MxMIndia

Tag: Zee

  • Aditya Sinha quit DNA as editor-in-chief last week amidst rumours that the move had linkages with the Zee News controversy. While he denies the coincidence theory, do read the between the lines to figure what could be the reason

    Jaldi 5 with Aditya Sinha, former editor-in-chief, DNA: Coincidence that quitting timed with Zee News controversy

    When Aditya Sinha announced his decision to quit DNA as editor-in-chief last week, the move surprised especially since he was rumoured to be getting along well with Zee group chief Subhash Chandra. On Saturday, he tweeted: To those who asked: I have resigned DNA to focus on writing novels. First book being reworked, second just started. For wishes, many thanks.”

     

    When asked to reconfirm this, he told MxMIndia that he had submitted his resignation on December 6 and has moved on from immediate effect. “I have been hanging around, however, merely to drag out my goodbyes,” he said.

     

    On when his first book is going to be published, he corrected us. “My first book, non-fiction, was published in late 1995. My first novel will be published once we find a publisher, so I cannot currently give you a date,” he said. Indeed: Death of Dreams: A Terrorist’s Tale was a book on a Kashmir youth’s ascent as the head of a terror outfit.  He also wrote a biography of Dr Farooq Abdullah in 1996 and as he mentioned in a column in the DNA, he has ghostwritten a 1994 book by Salman Khurshid.

     

    When asked on his replacement, Mr Sinha also informed us that: “Ravi Joshi, the recently appointed Mumbai RE, suddenly finds himself incharge. Bhaskar Das may find an alternative if he can convince someone from his old place of employment to join.”

     

    It may be remembered that DNA has seen a rehaul of its A-team in the recent past, and Mr Sinha’s exit completes that. CEO K U Rao moved out last month to join parent Zee group as CEO of WWIL (SitiCable). In September, it hired Sorbojeet Chatterjee, as Vice-President – Marketing from Neo Sports (and marketing head at the TV Today network prior to that). Earlier, it appointed Varun Kohli, chief monetizing officer with Mogae Media, to head revenue (as Executive VP – Sales).

     

    Since there has been much speculation about Mr Sinha’s reasons for quitting, given that it comes in the wake of the controversies around the arrest of two senior Zee News executives and his strong defence in his column last week, we asked him a few questions. While he denies the coincidence theory, do read the between the lines to figure what could be the real reason:

     

    01. Your resignation happens at a time when the Zee group is embroiled in a controversy, with the chairman Subhash Chandra also subjected to questioning and the pressure on the arrested editors to name him. Coincidence?

     

    Coincidence.

    a. Couldn’t you have pushed your decision to some other time?

    It could have been done at some other time, but why should I follow other people’s timelines?

    b. Your decision to move is also untimely because DNA’s CEO has moved to Zee and the new regime under Dr Bhaskar Das is just about settling in. Couldn’t you have stayed on more?

    Please see answer to 1a.

     

    02. You’ve been very candid in your columns. Last week saw you defend Zee and present the group’s standpoint? Could your resignation also be construed as that you are against carrying pro-Zee reports, or should one say: compelled to carry?

    I have never been compelled to carry reports. If a family member is accused of something, it is natural for a person to speak of their point of view, not to condemn them. I believe in what I write, and no one has ever forced me to hew to a particular line.

     

    a. Just to clear the air on the Zee-Jindal controversy. Since you would know the real story, and since one knows that you will not fudge things:

    – Are the Zee editors really innocent?

    – Was there no quid pro quo?

    Innocence or guilt, I do believe, are established by courts of law. And whatever the Zee News Editors may be, it is laughable to think that my resignation is a quid pro quo for them.

     

    03. Your highs and lows as Editor-in-Chief of DNA? Something that you would’ve not liked to see happening if you had to relive your tenure.

    My two-plus years as an Editor-in-Chief  have been great. Each day was a learning experience. The greatest satisfaction was when colleagues did work that was notable, which was often. Of course, it is a stress-filled job and each morning begins with some irritation or other. The only lows were realizing that people working in the company did not even read your newspaper! It shows you that most non-journalists in the media industry have zero passion for their jobs.

     

    04. We’ve heard that the paper is going through a redesign? And the edit page may be back?

    The paper is going through a slight redesign because Bhaskar Das wants to change the look-and-feel of the paper to a template that is familiar to us all. He is keen on an edit page, so I guess my departure strengthens his hands in some ways.

     

    05. What next after your books? Writing isn’t really a financially rewarding vocation. Are you going to continue to stay on in Mumbai?

    I honestly don’t know what the future holds. If I could, I would write books for the rest of my existence. Mumbai is an expensive place to live, but I do like living here.

     

  • Long-serving DNA CEO KU Rao moves to a corporate role at Zee, as Group CEO Dr Bhaskar Das to take charge

    Bhaskar Das takes charge of DNA as CEO KU Rao to moves to corporate role @ Zee

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bhaskar Das

    After serving as CEO of the six-edition Daily News and Analysis (DNA) for six years, K U Rao is moving to the Zee group in a senior corporate role. It is not known if and when his position will be replaced, but Dr Bhaskar Das, who joined Zee recently as Group CEO, will be in charge of the newspaper.

     

    Mr Rao, who joined DNA from Shell, helped consolidate the paper and weather slowdown storms, ensured a smooth transition from the paper’s management by the Dainik Bhaskar group to Zee in 2008. His move was disclosed internally last week.

     

    Zee is learnt to be launching an English news channel and recently appointed Dr Das from The Times of India group with a specific task of consolidating its news offerings. The Zee group is reportedly in advanced level discussions with Amar Ujala to pick up a significant stake. There could be other acquisitions in the offing.

     

    Although Zee News pioneered independent news bulletins on television and the company has had a reasonable financial statement, it has not fared too well in ratings in recent years.

     

  • In many ways, Times of India is India’s most complete newspaper and unfortunately, this includes being complete with the good as well as the bad, notes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Not too late for TOI to correct practices

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Watching the fury of nature is an awe-inspiring and fascinating experience, thanks to non-stop coverage of Hurricane Sandy by CNN. The storm that has hit the eastern seaboard of the United States is not the first but the sheer scale of water and wind, the potential threat to life and property and the peculiar timing with the US presidential election makes it even more compelling.

     

    CNN is very good with weather and takes it very seriously. Plenty of information is provided to the viewer about the meteorological aspects of the weather systems with enough scientific mumbo-jumbo to make you feel like you’re on the sets of The Day After Tomorrow. While the coverage is going on however, CNN does not venture into the whys and the wherefores. It’s more about the what.

     

    This is because not all media are infected by the Indian disease of making everything into a discussion. The global warming argument – and it cannot be far away – can be dealt with later. Nor were there any touchy-feely interviews with those suffering the storm, where bemused people are hard-pressed to find the right answers. Undoubtedly all those will come later.
    A shout out to all the intrepid reporters, star anchors and citizen journalists on CNN. This is a cruel comparison but one cannot help but compare this coverage to an abiding Indian image in similar situations: NDTV’s star anchor and now very very senior editor Sreenivasan Jain standing under an umbrella at Mumbai’s Milan subway, talking about flooding in breathless tones. As any long-suffering Mumbaikar knows, Milan Subway is so much lower than road level that it will flood if you pour a bucket of water into it.

     

    **

     

    Battles within the media and with the media seem to be getting tougher and are heading to the courts. Salman Khurshid against Aroon Purie and the TV Today group, Naveen Jindal against Zee News and Zee Business, the Bennett Coleman group against Zee News and Zee Business, Zee hitting back as well… Bennett Coleman has objected to Zee editors being heard on tape telling Jindal that news pages in the Times of India and Economic Times were up for sale.N

     

    BCCL CEO Ravi Dhariwal’s defence of Medianet goes thus: “We will make no excuses for Medianet. It is an initiative with a different purpose. It is for our advertorial and promotional supplements. But as far as our newspapers go, there is nothing that is bought or sold. No respectable newspaper will do that.”

     

    This is a weak argument since Medianet is at the heart of the current debasement of the media and had been picked up by every other news organisation as a legitimisation of “paid” news. To now argue that some parts of the newspaper are sold to advertisers but masquerade as news for readers is mere semantics. It took Bennett Coleman a very long time to add the line “entertainment promotional feature” to its glamour supplements like Bombay Times and it is still not clear that all readers understand that this means that the news in these papers has been supplied by the so-called newsmakers for a fee and not collected by journalists.

     

    As a “responsible newspaper”, perhaps it is not too late for The Times of India to correct its earlier practices. In many ways, Times of India is India’s most complete newspaper and unfortunately, this includes being complete with the good as well as the bad.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Contributing Editor, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are her own

     

  • Presenting the 11th edition of MxM Buzzer where the focus is on 20 years of Zee

    MxM Buzzer # 11 | Quiz on 20 years of Zee

    Welcome to the Eleventh edition of MxMIndia’s media quiz – MxM Buzzer, that happens every Friday (but was pushed to today because of the special on Zee TV.

    Our quizmaster is Sorbojeet Chatterjee, Vice President – Marketing at DNA. We’ve done away with the contest for a bit, but will be back with an attractive one soon. Meanwhile, do please attempt our quiz. Answers will appear on Firday, October 5.


     In March 2012, India’s Foreign Minister SM Krishna announced that Zee TV has got the landing rights in an Asian country, thereby becoming the first Indian channel to get the rights. Which country?

    Identify the MD and CEO of Zee Entertainment?
     Which Bollywood A lister made her acting debut with the cult Zee sitcom Hum Paanch?
     Which pioneering and popular show on Zee is the longest running TV show in India?
     Zee Talkies is a regional channel showcasing movies in a particular language. Which language?
     Zee televised India’s first ever reality show with Mohan Kapur as the host. Identify the show?
     Another first for a private broadcaster, Zee launched a dedicated Urdu infotainment channel in 2010. Name the channel?
     Navneet Nishan played the protagonist in which cult television program during the initial years of Zee?
     This movie by Zee Telefilms is one of the biggest blockbusters in Bollywood and created a record by being the first film where the costs were professionally audited and every expense was made in white. Identify the movie?
     Zee acquired a leading channel from Abdul Rahman Bukhatir. Which channel?

     

    Answers to MxM Buzzer #10 (Quiz on WPP):

    1. Vikram Sakhuja, 2. Colvyn Harris, 3. Wire and Plastic Products, 4. Google, 5. Saatchi & Saatchi 6. Encompass, 7. Ogilvy, Mather, 8. Kantar, 9. Hungama, 10. Suhel and Swapan Seth

     

  • Stratagem Media founder-director Sundeep Nagpal recalls working on a pitch for Subhash Chandra and Ashok Kurien to Star TV for a tie-up and is happy to see the Zee bandwagon rolling on after 20 years

    Zee@20 | Sundeep Nagpal: What a score!!!

    Sundeep Nagpal

    By Sundeep Nagpal

     

    Those who are familiar with Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech that started with the words “Four score and seven years ago ….”  (which actually meant 87 years ago …), will recollect that the word ‘score’ refers to a period of 20 years (but of course, it’s seldom used in that context nowadays!)

     

    But the point here, is that Zee has scored! And how! It has been around for the last 20 years, in what has probably been the most eventful, dynamic, anarchic & explosive phase for the media industry in this country.

     

    Although Star TV, as it was known (not Star Plus, s’il vous plait!), was the first satellite TV network in India, it was certainly Zee that heralded the satellite revolution in India.

     

    Star TV’s only other claim to fame were the mother of Western soaps – ‘The Bold & The Beautiful’  and ‘Santa Barbara’.

     

    At that time, in the days when the best known channels were always ‘DD-some-number-or-the-other’, and when transponders were perceived to be some gadgets that aliens used for communication, most of us reacted quite surprisingly at an innocuous brand name as ZEE. And if I may say, even with a certain degree of scepticism with respect to a certain, Mr Subhash Chandra Goel – the man behind the idea of an Indian satellite channel. But it didn’t take long to recognize his vision and to realize that he already had a few firsts to his credit – Essel Packaging and Esselworld!

     

    But satellite television was to be a different ballgame. It even began with a tie-up with Star TV. Those were the earliest days of Stratagem Media. And I recollect developing a pitch for Subhashji, along with Ashok Kurien (the then chairman of Ambience Advertising, which handled the Esselworld account), to Star TV for this tie-up, which happened mainly for utilizing Star TV’s uplinking facilities in Hong Kong and perhaps for some content sharing as well (and which eventually fizzled out, a couple of years later).

     

    Stratagem Media continued to service Zee’s needs in those initial days, and I also recollect working on a handful of sponsorship proposals for P&G, etc, with the then chief of Zee – Digvijay Singh (Diggy). And coming to think of it, there were just a handful of them, and none other than the big boss had to be involved.

     

    I hardly need to elaborate on what followed. Tara became the new synonym for soaps in India and Navneet Nishan – the soap queen! Close-Up Antakshari became the best platform for relaunch of the brand in those days and TVS Sa Re Ga Ma, gave Bajaj a run for its money !

     

    And let’s not forget, advertisers and media planners went into a tizzy trying to match data with observation and other realities. Viewership measurement methodology, which used a diary (yes, a minuscule set respondents in some select cities supposedly recorded their daily viewing in a diary), in the 1990s, found its way out around the turn of the century, and made way for the electronic Peoplemeter system, because it was just not representative of the satellite channel scenario.

     

    Little wonder then, that Subhashji never really accepted TRP ratings as the yardstick of channel popularity, and I recollect that his comment about the futility of media planners pouring over reams of data, some years later, at an annual review of the Ad Club, in Mumbai.

     

    Without much doubt it can be said that Zee taught the lessons of TV content to the other players in the satellite TV business in India, not just by virtue of being the pioneer, but mostly by feeling the pulse of the viewer. So much so, that it took Star TV many years after Zee’s entry, to Indian-ize, and morph into Star Plus. In fact, prior to that, and thanks to the onslaught from Zee TV, even Doordarshan made two valiant attempts to resurrect themselves with two avatars of what was known as the ‘metro’ channel.

     

    And now, as we know it, the Zee bandwagon keeps rolling on, even in the face of stiff competition from at least three multinationals. So, cheers to Zee – keep scoring !!!

     

    Sundeep Nagpal is Founder-Director, Stratagem Media Pvt Ltd, a media agency founded in the early 1990s

     

  • A highlight of the week was Balika Vadhu's special episode on Thursday which generated 6.4 TVRs, the highest on HGECs in the week

    Star Plus leads in Hindi GECs. Colors is #2 and Zee #3

    By A Correspondent

     

    Star Plus has maintained its lead as the top Hindi GEC in Week 35 in the weekly ratings made available to MxMIndia from an industry source. Star Plus scored 264 (265), whereas Colors secured 245 (258) and Zee was at 227 (237). Sony was a distant fourth at 210 (211). Sab and Life OK were tied at 132 (126 and 125 respectively). A highlight of the week was Balika Vadhu’s special episode on Thursday which generated 6.4 TVRs, the highest on HGECs in the week.

     

    Please note that the information has not supplied and verified by TAM Media. However our source is reasonably reliable. The figures in brackets indicate ratings of the previous week.

     

  • Chandradeep 'CD' Mitra on why general entertainment channels rule telly-land!

    The Anchor: Chandradeep Mitra on 5 reasons why GECs rule the Indian TV industry

    By Chandradeep Mitra

     

    1. Historicity – General Entertainment Channels (or GECs) were the first and the main channels which started the TV culture in our country – Doordarshan (DD), then Zee, then Star. In fact, all other channel genres – news, sports, kids, music, etc. – started off as sections within main GECs before being spun off separately. However, GECs have remained the main draws, the big brothers and the bouquet-drivers in the TV business.

     

    2. Mainstream Entertainment Quotient – In an entertainment-crazy nation fed on Bollywood and other escapist fare, GECs provide the most broad-based mass-appeal entertainment platter (think ‘Thali’!) that aims to please most, if not all, of the TV audiences, unlike more niche options targeting smaller audience groups.

     

    3. Targeting Remote Controllers – Among various TV audiences, GECs have traditionally targeted the middle-class, middle-aged women the most, who form the largest and most loyal TV viewing group. Long-running soaps and popular well-tested formats ensured repeat viewing of this core audience. And the fact that most Indian households are single TV homes ensured that GECs won over other channels during primetime by targeting the folks who controlled the TV remote at those hours. The creation of the afternoon slot also resulted from targeting this audience group, further consolidating the lead of GECs.

     

    4. Resource Prioritization – As GECs were historically the bigger TV channels, media owners as well as advertisers put greater focus and energy on continuing their success, hence dominance. The biggest production budgets, the slickest marketing campaigns and the biggest stars (think Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan…) all were marshaled to make GECs bigger and stronger. Success perpetuated more success.

     

    5. Biggest Innovations / Breakthroughs – While a number of GECs continued to play safe and repeat successful formulas (remember the Saas Bahu serials?!), the high stakes game in the GEC genre also ensured that the biggest innovations and introduction of breakthrough formats also happened on GECs (think KBC and Satyamev Jayate). This ensured that more often than not, it was a GEC that benefited from a positive discontinuity in Indian television (IPL is perhaps one exception).

     

    Chandradeep Mitra is CEO, PipalMajik

     

     

  • Zee has awarded Leo Burnett with the creative mandates for Khana Khazana and an upcoming channel

    Zee denies awarding Khana Khazana mandate to Leo Burnett

    By Shubhangi Mehta [updated]

     

    Earlier today, we had carried a news report saying that following a multi agency pitch, Zee has selected Leo Burnett to handle the creative mandate for its food channel Khana Khazana and an upcoming channel  projectnamed Zee Q. While sources close to the development confirmed the news to MxMIndia, Zee Khana Khazana has categorically denied it saying that neither has the channel called for a pitch and nor has it awarded it to Leo Burnett

     

    Zee Television Network had launched ‘Zee Khana Khazana’, a 24×7 food channel on December 8, 2010. A property of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Khana Khazana has several syndicated shows on international cuisine along with Indian fare.

     

  • 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

     

  • Mr Bharat Ranga will now take charge of content and creative at Zee Entertainment and Mr Nittin Keni will head production

    Bharat Ranga to be Chief Content & Creative officer at Zee, Nittin Keni to be Head-Production

    updated from the news flashed on Saturday, April 7.

     

    By A  Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE) has announced significant senior-level changes in its leadership team.

     

    Mr Bharat Ranga, who headed international operations at the network, will now be head of content and will be designated as Chief Content & Creative Officer. Mr Nittin Keni, National Creative Director will now look after production initiatives responsible for setting up studios and will be re-designated as Head – Production.

     

    Both moves are significant. Mr Ranga has been an old and loyal Zee hand and has made a success of the international operations. Given the current standings of general entertainment channels, the flagship Zee GEC needs a sound mix of content strategy and business acumen which Mr Ranga can provide. On the other hand, Mr Keni, again a Zee old-timer who returned with some fanfare last year, has some quality experience on the production sphere. While Gadar: Ek Prem Katha which he produced for Zee was a superhit, there are other projects that he was associated with: Fareb (1996), Aisi Bhi Kya Jaldi Hai (1996), Spot Boy (also 1996) and the 1993 telefilm Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee.

     

    More on Mr Ranga, courtesy the Zee corporate site: Mr Bharat Ranga has been Executive Director – International Operations based out of Mumbai. He has been with Zee since 1998. Prior to this, he was the Business Head for Zee Cinema, Premier, Action, Classic Cinema. And before that he was major media groups including The Times of India. A commerce graduate from the University of Rajasthan, Mr Ranga has done his MBA from the University of Ajmer and an Advanced Management Program from Wharton Business School.

     

    Photograph courtesy Zee corporate website

     

  • The general feedback from delegates was that Frames 2012 had pertinent topics discussed

    @FF12: Day 3: Industry expects thoughts to lead to pertinent actions

    By A Correspondent

     

    The last day of FICCI Frames 2012 was an eventful day — insightful sessions, a lot of networking, sharing of ideas, deals being cracked — and amongst all of this, the highlight was the session on Women in Media and Entertainment.

     

    The day started off with a keynote presentation by Ashok Chawla, Chairman, Competition Commission of India (CCI). He said that the media and entertainment (M&E) industry was one of the fastest growing sectors inIndiawith an expected CAGR of 14-15 per cent. He then proceeded to outline the role of the CCI and its importance: “CCI is an overall market regulator whose objective is to ensure that market forces operate with transparency and fair play. It has been put in place to identify the boundaries of behaviour of the industry.

     

    Mr Chawla opined that self-regulation was of prime importance to avoid infringement of law or market practices and cautioned industry players that consumers should be given primary importance.

     

    Taking on the Digital threat

    The next session was on “Sustaining Long-term Newspaper Loyalty” by two biggies — N Ram, former Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu and Girish Agarwal, Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, who shared their views on the future prospects of the newspaper industry.

     

    Mr N Ram started off his speech by stating that there was ‘anxiety and gloom’ over the fact that journalism was seeing a meltdown in the mature markets. He outlined two media world phenomenon next, where the less developed countries are witnessing increase in circulation of newspapers unlike the mature market. But he added a word of caution when he said that TV, even in the developing world, is going through a crisis which it has so far covered by showing entertainment as part of news. Inspite of this, Mr Ram was optimistic that the medium term prospects for the media industry are looking good.

     

    As is been spoken widely about, the key factor for the decline in the newspaper is the increasing popularity of the digital media. Mr Ram called this the Digital Age Paradox and added that in recent times the newspapers have seen an increase in the readership of their online editions but have witnessed a “double squeeze” on their revenue, as they have had to subsidise digital journalism, which in turn is cannibalising their circulation.

     

    On how to sustain loyal readers, he tipped, “Stick to the basic principles of journalism – they can build a relationship with the readers, which it can rent out to the advertisers. And most important – “newspapering” should not be reduced to consumer marketing of news.”

     

    Mr Girish Agarwal took the stage next. Contrary to Mr Ram’s belief, he said that Indian newspapers are growing in their circulation and readership. He spoke about the need to engage the ‘consumer’ by asking “How relevant are we (newspapers) to the reader?”

     

    He opined that a newspaper cannot rest on its past glory but should move ahead by acknowledging and understanding what the consumer wants and giving him what they think he needs. On how to keep pace with changing times, Mr Agarwal said that newspapers should have global vision and hyper local content.

     

    After the speeches the floor was opened to the audience who questioned Mr Ram and Mr Agarwal about threat perception of the culture of medianet and media houses being bought over by MNCs. Mr Ram denounced paid news as a rogue practice which has been rubbished by the Press Council. Mr Agarwal said that ethically media should report anything that may be perceived as defaming by the parent company but the ground reality is not always so rosy.

     

    Women to the fore

    A big highlight of Day 3 was a session titled   ‘Women in Media & Entertainment circa 2012: Leading from the front’.

    The panel members of this session were Vidya Balan, Actor; Anurradha Prasad, Managing Director, BAG Films; Jeni Tosi, CEO, Film Victoria; Ekta Kapoor, Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms; Barkha Dutt, Group Managing Editor, NDTV; and Usha Uthup, Singer. The session was moderated by Rajeev Masand, Entertainment Editor, CNN-IBN.

     

    This session discussed the journey of each of the above eminent women personalities and the challenges they faced during their journey. As the moderator, Rajeev Masand put it: “Traditional media, for long, was dominated by men, but not any longer. It’s become outdated.”

     

    All the eminent women personalities claimed that despite all their challenges they had an incredible journey and the results have been fruitful.  Ms Tosi observed that there would always be obstacles in a woman’s journey but, at the same she also admitted that at times a little bit of luck and timing also plays a part in one’s success nevertheless, she must also be hard working and committed to succeed.

    According to Ms Dutt, the real heroes are the women who came before them i.e. those who made a mark and their presence felt in the male dominated industry.

     

    One of the topics discussed at the session was whether ambition for men meant one thing and another for women, and how society reacts to ambitious women. Ms Ekta Kapoor agreed that ambition for men is a virtue, but for women it is seen as something negative. “I never took being a woman as a disadvantage. Today I am successful not in spite of being a woman but, because I am a woman,” she added.

     

    Ms Prasad said: “Today women have become mature, and so have their families. Women have to juggle multiple roles. Had I thought that since I am a woman, I cannot take on a task, then I would not have been successful. If you are happy with what you are doing, you will be successful in life.”

     

    Ms Uthup was of the view that what has really changed is the audience. “The field of Arts has been a level playing field for women. You really don’t have gender bias. I believe if we want change to take place, the people need to be awakened. Men and women must work together, but then there are things that women can do and men can’t and there are things men can and women can’t do.”

     

    Ms Balan said: “The Indian actress today has been humanized; she is getting to play a part in the story. I have never seen my gender as a disadvantage, all I knew was I had to be strong to move ahead in life. There is a wide variety of roles for women today and the fact that there is no model code for women any more is liberating.”

     

    While all these eminent women had plenty of inspiring stories to share, each of them have had to overcome their own tough challenges, change the societal mindset about women being weak and docile, to climb their way to the top.

     

    The road is set for 2013

     

    In a session which ran parallel to the one on Women in M&E, a panel of regional TV experts got together to discuss growth avenues. Moderated by Nachiket Pantvaidya, Executive Vice-President, Star Pravah and with speakers like K Madhavan, Managing Director, Asianet and Sharada Sunder, EVP – Regional Channels, Zee, the session concluded that “Regional was the new National.” One issue which was discussed in the session was how to attract talent and also how does regional broadcast channels attract youth, the single largest segment inIndia.

     

    A session on GEC regulation discussed dos and don’ts as far as content is concerned, what is permissible and what not. It included Justice AP Shah, Prof Jonathan Askin, Ashok Nambissan of Sony Entertainment Television and Naresh Chahal of IBF.

     

    The general feedback from delegates was that Frames 2012 had pertinent topics discussed. One hopes that industry put the many ideas and resolutions discussed to action.

     

  • In Media Mullings, Peter Mukerjea on why James Murdoch must move to India

    Peter Mukerjea: Rupert & Son

    By Peter Mukerjea

     

    So, it’s finally happened that James, or JRM as he is known within the company, has stepped down. I’d said that he should (see Firstpost.com article) and for whatever it’s worth, I’m glad that he has.

     

    Enough has been written and no doubt more will be written about the rights and wrongs of the people involved in the entire phone hacking case and we will never know who will finally go to jail for the crimes that are alleged to have been committed.

     

    But that would be looking back and surely it’s much more fun looking forward and trying to gauge what’s about to happen next. If Rupert is true to his word, JRM will now be spending more time on international operations and on the TV business at large . Now that leads me to suggest that he should for Newscorp’s sake spend at least 75% of his time in India looking at new business opportunities that exist in the country. STAR experienced it’s highest ever growth in it’s business under JRM’s watch when he was the CEO in Asia. That’s not a coincidence, I can assure you. Conversely, STAR experienced it’s lowest growth when JRM left the Asia region and handed it over to pixies in Hong Kong who had no clue about India. For example, the lady who was given the baton by JRM had never visited India ever in her life. Strange decision, it has to be said.

     

    JRM, on the other hand, was a respected executive and was seen as a path-breaking scion of his father. And the fact that not everyone loved him was simply par for the course and to be expected. He was effective in reshaping STAR’s fortunes and turning a loss making company into a profitable one.

     

    Incidentally I continue to believe that none of the new channels that popped up in 2007/8 would have happened if Rupert had not taken his eye off Asia but he moved JRM to London to run SKY and with that opened up the gates for newcomers. Some channels failed to make the grade – 9X & Imagine for example, and others did well – Colors & 9XM for instance, but none of these should ever have been allowed to get started given the complete dominance that STAR had on the market. And all the people that went to run these channels, including myself , were almost all from STAR.

     

    Since then STAR has held up well, although after a wobbly start. Credit for which should be given wholly to JRM for giving autonomy to the current leadership in managing their business and most importantly cutting them loose from the Hong Kong intermediary, which was rightly cut to size.

     

    JRM’s big opportunity is now to push ahead with developing a range of new TV and other media products for the India market and enable it to grow speedily to create a very clear leadership position with plenty of blue sky space between the No1 and the rest. And only he can make that happen by physically being there and making the big decisions which would otherwise be lost in power point presentations between numerous layers of management.

     

    This would in turn spur ZEE and Sony and MTV and the rest to do the same and compete with each other and with the pace that STAR would have set for them. This will then collectively turbo-charge and accelerate the industry as a whole and taking full advantage of the economic growth that the country is experiencing. The next 10 years for the media business in India will be huge and despite the slowdown in the global economy the pace of growth will be better than almost anywhere else in the world.

     

    JRM once said “let’s make the best use of a crisis” or words to that effect and I think this is a crisis that has presented itself for just that opportunity. He has moved to New York from London but may be he should have a home in Mumbai too and really shake up the market. There’s tons to do with a very exciting future for a 40-year-old – like JRM, which regular or even above average executives will simply not be able to take full advantage of. They can at best take limited risk, if at all – but JRM can and he should.

     

    Will he or won’t he? Or will he slip in and out of the country quietly, once very few months and leave the big opportunity to the pixies once again? If he ends up doing that he will have missed a great opportunity to grow the business and also to get himself back up and be recognised as being one of the best TV executives in the world. After all, he is the son of Rupert.

     

    Although it started as a fortnightly column, Peter Mukerjea’s Media Mullings will now appear regularly on MxMIndia, but with no definite frequency.