MxMIndia

Tag: Viacom 18

  • Viacom 18's campaign for its VOOT platform banks on the restlessness of people to watch their favourite shows on the go

    VOOT aims to make you wanting for more

    By A Correspondent

     

    Did you ever want to watch a particular episode of your favourite TV show suddenly in the middle of a work? Or have you ever been restless to catch the final episode of the series you are addicted to? Well, we all have through these sudden impatient urge to catch our favourite shows on the go or at weird hours. This is exactly what the new marketing campaign of Viacom 18’s digital VOD (video on demand) service VOOT captures.

     

    The campaign- ‘VOOT wanting wanting’- has been launched with purpose of making VOOT the go to destination for quality entertainment content consumption through over the top (OTT) services. The focus will, for now, be on the top six markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad. With over 17,000 hours of programming (across languages and genres) including television shows, movies, cartoons and some original VOOT creations, this service promises viewers   content that is addictive in nature. Thus, the campaign,gives emphasis to the fact that when one is addicted, they need to get that thing as soon as possible and as often as they can. Any roadblocks on their path make them restless.

     

    “Our core idea of creating an exclusive destination and maximising watch time is reflected in this campaign. We believe this business at heart is a content business. All our efforts have been to create the VOOT experience- both in terms of content and product offering- that will leave our viewers addicted and therefore keep coming back for more anytime and anywhere. And that is the singular message that you will see in all our communication- You are most happy when you VOOT, but being away from VOOT will leave you restless and wanting wanting for more” said, Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom 18 Digital Ventures about the brand campaign. Akash Baneji, Head of Marketing and Partnerships, Viacom 18 Digital Ventures, speaking about the idea behind the campaign, said,“India is at the cusp of exciting times. A whole aspiring generation of digitally equipped Indians is charged up by the everyday possibilities around them. VOOT believes we can be their happy entertainment stop. But our brand of happiness is unique. For people who spend hours on mobile it is the urge, restlessness and the excitement to connect instantly with great stories. That was precisely the context and the overriding principle that led to the creation of these creative.”

     

    The campaign comprises three TVCs with different protagonists in each of the films- a woman, a kid and a young boy – thereby highlighting the appeal of content available on VOOT catering to multiple TGs (Target Groups). The TVCs highlight VOOT’s key proposition of having content so addictive that once you start watching, you just can’t stop (Ek bar watching toh non-stop wanting).

     

    “Some few things we kept in mind when we got the brief are the content is so good, there are both long and short format content and the quality of content is so good that you cannot stay away from it. That is the premise we operated with. It is entertainment that you can consume anywhere anytime. That was something we expanded on, which is for us, what happens when you are with some exciting entertaining programme and people and things come in the way” said Ayyappan Raj, Executive Vice President, MullenLintas, one of the key brains behind the campaign.

     

    This campaign will be promoted within all Viacom 18 channels as well as channels outside their network.

     

  • MTV releases 'The Many Me Project' report at its annual Youth Marketing Forum held last week

    The Many Facets of the Young

     

    By Anuka Roy

     

    Multi-Dimensional. Open Minded. Creative. Confident. Ambitious. Smart thinker. Thought. Brave. Witty. Inspired. Mindful. Fun. These could be tagged as the many facets of a youth’s personality, as determined at the extensive research study titled ‘The Many Me Project’ at released at the MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2016 last week.

     

    “I thought the youth was in a very bad place. But this study opened the eyes for a lot of us” said Ferzad Palia, Executive Vice President, Viacom 18, Head, Youth and English entertainment. “This is probably the largest youth study in the country. We do not know too many brands that go so deep into the youth. Unless you do this you cannot stay ahead of the curve” he added.

     

    And, what are some of the major findings of the study? The two new words that came out this year when the youth were asked to describe themselves were: Smart thinking and multidimensional.The study also investigates on the widespread social media etiquettes and the stark difference in their online and offline personalities. This study highlighted that the today’s youth are very pragmatic in their approach. From new age gender definition and its impact on their relationships between friends, families and significant others, the research explores the youth psyche in depth. They accept and embrace their flaws- ‘flawsome’ is something MTV came up with to describe this quality. “If you see some of the superhero movies these days, equal footage is given to the superhero fighting others and fighting their inner demons. So, it is more about fighting your inner demons than conquering the world” said Chatterjee about the youth accepting their scars and flaws. Inspirational quotes are something that is shared the most by youth across various social platforms. Humour is the key weapon for this generation.

     

    With technological advancement in internet and mobile devices, the youth gets an opportunity and exposure to be whatever they want to be. They choose and curate the best version of themselves, and there are several versions. Today’s youth are self- reflective, but not existential. Optimism is there in them but they are not impractical. They are seamless across online and offline. The Many Me headline truly captures the multi- dimensionality of today’s generation.

     

    MTV Insights Studio, the insights arm of MTV, conducts these research studies every couple of months to understand the trends among young people. This year they conducted an extensive research exercise to understand the young people between the age group of 13-25 years, across 50 plus cities in the country, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methodology. The focus was to understand the attitudes and desires of these 11,000 odd respondents with the help of content- what they consume and what they publish.  The study was conducted among NCCS SEC A, B, C, where the cities belonging to the category C were the new entrants in this year’s research.  They deployed interesting non-intrusive yet immersive techniques like selfie- project, peerscope, digital shadowing  along with ethnographic interviews, peer group discussions to understand the new face of young India. This year, ThirdEye Qualitative and Juxt Smart Mandate have done the fieldwork for the project.

     

    Talking about the cities that this study was conducted, Sumeli Chatterjee, Head, Marketing and Insights, Youth Cluster, Viacom 18, said, “Some of the cities we have gone this time is, for example, Amritsar, Bhatinda, Rohtak, Mathura, Nizamabad… it is very representative of India. That is the reason when Ferzad said that a lot of the findings surprised us. We did not expect a lot of smaller cities to actually behave like this. So, it is actually eye opening for us too”

     

    Speaking about the MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2016, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom 18, said in a press release, “For the past 10 years, MTV has been working incessantly to understand every nuance of each interaction youngn people have amongst themselves and their media consumption habits. It is these patterns of consumption and interaction which then form the basis of everything we do at MTV.  The headline study for this year- ‘MTV Many Me Project’- has thrown up some fascinating insights into the lives and minds of this absolutely dynamic demographic.” This research is going to be used across the Viacom 18 networks to create youth centric content.

     

    The MTV Youth Forum, held in New Delhi on April 29, was addressed by Ferzad Palia, Head, Youth and English Entertainment, Viacom18, Mike Reiss- Co-creator, producer and writer of The Simpsons, Cindy Gallop- Founder, MakeLovenotPorn and If WeRantheWorld, Will Sansom- Director, Content & Strategy, Contagious Insider,  Kerry Taylor- SVP, Youth and Music, Viacom International & CMO, Viacom UK, Shravan and Sanjay Kumaran- CEOs, GoDimensions and Yuvraj Singh, cricketer and youth icon.

     

  • Viacom 18 kids cluster head and EVP Nina Elavia Jaipuria on Shiva worked for Nick last year and shares her plans for 2016-17

    Shiva rules for Nick, and how!

     

    It’s been a big year for Nickelodeon, both in terms of revenue as well as viewership. Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Executive Vice President and Business Head of the Kids Cluster at Viacom 18 shares with Anuka Roy how the last business year, her big plans for the brand. Read on…

     

    So how is Shiva doing? That was the highlight of the last year among the various new things you did…

    Yes, Shiva is one of the many highlights that we had. One of them being, we have been #1 for the past 20 months, but the fact that Shiva broke all the roles in one shot. I have worked for this category for almost a decade now and I haven’t seen a launch like Shiva. So, I’ll just take a step back to explain to you why. Normally when you launch a show on a channel, it’s a new character and children of course have not seen too much of that character. They are currently watching a toon or a character that they really love, a show that they really love and therefore they fall in love and are habituated to watching what they really like to watch. When a new character is launched, it usually takes some time for kids to warm up to the character, you have to start liking the character, the character has to grow on you.

     

    Shiva broke all the rules because in the first week of Shiva’s launch, it was the second slot in the category in the second week onward, it was the number one show in the genre. So, not just for Nickelodeon but as a category I am saying. It continues till date to have at least two, three or four slots in the Top 10 of the category. Highlight is an underestimation. We had done an extensive need gap study to say that Nickelodeon as a franchise doesn’t have an action- comedy genre. And therefore, we identified it as a need gap, gone after it, created a show which had fabulous storytelling, character and animation. So, all put together it was like a full masala-action-adventure-comedy plot. I think that was what probably clicked with kids and continues to click with them. Even as of date today it continues to be 12 % of our ratings. Even though it is only five months old and has limited episodes, because episodes are in the making whereas Motu Patlu and Pakdam Pakdai have significant library, but even with a limited library Shiva has made a big mark. And that is why I am going to continue without even asking what the story is. The story is we are moving Shiva to Sonic and that’s a very bold, brave and strategic decision we are making. That’s the focus for this year as well that while we maintain the number one position in Nick, we take Sonic to an all new high and hope that channel as well to become a very strong second competitor. For that reason, we are taking all the loyal viewers of Nick and Shiva and moving them to Sonic. Hopefully, the audience will move with show as well, that’s what the hypothesis is. And we have a huge summer campaign to follow it up in the vacation which will create awareness about Shiva on Sonic.

     

    Fiscal year 2015-16 has been yet another year of leadership for Nickelodeon. We saw it launching in HD. And we have seen the entry of the BARC ratings plus rural numbers. How has the year been for Nick? Not just Nick, but the entire slew of channels under the categories you look.

    It has been fabulous. From a financial year perspective our toplines have really grown. The Nick yield is the biggest highlight for me, which has growing two years in a now. Last year, we grew it by 40%. So, monetisation of Nick along with the number one position is the big highlight for me and the fact that, we have grown our entire topline which consists of Ad Sales, Ancillary revenue. All of that has grown by a robust percentage and we have tripled our bottom line as well, two years consecutively. So, we are a profitable vertical at Viacom 18, which is delivering to the Viacom 18 profits now. From the genre perspective, adsales grew as well. It has been consistently growing year after year. So, we are correcting the under indexation and I am happy to say that, finally, it is in the right trajectory. A lot of growth expected in the adsales pie as well. While it was at a 1%, today it is at 3% of the adsales pie. We have a lot of non-kid advertisers joining in. Almost 58% of our advertisers today are non-kid. I do From a viewership perspective also we continue to grow and continue to have 6% of our total viewership is the kids’ genre, so, that hasn’t gone away anywhere. In fact, in the urban it is at 8%. We are a very big genre, bigger than news, music, sports, infotainment and all of that.  It’s a big genre with total viewership coverage of about 6-8%…

     

    Any noteworthy trends that you would like to highlight.

    The trend is very clearly the fact that kids are taken to Indian local content we have creating. The trend seems to continue because we have got success stories on our own franchise to talk about when we started with Motu Patlu and then we have Pakdam Pakdai and now we have Shiva. So, you should watch out for more of them . We are storytellers, content makers and we would continue to invest in that part of the business big time. That’s really the trend from a perspective to say that, there Indian local content, which is now being extended beyond series into movies. Kid movies made for television making into the hearts of our kids; to me is another big trend.  A trend I would look at from the adsales perspective would be to say that there are big takers and brands are now looking forward to it. They look at customisation, integration and in show placements to get the access and their brand out there for kids to see and consume. Another trend is that the ecosystems for kids’ franchises are really growing. We have made big moves into consumer products and we have grown from 25 to 40 categories today and the whole back to school range that’s going to launch this summer.  So, a consumer product is something that will only grow as characters and character affinities grow. Kids will like to have consumer products of those characters. We see a lot of potential there and of course the affinity towards brands and characters as well and we have got into licensing in a big way. We had Britannia and Tiger biscuits doing it with Ninja, McVities with MotuPatlu. So, we have partnered with Boost as well and their licensing as well, Mother Dairy has also come on board. There is the trend of this ecosystem going beyond television. I think it’s growing into all forms of engagement. We are also looking into digital. The Shiva digital games have already got 1.5 million game plays in a couple of months that we launched.  Digital is creating a lot of engagement for marketeers. We are able to engage our toons beyond television in digital as well. So, that’s a new trend. All these trends have potential which will grow.

     

    How has been the acceptance of Nick amongst rural audiences Vs urban

    Typically, the category gets about 65% of its ratings from urban and 35% of their ratings from rural. And that trend is very significant which says that pretty much tells us that the content which we have in the channel today is appealing across a different tiers of market s and different markets as well. Even in urban we do as well in 0.1 million as we do in megacities as we do now in rural. And, because of the fact that we now have English, Hindi, Tamil and Telegu dubs which has actually been able to penetrate and we do get 35% of our ratings from the rural market. That’s how appealing the content is to every child in the country today.

     

    The success of any business is viewed in terms of revenues. Please do talk us through that.

    Topline has really grown. Ad sales for Nick have really grown. The top line yield has grown by 40%. Sonic has also grown by significant leaps and bounds. There are lot of people who have sampled the channel and have now brought it into their consideration. 35% growth on the total top line is a great success story and how well we have been able to monetize the number one position. That growth has come in the period of two years.  Subsequent in two years we have grown our Ad sales and top line and profits as well. A profitable growing business along with growing viewership as well.

     

    What about audience engagement drives? How have those panned out

    Fantastically well. We have over 1000 touch points in the year, we do a lot of stuff outside of television and digital as well which is more or less in terms of mall activation, we do many school programmes in the year. In fact for the summer campaign, we have partnered with retail outlets to ensure that the partnership goes forward. We have partnered with Pantaloons on their stores, Fun City which is a gaming zone, with McDonalds, with malls to do meet-and-greets, so and so forth. This year, we have partnered with National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) for its kids fiesta. Every year they do kids plays and workshops and this year, our toons are a part of their syllabi and meet and greet. All of these gives us a lot of touch, feel and play because it’s about a character you watch on TV and when it comes out of TV there is this whole  tangablisation of the character which is what engagement gives us.

     

    What are the plans for the year ahead and specifically for this summer?

    We are going to move Shiva onto Sonic. Along with new episodes of Shiva on Sonic, we have new episodes of Pakdam Pakdai, new episodes of Shaun, the sheep and Supa Stikas, some of our very big shows. We would go outside of the network, in channels like Star, Zee and Sab to ensure that we create awareness about Shiva on Sonic. There is a big mass campaign for Shiva in summer, where there will be watch and wins. We will go to theatres as well. Big plan on Nick as well, it will see new episodes of Motu Patlu, new episodes of Ninja after very long and we are launching our 10th movie which is Motu Patlu in Double Trouble. We are doing van activation for Sonic as well. So, the vans go to Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns in 30 days, they do 20-25 cities. Lot of activity and action plan for summer.

     

    The kids’ zone is very big on Voot. Will that be in sync with some of what you are already doing for your channels?

    Voot and we are in a win- win position. They grow from us and we grow from them. Therefore, we have become the aggregators of a lot of good content between us and that’s really working for us as we can cross pollinate and we have the flexibility of using so much of the Intellectual Property (IP) that is our own. We can have the toons in the OTT (Over-the-top content) platforms which will only popularise them that much more.

     

  • Nitin, in his career spanning close to two decades has worked in designing brand campaign, media planning, building statutory audit/ legal frameworks and strategic alliances

    Nitin Alawadhi appointed National Sales Head at LIVE Viacom 18

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 has announced the appointment of Nitin Alawadhi as the National Head, Sales, LIVE Viacom18. In his new role, Nitin will spearhead the business development team to drive revenues and build a strong clientele across India.

     

    Launched in 2013, LIVE Viacom18 creates large format event IPs such as Vh1 Supersonic, MTV Bollyland, Emerge, MTV Indies Extreme and MTV Indies SPIRO along with International award formats like MTV Video Music Awards India (VMAI), Kids Choice Awards, et al.

     

    Nitin joins LIVE Viacom18 from Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd. (BCCL) where he spearheaded the Integrated Brand Communications and Experiential marketing divisions. With dual management degrees in Marketing and International Trade Management from CMD and NMIMS, Nitin, in his career spanning close to two decades has worked in designing brand campaign, media planning, building statutory audit/ legal frameworks and strategic alliances.

     

    Speaking about Nitin’s appointment, Jaideep Singh, Sr. Vice President and Business Head- LIVE Viacom18, says, “Nitin’s experience in successfully driving revenues for the Integrated Brand Communications and Experiential marketing platform will add a great value to the LIVE division at Viacom18. The experience and caliber is apt to be leading a dynamic and ever aggressive brand like ours that is always in a transition for better compliance with market needs.”

     

  • The brand identity for Voot has been created by transnational brand consultancy Brand Gym and Pune-based Elephant Design

    Viacom18 announces plans for OTT platform ‘Voot’. To be only source for all network content

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s the last of the big GEC-led broadcast networks to announce an OTT platform. But, then, the time is possibly just right to be in the business. Viacom 18 Digital Ventures, the digital arm of Viacom18, the brand name and identity of its OTT platform. The soon-to-be-launched service has been branded Voot,  “an expression used by the digital generation to express happiness, enthusiasm and triumph”. The brand identity for Voot, which is expected to go live in the next quarter, has been created by transnational brand consultancy Brand Gym and Pune-based Elephant Design.

     

    Voot will be the exclusive destination and source for all of Viacom 18 network’s content portfolio, including an independent and aggressive original programming strategy spearheaded by the seasoned broadcasting professional Monica Shergill.

     

    According to a communique, Viacom18 Digital Ventures has been working for the last few months with its set of strategic partners on the brand designand logo with the aim of keeping it distinctive, differentiated andin-sync with the brand mission to create a fun filled world of entertainment.

     

    Specifying the need for an exclusive new platform, Sudhanshu Vats, group CEO, said “As one of the fastest growing media companies in the country, for us at Viacom18, digital content creation, delivery and access are essential focus areas for driving growthThe brand mission of Voot is to create a whole new world of entertainment, filled with happy discoveries and addictive content”

     

    Said Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom 18 Digital Ventures: “The idea of creating this new brand comes from our desire to create a new, alternate and differentiated world of entertainment for audiences in the digital space. The core essence of the brandis ‘infectious fun’ and ‘happiness’, and this is something that not only flows through in our bright and colorful logo, but will also resonate in our content philosophy.

     

    Working with strong technology, content & branding partners in India & across the globe, the new service will deliver high quality content to consumers on a wide variety of connected devices over Wi-Fi, 4G, 3G and 2G networks.

     

    ABOUT VIACOM18 DIGITAL VENTURES

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures is a newly created division within Viacom18 with a mandate to build consumer facing digital businesses for the company. In addition to building direct-to-consumer streaming businesses, Viacom18 digital ventures will also manage all digital licensing and monetization for the company’s content assets. The division will also look at expanding the group’s digital businesses and partnershipsvia both organic and in-organic routes.

     

    The mission of Viacom18 Digital Ventures is to entertain and enrich the lives of every online Indian, by bringing personalized world-class entertainment experiences on their connected screens

     

    For further information

    Siddharth Bijpuria

    Director – Corporate Communications

    Phone: 9920706646

    Email: siddharth.bijpuria@viacom18.com

  • Based in Mumbai, he will work closely with the business and leadership teams at TTN and will report directly to MK Anand

    Vivek Srivastava joins TTN as SVP & Head – English Entertainment Cluster

    By A Correspondent

     

    Times Television Network (TTN) announced the appointment of Vivek Srivastava, as Senior Vice-President and Head of the English Entertainment Cluster which includes premium channels such as Movies Now and Romedy Now. Based in Mumbai, he will work closely with the business and leadership teams at TTN and will report directly to MK Anand.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, M K Anand, CEO & Managing Director, TTN said, “Vivek’s experience in the broadcast sector combined with our aggressive approach to drive growth for the network will add great value to our business. The experience and calibre he brings to the table, we believe, will set new benchmarks for our channels.”

     

    Vivek moves to Times Television Network after a successful stint at Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd. where he handled Channel strategy for Colors as a part of their launch team, moved to handle International Business and Distribution and over the past few years has served as Head – Commercial and Digital at Colors.

     

  • Viacom18's English-focused music channel Vh1 has added one more reality show to its kitty – Scandalicious

    We thrive on gossip and scandal: Ferzad Palia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ferzad Palia

    Viacom18’s English-focused music channel Vh1 has added one more reality show to its kitty - Scandalicious.

     

    “Consumers love to see celebrities and the lifestyles they lead and there are a lot of shows focusing on this aspect. But what people love more is cossip and scandal – we thrive on it. So watching celebrities go bad gives viewers another insight into celebrity lives making the show very relatable,” says Ferzad Palia, Vice President & General Manager – English Entertainment at Viacom18, on what makes the show different from the rest on the channel.

     

    The channel prefers to label itself as an English entertainment and music channel and hence, aims to showcase the best/ latest in international music which is not limited to only videos but also documentaries, concerts and festivals.

     

    The channel does feel that there has been a significant growth of international music not only on TV but also across India. International artists have realized the potential of live events in India and have made India a ‘must tour’ country in their calendars, which wasn’t the case couple of years ago. Consumers are now much more accepting of multiple genres of music and are not restricted to Bollywood only. International music channels are sprouting up which is all due to a higher interest and demand for Music on TV.

     

    “The growth of music in India is extremely exciting because it demonstrates that international music is gaining popularity very rapidly. Seeing this growth, we have not merely stagnated as a TV channel, but we are now an all rounded brand available on multiple platforms including TV, mobile and online,” explains Mr Palia when asked about music being consumed across media and if it has affected music genre on TV.

     

  • Nick India, Viacom18's kids brand, in association with one of India's leading retailers, Mahindra Retail, have introduced a new range of adventure toys

    Nick India & Mahindra Retail partner for kids’ adventure toys range

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nick India, Viacom18’s kids brand, in association with leading retailer Mahindra Retail, have introduced a new range of adventure toys – Play Nation ‘Royal Express & Play Nation Speed Racing’. This collection of toys will help kids experience a combination of thrill and excitement, plus enable them to build their own racing paths right from scratch.

     

    Powered by Nickelodeon, the range of DIY toys consists of a train set called Play Nation Royal Express and a car set called Play Nation Speed Racing. The sets are available in three versions and are priced between Rs 1,499 and Rs 4,999. Available in over 1000 retail outlets in the country, kids can buy their sets at all prominent stores.

     

    Multiple players can compete against each other, thus adding to the interactivity and play value. The Play Nation Speed Racing range of toys have special features like speed control, changeable routes, working red lights and magnetic base amongst others, whereas the Play Nation Royal Express boasts of features like backward action, infrared control, auto hinge and working headlights.

     

    Sandeep Dahiya, Senior Vice President, Consumer Products & Communications, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd, said, “We’re happy to partner with Mahindra Retail to extend our brand to ‘Royal Express’ and ‘Speed Racing’. Given their unique features, the range is sure to excite our young consumers with its action, speed and engineering aspects.” He further added, “This partnership is in line with our plan to extend brand ‘Nickelodeon’ to categories that are relevant as well as exciting, through interesting collaboration like this.”

     

    Deepinder Kapany, Executive Vice President, Distribution Business & Beanstalk, Mahindra Retail, added, “We are extremely delighted with this new association with Nickelodeon. The launch of the Play Nation Royal Express and the Play Nation Speed Racing is only the beginning to excite kids to make their very own railway and racing tracks! It’s more than just fun, as these products can help build teamwork abilities, develop the kids motor and coordination skills while the child has fun and is being entertained in a healthy manner. Our association with Nickelodeon is a perfect platform to launch these toys that are synonymous to fun, entertainment, development and adventure, just like Nickelodeon.”

     

    The association will also include marketing activities like on-air promotion, consumer interactivity, digital and radio that will help in engagement with kids.

     

  • IndiaCast, TV18 and Viacom18's venture, announced the launch of the international version of MTV India in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

    Viacom 18’s IndiaCast takes MTV India to Mid East, N Africa

    By A Correspondent

     

    IndiaCast, TV18 and Viacom18’s venture, announced the launch of the international version of MTV India in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. MTV India, featuring music & reality content from India in Hindi language, will complement Viacom International Media Networks’ (VIMN) existing MTV channel, which services the Middle East and North Africa region with Arabic and international music and entertainment content.

     

    MTV India is IndiaCast’s second channel in the region after its flagship channel Colors which launched in September 2010. The IndiaCast team in Dubai, which currently distributes and handles advertising sales for Colors, will be managing the distribution & sales for MTV India as well. This launch expands the offering for advertisers in the region, allowing them to reach both family and youth audiences. With this launch, MTV India’s international distribution footprint will now span 31 countries, while Colors is available in close to 50 countries.

     

    Speaking about the launch, Gaurav Gandhi, COO – IndiaCast, said, “Indians are passionate about their music, and Hindi music in particular has a huge following both in India and overseas. The launch of MTV India in the Middle East & North Africa region will give an opportunity for these audiences to connect with Indian music and reality programming that they love most. MTV India is our second brand in the region and we intend to grow our presence here with more offerings from our extensive news and regional channel portfolio in the near future.”

     

    Adding to this, Aditya Swamy, Business Head – MTV India, said, “MTV India has constantly engaged and entertained young India and now the opportunity to do so with young people in the other countries is very exciting. While we will leverage our cult franchises such as Roadies, Unplugged and Rush in these markets, we will also look at some region-specific initiatives which will resonate with the local audience.”

     

    MTV India will be available on Pehla branded packs across DTH, Cable, IPTV and SMATV across Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan and Mauritiana. MTV India will also be launching on other platforms shortly.

     

  • He will report to Nisha Narayanan, senior vice president, projects and programming, Red FM

    Vidyut Patra is Red FM’s new Station Head-Mumbai

    By A Correspondent

     

    Red FM has appointed Vidyut Patra as Station Head for its Mumbai station. At Red FM, Mr Patra will be responsible for strengthening the revenue stream and the brand for the Mumbai station. He will report to Nisha Narayanan, senior vice president, projects and programming, Red FM.

     

    Ms Narayanan said, “Vidyut Patra has extensive experience across revenue, brand and content domains and will add immense value to the station and the brand. We are delighted to have Vidyut on board and look forward to his work at Red FM.”

     

    On his role at Red FM, Mr Patra said: “I’m very excited to come on board and given RED FM Mumbai’s history of exceptional talent and genre-defining content, I look forward to further strengthening the ‘Bajate Raho’ proposition of the brand and  the exciting times which lie ahead.”

     

    Mr Patra comes from a strong broadcasting background. He spent his last 4 years at Viacom 18 handling various responsibilities for MTV, prior to which he has been with INX Media and Star India Pvt Ltd.

     

  • Monetization is the key for survival of any business and radio stations must find ways to do that for their social media activations, say media captains

    Need to monetize radio-social media connect (+Vdo)

    By Robin Thomas (Videos: Insiyah Rangwala)

     

    Social media has, more or less, become a necessity for every organization today because the consumers are out there and no brand can afford to not be interacting with them. Moreover, social media can also help  brands know their consumers’ thoughts, behaviour, likes and dislikes. It also allows brands to have a two-way communication with their consumers, and thus provides high level of interaction and engagement. And it is not just brands but other media like radio stations which are coming out with innovative ways to connect with their listeners through social media.

     

    At the sidelines of the India Radio Forum (IRF) 2012 industry veterans from the advertising fraternity discussed the importance of social media for radio.

     

    Mr Premjeet Sodhi, COO, Lintas Media Group said: “Social media is certainly important for not only the radio industry today, but also for every other medium. In the long run we will see more integration taking place between social media and radio.”

     

    Mr Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors- Viacom 18 explained: “Social media is growing by the day. Today almost 65 per cent of the people in India are below the age of 35 and 50 per cent are below 25 years of age. I believe this is the fastest growing medium, therefore, it is a very important medium and those that have not got onto social media, must get on before it is too late.”

     

    Mr Suman Srivastava, Founder and Innovation Artist, Marketing Unplugged said: “Social media is important for radio at two levels. One is to connect with the listeners and therefore, get much larger engagement which might even result in an increase in the reach. On the other hand, it is a fantastic medium for radio channels to build their own brands as well as the brands of their advertisers. In the future, I believe, we will see a lot more advertisers using radio and social media together along with, perhaps, ground activations to create events which could have a multiplier effect for those advertisers.”

     

    Speaking on the need for radio to partner with clients, Mr Vinay Bhatia, Customer Care Associate and Senior VP- Marketing, Shoppers Stop said: “The real big partnership for radio and their clients is in the digital space. Digital and radio have to come together and ally in such a way that they deliver joint value to the client, and I don’t think any of this is happening today. Radio is an out of home medium and we are increasingly seeing out of home consumption for digital. I think these two medium can go very well together and brands like ours which have large Facebook pages need content, we need engagement and I think radio channels that provide us that.”

     

    Mr Harshad Jain, Business Head – Radio and Entertainment, HT Media said: “Radio is a medium which is free of cost, it is the cheapest form of entertainment in the country, and if there are issues that can be interlinked with social media, it could call for a good integration. Having said that, it is still early days because radio as a medium still has to catch up big time before it starts integrating with social media.”

     

    While there are calls for integration between radio and social media, the radio industry must also find ways to monetize the radio-social media connect. Mr Sodhi pointed out that while social media can make radio activations richer, it is vital for radio stations to find newer ways to monetize this activation.

     

    Agreeing with Mr Sodhi, Mr Raj Nayak said that no business will work if there is no monetization. He added: “One of the biggest disservice broadcasters have done is that they have not woken up to the digital media.”

     

    So while radio and social media will see more integration in the long run, there is also another school of thought that believes that radio is still at a nascent stage and has a long way to go before it can get into integration with social media. However, monetization is the key for survival of any business and radio stations must find ways to monetize its social media activations.

     

  • Star India will launch Movies OK, its second Hindi movie channel, on May 6. Other than promos on Satymev Jayate, a week-long World TV Premiere will happen from May 28

    Star to launch Movies OK channel on May 6

    By A Correspondent

     

    The offices of Star India are buzzing for more reasons that one. On May 6, not only is perhaps the biggest ever TV show on Indian TV being launched in the form of Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate, but the network is also introducing to the world its second Hindi movie channel, Movies OK.

     

    Star has confirmed the news of the launch and test signals are on. So how will it be different from Star Gold? It will be part of the Life OK suite, and reinforce family viewing and togetherness.

     

    The channel is going to exploit the library it bought from Viacom 18 and starting May 28, it will have a week-long World TV Premiere… so a new film every day at primetime.

     

    The channel will be headed by Star Gold general manager Hemal Jhaveri.