Category: Music and Youth

Disney to bring Broadway shows to India

MUMBAI: Broadway lovers in India need not travel anymore as Disney India gears up to bring Broadway shows to the country now. Starting with timeless classic Beauty and the Beast, Disney India will begin the Broadway journey in October from Mumbai and will then take it to Delhi in December.

While Disney has had a 20 year Broadway journey across the globe, Disney India finally thought of venturing into it in order to give to the people a Disney immersive experience. “Broadway could just be the birth of a new culture in entertainment,” said Disney India managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur.

Kapur is of the opinion that while the country had the vision, dream and talent for live English entertainment, what it actually lacked was infrastructure. Talking about the target group for Broadway in the country, Kapur said, “The audience that we are looking at is families and young adults who have the inclination and the ability to enjoy experiences of this kind.”

According to Kapur, with Indians today travelling extensively to overseas, they have been exposed to theatre and Broadway. “People are looking at experiences to cherish as a family and unfortunately in our country we haven’t been able to offer them those experiences apart from cricket and Bollywood. But, they have the disposable income to be able to afford it and they have the interest and inclination to want to experience it as well,” he opined.

Disney India will be hosting a number of shows in both Dome at NSCI in Mumbai and Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Delhi. Not revealing the number of shows, Kapur said, “We are looking at an audience ranging from 2000-2500 per show.”

Explaining the reason behind bringing Broadway to the country with Beauty and the Beast, he said, “Beauty and the Beast has been that show that Disney has always started Broadway with and this is because of the beautiful story, which resonates in different cultures and is not difficult to understand. It has also got great music and performances. So, this seemed like the logical choice for us.”

Disney India has roped in local talent for the show. Leading it from the front is Disney India show director and creative head, live entertainment Vikranth Pawar. The company has roped in Lesle Lewis as music director, Terence Lewis as choreographer, Varsha Jain as set designer, Gavin Miguel as costume designer, Pallavi Devika for hair and make-up and Suzanne D’Mello as vocal trainer.

“It is a local production with local cast and crew. We believe that we have got the talent in the country. All that was needed to give live English entertainment a boost was infrastructure,” he said.

Disney India had been mulling bringing Broadway to the country for the past three years. While the company got 8,000 entries from artistes, it conducted 1,000 physical auditions in five cities to get the final 18 artistes who will now perform.

August 12, 2015
‘bindass Naach’ to launch on 16 Aug; gets social media marketing push

MUMBAI: In India, many a dreams succumb and forever remain unfulfilled under the constant flow of social stigma. Providing a voyage to fulfilling three such succumbed dreams is bindass’ new series bindass Naach.

Three young talented minds wanted to dance on the stage of World Of Dance Los Angeles and bindass in association with BBC Worldwide decided to turn their dream into reality. Showcasing this very thing will be the new show bindass Nach. While Disney’s Any Body Can Dance (ABCD) tasted immense success at the box office, the concept is all set to translate the victory on the small screen too.

“The trio enroll others and creates a dancing group called Desi Hoppers – a group that can dance like crazy. Desi Hoppers have class that will astonish many, the talented group has the potential to get anybody dancing,” says Disney India mediaworks VP and head content and communication Vijay Subramaniam.

In order to gain traction for the show, bindass has also rolled out a unique marketing strategy with special emphasis on the digital media. From Twitter’s newly acquired live video streaming expertise Periscope to the likes of Vine, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, the trio’s journey had a presence on each and every medium. “While the show is on air and there is a moment of conflict, we will have real time social media interaction, which will indulge viewers in various conversations,” Subramaniam adds.

BBC Worldwide India SVP & general manager India and content head Asia Myleeta Aga says, “This original breakthrough scripted reality concept, Naach is the real dream of three amazingly talented dancers and the vision of Palki Malhotra – show creator, creative producer – BBCW. With this show we aim to continue our track record of delivering innovative content with the aspirational youth of India at its core.”

Aga further adds, “This is one of the few occasions where while shooting the series, we also strategized various social media initiatives and hence created content accordingly. So here the social media innovations are not edits of the show but they are specially curated content.”

The various on-ground activities have so far garnered publicity worth $3 million, claims the network. “We have had over 2.2 million views on the videos, the live events which were criticized as mall events had over 100,000 footfalls. The social media has seen over 2.4 million conversations around the concept and various on ground activities that we have been unleashing,” Subramaniam informs.

The 10 episode series will start on 16 August, 2015 and will be aired every Sunday at 7 pm.

bindass Naach has roped in Fogg as presenting sponsor, and Ponds Mens Facewash as the energizing partner. Buoyed by the advertisers’ reaction to the show so far, Subramaniam is of the opinion that the ad spends have been growing at the rate of 16 – 17 per cent per year.

August 10, 2015
Times Group’s ENIL not appealing after Red FM permitted to participate in auctions

MUMBAI: Times Group’s Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL), which operates one of India’s most popular radio stations- Radio Mirchi, had earlier approached the Madras and Delhi High Courts in light of the conditional approval given to Sun TV Group’s radio network by the Madras HC. The hearing for the same was adjourned to 21 August. However, with the recent Red FM verdict, allowing the network to participate in the Phase III auctions, ENIL has decided that it will not appeal further.

ENIL MD and CEO Prashant Panday said, “We are very happy with the final order the Delhi HC has given. It removes the conditional approval worry of ENIL. So, we are not appealing any further.”

The e-auctions will take place in New Delhi on 27 July from 9:30 am onwards. The Delhi High Court, which had earlier permitted Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd, which runs Red FM to take part in the mock e-auction, on 26 July, gave permission for the network to take part in the main e-auction for FM Phase III.

ENIL had approached both, Madras and Delhi High Courts, due to the conditional approval given to Sun Group companies, namely Kal Radio, Sun TV and South Asia FM Ltd. In a previous interview, Panday stated that the conditional approval “puts the radio industry in a tizzy.”

Panday had earlier said that ENIL was opposed to a conditional approval to Sun Group, and clarified that ENIL had no problem if Sun Group participated in the auctions.

Explaining ENIL’s stand, Panday said, “Conditional would put the whole auction process in jeopardy. Since all cities progress simultaneously in this auction, removing any winning bidder later (if required) is impossible. If still done, it will harm the interests of other bidders whose strategies could have been different had they known this. That is why we did not want conditional approval for Sun. We were fine with any final decision. The conditional approval allowed Sun TV to participate, however, the result of which, will be kept in a sealed cover and produced before the Court. As you know, TOI Group has been against the revocation of their (Red FM) license.”

July 26, 2015
Sony Mix launches ‘Wow Weekend’ with VJ Aparshakti Khurana

MUMBAI: The music channel from Multi Screen Media (MSM) stable Sony Mix will soon be seen in a new avatar, every weekend. Launching Wow Weekend, Sony Mix will not just have a peppier and refreshed look through the weekend, but will also bring VJs back to music channels.

Starting 25 July, Sony Mix will play music to the tune of its viewers’ mood. “We aren’t trying to make any change. Wow Weekend is to maintain the promise that we always try and do something new in the space,” says Sony Max, Sony Max 2 and Sony Mix senior EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas.

According to Vyas, the mood and personality of the viewer is a bit relaxed over the weekend. “Our promise for the weekend is that viewers will see more melody and musicality along with fun and entertainment over the weekend. Through this new initiative, we are giving viewers a chance to look at music channels in a different way,” he adds.

The channel, as part of Wow Weekend, has roped in Aparshakti Khurana as the VJ. “He will be the conduit over the weekend. He will come through the day sporadically,” informs Vyas.

Vyas is of the opinion that VJs played a very important role in the initial days of music channels. “But, somehow it became too much and so the whole concept got diluted to the extent that no music channel has a VJ today,” he says.

Khurana will be seen giving film and music reviews, trivia about yesteryears and today’s music as well as incidences behind today’s music. “A VJ, according to me, is a musical person himself, feels close to the music that the channel plays and is endearing as a personality. We screen tested a lot of people, but Khurana ticked all the boxes,” informs Vyas.

The channel is also launching a new show called Baaton Baaton Mein with RJ Anmol, which will be aired every Saturday with a repeat on Sunday. “The show is a star’s journey into films, but through music,” says Vyas.

The second season of Jam Room will also make a comeback with present generation voices revisiting old melodies.

Sony Mix has created a 40 second track to popularize the Wow Weekendconcept. While the entire MSM network is being used to market the new property, there will be newspaper ads on 25 and 26 July to inform people about the same.

July 24, 2015
9XM tastes success with Arijit Singh Live concert

MUMBAI: “It was a super success,” says a happy 9X Media marketing head Kapil Sharma. 9XM which aimed to fly high with its first ticketed event in order to improve revenues went on to be a successful show.

On 5 July, 2015, the channel organised a music concert with ‘Tum Hi Ho’ singer from Ashiqui 2 Arijit Singh. The channel had partnered with Mirah Entertainment and Dome @NSCI SVP Stadium to host the concert titled – ‘9XM Dome Musically Yours Arijit Singh Live’ with Symphony Orchestra. The event started at 8.15 pm and went on till 12 am.

It was almost four weeks back, when the network started selling tickets for the concert on Bookmyshow (BMS), priced at Rs 3,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000. In a span of three weeks, while the Rs 10,000 tickets got sold, the rest were sold out one day prior to the event.

“The event was super successful with more than 5,000 people attending the concert. Whoever came went home blown away with the way Arijit performed,” opines Sharma.

One day prior to the event, the channel had to increase the capacity of the venue. “Initially we were planning for a crowd between 4,000 to 4,500. But, when we saw all the tickets being sold, we had to increase the capacity to 5,000,” informs Sharma.

According to BoomMyShow general manager, events Kumar Razdan, it was BMS’ first association with 9XM. “It was a great partnership in terms of the whole event. The event was quite a success in terms of experience as well as the ticketing, which did fabulously well and sold out all the inventories in 10 days,” registers Razdan.

As we know, BMS is at the forefront of the entertainment and ticketing business in India and about 80-90 per cent of the live event tickets are managed by the company.

For 9XM, BMS’ role was to offer a complete end-to-end ticketing solution for the event. “Our association was to manage the ticketing business, whether it’s online or on-ground,” adds Razdan.

Razdan informs that while 60 per cent of the tickets were sold online, the rest 40 per cent were sold through the BMS mobile app. “There was also a system wherein a person could go to the venue and buy tickets, but we didn’t reach that stage because everything was sold much in advance through online itself,” reveals Razdan.

From movie tickets which is still a primary source of entertainment in India, BMS also caters to large sporting events, right from the T-20 League to large Football Leagues or EDM festival. “They are important part of our whole business system. Apart from movies, events form a large chunk of our ticket sales,” Razdan informs.

Sharma goes on to share a learning from the event. On 1 July, during a press conference, the sensational singer did a periscope interview (a live Twitter video capability), where he spoke into his camera phone which got tweeted real time. Further, to engage with the online audiences, it kicked off a contest asking people to tweet their favourite songs of the singer, out of which three popular requests were to be performed by Arijit at the concert.

Unfortunately at the venue, the channel couldn’t manage it because of connectivity issues. “That has been a learning for us. Going forward we will ensure that we plan it better in an environment where there is better net connectivity. But we managed to put up the pictures,” asserts Sharma.

On the marketing front, social media played a big role in helping amplify the event, be it Facebook, Twitter or BookMyShow. The channel used a combination of both, Above the Line (ATL) and digital to promote the event.

While BMS was promoting it in its database, investments were made to push it on Google, Facebook and YouTube. According to industry sources, 15 per cent of the project cost was spent on the promotion/marketing of the event. It has been further learnt that the channel generated close to Rs one crore only through ticket sales.

The three hour on-ground concert will be edited to a 30-minute show for 9XM, which will air on 19 July. This telecast will also cover behind the scene actions, which the channel shot with the singer for three days.

The channel had Welspun Spaces Home & Beyond, Carwale, XXX Energy Drink, Gionee, Ayurwin and Hungama as the sponsors for the event, who will also be the on-air partners.

Other partners include Hindustan Times Cafe as print partner, 9XE as digital partner, Red FM as radio partner and Bright Outdoor Media as outdoor partner.

July 7, 2015
Zoom and Philips launch ‘Thank God It’s Fryday’ season 2

MUMBAI: Bollywood and lifestyle channel from the Times Network stable, Zoom is leaving no stone unturned in strengthening its content, in keeping with the revamp strategy.

The channel is all set to bring back the season 2 of its food fashion show, Philips Air Fryer Thank God It’s Fryday with chef Ranveer Brar, this August. The show that will travel to eight cities, including Lucknow, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Goa and Amritsar will bring to the viewers the local cuisine of the region combining it with health, style and fashion.

Times Network MD & CEO M K Anand said, “Zoom is connected closely with its premium audiences who are driven in their pursuit of a stylish and fulfilling lifestyle. Philips Air Fryer Thank God It’s Fryday helps them in their quest, as it shows them ways to keep their diet healthy even as they happily enjoy tasty, fried food. This is why we are particularly pleased to launch season 2, in which it will offer even more engaging, entertaining and extremely useful and relevant content to our viewers.”

Philips India president consumer lifestyle ADA Ratnam added, “Thank God It’s Fryday was a truly innovative concept that seamlessly brought together food, fitness and travel to create a very interesting story. As expected, the audience loved its first edition in 2014 and were left hungry for more. This year, once again, Philips Airfryer is joining hands with Zoom to explore more cities and more cuisines to create interesting stories that the audiences will love. And it is not just stories – we have received tremendous response from people trying the innovative recipes and re-discovering tasty, healthy food. Like everyone else, we are also looking forward to Chef Ranveer once again creating magic with his trusted companion Philips Airfryer.”

What’s new in season 2

This season the show will have a new format, new fried flavours, and most important, a host of healthy and delicious new regional delicacies created in the Philips Airfyer.

Season 2 will also feature a new fusion of cooking and photography. The chef and his photographer friend will travel to different cities around the country, exploring various local delicacies and new fried flavours. Chef Ranveer will recreate a healthy version of the same dish in the Philips Airfryer, but with an interesting twist to create a new fusion dish.

Brar said, “In today’s world of stress and convenience, where well-being and health have become all the more important, a gadget like the Philips Airfryer, along with Thank God It’s Fryday, brings back well-being into our lives, and with style.”

July 2, 2015
9XM forays into live events; spends 20% of its total budget on marketing

MUMBAI: After having tasted success with ‘Tashan Nites’, organised by 9X Tashan and ‘Jhakaas Music Yatra’ with 9X Jhakaas, it is now Hindi music channel 9XM which aims to fly high in the live events space. The channel has forayed into ticket based events in order to improve revenues.

Kick-starting the live event segment, 9XM is organising a music concert with singer Arijit Singh of Ashiqui2 fame. The channel has partnered with Mirah Entertainment and Dome@NSCI SVP Stadium to host the concert titled – ‘9XM Dome Musically Yours Arijit Singh Live with Symphony Orchestra.’ It is scheduled for 5 July at 8 pm at NSCI Stadium, Mumbai. The entire event has been conceptualised and executed by Ranaji events.

“Live events are not new to us,” says 9X Media marketing head Kapil Sharma. Over the past three-five years the network has conducted multiple live events for people in Punjab and Maharashtra with ‘Tashan Nites’ and ‘Jhakaas Music Yatra.’ “All of these events have an audience of 10,000 people upwards. The last edition of ‘Tashan Nite’ which was done with the Tanu Weds Manu stars garnered eyeballs of close to 15,000 people. But, none of these were ticket based events. With 9XM, we want to get into that space,” explains Sharma.

With 9XM being an established brand, Sharma says that the scale of the event is also huge and hence the network needs a combination of sponsorship and ticket revenue to recover the cost it incurs. “Doing events in Mumbai and Delhi are very expensive. To do an event which has a top class artist, a venue like Dome with an audience of 5,000 plus people, the overall production of the event shoots and it is impossible to recover the cost only from sponsor commitments,” explains Sharma.

The channel is selling tickets online through bookmyshow (BMS) and a few offline venues which include clubs and gymkhanas. The tickets are priced at Rs 3,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000 and the capacity of the stadium is around 4,000-4,500. The company is expected to earn around Rs 1.8 crore in ticketing revenue.

In the span of three weeks, Rs 10,000 tickets got sold and Sharma hopes the rest to be sold out by Sunday.

The three hour on-ground concert will later be edited to a 30-minute show for 9XM, which will air either on 12 July or 19 July. The channel has roped in Welspun Spaces Home & Beyond as the title sponsor and Carwale and Hungama as the ‘powered by’ sponsors both for the on-ground event and on-air.

Other partners include Hindustan Times Cafe as print partner, 9XE as digital partner, XXX Energy Drink as beverage partner, Red FM as radio partner and Bright Outdoor Media as outdoor partner.

The channel got into a room with all the three players, i.e Singh’s, Mirah and Ranaji’s team about two months back to ideate on the first symphony driven concert with the singer in Mumbai for 9XM.

“Ranaji had associated with Singh’s event about six months back which was organised in Navi Mumbai and 9XM was the TV partner. Post that, we thought that rather than just being TV partners, we could get into the space and organise the event ourselves,” informs Sharma.

Speaking of his performance at the Symphony concert Singh says, “This will be my first Symphony concert in India and am pleased to present my fans with such a unique concert. The majestic musical extravaganza at the concert will surely delight music lovers. The precession and rehearsals required to pull off a live performance with symphony orchestra is a mammoth task and I hope that my fans will revel it just as I have enjoyed every moment of putting it together.”

Digital has been the hero

For the network, social media has played a big role in helping amplify the event, be it Facebook, Twitter or bookmyshow. The channel is using a combination of both, Above the Line (ATL) and digital to promote the event.

Three weeks back, when the network started selling tickets on bookmyshow, it concentrated only on digital promotion. “We used 9XM’s social media which has close to 8 million odd fans on Facebook. Later, we went on to promote through Google ads, tapped into YouTube audience and of course on bookmyshow where the tickets were available,” explains Sharma.

After first week, it started with the ATL activities with its other partners.

On 1 July, during a press conference, the sensational singer did a periscope interview (a live Twitter video capability), where he spoke into his camera phone which got tweeted real time. Further, to engage with the online audiences, it kicked off a contest asking people to tweet their favourite songs of the singer, out of which three popular requests will be performed by Singh at the concert.

“This will give an opportunity to the person whose song has been selected, but is sitting home and not at the venue, to watch him perform live via Periscope on Twitter,” asserts Sharma.

It is learnt that 9XM is spending 20 per cent out of its total budget to market the property.

July 2, 2015
MTV explores ‘What Women Love’ through ‘Splitsvilla 8’

MUMBAI: With the motive to kill boredom, music and youth channel MTV is all set to kickoff the eighth season of Splitsvilla. Themed, ‘What Women Love’, the new season is set to cross extreme boundaries.

MTV Splitsvilla season 8 has roped in Karbonn Smart as the title sponsor with Airtel and Schmitten luxury Chocolate as co-presented sponsors. Spraymintt, Glam-up, Bacardi Breezer and Manforce are the powered by sponsors.

The many firsts’

The makers have tweaked the format this season. The odds are tripped in favour of the girls as it is the boys who will be seen doing all the hard work to find a way into their lady love’s heart. To show what women truly value in a man, the creators are pitting eight celebrity boys against eight non-celebrity boys to woo 14 girls.

“Last season, we explored with getting celebrity boys on the show and we got good eyeballs. So, this year we thought of getting more celebrity boys as part of the format,” explains MTV EVP and business head Aditya Swamy.

The eight celebrity boys are, ex-winner of Splitsvilla 5 Paras Chabra, MTV Roadies X2 winner Prince Narula, MTV Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan fame Utkarsh Gupta, model and radio show host Ishaan Chibber, model Viren Singh Rathore and TV actors Amaad Mintoo, Zaan Khan and Yash Pandit.

Secondly, the all new combination of actor Sunny Leone and VJ and actor Rannvijay Singh as hosts will give the show a whole new flavour as they mentor the girls and boys.

Thirdly, to add on to the action, for the first time, the show that goes on-air from 4 July will kick off as a bi-weekly, airing on both Saturday and Sunday at 7 pm for the first two weeks, thereafter being showcased every Saturday at the same time.

“When you launch only on a Saturday, people have to wait for one whole week for the second episode, but this season in 24 hours viewers will get to see the next episode,” says Swamy.

Splitsvilla is in a more controlled environment

The seventh season of the show reached the 100 million viewers mark and registered 60 per cent growth over the previous season.

Making a reality show is not a piece of cake. Unlike Roadies, where the channel is working rigorously for 11 months, Swamy feels Splitsvilla is in a more controlled environment. “Roadies is a travel based show, Splitsvilla is shot on one location. The time it takes is less than what it takes to do Roadies which starts from one place and ends at another,” he opines.

MTV content and programming head Shalini Sethi who finally sealed the theme ‘What Women Love’ informs that this wasn’t the only theme that came to the creator’s mind. “We did discuss a couple of other themes, but we locked on this one keeping in mind what is happening in today’s time where the country is talking about issues relating to women and women empowerment among others.”

An extensive survey was also conducted amongst the target audience, especially women and girls to understand what they expect from men. “Everybody had a different perspective, yet meaningful,” asserts Sethi.

This season, the creators have chosen Goa as the love destination. Except for the finale, the entire show was canned in 45 days. It took three-four months for the channel to execute the new season.

Swamy reveals that the planning for the next season begins on the very day the last episode is shot. “We treat our shows as brands. So when you are working on a series, you hope that it will last for weeks, but when you are building a brand, you are building it for a lifetime. The whole idea is to build Splitsvilla as a brand. And it is so difficult for a seven year franchise to let go off it,” states Swamy.

He believes that the coming in of new people brings a lot of freshness to the show. “We keep challenging ourselves to do better every season. Internally we had new minds coming in and contributing for the new season. We had Sethi who has recently come onboard; she had her own points to put,” says Swamy.

With always having a mix of old and new people, the channel has roped in a new co-producer in Vikas Gupta’s Lost Boy Productions, with Colosceum being the producer.

Digital marketing

MTV has close to 13 million fans on Facebook, a million and a half Twitter followers and close to 95,000 followers on Instagram. The website grabs eyeballs of 20 million visits. “We have been able to use the digital environment very well. We also have a vast network of channels within Viacom18. There are 18 channels within the network and MTV will use that to promote it. To top it all, there are several brands like Airtel, Breezer, Karbonn etc having their own marketing plans. Content marketing is the in-thing today,” says Swamy.

On the marketing front, Swamy reveals that the spent is too less as a lot of marketing is driven on its own assets. “If you put a value to it, it’s huge, but we own a lot of these assets ourselves, so it is not paid marketing. We invest a lot in content,” quips Swamy.

A media planner believes that the ad rate for a show like Splitsvilla ranges anywhere between Rs 1.30 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh for a 10-sec slot. “Look at the show today, it has already tasted success and still counting. The reach, visibility and also the content is growing season after season which is good for any youth reality show,” concludes the media planner.

July 1, 2015
Zoom undergoes packaging, programming revamp

MUMBAI:Bollywood entertainment channel from Times Network stable, Zoom is all set to unveil a brand new look with Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut as its brand ambassador.

The channel known for its Bollywood shows will be unveiling a whole new packaging and a slate of new Bollywood focused content under its new logo and tagline, ‘Turn On’.

Post the revamp the channel will go beyond just dishing out Bollywood news and improve consumers’ social quotient, by connecting them to the latest trends, which are curated straight out of Bollywood.

Times Network MD & CEO MK Anand said, “We are delighted to reveal Zoom’s fresh programming and unique and exciting style of presentation today. The Times Network is a unique bouquet of channels which cater to the top two per cent of Indian television viewers – the discerning, top-end, premium audience. Zoom’s Innovative new media inspired format and its revamped and truly world-class on-air packaging will reflect this. We have always been close to Bollywood and will continue to do so with content that reflects the latest and trendiest that Bollywood has to offer with our own twist.”

Anand added, “Zoom has been the pioneering Bollywood channel and we are delighted to work with Kangana as the face of our new avatar. She has made a mark in Bollywood as the first real female superstar purely on her own grit and confidence. The choice of the brand ambassador reflects our new brand philosophy. We promise to inspire and lead our consumers to ‘Turn On’ the next best version of themselves – to live more and better.”

The revamped Zoom has all the aspects of Bollywood showcased in a way that will suit the new palette of consumers: short, crisp and unpredictable.

Zoom vice president & product head Sunder Venkatraman said, “Content strategy on Zoom centres around ‘trends’ and ‘youth’, which are the hottest genres on social media today.

The new offerings on Zoom will be shorter format – more like the T-20 of entertainment. They will vary in duration from a minute-and-a-half to seven or eight minutes to longer formats of 20 minutes; there is no fixed duration. But what is certain is that the content will really be Bollywood through fashion, gossip, style, humor, news, music, relationships and more.”

He described the revamped channel on-air look as “a fresh look and feel young packaging. Small innovations with great impact. For instance a progress bar has been used for the first time ever on television.”

The new look of the channel has been designed by Mayur Tekchandaney of Briefcase with the internal team at Zoom.

In an industry where marketing content is the norm, the channel has decided to leverage its superior content to drive a marketing blitzkrieg.

The first step is the exclusive music video shot by global expert Harvey Brown. The song composed by Sachin-Jigar has been sung by Anuskha Manchanda. The video, titled Hotel Zoom will be unveiled on the launch day across platforms and will also drive engagement on social media.

June 25, 2015
92.7 Big FM celebrates R D Burman’s songs

MUMBAI: If you are a Hindi movie buff and can’t stop yourself from humming the songs from industry’s golden era of music, chances are 90 per cent of them are by R D Burman, who is fondly remembered as Pancham Da. His life was all about tunes, melodies and to celebrate this passion and dedication towards the art, 92.7 Big FM has announced a unique on air concert titled Yadon mein Pancham from 22 June to 27 June at 7 pm.

The program will feature a vast repertoire of evergreen classics that will be a treat for all Pancham Da fans of the radio station.

What’s more, to liven up your stereos will be singing sensations Akriti Kakkar, Kanika Kapoor, Tochi Raina, Benny Dayal and Abhinanda Sarkar, paying tribute to the maestro with their own renditions of his songs. Some of these include Dum Maaro Dum, Humein Tumse Pyaar Kitna, O Haseena Zulfon Wali, Rimjhim Gire Saawan, Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja, Chura Liya Hain Tumneamongst others.

Expressing her excitement on being part of the show popular singer Tochi Raina stated, “Pancham Da’s talent remains unmatched even today. I loved his style of music. He belonged to Tripura where there were a lot of jungles and any kind of sound fascinated him; that fascinates me because I believe that it explains his love for music and his desire to creating newer music. I feel privileged to able to pay a tribute to R.D. Burman and there is no better way than to sing his songs.”

The on-air unplugged concert will be supplemented by entertaining interviews with the artists by RJs across the 92.7 Big FM network in India.

92.7 Big FM national business head Ashwin Padmanabhan said, “With R.D. Burman’s everlasting music spread across a broad spectrum of music lovers, it still rules the list of our favourites even after two decades. There is no better way to commemorate his birth anniversary than to have our musicians of the new generation come together to pay tribute to R.D Burman’s timeless music through an on-air concert on the country’s only retro music station 92.7 BIG FM, Hit Thee Hit Rahenge.”

The Yadon Mein Pancham on-air concert will be supported by 360 degree marketing initiatives including teaser promos during morning and afternoon shows across India’s largest FM network – 92.7 Big FM.

June 24, 2015