MxMIndia

Category: TV

  • Sidharth Bhakti airs 19 new shows

    Sidharth TV Network launched, four Odia channels by year-end

    By Our Staff

    Sidharth Bhakti, the second devotional channel of Odisha, has been launched on April 1. Two more channels from the group – Sidharth TV (GEC) & Sidharth Gold (Music & Movie) will be on air from May 2021. The fourth channel of the group will also come by end-2021.

    Sitaram Agarwal
    Sitaram Agarwal

    Sitaram Agarwal, who had been a brand in the entertainment industry of Odisha since four decades launched their TV channel Sarthak TV in 2010. Sidharth Bhakti is the second devotional channel of the State, the first having been launched 11 years ago. Noted a communique: “The channel airs 19 new shows, of which some are really unique like ‘Dharmayudha’, ‘Bichitra Ramayana’, ‘Sabda Brahma’, ‘Bhakti Sangam’ and many more, to open a new gateway of refreshment for the seekers of devotional entertainment.”

  • The Ogilvy group agency handled the creative mandate

    82.5 campaign for ABP Nadu

    By Our Staff

    After its success in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh, ABP Network has entered Tamil Nadu with a Tamil news offering – ABP Nadu. 82.5 Communications, which currently handles the creative mandate for ABP Ananda, ABP Majha, and ABP Studios, bagged the additional mandate to launch ABP Nadu. The Bengaluru office of 82.5 will be managing the business.

    Said Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Chairman & CCO, 82.5 Communications India: “We are proud to be ABP’s trusted partner in communication. And delighted they have reaffirmed their faith in us with this new opportunity for ABP Nadu. What makes it all the more meaningful for us is to be able to create work that reflects our motto of ‘ingenious Indian ideas’.”

    Added Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network: “We are thrilled to be strengthening our partnership with 82.5 Communications, with the launch of ‘ABP Nadu’. Their contribution has been instrumental in adding value to our network’s regional offerings. Encapsulating the virtues of Tamil language, literature, and culture, ABP Nadu will provide top-notch content in the realm of news and entertainment to the discerning viewers and digital users of Tamil Nadu. I’m incredibly excited about the potential this unlocks for us, as we build our association with newer audiences. Being a leading broadcaster, ABP Network has entrenched itself into the culture and ethos of all the regions it serves and we are confident of doing the same in the Southern market as well.”

    Said Naveen Raman, Senior Vice President and Branch Head – South, 82.5 Communications India: “This association reflects our strength as a truly Indian agency and the hyper local approach we take. In a category like NEWS, we need to be extra careful in marrying the brand’s purpose with the local flavour. The idea was to lead with the Tamizh pride yet not let go ABP’s core values. Language is one of our strengths as an agency. We handpicked a core team that understands this market and can think in Tamil.”

     

     

  • Launches ‘Celebrate the Oscars’ and ‘Oscar Blockbuster’ festivals

    Star Movies rolls out red carpet for Oscars, yet again

    By Our Staff

    Having aired the biggest awards in filmland for over two decades, Star Movies has rolled out the red carpet for the 93rd Academy Awards by ‘Celebrating The Oscars’ festival yet again.  Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD will showcase a range of iconic Oscar winning films.

    With 24 distinct categories, the 93rd Academy Awards will be telecast live exclusively across Star Movies, Star World, Star Movies Select and Star World Premiere at 5:30 am and repeated at 8:30 pm on Monday, April 26, 2021.

    The ‘Celebrating The Oscars’ and ‘Oscars Blockbuster’ festivals will air some of the worlds’ most critically and commercially acclaimed films like Avatar, Life of Pi, Titanic, Boss Baby, Predators, The Toy Story Series, Gladiator, and many others.

  • Designed to “democratise access for new subscribers” to enjoy the Eid release

    Zee5 with ZeePlex offers combo pack for Salman Khan’s Radhe

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee5, together with ZeePlex, has announced a special ‘Radhe Combo Offer’ to make Salman Khan’s upcoming Eid release, ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’, accessible to the masses. The special one-year offer, available at a price of Rs.499, will give viewers the opportunity to watch the film on Zee5 with ZeePlex.

     

    Said Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, Zee5 India: “Salman Khan’s films are thorough family entertainers which appeal to audiences across demographics. ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ is one of the biggest releases of the year and we are proud to launch this on ZEE5 in a multi-format model.  A Salman Khan film with its mass appeal becomes the perfect choice to launch our specially designed annual value proposition of ₹499/-, to unify India and Bharat through our shared love for films. We will bring 50+ more theatrical releases, and 40+ original shows throughout the year on ZEE5, and hence this is the most attractive value proposition for a user to buy the Radhe Combo offer and get ready for the biggest entertainment extravaganza of 2021 in OTT spaces. Together, this will allow us to cast a wider net into the country by tapping into newer audience segments and continue our core proposition of being the Multilingual Storyteller for a Billion Indians by democratising access to purposeful entertaining content.”

     

     

  • The proceeds will be utilised to aid relief efforts and procure healthcare equipment

    Star pledges Rs 50 cr for Covid fight

    By Our Staff

     

    The Walt Disney Company and Star India have pledged financial support of Rs 50 crore towards the ongoing Covid-19 relief efforts in India. The announcement was made through Star India’s Twitter handle.

     

    The communiqué further mentioned: The proceeds will be utilized to aid relief efforts and towards the procurement of critical healthcare equipment, including oxygen concentrators, BiPAP, and ventilators along with setting up oxygen plants across hospitals. This is in addition to INR 28 crores that The Walt Disney Company and Star India contributed towards Covid-19 relief in 2020. In the endeavor to create awareness around Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB), the Star India network has been running an awareness campaign through Public Service Announcements (PSA). The Company will also continue supporting relief efforts through its Disney Employee Matching Gifts program, wherein for employee donations to pre-approved charitable organizations, the Company will match the amount.

     

    Said K. Madhavan, President, The Walt Disney Company India and Star India, through a Tweet: “We stand in solidarity with all of India in our fight against Covid-19. The Walt Disney Company and Star India are humbly contributing INR 50 crore to aid relief efforts. The need of the hour is to provide critical healthcare supplies and equipment to save lives. This is our common fight and our contribution reaffirms our steadfast commitment to India, and builds upon the INR 28 crores that our Company contributed towards Covid -19 relief in 2020.”

     

  • Veteran film-maker, storyteller and content strategist writes an open letter to the ecosystem

    Time to change, dear TV networks, channels & advertisers/agencies!

     

     

    By Vinta Nanda

     

    Vinta NandaMy massive appeal to all the television networks and channels.

     

    I’ve been knocking on most of your doors since 2012, begging all of you to take behaviour change communication seriously, use the power you have on captive audiences all over India to motivate them to follow best practices.

     

    We’re in a state of emergency.

     

    People in rural India are frightened and don’t know what to do in the present crisis brought by the #Covid19outbreak of the #secondwaveofcoronavirus.

     

    Please, please rework your stories to communicate and inform them about how to handle this terrorising moment in time.

     

    Stop your mad rush for #TRPs and slip in stories that’ll inspire people to manage their lives, save themselves from anxiety and mental health issues.

     

    Tell them how to deal with isolation and quarantine when they encounter symptoms.

     

    My young colleague who was compelled to leave the city for his village last year when the pandemic struck has been telling me horrific stories from his village where nothing is accessible.

     

    Almost the entire village is sick and he’s already lost one family member while the others are struggling.

     

    This is one village in #UttarPradesh – imagine what’s going on in lakhs of villages across India!

     

    They’re gripped with fear and lack of available resources.

     

    Most of them don’t have electricity for long hours because a small storm plays havoc with the wiring held up on dodgy poles.

     

    But, at the slightest chance they get, they watch your serials and swear by them.

     

    I beg all of you with utmost humility – leave everything aside and find your drama in what people are experiencing today.

     

    Feel free to call me, I’ll help all of you out, I’ve worked on behaviour change communication through storytelling from my first series #Tara onwards.

     

    I’ll help you guys find the balance between entertainment and information.

     

    And to my friends and colleagues in the advertising industry – it’s time for you to tell your clients that you’re not going to do crap on their behalf just to add wealth to their already super-rich organisations.

     

    Stop backing powerful producers, self-appointed schlock-stirrers just because they have investors backing them.

     

    Go to storytellers, put your weight behind them and just see the difference you will make in the world.

     

    Let stories drive you instead of you driving stories to suit your marketing strategies.

     

    You won’t be ever able to forget that those are people who were alive yesterday, now floating lifeless in our holy rivers.

     

    They were flesh and blood a few hours ago, they were loved by their families and communities.

     

    Please, please guide the power you wield to spread love, hope and be compassionate in whatever you put out, in the name of creativity, in the universe.

     

    Most of you don’t need me because you already know what to do, but yet I’m just a call away.

     

    Please, please put everything aside and do this from right now.

     

     

    Vinta Nanda

    Tel 9820040680

     

  • Good old linear TV may end up being the saviour after all. But even that will take some doing, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Covid Impact: A Fast-Drying Content Pipeline

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    The devastating second wave of Covid-19 in India has brought with it various lockdowns, being managed by the various state governments individually. A direct impact of lockdown-like restrictions is the inability to produce video content, such as TV shows and films. In any case, the fear of the second wave is real and palpable, and many actors and technicians are wary of being on sets. The much-touted IPL bio-bubble bursting last week does not inspire confidence either.

     

    We are hence staring into an inevitable situation of a hugely-constricted content pipeline. This time, the problem is worse than 2020, because the reluctance to venture out is not just law-enforced but a result of caution being exercised at an individual level too. Since one cannot shoot in Maharashtra, many TV shows have shifted their base to other states, e.g., Gujarat, where the lockdown is partial in nature. But the caution is evident when you notice that despite IPL season being indefinitely suspended, launch promos of not a single new Hindi GEC programme have gone on air. Channels are just about managing their existing line-ups, and would rather not have more on their plates right now.

     

    The situation gets a lot more complex when it comes to films and OTT content. Outdoor shoots are a given in most projects in these categories, and that involves extensive travel, even if one limits the crew size to the minimum possible number. As a result, there is hardly any film or OTT content being shot currently, in Hindi at least, as a result.

     

    Even when the second wave subsides over the next month or two, complications related to vaccine shortfall and the inevitable third wave will continue to disrupt life. One cannot expect things to return to even late 2020 levels till a sizeable population in India is vaccinated. And that’s some time away.

     

    We can, hence, expect a huge content shortfall, especially in theatrical and OTT genres. The signs are already evident. Over the last two months, there have hardly been any big-ticket OTT properties that have gone online, despite a large section of the core OTT audience being locked down at their homes. What is coming out is largely the second line of content. A lot of big-ticket content is semi-produced, and will need at least a few more weeks of work before it’s out for public consumption.

     

    2020 was OTT’s breakout year in India, with a huge surge in subscriber bases and watch-time across platforms. 2021 looks far less so. The theatrical business was just about beginning to get back on its feet, before the second, more debilitating blow came its way.

     

    Good old linear TV may end up being the saviour after all. But even that will take some doing. It may be time to go retro with your content consumption once again, but this time out of no choice.

  • With Distro TV and pivots to OTT and smart TV as streaming overtakes Pay TV in UK

    Republic expands footprint in UK

    By Our Staff

     

    Republic TV, which is already available on Hotstar and Yupp TV in the UK market, has now added Distro TV pivoting to digital, OTT and smart TV distribution to serve the diaspora in the UK market.

     

    Commenting on the strategy, Vikas Khanchandani, Group CEO, Republic Media Network said: “Republic TV is a news media technology company and has been the front runner to make its streaming services available across smart phones and connected TVs with its partnerships with OTT, OEMs and Telco platforms both within India and globally. The pandemic has accelerated streaming TV consumption driven by news & sports.  It’s an opportune moment for us to pivot our strategy in the UK market as streaming is outpacing pay TV in UK.”

     

    Added Priya Mukherjee, COO – India Distribution head and International markets:  “The channel has performed much ahead of legacy players, reaching a peak of 421K and maintaining an average reach around 200K in the last quarter during the pandemic. Many platforms have approached us given the leadership position and the loyal audiences we built in the UK, in such a short time.  Our Distribution Capabilities, give us an opportunity, to approach each market differently and we are looking at all possible models that are best suited to our expansion plans.”

     

  • To continue delivering thought provoking shows

    Zee Telugu completes 16 years

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee Telugu has achieved a milestone. It has completed 16 years of operations this month. Since its inception on May 18, 2005, the channel has been curating content to serve the needs of Telugu audiences.

     

    Said Anuradha Gudur, Telugu Cluster Head, ZEEL: “It has been a tough year for people and businesses alike but there has some good news with vaccination being accessible soon to most of the citizens, we hope to see some positive change. Having said that, it is still very important to stay at home and break the chain. Every one are doing their bit to maintain a friendly distraction and Zee Telugu has successfully brought families together with the varied content offerings in the last one year. In such an age, it’s a challenge for a GEC to stay relevant, but throughout our journey, we have reinvented our content to suit the palate of the changing times. We have been steadfast in offering our viewers what they want to see along with adding new perspectives to the series by delivering thought-provoking shows. Zee Telugu Kutumbam came together to pay tribute to the every ardent viewer of the channel since its inception through Zee Mahostavam. We want to thank every viewer and urge them to stay home and be safe to fight against Covid-19 together.”

     

  • As AVP Social Media

    Planet Marathi appoints Jayanti Waghdhare

    By Our Staff

     

    Jayanti Waghdhare
    Jayanti Waghdhare

    Journalist and former Zee Media employee Jayanti Waghdhare has joined Planet Marathi as AVP, Social Media.

     

    Added Akshay Bardapurkar CMD, Planet Marathi: “We are happy to welcome Jayanti as the face of Planet Marathi’s social media. For this was a position that needed a fresh perspective, in-depth understanding of how the media industry works, and an insightful content creator all bundled in one! We want to keep a close connection with our audience and with Jayanti onboard, we will be able to forge these connections effectively!”

     

    Talking about her career move at Planet Marathi, Waghdhare said: “Having worked as an entertainment correspondent I have formed a deeper relationship with this industry. From television to films and from regional to Bollywood, my endeavour has been to bring the action from the industry to spotlight. In this process I have grown as a journalist and a person. With Zee I have experienced every facet of media and communication that gave me recognition. But now I move on to become the face behind the camera in propelling Planet Marathi OTT- World’s first Marathi OTT platform towards greater heights. I am grateful to Akshay for this opportunity.”

     

  • Will take charge of creative, digital, and media mandates for the brand

    Blue Buzz roped in again for Mind Wars TV series

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee Entertainment’s Mind Wars has announced that it has retained the marketing and communication mandate with Blue Buzz, the full-service integrated marketing agency, for the second consecutive year.

     

    Blue Buzz will be taking charge of creative, digital, and media mandates for the brand. This association aims to amplify the brand’s presence across all platforms.

     

    Said Umesh Bansal, Vice-President, Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd:  “In line with our vision of making young India smarter and encouraging playful learning methods, Mind Wars is gaining rapid momentum across geographies in the country. 2021 is going to be an even more exciting year for the brand, and we are confident about the expertise and integrated solutions Blue Buzz will bring in for spearheading this next phase. We look forward to taking this partnership to newer heights and explore innovative ways of brand engagement in the year ahead.”

     

    Added Neha K Bisht, Co-founder, Blue Buzz: “It has been a great journey working with ‘Mind Wars’ for the past one year. Adopting a distinctive storytelling approach, we have always focused on achieving our client’s business goals and position the brand for long-term success.  We will be using this opportunity to showcase the team’s unmatched skills of prodigious strategies that aggravate the presence of the brand across platforms. ‘Mind Wars’ has consistently entrusted us with the brand’s marketing mandate, and we are certain of putting our best foot forward to set new benchmarks together.”

     

  • #HumHongeKamyab campaign film in support of the Indian contingent at Olympics Games Tokyo 2020

    Sony Pictures Sports Network unveils film backing Olympic team

    By Our Staff

     

    Leading celebrities and personalities from different walks of life have come together to kickstart the Victory Punch Campaign and wish the Indian contingent for the prestigious Olympics Games Tokyo 2020.  #OlympicsJosh gathers pace as days draw closer to Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to be broadcast LIVE from 23rd July to 8th August 2021 on Sony Six, Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3 #HumHongeKamyab

     

    Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, has joined hands with official broadcaster Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), to support the Indian contingent traveling to Tokyo with #HumHongeKamyab #OlympicsJosh.

     

    Notes a communique: “Through the campaign, SPSN aims to invoke a sense of national pride and bring the country together as well as inspire both viewers and athletes who are preparing to make their mark on the most prestigious sports event, Olympics Games Tokyo 2020. The various initiatives and campaigns for Olympics Games Tokyo 2020 were conceptualized and created in-house by the SPSN team.”