MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • We just have to reach deeper into the recesses of our memories, look deeper within our souls and remember the fundamentals of how communication works.

    Karthi Marshan: An age of delight

    It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness, it is the epoch of belief, it is the epoch of incredulity, it is the season of Light, it is the season of Darkness, it is the spring of hope, it is the winter of despair, we have everything before us, we have nothing before us…

    Isn’t it truly?

    Never before now have we in the marketing and communication disciplines known so much, about what our consumers and audiences are doing, thinking, saying than we do today, thanks to the pervasive power of the internet, social media, brain scanning et al.

    For the marketer, it is truly time to celebrate. Never before has she had access to so much information about media consumption, at so granular a level. This can only mean that the lazy, opaque premiums commanded by oligarchic media vehicles will evaporate soon, allowing marketers to be able to pay for value they can see.

    For the media owner / seller, it is also time to exult. Hard work will win, because it will deliver measurable results. And results will be rewarded. Bullies will perish, the honest will prevail. For the number crunching nerd who lived in the dungeons of the marketing world, his day in the sun has come. Marketing will be more and more about teasing knowledge out of numbers, and less and less about flying off to Mauritius to shoot bikini clad models draped on car bonnets. Unless the NumberTaker decrees it, of course.

    For the creative disciplines, it would at first appear that the end of the world is nigh. But nothing will be further from the truth. When creatives learn to harness to power of data, they will be liberated from the burden of having to say “Trust me” time and again.

    For the newcomer to this world, it is truly the best of times. Because old-timers are finding it harder and harder to say stuff like…Do it my way, because I have 30 years experience at this…So much has changed in the last 15 years that the very tenets of communication effectiveness are being questioned daily. In the marketing and media disciplines, it is as if we have just been informed that the earth is not, after all, the centre of the universe, as we have been told for hundreds of years until now.

    But all is not lost for the old-timers either. We just have to reach deeper into the recesses of our memories, look deeper within our souls and remember the fundamentals of how communication works. Then we must understand how to interpret those principles in this era of terabytes.  Before we knew how to write and print, we passed down the wisdom of our ancestors mouth to mouth. We are right back there. As babies, we learnt to talk by listening first, we learnt to appeal to adults by imitating them. It is time to remember, time to reapply ourselves. It is time to

    Rejuvenate, refresh, renew ourselves. It is time to be born again communicators. It is the best of times, it is the age of wisdom, it is the epoch of belief, it is the season of Light, it is the spring of hope, we have everything before us…

    Karthi Marshan is Head Marketing, Kotak Mahindra Group

  • From a growth standpoint, this Diwali is looking very, very promising. The fact that there is tremendous traction from the consumer’s end, monetization becomes that much easier.

    Lakshmi Narasimhan: The icing on the cake

    Digital is one of those categories in the whole of media spectrum which has seen steady growth for many years now. One can say with all the confidence that it is the most accountable medium; one which saw good traction even at a phase when many companies in India were witnessing the brunt of the slowdown in 2009. Post that, I would say there was no looking behind and the digital industry grew in double-digit numbers.

    This festive season is like the icing on the cake. We’ve seen in the recent past, many new ventures in the Internet space, WAP sites being launched, many apps being introduced by companies; increasing numbers of active Internet users, penetration of smart-phones, tablets etc all tell a fabulous growth story. It tells you that information is just a click away, doesn’t matter where you are. The result of all this is the changing consumption of digital media from a consumer standpoint.  As far as digital media is concerned, it is just the right opportunity to engage with consumers.

    From a growth standpoint, this Diwali is looking very, very promising. The fact that there is tremendous traction from the consumer’s end, monetization becomes that much easier.

    So yes, Diwali has been good for us (Web 18) and mostly there are positive signs for the industry as well. What we must look to do from here is to carry forward the momentum to next year.

     

    Lakshmi Narasimhan is CEO, Web 18.

  • The next five years are going to be a golden period for the broadcast industry.

    Markand Adhikari: It’s growth and growth

    Diwali is a special time for broadcast channels for they can tweak their programming towards catering to the festive moods of consumers, especially the news and entertainment channels. The festive season also brings in additional revenues in form of ad sales or sponsorships on key events and properties.  Media owners generally do get some benefit out of the festive season, where consumers are in the buying mode and when maximum sales happen during the year. We see categories like jewellery and consumer brands do a lot of advertising on TV.

     

    This season, we’ve seen quite a lot of traction from advertisers. A very good year – one of the best I would say for the broadcast industry, if we consider the past four to five years.  We’ve come up with some really good programming for Mastii. And I’m sure a lot of other channels are doing their bit around Diwali.

    Going forward, I think the broadcast industry will see growth and more. Next Diwali, as I see it, will be even better as far as business growth is concerned. Channel owners will up their ad rates. Subscription revenue will increase and once that begins to happen, on-air spots will be sold at a premium. That’s a big challenge, but I’m sure the industry is moving towards that, slowly but surely.

    As far as competition is concerned, with increasing media fragmentation, I think that companies which are able to hold their ground for next three years, will reap maximum benefits, as the way I see it, next five years are going to be a golden period for the broadcast industry.

     

    Markand Adhikari is Managing Director, Sri Adhikari Brothers

  • The top giver this year has to be Team Anna. Every day, all the members, former and current, work so hard to gift the media something substantial so that juicy stories and screaming debates can be organised.

    Ranjona Banerji: Giving with a twist

    Maybe Diwali is shining bright this year and maybe, well, there are a few dull spots here and there. Ads in newspapers over the past month certainly show that real estate and white goods are back in demand and jewellery it seems never goes out of fashion.

    But as journalists, you don’t have to count Diwali in terms of what you get (so how many media houses actually bother to give their employees anything for Diwali any more?) in material terms but what you get as, well, material.

    The top giver this year has to be Team Anna. Every day, all the members, former and current, work so hard to gift the media something substantial so that juicy stories and screaming debates can be organised. Tax evasions, slipper-chucking, chamber-bashing, endless fasts – which forced television to find every synonym for abstinence from food it could come up with across several Indian languages – dramatic exits, allegations, self-righteous sanctimony… sometimes you’re lucky as a journalist to get such a cornucopia of riches maybe once a year. Team Anna has been giving generously since April.

    The next most generous has to be the film industry (and I don’t mean press conference gifts or the air kisses some film star blows a young, impressionable film reporter who now thinks they’re BFF). Every other week a movie releases with such an enormous publicity blast that you need at least six months to recover. It is another matter that the film bombs before anyone sees it and is as same old same old as the last one. The publicity blitz is far more important than the film itself and generates so many stories. So what if most of them are fake? This season, it has been Shahrukh Khan who has been most kind. Now, anyone going to see the movie, errr, what’s it called?

    In most years, cricket would top the list but what started out as a great cricket year what with the World Cup and the IPL and then the England tour oops… um, what happened after that? My mind has gone a bit blank. There should have been stories galore but then I don’t know, whatever, cricket, yeah.

    The Sensex is usually good for some drama but this year, well, it’s behaved very badly, in a damp squib kind of way. Instead, rising higher and higher has been the inflation rate, so you know, you lose some and you lose some. Not quite a breezy Diwali story.

    Big thanks could go to our politicians who are usually ready with some fun stuff. Of course they never fail so there’s nothing new or unexpected here. We’re used to it. Sometimes, it’s like Diwali gifts every day.

    Now that Diwali is done and dusted, let’s see what kind of parties we get thrown for New Year.

    Have a good one.

  • To resort to a cliche, there's never a dull moment and that suits most journalists very well.

    Sukumar Ranganathan: Journos and media exec in a unique position

    Try as I may, I find myself unable to summon the enthusiasm inherent in the headline , so I am going to refine the topic a bit.

    It is an exciting time to be in media. A combination of circumstances — increased political and business activity, and a reduction in information asymmetry thanks to regulations such as the Right to Information Act and technology — has meant a significant increase in news flow. To resort to a cliche, there’s never a dull moment and that suits most journalists very well.
    Yet, it’s a challenging time as well.

    To stay relevant, newsrooms have to be proficient in multiple media and editors should understand print, video, the Internet, and social media. The business case for some of these is still being written, but that doesn’t mean they can be ignored. The good news for print journalists like me trying to cope with a whole new world is that print will continue to exist, even thrive in India.

    There’s also another challenge newsrooms face, one that many are just waking up to. The reduction in information asymmetry that gives them access to news they once wouldn’t have had access to, also gives readers and viewers access to information about how journalists work. Many newsrooms in India still work without a journalistic code and, over time, this will put off both readers (or viewers) and advertisers.

    Given all these, work is complex, interesting, hard, stressful, and sometimes fun.
    But great? I don’t really know.

    It is, at once, both exciting and frightening, to be in the middle of great change of the sort that the Indian media landscape is going through.

    I think I can safely say that journalists and media executives find themselves in a unique position.

     

    Sukumar Ranganathan is the Editor of Mint.

  • BBC Knowledge is set to come out with a special 3D issue for its anniversary in November. The issue will hit the stands on November 1 and will be priced at Rs 100.

    BBC Knowledge goes 3D

    By Akash Raha

     

    Come November BBC Knowledge is all set to bring out its first anniversary issue in 3D, priced at Rs 100 and due to be on stands from November 1. This is a ‘Space’ special with 22 pages of exclusive 3D images which can be enjoyed with 3D glasses available free with the magazine.

    Speaking about the anniversary issue Soela Joshi, Brand Publisher said, “BBC Knowledge for its first anniversary had to do something special for its readers. We wanted to use the power of interactivity to engage our readers and capture audiences. Coverage of Science & Technology in 3D has a high potential for disruption. Hence we have created ‘Space in 3D’ for our anniversary issue. The moment you put on the 3D glasses and look at the pages…the magazine comes to life. It is so exciting to create an environment where the readers can have a truly interactive experience.”

    The magazine has also come up with a 360-degree plan to engage with the young adults who are the main readers. The marketing activities for the issue will be carried out in areas which are popular with this age group. There will be print ads as well as key outdoors. “We will also run a social media campaign where this TG is most active, including our own Facebook page. In addition, in terms of onground, we have tie ups with organizations like science centres and nature groups to reach out to a new set of readers for this issue. We also have a tie-up with Imax Big Cinemas where we will promote this issue through on-ground branding and contests. Their 3D screen provides a perfect backdrop for our special issue,” said Komal Puri, Brand Manager, BBC Knowledge.

    The BBC Knowledge team has carefully handpicked the iconic stories for this issue – it contains a mix of breath-taking images of NASA’s space exploration as well as the exclusive inputs of Indian experts like Retd. Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma and spacecraft designer Susmita Mohanty among others.

    Preeti Singh, Editor, BBC Knowledge explains, “For our anniversary issue we have pulled out all stops. A first in India’s magazine history, BBC Knowledge brings a spectacular Space in 3D special with iconic NASA images, never seen this way before. With features from astronaut Rakesh Sharma to 35 biggest questions about the cosmos answered, this extraordinary issue is a perfect preview of what’s to come from us in the future.”

    BBC Knowledge was brought to India by Worldwide Media last year.  It is a magazine for young inquisitive minds where well-researched, handpicked stories are matched with breath-taking pictures and graphics to cover history, science and nature.

  • Indian Express had as special guest for its Adda on October 28 Thomas L Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times in New Delhi.

    Tom Friedman in the IE Adda

    By A Correspondent

    Flat-world proponent Thomas Friedman was the special guest at the third Indian Express Adda on October 28. Mr Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times in New Delhi, is a three-time Pulitzer prize winner and author of several famous books including The World is Flat, From Beirut to Jerusalem and the most recent That used to be US.

    Every week he helps millions understand and interpret change in a way no other commentator does. Along Mr Shekhar Gupta, Editor in Chief, Indian Express Group, Mr Friedman debated and discussed several topics of international significance and discussed it with the enthusiastic crowd. Issues regarding global slowdown, economic issues in Europe and US, rise of China as a global force to reckon with, capitalism, neo-imperialism, the uprising in Middle East and North Africa etcetera were some of the topics discussed at length in what was an intriguing and thought-provoking evening.

    This is the third Adda hosted by the Indian Express.  Guests at previous Addas were Sir Martin Sorrell and Shahrukh Khan, in New Delhi and Mumbai respectively.

  • High end matrimonial portals emerge to tap growing market of high networth individuals

    High-end matchmakers emerge to tap HNIs

    By Sobia Khan

    A new generation of high-end matchmakers has emerged to cater exclusively to the rapidly growing affluent entrepreneurs and professionals, who are willing to shell out whatever it takes to seal just the right alliance.

     

    Elite Matrimony, a matrimonial website, for example, offers membership by invitation only, to those who have a net worth of over Rs 3 crore and can pay a fee of Rs 50,000 to 2 lakh for three to six months.

     

    Chennai-based Mr Murugavel Janakiraman, who founded the portal, says 60% of his clients are first-generation entrepreneurs, professionals such as high-profile lawyers, or senior executives in multinational companies, while the rest represent old money with their fourth-generation into business. The portal maintains a database of more than 50,000 high net worth individuals.

     

    The noveau rich who have benefited from India’s economic boom, or non-resident Indians who have made it big abroad, are turning to such professional matchmakers.

     

    “It was like I was helping them strike a business deal,” says a marriage counsellor who does not wish to be named, about a recent case, “Both parties wanted to know about the other’s net worth, business prospects and succession planning, among other things.”

     

    He recounts that a Mumbai-based business family was scouting for a suitable boy for their 20-year-old daughter six months ago. The father owns a 10-year-old textiles firm that has grown into a top firm in the apparel exports business. “Like all families, they wanted their daughter to marry higher in society, but people in the same wealth category were not convinced about their new status when they approached them with proposals. So they came to us,” he says. After taking the proposal to some of the big entrepreneurs registered on his portal, the counsellor finally zeroed in on a Gurgaon-based diamond merchant who had inherited the business from his ancestors.

     

    With spends at big fat Indian weddings averaging between 5 crore and 25 crore, the domestic wedding market, estimated at 1.25 lakh crore – 1.9 lakh crore, is believed to be growing at 25% to 30% a year.

     

    “There has to be a perfect match, in terms of both the family and the business,” says Mr Janakiraman, explaining that whoever is finally picked will become part of a business house and also contribute to its growth. “We assign a personal matchmaker to our clients, visit their families, carry out background checks, access current and potential business, family structure and succession planning, among other things, and then begin the process of matchmaking.”

     

    Often, even if the family is well-known, not much may be publicly known about the educational background and management and entrepreneurial capabilities of the scions. “In such close-knit societies as those of the rich and the elite, it is difficult to enquire about such things in public. This is where we come into the picture,” says Ms Rekha Vaid, senior marriage counsellor at Sycorian, an online matchmaking service. “You need professional help to carry out complete background checks of the families and, especially, the prospective grooms.”

     

    Mr Janakiraman recounts the case of a director with a top MNC in Bangalore who found just the girl he was looking for on the Elite Matrimony portal. However, it emerged that the girl’s family was not interested in the proposal for his son because the girl’s family, a first generation infotech firm in Chennai, was looking for a groom who would eventually lead the company as she was their only child. After much discussion, the executive father convinced the girl’s parents that his son, who was working in an IT firm in the US, had plans to return to India to start his own venture, and was capable enough to lead a business in future. The marriage will be solemnised soon.

     

    Business is growing at 50%-60% a year, says Mr Janakiraman. “There was a need for segmentation in matrimonial websites. Affluent people need a different service and paying money for a niche service will never be a constraint for them,” he says. “In fact, some people say that we are charging very less,” he laughs.

     

    Ms Vaid says business has grown over 75% in the past two years. Sycorian, through Shrishti, a business venture that caters to big-ticket weddings, has helped affluent Indians from the US, UK, Canada and Australia take the vows, she says.

     

    “The online matrimonial market offers better choices for people who have moved out of the social circle to find a relevant soul mate,” says Mr Nilanjan Roy, group business head, Times Business Solutions, which owns the matrimonial website Simplymarry. She says there is a huge demand from the elite, who are taking the online route to matchmaking.

     

    Kerala-based wedding planner Spice.Nair – which recently organised an all-white wedding, with everything from flowers to dresses in white – caters mainly to such NRIs. “We are getting queries from people in South Africa, UK and Australia who prefer to come to India to tie the knot. NRIs always look for variety,” says proprietor Mr Suresh Nair,who plans to set up a wedding shop to offer from invitation cards to dress to decoration to match with the themes.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2011, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

  • SAB aims to beat ZEE in the next three months, launches Saturday Prime Time Entertainment.

    SAB eyeing ZEE’s ranking

    By Rishi Vora

     

    In a bid to increase viewership on the weekends, especially in the primetime 9 – 10: 30 pm band on Saturdays, SAB TV will air three brand new shows – Oye Bunty Babloo Oye, Kya Hoga Is Desh Ka, and Gaadi Bula Rahi Hai starting November 5. These shows will be aired for 20 weeks and each episode will offer a new story line with varied flavours of comedy. The shows will be produced and directed by Ravi Rai, Siddharth Tewary, Vipul D Shah, J D Majethia and Rajesh Beri.

    The move comes at a time when the channel is placed No 5 in the pecking order of general entertainment channels with 121 GRPs.

    Anooj Kapoor, Executive Vice President and Business Head, informed MxM India that his target is to reach 165 GRPs in the next three months and possibly beat Zee on overall GRPs. So while that means an increase of 40-odd GRPs, it will be interesting to see whether the channel is really able to topple Zee from the No 4 position. If that does happen, it will be a significant achievement, from where the channel could look at reaching the 200 GRP mark. Early this year, the channel did touch 150 GRPs and gave its sister channel – Sony a good run of their money.

    As for the new shows, Mr Kapoor is optimistic that they’ll bring fresh set of viewers to the channel. “Mostly people watch movies in the weekend, and if not that, they go out shopping, to restaurants and other places. We’re trying to cash-in on these audiences by offering something they would want to watch on a Saturday evening and then convert them into loyal viewers.” These shows will also help the channel get more advertising revenue, in the 9 – 10:30 pm band.

    On the marketing front, the channel will make best use of the MSM network. As far as the TG market is concerned, Mr Kapoor said that the idea is to look at broadening the viewership base across cities and towns in India and in making SAB-like comedy-family drama, a habit in many a households.

     

  • Truth be told, Radia only did her job. She may have been involved in murky negotiations, but all she did was ride an already corrupt and rotting political system.

    Hard Knocks: Radia was not the one to blame

    By Anil Thakraney

    Make no mistake about this: Niira Radia did no wrong. At least, technically she did no wrong. The seductress has announced her retirement from corporate PR, citing health and family reasons, but we all know better. No corporate suit would want to continue to use her organisation’s services post Radiagate.

    But truth be told, Radia only did her job. She may have been involved in murky negotiations, but all she did was ride an already corrupt and rotting political system. Exactly the way many of us bribe our way out of red-taped procedures, not because we are dishonest, but because the straight route is much too painful and time-consuming. So what exactly did Radia do? She aggressively lobbied for her clients, was proactive, cut deals, influenced ministerial berth allotments, won the goodwill of powerful journalists… pretty much all that a solid PR person ought to be doing. Her only guilt was that her methods were hard-edged and her objectives cut-throat, but that’s about it. She was handling mighty corporate accounts, and the demands must have been heavy.

    In short, Radia only pressed those buttons which work in this nation. In that context, terming the scandal ‘Radiagate’ is unfair in itself. Give me a Radia any day over those nice but ineffective PR people who sit back and issue press releases for a fat fee.

    The hard reality is that the actual culprits were the netas, the babus and the journalists who fell for her charms, compromised their positions, and were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. She tempted, they fell like nine pins. It is they who ought to have paid for their follies. And while some politicians are in jail, nothing happened to the journalists. For them, life goes on as if it was a minor career hiccup. The ‘gate’ ought to have been named after one of these worthies.

    Anyway… goodbye, Niira. You spend quality time with your family as the corporate world gets busy hiring expert press-release-issuing chicks.

     

    ***

     

    PS: So, Shakti Kapoor got kicked out of the Bigg Boss mad house. What a moron he is! The channel expected him to molest a few ladies (there are 13 in the house) and he ended up behaving like Mahatma Gandhi! Now I can believe the show isn’t scripted.

     

     

  • When two papers report that a concert happened when in fact it didn't, is it the case of an error or cheating the reader? + Niira Radia: Good riddance/Sad?

    Mediaah!: When Delhi Times and HT Cafe reported that Metallica performed

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

    The Delhi Times clip
    The HT Café photo-story

    It’s not something that’s not happened before. I recall Time magazine doing it in the late 1970s when it reported that an Indian politician had visited China when in fact he had called off the trip last-minute.

    I was alerted on this thanks to a Facebook post by a former colleague, Narendra Kusnur. The city supplements of both the Hindustan Times and Times of India in Delhi reported that the Metallica concert had happened on

     

     

    Friday. While the front page of the main paper did make a mention of the chaos at the venue, that of their supplements – which Kusnur believes happened because of an early deadline – was incorrect.

    I am sure this is more than just a severe embarrassment for the editor and management of both publications. It’s not the case of an error in reportage or a typo or even a wrong picture that was printed. And mind you it doesn’t appear to be an inadvertent error.

    Here was a case where the paper’s editors cheated their readers by deliberately printing incorrect information. We got to know about it thanks to a vigilant reader and also because it was a much-hyped event.

    But my worry is what if the editors do such acts habitually, with other events too. Also a cause of concern is that the city supplements of the two leading newspapers in the capital carried a similar error. The Times of India blanked out the news item on the epaper, while HT didn’t do that. So obviously the decay exists not just in one publication.

    I went through the front page of HT City and Delhi Times on Sunday to see if there’s any apology. I didn’t see any in the epaper edition. Times magazine, btw, had apologised for the error.

    This only further accentuates my distress that the reader is being taken for a ride and no one really appears to care.

     

    The Niira Radia exit. Good riddance or sad to see her go?

     

    I still remember the days when Vaishnavi was setting up. The Tata group accounts were consolidating under an agency with a name unlike the other PR agencies. In the early days, the folks were working out of makeshift office at the Taj Mahal hotel and the Army and Navy Building in Mumbai.

    But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and I found it very pleasant interacting with Vaishnavi staffers. For a period when I was with the Dainik Bhaskar group, we had recruited Vaishnavi with an assignment which again was executed very well.

    The PR industry grapevine always had assorted stories about how the Vaishnavi bosswoman Niira Radia had managed to net the entire Tata group account. Needless to say most of it was out of jealousy. Guess they found some merit in getting the entire business group to go to just one agency for PR just as you tend to do for, say, media buying.

    My sense is that this policy doesn’t work. It’s always good to get a few different players, given their strengths in various business areas and have experience professionals available in the locations you want them.

    Two questions: now that she’s gone (well, as of close of business today), what’s the view. How would the world remember Niira Radia? High profile lobbyist or a quality communications professional? Lobbyist yes, but perhaps incorrect to stretch it to her being a wheeler dealer.

    There’s a lot that exists as part of the deliverables under public affairs, and there’s nothing wrong if the influencing has to happen beyond media folk. For instance, if a senior politician from Kerala thinks he or she is not being recognised by the powers that be in Delhi, then there’s nothing wrong in pushing your way around in Delhi.

    And if there’s a journo or bureaucrat who is amenable and can get influenced, it’s surely not the crime of the practitioner.

    That both the Tatas and Reliance groups entrusted their responsibility to Radia speaks volumes for her skills.

    There is a lot on Radia that the various enforcement agencies are busy with. I don’t see anything happening to her. She has enough contacts to get her out of any mess and has enough dirty stuff on people to pull the trigger if anyone gets naughty.

    Question 2: were the Tatas wise by going in for Rediffusion? I would be interested to know what swung it for Arun Nanda. After all, he doesn’t have the best PR brains with him any longer.  Perhaps that’s why tied up with Edelman.

    But then 10 years back when the group went in for Vaishnavi, similar questions were being asked. Radia’s team put up a decent show. The Tatas can obviously spot talent where not many of us can.

     

    PostScript: Are news media professionals worried about the mutterings of Press Council chief retired Justice Markandey Katju. Read this hilarious account on Legally India. Must-read. More on Katju’s comments on the media next time (which I promise you won’t happen after three weeks!)

  • planet celebrates World Animal Day with a special programming line-up

    Creatures feature on World Animal Day

     

    By A Correspondent

    If you adore animals and love the planet, tune into Animal Planet to celebrate the World Animal Day on October 4.  Bursting with intriguing facts and enchanting animals, Animal Planet commemorates World Animal Day with a full day programming line-up from 12 noon to 12 midnight, aiming to inspire viewers of all ages.

    Kicking off the day to celebrate all things wild and spotlight some of the rarest and greatest creatures on the planet, Animal Planet follows the lives of several unique species like river dolphins in India, hyenas in East Africa, pygmy elephants in the jungles of Borneo, wild wolves in Ethiopia, bat-eared foxes in Namibia and ferocious crocodiles in Africa.

    Discussing the special Animal Planet Marathon on World Animal Day, Mr Rahul Johri, senior vice president and general manager (South Asia), Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, “We dedicate this special day of the year to highlight the wonderful animal kingdom and the amazing relationship it enjoys with humans. Over the years, we have witnessed a growing sensitivity and commitment amongst viewers for Animal Planet’s breathtaking and awe-inspiring content. I am most excited to present this year’s 12 hours programming marathon which will do it all – inform, entertain and connect.”