MxMIndia

Category: TV

  • The series starts November 26, Sundays 10pm on Star World & Hotstar

    Star World Originals to air crime documentary series on the Talwar family

    By A Correspondent

     

    We reported on Monday about the interview of Aarushi Talwar’s parents scooped on Hotstar.  It was actually a teaser to ‘The Talwars - Behind Closed Doors’, Star World’s maiden investigative crime documentary.

     

    The four-part series will air on Star World and Hotstar beginning November 26, every Sunday at 10 pm.

     

    The series has been produced in association with HBO Asia and created by executive producer Sarah MacDonald. Also associated with the project is Emmy winner Miikka Leskinen.

     

    Said a Star India spokesperson in a communique: “At Star, it has always been our endeavour to present differentiated content that strikes a chord with our audiences. We’re proud to present yet another Star World Originals production, this time in partnership with HBO Asia. The Talwars - Behind Closed Doors focuses on the destruction that one night of violence in May 2008 wreaked in the Talwar household. The series echoes the sentiment of the country on whether the pieces of the puzzle will ever fall in.”

     

    Now one wonders why the Star India spokesperson would want to remain unnamed. That’s a question which MacDonald should address next.

     

     

  • With a target of 3 billion viewers in 5 years, Zee unveils a new corporate identity and its intent to be a dominant global force

    Zee’s new credo: Extraordinary Together

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s all over the frontpages of the mainline dailies.

     

    The Zee group has embarked on an all-new corporate identity, and as a first, it has thanked its peers – Sony Pictures Networks, Sun TV Network, Viacom 18 and Star India – for their support to help achieve their dream. “In the last 25 years, we have broken new grounds, scaled new heights and explored new horizons in media and entertainment. This would not have been possible without the support of our peers, with whom we share a common dream of entertaining the nation. We acknowledge with gratitude their contribution in realising this dream. Here’s to all of us. And to our extraordinary future. Because together, we can make extraordinary happen

     

    The Zee group – the entertainment, digital, news, music, live entertainment, movies – all of them together – now have a new common corporate credo: Extraordinary Together. While it embodies the earlier credo of ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’, Sanskrit for ‘The world is one family’, the new corporate philosophy has a firm eye on the achievement of a three billion consumer base. This growth from a 1.3bn audience currently over the next five years would mean that Zee will aggressively spread its tentacles across the globe.

     

    In India too, there are plans to grow the franchise. In broadcast for instance, there will be variants of vanilla GECs, and the spread will be across Southern languages… for instance in Malayalam.

     

    The Zee group had invited the media for a press meet with many of its senior professionals in attendance. Also present were three representatives from films and theatre.

     

    Speaking on Zee’s new corporate brand ideology, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL said: “Our Chairman, Dr. Subhash Chandra’s vision and pioneering efforts caused a revolution in the country 25 years ago. Over time, Zee has evolved from a television broadcaster into a media and entertainment conglomerate with businesses spanning across the spectrum, from broadcasting to music, movies, digital, live entertainment and theatre, providing an extraordinary range of entertainment to audiences around the world. Our new brand ideology – ‘Extraordinary Together’ is rooted in the philosophy that from collaboration comes strength to deliver the extraordinary. In a global company like ours with interests across diverse verticals and businesses, we believe that our ability to win lies in us being able to effectively come together and harness this strength to be extraordinary in the market.”

     

    Throwing light on the company’s growth plans, Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL said, “With the vision of becoming the world’s leading global content company from the emerging markets, content is our core focus area and our primary objective is to create extraordinary content for all types of audience across different screens and platforms. Digital is a key focus area and we are soon to launch our revolutionary digital platform, Z5 in the next few weeks.”  There was much discussion on Zee’s digital foray and Amit Goenka also informed mediapersons that an all-new digital platform named Zee5 will be unveiled soon.

     

    The new identity has been designed by London-based designer Martin Lambie-Nairn, Creative Director, ML-N. Lambie-Nairn had also designed the Zee group brand identity that’s visible on the channels and all their communication.

     

    Said Lambie-Nairn: “Twenty-five years is celebrating what you’ve achieved and far more importantly, understanding where you are going, rethinking the brand purpose and considering how to address your audiences in the future. Before conceptualising the new brand identity, our first step was to understand this rich legacy of Zee, unravel where the viewer aspirations and expectations are headed, and then arrive at the brand purpose and ideology that is future-ready. This helped us create a truly global brand architecture that would be easy to operate across genres, businesses and countries and more importantly, introduce magic into it. With this vastly diverse bouquet of brands and businesses that Zee owns, it was necessary to have a golden thread that runs through all the businesses – an elegant and monolithic design language that links the organisation together and inspires to create the extraordinary.”

     

     

  • Star Sports 1 Kannada, with its rich line-up of sports properties, will help bring Kannadiga sports fans closer to their favourite sports

    Star Sports now also in Kannada

     

     

    In less than a year after launching a Tamil channel, Star Sports has unveiled Star Sports 1 Kannada, a dedicated Kannada sports channel.

     

    The calendar includes live events such as the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Premier Badminton League (PBL) etc.  Said an unnamed Star India spokesperson in a communique: “Sports is more engaging, enjoyable and thrilling, when it is watched in a language one speaks. Our strong presence in Karnataka has helped us understand how Kannadiga sports fans like to consume sports content. Kannadigas possess an inherent sporting quality of resilience and an undying desire to always win. Star Sports 1 Kannada, with its extensive line-up of popular sports content, is a resolute step towards bringing these Kannadiga fans closer to their favourite games and heroes.”

     

    sssqA promo campaign was launched to support the launch of Star Sports 1 Kannada.

     

     

  • Packed with the latest in technology and innovative features, the Republic World App binds digital, TV and media

    Republic celebrates 6 months with an app and a breaking story on it

    By A Correspondent

     

    Top-rated English news channel Republic TV has launched its Android mobile app, six months after the channel launched on May 6. The iOS app is likely to be released by the month-end. In the now trademark Republic TV style, the leaked letter written by Congress president Sonia Gandhi were put up on the app early evening.

     

    Said Republic World COO Jay Chauhan, who helms the channel’s digital front: “Since our inception earlier this year, we’ve been focused on newer ways of driving engagement with our content and delivering the best possible user experience. That’s reflected in our strategy to invest in amazing technology and content teams, produce live and VoD content in mobile specific aspect ratios, our choice of the tech stack and a host of other interactive and personalisation features part of our product pipeline.”

     

    Added Republic TV Founder Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami: “Republic has been on superfast expansion spree – we launched the channel in May, the website in July and now the app in November. We also launched in the Middle East & North Africaon Nov 5. With the app, Republic has established itself as a media -tech company which reflects in our new tagline – Republic- Digital. TV. Media.”

     

     

  • Refreshed identity and programming to be unveiled by Maharashtra Chief Minister

    Network18 rebrands IBN Lokmat to News18 Lokmat

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Network18 Group has renamed its Marathi news channel as News18 Lokmat. The channel will unveil a new brand identity and logo along with a refreshed on-air look. The channel’s digital presence will also be revamped with the launch of a newly designed website news18lokmat.com.

     

    Speaking on the re-launch, Avinash Kaul, Managing Director, A + E Networks | TV18 and President – Strategy, Product& Alliances – Network 18, said: “As part of the overall rebranding strategy of the News18 regional channels, IBN Lokmat now changes to News18 Lokmat. The Marathi viewers have reposed their faith time and again in the quality of Journalism that IBN Lokmat has to offer and this same unmatched credibility of the brand is now being carried through to a new brand News18 Lokmat. With a new line up of shows and the induction of fresh seasoned anchors, the channel has reworked its content strategy catering to all cities, towns and villages of Maharashtra.”

     

    The new logo will be unveiled by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the channel’s flagship event called ‘Agenda Maharashtra 2017’.

     

     

  • The channel adds impetus to its existing brand ethos 'Kuch filmo ka jadu kabhi kam nahi hota' by giving it an emotional touch

    Sony Max2 unveils latest campaign cherishing human relationships

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sony MAX2, the second Hindi movie channel from Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), rolled out its new TV campaign highlighting its brand creddo, ‘Kuch filmon ka jadu kabhi kam nahi hota’. It is conceptualised by DDB Mudra.

     

    Said Vaishali Sharma, Senior VP Marketing and Communications, Sony Max and Max2:“Max2 as a brand has always celebrated human emotions and relationships. In the over- cluttered Hindi movie genre, we want to continue to differentiate our brand positioning – ‘Kuch filmo ka jadu kabhi kam nahi hota’- through our TVC.  A few films have had an impact on us and still continue to touch our lives in more ways than one Sony Max2’s rich heritage inspires the beautiful equation shared by the father and son in the TVC. Cherishing human relationships, the TVC conveys the message that the memories of some movies run parallel to human emotions.”

     

    Added Rahul Mathew, National Creative Director – DDB Mudra added: “There’s something about a good story. It stays with you and becomes a big part of your memory. Quite like the films of yesteryears. And with the ‘YaadRahega’ campaign weÂ’ve always tried to tell stories that stay with you.”

     

     

  • The Middle East & North Africa​ launch happens as the Arnab Goswami-owned channel completes six months

    Republic TV ​to launch in MENA on Nov 5

    By A Correspondent​

    English news channel ​Republic TV​ has announced its first international launch in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA​) ​with OSN, the pay-tv provider​. The launch happens on OSN Pehla, on November 5, barely six months post its launch in India in May 2017. OSN, short for Orbit Showtime Network, is a direct-broadcast satellite provider serving the Middle East and North Africa regions. It currently offers Pehla Variety and Pehla Prime packs to subscribers.

    ​Said ​Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani​: ​“The demand from the market has been over whelming and we are extremely delighted to bring Republic TV to the audiences in MENA through OSN.  We will also look to create original content specific to the MENA markets in due course and Priya and her team will be offering advertisers the most impactful news media platform reaching discerning audiences in the region.”

    Added Priya Mukherjee​, President of Distribution and International Revenues​, Republic TV​: ​“Since our inception earlier this year, Republic TV has strived towards widening the reach of our cutting-edge content. While we successfully executed the reach of Republic TV across all households in the fragmented Indian cable distribution ecosystem during the first ​six​ months of the channel, our next target would be to reach audiences across the world. Our launch in the MENA region is our first foray in international distribution and we hope to expand our reach further with audiences around the world soon.”

    Commenting on the launch, Emad Morcos, Chief Content Officer, OSN said: “We are excited to have Republic TV available on OSN. Since the channel’s launch earlier this year it has generated a buzz in the Indian media for its unique and popular content. With Republic TV, we hope to reach the large Indian diaspora in the MENA region

  • The 10-episode show will air on TLC and will feature experts joining Ronitaa Italia-Dhanu and her team in providing designing solutions

    Worldwide Media to launch ‘The GoodHomes Show’ on TLC

    By A Correspondent

     

    Worldwide Media has announced the launch of its third television show ‘The GoodHomes Show’, conceptualised by its design and lifestyle magazine brand GoodHomes India. The GoodHomes Show will mark the entry of the magazine into television content production. The show will bring to the viewers a premium home makeover experience. Presented by Hafele India Pvt Ltd and powered by Vector Projects, the makeover series will feature 10 episodes, each showcasing the transformation of a different area in each home with design solutions custom-planned by the editor of the magazine Ronitaa Italia-Dhanu and her style team. No, the show will not air on a Times Network channel like Zoom or Movies Now or even Times Now, but TLC.

     

    Speaking about venturing into television production, Deepak Lamba, CEO, Worldwide Media said: “Our legacy brands have constantly evolved with newest and unique offerings across genres with different formats. With the launch of The GoodHomes Show, this will be our third television venture and we look forward to replicate this innovation and firstmover advantage across our brands. We have a bouquet of leading lifestyle and entertainment brands at world wide media, that have relevant content for diverse categories. we will continue to provide meaningful associations to our partners across sectors, and video content will be a core part of our offerings.

     

     

  • DishTV continues its legacy of enhancing subscriber experience by providing such unique services

    DishTV introduces Dance Active Service

    By A Correspondent

     

    DishTV has set the stage for aspiring dancers of the country to pursue their passion by launching the new Dance Active service on their platform. Powered by ‘Dance with Madhuri’, Dish TV’s Dance Active service will provide 100+ hours of dance content.

     

    Speaking about the new service, Anil Dua, Group Chief Executive Officer DishTV said: “DishTV stands for quality and commitment, and being the largest DTH brand in the country, we believe in providing a wide range of content and services to our subscribers and enriching their experience. The launch of Dance Active service is yet another step by us to enhance our value added services (VAS) portfolio and cater to a wider audience set. Having received very positive response from our earlier active services, we take immense pleasure in announcing the launch of this service which will offer an opportunity to the subscribers to learn and indulge in the magic of dance simply through their television screens.”

     

    Commenting on the launch of Dance Active, Sukhpreet Singh, Senior Vice President, DishTV said: “Dish TV is the largest platform which enables subscribers to go beyond entertainment and actively pursue their passions. DishTV’s partnership with ‘Dance with Madhuri Dixit’ provides a fascinating opportunity for subscribers to learn from and match their steps with some of the best choreographers in the country. We are happy to have collaborated with MsMadhuri Dixit and her magnificent team as Madhuri Dixit is a renowned personality of Bollywood and an iconic dancer in India.”

     

     

  • India's tour of South Africa marks the return of the Indian team to South Africa after a gap of three years

    India’s tour of South Africa to be broadcast on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3

     

     

    Sony Pictures Sports Networks (SPSN) will broadcast India’s tour of South Africa with the first Test match commencing on January 5, 2018. The tour that comprises three Tests, six ODIs and three T20s will be played across five venues in South Africa.

    Viewers can also look forward to the return of ‘Extraaa Innings’, the network’s flagship live studio show, during the series. Some of the panellists and commentators that have been confirmed for the upcoming tour include Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, MuraliKartik, HarshaBhogle and Jonty Rhodes.

    India’s tour of South Africa marks the return of the Indian team to South Africa after a gap of three years.

  • From one line to five lines of business and three channels to 44… Viacom18 has come a long way

    It’s a Perfect 10 for Viacom18!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    On November 6, 2017, Viacom18 completed a decade of existence. And to celebrate the occasion, a mother-of-all-celebrations was held at Mumbai’s National Sports Complex of India on Friday.

     

    Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani was in attendance. As were upwards of 4000 members of the media and entertainment fraternity. Ambani spoke after Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats addressed the gathering. A gesture that received many accolades also saw many moved was Ambani thanking Network18 and Television18 founder Raghav Bahl, the folks at Viacom and the founding team. And given that every ex-staffer was invited to the party, the statement received a huge round of applause. In his speech, Ambani promised devoting more time from his busy schedule to Viacom18. That’s a birthday gift from me, he said while underscoring the potential for the entertainment sector in the digital age.

     

    Earlier, Vats said:: “In my mind, we are a 10-year-young future-focused organisation that continuously challenges status quo. Unlike legacy players we have often entered new areas much later and yet carved out a distinctive identity for ourselves. We are proud of our ability to nurture and manage a multi-brand, multi-platform and multilingual network while growing at a blistering pace and fostering a winning culture based on a shared set of values. 10 years ago it would have been hard to imagine that a three=channel, Rs 80crore network would mushroom into a profitable full-play Rs 3100crore media powerhouse that has spread its wings across 80 countries. That said, our journey has only just begun. Kudos to our team for creating magic time and again for our fans and audiences.”

     

    To mark the occasion, Viacom18 unveiled its corporate brand film titled ‘Open New Worlds’. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary, the group also announced two major developments – Colors Tamil will be launched in February 2018 while OTT platform Voot’s subscription-based premium offering will be launched by mid-2018. In keeping with its focus on regional entertainment, the network plans to offer digital original regional content on Voot and dial up its thrust on regional movies as well. The network is also aggressively dialing up its play in the kids ecosystem, where from just television content, it has now taken its homegrown characters to the silver screen, to millions of digital screens via Voot Kids, merchandising and even to live experiences. Viacom18 also announced its latest social change campaign, in partnership with The Nudge Project, to provide livelihood training and job placements to underprivileged youth, through residential programmes. Viacom18 has also started a crowdfunding initiative through Milaap.org so that likeminded citizens can contribute to this cause.

     

    Open New Worlds, notes a communique, articulates the reason the brand exists in the lives of people, brought alive through Viacom18’s decade-long engagement with over 500+ million  Indians. The brand film, conceptualised by Leo Burnett Orchard and produced by Offroad Films, explores how Viacom18 has been encouraging everyday Indians to explore possibilities, push their own boundaries, embrace opportunities and challenge norms. The narrative of the film is carried forward through a melodious title track sung by celebrated singer Jubin Nautiyal.

     

    A decade ago, Viacom18 was formed as an equal joint venture between global entertainment giant Viacom Inc. and  Network18, with three channels – Nick, MTV and Vh1. The network launched its marquee GEC Colors in July 2008 that raced to occupy the #1 rank within nine months of launch. The rest as they say is history.

     

    The Viacom18 Story:

  • Dabur Red Paste is the presenting sponsor of the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2017 which will be ‘powered’ by Jolly Rancher in association with Yellow Diamond and Funskool

    Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2017 on Dec 15

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nickelodeon is set to kick off the awards season with the ‘Kids Choice Awards’ that gets kids by providing them with an opportunity to vote for their favorites across multiple categories. The property has roped in a slew of sponsors – Dabur Red Paste, Jolly Rancher, Yellow Diamond and Funskool – for the awards which will happen on December 15 at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.

     

    Speaking on the third edition of the awards, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Business Head, Kids’ Cluster, Viacom18 said: “At Nickelodeon, we have always believed in empowering children and giving them an opportunity to voice their choices. It is with this belief that we started KCA and with each passing year, not only have we dialed up the connect with our young audiences and their parents but also have exponentially increased the propertyÂ’s appeal to the advertising community. This being Viacom18’s 10th anniversary year, and Nickelodeon being one of the founding brands the network launched with, KCA will be bigger, better, louder and slimier than ever before!”

     

    Added Harkawal Singh, Head – Marketing (Oral Care), Dabur India: “Through Nickelodeon and KCA, Dabur Red Paste plans to further spread the message about dental hygiene. Also to educate children about best oral care practices with a focused and specially crafted campaign along with some fun and entertainment.” KCA 2017 is being promoted through a 360-degree marketing campaign.