ITV

Category: GECs

  • NatGeo commemorates Earth Day with ‘One for Change’ campaign

    NatGeo commemorates Earth Day with ‘One for Change’ campaign

    Mumbai: National Geographic has announced the launch of its one-of-its-kind initiative titled ‘One for Change’ to commemorate Earth Day. The initiative will showcase a series of short films, spotlighting the stories of ten changemakers who have taken extraordinary steps to save the planet and make the world a better place.

    Premiering 22 April on the television platforms of National Geographic and the entertainment channels across Disney Star, the films will also be released on National Geographic social media handles that have a combined following of over 10 million in India.

    With an aim to inspire and encourage viewers to take that one step and ‘be the one for change’, the stories will focus on the journey of these passionate individuals and get the viewers acquainted with their lives, their passions and shine a light on what pushed them to follow the path of planet conservation.

    “Furthering the knowledge and understanding of our world is at the core of National Geographic. Through the years, we have helped our viewers better understand and care about our world, with our thought provoking and fact based narratives,” said Disney Star head – network entertainment channels Kevin Vaz. “With ‘One for Change’, we wanted to uplift and inspire our viewers, through the remarkable stories of incredible individuals, from across the country, who have taken that first step and more, towards loving our planet.”  

    “Given the nature and the purpose behind the initiative, we will have the might of the entire entertainment channels at Disney Star championing the films across our channels and give them the thrust they need to reach out to millions of our audiences. With this, we hope that these stories of passion, triumph and sheer love for our Mother Earth and its people will ignite a spark and inspire all planet lovers to take that one little step towards building a sustainable and hopeful future for the Earth,” he further added.

     The ten changemakers featured in the series are:

    •     Vani Murthy- Known as the Worm Queen, Murthy is spreading awareness about the importance of composting
    •     Purnima Barman Devi- The leader of the Hargila Army, working towards the protection of endangered Greater Adjutant Stork
    •     Tejas Sidnal – An architect who has innovated a unique tile that is made from carbon waste
    •     Venkatesh Charloo – A pioneering marine conservationist, helping in coral restoration in Goa
    •     Vidyut Mohan – 2020 ‘UNEP Young Champion of the Earth’, Mohan has created a machine that converts waste farm residue into products of value for farmers
    •     Varsha Raikar – RJ with Radio Bundelkhand who raises awareness against climate change
    •     Rukmani Katara- CEO of a solar company, igniting a renewable energy revolution in rural India
    •     Poonam & Aditya Singh- A couple that is rewilding barren land on the outskirts of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve as a buffer between man and animal
    •     Thulasi Gouda- Padma Shri winner Gouda has been preserving forests in her village for 50 years and is called the living encyclopedia of the forests
    •     Sonam Wangchuk- An eco-architect who has pioneered the creation of carbon neutral structures in Ladakh using elements from nature

     

  • Zee TV’s primetime sees slot shuffle starting 2 May

    Zee TV’s primetime sees slot shuffle starting 2 May

    Mumbai: As Zee TV strengthens its primetime with the launch of its upcoming fiction show starring Shabir Ahluwalia – “Pyaar Ka Pehla Naam Radha Mohan” on 2 May, the channel announces a shuffle of time slots for its ongoing fiction shows. While the new show premieres at 8 p.m on weekdays, the grand historical “Kashibai Bajirao Ballal” shifts to 10 p.m. “Tere Bina Jiya Jaaye Na” shifts to 10:30 p.m as “Aggar Tum Na Hote” draws to a close on 29 April.

    “Pyaar Ka Pehla Naam Radha Mohan” showcases a mature romance based in modern-day Vrindavan that takes everyone on the intriguing journey of Mohan (played by Shabir Ahluwalia) who was once a flamboyant charmer – someone who would have everyone swooning around him. But circumstances have robbed him of his smile, and he is now an intense brooding man with a wall built around him, the channel shared in a statement.

    The narrative of “Kashibai Bajirao Ballal” has shifted to the blooming of romance between the grown-up Kashibai and Bajirao post the show’s recent seven-year leap and the birth of their first son Nanasaheb alongside all the developments that transpired in the Shaniwar Wada, the statement further added.

    With a fiction launch during its weekday primetime and exciting high points to look forward to across all its fiction shows, the channel has its viewers enthralled over the weekend with the super talented brat-pack of young dancing sensations on “DID L’il Masters,” which has opened up to a warm welcome from the audience. Over the coming weekend, followers of “DID L’il Masters” can look forward to a tribute to the late Lata Mangeshkar by her own sister – Asha Bhosle who makes a special appearance on the show, said the channel.

  • SonyLIV acquires streaming rights to Puneeth Rajkumar’s ‘James’

    SonyLIV acquires streaming rights to Puneeth Rajkumar’s ‘James’

    Mumbai: SonyLIV has acquired rights to late actor Puneeth Rajkumar’s last film “James” which will begin streaming 14 April onwards. Apart from Kannada, the film will be streaming in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi.

    The film will fortify SonyLIV’s regional library with the addition of Kannada language content.

    Puneeth Rajkumar was a prolific Kannada actor who enjoyed a pan-India appeal and was known for his films “Power” and “Yuvarathnaa”.

    Helmed and written by Chethan Kumar and produced by Kishore Pathikonda, James pairs Puneeth opposite Priya Anand. The film also stars Srikanth, Nawab Shah, Sarath Kumar, Tarak Ponnappa, John Kokken, Chikkanna, Shine Shetty, and Tilak, among others, with Puneeth’s brothers Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar appearing in cameos. Shivarajkumar also did the dubbing for his brother as he died before the commencement of the movie’s post-production.

    “It is an honour to be associated with James, which not only has gripping performances but is also a testament to the outstanding and multifaceted journey of Puneeth Rajkumar on celluloid,” said Sony Pictures Networks India head of content SonyLIV and SET Ashish Golwalkar.

    “He was a true genius, and we are proud to be able to bring his last feature film to his fans everywhere and help them connect with their beloved superstar. It will also boost our regional library, adding to our aim of bringing quality content that resonates with people from all parts of the country,” he added.

    “Directing Puneeth is a dream that only the fortunate can turn into a reality,” said director Chethan Kumar. “I consider myself extremely privileged to have gotten this opportunity. I had envisioned the film with Puneeth in mind, and it was an absolute honour to have him play James. By bringing the movie on SonyLIV, the platform is paying fitting tribute to the legendary personality that he was,” he added.

  • Zee onboards Sandeep Pillai as director of marketing – music cluster

    Zee onboards Sandeep Pillai as director of marketing – music cluster

    Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has brought on board Sandeep Pillai as director of marketing for its music cluster.

    In this new role at Zee, Pillai will be leading the brand strategy, management and new launches for Zing across ATL/BTL/digital/PR.

    He previously served at Times Network for eight years as deputy general manager for Movies Now, MN+, and MNX.

    An engineer turned marketer, Pillai has over 14 years of experience in building brands, creating award-winning marketing campaigns and driving growth across categories.

    His expertise lies in media planning, brand management and consumer marketing strategy with a mix of above-the-line, digital, below-the-line and strategic partnerships.

  • Zee Media launches news channel Zee Delhi NCR Haryana

    Zee Media launches news channel Zee Delhi NCR Haryana

    Mumbai: Zee Media Corp has launched a news channel catering to Delhi, NCR, and Haryana. The channel called ‘Zee Delhi NCR Haryana’ will serve everyday news consumption needs via an array of different genres of programmes, it said.

    Congratulating Zee Media on the launch of the channel, Rajya Sabha MP Dr Subhash Chandra in his message wished that the channel delivers to the expectations of the viewers. He also urged viewers to give their feedback about the channel.

    “First, I would like to extend my best wishes to the group on launching the new channel – Zee Delhi, NCR and Haryana,” said chief minister of Haryana Manohar Lal. “We are rapidly evolving and coming closer every day becoming a global village; and news plays a very important role in this. I expect that the new channel will be a bridge between the state government and the people of Haryana.”

    With the channel launch, Zee Media has addressed the need gap of hyperlocal news exclusively focused on the issues pertaining to Delhi, NCR and Haryana. The channel offers carefully curated programming that caters beyond politics and debates by including shows on crime, lifestyle, health etc.

    “Congratulations to Zee Media on launching Zee Delhi NCR Haryana, for fulfilling the need of a regional-focused channel based out of our region,” said chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal. “Journalists work in tough conditions and I have a lot of respect for the work they do but sometimes, they may get disconnected from the common man. There will be many things that different parties or politicians say, but it is important to keep the focus on what the common man says.”

    “The regions of Delhi, NCR and Haryana are a hotbed for politics and are also important cultural centres of the country,” said Zee Media cluster chief business officer Abhay Ojha. “We see a gap in honest, unbiased and extensive on-ground reporting in the regions, and hence we launched the channel that will exclusively cater to fulfilling that gap. We aim to be the most trustworthy news brand in the market. Since retail sales potential is very high, many SMEs are missing the platform as they can’t go to the national channels. Only local channels can give them complete RoI on advertisement, and we aim to focus on hyperlocal.”

    Zee Delhi, NCR and Haryana will be available as a linear television channel across all DTH and MSO platforms, along with the OTT streaming platform Zee5. The news channel will also have its handles on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

  • Zee Digital records 72.01 million unique visitors since December 2021: Comscore

    Zee Digital records 72.01 million unique visitors since December 2021: Comscore

    Mumbai: Zee Digital saw 72.01 million unique visitors since December 2021, as per data by Comscore MMX multi-platform. The upward trend began since the media company initiated its opinion poll before the election season.

    “Zee News Hindi website overtook its competitors Navbharat Times, ABP Live Hindi, and Aajtak significantly,” said the statement.

    “It is indeed a great achievement for us, and we will continue with this momentum,” said Zee News editor and India.com CCO Rajnish Ahuja. “We have kept our focus on catering to all the needs of our audience and becoming the one-stop-most-trusted Hindi news website. This position fuels our ambitions further, and we hope to continue with the same momentum.”

    Zee Digital head of digital sales Shridhar Mishra said their objective was to understand the audience. “Our consistent and constant investment in bettering the technology, content and marketing have been steps in that direction. Our position as per Comscore is just a demonstration of that. We are grateful to our partners and the audience for the faith they have shown in our brand,” he further said.

  • Enterr10 TV Network launches new GEC Dangal 2

    Enterr10 TV Network launches new GEC Dangal 2

    Mumbai: TV broadcaster Enterr10 on Saturday launched a new general entertainment channel called Dangal 2 to cater to the Hindi-speaking market audience.  

    The new GEC is targeted towards audiences across the country with a series of old and new shows from the network. “The viewers will not just get a chance to reminisce and rejoice the older much-loved shows but also get to watch the TRP garnering new originals of Dangal TV on this new channel as well,” said the media company.

    Dangal TV is one of the fastest growing GECs that consistently maintained its leading position in Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India data, said the statement. “Dangal TV shows not only connected with the masses through their rooted storylines but also managed to create a cult fan following for its leading stars,” it added.

    The new GEC will air many shows including “Rehna Hai Teri Palkon ki Chhaon Mein,” “Jyoti, Pyaar ki Lukka Chuppi,” “Phir Laut Aayi Nagin,” “Basera, Baba Aiso Varr Dhundo,” “Mahim Shani Dev Ki,” and “Crime Alert.”

    “We have built a unique relationship with our viewers through our channels,” said Dangal TV managing director Manish Singhal. “While Dangal TV is more attuned to the female viewership, with Dangal 2 we are looking to encapsulate a larger audience base. We are using all our experience of the Hindi speaking heartland and working on creating content that makes for family viewing.”

  • Viacom18 consolidates film portfolio under Colors Cineplex umbrella

    Viacom18 consolidates film portfolio under Colors Cineplex umbrella

    Mumbai: Viacom18 has consolidated all its movie channels under one brand umbrella – Colors Cineplex, and the new Hindi movie channel Colors Cineplex Superhits will go live on 1 April. The channel will be available on DTH and cable platforms including DD Free Dish.

    Colors Cineplex Superhits will air a mix of Hindi films and dubbed from other languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and English. Its content library includes more than 500 film titles, said the statement.

    “Movies are the most preferred medium of entertainment for the viewers and Colors Cineplex has always been at the forefront of providing exceptional movie content,” said Viacom18 head Hindi movies cluster Rohan Lavsi. “The mother channel – ‘Colors Cineplex’ has seen impressive growth in the past few years and has made it to the top five channels in the Hindi movie space.  With the launch of Colors Cineplex Superhits, we are now consolidating all the movie channels under the “Colors Cineplex” brand name. With the strengthened portfolio of channels that now includes Colors Cineplex, Colors Cineplex Bollywood and Colors Cineplex Superhits, we are excited to bring some blockbuster premieres and a splendid line-up of superhits of yesteryears for our audience.”

    Colors Cineplex Superhits will soon premiere films namely “Vijay Raghavan,” “Dumdaar Khiladi 2,” “Roberrt,” and “Minnal Murali” all April, every Sunday starting from 3 April.

  • Star Bharat aims to expand its reach within HSM: Kevin Vaz

    Star Bharat aims to expand its reach within HSM: Kevin Vaz

    Mumbai: There was a buzz about Star Bharat’s revamp when many shows including “Meri Gudiya” and “Kartik Purnima” were axed during the lockdown. Now, in a conversation with IndianTelevision.com, Disney Star head for network entertainment channels Kevin Vaz confirms that with a new content lineup, the channel is gradually shifting towards its new concept philosophy of romance-laden family entertainment shows.

    “With new content lineup, Star Bharat is aiming to expand its reach to a larger Hindi speaking market (HSM). The channel already has a loyal viewer base in Delhi, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. We will commission new shows along this line targeting more Hindi speaking states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Some part of Bihar, Rajasthan etc,” Vaz highlights.

    After Start Plus, Star Bharat is the second-largest Hindi GEC from the aegis of Star with a stronghold in the three largest Hindi-speaking markets – Delhi, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. And with its revamp plan, the channel is all set to grab more eyeballs from viewers as well as advertisers.

    Star Bharat announces ‘Swayamavar: Mika Di Vohti’ to amp up programming lineup

    Throwing some light on their content strategy to fulfill their goal to reach a larger audience, Vaz says that the channel has no plans to stick to a particular genre. Rather they are aiming to establish Star Bahrat as a light-entertainment hotspot that offers something interesting to all age groups but romance and entertainment will remain the central theme for all programmes.

    “With our recent launches ‘Woh Toh Hai Albela’ and ‘Swayamvar: Mika Di Vohti,’ we have demonstrated that Star Bahrat will have a mix of shows themed on romance and entertainment,” he shares.

    Adding onto his statement, Vaz says that based on their research they have identified romance as a central theme and we can expect future launches crafted around the romance theme.  

    Last month the channel launched “Woh Toh Hai Albela”- a show already creating a buzz in the market, followed by their recent launch “Swayamavar: Mika Ki Voti.” The channel is also planning to launch “Gud Se Meetha Ishq” and “Kall Bhairav” in the coming months.

    “If we take a deep look at the shows being launched, it can be said that the channel is keeping love as its basic theme but the content is full of variety,” he says, adding that, “We have just begun with fresh content. We have more shows in the pipeline which will add value to its bouquet of content in the next six months,” he further adds.

    While the sponsors and advertisers are not yet revealed for the upcoming programming, it is expected that this expansion of content bouquet will help Star Bharat become a new favorite for advertisers across categories.

  • Navin Shenoy to head sports marketing at Viacom18

    Navin Shenoy to head sports marketing at Viacom18

    Mumbai: Viacom18 has named Navin Shenoy as SVP marketing – sports ahead of the launch of its sports channel Sports18 SD and HD on 15 April. He has been associated with Viacom18 since September 2017. 

    Viacom18 to launch two sports channels starting 15 April

    Shenoy has two decades of experience across FMCG, telecom, media and advertising industries. He was previously the head of marketing for Viacom18 youth, music and English cluster including the brands MTV, MTV Beats, VH1, Comedy Central, and Colors Infinity.

    Prior to joining Viacom18, Shenoy has had stints at Airtel, Unilever, Tata Docomo, and MullenLowe Lintas Group.