Category: Television

  • Peter Roth extends tenure as president at Warner Bros.TV

    Peter Roth extends tenure as president at Warner Bros.TV

    MUMBAI: One of the most successful and respected executives working in television today, Peter Roth, has signed a long-term deal extending his tenure as Warner Bros. Television president, while expanding his duties to include oversight of the newly created Warner Horizon Television.

    The newly created television arm is designed to create lower-budget scripted and reality primetime series for network and cable. These announcements were made today by Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) group president Bruce Rosenblum.

    “Peter’s track record at Warner Bros. Television really speaks for itself, not just in the quantity of successful shows he’s launched, but more importantly, in the quality of the series created under his leadership,” said Rosenblum. “To say that we’re absolutely thrilled that Peter will be with us for many, many more years would be a gross understatement. He is truly the best in class. His creative instincts and execution, as well as his relationships with people both in front of and behind the cameras, from the writers’ rooms to the network boardrooms, are unmatched.

    “As the television business continues to change and business models evolve, Warner Horizon Television will enable us to take more creative risks,” continued Rosenblum. “We’re incredibly excited about the prospect of this new television arm at the Studio and know that it couldn’t be in better hands than Peter’s.”

    Roth joined Warner Bros. Television as its president in March 1999 and has maintained the company’s position as the industry’s preeminent producer of award winning primetime television series. In addition to being the most prolific television studio in Hollywood the last three years, WBTV has been the leading supplier of primetime series 16 of the last 19 television seasons. For the 2005-2006 season, WBTV placed 33 series on the primetime schedule, including a record 17 returning series, 11 new series and five midseason series.

    During his tenure, Roth has been responsible for such series as the multiple Emmy Award winning The West Wing, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace, The O.C., Cold Case, Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, George Lopez, Supernatural, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Nip/Tuck and The Closer, as well as the successful continuation of such series as Friends and ER.

    Prior toWBTV, Roth served as Fox Broadcasting Company president. There, he was responsible for the development and programming of the Emmy Award-winning Ally McBeal, That ’70s Show, Family Guy and King of the Hill. He also held posts as president of 20th Century Fox Television, Twentieth Network Television (currently 20th Century Fox Television), and of Production at Twentieth Network Television, where he oversaw such hits as the multiple Emmy Award winning Picket Fences, The X-Files, The Practice, Chicago Hope and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

    Before working at Twentieth, Roth was president of Stephen J. Cannell Productions, where he was involved with the creation and sale of such critically acclaimed series as 21 Jump Street, Wiseguy and The Commish.

    Roth began his television career at the ABC Television Network in children’s programming where he served as both a manager and later a director before moving into current programming where held both director and vice president posts, states an official release.

  • GRB’s doc series ‘Intervention’ gets Prism nomination

    GRB’s doc series ‘Intervention’ gets Prism nomination

    MUMBAI: GRB Entertainment US has announced that the series Intervention, produced by GRB Entertainment for A&E Network, has been nominated for a Prism Award.

    Recipients will be announced at an awards presentation tomorrow 27 April at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The presentation will air at a later date on FX Network.

    The awards reflect the entertainment industry’s growing commitment to fighting substance abuse and addiction through accurate depictions of drug, alcohol and tobacco use and addiction in film, television, video, music and comic book entertainment.

    Intervention is a 12 episode one hour documentary show that tackles the subject of addiction head-on. Each episode profiles addicts who are about to face the toughest choice of their lives: enter treatment immediately or be cut off from society.

    The individuals profiled on Intervention are a cross-section of America. They are lawyers, mothers, students, artists and athletes. Some of these addicts once had great wealth, others beauty, talent and big dreams. But all share one thing: an addiction that is destroying their lives and straining their families and friends to the breaking point. Though each intervention is unique, all have one simple goal – get the addict into treatment now.

    For comedy series, the nominees are All of Us’ episode The Spy Who Smoked Me, Everybody Loves Raymond’s episode Pat’s Secret, One on One’s episode Glug Glug, Reba’s episode Where There’s Smoke and Saturday Night Live’s – Good Morning Meth.

    The drama series nominees are House’s episode Hunting, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit’s episode Blood, The O.C. episode The Dearly Beloved, Strong Medicine episode We Wish You a Merry Cryst Meth and the Without a Trace episode Off the Tracks.

    The musical Rent and Walk The Line which deals with the life of country music legend Johnny cash are competing in the movie category. For performance in a film, the nominees are Rosario Dawson for Rent, Anne Hathaway for Havoc, Joaquin Phoenix for Walk the Line, Christina Ricci for Prozac Nation and Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line.

    The television movie or miniseries nominees are Ambulance Girl, Behind the Camera: The Unauthorised Story of Mork and Mindy,Lackawanna Blues, Mom at Sixteen and Riding the Bus With My Sister.

    These awards are presented by the Entertainment Industries Council (EIC) in partnership with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.

  • Daytime Emmies to feature an interactive fan zone

    Daytime Emmies to feature an interactive fan zone

    MUMBAI: This year’s Daytime Emmys in the US are filled with firsts. For the first time in its history, the show will be broadcast from Hollywood, and for the first time ever, the telecast will interact with its enthusiastic fans during the live broadcast.

    The show takes place on 28 April.

    The Luminous Colour Glaze Fan Zone is a new feature to the 33rd edition of the show and will be hosted by actor Cameron Mathison who plays Ryan Lavery in All My Children. The Zone will serve as an interactive element incorporated into the live ceremony

    Fans will have the opportunity to watch, interact with and meet the night’s Emmy Award winners immediately following their acceptance speeches from bleachers that will line Babylon Court in the Hollywood and Highland Complex.

    n addition, the telecast will open from this exciting new amphitheater-like setting with a rock-the-house performance by General Hospital actor and musician Rick Springfield (Jesse’s Girl), as he sings a mix of his best songs. During the show, fans won’t miss a moment as they watch live feeds of the ceremony taking place in the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.

    ABC president daytime programming Brian Frons says, “Daytime fans are the most dedicated viewers in all of television. ‘The Luminous Color Glaze Fan Zone’ will allow them to share Emmy night with the stars they love in a way that has never been done before. In the past you have only heard the fans’ enthusiastic screams from the balcony. This is a chance for the viewers to connect with their energy and passion.”

  • HBO announces major programming initiative for the summer

    HBO announces major programming initiative for the summer

    MUMBAI: I Love Summer! That is the tagline for English movie channel HBO’s summer programming initiative in May and June. The channel will also be running a contest.

    The offerings include non-stop thrilling blockbusters, Hollywood hotties, Kung Fu fighting, HBO Whazz up and Sex and the City’ Finale Season Premiere.

    The channel gives viewers the chance to be a part of I Love Summer. Viewers just have to reply to the question “Why you love summer on HBO”?. Prizes up for grabs include an all expense paid family trip to Club Mahindra resorts, Nano iPods, HBO premiums and lots more.

    The summer kicks off with the sci-fi horror film Resident Evil: Apocalypse on 26 May at 9 pm. All of Raccoon City is contaminated with virus and Alice (Milla Jovovich) is stuck right in the middle. Now, she and a group of survivors must fight to escape the nightmare that has plagued Raccoon City.

    The finale of Sex And The City premieres on HBO starting May with more glitz and glamour, humour and trend setting fashion. The HBO Original Movie of the month is Lackawanna Blues, which is fuelled by rhythm, blues and a stellar cast. Based on a true story of the relationship between Ruben Santiago Jr. and his guardian Rachel “Nanny” Crosby, set in 1950’s Lackawanna, a city in Upstate New York, Lackawanna Blues will air on 2 May, at 9 pm.

    As far as HBO Saturday Nights are concerned on 6 May Catwoman will air. Halle Berry’s feline instincts take over as she dons the black leather cat suit and cracks the whip for her role as the glamorous anti-heroine. In Good Company airs on 13 May, a middle-aged ad executive is faced with a new boss who is nearly half his age and who also happens to be dating his 18-year old daughter.

    On 20 May Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed takes centrestage. Old villains come back to haunt the team in their hometown, Coolsville making them lose their cool and their reputations. On 27 May the channel airs A Cinderella Story.

    HBO has created a new band HBO Whazz Up. Films in this band will air before the 9 pm movie. Films like Connie And Carla, American Ninja, What Dreams May Come, The School Of Rock will air in this band.

  • WorldSpace Noah Samara to deliver key note at International Radio Conference Dubai

    WorldSpace Noah Samara to deliver key note at International Radio Conference Dubai

    MUMBAI: International Radio Conference (IRC) is scheduled to be held from 22 May to 24 May in Dubai. The key note will be delivered by WorldSpace Corporation chairman and CEO Noah A. Samara.

    The conference is aimed at a global audience of radio professionals and contemporaries from associated industries, including advertising and media.
    It will also examine the future of radio in the Middle East. The sessions are; Shifting Stands, Breakfast Confidential, Smarter Music Scheduling, Bumpers ‘n Stabs, Doughnuts ‘n Stings, They’re not all Mad, Only the Good Ones!, Print vs Radio, 10 Great Ways to Make People Listen Longer, News You Can Use, New Frontier, Kill or Cure? Can Radio Survive the Ipod Era? and Paying the Piper! to name a few.
    Arabian Radio Network Join Abdullatif Al Sayegh will speak on Shifting Sands and other major players in the region as they give an upfront assessment of the future of radio in the Middle East.

    Emap UK expert Mark Story and Capital 98.5 UK expert Keith Pringle will provide top tips and closely guarded secrets to building the best breakfast show.

    European award winning Imager EMap UK Andy Roberts, Soniic Design Jean Michel Meschin, BBC World Service on air editor Steve Martin, Radio Advertising Bureaux UK Douglas McArthur, BBC World Service business development head Simon Kendall and Virgin Radio James Cridland will provide a low-down at the sessions.

    The sessions organised will also cover the pertinent issues facing radio professionals today including programming, technology and production.

  • Countdown begins for CommunicAsia2006 and EnterpriseIT2006

    Countdown begins for CommunicAsia2006 and EnterpriseIT2006

    MUMBAI: CommunicAsia and Enterprise IT, the region’s foremost technology shows, will be returning once again to the Singapore Expo from the 20 to 23 June.

    CommunicAsia, EnterpriseIT and BroadcastAsia are key components of the five-day Infocomm Media Business Exchange (imbX) which is held annually in Singapore in the month of June.

    Reflecting the buoyant market and the latest trends, some of the key technologies addressed on the show floor include mobile entertainment, IPTV, 3G, VoIP, NGN, WiMAX, information security and embedded technologies, states an official release.

    Visitors from India can expect to see the latest innovations from the most influential world vendors and operators, including Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, NTT Docomo, Lucent, Motorola, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG among many others. The event will also feature 21 international group pavilions including Thailand, US, Korea, the European Union and China among others, in addition to the ESC-led Indian pavilion.

    India continues to have the fastest growing ICT market in the world, with a predicted combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 percent from 2004 through 2008, according to research house Gartner. Gartner estimates that ICT spending in India will surpass US$54.8 billion by 2008, a rise from US$29.5 billion in 2004. Reflecting the surge in ICT demand in India, a total of 555 Indian visitors attended CommunicAsia and EnterpriseIT in 2005, posting a 25 per cent increase over 2004.

    The focus of the high-powered CommunicAsia Summit this year turns towards mobile applications, broadband and next generation networks as the industry’s three key growth areas Some of the top-notch speakers include Andrew Sukawaty, CEO and chairman of Inmarsat, Joseph Anton Aliagas, CEO of Arena Mobile Music, Skuli Mogensen, CEO & founder of OZ, Craig Wilson, IBM’s Asia Pacific director for Digital Media and Telecommunications, Craig Farrill, CEO of Kodiak Networks and Thorsten Heinz, Siemens CTO.

    Making its presence felt on the international market through CommunicAsia and EnterpriseIT are home-grown companies including Acceltree Software, Kaveri Telecom Products, Matrix Telecom and MRO-TEK, as well as companies under the Indian national pavilion led by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC). These include BSMC Power Systems, Elitecore Technologies, Euclid Infotech, Lepton Software Export & Research, Svarn Telecom and Toshniwal Enterprises Controls. Indian telco giant Shyam Telecom will also be exhibiting at the event, the release adds.

    Victor Wong, project director of CommunicAsia and EnterpriseIT said, “CommunicAsia, alongside EnterpriseIT, is the most established ICT show in Asia and the ideal platform to launch and showcase new technologies and services to the world that will transform the way we live. Not only is CommunicAsia a highly relevant event to the needs of Indian visitors to the event, it is an important platform for India to showcase its ICT capabilities to the world and to forge international business links.”

    According to International Data Corp (IDC), new technologies entering the telecommunications marketplace are redefining the industry. The telecom services market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) is projected to exceed US$170 billion, posting a growth of seven percent compared to last year. This growth is likely to come from VoIP, broadband and 3G services.

  • Channel 4 signs Vod deal for ‘Lost’, ‘Desperate Housewives’

    Channel 4 signs Vod deal for ‘Lost’, ‘Desperate Housewives’

    MUMBAI: UK broadcaster Channel 4 has announced an agreement with Buena Vista International Television (BVITV), the international TV distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company, to acquire the exclusive UK video-on-demand rights to Lost and Desperate Housewives.

    In India, the shows airs on Star Movies and Star World respectively.

    This deal is Disney’s first in Europe for VOD rights to its network series and is in line with Disney’s focus on the application of technology to enhance its content and expand its distribution.

    The pay per view Vod service will launch tomorrow 27 April when the entire series of Lost season one will be available on-demand at www.channel4.com/lost and to digital TV customers via ntl Telewest’s on-demand service. Episodes of the hit series can be purchased for 99p and watched an unlimited number of times within a 24 hour period.

    Access to the service will be limited to the UK. ntl Telewest has also secured the rights for content to be shown in high-definition.

    Channel 4 CEO Andy Duncan said, “Channel 4 is the most distinctive brand in UK television and we want to protect and enhance this reputation by making our award-winning content available across multiple platforms. By partnering exclusively on the VOD rights to two of the biggest shows on TV, we will work together to reach and grow on-demand audiences. This deal with BVITV reinforces Channel 4’s plans to make content available ‘anytime, anywhere’ and is a fantastic way of demonstrating our ambitions in this area.”

    BVITV VP, MD Europe, Middle East and Africa Tom Toumazis said, “This ground-breaking agreement represents our first step in launching our network series on Vod to the European market. We’re committed to working with partners with strong new media strategies, such as Channel 4, to harness new technology in bringing our hit programming to viewers in fresh and innovative ways. We also remain committed to providing legitimate ways in which to download content, and believe that offering these two series in this way is a significant step.”

    Touchstone Television president Mark Pedowitz says, “The creative appeal of Lost and Desperate Housewives transcends borders and we are thrilled the content will be available on-demand to UK consumers”.

    Channel 4 new business director Rod Henwood said, “This is a significant step in Channel 4’s plans to launch a full video-on-demand service across multiple platforms later this year. Partnering with Disney on these two stand-out shows illustrates the critical strategic importance of VOD to Channel 4.”

    Also, Lost season two will be available via www.channel4.com and to subscribers of ntl Telewest 14 days after their first UK broadcast and to promote the service for a two week period the first two episodes will be offered to viewers free of charge. Episodes will be streamed on Channel4.com and can be viewed on a PC using Windows Media Player.

    On demand episodes of Desperate Housewives season two will be available from 4 May with episodes of the first season available later that month.

  • BBC unveils ‘Creative Future’ to address digital vision

    BBC unveils ‘Creative Future’ to address digital vision

    MUMBAI: The BBC has unveiled Creative Future, a new editorial blueprint designed to deliver more value to audiences over the next six years as laid out in the recent Government White Paper. For the past year, ten teams have been exploring what the world may be like in 2012, what audiences may need and want and what the BBC needs to do about it. It explores quality content for the on- demand world .

    The plans build on opportunities created by new and emerging digital technologies and confront the challenges of seismic shifts in public expectations, lifestyle and behaviours and on building new relationships with audiences and individual households, informs a press release.

    Delivering a lecture, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson will say: “The second wave of digital will be far more disruptive than the first and the foundations of traditional media will be swept away, taking us beyond broadcasting. The BBC needs a creative response to the amazing, bewildering, exciting and inspiring changes in both technology and expectations.

    “On-demand changes everything. It means we need to rethink the way we conceive, commission, produce, package and distribute our content. This isn’t about new services it’s about doing what we already do differently. The BBC should no longer think of itself as a broadcaster of TV and radio and some new media on the side. We should aim to deliver public service content to our audiences in whatever media and on whatever device makes sense for them, whether they are at home or on the move.
     
    “We can deliver much more public value when we think across all platforms and consider how audiences can find our best content, content that’s more relevant, more useful and more valuable to them. I see a unique creative opportunity. This new digital world is a better world for public service content than the old one.”

    Key recommendations include:

       -Relaunching the BBC’s website to include more personalisation, richer audio-visual and user generated content
        Create a new teen brand delivered via existing broadband, TV and radio services, including a new long-running drama and comedy, factual and music content
        -Create easy access points for audiences via broadband portals around key content areas like Sport, Music, Knowledge Building, Health and Science
        Start commissioning more 360 degree cross-platform content
       – Shift energy and resource into continuous news on TV, radio, broadband and mobile, making News 24 the centre of the TV offering, moving talent to it and breaking stories on it
        Improve the quality of Sports and Entertainment journalism and appoint a specialist Sports Editor
        -Create one single, pan-platform BBC Music Strategy and develop big events like this Autumn’s first BBC
        -Electric Proms as well as more personalisation enabling people to create the equivalent of their own radio station
       – Take entertainment seriously, learn from the world of video games and experiment with commissioning for new platforms
       – In Drama – create fewer titles with longer runs, find creative space for outstanding writers and cherish the programmes audience love best like EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City
        In Comedy – improve the creative pipeline across all platforms, pilot more shows, find new talent and build the big hits for BBC ONE
        -Give sharper age targets to the CBeebies and CBBC brands and integrate all children’s content – including online and radio – under these brands
        Pilot a Knowledge Building online project called Eyewitness – History enabling people to record and share their memories and experiences of any day over the last 100 years

    The release adds that the Creative Future plan provided a map for the on-demand future where compelling, content, easier navigation and greater audience understanding were essential. “We need to focus on making great creative content which our audiences love and is relevant to their lives. It is that simple, ” says Thompson.

    But he also warned that unless the BBC worked harder to reach younger audiences and those that felt increasingly distant more effectively, the BBC could lose a generation forever.

    The plans have emerged from the year-long Creative Future project, sponsored by Thompson and the BBC’s Creative Director Alan Yentob. The project has involved hundreds of people across the BBC, the independent sector and other industry partners, underpinned by one of the largest audience research and insight initiatives the BBC has ever undertaken.

    Some detailed key recommendations by genre are:

    Journalism
    #A new pan platform journalism strategy, including mobile devices, is already underway, putting 24/7 news on the web, broadband, TV and radio at its heart for unfolding stories as well as analysis.
    #Sport and Entertainment journalism will be improved. Responsiveness and authenticity are important qualities to audiences.
    #Current affairs will be reshaped and BBC News will work with the education sector to get BBC journalism into secondary schools across the country through initiatives like Schools Question Time.

    Sport
    #Creating a BBC Sport broadband portal with live video and audio, journalism, specialist sports and interactive comment, which builds on the recent success of the Winter Olympics and reflects the diversity of sport across the nations and regions of the UK.
    # Launching a new flagship Sports News programme on TV, appointing a BBC Sports Editor and phasing out ‘portfolio’ programmes like Grandstand, a brand which no longer has impact, in favour of BBC Sport branded live events and highlights.

    Music
    #For the first time, a single BBC music strategy across all platforms, with regular cross platform events like this Autumn’s Electric Proms, including TV Music Entertainment and commissioning in Radio & Music.
    # The aim is be the premier destination for unsigned bands and to seize the opportunities of broadband, podcasting and mobile.

    Kids & Teens
    #All children’s output, including radio, online and learning will eventually be consolidated under the CBeebies and CBBC brands which will be given tighter audiences targets – up to 6 and 7-11 years respectively.
    # Create a broadband based teen brand aimed at 12-16 years, including a high volume drama, comedy, music and factual content.

    Comedy
    #Developing the creative pipeline for comedy across all radio and TV networks – local and national – and kickstarting contemporary sitcoms by increasing the number of pilots, investing more in rehearsal time and script development, maximising access through new media and experimenting with bespoke content.
    # Improving training, nurturing talent, relaunching the comedy website and holding an annual BBC Comedy day for those involved in creating comedy for the BBC.

    Drama
    #Intensifying the pace, energy and emotion of TV dramas, such as the award-winning Bleak House or The Street currently on BBC ONE, while continuing to cherish the big runners like EastEnders and Casualty that audiences love.
    # Creating more writer-led radio landmarks, opting for fewer TV titles with longer runs and higher audience value, supporting single dramas and writers and experimenting with the drama inherent in gaming and interactive – such as the online drama Jamie Kane.

    Entertainment
    #Deliver more consistent, braver, high production value entertainment on Saturday nights on BBC ONE, plus at least two stripped entertainment events on the channel each year.
    # More effective piloting, cross media commissioning and closer collaboration with other genres like factual and leisure to build top shows of the future like The Apprentice – from factual entertainment.

    Knowledge Building
    #BBC content which documents the world and inspires audiences to explore, learn and contribute should come as one proposition and be available permanently after transmission. Knowledge Building content should be as big an offer from the BBC as BBC News.
    # The appeal to people’s interests and passions has a long term value so the BBC will rethink its approach, pan platform, to key areas like Natural History, Health and Technology.
    # It will also pilot Eyewitness – a national grid marking every day over the last 100 years –giving anyone with a story to tell about a particular day the chance to record and share their memories with others.

    Cross platform content and commissioning
    #Building on big ideas and events that can work across platforms as well as on linear channels, while meeting specialist interests via on-demand.
    # It will mean a different approach to commissioning and integrating key output areas.

    Thompson said these and more detailed recommendations in each area were just the beginning of creative renewal and would be facilitated by other important initiatives. These include: feeding more audience insights and research into the creative process and developing new cross platform measurements; also putting technology and its potential at the heart of creative thinking; developing a pan BBC rights strategy; launching a more powerful search tool as bbc.co.uk is upgraded, cracking metadata labelling as a priority and ensuring that the BBC is organisationally and culturally ready to make the Creative Future recommendations real.

    “Audiences have enormous choice and they like exercising it. But many feel the BBC is not tuned into their lives. We need to understand our audiences far better, to be more responsive, collaborative and to build deeper relationships with them around fantastic quality content,” says Thompson.

  • Rabindra Mishra to head BBC World Service in Nepal

    Rabindra Mishra to head BBC World Service in Nepal

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service has appointed 39-year-old Rabindra Mishra as the new head of BBC Nepali.

    Mishra is responsible for the editorial output of BBC Nepali broadcasts, the staff in London and Kathmandu and contributions from freelance journalists located throughout Nepal. He first joined BBC World service in 1995 as a producer with BBC Nepali.

    Later, he worked on English language flagship programmes, including World Today and Newshour, and in the BBC World Service Newsroom before returning to BBC Nepali to be its desk editor. He said, “I have an excellent team to work with, both in the UK and Nepal, and I am sure we will continue to meet the expectations of our valued audience. News from Nepal is presently dominating the world headlines and accurate reporting by the BBC is, now more than ever, absolutely vital.”

    Before joining the BBC, Rabindra worked with Pakistan’s English language daily, The New International and with Nepal Television.

    BBC Nepali has been serving audiences for 35 years. BBC Nepali programmes cover a wide spectrum of news stories, features, and regular analyses on Nepalese issues. It currently broadcasts 30 minutes daily on shortwave, which is rebroadcast by nine FM stations in Nepal. There is also a growing audience of Nepalese living outside the country who go to bbcnepali.com for programmes, in text and audio.

  • Magazines lead print sprint

    Circa 1996. A close look at an A H Wheeler newsstand at any Indian railway station reveals hardly 40 magazines on display, and that too in the film and generals interest category.

    Circa 2006. A close look at the same newsstand shows up more than a 100 magazines.

    What‘s up? The Indian print media sector has got into the grip of magazine mania ever since the government permitted foreigners to invest 26 per cent in general interest publications and 74 per cent in special interest ones. Publishers both foreign and Indian have been introducing magazines in genres and targeted at segments which were unimaginable earlier.

    Source: Guide to Indian Markets 2006 by Hansa Research & MRUC

    Hear out Mediaedge:cia general manager Mumbai Manas Mishra: “It‘s boom time for the magazine market and especially so for the niche magazine segment. I think, the market is still going to grow further. So, while the existing magazines will continue to do well and in the coming months, one is definitely going to see many more publications make a foray.”

    Elaborating further, A.C. Nielsen client services director ND Badrinath says, “The game is really to work towards market expansion, with existing publishers launching niche magazines, right from photography to automobiles to food to healthcare.”

    His estimate is that close to two magazines a month have launched in the past year, making it close to 24 new magazines that are out in the market today. “As consumerism is rising, so also is an appetite for special interest magazines. Also, what has made it interesting for the foreigner is the higher ceiling of 74 per cent in special interest non-news publications,” feels Badrinath.

    The major magazine players are not just sitting back and watching the fun. English news magazine leader India Today has jacked up its cover price to Rs 20, a move that has been carried through by rival Outlook as well. The Week from the Malayala Manorama stable, meanwhile, has also upped its price to Rs 15.

    And the tie-ups have been happening apace as well. Consider:

    * Bennet Coleman & Co floated a 50:50 joint venture called World Wide Media – with the BBC last year. Under this, the joint venture will roll out new niche titles from the BBC stable in the Indian market while BCCL will sell ad space. Among the magazines which have rolled out include Top Gear. Others are expected to be introduced soon.

    * Infomedia India Limited, India‘s leading special interest magazine and directory publishing company, set up a 51:49% joint venture with Reed Business Information called Reed Infomedia India Pvt. Ltd. The purpose: license titles from the Reed portfolio for the Indian market including the likes of Variety, JCK, Control Engineering and Logistics Management.

    * In December 2005, Playboy Enterprises announced that it would launch its magazine with its usual fare, except for its name and its nudes. Christie Hefner, the chief executive of Playboy Enterprises had then announced to media that its Indian version “would be an extension of Playboy that would be focused around the lifestyle, pop culture, celebrity, fashion, sports and interview elements of Playboy.” But the magazine would not be “classic Playboy,” she warned. “It would not have nudity,” she said, “and I don‘t think it would be called Playboy.”

    * To add on more to the action, is the Outlook group, publisher of the English weekly newsmagazine Outlook, has tied up with McCGraw Hill to bring out the best selling international newsweekly Newsweek into India. The Outlook management says it will relaunch the magazine (bring out a facsimile edition) this year by pricing it at locally affordable prices with Indian advertising with the content however being international. The magazine will be printed in Singapore, and will be shipped to India.

    Says Outlook president and publisher Maheshwari Peri, “Today it is sold at Rs 80 per copy. To make it a mass product we will have to sell it at the prevailing prices in the country for mass market magazines. We will also undertake a brand promotion exercise.” His goal is to double the magazine‘s circulation in India from the 13,000 copies currently within a year.

    “We will be able to break the price barrier, which is the key in making the product affordable,” Peri says.

    Meanwhile, he has also inked a deal to bring to bring the leading international women‘s magazine Marie Claire to India. And of course, the group has also recently launched a business magazine called Outlook Business, which it is promoting aggressively.

    * The India Today Group has been publishing Readers Digest, Cosmopolitan, Scientific American India and Golf Digest under different licence agreements from their US parents. The group is gearing up to reintroduce Time in India. Earlier it was distributing it along with magazines such as Fortune, but is now looking to take Newsweek head-on by introducing Time at Indian pricing. This apart, it has announced plans to introduce a regional language version of Readers Digest.

    But where the action has really been red hot is in the men‘s lifestyle segment. A few months ago, Maxim publisher, Dennis Publishing licensed the title to speciality publisher Media Transasia. Man‘s World – a publication launched by Anuradha Mahindra – has been in this space for almost half a decade.

    Says Maxim India CEO and associate publisher Piyush Sharma, “India has the most underpenetrated and underleveraged print media sector, especially magazines. In almost every genre there is either zero or just one or two players, as compared to the UK, which has 600 publishers and the US which has 2,000 publishers. And while there are many publications and publishing houses, just about 15-20 of them account for 80 per cent of revenues. We are looking at launching another three publications from the Media Tranasia stable – two of these are focused on travel, and women respectively.”
    The goal, for starters, according to Sharma, is to take circulation of Maxim up to 80,000 copies. The first three issues, according to Sharma, have received a great response and almost all ad pages have been sold out.

    Source: Guide to Indian Markets 2006 by Hansa Research & MRUC

    To take on the fight further, the Malayala Manorama group have gone ahead and launched a niche, lifestyle magazine called The Man. But, is there space for a third and fourth magazine in the genre, with Man‘s World and Maxim already in the market?

    Says Pinaki Chattopadhyay, senior manager marketing, for The Week, “We decided to go ahead with a men‘s magazine, when research proved that there‘s a market for a magazine like this. We‘re printing around 30,000 copies and are also upbeat about the advertising potential of the brand.”

    Adds Chattopadhyay, “The urban Indian man, we felt, needed a publication that understood his informational needs as a person who is evolving in response to changing city life, social roles and attitudes. He needed a publication that knew how to meet his aspirational needs as a consumer who sought a better lifestyle. Hence The Man.”

    “Niche, premium magazines definitely have a lot of scope in the country with foreign brands making a foray and looking for specialized platforms to advertise, ” says Manas Mishra. “Though, the circulation might be less, but brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Schanel would rather advertise on these premium magazines and not go in with the general interest magazines.”

    And statistics bear this out. According to TAM Research, magazine ad spend grew by 15 per cent in 2005 to reach Rs 7 billion with general interest (39 per cent) and women‘s (21 per cent) categories taking up 60 per cent of spend business, while the remainder 15 per cent was controlled by a large number of special interest titles.

    Observers point out that it is this 15 per cent, which is only going to grow as niche magazines and consumer products wanting to reach out to their niche readers proliferate. Says a media observer, “But care has to be taken that the party does not get spoilt by an overkill of titles. Only the fittest will survive.”

    Hopefully, the wannabe magazine barons are tuned in!