MxMIndia

Tag: turner

  • Turner India and Amazon Prime Video have announceda content alliance

    Now watch Ben 10 on Amazon Prime too

    By A Correspondent

     

    You’ve been watching Ben 10 on Cartoon Network and Voot Kids. Now get set to entertain yourself on Amazon Prime Video too. Turner India and Amazon Prime Video have announced a strategic tie-up that will see Cartoon Network’s popular kids shows play on Amazon Prime Video. This content licensing deal will see Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 (Classic), Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Ben 10 Omniverse, Grim Adventures of Billy Mandy, Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls (Classic), Kumbh Karan, Roll No. 21 and Dexter’s Laboratory and many more shows that will play on Amazon Prime Video under the Kids & Family TV section. We aren’t sure if this tie-up would mean that some of the shows licensed to Viacom18’s Voot will continue or not.

     

    A communique received carries no statements from spokespersons of either Amazon or Turner.

  • Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Raghu Bhatt and Krishna Desai

    What Ticks for Indian Consumers/ Children – Raghu Bhatt and Krishna Desai

    Continuing with our extracts from the second edition of the MxMIndia Annual, we present contributions by Raghu Bhatt and Krishna Desai

     

     

    Be aware of responsibilities while marketing to kids

    By Raghu Bhatt

     

    Imagine a scenario where someone introduces a cigarette brand that exclusively targets kids. How comfortable would you be working on the brand? But if the same cigarette were targeting adults, it’s likely that you wouldn’t have a strong moral objection. This brings us to the first dimension of kid marketing. There is a very strong ethical question to consider, with kid products. Kids are the future and while marketing to them, we suddenly become aware of our immense responsibilities. Kids can do that to you.

     

    Kid marketing uses certain tools and techniques, many of them chiselled to perfection through years of practice. As a baby grows up, he or she continually refines her ability to make parents buy things for them. In some ways, they are like purchase managers who are sitting on a lot of cash – something every marketer of cereals, confectionary, clothes, retailers, movies and toys is constantly eyeing.

     

     

     

    		  

    Kids – fluent influencers of change

    By Krishna Desai

     

    Children are bestowed with many aspirations… world leaders, sports icons, entrepreneurs, etc. They display talent, knowledge and influence over most parameters of society and businesses. As consumers, they cannot be ignored.

     

    Gone are the days when children were only consulted when it came to purchasing candies and toys. A child today influences every decision from household electronics, to insurance, to cars and even wall paint! Some interesting facts and growth trends are below:

     

    :: Kids influence on parents has more than doubled since 2009 – with more than 60 per cent parents in 2012 saying that they may or definitely will consider their child’s opinion on purchase decisions.

    :: With the percentage of kids receiving pocket /gift money increasing from 36 per cent in 2008 to 56 per cent in 2012, the purchasing power of kids has definitely increased.

    (Source: Cartoon Network New Generations Study 2008 – 2012)

     

     
     

    Kids exhibit certain commonalities of behaviour that marketers leverage. For example, kids form a special bond with cartoon characters. For kids, these characters are not imaginary but real people. And when these characters start peddling stuff, they become hugely influential. These cartoon characters are also scientifically designed to elicit an emotional response from kids. For instance, the smooth round forms of the Cbeebies have been created after a lot of R&D to evoke a sense of reassurance amongst babies, in much the same way nature creates babies whose very appearance evokes the protective instincts of a mother.

     

     

    		  

    There is phenomenal growth seen in the kids’ adoption of new media. These ‘screenagers’ access technology at every touch point be it mobiles, computers, tablets, television, etc. For instance,:: In the last five years, the number of kids using the internet has more than doubled! (27 per cent use the internet in 2012 v/s 10 per cent in 2008).

    :: Although gaming has always dominated the top activity online, social networking has grown from 14 per cent in 2009 to 53 per cent in 2012. Ironically only half the parents of kids visiting social networking sites are aware of their children’s activities.

    :: Today, 95 per cent kids grow up in homes with mobile phones compared to 59 per cent kids in 2006. 10 per cent of these kids actually own their own mobile phone.

    (Source: Cartoon Network New Generations Study 2008-2012.)

     

    Kids have also transformed the broadcast industry influencing the way business is done for all stakeholders. With almost 100 per cent urban kids watching TV every day, brands, marketers, broadcasters and distributers seek this platform to reach this expanding and intelligible TG. As television consumers, kids are unique. They cannot be compared and virtually have no similarity to other geodemographics. Some core trends, challenges and opportunities are:

     

    1. Children outgrow things a lot faster than any other demographic. A kids’ network, including that of Turner’s – CN and Pogo, experiences a churn every 4-5 years with new kids coming in and older kids moving to other genres.

     

    2. Kids, on an average, spend two hours watching television. This hasn’t changed much over the years. But the number of channels available today has more than doubled compared to a few years ago. This represents a huge challenge for broadcasters, especially kids channels, to attract and sustain viewership. Comparatively, housewives spend up to four hours a day watching television.

     

    3. Another fact is that out of the total viewing, children spend only 20 per cent time watching kids’ channels mainly because of the dominance of housewives in single television households. Although this may seem as a hindrance, it is actually an opportunity in disguise. This 20 per cent has grown from 15 per cent in 2009.Also, with the growth of multiple TV households and new media to compliment TV, there is hope of growth and expansion of the genre.

     

     

     

    Tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug 26): Family – Punit Goenka and Pradeep Gupta

     

     

     

  • Monica Tata, GM – Entertainment Networks, South Asia,Turner International India has put in her papers

    Monica Tata quits Turner. No replacement for now

    By A Correspondent

     

    Monica Tata, GM – Entertainment Networks, South Asia at Turner International India, has put in her papers. A Turner official confirmed the development and informed that she will be with the company till the end of the year. Ms Tata’s next destination is not known, and it is learnt that her position may not be filled in for the moment.

     

    With over 23 years of experience, Ms Tata has had an excellent record of increasing sales, effective negotiations, P&L analysis and strategic implementation of business operations. She joined Turner in 2004 after a 12-year stint at Star India and earlier at the now-shut Sunday Mail. She is Honorary Secretary of the International Advertising Association, India Chapter and is part of the Indian Broadcasting Federation’s proposed Indian Television Festival core organizing committee.

     

    Ms Tata was recognised as ‘Next 30’ most powerful women to look out in 2010 and was also adjudged as one of India’s hottest young executives of the media industry in 2009 by Business Today magazine and adjudged amongst the Top 50 influential women in media, marketing and advertising by Impact magazine earlier this year.

     

  • Anshuman Misra quits Turner

    By A Correspondent

     

    Turner International Asia Pacific announced today that Anshuman Misra, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Networks and Content Distribution, has resigned from his position with effect from October 12.

     

    After almost 14 years with Turner in Asia, Hong Kong-based Mr Misra is to take time off before embarking on his next career move.

     

    Said Mr Misra, “After working without a real break for more than two decades, I look forward to taking a few months off before I start the next chapter of my work life. I hope it’s as exciting as the time I’ve had with Turner. I want to thank everyone at Turner for all the support and camaraderie. I walk out of the company very satisfied but also sad to leave such a great bunch of people.”

     

    Steve Marcopoto, President and MD Turner International Asia Pacific said, “On behalf of everyone at Turner in Asia, I’d like to thank Anshuman for his significant contribution to the company’s success since 1998. He has been a first class colleague and trusted business partner throughout and we wish him every success in the next stage of his career.”

     

    Prior to joining Turner, Mr Misra was General Manager, BBC World (India) where he managed the distribution and sales of the news and current affairs channel.

     

  • Imagine's fictional shows were completely me-too, and most of their reality stuff was a huge disaster. In such a scenario, Imagine's closure does not surprise me at all…

    Anil Thakraney: Lack of imagination

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Even a kid will tell you that there are just toooo many TV channels inIndia. Both, entertainment and news. And even as talks of a shake-out have been doing the rounds for years, more channels are waiting to start operations! Like everything else inIndia, it’s a mad house out there.

     

    Quite obviously, there can be place for only so many brands. The advertising pie is limited, and it cannot be shared by so many hungry mouths. And in the Indian context, a vast majority of a channel’s revenues come from advertising and not through subscriptions. In such a scenario, Imagine’s closure does not surprise me at all… in fact, I wonder what took them so long.

     

    As for the many other struggling channels, they are fortunate to be run by very deep pocketed suits. But those deep pockets, like Turner’s, will dry up at some point. It’s a matter of time.

     

    Imagine came on to the scene in 2008, when the Hindi GECs market was already divided between Star, Zee and Sony. Each had already established itself, and all three channels enjoyed viewer loyalty. To break into this extremely capital intensive and crowded house, Imagine’s only chance was to unleash kickass, totally offbeat programming. ‘Shock and awe’ ought to have been the mantra. 2008 was also the time when the nation had begun showing early signs of tiring of Ekta’s traditional saas bahu sagas, and there was a huge opportunity for Imagine to be the game changer that the market wanted.

     

    Alas, it was not to be. Imagine’s fictional shows were completely me-too, and most of their reality stuff was a huge disaster. ‘Swayamwar’ was perhaps the only ‘hatke’ programme, but in the GECs biz model, reality shows and movies are, at best, jam servings, laid out to entice viewers to the bread and butter fiction shows. And if the latter is a thakela and done-to-death fare, the channel is sunk. Which is exactly what happened with Imagine.

     

    Make no mistake about this: Imagine’s problem wasn’t funds or staying power or distribution or even talent. It was very simply this: Lack of imagination.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: This is a memo Shri David Ogilvy sent out to his employees way back in 1982.

     

    On how to write. It’s fantastic. You will notice that his suggestions, in this day and age of micro blogging and short attention spans, are more valid than ever before.

     

    Link: http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/02/how-to-write.html

     

  • GECs is a very difficult segment and it needs deep pockets and a determination to go the long haul, feels Mr Nair

    I am shocked and disappointed: Sameer Nair

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Sameer Nair, whose baby Imagine channel was, is quite surprised by its sudden demise. Mr Nair founded Imagine in 2007 in partnership with NDTV, and ran it for four years. He quit last year after Turner bought the channel from NDTV.

     

    Speaking to MxMIndia, he said: “I am quite shocked and disappointed to hear that they’ve decided to shut the channel down. They (Turner) seemed to be quite gung ho about Imagine, and I thought they were going full steam ahead. There is a lot of investment and a number of jobs at stake.”

     

    When asked what in his view may have gone wrong with Imagine, Mr Nair said GECs is a very difficult segment and it needs deep pockets and a determination to go the long haul. And that he thought Turner had the muscle power to go the distance. Talking about his own stint at the channel, he said: “We had some successes and some failures. It was a tough market, we faced economic difficulties. And GECs is a tough space to be in, it’s a very competitive category. We were the first to re-create the Ramayana and we launched ‘Rakhi Ka Swayamwar’, a show like that had never been done before. I think we did some good work.”

     

    And what were the reasons behind his own departure from the channel? Mr Nair’s response is pretty frank. “I was used to operating independently. After Turner took over, one had to integrate into the Turner system. And this made me just a department head. And so I left.”

     

    Mr Nair says he’s currently working on some exciting projects but will reveal details once it all falls into place.

     

  • Pradyuman Maheshwari believes that Turner should’ve shut the channel the moment Sameer Nair exited last year

    Mediaah! What did Turner imagine a GEC wud do?

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    I am as shocked and upset as Sameer Nair about Turner’s closure. Very few in the organisation of the move until Thursday mid-morning when the staff was called for a meeting to be informed of the closure.

     

    Remember, it’s a ceasing of business operations and not a suspension. There could of course be a revival at some day in future, but as of now the chances of that are 0%. Turner isn’t suggesting anything. In fact the staff has either been served notice or accommodated elsewhere in the system – either permanently or temporarily.

     

    But the moot question is: why did Imagine fail? Why did it not garner enough ratings? And was it wise for Turner to buy the channel from NDTV?

     

    In an interview to MxMIndia, managing director for South Asia Siddharth Jain says it was a carefully considered decision to acquire Imagine. If the window it gave the channel to success was so short, guess it was an unwise move. Remember in Sameer Nair, Turner had possibly one of the best brains in Indian broadcast.

     

    And as the former Star India CEO rightly maintained, it needed just one great programme for the channel to come alive. Sadly, that never happened. Zor Ka Jhatka with Shah Rukh Khan was a huge flop draining Turner upwards of Rs 50 crore. The Turner bosses weren’t willing to wait for Sameer Nair to make yet another big attempt to win the ratings game. His wings were clipped and that in many ways was the beginning of the end. In May 2011, Sameer quit and wasn’t replaced.

     

    Mind you, this has been Turner’s second attempt at running a general entertainment channel. While some of its other channels are doing well, Real – a product of its jv with Alva Brothers – was a disaster. Imagine, under NDTV, was promising and that’s essentially because of Sameer Nair and team. Agreed even SAB outpaced it in channel shares, but that’s essentially because of an improper strategy. But SAB’s story is special. In fact had it not been the endless reruns of CID, SAB would’ve been ahead of Sony too!

     

    If this was the decision that they were going to take (and Imagine was indeed going nowhere in terms of ratings), my belief is that the team at Turner did a disservice to its stakeholders. They should’ve pulled the plug the moment Sameer quit last year.

     

    The move has folks in tellyland worried. If a foreign network (hence assumed with deep pockets), like Turner can turn off the tap for them, so can anyone else, they say. Turner has assured the trade that its interests will be taken care of and the signals aren’t off yet, but it does impact many lives. As it does for the employees of Imagine.

     

    We’re sure they’ll get placed soon. But this jhatka was I think a bit too zor ka.

     

    Buzz me if you have a story to tell. Confidentiality assured. There are various ways you can reach me:

    pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, BBM 23050B5D, Gtalk pradyumanm@gmail.com, Twitter @pmahesh and of course the mobile: 98338 76278.

     

    Disclaimer: Although he is CEO and Editor-in-Chief of this site, Pradyuman Maheshwari’s views in Mediaah! are not necessarily those of the rest of the team and MxMIndia.com. And decidedly not those of the sales team 🙂

     

  • It’s not a fun thing that’s happened, but AN Chorreachose to add his two-bit on what could be (and what should’ve been) done for the Imagine announcement to not happen.

    Anchor: 5 ways how Imagine could’ve survived

    By AN Chorrea

     

    It was indeed shocking to see Turner cease all operations of Imagine TV with effect from yesterday. My considered view is that Turner Broadcast could’ve managed to see Imagine survive the Great GEC Race and also thrive by any of these five programming tweaks.

     

    1. Rakhee round the clock

    Rakhee Sawant may have got into the limelight thanks to Bigg Boss on another GEC, but it’s all the crazy things that she did on Imagine that caught the world’s imagination. And made her a household name. So, wouldn’t it have been a great idea to have Rakhee and Rakhee along all 24 hours?!

     

    2. Reality round the clock

    Imagine isn’t the only channel which is into reality shows… almost every channel is. But remember they started out with one, albeit for just a week. Methinks heavy doses of Rakhee Sawant, Rahul Mahajan and all other types of international and desi formats would’ve got it all the ratings!

     

    3. Maximum Mythology

    All channels have mythologicals, but given its superior rendering of Ramayan and later Dwarkadheesh Bhagwan Shri Krishna and more recently Mahima Shani Dev Ki makes one wonder that if Imagine aired only mythologicals round the clock – with lavish sets, et al – wouldn’t it have worked in its favour?

     

    4. Supernatural mumbo-jumbo

    I am sure you’ve seen Raaz Pichle Janam Ka, the primetime show that’s a reality show showing the practising of past-life regression. The programme is quite engaging leading us to suggest that the channel should’ve gone in for all the supernatural, astrological and other bizarre stuff for at least 18 hours a day. And for the other six hours: more supernatural stuff. Possibly TV shopping for gizmos that can help you cross all barriers in life.

     

    5. Get the original Jhatka from Pogo

    For a man who stole everyone’s hearts in Fauji, Shah Rukh Khan has had a  easonably awful track record on telly ever since he became a superstar. KBC with him as anchor was no great shakes and Paanchvi Paas on Star Plus and Zor Ka Jhatka on Imagine were disastrous. It would’ve perhaps been nicer if Imagine could’ve got Pogo to part with its version of Takeshi’s Castle. While the show’s fun, it’s Javed Jaffrey’s commentary that does the trick and one can keep watching it endlessly. As the show’s name suggested SRK’s Jhatka deserved a kick at all the right and wrong places. Zor ka!

     

    AN Chorrea is a seasoned industry-watcher who writes under a pseudonym

     

  • Turner Network has announced the shutting down of Imagine TV's operations

    Sad! Turner shuts Imagine TV

    Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. (Turner) today announced the decision to cease business operations of its Hindi general entertainment channel ‘Imagine TV’, together with its international feed ‘Imagine Dil Se’.

     

    A communique from Turner Network signed by Siddharth Jain, Managing Director, South Asia, said Imagine TV has “not performed and grown as per expectations”. “While some programmes delivered satisfactory ratings, overall the channel was unable to achieve the ratings consistency needed to sustain the business and support continued investment. As a result, Turner made the carefully considered decision to cease operations of the channel.”

     

    “We are grateful to the Imagine team, which includes some of the most talented and creative people in the Indian media industry. We will use our best endeavors to make this as smooth a transition as possible for them, ” he continues.

     

    ” The company remains committed to future investments and long-term participation in India. As one of the largest global media companies operating in India, Turner has enjoyed a successful track record in delivering high-quality, compelling and entertaining content to our local audiences over the course of three decades. We currently operate some of the strongest media brands in India, including HBO, CNN, Cartoon Network, POGO, WB, TCM and Boomerang. We will continue to be leaders in the media and entertainment industry and to explore expansion opportunities in this important market.

     

    *Please stand by for more *