ITV

Category: GECs

  • Discovery Jeet commissions ‘Still and Still Out of the Box’ for ‘Gabru’ Punjabi rapper

    MUMBAI: Amritpal Singh Bindra and Anand Tiwari, the dynamic duo behind Still & Still Media Collective, one of the reputed content creators across Web, Films and Advertising, are all set to foray into television production with Still and Still Out of the Box.

    Still and Still Media Collective has produced television commercials for popular brands like Amul, Maruti and Ching’s amongst others. The company has also made their place in the digital space by producing web series like Bang Baaja Baarat, Sex Chat with Pappu and Papa and the recent Girl in the City.

    With a focus on creating original and innovative content for the television audiences, the young media entrepreneurs are all set to begin shooting their first TV show titled ‘Gabru’, which will be aired on Discovery’s new Hindi GEC Discovery Jeet. The duo, known for their popular web series Bang Baaja Baaraat, Girl in the City, and Official Chukiyagiri have recently made their way into film production with Love Per Square Foot, in association with Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP.

    Speaking on the launch of their new vertical, Bindra said, “At Still and Still Media Collective, we aspire to create high quality content that engages and entertains audiences across the board. With still and still OTB we’re excited to bring our philosophy of disruptive and innovative content to the powerful medium of television.”

    Tiwari added, “After our success in digital and our foray into film, we look forward to bringing credible content to the Television space. Our maiden production Gabru is about the evolution of hip hop in India and is the first of it’s kind on Indian premium Television.”

    Gabru revolves around the lives of three distinct protagonists – Gaurav Singh aka MC Money, Bani Khurana aka Queen B and Sarfaraz Khan aka ‘Surf’. The story deals with the trials and tribulations of a Punjabi Hip Hop King, who at the peak of his career, faces a threat from a rival rapper, who also happens to be his ex-flame.

  • Hindi GECs gain lost ground across genres as IPL10 closes in week 21

    BENGALURU: Only one T20 cricket match on one day of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 10) happened during Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) week 21 (Saturday, 20 May 2017 to Friday, 26 May 2017) – The Finals. And that one match on Sunday, 21 May 2017 at 2000 hours (800 pm) was enough to retain Sony Pictures Network India’s (SPN) Hindi Movies channel Sony Max in BARC’s top 10 channels list across genres for week 21, however at fourth place instead of second place that the channel had in weeks 20 and 14. Sony Max, which aired IPL matches,topped the lists for weeks 15,16, 17,18 and 19 of 2017.  Before IPL10 which commenced in the middle of week 14, Sony Max did not figure in weekly the top 10 channels lists across genres in 2017.All the 10 channels that were present in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 20 were also present in week 21, but with shuffled ranks.

    The seven Hindi GECs’ that were present in BARC week 20 saw a 9.27 percent growth in ratings in week 21. The combined weekly impressions of these seven Hindi GEC channels as per BARC list of top channels across genres in weeks 21 and 20 were 40,85,558 (000s) Sums and 37,38,931 (000s) Sums respectively. Six of the seven Hindi GEC channels in the list gained viewership, while one – Zee Anmol, witnessed a small drop of 1.80 percent in weekly impressions in week 21’s top 10 channels list across genres as compared to week 20.

    Like last week, one channel each from the Tamil GEC, Telugu GEC and Hindi Movies spaces and seven channels from the Hindi GEC space were present in the weekly top 10 channels list across genres in week 21.  Of these, three were from the Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) network, two each from the Network 18 (or Viacom 18), Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and the Sun TV Network stables, and one from the Star India Network.

    Please refer to the figure below for the ratings table for BARC week 21: Across genres –All India (U+R): 2+ Individuals.

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  • Colors to air animated series ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’

    MUMBAI: Colors has announced the acquisition of the broadcast satellite rights to the animated series spin-off called, Baahubali: The Lost Legends.

    The animated series which features all new original stories of the magnum opus from acclaimed filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli, Graphic India and Arka Mediaworks is slated for a television launch on Colors soon.

    Commenting on the procurement of the rights, Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak said, “Baahubali has proved to be a landmark film in the history of Indian cinema. Its success is nothing short of a case study for the Indian filmmakers. We at Colors pride ourselves for knowing the pulse of our viewers. Going by the ripples that this masterpiece has generated nationwide, we thought this was the right time to bring to our television audiences the folklores of ‘Baahubali’ which have been captured stunningly in this animated series.”

    He further added, “Graphic India’s show has tremendous appeal amongst the viewers as it cuts across age groups and stands out in the cluttered environment. Baahubali with its storyline and characters has created an entire ecosystem that can translate beyond the silver screen and make for excellent content in other mediums. The animated version is just an attempt towards that direction and we’re sure it will mesmerize the TV viewers.”

    Baahubali: The Lost Legends has been created by S.S. Rajamouli, Sharad Devarajan and Arka Mediaworks, who are the producers, along with series lead writer, Ashwin Pande and Jeevan J. Kang, Graphic’s EVP Creative and the lead character designer for the new animated series.

    On this partnership said celebrated director, S. S. Rajamouli, “The reach of television as a medium in India is extraordinary, and we’re thrilled to partner with Raj Nayak and Colors to bring the untold stories of the Mahishmati Kingdom to the television audiences. Our creation of the series with Graphic India and Sharad Devarajan was formed on the idea that we could launch an animated series that would go beyond just kids. With the Colors’ distribution platform, we will be able to bring Baahubali – The Lost Legends to the millions of people in India from ages eight to eighty.”

    Echoing similar sentiments, Arka Mediaworks CEO Shobu Yarlagaddab said, “We are delighted that Colors is collaborating with Arka Mediaworks and Graphic India to bring the Baahubali animated series to television. The paradigm shift that Baahubali has brought into the entertainment industry is truly inspiring for all of us, and now with ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’ fans of the film can continue to live the journey of Baahubali, Bhallaladeva and all their other favorite characters.”

    Graphic India co-founder and CEO Sharad Devarajan, “The epic storytelling and groundbreaking visuals that S. S. Rajamouli created has captivated millions, and the future of Indian cinema shall now always be defined as ‘before Baahubali’ and ‘after Baahubali’. We are honored to work with Raj Nayak and the amazing team at Colors to bring these new stories of Baahubali to television audiences across the country.”

    Filled with intrigue, betrayal, war, action and adventure, the animated series will take audiences on new adventures beyond the film, as we learn for the first time the events that shaped Baahubali from a young prince into a legendary hero and reveal hidden secrets from the world of Baahubali for its millions of fans. ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’ was initially launched digitally on Amazon Prime Video and will soon be released through television on Colors.

  • Sun TV regains top spot across genres as IPL 10 comes to a close

    BENGALURU: As IPL 10 came to a close, the Sun TV Networks’ Tamil flagship GEC Sun TV regained its top spot in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genre: All India (U+R): 2+ Individuals in week 20 Saturday, 13 May 2017 to Friday, 19 May 2017.

    IPL 10 viewership supremacy across genres

    During its run, IPL 10 channels ruled the air with Indians lapping up the live event, more so during primetime. TV viewership declines during the summer months according to BARC. IPL 10 is probably one of the factors that helped retard this seasonal viewership decline.

    IPL 10 commenced on Wednesday, 5 April 2017 (in BARC week 14). The mega T20 cricket bonanza played by 8 teams comprising of over 200 players including 72 international players concluded with the finals on Sunday, 21 May 2017, after 60 matches spread over 47 days.

    BARC week 14 commenced on Saturday, 1 April 2017 and ended on Friday, 7 April 2017. Three days of play with three matches played happened in week 14. The event concluded in the beginning of week 21 – only one match was played during that week. Ten matches were played during each of BARC weeks15, 16,and 18. Nine matches were played in weeks17 (one match was rained out in week 17) and 19 and seven planned for week 20, with just one in week 21 as mentioned above.

    The excitement built up for the event saw IPL 10 recording the highest viewership for the season in week 15 for all the Sony Pictures Network (SPN) channels that broadcast the event  – the two Hindi Movie channels – Sony Max and two Sports channel’s Sony Six.(English) and Sony ESPN (commentary in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Hindi).

    Week 20: Top 10 channels list across genres

    One channel each from the Tamil GEC, Telugu GEC and Hindi Movies spaces and seven channels from the Hindi GEC space were present in the weekly top 10 channels list across genres in week 20.  Of these, three were from the Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) network, two each from the Network 18 (or Viacom 18), Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and the Sun TV Network stables, and one from the Star India Network.

    Sun TV and Sony Max exchanged ranks while Star Plus, Sony Pal, Zee TV, Gemini TV, Colors, Zee Anmol, Rishtey retained their week 19 ranks of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 respectively. Zee Telugu exited the list in week 20 to be replaced with Sony Sab.

    As mentioned above, Sun TV once again topped BARC’s weekly top 10 channels list after a hiatus of 5 weeks with 10,41,591 Impressions (000s) Sums followed by  Sony Max with 9,83,279Impressions (000s) Sums at second place.Please refer to the figure below for the list of top 10 channels across genres for week 20:

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  • IIFA announces technical winners, ADHM & Pink lead

    MUMBAI: The International Indian Film Academy announced the list of winners in the Technical categories of India’s most prominent awards celebration that honors the very best of Indian Cinema with the highest level of achievement seen through the glamorous IIFA statuette. Set to be held at the iconic MetLife Stadium, New York on the 14th & 15th of July, the 18th Edition of NEXA IIFA Awards Powered by VIVO will witness the felicitation of powerhouse performances and films at the highly anticipated Awards night.

    The Nexa IIFA Awards will air exclusively on Colors – the Broadcast Partners, with the Title Sponsor NEXA, and Powered by VIVO.

    Ae Dil Hai Mushkil leads the winners list by walking away with 4 awards in the technical category including Background Score (Pritam), Best Engineer (Shadab Rayeen), Cinematography (Anil Mehta, ISC, WICA) and Costume Designing (Manish Malhotra).

    Other winners in the Technical category features Pink’s Ritesh Shah winning Best Dialogue and Best Screenplay and Bodhaditya Bandyopadhyay for Editing. Larnell Stovall, Parvez Shaikh, `ANL` Arasu winning Best Action and Anuj Mathur winning Sound Mixing for the film Sultan. Kapoor and Sons’s Adil Shaikh earns the Best Choreography Award for the song Kar Gayi Chull and Sound Design being won by Pranav Shukla for film Mirzya. Fan won two awards for Best Make up (Greg Cannom) and Special Effects Visual (Red Chillies VFX) categories. Neerja took an accolade for Production Design (Aparna Sud & Anna Ipe).

    The IIFA Voting process is a stringent and methodical procedure, our official tabulators are Ernst & Young LLP.

    The popular category nominations are available for the global audience to participate in the voting process. The IIFA Global Voting went live on 20 May 2017 and will be open till 18 June 2017. The final winners of the IIFA Awards are revealed on the night of the Awards ceremony. The results are surrounded by secrecy and the credibility of the voting process is one of the key parameters of this prestigious award.

    As IIFA continues to bring together the biggest stars of Bollywood and Hollywood on one stage, the NEXA IIFA Awards Powered By VIVO will play host to some of the most celebrated stars and musicians of the Indian film industry, notable guests, and dignitaries from India and the region, world media and Indian cinema fans from across the globe.

    Wizcraft International, known for pioneering many extravagant and mesmerizing events in India and across the world, conceptualized IIFA 17 years ago.

  • Colors launches finite series on Kannada TV, love triangle blossomed on Bigg Boss

    MUMBAI: Television experience in India is evolving at an exponential pace, so is the need for revolution in the offerings by entertainment providers. With the increasing appreciation of finite series on Indian television, viewers’ have developed an affinity towards the format, leading to a noticeable growth in their popularity and trends.

    Anticipating the need of the audience and catering to their growing demand, Colors Kannada presents the first ever finite series on Kannada Television – Sanju Mattu Naanu. Starting May 27, 2017, the 24-episode show will air every Saturday and Sunday at 9pm.

    Pioneering in general entertainment, Colors Kannada is all set to break away from the traditional format of reality-programming at primetime during weekends. Colors Kannada’s latest offering, is a first of its kind show, that will blend the horizon between fiction and reality, to create a unique hybrid show.

    Picking up where they left off, the participants of Bigg Boss Kannada – Season 4, Pratham, Bhuvan and Sanjana will rekindle their romantic equation on the show. Piquing the curiosity of the viewers until the very finale of Bigg Boss Kannada, Pratham’s proclamation of love for Sanjana was met with mysterious unresponsiveness. Reigniting that flame, Sanju Mattu Naanu, will bring the three hearts at the crossroad of their feelings and decisions of the mind.

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

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

  • SPN India to feature in SPE growth in 2018

    BENGALURU: Sony Corp (Sony) had an investors’ day on 23 May 2017 pertaining to the results for its financial year ended 31 March 2017 (FY-17). It its investor presentation, the company has forecast 12.7 percent growth in revenue of its Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) group to $9,346 million for fiscal 2018 from $8,292 million in FY-17.

    Sony’s Pictures segment is comprised of the Motion Pictures, Television Productions, and Media Networks categories.

    SPE’s Media Networks growth driven by GSN and India, somewhat offset by TEN Sports, will be among the largest factors that will impact performance positively for fiscal 2018. The company forecasts 28 percent growth in operating income to $359 million in FY-18 from $280 million in fiscal 2017 for SPE. Sony Pictures Network India (SPN India) is a part of SPE.

    Sony has planned strategies for growth of its SPE group in fiscal 2018. These include implementing turnaround for its Motion Pictures segment. Sony Corp reported a steep drop in operating income for fiscal 017, which it says was mainly due to the US$962 million (¥112.1 billion yen) impairment charge of goodwill recorded in the Motion Pictures segment.

    For SPE’s Television Production segment, Sony plans to maintain and strengthen relationships with top content producers and major networks, while for SPE’s Media Networks segment Sony plans to generate stable profit through recurring revenue business model.

    In FY-17, Sales for the SPE decreased 3.7 percent (a 5 percent increase on a U.S. dollar basis) primarily due to the impact of the appreciation of the yen against the U.S. dollar. The increase in sales on a US dollar basis was primarily due to higher sales for Television Productions and Media Networks. Sales for Television Productions increased primarily due to higher subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) licensing revenues. The increase in sales for Media Networks was due to higher advertising and subscription revenues mainly in India, Latin America and the US says the company.

    The company has also announced Anthony Vinciquerra as chairman and CEO of SPE effective 1 June 2017.

  • Balaji Telefilms net realization for programs improves

    BENGALURU: The Ekta Kapoor led Balaji Telefilms Limited (Balaji Telefilms) had 8 shows on air at the end of the financial year 2017 (FY-17, current year, year ended 31 March 2017) on various channels in the country. The company in its investor presentation says that the net realization per hour for its programmes increased 17 percent to Rs 2.89 million in FY-17 as compared to Rs 2.47 million in the previous fiscal. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the company had had 11 shows on air, 3 of which went off air before the end of FY-16.

    The company created 960 hours of television programming in the current year, 4.2 percent lower than the 1,002 hours it had created in the previous year. Revenue from Balaji Telefilms from commissioned programmes segment increased 11.4 percent to Rs 2,899.11 million in FY-17 from Rs 2,602.18 million in the previous year. The segment reported 11.2 percent lower operating profit of Rs 395.92 million in FY-17 as compared to the Rs 445.81 million in FY-16.

    The segment’s soaps such like Kumkum Bhagya on various channels of the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Network Limited (Zeel) and Naagin 2 (The Network 18/Viacom 18 Network) have consistently been in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly top five programmes lists across the Hindi GEC urban and rural markets in India.

    Balaji Telefilms other major segment – Films revenue more than quadrupled (went up 4.62 times) in FY-17 to Rs 1,263.30 million in the current year as compared to Rs 224.90 million in the previous year. The segment reported a higher operating loss at Rs 249.01 million in FY-17 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 134.35 million in fiscal 2016. The company says that piracy of its movies released in FY17 led to loss of revenues against marketing and productions costs already incurred which has severely affected its profitability in this period. It estimates loss of revenue on account of piracy at approximately Rs 360 million.

    The company’s consolidated Total Income from Operations (TIO) increased 43.4 percent to Rs 4,389.44 million in the current year as compared to Rs 3,060.18 million in FY-16. The company reported to a higher net loss of Rs 297.35 million in fiscal 2017 as compared to a net loss of Rs 35.80 million in the previous year. Balaji Telefilms reported an Operating loss (EBIDTA) of Rs 181 million for FY-17 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 53 million in FY-17.

    Balaji Telefilms consolidated total expenses for FY-17 increased 54.3 percent to Rs 4,581.23 million from Rs 2,969.65 million in the previous year. Cost of production/acquisition and telecast fees increased 2.7 percent to Rs 3,147.26 million from Rs 3,064.98 million in the previous year. Employee Benefits Expense in FY-17 increased 40.8 percent to Rs 283.43 million from Rs 201.36 million in FY-16. The company’s finance costs in FY-17 was Rs 0.36 million as compared to Rs 0.09 million in the previous year. Other expenses in FY-17 increased 2.3 percent to Rs 413.44 million from Rs 404.01 million in FY-16.

    Balaji Telefilms says that it will transition from a B2B business to a Digital B2C business. It plans to build a digital B2C business through own and curated content. The company has launched its OTT platform ALT Balaji in April 2017. Balaji Telefilms says that ALT Balaji will soon have 32 new shows and 250 hours of original exclusive content in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and Punjabi.

  • New series on Sony Sab on how one innocuous lie can lead to trouble

    MUMBAI: A new series on Sony Sab. Sajjan Re Phir Jhooth Mat Bolo is a story of how an innocuous lie leads to a mountain of lies as the protagonist cannot risk telling the truth for the fear of losing his love.

    In keeping with its agenda, this series on the channel is also a jaunt loaded with love, lies and laughter, and will premiere tomorrow to be telecast every Monday to Friday at 9 pm.

    Channel Sab and Max cluster of channels Sr. EVP & head Neeraj Vyas said, “With Sajjan Re Phir Jhooth Mat Bolo, we are presenting a fresh take on situational comedy arising simply due to the vice of ‘lying’. The show reveals how the protagonist and other characters get hilariously entangled in a web of lies in an effort to help the son impress his lady love. The erstwhile series, Sajjan Re Jhooth Mat Bolo, resonated really well with our audience and we hope they love the new version even more.”

    History sometimes repeats itself in this case, Just like his father; Jaiveer, played by Hussain Kuwajerwala and his family who are one of the wealthiest families of South Mumbai falls in love with a simple woman Jaya played by Parvati Vaze, who belongs to a middle class family. Jaiveer has always been so impressed by his father’s style of wooing and proposing to his mother that he wants to do the same for his ladylove by not revealing his wealth, status and family heritage. So he lies to her about being poor and that he works hard by doing odd jobs each day to make ends meet. Jaya is impressed by his personality and determination, but Jaiveer’s grand plan takes a hit when Jaya tells him how she and her family detest the rich and how her father Lalitrao Lonkhande played by Sharad Ponkshe believes in an ideology that one should only earn what one requires to survive and the rest is spent to help the poor and needy.

    Optimystix entertainment chairman and MD Vipul D Shah said, “As a producer, I am constantly supporting original storylines that make a mark on the audiences. Comedy is the purest form of emotions and I am happy to present a show like Sajjan Re Phir Jhooth Mat Bolo. This show is a beautiful extension of our previous successful show Sajjan re Jhooth Mat Bolo. We are very happy to bring the Season 2 of Sajjan Re franchise and to further strengthen our relationship with Sony SAB The cast of the show are known for their power packed performance and I am sure the viewers will love every bit of the show as much as we enjoyed making it.”

    Others in the cast are Tiku Talsania, Monica Murthy, Urmila Tiwari, Rakhi Vijan and Gaurav Dubey.

  • Essel Group’s 90 years event simulcasts across all ZEE entertainment channels

    MUMBAI: Essel Group recently held its 90 years celebrations event in New Delhi amidst the presence of esteemed dignitaries, corporate honchos and Government authorities including the president Pranab Mukherjee and prime inister, Narendra Modi. The success of the event was the result of the entire Essel Group working together as one family.

    While the event witnessed a full house of over 3000+ guests comprising of top politicians, corporate honchos and the cream layer of the society, Essel Group has planned to take the event to the living rooms of its 1.2 Bn viewers across the world. The event will simulcast across all the ZEE Entertainment channels, through a roadblock, on 21May 2017 at 5 pm.

    The highlights of the event include president Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi’s powerful speeches, awards, along with the keynote of ,Essel Group cahirman and Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabhah Subhash Chandra.

    The event also features a special poetry recited by Amitabh Bachchan, which beautifully captures the journey of Essel Group. Blended with powerful performances by the artists of ZEE Entertainment’s leading shows Saregamapa and Dance India Dance, this event promises an entertaining Sunday evening.

    Speaking about the simulcast, ZEE Entertainment Corporate Brand and Communications head Sunil Buch said, “Essel Group’s 90 Years Event was a grand success and we want every viewer of ZEE Entertainment to witness the glorious celebrations. After all its our viewers and customers who have brought the Group to its crest of success. We wish to celebrate this milestone with each one of them”.