MxMIndia

Category: TV

  • Aimed at the e-consumer, E-Newspaper will be brought out multiple times in the day – at 1pm, 7.30pm and 12.30am

    BAG Network launches ‘E-Newspaper of India’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Described as “A newspaper that never sleeps”, E-Newspaper of India is a product meant for the digital consumer who is constantly on the move, and is refreshed multiple times in the day – at 1pm, 7.30pm and 12.30am.

     

    E-Newspaper, which is available at www.enewspaperofindia.com, has been brought out by the BAG Network, the media house that has rolled out news channel News 24, Bollywood channel E 24, spiritual channel Darshan 24 and Radio Dhamaal.

     

    Anurradha Prasad

    Speaking on this occasion, Anurradha Prasad, editor-in-chief of the paper and Chairman of BAG Network, said that in the digital era, time is of essence for the person on the go. “Newspaper reading should not be like finding a needle in a haystack. E-Newspaper of India sifts the big news from a mountain of news stories,” she said.

     

    Ms Prasad said that in this digital age, news keeps changing at breakneck speed. “And we want the digital consumer to read today’s newspaper now, not tomorrow, to read the news even as it is happening,” she said.

     

  • Disney UTV Digital has launched a bouquet of four freemium apps for Indian mobile subscribers – UTV, Disney, Comedy and Devotional

    Disney UTV Digital launches freemium apps for feature phones

    By A Correspondent

     

    Disney UTV Digital has launched a bouquet of four freemium apps for Indian mobile subscribers – UTV, Disney, Comedy and Devotional. The Nokia Asha series has pre-embedded the UTV app on more than 2.5 million devices.

     

    Content in the UTV app includes latest movie trailers, full length movies (Bollywood & Regional), Bollywood gossip and more. The Disney App includes short form content featuring Mickey and Friends, other Disney classics such as Big Bad Wolf and Santa’s Workshop and Pixar short-form animation such as Reds Dream and Adventures of Andre and Wally B.

     

    The apps support monetization via both ads as well as paid subscriptions enabled through Digital Disney UTV’s mobile operator billing platform. This allows regular mobile users to access both ad-supported content as well as premium content within the same app through a one-click transaction via their mobile operator.

     

    Sameer Pitalwalla

    Sameer Pitalwalla, Director, Celebrity and Video, Disney UTV, said, “While we have a robust smartphone strategy, we wanted to provide feature phone users with an excellent video experience. We combined our great catalogue with best in breed technology and have seen both download and engagement numbers catching fire.”

     

    “Engagement and innovation have emerged as one of the top deciding factors in the mobile phone industry with more and more youth accessing apps that enhance their user experience. Our association with Disney UTV has been extremely successful and, together, we continue to add value to our consumers by offering superior on-the-go video streaming,” said Gerard Rego, Director – Developer Experience, Nokia India.

     

  • Jalsha's 'Chalo Paltai' initiative has won the Olive Crown and Bloomberg Brand Leadership awards for efforts to reduce toxic waste

    ‘Green’ Star Jalsha’s bags Olive Crown, Bloomberg awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bengali general entertainment channel Star Jalsha has won two coveted awards – the Olive Crown and the Bloomberg Brand Leadership Award for Sustainable Marketing Leadership – for its industry-leading green initiative that reduced toxic waste from West Bengal’s capital, Kolkata.

     

    Star Jalsha won these awards in recognition of the ‘Chalo Paltai’ or ‘let’s change’ campaign to recycle a staggering 7,000 kilogram of toxic waste every day in Kolkata.

     

    The Confederation of International Advertising Association in partnership with Asian Federation of Advertising Association awarded Star Jalsha the prestigious Olive Crown earlier this month for the channel’s eco-friendly initiatives that aimed at reducing air pollution in Kolkata.

     

    The Olive Crown follows the honour for ‘Chalo Paltai’ by reputed news organisation Bloomberg which Star Jalsha won in February. The award, endorsed by CMO Asia and Asian Confederation of Business, recognized the channel’s earnest attempt to recycle toxic and household waste into functional, day-to-day use items.

     

    Star Jalsha launched the ‘Chalo Paltai’ initiative as part of its brand re-launch in 2012. The channel converted 7,000 kilogram of waste generated from flex billboards every day by recycling it into shopping bags, folders, CD covers, table mats, wall hangings and other useful items. These billboards are usually disposed of by burning, a process that emits several harmful toxins into the city’s atmosphere every day.

     

    Star Jalsha’s green campaign was developed in association with Ogilvy & Mather.

     

    Kevin Vaz
    Piyush Pandey

    Kevin Vaz, President and General Manager, Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies, said, “We are honoured to receive these prestigious awards. These awards are a great encouragement for us to continue doing our bit for the society. We are also thankful to the people of West Bengal and all other dignitaries who supported us in our endevour.”

     

    Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather South Asia, said, “Recycling is an age-old tradition in India and I am extremely happy that Star Jalsha, through Chalo Paltai, has stayed true to our traditions. I sincerely hope that other corporates step forward to adopt a noble cause like this.”

     

     

  • He will oversee all digital marketing initiatives of the Star TV network properties in India

    CVS ‘Venke’ Sharma joins Star to oversee digital marketing

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital media specialist CVS Sharma has joined Star India as vice-president, network digital marketing. He joined Star last week, soon after returning from Indonesia where he worked with Leo Burnett.

     

    Since as a policy Star India does not issue communiqués on recruits and exits, MxMIndia had to rely on the changes that Mr Sharma (better known as ‘Venke’ in the fraternity) made in his LinkedIn profile. “My mandate is to build and optimise digital marketing opportunities for all the channels and digital initatives of the Star TV network in India,” he notes.

     

    April 12 was the last day at Leo Burnett for this former Indian navy marine engineering officer and an MBA gold medallist. With over 16 years of experience in shaping digital future of brands across categories, he also built Tribal DDB in India his stint with Mudra (2000-06).

     

    Mr Sharma joins Star India as Lalit Bhagia, who championed the digital media foray, quit to get into an entrepreneurial mode.

     

  • Sameer Ganapathy who was earlier handling the distribution for the media networks business of Disney UTV will now take on the business function for the digital arm of Disney UTV

    Vishal Gondal, founder of Indiagames, moves on

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vishal Gondal

    Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO of Indiagames and Managing Director – Digital of Disney UTV, will be moving on from the company. His last working day will be June 30. Sameer Ganapathy, who was earlier handling the distribution for the media networks business of Disney UTV, will now take on the business function for the digital arm of Disney UTV.

     

    Ronnie Screwvala, MD, Disney UTV, said, “Vishal has been a great founder and CEO for Indiagames. As we consolidate the digital, mobile and web play for Disney UTV in India, we plan to build on our creative prowess and transform the digital business to be a direct to consumer, yet working closely with all our partners, telecom operators, OEMs and others. This is similar to our approach in our other verticals of movies, broadcasting and consumer products. Sameer Ganapathy brings an astute business sense and high resourcefulness to this position, which is key to meet the ever growing trajectory of the digital business in India.”

     

    Ronnie Screwvala

    Mr Gondal said, “Indiagames had small beginnings but a big dream. I cannot help but look back with a tremendous sense of fulfilment and pride, upon the long, eventful & exciting journey. I am really proud of what the team has accomplished. Excellent support from our early investors Infinity, IL&FS, TOM Online, Adobe, Cisco & UTV & the subsequent acquisition by Walt Disney provided us the opportunity to work towards our vision of making gaming big in India. Over last 18 months, we have spent time integrating the teams and set a platform for continued growth. Consequently, I’ve decided to move on to pursue my passion for being an entrepreneur,” said Mr Gondal.

     

  • The findings of the pre-phase of Ormax Trac20, a syndicated research being conducted by media insights firm Ormax Media, suggest that the sponsors of the sixth edition of IPL are expected to benefit significantly from the tournament

    Pepsi, sponsors set to score with IPL 6: Ormax Trac20

    By A Correspondent

     

    The findings of the pre-phase of Ormax Trac20, a syndicated research being conducted by media insights firm Ormax Media, suggest that the sponsors of the sixth edition of IPL are expected to benefit significantly from the tournament. In particular, the title sponsors Pepsi seems to have the ball out of the park even before the tournament started.

     

    As per the findings, the average number of sponsors recalled at an unaided level per respondent stood at a healthy 3.2, more than double compared to previous years. Title sponsors Pepsi contributed significantly to this performance, with an unaided recall of 82% even before the tournament started. DLF, the title sponsors till last year, scored less than 50% on recall in the previous seasons of IPL!

     

    Shailesh Kapoor

    Other sponsors with high unaided recall are Vodafone (37%) and franchise sponsors Nokia (32%). Commenting on the findings, Shailesh Kapoor – CEO, Ormax Media said: “This phase of the research was conducted in the fortnight leading upto the start of IPL 6. Such high recall levels are indicative of the strong association a brand like Pepsi has managed to build with the tournament, despite this being their first year of association. It is evident that the brand fit between Pepsi and the IPL has worked this year.”

     

    The Ormax Trac20 research is being conducted across 11 cities, in three phases, with a total sample size of 9,000: Pre-phase before the IPL started, mid-phase during the IPL and post-phase at the end of the tournament. The findings of the pre-phase have been released for the subscribers.

     

  • Hindi news Channel Aaj Tak recently crossed the one-million-mark on Facebook

    Aaj Tak upbeat on social media

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hindi news Channel Aaj Tak has crossed the one-million mark on Facebook. The channel boasts of more than a million fans in the digital world. Aaj Tak on Facebook has been actively engaging with the audience by using various tools and mediums such as debates, polls, issues & news. Social media is a high interaction platform where the communication is between both the parties. The channel has been raising issues on the digital platform.

     

    The digital platform at Aaj Tak is currently managed by the in-house team. Salil Kumar, CEO – India Today Group Digital said that it is critical for a news channel to be present on social media. He said, “In today’s environment the audience we cater to is always on the move, their content consumption devices and hence the patterns have evolved and will continue to do so. He is connected to the world, almost 24 X 7. He not only is someone who consumes content (consumer), but has also become a contributor (social editor) and a disseminator (publisher / share), and a critic (feedback / dislike).  He seeks news not only through hard core news sites / channels but also through his social network. Hence FB and its community is a critical part of our overall strategy.”

     

    Aaj Tak is also monetizing its FB page, though Mr Kumar did not divulge further details.

     

    Going forward, the channel plans to leverage the social media connect aggressively. “The social media connect will always remain an integral part of Aaj Tak. Going forward, I would like to leverage the social connect to build a large collaborative community helping us interact and  stay connected with our audience and will be a permanent place holder on the second screen,” concluded Mr Kumar.

     

  • Prior to this role, she was the GM, Entertainment Networks, South Asia for Turner International India where she was responsible for steering and overseeing all network initiatives across Turner's entertainment brand portfolio in South Asia

    Monica Tata back to Time Warner fold as MD, HBO India

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s an announcement that’s brought a smile to many in the industry. Monica Tata, who surprised many last year by quitting the Turner Entertainment Network of which she was virtually the face, is now back to the Time Warner fold as Managing Director of HBO India. HBO India is part of HBO Asia, which is a joint venture of Time Warner and Paramount, and Turner is a Time Warner company. HBO India sales and distribution are handled by Turner in India.

     

    Ms Tata will be based in Mumbai and report to Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia. She will be responsible for introducing and developing various initiatives to enhance the company’s offerings in India and its subcontinent, including providing strategic direction and managing partner relationships.

     

    “We are pleased to have Monica join the HBO Asia family. With Monica’s experience in the industry and her familiarity with our brand and channels, she is the ideal candidate to develop and grow HBO’s brand and market share in South Asia,” said Mr Spink.

     

    “I am excited to join the HBO Asia family as I love the brand and this is an exciting opportunity for me,” said Ms Tata. On joining the channel from the same family, she asserted, “Yes, it is the same family in the sense that Turner distributes and manages the sales of HBO, which belongs to Time Warner and so does Turner. But they are different entities.” She said that she will be figuring out the growth area for the channel in the next few months.

     

    Shruti Bajpai, Country Manager, HBO Asia, who has been based out of Dubai for a while now, will primarily drive marketing for the channel and will report to Ms Tata.

     

    Ms Tata has over 23 years of media experience and was most recently the General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia for Turner International India Pvt Ltd where she was responsible for steering and overseeing all network initiatives across Turner’s entertainment brand portfolio in South Asia. Prior to that, she served at Star Television, Mid-Day Publications and Sunday Mail.

     

    There are three 24-hour HBO movie channels available to viewers in India – HBO, the blockbuster movie channel which was launched in 2000, and two premium HD advertising-free movie channels, HBO Defined and HBO Hits, launched earlier this year.

     

    Industry observers believe that with Ms Tata at the helm and given that she is one of the seniormost sales heads in the Indian broadcast business, HBO India adsales may move out of Turner in future and be handled by an internal team. It’s also possible that the bouquet of channels under her may grow, it is conjectured.

     

  • At the recent conference, Battle of the Story, organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce, media veterans talked about freedom vs responsibility of media, new technology and the way forward

    Battle of the Story: Casting critical eye on Media

    By A Correspondent

     

    The media is playing more important role in our society today. As social and traditional media continue to permeate our lives, the industry veterans recently got together at the conference organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce to discuss the role of media, convergence, new media, and new technology. As Rajiv Mundhra, President, ICC, pointed out, “New media has become a tool for social change.”

     

    The panel comprising Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharati; Subhash Chandra, Chairman, ZEE and Essel Group; Sunil Lulla, MD and CEO, Times Television Network; Anuradha Prasad, Chairperson, BAG Films and Media Ltd; Anshuman Tewari, Chief of National Bureau, Dainik Jagran talked about how media only portrays reality as shaped by people. While agreeing that in the “heat-of-the-moment”, the news channels do forget their responsibility towards the nation and compromise national security such as the 26/11, according to Mr Chandra, the Indian media has acted responsibly. He further said, “There are people who are history-sheeters and are running news channels. This is a cause of concern.

     

    Sunil Lulla

    Concurring, Mr Lulla said, “With the mushrooming of news channels, it was the broadcasters themselves who got together to say that we need to set standards. Since that idea got criticized by journalists, we asked the journalists to form the guidelines under the committee headed by Late Justice Verma. NBSA was thus formed. And with the passing years, the guidebook is only getting thicker.” He further said, “We are all for responsible content. For instance, no other business carries 72 messages in a day giving information of redressal authorities.” The panel coherently agreed that they were united in the cause of bringing responsible content to its audience.

     

    Mr Sircar said, “It is important that the media takes note of what it is doing. If the fourth estate caves in, we will see an eruption of public angst, which will defy the constitution.”

     

    Uday Kumar Varma, Secretary, MIB, talked about how technology is enabling advances in the broadcast sector. He spoke about the three challenges that the sector is facing, “Digitization is the best thing to happen to the broadcasting sector in the last 20 years. And the first challenge is that all digitization is aimed at, is achieved.” He said that till digitization sees complete transparency, issue of carriage fees is not solved, and till revenue sharing is equitable, the process of digitization cannot be called complete. The second challenge, according to him is the question of monopolies. He said, “There have been certain developments that have disturbed the equilibrium. Problems that arise because of lack of policy have to be addressed. Cross-media regulation, which can be horizontal or vertical, has to be addressed as well.”

     

    The third and the last challenge he shared was about the TV rating system. He said, “the current rating system is far from satisfactory. The bottomline features of a television rating system should be put in place.” A panel discussion on the impact of social followed Mr Varma’s speech.

     

  • As Dream Theatre pushes its FIFA merchandise ahead of 2014's World Cup, CEO Jiggy George expounds on the group's ultimate TG – young adults and children

    Kids, youth want ‘quick & fast’ entertainment: Jiggy George

    By A Correspondent

     

    Next year is a big deal for football fans, one that comes every four years. It’s one of the sporting world’s biggest properties – the Football World Cup 2014. Dream Theatre Pvt Ltd, the Mumbai-based brand management and licensing enterprise in association with Pacific Licensing Studio (PLS), FIFA’s appointed licensing agent for South East Asia has announced the rollout of its licensed merchandise collection.

     

    To be targeted toward young adults and children across India, the merchandise range will include apparel, accessories, footwear, sporting goods; back-to-school supplies, stationery, home furnishing, eyewear and computer accessories among others.

     

    In conversation with MxMIndia, Jiggy George, CEO and Founder of Dream Theatre Pvt Ltd, shares his plans from the new initiative and dwells on the experiences that the users can take advantage of from the initiative in days to come.

     

    It seems the right time to be launching the merchandising collection, what with the World Cup in 2014. How would you describe this new foray by Dream Theatre in India?

    We at Dream Theatre are very keen to navigate more forms of licensing outside of pure entertainment licensing. Sports, celebrity, fashion and corporate are some of the licensing extensions that you would see in the coming months. The World Cup Football 2014 is a landmark event and we are so proud to be associated with the same.

     

    Is there a specific TG you’d be addressing through the new merchandising push in India?

    Yes, the merchandise will be targeted at young adults and kids of India.

     

    You would in a sense be competing with merchandise brands that are targeted towards popular sports such as cricket and hockey given that football is just about beginning to pick up in India. Are you optimistic about its popularity picking up among fans in India?

    It’s Zeitgeist – the sign of the times! Today, kids and youth of India are looking at “quick and fast” entertainment. The format of sports is transitioning from Test cricket to T20. We believe football, though still small, in context to cricket, has the pace and aspiration to be very popular in India.

     

    Are you considering partnering local football clubs from India? Have you made any headway on that front?

    The big lacuna in India for licensing is retail and today, it makes more commercial sense to use licensing for brands that have a pan-India appeal rather than regional clubs. It’s too early and we don’t believe we are ready to partner with Indian football clubs.

     

    Would you be engaging in a high-decibel pan-India marketing promotion for your new venture?

    We hope to have a good number of products in the market and there will be excitement closer to the event.

     

    What would be your emphasis on pushing your products through the digital route vis-a-vis traditional?

    Our focus will be to get the best-in-class licensees to launch high quality merchandise via traditional retail.

     

    Would you be looking at partnering competing sporting properties (cricket, hockey etc) to push your case in India?

    We have no plans yet. We will keep you posted.

     

  • Based out of Mumbai, Mr Mulchandani will lead and drive finance-related strategy and operations for Times Television Network.

    Jagdish Mulchandani appointed CFO at Times Television Network

    By A Correspondent

     

    Times Television Network (TTN) has announced the appointment of Jagdish Mulchandani as Chief Financial Officer, with effect from April 2, 2013. Based out of Mumbai, Mr Mulchandani will lead and drive finance-related strategy and operations for Times Television Network. In addition, he will also oversee the functions of Distribution, Traffic and Administration of the all the Times Television Network channels – ET Now, Movies Now, Times Now and Zoom.

     

    Mr Mulchandani has over 20 years of robust experience across various sectors, including distribution, finance, accounts and business transformation among others. Prior to joining TTN, he was associated with MediaPro (a Star – Zee joint venture) as Chief Financial Officer. He has also worked with Star Den, Star India and Star Middle East. In his new role, he will leverage his distribution experience with Times Television Network having now adopted its own penetration and distribution team and its domestic subscription business now with MSM Discovery Pvt. Ltd.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, Sunil Lulla, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Times Television Network said, “Jagdish comes on board at the opportune time to help steer and grow Times Television Network’s value proposition. Armed with a vast experience across various industries including the Media & Entertainment domain in India and overseas, Jagdish is a key member of Times Television Network’s leadership team. Apart from Finance, his experience with Distribution will be an asset for our business in this new era of TV Broadcasting. I am sure he will add great value to the profitable growth of our channels and our business.”

     

    Commenting on his new role, Mr Mulchandani said, “I am very happy to be part of India’s finest media group, with such high repute. Times Television Network has strong brands, leaders in their respective categories, and the business is on a strong growth path.  In this new phase of growth for the network, I look forward to working with some highly motivated individuals and adding value to the business. Apart from my Finance and Strategy skills, I look forward to adding muscle to Times Television Network’s Distribution function.”

     

    Mr Mulchandani will be reporting into Avinash Kaul, Chief Executive Officer, ET Now, Times Now and Zoom.

     

     

  • The audio visual commercial, titled 'Fino ki Kahani Kanhaiya ki Zubaani', has been created by Climb Media

    Fino PayTech takes animation route for its maiden brand campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fino PayTech Limited, the company that enables financial inclusion, has launched its first ever television commercial. The commercial, which is running on-air currently, talks of how the company has brought the benefits of access to banking services to the doorsteps of the poor. This has been done through an animation film, which uses characters like Fino Man, Kanhaiya and Bandhu.

     

    “As the pioneers in the space of financial inclusion, it is has been an eventful journey so far for Fino PayTech. As we push for greater inclusive growth, we believe it is important for all the stakeholders to know what is happening and what is possible in this space. The story we are trying to communicate is not merely about a product or a company. It actually tells you about the ills of informal credit channels prevalent across the country to the advantages of access to formal banking services that can change the financial landscape in rural and unbanked India. The Fino bandhu is not merely an agent of the company but a catalyst for social change,” said Shweta Aprameya, Vice-President, Fino PayTech Limited.

     

    The audio-visual commercial, titled Fino ki Kahani Kanhaiya ki Zubaani, has been created by Climb Media.

     

    Kireet Khurana, Creative producer of Climb Media said, “The fascinating success story of Fino PayTech and its impact on the entire country is something that was entreating to be told. We are happy and privileged to have been given this opportunity to weave an emotionally connecting story with FINO’s empowering cause and achievements in the financial inclusion domain, bringing it to the fore. Animation has been created in a way to convey the message in a simple yet effective manner.”

     

    The commercial is on air till May 5, 2013 and will be telecast across channels such as CNBC-TV 18, NDTV 24×7, Aaj Tak, Dilli Aaj Tak and Tez.