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Tag: Viacom18

  • The recipient of multiple awards including Cannes Lions and the Young Achievers Awards by The Advertising Club in 2009

    Ryan Mendonca to now head creative at MTV

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ryan Mendonca

    One more advertising star moves to television. MTV has brought in Ryan Mendonca as Head of Creative for its youth business which includes MTV and MTV Beats. The recipient of multiple awards including Cannes Lions and the Young Achievers Awards by The Advertising Club in 2009, Mendonca will report to Ferzad Palia, Head – Youth and English Entertainment, Viacom18.

     

    With more than a decade of experience in the world of advertising, prior to joining MTV, Ryan Mendonca worked with Ogilvy & Mather where he developed campaigns for brands like Unilever, Cadbury, Perfetti and more. Mendonca’s primary responsibility will be to lead the team at MTV and MTV Beats to push the creative boundaries with brand communication across the MTV universe of TV, digital and branded content.

     

    Speaking about the newest addition to his team, Palia said: “People are the biggest asset of our business and we are continuously looking for talent that believes in the power of MTV and are also hungry to push the envelope and challenge status quos. Ryan is one of the hottest young creative minds in the industry today and going by the work that he has been doing, I believe he is the perfect fit for our multi-platform business, the MTV universe. Now, as we are gearing up for some exciting launches and with multiple new initiatives in the pipeline, Ryan is going to have his hands full at MTV. All I can say is, welcome to the madness Ryan!”

     

    Discussing his new role, Mendonca said, “Like several others from my generation, I grew up on MTV. It showed us the way, it was our voice. Now I join that voice again. It’s a privilege to be working alongside the brightest minds in the industry. I look forward to the ride.”

     

  • Interbreeds a fiction concept from a love triangle that blossomed on Bigg Boss

    Colors Kannada launches finite series – Sanju Mattu Naanu

    By A Correspondent

     

    We don’t cover news on new show launches unless it’s majorly noteworthy. And this is one such in regional GECs. Colors Kannada presents the first ever finite series on Kannada television – Sanju Mattu Naanu. Starting May 27, the 24-episode show will air every Saturday and Sunday at 9pm.

     

    Commenting on the show, Ravish Kumar – Head, Regional Entertainment, Viacom18 said: “Colors Kannada has always been ahead of the curve in the Kannada entertainment space. Finite series as a format has become popular world over and across all platforms and we’re proud to be introducing the same to our Kannada viewers through Sanju Mattu Naanu. And, the novelty doesn’t end there. This is a step up in terms of content innovation as well. First time ever a real-life love triangle which was brewing inside the Bigg Boss house will now see its culmination in the form of a fiction show. It has been our constant endeavor to renovate our offerings so that our audiences have the best television experience on our platform.”

     

    Commenting further, Parameshwar Gundkal – Business Head of Colors Kannada and Colors Super said: “We constantly reinvent our formats to keep up with not only the growing trends but also the emerging content consumption appetite of our viewers. The popularity of finite series has been taking over the rest of the world, and we believe it shall make its place in the Kannada GEC space as well. The genesis of Sanju Mattu Naanu was formed in our reality show Bigg Boss. Going by the popularity that Pratham, Bhuvan and Sanjana gained in the show, we are now extending their chemistry in the form of a fiction show. It’s going to be a short series of 24 episodes airing over the weekend and we hope the viewers appreciate the ingenuity of our content.”

     

  • The new leadership structure will be operational with immediate effect

    Raj Nayak is COO as Viacom18 restructures leadership team

    By A Correspondent

    Raj Nayak

    Raj Nayak is COO as Viacom18 restructures leadership team.The new leadership structure will be operational with immediate effect. Raj Nayak has been elevated to Chief Operating Officer, as Viacom18 announced a restructuring of its With this move Viacom18 has consolidated its national brands aimed at youth and adult audiences viz. Hindi, Youth, Music and English Entertainment offerings under the leadership of Nayak, notes a communique.

     

    Also announced is an expansion in the role of Ferzad Palia, Head – Youth, Music & English Entertainment. He will now helm two new businesses as the network dials up its content and music offerings. ‘Brand Studio’ will create branded content and white label solutions for partners, along with original commissioned content. ‘MTV Music Project’, will nurture an ecosystem of new and established artistes and create original music content. These are in addition to Palia’s existing portfolio that includes MTV, MTV Beats, COLORS Infinity, Comedy Central & Vh1.

     

    The entertainment network has also elevated Anuj Poddar from his current role at Colors Marathi & Colors Gujarati to lead the rural expansion as Head – Rural Business, including Rishtey Cineplex.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats

    Meanwhile, Saugato Bhowmik, Head – Viacom18 Consumer Products & Integrated Network Solutions will continue to drive the efforts towards building homegrown experiential IPs and a robust consumer products business. Palia, Poddar and Bhowmik will now report to Nayak.
    Meanwhile, Ravish Kumar, Head – Regional Entertainment, Viacom18 will also helm all the Colors regional channels – that includes Kannada, Colors Super (also in Kannada), Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati and Marathi. Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head – Kids Cluster, Viacom18, will se the growth of the kids ecosystem at Viacom18. Viacom18 Digital Ventures, with Gaurav Gandhi at its helm as COO, will be leading the network’s digital foray with its flagship VoD service, The network’s film studio, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, led by its COO, Ajit Andhare.

     

    Nayak, Ravish Kumar, Elavia Jaipuria,Gandhi and Andhare will continue to report to Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18. Said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18: “Viacom18’s DNA has enabled it to pre-empt market shifts and adopt unconventional approaches to address conventional business challenges. Since inception, our topline has grown 40x and channel count has grown over 12x while being PAT profitable. Today, Viacom18 has 5 diverse lines of business – in addition to a core broadcast offering it now has a strong presence in digital, filmed and live entertainment along with a fast-growing licensing and merchandising operation. None of this would have been possible without our most valuable asset – our team. Our endevaour has always been to build a future ready organisation with distinct capabilities and a distinctive culture with an emphasis on developing internal talent. This new structure will power us as we enter our next growth phase.”. While Nayak on his new role, he said, “Raj is one of those rare leaders in our industry who possess a sharp business acumen coupled with a nuanced understanding of what makes brands iconic. I am confident that he will be able to take this portfolio of brands to even greater heights as he leverages deeper synergies in his new role.”

     

  • This will be the network's seventh regional entertainment brand overall, and the third in the South market

    Viacom18 announces Colors Tamil, to launch in Q4/2017

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 has announced the upcoming launch of Colors Tamil, its seventh regional general entertainment offering. Viacom18 successfully operates GECs in the Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia and Bangla markets. The network has been bullish on the future prospect of regional entertainment and had launched a second GEC – ColorsSuper – in the Kannada market, in July 2016. Sun TV is currently the #1 Tamil general entertainment followed by KTV and Star Vijay.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats

    Commenting on the impending launch of Colors Tamil, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said: “Driving regional aggressively is one of our foremost strategic thrusts. Given that almost 60% of our country speaks in regional languages and this market is under-indexed on television, it is imperative that this segment will continue to grow rapidly in the years ahead. While Colors Super was aimed at deepening our presence in the Kannada genre where Colors Kannada is an undisputed leader, the launch of Colors Tamil is a step towards widening our reach in regional markets by entering the largest regional market in the country. The Tamil content market is highly competitive and well-primed for disruption, making this the opportune time for our entry. We look forward to delighting the Tamil content aficionado with the latest offering from the house of Viacom18.”

     

    As per BARC data of Week 16 (April 15-21, 2017), Sun TV is the clear leader in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry followed by KTV which is a distant second and Star Vijay being a distant third. Zee Tamil is #4 and Polimer is #5. In fact other than the periods when where there is an overdose of cricket (like it’s on currently), Sun is the leading channel across channels of all genres and languages.

  • The partnership will offer advertisers an opportunity to market region-specific products

    Colors Marathi & Kannada partner with Amagi to offer geo-targeted ad solutions

     

     

    Amagi Media Labs has added Colors Kannada and ColorsMarathi to its bouquet of channels offering geo-targeted advertising solution. This partnership will offer advertisers an opportunity to market region-specific products, communicate regional offers and promotions, and increase the share of voice by targeting markets such as Bengaluru and rest of Karnataka, and Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra.  With this addition, Amagi’s channel strength has increased to 18 channels across entertainment, news, movies and music genres.

     

    Speaking about the association Bikash Kundu, Senior Vice President- Sales, Regional Channels, Viacom18 said: “Viacom18 believes in always taking the first step forward when it comes to enhancing value for our advertisers as well as the consumer. The partnership with Amagi will enable our national, regional, and new advertisers to reach region specific audience with targeted messaging in a cost-effective manner.”

     

    Added Baskar Subramanian, Co-Founder, Amagi Media Labs: “We anticipate an incredible scope for growth of geo-targeted TV advertising in the country. Addition of Viacom18 to our portfolio has been yet another important milestone in expanding the market of geo-targeting on National Television Channels. Amagi’s pioneering technology provides reliable, measurable and cost-effective advertising solution to advertisers.”

     

    Other TV channels which are already on the Amagi platform for geo-targeting include Zee, Colors, Times Now, ET Now, Movies Now, Romedy Now, Magicbricks Now, Zoom, Zee Cinema, Zee News, News 18 India, CNBC Awaaz, CNN News 18, IBN Lokmat, NDTV 24X7 and NDTV Profit. No Republic yet.

     

  • This upgrade will allow for a high quality user experience

    Voot partners Google to launch VoD progressive web app

    By A Correspondent

     

    Voot, Viacom18’s ad-supported video-on-demand OTT service, has turned its mobile website into a Progressive Web App (PWA) using features such as ‘add to home-screen’and a service worker. PWA allows reliable, fast, and engaging experience for users on mobile web, notes a communique.

     

    Commented Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “In this business both content and technology have equal equity in realizing the potential of our Consumer Proposition. While content is our domain expertise, to push the envelope in terms of technology, we continuously work with partners from around the world. We are delighted to work closely with Google to launch VOOT on the PWA platform. This launch significantly enhances the experience for all VOOT users on mobile browsers and we believe this is a big step where users can have an equally rich experience of our service without downloading the app.”

     

    “We have moved the needle very significantly when it comes to user experience on the Mobile Web by adopting PWA,” said Rajneel Kumar, Head, Product and Technology, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, adding: “All the time and effort we’ve spent on technology and UI changes as well as optimisations seem to be showing very positive results. We are going to continue to refine this further and we are confident that we will continue to see significant consumer lift.”

     

    “We are delighted with the Voot implementation of a Progressive Web App. PWAs are well suited for India, where the mobile web allows publishers to reach a large audience across a highly diverse set of devices and bandwidth.  The early numbers on performance are very encouraging, and demonstrate the potential of mobile web media distribution” said John Pallett, Product Manager at Google.

     

  • Hosted out of Italy, A' Design Awards & Competition is world's largest design competition that recognises best design work

    Elephant awarded for design work on Britannia Breads & Voot

    By A Correspondent

     

    Design major Elephant has won the A’ Design Awards for Britannia Breads and also visual identity for Viacom18’s Voot.

     

    Hosted out of Italy, A’ Design Awards & Competition receives more than 18,000 entries across 110 categories from 180 nationalities. Each category sees seven tiers of awards in multiple numbers.

     

    Britannia Breads was awarded A’ Silver Award in Packaging Design category for outstanding concept & design. Platinum & Gold winners include Cloudy Tea from China, 7-Up Summer Series USA & Pepsi Emoji bottles, USA. The Voot visual identity was awarded A’ Bronze Award in Graphics & Visual Communication category for outstanding concept & design. Platinum & Gold winners include Shanghai Fashion Week, Singapore Art Museum & Nissan GT.

     

    The awards presentation will take place at Lake Como, Italy on June 9.

     

  • Inspiring kids to actively build a better tomorrow

    Nickelodeon returns with the second edition of “Together for Good”

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kid’s entertainment major Nickelodeon has returned with the second edition of the India leg of the global Nickelodeon pro-socio campaign titled “Together For Good”. Taking on the leadership mantle of being a responsible kids franchise, Nickelodeon has conceptualised this behaviorial change campaign with the objective of empowering kids to be future change agents of society.

     

    Commenting on this initiative, Nina Jaipuria, Business Head, Kids Cluster at Viacom18 said: “We at Nickelodeon believe that children are the change agents of society. Through the Together For Good campaign we want to inculcate good habits of cleanliness and hygiene in a fun manner that kids can relate to,” adding: “With the influence that children have on their parents and families, we hope to extend this positive change towards the society not only amongst the kids but also amongst adults.”

     

    ‘Together For Good’ will see a series of creatives featuring Champu across the Nickelodeon franchise. The campaign will be extended on the digital and social media platforms through a series of fun toon tips, posts asking kids to not be a Champu and take the cleanliness pledge, fun interactive Facebook post “ChampuKoKaro Change”, a #DontBeChampu contest where children are urged to clean their surroundings, take a before and after picture and share on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

     

    Upping the engagement in the initiative will be an exclusive on-ground association with BMC towards a Chakachak Mumbai. This will involve the Nicktoons visiting high traffic railway stations to directly interact with the public and dissuade them from littering. They will also be seen in a conscience awakening act giving flowers to the delinquents instead of punishing them.  “Together For Good” with all its fun and entertainment and lots of life lessons is all set to inspire kids towards positive action.

     

  • The campaign highlights the unique bond that audiences share with music; which is almost like a marriage between two soul mates

    Mullen Lintas creates campaign for MTV Beats

    By A Correspondent

     

    The recently launched Hindi music channel, MTV Beats from the Viacom18 stable, has announced the launch of its inaugural brand campaign. Conceptualised and executed by Mullen Lintas Mumbai, the campaign highlights the unique bond that audiences share with music which is almost like a marriage between two soul mates.

     

    Talking about the marketing campaign, Ferzad Palia, Head, Youth and English Entertainment, Viacom18 said: “Music is an important medium to reach out to young people today, and nobody does music better than MTV. So now that MTV Beats is here, we are heralding it as the birth of the ‘Baap’ of music because after all, MTV is the big daddy of music. In true MTV style, the marketing campaign is quirky, unabashed and irreverent yet it clearly communicates the brand’s positioning of being the ultimate destination for Hindi music any time of the day or week. I’d like to thank Mullen Lintas for the creative thought they’ve put into this. The tagline – ‘Blood meinhai beat’ draws heavily from India’s obsession with Bollywood music and reinforces the belief that music is a part of every Indian’s very DNA.”

     

    Commenting on the campaign strategy, Ayyappan Raj, EVP-Mullen Lintas said: “It’s one of the most fun campaigns that Mullen Lintas Mumbai has worked on in the recent past. When an iconic brand like MTV is launching a Bollywood music channel there is a strong desire to create something big and different. With that in mind, we wanted to make a statement about the launch of BEATS and in the quintessential brand tonality. We are very happy with the way the campaign has come together. Also we are quite happy about the fact that we have ‘delivered’ another successful brand launch for the Viacom18 group.”

     

  • Will report to Ravish Kumar, Senior EVP – Colors Kannada, Super, Bangla and Odia, Viacom18

    Viacom18 appoints Rahul Chakravarti as Business Head, Colors Bangla & Odia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rahul Chakravarti

    Viacom18 has announced the appointment of Rahul Chakravartias Business Head of Colors Bangla and Colors Odia. Commenting on the appointment, Ravish Kumar, Senior Executive Vice President – Colors Kannada, Super, Bangla and Odia, Viacom18 whom Chakravarti will report to, said: “Rahul has extensive experience of working in consumer packaged goods and consulting with a proven track record of managing businesses, building brands, leveraging consumer insights and solving business problems. His ability to marry strategy with execution and his understanding of consumer-focused businesses will help us in increasing our footprint both across our viewers and our advertisers. I welcome him into the Viacom18 family and look forward to working with him.

     

    Expressing his excitement in taking on the new role, Chakravarti said, “The media industry is unique since its business is modelled primarily on a B2B structure but all constituents caters to the end consumer who votes with his remote. Both Colors Bangla and ColorsOdia are established brand names and I look forward to working with the talented channel teams to propel these regional channels to greater heights.”

     

    An IIM Calcutta product, Chakravarti took charge as Business Head of the two channels earlier this week. He has joined Viacom18 from Emami where he worked as Senior Vice President and Business Head. He started his career at JWT and moved to the other side at Coca-Cola. Later PernodRicard, ITC, Accenture and Deloitte before moving to Emami.  He will be responsible for driving ratings, developing innovative content and increasing the reach and share of voice of the channels in the markets. Rahul is passionate about sports and competes regularly in marathons. He also loves reading and is an avid music aficionado.

     

  • The owners of the stores will be summoned to Court to identify the source and locations of the manufacturers of these seized goods

    Viacom18 cracks down on counterfeit merchandise in Mumbai

    By A Correspondent

     

    In its bid to counter the growing menace of counterfeit merchandise, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd had undertaken an investigation that led to a raid in Mumbai of two stores that were reported to be selling counterfeit Dora the Explorer products.

     

    “We see this as an essential step towards ensuring that our characters are not represented on inferior, unlicensed products – which may pose health and safety risks. We are extremely grateful for the cooperation of the judiciary and the police who have executed the appropriate legal action to protect our intellectual property and to prevent inferior, and potentially dangerous products from being sold to unsuspecting consumers,” said a spokesperson on behalf of Viacom18.

     

  • The channel is part of a growing bouquet of offerings from the Indian media and entertainment conglomerate Viacom18, a joint-venture between Viacom Inc. and India-based TV18 network

    Rishtey Cineplex takes off in the US with Amagi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amagi announced that Viacom18 has launched Rishtey Cineplex in the United States, using its Cloudport-managed services. Rishtey Cineplex is a Hindi movie channel that airs Bollywood movies, along with Hindi-dubbed South Indian movies. The channel is part of a growing bouquet of offerings from the Indian media and entertainment conglomerate Viacom18, a joint-venture between Viacom Inc. and India-based TV18 network.

     

    “Indian films are a powerful and popular medium of entertainment globally,” said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO at Viacom18. “Launching Rishtey Cineplex helps us ride the wave of inherent relationship between the expatriate Indian population and the sense of cultural inclusivity that our films evoke. Associating with Amagi, we are enhancing our footprint across the U.S. market, cementing the same home connection our network has built for viewers here.”

     

    “Adopting new age technology and giving our viewers a heightened viewing experience have always been key focus areas of our organization,” added Raj Nayak, CEO, Hindi Mass Entertainment at Viacom18. “With the help of Amagi’s state-of-the-art technology, Rishtey Cineplex’s enviable movie library will come alive for all of our viewers residing in the U.S. It will also help in streamlining the broadcast operations workflow, thereby increasing efficiency.”

     

    “When we decided to launch the channel in the US market, we were looking for a partner who could provide us an efficient delivery of our channel at significantly lower costs compared to traditional methods,” said Anuj Gandhi, Group CEO, IndiaCast, a Viacom18 and TV18 venture that manages distribution and monetisation for the group’s channels.

     

    “Viacom18, with its wide array of Bollywood content, is an exciting network to watch out for in the U.S. market. Amagi is proud to be their managed services partner of choice,” added KA Srinivasan, Co-founder at Amagi. “Through CLOUDPORT, we have been able to automate most of the key workflows, making the entire broadcast operations simple yet sophisticated — at a fraction of cost of traditional broadcast models.”