ITV

Category: Music and Youth

  • Moses Francis Chinappa bags additional role of business head (MENA) at B4U

    Moses Francis Chinappa bags additional role of business head (MENA) at B4U

    MUMBAI: B4U Network has announced that chief commercial officer of India, Moses Francis Chinappa, willtake charge of the additional role of business head, MENA (Middle East and North Africa). Chinappa shall now handle the profit center and sales of Aflam and Plus channel (MENA region) along with sales for India.

    He will functionally report to international business head for the MENA region Ashok Shenoy and will continue to report to CFO and COO broadcasting operations India Sandeep Gupta.

    He takes the baton from Zeeshan Sajid Amin, who wishes to explore an opportunity outside B4U after a stint of five years with the company.

    Shenoy said, “We are thrilled to have Moses to oversee the operations in the MENA region. His expertise in sales and business strategies are an asset and we look forward to generating further profitable growth in the MENA market. We thank Zeeshan for his time and commitment to B4U and we wish him all the very best for his future endeavors.”

    On his appointment, Chinappa states, “I am looking forward to taking on the additional responsibility as business head, MENA. Whilst I am certain it will be a challenge, I am confident that I will be able to use my large amount of experience and pre-existing business relationships to develop long-lasting strategies to ensure B4U has consistent growth in the MENA region.”

  • Hungama Music now streaming on Alexa

    Hungama Music now streaming on Alexa

    MUMBAI: Hungama Music, one of the leading music streaming platforms in the country owned by Hungama Digital Media, today announced the availability of its service on Alexa. Users can now listen to their favorite tracks on the Amazon Echo range of smart speakers as well as the Amazon Fire TV Stick by simply asking Alexa to play songs from Hungama Music.

    The service enables users to stream individual tracks or songs from an entire album and even songs featuring a particular actor or a genre. Playlists curated by Hungama consisting of songs from composers, singers, occasion- specific trends and themes are also available. Users can access Hungama Music’s library on their Alexa devices using simple voice commands such as “Alexa, play Dilbar on Hungama”, “Alexa, play Punjabi songs on Hungama”, “Alexa, play Arijit Singh’s songs on Hungama”.

    Speaking about the association, Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Digital Media said, “At Hungama, we believe in offering our users an enriching experience that combines convenience with the power of choice. Our presence on Alexa, Amazon’s voice-based assistant, will help us ensure a truly multi-channel presence and enhance the users’ experience of listening to music at home. At the same time, the association will make it even easier for our users, existing and new, to explore and enjoy our multi-genre, multi-lingual and original content library.”

    Dilip R.S., Country Manager for Alexa Skills, Amazon India added, “Listening to your favorite music hands-free with Alexa is always a delight. With the availability of Hungama Music on Alexa, users will now be able to enjoy a diverse catalogue of film and non-film music across all major languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and more, by using simple voice commands. The addition of Hungama will further enhance the experience of all Alexa users.”

    To enjoy the Hungama Music service, users need to launch the Alexa app and enable the Hungama Music skill.  Once enabled, users also have the option to make Hungama Music their default streaming service by visiting the ‘Music’ section under settings. This eliminates the need to specify the music service name when asking Alexa.

  • Hungama Music starts original audio programming in Tamil ‘Endrendrum Punnagai’

    Hungama Music starts original audio programming in Tamil ‘Endrendrum Punnagai’

    MUMBAI: Hungama Music has announced its foray into original audio programming from 22 January. Starting with Endrendrum Punnagai, a Tamil audio original, Hungama Music will soon launch additional shows in other key Indian languages including Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi, Bengali and Marathi, among others.

    Endrendrum Punnagai is hosted by RJ Sindhu and is now available to stream on Hungama Music.

    Speaking about the foray into audio originals, Hungama Digital Media COO Siddhartha Roy said, “Like video content, there is an increasing demand for differentiated and local content on music streaming platforms. Over 48 per cent of our audience consumes content in languages besides Hindi. Our audio originals will help us enhance the user experience by offering an enriching catalogue of exclusive content, besides a multi-lingual and multi-genre library of songs and music videos. We plan to launch five to six audio originals in the next 12 months and aim to increase our regional user base by almost 30 per cent.”

    Hosted by RJ Sindhu, a known name on radio in Chennai – often called the morning energy shot for her listeners, Endrendrum Punnagai will focus on musicians from Tamil Nadu and their contribution to the world of music. The initial episodes of the show will be dedicated to the internationally-acclaimed musical maestro, AR Rahman, with subsequent episodes being dedicated to other well-known musicians from Tamil Nadu.

    Through its audio originals, Hungama will focus on creating locally-relevant audio content that enhances the overall music listening experience and complements its vast library spanning multiple genres and various Indian and international languages.

  • Shemaroo Entertainment Strengthens its Leadership Team to Conquer Newer Horizons

    Shemaroo Entertainment Strengthens its Leadership Team to Conquer Newer Horizons

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, has strengthened its International Business team with two new hirings at leadership positions. The company has appointed Sanjukta Ghosh and Nikhil Singh, both at the position of Assistant Vice President – International Business. Both Nikhil and Sanjukta will report directly to Kaushal Nanavati, VP International Business and will be leading the content syndication business across digital, international television, OTT and linear verticals.

    International and digital expansion, being among the key focus areas at Shemaroo, are expected to get a boost with the experience and expertise of Sanjukta and Nikhil.

    With an experience of over 14 years, Sanjukta was previously with Star India. Where she was responsible for Star’s Hindi movies content strategy. Before that, she played a major role in growing Star’s content licensing business across the globe.

    Nikhil Singh, joins Shemaroo from Indiacast Media where he was Associate Director. Prior to Indiacast, he was with Zee Entertainment and Star India. He has a strong background and experience of content syndication and distribution across broadcast, digital and mobile mediums for GEC, Sports and Kids content genres.

  • 9XM On Stage with Salim Sulaiman

    9XM On Stage with Salim Sulaiman

    MUMBAI: To celebrate the Republic Day week, 9XM – India’s most popular Bollywood music destination announces the launch of 9XM On Stage a splendid musical night created in honour of the Indian Armed Forces. 9XM On Stage with popular music composer duo Salim–Sulaiman, will be held at the Army grounds, Colaba, Mumbai on 23rd January 2019 at 6 pm. The musical concert will be attended by over three & half thousand people all of whom belong to the Indian Armed Forces.

    9XM On Stage with Salim-Sulaiman concert will also have popular Bollywood singer Jonita Gandhi, singer Raj Pandit, Indian Idol winner Vipul Mehta and the very famous Manganiyars from Rajasthan, entertaining the audience.

    Commenting on the musical concert, Punit Pandey, Chief Business Officer, 9X Media Pvt. Ltd. said, “At 9X Media we continue to deliver a SHAANDAAR experience to our viewers through our television screens. This has led our viewers to bookmark our Channels as their favourite music destinations. Likewise, with 9XM On Stage we are set to bring the same experience on ground. 9XM On Stage will celebrate the best of Bollywood music through large scale live events. We are pleased to partner with the talented music composers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant. The concert is our tribute to the Indian Armed Forces who have been sacrificing their lives for our Nation. Through the concert, we plan to bring a smile on the faces of the Indian Armed Forces and their family members. We are sure that Salim-Sulaiman will enthral the audiences with their melodious and catchy numbers. Going forward, our patrons can look out for more grand musicals under 9XM On Stage.”

    Speaking about the concert, Salim-Sulaiman said “We are grateful to 9XM for bringing together such a musical night for the Indian Armed forces and their family members. Our Nation’s borders are safe because of our soldiers who undergo many hardships to provide us a safe and secure environment across our Country. It is an honour to dedicate an evening of music and entertainment as a tribute and thanksgiving to armed forces and make it a night for everyone to Remember.”

    9XM has associated with SOL Productions to create an exclusive episode of 9XM On Stage with Salim Sulaiman concert. The hour-long episode will be aired on 9XM and 9X Jalwa around the second week of February.

    Speaking of the special evening Brigadier Ashish Ahuja said “We are pleased that 9XM has taken an initiative to honour the armed forces with such an extravagant show. It is a rare occasion where the Armed Forces personnel and their families can together watch a live Bollywood musical concert. We would also like to express our gratitude towards all the musicians who will be putting together such a splendid and extravagant evening for us. 9XM On Stage with Salim Sulaiman is a treat designed for the Armed forces and this will definitely resonate with the audience.”

  • MTV to up its game in 2019 with new format shows

    MTV to up its game in 2019 with new format shows

    MUMBAI: After claiming to have doubled its viewership in 2018, MTV is all set to up its game by launching the eighth season of MTV Unplugged, a singing show, on 26 January, 8 pm onwards. Royal Stag Barrel Select and MTV have collaborated to present the program.

    Viacom18 youth music and English entertainment head Ferzad Palia said that 2018 was a landmark year for them. “Ace of Space, Elevator Pitch, Dating In The Dark worked really well for us. Ace Of Space did so well that we had to extend it to 30 days because of consumer demand. It was a big gamble with the daily reality format. It gave us rich dividends both on TV and on Voot. 2018 has made us more bullish about 2019,” he said.

    Palia added that the plan is to introduce new shows and formats that haven’t been seen ever. Also, hundreds of hours of content, bringing seasons of the old shows and seven to eight new format shows are on the cards.

    According to him, the year 2019 will observe key trends like content will be consumed by viewers whenever and wherever they want to. He said, “The other trend that I see is organic growth of television will continue because you have a large base of audiences just coming in to consume entertainment on TV and there will also be significant growth on digital consumption.”

    Looking at the consumption of TV over the past three years, It has grown at a faster rate than it was growing earlier, he added. Palia feels that that the rate of digital consumption has also grown significantly because in the smaller base, the percentages are high so more content is getting consumed across devices. “So the honest truth is that the content will win if the stories are breaking through the clutter because consumers are spoilt for choices as they have options as to what content to consume and on which screen,” he concluded. 

  • Shemaroo Entertainment Limited LaunchesSix New Services onInDigital& NXTDigital

    Shemaroo Entertainment Limited LaunchesSix New Services onInDigital& NXTDigital

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, one of India’s leading content power house,has successfully launched six new servicesonthe digital television distribution platforms of IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd. (“IMCL”), a premier multi-platform company in India. The platforms include InDigital, the digital cable platform and NXTDigital, the premier Headend-In-The-Sky or HITS platform, covering India.Presenting entertainment to all age groups, the servicesrange from Kids to Devotional to Bollywood Entertainment. 

    The launch of six new serviceson InDigital and NXTDigitalhave content powered by Shemaroo Entertainment. Consumers can enjoy the best of Bollywood on Bollywood TV channel, chartbuster songs from superhit Bollywood movies on Filmi Gaane channel, Bollywood comedy on Comedy 24×7 channel, soulful bhajans, live darshan, Kathas on Hari Om TV, nursery rhymes, children’s films on Sunflower Kids channel and followers of Islam can tune into Ibaadat TV to get an unprecedented divine and sacred experience. 

    Commenting on the launch, Mr. Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, said,“Our team at Shemaroo has always made us proud and they have taken the bar higher bylaunching six new services on InDigital and NXTDigital at the same time. We hope to keep on entertaining our consumers by giving them diverse content to watch from the comfort of their homes”

    NK Rouse,COO,IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd. added “IMCLis the only integrated multi-platform company in India and our digital brands InDigital& NXTDigital gives the consumer a seamless viewing experience. Having a reach of well over 5 million addressable digital subscribers, we are sure that our consumers will enjoy the different types of content provided by Shemaroo Entertainment.” 

    In a bid to reach out to maximum consumers, Shemaroo Entertainment has placed its content on various DTH platforms. Tying up with IMCL’s digital brands,InDigital and NXTDigital, which have a pan India presence, will only take the services a notch higher. IMCL has a reach of well over 5 million digital subscribers and covers all the Indian states and Union territories. The services of Shemarooare available to customers of both the platforms.
     

  • Shemaroo Entertainment launches its new brand campaign “Success ka Formula”

    Shemaroo Entertainment launches its new brand campaign “Success ka Formula”

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, the leading Indian content provider and one of the pioneers of content ownership, aggregation and distribution launches its new brand campaign “Success ka Formula”. The latest campaign, “Success ka Formula” showcases content ranging from Bollywood, Devotion and Gujarati. It is an interesting take which stands on the company’s pillars of content, loved by millions and the platforms accessed by millions of viewers, as Shemaroo’s strength.

    Looking at the consumer segmentation, Shemaroo has evaluated different channels to reach out to a larger consumer base. The campaign, “Success ka Formula” will be extensively promoted across OOH, social media channels and digital mediums.

    Shemaroo Entertainment has successfully delivered content for over 55 years. The Indian audience is engrained with Bollywood content, and consumers have now started accepting different genres. To tap on these consumers, Shemaroo has its content spread across different genres. The company has a huge bank of devotion content and has something special for every Indian. Services such as live streaming from shrines, devotional songs, discourses, documentaries are available on Shemaroo’s and partner platforms. For the Gujarati audience, Shemaroo has a wide array of Gujarati films, latest shows and plays, keeping every Gujarati fan in a happy space. With over 1900 Bollywood titles in the content library and over one billion views on Shemaroo’s Bollywood YouTube channels, Shemaroo has ensured that the Indian consumer is entertained 24*7.

  • Zee Studios launches digital content studio Zee Studios Originals

    Zee Studios launches digital content studio Zee Studios Originals

    MUMBAI: Zee Studios, a leading film studio in the Indian entertainment industry, today announced the launch of an independent digital content studio, Zee Studios Originals, that will produce a robust bouquet of premium, original content and create new IPs for all digital platforms globally.

    Zee Studios has appointed Ashima Avasthi, from BBC Studios, to head the digital content studio. With over 20 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry, Avasthi has worked across diverse genres and regions with some of the most respected brands like MTV and Turner International. Prior to joining Zee Studios, she was with BBC Studios as a Senior Creative Director and Head of branded content for 6 years where she developed and a vast repertoire of award-winning content.

    Speaking on the launch of the new business unit, Shariq Patel, CEO, Zee Studios, commented, “Zee Studio Originals furthers our vision of becoming a holistic content studio with its offering across platforms and screens to meet the insatiable hunger of today’s consumers for premium content. We are working with leading directors and writers to develop and show run our digital slate and will announce the same very soon. I welcome Ashima on board and I’m sure with her varied experience, she and her team will make great content and set newer benchmarks”.

    Ashima Avasthi, VP & Head, Zee Studios Originals added, “The game has only just begun. Zee has been a pioneer in producing compelling content for decades in broadcast and films, and it is absolutely the correct time for Zee Studios to move into digital production. I am looking forward to creating content that is distinct, unexpected, relevant, cutting-edge and truly world class. Zee Studio Originals will ride on the legacy and experience of Zee but will strategically move ahead in the new age direction that the studio has been set up for, independently.”

  • VH1 Supersonic Arcade announces electrifying multi-city tour with global EDM icon Marshmello

    VH1 Supersonic Arcade announces electrifying multi-city tour with global EDM icon Marshmello

    National : The Music Movement in India is thumping! Music festivals and multi-city tours have brought global icons to stage. A major catalyst to this revolution has been VH1 Supersonic Arcade, a brand extension of the Vh1 Supersonic music festival. Since its inception, the platform has presented some of the biggest global music sensations to India including the likes of The Chainsmokers, Major Lazer, Steve Aoki, Above and Beyond, Skrillex and Pretty Lights. This year, Vh1 Supersonic Arcade gets bigger and better with the live performance of a global EDM star and the winner of MTV Europe Music Awards 2018’s Best Electronic Artist winner, Marshmello in Hyderabad and Gurugram.

    The Favourite Artist of American Music Award and Best EDM Artist at the IHeartRadio MMVAs in 2018, Marshmello has also been nominated in various categories at the Teen Choice Awards and Radio Disney Music Awards. He will work his magic while entertaining thousands of fans in Hyderabad on 15th February followed by another riveting performance in Gurugram on 16th February 2019. The musical extravaganza is a treat for all music aficionados as Marshmello, a frequent at the top 100 billboards, will let his fans dance their heart out to his chartbusters ‘Blocks’, ‘Wolves’, ‘Friends’, ‘Find Me’, ‘Silence’, to name a few. Not just known for his music, but also for his world-class Lasers, LEDs and Theatrics, Marshmello will ensure that the audiences are treated to the most epic show, Vh1 Supersonic Arcade.

    Commenting on the announcement, Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, Integrated Network Solutions & Consumer Products, said, "Vh1 Supersonic Arcade is a specially curated getaway for India to live through the experience of Global music festivals. Last year, Marshmello created a stir at Vh1 Supersonic Arcade and we are bringing him back for yet another stupendous multi-city tour in Hyderabad and Gurugram. The global EDM star, who enjoys a massive fan following in our country and worldwide, will regale a massive crowd by performing some of his biggest hits at the Vh1 Supersonic Arcade for the first time in Hyderabad and Gurugram. We hope to create a magical evening that will be worth reminiscing forever."