ITV

Category: Special Report

  • Boom time for HD channels in India

    Boom time for HD channels in India

    The High Definition (HD) TV channels landscape is rapidly expanding in India. Amongst the various genres available today, the English general entertainment and movie channels genre is still a fragmented space and networks in their quest to stand apart from the nearest ranking rival, rely excessively upon content, marketing and a host of options among others.

     

    While not much is achieved in the process, the game of throne continues as networks try to outdo one another. A potent yet common weapon that networks are now heavily relying on is by launching HD channels.

     

    What is augmenting well for these networks is the demand by consumers for content that is best experienced in high definition. Since almost all the content in the English category is produced internationally, it makes sense in delivering it to consumers in HD only so that production values receive their due credit and viewers experience it at its best. This hunger for HD has very well transcended into networks now launching or sensing business opportunities by launching new HD channels. In some cases, an HD feed has been introduced to complement the existing Standard Definition (SD) feed. Digitisation will only ensure that the consumption of high definition shoots up further.

     

    Networks and their HD channels

     

    Star India will soon be launching two new HD English general entertainment channels (GECs). Its soon to be launched channel, Star Movies HD Select for a span of one year (365 days) has a content library of 365 movies – one for each day. About 50 per cent of the content comprises award winning Oscars and Golden Globes titles. To name a few, the channel has The Fault In Our Stars, Birdman and The Theory of Everything in its kitty.

     

    Star will also launch another new channel Star FX HD to compliment the SD feed of FX. The content of FX currently comprises Madmen, Seinfeld and the animated series Family Guy. Other HD channels from the network include Star World Premiere HD, Star World HD and Star Movies HD in addition to eight other HD channels in various genres like sports and Hindi movie and GEC.

     

    Multi Screen Media (MSM) is not far behind. With channels such as Pix, Pix HD and AXN, it is a strong player in the English movie and GEC space. On 6 April this year, the network sensed an opportunity by launching AXN HD to go along with the SD feed. For the man behind the launch, Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik the onset of digitisation and a strong audience base spending more time on special interest channels, made sense for the launch of the new feed. “While the shows will be same on the two channels, we will be tweaking some of the content for the HD feed. We could also have certain exclusive content for the HD feed in the future,” Yagnik had earlier told Indiantelevision.com. MSM also has two HD channels in the Hindi GEC and sports category.

     

    On the other hand, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Zeel) is also looking at strengthening its HD portfolio. The network will soon launch a new HD channel in the English GEC space called Zee Cafe HD to compliment its SD feed. Besides this, Zeel has five other HD channels in its channel portfolio. The content on Zee Café currently comprises shows such as Two and a Half Men, Desperate Housewives and Secrets and Lies amongst others.

     

    Times Network, which operates channels like Movies Now and Romedy Now is another mighty contender. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com earlier, Times Network senior vice president and English entertainment cluster head Vivek Srivastava had said that its new channel, Movies Now+ was the HD version of the SD feed but it did have some differentiating content from the SD feed. It simulcast movies on both feeds such as The Wolf Of Wall Street, which is going to be showcased on 26 April 2015.

     

    The increasing growth of premium ad free channels such as HBO Hits and HBO Defined too have resulted in aiding subscription revenues for the English entertainment genre. Strong and popular content such as Game of Thrones today is synonymous with the HBO network.

     

    Growth of HD Channels in India

     

    From the meagre three HD pay TV channels in 2010, the number has shot up to 34 in 2014, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) 2013-2014 annual report. The number jumped to 22, 31 and 33 for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. With impending launches of English movie and GEC channels this year, this number is only going to be on the rise going forward.

     

    The DTH factor

     

    Value Added Services (VAS) and HD channel penetration are strong revenue generators for Direct to Home (DTH) operators. Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera was quoted in the FICCI-KPMG report for 2015 as saying, “The boom in the panel TV industry has been a key growth in HD channel viewership. The viewers are ready to pay a premium price for HD channels. With the right pricing and packaging for these channels, HD channels can achieve faster penetration.” 

     

    As per the report, there are four million HD subscribers, which account for 10 per cent of all DTH subscribers, whereas 15 to 20 per cent of incremental subscribers in 2014 were HD subscribers. “HD adoption continues to drive ARPU growth for DTH players with the average ARPU of HD subscriber at 1.5 to 2X the ARPU of a non HD subscriber,” states the report.

     

    Conclusion

     

    Premium HD channels recorded a ten-fold top line growth with DTH accounting for over 95 per cent of the premium channel subscriber base according to the 2015 FICCI KPMG report. The success of HD viewing thus, is not just a mighty boon in for broadcasters alone, (where the Ad Ex share for the space in 2014 was at 4.6 per cent) but also for DTH operators. 

     

    As panel TV sales figures were expected to touch approximately eight million units in 2014, of which 55 per cent was expected to have been HD panel TVs, the rise is only going to be vertical in the coming years. With the share of HD and 4K TV sales expected to contribute to over 80 per cent by 2019, broadcasters’ key agenda will definitely be upping their HD channels offering. Moreover, the fact that DTH operators are more than happy to increase their HD bouquet, the growth story for HD viewing and consumption in India has only just begun.

  • Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

    Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

    With 10 million users in just 40 days, it set a benchmark in the digital space. In a record time span, Hotstar the new app from the Star India network, catapulted the audience’s attention and is showing continued signs of growth.

    While VOD platforms are being selective in drawing up their content map, Hotstar has opened its large library for users, that too in regional languages. With smartphones increasingly altering the consumption landscape in the country, Indiantelevision.com gives you five reasons why this is a must have app for your phones.

    A rich video experience

    Gone are the days when enthusiasm levels of experiencing a video would be marred by buffering issues. Through almost zero buffering, the app claims that it can change the pixel value of the content depending on the bandwidth so that users witness uninterrupted services. In layman’s terms, when the bandwidth decreases, the video will continue playing but there will be a decline in the HD pixilation value. Video is downward optimized to playback continuously in as little as 64 kbps.  

    Want IPL, download Hotstar!

    With the eighth season of India Kya Tyohar returning, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the biggest event on the sports calendar this year. Therefore, it is imperative that you download the app so that you don’t miss out on your favourite Kolkata Knight Riders or Chennai Super Kings scoring some brilliant wins on the palm of your hands. 

    Novi Digital Entertainment, a unit of Star India, which owns the digital rights of the Indian Premier League, will stream this glitzy event on the VOD platform in its first such endeavour. Plus, in this cricket event, India has no fears of losing in the semi finals. Everyone is a winner here including Stuart Binny!

    India’s content hub 

    Where will you find 20,000 hours of content, across languages including 12 plus full length TV shows, 500 plus movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabaddi on a single platform? The answer is – Hotstar! 

    In a first for India, Indya Interactive Services (which runs Hotstar.com) earlier premiered the Star Guild Awards 2015 on the video on demand service on 17 January. The award function was aired on Star Plus a day later on 18 January.  It recently also premiered Bollywood movies like Baby and Roy first on the platform, much before the world TV premieres. Star India also recently acquired the weekly film and entertainment broadsheet Screen from the Express Group. Content from here will now move to digital as the print edition gets closed. Hotstar is definitely turning hotter! 

    Marketers, catch up with your digital audiences

    Marketers and brands dread when audiences click on the tiny yet powerful option Skip This Ad Now. Weeks of ideation and production of a costly advertisement that is invested on digital mediums, goes down the drain. But fret not, Hotstar does not allow this potent option as audiences have to witness the ads. Besides, consumers wouldn’t mind the same as fresh as well as nostalgic content like Sarabhai versus Sarabhai too is up for grabs. With the India-Pakistan match during the World Cup receiving 25 million views on digital, there is a large chunk of young audiences that can’t be missed by marketers and brands alike. 

    Personalization and availability across devices

    The app allows users to create their own playlists with content they curate for at leisure viewing. Individual episodes, movies, full collections of even movies can be curated. It has also managed to do the impossible as it unites a diverse range of mobile phone users. It doesn’t matter if you own a Samsung or an iPhone, it is compatible for Android, iOS and Nokia ASHA users too.

     

  • HD, premium channels, VAS help increase ARPUs for DTH: FICCI-KPMG

    HD, premium channels, VAS help increase ARPUs for DTH: FICCI-KPMG

    The growth of average revenue per user (ARPU) in the Direct To Home (DTH) sector continues, even as digital cable is still struggling to roll out channel packages. As per the FICCI- KPMG 2015 report, due to sustained increase in ARPU, the sector had a healthy revenue growth despite a muted subscriber addition in 2014.

     

    In 2014, DTH operators saw an increase of around 12 to 15 per cent in ARPUs. While some of the ARPU increase was driven by DTH operators’ ability to continue to push price hikes (there was a price increase in April 2014 of an approximate eight to nine per cent), the more promising trend is that DTH operators were able to increase collections from customers by providing additional services such as High Definition (HD) channels, premium channels and other value added services (VAS).

     

    As phase III and IV of digitisation draws near, the battle will be closely contested by MSOs and DTH operators. In phase I and II, DTH operators managed to gain 20 to 30 per cent of the subscriber base converting to digital. Two factors, namely an inherent technology advantage and stronger balance sheets, will give DTH players the bonus advantage to take on MSOs, especially the smaller players, in the year ahead. However, in order to gain a bigger piece of the pie, they will have to re-jig their channel packages, in sparsely populated areas so that it becomes affordable for subscribers in Phase III and IV.

     

    Dish TV’s sub-brand Zing is all set to tackle digital cable players at the regional level. The brand addresses various linguistic needs of subscribers and offers regional specific channels as part of all available packs, while the other channels can be added based on the customer’s choice. It has been launched West Bengal, Tripura, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

     

    When one compares Zing’s package prices, they are cheaper than those of digital cable. For example, the base package of Zing costs Rs 99 per month versus Rs 220 per month for digital cable. Its mid level package carries a price tag of Rs 249 versus Rs 270 per month for digital cable. Besides the content, even the advertising and other marketing activities are done in the regional languages, while customer support services will be at the local level through trade partners, similar to the cable TV model.

     

    While digital cable operators are still grappling with securing their business model right, DTH operators have focused on increasing monetisation by providing additional value to their subscribers either through innovative services or STBs, such as those with unlimited recording and technology revolution like 4K.

     

    According to the report, there are four million HD subscribers, accounting for 10 per cent of all DTH subscribers, while 15 to 20 per cent of incremental subscribers in 2014 were HD subscribers. HD adoption continues to drive ARPU growth for DTH players with the average ARPU of a HD subscriber at an approximate 1.5 to 2x the ARPU of a non-HD subscriber.

     

    Compared to 6.5 million units of panel television sets (LCD, LED and plasma TVs) sold in 2013 in India, eight million units were expected to be sold in 2014, of which 55 per cent was expected to have been HD panel TV sales. The share of HD and 4K TV sales is expected to further increase over the next five years, reaching 80 per cent by 2019. While HD adoption will continue to be a key growth driver for DTH ARPUs over the next few years, adoption of 4K STBs is expected to pick up in India, though lack of 4K content can be a major problem.

     

    Currently only Videocon d2h and Tata Sky offer 4K services. Live sports action is expected to be one of the enablers of HD adoption, with the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, likely to be a key trigger in 2015.

     

    All major DTH operators namely Tata Sky, Dish TV, Videocon D2H and Airtel Digital have launched ‘TV Everywhere’ apps on mobiles and tablets through, which subscribers can watch live TV, catch up TV and video on demand (VoD) for an additional monthly fee. While there are several players along the media value chain who have launched online platforms for on-demand content to capture the surging viewer base, DTH operators have a key advantage in monetising these viewers through their ‘TV Everywhere’ apps, given their already existing payment relationships with subscribers.

  • Saina Nehwal’s brand value set to soar with World No. 1 title

    Saina Nehwal’s brand value set to soar with World No. 1 title

    Soon after being crowned with the international title of World No. 1 badminton player, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal went on to bag her maiden India Open Super Series title by defeating former world champion Ratchanok Intaton from Thailand.

     

    The two titles have indeed placed the Hisar born player on the global map as the game receives its due in the country. A swell up of her performances is also likely to contribute to her existing brand value, say sports marketers and celebrity marketers. However, not without adding a word of caution. Nehwal will have to continue with her existing pace to command a fat paycheck in the endorsement world.

     

    While prior to her consecutive wins, Nehwal commanded a price of Rs 70 lakh- 80 lakh for a one period deal according to industry experts, it could now easily touch up to Rs 1 crore–Rs 1.5 crore depending on how deep the brand’s pockets are.

     

    Celebrity and sports management firm, CAA KWAN COO Indranil Das Blah says that it is not just becoming the World Number one but also winning the Indian Open, which is a pinnacle no Indian born woman has achieved. “If you look at the current crop of female sports persons, there is no one remotely close to her in terms of achievement. So it will have a significant impact on her brand value, pricing and overall brand image,” he says.

     

    According to Blah, Nehwal has a strong story to tell because of her middle class back ground and therefore brands with a pan India appeal would latch on to her. “I don’t see her endorsing glamorous and niche brands but it could be brands that have a national interest and look at achieving women’s empowerment or women’s issues in the country,” he opines.

     

    Nehwal currently endorses and has been a part of brands across segments like Yonex, Fortune Cooking Oil, Indian Overseas Bank, Whisper sanitary napkins, Emami Fast Relief ointment, Herbalife health products, Top Ramen Noodles and Airtel 3G.

     

    According to media reports, Nehwal was signed by the telecom Airtel when she was world number three for less than Rs 1 crore. She had then won the Gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

     

    Asset managing director at assetfzc.com Sanjay M Lal, a veteran with over 20 years of expertise in the field of brand building and sports management, says that in order to have a reasonably impactful brand value, Nehwal will have to maintain her present status for the next nine to 12 months. “While she has been consistently performing and is a star in Indian badminton, but to be world number one is a different ball game altogether,” informs Lal.

     

    For brands that are fence sitters and were wondering to choose between female sports persons like Sania Mirza or Saina Nehwal, the wins will make it easier to settle and close the deal for Nehwal. However, some feel that the cash jump will not be very significant unless a large brand that has not matured comes into play. This will be the first step for Nehwal on the brand value chain.

     

    Impact of her win on the game? Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) CEO and former captain of Indian Hockey team Viren Rasquinha states that OGQ has been supporting the champion since 2009 and looked after the training aspect of Saina Nehwal. “Obviously its important to have  a role model and a great figure like Saina in every field. Because of her acheivement we hope that thousands of parents across the country will encourage  their kids, especilally their daughters to take to badminton.”

     

    Eureka Mobile Advertising senior vice president Viswanathan Ganapathy says, “There will definitely be a jump in the brand value. In the last few years, she has given global recognition to the game, which has happened after Prakash Padukone in 1980. Saina is a very good mix for an international and local brands as well and would be an ideal fit for a fitness product.”

     

    Ganapathy is of the opinion that Nehwal could ideally endorse brands like Complan and Horlicks, where the brand fit is perfect. Her consistent winning performances including the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics could make her as a relevant face for insurance brands too.

     

    It is important to note that when sports athletes and players sign an endorsement deal, they also ask the brand the kind of visibility they would gain. While Nehwal has placed Indian badminton on the global map, the domination of cricket continues as former cricket players like Kapil Dev still bag endorsement deals. It’s akin to how an industry expert, having worked with the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan and was associated with Percept India, puts it, “Anything other than cricket is like a great Bollywood movie breaking even. But it will not belong to the Rs 100 crore club that the Khans belong to. She was signed with Herbal Life, which is American brand but what have they advertised? For a player other than in the field of cricket, you need an advertiser who gives you Rs 5 lakhs but does promotions worth of Rs 50 lakhs.”

     

    When the visibility falls flat, it goes against the marketing grain of celebrities. However, on an optimistic note, Lal adds that her winning titles consistently have proved that brand ‘Saina Nehwal’ holds great promise. Only time will tell the brands that will sign Nehwal for her promise in the future. For now, take a breather girl. You deserve it and thank you for giving India its due recognition.

     

  • IPL is the largest reached sports event in 2014: FICCI KPMG Report

    IPL is the largest reached sports event in 2014: FICCI KPMG Report

    The global sports industry is estimated be worth of $600 – $700 billion. Revenue generated from the industry is estimated at $80 billion globally and is growing at Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.5 per cent over 2009 to 2014, which includes revenues from media rights, sponsorships and ticketing.

    The market for advertising in sports in India was estimated at Rs 41 billion in 2013 growing at a CAGR of 14 per cent from Rs 21 billion in 2008. It consists of on ground advertising, team sponsorship, athlete sponsorship and media ad spends on sports. Licensing and merchandising contribute Rs 2 billion to the industry in India. Gate revenues make up another revenue stream but its contribution to the sports market in India is relatively low compared to media ad spends and sponsorship.

    Sporting events have been popular throughout history, and have gained greater viewership with bigger stadiums and TV broadcasting of domestic and global events. Annual sports viewership in India reached 276 million in 2014. But the sports genre accounts for only 2.4 per cent of total TV viewership and 4.3 per cent of AdEx (Advertisement Expenditure) revenue in the Indian TV industry, much smaller than the general entertainment genre.

    The median age in India is around 27 years and around 64 per cent of the population is expected to be in the working age group by 2020. This provides a large and growing target segment for sports in India. Moreover, an increase in percentage of middle class and rich households (households with annual income greater than Rs 2,00,000) from 6.1 per cent in 2001-02 to 14.5 per cent in 2009 -10 has increased the number of people with an appetite for sports consumption. The middle class alone is expected to increase to 41 per cent of the population by 2025. There has also been an increase in the average share of educational and recreational activities in the annual household consumption and it is estimated to increase from five per cent in 2005 to nine per cent by 2025.

    A good start to non cricket sports is one interesting to look at the growth of sports other than cricket in India. Many sports have grown well over the last half decade. A survey on the popularity of sports in the Indian online community reports that while 85 per cent of respondents followed cricket in some manner, an estimated 44 per cent followed tennis, 41 per cent followed football (soccer) and 32 per cent followed badminton. With economic development, sports viewership in a country usually moves from single sport to multi sport. Africa and the Indian subcontinent have been traditionally dominated by football and cricket respectively. However, with greater economic development, India is seeing a growth in other sports as well. 

    League formats have helped in increasing popularity of sports Globally

    The leagues system has served as an important way for companies to enter the sports sector. A sports league creates several opportunities for private companies in domains such as league management, franchisee, broadcasting and sports videos production houses, advertising, sports infrastructure such as multipurpose venues, player management, licensing and merchandising. One of India’s most successful leagues in terms of viewership and revenues has been the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is based on the English Premier League (EPL) format. The league was launched in 2008 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with eight city franchisees. Though it is still small in comparison to some of the biggest leagues of the world, it has been able to achieve success in a short span of time, which other mature leagues could not manage to do. The evolution of IPL as a brand is an example of successful product innovation, which effectively combined entertainment and sports. The Twenty20 (T20) format of IPL has made the sport more popular and convenient to watch for cricket enthusiasts. The success of the IPL, which is estimated to have had a viewership of 191 million people and ad revenue of Rs 8 billion in 2014 has led to the creation of several other league-format sporting events, such as the Indian Badminton League, Hockey India League and the recently launched Pro-Kabaddi League. The inaugural season of football’s Indian Super League has been fairly successful as well. Cumulative reach of Pro Kabaddi League was 435 million compared to 560 million for IPL in 2014. Football’s Indian Super League was close with 410 million cumulative reach. The new domestic sports leagues however require significant management efforts over a period of time to get established and be successful. 

    Viewership refers to sum of weekly GVTs, which is a factor of number of viewers and frequency.

    IPL leads the cumulative reach chart amongst sporting events held in 2014

    Cumulative reach refers to the number of individuals within the target group who viewed the tournament over a certain period of time, including duplication.

    Ecosystem to support sports development in India

    However, in order to sustain the growth in sports and sports-related businesses, a flexible regulatory and policy framework that is able to realise synergies between various segments of sports needs to be developed. This in turn requires the sports ecosystem and its stakeholders to be recognised under the purview of a dedicated industry of sports which can provide impetus to an organised and professional business environment for sports in India.

    Sports Broadcasting in India

    There has been a surge in the number of sporting events broadcast in the past few years. These events include tournaments and leagues played at state, national and international levels. Several international tournaments and leagues played at the regional or global level are now telecast in India bringing in a larger and much diverse audience. Males form around 60 to 65 per cent of viewers and are expected to continue to be the main target segment. However, the number of female viewers has been increasing. About 57 per cent of the viewership of ISL and 53 per cent of the viewership of Pro – Kabaddi League was made up of women and children. Broadcasters are supplementing the sports with other entertaining and informative pieces to make the program more inclusive.

    Getting to the right content mix

    With the rise in number of sporting events, sports channels are covering several sporting events in their annual calendar. It consists of a mix of marquee events from domestic and international leagues, major tournaments along with minor domestic leagues and tournaments.

    Star Sports has revamped itself with uniformly branded eight channels to showcase a variety of domestic and international sports both cricket and non – cricket and in English as well as Hindi. While international cricket matches featuring India will make up 65 per cent of Star Sports 1, Ranji matches, university and women’s cricket and international cricket matches not featuring India will form 50 to 60 per cent of content on Star Sports 2. This will enable Star to nearly double its cricket content, which is the major revenue driver for sports channels in India. Star Sports 4 will feature other sports, which include international football (soccer), European soccer leagues, badminton, tennis and Formula-1 racing.

    The new Indian leagues, which include hockey, badminton and soccer, will be telecast on Star Sports 1 to 3 to reach a larger audience. Such a strategy enables Star Sports to increase its cricket content as well as broadcast non – cricket sports, which are seeing increasing traction. There is also an increasing trend towards multi-sports channels, as the viewership of different sports are increasing and sports channels are vying for TV rights across sports. Star has seen a shift from having a cricket specific channel in its cluster to multi-sports channels. It enables Star to broadcast both international and domestic cricket content simultaneously as well as gives it flexibility to show different sports across different channels. This can be attributed to the large investments made by Star to purchase rights for domestic and international cricket, football, tennis, badminton etc.

    On the other hand, Neo has rebranded its cricket specific Neo Cricket to Neo Prime on account of reduced live cricket properties and surge in volume of several sports.

    Ten however, has sports specific channels with Ten Cricket for cricket, Ten Action for football and Ten Golf for Golf broadcasting. Availability of sufficient single sport media rights and a definite viewership base for that particular sport drives the presence of sports specific channels. This helps advertisers to target a specific audience, for example luxury products have tied up with Ten Golf. Although, digitization and lower costs of distribution make single – sport channels more viable than before, it can take some time to evolve in India and reach the popularity of golf and tennis channels in some developed countries.

    Regional language boost to broadcasting

    Another strategy to target a specific audience is the language of telecast. Hindi and other regional languages increase the audience reach for sports as English has a limited audience. Star Sports 3 replicates Star Sports 1 in Hindi. In 2014, it telecast the domestic football league – Indian Super League in five languages. Its regional TV channels were used to telecast the league in Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam apart from English and Hindi broadcasts. During FIFA World Cup 2014, Bengal accounted for half the country’s viewership mainly because of regional language feed by Multi Screen Media (MSM) on its Bengali general entertainment and film channel Sony Aath. Hindi broadcast of the Pro Kabaddi League on Star Gold also helped take the cumulative reach to 435 million for the event. Other than using regional sister channels for feed in local languages, sports channels may spin off separate regional language sports channels if the demand picks up.

    Revenue and Profitability model

    Sports industry is still an ad driven revenue model. Media spends on sports, most of which is on TV, increased from Rs 11.5 billion to Rs 22.5 billion over 2008 to 2013 at a CAGR of 14 per cent. In mature markets, subscription is the main revenue driver for sports channels, contributing nearly 60 to 90 per cent of the revenues. However in India, advertisements still account for nearly 60 per cent of the revenues of sports channels, mainly driven by cricket, which is the largest revenue spinner and accounts for nearly 80 to 85 per cent of the total television sports media revenue. Non-cricket sports provide live sports content around the year, which gives advertisers a regular touch-point to their target segments. Revenues from advertisements in any year vary depending on the tournaments and series held during the year. Cricket mostly forms the peaks whereas the troughs are being evened out with non–cricket sports and non-live cricket content. In 2011, ad spends on TV for cricket was estimated to have crossed Rs 20 billion. In 2015, ad spends from the ICC World Cup and IPL 8 alone are expected to be around Rs 22 – 25 billion. Ad revenues for non-cricket sports are only a small fraction of cricket revenues. In 2013, ad revenues from Indian Badminton League and Hockey India League were Rs 0.9 billion and Rs 0.7 billion respectively.

    Key challenges facing the spurt of non-cricket leagues in India includes:

    • Poor investor confidence

    For instance the Indian Badminton League (IBL) suffered a loss of Rs 25 crore in the opening season in 2013 owing to investors pulling out casting doubt on the return of IBL with its second season. However, despite no play in 2014, the IBL is set to return in 2015.

    • Lack of industry status

    Provision of industry status could lead to an organized sports industry leading to higher available capital, newer sports businesses, additional revenue streams for stakeholders making leagues commercially viable ventures.

    • Lack of a culture for sports

    Sporting leagues in India are designed to last just a couple months every year. However, many major sporting league seasons in the world last for longer durations every year. Sporting leagues need to become year round (or at least three – four months a year) ventures. Apart from the benefit of a longer engagement with viewers (allowing the building of a larger fan base and culture for the game), this also touts the idea of sport becoming a year round profession furthering the advent of sports businesses.

    Revenue model in leagues

    Major sources of revenue for any league come from media rights, sponsorships and revenue from franchisees. Share of franchisee consideration in IPL has increased from 30 per cent in 2010 -11 to 37 per cent in 2012- 13 with a corresponding decrease in the revenues from sponsorship rights. Income from media rights and other sources have nearly the same share in 2012-13 as in 2010- 11.

    Major Sources of revenue for a League Franchisee

    Major sources of revenue for any league franchisee are share of the central revenues, local revenue and performance revenue.

    • Share of central revenue

    This includes a percentage of the revenue to the league from media rights and central sponsors like Pepsi in the IPL. In India, media rights are a major revenue sources both for the league and the franchisees. Channels are expected to further increase the subscription revenue for sports channels.

    • Local revenue

    Local revenue for a franchise entails revenue from match day ticket sales (gate revenue) and commercial revenue that includes funds from franchise sponsors, merchandise sales and revenue generated from membership with the franchise club if any. However, revenue from franchise sponsors makes for a majority of the commercial revenue. Sports merchandise sales is a fast growing segment with Rs 2 billion in retail sales in 2013. Moreover, contribution of gate revenue to overall revenue of franchises is low due to inexpensive ticket pricing, especially in non-cricket leagues. This is in contrast to leagues abroad where gate revenues are a significant contributor to a franchisee’s revenue.

    How can leagues be further popularised/ monetized?

    Some of the critical success factors of a league in India are identified below:

    • Players

    Involvement of top players of the world creates interest in the viewers and increases the quality of the game. The IPL is a successful example of the same. On the other hand, I-League is struggling to attract top players resulting in poor viewership.

    • Marketing

    An effective marketing campaign is another critical factor in making the league popular. Again, the involvement of various celebrities as brand ambassadors or owners in the IPL contributed to generating larger viewer interest in the league. In fact, the marriage of the Indian entertainment industry and cricket has aided in making IPL a commercial success.

    • Governance framework

     It is seen that leagues, which are run with the support of the approved federation have been able to sustain. The ICL failed due to lack of support from BCCI and World Series Hockey (WSH) is facing similar troubles due to non-recognition of the founding federation as the official national sports federation of hockey itself.

    • Stadium Infrastructure

    Quality of stadium infrastructure improves the viewing experience, hence increases the level of interest in the sport. It is important to create supporting infrastructure like restaurants, bars, fast-food chains, merchandise, stores, books and music stores, etc. to develop stadiums into popular entertainment spots for the family. Hike in ticket prices subsequent to rise in viewership, organizing multiple sporting events and entertainment shows wherever possible can help monetise stadium infrastructure.

    • Fan base

    An effective strategy to increase a franchisee fan base is engagement of respective franchises with local community. This helps generate greater TV viewership, increase attendance of matches and sale of merchandise. Performance of national team or players at international level increases the interest in the game, hence the league.

    League timing

    The tournament should be held at a time when there is no clash with international tournaments that could divert a significant section of the viewers, many players are available and weather is suitable for holding matches. The length of games and timing of matches (conducive for family viewing) are also important factors to consider, both having further helped significant viewership of the IPL. Other factors may include spectator friendly broadcasting such as better viewing angles and broadcasting in Hindi and English.

  • YouTube readies to conquer India in 2015

    YouTube readies to conquer India in 2015

    A roar fills the swanky indoor stadium of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) in central Mumbai. It is followed by screams, and a scampering across numerous rows as hordes of ‘screenagers’ scramble to get a view of a tiny young woman clad in jeans, a T-shirt and a cap worn the wrong way on stage. She opens her mouth to speak, and the screams get even louder. She shushes the audiences, exalting them to allow her to speak, but the decibel levels refused to go down. The pandemonium goes on for three minutes or more with the screeches and screams getting louder.

    But speak she has to, which she does. The 4,000-odd crowd has been waiting to listen to her, get a glimpse of her and her alone for a good four hours.

    “I am so glad to be in Mumbai,” she gushes, amidst shushes targeted at the crowds. “I could not resist it when I was invited once again. I had promised you that I would be explaining what the hashtag #AT2UI means which I had revealed on my Twitter account over this week. Well, let me make the big announcement: #AT2UI is A Trip to Unicorn Island and I am embarking on a world tour with it, beginning with India next month.”

    Before she even finishes making the statement, the crowd goes berserk once again with ecstasy. The screams rise to a crescendo and refuse to die down. “OMG,” says a young thing, six rows ahead of us. “I can’t believe it. She is coming here for a tour. I can’t believe it.” The tears roll down her cheeks and she raises her hand heavenwards, saying ‘Thank you! Thank you!’

    No. No. It is not Madonna on stage. Nor is it Lady Ga-Ga. Nor is it Selena Gomez or Taylor Swift or One Direction. Nor is it a bible thumping preacher or a spiritual Hindu Guru.

    The young lass is Lily Singh aka IISuperWomanII, a 27 year Indo-Canadian, who appears to have surpassed the fan love showered on even Bollywood’s and Hollywood’s biggest stars. This kind of mania was probably something that was reserved for the Beatles in the sixties and seventies.

    Excepting IISuperWomanII is a star born of the digital era. Her fan following is totally digital in origin. She is a YouTube star with more than 5.3 million subscribers. Her Twitter handle has around 847,000 followers, whereas 1.7 million track her on Instagram. Her fans mainly are girls between 8-28, but don’t be surprised if you find a young man of 19 there too. Those are the kind of numbers mainstream broadcasters would love to boast of for their channels. But Lily Singh is a young creator, who is the star attraction at the Second YouTubeFanFest (#YTFF) in Mumbai.

    “Never let anyone tell you what to do or not to do. Be yourself,” she tells the screeching fans at the NSCI. “Go out in the sun, have fun. It does not matter if your skin gets tanned. Whether you are dark or fair. You have to live your life. Not just be a housewife.”

    It’s exactly what young girls; women in India have been wanting to hear. And IISuperwomanII has piped into that desire.

    Others have too. And they have built audiences. The Viral Fever – which started as a branded content creator – today has more than a million subscribers. All India Bakchod (AIB), which flew into controversy and some legal wrangles courtesy a roast it did a couple of months ago, too boasts a following of a million. Prior to that, it was mainstream entertainment companies such as Bollywood producers, music labels, broadcasters, who were attracting viewers on the online video streaming site started by Chad Hurley. T-Series, Star India, Sony Entertainment, Eros, Rajshri were all the rage. But the majors such as Star and Sony pulled out a majority of their content to concentrate on their own streaming apps. T-Series, Eros and Rajshri still have followings running into multiple millions and most of the video consumption on their channels is coming courtesy traditional Bollywood content.

    However, over the past couple of years an ecosystem of independent video content creators is being built up – addressing almost every genre. Kids (through Chu Chu TV), cooking (Vah-Chef), Comedy (SNG Comedy, TVF, AIB, East India Company), Education, Travel, and what have you.

    Of course revenues on YouTube are not something you would write to Mom about. Estimates are that the streaming service is on course to do about Rs 160-170 crore in ad revenues this year. That’s probably what would be just one month’s earning for a general entertainment channel. But with smart phones proliferating and bandwidth rates dropping, video consumption – both in terms of time spent viewing and number of viewers – through outlets like YouTube and Dailymotion is only going to rise. Advertisers no doubt will follow in the hope of catching consumers’ eyeballs. Estimates are that YouTube revenues will likely skyrocket to about Rs 1,500 crore by 2018.

    And of course who else will benefit but independent content creators. Estimates are that PewDiePie – the world’s top YouTuber with 35.5 million subscribers to his gaming channel – takes home about $4-5 million a year. Along with it come endorsements, live gigs, and of course superstardom status.

    But most of the YouTube stars started their video journeys with very basic gear, filming with their computer cameras, or digital cameras or even their smart phones. For edits they used Windows movie maker or iMovie, self-learning to use Adobe Premier Pro or Apple final cut pro.

    “My first videos were done with simple video cameras,” says Bethany Mota, who has more than 8.4 million followers on YouTube in just about six years since she uploaded her first video. . “And I kept waiting for views. I remember how excited I was when I touched 100 views for my videos.”

    Mota has a super following in India too. At the YouTubeFanFest, she probably drew the second highest cheers after IISuperWomanII.

    Standup comic Abish Matthew in fact did a sketch during the YTFF about the difficulties that YouTube stars face, especially in terms of getting their video blogs online. “You film, you edit and then you wait for the video to render. Time goes by. Then you wait to upload, you wait and wait and wait. The bandwidth here is limited. And then you wait for the views to come in. You wait and you wait,” he said.

    AIB, on its part, believes in producing videos of high quality. “We love to experiment with cameras and with great equipment,” says Gursimran Khamba.

    “We want our videos to be of a particular standard and even though it is all about the content, we also want it to look good,” adds Tanmay Bhat. He further says that there are ways to get your videos done cheap and cheerful, yet maintaining quality. “We reach out to our friends, acquaintances who then help us reach out to the talent we want to work on our videos,” he says. “And then we request them to work with us at low or almost no budget. We find they are willing to do it. Then there is talent available in media colleges in every city, who will work with you just to get the experience.”

    Most of the YouTubers believe in communicating with almost everyone messaging them on their social media and video posts. “I respond to almost everyone I can online,” says fashion icon Scherzarde Shroff. “I like to connect with them.”

    IISuperWomanII was at her hyperactive best through her handle on Twitter before the YouTubeFanFest giving away free VIP passes to the event and messaging her followers, thanking them for their following her. While initially it was only she who did it, these days it is teams who share that responsibility.

    But some like Rohan Joshi of AIB talk to their followers directly – a couple of the YouTube stars call their followers as friends – even today. “I like to put out what I want to myself. It reflects who I am,” he says. “I have a social strategy: I need two types of followers – those who agree with me and those who don’t. For every two people who agree with me, I need one who does not. That allows for healthy debates and conversations whenever I post something on Twitter.”

    The Viral Fever – run by Arunabh Kumar – began by making branded viral digital video content for clients such as Airtel, Flipkart, Colgate, Head and Shoulders – today boasts more than a million subscribers on YouTube, becoming the first independent original content maker outside of Bollywood to cross that landmark. Its parody of Times Now’s Arnab Goswami’s ‘The Nation Wants to Know’ has attained online cult status. And that was followed by India’s first fictional web series Permanent Roommates, which was funded by commonfloor.com.

    “Working with brands has helped us develop another layer of revenue for the company, which has allowed us to go further,” says Kumar . In fact, the TVF’s viral work has led to the company getting work on television too with a show on Bindass and numerous promos for TV channels.

    Kumar says that he and his team are careful about their creative freedom when working with brands on videos. “We value our independence and our clients trust us,” he says. “We know how to engage with our audiences, and brands rely on us to do that as long as we keep their messaging in mind.”

    In fact cola giant Pepsi has taken to YouTube in a big way. As part of its global Pepsi Challenge campaign, it has launched a ‘Crash The IPL’ initiative wherein it has asked consumers to shoot a 30 second ad film showing their love for the beverage. The entries have to be uploaded on youtube.com and the link submitted to www.crashthepepsiipl.com. These will be judged, and finalists chosen, entitling them a cash award of Rs 100,000, VIP tickets to the IPL matches, and the winning ads will be aired on TV between 8 April and 24 May 2015, replacing the agency created ads.

    Pepsi has also partnered with the Singapore based Music Matters festival for its Music Accelerator Programme. As part of this, a band or an artiste from India will be flown to Singapore to participate in the Music Matters Conference, be mentored at the Music Matters Academy and also perform at Music Matters Live to an audience of about 8,000. Music Matters’ Indian partner for this initiative is Pepsi MTV Indies.

    “Most of the great creative work, which has come on air is when we were having fun,” says PepsiCo India senior director market social beverages Ruchira Jaitly. “We want creators to have fun too and create ads for us. And that’s what’s extremely exciting for us.”

    YouTube, on its part, believes that 2015 is going to be the year of India on the online streaming network. Says YouTube’s David Powell, “We believe that Indian creators are going to break out this year. The time has come.”

    YouTube director global content operations Sara Mormino adds, “We are eager to work with newer Indian creators and who knows… another superstar like PewDiePie might emerge from India. India is a very vibrant young country.”

    Towards this end, it conducted its second Academy in India in mid-March, organsied the YouTubeFanFest in partnership with Branded, which was attended by Indian creators and thousands of fans. And it is also organizing workshops with different communities like ad filmmakers, schools and TV producers. 

    To its advantage is the fact that it has first mover advantage in this space. Star’s hotstar.com is only carrying its own content and it has managed only 10 million or so downloads. Others such as Dailymotion.com are just about getting its feet into India. And Reliance Jio – which is developing its own streaming app – is some time away.

    Keeping that in mind, YouTube.com might well become the Indian consumer’s own content tube.

  • Star India’s ‘Mauka’ mania inspires creative videos

    Star India’s ‘Mauka’ mania inspires creative videos

    India qualified to the semi-finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in sublime fashion. In the semi-final, India will face host nation Australia and pundits predict an evenly poised match.

     

    The voyage of team India in this edition of ICC Cricket World Cup was well complimented by Star India’s creative innovation ‘Mauka’ and as India readies itself for the important bout against the Kangaroos, Indiantelevision.com lists various ‘Mauka’ moments that brought smile to thousands of faces.

     

    As is the trend nowadays, after every India match Star launches a ‘Mauka’ video, the world also partakes in the Mauka Mania and creates a piece of its own. We take this opportunity to scan through the non Star India ‘Mauka’ videos made during the course of the tournament.

    Take a look:

     

     

    Bangladesh indeed is flying high as they stunned England to secure their berth in the quarter finals of ICC World Cup 2015. But their opponent in the quarter final was none other than the defending champions: India, who is so far undisputed in the tournament.

     

    The video features a giant monster decimating representatives of nations, which Bangladesh has defeated so far in the championship while the Indian astronaut hides himself to escape the demolition. The humorous piece with Rise of Tigers slogan depicts Bangladesh’s emergence in the tournament.

     

     

    This video shows an India supporter witnessing disappointing moments during the India VS Bangladesh match in 2007 World Cup with crackers in his hand, which India had lost. 

     

     

    The renowned online netwrok “The Viral Fever” came up with its version of the ‘Mauka’ video.

     

    The video was launched before India Vs West Indies match. It depicts India’s formidable performance and claims “Is Baar Sab Ki Phodenge,” which implies that in this World Cup, team India will spoil every opponent’s celebration.   

     

     

    This video from ITV 2.0 Productions goes beneath the boughs to depict a different scenario. It showcases circumstances where India lost all of its group matches and the opponents are participating in a joint celebration. But unfortunately for them the celebration turns out to be a flop show because the crackers were too bad to burst, and while they anxiously try to find what is wrong with the fireworks, they discover they are a low quality China made products. In the next scene, the video shows PM Narendra Modi cracking a deal with his Chinese counterpart. The moral of the video is that while the entire world planned and plotted against India, India refuses to hold back and keeps prospering.

     

     

    The same group came up with another one of a kind, all girl ‘Mauka’ piece, right before the India Vs Bangladesh match. The video shows how every team that has qualified for the quarter finals is pampering Bangladesh. The moral of the video is that if Bangladesh knocks India out of the tournament, then other teams will escape the demolition India has been offering so far to opponents.

  • Star Sports-Sony spar over World Cup, IPL performances

    Star Sports-Sony spar over World Cup, IPL performances

    MUMBAI: Even as the national sides are battling it out on the pitches in Australia-New Zealand to decide who will take home the World Cup in the quarter final stage, a behind the scenes slugfest is taking place between two rival broadcasters, which have both laid big bets on the sport. We are referring to Star India and Multi Screen Media (which runs the Sony Entertainment Television network in India).

    The former is telecasting the World Cup and has the rights to India cricket internationally, while the latter is gearing up to telecast the cricket league – the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the next two months, apart from Euro 2016 qualifiers, FIFA International friendlies and various Fight sports. At stake is close to Rs 4,500 crore that is likely to be spent by advertisers on sports television this year. Of this ginormous pie, approximately Rs 2000-2,200 crore is estimated to be spent on the World Cup and IPL. It’s no wonder then that the two are resorting to sledging within the confines of advertisers’ and media agencies’ cabins and to journos.

    Star India began its World Cup innings just about three weeks ago – rather shakily. A Sony spokesperson reveals that the Star ad sales team had just about managed to raise Rs 100 -150 crore or so in ad and sponsorship deals before the once-in-four-years tourney began. “They were really desperate,” he says. “India were performing abysmally on their tour overseas.”

    The Star spokesperson is quick to respond, “In the first two weeks only, the advertiser as well as sponsor count for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was 50 per cent higher than 2011 edition as well as the IPL.”

    The Sony spokesperson’s rejoinder to this is that India’s stupendous display against Pakistan in their opening encounter helped bail out Star Sports. Advertisers flocked to its doors, cash in hand ready to pay premium to air their TVCs. Estimates are that Star India will raise anywhere from Rs 800 – 900 crore from this year’s contest, which ends late in March.

    And even as Star has been screaming that this year’s edition has generated the highest ratings ever, and in its trail ad revenues, Sony’s spokesperson has been rubbishing the numbers. Says he: “The ratings in this edition have seen a substantial decline when compared to the 2011 edition. Moreover fans had to wait for a week to witness an India match; the decline is constant in the non-India matches too. Whereas in IPL, each and every match is entertaining and is showcased on prime time.”

    He adds, “After 31 matches, the bouts involving India are generating 6.1 TVRs, which was 10.3 during the 2011 edition and the decline is constant in non-India matches too wherein it has dropped from 3.6 TVRs to 1.3 TVR.”

    Terming those figures as absolute no-balls, the Star India spokesperson asserts, “The cumulative reach of the ongoing World Cup touched 534 million viewers after the first 29 matches (TAM data CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a standard conversion factor). In terms of TVRs, the India vs Pakistan match garnered 14.9 TVR, India vs South Africa got 12.7 TVR, and India vs West Indies managed 13.1 TVR and the non-India match ratings are fluctuating from 2 to 2.5.”

    Media observers also point out to the fact that the reporting of the ratings has also changed since 2011. “In those days, LC1 towns were not factored into the ratings. Hence, a pure comparision is also not possible,” says a media expert. “It’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

    The Star India spokesperson in turn takes a dig at MSM’s telecast record of the IPL, saying the trend is clear. “The IPL reach has declined continuously since season one and sharply in the last three years. Post World Cup in 2011, the tournament suffered as both foot fall and engagement dropped.”

    Terming these allegations as “baseless,” the MSM official shared the cumulative reach of IPL since its inception.

     

     

    The official also added, “Not only in terms of cumulative reach every year but also in terms of ad revenue we witnessed an eight – 10 per cent increase.  IPL is an established entity and considering the fact that the tourney has survived through many ifs and buts in past years, the asset is now beyond question.”

    The Star spokesperson says that MSM has a major challenge on its hands over the next few weeks. It is going to telecast the IPL very soon after the World Cup ends; at a time when the sports ad spends appetites of some advertisers may have been satiated courtesy the World Cup. However, to MSM’s advantage is the fact that most big spenders are beginning new financial years (the year end for most large corporates in India is 31 March) and hence will have fat wallets. Nonetheless, Sony has to raise anywhere from Rs 900 to 1,200 crore to make this year’s IPL outing pay off.

    The Sony spokesperson quickly reverts that this is a given. “While we don’t comment on internal financial figures, we will meet and maybe even beat the revenue target we have set for this year’s IPL,” he says. “Advertiser interest is rising thanks to the excitement that is building around cricket.”

    Even as they are taking digs at each other’s performances, the fact remains that both broadcasters are well aware of the importance and valuation of the two flagship tournaments. Moreover the fact that Star’s Hotstar platform is the digital partner of IPL and Max was the destination of the World Cup not long back, proves that the two desire both the tournaments equally. Star India probably is hungry for growth in sports. Its CEO Uday Shankar has outlined the broadcast network’s intentions very clearly: it wants to pitch in a big way to grow the sports ecosystem in India. And in the process, also bring in mountains of revenues for his network.

    When the next bidding process for the IPL begins by next year or so, you can be sure Shankar and his team will be on the frontlines making a definitive attempt to acquire its rights. Of course MSM’s NP Singh will be up front too. The rivalry will continue.

  • Marketing, promotion the &TV way

    Marketing, promotion the &TV way

    And in 2015 a new benchmark has been set on how to launch a new channel in the hyper competitive and challenging Indian TV ecosystem. We are referring to the effort that is being put behind the unveiling of Zee Network’s &TV on 2 March.

     

    In what could be labelled as an extremely well coordinated exercise, the brand has been in your face everywhere you go… in the streets, on television, in print, on radio, online and in social conversation. Estimates are that the network has laid out an advertising and marketing war chest of more than Rs 100 crore. All that is left is for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come out and endorse it! Or the once again emerging common man’s political and social poster boy – Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to mention it.

     

    India’s oldest and most successful television and media industry monitor Indiantelevision.com has also been roped in as a partner by India’s oldest television network for the &TV launch. Hence, you will see a coordinated activity on the site. The ‘Indian’ in our masthead has been merged with one of the key messages it is trying to convey: television in our country will now be referred to as &ndiantelevision. Every ‘and’ reference in our stories has been replaced by the channel’s logo. We were more than willing to partake of this marketing and social experiment, as it is only for a day.

     

    It is a messaging and marketing innovation, which we believe has not been done before, and will definitely merit a case study going forward. We believe the more discerning and progressive will see it as such. It is an era of partnerships, and who else but Indiantelevision.com (which has been serving at least two generations of leadership and several more generations of low – and mid-management in the privately run television industry since it started in the early nineties) would dare to venture to take this pioneering step.

     

    Clearly, what was once perceived as a conservative and ‘Lala’ media group has engineered a campaign that would do any of the more experienced marketing mavens in Unilever India or Procter & Gamble or Coke or Pepsi proud.

     

    There is ample reason for the Subhash Chandra promoted and now run by his son Punit Goenka, Zee Network to go into a marketing overdrive for &TV. The channel is launching in the thick of cricket season: the exciting World Cup is on and Dhoni’s team has once again found its form. This is exciting India’s cricket mad TV viewers to start visualizing and wanting another India victory in the prestigious once in four years prize. Ratings for Star Sports have been like never before and around half of the Indian TV viewing audience stayed glued to their TV set to watch our men in blue thrash the boys in green from Pakistan in India’s opening match. Even repeat telecasts were tuned in to later in the evening, as were the analysis and magazine shows on Star Sports.

     

    While the World Cup will culminate end-March, it will soon to be followed by the slam bam version of the gentleman’s game the money spinning Indian Premier League (IPL) on the Sony Entertainment network in April. Even though riddled with controversy, the cricket league has been attracting eyeballs over the years. And should continue to do so in the 2015 season too.

    If one were to be a critic and point out a single flaw in the &TV campaign, it could be the over dependence of the channel on projecting one programme – the Shah Rukh Khan-hosted India Poochega Sabse Shaana Kaun. While it is a good strategy to use arguably India’s best known Bollywood face and the second richest actor in the world, it also means the show will have to measure up and meet the expectations it has raised in the minds of viewers. Yes, two other shows Razia Sultan and Begusarai are also being promoted but the decibel levels are lower than that for the Shah Rukh show. And Shah Rukh has not really set the small screen on fire in his earlier sojourns as the host of shows like Zor Ka Jhatka, Kaun Banega Crorepati or Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain, though the telecast of his films on TV has been good reason for viewers to stay put at home in the past.

     

    However, Goenka like his father is emerging as a business executive who is willing to take risks – some may say an expensive one. But the fact is that if the show catches on, he could well end up getting loads of praises and advertising dollars. If it doesn’t it could well prove a driver for other shows on the channel.

     

    Colors used this strategy at the time of its launch: Akshay Kumar became its  face, and though his Khatron Ke Khiladi did not get very high numbers as one would have expected, it worked like a magnet and drew audiences into the channel’s other shows and positioned Colors in the minds of viewers as an edgy and differentiated channel.

     

    If that is the strategy that Goenka and the &TV team lead by Rajesh Iyer are following (Iyer was associated with the Colors launch as well), then the other shows will have to really deliver. Prima facie the Zee Network seems to have raised the bar on production values if one looks at the shows on its new offering. The effort has been to keep the story telling and narrative for its fiction shows differentiated. Hopefully, India’s general entertainment viewers perceive the effort as such with &TV too.

     

    The new GEC is also launching at the time when a new TV viewership measurement system BARC is about to start rolling out its services. Who knows what surprises it may throw up as it has used newer metrics for placing its viewership meters in its 20,000 strong universe. The surprises could well end up working in the Zee Network’s and &TV’s favour.

     

    However, recent efforts to innovate in India’s Hindi general entertainment genre with linear channels have met with a rather tepid response. Star’s Life OK shone briefly, Zee TV’s Zindagi got critical acclaim but limited audiences and Sony Entertainment’s Pal was not well received by viewers.

     

    We will know soon enough whether &TV has what it takes. For that, it’s over to the audience.

  • TV channels celebrate the season of love

    TV channels celebrate the season of love

    MUMBAI: Come 14 February and television will play cupid to couch potatoes, who wish to spend the day at home. Obviously, not missing out on the opportunity, TV channels present a hearty meal to the viewers from romance and love specials to blockbuster movies.

    Star Plus intends to pull at viewers’ heart strings by airing a special two and a half hour extravaganza of love with leading Star Plus couples on 15 February at 9 pm. The Valentine Day special event will see popular faces of Star Plus’ shows performing to a medley of passionate numbers from Bollywood of 2014 to romantic songs including biggest hits from movie Aashiqui 2.

    Star wants to make this day even more special, bigger and better with its special #IThankYou campaign and an on air celebration of love with Star Valentine’s Day – Muskurane Ki Wajah Tum Ho. The campaign is a unique thought that gave Star Plus viewers the opportunity to thank their loved ones this V-Day. It was actively promoted on-air and across digital platforms with four leading protagonists (Sandhya, Ishita, Nisha and Anjali) explaining the concept of #IThankU and urging viewers to share their picture stories with Star Plus. The selected winners along with the loved ones will be given a chance to meet and greet their favourite celebrities on 14 February, 2015.

    On digital, the buzz was kept alive through active tweets of Star Plus celebrities of their #IThankU stories and urging fans to share the same. Exclusive vignettes of #IThankYou stories of key shows like MasterChef and Tu Mera Hero were shared across all the digital platforms. The campaign was rolled out on 4 February, 2015 and will culminate on 14 February, 2015.

    On the other hand, to add the glamour quotient, Zee TV has got Sunny Leone to sizzle on its special Valentine’s Day show Locha – E – Ulfat. Dressed to kill in the hues of love, Leone grooved to some of her popular numbers like Baby doll mein sone ki, pink lips and 4 bottle vodka. Celebrating love in all flavours, it will air on 15 February at 5 pm. The story revolves around a man, Birju, played by popular comedian Sunil Grover who fell in love when he was a child, but as destiny had it, his heart was crushed by the love of his life. He stopped believing in love and grew up to be an angry, young man who hates love stories but only till he sees the sensational Sunny Leone. From entertaining performances, rib-tickling humour, loads of glitz and glamour, oodles of masti and dhamaal, the show will also feature performances by popular lead couples from Zee TV performing on the dance numbers.

    Life OK is going to celebrate the day in a different style. The channel’s comedy offering – Comedy Classes will celebrate the day by spoofing on one of the biggest and most romantic movies of all time – Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. The show, which is known to spoof on celebrated movies will definitely leave viewers laughing throughout as the ace comedian Bharti Singh will play the character of Nisha, which was played by Madhuri Dixit.

    Salman Khan’s character Prem is played by Siddharth Sagar while Krushna Abhishek will play Mohnish Behl in the show. This special episode will air on 12 and 13 February at 10 pm.

    Sab TV’s most watched show in the comedy genre – Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is celebrating the season of love in a filmy way. The residents of Gokuldham Society will go all romantic for their respective wives this Valentine’s by dedicating poems written by them. The episode will air on 14 February.

    Not to forget the ones who own the occasion, youth channels too have some interesting programs lined up. To celebrate the essence of Valentine’s Day, bindass’ cult relationship show Yeh Hai Aashiqui that showcases unconventional love stories came up with a month long series called Love Heroes that highlights the role and importance of a cupid in the love story. Popular television actor Rithvik Dhanjani is seen as the host of the show and taking the viewers through the plots of some amazing love stories every week. To top it all, in order to celebrate love, bindass held a contest for couples who wanted to share stories of their cupid.

    Movie channels too are busy showering some romantic movies to the viewers. Sony Max plays cupid this day as it showcases Ishq Wala Shanivaara, a day-long movie festival featuring the best Bollywood romantic movies. Airing on 14 February, the channel spreads the love with back to back romantic comedies and dramas.

    The movie marathon consists of handpicked fan favourites airing from 7 am in the morning with Shudd Desi Romance, and culminating with Heropanti at 11 pm. The romantic extravaganza consists of various love themed movies which showcase how love emerges victorious in spite of the odds. Ishq Wala Shanivaar will get television audiences acquainted with the different faces of love, from modern-day love (Shudd Desi Romance) to, tragic love (Aashiqui 2), love and friendship (Mujhse Dosti Karoge) to love across lifetimes (Magadheera) and love set against a violent landscape (Heropanti).

    On its sister channel, Max 2, it will take viewers on a romantic journey. The channel has lined up a series of romantic movies titled Love ne bana de Jodi for viewers, beginning 8 February until 14 February. Consisting of classics from the 1950s till the 1990s the movie festival will pluck at the heart strings of viewers.

    Comprising of iconic films ranging from Chori Chori, Silsila to Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, the movie festival will charm the viewers with seven romantic movies.

    Keeping the ethos of airing differentiated content alive, Star Gold, Home of Bollywood Blockbuster Premieres, chooses to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day with a romantic thriller – Ek Villain on 14 February at 8 pm. The World TV Premiere of this romantic-thriller will be showcased immediately after Valentine’s Week Special: a weeklong line-up of romantic comedies dedicated to the day of romance. Being a love story with a thrilling twist along with a stream of melodious, chart-topping music, the movie makes for the perfect valentine viewing.

    This romantic season, Movies OK will bring to its viewers a heart-felt love story disrupted by diverse cultural barriers with the premiere of 2 States; a romantic saga starring superstar-duo Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Directed by Abhishek Verman, the movie will air on 14 February at 8 pm.

    Comedy Central is celebrating love by gifting viewers 10 hours of the most loved and acclaimed show Impractical Jokers on 14 February from 10 am to 8 pm. It is a hidden-camera series that follows four lifelong friends — Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano — who take dares to an outrageous level.

    Over the years, Vh1 has given viewers love songs and set the mood for the special day. This year, the channel wants to know who is your bae? It can be a guy or a girl and doesn’t need to be someone op the opposite sex. Just send in your dedication to your Bae and request for a song of your choice for your Bae, and see your request feature on Vh1. It’s simple, Just post your bae’s name and request a for a video with the hashtag #Vh1BaelentinesDay (on facebook/twitter/instagram) and see it featured on the show.

    Gone are the days when Valentine’s Day was celebrated amongst couples. This time around Nicktoons is all set to make the day of love exciting for kids across India. Nick has brought back its Kaun Banega Valentoon contest on Nickelodeon. The contest ran on Nick from 2 February to 10 February. As a gratification, kids get a chance to meet their valentoon on Valentine’s Day. The promotions have also been done through Social media posts and the winners will be announced on 14 February.

    On the other hand, Sonic presents an exciting movie marathon for its viewers from 15 to 21 February. From Motu Patlu series to Pakdam Pakdai to Keymon & Nani in Space Adventure, it is set to melt the hearts of the young kids.