MxMIndia

Category: TV

  • The launch marks the 25th season in totality for the franchise in India

    Bigg Boss makes its debut in Malayalam

    By A Correspondent

     

    After launching in Hindi, Kannada, Bangla, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil, reality show Bigg Boss has launched its premiere season in Malayalam. The launch marks the 25th season in totality for the franchise in India. The reality show will be aired on Asianet and hosted by popular Malayalam film actor Mohanlal.

     

    Talking about the completion of 25 seasons of the franchise in India market, Abhishek Rege, CEO, Endemol Shine India said: “Bigg Boss, now in its 7th language and 25th season, is undoubtedly the most popular non-scripted show across the country entertaining viewers from all strata of society. We have come a long way since the launch in 2006. The series has always been well received and has become part of the Nation’s TV viewing culture.  The ongoing appreciation for the franchise, no matter the language is testament to the effort of the Creative and Production teams at Endemol Shine India and their understanding of geographies and of local audiences. The love for the show constantly encourages us to strive to entertain, innovate and engage the viewers’ season after season.”

     

    Asianet will air Bigg Boss Monday through Friday at 9.30pm and on Saturdays and Sundays at 9pm

     

     

  • I&B and Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathorewas chief guest

    Republic awards Indian biz leaders in Dubai

    By A Correspondent

     

    Republic TV conducted a leadership summit and awards to felicitate business achievers in the Middle East. The Republic TV Gulf Indian Leadership Summit and Awards 2018, saw I&B and Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore as chief guest along with Vipul, Consul General of India in Dubai and Surjit Bhalla, Member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Republic editor-in-chief and chief promoter Arnab Goswami and Sameer Manchanda, Chairman, DEN Network.

     

    Speaking at the event, Goswami presented an ambitious map for Indian media worldwide. He asked, ‘Why is it that the robust Indian media cannot produce international content and compete with the BBC and CNN’s of the world? Within the next two years, not later than 2020, Republic TV or any other Indian media must aim to do so. An Indian channel producing world coverage watched by everyone in hotels all around the world like this one in Dubai.’

     

    Added Rathore: “Western perspective is all good but we have had enough of it. We now need Indian perspective of the world. All of you are ambassadors of India overseas and your voice is equally important.’”

     

    Most awardees shared their critical views on the Indian Gulf business relationship and their stories of success with inspiring words and nuggets of wisdom on the panel discussions hosted by Goswami and Republic TV’s Shivani Gupta.The Dubai chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India hosted the event along with Republic TV.

     

     

  • Abhijit Majumder, former Managing Editor, Mail Today, will be its Editor-in-Chief

    Asianet News unveils bilingual media tech platform, mynation.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Asianet News Network announced the launch of its latest bi-lingual media tech platform in English and Hindi – mynation.com. Abhijit Majumder, former Managing Editor, Mail Today, will be its Editor-in-Chief.

     

    Speaking on the launch, Anoop N, Chief Operating Officer, Asianet News Digital, said, “Asianet News Network is focused on creating a compelling digital video content platform. We are the market leaders in South Indian languages. With Mynation, we will disrupt the English and Hindi news segment and deliver technology innovations in video and content distribution. We are excited about this next phase of our growth.”

     

    Added Majumder: “Asianet News Network’s strong brand credibility and presence across the four southern states with strong vernacular teams and deep regional insights provides us the edge to source and deliver content like none other. MyNation can now fully deliver on its promise of being the destination for focused news and video content.”

     

    Added K Madhavan, Chairman, Asianet News Network: “With this launch, Asianet News network gets a head start in the intensely competitive English and Hindi digital news space. We have brands like Republic TV which is the undisputed leader in the English news genre since its launch. With the launch of MyNation.com we look forward to bringing in disruption in the English and Hindi digital news segment”

     

    Said Amit Gupta, Group CEO, Asianet News Network: “At Asianet News digital, we focus on realizing the convergence of high-quality content and technology to deliver superior user experience and engagement. We are building deep domain expertise across board /languages and are excited to welcome Abhijit to lead this initiative. Asianet News Network is working on growing in-organically in Kannada, Telugu and verticals such as sports amongst others to further strengthen its position across all south languages in digital. FY19 will be a year of consolidating Asianet News digital and Asianet News Network as a Media tech entity for advertisers and brands that work with us. With our multi-platform reach across mediums – broadcast, print, radio and digital – and expanding audience segments – National and International Asianet News offers them a significant opportunity.”

     

     

  • The award show is a platform to felicitate small-scale industrialists

    Asianet and KASSIA host second edition of SME Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Suvarna News and Kannada Prabha, which are part of the Asianet News Network, has for the second year successfully executed SME Awards in association with KASSIA (Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association). The award show is a platform to felicitate small-scale industrialists for their un-recognized efforts in their respective segments, be it agricultural equipments, chemical industry, tool making etc.

     

    Said Basavaraj S Javali, President- KASSIA: “KASSIA takes great pride partnering with the Suvarna News to present the “Ujwala Udyami Prashasti-2018”. These are our annual awards and, second in the series, in recognition of outstanding member entrepreneurs in different categories of manufacturing.  We believe that these awards spur entrepreneurs to strive harder to achieve great excellence and are a bench mark for an enterprise of immense achievement and success.”

     

     

  • The channel has never shied away from innovating… clearly not a fad that blew away, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Colors: Ten Years of a Glorious Journey

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    It will be 10 years, to the day, tomorrow (July 21, 2018) from the launch of Colors in India. To say that the launch of Colors has been the most significant TV channel launch in India since satellite TV came in would be stating the obvious. The launch was that and a lot more. Let’s rewind.

     

    The 90s were the fledging decade for Hindi GECs, with a low consumer base restricted to the top urban centres. In 2000, when Star Plus brought in Kaun Banega Crorepati and (what came to be known as) the K-serials, they ‘massified’ television, making it relevant to a wider audience set pan India. By 2005, however, fatigue was setting in fast. Audiences K-serials of the times were fueling negativity in the name of drama. Incidents of marital tension in real-life couples because of what they saw in these serials were not uncommon. Neither were stories about broken remotes.

     

    In 2006, K-serials (and non-K ones of their ilk) widened their net to Zee TV, but it was still more of the same. The ground was getting prepared for a change that will shake up the category. Ideally, one of the top existing players of the time should have done it. But they didn’t, paving way for a new entrant to disrupt and rule.

     

    There was a lot to like about Colors when it launched. The first, and the most memorable, visuals in my mind are from the first week of Balika Vadhu. The show looked nothing like the K-serials. K-serials were generally red-hued and ornate, set indoors, and had a lavish but claustrophobic feel to them. Balika Vadhu was earthy in its tone and hue, its characters spoke a language that was authentic, and unlike anything you saw in the K-serials, its visuals were open and refreshing, even in the indoor scenes. That the protagonist was a child multiplied the differentiating factor further.

     

    Khatron Ke Khiladi (KKK), the tentpole launch vehicle, did its job. In the four weeks it was on air, it set the ground for viewers to sample Balika Vadhu and Jai Shri Krishna, aired back-to-back in the 8-9 PM slot, creating a base of loyal fiction audiences very early in the channel’s life.

     

    But KKK was only the start of the channel’s long and successful journey with non-fiction content. The channel quickly launched Bigg Boss to follow it up. Over this decade, Bigg Boss has emerged as the channel’s flagship non-fiction show. If it was not for Colors, one may have never seen Bigg Boss on Indian television again after the first season on Sony in 2006-07.

     

    With Balika Vadhu, the channel found a content space that it could bank on. It was a curious mix of social issues and child protagonists. Uttaran was the next big success, with some of the episodes touching 7-8% TVR, an unreal number even in those times. While there were other successes too, like NaaAanaIss Des Laado, the channel went a little overboard in trying to replicate its success formula in the 2009-10 period, after it had become a clear No 1 in early 2009. So, when Star Plus came up with its ‘RishtaWohi, SochNayi’ proposition in late 2010, it managed to cease the initiative back.

     

    But Colors was not a fad that would go away. Through the eight years since then, the channel has managed to keep the category leaders Star Plus and Zee TV on their toes, topping them on viewership in several weeks, including currently. This performance has largely come on the back of content outside the traditional fiction space, driven by reality shows and weekend series like Naagin, now in its third season. The channel has never shied away from innovating, and the launch of a live prime-time format Rising Star in 2017 is a testimony of that.

     

    The Colors’ journey is one of many glorious achievement, though there have been the odd disappointment here and there too. I often wonder how this category would have shaped up if this channel had not launched. The answer is that the category would have poorer without Colors. Less differentiated, less vibrant.

     

    Congratulations to everyone at Viacom18 and Colors, who has been a part of this journey, including the founding team, that has moved on since. Hope the next decade is even more remarkable, even more colorful.

     

     

  • The first award is supported by egta, ACT (Association of Commercial TV)

    Rohit Gupta and Sapangeet Rajwant on jury of Venice TV Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rohit Gupta, President, Sony Pictures Network and Sapangeet Rajwant, Senior Vice President, Viacom18 Media are on the jury of the inaugural Venice TV Awards. The award, notes a communique, been launched “as a tribute to television at a time when broadcasting is being challenged by multimedia. It will bring national and international recognition for quality content”.

     

    The first award is supported by egta, ACT (Association of Commercial TV). Categories are Documentary, News, Light Entertainment, Program Promotion, Branded Entertainment, Sport, Children/Youth, Comedy, Performing Arts, Reality TV, Best Of Technical High Quality, Cross-Platform Programming, Best Series, Best TV Movie. A Grand Prix will be given for the best production.

     

    Other than Gupta and Rajwant, the jury comprises leading international TV experts, judging the entries of their peers André Takada, Vice President Creative Services Fox Network, Igor Tavares, Producer TV Globo Brazil; Anke Greifeneder, Director Original Productions, Turner Central and Eastern Europe; MalinHäger, TV 4 Sweden, President of egta; Ute Biernat, Head of UFA Germany; Lothaire Burg, Creative Director, ARTE and Paul Black Independent Director.

     

     

  • ZEEL has acquired the exclusive rights for both linear and non-linear formats for all the seven movies

    Big Ganga collaborates with Ravi Kishan for a 7-movie deal

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bhojpuri channel Big Ganga has joined hands with Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishan in an exclusive seven-movie deal over a period of 2.5 years. As a part of the deal between the two, ZEEL (which owns Big Ganga now) has acquired the exclusive rights for both linear and non-linear formats for all the seven movies.

     

    Speaking about the same, an unnamed spokesperson of Big Ganga said: “Big Ganga offers differentiated and dynamic content for family viewing which resonates well with the masses. With its popular movie slot brands, Ganga Talkies and Family Talkies’, it makes us the only channel to go beyond movies and offer high-quality non-fiction, fiction, devotional content for the region. We have the exclusive rights to some of the biggest titles of Bhojpuri’s Cine Stars. Big Ganga’s movie library is quite vast and garners the highest rated World Television Premieres in the market. The 7-movie deal with Ravi Kishan Productions is a step towards bringing in Bhojpuri cinema to newer audiences and continue to grow the industry with compelling storylines. We are confident that each of these movies will resonate well with the audience and provide a push in the right direction to the growing demand for Bhojpuri cinema.”

     

     

  • ABP Sanjha is ANN’s exclusive news channel in Punjabi, and for Punjabis, in Canada

    ABP Sanjha launched in Canada

    By A Correspondent

     

    ANN has launched its Punjabi news channel, ABP Sanjha in Canada. Launched in partnership with Parvasi Media Group, ABP Sanjha is ANN’s exclusive news channel in Punjabi, and for Punjabis, in Canada.

    Said Avinash Pandey, COO, ABP News Network: “There has always been a very strong demand from the Punjabi community in Canada, for a channel which not just informs them about their homeland, but rather connects them back to it. This was evident to us through the fact that ABP Sanjha was already very popular on the VoD platform. And now with ABP Sanjha available 24×7 on both cable & online platforms, we are confident that the Canadian Punjabi community will finally get the content it has always desired and deserved.”

  • It will be unfair if the pioneers satellite TV distribution get marginalised, writes Indrani Sen

    Cable Operators Up in Arms

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Recently, cable operators have raised an objection to the new tariff order issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as they feel that the new directives would have more negative impact on their business. The All Cable Operators Association of India (ALCOAI) has brought their problems to the notice of TRAI in writing twice during the last one month. The Association claims that the cable operators have suffered losses running into crores in the last financial year due to the promotion of the OTT platforms by the broadcasting companies and the consumers taking advantage of the alternative viewing options.

    In its tariff order, TRAI has directed broadcasters to declare the maximum retail price (MRP) and nature of all their channels within 60 days from the date of notification issued on 03.07.2018.  However, there is no directiveon the tariff rates for telecasting the same programme content on internet via over the top (OTT) platforms. As per the current rules, the broadcasting companies can stream the channels on internet without having to worry about the tariff order or any permission from the government for downlnking the content.

    The ALCOAI has pointed out that due to technological changes, they have lost first a significant share of their customer base to Dish TV operators and more recently to OTT platforms, particularly after the launch of JIO leading to fall in internet data rates.

    The Association claims that according to information available with them, most of the OOT and IPTV operators have neither got permission from Indian Government to provide services in India nor are they registered as Distribution Platform Operators (DPO) by the I&B Ministry.  In this connection ALCOAI has citied an old notice of the Ministry of I&B dated 23.12.2015 restricting the broadcasters from giving access to their signals to any non-registered distribution platform operators. The cable operators have also claimed that pornographic content and non-permitted channels are being distributed without any regulatory control through the OTT as well as IPTV services.

    These allegations by the cable operators are serious if they are found to be correct. Our media lawmakers need to investigate into the complaints ASAP and take corrective measures.  However, it is difficult to believe that any prominent OTT/ IPTV player would start their services without completing the required legal formalities for operating in India. The consequence of such actions would be leading to legal actions against them with financial implications.

    Earlier this year, we learnt from media reports that TRAI was planning to regulate online video streaming platforms by inviting consultants’ views on the same. The sooner TRAI introduces such regulations would be better for all concerned. The technological changes which are sweeping over the global markets cannot be stopped or stalled by introducing media regulations. So, TRAI needs to ensure a fair playing ground for all the different types of operators involved in the distribution of the content of the broadcasting organisations as well as independent video content competing with the content of TV channels. TV will be enjoying the highest share of the advertising expenditure pie for quite a few years to come. It will be unfair for the cable operators, who pioneered the distribution of satellite TV channels in India,  if they get marginalised in the process of TV distribution through legal rigmaroles.

     

    Indrani Sen is a veteran mediaperson and educator. The views here are personal

  • Initiative will handle the entire media portfolio of both Dish TV and Videocon d2h including digital

    Initiative wins media mandate for Dish TV

    By A Correspondent

     

    Initiative, the global full-service media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, has been awarded the media mandate of Dish TV India Limited. Dish TV India has two brands under its umbrella, Dish TV and Videocon d2h and Initiative will handle the entire media portfolio of both brands including digital.

     

    Speaking on the partnership, Anil Dua, Group CEO, Dish TV India, said: “The growth of the media and entertainment industry in India is dishing out new and exciting opportunities for us. Our strategic partnership with Initiative would enable widespread reach of our communication effectively to every part of the country. With Initiative’s overall media strategy especially in the digital ecosystem, we look forward to reach our current and potential customers with relevant messaging in the best manner possible.”

     

    Added Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Medibrands: “We are very excited to have Dish TV India with us. The Direct-to-Home industry is growing at a good pace in India especially because of the government’s digitisation mandate. As the largest player in the industry with their strong brands like DishTV, d2h and Zing along with several new initiatives that they have planned. DishTV is poised for a great future and we are delighted to partner them in this phase of the journey.”

     

     

  • Our Progressive Web App gives users the best of both worlds on mobile devices, says Vikas Khanchandani, CEO of Republic TV

    Republic World launces progressive web app

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vikas Khanchandani

    Republic World, part of Republic TV’s umbrella brand, has launch a Progressive Web App (PWA). Said Vikas Khanchandani, CEO of Republic TV: “Republic World has always been a trendsetter instead of a trend follower. We have always been the forerunners to present users with content and technology that they find valuable and easy to use. In line with this philosophy, we have become India’s first news brand to launch one of India’s lightest mobile apps. Our Progressive Web App gives users the best of both worlds on mobile devices. PWA will especially be useful for our viewers in Tier II & III towns who are looking for ways to access high-quality news and stay informed about the latest happenings in and around the country & world.”

     

    Ben Morrell

    Added Ben Morrell, General Manager, Asia at Brightcove:  “Republic World has been a game changer in the India market since their launch last year and they continue to look at new ways to continuously bring world class user experiences to their site, and the implementation of PWA only serves to elevate its position as India’s most innovative English news brand online.”

     

     

  • Together with the armed forces, the young protagonist fights against the enemies to protect the motherland

    Discovery Kids pays tribute to the Armed Forces this Independence Day

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery Kids will premiere special content dedicated to Indian Armed Forces this Independence Day. The premiere of a 90-minute special episode of Little Singham titled ‘Desk Ke Sipahi’ will be showcased at 1:30 pm August 15.

     

    Said Uttam Pal Singh, Business Head, Discovery Kids: “Little Singham- Desh ka Sipahi is a very special story. This Independence Day we want to Inspire and ignite the feeling of patriotism among kids and pay tribute to the Braveheart’s of the nation.”