MxMIndia

Tag: Discovery India

  • Previously, Chendira was Revenue Head for Kids & Vernacular, Discovery India

    Shaun Nanjappa Chendira to head adsales at Discovery Sales

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery has elevated Shaun Nanjappa Chendira as Head of Advertising Sales – South Asia. Previously, Chendira was Revenue Head for Kids & Vernacular, Discovery India. A media industry veteran having two decades of experience, majority of which has been in leadership roles, prior to Discovery, Chendira was General Manager, India at Da Vinci Media India Pvt Ltd. His prior engagements include working with Warner Media as Senior Director, English Entertainment Vertical (HBO, HBO HD & Warner Brothers) and Director, Kids vertical (Cartoon Network & www.cartoonentworkindia.com) for the India region.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Megha Tata, Managing Director, Discovery – South Asia, said: “Shaun has displayed strong and mature thinking required for the future of both, our linear and our digital platforms. With his stellar record of accomplishment and proven experience of driving business revenue, he is well placed to lead the company to the next level of growth in his new position as the Head of Advertising Sales. I wish him all the very best.”

     

    Added Chendira: “I am delighted and grateful to Discovery India for giving me this opportunity. While these last few months have been tough for the entire industry to say the least, here’s looking forward to a better tomorrow. I know there will be a lot of challenges to face going forward, and all I can say is, I am ready to meet them head on. I step into this role with much excitement and a clear vision for Discovery as we step into the future.”

     

     

  • Launched in March 2020, the Discovery+ app has seen a rapidly expanding user base, notes a communiqe

    Zeux partners Discovery India for entertainment app

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zeux Innovation has partnered with Discovery India to design the Discovery+ app. The app was launched on 18th March 2020 and continues to garner good reviews across app stores for its content and user experience.

     

    Commenting on the Zeux and Discovery collaboration, Issac John, Business Head, Discovery India said: “As a product, our team was very conscious of solving barriers for user adoption in a cluttered OTT market like India. The various researches and design workshops that Zeux led for us, placed user motivations at the heart for solving these barriers. The iterative work, completed over several months, has paid rich dividends for us as expressed by the umpteen user reviews that have highlighted the rich yet simple to navigate UI & UX of Discovery Plus”.

     

    Added Saurabh Gupta, Co-founder, Zeux Innovation, said, “We are proud to be the UX design partner for Discovery+. We leveraged the science of human performance and persuasion design to craft an OTT experience that is a perfect balance between delivering specific business outcomes, addressing diverse user needs and effectively managing technology considerations”.

     

     

  • WWF India and Discovery initiate a programme to protect the world’s only mangrove tiger habitat

    Discovery partners WWF on Sundarbans

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery India and WWF India have come together to protect the world’s only mangrove tiger habitat, in partnership with the Forest Directorate, Government of West Bengal and local communities in the Sundarbans.

     

    Said Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF India: “This partnership between WWF India and Discovery India is significant as it brings together different institutions for the benefit of communities and wildlife of Sundarbans. This additionally includes the setting up of ecological observatories, reduction of human-wildlife conflict and providing scientific inputs for proper management.”

     

    Added Megha Tata, Managing Director – South Asia, Discovery: “The project at Sundarbans is part of a global movement – Project C.A.T – Conserving Acres for Tigers – aimed at building healthy habitats for Tigers wherein we support conserve nearly six million acres of protected land across four countries. In India, beyond Sundarbans, a detailed intervention is also being implemented at Manas Tiger Reserve. Discovery is a purpose-driven company with a mission to educate and inspire audiences around the world. We remain committed to leverage our brand strength to galvanise people power for the cause of Tigers and other endangered species.”

     

     

  • A dedicated vertical for digital has also been created

    Discovery India announces new top deck

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery Communications India has announced changes in its top deck. The earlier division of roles basis mass and premium networks has been done away with and the new structure has distinct verticals for content development and marketing to “drive deeper focus and offer greater leverage across the 13 network channels”. A dedicated vertical for digital has also been created.

     

    The company announced that Issac John will take on the role of Business Head for Digital with singular focus to build a strong D2C presence via digital product offerings. Sai Abishek will lead the content vertical for factual & lifestyle entertainment while Vednarayan Sirdeshpande will take over Marketing portfolio for the network including factual, lifestyle & kids as well as trade.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Megha Tata, Managing Director – South Asia, Discovery Communications India, said: “We have made select changes in our org structure in light of the opportunities available in the evolving media landscape. The sharper focus on functional areas will help us become more potent, more agile.”

     

    Discovery Communications India’s leadership team led by Megha Tata includes: Vijay Rajput, Senior Vice President – Affiliate Sales & Product Distribution; Vikram Tanna, VP, Head of Advertising Sales and Business Head of Regional Clusters; Ruchir Jain, Senior Director – Finance; Gaurav Garg, Senior Director – Consumer Insights and Research; Issac John, Director- Digital Business; Uttam Pal Singh, Channel Head – Discovery Kids; Sai Abishek, Director, Content- Factual & Lifestyle Entertainment; Vednarayan Sirdeshpande, Director-Marketing; Ruchi Kuthiala, Director – Director- People & Culture; Mansha Shukla, Director – Legal Affairs; Sameer Bajaj, Director – Corporate Communications & External Affairs; Praveen Chaudhary, Associate Director – Strategy.

  • Garners more than 50 million views within 9 days of the soft launch

    Discovery India partners Dailyhunt for its content offering

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery Communications India has entered into a partnership with news and local content app – Dailyhunt. It has introduced a video destination, Discovery Plus on the home page of Dailyhunt app offering short form video content customised for digital audiences in India. The content is currently available in five languages namely English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu and Bengali.

     

    Talking about the initiative, Simon Robinson, Managing Director, Discovery Asia Pacific and Chief Financial Officer, Discovery International, said: “The partnership with Dailyhunt offers us an exciting opportunity to understand, analyse and explore India’s burgeoning digital play. We are delighted with the initial trends, they further reinforce our belief that Discovery’s content offers immense unexplored potential for the digital domain in India.”

     

    Added Umang Bedi, President, Dailyhunt: “At Dailyhunt, we are super excited about this partnership with Discovery. We understand Bharat and its content needs the best and we feel very confident about Discovery’s content being a massive hit with vast diaspora of India. This partnership is completely aligned with our overall content plans of providing unique, exclusive, high quality content from great content partners like Discovery as we rapidly scale our business.”

     

     

  • The winning team and the runner-up teams will get an all-expenses paid trip to NASA

    Discovery India and Byju’s unveil an integrated school quiz show

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery Communications India and Byju’s have joined hands to launch an integrated school quiz show – Discovery School Super League. The show will reach out to 12000+ schools across 30 States and Union Territories hosting the initial on-ground round, targeting 25 lakh students in the age-group of 8 to 14 years.

     

    Layered into three rounds – at School Level, City Level and State level, the quiz will culminate into a 6-episode TV quiz show which will premiere on Discovery Channel, Discovery HD World, Discovery Science & Discovery Kids starting Feb 2019.The winners of the inaugural edition will get a special prize of an all-expenses paid trip to NASA.

     

    “We are delighted to partner with Byju’sand build a truly integrated 360-degree IP revolving around learning and fun or self-initiated learning. Our aim is to make the show as the gold-standard in quiz contests across the country,” said, Vikram Tanna, VP, Head of Advertising Sales and Business Head of Regional Clusters, Discovery Communications India.

     

     

  • Senior VP & GM Rahul Johri talks of how the Discovery Network scores over the rest (Text+Video)

    We’re bigger than the sum of all our competitors: Rahul Johri

     

    Text & Video by Shruti Pushkarna
    Although most of its channels are not mass like those offering soaps and sitcoms, the Discovery Network is a key member of the Indian broadcast landscape. The Discovery Network Asia Pacific’s Senior Vice President & General Manager for South Asia, RahulJohri attributes the network’s success to its dedicated and loyal viewership and says it is far ahead of competition

     

    Under Mr Johri’s leadership, Discovery India’s portfolio has grown from two to eight channels. In 2009, he led Discovery Channel to become India’s No.1 channel in non-fiction entertainment. He cemented TLC as India’s definitive lifestyle channel and energized Animal Planet with the brand recording the highest audience growth in the factual space.

     

    He launched three new networks in 2010, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and a 24-hour high definition channel – Discovery HD World. Mr Johri has also pioneered the channel’s localization strategy by launching language feeds in Telugu and Bengali. Discovery Channel Tamil was also launched in 2011.

     

    At a press meet in the Capital on July 5, Mr Johri announced the launch of a new series on TLC called Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar. A six-part series, Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar showcases the striking transformation of the girls selected from across India into dazzling divas by popular hairstylist Adhuna Akhtar and her brother Osh Bhabani.

     

    MxMIndia caught up with Mr Johri soon after he unveiled Be Blunt to the media. In this one-on-one interaction, Mr Johri tells MxMIndia about Discovery’s leadership and the network’s latest offering and that Discovery Kids will be unveiled shortly. He also shares his views on how digitization is set to impact Discovery and other niche channels.

     

    Excerpts from the interview:

    It’s interesting that you have a show on hairstyling. Tell us a little about this show with Adhuna Akhtar?

    Our focus in TLC is on different aspects of lifestyle and one of the most prominent ones of that is appearance. So keeping that in mind we thought a hairstyling show would fit in really well on the channel. And there is no other hairstyling show. When we wanted to do it, we found Adhuna Akhtar, who is one of the most popular hair dressers in the country. This show takes in six different individuals and carries out a makeover on them and in the midst of doing the makeover, Adhuna gives viewers a lot of tips on how to keep their hair better.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LvsvFWwOTA[/youtube]

    You mentioned there are six episodes of this show ready to air… what’s coming up next?

    We have always done new things and surprised our viewers. Whether it’s a show on Shah Rukh Khan’s life, the jewellery show, and now it’s a hair dressing show, so we will continue to surprise people.

     

    And then there’s the programme capturing the Indian Army’s Women Expedition to Everest…

    The Army sent an expedition which scaled Mount Evereston May 25 and 26. There are seven women who were part of that expedition and a total of 17 climbers who climbed Everest. We shot the whole show; in fact, a Discovery cameraman also climbed Mount Everest along with the climbers. Right now we are editing the footage that has been brought back and we hope to bring this show within this year.

     

    And the two-part series on Oprah’s visit to India?

    Oprah was here earlier this year and she shot extensively in Mumbai, Vrindavan, Agra and Jaipur. There are two episodes of this new series that she now does which is called The Next Chapter which appears on Oprah Winfrey’s Network in US and in India you will see it both on Discovery Channel and on TLC. Discovery has had quite a few specials in the past, like the special show with Shah Rukh Khan, another one of course coming up with Oprah…

     

    Considering a lot of money has to be invested in promotion for programming, isn’t it better to stick to longer format shows rather than these one-offs?

    It is a part of the kind of shows we do. A documentary filmmaker does not make a series, there is no 52-part documentary. It will always be smaller parts. And viewers know that there will be specials and we have now eight different channels of our own. So we have enough air time to take the message to the viewers.

     

    Discovery has got a lot of competition in this space now, especially from a channel like History which is doing fairly well. How do you view competition from upcoming channels?

    We are, by far, the leaders in the genre. We are bigger than the sum of all our competitors. We’ve been in the business for 15 years and no matter how you slice and dice the numbers, we are the leaders. And we will continue to present to our viewers with quality programming. And the other important thing which is responsible for our leadership position is, on Discovery you will always find shows which are on brand. There is nothing that is not on brand. So viewers get from Discovery what they expect from Discovery. And that is really responsible for the loyalty that we have of our viewers.

     

    A channel like TLC is fighting for viewership with English GECs like Star World and Zee Cafe…

     TLC is bigger than most of them and TLC has a very dedicated audience. If you ask people what they watch on TLC, they will give you names of shows that they follow. And TLC has managed to establish itself as the definitive lifestyle channel in this country and that really gives it the advantage.

     

    Speaking of niche channels, how are Discovery Turbo and Discovery Science doing?

    In terms of reach, they continue to grow. Discovery Turbo has very dedicated audience in the metro markets and Discovery Science has been growing all over the country. Its distribution has been growing. And if there is a country in the world where a Science channel fits in perfectly, it is India because 65 per cent of India is under 30 years of age. And 35 per cent of the country is under 14 years of age. And everybody understands the value of education. And that is why the science channel works so well here.

     

    And how’s your regional foray going? Discovery Tamil is a success… what languages up next?

    Discovery Channel Tamil is a great success. Discovery is the only international company to have a full-fledged channel and not just a dubbed feed in the language. So it has its own programming grid, it has all the on-air packaging in Tamil. And from the day we launched in Tamil, the rating has more than doubled. Today it is the No 9 channel in Tamil Nadu. We are already available in Bangla, Telugu and Hindi and we continue to evaluate languages.

     

    It’s been a while since you announced Discovery Kids at FICCI Frames. When will it be launched?

    The test signals of Discovery Kids are already on and we are currently seeding the channel in various parts of the country. We should be announcing the launch very soon.

     

    And how will it be different from the other channels in this space?

    Discovery Kids is not a 100 percent animation channel. It has the inherent Discovery values. However, we understand the value of entertainment so there is a lot of entertainment on the channel and it’s a parent-approved entertainment channel.

     

    What will be its driver shows? For instance, POGO has Chhota Bheem and Disney has Doraemon…

    We have our set, and like I said it’s just a matter of time that we’ll announce Discovery Kids and we will show you all the big shows that Discovery Kids has.

     

    Are you looking at a reality show like Endurance which is a rage internationally?

    You will get all the big shows of Discovery Kids in India!

     

    Do you think digitization will have a positive impact on channels like Discovery?

    In a digital world where the consumers are not constrained by the bandwidth capacity and have a complete choice, channels like Discovery become that much more important. As a consumer you get complete control over what you want to watch and that is where clearly defined offerings like TLC, Discovery Science, Animal Planet have a clear cut proposition and they become that much more pronounced in a digital environment.

     

    Given that TRAI will have restrictions on pricing of channels, will niche channels (like Discovery) really benefit from it, considering the huge amount of investment on content by these channels…

    Not being able to price your channel has its drawbacks… I would like to bring the military channel here which talks about all kinds of war strategies and so on. But that will have a small dedicated tribe to watch it. Till the numbers grow, the next level of specialization is difficult. It’s a challenge to get extremely specialized channels into the country.