MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • While the Centre wants the analogue signals switched off from Dec 27, the State wants to act according to the ground realities

    Kolkata digitization: Tug-of-war between State and Centre

    By Ananya Saha

     

    The digitization conundrum in Kolkata is not likely to see a solution soon, it appears. While the Centre recently ordered the MSOs in the city to switch off analogue signals by December 27, the State wishes to take into account the ground realities and extend the deadline. The State government is also upset because of the pressure from the Centre.

     

    Swapan Chowdhury

    Swapan Chowdhury, General Secretary, Cable & Broadband Operators’ Welfare Association, Kolkata said, “Yesterday a meeting was called by the State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim with all the existing MSOs of Kolkata. He has categorically stated that no switchover will be done from December 27 onwards. When MSOs informed him that they have already written to MIB, he said that it was also a State issue.” The MSOs have been told to not follow the terms of the Central government.

     

    Mr Hakim also said that he was looking at a tripartite meeting between the Centre, State and local MSOs to sort the problem in a systematic manner.

     

    On the condition of anonymity, a local MSO said that situation is grim and 100 percent digitization might take more than a month in Kolkata. Sumit Bose, President, GTPL, said, “The State has their set of concerns and we respect those concerns. On the other hand, the law has to be respected.” He added, “As MSOs, we are keenly watching the situation. We would like to move on with the model.”

     

    “It is the matter of State issue also to look if the systems are followed or not. And MIB cannot pressure us if the realities do not match the goals. But because of the political tussle, the Centre is not ready to talk to the State govt. They are trying to do it forcibly, bypassing the State govt and the minister concerned,” said another cable operator, who did not wish to be named.

     

    “There is still a shortage of STBs in the city, and it will take some time to sort out. But non-availability of STBs is not the only problem; the State govt will not let MIB to build so much pressure. MSOs have obligation to local govt as well. The MSOs are currently ‘sandwiched’ between local and central govt,” Mr Chowdhury said. Mr Bose said, “There are various figures floating in the market about the digitization levels in Kolkata. It is not easy to estimate the exact numbers because of the Cable and Satellite homes. Even a 10% here and there can mean three lakh homes. But I would like to say that GTPL has fared well.”

     

    Kolkata was supposed to completely digital from December 28, according to the recent directive from MIB. According to Mr Chowdhury, the switch off of analogue signals was initiated from December 16, and was to switch to digital genre-wise.

     

    Needless to say, the stakeholders in this process are waiting for the stalemate to be sorted out. But when would the State and MIB, and the MSOs reach a common consensus is hard to say.

     

  • Extracts from the book 'The Advertising Mess' by Bipin Mundhwa and Amit Nevrekar. Plus a Jaldi 5 Q&A with the writers

    Is our TV measurement future-ready?

     

    By Bipin Mundhwa and Amit Nevrekar

     

    TV audience measurement through the ‘peoplemeter’ is accepted as the most appropriate technique among others for measuring TV audiences. However, the capability of the peoplemeter (an electronic device) is completely dependent upon external factors such as continuous human intervention (Manual Inputs). Viewers need to press their respective button on the peoplemeter remote (as assigned to them) to let the system capture the data on who is viewing what. Which means it is safe to say that it does not automatically capture the viewers and their viewing patterns. It requires the viewer to keep in mind that they have to press the respective button every time they leave the room and enter the room.

     

    In an age, where people forget to turn off the switches while not occupying the room or even turn off the water taps after use, do you think people will remember religiously to switch on and off their respective people-meter remote button every time they enter and leave the room?

     

    There are high chances that the viewer may get interrupted by something and leave the TV room or for a while take an exit to do some other household activities without pressing the exit button. In such situations, the people-meter does not stop capturing the viewership of the audience, even though he/she is no longer viewing. What could be more erroneous than this?

     

    Jaldi 5 with Bipin Mundhwa & Amit Nevrekar: No one influenced us to write book
    Bipin Mundhwa

    01. It’s interesting that your book is published around the time when TAM is being needled by many stakeholders. In fact it’s also being sued. Is it just a coincidence or planned… given that you’ve highlighted the T, A and M in your book title ‘The Advertising Mess’?

    Frankly speaking, we had planned the date for our book launch much before the announcement of non-reporting of viewership data by TAM. The main objective of our book was to provide the necessary practical literature on The Audience Measurement systems in India. Over the years, we have seen different methodologies for the same medium in the same period resulting in different findings and thereby creating a Mess in media buying and planning.

     

    Amit Nevrekar

    02. Having worked with TAM as also with other media organizations, why is it that you didn’t raise some of the issues earlier?

    Working with TAM was always a pleasure. And we constantly discussed many improvements as part of our professional duty.

     

    There may be people who may say that you have written this at the behest of someone wanting to take on TAM?

    Firstly, we have not condemned a particular organization or criticized upfront. The book is about ‘bridging the gap for accountable MarCom’, where we have presented the ‘Bridge’ model which provides a unified B-Score across mediums in a single metric based on engagement levels, rather than inflated exposures. No one can influence us for taking such a mammoth effort whilst working, especially in a media agency, media house with hectic working hours. It’s only our self-inspiration and passion for our industry.

     

    03. Given that there will always be television channels who feel aggrieved by any ratings, there will be people who will raise objections against any measurement system?

    Every media professional subscribing to the respective measurement system’s data has the right to raise questions to understand and utilize the data in most logical and appropriate manner.

     

    04. You’ve touched upon corruption. And you say that with digitization, it could only increase?

    Yes, we have identified some loopholes in the system which can simplify corruption post digitization and needs to be addressed for robust data representation.

     

    05. One of the primary motives of the book is to talk about the ‘Bridge’ model that both you have developed. Have you had any discussions with BARC about it?

    The bridge model is purely developed by us. We haven’t had any discussions with BARC as an organization but we certainly had series of discussions with members of BARC, MRUC and other media veterans of the industry.

     

    In the current peoplemeter, if the TV is ON but none of the panel members have logged in the system (that is, pressed the peoplemeter button), then the peoplemeter would prompt for an input to register the viewing occasion for the respective panel member.

     

    But what if the panel member has logged in the system and is not present in the room. Is there any kind of validation thought about?

     

    However, today’s technological advancement allows us to make every impossible thing ‘possible’. There are Pyroelectric (“Passive”) InfraRed sensors that can detect whether a human has moved in or out of the sensors range. And undoubtedly, these are very inexpensive chips.

     

    Another such technology is used by Microsoft in their Xbox 360 game console, ‘Kinect”, which is a motion sensing input device capable of facial recognition along with full-body 3D motion capture. Which means if incorporated in the peoplemeter, will not only sense the individuals present in the room, but also identify if they are viewing the TV along with their engagement through facial expressions.

     

    Also, a very interesting point crops up, which ideally should have been raised by MarCom professionals. Bear with us as we elaborate.

     

    With the new Digital Video Recorder now commonly available along with most of the DTH providers, individuals have now got into the habit of not watching programmes live, but recording their programmes of choice and watching at their convenience.

     

    For example, if a working individual chooses to record a programme which was telecast from 4 – 5 pm, reaches home at 8 pm, and watches this recorded programme from 9 – 10 pm.

     

    ANOTHER PROGRAMME BEING TELECAST FROM 9 – 10 PM ON SOME OTHER CHANNEL IS ALSO RECORDED BY HIM AT THE SAME TIME TO VIEW AT A FUTURE TIME OF HIS CONVENIENCE.

     

    The critical point we are making is, most people with DVR facility have now got into the habit of recording almost all programmes they wish to view, and while viewing the recorded programmes, most of them would forward and skip all the ads.

     

    The question is, at 9 pm in the case of the above example, what will the peoplemeter capture as viewership?

     

    Will it capture the 4 – 5 pm show which is being watched between 9 – 10 pm or will it capture the 9 – 10 pm show which is being recorded for future viewing at the same time?

     

    And will the peoplemeter be able to gauge whether the ads have been skipped by the viewer while watching the recorded programme, which is bound to happen in most cases?

     

    BECAUSE THE 10-MIN AD BREAK CAN BE FORWARDED AND SKIPPED IN A MATTER OF FEW SECONDS..

     

    Thus this DVR facility has the potential of making the peoplemeter defunct and useless.

     

    Definitely, the currencies such as TAM should be keeping up with these advances in technology. We are very sure they have an answer for the questions we have raised above.

     

    BUT, we are also sure the industry and MarCom professionals would love to see a practical demonstration, if they claim that the people-meter can take care of these issues. Speaking is so much easier than doing.

     

    According to research paper published by Andrew Green (2010), the people-meter is only capable of capturing what is being displayed on the TV screen and not the actual behaviour of viewers.

     

    Very interestingly, TV broadcasting would be going digital in coming days. It has already gone digital in the four metro cities of India as on November 2012.

     

    In future, there could be options of pay v/s free channels, where the pay channel will have only programme content and no advertisements, similar to the current HD channels.

     

    DVR (Digital Video Recording) technology is also expected to dominate in the near future, which means there would be more flexible and enhanced TV viewership. This would also include storing of favourite TV programmes by viewers who would watch them at their convenience while skipping the commercial breaks.

     

    There is also an increasing trend of VOD (Video on Demand) in direct-to-home households. Would this mean lower viewership for repeat telecast of TV content? Because as the name suggests, VOD is TV content that can be viewed at anytime as per the convenience of the individual viewer. More sob stories for MarCom due to digitization.

     

    The new-age television viewership will include CAS (set top box), as well as others like DTH, DVR, IPTV/VOD, internet TV, TV programmes via YouTube and mobile TV. Conventional wisdom says that subscribers of these technologies will have vastly differing lifestyle habits. As we say, “necessity is the mother of all invention”. For the first time, the audience will be in the driver’s seat for choosing their option of technology of reception. So is the case with TV channels that they wish to subscribe to.

     

    Now, looking at the traditional TV measurement system, the viewership base will be determined by subscription packages, as now the option of choosing a specific channel is available to the viewer. In the recently phased-out analogue system in 4 metros, for a fixed monthly subscription fee, subscribers got access to ALL TV channels.

     

    This means the sampling frame for estimating TV viewership is based on the audience pool that recently had access to all the channels for a fixed subscription fee.

     

    Whereas, the new technology of digitalized reception will make the subscriber’s pool asymmetric for sampling. There are bright chances that the universe (the channels which an individual subscribes to), will fluctuate depending on basis of favourite channel/popular programmes/sports seasons or a new series, as people may change their channel subscription from time to time.

     

    For example, let’s consider a household which has recently switched to the DTH system from the old analogue system. Now this particular household has not subscribed to a particular GEC channel because they felt it was not worth paying an extra fee as they were casual viewers of only one programme on this channel, as against other GEC channels where they watched multiple programmes.

     

    Now after a couple of months, this household again decides to subscribe to that GEC channel they had abandoned because of a new programme of interest to them, along with a sports-pack for the upcoming IPL cricket season. Post the IPL season, they again unsubscribe the sports-pack.

     

    This means the channel’s universe has now changed beyond recognition. This will keep happening as now it will be directly related to pay for what you watch.

     

    In such situation of switching subscription plan from analogue to digital, peoplemeter may capture the audience movement from analogue to digital. However, within digital, the viewership for channels may fluctuate significantly (as these are sample surveys, where 1 panel member’s viewership is extrapolated to around 20,000 audience or more). This could result into vague and half-hearted understanding of channel viewership as practitioners would not know the reason for volatility in channel viewership i.e. Subscribed but NOT viewing OR Channel NOT subscribed.

     

    Until now in analogue mode, the same set of channels that a household with a people-meter had was also the same set of channels that all other households had, so the household with the people-meter was representative of all other households in the universe, at least as far as availability and access to channels went.

     

    But now, with households free to choose and reject individual channels, it is not necessary that a household which has a peoplemeter will have similar channels as other households in the universe.

     

    In fact there could be thousands of permutations and combinations of households with different sets of channels. So how would one judge whether the peoplemeters households are truly representative of the universe.

     

    Now with due respect to the existing people-meter technology for capturing TV viewership data, can we ask ourselves how geared up are we to take on the future challenges of capturing TV viewership data in light of the above mentioned technological advancement.

     

    The story does not end here. The real challenge is still to be explained by us. TV as a medium was largely an ‘at-home’ medium. However, TV as a medium is now becoming highly portable. How are we going to measure the audience on portable TV?

     

    For example, most of the working population may watch IPL out-of-home such as at office, at a common friend’s place, on their laptop, etc. On weekends they would also go to restaurants and pubs to watch the game in a social gathering and cheer for their favourite team. Their receptivity to the programme may be higher but it does not get covered as the people-meter is not capturing out-of-home viewership.

     

    This may influence viewership of popular sports seasons and they may get under-reported as compared to actual viewing figures.

     

    According to Horrell (2008), IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) could offer some encouraging answers to audience measurement such as real-time audience measurement through return-path-data technology from TV owning households itself. Moreover, it allows broadcasters to divide audiences based on socio-economic class, geographies and basic demographics. This would enable advertisers and media planners to showcase lifestyle, socio-economic class and geographic location based Ad streaming. One can avail the technology now as this is reality.

     

    One of the sophisticated devices according to Pellegrini, Pasquale and Purdye, Ken (2004), for measuring out-of-home TV viewership is Arbitron’s Portable People-Meter for capturing passive viewership data based on encoded audio signals, embedded in the TV programmes being watched. This pager-like device would have to be carried by selected individuals to enable this device to capture the encoded audio signals. However, it could prove to be misleading if the audio signals are being captured in the vicinity but the individual is actually not watching it. For example, in a coffee shop, the PPM may record TV viewership for an individual but the selected individual is engrossed elsewhere.

     

    What does all this mean for advertisers? How will they optimize their media investment?

     

    In totality, TV as a medium which even today is highly fragmented with 700+ channels will have very tough and challenging days ahead as far as measurement goes.

     

    ‘The Future is now, but Measurement is Yesterday’

     

    Extracted with permission from

    The Advertising Mess

    By Bipin Mundhwa and Amit Nevrekar

    Published by Sci-MO

    Price Rs 249, 139 pages

    www.theadvertisingmess.com

     

  • This season Bloomberg TV India will take one corporate executive every week and give them a chance to live their Dream Job, mentored by an expert from the field

    Bloomberg TV announces Season 3 of Assignment

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bloomberg TV India, the English business channel, is back with Season 3 of the reality show The Assignment that revolves around Dream Jobs. The launch episode will see Rajeev Samant, CEO and Founder of Sula Vineyards mentor Savita Nair, Creative Director Leo Burnett India as she lives her dream job of being a vintner.

     

    This season will see one corporate executive given a chance to live their Dream Job every week, mentored by an expert from the field. The reality show aims to capture the corporate hot-shots grapple with the responsibilities of their dream jobs and reflect on the experience of living it.

     

    Apart from Rajeev Samant, CEO & Founder of Sula Wines, the third season of the show will also feature mentors like Alyque Padamsee, Indian Theatre personality and ad film maker; Vikram Bawa, Fashion and Advertising Photographer; Nikhil Chib, Owner and Executive Chef – Busaba; Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor – Autocar India; Junaid Merchant, India’s first Canine Behaviourist and Horse breeder among many others.

     

    Sriram Kilambi, President, Bloomberg TV India, said, “We believe that a channel has to be innovative in its programming strategy all the time to hold the viewer’s attention. This season, instead of assigning a challenge to the participants as in the first two seasons, we asked them to set their own challenge i.e. live their dream job for one day, analyse their own performance and figure out if it is was as ‘dreamy’ as they imagined it to be.”

     

    The show will be telecast every Saturday at 7pm and Monday at 10.30pm from December 22. The first episode features Rajeev Samant, CEO and Founder of Sula Vineyards as the Mentor and the Assignee is Savita Nair, Creative Director, Leo Burnett India.

     

  • Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, part of the TV Today network, has launched on Cogeco Cable Inc, a major Canadian cable telecommunications company

    Aaj Tak launches on Cogeco Cable, Canada

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, part of the TV Today network, has launched on Cogeco Cable Inc, a major Canadian cable telecommunications company that is supposed to be the second largest cable system operator in Ontario and Quebec in terms of Basic Cable service customers served.

     

    With this launch, Aaj Tak will now be accessible to viewers in Ontario, expanding Aaj Tak’s presence in the Ontario market. The channels will be sold in the following package- ATN + Zee Cinema + Big Magic + Aaj Tak + Headlines Today for $25 per month.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Ashish Bagga, CEO, India Today Group said, “It is a step in our endeavour to expand our presence in key markets across the globe. We want to be easily accessible to all our viewers worldwide at economical prices. Moreover, Cogeco is a perfect choice for broadcasting Aaj Tak in Ontario. Cogeco is a very capable group and they are doing an excellent work in Cable communications industry. We are hopeful this launch will strengthen and benefit both Aaj Tak and Cogeco.”

     

    Slava Levin CEO of Ethnic Channels Group, TV Today’s exclusive partner in Canada said, “Aaj Tak is one of India’s leading TV brands. This launch will help more viewers connect with the brand.”

     

  • The cola wars are likely to spill over the cricketing pitch in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League next month

    Coke vs Pepsi wars to spill over cricketing pitch in IPL 6

    By Ratna Bhushan

     

    If 20-20 cricket is not your cup of tea, there’s another good reason to grab a ringside seat during the new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL): the cola wars that will spill over onto the cricketing pitch.

     

    While beverage maker PepsiCo has won the title sponsor bid for IPL-6, in what’s seen as an extravagant Rs 400-crore five-year deal, rival Coca-Cola has started talks to buy pouring rights for the nine IPL teams. Pouring rights for a beverage maker involve getting exclusive rights to serve its beverages in the team’s home stadiums.

     

    Coca-Cola, which makes Thums Up and Coke besides lemon-lime drink Sprite and orange-flavoured Fanta, is also in talks with individual teams to buy space on T-shirts and jerseys of teams and advertise on perimeter boards at the stadium. The beverage maker already has an existing associate sponsorship deal with Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians team, which gives it rights to serve its beverages when the team plays.

     

    Two officials involved with the developments said: “Coca-Cola is talking to all teams for pouring rights, placing its logo on the T-shirt or helmet of players and access to advertise on three perimeter boards.

     

    Though PepsiCo has coughed up twice the amount paid by earlier title sponsorship holder and real estate major DLF, the beverage and snacks maker will still need to pay more for serving its beverages at the stadium or on-air advertising deals with IPL broadcast rights holder Sony Max.

     

    “PepsiCo has also begun talks to the teams for pouring rights, but it may not be willing to pay an additional cost because it has already blocked a large part of its budgets for the title sponsorship,” one of the officials quoted earlier said.

     

    A Coca-Cola spokesperson declined comment on the beverage giant’s plans for the IPL. Whether and if Coca-Cola will end up ambushing rival PepsiCo in the IPL next season is not yet clear. But IPL CEO Sundar Raman said: “The BCCI-IPL ambush marketing clauses are stringent and will protect all rights of central sponsors.”

     

    A PepsiCo spokesperson did not want to comment on the prospect of a Coke ambush. Last month, PepsiCo won the title sponsorship rights of the tournament for Rs 396.8 crore for five seasons starting 2013 or Rs 80 crore a year -a bid many industry experts believe is overpriced.

     

    Although Coke had bought the tender document for the IPL’s title sponsorship, it did not bid for sponsorship, citing the steep asking rates.

     

    Still, that doesn’t stop Coke from either buying pouring rights of the teams, or advertising on team jerseys or helmets, or buying ad spots on IPL broadcaster Sony Max.

     

    Pouring rights is not a central sponsorship, and deals have to be inked individually between the teams and firms. Teams are charging anywhere between 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore for pouring rights. The IPL T-20 tournament, scheduled for April-May, coincides with the peak summer season for beverage firms.

     

    If Coke does cock a snook at Pepsi in IPL-6, it won’t be the first time that the cola giants have gone head to head. In IPL-2, for instance, Coke stole some of the thunder of Pepsi’s ‘Youngistan’ campaign by getting the latter’s brand ambassadors like Virender Sehwag and Ishant Sharma to be present at its promotional activities.

     

    Coke could do this because it was an associate sponsor and official pouring partner for Delhi Daredevils (which Sehwag captained) and Kolkata Knight Riders (of which Sharma was a part).

     

    But the credit for kicking off ambush marketing in India may well go to Pepsi. Pre-IPL, way back in the 1996 World Cup cricket series, Pepsi launched the ‘Nothing Official about It’ campaign to rival Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the World Cup series.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Ajay Trigunayat, CEO, English Entertainment Channels, Times Television Network tells MxMIndia what the year held for the network and plans for 2013

    Jaldi 5 with Ajay Trigunayat: ‘The aim is to set new benchmarks in 2013’

    Where brands or media properties are struggling to stay afloat through this tough economic crisis, two-year-old movie channel Movies Now has no such bitter experiences to share. After a roaring 2011, the channel – that completed its second anniversary this week, has an interesting tale to tell about its performance in 2012 as well.

    Ajay Trigunayat, CEO, English Entertainment Channels, Times Television Network tells MxMIndia what the year held for the network and plans for 2013.

     

    01. How would you analyse the year 2012, which also marks completion of two years for Movies Now in India?

    A lot has happened in the last two years:

    • The category has expanded exponentially with Movies Now witnessing a 50% jump in viewership reaching out to 56 million viewers per week.
    • In the past twelve months, we have effectively consolidated our leadership position, dominating the category with a phenomenal 30% in comparison to Star Movies (28%), Sony PIX (17%) and HBO (14%). (Source: TAM, CS 15+, 8 metros, wk 52 ’10 – wk 39 ’12)

     

    02. Could you share some of the highpoints for the network in India this year?

    • We have led the category since our launch & 2011-2012 has seen immense growth in terms of Reach, TSV, Audience Engagement & consequently Revenue.
    • In 2012, we built on the library-led movie concept by offering the viewers a plethora of blockbusters packaged as captivating properties celebrating the Best of Hollywood Icons – Best of Cameron, Best of Leo, Best of Spielberg and lots more.
    • Movies Now constantly keeps innovatively engaging with its fans and followers in the social media sphere. In the two years, the channel has jumped to the top spot with 2.3 mn fans on Facebook. In comparison, decade old players, Star Movies & HBO, stand at 1.4 mn & 1.5 mn respectively. Movies Now is in the top 5 leading brands on Facebook in India (in the media category) & in the top 3 fastest growing pages on Facebook in India (in the media category). The channel maintains a strong fan-following on Twitter with a lead of 13000+ followers.
    • Movies Now has significantly overshot international benchmarks in terms of the Brand Awareness & Brand Preference in just 2 years of its launch (Source: Millward Brown Study)

     

    03. Have you witnessed a spike in viewership and revenues over 2011? Could you elaborate the growth story through statistics…

    • Out of the top rated 100 English Movies in the last 2 years, 52% aired on Movies Now as compared to 32% on Star Movies, 14% on Sony PIX and 2% on HBO. (Source: TAM, CS 15+, 8 metros, wk 52 ’10 – wk 39 ’12)
    • Movies Now has also attained an astonishing 31 minutes of time spent per viewer which is a testimony of the audience stickiness on the channel. Star Movies stands at 27 mins, PIX at 21 mins & HBO at 20 mins (Source: TAM CS 15+, 8 metros, wk 52 ’10 – wk 39 ’12)
    • Consequently, Movies Now doubled the effective rate to ‘3600 per 10 seconds and seen an increase 60% in terms of revenue as compared to last year.
    • Movies Now achieved a phenomenal 30% channel share in comparison to Star Movies (28%), Sony PIX (17%) and HBO (14%). (Source: TAM, CS 15+, 8 metros, wk 52 ’10 – wk 39 ’12)

     

    04. What was the year like for the Movies genre in India – growth and challenges?

    • Our biggest challenge is the perception of our channel being niche. With Reach of 56 million viewers and TSV of 55 minutes per week which is almost the size of any possible European country, I don’t really think Movies Now can be called niche.
    • The English Movie Channel Category has been under-monetized. It would also be a challenge to leverage the urban affluent English movie viewing into the advertising revenue it deserves.

     

     05. What would be your focus for 2013 in the sphere of movie/content acquisition?

    • The idea is to consolidate our library further and bring in the Best Blockbusters for our viewers.
    • Starting January we present :

    > Sons of Guns: Brings the Bad Boys of Hollywood that will showcase movies like Ocean’s eleven, Bad Boys, etc.

    > Grand Masters: Legends of Shaolin featuring Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee along with the master of Bruce Lee himself in IP Man 2.

    > Badge of Courage: Line-up of some special movies this Republic Day like Iron Man, True Lies, Knight and Day, Quantum of Solace, Demolition Man and Robocop

    > Crack it Up: Rib-tickling comedies like Dude where’s my car, Austin Powers, Hangover, Aliens in the attic, Harold and Kumar, Not Another Date Movie and a lot more.

    • February:

    > Gods of Hollywood with the Best of Hollywood Icons like Bond, Spiderman, Rocky Balboa and many more.

    > For the first time on Indian Television, Movies Now will premiere the much talked about movie, ‘The Grey’ starring Liam Neeson.

    > Best of family adventure movies like Harry Potter, Narnia, Percy Jackson in Adventure Diaries

    > Valentine’s Day also has a special line-up including Monster-in-law, Date Night, I Love You, Beth Cooper..

    • In March, we will bring the complete Star Wars movie franchise which will be customized for the Indian audience in a big way. One of the property’s that has been appreciated well comes back with a bang with Shaolin Masters 4.

     

  • Uncertain hours & tough work conditions – women in the news media don't have it easy. How safe is the work life for them? An MxMIndia report

    How safe are women in news media?

     

    By Ananya Saha

     

    A recent incident when an Aaj Tak reporter was sexually harassed while reporting for a story raises concerns about women working in the media industry. We spoke to a few of them to know how they feel, and what have they been through.

     

    The number of working women is increasing, and so is the number of them working long hours. Journalists usually have to work late nights. While the work itself is not a cause for complaint, safety is a concern for most women journalists. In the wake of a rape case, a reporter was teased by a group of men (in a car) while reporting! Who is to be blamed for it? And how can the companies make them feel safer? There is hardly a woman in media who does not have a story to share about feeling unsafe or harassed. While stringent company policies have made offices a better place, while reporting or while stepping out of office, at least Delhi women have had a bad experience.

     

    The names in the story have been changed, on request.

     

     

    MxM View

     

    Write to us an editor@mxmindia.com if your newsroom is not taking good care of women employees

     

    MxMIndia has a clear view on the issue of the safety towards women in the news media. The people who run the newsrooms – owners, CxOs, editors, team leaders, and commentators — must ensure that we provide for the safety of our women colleagues. We know that the world outside our offices – including our public transport — is unsafe. We also know that expecting people around to protect women is too much to ask as we discovered when a senior news journalist was mute witness to an excess on a Mumbai local train.

     

    So, while it’s good to see the news media playing up the Delhi gangrape story, it’s critical that stiff laws are created. Our newsrooms must work towards taking care of the staff as they work odd hours.

     

    If you think your newsroom or that of a friend is not taking good care of its women employees, write to us ateditor@mxmindia.com. While we don’t guarantee a solution, we will take it up the bosses of the news media entity to ensure a better, safer world.

     

    - Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Editor-in-Chief and CEO, MxMIndia

     

    Sakshi Bhasin, a television journalist who works in Noida does not feel safe in Delhi. “There was an instance when at about 10.30pm, which is my usual time for leaving office, I stepped out to board my office cab only to find a car passing by in which the ‘men’ passed a comment ‘we’ll drop you home’. Not in the genuine sense of course!’ But as soon as they found I had a male colleague with me, they quickly drove past. I spoke to my HR head about the incident and she suggested sending a guard with me if I needed. I joked that rather than having two guys at that time of night in my cab (the second one being the driver), I’d rather go alone. Although it was a joke, it is sad that even professional women like me are fighting with the male psyche everywhere.”

     

    Kolkata-born Sumitra Bose who currently works in Delhi said, “Safety is always a concern when leaving in the late hours. Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg is a place where all the major newspaper offices are located, there is a police patrol van also deployed in the area but the walk till the metro station is filled with notorious elements and no one has been able to a thing about it. You cannot stand on the road to hail an auto rickshaw without having some bikers or hooligans pass a comment or two as you stand there, right under the nose of a police van. The underbridge that one has to cross, for instance, is replete with drunkards, homeless, beggars, and it has space enough to only walk to in a single file. There isn’t even a proper road.” However, she feels safe once aboard the metro.

     

    About the HR policies of her organisation, she said, “In my organisation there is a cell for women to complain for sexual harassment, and also like most other newspapers, they provide a drop facility after 10pm with a male escort. But if you are leaving at 9, then they probably think it is safe enough!”

     

     

    From the women on the MxMIndia team

     

    Ritu Midha

    As a media journalist you interact with a certain set of people – and in my off and on innings here I have not really faced any issues with the people I have interacted with.

     

    Commuting in Mumbai too has never been a problem – even with two cub female journalists in tow – I have, in the past, travelled from Bandra to Navi Mumbai in the middle of the night and even later. Having said that, bus travel has been minimum – and cabs are safer in Mumbai anyway.

     

    As for MXM India, it is a small team, and there is no question of things going wrong. A happy family. A comfortable place to be yourself! Having said that, to say that Mumbai corporate life does not have its fair share of ’embarrassing’. incidents would be a sham. Women employees do give up their jobs for being eyed and invited.

     

    However, in comparison to Delhi – it is a much better place to work for women in media I guess. As a journalism student in Delhi many years back, I do remember walking to the stop where bus initiated and got down two stops ahead to avoid the ‘rush’.  And also that in a posh South Delhi women’s hostel criteria for getting the room was taking the manager out for a movie!

     

    Sad part is we keep quiet, tell our youngsters to ignore (I too have advised one of my journalists to walk away from a drunk guy, instead of slapping him on his face), and society keeps getting sicker and sicker. Sometimes I wonder what kind of journalists we really are.

     

    Tuhina Anand

    Late night shifts or covering an event late night for female journalists is riddled with many issues. While the job profile requires one to attend events late night but traveling alone certainly is not advised. So you have to make arrangements to see that there is somebody to escort if the event finishes really late at night. I have done this as part of Delhi Times where you ended up covering events that ended late night or even at occasion left office late as filing stories took time. But never could I think of taking public transport or driving back alone hence had to look for someone to accompany which actually is such a pain as you are disturbing the peace of others too at some unholy hour. We have to accept that despite all talk of gender equality our work place and society is not women friendly especially not sensitive to late working hours for women.

     

    What can be done? I don’t really know because even if we take measures to make the work place environment conducive for working women, what can you do of rogues who are waiting on the streets to catch their next prey?

     

    Vidya Heble

    I’ve worked all shifts as a desk journalist in Mumbai and, touch wood, never had a problem going home from work at any time. Nevertheless, I take the usual precautions, such as keeping to better-lit parts in public, avoiding dark paths, and travelling in the ladies compartment of the local train which is nearest to the motorman’s cabin. There is a policeman stationed in the compartment, but in case of any problem I feel assured that I can lean out and call the motorman for help. So far, however, I have never had a problem even when I have caught the penultimate train to my destination 35 km away, and then taken an autorickshaw from the station. In general, I feel safer in BEST buses and the local trains, rather than in taxis and autorickshaws.

     

    But this is Mumbai. In Delhi, I would not dream of going anywhere. At all. My several visits to Delhi have left me very wary of the men in that city.

     

    I also did not face harassment at the workplace in Mumbai.

     

    But I’ve worked earlier in Goa, and it is a very different cup of tea. There was harassment there, both at the workplace as well as in public transport and public places. It’s a great place to live in but not to work!

     

    Ananya Saha

    I have had the opportunity to work in Delhi and Mumbai. And of course there is a stark difference of how both cities treat their women. Yes, we do feel safe when inside office or home, but the travelling alone to home or office never comes without concern. Since I work from home, I do not face the daily travelling ordeal but if travelling for work, by auto or cab, I always take down the vehicle number before boarding.

     

    While company policies have been stringent at most media houses, I know of a girl who was harassed by a male colleague. While she was asked to keep mum, she approached the proprietor of the company. The senior management protected him and he was let off after a warning. She quit after few months.

     

    I know of media organisations who do not even have ‘cab facilities’ for females who get late at work and some of them do not make sure if female colleagues is dropped first. While we wish to be independent, financially, I think it will take a long time to be truly independent. At least in Delhi.

     

    Stuti Bhattacharya has reported from various cities across India. She said that she felt the most unsafe in Delhi. “I have worked in all urban cities in India. Even returning home at 11pm in Hyderabad was safer than retuning from work at 9pm in Delhi. “Since I work for a newspaper, our shift usually ends pretty late around 8-9pm. I have had an incident while leaving office. I was accosted by a drunkard whom I pepper-sprayed. Then, I complained to the Police and Women Cell that resulted in patrolling of PCR vans for next two days. But today, it is back to square one. I prefer travelling with fellow colleagues for sense of security. I prefer travelling by metro, since it has separate coach for females, than travelling by auto or bus.” She feels that following any untoward incident involving a woman, the government blames the company or the individual. “It is the responsibility of the government to make us feel safe,” she opined.

     

    Megha Ghose, television producer with a leading news channel in Mumbai, was once stalked by a colleague for more than two weeks. She then made a police complaint, and the colleague was asked to leave the organisation. “What is strange is that he found a job the very next day at the competitors’ channel, who also knew about the whole episode. I wish it was not so easy for him,” she said.

     

    Kolkata-based magazine journalist Saroni Roy said that while she has not had any untoward incident at work, “I have to keep my family informed about where I am going for my assignment. Mostly, I travel by my own car and not the official cab. Who can you trust anyway? Company policies do not matter since your safety is your own concern.”

     

    Monica Kapur, a web journalist in Delhi said, “For most events that I cover, I get cab facility but still it does not make me feel safe. We have rotational shifts. Once I got free at 2am, and was driving back when another car started following me. I took a U-turn and went back to the office at 3 am.” Delhi-based TV Journalist Neha Bhasin said, “As a female journalist, I feel insecure if I work late at night and have to make my way to home on my own. I try and ensure that an office vehicle drops me home if I work beyond 10pm. However, at times when I drive to work, I need to drive back instead of using office vehicles and at such times I feel vulnerable. Thankfully I haven’t had to face a situation where I have felt threatened but the thought is always there at the back of my mind. I worry constantly if I will make it safely back home. Living in the capital city, it’s shameful that such a basic right – safety for women – is not ensured.”

     

    While women journalists struggle with the not-so-safe environment, Advocate Rekha Aggarwal, Supreme Court and Delhi High Court, told MxM India that there are no special privileges to protect the women working late hours. “It is not only media, but look at other professions where women work late. It is up to the companies to make such provisions for the safety of female staff. They have arranged cabs with male guards to drop female staff. But then I am not sure how safe it would make them. Yes, they can have special privileges such as regulated working hours where females are not allowed to stay in office beyond the said time, ‘work-from-home’ option for them. However, this should not come at a cost of lesser pay or lesser opportunities at work. But this would be a totally utopian situation. And I am not sure if we are ready for it. Not only the government, it is important that companies protect women employees.”

     

    Ensuring the safety of women in the supposedly egalitarian urban Indian society is a 360-degree issue. Everyone plays a part: employers, law-enforcers, infrastructure providers and the woman herself. Still, it is a long way before the Utopia of true safety can be achieved.

     

    Look out for Part 2 of our report on how safe are women in the rest of the media – advertising, marketing, experential media, public relations and non-journalists in the news media. If you wish to share an experience here, write to editor@mxmindia.com

     

    Image: Rafiq

     

  • Deepika and other stars will wear the jewellery in forthcoming action thriller 'Race 2'

    Tanishq enters into fine fashion jewellery with ‘Iva’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Jewellery chain Tanishq has launched ‘Iva’ – a new fashion jewellery line in 18kt gold. Keeping the jewellery line minimalistic and yet contemporary, Iva also marks Tanishq’s entry into the fashion jewellery space. Tanishq has tied up with Tips Industries, producers of action thriller ‘Race 2’, and actresses Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ameesha Patel will be seen wearing the Tanishq Iva collection in the movie.

     

    Saumen Bhaumik, Associate Vice President & Regional Business Head-North, Tanishq, said, “We identified the need of the fashion-seeking Indian woman, someone who creates her own rules. There is currently no product offering for this set of consumers and Tanishq seeks to address this need with the Iva fashion line. The Race franchise is the perfect ally for Iva – scoring high on sophistication, cutting-edge design, the latest trends and wide/ popular appeal.”

     

    Speaking at the launch of the new jewellery line, Beate Stenfield, Head of Product Innovation at Tanishq said, “In her quest to be simplistic yet modern, the Indian woman has come a long way. In times of visual overload she seeks the beauty and serenity of a fresh aesthetic in her adornment. While the contemporary woman dabbles with several roles today, she is able to stand out and expresses herself with elegance and simplicity, wherein her accessory becomes a statement.”

     

    The Iva range is available from Rs 20,000 at Tanishq stores across major cities.

     

  • The flash mob concept was extended to on-the-spot games, at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai

    DDB MudraMax, Aircel flash mob promotes Pocket Internet Games card

    By A Correspondent

     

    Aircel in collaboration with DDB Mudra Max organized an ‘exhilarating and exciting’ Flash mob at the Express Avenue Mall to promote their newly launched Pocket Internet Games card. The crowd at the Express Avenue mall in Chennai were entertained with music, footwork and the live gaming activities of boxing and football.

     

     

    For starters, two men materialized out of nowhere and got into a heated argument. Their heated argument got the whole crowd interested and even as they listened to the peppy background music. On cue, the duo stripped down to boxing attire, a referee jumped into the fray, cordoned off an impromptu ring and began a round of boxing. Football followed similarly.

     

     

    Mandeep Malhotra, President, DDB MudraMax, said, “The ‘Aircel Pocket Internet Games’ Card is a unique property, and we wanted to do justice to the same.  When the word ‘flash mob’ is used, we automatically picture a group of people getting together and dancing on a song. We wanted to change this assumption, so we brought in the idea of gaming in the form of a flash mob.

     

    Commenting on the idea behind the flash mob, Gunjan Arora, Group Director, Brand Communications, DDB MudraMax, said that Aircel as a brand has always been open to new ideas and innovative practices to aggressively engage consumers and make an impact.

     

  • With the theme 'Celebrate Words. Save the Language,' the spelling extravaganza, will travel to 35 cities

    Radio Mirchi, HDFC Life launch Season 5 of Spell Bee

    By A Correspondent

     

    Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM and HDFC Life have announced the launch of the fifth season of ‘HDFC Life Spell Bee – India Spells 2013, the Indian counterpart of the highly acclaimed Scripps Spelling Bee, USA. With the theme ‘Celebrate Words. Save the Language,’ the spelling extravaganza will travel to 35 cities and will aim to reach more than 5,00,000 students from Standard 5th to 9th. This year’s Spell Bee will be backed by Times NIE in promoting the campaign and encouraging participation.

     

    The National Champion of Spell Bee – India Spells 2013 will win a grand prize of Rs. 2,00,000 apart from the opportunity to witness the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee with a parent and the school principal/teacher in Washington DC, USA, in an all-expenses paid trip. The four semi-finalists will win a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 each.

     

    Sanjay Tripathy

    Commenting on the launch, Sanjay Tripathy, Executive Vice President and Head, Marketing, Product and Direct Channels, HDFC Life said, “The era of abbreviated text messaging is having a detrimental impact on the English language, with an increased surge in their acceptance as a convenient replacement for the original word. HDFC Life Spell Bee – India Spells, an annual spelling completion, has been making an effort over the last four years to improve the spelling skills of students in a unique and stimulating format. To maximize the reach, we are continuing with the digital leg, giving an opportunity to students across the country to register and participate online.”

     

     

    Prashant Panday

    Prashant Panday, Executive Director and CEO, Entertainment Network (India) Limited said, “We started off Spell Bee with an aim to sensitize young children to the basics of the language. The hunt to find spelling enthusiasts, since then, has continued. Already in our 5th season, we are expecting tremendous success and phenomenal participation. This year Spell Bee will raise the bar of competitiveness as we seek registrations from across 35 cities. It gets tougher as participants from previous seasons re-enrol to make this championship fiercer. Like every year, the competition will be televised to encourage and prepare students for the upcoming season.”

     

    In the initial phase, an on-ground exercise will be conducted across 1,000 schools where children will be given spelling tests. Later they progress to the city finale round. The top two students from each city will then appear for an online test which will choose the best 16 spellers across India. These students will then battle it out in the grand finale to be held at Mumbai to win the title of Spell Bee Champion.

     

  • SBI Life has launched a multi-media educational advertising campaign, with the initiative also launched across social media

    SBI Life launches educational campaign for customers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Intensifying its customer educational efforts, SBI Life has launched a multi-media educational advertising campaign. Unlike the category communication, the seven ad-films TV campaign impactfully drives the point about paying attention to a few basics before buying a life insurance product.

     

    Chandramohan Mehra, Head, Brand and Cross Sell, SBI Life, said, “Indian consumers demonstrate evolution and high level of detailing when in shopping mode for other product categories. Unfortunately, there is high inertia towards understanding a few basics before subscribing to a life insurance product. Educating the prospective buyers of life insurance, the communication strengthens their trust in the brand as a category leader.”

     

    The educational initiative has been launched across social media platforms, SBI Life’s Facebook fan page ‘Celebrate Life’, Twitter and YouTube. Apart from this, the virtual CrossWords, E-life insurance dictionary, website in nine Indian Languages and insurance educational points at branches are all part of integrated communication efforts that have been rolled out recently. The communication plan is to extend these initiatives in high-traffic shopping malls to bring alive the educational message when the customer is shopping.

     

  • The CII-E&Y report on India's private FM radio segment, 'Poised for Growth: FM radio in India', will be released in the capital today

    FM radio will generate Rs 14bn in coming year: E&Y report

    By A Correspondent

     

    India’s private FM radio segment is expected to generate revenue of around Rs 14 billion in 2012–13. With 245 private FM stations operating in 86 cities, the sector has been growing at a CAGR of 14 percent annually. Furthermore, the sector is expected to grow to INR 23 billion, at a CAGR of 18 percent, within three years of Phase III being rolled out, according to ‘Poised for Growth: FM radio in India’, the latest study by CII and Ernst & Young. The sector accounts for around 4 percent of the country’s total ad industry. Globally, radio’s average share of the total ad industry is between 5 percent and 10 percent.

     

    According to IRS 2012 Q2 data, radio has an estimated audience of 158 million people (out of which FM radio accounts for 106 million), as compared to 563 million in the TV segment and 352 million in the print sector. Advertising revenues comprise more than 85-90 percent of the total revenue generated by FM radio companies; non-FCT sales can contribute up to 20 percent of a radio company’s total revenue today.

     

    Ashish Pherwani

    Ashish Pherwani, Partner, Ernst & Young said, “The report is a compilation of the views of 23 industry stakeholders including radio companies, regulators, music labels, etc. It highlights the need for a speedy implementation of Phase III, which can grow the radio industry from INR14 bn to INR23 bn in three years, subject to enabling networking and cost management, development of a measurement metric which supports the industry, and ensuring license fee prices during Phase III auctions are not irrational. The report also highlights operational, tax and technology implications of the industry.”

     

    Current state of the industry

    Radio is not considered a primary advertising medium due to its limited number of stations. While larger cities are mostly covered by it, advertisers interested in regional ad campaigns prefer using regional print (which can enable them to reach several more cities and towns than radio currently can) or regional TV, which has grown significantly since 2005. Therefore, radio is only used as a back-up medium for most ad campaigns. However, with the implementation of Phase III, with 839 frequencies being made available for auction, radio is expected to provide advertisers with a much deeper reach.

     

    More than 50 percent of FM radio consumption is in homes, followed by people listening in transit (on mobile phones and in-car listening) and out-of-home listening at restaurants, offices, shops and so forth. Around 25 percent of total radio listenership is now on mobile phones, fuelled by handset manufacturers that have made FM radio a standard feature in most of their models. Some radio companies claimed that their research indicates that mobile phone listenership in metros comprises more than 75 percent of their total listenership.

     

    The study highlights the fact that the key challenges faced by this industry today include limited inventory, inability to demonstrate ROI and slow recovery of ad effective rates (ERs). Therefore, the need of the hour is for radio industry is to collaborate and implement a measurement system that supports the growth of the industry.

     

    Phase III

    Phase III of FM radio licensing promises further growth opportunities for the Indian FM radio industry, since it covers 294 cities and 839 licenses.  However, only 52 of these licenses are in high revenue-generating category A+, A and B cities.

     

    They expect the share of local retail advertising to increase from current levels to more than 50 percent of the total revenues generated in the segment, and activations and other below-the-line marketing initiatives to play a more important role in generating revenues. The margins of radio stations are projected to decline in the short run, stabilize in three to five years and then rise. The growth in mobile and internet ad spends could, however, pose a threat to the rise of FM radio.

     

    Phase III is also likely to make the industry more conducive to M&A due to proposals such as reduction of the license lock-in period from 5-3 years, an increase in the license period from 10 to 15 years, significantly more networking between all the stations to enable cost optimization, ownership of multiple frequencies in a city and an increase in the foreign investment limit to 26 percent from the current 20 percent. The industry needs to push for parity with the FDI norms of other media segments such as broadcast TV.

     

    In the long term, significant growth for the private FM radio industry will only be possible if several thousand stations are operationalized, burden of high licence fees is removed by increasing the variable component and reducing fixed costs, and news dissemination is equated with other media.