MxMIndia

Tag: Ashish Bagga

  • The smart media company will use its newly launched network, Ripple, to power the publishing group's rich media and video advertising

    India Today Group partners with Affle

    By A Correspondent

     

    Smart media company Affle has announced its partnership with the India Today Group to power all video and rich media advertising for the group through Affle’s recently launched rich media and video ad network, ‘Ripple’.

     

    As a part of this partnership the India Today Group will employ Affle’s ‘Ripple’ ad network to serve all video ads on its online properties and to serve video and rich media ads across India Today Group’s properties on the iPad/Tablet platforms. The announcement comes close on Affle’s declaration of similar partnerships with Yahoo! & ESPN Cricinfo for rich media and mobile advertising in India.

     

    Anuj Kumar

    Commenting on the partnership, Anuj Kumar, Co-founder & CEO Affle, said, “We have experienced tremendous growth on the Ripple network since its launch in August 2012. Our technology innovations for engaging media experiences are delivering great returns for top publishers and advertiser partners, and we are very pleased to welcome the India Today Group as a partner for Ripple. In recent months top advertisers like Samsung, Nokia, Google, Microsoft, Maruti Suzuki, Adidas, Coca Cola, Hyundai have partnered with us to deliver cutting edge ad experiences across our network and we believe that our leading advertisers would also welcome the addition of a highly reputed publisher partner like the India Today Group on Ripple.”

     

    Ashish Bagga, CEO, India Today Group said, “Over the years the India Today group has built some very solid digital assets for its top properties including India Today, Business Today, Aaj Tak, Cosmopolitan and many others. We are seeing tremendous growth on video consumption on these digital properties with an increasing consumption skew on mobile devices, and are thus very pleased to partner with an industry leader like Affle to integrate their innovative advertising technologies and benefit from their well-established partnerships on the Ripple ad network business.”

     

  • 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 TV Today networks' news channels and radio stations have been under severe pressures thanks to a weak market and competition

    No successor to Joy Chakraborthy named, testing times ahead for TV Today network

    By A Correspondent

     

    On the face of things, it’s meant to be a simple parting of ways. Although outgoing TV Today Network CEO Joy Chakraborthy has quoted personal reasons and being away from the family based in Mumbai as his reasons for moving on, the industry has been abuzz with stories about the sudden departure.

     

    Joy Chakraborthy
    Joy Chakraborthy

    India Today group Group CEO Ashish Bagga confirmed the departure of TV Today CEO Joy Chakraborthy to MxMIndia on Tuesday evening adding that no replacement had been announced it.

     

    Mr Chakraborthy had joined TV Today on December 1, having quit Zee Entertainment as executive director (revenue and niche channels) in October 2011. In September, G Krishnan had announced his departure from the Network. In the new organization realignment, Mr Chakraborthy reported to Mr Bagga.

     

    The news channels and radio station that come under the TV Today umbrella have been under severe pressures thanks to a weak market and competition from other networks. While India TV has been a clear trendsetter in popular Hindi news, ABP News (eka Star News) has been galloping ahead. Sadly, for Aaj Tak, the name change has not adversely impacted the MCCS-owned Hindi channel.

     

    In fact flagship Aaj Tak has been going through an identity crisis for a while. Should it be a serious news channel and be recognised for the journalistic values that the India Today group stands for? Or should it be populist with dumbed down news and toe the line of the Rajat Sharma-run India TV? Sibling Headlines Today, the English news channel from the group, has also made little headway. Save a few spikes since it was set up, it’s just not caught the attention of the viewing public and continues to lag in ratings and revenues. Ditto with Oye 104.8 which is low on the RAM roster. The rechristening from Meow to Oye may have helped shore up some numbers, but it’s not been good enough.

     

    With an investment from the Aditya Birla group helping improve its financial muscle, the TV Today was poised to grow much in the next two years. Regional channels, digitization, acquisitions, Phase 3 of FM radio were some of the plans that required nurturing. Mr Chakraborthy, who is a seasoned media professional, was to lead this effort.

     

    But now it will mean the collective efforts of Mr Bagga, chairman and editor-in-chief Aroon Purie and his daughter Kalli Purie who heads the group’s digital operations and looks at synergies within the businesses and is also Chief Creative Officer to take TV Today to the leadership position it once occupied.

     

  • 11 developments in media and advertising that 2011 will be remembered for.

    The Anchor: 11 noteworthy happenings of 2011

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    #1 The Dentsu deal. This was one of the earliest developments of 2011, creating a buzz when Sandeep Goyal made a fortune after selling his 26 percent stake in Dentsu India. Denstu Inc, the Japanese company which had a JV with Goyal’s Mogae Group became the sole owner. This development later saw some senior appointments like Rohit Ohri moving out of JWT to be the Executive Chairman of Dentsu Group India and much recently appointed Divya Gupta as the CEO of Dentsu Media.

     

    #2 World Cup comes home. India gave a stupendous show of its cricketing prowess when it lifted the World Cup. The series was a great opportunity for advertisers to get maximum eyeballs while ESPN Star Sports got the status of the official broadcaster of the series. Captain Cool, MSD walked away not just with the cup but also was given the title of the most influential Indian in Time’s list. Not to forget all the endorsement deals that the Indian team got post the win.

     

    #3 UTV-Disney deal. This was the mother of all deals when Walt Disney declared to buy stakes of UTV Software Communications. The deal is valued to be around Rs 2000 crore. Walt Disney already had a majority stake in UTV. The former will launch an offer to delist shares of the latter which will begin early next year.

     

    #4 Tough time for Kalaignar TV. The DMK run Kalaignar TV was in the news albeit for the wrong reasons. It got dragged in the 2G spectrum license episode and the brand took a further dip with its MD Sharad Kumar behind bars. This was one incident that Kalaignar would like to forget but its easier said than done especially because its taxpayers money that has been misused if the paper trail is proved correct.

     

    #5 Appointments and Dis-appointments. Ashish Bagga was elected President of The Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2011-Uday Shankar of Star India for was re-elected as the President of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) for his second term. Also Shashi Sinha of Lodestar was elected as the President of Ad Club Bombay. After being with TV Today Network for almost 16 years, G Krishnan, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director quit. Haresh Chawla, the CEO of Network18 Group too decided to call it a day. Meanwhile Raj Nayak filled in the place left vacant by Rajesh Kamat when he took over as the CEO for Colors.

     

    #6 Justice Katju’s policing. Press Council Chairman, Justice Markandeya Katju had earned the ire of media by constantly trying to police media and gag the freedom of press. His suggestions to bring media under strict government purview and his thoughts on objectionable content had many in media being vociferous in their protest.

     

    #7 Rise of independents. The year marked the rise of independents in the advertising agency business who did well and earned name purely on their talent be it Taproot India with their fabulous work on Airtel and Pepsi or Creativeland Asia winning applauds at international awards arena.

     

    #8 AdAsia in Delhi. Delhi became the place to be for the advertising folks from around Asia who gathered for AdAsia. It was in 2003 that AdAsia was held in India in Jaipur and it came back only in 2011. The lineup of speakers was enviable and the number of delegates impressive. Thus a stimulating conference for all present.

     

    #9 Omnicom stake in Mudra. The Omnicom Group that has been trying to gain greater foothold in India managed to do so by taking a majority stake in Mudra. Post this Mudra also made its first structural change where it would be known as DDB Mudra and have DDB, Mudra, and Mudra Max under its umbrella.

     

    #10 Bobby and JWT shake hands. Bobby Pawar declared his intention to move out of Mudra soon after the Omnicom deal, thus giving enough fodder to the media to speculate on. His next destination is JWT and promptly Colvyn Harris took the opportunity to set his agency in order and went appointing three NCDs and a CCO at the helm. They sure will have their hands full in the New Year.

     

    #11 Anna Hazare’s magic. Who would have thought that a septuagenarian clad in Gandhi topi would become the most recognized face of 2011 and maybe even scoring more than Salman Khan in his meteoric rise to popularity? Not to mention that his fasts and LokPal Bill has taken enough of newsprint and debates on TV and has become a trending topic on the social media.

  • Rahul Thappa, COO and Bharat Bhushan, Editor of Mail Today confirmed this development to MxMIndia

    Rahul Thappa, Bharat Bhushan quit Mail Today

    By Akash Raha

     

    Rahul Thappa, COO of Mail Today has quit the group. Mr Thappa had joined Mail Today in May 2011, taking over from the then-COO Suresh Balakrishnan. Rahul Thappa is serving his last week at Mail Today after which he will move to his new organization, which he refused to name at the moment. When asked by MxM India, he confirmed that he has quit.

     

    He said “I’m thankful to the board of Mail Today Newspapers Pvt Ltd for having given me the opportunity to head the operations of the publication as its COO. It was a pleasure working with the entire MT team and the operational learning from having managed a daily newspaper has added immensely to my repertoire of skills. I am confident that the newspaper will grow into a force to reckon with in the years ahead. My new assignment is in conformance with my long-term career objectives. I shall be able to speak about my assignment in the weeks to follow.”

     

    Mr Thappa earlier worked as the Managing Director at Mindshare Malaysia. He also held a key position at the India Today Group, where he reported to Mr Ashish Bagga, CEO, India Today Group.

     

    Bharat Bhushan, Editor, Mail Today has also quit the organization. Mr Bhushan, too, confirmed this development, but refused to make any further comments. Mr Bhushan was a part of Mail Today’s launch team and was earlier the Editor of Telegraph – Delhi edition.

     

    Mail Today, the compact daily in Delhi, is a joint venture of India Today Group and Associated Newspapers (ANL), publisher of Daily Mail, UK.

  • India Today CEO Ashish Bagga is president of the Indian Newspaper Society

    Ashish Bagga is INS president

    By A Correspondent

    Mr Ashish Bagga, Chief Executive Officer of the India Today group, is the new president of the Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2011-12. This was announced at the 72nd annual general meeting of the apex association of newspapers took place in Bengaluru today.

    Mr Bagga succeeded Mr Kundan Vyas of Mumbai’s Janmabhoomi Group. Meanwhile Mr K N Tilak Kumar of Prajavani is the new deputy president, a position that Mr Bagga occupied in 2010-11. Mr Ravindra Kumar of Aj Samaj is Vice President.

    A little about Mr Bagga (information culled from AdAsia 2011 website)

    Mr Bagga has been associated with the Indian media business for over 25 years. Other than the India Today group, he has also worked Hindustan Times as Director (Marketing). Immediately before re-joining India Today in 2001, Mr Bagga did a short stint as President & CEO with Business Standard for the paper’s e-initiative in association with Financial Times, London. Bagga has forged strong partnerships with several leading international media brands for the India Today group. He has been awarded a publishing scholarship by the Publisher’s Association of the United Kingdom through which he also worked with The Daily Telegraph in London in London.

    Mr Bagga is a Physics Honours graduate and an MBA and was also awarded the prestigious British Chevening Scholarship in 2003. He is exceedingly active in various industry bodies.

  • India Today group's chief executive officer Ashish Bagga all set to take charge as INS president

    Ashish Bagga all set to be INS president today

    Mr Ashish Bagga, Chief Executive Officer of the India Today group, is all set to take charge as president of the Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2011-12. The 72nd annual general meeting of the apex association of newspapers is scheduled to take place in Bengaluru today.

    Mr Bagga will succeed Mr Kundan Vyas of Mumbai’s Janmabhoomit Group. As is the custom, Mr K N Tilak Kumar of Prajavani who is currently vice-president is likely to be deputy president, a position that Mr Bagga occupied in 2010-11.

    A little about Mr Bagga (information culled from AdAsia 2011 website)

    Mr Bagga has been associated with the Indian media business for over 25 years. Other than the India Today group, he has also worked Hindustan Times as Director (Marketing). Immediately before re-joining India Today in 2001, Mr Bagga did a short stint as President & CEO with Business Standard for the paper’s e-initiative in association with Financial Times, London. Bagga has forged strong partnerships with several leading international media brands for the India Today group. He has been awarded a publishing scholarship by the Publisher’s Association of the United Kingdom through which he also worked with The Daily Telegraph in London in London.

    Mr Bagga is a Physics Honours graduate and an MBA and was also awarded the prestigious British Chevening Scholarship in 2003. He is exceedingly active in various industry bodies.

    Watch this space for more on the elections…