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  • 12th AGM of Indian Broadcasting Foundation elects Board of Directors

    The full-strength IBF Board of Directors

    By A Correspondent

    The Board of Directors of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation was reconstituted at its 12th Annual General Meeting held on September 19, 2011 at Hotel Oberoi, New Delhi.

    In the Board meeting that followed the AGM, the Board unanimously re-elected Mr Uday Shankar as the President-IBF for second year in a row. Mr Sunil Lulla, Managing Director & CEO of Times Television Network, was elected Vice President and Mr Punit Goenka, Managing Director, Zee News Ltd. has been elected as the Treasurer.

    Earlier in the day, during the AGM, IBF members also elected the Board members after which the IBF Board of Directors for the year 2011-12 would be as under:-

     

     

     

    Mr Uday Shankar, Director, Star News (Media Content & Communications Services I P Ltd

     

     

     

     

    Mr Sunil Lulla, Managing Director & CEO, Times Television Network

    Mr Punit Goenka, Managing Director, Zee News Ltd.

    Mr Haresh Chawla, Group CEO, Network 18

    Mr I Venkat, Director, Eenadu TV

    Mr Jawahar Goel, Zee Network

    Mr Jayant M Mathew, Director, MM TV

    Mr KVL Narayan Rao, CEO & Executive Director, NDTV

    Mr Man Jit Singh, CEO, MSM

    Mr Paritosh Joshi, President (Ad Sales & Distribution), Star India

    Mr Rajat Sharma, Chairman, India TV

    Mr Siddharth Jain, Vice President & General Manager (Distribution & Business Operations), Turner International India & South Asia

     

    Co-opted Directors:

    Mr K Madhavan, Managing Director, Asianet Communications Ltd.

    Mr Markand Adhikari, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Sri Adhikari Bros. Television Network Ltd.

    Mr Raj Nayak, CEO, Viacom 18

     

     

    Special Invitees to the Board of Directors meetings:

    Ms Monica Tata, Vice President & General Manager, Turner General Entertainment Network

    Mr Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN

  • Chauthi Duniya is planning to come out with an English weekly magazine soon, and is looking at a TV channel thereafter

    Chauthi Duniya plans English weekly

    By Akash Raha

    Mr Santosh Bhartiya, Editor, Chauthi Duniya told MxM India that the group is soon planning to launch an English weekly magazine. He said that it might still take a couple of months before the publication is on the stands, and it seeks to be successful in the political magazine space.

    According to Mr Bhartiya, “It will be a hard-hitting political magazine with excellent content. We are on our way to building a strong team and we shall launch thereafter. Like all other publications and offerings of our group, the English magazine too shall become a personification of excellence in journalism”.

    He also said that a plan for a TV channel is in the works, after the success of their internet TV. “We have had a phenomenal response from our viewers on our internet television, and they themselves have written to us to start off with a new television channel, as they are tired of watching PR-pushed news. They admire us for dedication and credible journalism.”

    It is noteworthy that not too long ago, Chauthi Duniya group had launched its weekly Urdu newspaper, which is also available internationally. The total circulation of the weekly newspaper (both nationally and internationally) according to Chauthi Duniya is about 45,000 copies.

    What they think

    “We don’t yet know what the look and feel of the magazine is going to be like, but the concept of a political magazin’ certainly sounds interesting,” said Ms Surbhi C Murthy, Associate Vice President, Allied Media, Delhi. She went on to say, “I think that there is a lack of political magazines in India. Tehelka is a good read and a fantastic product, but even though it takes up political issues seriously, it is not a completely political magazine per se. Other magazines like India Today, Outlook, Open, The Week and the likes of them, do good political stories, but at the end of the day they all general interest magazines.  I think that there is still a lot of scope for a good political magazine to come in and create a niche for itself. Content is obviously going to be the key for Chauthi Duniya, but other key factors include the distribution and feel of the magazine”.

    When asked whether there is a space for a political magazine in the market in the current scheme of things Ms Mousumi Kar, General Manager, North and East, Maxus said “Political awareness is on the rise as people are questioning government policies and agenda.There is room for hard hitting political journalism that is willing to reflect plurality of opinions and remain non partisan.”

    Chauthi Duniya is known for its scathing news stories against corruption and political malpractices. It is also Hindi and Urdu offerings in print too are doing relatively well. Chauthi Duniya’s newest offering may well take the media world by surprise.

  • Ignite Mudra wins Rotomac Pens mandate for branding, creative

    Rotomac’s the write stuff for Ignite Mudra

    Rotomac Pens, a leader in the writing instruments market in India has appointed Ignite Mudra as its strategic partner to handle branding and creative duties for its corporate brand and for the writing instruments brands.

    Commenting on the development, Mr Rahul Kothari, President, Rotomac said, “The last decade has been exciting with the entry of many players and competition heating up. The market itself is undergoing a tectonic shift with increasing literacy and evolving tastes of the Indian consumer. In this challenging scenario, we needed a strategic partner who truly understands the Indian consumer as well as the nuances of the writing instruments market. Our interactions with Ignite Mudra have cemented our belief that they are the ideal partner to drive exponential growth for brand Rotomac in the coming years. We’re looking forward to a long-term relationship with them.”

    Commenting on winning this account, Mr Sudarshan Banerjee, Head – Ignite Mudra said, “Rotomac is a prestigious win for us. The brand is a leader in its business and has a strong residual image in the consumer’s mind. The challenge is exciting because we’re talking about a market where most of the purchases are ‘brand agnostic’ since the consumer doesn’t really pay too much attention to the brand of pen he/ she uses. Our approach on how we will get such a consumer to show discernment towards brands is what has won us the business.”

    Ignite Mudra has built memorable brands for several entrepreneurial ventures in the past three decades, such as Reliance (Vimal), Rasna, Dhara, Paras Pharmaceuticals (Itchguard, Dermicool, Moov, Krack, Recova, Livon), Electrotherm (YObykes), Zydus Cadila (Nutralite, Sugar Free, Everyuth) and many others. This legacy has given Ignite Mudra an intuitive understanding of the brand building needs of entrepreneurs.

  • The Anchor: Devraj Sanyal on the 10 songs you’re sure to hear on FM radio

    #1Satyameva Jayate: From the most awaited album SuperHeav’… It’s the track which brings the nation together… has that anthemic feel.

    #2 Lady Gaga, The Edge of Glory: A must-have artist in your playlist, the biggest pop icon the world is gaga over.

    #3 Enrique Iglesias, Dirty Dancer: The most loved artiste in India, one of the highest selling in the country.

    #4 JLO, On the Floor: The biggest club hit in recent times… gets JLo back on the music scene.

    #5 Raab Rakha, Love Breakups Zindagi: Very young and vibrant song, a direct connect to today’s youth.

    #6 Jessie J, Price Tag: Purely for its lyrics… It’s not about money money money.

    #7 Watch The Throne, I love you so: A must-have for hiphop fans – two hiphop idols in one album!

    #8 Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, Blackmail: Played on all the radio stations on their classic shows… Kishore Kumar is definitely hamaare dil ke paas.

    #9 Yeh Dosti, Sholay: An evergreen friendship track.

    #10 Senorita, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: Very cool, very young, from a new-age young film.

     

    Devraj Sanyal is the Managing Director of Universal Music India

  • Reckitt Benckiser launches Dettol Liquid Handwash in new packaging avatar

    New packs benefit Dettol Handwash

    By A Correspondent 

    Dettol, one of the most trusted brands from the portfolio of Reckitt Benckiser, has launched Dettol Liquid Handwash in a new packaging avatar bundled with new benefits.  The Dettol Liquid Handwash range that gives effective protection against a wide range of unseen germs daily is now available in a contemporary, easy-to-hold shape, and new fragrances and packaging.

    Dettol Liquid Handwash has four variants including Dettol Skincare, Dettol Fresh, Dettol Sensitive and Dettol Original, which comes with new formulations and better lather. All the four variants are available in pump packs of 250ml and / or 135ml. The new handwash bottles come with a wider pump for easier use and a wider mouth for easier refill. The refill packs are also available in 185ml and 900ml.

    Mr Chander Mohan Sethi, Chairman and Managing Director Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd, said, “We at Reckitt Benckiser constantly aim at providing new and better solutions to our customers. Our new Dettol Liquid Handwash bottles with wider pumps are in line with Dettol’s primary focus of providing germ protection. Dettol, our flagship brand, is considered the gold standard for protection against germs and infections.”

     

  • Harvard University Press holds contest to design Murty Classical Library of India

    Design submissions invited for classical publications library in India

    By A Correspondent

    Harvard University Press is inviting design submissions for the Murty Classical Library of India, a publication series slated to debut in 2013 that will bring the classical literature of India to a global audience. The designer of the winning series logo, logotype, and jacket design will receive US$10,000 and jacket credit on all books in the series.

    The Murty Classical Library of India (MCLI), established through an endowment gift from Rohan Narayan Murty and the Murty family, will provide new English-language translations of works written in Bangla, Hindi, Pali, Panjabi, Persian, Sanskrit, Tamil, and other Indic languages, with the original text on the facing page.

    Harvard University Press Executive Editor-at-Large Ms Sharmila Sen noted, “Because the Murty family founded the MCLI in order to bring the rich literary heritage of India to the entire world, it is especially fitting that we issue an open invitation to generate a design for this landmark series.”

    Mr Tim Jones, director of design and production at HUP, added: “India’s classical literature is uniquely diverse—geographically, linguistically, and thematically—making it a special challenge to visually convey the scope and richness of the MCLI. We’re holding this contest so that designers of all backgrounds and experience can help us find an iconic way to represent the writings’ diversity.”

    Designs may be submitted until December1, 2011. Residents of, and design firms based in, the US, the UK and India are eligible to enter. Details, complete rules, and entry form are available at www.murtylibrary.com.

     

     

  • Entrepreneurs get a boost with CNBC’s showcase of The Power of Dreams

    CNBC TV18 hosts conclave to fete Young Turks

    By Akash Raha

    CNBC TV18 hosted the Young Turks Conclave in New Delhi on September 20, 2011.  The conclave showcased “The Power of Dreams” through young entrepreneurs and their success stories. The inaugural speech in the conclave was given by MsKiran Majumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon.

    Other eminent speakers who graced the CNBC TV18 conclave were Mr R Balki, Chairman & CCO, Lowe Lintas India, Film Director; Mr Aditya Ghosh, President, Indigo Airlines; Mr Ajay Jadeja (Former VC, Indian Cricket Team and Commentator and Mr Rajeev Samant (Founder& CEO, Sula Vineyards. All the speakers shared their views and ideas on triumph at the backdrop of their own success story.

    Mr Balki said for a long time he did not know what he wanted to become, till he entered the field of advertising, which inspired and enthralled him. Likewise, Mr Jadeja shared his story from his early days in cricket and spoke about his ups and downs. He stressed in the importance of persistence on the path to success. Mr Ghosh charted the struggle Indigo Airlines had to go through to chart their way to success over the past five years. He spoke about the intricacies of the airline industry and gave several examples to drive home his point. Likewise, Mr Samant spoke about one of India’s first and most successful wine companies, Sula, and explained how through immense hard work and hardships it has become a famous name in the wine industry.

    One of the biggest entrepreneurs of our time, Mr Kishore Biyani, Group CEO, Future Group spoke last and duly summed up the ethos of the conclave through the story of his own Group. The success story of the group, as portrayed by Mr Biyani, was emphatic to say the least. The day’s event and discussions were moderated by Ms Shereen Bhan, Executive Editor, CNBC TV18.

     

  • When our hysteria-obsessed TV channels realised that a natural calamity was more newsworthy than a man-made one

    Why democracy can so easily be an ‘obstacle’

    Four days of a severe throat infection meant little TV news and or newspapers. This I thought would save me from minute by minute updates on the condition of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s fast for amity or goodwill or whatever he called it. But as it turned out, I was wrong. The fast may have been covered but Modi’s condition was left out of it. So unlike with Anna Hazare, whose weight, blood pressure and such were reported in detail, we were given few clues on how much weight Modi had shed. Also, since the earthquake struck Sikkim on Sunday evening, even our hysteria-obsessed TV channels realised that a natural calamity was more newsworthy than a man-made one.

    Unfortunately, not only is our knowledge about the North-East of India decidedly dim, so is our television coverage as few channels have correspondents or camera crew stationed close by or even perhaps adequate arrangements with local channels. Thus we had to depend on telephone reports and as usual it is not till you get the next day’s paper that you really know what’s going on. Also given our India-obsession, our channels behaved as if the earthquake only affected Sikkim, pretty much ignoring the damage in neighbouring Nepal and Tibet. This is, one assumes, a form of patriotism.

    The damage which obsessive TV – with regard to the coverage of the Anna Hazare movement in particular — can do was brought home to me quite severely while addressing students of a media course at a Mumbai college on Saturday , when one wanted to know how we can get around an obstacle like democracy when it comes to reducing corruption!

    Changes made to the Board of Control for Cricket in India were examined threadbare on television and with many anchors palpably upset that there had been no public executions or floggings after India’s losses in England. It becomes clearer every minute you watch TV news why democracy can so easily be an “obstacle”.

     

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    Newspapers covered Modi’s fast as well but with far more scepticism, many choosing to concentrate on the fissures within both the BJP and the NDA. The Telegraph, Calcutta, has a story with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) making it clear than Modi was not a suitable prime ministerial candidate. Of course, all this jumping the gun a bit since the next general election is in 2014 and it is unlikely that Modi will be fasting all the way up to then, amity or no amity.

    Tuesday’s Hindustan Times underlined its scepticism of Modi’s amity fast with an editorial, a lead edit page piece by Sitaram Yechury as well as a column by its senior political analyst Vinod Sharma.

    The Times of India reduced Modi to a second edit, ‘Strange Sadbhavna’. The front page concentrated on its Social Impact Awards, to honour people who make India a better place. The Times of India has fine-tuned the knack of being all things to all people, greedy, socially conscientious, middle of the road and of course as with Times Now, decidedly rightwing.

    Also expectedly, newspapers concentrated on the devastation and death toll in all the quake-affected areas and not just on Indian casualties. Clearly, whatever the sure signs of degradation of standards in the Indian media, some of the better practices still manage to rise about the sludge.

    Most mainline daily choose to downplay or ignore US president Barack Obama’s plan to increase taxes to cut down the country’s budget deficit. The pink papers however could not. And weeks after Warren Buffett wrote an impassioned column in the New York Times on how he and his rich friends did not mind paying more tax, Indian papers picked up on it. Of course, this was because of a throwaway line in Obama’s speech – but since the speech was telecast live by all international and business channels, you could not escape it. Indian newspapers and channels seem to have one mantra down pat – never upset rich people. Obama apparently – and the New York Times for that matter – has no such qualms.

     

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    We need someone to explain our country’s nuclear policy to us cogently and intelligently as ever since the Japan tsunami there have been very real fears and very strong protests. Indian television goes overboard and Indian newspapers play it down. Help?!

  • It’s a Big change at BIG CBS with Vishal Rally moving from Vodafone to join as Business Head

    Vishal Rally joins BIG CBS Networks as Business Head

    By A Correspondent

    In the week when BIG CBS Networks’ channels outperformed their competitors, the Company has yet another development. Vishal Rally has been appointed as the Business Head for BIG CBS Networks Pvt Ltd. He will be responsible for the overall functioning of the channel including programming, promotions, communications and also the P&L and revenue generation for the business.

    With 16 years of experience, Mr Rally joins the BIG CBS Channels from Vodafone Essar, where he headed the Products & Sales functions. He has had a multi-sectoral background, with his career beginning with GTL where his profile included working as a product specialist and looking after the sales, marketing and technical skills – to design, promote and sell a product. After a 4 year stint at GTL, he joined ZIP Telecom as Senior Brand Executive. He has also worked in Hathway and Venture Infotek where he was Associate Vice President – Marketing.

    On the appointment, Mr Nikhil Mirchandani, Business Head, Television Channels, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd. said, “Vishal brings with him varied experience and skill sets that will work to the advantage of the business. He comes on board at a very interesting juncture where all our channels have shown tremendous growth and the time is just appropriate to increase thrust on revenues and top-lines. We welcome him on board and look forward to a fruitful innings.”

    Speaking on his appointment, Mr Rally says, “Am happy to come on board. There exists huge market potential to explore for these channels and I am confident that the winning content, the market standing and the dedicated team when put together make for a winning brand.”

    Mr Rally is a Masters in Management Studies from Mumbai University and Bachelor in Engineering (BE) from Manipal University. He will be reporting to Mr Nikhil Mirchandani, Business Head, Television, Reliance Broadcast Networks Limited.

  • Uday Shankar re-elected IBF president

    By A Correspondent

    Star India CEO Mr Uday Shankar was re-elected president of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation at its annual general meeting in New Delhi yesterday.

    Until recently treasurer, Mr Sunil Lulla, CEO and MD of Times Television Network will be vice-president. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd CEO Punit Goenka will be the new treasurer.

     

    Detailed report on MxMIndia tomorrow

  • The FIPB approves a proposal from Burda Gesellschaft mit BeschrAnkter Haftung to set up a wholly owned subsidiary

    Disney needs to wait a li’l more for FIPB nod

    By A Correspondent

    The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) of the Ministry of Finance, the Government of India has approved 12 Proposals of Foreign Direct Investment amounting to Rs 242.88 crore approximately. However, it has deferred its decision on the much-hyped offer by Walt Disney to buy the promoter’s stake in UTV.

     

    The proposal by Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Asia Pte Ltd was to increase foreign shareholding from 48.02 percent to up to 100 percent to carry out the business of film distribution, content development and distribution, animation productions, and through downstream to undertake broadcasting business, by uplinking one or more general entertainment (not being news and current affairs) channel, in addition to the existing activities.

     

    It may be noted that the deferring of the decision only indicates that they matter has been put off to the next FIPB meeting which is scheduled for September 30, 2011.

     

    Some of the other proposals that have been deferred include Cellcast Interactive India’s proposal of

    setting up of three non-news and current affairs Television channels in Hindi, Tamil and

    Telugu in India. 9X Media Pvt. Ltd has requested to increase foreign equity participation from 80% to up to 100% and also to make downstream investments up to 100 %. Decision on this too has been deferred.

     

    Mr Atul Phadnis’s What’s On India Media Pvt. Ltd also has to wait before it gets an approval on the induction of foreign equity by way of issue and allotment of compulsorily convertible participating preference shares to carry out the business of TV channel license for uplinking a non-news and current affairs TV channel.

     

    Meanwhile, FIPB approved Burda Gesellschaft mit BeschrAnkter Haftung, Germany’s proposal to set up a wholly owned subsidiary to engage in the business of publication of magazines/ periodicals/ journals focussing on lifestyle, entertainment, fashion, interior design/ decoration, cars and computer. The proposal approved of publishing Indian editions of foreign titles and also editions of Indian titles besides custom publishing for third party and events and matters related to publication of magazines/ periodicals/ journals and promotional activities.

  • Day 2 at Spikes Asia in Singapore was fun and loads of partying

    Spikes Sidelights | Partying hard at Spikes Asia

    By Chhaya Balachandran Aiyer
    So it was a crazy time partying last evening. I left with Bo Hwang, ECD and VP from HS Ad Seoul, LG’s in-house agency. We had to decide which of the parties to go to! There was Ogilvy and Lowe starting at 7 pm and then a JWT party, one by TBWA and may be one hosted by McCann.

    I wasn’t really aware about the latter two. Anyway we decided to go Ogilvy first because our friend Johan ECD from AKQA suggested we are going to get some food there too. So there we made it by about 8 pm. And what did we find. Right outside the building before we entered we were accosted by a very attractively decked carnival woman, with all shiny blue sexy costume and those large plumes sticking out from her headdress and a very pleasant young man, and painted bus asking us to head to the Street Carnival organized by Lowe!! Ha ha.. so yea they did their best to redirect the crowd from Ogilvy, and I found out later that they were pretty successful. Bo and me decided to head upstairs anyway.

    So the Ogilvy party was happening at a newly opened office… so it was empty unfurnished. There were some 5 women who flocked over to Bo as soon as we entered!! And I was so impressed with BO from then on. Yes, I really liked him till then, and now I found out that he was so popular with women from around the globe.

    We made our way through the fairly packed place at Ogilvy… we got our glass of red wine, no food though J. I think Bo managed to get himself a bite or two. I had to make it right downstairs to grab a smoke. But yes I made friends with Emma Osborne, MD from Aspire Gobal Neworks who down there for a smoke too and holding two red balloons that flew away. And then back up with a cute little girl Jenny Choo from Breakfast Film Seoul. She was going to entertain me I realized , more than I expected much later in the evening.

    So yeah, JJ from Ogilvy One had it organized for us, we were to go in his car for the next two parties and we made it to the Lowe Carnival at the junction of Ann Siang Hill and Club Street. And was that place packed.. the street was overflowing from the likes of Madison Av. Asia . There were 3 pubs that were blocked by Lowe and people with drinks were inside outside everywhere. Jenny was soon garlanded with a scarf of pink feathers… and we got our drinks. We also got some real food and some 5 of us were placed ourselves next to the snack counter and made friends with loads of people there.

    Finally we headed to the JWT party on the rooftop of the building their office was in. Yeah, and this is where Jenny gave that moment to remember. The rooftop has this little shallow pools all over. And Jenny walked straight into one with her plumes and all.. her little black dress and black pointed heels.. and she managed to ensure that her glass of wine did not fall.. it was an awesome sight. I was right next to her.. tried to stop her.. but it was too noisy for her to hear. So yes, then I did help her out of the water apologizing all the time as I was laughing my heart out, and then did not feel guilty
    ‘cause she could not stop laughing too. And yes.. so we laughed for rest of the night we simply could not overcome that scene. JWT party had the best music, I must admit. I couldn’t catch the DJs name. Some fireplay was organized but those are the kind of stuff we find on the beaches of Goa, so nothing spectacular. What was sad though was when the drinks ran out pretty fast and all the bar seemed to have was warm beers.

    Johan, Bo, Jenny and me decided to head back to the hotel, tried to find out if the Post Office bar on the way was open, but we could order just one last drink so we headed straight back to Axis Bar at
    the Mandarin Oriental where we all stayed.

    That was the end to last evening or early morning hours of today. Now heading for the Awards Night and the After Party… . J

    Chhaya Balachandran Aiyer is founder-managing director, BC Webwise