MxMIndia

Category: MEDIA

  • The auction will witness 147 players going under the hammer. The size of every DLF IPL team squad will be 33 instead of 30 players in the previous season. Team owners are each to be given a purse of $2 million to buy these players.

    It’s auction time at IPL season 5

    By A Correspondent

     

    On February 4, 2012, Sony Max will show the DLF IPL Player Auction, which is taking place in Bangalore where franchise owners will select additional players who may be crucial for the success of the respective teams.

     

    The auction will commence at 10.45 am on February 4 with Max’s anchor Archana Vijaya and Arun Lal bringing all the behind the scene excitement and then moves onto intense live coverage of the auction that’ll take place at ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel in Bangalore. The anchors will engage the audiences before, after and during the auction to take them through the bidding procedure as well to analyse the day’s activity.

     

    The auction will witness 147 players going under the hammer. The size of every DLF IPL team squad will be 33 instead of 30 players in the previous season. Team owners are to each be given a purse of $2 million to buy these players. The auction will give a deeper insight and glimpse of the strategy each team is scheduled to follow.

     

    Commenting on the DLF IPL Player Auction, Neeraj Vyas, EVP and Business Head, MAX, said “DLF IPL Player Auction 2012 will set the stage for what promises to be an absorbing fifth season of the DLF IPL which will set the nation roaring. Alternating between the studio and the auction venue, Max will bring an up close and personal perspective of the event which will keep the audience enthralled.”

     

  • A lot of information today is lost in business jargon which business papers must stay away from.

    The Anchor: 6 things for the publisher of a business publication to remember

    By Vivek Khanna

     

    #1 One of the most important things that the publisher of a business paper – or, for that matter, any publication – has to keep in mind is the content. Accuracy and genuineness of information is critical to the success of any newspaper.

     

    #2 It is extremely important that the content and business sides of a paper are always separate, especially in a business publication. There has to be a wall between the content and business side so that no one can influence the other.

     

    #3 Checking for errors is extremely important. Business news can make or break an economy, hence it is critical to keep many level of checks before any news goes into print. In our organization, we have several levels of checks to ascertain that the news which goes to print is genuine and credible.

     

    #4 Journalists and Editors for a business publication have to be handpicked as they are meant to have a very special skill set and knowledge of the business world.

     

    #5 Business news needs to have more clarity. A lot of information today is lost in business jargon which business papers must stay away from.

     

    #6 In a market where there is a plethora of publications, it is of importance that a business publisher finds the differentiating factor for his product. A differentiated product with credible content is the only way to success.

     

    Mr Vivek Khanna is the Publisher and Business Head of Mint, HT Media Limited.

     

  • Since MxMIndia launched on Sept 9, much may have changed. But not our resolve to adhere to our Code of Ethics.

    Pradyuman Maheshwari: 100 Days of not compromising on ethics

     

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    So how’s MxMIndia different from the others, I am often asked. There are various, and because a publication necessarily mirrors the personality of its editor, I think the basic difference that MxM has that the only thing you can expect from it is the unexpected. It’s got spontaneity, energy and integrity.

     

    In fact, to those of you who are in the know, it’s the last of these attributes (well, the loss of it) that possibly led to the birth of MxMIndia.

     

    The other important differentiator of MxMIndia is that the editorial team is not dependent on just one person. We have a number of people who have got a great amount of experience in relevant media.

     

    Our copy team is not into the nitty-gritty of media agencies and marketing… and hence you get copy that’s English. Yes, there may be booboos, but hey, the hygiene levels are high. At least we strive to keep them that way.

     

    We don’t intrude into your inboxes with breaking news. With always-on smartphones et al, innumerable mails a day is an emeffing pain. There have been several news breaks that we have had in our first 100 days… but we’ve only tweeted them or added them in our Facebook statuses.

     

    And the last differentiator is that for us our allegiance is to you, dear reader. It’s indeed challenging when the reader is also the one we are writing about and who is advertising on the site. It of course helps in having a Code of Ethics and having all my colleagues as signatories on that.

     

    As we complete our 100 days, we rededicate ourselves to the Code, which we reproduce here….

     

    Thank you for keeping the faith,

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Coordinates: pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, BBM @ 23050B5D

    Whatsapp/Gtalk pradyumanm[at]gmail.com

    Twitter @pmahesh, Tel 98338 76278

     

    The MxMIndia Code of Ethics

     

    This code of ethics is not meant to be a treatise in ethics. We believe all MxMers are mature professionals, of sound character and have values we agree with.

     

    However, since a Code of Ethics is not really followed in organizations that some of our employees may have worked with in the past, we have a formulated an easy-to-follow set of Dos and Don’ts that each and every employee has agreed to follow. Also, there’s a general belief that many media companies (business-to-business and mainstream) follow unethical practices. It’s hence critical to put the record straight on why MxMIndia isn’t like the ‘many’ others.

     

    1. While the objective of MxMIndia is to be a profitable enterprise, our revenues will not come from compromising editorial standards. Excellence is what we are setting out to achieve, Ethically and with Integrity.

     

    2. We will not be influenced in any way by advertisers – past, present or future, and will write or comment on an individual, service or organisation regardless of whether or not it advertises with MxMIndia.

     

    3. We will not sell our editorial content. Content includes text, photographs or any visuals.

     

    4. Accuracy in presenting facts is of utmost importance and facts must be correctly presented.

     

    5. We will not present any bias in our news sections. If, however, MxM India does undertake a campaign, it will clearly state its editorial policy

     

    6. If there’s any advertisement that could be confused with editorial content in appearance, it will be clearly tagged as an Advertisement and be displayed in a style that is different from normal editorial content.

     

    7. Our reports and features will always attribute sources to people. In case, the source does not want to be named for fear of loss of employment or due to some sensitivity, every attempt must be made to look for an alternate source who could be named. If that fails, every attempt should be made to make the reader rest assured that our source is authentic and this may be done by describing who the source is.

     

    8. We have a no tolerance policy towards plagiarism. Employees may be given a warning if found plagiarizing, but in most cases, the services of any employee found plagiarizing – regardless of his/her seniority or utility to the organization – would be terminated within 24 hours of the Editor-in-Chief conducting his/her investigation on the act of plagiarism.

     

    9. If any attempt is made to influence us by way of a threat to withdraw advertisements, we reserve the right to expose such individuals and/or their organisations.

     

    10. We will not publish photographs off the internet. If a picture is be taken from the internet, it will be done only after written permission of the source. Else, we will own the rights for the picture which may be procured by buying rights for appropriate usage. Ditto for text. If we do carry syndicated content, the source needs to clearly be stated at the end of the article.

     

    11. Our journalists will take the permission of the interviewee to record his/her comments, especially when the meeting is not face-to-face.

     

    12. Unless approved by the Editor, we do not part with the transcript of any interview. A journalist may however play back a few quotes attributed to an individual.

     

    13. We will allow individuals or organisations adequate time to revert with their response to a question. In most case the adequate time would mean four to six hours. If it’s a non-critical story, then we would recommend holding the story for at most a day.

     

    14. We will not accept any gifts that attempt to influence us. These should be returned immediately. Gifts in the form of chocolates, mithai, flowers or basic promotional material that is of reasonable value (of up to Rs 500-750) is fine. Mementos or promotional material of nominal value may be accepted. No gifts must be solicited. If there’s a doubt, please consult the Editor-in-Chief/CEO. If an organisation is found to influence an MxM India journalist, under extreme cases, MxM India may even blacklist the organisation and/or its products and services.

     

    15. We will not solicit any outstation trips. If however there is an invitation for a junket, we will accept it only if the Editor believes there is a news value in the event. In such a case, MxM India will mention that the journalist concerned has visited an outstation venue at the invitation of the company which must be named. For local travel, all our employees are defrayed expenses towards local travel, and hence we discourage taxi pick-ups or drops, as is the norm in some sections of the media.

     

    16. We will not solicit any invitations for a meal or a drink. We discourage MxM India employees to drink beyond their limits at events, dinners, press conferences etc where they represent the Company. We will also not solicit free books, software, movie tickets etc.

     

    17. MxM India employees are discouraged from moonlighting. If, however, employees do receive requests to write an occasion article for a non-competing publication, the employee could do it after seeking permission via email.

     

    18. Unlike some media houses, we are happy to see our employees – regardless of their seniority levels – to be interviewed and featured in other media. However, prior permission is desired for every appearance on television. Employees must ensure that their work at MxMIndia doesn’t suffer due to their appearances on TV, radio etc. While tweeting, participation in social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn are encouraged, every attempt must be taken to ensure that the values and interests of the organization are not compromised.

     

    19. We will ensure that our ethical standards are followed in all that we do – events, conferences and awards. We will ensure our integrity is not compromised.

     

    20. We discourage the use of pirated products and services for official use. We advise our employees to only use legally procured software. Employees using their personal computer equipment for work are encouraged to switch to legal software.

     

    21. MxMIndia has a no tolerance policy on sexual harassment.

     

    22. Our employees are not allowed to deal in stocks related to the media and entertainment sector. If they hold shares before joining the organisation, they must disclose their holdings in writing to their immediate boss. They could, however, invest in mutual funds related to the M&E sector.

     

    23. While this Code is only applicable towards conduct as an employee, we advise all MxMers to ensure that they are ambassadors of MxMIndia and all that it stands for even outside of work hours.

     

    24. Over the last few years, there have been question marks raised about the ethical standards adopted by journalists and media organisations. While a lot of it may be untrue, we believe that journalists and others working in various media organisations are also responsible for this perception. At MxMIndia, our attempt will be to reverse this.

     

    25. This Code is applicable for all employees of MxMIndia. Associates, retainers, columnists, regular contributors are also required to adhere to the above Code.

     

    We encourage all our constituents and advertisers to read the above document and cooperate with us and enable us to abide by it. If you wish to report a dishonest act, write directly to pradyumanm [at] mxmindia.com.

     

  • There is something so touchingly innocent (kind word for daft/gormless) about some authority that bleeps out offensive words, but is totally oblivious to the risque, shall we say indelicate, nature of the entire script of some of the American serials we're watching, observes Gouri Dange.

    Gouri Dange: The monkey manning the bleep machine

    By Gouri Dange

     

    I wonder who is in charge of bleeping out words on Z Cafe and a few other channels. Didn’t have it before. Now it’s on. There is something so touchingly innocent (kind word for daft/gormless) about some authority that bleeps out offensive words, but is totally oblivious to the risque, shall we say indelicate, nature of the entire script of some of the American serials we’re watching. Which leaves you feeling like a 10 year-old-kid who incredulously and amusedly watches as his parents carefully spell out ‘s-w-i-n-e’ and ‘y-o-u-r-b-l-o-o-o-d-y m-o-t-h-e-r’ in the middle of a nasty fight with each other.

     

    I mean you can bleep out words all you want from Two and a Half Men or $#*! My Dad Says, and have a sentence going something like this: “Oh dableepmn, I thought she was nice and slubleeputy, but she didn’t want to fbleepk around, so what the hebleeepell, I’ll just have to use my iflatbleeepable dobleeepll.” But it is still clear that much of the humour is generated by constant and casual reference, to acts like sebleeeepx and masturbleeeeption, body parts like brbleeeepsts, bubleeeptts, penbleeepses, asbleeeepoles, and suchlike. Interestingly, one word that passes muster (probably because the bleepers don’t know what it means) is ‘kiester’, which means backbleeeepside. Kiester is used left right and centre, quite unmolested by the bleep. However, when anyone uses ‘ass’, it is cleaned up with the refined replacement ‘behind’.

     

    It’s intriguing how the subtitles are cleaned up too. Sometimes there is the use of the good old asterisk ***** and sometimes words are delicately replaced. So for some reason when the character is saying ‘pervert’, the subtitle primly uses ‘deviant’. Ba*ls becomes ‘guts’. Sl*t and bi**h becomes ‘witch’ (yes, I’m not making this up as I go along; I sat and noted them down). Homo is fully bleeped out, and in the subtitles it is replaced with the more politically correct ‘queer’.

     

    On Comedy Central, there is a smudge and the Cc logo pasted over ‘offensive’ images like someone smoking. Again, the story itself that day (That Seventies Show) may be all about two women desperately enjoying their smoke, and even my dogs understood that, but noooo, we’re not grown up enough to actually see them lighting up their ciggies. Ah comeon, really? I mean really? What crableepp.

     

    But let me not protest too loudly, in case someone decides that this is ALL inappropriate content for our innocent and pious country with its faiu-thousand year tradition peopled only ever by selfless heroes, brave women, and wide-eyed children and utterly functional families. I can’t even say that last phrase with a straight face, but hey, it’s a great delusion-illusion that we feed ourselves when we talk sweepingly about how ‘The West’ is soooo bad. (But of course we do our damndest to see that our children go to college there and then earn nothing but daallerrs for the rest of their lives.) But I digress.

     

    A serial like Nurse Jackie goes unbleeped, because the monkey with the bleep machine hears no gaali-galoch. And yet…and yet…take a look at the content; it would make all toes – pious as well as non-pious – curl. The woman works in a hospital, is addicted to drugs – uppers or downers or something. She buys her stash from some guy in a restaurant (who routinely meets her, they hug, he slips them into her pocket for everyone except for some reason any cop to be able to see); she hides them in her shoes, she hides them in the light fixture in the lift, she hides them in the cookie jar at home. Firstly, this serial needs to be bleeped for stupidity – why is she buying stuff from someone when she has a whole hospital full of it? Or am I missing something – is it cocaine in capsule form? We are never actually shown this Psychedelic Florence Nightingale taking the stuff or ever looking at least briefly a little happy. Secondly, for reasons never made clear to us, she is unfaithful to her husband who slaves away at home with the kids. Why this grim, sad-eyed chick has this back-story is not clear, however many episodes you watch. Whenever I catch her, she’s just loitering in hospital corridors or getting into some storeroom for a moment to herself and her demons, you’re supposed to understand.

     

    So while someone is really busy with the bleeper, really absurd as well as soul-destroying messages march right through. What dumbleepery.

     

    Naming no Names is the mid-week column where novelist, columnist and counsellor Gouri Dange presents her tongue-in-cheek view of our world.

     

  • Jaisurya Das and Shailesh Amonkar are set to return to the Sakal group as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer respectively

    Jaisurya Das and Shailesh Amonkar to return to Sakal group as COO & CMO

    By A Correspondent

     

    The winds of change are blowing across the media. MxMIndia learns that senior industrypersons Jaisurya Das and Shailesh Amonkar are returning to the Sakal group from next week. The news was confirmed by a spokesperson of the group.

     

    While Mr Das, who has earlier been a consultant to the Pune-based Sakal group, will be Chief Operating Officer, Mr Amonkar will be Chief Marketing Officer and head the sales and marketing functions. Mr Amonkar was with Sakal from 2003-06 and held the portfolio of Director-Sales. He moved on to be an entrepreneur and set up Kemistry Media in Pune.

     

    Mr Das, who has had a successful run with The Times of India group having launched the edition in Pune, also turned entrepreneur and set up Xanadu Consulting, a media and human resources advisory firm (Disclosure: Mr Jaisurya Das is also Contributing Editor, MxMIndia and writes the very popular ‘Dear MxM’ column).

     

  • Last month, it was also announced that CEO Mr Maheshwer Peri had turned into a mentor passing on the baton to Mr Indranil Roy

    Vinod Mehta turns mentor @ Outlook group, Krishna Prasad to head newsmag as Ed

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Outlook group’s editor-in-chief Vinod Mehta is moving on from his executive role to that of a mentor. This was confirmed to MxMIndia by a spokesperson of the group who added that Mr Krishna Prasad will be Editor of the flagship Outlook magazine.

     

    When asked specifically if Mr Prasad will also be overseeing editorial affairs for other group publications as suggested by a PTI reported relayed by many publications, MxMIndia was told that he will be Editor, Outlook.

     

    Mr Mehta, who has worked with the Outlook group since 17 years, has been editor of The Pioneer, The Independent, The Indian Post, The Sunday Observer and Debonair. He was unavailable for comment when reached on Wednesday evening.

     

    Last month, it was also announced that CEO Mr Maheshwer Peri had turned into a mentor passing on the baton to Mr Indranil Roy.

     

  • Viewership numbers by TAM Media Research for the first two weeks of January show Sun News had been relegated to the No 3 slot

    Kalanithi Maran’s Sun News battles to retain lost crown

    By Sangeetha Kandavel

     

    After 11 years of leadership among Tamil TV news channels, Kalanithi Maran’s Sun News is suddenly on shaky territory. Viewership numbers by TAM Media Research for the first two weeks of January show Sun News had been relegated to the No 3 slot.

     

    In the third week, it was tied for the second spot, and it was only last week when it was a decisive No 2. It was in late October last year that newbie Puthiya Thalaimurai beat Sun News, the first time ever the latter has shed the top slot even for a week. Since then, it has been a see-saw battle for leadership.

     

    Now, while Puthiya Thalaimurai is No 1, what could have shocked Sun News for most of January is even the No 2 slot was taken away from it by Jaya Plus, which belongs to long-time rival Jaya TV. Never until now has any of the Jaya TV channels come even close to Sun TV’s channels in viewership.

     

    One of the reasons for the change of fortunes for Sun News is the initiative of the state government to start its own cable service, called Arasu, to counter the on-ground cable distribution strength that Mr Maran has with the Sumangali cable distributions service.

     

    Arasu claims membership of almost all cable operators in all areas of Tamil Nadu where it launched.

     

    The Sun slew of channels isn’t yet part of Arasu.

     

    But while the eponymous general entertainment channel Sun TV is being shown on the sly by cable operators, as it enjoys a two-thirds share, the rest of its channels might not enjoy similar visibility in Arasu’s areas. Jaya Plus might also enjoy more visibility than the pre-Arasu days.

     

    “With Arasu cable coming in there has been a tremendous distribution correction in the last two months,” said a Chennai-based media industry official, on the condition of anonymity. GV Vijayakumar, associate vice-president, Lintas Media Group-Chennai, pointed out programming as one of the other reasons.

     

     

    “In the last few months, Puthiya Thalaimurai has shown good numbers because of their news format and variety. Sun News is still following its traditional roots.” Sun’s fortunes in other genres such as general entertainment and music, where it is still the leader, depends on the fate of its negotiations with Arasu.

     

    A media planner said the spike in interest in Jaya Plus could also be a result of the viewer interest surging after Jayalalithaa expelled her close confidante Sasikala. Jaya TV, of which Jaya Plus is a part, is seen as a mouthpiece of the AIADMK party. Sun TV and Jaya TV officials couldn’t be reached for comments. As far as media buying interest goes, the battle is still only between Puthiya Thalaimurai and Sun TV, said a media planner.

     

    Punitha Arumugam, Group CEO, Madison Media Group, however, pointed to the relative insignificance of news channels in Tamil Nadu. “People who want to watch news watch it on Sun TV or Jaya TV (general entertainment channels). These channels telecast news thrice a day. News as a genre is not significant and not successful. The fluctuations for channels losing grip could be the cable war that happening in the State,” she said.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • It's all in 'The Mindshare Indian Media Forecast 2012' presented by UTV Bindass, published by MxM India

    Exclusive: Mindshare forecasts 12% media spends growth in 2012; it was 13% in 2011

    By Johnson Napier

     

    For all the doleful talk of the economy heading south and brands slamming their ad-spend doors on media, sceptics are in for disappointment as the industry managed a commendable growth story for Calendar Year (CY) 2011, clocking a growth rate of 13 percent. Further, with net revenues totalling Rs 33,388 crore, the media confirmed its status as being ‘unstoppable’ and guaranteeing advertisers a good bang for their buck. The results were the finding of a study put together by GroupM, led specifically by the team at Mindshare. Titled ‘This Year, Next Year: Indian Media Forecast’, the study highlights the positive growth story that was witnessed by the industry, especially in the first half of CY 2011.

     

    Continuing with its strong projections and putting aside fears of a financial downturn, the study hints at 2012 to deliver growth numbers in the range of 12 percent and net revenue to the tune of Rs 37,397 crore. This will be driven largely by the advertisers’ willingness to deploy budgets around the media of television, print, radio and digital, the study notes.

     

    Throwing light on the report and its findings, Ravi Rao, Leader, South Asia, Mindshare commented, “The economic outlook is something that one can never get the handle right, with most studies not agreeing on one number. But this is what makes it exciting to look and estimate the Adex growth in India. GroupM does yeoman’s service of providing some startling numbers based on science than the gut, even though India tends to buck the trend away from global predictions.”

     

    The detailed forecast and sector-wise spend analysis are part of ‘The Mindshare Indian Media Forecast 2012’ report published by MxMIndia and presented by UTV Bindass (Details on how you can get your copy at the end of this report)

     

    On the growth pattern to be expected by the industry in 2012, Mr Rao affirmed that since October of 2011, the moment the Eurozone market failure triggered a downslide the thoughts are very much soft where advertising budgets are concerned. “But if you look at the growth driver – every media is expected to grow in double digits with the exception of print and out of home. Every broadcaster and publisher is trying ways and means to cut down input costs while trying to extract the maximum. The first four months of this year will show the trend for the year, but the challenges are aplenty for media,” he asserts.

     

    On the performance of several domains in 2011, Jai Lala, Principal Partner – Exchange, Mindshare said that in terms of Adex, one of the media that stole the thunder last year was television. “In the first half of the Calendar Year (CY) 2011, the medium of television grew as high as 26 percent, which then slowed down to a rate of 16 percent in the second half. So while the average growth for 2011 for television hovers around 20 per cent, 2012 is anticipated to put up numbers in the range of 16 percent. But unlike last year, we expect the first half of CY 2012 to show a slow growth while the second half will manage to show a sudden spurt in growth numbers.”

     

    According to Mr Lala, the properties that will be churning out the numbers for television in 2012 includes cricket – led largely by IPL, reality shows, regionalisation and digitisation. They will be backed by increasing advertiser interest particularly from the sectors of auto, FMCG, finance, IT & ITES, retail, etc.

     

    As for the performance of the other big contributor to Adex – Print, the study envisages a growth of 8-9 percent for 2012. “This is due to the fact that there is going to be a certain amount of demand through elections and the possible bounce-back of certain sectors like auto, real estate, etc who will continue to look at print as a viable advertising option,” states Amin Lakhani, Principal Partner – Exchange, Mindshare. Another factor that will drive the fortunes for Print will be speciality magazines. “Being subscription-based and catering to niche audiences, these magazines will continue to attract the attention of the advertisers as well,” states Mr Lakhani.

     

    Continuing with its solid growth story in 2012 as well, digital is pegged to achieve a growth rate of 30 percent. Apart from servicing the many needs of the online and mobile worlds, marketers are expected to increase their focus on people during the ongoing year. Affirms Mr Ashok Lalla, Leader – Digital, South Asia, Mindshare, “In 2012, the most important media channel that smart marketers will increasingly focus on will not be specific Social websites, TV channels, print publications or radio stations, but it will be People. All the rest of the media mix will be oriented around activating a brand’s audience (People) to be the key driver and proponent of a brand’s communications.”

     

    As for radio, the biggest event that will change the fortunes of the radio industry in 2012 will be Phase 3. According to the study, Phase 3 will help radio owners to drive some incremental revenues. The only stumbling block, the study notes, would be measurement that will have to pan itself to include other cities and towns as well. A growth rate of 11 percent is what is expected out of the medium for 2012, the study notes.

     

    With Out-of-Home, the study notes that the formation of the IOA would lead to standardisation of rates and other operational modalities that will help push for more research into the medium. This effort by the industry would be recognised by clients who will go all out and invest in the medium, it states. “Marketers want to use outdoor as they provide good imagery and high visibility. It has even allowed for newer and better innovations to help advance the sector. Also, outdoor panels, screens, LEDs are now shaping up a new revenue stream which is now getting separately classified as retail. So the medium has come into its own and will continue to grow at a healthy rate in 2012 as well,” notes Mr Lakhani.

     

    Contributing silently but significantly, Cinema will continue to put up good numbers in 2012. The growth projections for this medium would be in the range of 14-15 percent for 2012, the study notes. Sector wise, a large range of advertisers would continue to pursue the medium as an effective advertising option.

     

    ‘The Mindshare Indian Media Forecast 2012’ report is presented by UTV Bindass and being distributed to select marketing and media professionals across the country starting today. If you want to make sure you get a copy, please write to us at editor@mxmindia.com writing MIMF2012 in the subject line. And, yes, while we are sure you’ll find it priceless, it’s not a priced report.

     

  • Disney to acquire controlling interest in UTV Software Communications Limited (UTV) in India

    Ronnie Screwvala to be Disney India MD as Disney, UTV ops to integrate

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) announced on Wednesday that it will acquire, through a subsidiary, a controlling interest in UTV, one of India’s premier media and entertainment companies. The acquisition will be completed through a successful delisting offer and will enable Disney to integrate UTV’s current operations. In addition, UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala has been named Managing Director, The Walt Disney Company India. Mr Screwvala will be reporting to Andy Bird, Chairman, Walt Disney International.

     

    “Increasing our brand presence and reach in key international markets is a cornerstone of our growth strategy. This acquisition expands our footprint significantly and allows us to more effectively build, monetize and brand multi-platform franchises, and deliver a rich library of content to the world’s second largest population,” said Mr. Bird. “We couldn’t be more pleased that Ronnie, with his vast experience and proven track record, will now run our operations in India. Under his leadership, we will be able to deliver more programming on more platforms to this considerable audience.”

     

    As a result of this acquisition and building on UTV’s success in the market, Disney will be India’s leading film studio and will produce both UTV and Disney-branded local films.

     

    UTV is the leading TV producer in India with distribution in 20 countries in seven languages and across 27 channels. Its six owned channels have emerged as the fastest growing cable and satellite network in India. In three years UTV has also become a leading broadcast network in the country. After the transaction, Disney will be one of the leading broadcasters reaching more than 100 million viewers weekly in households across India. Disney will also gain a significant presence in digital media with the addition of UTV’s Indiagames, the country’s number one mobile gaming company, to its portfolio.

     

    “In combining the creative capabilities of each company we will integrate a large stable of vibrant brands and franchises in the branded entertainment space,” said Mr. Screwvala. “With the middle class expected to grow from 50 million to more than 500 million people by 2025, this market offers huge potential for us to deliver quality branded entertainment to consumers,” he said.

     

    Disney currently owns India’s leading kids’ television networks – Disney Channel, Disney XD and Hungama and is the largest retail character licensor in the country.

     

    UTV is a leading media and entertainment company in India reaching more than 247 million consumers with a presence in motion pictures, television and interactive media.

     

  • Last year's cricket World Cup impacted the IPL adversely, but advertisers are hopeful of a better showing this season.

    Better innings for IPL 5?

     

    By Rishi Vora

     

    At a time when India’s economy is slowing down and the advertising-media industry is facing a bit of a setback, the Indian Premier League readies itself for a mega show which, experts believe, will come as a relief to all stakeholders – the broadcaster (Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd in this case), advertisers, sponsors and of course, the franchise owners and the otherwise cash-rich BCCI.

     

    There is a great deal at stake as far as the actual delivery of the event is concerned, with crores of rupees spent by brands on sponsorships and advertising, and the question doing the rounds within the media fraternity is whether IPL season 5 will deliver well on the ratings front.

     

    As Sundeep Nagpal, Director, Stratagem Media, said, “All else notwithstanding, we could do well to consider that Indians are emotional about IPL. It’s almost like it’s a contest for the Indians, by the Indians, even if it’s not of Indians only. So this is good enough to get over any overdose. Secondly, memories of test cricket losses, or Sachin not getting his 100th ton, no matter how sordid, would by then be two months old and have faded by the time the IPL gets under way. Besides that, clever marketing has always propped up the IPL. And if some of our heroes click during the tournament, that would bolster the popularity ratings even further, because let’s not forget, success tastes even sweeter after failure.”

     

    The general sense is that even if it doesn’t match the success of the first two seasons, the event will put up a better showing than last year, where it delivered an average rating of 3.91 across 74 matches, the lowest ever in four years.

     

    The primary reason cited by media planners and observers was that the ICC World Cup and India’s win that contributed to the slump in IPL viewership. It may be recalled that a few advertisers had stayed away from the event last year, having chosen to advertise with the World Cup which had preceded the IPL.

     

    But this year, it’s going to be very different, says Rohit Gupta, President, MSM: “IPL is the single biggest property. So I don’t see any reason for it to not deliver as per expectations. The cricket fatigue or India not doing well does not impact IPL in a big way. It’s a different format altogether. Viewers look forward to IPL every year, for it promises live entertainment.”

     

    Punitha Arumugam, CEO, Madison Media, says, “India’s recent losses and a slowdown in ad spends, especially in the non FMCG segment will impact the advertiser’s sentiment on IPL. However, given the prime time of IPL for over six weeks day after day, we expect the viewership to be sustained.”

     

    Divya Gupta, CEO, Dentsu Media, is even more upbeat: “IPL viewership will not be affected, at all. Consider this – the IPL game and format is completely different. Team performance and outcome can change with every game. And IPL is beyond just India Team performance. It is live entertainment, at its best!”

     

    MSM will be heavily promoting the event, which is scheduled to begin on April 4. Mr Gupta added, “We have marginally increased the ad rates (about 10 per cent). We hope to sell out our inventory well before the tournament begins.”

     

    Though Mr Gupta refused to divulge names of advertisers, industry sources have said that TV screens will be buzzing mainly with players from the telecom sector. Brands like Vodafone, Idea, Tata Photon and Pepsi have agreed to be a part of IPL this year.

     

    Rema Harish, Co-Founder, DoMore Communications, says, “Advertisers may lose out a bit as far as ROI is concerned because cricket seems to have lost its charm among fans in India. There is a sense of fatigue and also the fact that the Indian team has not performed well in the recent past. While advertisers are aware of the risk, they’re betting on IPL because it is the only event in that size, promising greater reach and visibility.”

     

  • Amazon will not sell or buy anything in the country for now. Instead, it will direct customers to both online and offline vendors listed on Junglee

    Amazon enters India via Junglee.com

    By Correspondent

     

    The world’s largest online retailer is tiptoeing into India, using cover from a comparison shopping site Junglee.com it acquired 13 years ago.

     

    Amazon, whose moves have been closely watched for any sign of an imminent entry into the Indian retail market, will not sell or buy anything in the country for now. Instead, it will direct customers to both online and offline vendors listed on Junglee.

     

    Amit Agarwal, vice-president of Amazon, would only say Junglee would “help customers discover products from online and offline retailers in India and from Amazon.com”. He declined to say more about the company’s plans.

     

    Conspicuously missing from the list of vendors on the Junglee site is Flipkart.com, India’s biggest online retailer founded by two former Amazon executives. Flipkart expects to post sales of Rs 500 crore by March 2012. Amazon ended 2011 with revenues of $48 billion (about Rs 2.5 lakh crore).

     

    “Its recent moves to set up a fulfillment centre (in Mumbai) and now the Junglee launch certainly look like precursors to a retail launch whenever the government allows FDI in multi-brand retail,” said Devangshu Dutta, CEO of retail consultancy Third Eyesight. A legal expert at one of the country’s largest law firms said Amazon was making a ‘clever entry’.

     

    Agarwal said Junglee will display over 1.2 crore products and 14,000 brands for Indian consumers. The company has also launched Amazon seller services in India where vendors can hook up to Amazon’s portal to acquire customers.

     

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Headlines Today scores on 2G

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The fault is mine: I got to the television two hours late on Thursday – after the Supreme Court ruling on the 2G licences. The punishment was purgatory: I knew something had happened but I had no idea what. Every TV news channel showed a press conference addressed by the BJP’s Arun Jaitley reacting to the court ruling but no one told us what the ruling was. I travelled up and down the channels that my cablewallah allows me and learnt nothing. Jaitley could have been ranting or talking sense but since I had no context I could not fully appreciate or understand him.

     

    After 10 minutes of fruitless frustration I did the sensible thing: got online and read the latest updates by print journalists. Till Thursday evening, the whole thing was only about “reaction” on television, sometimes from small-time party functionaries and sometimes by bigwigs like Kapil Sibal who had to counter Jaitley with his own spin. One poor reporter even ran after the judge AK Ganguly as he retired and asked him how he felt. The honourable judge ran away as fast as he could. All through the day they broadcast a reaction from some telecom honcho but never told us who he was.

     

    It says something about the way television journalists operate that they cannot explain events or interpret them for viewers themselves. Something as important as this 2G ruling requires reporters and anchors to get all the facts themselves and tell the viewers exactly what has happened before playing the “reaction” game. Also, instead of telecasting every single press conference live in its entirety, they could edit or cut back to studio to explain what was happening mid-way.

     

    Business channels were, sadly, no better since they are all obsessed with the stock market and cannot consider implications beyond that. But one would imagine that the cancelling of 122 licences would have huge impact on their constituencies. I guess one imagines wrong.

     

    The most sensible TV debate on the subject was a surprise – it was not at prime time and it was on Headlines Today. Thanks largely to Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as well as to Sandeep Bamzai, we got a clear idea of the economic and political implications of the judgment.

     

    The rest of debates seem to have the usual suspects who talk about everything – Chandan Mitra, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mahesh Jethamalani, Nirmala Seetharaman, Renuka Chowdhury and perhaps Suhel Seth was there somewhere but I didn’t catch him.

     

    Niira Radia and Ratan Tata were not there.

     

    * * *

     

    This round once again goes to newspapers who explained the matter in every detail from the political implications for the UPA government to the business implications for the telcos to the fortunes of A Raja and P Chidambaram and so on. However, while every newspaper and TV channel said it was 122 licences, The Times of India decided on 121. No idea why.

     

    Most newspaper editorials did raise the question of the unfairness meted out to telcos which were being punished for following government laws. This is a tricky one. It would be interesting to see whether there’s more discussion about the dangers of corporate lobbying and the role played by journalists in getting A Raja the ministry of his choice.

     

    I’m not holding my breath, actually.