MxMIndia

Category: TV

  • Its flagship talkshow is called Majha Katta

    ABP Majha celebrates 15th anniv

    By Our Staff

     

    Marathi news channel ABP Majha, from the house of ABP Network, has completed 15 years on air. ABP Majha was launched on June 22, 2007, as Star Majha and later renamed as ABP Majha.

     

    Its flagship talkshow Majha Katta, which started in 2012, recently completed its 10 years with a special on-ground conclave – Majha Maha Katta. Notes a communique: “ABP Majha has also taken up various social causes. It’s extensive programming on issues like Draughts, Dowry, School Education, Swachh Maharashtra, Digital Maharashtra, Farmers and Agriculture and COVID management have earned support and backing of their viewers. ABP Majha has also partnered with NGOs like CRY and UN bodies including UNICEF, to organise donation drives like Bappa Majha Dukhharta Balkancha and a special drive with UNICEF to support the families affected by the pandemic.”

     

     

  • To be hosted by director Rohit Shetty and Thums Up as sponsors

    Colors to launch ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi 12’

    By Our Staff

     

    Colors is back with the 12th season of its premier show ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’. It will be hosted by director Rohit Shetty and is produced by Endemol Shine India.

     

    Said Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18: “At Colors, it has been our continuous effort to deliver variety content through our fiction and non-fiction properties.  In the reality entertainment segment, we have pioneered different genres over the years that include dance, singing, talent, voyeurism, and we are once again delighted to bring back our action-based show Khatron Ke Khiladi. Last season the show broke significant records by becoming the no.1 Non-Fiction show in the Hindi GEC space and has received immense love from the viewers and sponsors alike. The excitement amongst the fans is palpable and we are looking forward to a super, action-packed new season,”adding: “We are elated to continue our partnership with Maruti Suzuki as our presenting sponsor, and welcome on board  ‘Charged’ by Thums Up as the powered by sponsor along with Ching’s, Amazon Prime and Hershey’s Kisses as the associate sponsors.”

     

    Added Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18: “Khatron Ke Khiladi presents a unique blend of action and entertainment that the viewers so eagerly look forward to every season. We are thrilled to return with another power-packed and adventurous season with the action maven Rohit Shetty as the reining host. He has been an integral part of the show and he will be adding his personal touch and expertise to some of the featured stunts. The new season will have many adrenaline-surging stunts performed by 14 feisty and popular mix of contestants. This time the contenders will be seen exploring new arenas of Cape Town  which will test their mental and physical tenacity like never before.”

     

    The show will air on Saturdays and Sundays at 9pm.

     

  • He will continue to report to Bhupendra Makhi  Director and Chief Financial Officer, 9X Media

    Himindraa R Saxena takes charge of 9X Media distribution

    By Our Staff

     

    Himindraa R Saxena
    Himindraa R Saxena

    9X Media’s Senior Vice President  Finance Himindraa R Saxena has taken additional charge of distribution for the Network. Saxena has been associated with the network for over 15 years. He will continue to report to Bhupendra Makhi  Director and Chief Financial Officer, 9X Media.

     

    Commenting on his additional charge as distribution head, Saxena said: “I feel honoured to take the additional charge of distribution at India’s largest music television network! Distribution plays a crucial role in the success of any television channel and in case of FTA channels the right placement and reach become extremely important. My priority as distribution head is to ensure better reach and connectivity for all our channels.”

     

  • It will be part of the Telekom Malaysia Berhad (unifi TV) plaform

    Sony Yay launches in Malaysia in Tamil

    By Our Staff

     

    Sony YAY has launched on Telekom Malaysia Berhad (unifi TV) in Tamil with a total of seven popular kid’s entertainment shows including Sab Jholmaal Hai (Honey Bunny), Guru Aur Bhole, Taarak Mehta Ka Chhota Chashma, Kicko & Super Speedo, Paap-O-Meter, Prince Jai aur Dumdaar Viru and HaGoLa.

     

    Notes a communique: “Sony YAY! is expected to tap into the prominent Tamil-speaking population of the region which comprises a total of 1.8 million people – the third highest in the world, after India and Sri Lanka. Considering the significant size of the Tamil-speaking audience in this region, the launch is a perfect opportunity for the channel to extend its content offerings to an expanded audience base across the South Asian market. With notable titles and the top two shows such as Sab Jholmaal Hai (Honey Bunny) and Paap-O-Meter, Sony YAY! will cater to the Tamil-speaking audience of Malaysia along with the Indian diaspora of the region which accounts for close to 6.8% of its population. The launch of the channel in Tamil on one of the largest platforms Telekom Malaysia Berhad (unifi TV) is further set to aid the channel in terms of reach and access. Sony YAY! will be accessible to the subscribers of unifi TV under the Varnam Plus Pack and the Ultimate Pack.”

     

  • Highlights the latest trends prevailing in smartphone industry

    Zee5 Intelligence Monitor unveiled

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee5 has launched the fourth edition from its knowledge series ‘Zee5 Intelligence Monitor’ offering the latest trends prevailing in the smartphone industry.

     

    The research discovered that more than 50% of smartphone users in the metros are planning to replace their gadget within the next six months, quite a departure from the earlier behaviour where it was triggered from declining handset performance. The post-Covid trend is to grab the latest model; with latest features’ scoring well above price as the key motivator. Consuming the exciting and wide variety of content on OTT apps is another new driver for this upward movement.

     

    Launching the report, Rajiv Bakshi, Chief Operations Officer – Revenue, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, said: “By deep diving into the smartphones segment, we have unearthed amazing new insights on  user behaviour which can lead the brand marketers to attract millions of customers eager to upgrade and replace their smartphones. We hope this report will act as a guidebook for marketeers and smartphone brands and serve to be distinctive for the industry at large. Marketers and business leaders can use these findings to make smarter business decisions and hyper-target campaigns utilizing the ZEE5 platform to connect with audience in 12 languages.”

     

  • SPN will be allowed to showcase all Video on Demand content for its viewers

    Sony acquires broadcast rights to World Athletics Championships Oregon22

    By Our Staff

     

    Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the media rights for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, which is scheduled from July 15 to 24, 2022, in Eugene, Oregon, United States. This deal will give SPN rights to broadcast the upcoming edition of the World Athletics Championships on its sports channels across India and the subcontinent, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka The association will also allow SPN to showcase all Video on Demand content for its viewers.

     

    The World Athletics Championships Oregon22, will be live telecast across SONY TEN 2 channels in India as well as livestreamed on SPN’s premium OTT platform, SonyLIV. For India, Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra will lead the country’s charge

     

    Currently, former long jumper Anju Bobby George’s bronze in Paris in 2003 is the only medal won by an Indian athlete at the World Championships. The nation will be rooting strongly for the contingent and hope to extend the medal tally in this outing.

     

  • To focus on developing Integrated Communication Strategy

    Grapes bags mandate for Zee Media

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee Media Limited has appointed Grapes as its integrated creative partner. The account won after following a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced by its Delhi office.  The mandate includes Zee News, one of the leading Hindi news channels in India, and the other channels under the Zee Network realm such as Zee Business, Zee 24 Ghanta, Zee 24 Taas, and Zee Digital which includes brands like Bgr. in, bollywoodlife.com and India.com.

     

    Speaking on the development, Anindya Khare, Marketing Head, Zee Media, said: “It is our pleasure to associate with Grapes. The agency has a strong foothold in the market. We look forward to reaching our consumers effectively. The decision to choose Grapes to handle our Integrated Creative Duties was decided based on the intensive pitch where the agency outshined given to their compelling, creative and engaging plan of action. It was completely in sync and united with our strategically devised creative approach.”

     

    Added Shradha Agarwal, CEO & Co-Founder, of Grapes: “It is a proud moment to have a brand like Zee Media as our client. We are quite pleased to have them on onboard. We look forward to building a strong communication base for the network across platforms. We are quite enthralled with the association and will relentlessly help them in building a strong bond with their audience. Considering that Zee Media is one of the largest news networks in India, we strive to amplify its presence and reach amongst the audience with our holistic communication approach that relates to the ethos of the company.”

     

  • For a social media poll-led adventure travel-series

    MTV India partners with Hyundai

    By Our Staff

     

    Viacom 18’s youth entertainment brand MTV along with Hyundai is set to launch a social media poll-led adventure travel-series. Called ‘Hyundai x MTV What’s Your Venue’, the series will decide the journey of each influencer duo as they set out to explore cities with their travel companion the new Hyundai Venue.

     

    Commenting on the collaboration, Anshul Ailawadi, Head – Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18, said: “Through ‘Hyundai x MTV What’s Your Venue’, our audiences will decide the influencers’ adventures via social media polls. As a youth entertainment brand, we are redefining entertainment by putting our audience in the driver’s seat and making them a crucial part of the show.”

     

    Added Tarun Garg, Director (Sales, Marketing & Service), Hyundai Motor India: “As a progressive and youth-oriented brand, we are glad to collaborate with MTV India for this new travel & lifestyle adventure series set in motion for the young Millennials and Gen Z to experience the new Hyundai Venue… We strongly believe that the young audience of MTV will enjoy the series and experience of travel.”

     

     

  • Sudhir Chaudhary has used his trademark style to become one of the most popular Hindi anchors in India, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Politics on the Sleeve

     

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorThe Hindi news television genre is buzzing this week. One of the biggest anchors in the category, Sudhir Chaudhary, has changed channels. His new weekdays 9pm show, Black & White, premiered on Aaj Tak this week. Chaudhary has spent over a decade at Zee News, which included a controversial extortion case back in 2012, for which he and a colleague had to face legal action, including judicial custody.

     

    I’m no fan of Chaudhary and his rabble-rousing style of anchoring, where Muslims are often the target. But over the last few years, Chaudhary has used this trademark style to become one of the most popular Hindi anchors in India, with a loyal fan following that’s only matched by a couple of other news anchors on television.

     

    In today’s polarised media environment, marquee anchors tend to define the political stance of the channels they are on. The role of the anchor, has, thus widened from only getting audiences to a particular time slot when they are anchoring. Anchors are now driving the brand narrative of news channels across languages. And this brand narrative is decisively political.

     

    That’s one of the reasons news that’s not political in nature hardly finds any presence on the primetime roster. And when it does, the story angle taken is primarily political. Most anchors feel under-leveraged if they do not use their political capital in their shows. They make it a point to wear their political disposition on their sleeves.

     

    But they also understand that the audience can’t be fed political news all the time. As a result, we have seen the emergence of news topics that are ‘pseudo-relevant’, i.e., the audience is made to believe the news being dished out is of high importance in their lives, while actually, it may have almost no relevance at all.

     

    One such sub-genre is ‘communal news’, where stories that are essentially ‘Hindus vs. Muslims’ in their construct are chosen, with an anchor position that’s invariably pre-decided. This trend started in 2014, and has since been on the rise. The Tablighi Jamaat coverage during the first Covid lockdown in 2020, and the Gyanvapi mosque controversy more recently, are evident examples.

     

    But you do not need a story to ignite communal sentiments among the audience. You could just do a random story, passing it off as research. Sudhir Chaudhary’s ‘Jihaad ka diagram’ story in 2020 is a notorious example.

     

    Not everyone watches television news anymore. But there is a strong correlation we observe in our work, between political awareness and consumption of TV news. To say it differently, those watching TV news are more likely to have defined political views, including whom they want to vote for in the next elections. In turn, they can shape the opinion of others (family and friends) around them who are often sitting on the fence till a week or two before an important election.

     

    Thus, to say that not watching TV news is a solution to fixing things that plague the genre is just being naïve. Sadly though, no strong alternative narrative has emerged, and not much may change anytime soon.

     

    But in hope, we live.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor is Founder and CEO of Ormax Media. He writes on MxMIndia every Friday. His views here are personal.

     

  • Rahul Chaudhary will assist in day-to-day news operations at TV9 Bharatvarsh

    TV9 Bharatvarsh to be helmed by Deep Upadhyay

    By Our Staff

     

    TV9 Network has announced the appointment of Deep Upadhyay, Editor, Convergence & Strategy as head of TV9 Bharatvarsh. Sant Prasad Rai, the erstwhile Managing Editor of TV9 Bharatvarsh has been relieved from his day to day newsroom responsibilities with immediate effect.

     

    Upadhyay will be supported by Rahul Chaudhary in managing the day-to-day newsroom operations for the time being, a communique added.

     

  • The OTT platform is set to ramp up its Kannada content

    Now ‘Bigg Boss OTT Kannada’ on Voot

    By Our Staff

     

    Viacom18’s video-on-demand platform, Voot, has upped the ante on its Kannada content strategy with an exclusive OTT season of Bigg Boss Kannada. There are two sponsors in the bag: Vimal Elaichi as ‘co-presenting’ sponsor and Paytm as ‘special’ partner.

     

    The show stars on August 6 and will see an interactive 24×7 live feed from the house.

     

    Gourav Rakshit
    Gourav Rakshit

    Talking about bringing Bigg Boss OTT to its Kannada viewers, Gourav Rakshit, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said, “Kannada has been an important market for us at Voot, and our recent movie slate has helped us consolidate our leadership in the market. Voot’s success with Bigg Boss OTT Hindi in 2021 proved to be a game-changer in the digital entertainment space, and we’re excited to launch Bigg Boss OTT Kannada, reinforcing our commitment to bringing fresh and engaging shows to Voot audiences across the country.”

     

    Speaking on the maiden edition of Bigg Boss OTT Kannada, Param, Business Head, Kannada Cluster, Viacom18, added: “Year-on-year, Bigg Boss has been delivering outstanding and ground-breaking editions across languages, both on television as well as digital. The Kannada market has always stayed ahead of the curve and the launch of Bigg Boss OTT Kannada will further create an immersive and engaging experience for all our Kannada viewers. We are hopeful that the upcoming digital edition will take the show’s fandom a notch higher and engage and interact with viewers like never before.”

     

  • The app is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, LG Smart TV and other platforms

    ABP Live campaign for Smart TV app

    By Our Staff

     

    ABP Network has launched a promotional campaign for its ABP Live Smart TV app. The app, which is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, LG Smart TV and other platforms offers a range of advanced features that make it a must-have for any Indian television viewers.

     

    Adds a communique: “The new promotional campaign is designed with highlighting special features specifically for news viewing enthusiasts. The campaign encourages users to watch all ABP Network channels on a single platform. It further offers them to pause and repeat any part of a show or news on the smart TV app and, also lets the viewers watch their favourite show at a time convenient to them. The new promotional campaign is a reminder of ABP Network’s ongoing commitment to making television accessible to everyone.”