Sun TV Network has partnered with HOOQ, a premium video-on-demand service in a multi-year deal.
HOOQ has recently entered into the Indian market with over 30,000 hours of movies and TV series and will now carry Sun TV’s library that includes a mix of super hit films from Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages. The content catalogue includes titles 3, Jilla, Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kanaom, Neram, Kazhugoo (New), Sundara Pandlan, Mankatha and many more.
S L Narayanan Group CFO commented on the occasion, “We are excited about the possibilities arising out of our association with HOOQ, a digital distribution platform of impeccable lineage. Sun TV holds a large library of blockbusters and timeless classics with enduring appeal.â€
“We are proud to partner with Sun TV Network. Their extensive library with titles from Tamil to Malayalam will help us ensure we have something for everyone in India†said Pete Bithos, Chief Executive Officer of HOOQ. “More importantly, we want our customers to continue to enjoy the largest and best catalogue of Hollywood and Indian content of any service available today†he added.
Not surprisingly, the news has been filled with the Sheena Bora murder case. The accusations, allegations and investigation details as they have emerged have been weird, bizarre, unbelievable and diabolical. They also involve influential people and that gives the story extra oomph.
But it is in cases like this that the media often gets the most flak. The Aarushi Talwar-Hemraj murder case was a watershed moment for the media. While there were congratulations for the re-focus on the Jessica Lal murder, the media went to town with implied motives in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder, encouraged by police and later CBI speculation about sexual orgies, incest and several other sexual relationships. The sanctity of forensic evidence also went for a toss as TV cameras showed the whole world and its uncle clambering over the crime scene.
Have we learnt anything since then? Apparently, yes. The police for one thing have been more circumspect about releasing both information and crackpot theories. Rakesh Maria, Mumbai’s media-savvy and well-seasoned police commissioner is personally handling the case. And most of the wacky unbelievable stuff being has been coming from the family itself.
Let us also not forget that Peter Mukerjea, the current husband of the murder accused Indrani Mukerjea, was once the head of Star India and perceived to be very close to Rupert Murdoch. He was at the time one of the most powerful men in India. He and Indrani were also very high profile. When they started 9X together, it was a massive media event. Pradeep Guha, ex-Bennett Coleman, ex-Zee, was also going to be part of it. The news channel NewsX was to be headed by a star team led by Vir Sanghvi. The subsequent collapse of 9X was equally controversial and caused tremors through the media. All the more reason for the media to focus on the case.
But the facts alone are enough. So far we have a woman accused of murdering a sister who is actually her daughter. Her current husband denies all knowledge of everything. The couple’s driver said his boss and one of her former husbands (not the father of the victim) were co-conspirators in Sheena’s murder. The “lady accusedâ€, as Maria calls her, also had a son who she presented to the world as a brother. He makes all manner of accusations against his mother including that they were abandoned by her. The victim and her stepfather/brother-in-law’s son from an earlier marriage were in a relationship. Her sister/mother disapproved. This caused all manner of friction. The father of the abandoned brother and sister has not yet spoken out. This one paragraph ought to be enough to explain just how compelling and incredible the story is.
The media from that perspective has no option but to follow this story. As usual some newspapers will be better and some will be worse than others. Some news channels will go into overdrive. But so far, most channels have had the same news. There has been some speculative reporting but how can there not be? However as usual, the panel discussions or debates or tamashas have been most questionable mainly because this is where gossip and uninformed judgment masquerade as profundity. The funniest of all was on Barkha Dutt’s show on NDTV when various high profile women and has-beens sat in judgment over Indrani Mukerjea with nary a thought of their own pasts. So be it. The story is juicy enough.
On another “discussionâ€, a guest pointed out that the media had to cover the story because how else will people know? Indeed. A stellar thought that one wishes media critics would ponder on!
There will be the usual carping about how the media did not carry this or that. However, it is also true that if the media did not cover this story there would as many counter allegations.
As it happened, I also read about and saw on TV, in the same evil biased media, stories on the Patel rally in Gujarat, the subsequent violence, the army being called out. Also on the data of growth by religious community in India. Narendra Modi’s anodyne comments on violence. On the status of the One Rank One Pension protests. Rahul Gandhi wandering about here and there. The launch of the GSAT-6. Usain Bolt’s remarkable 200m dash to gold at the World Championships in Beijing. Should I bore you with any more news that has been available to us aside from the Sheena Bora murder?
As usual, the same people who complain about what the media did not cover use links from media sources to prove their point.
Please turn the page with an exasperated huff or change the channel if it annoys you that much. But I for one am going to keep watching this unbelievable murder case unfold: my vicarious self has beaten my self-righteous, sanctimonious, incessantly grumbling high moral horsie self in this case!
Okay, so after the first one or two weeks of BARC data, we are now bringing you the lowdown on all channels, as provided by the BARC, the joint industry body of key broadcast stakeholders for audience measurement.
We were reluctant initially to provide this as it’s topline data and is available on the BARC website and even via tweets. However, given a request from some channels and our readers, we are presenting these.
In the coming weeks, we hope to be able to provide more information.
Please note that the source is BARC, so it’s official. And we are publishing it as is, there’s no human intervention. You may, if you’d like, also visit Barcindia.co.in to reconfirm the numbers. We would also advise subscribing to the data, if you aren’t doing so already, because it’s only then that you can actually appreciate the viewership data.
Online grocery store BigBasket.com has roped in actor Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador for an undisclosed fee. The company announced it through a series of tweets on Saturday.
“We’ve got a brand new look! Experience the all new Big-Basket!†the tweets said. This was followed by another- “Shah Rukh Khan is a BigBasketeer! What about you?â€
Vipul Parekh, co-founder of BigBasket, declined to give the financial details of the deal. “The endorsement fee is under NDA (non-disclosure agreement), so I may not be able to give you an accurate figure. However, it is not as little as we would have liked and not as much as what everybody believes it to be,†he said.
It was reported earlier that actors Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan are learnt to charge  Rs 8-12 crore annually for e-commerce endorsements, which is 20-25% higher than rates for some well-known offline brands they currently endorse.
“We have selected SRK because of his universal appeal, which cuts across age, gender and geography. For a mass market national brand like Big Basket, that was very important since we appeal to an equally wide audience,†said Parekh.
“SRK has the ability to get into the skin of the character and embody it with a lot of believability. We felt it was important that people could relate to the Big Basket brand ambassador.†The company is doing a campaign that covers all channels — print, TV, outdoor and radio.
“We will be breaking our television commercials featuring SRK next week and expect to make a significant impact on our business with them. We have a long-term contract with SRK which is renewable annually. We expect him to be a consistent brand icon for us,†said Parekh.
Khan is also the face of online fashion etailer Yepme.com, which is currently running #iamfan contest on its platform to promote the upcoming film ‘Fan’, in which the actor has the lead role.
DishTV has announced a tie up with Hungama to launch Music Active. The active service will enhance DishTV’s portfolio in the field of VAS and music and provide unlimited music to its subscribers.
Catering to the need of Bollywood music lovers and the other streams of music such as devotional, western, and pop music Music Active will have a good mix of Bollywood hits and Bollywood retro. Simultaneously reaching out to the music lovers of other genres, Music Active will also have international hits, international classics, devotional, ghazals, Bhojpuri, Kannada Hits, Tamil Hits and Carnatic Hits. Customers of this active service will be able enjoy uninterrupted music as unlike music channels. Music Active is completely ad free. Another important advantage for music lovers would be unlike music apps, there will be no buffering of the songs leading to steady entertainment.
The service is available at an introductory price of Rs.35 till 31st October and will be priced at Rs.45 starting 1st November’15.This audio service can be availed by a simple missed call on 18002700096. The service is available free of cost from 27th Aug – 6th Sep (10 days). Music Active will be available on channel number 671 on DishTV.
Speaking on the occasion, Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, DishTV said, “Being a pioneer and market leader, it has been our constant endeavor to make television viewing a wholesome experience for the entire family and to increase affinity with our audiences by providing them the choice of content they would like to watch. DishTV has always taken the lead in enhancing the value proposition and believes in providing the maximum and the best in entertainment to its subscribers. We are delighted to tie up with Hungama for launching Music Active, with the launch of Music Active, we are continuing with our legacy of offering another unique service for our consumers who are inclined towards music and will have this great opportunity to enjoy music of all genres in the close comfort of their homes.â€
Siddhartha Roy
Speaking on the occasion Siddhartha Roy, CEO of Hungama.com said, “Music Active co-launched by Hungama and DishTV will bring uninterrupted and ad-free music to subscribers. We are proud to associate with the DTH service as we bring subscribers their favorite music across 10 different genres ranging from Bollywood, Regional, devotional to International, etc. I am certain that DishTV subscribers will enjoy grooving to Bollywood, regional and international music’s most popular hits and retro tracks only on Music Active.â€
Hike messenger, one of India’s fastest growing Internet companies, announced the launch of their biggest ever brand campaign that aims to reach around 200 million consumers. The brand campaign rollout comes on the back of the launch of biggest ever productupdate, hike 4.0, which is 5X faster and loaded with over 10 new features.
The campaign with its tag line ‘Got a Gang? Get on hike’ aims at showcasing the ‘World of hike’ by bringing alive groups of friends and asks consumers to create their own gang on hike and experience the fun & spice that the product features can bring to their social conversations.
The 18-week long campaign that runs across TV, print, digital, radio and outdoor will showcase new features like ‘Sticker Suggestions, Free Calling, Group Chats with over 500 people, Multi-type file transfer up to 100 MB, enhanced privacy options, photo filters &doodles and much more. Each product feature & its benefit are brought alive by a different group of friends shown in different situations, with a storyline that makes the campaign fun to watch.
Speaking about the campaign, KavinBharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, hike messenger, said, “”Got a gang? Get on hike. Succinct and clear. Our goal with this campaign is to highlight those quirky groups that you cherish so much in your life and how that world would be so different, better and more expressive in so many ways in the world of hike. This campaign truly brings out the all the great things about the latest version of hike, hike 4.0, which is a big step up from where we’ve been. We can’t wait for India to see it.â€
“The all-new hike, with its unique features, is an intelligent messenger in the world of instant messengers. Our campaign aims to bring alive the fun that these wonderful features can bring to social interactions and conversations. ‘Got a gang? Get on hike.’ is an inescapable invite from the world of hike to join in and have fun,â€Â commented GV Krishnan, President – Lowe Lintas.
To engage with consumers in India and make messaging more relevant hike also announced that along with the campaign, it will be releasing special sticker packs for all major festivals in India starting with Rakhi, thatfalls on the 29th of August. Consumers can access Rakhi sticker packs on the hike app, which is available for android users on the Google Play store and Apple users on the iOS App store.
The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) have signed a joint agreement for the first time, AAAI President MG Parameswaran and IOAA Chairman N D Mehta announced recently.
The overall objective of coming together is to help the outdoor advertising industry in India grow in an organised and regulated fashion, to ensure that proper systems and processes are followed and timelines adhered to, as well as commitments honoured on both sides, Parameswaran said. He added that a suitable mechanism will also be set up to penalise defaulters, with a view to preventing future defaults and bringing everybody in line with policies and good practices. Alongside all this the agreement will also focus on regulating and disciplining advertiser behaviour in matters concerning outdoor trade, agency remuneration, corporate governance and adherence to payment deadlines.
A special feature of this agreement is that the advertiser will not be allowed to shift their business to another agency until dues of the earlier agency are cleared. Mehta mentioned that IOAA, on its part, has also embarked on an ambitious project to conduct viewership studies on OOH, initially in the major cities. Further, it will ensure 100 per cent listing of all sites with a unique ID number, in a scientific manner, for the benefit of all concerned. The AAAI is the official, national body of advertising agencies, which protects their interests by promoting professionalism and sound business practices between advertisers, agencies and various media.
The IOAA, registered as a not-for-profit company, has been actively promoting legal media and ethical, best practices among outdoor media owners.
Thomas Pulliyel, long-time President of IMRB International, retires today (August 31). The IIM Calcutta graduate began his career with the Operations Research Group and first joined IMRB in 1981 as Manager for Overseas Projects, and a decade later, became Senior Vice President. In 1992, he moved out to Research International India as Country Manger, but was back at IMRB in September 2000 for a second stint. Friends, colleagues and even business rivals fondly remember the ‘strong and silent’ Pulliyel, and how he took the organisation to new heights.
Dorab Sopariwala
The Al-Futtaim group had asked IMRB to set up a market research unit for them. Thomas spent a year there and I spent the first and the last month. So that’s how I came to know Thomas; you needed to get to know him a bit, before he would open up to you. We were trying to see how we would run this company, and it was only through extensive discussions, that we could work. He would come back in the evening and work till eight pm. I don’t know how we managed for food and such. — Dorab Sopariwala, Consultant and Advisor to NDTV
Sunil Karve
I could trust Thomas very much. He is very straight and there are no lies or false claims with him. He helps you along even if you make mistakes, and is always there to support you. When he started Research International in 1992, nobody knew about it. It was a tough and challenging task for him at the time because there was IMRB and MARG, which were the biggies out there, along with MRS and others. I think that he built up an extremely good team, and the work ethics and output were the main reasons for the success of RI. — Sunil Karve, Partner at Autumn Leaves, Innovation and LLP, Varenyam Consulting
Partha Rakshit
I still remember the first Board meeting I had with Thomas. Everybody says that he is a man of few words. I found that this was, indeed, his way, but he could also be very firm. I can tell you that if Thomas has got something into his head, you cannot convince him to change his mind. It’s quite difficult to do that. But I think he was a great partner to work with. I think we got on pretty well, and I think of the time when even though we were fierce competitors on the outside, we had a fantastic relationship. — Partha Rakshit, Proprietor, Partha Rakshit Associates, and former MD for South Asia, The Nielsen Company
Colvyn Harris
I think the values of IMRB are the values of Thomas. When you think of Thomas, he is a strong, silent type of person. The leadership values of IMRB and the way Thomas conducted himself for the IMRB company, is what has kept the company where it currently is. — Colvyn Harris, Executive Director of Global Growth and Client Development at J Walter Thompson Company??
Eric Salama
Thomas has given all the freedom to his people to make their own decisions and even guided some of them over the years. He was always incredibly protective of IMRB – the company, the brand and the people within. He had a paternal instinct towards people and is incredibly patient. Incredibly also, he took both failure and success in his stride. I knew Thomas when he was at Research International, and he has been the heart of an industry that has grown [around him]. I can think of so many clients, so many competitors and so many colleagues who have worked for IMRB at one stage or another. As a talent magnet and a talent machine, IMRB has produced some of the most special people in the industry. Not just one or two people, but at scale, and Thomas has been at the heart of all that. — Eric Salama, CEO of Kantar Media
Preeti Reddy
It is always easier to take over a company which is not making money; where everybody hates the boss and hate each other. Fortunately, we are a growing company where everybody loves Thomas and he is a legend, so you can understand how much harder Thomas has made it [to hate the boss]. I would say that it is a huge legacy. Thomas has nurtured it for 15 years, but it is a 45-year legacy. IMRB has defined the industry and you have heard everybody talk about that. In a sense, it is actually giving the industry credibility. So it is a privilege to carry that legacy forward. I think that he epitomises the values of IMRB and, again, many people have said that. I think IMRB is what Thomas is, and he has been a mentor to not just me, but so many people. I’m hoping he will continue to be somebody whom we can turn to, in good times and bad, in the years to come. — Preeti Reddy, SVP & President-designate, IMRB International
This story first appeared in dna of brands dated August 31
Cricket rules, you can ask any Kabaddi captain this, and he or she would rue that despite all of the promotional efforts, cricket scores the highest. Thus, Sony Six has put up a noteworthy performance thanks to the airing of the India-Sri Lanka Test series, as per an analysis of TAM Media’s analytical arm – the S Group
As is evident in the above table, Sony Six saw a sharp rise in its viewership in Week 33 leading the channel to gain the leadership position in the genre. The major reason for the leadership was airing of the India-Sri Lanka Test from August 12 to 15. Week 34 saw the channel drop to a close second position in the sports genre as data for only three days of the second Test was available.
The viewership from match airing alone contributes to more than 60% of the viewing on the channel with a GRP of 12 and 10 in Week 33 and Week 34, respectively.
Overall the match was able to reach out to 8.05% & 6.98% of audience in Week 33 and Week 34, respectively.
Hungama Digital Services has brought on board Surya Narayanan as the Head of Business.  Surya comes in with over 12 years of experience of having worked across geographies in countries like India, Indonesia, Kenya and West Africa. Besides digital marketing, Surya has the experience of working in traditional creative agencies including JWT and Leo Burnett.  Announcing his appointment, Carlton D’Silva, CEO and CCO, HDS, said, “Surya has made the perfect and successful transition between traditional and digital advertising. Not only does he have a great business mind but he is an ideas man too. This is quite a rarity and it is this business & medium knowledge that Surya will bring to HDS to enable us to reach greater heights and wins moving forward.â€
Surya has developed and executed campaigns for leading brands such as McDonald’s, Diageo, Standard Chartered Bank, Vodafone, Safari.com, Airtel and AEGON.
“After having worked in various online and offline agencies in India and abroad across the last 12 years, it’s good to be back home. I am very excited to work with the young and dynamic team at HDS. It would be my honour and privilege to work with Carlton and the talented team at HDS. Looking forward to apply the learning of the past decade in this new challengeâ€, said Surya Narayanan on his joining HDS.
Prior to HDS, Surya was the General Manager, West Africa for Squad Digital based out of Ghana. Outside a regular workday, Surya loves to read, watch movies and enjoys his coffee.
So how long did it take for news channels to prove me wrong in my defence of their coverage of the Sheena Bora murder case? One day? Two days? I still vigorously defend the decision to cover the murder – surely one of the most intriguing and compelling in recent times – but the manner of coverage? O my sweet lord!
I understand that many of us fancy ourselves as crime-solving detectives. And apparently a good number of us imagine ourselves to be psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists as well. Because it was not just the prime time debates but also the all-day broadcasts which have anchors, reporters, random guests and members of the general public all attributing motive as well as diagnosing the prime accused, Indrani Mukerjea.
Television, sadly, is the worst culprit here. Again, it suffers because it puts its news-gathering process on camera. In a print or web journal, the reader does not know how you got your information and while this means that reporters do not become world famous in their neighbourhoods and their mummy-daddy’s friends, it also means that they do not become notorious. There were times, watching the coverage, when you felt you were in a movie about how bad the paparazzi and an intrusive media can be. This reporter from Times Now chasing after Sheena Bora’s boyfriend and or step-brother or step-nephew Rahul Mukerjea at Mumbai airport is the best example of how not to practise journalism. Or, at any rate, not to share it on air for viewers to be impressed with how low you can sink.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sinr35K4UJo
Of course tabloid journalism exists and has a massive following. Let us not fool ourselves that the human race is only concerned with the philosophy of the Upanishads, Plato and Wittgenstein. Anyone who tells you that is a liar and not even a good one at that. The worst of human nature fascinates everyone. But speculation about why someone did what they did is not journalism. It’s drawing room conversation and water filer gossip. And it’s not good journalism, no matter how much it sells.
However, thanks to the media we have found out more about the Mukerjeas, Boras, Khannas, Dases, Rais and their friends than we perhaps know about our own families. We have seen the lure of media fame entice friends, relatives, colleagues into sharing their tiny titbits of information and conjecture and for all we know, downright lies, about the Boras and Mukerjeas. Senior and not-so-senior journalists who worked with the Peter and Indrani Mukerjea have told us what they think of them and shared their experiences. We have also heard from every single person whom Sanjeev Khanna ever had a drink with at the CC&FC in Calcutta.
I want to make it clear that there is no moral high ground here for any of us, especially the media which by its very nature trawls the garbage heaps of humankind. But there is a way of going about this which is not so downright foolish. Arnab Goswami’s nightly courts border on the hilarious, if only because they have become caricatures of themselves. NewsX has been rivalling Times Now with its judgmental hysterics. These so-called high society grande dames, with enough skeletons in their own closets to rattle a few medical college storerooms, sitting on judgment in TV studios is another farce. To me in fact it exposes journalism’s biggest downfall – to have insufficient background information on your sources or public faces. The psychiatrists and psychologists who are happy to come on TV to diagnose the accused, without ever having met them, is nothing but outright publicity-seeking. This includes former police officers, some of whom had terrible track records when in office. These high-powered members of the public showcase themselves as desperate publicity seekers – and not so different from those they seek to condemn.
Newspapers meanwhile have moved on and the Sheena Bora case no longer dominates the front pages. My one beef here (if I am still allowed to use that word) is with the Times of India’s Dehradun edition which did not think the good people of North India needed anything but cursory information about the horrifying assassination of Kannada scholar and writer MM Kalburgi. That is criminal stereotyping of your readership, especially when the news of his death is all over news channels.
We don’t know whether you would consider this news good or bad.
But here’s a fact: despite all that some of us may say about the Arnabification of television news, he rules the English news space. He dominates cooler conversation and college canteen chatter. His Newshour clearly sets the agenda for what India chats about the night and morning after.
The other day, one overheard this conversation between two professionals on a Mumbai-Bhubaneswar flight. “Arnab dekha. Kya chutney banaya woh guest ka!â€
We now have data to prove that when there’s no Arnab Goswami on Times Now, viewers go elsewhere.
We also requested BARC on looking at how other English news channels fare when Arnab is also absent. Interestingly viewers do move to other channels, though that’s not the case in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space where the absence of Kapil Sharma may have impacted Colors, but didn’t see other GEC ratings leapfrog.
Go through the slide show. And, yes, Times Now may as well call itself ‘Arnab Now’.
By Ranjona Banerji
