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  • Chandramohan Mehra bids adieu to Sony Sab

    Chandramohan Mehra bids adieu to Sony Sab

    MUMBAI: Sony Sab and Sony Pal senior VP and head of marketing Chandramohan Mehra has quit.

    Mehra is serving his notice period and is slated to join a financial sector, confirmed indiantelevision.com sources.

    Mehra joined Sony in July 2014, and was looking after the development of the brand, show launches, consumer engagement and digital initiatives.

    He led several activities and brand campaigns including Digital Divides – SAB Unites, consumer engagement initiatives – ‘Fun-with-Family’ and others.

    Prior to joining SPN, Mehra was country head – emerging business at SBI Life, JV of BNP Paribas, a leading life insurer where he set up the online business vertical. He also led brand, marketing, cross sell vertical, PR and analytics at SBI Life. Before SBI Life, Mehra worked at Kotak Mahindra and FCB Ulka.

    Image result for chandramohan mehra linkedin

  • Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins hops to Sony Pictures

    Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins hops to Sony Pictures

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra has recruited former lieutenant, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins, to fill the top job that had been vacant since the departure of Sony Pictures TV chairman Steve Mosko seventeen months ago.

    At Hulu, Hopkins will be succeeded by Randy Freer, president and COO of Fox Networks Group and current Hulu board member.

    Hopkins has been named chairman, Sony Pictures Network, overseeing all television production, distribution and marketing operations globally for the studio, as well as SPE’s media networks business. He will start in late November and report to Vinciquerra.

    Hopkins had been president of distribution for Fox Networks Group under FNG chairman and CEO Vinciquerra until Vinciquerra’s 2011 exit from Fox. Hopkins was named CEO of Hulu in 2013 amid turmoil at the streaming service, co-owned by 21st Century Fox, Disney, NBCUniversal and Time Warner, which at the time had been run by an interim CEO while its owners were exploring a sale. Over the past four years, Hopkins has built up the company, which doubled revenue and tripled its market valuation and recently made Emmy history with 10 statuettes, becoming the first streaming service to land a Best Series Emmy for breakout drama The Handmaid’s Tale.

    Vinciquerra said, “Mike is a proven and innovative leader who has played a key role in redefining today’s television landscape, both for consumers and for how content producers reach them.”

    Hopkins’ appointment will streamline Sony’s reporting structure on the TV side. Following Mosko’s departure, all of his key reports — presidents of programming and production Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, president of worldwide networks Andy Kaplan, president of distribution Keith Le Goy, and president of ad sales & research Amy Carney — began reporting directly to Vinciquerra’s predecessor Michael Lynton. The setup remained the same when Vinciquerra came on board earlier this year, with Jeff Frost succeeding Van Amburg and Erlicht as a direct report when the two left in June. (Frost was named president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, overseeing domestic production sans international and marketing which had been part of Van Amburg and Erlicht’s purview, with Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter upped to co-presidents.)

    Moving forward, the heads of SPT’s domestic and international television production, distribution, advertiser sales and research, marketing and Sony Pictures Worldwide Networks will report to Hopkins.

    Hopkins’ departure from Hulu, which has been on an upswing, capped by the Emmy triumph of The Handmaid’s Tale, is somewhat surprising. Still, Hulu is a far away from catching up with SVOD leader Netflix.

    “Tony has long been a colleague and mentor of mine, and I’m really excited to join him and the rest of the talented team at SPE,” said Hopkins. “There is a tremendous opportunity to build on SPT’s momentum globally and I look forward to working with the team to realise that potential.”

    Under Hopkins, a 20-year industry veteran, Hulu has grown its audience to 47 million total unique viewers; expanded its business to include live news, entertainment and sports in addition to its existing SVOD offering; and entered premium original programming with Casual, The Mindy Project, The Path and The Handmaid’s Tale. On the acquisition front, Hulu has signed deals for movies from Epix, full libraries of exclusive programming from AMC Networks and FX Productions, as well as all episodes of such current and classic series as This is Us, Homeland, Black-ish, Seinfeld, CSI, Empire, Fargo, Nashville, Golden Girls and South Park.

    As President of Distribution for Fox Networks, Hopkins oversaw the distribution strategy, sales and marketing for the company’s 45 linear and non-linear U.S. channels, as well as on-demand and digital extensions. His team also developed authenticated and digital video products BTN2GO and Fox Now.

    The independent Sony Pictures TV Studios, which is facing increasing challenges and has been fighting its way through increasing vertical integration, will produce or co-produce more than 30 broadcast, cable and digital series on air in the 2017-2018 season. That includes The Blacklist and The Goldbergs, now in their fifth seasons; breakout new ABC drama The Good Doctor, already renewed for a full season; CBS’ S.W.A.T.; as well as The Tick, Atypical, Better Call Saul, Preacher, Outlander, The $100,000 Pyramid, SuperMansion and the upcoming Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams and Cobra Kai.

    Sony TV projects with big production commitment by the broadcast networks include Norman Lear’s Guess Who Died for NBC, Carol Mendohlson and David Hudgins’ Chiefs for CBS, and an untitled Gloria Calderon project for CBS.

  • Seamus O’Brien to join MP & Silva as CEO in the new year

    MUMBAI: Indian sports television executives are pretty familiar with this international sports rights veteran. Seamus O’Brien – who was promoter of the World Spots Group when the IPL telecast rights deal with Multiscreen Media (now Sony Pictures Networks India) blew up in the previous decade – has been appointed by leading sports rights firm MP & Silva as CEO effective 1 January 2018. Former CEO Jochen Lösch will transition to the role of a senior consultant at the company.

    O’Brien has more than three decades of experience in the international sports industry around the globe. He started his career at CSI before setting up World Sport Group, of which he sold his majority stake to Lagardère Group in 2008. He continued to lead World Sport Group as executive chairman until 2015. He also served as deputy chairman of the executive committee of Lagardère’s sports and entertainment division.

    Lösch noted: “I am very grateful to the shareholders that they gave me the opportunity to lead such a great company. My special thanks go to Riccardo Silva and the MP & Silva staff, which always supported me 100 percent. I am glad that I can continue working with MP & Silva as a consultant focusing mainly on ventures in Latin America. There are plenty of opportunities coming up, and MP & Silva is very well-positioned to grab them.”

    Larry Feng, chairman of MP & Silva, stated: “First of all, I would like to thank Jochen Lösch for the contribution he made to MP & Silva as CEO. He led the business at a time of profound change and is to be thanked for his professionalism and dedication throughout his tenure as CEO. The appointment of Seamus O’Brien is a tremendous step for MP & Silva. Seamus is a pioneer with a fantastic reputation and is a man who instinctively understands the market we are in and the growth territories of the future. His experience of building strong international profiles for sports properties will be a huge asset to the company, our partners and our customers. This appointment is a fantastic reflection of the ambition we have to ensure MP & Silva remains as one of the world’s leading media rights companies.”

    O’Brien added: “I am delighted to join MP & Silva as president and group CEO. This is a business which, through its staff, founders and owners, has established a reputation for its entrepreneurial spirit and dynamism, and it’s those qualities which I hope I can also bring to the role of president and group CEO. The shareholders and members of the board, including people I have known and respected for many years, are incredibly ambitious with a great vision for the company. By working with the talented team they have built and utilising the extensive global network at our disposal, I am very confident that exciting times are ahead for MP & Silva.”

  • Veteran journo Rohit Gandhi sets up news platform for independent reporters

    Veteran journo Rohit Gandhi sets up news platform for independent reporters

    MUMBAI: When you have the credentials of having worked for CNN and CBC as an international journalist for several years, what do you do next? Well, you could start a news platform with a difference. Just like Rohit Gandhi has done by incorporating Global Live, which has set up Democracy News Live.

    The network is owned by Gandhi and Vrinda Aggarwal, who was working with him in WION.

    Says Gandhi who has designated himself as editor in chief, “Journalism channels have become partisan with political parties and are already sold to ideologies. It is difficult for an honest centre of the line editor to operate. Judges of courts are being questioned for their leanings. The environment is ripe to democratise journalism a bit more.”

    His model, that of democratisation of news, is to allow hard working field reporters who make the news to become owners of a news platform. “They can publish the content and own it for life,” says Gandhi. “We even have a monetisation model in place.”

    For now, the duo has invested about $400,000 and once it hits a certain benchmark, they will seek the second funding round.

    Of course not anyone will be able to post news content. They will have to get past credentials and identification verification before getting the green signal to post their news videos, articles and pictures. A robust content management system and video platform will allow hacks to edit video on the cloud without having editing skillsets that FCP or Premier Pro require. Of course anyone violating journalistic ethics or resorting to plagiarism or fake news will get booted out of the news platform without any warning.

    Artificial intelligence which has been built into the technology backend will make managing, search, and discovery so much easier for both journos and visitors.

    A team of 23 tech specialists and editors have been at it, building the backend and CMS since 1 February 2017 when Gandhi left the Essel Group owned Indian English news channel WION to start his venture.  He says he consciously stayed away from corporate or political funding, instead choosing to attract investment from a group of 20 private investors.

    He explains: “The whole idea is to make sure that we don’t have influence of either a corporation or a political party. The professionals – from technology and journalism who came together to forge this alliance –  found the idea so potent, that they not only invested but also helped in building the platform.”

    Over the past few months, Democracy News Live has been building news content on its Youtube channel, though not much of it had been put out at the time of writing. It has set up a news studio in New Delhi and has even put reporters through training and the paces of anchoring.

    And while Gandhi agrees television remains the best medium for disseminating news and information even today thanks to the wide distribution infrastructure that’s available, he still preferred to go online for a few reasons.

    He elaborates: “While I am not against a news channel, I wanted to start out by putting out phenomenal content online. Then only after that do I want to think about going in for a linear feed when it reaches an inflection point. Our content could go out on radio, TV, online and even on 4K as it is being shot even on that format. With that kind of quality it can even and up on television.”

    Gandhi is not worried about the business model as he believes advertisers follow audiences who follow great content. However, he cautions that he is not going to base the news content on Democracy News Live on advertisers’ needs. “We will have advertisers in due course,” he says. “But our editorial integrity and independence will be maintained.”

    The Android and iOS app launches are planned for the coming week. They will have logins for reporters to file their stories and for readers to read.

    Gandhi is planning to market the platform through the co-owners who will work with them.

    He has the credentials to match his vision for Democracy News Live. At WION he was editor in chief and he left it after just a year of helping build it up from ground up. And in 2006, he was the reporter who broke the story about the terrorist group that was behind the 2006 Mumbai train bombings. Those will be put to the test as Democracy News Live begins to gain traction.

    Also Read:

    Rohit Gandhi quits ZMCL’s WION 

  • Lionsgate sets up shop in India; appoints Rohit Jain as country head

    Lionsgate sets up shop in India; appoints Rohit Jain as country head

    MUMBAI: Global American content leader and NYSE-listed Lionsgate has finally set up shop in India to tap one of Asia’s biggest media markets. It has appointed Rohit Jain, a media industry veteran, to head the ops here as managing director.

    Jain, who till some time back worked with DTH operator Videocon d2h as deputy CEO for seven years contributing to the company’s growth in size and its Nasdaq listing, confirmed to Indiantelevision.com over phone his appointment and opening of the Mumbai office.

    Lionsgate India will spearhead all licensing to local linear and digital platforms in the territory from feature films, television series and library content under the Lionsgate and Starz brands.  It will work closely with the studio’s theatrical distribution partners to maximise box office for Lionsgate films, and it will partner with local production companies to develop intellectual property for theatrical release as well as distribution across other media platforms.

    Apart from that, Lionsgate India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of its American parent, will also explore investment opportunities throughout the Indian media market.

    “We’ve been focused on the enormous opportunity created by the Indian marketplace for years, and Rohit checks off all the boxes as the right executive to lead our business there,” said Lionsgate chief executive officer Jon Feltheimer in an official statement. 

    Feltheimer added: “Lionsgate brings to this territory a global content platform, an entrepreneurial mind set, and the agility of a next generation digital age company. Rohit is ideally qualified to leverage these strengths into accelerating growth and new business initiatives in the years ahead.”

    Lionsgate has been steadily expanding its global content platform with the continued growth of Lionsgate UK into a leading film and television production and distribution company, a growing operation in China that has established strong relationships with nearly all major platforms in the territory and increased the studio’s box office gross by 63 per cent from last year, and a new Canadian office that was opened in Toronto earlier this year.

    “I’m thrilled to join Jon and the rest of the Lionsgate team as we continue to build the company’s brand in India,” according to Jain, a 20 years veteran of the Indian media industry.

    Jain further pointed out that as India was the next logical frontier for Lionsgate’s multi platform content creation, marketing expertise and digital initiatives, he was “incredibly excited” at the opportunities that lie ahead.

    Boasting the world’s second largest consumer population and fastest-growing middle class, India has achieved double-digit annual growth across television, film, interactive games and delivery of content to digital platforms.  With over 800 television channels, more than 30 over-the-top platforms, 8,500 theatrical exhibition screens and an evolving interactive game business, opportunities for content producers and distributors are continuing to increase, according to Lionsgate.

    In the past few years, the company said it has tripled its revenue from India and made Hindi-language film `Brothers, a remake of Lionsgate’s critically-acclaimed `Warrior. A Hindi-language remake of the studio’s action hit comedy `Red is also in the works with a possible involvement of Hindi film star Anil Kapoor.

    Rohit Tiwari of Morris Street Advisors, who had previously served as Lionsgate’s local sales agent in India, has transitioned to a consulting relationship to Lionsgate India, the company said.

    The first major new studio in decades, Lionsgate is a global content platform whose films, television series, digital products and linear and over-the-top platforms reach next generation audiences around the world.  In addition to its filmed entertainment, Lionsgate claims its content drives a growing presence in interactive and location-based entertainment, gaming, virtual reality and other new entertainment technologies.

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  • RSTV editor to be chosen by new panel comprising Prasar chief, MP Dasgupta and journalist Srivastava

    RSTV editor to be chosen by new panel comprising Prasar chief, MP Dasgupta and journalist Srivastava

    MUMBAI: A search-and-select panel comprising lawmakers, senior journalists, Prasar Bharati and Rajya Sabha Secretariat officials has been formed to pick Rajya Sabha Television (RSTV) editor-in-chief.

    In an attempt to bring RSTV at par with private news channels, the vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, has put the panel together.

    The committee will be headed by the Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash and consist of MP Swapan Dasgupta, TV journalist Rahul Srivastava and Prasar CEO Shashi Shekar Vempati. The panel, which will also have a senior bureaucrat as a member, will begin advertising for the position shortly, and come up with a shortlist in 10 days, it is learnt.

    A series of discussions have taken place with Naidu on revamping RSTV. The Veep had also ordered a review and rationalisation of RSTV manpower.

    The said post fell vacant after the incumbent editor Gurdeep Singh Sappal resigned following the end of the tenure of the vice-president Hamid Ansari as the chairman of the Upper House.

    In an order issued on 18 October by the Secretariat, the panel will invite applications and conduct interviews to select a suitable candidate and submit its recommendation to the  chairman. It may take at least a month to complete the formalities for the position, it was learnt.

    Naidu had earlier reviewed the functioning of RS TV and sought to know from the officials whether the channel needed a CEO since the Secretariat provided administrative support.

    ALOS READ :

    RS TV audit sought, content sharing with Prasar proposed by Veep

    Prasar Bharati CEO Vempati assumes additional responsibility of RS TV

     

     

  • Viacom expands Zaldivar-Clark’s role as Paramount SVP – talent

    Viacom expands Zaldivar-Clark’s role as Paramount SVP – talent

    MUMBAI: Viacom Inc. has announced the appointment of Jennifer Zaldivar-Clark as the senior vice president of talent for Paramount Network.

    In this expanded role, Zaldivar-Clark will oversee Paramount Network’s newly formed talent function and will continue to serve as the SVP of Talent and Communications at TV Land. She will report to Kevin Kay, president of Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT, with a dotted line to Frank Tanki, general manager of TV Land.

    “Jen has an innate ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with talent and the creative community,” said Kay. “She has significantly elevated the TV Land brand and expanded its footprint across the entertainment business in new and creative ways. Jen’s leadership will be instrumental to the success of Paramount Network as a premier destination for top-tier talent across the industry.”

    The responsibilities of Zaldivar-Clark, who earned a B.A. in Communications and Media Studies from Boston College, as the lead talent and communications executive for TV Land include overseeing talent relations for the brand as well as booking and event strategy. Additionally, she guides communications for TV Land’s scripted programming, and leads a bi-coastal team to develop and execute national publicity campaigns for its hit original series “Younger,” “Teachers,” and “Nobodies.”

    She is also responsible for advancing the brand’s corporate communications strategy as it continues to expand its reach and attract new audiences during a period of transformation.

  • India Today’s Purie says new vice chairperson Kalli has ability to straddle edit and biz functions

    India Today’s Purie says new vice chairperson Kalli has ability to straddle edit and biz functions

    MUMBAI: India Today Group, which runs news channels — India Today and Aaj Tak and also print media magazines like india Today — on Tuesday, named Kalli Purie as the vice chairperson.

    Kalli, an Oxford University graduate in politics, philosophy and economics, is, at present, the group editorial director (broadcast and new media). Working with the group in several roles since 1996, she will now oversee the editorial and business functions of the group, according to an email from the group’s chairman and editor-in-chief Aroon Purie, Mint reported.

    Purie said he believed, like him, she had the ability to straddle both, editorial and business functions.

    Purie, who has been at the helm for over 40 years, wrote that , with the new appointment, he would be spending time on strategic steering of the group and exploring new opportunities, rather than on day-to-day operations.

    The group CEO Ashish Bagga had, in July this year, resigned and the company is yet to find a replacement.

  • ZEEL exec Sunil Buch resigns

    ZEEL exec Sunil Buch resigns

    MUMBAI: Sunil Buch has put in his papers at ZEEL.

    Appointed as the chief business officer of the network in 2014, and recently elevated to the position of the chief executive officer (CEO) — Zee Live and Zee Talent and head of corporate brand and communications.

    Buch has over two decades of experience in functional and general management across various sectors like FMCG, advertising, media and entertainment and telecom retail.

    Prior to joining ZEEL, he was the business head at Reliance Own Retail at Reliance Communications. He has also worked with major brands like Colgate – Palmolive, Johnson and Johnson, Leo Burnett and Marico.

  • Sun, Zeel, Star India channels continue presence in across genres lists

    Sun, Zeel, Star India channels continue presence in across genres lists

    BENGALURU: It’s festival season in India. Channels from three major networks in India continue finding presence in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) top 10 channels across genres All India (U+R): 2+ individuals. Sun TV from the Sun Network continued its pole position in the top 10 channels list in week 40 of 2017 (Saturday, 30 September 2017 to Friday, 6 October 2017. Two Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) channels have consistently been leading the Hindi GEC channels band, while three Star India channels (4 Star India channels in week 38 of 2017) have been present in the top 10 channels across genres weekly grouping. In week 40 of 2017, three Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) channels were also present in the weekly top 10 channels across genre table.

    As mentioned above – three channels each from the Star Network and SPN, two channels from Zeel and one channel each from the Sun Network and Network 18 (Viacom 18) were present in the BARC weekly top 10 channels across genres tally for week 40 of 2017. From the genre/languages perspective, seven Hindi GEC, one channel each from the Hindi Movies, Tamil GEC and Telugu GEC genres were present in the weekly top 10 channels lists across channels’ group in week 40 of 2017.

    Sun TV continued its unassailable rule over the weekly across genres band  with 1,114.363 million weekly impressions (sum) at first place, followed by Zeel’s FTA channel Zee Anmol with 788.250 million weekly impressions (sum) at second place. Zee Anmol had strong support from Kaala Teeka in Hindi GEC and Kaala Teeka and Jamai Raja which were among BARC’s top 5 primetime programmes in the Hindi GEC –HSM (U+R) and Hindi GEC HSM (R) markets respectively. At third place was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV with 665.989 million weekly impressions (sum), strongly supported by Kumkum Bhagya and its spinoff Kundali Bhagya in BARC’s top 5 primetime Hindi GEC – HSM (U+R) market and Hindi GEC – HSM (U) markets.

    Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi Pain in Spain among BARC’s top 5 primetime programmes in Hindi GEC HSM (U+R) weekly results and Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi Pain in Spain and Udaan in the Hindi GEC HSM (U) weekly results for week 40 of 2017 helped Network 18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors to fourth place with 661.538 million weekly impressions (sum).  Kaun Banega Crorepati’s (KBC) presence in BARC’s top 5 categories of Hindi GEC – HSM (U+R) and Hindi GEC HSM – (U) markets during primetime helped SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television to fifth place in BARC’s across genres table with 647.825 million weekly impressions (sum) in week 40 of 2017.

    Star India’s renamed Hindi GEC Star Bharat was placed sixth in the across genres tally for week 40 of 2017 with 632.766 million weekly impressions (sum), followed by SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max with 615.63 million weekly impressions (sum) at seventh place. Hindi Feature Films’ Bahubali the beginning in BARC’s weekly categories of top 5 programmes for Hindi Movies (U+R) and Bahubali the beginning, Sultan and Raj Mahal 3 in BARC’s weekly results  of top 5 programmes for Hindi Movies (U) helped Sony Max to return to BARC’s top 5 channels across genres list after a hiatus.

    Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus was ranked eighth in BARC’s weekly list across genres tally for week 40 of 2017 with 551.267 million weekly impressions (sum). SPN’s women oriented Hindi GEC Sony Pal was ranked ninth in the category with 549.725 million weekly impressions (sum) followed by Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa with 524.551 million weekly impressions (sum) at tenth place.

    Please refer to the list below for BARC data for top 10 channels across genres for weeks 38 to 40.

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