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Tag: Smeeta Chakrabarti

  • India's youngest lifestyle channel has planned exciting line up of new and old programming to #LiveTheGoodTimes

    NDTV Good Times turns 10; unveils new programming

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times turned 10 on September 7. Said Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle: “Turning a decade old is big news for us! To celebrate the occasion, the channel has planned an exciting line up of new shows and fresh seasons of hit shows, starting with My Yellow Table with popular Chef Kunal Kapur. Also planned is an exciting contest to gratify our viewers who could win fabulous luxury experiences.”

     

    Expressing her joy on turning 10, Arati Singh, Channel Head, NDTV Good Times added: “We have been pioneers of Indian lifestyle entertainment. Our focus has always been to provide an immersive Good Times experience through 360 degree multiplatform content. NDTV Good Times inspires its viewers to #LiveYoung and #LiveIndian.”

     

  • New logo, icons, idents and colour palette reflecting a "hip-cool on-air" are seen in the channel which refreshed on Monday (Nov 18)

    NDTV Good Times refreshes, adopts #LiveYoung positioning

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lifestyle entertainment channel NDTV Good Times has refreshed itself and adopted the #LiveYoung positioning from earlier this week. In the new avatar, the channel will take a fresher, edgier and more relevant approach to its programming targeted towards the young and the young at heart, notes a communiqué.

     

    Smeeta Chakrabarti

    So what we see is a new logo, icons, idents and colour palette that reflects a “hip-cool on-air” look.   Elaborating on the channel refresh, Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle said, “After an in-depth research and a deep dive into our consumers’ mindset, the channel has recharged its offering. The new visual and content strategy is a direct result of these initiatives, and we are confident that they will resonate and connect with our viewers”.

     

    Said Channel Head Arati Singh:  “The programming of the channel has become more impulsive, interactive and action oriented with a younger and edgier attitude. Keeping in sync with the young and young-at-heart viewers, we have reworked on the visual appeal by introducing vibrant icons reflecting the different content and mood of the programming on-air.”

     

    As part of its refresh, NDTV Good Times aims to be in tune with viewers’ lives through the week and at different times during the day by introducing dedicated categories such as; ‘Good Night with Good Times’, ‘Good Food with Good Times’, ‘Good Travel with Good Times. Additionally, Kingfisher Supermodel 2013 and Bachelor’s Kitchen with Aditya Bal have been reintroduced with a brand new flavour, with more to come in the next few months.  Highway on My Plate, one of the more popular shows on the channel is scheduled to be seen in a younger avatar, we are told.

     

  • Passion is at the core of lifestyle or special interest content; Smeeta Chakrabarti offers ways to approach building and sustaining lifestyle brands

    The Anchor: 5 ways how lifestyle channels can make it big

    By Smeeta Chakrabarti

     

    To paraphrase James Harkin, there is a new rule in business – forget the general audience and instead, stake out an identifiable niche. Love it or hate it, lifestyle programming that caters to special interests is here to stay. To our minds, the question was never about whether lifestyle channels can make it big, but more about how to build a sustainable ecosystem around brands which resonate, connect, relate and engage with the discerning consumer. We’ve always believed that passion is at the core of lifestyle channels or special interest content, and the following are ways in which we approach building and sustaining our lifestyle brands.

     

    #1 Multiple platform technologies: Lifestyle channels need to think of themselves as content providers targeting a specific audience, and indeed, targeting a defined passion, through all possible platforms and not just television. Technology today plays a vital role in sustaining and building lifestyle businesses.

     

    #2 Platform-agnostic content: While technology today permits dissemination of content across platforms and touch points, content creators need to be mindful of the fact that there are now multiple ways to consume that content, and a one-size-fits-all approach does not necessarily work. Whether it’s a laptop screen, the iPad, your smartphone or even an experiential initiative, smart content that’s platform-agnostic is the key.

     

    #3 Integrated marketing: Lifestyle channels need to be where their consumers are – something that finds resonance with the multi-platform and multi-faceted approach to content. Research, product, positioning, promotions, delivery and all aspects of the marketing value chain have to be geared to connect and engage audiences through touch-points not just inIndia, but globally as well.

     

    #4 Multiple revenue sources: It is imperative for lifestyle channels to see themselves as brands, which can be monetized beyond the conventions of FCT, sponsorships, integrations and subscriptions. Brand extensions, social media and DTH interactivity consumer products, books – the possibilities are endless, and essential.

     

    #5 Smarter distribution: This is an equally important step in building a sustainable business model. The very raison d’etre of special interest lifestyle channels is catering to a targeted, well-defined consumer, based on clearly articulated passions. Therefore, the conventional modes of carpet bombing and non-segmented distribution will need to get far smarter and targeted to have impact.

     

    Smeeta Chakrabarti is Chief Executive Officer of NDTV Lifestyle

     

  • The lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times is completing five years soon. Taking the celebrations to the audiences, the channel has announced the launch of new shows in the coming months

    NDTV Good Times completes five years

    By A Correspondent

     

    The lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times is completing five years soon. Taking the celebrations to the audiences, the channel has announced the launch of new shows in the coming months. While the Second Season of the popular food show Vicky Goes Veg and the new season of Aditya Bal’s Chakh Le series are scheduled for September; October will see The Kingfisher Calendar Hunt in its fourth season.

     

    The channel will also enter the all-new segment of home d̩cor with the introduction of two completely novel shows РWhole New World, and Living Right Royally under the Royal Reservation brand umbrella.

     

    Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle, said, “As a team, we have endeavoured to offer novel and trend setting content to our viewers. This year will see more innovative programming, with our foray in to clutter breaking home segment programming, and as custodians of Indian Lifestyle, our soon to be announced Lifestyle Awards in November.”

     

    Shibani Sharma Khanna, Channel Director, NDTV Good Times, said, “We are elated to turn five. NDTV Good Times has always strived to offer the best programming and we have managed to raise the bar higher with each offering. We promise to offer more vigour, zest and diversity with new formats and genres in the coming year and would like to thank our viewers for their constant love and support.”

     

    Projit Chakrabarti, Head, Marketing Services, said, “On the back of our genre defining programming and clutter breaking content initiatives, we’ve literally created a new season – summer, spring, autumn, winter and Good Times. And one needs only tune-in, log-on or walk-in to live the good times.” NDTV Good Times continues to enjoy its niche position as lifestyle channel in the country, with Highway On My Plate, Kingfisher Calendar Hunt, I’m Too Sexy, Heavy Petting, Band Baajaa Bride, Chakh Le India and No Big Deal as its most popular and loved shows.

     

    Beamed directly across international markets such as US, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Maldives, the channel is present across all major analogue cable markets, and all six DTH platforms in India.

     

  • India has the most amazing and interesting lifestyle. We can teach something to every other country, says Smeeta Chakrabarti.

    The Anchor: 7 things for Lifestyle channels to remember

    By Smeeta Chakrabarti

     

    #1 Till a few years ago, most of the programming on lifestyle channels was imported. Giving an Indian touch to programming is important as it makes it exciting for the Indian audiences. For example, even though there are many international news channels such as BBC and CNN, the perspective changes when the programming is done by an Indian channel.

     

    #2 India has the most amazing and interesting lifestyle. We can teach something to every other country – About food, the way we eat, we drink, the way we get married, clothes etcetera. It is important to keep in cognizance that India has a lot to give to the west.

     

    #3Today the world is adopting our lifestyle and not the other way around. The flow is now from East to West, and countries like India and China are going to dictate to the West about lifestyle issues. The world has to catch up to the big fat Indian wedding.

     

    #4 India is a young and affluent country and the current generation spends in a different way from the way our grandparents used spend. We are not hoarders any more and we don’t necessarily save.

     

    #5 Especially in the Indian context, lifestyle is not just about brand names and tags – it’s also about quality and trades craftsmanship, something that India is very good at. It’s not just about imported labels but also feeling pride about what we Indians are doing indigenously at the grass root levels. That is what makes us special.

     

    #6 Being Indians, we have to be proud of the India we live in and have to feel great about this country. It’s about living in the best possible way with the resources available.

     

    #7 The genre will definitely grow. When we started there was just one international channel, with international programming, and the genre has grown ever since with launches of newer channels. Along with the regional space, lifestyle and news spaces will grow too.

     

    Smeeta Chakrabarti is the CEO of NDTV Lifestyle Limited.