MxMIndia

Tag: Akash Chawla

  • Chawla will continue to be Business Head of Essel Vision Productions Limited/Zee Studios

    Akash Chawla to be Biz Head of Zee TV, Deepak Rajadhyaksha is Dy Biz Head

    By A Correspondent

     

    Akash Chawla

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has announced the appointment of Akash Chawla and Deepak Rajadhyaksha as Business Head and Deputy Business Head respectively of flagship channel Zee TV.

     

    In the new structure, Akash Chawla, in addition to his current portfolio as Business Head- Essel Vision Productions Limited/Zee Studios for content creation on films, television and digital will now also take charge as Business Head of Zee TV.  In his earlier broadcasting stint, Chawla has spearheaded the marketing function for the flagship and national channels like ZeeTV, Zee Cinema and Zee Classic. He has also played a key role in the launch of channels like &pictures, Zee Anmol and Zindagi. All the functions of Zee TV like marketing, research and PR will align with Chawla going forward.

     

    Deepak Rajadhyaksha, who has been Business Head of  Zee Marathi will now take charge as the Deputy Business Head, Zee TV. The entire programming, OAP and Operations team would align and report to Rajadhyaksha and he will report to Akash Chawla. Both will work closely with ZEEL – MD & CEO, Punit Goenka.

     

  • Zee gets set for Season 5 of India’s #1 dance show with a new format and challenges on screen

    High Fives for DID

    Megastar ​Mithun Chakravarty and Zee TV Business Head Pradeep Hejmadi (extreme right) at a DID unveiling event in Mumbai

     

    By Dyanne Coelho

     

    The popular dance reality show on Zee TV, ‘Dance India Dance (DID)’is back after two long years with Season Five. The acclaimed show promises a brand new format featuring a fresh line-up of masters. “The new season will see new challenges and head to head combating between contestants. Besides, the masters are also of the younger generation who can choreograph, motivate and push talent into the industry,” Pradeep Hejmadi, Zee Business Head said.

     

    The panel of masters includes Mudassar Khan, the man behind the dance hits, HumkaPeeni Hai (Dabangg), Dhinka Chika (Ready) and Party All Night (Boss), Gaiti Siddiqui from the choreographer duo of Uma-Gaiti, known especially for the Sunny Leone hit Baby Doll, and Punit Pathak, who was first seen as a contestant on Season Two, then progressed to being a choreographer on the next season and now has returned as master on Season Five.

     

    The masters will mentor a group of contestants in this 15-week season of Dance India Dance, where they will run the contestants through rigorous training, workshops and choreography. Megastar Mithun Chakravarty will play Grandmaster and will act as a guide to the contestants. Jay Bhanushali returns on Season Five as host.

     

    The scout for talent began earlier this year across 17 cities in India, including Mumbai, Delhi, Indore, Ranchi, Guwahati, Raipur, Siliguri, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Vadodara. “Dance is like a form of prayer. And we like to give new talent a try always,” Chakravarty said.

     

    Akash Chawla, Business Head, Zee’s Creative and Production Studio, Essel Vision Productions Ltd said, “Season Five brings along with it a host of different dance styles and explores a new format, where contestants challenge each other on a battleground of dance.”

     

    While DID is an iconic show for not just Zee TV but Indian entertainment television as a whole, the question about what happens once it comes to an end looms high. “At Zee our consumers range from little toddlers to retired people. DID speaks to the demographic between 15 to 34 years of age. We also have DID Super Moms that reaches out to the older generation. There are other non-fiction formats which we have which connect with different segments. So we will create a new celebration of talent, a new texture of programming, and that’s how we will celebrate the brand,” Hejmadi says.

     

    From the marketing standpoint, Sorbojeet Chatterjee, Senior VP Marketing, Hindi GEC, ZEEL says, “DID gets a very high youth audience onto the channel, and we evolve as they evolve. So we focus on digital marketing a great deal. We have a 360-degree marketing strategy, but we have a lot of focus on digital. Our spends on digital are between 15 to 20 percent of the total marketing budget.”

     

    While a lot of other reality shows focus on the celeb star judges, DID is a show whose focus is on making a star. That’s the critical difference between DID and other shows, Chawla explains.

     

    The much-awaited Season Five of DID goes on air on Saturday, June 27 at 9pm on Zee TV.

     

  • ZEEL has appointed Akash Chawla, who has successfully been heading the Marketing Function for National Channels at ZEEL, to take charge as the Business Head – EVPL

    Akash Chawla appointed Business Head of Essel Vision Productions

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has appointed Akash Chawla, who has successfully been heading the Marketing Function for National Channels at ZEEL, to take charge as the Business Head – EVPL.

     

    Akash has been given the mandate to head the TV Production (all languages), Movie Production (all languages except Marathi), Studio Production Business, Digital & Online Production, Events & IP creation. Akash will drive the organizational aspiration of EVPL and contribute in multiplying its business from its current business levels. For this role, Akash will report to Nittin Keni.

     

    “Essel Vision is very focused in the film & television production, digital, events and the IP creation business. Having spearheaded marketing for Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Classic and Zee Cine Awards, Akash has worked successfully towards the launch of three of ZEEL’s new brands in the last one year – &pictures, Zee Anmol and Zindagi. He will work towards strengthening our presence in Hindi and other languages movie production & marketing and the digital business to catapult the organization’s ambitions to the next level.  We will produce content not just for the Indian audiences but also for companies and audiences the world over. While IP rights provide the foundation upon which innovation is shared and creativity is encouraged, the digital age provides many opportunities within the entertainment media industry to improve efficiency, costs and viewer experiences. Everything we do is driven by an unyielding passion for excellence-and an unfaltering commitment to develop the best products. We are in talks with various leading collaborators for the same and will soon announce new initiatives,” shared Nittin Keni.

     

    Essel Vision’s consistency and success are built on its unwavering dedication to setting benchmarks and excellence. It has already made a mark on the map of Television and Feature Films – both in the Hindi and Marathi space. With blockbuster films like ‘D-Day’, ‘Gulaal’, ‘Natrang’, ‘Kaaksparsh’, Essel Vision has taken its first steps to another high with its ventures like “Time Pass”, “Lai Bhari” and  ‘Duniyadaari’ which have been the highest grossers in the Marathi film space. Its other creation ‘The Lunchbox’ has already received accolades around the world. In the television space, the company has been successful with qualitative programs like ‘Fear Files’, ‘Dance India Dance’ and ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’, ‘Saregama’, ‘DID L’il Masters’, ‘DID Super Moms’, on Hindi TV, and ‘Eka Peksha Ek’ and ‘Fu Bai Fu’ amongst others on Marathi TV.  The upcoming feature films include ‘Mad About Dance’ which is promoted by Shah Rukh Khan himself and another film called ‘3AM’ (horror film) is on the anvil.

     

    Just as ZEE is an innovative leader in developing new business models for the evolving television and film landscape, Essel Vision’s objective is to be a one-stop shop for all Film, Television, Digital, Events & IP creation related services where it will produce, co-produce, market and distribute.

     

  • Q&A with the Marketing Head (National Channels) at Zee Entertainment on why he’s betting big on the &pictures airing even after the film doing so well on Zee

    Jaldi 5 with Akash Chawla: Extreme reactions on digital is name of the game

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the stupendous success of the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chennai Express on Zee TV, the film will now share on the Zee group’s recently launched film channel &pictures on November 23 at 8pm. The channel is pulling all stops to make this premiere an even bigger success than Zee TV with a digital innovation to promote the airing.  An interactive voice response (IVR) system has been created where people can get call a toll-free number (18001035515) and get a reminder on the movie on their phones in Shah Rukh Khan’s voice. The channel is promoting the film in a big way in the digital media. The movie is going to be promoted is via the blogging community. Four lucky bloggers will be selected to relive the journey Shah Rukh and Deepika did from Mumbai to Rameshwaram. The bloggers will tweet and post their travel experience with the  &pictures hashtag on Twitter and build a buzz for the upcoming premiere. In addition, an aggressive marketing strategy has been initiated on traditional media like, TV, radio, print, OOH and cable. Akash Chawla, Marketing Head (National Channels) at Zee Entertainment took time to respond to our questions.

     

    01. Given that it’s coming close on the heels of Chennai Express scoring an all-time high on Zee, wouldn’t there be a pressure on achieving similar ratings?

    Zee is a 20-year-old GEC and Chennai Express is the biggest blockbuster ever in the history of the box-office. It premiered on Zee TV within three months of its theatrical release. Considering the above, Zee definitely had an advantage over &pictures. Having said that, there are still 70 percent of our viewers in the Hindi-speaking markets who hadn’t seen the movie then and hence would now become a target on &pictures. Plus there’s a lot of repeat value for such movies. Hence we’re definitely expecting high returns as being demonstrated by the push that’s been given.

     

    02. The decision to promote the film’s telecast via the digital and specifically the travel blogger route is interesting. But since the number of those connected digitally who will watch a film like Chennai Express is limited, why such an emphasis on digital?

    62 million of the 82 million Facebook users in India are connected via mobile. 40 percent of the Google searches happen via mobiles. We believe in small towns especially after brands like Micromax and Karbonn have reduced the prices of smartphones and have special tariffs by the operators, the mobile phone has become a compulsory medium replacing a bicycle. People who consume the digital media are one of our biggest targets and &pictures is utilizing this base to the fullest.

     

    03. Perhaps reaching out via smartphones as against via bloggers would’ve been more appropriate?

    As I said, &pictures is going to make maximum use of this base!

     

    04. In many ways, your move to promote to consumers via the digital route as against just newspapers etc is an indicator that the traditional media is not as indispensable as it used to be (for promotions). True?

    When one is talking to the masses at large, especially in a category like a video content like ours, audio visual media is of primary essence. Therefore conversion on TV still plays a pertinent role. Newspapers play the role of creating appointment and building scale if right format is taken. The digital route provides a targeted surround and reaches the right consumers.  When it comes to all TG, the blend of digital and traditional gives maximum impact.

     

    05. It’s tricky dealing with the digital media fraternity given that it’s unorganised and may not always be as ‘influenceable’ as the organised media. For instance, while there were mixed reviews from critics in the newspapers, digitally, we saw extremes. Some lampooned the film while a few gushed. Given this, isn’t too much dependance on digital promotions tricky? Almost like playing with fire?

    Extreme reactions on digital media is the name of the game. In fact, we saw extreme reactions when Zee Cinema aired Himmatwala. The film didn’t do that well on the box-office. But it didn’t mean that it did bad on television as well or had negative viewing. (The film fetched 5561 TVTs on Zee Cinema). While we all play with fire, today we can’t escape the fact that digital media has become an integral part such that we can’t ignore it. In our view, innovations on digital front have always been appreciated and have yielded results. Therefore while we’re playing with fire, we’ll kindle the flames in the right direction.

     

  • All-time favourites and interactive elements to be highlights of the free-to-air Hindi GEC that will be launched on September 1

    Zee Anmol to launch Sept 1 on TV & mobile

    By A Correspondent

     

    L-R Content-Head, Hindi GECs, ZEEL Ajay Bhalwankar, Head-Marketing, National Channels, ZEEL Akash Chawla & Chief Creative & Content Officer, ZEEL Bharat Ranga at the launch of Zee Anmol

    When we spoke about this channel to Bharat Kumar Ranga and Akash Chawla at the time of the &pictures announcement, they said the channel will be a lot more than just repeats of popular shows a la Star Utsav and DD India. Wait for the launch, they had said.

     

    And the key differentiator will be the simultaneous launch of the free-to-air general entertainment channel on September 1 on the mobile and television platforms. Popular stars Kratika Sengar, Sayantani Ghosh, Binny Sharma and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012 winner Jasraj Joshi alongside Zee’s official spokespersons announced the launch of the new channel in New Delhi on Tuesday.

     

    Positioned as ‘Dil Choo Jaaye’, ‘Zee Anmol’ stands for the most invaluable things in life – Love, family, memories!

     

    Said Mr Ranga, Chief Creative & Content Officer (CCCO): “We have easily the richest library of content in the country and our shows are products of people’s love. Our insighting mechanism, which cuts across the length and breadth of the country, strongly indicates that the audiences today are craving for some of their all-time favourite shows from Zee’s library and ‘Zee Anmol’ is an attempt to bring these popular shows back in to their lives!”

     

    “The content of Zee Anmol will be first-time consumption for a vast majority of viewers across smaller towns where C & S penetration is still picking up,” he added.

     

    Taking the route of ‘Entertainment along with Value’, the channel will interact with its viewers through interesting on-air contests that ask learning-based questions centered around its shows.

     

    The programming line-up of ‘Zee Anmol’ in its launch phase includes shows like  ‘Pavitra Rishta’, ‘Choti Bahu’, ‘Saat Phere’, ‘Naagin’, ‘Maayka’, ‘Kasamh Se’, ‘Sindoor’, ‘Jhansi ki Rani’, ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’, ‘Shabaash India’ and ‘Dance India Dance’ amongst others.

     

    Speaking of the channel’s simultaneous launch on mobile and television, Mr Chawla, Marketing Head, National Channels, ZEEL said, “With the mobile internet penetration in India reaching almost 100 million, a simultaneous mobile launch of ‘Zee Anmol’ will significantly aid in increasing the reach of the brand. Viewers, even with 2G connections and non-smart phones, will be able to keep up with the channel through its WAP site zeeanmol.tv. The idea is to present viewers with ‘convenience of consumption’. We will use repurposed content such as concise 2-3 minute webisodes of our shows, mood-based videos, most memorable dialogues of our show’s artistes to facilitate convenient, on-the-go, “snacking” consumption of the channel.”

     

    Added Ajay Bhalwankar,  Head-Content, Hindi GECs, ZEEL: “Countless viewers who constantly write into us demanding that we bring back these iconic shows will rejoice at the proposition of Zee Anmol. The launch of this FTA channel opens up new horizons of reach for Zee. ”

     

  • An interaction with Zee Entertainment captains Bharat Kumar Ranga, Akash Chawla and Ruchir Tiwari as the group's 6th movie channel is set to launch on Aug 18

    ‘&pictures will compete with Zee Cinema’

     

    The promos are on air and the hoardings with the bold &pictures logo dot the city. Zee Entertainment’s sixth Hindi movie channel is set to unveil on Sunday, August 18. It’s been billed as India’s first interactive movie channel and the objective is to cater to the young, digitally inclined and active Indian. The plan is to launch an entire parallel bouquet under the ‘&’ banner, and the movie channel is the first in the big roll-out that’s set to happen.

     

    MxMIndia caught up with ZEEL Chief Content and Creative Officer Bharat Kumar Ranga, Marketing Head – National Channels Akash Chawla and Cluster Programming Head – Hindi movie channels Ruchir Tiwari in an exclusive interaction to get a feel of what’s in store .

     

    Why &pictures when you already have a Zee Cinema which is doing very well? Barfi! got good ratings. And then you have four other channels – Zee Cinema HD, Zee Premiere, Zee Classic and Zee Action. So why &pictures?

    We think by 2015 there may be 25 movie channels in India and we have to make sure that we have sizeable share out of that. We are also attempting to capture a new way of thinking that people have. We have had different kind of movies… Khosla ka Ghosla, Kai Po Che, A Wednesday.

     

    Mind you, the youth is still devoted to Indian beliefs, integrity and values. But they want to branch out and take chances. They want to grow outside their existing structure and movies have captured this very well and we thought a movie channel is the best way to capture the new mindset that is emerging right now.

     

    You already have five movie channels from the Zee stable. Zee Cinema is doing very well, so why &pictures?

    Yes, the obvious objective is to be at the top. It will be a very different brand compared to Zee cinema. Its brand values are completely different. It will be highly interactive. It will have an exclusive library, with movies that are very different.

     

    But in the past we’ve seen – albeit in the GEC space – where second channel is never given the same attention and resources as the flagship channel

    Well, have you ever heard someone else saying that a new channel will compete with flagship channel. Here we are saying this. The two teams will in a sense compete. We are very clear about one thing: &pictures will compete with Zee Cinema.

     

    But, as per the numbers available, Zee Cinema is the No 1, Max is the No 1, Gold No 3 and Movies OK a distant No 3. The difference in TVTs between Zee Cinema and Max is over 20,000. Where do you think will &pictures be?

    Who is Number 2 here?

     

    Max…

    How about replacing it?

     

    Yes, but Max is at 215075. That’s a tall order!

    So how about something like 250000 or something like that? We will be aiming high, and aiming to get past Zee Cinema. That’s the ambition.

     

    But you also have three other cinema channels (other than Zee Cinema and Zee Cinema HD) which have not been promoted enough – specifically, Zee Classic, Zee Action and Zee Premiere. So why go in for a new channel when you have three in the stable?

    See Zee Action and Zee Classic were digital products and Zee Classic came out of that and went into the analogue market too. Zee Classic is a unique offering and doesn’t compete with any other channel. We have a huge library that it can take advantage of. The others being digital products are for different audiences.

     

    Your communiqué mentions the fact that you are targeting viewers who spend a fair bit of time on mobiles, social media etc. But these are people who also download films off the internet, are into Torrent and don’t care too much about piracy.

    Firstly, let us clarify. &pictures is not a youth a channel.  The communication is such that it is relevant to people who are young at. The second point is interesting and we are looking at the entire offering in a different way. Some people watch cinema on the computer, others on TV. Some people may want to interact with us on Twitter because. Today, our viewers are doing multiple activities and engaging in multiple manner so the whole philosophy behind &pictures from the particular perspective is that how are we meaningful to our consumers by every device of their choice, wherever that they are and in a more relevant manner. Hence it;s India’s first interactive Hindi movie channel. We will be relevant to them across platforms.

     

    Interactivity is a good word, but are you going to really be that?

    If you go on to andpictures.in, we are actually doing India’s first crowdsourced film. And there’s a lot more coming. In 45 days from now, you will see a digital product under the umbrella of &pictures which will help bridge the divide between internet and television in terms of talking to your stars. Wait for it!

     

    Are you doing interactive stuff with DTH platforms like Dish, since it’s part of the Zee group? Like pressing the red/green button for…

    Yes, yes, yes! DTH is a key part of our gameplans and we are already doing quite a bit with all DTH platforms including Dish which includes that red button you are talking about. There is a separate team in Zee which is just exploring all these possibilities and putting thigs in execution.

     

    Other than films, will there be any other programming on &pictures?

    No long formatted shows. We will have more of back-to-back movies basically.

     

    You are launching on August 18th. Any big bang premieres coming up?

    At first we are not doing any premieres. We will be airing films that &pictures stands. But soon after the second or thir week onwards the premieres will start happening.

     

    So what’s next after &pictures under the & umbrella?

    Well, we will first be working to get the & positioning right and getting the connect right. Once people start liking and loving it, we will come up with new products.

     

    Will it be beyond television? And Indian languages?

    We will appeato to people across the country and Indians across he world. This could be in multiple genre and languages.

     

  • The channel distributes 'barfis' across 8 cities to promote film's airing on July 14

    Zee Cinema goes aggro to promote Barfi! telecast

    By A Correspondent

     

    Movie channel Zee Cinema has pulled out all stops to promote the telecast of the award-winning Ranbir Kapoor starrer Barfi! on July 14.

     

    By way of an innovative marketing initiative, Zee Cinema will have ‘volunteers of sweetness’  in the form of young men on bicycles dressed as Ranbir’s iconic character from the film Barfi! to distribute barfi (solidified Indian sweets in various shapes) to people across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Nagpur, Lucknow, Kanpur and Indore. In addition, Barfi! masks will be distributed to school students with volunteers getting them to try the popular ‘Barfi!’ dance step or say “Barfi” like Ranbir Kapoor did in the film.

     

    Akash Chawla

    Said Akash Chawla, Head-Marketing, National Channels, Zee Entertainment said, “This is a feel-good initiative for a feel-good film. With a film like ‘Barfi!’ that warms your heart, our idea is to spread its sweetness amongst our audience. Along with a mass media campaign, we felt a campaign that directly engages with our viewers and puts a smile on their faces would work best!”

     

    Barfi! will be aired on Zee Cinema on Sunday, July 14 at 9pm. The film had premiered on Zee TV on June 23.

     

  • The show will focus on events that are experienced by those who have lived to tell their story

    Zee to go paranormal with ‘Fear Files’

    By A Correspondent

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXrE1Apj9bE[/youtube]

    The Zee Network hopes to repeat the popularity of its once popular Zee Horror Show with a new programme called ‘Fear Files’. The show will focus on events that are experienced by those who have lived to tell their story.

     

    “Horror has been a part of our lives for years now. Almost all of us have heard stories of paranormal activities – some of us believe in them and some don’t. But there is no denying the fact that it hasn’t touched our lives. So, through this show we want to tell real life stories of people who have experienced the unexplainable,” said Sukesh Motwani, fiction programming head, Zee TV.

     

    Sukesh Motwani

    He added: “But this time around we have kept the gory details out. One can call it “intelligent” horror.” Fear Files was shot at haunted locations in a drama-documentary style. Thorough research was done for each story and at the end of each show, a paranormal expert will share the rationale view on all unnatural phenomena. The 26-episode show will go on air from June 30.

     

    Talking about the weekend late night (10:30 pm) slot, Akash Chawla, Senior Vice President and head -marketing, national channels, Zee TV said that he is keeping his fingers crossed: “Data suggests that the weekend 10:30pm slot has been doing well. And since the show will be aired right after DID Little Masters, we hope to cash in on the slot. Also, the genre cuts across age-groups and gender and as many find it intriguing; we hope our TG (25-44 age-group) won’t be disappointed in the show.”

     

    Akash Chawla

    The channel is going all out to market the show. “Apart from promoting the show on our channels, there are going to be a lot of innovative print ads as well. Also, this time, we plan to spend around 12 per cent of our marketing budget on the digital platform,” said Mr Chawla.

     

    “Marketing such shows is definitely a challenge,” he added. Innovative ways have thus been lined-up to promote ‘Fear Files’ as the channel felt that people have grown up and want to see something ‘reasonable’.

     

  • General entertainment channels needn't worry much about the big live sporting events

    Games on, but GECs not worried

     

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    The UEFA Euro Cup has made the Europeans forget all about the economic crisis; London, along with the whole world, is eagerly waiting for the world’s biggest sporting event – the Olympics – to begin. The world is buzzed about the various sporting events coming up in the next few months.

     

    Sports, around the globe, generate a major interest and channels – sports or otherwise – fight each other out for viewership and advertisements, and brands try to out-do each other through advertisements and activations to leave a mark on the public’s mind.

     

    The last event of such a stature in India was the recently concluded IPL which saw the entertainment channels fighting for eyeballs. With the next three-four months choc-o-bloc with sporting events, MxMIndia takes a look at how channels in the country are gearing up.

     

    Event Period Channel
    UEFA Euro Cup June 8- July 1 Neo Prime
    Wimbledon June 25-July 8 Star Sports
    India-SL series July 22- Aug 7 Ten Cricket
    Olympics July 27-Aug 12 DD/ESPN or Star Sports

    Time to worry?

    According to the media planners, for GECs and other channels, there is nothing to worry about. “Non-cricket fare is still appealing to a small niche segment and hence, its popularity is not reflected in ratings. India in the months of Jul-Aug has always been a moderate performer and not as high profile as some others and so this will also not have a major impact,” feels Shubha George, COO -South Asia, MEC.

     

    Suresh Balakrishnan

    And she is not alone. Suresh Balakrishnan, CEO, Brand Programming Network, agreed with her and added that though cricket is more than a sport in India, even IPL, which has both cricket as well as entertainment and was telecast at primetime, hasn’t been able to affect channels, especially the GECs in the recent past. “Lately, IPL has been able to get a rating of 2-3 which has hardly affected any GECs, so I’m sure other sports won’t matter to them at all. However, there is no denying the fact that viewership for other sports is increasing in the country. And major events might be able to at least reach the ratings which cricket gets, in the coming years.”

     

    Mr Balakrishnan, however, feels that sports channels don’t have much to worry about as there are many male-focussed brands which help them generate enough ad revenue. “Having said that, I also feel that channels showing sports other than cricket know that recovering money isn’t an easy task,” he added.

     

    The television behaviour showcases the interest of the masses which obviously tilts towards popular entertainment channels. However, most media planners agree that sports viewership is growing in the country and soon things might change but until then channels will have to make do with what they have/get.

     

    Amin Lakhani

    Amin Lakhani, principal partner, Mindshare said: “All leading newspapers and news channels have special coverage of important events, take Euro Cup for instance, but how much of it is being converted into viewership or readership? Even then, that hasn’t deferred them from covering the events because they know that, though tiny, there is a loyal following. Even brands are doing activations for sports which are gaining popularity in other sectors apart from Sec A&B – Pepsi is doing activations for football.”

     

    Business as usual

    Akash Chawla

    Entertainment channels continue to enjoy the largest share in the viewership pie. Although, they continue to compete with each other, when it comes to other genres, nothing has been able to write them off.

     

    Akash Chawla, Zee Entertainment Enterprise (ZEEL) marketing head – national channels, said: “Just like IPL, we are ready to combat any other sporting event. Our programming strategy does not depend on these events.”

     

    “For us, it will be business as usual. The channel is backed with strong and fresh content for its viewers, irrespective of the programming on competing genres,” said Hemal Jhaveri, general manager, Movies Ok.

     

    Hemal Jhaveri

    Other genres which focus on the same target audience as the sports channels are youth and news. But many in these genres believe that such sporting events don’t affect their viewership. Nikhil Gandhi, executive director, youth channels, media networks, Disney UTV claimed that most of the sporting events attract a majority viewership of urban youth, whereas they, as channels, focus on the HSM belt which includes 62 cities. Hence, such sporting events won’t affect their viewership.

     

    A broadcast veteran from a Delhi-based news channel too felt that news channels give enough coverage to the various sporting events, so there is no question that the events might eat into their viewership pie. He said that though both cater to the same TG, they are different genres and people might shift between the two, if needed.

     

    Nikhil Gandhi

    On the other hand, Neo Prime, the sports channel which is currently telecasting UEFA Euro Cup 2012, is aware of the competition within and between other genres and risk involved, but is still optimistic. “Sports is still a male-dominated genre, whereas other genres (read GECs) enjoy female viewership. But during big events, there are chances of a shift in the remote control. Sports do get eyeballs. And as for the advertisements, the brands which advertise on sports channels are different from the ones in GECs or other channels. Hence, nothing overlaps each other,” said Prasana Krishnan, COO, Neo Sports Broadcast.

     

    Prasana Krishnan

    Hopefully, as said by various media personalities, sports other than cricket in the coming years will be able to generate same interest among Indian citizens across sections and help sports channel to boom and enter the main TRP race as well.

     

     

     Imaging: Rafiq, Pictures courtesy: London2012.com

     

     

  • The second season of DID L’il Masters premiered on April 28 with an opening of 5.8 TVR, as per the TAM figures

    ‘Content not big celebs get in numbers’

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Ashish Golwalkar

    Zee TV danced its way to the #2 slot amongst Hindi GECs as its Dance India Dance Little Masters (DID L’il Masters) leapfrogged to ratings of 6.2. Commenting on the reason why kiddie reality shows work, Ashish Golwalkar, Non Fiction Head, Zee TV, said: “The kids’ versionsof both Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and DID have done well. Kids bring out the universal emotion that connects with all; and with the holiday season on, the show makes for great television viewing for families. The talent that has auditioned for the show is superlative and watching them makes it aspirational for the kids and emotional for the parents.”

     

    The network which has various non-fictional shows to its credit believes in focusing on different genres. “We’re the pioneers of shows like Saanp Seedi, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Antakshari, Khana Khazana, and others and our non-fiction has always delivered. The feeling that only big celebrities garner high ratings is not true. It’s the content that connects with the audience and that’s what gets in the numbers,” added Mr Golwalkar.

     

    Akash Chawla

    The channel has done extensive marketing for the show. “Understanding the power of dance as an audio-visual treat, we wanted to promote DID L’il Masters through various audio visual means and hence, strategically focused on television and active online engagement. Through this, the extreme talent, skills, intrigue and the innocent attitude of the kids was highlighted which made the promos entertaining and endearing. The ‘Dance ke baap’ philosophy from the first season was further extended to ‘Yeh Badon Ke Bas Ki Baat Nahin’,” said Akash Chawla, ZEEL – Marketing Head, National Channels.

     

    Exclusive dance acts were showcased on the DID Youtube channel and also promoted across active social communities of DID 3. Glimpses of the show were integrated into DID 3 and other fiction shows on Zee TV creating high anticipation for the show. Talking about retaining the same ratings for the show in the coming episodes, Mr Golwalkar said: “Due to its nature, the audition episodes always rate higher, but we will try to maintain/sustain these ratings after the Top 16 are announced.”

     

    The channel also has plans to launch a few more new non-fictional and fictional shows for weekdays and weekend slots. Talk shows being one of the genres which the channel doesn’t mind exploring in the near future. “The television landscape has changed since the first season with more time bands, more shows and varied reality genres,” added Mr Golwalkar.

     

  • It has a radical call-in concept for Dance India Dance, interactive features on its WAP side, and an unshakeable determination to milk social media for all it's worth. MxMIndia speaks to Marketing Head Akash Chawla about the Zee Group's galactic trajectory.

    Digital is the way forward for Zee

    By Rishi Vora

     

    The future is definitely Digital, and Zee Group has its sights set firmly on it. In addition to its recent launch of Ditto TV, the broadcast major has been fairly active in the digital space to promote properties such as Dance India Dance 3 (DID) and Punar Vivah.

     

    The channel has also taken a new and different step to enhance consumer interaction. It has introduced ‘free voting’ for contestants (where the viewer is asked to give a ‘missed call’ to his favourite contestant) as against the industry norm of pay-per-message.

     

    To further intensify its focus on Digital, Zee has now unveiled a WAP site and a mobile application that connect with DID fans on the go.

     

    The WAP site has interactive features which enable fans to interact with the contestants and judges and allows them to vote by a click of a button apart from a few other interactive features.

     

    MxM India spoke to Marketing Head Akash Chawla about these and other digital initiatives.

     

    Q: This whole focus on Digital… is this something that will take Zee a step ahead of competition?

    That is what we expect to do. We hope to be ahead of the competition with regard to this particular thing. From our perspective we’re not looking at how competition is doing on this front, because our entire objective is to be very close to the consumer. There are times when we do it by being on the ground and there are times when we do it by actually going to their homes. In the age of interactivity it is apt that we use digital media to the best. And that is exactly what we’re looking to do.

     

    Q: Does this take away anything from the way you use traditional media?

    The one mantra which we’re going after is driving conversations with the customers. So, even when we’re using the traditional media – a print ad for example – the attempt is to make it more interactive. Any my belief is that you can also use traditional media to drive a lot of audience on your social network.

    I’m not saying that traditional media is something we won’t do, but our attempt will be to drive more conversations through our communication.

     

    Q: You’ve been fairly active on social media and that seems to be a big thrust going forward as well. But there is a saying that social media is a double-edge sword and that it could well turn out to be harmful to a brand like yours.

    It is too soon to say that. In the case of iconic brands or sectors such as automobiles you can see a sizeable community. In the GEC space we’re just beginning to do that. So our first objective is to build a sizeable community. Once you get a sizeable community then how to use that is the second objective. Traditional media will irrespectively be required as social media in India is growing.

     

    Q: This missed-call concept which you’ve introduced for DID is something very different altogether. How did you come up with a concept like that?

    At Zee, we’ve been doing talent hunts such as Sa Re Ga Ma and DID. When we started this interactivity thing in 2005 with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge, we used to get a lot of votes. If we sit down and draw a trend, votes have actually gone down over a period of five to seven years. Most of the formats today are interactive in terms of asking for votes. Second, the credibility aspect. Consumers have come up to us and said that it is just a revenue making mechanism because the SMSes are charged higher than the normal SMSes. Frankly, as a broadcaster, for us, at this particular time, it is more about building the brand salience than the small amount of revenue that’ gets generated through votes.

     

    Q: That revenue – is it that small enough to be left out?

    It’s a tradeoff. Tomorrow we may not be able to do it for all our reality shows, but at the end of the day if it is about a brand like DID – from the consumer’s perspective, credibility is of primary essence. And whatever brings us that credibility is something we would want to go in for.

     

    Q: Is this a beginning of a new trend in broadcast?

    You cannot do this for everything. It is not a model that can be followed by all brands. There are certain attributes of DID in terms of how many people were connecting with it, in terms of it being a brand which is already known and the kind of credibility it has at this juncture…

     

    So I don’t think it’s a concept that’ll fit all brands. How many more people will start following us on that? We don’t know. But we did try this again for another show, Punar Vivah. We decided to apply that to the show because as a concept it applies to a segment where we could afford to be more interactive and it gave us phenomenal results.

     

    Q: Does a show like Punar Vivah attract a lot of traction on social media?

    Actually if you go to our Facebook fanpage, Punar Vivah is one of the topics that is heavily discussed. You’re right that you cannot do things on social media blindly. And I’m worried about that. If something is successful people will start using it as a formula. The aspect we’re following for Punar Vivah is very different. We’re doing Punar Vivah symposiums across 18 cities of India, where every week we have a couple of symposiums which includes a psychotherapist, a marriage counsellor and one reputed NGO of that particular city or state. We also have people on the panel who have gone through the remarriage process, our viewers and media.

     

    Our attempt is to bring this so-called taboo topic out of the closet. You may do with social media with a particular level. But, we feel for Punar Vivah that is the one that is actually more relevant than just social media. So yes, you’re right. Social media has to be used keeping the segment that you’re chasing in mind.

     

    Q: You’re at No 3. Neck-and-neck with your nearest competitor. Where next?

    No 1 next. It was a matter of 1 GRP with Sony last week.

     

    How long for No 1?

    (Smiles) I told you three months ago that we will be No 2 in three months. We’ve become No 2 in three months.

     

  • DID viewers can pick up the phone and give a Missed Call to vote for their favourite contestants

    One missed call to vote for DID 3 participants

    By A Correspondent

     

    We all have hopes. It’s what equips us to deal with life’s trials and tribulations. Each one of us has endless hopes….It’s this ‘Umeed’ that keeps us going.

     

    Zee TV’s dance reality show, Maruti Suzuki Presents Dance India Dance will be shortly announcing its Behtareen Terah (13) contestants. And the key decision has been thrown open to the janta. Voting is our fundamental right and if we can vote for free to choose our government, then why should we spend money to vote for our favourite reality show contestants?

     

    Taking this thought forward, Zee TV has made the entire voting process in reality shows free of cost. DID viewers can pick up the phone and give a Missed Call to their favourite contestants.

     

    The thought of giving audiences an opportunity to choose the winner of a reality show through a public voting system, as a concept, was initiated by Zee TV for the very first time in 2003 for the show, Zee Cine Stars Ki Khoj.

     

    After that, the concept of ‘one mobile- one vote’ was introduced during the time of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar in 2010, to avoid duplication while counting of votes made from the same number.

     

    Now, the channel has devised a method which nullifies the entire debate about voting being a money making mechanism between the channel and the telecom companies! The Missed Call voting system devised by Zee TV in Dance India Dance Season 3 will ensure that there’s no fallacy in choosing a winner and will also erase all doubts about the existence of any benefits to the channel in the voting process. The channel will incorporate the same in its future reality shows as well.

     

    “With DID Season 3 – Voting Free, we are aiming for never before achieved viewer’s participation in the show. With this voting system, every unique missed call will be counted as one unique vote thus making the janta janardan, the true adjudicator in deciding the fate of our show.  Technology is helping us value the viewer’s point of view even further. The decision of free voting is a welcome change to those who have hitherto refrained from participating owing to extra charges for an SMS to special numbers! There can be nothing more transparent than this mechanism in the decision of choosing the final winner of any reality show on ZEE TV,” said Akash Chawla, Head Marketing, National Channels, ZEEL.

     

    Here’s how the mechanism works: Every contestant in the Behterein Terah has been designated with an unique number. All a viewer has to do is dial that number and after one ring, the call gets disconnected automatically. The viewer gets an acknowledgement message that his vote for the particular contestant has been registered. In one week, a viewer can vote for a particular contestant only once. However he can vote for multiple contestants in the same week. The best part is the viewers can call to vote their favourite contestant even with zero balance. The mechanism has already assisted in choosing the Wild Card entrants of the show.

     

    Dance India Dance has always believed in exploring unique initiatives on a large scale to build its brand equity. Be it the grand Carnival that was conducted on the streets of Mumbai during DID Season 2 or the unique ‘Dance Mobs’ that were conducted in malls, multiplexes, railway stations and streets of Mumbai and Delhi during the launch of DID season 3 or the very recent Licensing & Merchandizing deal that the show has done with apparel giant Reebok to further build the brand.