Zinc Media Regulatory News (ZIN)

27 Feb 2006 07:01

Ten Alps PLC27 February 2006 TEN ALPS LAUNCHES NEW INTERNET TV DIVISION Nigel Dacre to move up to new role as Director of Internet and Digital TV TV group Ten Alps Plc ('Ten Alps') today launches Ten Alps Internet and DigitalTV Limited ('Ten Alps Internet and Digital TV'), a new division to targetopportunities in public sector internet and digital TV. The unit aims to build on the success of Teachers' TV, which currently has over800 television programmes online, and which has one of the world's mostadvanced, databased internet TV sites. The new division will be headed by Nigel Dacre, who is being appointed to a newrole as Director of Ten Alps Internet and Digital TV. Nigel has been the ChiefExecutive of Teachers' TV since 2003, and before that was the Editor of ITVNews. Nigel will stay involved in Teachers' TV - becoming a non-Executive Director ofEducation Digital, the company that produces the channel for the Department forEducation and Skills (DfES). A new Chief Executive for Education Digital hasbeen appointed and this will be confirmed in the coming week. Alex Connock, the Chief Executive of Ten Alps, said: "Our aim is to be best-in-class for internet, public sector television, which wethink could be a significant growth area in the next few years. "Public sector specialist publishing is a big business, and clients are justbeginning to explore the possibilities of Internet TV as a new means ofdistribution to their customers. Nigel has the experience to define thatwide-open marketplace." "With the broadband internet and IPTV, production companies now have directaccess to advertisers and programme distribution without the intermediary ofbroadcaster costs or access." "Our belief is that what we have seen so far barely scratches the surface ofboth the economic and technical possibilities of this change, and there is muchevidence that American media companies such as Google, Viacom and AOL arethinking similarly," said Connock. "Pay-per-view internet video is just oneamongst several business models that might work - and Teachers' TV is another." Ten Alps segments broadcast and internet TV production Ten Alps will now run its TV production businesses in two divisions: thespecialist, digital and internet activities on the one hand, under the catch-alltitle of 'Internet and Digital TV'; and the established group companies, such asBrook Lapping and Blakeway, serving top-end broadcast clients, in what over thepast two years has also been a growth market, largely thanks to regulatoryintervention in favour of production companies holding better rights. The Lessons of Teachers' TV Teachers' TV, the first government-funded digital TV channel, has just had ahighly successful first year on air. Figures in December showed that one in fourof the schools' workforce who have cable and satellite, nearly 90,000 people,are watching the channel - and about 60,000 programmes are viewed on the websiteeach month. The internet has been an important part of the Teachers' TV service, as it hasprovided viewers with the ability to view programmes online, when and where theywant. Nigel Dacre has been involved with Teachers' TV for 3 years. He played a keyrole in writing the tender document, which led to Education Digital beingawarded the 4-year £60m contract to produce the channel. He was then ChiefExecutive of Education Digital through the channel's pilot phase in 2004, itslaunch in 2005, and its first year of transmission. Brian Lapping, the Chairman of Education Digital, said: "Making a 'world first' happen requires extraordinary qualities. Nigel haslaunched this experimental vessel amid the rough seas of teacher scepticism,technological difficulties and political uncertainty. He has stayed in commanduntil its success was widely acknowledged. It is a brilliant achievement -which has merely increased his appetite for more big challenges." Nigel Dacre said: "This feels like the right step at the right time. The Teachers' TV channel isnow fully established, while at the same time there is a big expansion inbroadband and digital opportunities. I've really enjoyed working on Teachers'TV, and it's been fascinating to be involved in the development of a majorproject like this from the early planning stage right through to its first yearon-air." ENDS For enquiries about Teachers' TV / Nigel Dacre contact Kirsten Smart on 020 74004480, ksmart@mediastrategy.co.uk For enquiries about Ten Alps Plc contact Peter Binns on 020 7786 9600 or 07768 392582, peter.binns@binnspr.co.uk BACKGROUND NOTES • Ten Alps is one of the Britain's larger independent producers of factual TV - with six TV companies producing documentaries, docudrama and factual entertainment programmes for major UK and US broadcasters. • At any one time, Ten Alps is producing around 20 factual programmes, and last week one of its companies, Brook Lapping, won the Current Affairs Programme of the Year award from the Royal Television Society. Brook Lapping is also the principle shareholder in the consortium operating the Teachers' TV channel for the DfES. • Teachers' TV broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on digital satellite (Sky 592), ntl (803) Telewest (240), HomeChoice (845), KIT (70) and overnight for recording on Freeview (88). • Teachers' TV is funded by the DfES, but is editorially independent. It is operated on behalf of the DfES by an independent media consortium, Education Digital (ED), which includes Brook Lapping Productions (a Ten Alps company), ITV and the Institute of Education. ED staff include Andrew Bethell (the Director of Programmes), Clare Healy (the Director of Channel Management), and Ashok Shah (Finance Director). • Before Teachers' TV, Nigel Dacre was a media consultant and the Dean of the LCP Media School. Prior to that he was the Editor of ITV News for 7 years - being responsible for programmes like News at Ten, the 24 hour ITN News Channel, and the ITV News website. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2002. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange