MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.
A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.
As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.
Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.
He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.
Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”
Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”
MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.
A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.
As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.
Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.
He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.
Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”
Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”
MUMBAI: Keeping the viewers glued to their television screens on prime time to cheer for their favourite Jhalak star with each new season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, getting them riled up over the closer- to-home love stories in Dil ko phir Aaj jeene ki Tamanaa hai, taking the nation aback with television’s first ever gay relationship in Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan, and breaking the gender moulds with Girls On Top — BBC Worldwide India has had a very busy year and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.
Girls On Top
While it’s been busy signing a joint venture with Sony Pictures Network to launch Sony BBC Earth, producing local productions of BBC Worldwide formats like Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi (Tonight’s the Night) and exploring interesting partnerships in the digital space with its finished content like Doctor Who, Top Gear and Sherlock, the company’s non-production businesses has driven the revenues significantly in the past year.
“I genuinely feel that we have done so much and have so much more to look forward to this year. The team’s been kept busy between big and small projects. We haven’t taken any breaks,” expresses BBC Worldwide India SVP and GM Myleeta Aga.
Myleeta Aga
As head honcho, Aga wears many hats. She is responsible for creative content development in both the fiction and nonfiction space and for partnerships in the market as well as new business development. She also manages talent and overall growth within the organisation. When asked how she goes about fulfilling these distinct and key roles, she reveals that she is tuned in with everything but isn’t hands-on with each and every activity.
“I run multiple businesses within BBC Worldwide and I have a large team that I look after. My way of managing is by hiring great people and trusting them to do a good job. I don’t interfere in the day-to-day details. Of course, if you ask me about any specific information on a show that’s in production, or any data on a commercial deal in place, I have an answer – thanks to my team that keeps me up to date. We discuss and consult about everything we do. But you can’t scale if you do everything on your own,” Aga says.
The production business within BBC Worldwide in India has evolved in the last 12 months – the amount of fiction content that the organisation has churned out has increased . “This is the first year that we have had as many productions in fiction as we’ve had in non-fiction,” Aga says proudly and rightly so. Breaking assumptions as a corporate company that ‘only produces good nonfiction content’ and sinking teeth in to the highly competitive fiction market didn’t always come easy for the organisation.
To not depend just on co-productions and engage in a larger creative playing field within the market, it was necessary to cultivate the skill sets from within the organisation. And that was what Aga did three years ago when she made the decision for BBC Worldwide India to also operate in the fiction space.
“When we decided to invest in talent in fiction, I knew that it would take us years to change the mind-set in the industry. The industry needed convincing that there really aren’t separate skills needed for fiction and nonfiction. One is ultimately telling a story, whether it is of a reality star or an actor in a soap – the only difference is in the way you execute it.”
It was a heady risk to take. Fortunately, it is one that has paid off.
Today Aga proudly treasures the fact that she has an uncompromising team ready to tackle any kind of content across fiction and nonfiction. Interestingly, BBC’s top production executives in India are all women. Yes, you read it right, all women.
Richa Yamini, creative head for fiction content and production, was the first one to be picked in the fiction category. Her journey with BBC includes shows like Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan and DD’s Dil Ko Aaj Fir Jine Ki Tamanna Hai. “BBC was perceived as a nonfiction company when I joined. We started off with little steps to build awareness for our fiction content. We did a telefilm for Star Plus, followed by some coproduction work with Life Ok and Bindass. Then, we got our first fiction show with MTV. We’ve had a steady flow of productions since then.
Richa Yamini
Yamini works closely with the head of fiction production, Dixitaa Thakar who joined the team almost three and half years ago. With 32 years of production experience under her belt, Thakar is a veteran whose guidance has helped grow the fiction category within the organisation to its current stature. “It was my responsibility to train the existing production team on the specific nuances of producing fiction shows. There was a lot of unlearning and relearning involved in the process.”
Dixitaa Thakar
The problem, as Yamini and Thakar both point out, lay in the general assumption amongst broadcasters that a corporate organization like BBC Worldwide wouldn’t do good job in fiction. “Shows are not given to production houses, but to individual well known writers, irrespective of the production houses he or she works in partnership with. We are changing this practice.” Yamini explained.
The third pillar in BBC Worldwide’s all girl production team is Soniya Kulkarni who heads nonfiction — the company’s stronghold. With a reputation to maintain, Kulkarni naturally works under a lot of pressure to keep up the standards, especially when the nonfiction pie is too thin in any given market.
“The healthiest of broadcasters do two hours of nonfiction programing in a week, as compared to thirty hours of fiction. So to get a new show on or to continue a series on is a struggle year on year. While we have been doing Jhalak for nine years now and in spite of its growing popularity, we can’t depend on just one big format for the business. Thanks to the huge catalogue of formats that BBC has, we have been able to introduce some good shows to India, like, Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi, the Tonight’s the Night format from the BBC. But a lot of the bread and butter of nonfiction lies in developing home grown formats in the market, and we are dedicated to that,” Kulkarni elaborates.
Creative producer Palki Malhotra, who had worked nearly six years under an individual producer, joined BBC Worldwide to help build and grow the fiction chapter. She took the job as it offered her the freedom of working within a start-up, as well as the security of a job, as she puts it. “BBC hasn’t restricted me within the fiction and nonfiction boundaries. While I have worked in a show like Bindass Naach, I am also having fun producing a show like Girls On Top.”
Given the legacy of brand BBC, the production house may give off the assumption of a corporate work environment, but Aga paints a different picture, while acknowledging the benefits of working for a large organisation. “I prefer not to think of us as a corporation. Our work environment is informal with an open work space, where we share desks and executives don’t lock themselves in cabins. Yes, we have systems and processes, and we have values that we align ourselves with. All these things empower the team to have a long term vision rather than simply a short term target.”
Soniya, Palki and Deepali
Commercial head Deepali Handa seconds the thought. “The company puts the brand and its image and relations with the stakeholders first. Something as simple as treating your actors well, not upsetting your stakeholders and respecting our work, may sound common sense, but it’s exactly these tenets that have clients coming back to us over and over again.” Handa asserts that BBC’s policies makes it easier for actors, artists, crews and other contractors to have a conducive working experience with the team.
BBC Worldwide has also done some fascinating work in the past in branded content Asian Paints Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai which aired for the first time on Colors in 2013 followed by a second season in 2014 with Vinay Pathak as the host, was developed by a dedicated team.
When asked if having a dedicated branded content arm puts her in an advantage to address the emerging requirements of the digital space, Aga answers, “Right now a lot of work on digital does revolve around the branded content category. But ultimately digital is just a platform. An advertiser would prefer to put branded content, a content aggregator would look at straightforward content, while if you partner with a broadcaster, you will look at a catch up service. Each of these OTT players have different requirements and given the fact that we can cater to all of them puts us at an advantage. Eventually people are looking for ideas that work,” Aga explains.
If all this isn’t enough to keep Aga and her team occupied, BBC Worldwide in India also keeps busy, working with broadcasters to put award-winning and highly rated BBC programmes onto their platforms. For example, Doctor Who on FX has performed incredibly well, as has Sherlock, Orphan Black and Top Gear on AXN. It has also worked with OTT platforms like Hungama and Vuclip to deliver award-winning and highly rated shows like Prey, War and Peace and Doctor Foster.
So what’s next for the very busy team at BBC Worldwide in India? Well, in addition to their already hectic schedules, they’re also in talks with several other local OTT players to provide original content on the web including nonfiction shows. Many of these will see the light of day, undoubtedly. And when they do, it will be more power to the BBC top team.
MUMBAI: Keeping the viewers glued to their television screens on prime time to cheer for their favourite Jhalak star with each new season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, getting them riled up over the closer- to-home love stories in Dil ko phir Aaj jeene ki Tamanaa hai, taking the nation aback with television’s first ever gay relationship in Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan, and breaking the gender moulds with Girls On Top — BBC Worldwide India has had a very busy year and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.
Girls On Top
While it’s been busy signing a joint venture with Sony Pictures Network to launch Sony BBC Earth, producing local productions of BBC Worldwide formats like Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi (Tonight’s the Night) and exploring interesting partnerships in the digital space with its finished content like Doctor Who, Top Gear and Sherlock, the company’s non-production businesses has driven the revenues significantly in the past year.
“I genuinely feel that we have done so much and have so much more to look forward to this year. The team’s been kept busy between big and small projects. We haven’t taken any breaks,” expresses BBC Worldwide India SVP and GM Myleeta Aga.
Myleeta Aga
As head honcho, Aga wears many hats. She is responsible for creative content development in both the fiction and nonfiction space and for partnerships in the market as well as new business development. She also manages talent and overall growth within the organisation. When asked how she goes about fulfilling these distinct and key roles, she reveals that she is tuned in with everything but isn’t hands-on with each and every activity.
“I run multiple businesses within BBC Worldwide and I have a large team that I look after. My way of managing is by hiring great people and trusting them to do a good job. I don’t interfere in the day-to-day details. Of course, if you ask me about any specific information on a show that’s in production, or any data on a commercial deal in place, I have an answer – thanks to my team that keeps me up to date. We discuss and consult about everything we do. But you can’t scale if you do everything on your own,” Aga says.
The production business within BBC Worldwide in India has evolved in the last 12 months – the amount of fiction content that the organisation has churned out has increased . “This is the first year that we have had as many productions in fiction as we’ve had in non-fiction,” Aga says proudly and rightly so. Breaking assumptions as a corporate company that ‘only produces good nonfiction content’ and sinking teeth in to the highly competitive fiction market didn’t always come easy for the organisation.
To not depend just on co-productions and engage in a larger creative playing field within the market, it was necessary to cultivate the skill sets from within the organisation. And that was what Aga did three years ago when she made the decision for BBC Worldwide India to also operate in the fiction space.
“When we decided to invest in talent in fiction, I knew that it would take us years to change the mind-set in the industry. The industry needed convincing that there really aren’t separate skills needed for fiction and nonfiction. One is ultimately telling a story, whether it is of a reality star or an actor in a soap – the only difference is in the way you execute it.”
It was a heady risk to take. Fortunately, it is one that has paid off.
Today Aga proudly treasures the fact that she has an uncompromising team ready to tackle any kind of content across fiction and nonfiction. Interestingly, BBC’s top production executives in India are all women. Yes, you read it right, all women.
Richa Yamini, creative head for fiction content and production, was the first one to be picked in the fiction category. Her journey with BBC includes shows like Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan and DD’s Dil Ko Aaj Fir Jine Ki Tamanna Hai. “BBC was perceived as a nonfiction company when I joined. We started off with little steps to build awareness for our fiction content. We did a telefilm for Star Plus, followed by some coproduction work with Life Ok and Bindass. Then, we got our first fiction show with MTV. We’ve had a steady flow of productions since then.
Richa Yamini
Yamini works closely with the head of fiction production, Dixitaa Thakar who joined the team almost three and half years ago. With 32 years of production experience under her belt, Thakar is a veteran whose guidance has helped grow the fiction category within the organisation to its current stature. “It was my responsibility to train the existing production team on the specific nuances of producing fiction shows. There was a lot of unlearning and relearning involved in the process.”
Dixitaa Thakar
The problem, as Yamini and Thakar both point out, lay in the general assumption amongst broadcasters that a corporate organization like BBC Worldwide wouldn’t do good job in fiction. “Shows are not given to production houses, but to individual well known writers, irrespective of the production houses he or she works in partnership with. We are changing this practice.” Yamini explained.
The third pillar in BBC Worldwide’s all girl production team is Soniya Kulkarni who heads nonfiction — the company’s stronghold. With a reputation to maintain, Kulkarni naturally works under a lot of pressure to keep up the standards, especially when the nonfiction pie is too thin in any given market.
“The healthiest of broadcasters do two hours of nonfiction programing in a week, as compared to thirty hours of fiction. So to get a new show on or to continue a series on is a struggle year on year. While we have been doing Jhalak for nine years now and in spite of its growing popularity, we can’t depend on just one big format for the business. Thanks to the huge catalogue of formats that BBC has, we have been able to introduce some good shows to India, like, Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi, the Tonight’s the Night format from the BBC. But a lot of the bread and butter of nonfiction lies in developing home grown formats in the market, and we are dedicated to that,” Kulkarni elaborates.
Creative producer Palki Malhotra, who had worked nearly six years under an individual producer, joined BBC Worldwide to help build and grow the fiction chapter. She took the job as it offered her the freedom of working within a start-up, as well as the security of a job, as she puts it. “BBC hasn’t restricted me within the fiction and nonfiction boundaries. While I have worked in a show like Bindass Naach, I am also having fun producing a show like Girls On Top.”
Given the legacy of brand BBC, the production house may give off the assumption of a corporate work environment, but Aga paints a different picture, while acknowledging the benefits of working for a large organisation. “I prefer not to think of us as a corporation. Our work environment is informal with an open work space, where we share desks and executives don’t lock themselves in cabins. Yes, we have systems and processes, and we have values that we align ourselves with. All these things empower the team to have a long term vision rather than simply a short term target.”
Soniya, Palki and Deepali
Commercial head Deepali Handa seconds the thought. “The company puts the brand and its image and relations with the stakeholders first. Something as simple as treating your actors well, not upsetting your stakeholders and respecting our work, may sound common sense, but it’s exactly these tenets that have clients coming back to us over and over again.” Handa asserts that BBC’s policies makes it easier for actors, artists, crews and other contractors to have a conducive working experience with the team.
BBC Worldwide has also done some fascinating work in the past in branded content Asian Paints Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai which aired for the first time on Colors in 2013 followed by a second season in 2014 with Vinay Pathak as the host, was developed by a dedicated team.
When asked if having a dedicated branded content arm puts her in an advantage to address the emerging requirements of the digital space, Aga answers, “Right now a lot of work on digital does revolve around the branded content category. But ultimately digital is just a platform. An advertiser would prefer to put branded content, a content aggregator would look at straightforward content, while if you partner with a broadcaster, you will look at a catch up service. Each of these OTT players have different requirements and given the fact that we can cater to all of them puts us at an advantage. Eventually people are looking for ideas that work,” Aga explains.
If all this isn’t enough to keep Aga and her team occupied, BBC Worldwide in India also keeps busy, working with broadcasters to put award-winning and highly rated BBC programmes onto their platforms. For example, Doctor Who on FX has performed incredibly well, as has Sherlock, Orphan Black and Top Gear on AXN. It has also worked with OTT platforms like Hungama and Vuclip to deliver award-winning and highly rated shows like Prey, War and Peace and Doctor Foster.
So what’s next for the very busy team at BBC Worldwide in India? Well, in addition to their already hectic schedules, they’re also in talks with several other local OTT players to provide original content on the web including nonfiction shows. Many of these will see the light of day, undoubtedly. And when they do, it will be more power to the BBC top team.
BENGALURU: Balaji Telefilms Limited reported eight per cent YoY growth in total income from operations (TIO) at Rs 78.65 for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter) as compared to Rs 71.54 crore and 43.8 per cent QoQ jump from Rs 52.85 crore.
Commissioned programs in the current quarter increased 24.4 per cent YoY to 712.2 hours as compared to 572.7 hours and increased 47.6 per cent as compared to 482.6 hours in the immediate trailing quarter. Net realisation per hour of commissioned programs increased 17.5 per cent YoY to Rs 24.2 lakh as compared to Rs 20.6 lakh, and was almost flat QoQ as compared to Rs 24.3 lakh.
The company’s revenue from commissioned programs segment in Q3-2016 increased 16.2 per cent YoY to Rs 72.01 crore as compared to Rs 61.97 crore and rose 40.7 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 51.18. The segment’s operating profit in the current quarter more than doubled (by 2.5 times) YoY to Rs 18.94 crore and increased 45.7 per cent QoQ to Rs 13 crore.
Balaji’s other segment – Films, reported revenue of just Rs 1.12 crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 0.13 crore in Q3-2015 and Rs 1.64 in the immediate trailing quarter. The Films’ segment reported operating loss of Rs 1.91 crore in the current quarter as compared to an operating loss of Rs 2.83 crore in Q3-2015 and an operating profit of Rs 0.06 crore in Q2-2016.
Other consolidated numbers reported by Balaji Telefilms
Total Expenditure in the current quarter declined 16.1 per cent YoY to Rs 68.68 crore as compared to Rs 81.81 crore, but increased 49.8 per cent as compared to Rs 45.85 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
The company’s cost of production/acquisition and telecast fees increased 5.7 per cent YoY to Rs 68.04 crore as compared to Rs 64.39 crore, but declined 15.3 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 80.22 crore.
Staff cost increased 16.9 per cent YoY to Rs 4.89 crore as compared to Rs 4.19 crore but reduced 1.2 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 4.95.
Balaji Telefilms standalone numbers
Balaji Telefilms’ YoY standalone profit after tax (PAT) catapulted more than six-fold at Rs 20.66 crore (28.7 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 3.09 crore (5.4 per cent margin) and was double QoQ as compared to Rs 10.31 crore (20.2 per cent standalone margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.
The company reported 26 per cent YoY increase in standalone total income from operations (TIO) in the current quarter to Rs 72.3 crore from Rs 57.27 crore and 41 per cent jump from Rs 51.11 crore in Q2-2016.
Standalone EBIDTA more than quadrupled (by 4.24 times) YoY in Q3-2016 at Rs 18.05 crore as compared to Rs 4.25 crore and almost doubled (up 94 per cent) as compared to Rs 9.32 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
BENGALURU: Balaji Telefilms Limited reported eight per cent YoY growth in total income from operations (TIO) at Rs 78.65 for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter) as compared to Rs 71.54 crore and 43.8 per cent QoQ jump from Rs 52.85 crore.
Commissioned programs in the current quarter increased 24.4 per cent YoY to 712.2 hours as compared to 572.7 hours and increased 47.6 per cent as compared to 482.6 hours in the immediate trailing quarter. Net realisation per hour of commissioned programs increased 17.5 per cent YoY to Rs 24.2 lakh as compared to Rs 20.6 lakh, and was almost flat QoQ as compared to Rs 24.3 lakh.
The company’s revenue from commissioned programs segment in Q3-2016 increased 16.2 per cent YoY to Rs 72.01 crore as compared to Rs 61.97 crore and rose 40.7 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 51.18. The segment’s operating profit in the current quarter more than doubled (by 2.5 times) YoY to Rs 18.94 crore and increased 45.7 per cent QoQ to Rs 13 crore.
Balaji’s other segment – Films, reported revenue of just Rs 1.12 crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 0.13 crore in Q3-2015 and Rs 1.64 in the immediate trailing quarter. The Films’ segment reported operating loss of Rs 1.91 crore in the current quarter as compared to an operating loss of Rs 2.83 crore in Q3-2015 and an operating profit of Rs 0.06 crore in Q2-2016.
Other consolidated numbers reported by Balaji Telefilms
Total Expenditure in the current quarter declined 16.1 per cent YoY to Rs 68.68 crore as compared to Rs 81.81 crore, but increased 49.8 per cent as compared to Rs 45.85 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
The company’s cost of production/acquisition and telecast fees increased 5.7 per cent YoY to Rs 68.04 crore as compared to Rs 64.39 crore, but declined 15.3 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 80.22 crore.
Staff cost increased 16.9 per cent YoY to Rs 4.89 crore as compared to Rs 4.19 crore but reduced 1.2 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 4.95.
Balaji Telefilms standalone numbers
Balaji Telefilms’ YoY standalone profit after tax (PAT) catapulted more than six-fold at Rs 20.66 crore (28.7 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 3.09 crore (5.4 per cent margin) and was double QoQ as compared to Rs 10.31 crore (20.2 per cent standalone margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.
The company reported 26 per cent YoY increase in standalone total income from operations (TIO) in the current quarter to Rs 72.3 crore from Rs 57.27 crore and 41 per cent jump from Rs 51.11 crore in Q2-2016.
Standalone EBIDTA more than quadrupled (by 4.24 times) YoY in Q3-2016 at Rs 18.05 crore as compared to Rs 4.25 crore and almost doubled (up 94 per cent) as compared to Rs 9.32 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
BENGALURU: How is Balaji Telefilms – India’s leading TV production house – faring as far its contribution to the ratings of its major clients – Star Plus, Zee TV, Colors, Sony, and DD – is concerned? Indiantelevision.com decided to give you a sneak peek using the company’s presentation filed with the BSE for the last quarter. Bear in mind that in its December 2015 corporate presentation, Balaji Telefilms has mentioned BARC ratings and its contributions while in its September 2015 presentation, the company indicated TAM parameters. And we are comparing the numbers for H1-2016 with FY-2015.
Despite the difference in the two rating bodies’ matrices, this article tries to show the variance of Balaji Telefilms’ contribution to the channels’ GRPs between Week 37 and Week 45, while indicating the slot leaders on these channels. That Balaji Telefilms is a major contributor to most, if not all the channels’ GRPs, is a foregone conclusion.
Channels contribution to Balaji’s revenues
The Star network replaced the Zee Network as the major contributor to Balaji’s revenues in H1-2016 due to Nach Baliye 7 on Star Plus and the discontinuation of Jodha Akbar on Zee TV. The Star network contributed 35 per cent to the company’s revenues in H1-2016 as compared to the 19 per cent it had contributed in FY-2015.
In FY-2015, the Zee Network’s contribution to Balaji Telefilms’ revenue was 44 per cent, whereas in H1-2016 it declined to 28 per cent as per the company’s December 2015 corporate presentation.
Colors’ contribution to Balaji Telefilms’ revenues in H1-2016 increased to 14 per cent as compared to 12 per cent for FY-2015. Sony also increased its contribution in percentage terms to Balaji Telefilms revenues in H1-2016 to 13 per cent from nine per cent in FY-2015, as did Life OK – its contribution to Balaji Telefilms revenues increased to 10 per cent from seven per cent in the previous financial year.
Sony Pal and Doordarshan (DD) had contributed four and five per cent respectively to the company’s revenues in FY-2015, but have made no contribution to Balaji Telefilms’ revenues in the current half year. The company says that DD’s contribution dropped down to zero per cent due to postponing the revenue realisation to the last quarter of FY-2016. Balaji Telefilms says that the new shows from Q3-2016 onwards will further strengthen the contribution of Colors, Star Plus, &TV and Sony to its revenues.
Let’s see how the top three channels fared in weeks 37 and 45 across the two ratings systems vis-?-vis some Balaji Telefilms soaps:
Week 37
In week 37, as per BARC ratings, Colors led the chart with a considerable rise in ratings and grabbed first place amongst the Hindi GECs with 414841 (000Sums) as against 386518 (000Sums) in week 36. Though Star Plus witnessed a rise in ratings, it stood behind Colors in the second spot with 381365 (000Sums) as compared to 370135 (000Sums) in the previous week. Zee TV and Life OK were perched at the third and fourth slot with 256811 (000Sums) and 221762 (000Sums) respectively. Sab secured the fifth berth in the list with 183879 (000Sums).
As per TAM, it was Star Plus that held on to its lead position in Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) category in week 37 for HSM (including LC1) with 237 GRPs. Colors was in the second slot with 219 GRPs, while Zee TV secured third position with 159 GRPs.
So there is a difference in the top two slots between the two systems – according to BARC, Colors had the highest GRPs, while according to TAM, Star Plus had the highest GRPs in week 37. The third spot according to both the systems belonged to Zee TV.
Week 45
According to BARC, Star Plus led the Hindi GEC genre with 748197 (000Sums), while Zee Anmol bagged the second position with 717923 (000Sums). Colors secured third spot with 656542 (000Sums), while Zee TV fell to the fourth position with 638475 (000Sums).
According to TAM, Colors bagged the first spot with 236 GRPs in week 45 against 221 GRPs in week 44. Star Plus saw a decline in ratings to second slot with 226 GRPs against 239 GRPs in previous week followed by Zee TV in the third spot with 152 GRPs and Life OK at fourth place with 138 GRPs.
Here again there is a difference – TAM says that Colors had the first place in terms of GRPs, while Star Plus was second, and BARC data says that Star Plus was first and Colors second.
Balaji Telefilms’ soaps in weeks 37 and 45 on the top three Hindi GECs
Star Plus
Along with Nach Baliye, fiction shows Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (BARC rating 3.7) and new show Kuch to Hai Tere Mere Darmiyan (BARC rating 0.8), Balaji Telefilms contributed 24 per cent to Star Plus’ GRPs for BARC week 45 as per the company’s corporate presentation for December 2015. Star Plus led the Hindi GEC genre in week 45 as per BARC data. Yeh Hai Mohabbatein was the leader in the 7.30 to 8 pm slot.
Earlier, in its September 2015 corporate presentation, Balaji Telefilms said that its shows contributed 19 per cent to Star Plus GRPs for TAM week 37 with Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (TAM rating 3.43).
Zee TV
In week 45, Balaji’s contribution to Zee TV’s BARC ratings was 20 per cent. Balaji’s fiction show on Zee TV at that time was Kumkum Bhagya (BARC rating 3.8). While Zee TV fell to fourth position in week 45, Kumkum Bhagya was the leader in the 9 – 9.30 pm slot.
Earlier, in week 37 as per Balaji Telefilms’ shows contributed 25 per cent to Zee TV’s GRPs with Kumkum Bhagya being a slot leader with a TAM rating of 3.95. Zee TV saw a marginal downfall in ratings, but secured third position in week 37.
Colors
In week 45, Balaji Telefilms had Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi, which was the leader in the 10 – 10.30 pm slot with BARC rating of 3.4 on Colors, which secured third spot as per BARC. Balaji Telefilms’ contribution to Colors GRPs was 14 per cent in week 45.
In week 37, Colors was in the second slot with 219 TAM GRPs in comparison to 198 TAM GRPs in week 36. Balaji Telefilms’ contribution to Colors TAM ratings was 15 per cent with Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi recording a slot leadership TAM rating of 3.44.
MUMBAI- Balaji Telefilms Limited has roped in Aman Gill as the CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures. Gill, in his new role, will assume all responsibilities spanning film development ranging from creative, production, marketing, distribution, syndication and will have all division heads report directly to him. He will take up the new position from early December 2015.
Talking about the new appointment, Balaji Telefilms Ltd. group CEO Sameer Nair asserted, “Aman brilliantly balances creativity with commerce and is most deserving of this position and role. He has vast experience in developing, producing, marketing, distributing and syndicating films in the past with various studios and has worked closely with talent in the agency business”.
Aman will be serving out his notice period with Junglee Pictures in the interim, where he was the chief content officer since June 2014. In his tenure the company successfully released two of the most critically and commercially acclaimed films of the year Dil Dhadkane Do and Talvar. Gill has also setup in the past, the film talent and literary business at CAA-KWAN from June 2012 to June 2014. He also headed the acquisition and domestic distribution functions at Viacom 18 Motion Pictures.
Gill started his career with Applause Entertainment, where he was AVP Content. Here he earned his first film credit as an executive producer for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s critically acclaimed film Black.
“Aman is a wonderful addition to the management bandwidth we’re building at Balaji. Several exciting projects are already in the pipeline over the next few months, which are in various stages of production and we also plan to scale up our movie business in the coming years. With several very interesting initiatives underway, I believe Aman is the ideal professional to lead the charge”, said Balaji TelefilmsLimited joint managing director Ekta Kapoor.
Speaking about his new hiring Gill added, “I’m honored that Ekta and Sameer have entrusted me with this responsibility and position. I look forward to work together with a highly talented team to further the formidable brand that Balaji Motion Pictures has built over the years and take it to greater heights.
BENGALURU: Indian broadcast management and audio visual content syndication company Trilogic Digital Media Limited’s (Trilogic) EBIDTA for the quarter ended 30 September, 2015 (Q2-2016, current quarter) increased 17.5 per cent YoY to Rs 1.57 crore (14.4 per cent margin) from Rs 1.33 crore (7.9 per cent margin). Quarter-on-quarter, the company’s EBIDTA in Q2-2016 declined to almost a third (reduced by 64.2 per cent) from Rs 4.37 crore (14.4 per cent margin).
(2) All numbers are standalone unless stated otherwise.
Trilogic’s Total Income from Operations (TIO) reduced 35.7 per cent YoY to Rs 10.86 crore from Rs 16.88 crore and reduced 38.4 per cent QoQ from Rs 17.64 crore.
The company’s PAT in Q2-2016 reduced 3.7 per cent to Rs 0.81 crore (7.5 per cent margin) from Rs 0.84 crore (five per cent margin) in the corresponding year ago quarter and reduced to less than a third (fell by 71 per cent) from Rs 2.79 crore (7.5 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.
Total Expenditure in the current quarter reduced 38.2 per cent YoY to Rs 9.36 crore (88.7 per cent of TIO) from Rs 15.57 crore (92.3 per cent of TIO) and reduced 29.2 per cent QoQ from Rs 13.60 crore (77.1 per cent of TIO).
Employee Benefits Expense in Q2-2016 increased 17.4 per cent to Rs 0.20 crore (1.8 per cent of TIO) from Rs 0.17 crore (one per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015, but reduced 22.2 per cent from Rs 0.26 crore (1.8 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.
MUMBAI: With a target set to make digital B2C (business to consumer) under the ALT Digital umbrella as its core business in five years’ time, the Ekta Kapoor helmed Balaji Telefilms Ltd is arming itself with a war chest of funds to enter the market with guns blazing.
The company, which was looking at raising Rs 250 crore to ramp up its digital business, has nowreceived board approval for the same.
The funds will be raised by way of QIP, GDR, ADR, FCCB, other securities linked to equity, preference shares or any instrument or securities representing convertible securities.
This is subject to approval of the company’s shareholders and other necessary approvals.
Additionally, the board has also approved to increase the authorised share capital of the company from Rs 20 crore to Rs 26 crore, subject to approval of shareholders.
