ITV

Category: Regional

  • Endemol India’s ‘Lagori Maitri Returns’ completes 100 episodes

    Endemol India’s ‘Lagori Maitri Returns’ completes 100 episodes

    MUMBAI: Endemol India produced Lagori Maitri Returns completes 100 episodes on Star Pravaah with an explosive episode. The fun filled emotional roller coaster ride of friends Mukta, Poorva, Rujuta, Urmila and Dhanashree has received immense love and support from fans. The story line with the twists and truths of their life and friendship in the Marathi daily soap which started in February 2014, has already struck the right cord with its audiences.

     

    On completing the journey of 100 episodes successfully; the entire team of the show celebrated this happy moment by cutting a cake while the cast and crew shared and relived some of the fun moments and experiences they have had so far with the show.

     

    Commenting on the completion of the 100th episode of Lagori Maitri Returns, Abhishek Rege, COO – Television, Endemol India, said “Lagori Maitri Returns is a touching tale about the journey of friendship that viewers identify with. The storyline resonates with the audiences own life experiences, and further lends to the popularity of the show. With the completion of 100 episodes, the show has reached a new high. With the support from Star Pravah, the team behind the show, has done a super job. Here’s looking forward to many more.”

     

    Stay tuned to the most popular girl gang on television On Star Pravah from Monday to Saturday – Prime Time 9 PM.

  • Asianet Suvarna clinches ‘Bigg Boss Kannada 2’

    Asianet Suvarna clinches ‘Bigg Boss Kannada 2’

    MUMBAI: After showing two successful seasons of the Kannada version of Kaun Banega Crorepati titled Kannada Kotyadipathi, Asianet Suvarna is all set to treat its viewers to another big ticket reality show. Season two of Bigg Boss Kannada is shifting hands from ETV Kannada to Asianet Suvarna.

     

    Sources from the channel have confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com and said that the deal with Endemol, the production house, has also been finalised. Actor Sudeep will host the second season as well. Currently, hunt for the contestants is on and the show is slated to go on air in a couple of weeks.

     

    The first season of the show was aired on ETV Kannada between 24 March 2013 and 30 June 2013 with 15 inmates and Vijay Raghavendra finally winning the show with Rs 50 lakh as prize money. Bigg Boss Bangla was aired on ETV Bangla last year between 17 June and 14 September.

  • Sun TV FY-2014 PAT up 5.4 per cent: Board recommends final dividend of 45 per cent

    Sun TV FY-2014 PAT up 5.4 per cent: Board recommends final dividend of 45 per cent

    BENGALURU: Sun TV Network Limited (Sun TV) has declared a repeat of sunny results once again for FY-2014. The company’s consolidated PAT at Rs 748.01 crore (33.64 per cent of income from operations or revenue) was up 5.42 per cent as compared to the Rs 709.56 crore (36.9 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    The company’s consolidated income from operations (revenue) at Rs 2223.62 crore was 15.63 per cent more than the Rs 1923 crore in FY-2013.

     

    The company’s income from operations figures include income of Rs 105.53 crore (4.72 per cent of revenue) and costs of Rs 142.06 crore (6.39 per cent of revenue) from its IPL franchisee cricket team Sun Risers Hyderabad in FY-2014.The company has paid Rs 85.5 crore (3.85 per cent of revenue) IPL franchisee fees that Sun TV has paid for its IPL in FY-2014.

     

    The company’s press release says that its subscription revenues have maintained a robust y-o-y and q-o-q growth of 25 per cent and that its radio broadcasting operations have maintained a y-o-y growth of 18 per cent and have reported 18 per cent PAT margins.

     

    Sun TV Network Ltd has informed BSE that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 23 May 2014, inter alia, have recommended a final dividend of Rs 2.25 per share (45 per cent). This is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 2.25 per share (45 per cent), Rs 2.50 per share (50 per cent) and Rs 2.50 per share (50 per cent) declared at the board meeting held on 2 August 2013, 8 November 2013 and 7 February 2014 respectively.  This takes the total dividend payout by the company to 190 per cent per equity share of Rs 5 in FY-2014.

     

     

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Sun TV for FY-2014 and Q4-2014

     

    Consolidated Numbers

     

    Consolidated Total Expense in FY-2014 at Rs 1192.19 crore (53.61 per cent of revenue) was 24.76 per cent more than the Rs 955.59 crore (49.69 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    The company’s consolidated cost of revenue (COR) in FY-2014 at Rs 215.81 crore (9.71 per cent of revenue) was 17.01 per cent more than the Rs 184.43 crore in FY-2013.

     

    Sun TV’s consolidated depreciation and amortisation (DAA) in FY-2014 at Rs 478.28 crore (21.51 per cent of revenue) was 8.27 per cent more than the Rs 441.73 crore (22.97 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    Consolidated other expenditure at Rs 194.06 crore (8.71 per cent of revenue) was 49.21 per cent more than the Rs 130.06 crore (6.76 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    The company had other income on a consolidated basis in FY-2014 at Rs 86.61 crore which was 19.94 per cent more than the Rs 72.21 crore in FY-2013.

     

    Standalone numbers

     

    During the last quarter (Q3-2014) Sun TV had passed the Rs 500 crore per quarter mark for the first time by clocking standalone revenue of Rs 503.84 crore. In Q4-2014, the company has improved upon this by another 2.33 per cent to register standalone revenue of Rs 520.18 crore, the figure betters the year ago quarter Q4-2013 revenue of Rs 472.67 crore by 10.05 per cent.

     

    Standalone income from operations for FY-2014 at Rs 2096.78 crore was 15.36 per cent more than the Rs 1817.62 crore in FY-2013.

     

    Standalone PAT for the FY-2014 at Rs 716.96 crore (34.19 per cent of revenue) was 4.92 per cent more than the Rs 683.34 crore (37.60 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    Standalone PAT for Q4-2014 at Rs 197.57 crore (38.98 per cent of revenue) was 6.34 per cent more than the Rs 185.79 crore (36.55 per cent of revenue) in the immediate trailing quarter and 11.31 per cent more than the Rs 177.50 crore (37.55 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014.

     

    The company’s standalone cost of revenue (COR) in FY-2014 at Rs 185.14 crore (8.83 per cent of revenue) was 19.32 per cent more than the Rs 155.16 crore (8.54 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013. Standalone COR in Q4-2014 at Rs 43.51 crore (8.36 per cent of revenue) was (-18.95) per cent lower than the Rs 53.68 crore (8.54 per cent of revenue) in Q3-2014 and (-8.34) per cent lower than the Rs 47.47 crore in Q4-2013.

     

     

    Sun TV’s standalone depreciation and amortisation (DAA)  in FY-2014 at Rs 453.34 crore (21.62 per cent of revenue) was 9.72 per cent more than the Rs 413.18 crore (22.73 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013. Q4-2014 DAA at Rs 112.33 crore (21.59 per cent of revenue) was 5.91 per cent more than the Rs 106.06 crore (20.86 per cent of revenue) in Q3-2014 and 10.46 per cent more than the Rs 101.69 crore (21.51 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2013.

     

     

    Standalone other expenditure (OE) in FY-2014 at Rs 170.68 crore (8.14 per cent of revenue) was 57.37 per cent more than the Rs 108.46 crore (5.97 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013. OE in Q4-2014 at Rs 26.01 crore (5 per cent of revenue) was (-23.99) per cent lower than the Rs 32.44 crore (6.73 per cent of revenue) in Q3-2014 and (-19.17) per cent lower than the Rs 32.18 crore (6.18 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014.

     

    The company had other standalone income of Rs 72.91 crore in FY-2014 which was 19.94 per cent more than the Rs 72.21 crore in FY-2013. Standalone other income in Q4-2014 at Rs 13.17 crore was (-11.31) per cent lower than the Rs 14.85 crore in Q3-2014 and (-39.11) per cent lower than the Rs 21.63 crore in Q4-2013.

     

    Sun TV is one of the largest television broadcasters in India that operates satellite television channels across four languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and has the largest private FM radio network in India under brand 93.5 Red FM. As mentioned above, it also owns the IPL franchisee Sun Risers Hyderabad.

  • Puthiya Thalaimurai goes all out on election coverage

    Puthiya Thalaimurai goes all out on election coverage

    MUMBAI: The newcomer in the news industry of Tamil Nadu, Puthiya Thalaimurai had quite some things to prove and even more so with the general elections being its first attempt at covering elections.

     

    The channel, like others planned a full-fledged election coverage for its viewers. For pre poll, an expert panel of chief election commissioner TS Krishnamurthy, Madras High Court judge Vallinayagam and a few others was constituted who dealt with the authenticity of the information.

     

     

    A team of 400 people including journalists, editors, camera crew, graphics team and production crew were involved in the coverage. Six extra cams and six Live U units were hired for the one and a half month period. 16 May saw 12 hour live coverage from 21 places across the country and discussions with 36 panelists. The graphics team of 10 people came up with 3D graphics for counting day with separate teams dedicated to ticker updates, news updates, panel discussions, field reporting, counting centres, political and public reactions.

     

     

    Special shows for election season was created. These included Ungal Thogudhi Ungal Pradhinidhi (your constituency, your representative), Modhum Vetpaalargal Kanikkum Vaakkaalargal (contesting candidates and predicting voters), Naattin Naadikanippu (pulse of the nation), Prachara Medai (stage set for campaign), 40thin Naadi thudippu (palpitations of 40), Ungal Thogudhi Ungal Vetpaalar (your constituency your candidate), Special Nerpada Pesu (speak out the truth), A Day with an M.P, Star Candidates, Therdhal Vaakkuruthigal 2014 (Election promises), Election Countdown, Magalirum Makkalaatchiyum (women and democracy).  For Naatiin Naadikanippu chief ministers of the states of Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir were interviewed.

     

    A line of sponsors were also set for the channel. While Ramraj was the presenting sponsor, Paragon was roped in as powered by sponsor. Apart from this, 11 associate sponsors that came onboard Puthiya Thalaimurai included: Aravind Life Style, Shakti Pumps, AML Steels, V Guard, Black Thunder, Excel Enginering College, GSK – Sensodyne, Udayam Dal, Popular Apalam, Ponvandu Soap, Menaka Caards.

     

     

    The counting day saw three indoor and one open studio in Chennai along with reporting from various constituencies of Tamil Nadu such as Puducherry, Kovai, Trichy and Madurai apart from Delhi studio, BJP office, Congress office and Left office in Delhi. Reporters were also stationed at Trivandrum, Bengaluru and Hyderabad to give updates of the neighbouring states.

     

    Says New Gen Media Corp CEO Shyam Kumar, “The expert team members guided and focussed on the authenticity of the information with their expert knowledge and experience. Their able guidance helped Puthiya Thalaimurai stand for what it is. Yet we believe in youthful ideas too. To keep track of the process, a young team was formed.”

  • ETV Marathi ups the ante with ‘Zhunj Marathmoli’

    ETV Marathi ups the ante with ‘Zhunj Marathmoli’

    MUMBAI: ETV Marathi is all set to take viewers on a road trip during which 14 celebrities will be assigned cultural tasks to prove their Maharashtrian-ness. Starting 26 May at 9:00 pm, the channel hits the highway with Zhunj Marathmoli that will travel to 12 cities in the state with Shreyas Talpade as host.

    A co-production of Ramesh Deo Productions (RDP) and Logical Thinkers, the 26-episode show has already canned around 14 episodes in seven weeks. Tracking districts across Vidarbha, Konkan, Marathwada, Amravati and Khandesh, Zhunj Marathmoli will see two cultural tasks being executed by the contestants per episode. One participant will be eliminated every week and there will be two or three wild-card entries as well.

    Zhunj took more than six months of ideation while every one-hour episode takes two to three days of shooting and nearly a week of post production. 78 people from RDP are travelling with the participants and Talpade along with four Scarlett Red cameras and six GoPro cams.

    Says RDP producer Abhinay Deo, “In a very simple format, we are trying to show the stories of the 14 participants and Talpade as well as the region where we are shooting through each episode.”

    Comparisons with other shows have already begun but Deo says that once people see the first episode, they will know for themselves. The locations either depict specific cultures or are task or production-friendly. “In season one, we just about cover a third of the state and it will take three seasons for almost full coverage,” says Deo.

    Promotions for the show are taking place in stages. After the first teaser look, the show song was launched on the digital platform. A live Facebook video chat with Talpade has been arranged for next week. The show being youthful, disproportionately higher focus is on digital. Outdoor marketing has for now been fixed in Mumbai while the rest of Maharashtra is on the cards. The creative for the campaign is done in-house and planning executed by Vizeum.

    Budgets for the show, sources say, are approximately Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh per episode, putting the worth of the whole project at a whopping Rs 6 crore to Rs 8 crore. Ten-second ad slots are being sold for Rs 50,000, which is 30 per cent higher than ETV Marathi’s other flagship programme, Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati (KHMC) went for. Lunar footwear has come on board as associate sponsor while the hunt for a title sponsor is on.

    “The Marathi TV space is hugely undervalued. So we are investing in shows to get that up. A show like this couldn’t have been done by us last year but after successfully doing KHMC, we have proved ourselves,” says Viacom18 EVP and ETV Marathi business head Anuj Poddar.

    Talpade has the task of coming up with instant dialogues while the shooting is on. “This show is unlike a studio recorded show. Here, you have to know what exactly your contestants are feeling. For me, that’s my zhunj (fight). Only if someone is getting distracted and we have to get them back on track do I get a pointer or else, it is totally unscripted,” he says.

    For the celebrities Pandaharinath Kamble, Megha Sampat, Swapnil Bhutkar, Arti Solanki, Vikram Gaikwad, Hemlata Bane, Satish Dede, Parag Kanhere, Tyagraj Khandilkar, Deepti Devi, Megha Dhade, Ruchi Savaran, Manisha Kelka and Abhijit Thakur, it boils down to ‘aata mateech tharvel kas’ or ‘the land will decide our worth’.

  • 2014 Poll results through the eyes of Bengali channels

    2014 Poll results through the eyes of Bengali channels

    KOLKATA: News channels including ABP Ananda, 24 Ghanta, ETV News Bangla, Focus TV, Kolkata TV and Tara Newz and infotainment channels like Aakash 8 have resembled a battlefield since 8am on 16 May, what with counting of votes taking place in 42 Lok Sabha constituencies.

     

    Each channel has tried to outshine the other with live shows, panel discussions and what have you in terms of the fate of politicians in the state. Not only have they provided byte-by-byte news to viewers who are glued to their TV screens since morning but they have also kept their websites up-to-speed with the latest updates.

     

    While the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has emerged the winner, it isn’t exactly the lion’s share of seats that the party was confident of bagging in the face of a challenge from the left front and the Congress. What’s more, BJP, that was hitherto a fringe player in the state, has sprung a surprise by forging a lead in three seats. These are among the reasons why television channels are now eagerly awaiting chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s reaction on the results.  

       

    Interestingly, while BJP wasn’t able to make the kind of inroads in the state as it desired, quite a few Bengali channels are highlighting the party’s rise in the state.

     

    A city-based media observer said, “Even when the BJP was in power in 1999, it had only one MP from Bengal but this time, apart from the expected historical win at the centre, channels are talking about BJP making inroads in the state.”

     

    Another media expert said, “TMC’s result isn’t entirely unexpected. The major surprise is BJP coming up in West Bengal. The opposition vote has got divided.” Talking about the way Bengali news channels covered election result day, he said, “Panellists in local Bengali channels are mostly junior and unimportant leaders of parties.”

      

    While economist and political analyst, Swaraj Mukherjee questioned, “Kolkata is an island of its own. Trends in the rest of the country never touched this island in the past nor do they today. So TMC wins. The big number is because of big rigging, though TMC will always deny but who can deny the audio-visual documents?”

     

    “People are quiet. They would have rejoiced if the BJP would have got a few more seats in line with the rest of the country. They cannot react so openly for fear of personal security. None the less, the victory of Sudip Bandopadhyay and Dinesh Trivedi augur well as they are liked by the people in their constituencies,” Mukherjee said, adding, “News channels are covering the news but slanted for fear of government action.”

     

    A third expert rued, “It seems most of the channels have forgotten that this is a national election and not a Panchayat poll where they can have an overdose of local politics.”

     

    Whereas Focus Bangla (earlier Ne Bangla) editor-in-chief Biswa Majumdar said that the channel had interviewed most of the big shots in these elections as elections were an important occasion for making a mark in the regional news space.

  • Q4-2014: Raj TV board recommends 5 per cent final dividend for FY-2014

    Q4-2014: Raj TV board recommends 5 per cent final dividend for FY-2014

    Updated: 03:58 PM

     

    BENGALURU: The shareholders of Raj Television Network (Raj TV) have further reason to cheer. The board has recommended a final dividend of 5 per cent or Rs 0.25 per equity share of face value of Rs 5 each, in addition to the earlier interim dividend of 5 per cent or Rs 0.50 per equity share on the earlier face value of Rs 10 before the split and issue of bonus shares during FY-2014. The company had issued bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 after the earlier interim dividend in FY-2014.

     

    Raj TV reported a 17.68 per cent higher Income from Operations (Op Inc) in FY-2014 at Rs 79.47 crore as compared to the Rs 67.53 crore in FY-2013. However, Op Inc in Q4-2014 was (-28.13) per cent lower at Rs 17.91 crore than the Rs 24.92 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q3-2014, and was 2.52 per cent more than the Rs17.47 crore of the year ago quarter Q4-2013.

     

    Note: (1) Rs 100 lakh = Rs100,00,000 = Rs 1 crore = Rs 10 million.

     

    Note: (2) The results in this report are standalone.

     

     Let us look at the other results reported by Raj TV for FY-2014 and Q4-2014

     

    PAT in FY-2014 at Rs12.91 crore (16.25 per cent of Op Inc) was 39.05 per cent higher than the PAT of Rs 9.29 crore (13.75 per cent of Op Inc) in FY-2013. In Q4-2014, PAT at Rs1.01 crore (5.62 per cent of Op Inc) was a little more than a fifth or (-79.82) per cent lower than the Rs 4.98 crore (20.01 per cent of Op Inc) in Q3-2014, but almost double (88.91 per cent more than) the Rs 0.53 crore (3.05 per cent of Op Inc) of Q4-2013.

     

    Raj TV’s Total Expense (Tot Exp) in FY-2014 at Rs 59.97 crore was 9.55 per cent more than the Rs 54.74 crore in FY-2014. Tot Exp in Q4-2014 at Rs15.45 crore was (-16.85) per cent lower than the Rs18.58 crore in Q3-2014 and 1.54 per cent more than the Rs15.22 crore in Q4-2013.

     

    Employee Benefits Expense (EBE) and Administrative and other Expenses (Admin exp) are two major expense heads at Raj TV. While EBE in Q4-2014 was substantially higher y-o-y despite almost similar Op Inc, Admin Exp in Q4-2014 was very high q-o-q, despite Raj TV’s Op Inc being much higher in Q3-2014 as compared to Q4-2014.

     

    Employee Benefits Expense in FY-2014 at Rs 17.60 crore (22.15 per cent of Op Inc) was 50.78 per cent more than the Rs11.68 crore (17.29 per cent of Op Inc) in FY-2013. EBE in Q4-2014 at Rs 4.74 crore (26.47 per cent of Op Inc) was (-31.1) per cent lower than the Rs 6.88 crore (27.61 per cent of Op Inc) and 41.02 per cent more than the Rs 3.36 crore (19.24 per cent of Op Inc) in Q4-2013.

     

    Administrative and other expense in FY-2014 at Rs 14.69 crore (18.48 per cent of Op Inc) was 32.46 per cent more than the Rs11.09 crore (16.42 per cent of Op Inc). During Q4-2014, Admin exp at Rs 4.41 crore (24.6 per cent of Op Inc) was 40.67 per cent more than the Rs 3.13 crore (12.57 per cent of Op Inc) in Q3-2014 and 2.2 per cent more than the Rs 4.31 crore (24.68 per cent of Op Inc) in Q4-2013.

     

    Raj TV has reported a 76.1 per cent increase in Long Term Borrowings (non-current liabilities) in FY-2014 at Rs 12.49 crore as compared to the Rs 7.05 crore in FY-2013. Also, in its current liabilities the company has reported a 3.52 times increase in short term borrowings in FY-2014 at Rs 24.97 crore as compared to the Rs 7.09 crore in FY-2013. The company’s trade receivables in FY-2014 at Rs 58.27 crore has gone up by 36.15 per cent as compared to the Rs 42.8 crore in FY-2013.

     

    Raj TV’s Fixed Assets in FY-2014 has gone up by 77.60 per cent to Rs113.99 crore as compared to the Rs 64.18 crore in FY-2013. Its inventories in FY-2014 have gone up by almost 6 times (5.76 times) to Rs 11.65 crore from Rs 2.02 crore in FY-2013. Its trades payables has gone down in FY-2014 to Rs 2.63 crore from Rs 3.48 crore in FY-2013.

     

    The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of Rs 9.43 per equity share in FY-2014 and Rs 0.19 in Q4-2014. 

  • Sarthak TV gains in week 18 of TAM TV Ratings

    Sarthak TV gains in week 18 of TAM TV Ratings

    KOLKATA: General entertainment channel (GEC) Sarthak TV has gained big in the week 18 of TAM TV ratings. The Odia GEC has garnered a gross rating point (GRP) of 275, as compared to the 199 GRPs last week. 

     
    Tarang TV on the other hand which managed 244 GRPs in the week 17 has come down to 218 GRPs this week. 

     
    While OTV, an infotainment channel which saw a drop in its GRPs in the last few weeks has gone up to 170 GRPs as compared to the 157 GRP it garnered last week.

     
    ETV Oriya, now under the belt of Network 18 Group was at 99 GRPs.

     

    The GRP for MBCTV and Prarthana were 96 and 83 respectively.

     

    While for Tarang Music, Zee Kalinga and Kanak TV, it was 53, 24 and 11 GRPs respectively.

     

    Coming to the viewership pattern for the shows on the various channels, which hooks viewers of CS4 + to TV screens between time band 19:00-22:00 on all days, Pari, To Aganara Tulasi Mu and Badhu from Sarthak TV received a TRP of 3.5, 3.3 and 3.1 respectively.  In the previous week, the ratings of these serials were 2.63, 3 and 3.32 respectively.

     

    Tarang which airs Kichi Luho, Swabhiman and Kemiti Bandhana got TRPs of 3.1, 2.4, and 1.4 respectively. Whereas last week Kichi Luho was at 1.81TRP, Swabhiman at 2.77 and Kemiti Bandhana got 1.45TRP.

     

    On the other hand serials from ETV Oriya like Tapasya, Bada Ghara, Aahuti, Rajakanya and Appa got ratings of 1.1, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4 and 0.2 TRPs respectively.

     

    Ahya Sulakhyani from MBCTV got 0.5 TRP.

     

    Last but not the least Zee Kalinga which telecasts Mo Jejema, Katha Ta Etiki and Aasta Ra Akasha got 0.3, 0.1 and 0.05 TRPs respectively.

     

  • Star Pravah invites viewers to its ‘Dhabal’

    Star Pravah invites viewers to its ‘Dhabal’

    MUMBAI: One hour filled with laughter- that’s the promise Star Pravah is making to viewers for its upcoming show Dhabal – Ek Taas Time Pass with Marathi star Swapnil Joshi and his co-stars. Replacing the Supriya Sachin Show, the laughter riot is all set to begin from 12 May on Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:30 pm.

     

    The mega marketing effort is to ensure that viewers get acquainted with the meaning of Dhabal before they watch the show. In Marathi ‘Dhabal’ typically means a katta or a hangout zone. To familiarise people with the concept of ‘Dhabal’, Star Pravah has undertaken a mega on ground event organising real life ‘dhabal’ in various cities and inviting viewers to come and watch it. According to Star Pravah marketing head Mayuresh Wadke, the Kolhapur and Pune auditoriums were houseful while the next two are in Mumbai and Nashik.

     

    Apart from this, the on air campaign consists of asking viewers to nominate two people they know who don’t laugh very easily, to come and watch the show and get entertained. The radio promotion is being done on Red FM 93.5 where Joshi and his cast will be on Malishka’s popular show in the morning as well as on the evening show to talk about Dhabal. “The focus is more on innovating rather than going out and shouting,” says Wadke.

     

    The casting itself took a long time. It includes Siddharth Chandekar, Viju Khote, Vijay Patwardhan, Mrunmayee Godbole, Suhas Paranjape, Sarthak Ketkar, Atul Todankar, Prajakta Hanamghar, Abhijeet Chavan, Prabhakar More, Rasika Agashe, Anand Patil, Sachin Bhangre and Siddheshwar Zadbuke who will be recurring while some episodes will have guest appearances. The effort is to make each episode different whether topic wise, issue wise or celebrity wise. “We have got an action plan for sustenance of good humour. Apart from me and Srirang Godbole there are 10 writers for the show,” says Star Pravah programming head Jayesh Patil. In production since six months, Dhabal is the product by Indian Magic Eye production house headed by Srirang Godbole who is the chairman and managing director.

     

    As of now, Vicco Vajradanti has been signed as the title sponsor while the hunt for other sponsors and advertisers is still on. The channel is also looking at brand integration inside the show which won’t be overtly loud. Even though four episodes have been completed, certain scenes have been shot on chroma background to keep the possibility of integration open.

     

    Star Pravah nonfiction head Amit Phalke is aware that comparisons will be made to other comedy shows. “With a comedy show there will be a comparison and why should we be shy about it?” he says. Phalke who has been an actor as well as worked with Zee Talkies and ETV Marathi while it launched Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati is well aware of working with tight budgets.

     

    Repeats of the show will begin from the second week as the channel does not want to spread the audience so soon. However, those who miss the show on TV will only get to see a short capsule on the digital platform.

  • Stars Galore to witness launch of Vijay Television Awards

    Stars Galore to witness launch of Vijay Television Awards

    MUMBAI: Vijay TV started eighteen years ago to entertain Tamil audience now has widened its domain and has heartfelt viewers’ world wide.  And now its time to celebrate and felicitate the members of your favorite channel Vijay TV stars who have supported us through this journey.  Vijay TV a pioneer known for its flair for presentation now launches Vijay Television Awards.

     

    May 17th* will be a memorable evening when the entire constellation of VIJAY TV’s most popular stars will descend on a single platform and set the stage ablaze with breathtaking performances.

     

    The success of Vijay TV is its viewers and they get to choose their favorite stars from various categories.  To vote for your favorite actor/male – drama series type ‘A’ send to 57827.  Likewise, B for favorite actor female, C for favorite anchor male, D for favorite anchor female, E for favorite show, F for favorite drama series and send it to 57827.  Or viewers can call 5782701 and vote for their favorites or can logon to www.vijaytv.com and cast their votes.

     

    This prestigious Sunfeast Farmlite Vijay Television Awards will be held on 17 May and will go on air during first week of June 2014 on Vijay TV.  The countdown begins to the biggest star studded award ceremony to honor the Tamil television stars.