ITV

Category: GECs

  • Colors gets notice for Bigg Boss 7

    Colors gets notice for Bigg Boss 7

    MUMBAI: The popular reality show Bigg Boss, now in its seventh season, has landed into trouble, weeks after its launch. A show cause notice has been served by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding the content that has been aired on the channel Colors saying that it was not appropriate for unrestricted public exhibition.

     

    The objections raised are on episodes where concern was raised regarding the language used by some contestants as well as the scene where participants are seated in a chair and given electric shocks. The source told PTI that these scenes violate the programming code under the cable TV act.

     

    The channel, Colors, has been asked to explain itself. Bigg Boss is currently one of Colors’ flagship shows and it claims to have molded it to suit a family audience. Previously also the channel has got into trouble due to Bigg Boss’ content.

     

    Bigg Boss is created by Endemol for the channel Colors, an adaptation of the popular international reality show Big Brother. In its seventh season, this year the show is themed around ‘Heaven and Hell’ where participants are in two houses – one themed around heaven and the other themed around hell.

  • R V Rajan’s Handbook: A guide to rural marketing

    R V Rajan’s Handbook: A guide to rural marketing

    MUMBAI: From being a Bombay boy to rural marketer specialist, RV Rajan has many stories to tell. The 72-year-old founder and former chairman of Anugrah Madison Advertising has written a new book – Don’t Flirt with Rural Marketing – or like he says “it’s my experience”.

    With around 40 years in the industry, the veteran says the research which went into writing the handbook is nothing but his experiences in the field. According to him, the income and aspirations of lower middle class and middle class is increasing, so no one can afford to ignore rural marketing. “It is from here that a lot of aspirations come from. And with brands offering almost 50 per cent of their products to this category, it is very important to focus on rural marketing,” he states.

    The TG for the book is marketers, MBA students as well as anyone who wants to know about the subject stresses R V Ranjan

    The chapters outlining the fourteen step approach include topics like Commitment from the top management, Choosing the right product, Understanding the mindset of the rural consumers, getting a dedicated task force, Developing focused communication strategy, Performance evaluation etc. The highlight of the book is the elaborate chapter on Below the Line Activities (BTL) which account for 80 per cent of the rural marketing efforts. In this chapter the author provides a detailed practical guide for any kind of road shows. “I have written the book in a very chatty and informal way so that it doesn’t read like a lecture. I want people to feel the experiences I went through,” he says while stating that the correct TG for the book is marketers, MBA students as well as anyone who wants to know about the subject.

    Another added feature is that many of the chapters are supported with appendices giving very useful contact details of individuals and institutions that provide support services to anyone interested in making a foray into rural marketing.

    When asked which are the companies which have paid attention to the field, he replies “HUL and ITC have been doing it for years now. But in the current scenario, the company which has created dominance in the rural market through its campaigns and initiatives is LG.”

    The book has a foreword by ITC executive director Kurush Grant who describes the book as the first usable manual for marketers. “Most serious marketing companies should make the book compulsory reading for all their marketing and rural sales teams”.

    According to the president of Rural Marketing Association of India and father of rural marketing Pradeep Kashyap, “The book is a must have for anyone involved in Rural Marketing because it has practical insights on Rural marketing which are invaluable for companies and agencies.”

    Rajan goes on to say that although rural marketing share has increased over the years and states like Punjab, Haryana among many others have gown fantastically one still needs to focus on it.

    The Rs 395 book which took around two years to write is published by Productivity & Quality Publishing (Chennai). The 130 page book is accompanied by a DVD containing video clips of some successful case studies of Anugrah Madison.

  • Nimbuzz collaborates with ‘The Bachelorette’

    Nimbuzz collaborates with ‘The Bachelorette’

    MUMBAI: Nimbuzz, a leading communication and entertainment platform, has associated with Life Ok to provide an innovative and interactive brand engagement module on mobile – the Nimbuzz Chat Buddy for The Bachelorette, a dating reality show starring Bollywood starlet Mallika Sherawat. The Bachelorette Buddy would reach out to over 25 million Nimbuzz users in India on their mobile phones giving Life Ok an opportunity to initiate a dialogue with the masses through a format native to the Nimbuzz platform. The Buddy was made available to all Nimbuzz users from 5 October.

    Nimbuzz Chat Buddies appear as regular contacts on the chat roster of Nimbuzz users across India. The Bachelorette Buddy is an extension of Life Ok’s reality show that focusses on finding a match for Mallika Sherawat from among the 30 contestants. The Buddy intends to create one to one engagement through questions around Mallika’s eventful Bollywood career and her exciting personal life. The Bachelorette Chat Buddy on Nimbuzz gives users the opportunity to make live suggestions to Mallika on who she should date and who she could do without.

    Speaking about the association, Nimbuzz head of monetisation and strategy Anubhav Sharma said, “Nimbuzz Chat Buddies have been extremely successful in connecting the biggest brands to their relevant audiences. We are extremely excited about our partnership for primarily two reasons. Firstly, this is the first time that a reality show of such scale has recognised the engagement value that Chat Buddies bring to the entertainment industry and secondly our foray into the lifestyle-entertainment space is being marked by some of the biggest names in the ecosystem including Mallika Sherawat and Star network.’’

    Commenting on the launch of The Bachelorette’s biggest mobile campaign powered by Nimbuzz, Life OK head of marketing Pratik Seal said, “The Bachelorette is a unique concept that looks to capture the interest of a wide audience irrespective of their demographics. Keeping in mind the uniqueness of the format and the audience, we were looking at associating ourselves with a platform that could not only reach out to the masses but also offer engagement value that makes our users feel as much a part of the show as the contestants. We are confident that our partnership with Nimbuzz will be immensely successful in generating interest around the show.’’

    The Bachelorette Buddy on Nimbuzz will be the core of the brands mobile strategy for The Bachelorette. The reality shows premiered on 7 October at 9:30 pm on Life Ok.

  • 80% people globally have TV access

    80% people globally have TV access

    NEW DELHI: Almost 80 per cent of households globally had access to television at the beginning of 2013, compared to 41 per cent of households with a computer and 37 per cent with internet access.

     

    The report shows that the number of households with internet access is increasing in all regions, but large differences persist, with penetration rates at the end of this year set to reach almost 80 per cent in the developed world, compared with 28 per cent in the developing world.

     

    An estimated 1.1 billion households worldwide are not yet connected to the internet, 90 per cent of which are in the developing world, according to the International Telegraphic Union’s flagship annual report Measuring the Information Society 2013.

     

    Internet users as a percentage of the population have been growing on average at double-digit rates over the past ten years. The percentage of the population online in the developed world will reach almost 77 per cent by end 2013, compared with 31 per cent in the developing world.

     

    Mobile broadband connections over 3G and 3G+ networks are growing at an average annual rate of 40 per cent, equating to 2.1 billion mobile-broadband subscriptions and a global penetration rate of almost 30 per cent.

     

    Almost 50 per cent of all people worldwide are now covered by a 3G network, the report said.

     

    By end of 2013 there will be 6.8 billion total mobile-cellular subscriptions – almost as many as there are people on the planet.

     

    An estimated 2.7 billion people will also be connected to the internet – though speeds and prices vary widely, both across and within regions.

     

    The Republic of Korea leads the world in terms of overall ICT development for the third consecutive year, followed closely by Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Norway. The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Hong Kong (China) also rank in the top 10, with the United Kingdom at the 11th position last year.

     

    The report identifies a group of most dynamic countries, which have recorded above-average improvements in their IDI rank or value over the past 12 months. These include (in order of most improved): United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Barbados, Seychelles, Belarus, Costa Rica, Mongolia, Zambia, Australia, Bangladesh, Oman and Zimbabwe.

     

    In the four years between 2008-2012 fixed-broadband prices fell by 82 per cent from 115.1 per cent of average monthly income per capita (GNI p.c.) in 2008 to 22.1 per cent in 2012.

     

    The biggest drop occurred in developing countries, where fixed-broadband prices fell by 30 per cent year on year between 2008 and 2011.

     

    The average price per unit of speed (Mbps) also decreased significantly between 2008 and 2012, with a global median price of $19.50 per Mbps in 2012, almost a quarter of the price that was being charged in 2008.

     

    Austria has the world’s most affordable mobile broadband, while Sao Tomé and Principe, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have the least affordable, with service cost equal to or higher than average monthly gross national income (GNI) per capita. Other countries that rank well for mobile broadband affordability include Qatar, the United Kingdom, Germany, Kuwait and France.

  • FICCI – MEBC 2013 to kick off on 29 October at Bengaluru

    FICCI – MEBC 2013 to kick off on 29 October at Bengaluru

    BENGALURU: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) annual Media and Entertainment Business Conclave (MEBC) will be held at the Garden City this year on 29 and 30 October. Previous editions of the conclave have been held in Chennai and Hyderabad.

     

    Some of the key sessions of MEBC 2013 include (1) Formulating and Implementing a viable Media and Entertainment policy for a State: The panel comprising of state government representatives and industry stake holders will discuss various scopes to develop infrastructure, local skills, technology and explore possibilities on how to develop the media & entertainment eco system for a State.

     

     (2) Emerging Technologies and the impact on Indian Cinema? The Indian film industry enters its next phase of production and distribution where digital technologies are taking very important roles. In this session we bring in experts from the field of creative industry and technology to understand what the future lies for Indian cinema.

     

    (3) The Broadcasting Ecosystem in the Digital Era: What are the experts thinking after the implementation of Digitization of Cable TV in India? In the era of convergence with integrated Apps, Broadband, wireless, VOD, pay TV and Multiplatform distribution how will the ecosystem look like. Let’s discuss.  

     

    (4) Session on Visual Effects (5) Emerging Trends of Indian IP in Animation & its exploitation (6) The War for News: Defining No. 1 in The Dizzying Newscape: Are there any winners in the plethora of news be it TV or Print, despite the TAM, NRS/IRS figures? Is it all the same content packaged in different formats which finally just confuses the viewer? What are our news media’s aiming for – Ratings or Pure Journalism? Can we learn anything from the international newsgathering model in content and standards?

     

    (7)  Reshaping Mobile entertainment in the era of Digital Revolution:  A session on display of the upcoming latest Apps in Mobile Entertainment, the transformation from 3G to 4G redefining mobile entertainment (8) Changing Trends in Regional TV: Ratings, Content, Formats: Regional TV programming are constantly evolving in terms of contents and formats keeping in mind the audience tastes and the cut throat competition with national televisions channels. In this session let’s listen to the stalwarts giving their perspectives from GEC to news following a peek into the state of the much-debated ratings systems.  

     

    (8) Marketing & Distribution of films in Multiplatform Ecosystem (9) Making movie through Crowd funding – The case study of Lucia:  A case study on the Kannada Film Lucia will be conducted by Film Director Pawan Kumar. Lucia is the first crowd funded film in India. The case study will emphasise on how best new script and ideas can receive funds through social networking sites without depending on producers for fund (11) The Emerging Gaming Industry in southern India.

    Among the speakers  at the concvlave include Kamal Haasan, Chairman, Media & Entertainment Business Conclave, FICCI; Biren Ghose , Convener  MEBC & President ABAI & Country Head- Technicolor India; Srivatsa Krishna , Secretary , Department of IT , Bt and S&T , Govt. Of Karnataka;  Kumud Srinivasan , President , Intel India; Ashish Kulkarni ,Co  Chairman , FICCI AVGC Forum & CEO, Big Animation; Neeraj Roy , CEO , Hungama Digital Media;  Anup Chandrashekar , Business Head , Asianet & Star Suvarna ; Shruthi Naidu , Director TV serials; LV Krishnan , CEO , TAM India; Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharti; Preet Dhupar, COO India , BBC World News; Ravi Hegde , Group Editor, Udayvani among others
     

  • NFDCs Film Bazaar13 invites entries for its Industry Screenings program

    NFDCs Film Bazaar13 invites entries for its Industry Screenings program

    MUMBAI: Film Bazaar 2013, NFDC’s (National Film Development Corporation) promotional arm, has begun calling for entries for its Industry Screenings program. In its seventh edition this year, South Asia’s Global Film Market will be held from 20-24 November, 2013 alongside IFFI at Marriott Resort, Goa. Qube Cinema Network (Real Image Media Technologies), associated with Film Bazaar since 2011, will be the Digital partner for the screenings this year too.

     

    Introduced in 2010, Industry Screenings has become an important segment of Film Bazaar, where filmmakers are given an opportunity to showcase and pitch their films to a select audience of sales agents, distributors, producers, festival programmers and directors through the market period. With digital theatres arranged at the market venue, filmmakers can either reserve their film screenings to a selected audience of international distributors and sales agents or open it for all attending delegates.

     

    Last year, Industry Screenings, saw twenty-six films screened through four days of the market. To name a few, The Bright Day (Hindi- English) by Mohit Takalkar; Pune 52 (Marathi) by Nikhil Mahajan; The Good Road (Gujarati) by Gyan Correa; Touring Talkies (Marathi) by Gajendra Aahire; Masala (Marathi) by Sandesh Kulkarni; Love Tomato (Japanese – English – Philippine) by Hideo Nanbu; Tasher Desh (Bengali) by Q; Kshay (Hindi) by Karan Gaur, were films that were screened in 2012.

     

    The last date for submission of entries for Industry Screenings is 15 November 2013.

  • Sindh govt bans VOIP services to prevent terrorism activities

    Sindh govt bans VOIP services to prevent terrorism activities

    NEW DELHI: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has said it has no immediate plans of banning aforesaid online services in Sindh.

     

    A PTA spokesperson further clarified that it has not received any request from the Sindh government to ban Skype, Viber and Whatsapp for limited period.

     

    On 4 October, the entire social media world in Pakistan had received a shock when Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon announced a three-month ban on VOIP based services mainly due to stop the terrorist activities in Karachi.

     

    Just two days earlier, when an independent watchdog organisation – Freedom House – ranked Pakistan among the bottom 10 countries on net freedom.

     

    The report stated that various political and social obstacles to net freedom have been put in place by successive governments in the name of fighting terrorism.

     

    Earlier, there was a similar ban in Saudi Arabia, increasing on-net calls via Skype resulting in drop of revenues for Etsilat and other major telecom companies. They used the card of “Religion” stating that these services are spreading profanity in the youth and ultimately got those services banned in the country.

  • Yahoo sued over e-mail scanning for targeted advertising

    Yahoo sued over e-mail scanning for targeted advertising

    MUMBAI: Yahoo! Inc. has been sued over claims that its scanning of e-mail messages for targeted advertising invades users’ privacy in violation of state and federal wiretap laws.

     

    The lawsuit, filed recently in federal court in San Jose, California, was brought on behalf of residents of San Bruno, California, and seeks class-action status. The case was filed one week after US district judge Lucy H Koh in San Jose issued an order refusing to dismiss a similar suit against Google Inc. (GOOG).

     

    The interception of “any and all incoming electronic communications or e-mails to Yahoo! mail users” is used to profit from “targeted advertising, profiling, data collection, and other Yahoo! services unrelated to Yahoo! mail,” according to the complaint.

     

    Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, said in an e-mailed statement that it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

     

    Yahoo has beaten earnings expectations 19 times in the past 20 quarters, the most among global Internet media companies.

  • Life OK to showcase Mallika’s Magic

    Life OK to showcase Mallika’s Magic

    MUMBAI: The countdown to Life OK’s much anticipated show The Bachelorette India has begun. Starting 7 October, every Monday to Friday from 9.30 pm to 10.30 pm, all eyes will be on Mallika Sherawat as she hunts for the perfect mate from among 30 eligible bachelors, who will pull out all stops to win the sexy siren’s heart… and hand.

    People will either hate it or love it believes Ajit Thakur

    “You will either hate it or love it,” says Life OK general manager Ajit Thakur about the non-fiction show.

    Scheduled to run for five weeks with 28 hours of total content, 40 to 50 per cent of shooting has already been canned in the City of Lakes. Produced by SOL Productions with Lux Inferno and Ghadi Detergent as co-presenting sponsors, the show is in keeping with Life OK’s promise to add an Indian flavour to the much awaited reality series. As for Mallika, she is a magnet for publicity, whatever she does.

    But why make the show a week day property? “This kind of content is universal in nature. If you view from a concept perspective, on other GECs, a week day concept is all about soaps and the emotional content is very high. So love is the corner stone for everything that happens on a GEC from Monday to Friday. Considering this fact, we thought this was the best time,” says Life OK marketing head Pratik Seal.

    Marketing-wise, several activities have been planned. Digitally speaking, Life OK has organised a ‘live tweeter outdoor’ at Delhi University North Campus, where people can come and tweet their wishes to Mallika. “It’s a mood meter. Mallika’s mood changes on how you tweet. For example, if you criticise, she becomes grumpy; if you praise her, she is all happy. This activity is still on and students there are enjoying it,” explains Seal. Special tabs, games and apps, and video leaks on YouTube have been built into the digital activity.

    Secondly, throughout the five weeks, Life OK will have a video diary, also known as a regular video blog, on YouTube that will be updated regularly.

    Thirdly, there will be a live tweeter hastens during the show, where people can tweet about their favourite moments.

    Fourthly, Life OK has undertaken on-ground activations in over 38 cities. Add to that, colleges in UP, Delhi and Gujarat will celebrate Rose Day as a prelude to the show. A Google hangout with the lady on 7 October is also in the pipeline.

    Fourthly, Life OK has undertaken on-ground activations in over 38 cities. Add to that, colleges in UP, Delhi and Gujarat will celebrate Rose Day as a prelude to the show. A Google hangout with the lady on 7 October is also in the pipeline.

    Radio and television activations have been undertaken on a huge scale and TV promos of the show have received a good response.

    Speaking about hoardings, Seal says: “We did Phase I and Phase II of the campaign. The first phase was about selling the concept of war while the second phase was about showcasing love.”

    There will be people coming, who want a break from Hindi GECs, says a confident Pratik Seal

    Of the entire show budget, the channel is learnt to have spent around eight to ten per cent on marketing the upcoming show.

    Will the show grab enough eye balls in the face of such stiff competition? “Our attempt was to reach out beyond the GEC audience. We want to target more youth, more men, and more family as a unit; that has been our objective. If we manage to do that, half of our job is done. So there will be people coming, who want a break from Hindi GECs, to see what new biryani is cooking,” says Seal confidently.

    But comparisons with NDTV Imagine’s Swayamvar are inevitable and the industry isn’t too gung-ho about Life OK’s experiment with a similar format. “We’ve already seen enough of Rahul Mahajan, Rakhi Sawant and Ratan Rajput’s Swayamvar. What new is the show going to add? Just by changing the face of the person does not mean that the show is going to catch the attention of the viewers,” says a director.

    “Forget the daily soaps on other GECs. I think Bigg Boss is going to be the show’s biggest competitor. I am watching Bigg Boss since three weeks and I am already glued to it. I would not like to switch to any other channel for that one hour,” says an industry professional.

  • Prime Focus wins Emmy for ‘WWII from Space’

    Prime Focus wins Emmy for ‘WWII from Space’

    MUMBAI: Prime Focus, the world leader in media and entertainment industry services, won an Emmy Award in the ‘Outstanding Graphic Design & Art Direction’ category for their work on History Channel’s series World War II from Space. The October Films landmark series WW2 from Space covers the key political events and battles from the Second World War making extensive use of today’s creative technology to deliver the information in a way that will seize the attention of modern audiences.

     

    Winners of the 34th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were announced on 1

     

    October by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS); the awards were presented at a glittering ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Time Warner Center in New York City.

     

    The event was attended by more than 900 television and news media industry executives, news and documentary producers and journalists. Emmy Awards were presented in 42 categories, including Breaking News, Investigative Reporting, Outstanding Interview, and Best Documentary, among others.

     

    The VFX (Broadcast and Commercials) team at Prime Focus UK devised and created visually exciting ways to deliver the program’s factual information. The team successfully delivered a 70 minutes of CG for the 82 minute broadcast, supplying more than 420 shots.

     

    Prime Focus founder Namit Malhotra said, “We are proud to be recognised by the prestigious jury at Emmy. Awards like these prove our team’s hard work and creative excellence every time. The team’s exceptional execution on the series has evolved the genre of documentary programming. It was one of the most challenging projects last year. Working with the production company to develop such large portions of the program allowed us to really take control of the look and feel of the show, and push the genre to new heights.”

     

    In the past, Prime Focus has been bestowed with multiple awards at Emmy for documentaries such as The Mona Lisa Curse which won in the Arts Programming category and America The Story for us won for Outstanding Sound Editing for Non-fiction Programming. They have also been recognised for documentaries such as Heston’s Feasts which was nominated for Best

     

    Non-scripted Entertainment while 9/11: Phone Calls from the Towers was nominated in the

     

    Best Documentary category.

     

    More recently the company has also been involved in helping out with the VFX for the Anil Kapoor Productions and Ramesh Deo Productions’ Indian adaptation of 24 starring Anil Kapoor. The series begins to air on c from today every Friday and Saturday at 10:00 pm.