ITV

Category: Movie Channels

  • Star India bets on unreleased movies

    Star India bets on unreleased movies

    MUMBAI: Star India is leaving no stone unturned to ensure Star Gold reigns in the movie premiere category. The broadcaster has not only acquired TV and digital rights for two blockbusters of 2017 – Golmaal Again and Judwaa 2 but also upcoming unreleased movies like Dutt, Baaghi 2, Raid and Aiyaary.

    According to a source close to the development, all the six movies have been acquired for a period of 7-11 years. They will also be available for streaming on Hotstar.

    Movie acquisition costs keep going a notch up every year, especially if the movie does well at the box office. The movie acquisition cost of Aiyaary is around Rs 21 crore, Golmaal Again is around Rs 60 crore and Judwaa 2 is between Rs 25-30 crore, the source revealed.

    Star India general manager and EVP Hindi movie business Hemal Jhaveri said, “The acquisition of the biggest films of the year is a testament to Star Gold’s dominant position and to the strength of the Star Network. Apart from entertaining the audiences, mega movie premieres also prove to be a successful platform from an advertiser’s standpoint. We are delighted to be at the centre of this win-win situation.”

    The broadcaster stands to earn big bucks during mega movie premieres since advertisers don’t hesitate to cough up premium rates, which will not be the case for a normal movie. It gives a bigger brand image for the advertiser as well as viewers.

    Premieres also tend to grab more eyeballs. The channel expects movies like Judwaa 2 and Golmaal Again to rake in the investment and viewership. But Bareilly ki Barfi and Shubh Mangal Savdhan and the likes may not do the same, said the source.

    Jhaveri believes that the channel has always received a phenomenal response for its big-ticket premieres. With the current lineup, the channel is optimistic about outdoing its previous records and setting new standards for television premieres in the country.

    In the last two years, Star Gold delivered the highest rated premieres, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRPD), whose satellite rights commanded a price tag of Rs 50 crore. Both their ratings are still unbeaten. Along with these, the channel has disrupted the market with landmark premieres such as Pink and The State vs Jolly LL.B 2. In 2017 itself, the channel delivered six of the top 10 premieres shown on Hindi movie channels.

    Despite the onset of digital platforms, TV viewership hasn’t been affected but has even increased since rural areas, that were only acquainted with Doordarshan earlier, can now scan through tons of private channels.

    Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal Again and Varun Dhawan’s Judwaa 2 will premiere on Star Gold in the coming two months. Among the unreleased movies are Rajkumar Hirani’s Dutt starring Ranbir Kapoor, Neeraj Pandey’s Aiyaary featuring Sidharth Malhotra, Baaghi 2 with Tiger Shroff in the lead and Ajay Devgn’s Raid.

  • Star Movies brings Trolls to Indian Television Screens for the first time ever!

    Star Movies brings Trolls to Indian Television Screens for the first time ever!

    MUMBAI: Staying true to the promise of being the destination for Hollywood Blockbusters, Star Movies brings to the Indian Television audiences, a fan favourite film Trolls. Directed byMike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn, Trolls stars the likes of Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Kunal Nayyar among others who have given their voice to the characters in the film.

    The movie, much loved by adults and children alike, makes it to the Indian television screens for the first time on Star Movies, 26th November 2017 at 1PM and 9PM.

    The movie is another animation masterpiece from Dreamworks, the studio that gave us Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. Not only does the animation catch the attention, the music too hits the right note. A highlight of the film is the music and it features the Academy Award nominated song, “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake.

    Trolls is a story that sheds light on Poppy, the happiest among the race of Trolls. Like the rest of the Trolls, Poppy always sings, stays content and remains optimistic. Their enemies are the Bergens, who are always pessimistic. So when the Bergens invade the Troll village in search of happiness, things get quite interesting. What ensues is a storyline that leaves you in splits but also pulls at your heartstrings as the Trolls fight for survival.

    Owen Gleiberman from Variety summarises the film quite aptly when he writes, “What’s the nature of happiness? ‘Trolls’ is the right film to pose that question, because it’s an ecstatically happy movie, a giddy EDM kiddie musical that sends you out on a high.” Just one of the examples to show that Trolls is not just for kids, it appeals to all age groups and is a complete family experience.

  • Baahubali 2 rerun pushes Sony Max to second place across genres

    Baahubali 2 rerun pushes Sony Max to second place across genres

    BENGALURU: S S Rajamouli’s epic historical action film sequel Baahubali 2 or Baahubali the Continuation or BB2 is so far the highest grossing Indian film ever. BB2 has continued its midas touch during its screening on the idiot box as well. As reported by us earlier, the screening of the movie in week 41 of 2017 had catapulted Hindi movie channel Sony Max to fourth place, just behind three GEC channels (one Tamil and two Hindi) in Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genres. Week 41 of 2017 was the week leading to the biggest Indian festival season- Diwali. The movie earned gold for the Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) Hindi Movies channel during Diwali week – week 42 of 2017 (Saturday, 14 October 2017 to Friday, 20 October 2017) by pushing it to number two position in the top 10 channels list across genres. With the Sun Network’s flagship Tamil GEC at the pole position, Star Max was the most watched Hindi channel in the HSM market in week 42 of 2017.

    Two major Hindi GEC channels – Star India’s flagship Star Plus and Network 18’s (Viacom 18) Colors exited the top 10 channels across genres list in week 42 of 2017 to be replaced by two Telugu GEC channels. The channels that replaced the Hindi GEC stalwart channels were Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) flagship Telugu GEC Zee Telugu and the Network 18 associated ETV Telugu.

    Three channels each from Zeel and SPN, two channels from Star India and one channel each from The Sun Network and Network 18 comprised the list of top 10 channels across genres for week 42 of 2017. From the genres perspective, five Hindi GEC, three Telugu GEC and one channel each from the Tamil GEC and Hindi Movies genres constituted the top 10 channels across genres in week 42 of 2017.

    As mentioned above, Sun TV topped the list with 1,156.707 million weekly impressions followed by Sony Max with 793.913 million weekly impressions. Three Zeel channels followed at third, fourth and fifth rank. Zeel’s FTA Zee Anmol was third with 767.550 million weekly impressions. Zee Anmol also topped the Hindi GEC genre during primetime (HSM (U+R): NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals), and Hindi GEC – HSM R market buoyed by Kaala Teeka in the former and Kaala Teeka and Jamai Raja in the latter.

    Zee Anmol was followed by Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV. Zee TV was ranked second during primetime in the Hindi GEC HSM (U+R) and the Hindi GEC (U) markets with the help of three programmes – Kumkum Bhagya, Kundali Bhagya and Zee TV’s homegrown reality musical show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs. At fourth place in week 42 of 2017, Zee TV scored 758.374 million weekly impressions and was followed by its Telugu flagship sibling GEC Zee Telugu which scored 632.146 millon weekly impressions at fifth place.

    Star India’s newly renamed FTA Hindi GEC Star Bharat came in at sixth rank in BARC’s top 10 channels list across genres in week 42 of 2017 with 605.401 million weekly impressions. At seventh place was the Network 18 associated Telugu GEC ETV Telugu with 603.007 million weekly impressions followed by SPN’s women focused Hindi GEC Star Pal at eighth place with 586.704 millon weekly impressions.

    Star India’s Telugu GEC Star Maa was at ninth place in BARC’s top 10 channels list across genres in week 42 of 2017 with 578.494 million weekly impressions. At tenth place in the list was SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) channel with 575.613 million weekly impressions. The Amitabh Bahchan anchored Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) helped SET to garner viewership during primetime and retain its place in BARC’s top 10 channels across genres list for week 42 of 2017.

  • HBO snags rights for XXX: Return of Xander Cage in South Asia

    HBO snags rights for XXX: Return of Xander Cage in South Asia

    MUMBAI: Two targets with one arrow – that’s how HBO views its new acquisition. The channel and its HD counterpart will be premiering XXX: The Return of Xander Cage on 15 October 2017 at 1 pm and 9 pm to engage existing audiences and acquire new ones.

    Xander Cage is just one of the several premieres as part of HBO’s multi-year output deal with Paramount Pictures. Brands associating with the movie include TUV300 as the powered-by partner while Oppo is the presenting partner and Suzuki Gixxer, Canon and LG OLED TV are associate partners.

    The American action film, directed by D. J. Caruso and written by F. Scott Frazier, also marks the debut of the talented actress, Deepika Padukone in Hollywood, as the svelte and tough Serena. Special promos shot with Padukone will be aired till the television premiere.

    The movie being the blockbuster of the year for HBO, the channel is using both traditional and digital media for marketing. Turner India senior director and network head – English entertainment Rohit Bhandari says, “For traditional media, we use mediums like outdoor hoardings, print and radio to promote the film, while in digital we use the HBO India Facebook page to engage with our audiences along with some paid ads especially for the digital medium, with mobile being a key medium.”

    HBO has the satellite rights for South Asian markets including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives for the movie telecast.

    Fans of the espionage and high-octane combat are in for a treat, as Vin Diesel reprises his role of the daredevil, Xander Cage. Agency chief, Jane Marke, enlists Xander to help retrieve the mysterious Pandora’s Box that is destined to spell doom for mankind when in the hands of the ruthless antagonist, Xiang. Cage sets off on a deadly trajectory with his team of accomplices and renegades, replete with motorbikes, guns, jet skis and submarines.

    The cast also features Donnie Yen, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, and Academy Award nominees Toni Collette and Samuel L. Jackson in pivotal roles.

    For those who love spy games, brilliant gadgetry and spectacular feats, the much-anticipated return of Cage makes for a heady cocktail!

  • Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory premieres on Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD on 1 Oct

    Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory premieres on Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD on 1 Oct

    MUMBAI: Love, friendship and family are the most important things in life. And with the festive season around the corner, India’s premier English movie cluster is all set to bring one of the best family blockbusters Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory to the small screen on 1st October, 2017 at 1 PM & 9 PM.

    The spectacular success of the first movie in this franchise – Finding Nemo released in 2003 which made close to $950 Million in worldwide box office collection – also saw a rise in popularity of one of the key characters in the film ‘Dory.’ So much so that, Dory was graced with a film of her own – Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory.

    The forgetful and yet extremely adorable Dory found her way into the hearts and minds of everyone making this movie an astounding success story at the box office with a worldwide collection of over $1 Billion becoming the 4th highest grossing animated movie of all time.

    Finding Dory is a story of spritely young Dory, whose spirits more than make up for what she lacks in memory. Her quest to find her parents with her friends Nemo and Marlin will take the viewers through an emotional rollercoaster.

    The movie features an array of exceptional voice over actors such as Ellen DeGeneres, Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell, Albert Brooks and Diane Keaton to name a few.

  • &pictures Gen-Next Film Festival from 3–8 Oct

    &pictures Gen-Next Film Festival from 3–8 Oct

    MUMBAI: They’re strong, dashing and all things awesome. They’re the actors of today whose talent and indomitable acting skills have taken the nation by storm. Celebrating stories and entertainment by the artists whose raw charm and appeal wows the audience, &pictures, Naye India Ka Blockbuster Movie Channel, announces the Gen-Next Film Festival. To air from Tuesday, 3rd October to Sunday, 8th October at 8 PM, the festival will bring together blockbuster movies that will satiate the entertainment needs of every movie-lover.

    Kicking off with action drama Baaghi, starring Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor, the Gen-Next Film Festival will air a series of compelling films which have brought smile to the viewers’ faces. This will be followed up by Rajkummar Rao starrer Trapped, Vidyut Jamval’s Commando 2, hilariously engaging Great Grand Masti, and Varun Dhawan, Ileana D’Cruz and Nargis Fakhri’s Main Tera Hero. It’s raining thrillers, comedies and romance on &pictures as the engagement levels amplify keeping audiences glued to their seats.

    public://&pitcure.jpg

    Stay tuned as the newest and freshest stories come to your television screens with the Gen-Next Film Festival, from 3rd to 8th October at 8pm on &pictures!

  • Star Gold launches Tubelight’s trailer outside Salman Khan’s home

    MUMBAI: Star Gold has always pushed the envelope not only with content but also engagement with the viewers.

    To announce its association with of the most anticipated film of the year, Tubelight, the channel undertook a massive initiative #StarGoldKiTubelight, where the channel launched the trailer of the film exclusively for fans outside megastar Salman Khan’s residence at Galaxy Apartments on 25 May. As an acknowledgment of this one-of-a-kind initiative, Salman Khan surprised his fans by reciprocating the love & adulation of the huge number of people that gathered outside his home.

    “We have worked with Salman Khan across multiple movies over the years and have a great partnership with him. For the release of Salman Khan’s most anticipated movie of the year ‘Tubelight’, we wanted to do something special. With #StarGoldKiTubelight, we would like to reinforce our promise, to viewers as well as trade partners, of bringing the biggest blockbuster films of Indian Cinema to their home screens. We strive to ensure that we engage our audiences not just with our films but also with the stars themselves”, said Star India Hindi movie business general manager and executive vice president Hemal Jhaveri.

    From the makers of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, ‘Tubelight’ is all set to break every box office record when it releases on 23 June and every Salman Khan fan is excited and is eagerly awaiting its release.

  • Zee gets Sarkar3 & Munna Michael syndication rights in deal with Eros

    MUMBAI: Eros International Media, a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, has signed a significant television syndication deal with Zee, a leading Indian global television network, for a slate of its forthcoming releases this year, including Sarkar 3, Munna Michael and Shubh Mangal Savdhaan.

    Eros International Media has a competitive advantage through its extensive and growing movie library comprising over 2,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films for home entertainment distribution.

    The multi-film deal with Zee gives the channel syndication rights to the third installment of one of the most impactful franchises of Indian cinema, Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar 3 starring Amitabh Bachchan which will be released worldwide on 12 May.

    Included in the deal are — Tiger Shroff and Sabbir Khan’s action-packed musical Munna Michael which is scheduled for release on 21 July, and a quirky romantic comedy Shubh Mangal Savdhaan by the southern India director RS Prasanna, starring Ayushyamann Khurana and Bhumi Pednekar, set to be released on 1 September.

    Speaking on the deal, Eros International Media managing director Sunil Lulla said, “We have enjoyed a great relationship with Zee over the years and I am delighted we have secured this deal with them. Bollywood films are critical to the television programming mix and we attempt to tailor packages to suit audiences on each network to maximize potential for both entities from the television broadcast”.

  • ZEEL takes Bollywood movie channel to Latam

    MUMBAI: Setting a new landmark, leading Indian content company, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has announced its expansion into Latin America with the launch of its Spanish-language Bollywood movie channel, Zee Mundo in Mexico and Ecuador. With this, ZEE becomes the first-ever Indian broadcaster to take mainstream channels to LATAM. Zee Mundo will be available in Mexico on Sky, a leading Pay-TV satellite provider and in Ecuador on TV Cable.

    Commenting on ZEE’s foray into LATAM, Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL said, “After Zee Mundo’s success in the US Hispanic market, where the channel’s unique offering has captivated viewers, we are now set to increase our footprint with a strategic expansion into Latin America. This is a key market for us and we want to take this channel to the length and breadth of audiences in both Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Latin America. We are launching our channel on the region’s biggest platforms – Sky in Mexico and TV Cable in Ecuador and soon we will be expanding across Latin America.”

    Sharing further details, Rajeev Kheror, President – Strategy, International Business, ZEEL said, “There is a cultural synergy between India and Latin America, with Indian content and storylines resonating strongly with Latin American values and traditions. With our carefully curated Spanish-language Bollywood channel, Zee Mundo, we aim to deliver a never-seen-before experience with the best of Bollywood movies, telenovelas and series. The channel has already received a positive response amongst US Hispanic audiences, with viewers finding the variety and quality of content compelling. We wish to deliver a similar experience to our audiences in Latin America with content that is high-quality, unique and entertaining.”

    Javier Lopez Casella, Head of Business, US Hispanic & Latin America, ZEEL, “We are excited to entertain Latin American audiences with the region’s first dedicated Bollywood movie channel, Zee Mundo which will be present on the biggest platforms in the region – Sky in Mexico and Central America, and TV Cable in Ecuador. Even before its launch, the content and concept of the channel has already received great acceptance on social networks in Mexico. Going ahead, with our appealing value proposition, we hope to satisfy viewers’ demands for content that is fresh and different from what is currently available.”

    ZEE Mundo will be available throughout Mexico and Central America on Sky channels – #203 in SD and #1228 in HD and in Ecuador on TV Cable – Channel Nos. #151 and #362. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the specially-customised channel will bring ZEE’s entire library of HD movie titles to LATAM audiences, meticulously dubbed in Spanish, crossing five genres – action, romance, suspense, drama and comedy and featuring some of the world’s biggest movie stars including Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan.

  • Movies Now brings Vidyut Jamwal to promote ‘Knockouts @ 7’

    MUMBAI: Movies Now has associated with an upcoming action film Commando 2 for its flagship property Knockouts @ 7. The property airs action packed movies like Quantum Of Solace, Spiderman 2, The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Snake On A Plane and many more every Monday–Friday at 7 pm.

    The movie is a sequel to 2013 film Commando starring Vidyut Jamwal which was highly appreciated for its action sequences and therefore the association with the channel is a perfect fit as it showcases action-packed Hollywood films.

    Actor Vidyut Jamwal recently shot a promo where he will be seen promoting the property and his upcoming film.

    Jamwal said, “Associating with Movies Now is like homecoming for me as the channel is known for showcasing some of the Hollywood’s best action movies from across the globe. Simultaneous to the theme of our movie, this property Knockouts @7 showcases some of my favorite action blockbuster movies from Hollywood. Commando 2 is also one big action-packed movie that I’m happy to be a part of and I would urge viewers to watch Knockouts @7 and Commando 2 as you surely cannot miss the best of Hollywood and Bollywood.”