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  • Print coverage influences TV viewership of sports

    Print coverage influences TV viewership of sports

    MUMBAI: This afternoon the National Sports Seminar was held by the The Sports Journalist Federation of India.

    The speakers included Fed Cup coach Enrico Piperno, BCCI executive secretary Ratnakar Shetty, Ogilvy & Mather chairman Piyush Pandey and Tam Media CEO L V Krishnan.

    Krishnan looked at how coverage of sports in the newspapers influences television viewership. “Sania Mirza needs to thank two people – her coach and journalists. The coverage on her has been fantastic. When she played Serena Williams at the Australian Open recently it made front page news. Ratings soared in Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad.

    “Newspapers educate sports fans on a topic. They are then motivated to go to the television to watch the happenings. A recent event that benefitted in a big way from newspaper coverage was the football World Cup. In 2002 when the event was on the Indian cricket team was playing England at the same time. Cricket won comfortably then.

    “This time there was a 300 per cent jump in the viewership of the soccer World Cup. That is because of the huge newspaper coverage. There was 450,000 cms worth of print coverage which was more than what was seen during the 2003 cricket World Cup. For the common man, media is a seamless medium. They read about a sports event in the newspaper and then they gravitate towards the television.

    “At the same time you need a personality that captures the public’s imagination. Hockey has suffered in this respect. There is no one dominant personality who can give the sport a push as far as visibility is concerned. Soccer on the other hand is filled with famous names. Their pictures in the newspapers create a lot of recognition even in the smaller towns.”

    He also spoke about the effectiveness on advertising in sport. After all it is the one genre where in product placement blends in seamlessly. An example was Pepsi getting involved with a cricket series a couple of years ago. They branded the boundary rope with triangles. It worked well because the camera focus on the boundary rope was high. Replays also helped visibility. “By comparison if a character in a soap is shown drinking a Cola it looks out of place and disrupts the flow of the story.”

    Pandey noted that in India there are two great advertising vehicles Bollywod and sports (mostly cricket). the advantage that a sportsperson has is that he/she is a great body of character. “There is performance which kids aspire for and parents appreciate. There is the power of youth and also physical activity. Unfortunately in India, there is laziness both on the part of the agency and on the part of the sportsperson.

    “They do not sit together. If they did, then the scriptwriter would get a clear idea of what it is the sportsperson can and cannot do. Because there is lack of dialogue you get ads that ridicule a sports person. The Sehwag Ki Ma ads made a great batsman look like a fool. I can also think of just two ads where Sachin Tendulkar’s appeal was used well. One was the Pepsi mask ad. here the fact that he likes kids came through. Also Pepsi wisely did not let him speak,” said Pandey.

    He noted that a lot of great ads use sportspeople in a natural environment. An example is Sampras and Aggasi playing tennis for a Nike ad. At least the company is not using Sampras to sell diapers. It is upto the sportsdperson to also be selective of the kind of creative he/she appears in. Otherwise his/her brand value can go down.

    Shetty spoke about the different ways the BCCI is using money. One way is increasing the pay for domestic cricketers. This enables someone to look at cricket as a career even if he is not in the national side. The BCCI also gives pensions to retired cricketers. It is also looking to give women’s cricket a push.

    Then there is the stadium upgrade project. He admitted that the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai needs a facelift if it is to host matches during the 2011 matches. The BCCI will reimburse the various cricket associations upto Rs. 250 million on their renovating or building stadiums. The BCCI is also looking to create a corpus fund to help other sports. He added that the BCCI is going to inaugurate its head office at the Wankhede stadium in October. It is also looking to build a musuem where visitors can look at artifacts.

  • MIH Group appoints Ashish Kashyap as CEO of India ops

    MIH Group appoints Ashish Kashyap as CEO of India ops

    MUMBAI: MIH, part of the multinational media group Naspers Limited, has appointed Ashish Kashyap as the CEO of MIH’s internet operations in India.

    As the overall head for the company’s operations in India, Kashyap will be responsible for creating an organisation focused on building and operating cutting edge internet and mobile applications, unleashing consumer internet brands and also investing in start up businesses in the Indian online and digital space.

    Kashyap has over 12 years of experience spanning internet, television and radio businesses. Prior to joining MIH-Internet, Kashyap was the country head of Google India (Domestic Operations), wherein he set up the company’s India facing business from scratch. Before joining Google, Kashyap, was the general manager e-commerce at Indiatimes.com, where he was responsible for creating numerous innovations such as airline ticket auctions and tell your price amongst others. Kashyap also has had successful stints at MTV and Times FM.

    MIH Internet (India) head of investments Craig White said, “MIH operates in over 50 countries worldwide wherein we are market leaders. The Indian internet and mobile businesses represent one of the largest global opportunities for us. We see the opportunity from two prisms. First, building unique internet applications and second, investing and seeding entrepreneurial debuts. Ashish brings with him a wealth of industry experience especially in the internet business that will help us set a strong foundation in this dynamic market.”

    “I continue to be passionate about innovating and creating disruptive consumer applications in the internet and mobile space – products and services that would make lives simpler and exciting for the Indian consumer. I am excited to join MIH’s internet business in India at a very interesting time, wherein there is a clear market opportunity on one hand and a very aggressive mandate from MIH in India on the other. I am confident I will be able to fulfil my passions and at the same time drive value for all the stake holders,” added Kashyap.

  • Cartoon Network to premier ‘Krishna: The Birth’ on Janmashtmi

    MUMBAI: Cartoon Network will premiere yet another Indian animation film Krishna: The Birth on 16 August at 2 pm. What‘s more, the series will be launched on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtmi.
     
    Produced by Hyderabad-based Green Gold Animation Studio, the 75-minutes long, 2-D animation movie, Krishna: The Birth traces the birth of Lord Krishna, the avtaar of Lord Vishnu.


    This is Cartoon Network‘s second acquisition from Green Gold Animation Studio, the earlier one being Vikram Betal in 2005. This will also the first of the four planned Krishna series to be showcased on Cartoon Network.


    Krishna: The Birth takes the count of local animations acquired and showcased by Cartoon Network to 12, with four of these launching in 2006 itself.


    Turner International India Pvt. Ltd managing director Anshuman Misra said, “We are extremely enthused by the response of our audience to local animations acquired and telecast by Cartoon Network over the years. Airing locally produced shows is one of the cornerstones of the Network‘s localisation strategy and helps us contextualise the content for our Indian audiences. With the launch of Krishna: The Birth, the Network reiterates its promise of acquiring and showcasing over four local Indian animation products within this year itself, taking the total tally of home-grown animations acquired by Cartoon Network to 12! I am sure that this absolutely riveting and charming animated version of the birth of Lord Krishna, will be enjoyed by both parents and children, who have grown up listening or watching this enduring tale.”


    PMI Green Gold Animation Pvt. Ltd managing director Rajiv Chilakalapudi added, “We are delighted to be working with Cartoon Network and are thrilled at getting the opportunity to animate a personality such as that of Lord Krishna. Krishna gives us the platform to showcase Green Gold‘s Creative and technical strengths in Animation. Since its inception Green Gold has been focused towards the development of original intellectual animation properties with the assistance of powerful digital animation software tools while pushing the boundaries of constant innovation.”


    Debuting as part of Cartoon Network Theatre on 16 August, Krishna: The Birth is the enchanting tale of the miraculous birth of Lord Vishnu in the form of baby Krishna to Vasudev and Devaki. The story is set in an era when the human race was overburdened by the demonic forces of different kings posing themselves as the royal order. Perturbed by this disorder and chaos, the predominating deity of the Earth, known as Bhu Devi, and along with other Gods approached Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu promised them that he would take birth on Earth as Krishna, who would destroy all evil on the planet before the dawn of Kalyug. Krishna: The Birth‘ chronicles the events and incidents accompanying the birth of Lord Vishnu as Krishna.


    The first four parts of Krishna would cover the birth of Krishna, Krishna‘s childhood, Krishna‘s teenage, and Krishna killing Kansa. The first part of this series, Krishna: The Birth has been worked on by over 100 animation specialists and it took almost a year to make the same, from the stage of pre-production, with production taking six months

  • Sony appoints Balaji’s Sikcand as chief creative director; announces other promotions

    Sony appoints Balaji’s Sikcand as chief creative director; announces other promotions

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television India has appointed Balaji creative head Sandiip Sikcand as the chief creative director of its flagship channel SET. Sikcand will report to SET India COO N P Singh.

    Apart from this new appointment, SET India has also initiated some other organisational restructuring.

    SET India executive vice president ad sales and revenue management Rohit Gupta has been given additional responsibility of the digital, licensing and telephony group. Gupta continues to report to SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta. Set India VP licensing & telephony Kaushal Modi, who has been reporting to N P Singh, will now report to Gupta.

    The network has also created a new enabling and technical services group, which will be under Anjani Kumar, who has been heading HR and admin functions for the network so far. The new group that Kumar will head comprises human resources, information technology, post production, administration and web and new media activities. Kumar will continue to report to Singh.

    Speaking on the new appointment and restructuring, Dasgupta said, “Sandiip comes to SET with a lot of experience in the creative domain. I am sure he will contribute in the process of driving the creative vision of our flagship channel and take it to new heights. Leading the digital and licensing group will give Rohit an opportunity to further grow and consolidate a new revenue stream for the company that has got huge potential and is the gateway to future. Also, creating the enabling and technical services group under Anjani will help bring in more efficiency into our working system and provide a seamless access to resources across the network.”

    Singh added, “Sandiip’s appointment comes at a time when the network has taken up several challenges and we are sure, with an illustrious career behind him, Sandiip will bring in fresh perspective and creative excellence to the channel. The restructuring also shows our agility to alter structures as per the needs of time and keep moving our best people in the most challenging roles.”

  • Sanskar TV brings exclusive shows of Ganga Aarti and Yamuna Aarti

    Sanskar TV brings exclusive shows of Ganga Aarti and Yamuna Aarti

    Sanskar TV brings exclusive shows Of Ganga Aarti everyday at 5:50 PM Yamuna Aarti everyday at 4.45PM

    Mumbai June 24, 2006: It is the union of cosmic energy with physical being. It is the meeting of spirituality with eternal power. It is an expression of ether on earth. This surreal act fo surrender is shown with chants and hymns exclusively on Sanskar TV-The Channel of India.

     

    In spite of the waves of change taking place every minute, the core of the Indian belief in its interconnectedness of life remains unchanged. It is a simple act of thanksgiving when we offer our gratitude and place a lit earthen lamp in a small cup made out of leaves along with a few petals of fresh flowers. This beautiful island of fire, life and fragrance is then put onto the life sustaining waters of the Ganges at the culmination of the Ganga Aarti. Even today this act is carried out every day at Harkipaudi in Haridwar and it is a standing testimony to this immutable undercurrent of Indian thought. This is the town where the Ganga enters the plains.

     

    Sanskar TV, in its committeemen to India, exclusively brings you this moment of thanks giving and sense of gratitude to the eternal everyday as Ganga Aarti at 5:50 PM only on Sanskar.

    Before Ganga Aarti is the time for Yamuna Aarti everyday on Sanskar TV at 4:45 PM in Mathura. It is the land where Krishna performed his cosmic leela or play. After he was born in the prison cell of Mathura, his father Vasudev aided by several celestial forces stole him out of Mathura, across the raging river Yamuna and into the house of Nand in Gokul. The river Yamuna is intimately connected to Lord Krishna’s pastimes. The Lord Krishna sanctified the River Yamuna from the beginning of His transcendental pastimes in the world. While His father Vasudeva was crossing the Yamuna with baby Lord Krishna for a safe place at Gokul on the other bank of the river from Mathura, the Lord little foot fell down in the river, and by the dust of His lotus feet the river at once became sanctified.

     

    Sanskar TV is a spirituality channel that imparts insight into humanity and goodwill. It is a free to air channel on Thaicom – 3.

     

    Media Contact
    Neelam Gupta – 98200 70564
    Vedika Tripathi – 98703 32920
    nr2image@gmail.com
    NR2- The Image Engineers

  • Tanishq announces 10th Anniversary Bonanza- Series of offers to entice customers this season

    Tanishq, India’s innovative jewellery brand has announced exciting offers to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. The celebrations entitle Tanishq customers across the country to a 10-gram silver coin on purchase of 10-15 grams of 22k gold jewellery and a 0.5 gram gold coin on every purchase of 15-gram of 22k gold jewellery.

    The studded jewellery range also has a special offer of a 0.5 gram gold coin on every purchase of diamond jewellery worth Rs 10,000 or coloured stone jewellery worth Rs 15,000. Consumers can avail the Tanishq Anniversary offer from July 1 to 31, across all Tanishq showrooms in India. This offer is not valid on the purchase of gold coins and solitaires.

    This special offer is a celebration of the decade long success of Tanishq and its special bonding with the consumers. Tanishq has announced the special offer in a scenario where the price of gold is unstable and will make this offer irresistible to those consumers who are either postponing or staggering their gold purchases due to the rise in gold prices.

    Commenting on the offers that have been announced, Tanishq marketing and merchandising manager Aanchal Jain said, “Gold has become the most sought after commodity today, given the rise in gold prices customers are looking for more value whenever they buy gold jewellery. Our offers will appeal to customers who are looking for the best deals in quality, purity and value added offerings.”

    Tanishq, India’s only national jeweller offers gold and gem-set jewellery (in 22 and 18 carat gold) in over 6000 traditional, western and fusion looks. The Tanishq retail chain currently includes 81 exclusive boutiques in more than 62 cities, making it India’s first and largest jewellery retail store chain.

  • Trai’s Open House Discussion in Bangalore and Delhi

    MUMBAI: The TRAI will be holding Open House Discussions (OHD) in Delhi (on 23.2.2006) and Bangalore (on 21.2.2006) on the Consultation Paper issued on 2.1.2006 on issues relating to convergence and competition in Broadcasting and Telecommunications. The details on date(s), Venue(s) and Time of the OHD have already been placed on the TRAI Website www.trai.gov.in.

    2. All interested agencies / individuals are invited to participate. The consultation paper is available on the TRAI Website www.trai.gov.in. A gist of the comments received from stakeholders has been placed on the TRAI website. Issues posed for public consultation will also be available at the venue of the Open House Discussion.

    For any clarification, please contact Shri Rakesh Kacker, Advisor (B&CS), Ph. 011-26713291, Fax No. 011-26713442; E-mail: rkacker@trai.gov.in.

  • Cartoon Network to premier ‘Krishna: The Birth’ on Janmashtmi

    Cartoon Network to premier ‘Krishna: The Birth’ on Janmashtmi

    MUMBAI: Cartoon Network will premiere yet another Indian animation film Krishna: The Birth on 16 August at 2 pm. What’s more, the series will be launched on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtmi.

    Produced by Hyderabad-based Green Gold Animation Studio, the 75-minutes long, 2-D animation movie, Krishna: The Birth traces the birth of Lord Krishna, the avtaar of Lord Vishnu.

    This is Cartoon Network’s second acquisition from Green Gold Animation Studio, the earlier one being Vikram Betal in 2005. This will also the first of the four planned Krishna series to be showcased on Cartoon Network.

    Krishna: The Birth takes the count of local animations acquired and showcased by Cartoon Network to 12, with four of these launching in 2006 itself.

    Turner International India Pvt. Ltd managing director Anshuman Misra said, “We are extremely enthused by the response of our audience to local animations acquired and telecast by Cartoon Network over the years. Airing locally produced shows is one of the cornerstones of the Network’s localisation strategy and helps us contextualise the content for our Indian audiences. With the launch of Krishna: The Birth, the Network reiterates its promise of acquiring and showcasing over four local Indian animation products within this year itself, taking the total tally of home-grown animations acquired by Cartoon Network to 12! I am sure that this absolutely riveting and charming animated version of the birth of Lord Krishna, will be enjoyed by both parents and children, who have grown up listening or watching this enduring tale.”

    PMI Green Gold Animation Pvt. Ltd managing director Rajiv Chilakalapudi added, “We are delighted to be working with Cartoon Network and are thrilled at getting the opportunity to animate a personality such as that of Lord Krishna. Krishna gives us the platform to showcase Green Gold’s Creative and technical strengths in Animation. Since its inception Green Gold has been focused towards the development of original intellectual animation properties with the assistance of powerful digital animation software tools while pushing the boundaries of constant innovation.”

    Debuting as part of Cartoon Network Theatre on 16 August, Krishna: The Birth is the enchanting tale of the miraculous birth of Lord Vishnu in the form of baby Krishna to Vasudev and Devaki. The story is set in an era when the human race was overburdened by the demonic forces of different kings posing themselves as the royal order. Perturbed by this disorder and chaos, the predominating deity of the Earth, known as Bhu Devi, and along with other Gods approached Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu promised them that he would take birth on Earth as Krishna, who would destroy all evil on the planet before the dawn of Kalyug. Krishna: The Birth’ chronicles the events and incidents accompanying the birth of Lord Vishnu as Krishna.

    The first four parts of Krishna would cover the birth of Krishna, Krishna’s childhood, Krishna’s teenage, and Krishna killing Kansa. The first part of this series, Krishna: The Birth has been worked on by over 100 animation specialists and it took almost a year to make the same, from the stage of pre-production, with production taking six months.

  • Tata Sky launches DTH service; STB price Rs 3999, basic subscription Rs 200

    Tata Sky launches DTH service; STB price Rs 3999, basic subscription Rs 200

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Tata Sky Ltd, the $ 500 million joint venture between Tata Sons and the Rupert Murdoch-owned Star Group, today officially announced its arrival as India’s second DTH platform after Dish TV.

    Tata Sky is kicking of its service in 300 cities at an “introductory” monthly subscription of Rs 200 for the 55-odd channels it presently has on the platform.

    Price: hardware+installation Rs 3,999
    Monthly subscription: Rs 200
    No. of channels available: 55+
    Present area of service: 300 cities
    1st year target: 1 million subscribers
    Investments made till now: over Rs 25 billion
    Most critically, the Tata Sky set top box (supplied by News Corp owned NDS)
    has been priced at Rs 3,999 (inclusive of taxes). This includes installation
    and hardware cost and a full service warranty for one year.

    However, along with the monthly subscription of Rs 200, the Tata Sky offering will be more expensive than rival Dish TV’s package.

    Tata Sky CEO and MD Vikram Kaushik with Tata Sky chairman Ishaat Hussain
    Click here for a slideshow
    The Subhash Chandra-owned Dish TV is priced at Rs 3,290 (inclusive of taxes). This includes the cost of the STB as well as three months’ subscription. The monthly subscription for the basic Dish TV service of 75 channels is Rs 180.
    Announcing the launch at a glitzy event in Delhi where the likes of cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle rubbed shoulders with Mandira Bedi, Tata Sky MD and CEO Vikram Kaushik grandly proclaimed, “Entertainment will never be the same again.”

    Going on to harp on the state-of-the-art technology and finesse of the service, Kaushik added, “It’s a technological innovation that’ll bring the senses alive.”

    Apart from the many channels on the Tata Sky platform, a conspicuous absentee is the Zee Turner bouquet of over 20 channels as an agreement between Tata Sky and Zee Turner Ltd has not yet been concluded.

    Kaushik admitted that negotiations have not been concluded, but was hopeful that “things would get sorted out soon.”

    Another major absentee is the Sun Network, which dominates the South Indian markets. Tata Sky is, however, not alone in this, since Dish TV does not have access to the Sun channels either.

    “We are offering 55+ channels at the moment and with the passage of time the number of offerings would grow,” Kaushik said.

    The channels presently available on the non-tiered Tata Sky platform include all the channels from the Star (17), Sony Discovery One Alliance (14) bouquets as well as ESPN Star Sports and two channels of NDTV as its key offerings.

    It is worth noting here that it was only this morning that the deal for the carriage of the One Alliance channels by Tata Sky was signed and delivered.

    Confirming this to Indiantelevision.com, SET Discovery president Anuj Gandhi said the pricing terms was similar to the one signed recently with Dish TV.

    One Alliance is being paid around Rs 38 per subscriber by Dish for its channels. The deal is a five-year one that is extendable at the end of it, Gandhi revealed.

    Also available on the Tata Sky platform would be some Doordarshan channels as well the likes of Times Now, Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, etc. Some interactive and specially designed movie channels have also been thrown in as a sop.

    The Tata Sky service, Kaushik claimed in the presence of his company chairman Ishaat Hussain, has been designed to give subscribers “choice, control and convenience” in the way they want to watch television.

    A host of interactive services such as an on-screen programme guide, Actve Sports, Actve Star News, Actve Newsroom and Actve Khabar are also on offer.

    To offer maximum convenience to subscribers, Tata Sky has set up a pan-India distribution network of popular consumer electronic stores and mobile phone outlets for retailing its hardware and prepaid recharge vouchers.

    The pre-paid vouchers come in various denominations starting off with Rs 260.

    The company has also tied up with LG, ITC International Business Division and Indian Oil Corporation as part of its distribution drive.

    “We are looking at ramping up our activity and service over the next three months when the service should be covering the whole of India,” Tata Sky consumer marketing head Vikram Mehra said.

    The company has engaged a field force of approximately 3,000 people who will be complemented by a high-end 24×7 call centre, manned by multi-lingual customer service associates, trained to solve all customer problems.

    But Mehra was not forthcoming on the media campaign that’s about to break “soon”, except to say that it would be a 360 degree campaign using all normal media outlets.

    Tata Sky is an 80:20 DTH joint venture between the Tata Group and Hong Kong-based Star Group.

    The joint venture has invested over Rs 25 billion in the project till now, according to Kaushik, who added the target of 1 million subscribers in the first year is achievable.

    The unveiling of the Tata Sky service finally turns into reality a dream Murdoch has had since 1997 – of having a DTH platform in India

  • Zee to strengthen 8 pm slot with ‘Banoo Main Teri Dulhann’

    Zee to strengthen 8 pm slot with ‘Banoo Main Teri Dulhann’

    MUMBAI: Zee TV is all set to beef up its programming with Banoo Main Teri Dulhann, to kick off on 14 August at 8 pm from Monday to Friday. It replaces the long running soap Tumhari Disha and hopes to gain a strong viewership in the 8-10 pm slot, as it has already acquired popularity with leadout show Jab Love Hua, as well as Kasam Se and Saat Phere in subsequent slots.

    Dulhann, also running along a women centric theme, is about an uneducated village girl Vidya waiting to be swept of her feet by a charming prince. Marriage, however, shatters her dreams as she faces the wrath of her husband and in-laws who belittle her background and education.

    The essence of the show looks at the positivity with which she hopes to rise above these trials and win over her husband. Promising to have a good twist in the story, the show hopes to grip viewers.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com on the strategy that has been used to pull in the viewership, Zee TV senior VP programming Ashvini Yardi said, “Based on the lines of a Cinderella story, the theme deals with a reality that most Indian women can identify with. Tumhari Disha came in at a time when Zee did not have the numbers it holds today, hence, we are hoping Dulhann will be able to achieve that.”

    The main characters are played by two fresh faces, Divyanka Tripathi (Vidya) from Bhopal and Kolkata boy Sharad Malhotra (Sagar). The two were contestants from Cine Star Ki Khoj. Nilima Bajpai from Shankuntala Films has handled the production.

    Zee TV businesss head Punit Goenka said, “With Saat Phere, we addressed the issue of the discrimination a girl faces in many parts in India on the grounds of her skin colour. Banoo Main Teri Dulhann will touch upon and deal with the struggles an illiterate village girl has to undergo. If Kasam Se and Saat Phere have struck a chord with our viewers, Banno Main Teri Dulhann will take it further.”

    As Zee TV attempts to capture the 8 pm time band, it will have to face stiff competition from Sahara’s recently launched Sati. Star Plus’ Pyaar Ke Do Naam Ek Raadha Ek Shyaam is also in this time slot but, is yet to deliver numbers. Sony has also planned to launch a new show Hum Mei Hai Visshwas to replace Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai at 8 pm.

    Now, its left to the viewer to decide whether the show will be able to achieve the stronghold it hopes to establish during the prime time slot.