MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • Shailesh Kapoor on the gamechangers that stood out on the content side in Hindi general entertainment channels this year

    Top 5 Gamechangers on Hindi GECs in 2013

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    For the television industry, 2013 will be best remembered as the year of digitization. Similarly, we hope to remember 2014 as the year of a ratings system overhaul, with the industry shifting to the new system being developed by BARC. We are evidently in a period when technology and not content is emerging as the gamechanger.

     

    Yet, there were gamechangers that stood out on the content side in Hindi GECs too. Here’s a look at my list of Top 5 such shows. Established successful shows like Diya Aur Baati Hum, Saathiya and Balika Vadhu are not a part of this list, as their ongoing success is simply a continuation of what they promised in the last few years.

     

    5. 24

    The much-hyped 24 did not deliver high ratings. But it makes it to this gamechangers list for simply trying. As the Indian television market matures, we are bound to see fiction experiments beyond the regular family-based shows that currently rule the roost for the right reasons. When one such idea clicks, the floodgates will open. But 24 on Colors will always be remembered as the pioneer that brought this change. Here’s hoping for a more-Indianized second season.

     

    4. Qubool Hai

    Launched in late 2012, Qubool Hai scaled great heights of popularity in early and mid 2013, before losing some of the steam towards the end of the year. Driven by good casting that combined eye candy with solid performances, this Muslim social offered cultural variety, but with a contemporary and youthful treatment that had the college girls asking for more. Along with Sapne Suhaane Ladakpan Ke, it gave Zee TV a younger audience base that in turn helped the channel grow during the year, and sizably so.

     

    3. Mahabharat

    Star Plus challenged the status quo on production of daily fiction shows this year. After a rather half-baked attempt with Saraswatichandra, Mahabharat saw a real shift of scale. The show is easily the best-mounted fiction show ever in the history of Indian television. Its perspective on the epic tale is applause-worthy too, with considerable focus on the grey, than just the black and the white. Uneven pace and language comprehension issues may have limited its viewership in the early period, but the serial is now set for a creditable finish in 2014.

     

    2. Jodha Akbar

    Zee TV’s Jodha Akbar is a live case study on how to make a historical theme engaging by giving it a contemporary treatment. Story-wise, the programme uses the tried and tested elements of family and romantic dramas, exploited earlier to hilt in shows like Pratigya and Saathiya on Star Plus. It keeps the language simple, allowing for easy, fun viewing of what could have been an otherwise-overbearing show. Yet, the period look makes the show stand out in the crowd, offering the best of both worlds.

     

    1. Comedy Nights With Kapil

    This has to be a one-horse race if there ever was one. The success of Comedy Nights With Kapil on Colors cannot be measured by its ratings alone. Its consistently top-notch and flawless execution, combining fiction with live entertainment, has left me amazed episode after episode. How can you get something so right, I have often wondered. The show delivers two popular genres, which were beginning to look a bit jaded on television, in a refreshing avatar – Comedy and Bollywood.

     

    The comedy stays away from being crass or lowbrow at all times, yet manages to focus on popular culture and mass themes. The celebrity interaction is nothing we have seen before. It is audience-indulgent, not celebrity-indulgent. By now, it is common knowledge in the industry how celebrities aspire to be on the show and nervously prepare for it, so that they can match up to Kapil’s wit and timing.

     

    Comedy Nights With Kapil is the unifier show we have missed since KBC in 2000 – a show that various sections of the family and the society have an equal appeal towards. Thankfully, its success is not replicable, so we may not see too many clones coming out. Meanwhile, another 100+ delicious episodes await us in 2014.

     

  • In Week 51 of 2013, Star Plus is the No 1 Hindi GEC followed by Colors at No 2 and Zee TV at No 3

    Colors continues run as No 2 Hindi GEC in Week 51

    By our Research Associate

     

    It’s a status quo of sorts. Colors stays on as the No 2 Hindi GEC. Star Plus is still the numero uno Hindi GEC.

     

    As always, the TAM ratings have not been revealed to us by TAM which has regrettably been restrained by the powers to give the media a first-hand update on weekly ratings. Instead we have to get it from our friends who share the info. It’s reliable but, then, we haven’t got it from TAM.

     

    The following are the numbers:

    Star Plus              599 [579] {561} (548)

    Colors                  488 [449] {456} (479)

    Zee TV                 409 [439] {480} (449)

    Life OK                 326 [313] {325} (334)

    SAB                      309 [291] {260} (269)

    Sony                     255 [267] {241} (239)

     

    Figures in square brackets indicate viewership numbers for last week [Week 50], in brace brackets for the previous week {Week 49} and in regular brackets for the week before that (Week 48).

     

     

     

  • Mr Krishna will be responsible for conceptualizing, designing and marketing various intellectual properties of Radio Mirchi

    Rishikar Krishna steps into Radio Mirchi as Marketing Head, Mirchi Properties

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading radio station network Radio Mirchi has announced the appointment of Rishikar Krishna as Head Marketing, Mirchi Properties at Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL). Rishikar will be chiefly responsible for conceptualizing, designing and marketing various intellectual properties of Radio Mirchi.

     

    Prior to this, Mr Krishna was Associate Director, Marketing at Skechers. In this role he was in charge of creating awareness and preference for the brand in India.

     

  • Get set for action with Jai and Veeru in free-to-play 'Sholay: Bullets of Justice' game

    As Sholay releases in 3D, Jai-Veeru come alive on games

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hungama Digital Media Entertainment and Gameshastra Solutions have brought alive the famed Jai and Veeru duo of the megahit Sholay in a free-to-play game created as the 3D version of the film is being released.

     

    ‘Sholay: Bullets of Justice’ will be a single player finite level-based side scroller game. The game will have a ‘wild west’ feel and would also portray the locales of Ramgarh as in the movie, with each character having its own stylized animations.

     

    Said Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO,Hungama Digital Media: “The concept of gaming has caught on across the world and is gaining rapid pace especially in the mobile and connected devices environment. The Sholay: Bullets of Justice Game is engaging and addictive for the average gaming enthusiast.”

     

    “Sholay 3D is looking and sounding awesome! We have taken three years to painstakingly restore this film to an impressive quality level for all to enjoy for decades to come! I am thrilled with the game as it has 12 levels and is a complex game both on mobiles and on all other platforms,” said Sascha Sippy, Chairman of Sholay Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

     

    Take out the dacoits attacking Jai and Veeru in a moving goods train. Teach the dacoits lessons that are harassing the villagers for money. Assist in spreading around happiness and keeping the auspicious festival of Holi sacred. Unshackle Basanti (Hema Malini) from the jaws of the Gabbar Singh and balm the sadness of disconsolate Radha (Jaya Bhaduri) by bringing the maniac to justice.

     

     

  • The MxMIndia yearend special 'awards' for work done in the year that few others could manage to do

    The Mediaah! Dubious Achievement Awards 2013

     

    Okay, folks. The now-regular MxMIndia special on the last day of the year: the Mediaah! Dubious Achievement Awards 2013.

     

    Before we set out to presenting them, a request: these ought to be taken in the right spirit and wherever required, be seen as indicators for improvement. As they say in Bambaiyya: dil mein mat lena

     

    The NitiCentral Award for being Always Right

    to Firstpost.com

    for well, do we need to really spell it out?

     

    The Sachin Tendulkar will-he-wont-he Award

    to Sam Balsara

    Every time a Martin Sorrell and Maurice Levy come to India, that’s the question which they are asked: are they buying Sam Balsara. But like the master blaster, Sam is also keeping the entire industry and will do it when he thinks the time is right

     

    The N ‘BCCI’ Srinivasan Award for Not Budging from his Kursi Award

    to Colvyn Harris

    for continuing to stay on as CEO of JWT even after the Ford Figo fake ad scandal rocked his agency

     

    The Angry Bird Award for Terrorising the Media, okay pigs

    to Twitter

    for doing to the media what governments, underworld, corporates have not been able to do

    Runner up: Facebook

     

    The Andha Kanoon Award

    to Soli Sorbajee, Ombudsman of NDTV

    for ducking the real issues afflicting the news network (and the news media) and giving inane responses to complainants

     

    The S Sreesanth Award for being a ‘kalank’ on the fraternity

    to Tarun Tejpal

    The tag of corruption and unethical practices has been plaguing news media for a while and Tarun Tejpal took the rep of editors to a new low with his alleged act with a young journalist who treated him like her father

     

    The Datta Samant Award

    to Saira Menezes and the People Magazine team

    for fighting for their rights with the Outlook management even if it meant doing it via the Labour Court

     

    Runner-up:

    Indrajit Gupta & team, former Forbes India editor and his team of senior eds

     

    The Main Chup Rahoongi prize

    to Churumuri/Sans Serif

    for keeping quiet when it needed to be most vocal on the sudden closure of the Outlook group’s People, Marie Claire and GEO magazine and the forced resignations of most of the staff because the blogger is also Editor of flagship Outlook magazine

     

    The Sachin Tendulkar record-breaking performance

    to Srinivasan K ‘Sundar’ Swamy

    for showing the other ad & marketing associations/clubs how it’s not too difficult being hyperactive and purposeful

     

    The Modi Xerox Copy is Better than the Original Award

    to DNA’s Page 2 Society Special

    for turning out to be better than the more than just inspired from Mumbai Mirror’s dna’s page 2 society-watch column

     

    The Albert Einstein Award

    to various creative gurus

    for plagiarising from international creatives and then saying great minds think alike

     

    The Bata Hawaii Chappal Award

    to Rajdeep Sardesai

    for flip-flopping on whether to turn left or right.

     

    The Mulayam Singh Yadav Blood is thicker than Water Award

    to N Ram and family

    for reinstating his family to helm the business a year after bringing in top-notch professionals to steer the ship

     

    The Bernard Madoff Award for getting rich and screw all principles:

    to most media managements

    for putting making money above the basic tenets of journalism and newsgathering

     

    The Mine is Bigger than Yours Filmi Khans Award

    to news channels

    For all claiming to be the number one news channel at the same time, confusing the hell out of viewers.

     

    The Push Me-Pull You Dr Dolittle Award

    to The Times of India and Hindustan Times editions in Delhi

    for each claiming that they are The One.

     

    The Tehelka Award for Tell-Alls on Media Houses

    to Caravan Magazine

    for revealing everything you wanted to know and even what you didn’t about Arnab Goswami, The Jains, Network 18…

     

    The Red Bull Award for Energizing Employees

    to Abhijit Avasthi

    for the first man in advertising to talk about how the Creative Abbies weren’t energizing his team any more

     

    The Who-Cares-About-Brevity-Being-the-Soul-of-Wit Award

    also to Caravan Magazine

    for saying in a 100,000,000,000 words what could be said in a 1000.

     

    The Invisible Man Award

    to NDTV’s Prannoy Roy

    for playing hide and seek with viewers.

     

    And finally

    The Not Manmohan Singh Award for Staying Silent when the Nation Wants to Know

    remained with Arnab Goswami

    for deafening the people of India most successfully again. The pointing finger points… and heaven help Meenakshi Lekhi if it’s pointing at her.

     

    also awarded to Arnab for the same reason:

    The Vicks ki Goli Award for Shouting at the Mighty and not Losing his Voice (and job) Award

     

    Contributed by Ranjona Banerji and Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

  • A free-and-frank letter from Editor-in-Chief and CEO on how the year has been for MxMIndia. Some self-praise, but a lot of straightspeak.

    Letter from MxM: Goodbye, horrible year!

    It was a kinda Annus Horribilis for us MxMIndia. At many times in the year, we thought it was better to shut shop. The folks who owe us monies didn’t pay us. Some haven’t paid up since last year. We’ve sent them umpteen duplicates, sent reminders. Etc, etc.

     

    Adverse cash flows are killers.

     

    Like the Pandavas in the Mahabharat, we’ve put in our life’s savings. But the money wasn’t squandered, it was invested.

     

    We’ve done a few course corrections. Like shift our office from a prime location in suburban Santacruz to closer home in Andheri. It saves us some dollars in rent as well as in the commute.

     

    We chose to not replace some of the prized staff who left us.

     

    All of this has had some impact on our work. Our newsletters often get delayed. The Annual issue which should’ve been out this month will now be released next month. We weren’t able to send someone to Cannes Lions or some of the national and international events as we would’ve liked to cover. We’ve also not been able to pay some of our staff, contributors and service providers on time. They understand our predicament and have backed us up so far. Some, understandably, are peeved.

     

    Twenty-thirteen has been a very active year on the news front. Ask any journalist and she/he will tell you that planning a ‘big story’ or lead/cover story is tough. For us at MxM, including the days when a scheduled report fell through at the last minute, we’ve had a Big Story every single day of our working year.

     

    We didn’t spread ourselves too thin by organizing standalone events. We curated two sessions at the Social Media Week Mumbai. We were exclusive media partners for the Kyoorius Designyatra and the Awards and the Social Media Week Mumbai. We partnered a few FICCI events and turned down many offers from people who had tied up with all and sundry.

     

    We’re also proud of the fact that we are possibly the only media neutral website tracking the media and advertising trade. So when a BusinessWorld was sold to a group of unnamed individuals fronted by Anurag Batra of exchange4media, we wrote about Batra’s rise and rise. We covered the IAA debates even though they were sponsored by Campaign India. We wrote about an all-new website launched by former IndianTelevision staffers. We also analysed the Impact Person of the Year nominees… We couldn’t of course cover the various e4m industry functions or the Campaign Agency of the Year awards or the afaqs Unmetro events or the IndianTelevision distribution summit… not because we didn’t want to, but because we weren’t invited to them.

     

    It’s an unfortunate trait in the Indian media. Competition is treated like your ‘jaani dushman’. A Filmfare Awards will not be covered by rival media groups. Ditto with the (now) Life OK Screen Awards. A DNA women’s marathon winner may not be profiled by a rival newspaper.  HT for Mumbai awards are blanked out by most others. Sad.

     

    In all of this, our sincere thanks and gratitude to all those who stood by us. To our benefactors, to our advertisers. To all those who’ve counselled us. And those who’ve recognized our work and appreciate that we are credible… that we are the only ones who don’t mind asking the tough questions or raising the red flag when it needs. Because our allegiance is first to you, our readers. Even our advertisers know that.

     

    Cheers and wishing you our choicest shubhkaamnayein for 2014!

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Editor-in-chief and CEO

    pradyumanm [at] mxmindia.com

     

  • There will be no MxMIndia edition and update on Wednesday, January 1

    No edition day on Wed, Jan 1

    Our offices will be closed from the afternoon of today (December 31) to the evening of January 1. Hence, there will be no edition tomorrow (on January 1, 2014.)

    Have a great year ahead. And party responsibly.

     

    Cheers!

     

  • Pradyuman Maheshwari lists 13 reasons why 2013 could best be hashtagged #Fail (and also a few reasons why there is hope in 2014)

    Thirteen Reasons why 2013 was a #Fail for the Indian Media

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Okay, so we are all going to down our sorrows tonight… in alcohol, in parties, stuck on the road in traffic, at office, on television watching Kapil Sharma for the nth time or an awards show or some other semi-entertaining stuff. Or just a quiet moment with family and friends.

     

    But before we do that, let’s take one last look at the 2013 and wish we could put some of the downers behind  us. Sadly, they can’t.

     

    Here goes my list of 13…

     

    Tarun Tejpal

    Tehelka founder. Alleged rapist. And as it has emerged, misused his position in recent years to achieve his ends.

     

    Mumbai Photojournalist Gangraped

    The media was at the forefront of the movement against atrocities to women through the year. And then one of our very own was gangraped. On an assignment, in daylight, in Mumbai, a city that prides itself to be safe for women. The lady is fine, but the scars will never go away.

     

    Hindustan Times Paid News

    And we thought that the corporate types running Hindustan Times knew what happens when you devalue a news brand by going in for a Medianet-like paid content service. Agreed there’s a footnote, but it’s in fineprint and the paid-for stories aren’t tagged ‘Paid Content’. Why, just why?

     

    Paid News still rules

    The recent elections saw many instances of paid news around the time of the elections with the EC asking the law ministry to make it an electoral offence. However,  what about the publications publishing the news? Shouldn’t those indulging in the corrupt practice also be suitably penalized, even if means losing the RNI registration/licence.

     

    Minister’s priorities

    Even the most sensible of politicians do bizarre things as I&B ministers. We’ve had one of the earliest ones in independent India banning film songs on Vividh Bharati. One went ballistic against news channels. Another frowned upon ads. Our current minister – Manish Tewari – isn’t bad news, but he could do with a better set of priorities. And not just talk about contradictions and paradoxes in his speeches. Also, not interfere in DD news.

     

    Industry divided

    The various industry associations in media,advertising and entertainment are a divided lot. The officebearers may be good friends otherwise, but their associations are often at loggerheads. And paying the price for all of this is the industry.

     

    Abby has really turned Shabby

    Of the various awards held in the country, the Creative Abby has turned out to be shabbiest. The biggest in the business (Lowe, Ogilvy) have not been participating, there are disputes about scam ads and last year we even had some complaints about a few awardwinning ads being plagiarized. All practitioners need to get together and discuss the future of the Oscars of the creative advertising business.

     

    State of magazine media in question as ABP sells BusinessWorld

    In a sense one should be thankful that it was sold, and not shut like the Indian editions of People, GEO and Marie Claire magazines. But BusinessWorld is an iconic brand and was owned by a large, prosperous media group like Ananda Bazar Patrika. The fact that the group lost interest in the magazine and found they couldn’t make the kind of money out of the publication was a sorry commentary on the state of the magazine media. Thankfully, Annurag Batra bought it on behalf of a group of unnamed investors.

     

    Professionals v/s Families

    There are many large and successful business conglomerates run by professionals, but in the world of media, not many professionals have done too well when the family gets active in the business. Two years back, The Hindu brought in professionals on the editorial and business front. It was a bold decision. But in 2013, both Editor and CEO were booted out. I don’t think any rightminded (or leftminded, given it’s Hindu) editor would ever want to join the paper at the helm after this.

     

    Corporate influence in media

    We all agree that the media must ask the tough questions, often being cynical when there is no need for being one. But that’s what it used to be. In a recent accident, the identities of the owners of a car that hit two others was hushed up by most media. The name of the corporate cropped up, but the news wasn’t investigated  in the same way as any other high profile accident case. Is this the influence of big business on the media? Why is it that media entities not directly owned or managed by big businesses also buckle under pressure? Wake up, guys. There’s no point being in the news media when you are going to crawl even there’s no one asking you to do so.

     

    Retrenchment rules

    Staff sackings are not a new story in the media. Some do it with a jhatka, others prefer halal. The best of newsmedia organizations have seen sackings. This writer has been involved with many over the years. The question is how you do it, and how sensitive you can be to the employee’s personal life. We hear of many cases of people opting out of journalism and media companies because of the way employers behave.

     

    Most media schools suck!

    The media wave of the 1990s and 2000s ensured a mad rush for the media and mass communication courses across the country. Everyone wanted to be a Piyush Pandey, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt and now Arnab Goswmi. But the faculty sucks at even the AICTE-approved institutes – mediocre professionals and trainers teach at these places, the curriculum is pathetic, fee cheques and not a rigorous entrance procedure is the only barrier for entry. The result: products of a large number of media schools are below par.

     

    Hold a mirror, News Media!

    What upset one most about the Hindu’s humbling of the Editor and CEO as well as the termination of edition and employee services at Outlook group’s publications was the way in which both were done. Is it the same media that otherwises sermonizes on how the world should behave? Hold a mirror, guys. Mr Ram, did you really need to write that looong letter detailing your misgivings about the editor and CEO? Thankfully, both of them have found jobs, but had it been in another era with no social media, people would’ve doubted their bonafides.  Ditto with the Outlook group, the same magazine company that has Vinod Mehta at its helm…. how could they not have the decency to even speak to employees who got to know about the closure from a tweet?

     

    But there’s hope…

    Indrajit Gupta fights for PR exec

    You don’t hear too often about editors taking up the cause of PR professionals who are subjected to harassment for a negative story in their publication. IG (as Indrajit is called) took up the case and cause for the late Charudatta Deshpande and continues to do so

     

    Arindam Chaudhari thrown out of Mid-Day

    Yes, Mid-Day actually junked his column after it realized that it’s giving the paper a bad name (now Kushan Mitra needs to do the same at Pioneer)

     

    Shashi Sinha cements the industry

    If there’s a Nobel Peace Prize for the Indian media, IPG Interbrands CEO Shashi Sinha should walk away with the awards. Hands down.  He tried his best to cleanse the Creative Abby at Goafest, in fact he did manage that and what happened in the 2013 edition was not really his doing. And now he’s building consensus on television measurement amongst broadcasters and advertisers and media agencies as head of BARC’s technical committee.

     

    Uday Shankar, Punit Goenka, Raj Nayak… entertainment merchants think big

    There’s hope for 2014 as our entertainmentwallahs are truly dreaming big. Uday Shankar is thinking big at Star India, Punit Goenka has planned some 10 new channels for Zee, and Raj Nayak pulled a mega serial in 24 with ease.  And you can’t keep Sony out of things for too long. Three cheers!

     

  • The number of mobile internet users is going to reach 155 million in India by the end of March 2014 and 185 million by June 2014 maintaining a Q-o-Q growth of 20%, according to the 'Mobile Internet In India 2013' report released by the Internet & Mobile Association Of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International

    India to have 155 mn mobile internet users by March 2014: IAMAI-IMRB

    By A Correspondent

     

    The number of mobile internet users is going to reach 155 million in India by the end of March 2014 and 185 million by June 2014 maintaining a Q-o-Q growth of 20%, according to the ‘Mobile Internet In India 2013’ report released by the Internet & Mobile Association Of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International. The report states that by end-December 2013, the number of mobile internet users would be 130 million. The number of mobile internet users in October 2013 was 110 million with 85 million users from Urban India and the rest 25 million from Rural India.

     

     

    According to the report, Urban India will continue to account for a large percentage of the mobile internet users across the country and is expected to reach 126 million by March 2014 and touch 153 million users by June 2014. Significantly, a drastic growth was witnessed in the number of users of mobile internet in Rural India and will register an impressive 50% growth to reach 32 million by June 2014.

     

    The report further finds that across both Urban and Rural India, over 50% of the active internet users are accessing internet on their mobile, apart from other sources. This is a clear indication that there has been a huge uptake in consumption of this mobile internet medium.

     

    The report also finds that ARPU has dropped to Rs 387 from Rs 460 in 2012. However, what is worth noting is that the percentage amount spent on Mobile Internet has gone up to 45% from 43% in 2012. This is a clear indication that more and more people prefer communicating over the phone rather than using the traditional media.

     

     

    According to the report, 35% of mobile internet users are spending between Rs 100 and 500 monthly on their phone expenses. 9% are spending over Rs 500 and just 6% of the users are spending less than Rs 100 every month.

     

     

    The IAMAI report also finds that the median price of a handset has fallen from Rs 8,250 in 2012 to Rs 7,000 in 2013. This is attributed to the reducing prices of phones with advanced features. More and more manufacturers are trying to target the ‘Value for Money’ segment by offering more features at lower prices.

     

     

  • The former Visa India and South Asia Marketing Director has joined Star India as Vice President & Head Marketing – Sports

    Shubhranshu Singh now heads marketing at Star Sports

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Star Sports network has been busy dressing up its top deck. Visa’s Marketing Director – India and South Asia Shubhranshu Singh has joined as Vice President & Head Marketing – Sports.

     

    Star Sports hasn’t officially confirmed or denied the news, though sources within the organization have indicated that Mr Singh joined last month (December 2013). “Making sports a national passion in the truest sense – accessible, engaging and for everyone, everywhere”  is how Mr Singh has highlighted his work profile on LinkedIn. Mr Singh has been with Visa since August 2011 before which he has done two stints at Hindustan Lever amongst others.

     

    December is said to have brought in one more biggie to the Star India fold. As per a report on Bestmediainfo.com, Rajeev Beotra, the National Head – Revenue and Circulation at Hindustan Times (and part of the leadership team at HT Media), is reported to have joined the network as sales head.

     

    Mr Singh, it is learnt, will report to Nitin Kukreja, President – Sports, STAR India.

     

     

     

  • The political news on TV and in the papers was getting way too predictable of late and Arvind Kejriwal is the man with the twist, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Kejriwal Is News, News Is Kejriwal

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    On Koffee With Karan last weekend, a seemingly innocuous question left Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt stumped. When asked to name the President of India, their answers were Manmohan Singh and Prithviraj Chauhan respectively. If they were made to sit and watch news channels for a week as punishment, their answer would have probably changed to Arvind Kejriwal.

     

    Why just Dhawan and Bhatt? The way our news channels are covering Kejriwal these days, even the aam aadmi can be excused for believing that Kejriwal has replaced Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of India.

     

    2014 has arrived. We are in the year of the General Elections. Every political news story, across channels, is invariably trying to find a link with the General Elections. The news media have three poster boys in this pursuit: Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal.

     

    Narendra Modi’s speeches are interesting, bordering on mild entertainment, and hence make for good live coverage. Rahul Gandhi makes news for leaving his party wondering if he’s on their side. His “personal” views may be heartening, but they come across as pontification at most times.

     

    Faced with entertaining but stereotypical competition, Arvind Kejriwal has managed to create a league of his own. A new style of governance is on display. It’s like Anil Kapoor’s Nayak playing out in real life. Even Salman Khan is creating aam aadmi songs against corruption. Idea created a commercial within days of AAP going to the people of Delhi for a referendum on whether they should form the Government in the capital. ‘What an idea, Sirji’, it acknowledges.

     

    It is easy to understand why Kejriwal and AAP have caught our fancy. It’s a radical departure from the politics we have all seen for years on end. From politics of greed, arrogance and corruption, we are now seeing the virtual other end. We would have been excused for thinking this happens only in movies. Till about a month ago, that is.

     

    The Delhi Government is getting coverage even the UPA Government at the Centre has rarely got. In the debate on the trust vote, Dr Harshvardhan, whom Arvind Kejriwal certified as a good man in the wrong party (BJP), commented on how even he has taken the Delhi Metro several times, but has not used it as a photo-op.

     

    But isn’t that precisely the point? What’s a “photo-op” to Dr Harshvardhan is “innovation” to the rest of the country. Tokenism and symbolism may come across as shallow words, but they hold so much relevance in this context. By traveling in his Wagon R and declining a luxurious bungalow, Kejriwal is giving messages, however symbolic, that may have far-reaching consequences in the shaping of the history of our polity.

     

    AAP is in a honeymoon phase with the media right now. It is difficult to fault their intentions. Their ability to execute will be realistically known only in six months or so, assuming the Congress doesn’t pull the plug. In fact, how openly AAP ridicules Congress even now, after having their outside support, itself makes for delicious copy.

     

    We needed the Aam Aadmi Party. We needed Arvind Kejriwal. Not just as citizens of India, but as media houses and media consumers. The political news on TV and in the papers was getting way too predictable of late. But here’s the man with the twist. If he can manage to translate even 20% of this euphoria into results in the General Elections, and win about 50 seats, I can assure you we are in for a rollercoaster ride on the political news front for several years ahead.

     

    Meanwhile, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan may as well declare him the Prime Minister of India right away.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor is founder and CEO of media insights firm Ormax Media. He spent nine years in the television industry before turning entrepreneur. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached at his Twitter handle @shaileshkapoor

     

  • The headline is pretty explanatory, but here's it again: Star Plus closed 2013 with 606 mn viewers. There were big gains for Colors as Sab reverted to the #4 slot

    Star Plus closes 2013 with 606 mn viewers. Big gains for Colors as Sab is #4

    The figures in the table below tell the story. These are for Week 52 and 51 of the year 2013 as per measurement agency TAM. However, the information we have received is not from TAM, but from a friendly subscriber. So, please do verify these numbers before making all-important decisions.

     

     

    Viewership in million
    Channel Week 52 Week 51
    Star Plus

    606

    599
    Colors

    527

    488
    Zee TV

    431

    409
    Sab

    330

    309
    Life OK

    324

    326
    Sony (SET)

    272

    255