MUMBAI: QYOU Media Inc., (TSXV: QYOU; OTCQB: QYOUF) has announced that The Q India, the company’s Hindi language youth oriented channel available in and on over 700 million homes and devices in India, has reached its 2021 goal of distribution to 100 Million TV Households as a result of launching on both DD Free Dish & Dish TV in April. The Q India has now gone live to 50 million additional TV homes in the month of April placing it in a position to challenge leading youth oriented channels and brands in the country that previously had significantly higher numbers of homes reached. The company issued a press release on 1 March 2021 in connection with the new DD Free Dish (Channel 34) agreement. The new distribution relationship with DISH TV (Channel 128) has not been previously disclosed.
QYOU Media India co-founder & general manager Sunder Aaron said, “2021 continues to be a year where The Q India is accelerating the depth and breadth of our foundation for becoming a mainstream brand and media company in India. We have stated our goal of being a leading youth brand in India and distribution agreements like these are a key to making that happen. In addition, these are critically important building blocks as we pursue growing ratings and the ensuing revenue that will occur”.
The Q India is an advertiser and influencer marketing supported Hindi language content brand, channel and VOD provider delivering hit digital programming from social media stars and leading digital video creators targeting Young Indian audiences. The channel has recently become one of India’s fastest growing youth entertainment brands reaching 4.4 Gross Rating Points (GRP) on BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) in February 2021. With a growing library of over 850 programs, and beginning in April with the addition of DD Free Dish, the channel will reach an audience of over 712 million via 100 million television homes with partners including DD Free Dish, TATA Sky, DISH TV and SitiNetworks; 380 million OTT users via platforms including ShemarooMe, MX Player, ZEE5, and Dish Watcho; and 232 million users on mobile and digital platforms including Snap, JioTV, Airtel Xstream, Amazon Fire TV, Chingari and Samsung TV Plus.
MUMBAI: Zee Cinema has tied up with ACC Cement to highlight the benefits of the latter’s product line – ACC Gold Water Shield Cement. For this, the channel has roped in actor Pankaj Tripathi to educate its viewers about ACC’s unique water-resistant cement formula. His immense talent and down to earth nature epitomise the integration’s messaging of being strong in quality and yet relatable to everyone. This is a continuation to Zee Cinema’s tradition of using the power of entertainment to merge top brands with impactful messaging and help them reach the perfect set of audiences.
Through engaging content, Tripathi effortlessly lays out the core messaging for the brand – being resilient and reliable. Backed by the onscreen charisma of the Ludo star, there will be a series of creatively crafted communication to highlight the initiative. To personify this message, ACC Cement and Zee Cinema would also co-present movies which resonate with the brand’s offering.
ZeeL chief growth officer Ashish Sehgal said, “It’s a point of pride to join hands with another company like ACC Cement which has, also, created its own legacy of trust, dependency and superior results. It’s a well-crafted engagement which perfectly reflects the values of the channel, the brand and the key influencer.”
ACC Cement and Ambuja Cement CMO Ashish Prasad said, “Our campaign aims at inspiring individual home builders to protect their homes by building them with India's first water repellent cement – ACC Gold Water Shield. With products like Gold Water Shield Cement, ACC has always aimed at creating innovative need-based products and communication that connects with its consumers, just like the stories weaved by Pankaj Tripathi and Zee Cinema that connects with the audiences to get relevant message across.”
Zee Hindi Movies cluster head Ruchir Tiwari added, “We bolstered this integration by connecting the brand messaging directly with our powerful movie line-up and leveraging the perfect influencer to personify the communication.”
Havas Media Group is the media buying partner for the campaign.
As a part of this integration, ACC Cements and Zee Cinema will also co-present the movies – world television premiere of The Power on 27 March at 8 pm and Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl on 3 April.
MUMBAI: Dangal TV, has always been at the forefront of creating meaningful and engaging stories with shows like Aye Mere Humsafar, Prem Bandhan and now Ranju Ki Betiyaan. Building on this, Dangal TV in its original new avatar of Dangal Original is all set to re-launch its crime show Crime Alert. Crime Alert aims at creating awareness amongst viewers, from means of protecting themselves to recognizing crime and criminal activities. Having received immense appreciation for showcasing true events in a dramatic and exceptional manner, the show successfully achieved its purpose of alerting citizens against criminal activities. Crime Alert a Dangal original will premiere on March 15 at 12.30 pm Monday to Saturday exclusively on Dangal TV.
Hosted by Sudha Chandran, each episode will showcase a story based on a real incident or crime from across the various parts of India, through different human perspectives. In addition to simply playing the host, Sudha Chandran will take the viewers through various instances and guide viewers to speak up, report and fight against crime and violence.
Dangal TV programming head Prashant Bhatt said, “At Dangal TV, we are constantly working towards showcasing content across genres for our discerning viewers. With Crime Alert, we shall continue to bring about some kind of a conceivable change in society by educating our viewers and creating awareness to help further and encourage them to take action against crime and criminal activities. We are presenting all new episodes as Dangal Original on public demand, which will be in all new avatar and are hopeful to make a positive difference to people's lives and in our society.”
Dangal TV has partnered with top leading production houses in India for each episode thus showcasing the best of stories. The show will lay emphasis on women centric stories, kidnapping, theft and interpersonal relationships. The show will urge people to break their prevailing attitude of letting the powerful in society get away with crime.
Tune into Crime Alert starting 15 March, 2021, Monday to Saturday at 12.30 pm only on Dangal TV.
MUMBAI: Enterr10 TV Networks has restructured its leadership and has assigned the revenue mandate of its flagship GEC Dangal TV to Shrutish Maharaj as an additional responsibility over his current role. Maharaj will also be overseeing the group’s Media planning & buying and will be reporting to Enterr10 Television Network MD Manish Singhal.
Maharaj had joined Enterr10 Network as chief business officer to lead the revenue and strategy business for the regional cluster of Enterr10 Network in August 2020.
Enterr10 Television Network MD Manish Singhal said: “We need the A team for the A game and it's quite heartening to have Shrutish back at the helm of affairs. Investing in the right content mix is our topmost priority right now and it really helps to have the right people walk with us towards the common goal. Shrutish is a fearless young leader who shares my passion and vision for the media and entertainment space.”
Shrutish Maharaj said: “I am equally elated to lead Dangal 2.0. The industry saw us create and then re-create benchmarks for the entire genre last time around, but it will be equally challenging and exciting to have a go at it again with a lot of changed variables and only one constant, which is a firm belief in your own brand. Dangal originals give us a lot of edge over competition, not only in terms of positioning and differentiation but also as a great revenue opportunity. I am most confident of orchestrating yet another success story with my team.”
Shrutish has already taken charge of his new role and will be operating out of the Mumbai office
MUMBAI: On the occasion of International Women’s Day (8 March ) this year, media consulting firm Ormax Media and entertainment platform Film Companion have released a report on representation of women in Indian films, titled O Womaniya! 2021. This first-of-its-kind report will be an annual initiative that aims to start necessary conversation about the need for gender parity in Indian cinema.
The report is based on analysis of 129 Indian films released in 2019 & 2020 across five languages, i.e., Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam & Kannada. The list includes the top 100 theatrical films based on their footfalls in India, and 29 direct-to-OTT films that were promoted prominently in this period. The report looks at three aspects of representation: Talent, Content & Marketing.
In the Talent section of the report, five key HOD positions for the chosen films were analysed, namely direction, writing, cinematography, editing and production design. Only 8 per cent HOD positions were held by women. Direction and Cinematography are particularly lopsided, at just 6 percent and 2 percent female representation respectively.
While female HOD representation in Hindi cinema is low at 16 per cent, it is almost non-existent in South cinema, at just 1 per cent
The Content section of the report uses the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test is an Internationally-accepted measure of female representation in film stories. For a film to pass the Bechdel Test, it needs to meet a basic requirement: It should have at least one scene in which two female characters are talking, and the conversation is about a topic other than a man/men. As many as 59% films, including some of the biggest Hindi and South blockbusters, failed the Bechdel Test.
In the Marketing section, trailers of the 129 were analysed, and the speaking time allotted to male and female characters in these trailers was measured. The report reveals that with 81% speaking time, male characters ‘outspeak’ female characters by more than four times in film trailers, thus concluding that most films are being marketed via male actors and characters. Only 10 out of 129 films had trailers where women spoke more than men.
Film Companion founder & editorbAnupama Chopra said: “We all know that the playing field is skewed in favour of men, but the numbers reveal how stark the difference is. I’m thrilled that we could partner with Ormax Media on this report, and I hope that the O Womaniya! report will ignite a conversation and hopefully, change."
Ormax Media founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor said: “The extremity of the numbers in the report should serve as an eye-opener for all stakeholders. Single-digit percentage representation in key HOD positions is a sign that there’s a deep-seated cultural issue to address. By tracking these factual metrics year-on-year, we will be able to conclude whether the shift in views related to gender equality in cinema are real or merely perceptual”.
NEW DELHI: Covid2019 impacted nearly every genre on television. People were forced to stay indoors and as a result they spent a lot of time watching news, movies, music and shows on TV, resulting in a massive viewership spike.
The movie channels leveraged this period and showcased the best titles from their library to ensure that they are able to attract audiences. A BARC report stated that there was a 14 per cent increase in impressions and 10 per cent spike in daily average reach.
However, during several webinars, meetings and discussions, industry observers clearly mentioned that the surge in viewership did not translate into advertising.
TAM recently released data that showed ad volumes on movie genre grew by 60 per cent in 2020, compared to ad volumes in 2016. Interestingly, the quarter ended 31 December saw the highest number of hours in ad volumes per day.
If we look closely at the data, we will notice an obvious trend where the average ad volumes per day steeply fell in the initial stages of lockdown, and then started picking up early May-June onwards. The trend was obvious because marketing teams at brands were still unable to gauge the depth of the crisis and not ready to bet money on advertising in that quarter.
Movies have consistently maintained a 20 per cent average in overall television advertising across the years. (since 2016). In 2020, it was at 23 per cent.
The top five sub genres in 2019 were – Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, and Bengali, while in 2020 the top sub genres were Hindi, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Telugu, and Kannada.
Personal care and food & beverages sectors were the leading advertisers on this genre, however, toilet soaps, shampoos and washing powders continued their dominance in terms of ad volumes in this category.
HUL and Reckitt Benckiser India were the leading advertisers, while Dettol Toilet Soaps and Clinic Plus Shampoo were the leading brands in the genre.
The report also highlighted that ad volumes had a split of 51:49 between national and regional. In 2019, this split was at 56:44.
During the Unlock phase, the movie genre saw nearly 280 hours of average ad volumes per day, which was 93 per cent more than the lockdown period.
Ad volumes were maximum on primetime band and the 20-40 seconder ad format still ruled the segment.
New Delhi: The union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has asked the TN government to withdraw its order allowing the theatre and cinema halls to operate at 100 per cent capacity. MHA has clearly stated that it is a dilution of its order around theatre and multiplex capacities. The TN government issued the order two days.
According to the letter from union home secretary Ajay Bhalla to chief secretary of Tamil Nadu Shanmugam, capacities in theatres and multiplexes outside containment zones is set at 50 per cent. “The government of Tamil Nadu, however, has permitted to increase the seating capacity of cinemas theatres multiplexes from existing 50 per cent capacity to 100 per cent by following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).”
“This amounts to dilution of MHA order dated December 28, 2020 issued under the DM Act, 2005,” the letter states.
The union home secretary tells the Tamil Nadu government to immediately issue an order to bring the state’s order in line with the MHA guidelines.
The union government also instructed the state and union territories to strictly enforce the guidelines without diluting them: “strict compliance of Covid2019 -appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks, keeping social distancing, stern action against those who are violating guidelines SOPs regulation of gatherings,” he said.
As per an order in October 2020, MHA permitted the theatres to partially reopen as part of the Unlock guidelines with clear SOPs. Theatres were only permitted to reopen with 50 per cent seating capacity outside containment zones.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami gave the nod to permit 100 per cent seating capacity in theaters after actor Vijay met the leader at his residence. Actor Silambarasan also requested the chief minister to allow 100 per cent seating capacity in theaters across the state ahead of the Pongal season. Actor Vijay’s film Master and actor Silambarasan’s movie Eeswaran are both slated for release during Pongal.
MUMBAI: Zee TV has been a front-runner in revolutionising television content over the past three decades and it is all set to change the face of music reality shows once again with its latest non-fiction property, the Indian Pro Music League (IPML). In what will be a clutter-breaking format innovation, Zee TV is all set to present audiences with the world’s first ever music league in early 2021. While the world of sports has seen several league competitions, this unique music league will have six teams representing different regions of India, battling it out against each other in a musical championship. Each of these six teams supported by leading Bollywood and sports celebrities will have top playback singers as their captains, one reality show star and one fresh voice. The likes of Mika Singh, Kailash Kher, Sajid Khan, Shaan, Ankit Tiwari, Javed Ali, Asees Kaur, Bhoomi Trivedi, Akriti Kakar, Payal Dev, Neha Bhasin, Shilpa Rao have been signed on to captain the six zonal teams.
For such a mammoth music reality show, the channel is launching a vibrant anthem at the Zee Rishtey Awards 2020 that will have each of its 12 team captains coming together for the very first time. Composed by Sajid – Wajid, this musical masterpiece is amongst the last few compositions of the duo before Wajid Khan’s tragic demise.
Composer of the Indian Pro Music League Anthem, Sajid Khan said, “In my entire career, the Indian Pro Music League Anthem has taken me the longest time to compose and record. Wajid and I were kicked about it when it came to us and we worked on it day and night. This is one of our last pieces of the composition together and hence, I am very emotional about it and it is very close to my heart. What makes this even more magical is that we have 18 top singers singing such an anthem for the very first time. Talking about the anthem, it is quite different from our usual compositions. It is upbeat, charged with passion and has a lot of regional flavours to it. I can’t wait and watch to see the audience’s reaction.”
While the anthem being Wajid’s swansong makes it special in itself, the sheer scale of the anthem will also leave you awestruck. The Indian Pro Music League Anthem, which showcases the different regional flavours of the six zonal teams Mumbai Warriors, Delhi Dhurandhars, UP Dabbangs, Punjab Lions, Bengal Tigers and Gujarat Rockers has been written by five lyricists – Danish Sabri (son of Iqbal Sabri), Paresh Hingu, Prashant Hingole, Perry ji and Sajid Khan. Programmed by 3 programmers – Aditya Dev, Aamir and Ashish Seghal, the Indian Pro Music League Anthem also boasts of one of the biggest orchestra ensembles. The orchestra of more than 80 people, comprising 40 violins and 6 cellos, amongst several other instruments. Apart from the 12 captains, the track also features the vocal stylings of the six reality stars – Purva Mantri, Rupali Jagga, Hemant Brijwasi, Salman Ali, Rituraj Mohanty and Ankush Bhardwaj who are a part of the six zonal teams.
The Indian Pro Music League Anthem was unveiled at the Zee Rishtey Awards 2020 on 27 December on Zee TV.
MUMBAI: Zee Biskope from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZeeL) has managed to win the hearts of the audiences since its launch in 2019. As a new player in the Bhojpuri movies space that is already crowded (comprising Big Ganga, Enterr10 Rangeela, Bhojpuri Cinema, Humar TV, B4U Bhojpuri, and Oscars Movie Bhojpuri), the channel has attained the third spot on the pay platform in (U+R) market and carved a niche for itself.
Moreover, Zee Biskope has been a gamechanger in differentiation by continually curating viewer experience beyond just movies. Along with a stellar launch campaign, the brand has presented many initiatives including blockbuster premieres, curated movie festivals, and novel audience engagement drives throughout the year.
Extending the legacy of novelty to the celebration of its first anniversary, the channel is looking to expand its reach by creating its own content and shows. In conversation with indiantelevision.com’s Shikha Singh, Zeel Zee Biskope and Big Ganga business head Amarpreet Singh Saini and Zee Biskope lead brand management Jit Sengupta spoke at length about the channel’s vision going forward, content strategy, marketing, promotions, and much more.
Edited excerpts:
On the 2020 report card
We started with the belief that the movie market in Bihar is very commoditised and the time is ripe for presenting something that is well-curated and born out of consumer insights. Hence we attempted Zee Biskope. All the strategies on content or its projection or its extension that we envisaged, achieved success. In the Bhojpuri category, it was the first channel in the number one position. Initiatives like the first Bhojpuri screening almost got a gate crash audience. Digital mascots Bhaiyaji and Gamchaji – a first in the Bhojpuri category – got a huge response as well as in viewership increment of more than 10 per cent on an average. Also, we curate content specifically for the bands we have targeted. We stood corrected on the belief that audiences are ready to be super served so the brands will have to pull up their socks.
The Pandemic was a setback for the TV industry but the silver lining was that the news and movies genre flourished because of the lack of content on GECs. Non-prime time became bigger than prime time, there was a lot of family viewership that was happening. We repurposed our content, re-engineered our FPC, launched extended weekend bands, we did more premieres than usual. We knew the appetite was higher, and we gained the leadership position.
Now, closer to the anniversary date, the category is seeing a bit of a challenge with the comeback of Hindi channels on the Free Dish platform. There is a demand to go beyond showcasing a movie for greater viewer engagement. We are still holding the market share of 23 per cent in this category.
The movie festivals registered growth on an average of 25 to 30 per cent GRP in the category. In primetime, both on weekdays and weekends, we are the leaders. Even the engagement activities that we have done got an average of 10 to 20 per cent reach increment on the platform.
On distribution
It is content or movie acquisition from the vendor or movie producers, however, the added filter we apply into that is consumer insights on what kind of content or genres people are more amenable to. Post pandemic, theatrical releases have died down so we’re looking into the trend of TV-first or satellite, as well as direct movie releases. Apart from that, there are a lot of in-house movie productions which are happening. Currently, it is sourced from external vendors but in future we will create our own movies and build on that model.
On increasing recall
Going forward, content initiatives will remain the same but engagement activities will be the primary driver because their success has shown that the brand is more than a viewership-driven brand, it is becoming a part of viewers’ lives. If only one activity would have given such a high number of participation we would have been apprehensive but activity after activity like Camera day, Dance Day, and Emoji Day has seen participation numbers increasing. It indicates that audiences are looking at more action from the channel which helps them to participate on the channel. They will remain our key focus to increase brand awareness. The star initiatives will be supported by network promotions.
On viewership trends in the Bhojpuri category this year
Earlier there used to be skewed bands or individual bands like females, kids, but those skews are more diluted in the non-prime time because every member of the family is at home. Apart from this, viewing hours or viewing consumption has increased, maybe because of the boredom in being homebound, and TV entertainment is the only window to break that.
We are capitalising on that by putting more movies on active bands by doing more premieres, film festivals which are tied around consumers present in that band and topicality. For instance, if morning and afternoon have become family viewership bands then we have film festivals celebrating the family day, Saawan season, Teej, romance, and other festivities. During special occasions like New Year or Christmas, we bring events on-board. Very soon we will add original shows to the platform because we always considered Zee Biskope as a movie plus channel. Currently, we have started pre-production work for an untitled show which will be launched in January.
On advertisers’ response to the channel
Advertiser and market response has been very strong since the beginning. From the beginning, we came in with a very robust package, we even came up with a brand song. We got celebrities from the region for the first time, then we did a lot of consumer seed activities so that saw a lot of promise and confidence amongst advertisers and got campaign partners. Since then, there have been brands which have been consistent with us and we have curated marketing activities around their brand promise. During the pandemic, there had been a slowdown but now the market is opening up and advertisers are coming back. We have got a very robust ROI and our business objectives are met already, and we are looking at closing the financial year close to the target that we have kept for our businesses.
Recently, we celebrated Litti Chokha Diwas, so Adani Fortune Oil came on board for that and we curated content for them. Nestle is our constant partner and we have done integrations for them.
During the launch we had Lux and Nihar as channel partners and thereon we had Airtel, Parle and Adani Fortune Mustard Oil. Largely, the participation is driven by FMCG brands, a lot of other categories that are seeing the upsurge are edtech, health and sanitisation brands.
On the impact of consumer-centric campaigns
The biggest campaign we did was during our launch, in terms of viewership we achieved more than we targeted for the opening numbers. Each festival registered a 30 per cent jump in viewership. We started with the biggest screening in Bihar. The launch campaign did make an impact. Our internal track of the awareness level during the launch phase and the intention to engage levels showed more than 90 per cent of positive response.
On their marketing mix
Traditional media still plays a vital role, however, we have been very consistent with radio or audio mediums. We have also used play tunes platforms to reach out to audiences, though TV remains the primary platform followed by digital. We have tried print, it also works but after the pandemic, the situation changed a bit. Since people are not going outdoors much we are not looking at OOH mediums. For our anniversary we have organised a DJ night with DJ Vee and then we are also holding interactions with celebrities.
On content strategy for 2021
We want to be differentiated, we are looking at genres that are not explored on TV to date. Overall, we want to change the movie experience. We are exploring newer days to celebrate and once the situation is normalised we want to do a lot of ground-level activities also. We believe that movie channels should not be a passive entity in your life. It is something that you can celebrate. So, all the acquisitions that we are doing, the kind of premieres that we’ll bring in the next year, will be very different from what we have done so far.
MUMBAI: After Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Jallikattu was selected as India's official entry to the 93rd Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category, another worthy contender has been picked for the Oscars’ short film category – Shameless. Writer-director Keith Gomes’s 15-minute film is a black comedy thriller starring Sayani Gupta, which beat short films including Vidya Balan's Natkhat in the Oscars entry race.
Co-starring Hussain Dalal and Rishabh Kapoor, Shameless revolves around the theme of loss of human spirit due to technology, while it also attempts to raise relevant questions on issues of entitlement, humanity and empathy toward the migrant class.
Gupta who in a statement said, “My experience on Shameless was fantastic and now we are submitting to the Oscars, it's a wow! Keith is wonderful as a director and very gentle with his actors and crew. Hussain, of course is a great friend, and it was a ball working with him. We have a silent communication and understanding when it comes to improvisations etc.”
Dalal recalled, "How clear Keith was with the way he wanted to tell this extremely unique story that communicates the hidden truth in society. We stayed honest to the process, had a blast making it. And then we're here, eligible for the Oscars.”
"I observe human behaviour and love telling stories about the human spirit. This world needs kindness and my films are a reminder to not get lost into technology. I make films with little funding from family and friends, everyone comes together with loads of love and passion. Couldn't be more blessed," said director Gomes.
Released last year, Shameless has been selected from a shortlist of five films. Apart from Natkhat, there were Sound Proof, Safar and Trapped in the running. The film also stars Rishabh Kapoor and is produced by Ashley Gomes and Sandeep Kamal. Resul Pookutty, who won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, is the sound designer of Shameless.
