MxMIndia

Category: BLOGS

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    [MJR] Grrrrr! Why do people speak so much on News TV?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The best news programme in India has to be The Week That Wasn’t on CNN-IBN. Since it steadfastly refuses to save India and the world and shamelessly makes fun of everyone, it fails miserably on the high-pitched hysteria count. But it wins on all the others. And it makes you wish that the programme had more than a weekly format because if you spend three evenings running watching our other worthies, it is enough to make you scale to the top of a tall building without a safety harness.

     

    After his marathon election extravaganza, I have found Arnab Goswami and his channel a dead bore. Also, they spend too much time discussing the minutiae of the Indian cricket board’s digestive processes. Plus, when they do, Boria Mazumdar comes on air and this disrupts my digestive processes. So I tried to give a fair hearing to NDTV, Headlines Today and CNN-IBN (am currently in Tata Sky land which does not carry Newsx).

     

    Rajdeep Sardesai on Monday night went on and on about the UPA government collapsing, a third front forming and mid-term elections approaching. None of his guests – Devesh Thakur of the JD (U), Pinaki Mishra of the BJD and Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress agreed with him. Sardesai laboured the point and the rest pooh-poohed him. I fail to see the point of such a programme. Then Sardesai announced that Chandan Mitra was arriving on the show so I quickly switched to NDTV. And to my horror, there was Chandan Mitra on NDTV. This was too much to handle and I tried to look for a tall building (with no safety harness) but there aren’t too many in Dehra Dun where I am now.

     

    On NDTV just before the horror of the spectacle of Chandan Mitra, Sonia Varma had Arvind Kejriwal on the show. He said that the results of the Uttar Pradesh government, where the Samajwadi Party effectively trounced the BSP, reflected the anger of the people against the Congress Party. Varma, if she had false teeth, would have swallowed them. Serves her right for inviting a member of Team Anna to start broadcasting their bizarre logic all over again.

     

    Headlines Today was on a trip which I couldn’t understand, a mixture of cricket and the government falling, but none of them cohesively.

     

    On NDTV Profit, Srinivasan Jain attempted to interview Aditya Ghosh, president of Indigo airlines, about why they were more profitable than the others and what about Kingfisher. However Jain spoke so much that Ghosh’s views got lost in a series of “having said thats”.

     

    Still on NDTV, Prannoy Roy had a panel discussion with several industrial worthies at a Mumbai college. Rahul Bajaj spoke so much that no one else had a chance, so that was that.

     

    The good news was that someone actually found the world-famous Bollywood Super Star Nupur Mehta who is now going to sue The Sunday Times (phoren) for calling her a “honey trap” used by bookies to lure cricketers into cheating. But no one told me whether it was just because her picture was used or because she really was the honey trap. Anyway, I had never heard of her before and any minute now my ignorance will be exposed because she is the star of Ra One, The Robot, Dirty Picture and more. No?

     

    Finally, I took refuge in Rajya Sabha TV which was so serious and sober that I felt that I had entered a parallel universe which completely disoriented me, so I went back to watching tennis.

     

  • Pradyuman Maheshwari on why he’s going to do the trek to Powai for FICCI Frames 2012.

    11 reasons why I am going to be @ Frames this year

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    #1 This is my 11th FICCI Frames. Must say I had lost count of when the event was launched, except when I learnt yesterday that’s it’s the thirteenth edition of the event. If I remember right, I have missed out on just two years. So, couldn’t not make it this year.

     

    #2 This is the only time I visit the the Marriott property at Powai. The Renaissance is a great hotel and I quite prefer it to other convention hotels like Taj Palace in Delhi or Leela at Gurgaon, but three days of the trek here are enough for the whole year!

     

    #3 I can’t do without meeting my Frames friends. Yes, I don’t meet them for the rest of the year… these days I chat with some over Facebook or BBM, but nothing like meeting in the lobby at Frames.

     

    #4 Star-gazing! Thanks to the fact that Yash Chopra is chairperson of the entertainment committee and now with Karan Johar as co-chair, one can’t not find the big stars around. Last year, we had Vidya Balan pre-Dirty Picture. Now, we have Vidya Balan post-Dirty Picture. Ooh, la, la!

     

    #5 There is some serious discussion on digitization and with the presence of all stakeholders – the I&B secretary and the TRAI chairman, the key broadcasters and the distribution biggies, we couldn’t have had a better platform now that the sunset date in metro is a few weeks away

     

    #6 I enjoy Uday Shankar’s keynotes. The industry couldn’t have asked for a better champion. Given that his group is also into films in the country and his own background in news and print, there are few who have a more well-rounded view.

     

    #7 I am also looking forward to the session with all the legal eagles though I am unsure whether the time allotted will be sufficient for a reasonable discussion. Perhaps next year, there should be a day-long discussion with the law-wallahs.

     

    #8 Even though MxMIndia is a media partner and there’s no denying the fact that Frames is the premier event of India’s M&E sector, I have also been critical of a few of the earlier editions. It would get boring and I have seen no real merit in some of the deliberations. I have found media captains snooze and wish I had taken pictures of them. But I see that there is an attempt to get some new names in.

     

    #9 I really like Rajiv Makhni of NDTV and I’m going to try and attend all the sessions moderated by him. In fact I wonder he was only called for three of the sessions… why not all?

     

    #10 Clinch deals, exchange cards and pleasantries and promise to meet. Now that I am in an entrepreneurial mode, all of this assumes much importance.

     

    #11 And for the 11th reason why I am going to be at FICCI Frames this year: Be happy that you are part of the media and entertainment business. Okay, folks in other industry sectors may not think much of us and crib about our work – our newspapers, magazines, channels, films… whatever – but they can’t do without us.

     

    The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of MxMIndia.com and my colleagues.

  • So I have 'upgraded' to 94.3 Radio One. Spending time in the car, despite Mumbai's horrendous traffic conditions, has become fun once again. The only problem is the bloody ads. Most of them are sick, boring and nerve-wracking to hear.

    Anil Thakraney: Good FM, pathetic ads!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Okay, so I have ‘upgraded’ to 94.3 Radio One and have chucked all my CDs into the Arabian Sea. Spending time in the car, despite Mumbai’s horrendous traffic conditions, has become fun once again. And I must say the RJs don’t ramble much, and the music collection is superb. A good mix of new stuff and retro. So far so good.

     

    The only problem is the bloody ads. Most of them are sick, boring and nerve-wracking to hear. And each ad enjoys high frequency because radio is an inexpensive medium. Imagine what a downer it is to listen to rubbish in the middle of Coldplay and U2. This is like a tapori waiter on duty at the Zodiac Grille. Doesn’t work. So who’s at fault here, can we blame the radio station? Ideally, 94.3 should be picky about the sort of ads they broadcast, so that the overall ambience of the station doesn’t get screwed. They cannot disown the ads completely. But private FM radio stations are bleeding in India, so we really can’t blame them for lapping up whatever ads they can get their hands on. They have to survive, no? So I guess the station can be forgiven.

     

    What cannot be forgiven is the sad quality of the radio ads. I cannot understand why, after all these years, agency creative directors don’t get this fantastic medium. At a very low cost, one can produce award winning work in this space. With no dependence on visuals, the listeners’ imagination can be fired, they can be left to fit in their own images. And how very tantalizing that can be! I suspect the key reason radio advertising continues to languish is that the entire attention of the ad agencies is focused on TV commercials. And perhaps radio spots are still being written by bored copy trainees, who must be treating it as a chore rather than as a creative challenge.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG3JPvH3tO0[/youtube]

    Come on, dear Creative Directors. It’s a fab medium and a huge opportunity. Don’t waste it. And I would also appeal to the clients not to accept garbage scripts. They must put pressure on their agencies to come up with sparkling radio spots. Even if the spots cost less, money is being spent on them, so they better be paisa vasool. If the brand managers quietly accept mediocrity, then that’s what will be dished out to them.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Haha. Armani shows you how to tip the room service staff. I strongly suggest you don’t try this out in a desi five star hotel. The consequences can be grievous!

     

  • To say the commercial is so-not-funny would be a mild statement. The exchange between the various characters didn't just bore me, it made me squirm.

    Debrief: No Fizz, only Ewwwwww!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    This one might possibly be the worst TV commercial on air right now. Everything’s gone wrong out here. The Appy Fizz ad involves some very trite banter between actor Saif Ali Khan and his pals, as they lounge somewhere. The drink, which has come alive, adds in its two bits of nonsense. I am not even going to describe this ad, that’s too boring a task. Please watch it for yourself.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWVoq1ePqx0[/youtube]

    Where do I begin? Saif Ali Khan? What’s the point of casting a middle aged angry actor for a ‘buddy hang out’ drink? How does he fit in? Next. Since the ad is entirely conversation based and nothing else happens aside from that, wit and sharp humour become key ingredients. To say the commercial is so-not-funny would be a mild statement. Truth be told, I haven’t heard such silly, juvenile banter amongst junior school kids. If the copywriter is weak on humour, he/she must avoid that route like the plague. The exchange between the various characters didn’t just bore me, it made me squirm. And of course, no one tells us what makes Appy Fizz a special drink. That it talks utter rubbish is all we know.

     

    By the way, they missed one little trick. What would have generated some laughs is if the angry middle aged actor punched the Appy Fizz bottle on its face. Boom! Chhote nawab is particularly good at these things. Had they done that, I would have given the ad a few stars. For sure.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 0. Humour falls flat.

  • Slowing excitement levels, consumer fatigue, and Indian players' performances… some of the reasons IPL needs to look sharp, feels Ashish Bhasin.

    4 reasons why IPL ratings & revenue won’t be better this year

    By Ashish Bhasin

     

    #1 There has been an overdose of cricket. Immediately after the World Cup last year, which was like a climax, we had the IPL and subsequent to that we had nearly continuous cricket, causing some amount of fatigue in consumers.

     

    #2 Viewership and interest in cricket in India is directly proportionate to the performance of the Indian cricket team. Given the disastrous tour of England, followed by a similarly disastrous tour of Australia, the Indian cricket team’s performance perhaps is at its lowest in the past several years and I feel this will impact cricket in general. Even though IPL is not directly an Indian team tournament, most of the players involved are in the IPL and hence the overall interest gets impacted.

     

    #3 Rightly or wrongly, I think the best days of the IPL were when Lalit Modi was running it because of the hype and excitement he was able to create around it. Subsequent to that the journey has only been downhill for IPL. Hence I feel that will continue for a while, until something new is done to reinvent this tournament and regenerate interest.

     

    #4 Perhaps, because of some of the reasons given above, the Indian consumer has started acknowledging that other sports also exist in the world, like F1, hockey, wrestling and so on. As these sports catch on, IPL will be affected.

     

    Ashish Bhasin is the Chairman India & CEO South East Asia – Aegis Media.

     

  • Yes, it's Budget Day and while you tune into the various Budget Day specials, here's our list of five things which you'll never find the Finance Minister do.

    5 things you will never see any FM announcing in the Budget

    By A N Chorrea

     

    Yes, it’s Budget Day and while you tune into the various Budget Day specials, here’s our list of five things which you’ll never find the Finance Minister do.

     

    1. Reduce levies on cigarette: Alcohol may have seen some rationalization thanks to various international policies, but taxes on the cancer stick never goes down. Rightly so?

    2. Service tax net being narrowed: No way! If your service falls under a category which can be defined to not fall under any listed until now, be sure your celebrations won’t be endless. The FM’s folks keep widening the net every year.

    3. Dramatic reduction in income tax: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Will never happen, even though every one tries all tricks in the game to duck direct taxes

    4. Make some really sound economic decisions. Remember, the Budget is as much a political document as it’s economic. And when you have in your Finance Minister also your government’s Political Troubleshooter #1, what can you expect.

    5. Abolish Budget speeches. It took many years after the British left us to bring the presentation to the forenoon. Now, it might make perfect sense to do away with the Budget, but no one’s complaining. Not the media definitely, as it’s one tamasha we all love… it helps up ratings and readership. And earn some good revenues.

     

    A N Chorrea is a seasoned media-watcher writing under a pseudonym

     

  • The best definition of an organization's culture is the one I learnt in management school and it's stuck into my head. It's about 'How the employees behave when no one is looking'.

    Anil Thakraney: Are you cultured?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    A senior executive quit Goldman Sachs, and his resignation letter has gone viral. In fact, it’s a hot topic of discussion on Wall Street even as you read this. Full marks to the man for standing up for what he believes in. For sure the officer will be black-listed in the corporate world (as most whistle blowers are) but he will walk with his head held high for the rest of his life. Here’s the full text of his resignation letter, in case you haven’t read it.

    http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs-186001

     

     

    What got me interested in this issue is the said executive’s reason for quitting: the organization’s culture had eroded and that was unacceptable to him. Haven’t many of us experienced this situation in our careers? Most of us don’t chuck our jobs because of this, but it’s a fact that an organization’s culture is important to its success. And yet, in the chase for profitability, this truth is often ignored. The result is loss of focus and staff friction across all levels.

     

    The best definition of an organization’s culture is the one I learnt in management school and it’s stuck into my head. It’s about ‘How the employees behave when no one is looking’. If there is a culture existent in an organization, then all employees would behave identically in a given situation. For example, at the Taj, if a piece of paper is found lying in the lobby area, chances are any staffer would quickly pick it up, right from the general manager to the waiter. That’s culture.

     

    I have noticed that organizations do start out with a clear, identifiable culture. But as the leadership changes, or as more money comes in, it’s quickly forgotten. I’ll give you another example. I once worked in a large ad agency and it used to be entirely client-led. Pleasing the client at all costs was the culture. The sort of people who were hired believed in that. And this percolated down the line. Even the peon treated the visiting client as god. Later when the top leadership changed, the agency’s culture changed to creativity. I don’t work there any more but I suspect every employee, perhaps even their admin staff, thinks of different ways to do routine things.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yotq4zr0dRc[/youtube]

    Shut your eyes and ask yourself a question: What culture does my organization have? If the answer is a blank or if it’s something that goes against your core values, it’s best to move on. Like the gentleman from Goldman Sachs.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Johnson’s captures the mother/child relationship wonderfully. A simple idea. Instead of a regular voice-over, they have imagined what a child might think of his/her mum. And that makes the emotions flow.

     

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that’s on the Web

    Budget 2012: Ranjona Banerji on how TV Channels fared with their Budget specials

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Soon after India liberalised her economy, the late great Nani Palkhiwala, whose budget analysis speech would fill up Brabourne stadium, decided that there was no longer any need to discuss the budget. Yet in India, it is still a grand tamasha event and even more so, with the massive explosion of television. Before the TV days the best we had to contend with were the massive graphics on the front page of The Economic Times, with the “fin min” portrayed as some kind of super hero or failing that, a comic character.

     

    (By the way, thank god they don’t call them fin mins any more or maybe Pranab Mukherjee threatened dire consequences.)

     

    From early on Friday morning, all the channels were in a high state of excitement as they discussed what the budget could be, what they wanted it to be and so on. Despite the Economic Survey of the day before, no one had too many clues though everyone wanted reforms. Some business types even conceded that the poor and less fortunate needed help while the economists looked askance at the idea. This continued till 11 am when everyone had to switch to the feed from the Lok Sabha channel.

     

    After that, it was a juggling act to get the best interpretation of the budget as it happened. I started with juggling between NDTV and NDTV Profit because the discussions headed by Prannoy Roy on one and Vikram Chandra on the other were interesting. But then they filled their screen with so much other information that I lost track of the “fin min” (oops).

     

    So I surfed till I reached CNNIBN which had the cleanest screen of the lot. No millions of shares going up and down, no “insta analysis” from experts as provided by Times Now and no tweets from the general public. Suddenly however CNNIBN started running a little cartoon man with placards saying “cool”, “good idea”, “bad idea” to several budget proposals which became a tad distracting. When I started spending more time figuring out if the cartoon man’s moustache changed position as he changed placard from cool to bad idea, I realised CNNIBN was also a bad idea and shifted to the Lok Sabha channel.

     

    I did surf through the business channels but not only were the screens cluttered with shares going up and down, they were also full of acronyms which I could not decipher. Seemed like maths class after some time – if you put the ELSS on the SME and divide it by the ECB you realise that the squaw on the hypotenuse is actually sleeping with the Big Chief. Or something like that but probably not as exciting.

     

    The speech took two hours, after which the viewer was exhausted but the analysts were chomping at the bit to take off and expound. The economists and journalists all hated the budget while the industrialists, bankers, investment and money people did not think it was so bad. It was clear that the journalists and economists were deeply hurt that Air India had not been sold, petrol prices had not been increased to Rs 150 a litre and even worse, so much money had been given to NREGA, rural and urban health and education and so on. Others talked about how “inclusive growth” was necessary in a politically correct manner, except for one man on one of the business channels who talked about “socialist stuff… health and all this blah blah”. One can only hope no one he knows ever has need of “blah blah”.

     

    As the evening progressed, Times Now looked at the politics of it and Headlines Today and NDTV went quite quickly into Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th century (glory be, at last, what a joyous day for Pranab Mukherjee). The business channels divided themselves us as some looked at property, others at investment and others at the stock market.

     

    Interviews with Pranab Mukherjee were shown on NDTV with Prannoy Roy and TN Ninan, on Times Now with Arnab Goswami and Navika Kumar, on CNBC with Raghav Bahl and on CNNIBN through Lok Sabha TV with a young man who Rajdeep Sardesai told us was a TV18 staffer. Whatever. Mukherjee’s famous temper was on display only with Raghav Bahl when he told him quite categorically that he was not going to get into a “school debate” with him. For all the posturing that the experts did on the other channels about the budget and the deficit and so on, only Bahl asked the really tough questions. Not that it came to anything.

     

    The verdict at the end: a choice between CNNIBN, NDTV for regular channels and Bloomberg and CNBC at the business end. The winner is possibly the remote, in that case.

     

  • Five ways in which the government can make monies on the Budget and perhaps reduce duties

    Budget 2012 Anchor: 5 M&E ways in which the govt can make monies on the Budget

    By A N Chorrea

     

    Bizarre as these sound, given that the government appears to be in need of money if all the extra taxes are an indication, here are a few ideas which Pranabda may like to consider for his speech next year.

     

    1. Take a couple of breaks in the Budget speech. Ensure channels shell out 50 per cent of the revenues earned in these breaks to the government

    2. Since it’s a high ratings and readership game, suggest options for profit share to media organizations or just impose stiff charges for budget text document (instant delivery in various formats) and live video

    3. Run a contest on channels, newspapers and mobile phones where you can ask for Predict the Proposals. Those who guess it right, can get prizes as well as entry to the Budget speech. Ask mobile companies to part with revenues

    4. Democratize the Budget. Take views of the public on what to do with proposals. For instance, taxes on cigarette. Press A for 5 per cent, B for 10 per cent, C for 15 per cent and D for no change. Make money through SMS charge profit share

    5. In-speech placement. Shah Rukh’s gain is Saif Ali Khan’s loss. Rather than plug Ra One, Saif should’ve lobbied to ask for a mention of Agent Vinod. Would’ve worked wonders given the March 23 launch. Select in-speech brand placements could get big money (one shaayari in the form of song lyrics may also be allowed).

     

    A N Chorrea is a seasoned media-watcher who writes the MxMIndia anchors under a pseudonym

     

  • Each time Sachin reaches a milestone, the media (both, print and electronic) regurgitates the same old childhood pictures and the same old tired clichés about the man. Surely there’s an innovative way to celebrate the hero’s achievements. Surely there are untold incidents from the man’s life that can be dug out if one cares to do the hard work.

    Anil Thakraney: Sachin coverage sucks

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    As expected, the entire Indian media went orgasmic as soon as ‘God’ hit that very elusive 100th hundred. Quite understandable. This man is a national hero and he needs to be celebrated.

     

    However, there were two aspects of the mad coverage I found quite annoying. One, each time Sachin reaches a milestone, the media (both, print and electronic) regurgitates the same old childhood pictures and the same old tired cliches about the man. And the same old ex-cricketers sing the same old praises. even in a euphoric state of mind, it becomes difficult to handle all this recycled stuff. Surely there’s an innovative way to celebrate the hero’s achievements. Surely there are untold incidents from the man’s life that can be dug out if one cares to do the hard work. Something to ponder on for editors and programming heads. Because, unwilling to retire, Tendlya will reach even bigger landmarks, and we need some freshness going.

     

    Having said that, I must point out that cricket expert Ayaz Memon was the only one who told us something refreshing about the cricketer. This was in his column for the Hindustan Times. Memon mentioned how, as a young lad, he (Sachin) would jump over the wall of a cricket ground rather than use the main entry door. The master’s reason? Why wait for something you enjoy so much in life. Superb. It gave you a powerful insight into the passion the player feels for the game, the reason he’s reluctant to retire even after two decades. We need more such gems in the media.

     

    Secondly, I was rather upset by the behaviour of the young TV reporters who were ‘granted’ quick interviews by the great man, soon after the mega ton. They were grovelling at his feet, like crazed fans. Guys and girls, that’s NOT the way the media is expected to conduct itself. Sure, the man enjoys a godly status, but a couple of tricky questions badly needed to be put to him. Like, did his search for the Big 100 bring the scoring rate down, which ultimately cost the team the match with Bangladesh? Does he agree with that?  Like, he claims personal landmarks are never on his mind. So then how come he closes his shop while batting in the nineties? Not one reporter would ask him these things. They were busy fawning. Repeat: That’s not the job of the media.

     

    Net net: Sachin Tendulkar is our biggest contemporary hero. No doubt about that. Now let’s pay him tributes that befit his own stature.

     

    ***

     

    PS: You should never, never piss her off. It’s worse than hell when she’s scorned. Here’s an American lady who passed on a sweet message to her philandering hubby through a hoarding. Wish Indian ladies did ditto. Tired of watching all those ugly thopdas of our politicians. 🙂

     

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    Freaking News: Tendulkar upstages the budget extravaganza

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Pranab Mukherjee owes a big debt to Sachin Tendulkar. By the time Saturday morning dawned, the newspapers it seemed were far more excited about the century of centuries than they were about fisccons, indirect taxation and how do you solve a problem like Mamata.

     

    The Times of India, Uttarakhand, had “Sachin, Thanks a Ton” as its lead headline and story. The budget was tucked below the fold. The Hindu went with convention and the budget, “Dr Pranab’s bitter medicine” but there was Sachin’s “century of centuries just below the fold. The Hindustan Times (Delhi) put Sachin as a banner on top of the budget – “God of All Things” and then said, “Reforms on Rewind”.

     

    The Times of India’s Mumbai edition put Sachin at the top and the bottom. There was the banner “Tondulkar goes where no one ever has or ever will”, then a graphicked-up finance minister with the headline, “Face it. Life’s got a lot more taxing” and then “Thanks a ton, Sachin” at the bottom. DNA, Mumbai went with “Budget bores, Sachin scores” which about put the matter in perspective.

     

    As far as headlines go, I would say Hindustan Times has won, DNA has come second, Times has tried too hard and Hindu not at all.

     

    Interestingly, Hindustan Times, Mumbai’s Sachin banner read “Man of the Century” which perhaps proves that HT thinks that either no one in Mumbai will get the Arundhati Roy reference in the “God of All Things” or that people in Mumbai can’t do maths (man of 100 centuries, surely?) or that the Mumbai edition just felt it had to be different from Delhi. Now that’s a legitimate desire, surely?

     

    Even The Economic Times could not ignore Sachin and tied the two together into one headline, “On Budget Day, Sachin scores”. The Vodafone tax case also got a cricket reference “Vodafone may have to face Pranab’s Doosra”.

     

    Thus the nation’s fascination with cricket and Tendulkar managed to upstage the annual extravaganza that newspapers go through every year.

     

    * * *

     

    In fact, Saturday must have been a news editor’s nightmare, trying to decide which story was bigger. After all, we’ve spent almost a year going on and on about Tendulkar’s 100th century and couldn’t give it second place even if it arrived on budget day.

     

    As for what the newspapers said about the budget, it was more of the same – some people liked it and some didn’t. More than likely: all will be forgotten as Mamata Banerjee plays out some new drama and Akhilesh Yadav loses some of his sheen. Pranab Mukherjee will probably have the last laugh.

     

  • I find this commercial pretty worrying. This creative suggests to me that Mid Day doesn’t really understand Mumbai. That they have a superficial view of this great city. And that’s much more disappointing than one sad ad

    Debrief: Mid Day: Maximum City. Minimum TVC

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    ‘My City, My Life’, the slogan, is a promising thought. What is even more promising is that Mid Day has chosen to compose an anthem for Mumbai city. A very good idea. This rotting, decaying, ignored city needs a war cry very badly. Something we can call our own and use to make a statement. Sadly, the execution sucks and the so called anthem is at best a below average jingle.

     

    Mid Day’s new TVC consists of vignettes of youngsters indulging in timepass. Goofing around at Marine Drive. Celebrating a cricket match victory. Goofing around some more near the Sea Link. And just in case you think they are a bunch of airheads, the kids are seen indulging in some more timepass: one of those candle-light marches. And the lazy, laidback ‘anthem’ will ensure you doze off rather quickly.

     

    An opportunity blown. There’s a lot more to the city’s youngsters, they are spirited, aware and want to see things change. They want to be a part of that change. Mumbai is the one Indian city that pulsates with energy, passion and ambition, that’s what keeps people rooted here, that’s what keeps the city alive. Despite all the problems people face. And if Mid Day didn’t want to deal with the city’s civic issues, they ought to have captured its raw passion. The anthem ought to have enshrined that energy and that can-do Mumbai spirit.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_EJUXqpYwk[/youtube]

    I find this commercial pretty worrying. (And I use the word ‘worrying’ because as an ex employee I want the newspaper to do well.) This creative suggests to me that Mid Day doesn’t really understand Mumbai. That they have a superficial view of this great city. And that’s much more disappointing than one sad ad.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. A good concept murdered by thoughtless execution