start of next season (2012) and will run through to 2020."

Majola said at a time of great global uncertainty as far the world economy is concerned, it is very exciting for CSA to note that one of its major income streams is guaranteed over a long period of time.

Sources also said that Taj Television has renewed Zimbabwe rights for eights years.

With the acquisition of these cricket rights, Taj Television has broadcast rights of five cricket boards: South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Taj Television had acquired the Cricket South Africa rights five years ago, first with a one-year deal, and then extended to another four years.