ITV

Category: Regional

  • Viacom18 widens regional reach, to launch Colors Tamil in Q4

    MUMBAI: Viacom18, one of India’s fastest growing media and entertainment networks, today announced the upcoming launch of its 7th Regional General Entertainment brand – Colors Tamil. Viacom18 successfully operates GECs in the Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia and Bangla markets.

    The network has been bullish on the future prospect of regional entertainment and had launched a second GEC – Colors Super – in the Kannada market, in July, 2016.

    Commenting on the impending launch of Colors Tamil, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, “Driving Regional aggressively is one of our foremost strategic thrusts. Given that almost 60% of our country speaks in regional languages and this market is under-indexed on television, it is imperative that this segment will continue to grow rapidly in the years ahead. While Colors Super was aimed at deepening our presence in the Kannada genre where Colors Kannada is an undisputed leader, the launch of Colors Tamil is a step towards widening our reach in regional markets by entering the largest regional market in the country.”

    “The Tamil content market is highly competitive and well-primed for disruption, making this the opportune time for our entry. We look forward to delighting the Tamil content aficionado with the latest offering from the house of Viacom18,” Vats added.

    Viacom18 owns some of the country’s biggest reality and fiction shows. Original innovative content has been developed for each region under the brand Colors. The company is also renowned for creating marquee on-ground properties, that is televised on the respective channels, both at national and regional levels.

  • Kamal Haasan to host Bigg Boss’s debut on Tamil TV

    BENGALURU: Endemol Shine’s Big Brother format under its Indian sobriquet Bigg Boss is all set to make its Tamil television debut on Star India’s Tamil GEC Star Vijay on 18 June 2017. The host of the show will be Indian film icon Kamal Haasan. The format of the show will be the same as the Bigg Boss season 10 format that closed in end January this year on Network 18’s Hindi GEC channel Colors. The Kannada version’s season 4 which also closed in mid-January on Network 18’s Colors Kannada was quite successful.

    Sources at Star Vijay claim that the show on their channel will be on an even bigger scale than the Hindi version. They say that an exclusive and a massive house, bigger than the Hindi version, was being built at EVP World Theme Park in Chennai.

    “We are keen to leverage the uniqueness of the format , the reality appetite of Tamil audiences and a great host like Kamal Haasan, not only to drive ratings, but to put out cutting edge and innovative content,” said Vijay TV GM Krishnan Kutty.

    On his first foray into television, Haasan said, “When Vijay TV approached me to play host , I funnily quipped , who better than me right, all my life have been under a constant watch and have been judged on whatever I have done , public or private. But, now roles are reversed as I would stand with the audience and watch these celebrities in the house survive this ordeal.”

    Bigg Boss Tamil will air on weekdays (Monday to Friday) at 900 pm and between 830pm and 10pm on weekends. The show would see the coming together of 15 celebrities in a posh house with all the amenities but who are completely cut off from technology and the outside world for 100 days. The channel is filtering participants. It says that people from varied backgrounds are being spoken to and the reception has been enthusiastic, given Kamal Haasan is the host.

    Sources say that a massive marketing plan has been formulated with more than 400 outdoor sites, full page advertisements in all the leading English and Tamil dailies and weekly magazines and Radio Specials have been planned as well. Digital tie up has been firmed up with Facebook, Twitter and Google they aver.

    While details of sponsors and major advertisers were not available at the time of writing, the channel says that national advertisers who have experienced the euphoria of Bigg Boss Hindi are the primary movers. However, Chennai is a powerful and strong retail market and hence the local market will also be an active participant, they say.

  • Amagi roped in for Colors Kannada & Marathi ad solutions

    MUMBAI: Amagi Media labs has added Colors Kannada and Colors Marathi to its expanding bouquet of channels offering geo-targeted advertising solution.

    This partnership will offer advertisers an opportunity to market region-specific products, communicate regional offers and promotions, and increase the share of voice by targeting markets such as Bangalore and rest of Karnataka, and Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra. With this addition, Amagi’s channel strength has increased to 18 channels across entertainment, news, movies and music genres.

    Viacom18 regional channels sales senior VP Bikash Kundu said, “The partnership with Amagi will enable our national, regional, and new advertisers to reach region specific audience with targeted messaging in a cost-effective manner.”

    Amagi Media Labs co-founder Baskar Subramanian said, “We anticipate an incredible scope for growth of geo-targeted TV advertising in the country.”

  • Maiboli to premiere ‘Shortcut’ on 30 April

    MUMBAI: SABGROUP’s Marathi channel Maiboli is set to entertain the audience with the broadcast of the Marathi Blockbuster ‘Shortcut –Disto pan Nasto’a moviefeaturing for the first time on the small screen. “Maiboli”, a regional Marathi language channel, showcases the Marathi culture and heritage.

    The telecast is scheduled on 30 April,2017 at 1:30pm& repeat at 7:30pm, featuring stars like Vaibbhav Tatwaddi, Sanskruti Balgude& Rajesh Shringarpure.

    ‘Shortcut – Disto pan Nasto’, a blockbuster Marathi thriller directed by Harsh Raut is based on the ups and downs in Rohit’s life who plays the protagonist. A movie that went on to receive many industry accolades.

    To add to the excitement, Maiboliwill be running a “Shortcut to Win” contest, where viewers can win big with the prizes such as home theater speaker systems, LED TV & Bluetooth Headphones by simply answering couple of questions asked during the movie.

    Magnifying this World television premier, an extensive marketing campaign has been unfolded across Maharashtra including TV, Digital, Outdoor, Print & PR campaigns.Brand like FeviKwik and Reliance trends are on board with this special screening as the powered by sponsor & associate sponsor respectively. Also on board are media partners – Dainik Saamna and Manas Creations.

    Tatwadi said, “I am so excited that Maiboli is doing a world television premier of one my special films – Shortcut. This film is very close to me because the character I have played has never been portrayed in Marathi films before.”

    Balgude said, “Shortcut is a thriller movie that will keep you asking for more, my character is very glamorous and with the “shortcut to win” contest it is just going to add to the excitement.

  • Colors Bangla plans three shows in May – Mahaprabhu, Roopkatha & Jhumur

    MUMBAI: Summers in Kolkata is about to get cooler, as Colors Bangla is all set to rejuvenate your evenings, with a line-up of refreshing content. Starting May 1st, be prepared for some power-packed entertainment with the launch of 3 new shows on Colors Bangla, Mahaprabhu Sree Chaitanya on May 1 at 6:30pm, Roopkatha on May 2 at 7pm and Jhumur on May 3 at 7:30pm.

    Commenting the new line-up of shows Rahul Chakravarti, Business Head, Colors Bangla and Colors Odia said, “At Colors Bangla we are always looking to entertain the viewers with unparalleled content that has the potential to make their evenings worthwhile. The upcoming set of shows have been handpicked keeping in mind our viewer’s need for quality and variety content. Filling in the gaps in the bouquet of offerings on television, we are proud to present Mahaprabhu Sree Chaitanya – a tale of a highly regarded spiritual leader, Roopkatha – a fantasy-fiction show and Jhumur – a very intimate story on friendship and love. Starting May 1, prime time on Colors Bangla will come with a new promise.”

    Mahaprabhu Sree Chaitanya traces the life of spiritual leader Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who inspired and influenced the outlook of his family and followers through his wisdom and miracles. Playing the lead role, Ishaan will portray Chaitanya, spreading love and propagating the path to achieve perfection in life. Produced by Rana Sarkar, the soundtrack of the show is composed by critically acclaimed music director Indradip Dasgupta.

    Roopkatha – a fantasy drama based on the princess of Rupnagar, Bhumi, who grew up in the jungle instead of a palace. Motivated to reclaim her rightful place in the kingdom, Bhumi is faced with the impossible task of journeying across the seven seas and thirteen rivers to prepare for her ultimate task of facing her nemesis Mohini – the queen of darkness. The show is produced by Surinder Films brings together a powerful ensemble cast including Mainak Banerjee, Rimjhim Mitra.

    Jhumur is a story of unfading friendship between Jhumur and Nayanika, hailing from different backgrounds, separated by economic stature but intrinsically bound by fate forever. Personifying Positivity, Hope, Happiness and an undeterred spirit, Jhumur finds happiness in the simplest things. Adapted from the super-hit show Udaan on Colors , Jhumur is produced by Blue Water Pictures, and has veteran television actor Kaushik Chakraborty, and Lopamudra Sinha essaying key roles.

  • Star Vijay ropes in slew of sponsors for weekend shows, launches new family drama

    BENGALURU: Star India’s Tamil GEC Star Vijay had recently launched a couple of weekend shows – a chat show – Anbudan DD with Dhivyadharshini or DD of the Tamil chat show Koffee with DD fame and a Tamil reality stand-up comedy show – Kings of Comedy Juniors. The former airs on Saturday’s at 6pm while the latter airs on Saturday’s and Sunday’s at 830pm.

    Anbudan DD, which first aired on 1 April, promises to be different from the other chat shows in as much as every episode will have exciting segments based on each celebrity who will appear on the show, rather than a standard format. The channel has roped in real estate company Case Grande as the title sponsor for the show. ABC Advanced Beauty Clinic and Ungal Sathya are the powered by sponsors, while the show is co-presented by food brand Ramanas Ravadosai Mix, apparel brand Pan America, Micro finance company Equitas and Aroma Ghee.

    Kings of Comedy Juniors, a comedy talent hunt commenced on 8 April. The show, for kids below 15 years of age, has comedian Robo Shankar and actress Ramba as judges. Home and kitchen ware brand Signoraware is the title sponsor, hosiery brand Ramraj and date processing company Lion Dates are the co-sponsors for Kings of Comedy Juniors. Paint brand Nippon Paints, apparel brand Pommys Nighties, Micro finance company Equitas and milk brand Arjuna Milks are the co-presenting sponsors for the show.

    The channel also announced the launch a new family musical drama Mouna Ragam starting today (24 April) at the 730pm time slot. The story follows the journey of a seven year old singing prodigy Sakthi, who, on the death of her mother, sets out to find her separated father. The serial is directed by popular television director Thai Selvam. The musical score for the drama is by award winning film score composer, singer, and musician in Malayalam films – music director M Jayachandran. Baby Krithika plays the role of Sakthi. Actor Sajeev plays the role of Karthick Krishna, Sakthi’s father. Actress Shamitha who played the female lead in the popular award winning Tamil movie Pandavar Boomi, will be doing a negative role in the serial.

  • Zingaat is the Las Vegas of Marathi entertainment, says Vikas Varma

    After creating 9XM,  Hummra M, Music F Fatafati, Bflix Movies,  Dicky “Speak” Pvt Ltd CEO Vikas Varma has launched his own Marathi music TV channel Zingaat. Apart from Varma,  Ramesh Jassani, Shirish Ruparel and  Narayan Sharma own shares in the company.  “All four of us bring tremendous television, advertising and media experience to the table making this a formidable combination of content, distribution, advertising, sales and marketing. The four musketeers, together, are the life force of Zingaat,” said Verma.

    In conversation with Indiantelevision.com’s Parvinder Sandhu, Vikas Varma shares his plans and insights into his channel. Excerpts:

    Where did you see space for a new Marathi music channel? Weren’t there a plenty already?

    A space or a vacuum need not exist for a product that is giving the viewers an entirely refreshing and new entertainment experience. Zingaat, as the name proclaims, is such a viewing experience, totally in tune with today’s Marathi viewer. Marathi movies and music, unjustly so, have for too long lived under the shadow of Bollywood. However, that has changed dramatically in the last few years. Marathi movies and music claimed and achieved its rightful top position and it was important to create a TV channel that reflects and celebrates just that. Thus, Zingaat.

    Zingaat looks a little like what 9XM Hindi Music channel used to look when it was #1. Your comments on that.

    9XM was created by me in 2007, which immediately became #1 in its second week of launch. But, that was in 2007, which I refer to as ‘Version-1’. After this, I created the Bhojpuri Music Channel, Hummra-M, which too became #1 and then Music-F Fatafati, the Bangla Music Channel, with similar results. Those were ‘Version-2 & 3’.

    Zingaat is a fantastically upgraded and entertaining music channel, where I have used the accumulated experience of last 10 years, since I created 9XM, Hummra-M and Music-F Fatafati. Zingaat is as different from 9XM as iPhone-1 is different from iPhone-7. That, Zingaat is the only TV channel celebrating the new face, success and pride of Maharashtra, makes it even more exciting and fulfilling for me.

    Shall we say Zingaat could have been inspired by ideas such as Sony Rox’ that primarily focuses on huge mainly-Hindi music popular in the sub-continent and among the diaspora across the globe?

    The only inspiration that Zingaat had and continues to seek, is the joy and celebration of music. It is the Zingaat way of life. Our viewers experience this and participate in this joyfulness, eagerly and happily.

    What has been your research in this context? What is your target group?

    Youthfulness, music and joy has the infinite power to attract humans of all ages and demographics. Zingaat is this sparkling, joyful TV Channel that personifies these qualities. These qualities are highlighted by our Channel Super Heroes called, Ussal, Missal and Maddy. They sing, dance, play pranks, recite poems and represent the free spirit of Zingaat and all our viewers. One does not need research to tell us that almost everyone loves candy. However, under the hood of our brand Zingaat, lies the result of some serious content selection, which has been mood-mapped to perfection.

    Our Super Heroes, Ussal, Missal and Maddy have been inspired by the colours of the rainbow and sound of falling rain, however the technology used to create them are cutting edge 3-D animation tools.

    Which genres of music do you plan to have? Have any reality shows been planned too?

    Zingaat is the Las Vegas of Marathi entertainment. Only the best acts come here. So, the display window showcases only Hit-Pe-Super-hit. Expect only the best of best on Zingaat. Yes, a few shows are in the pipeline, and we are very excited to be showcasing these products for the first time and in this manner to our viewers.

    What are the marketing plans for Zingaat?

    We have an extensive marketing plan in progress right now. This includes over 500 billboards all over Maharashtra as well as radio and TV spots. Our focus is also the interiors of Maharashtra where we will be taking road-shows and high-energy ground activation. That apart, we are organising contests for our viewers, with high-value premium gifts. And, not to forget movie halls and cinemas, where Zingaat will spread its joy and fun.

    How are the viewers responding to Zingaat. How is the feedback?

    The response has been phenomenal and in my experience, and unprecedented. Zingaat has a “Selfie’ showcase for our viewers on its TV screen which runs constantly 24X7. We have been getting thousands of beautiful selfies from our viewers non-stop. We are delighted to show-off our viewers happy faces on our channel. This is the age of the smart phone and Zingaat complements that as a ‘smart channel’.

    Excited viewers result in super excited advertisers who have been meeting us and want to be a part of our mission to heighten viewer experience. So, a lot of Zingaat razzle-dazzle is spreading its magic all around. All I can say is, the party has just begun, wear your fanciest clothes and jump in!

    Also Read :

    Large Networks lead regional channels, programme ratings in weeks 1 to 8 of 2017

    ‘Kasaav’ best film, UP most movie-friendly state in National Film Awards

    SonyLiv launches original Marathi web-series ‘YOLO’

    Gadkari unveils Marathi edition of Subhash Chandra’s ‘The Z Factor’

  • Sun TV picks up India, Lanka pay-TV rights for ‘Yoko’, Jetpack seals deals with global b’casters

    Global distributor, Jetpack Distribution, announced on 28 March, 2017, that it has inked multiple broadcast agreements with leading channels around the world for their pre-school children’s hit, YOKO.

    Deals have been concluded by Jetpack with Canada’s BBC Knowledge for exclusive Pay TV and SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) rights. Canal Panda in Portugal has acquired exclusive Pay TV and non- exclusive SVOD, while Sun TV has picked up exclusive Pay TV rights throughout India and Sri Lanka for the animated series. YOKO is expected to launch on screens in these key territories from late 2017.

    YOKO premiered in Russia on national channels CTC (Cost to Company) and Karousel during the weekends at the end of 2016 and separate broadcast deals have also been inked by Russian co-producer Wizart after their distribution arm, Wizart Distribution, secured other broadcasters including educational channel O! (Pay TV Worldwide), Mult, Tlum and Ani (Pay TV), VTV in Belarus and ETV in Estonia.

    Link — Read the complete story here:

  • Rahul Chakravarti is Colors Bangla & Odia business head

    MUMBAI: Viacom18, one of India’s fastest growing media and entertainment companies, announced the appointment of Rahul Chakravarti as Business Head of Colors Bangla and Colors Odia. A veteran with over two decades of experience across FMCG, management consultancy and advertising, Rahul has worked across multiple consumer focused categories in his career.

    Viacom18 senior executive vice president – Colors Kannada, Super, Bangla and Odia Ravish Kumar said, “Rahul has extensive experience of working in consumer packaged goods and consulting with a proven track record of managing businesses, building brands, leveraging consumer insights and solving business problems. His ability to marry strategy with execution and his understanding of consumer-focused businesses will help us in increasing our footprint both across our viewers and our advertisers.”

    Chakravarti said, “The media industry is unique since its business is modelled primarily on a B2B structure but all constituents caters to the end consumer who votes with his remote. Both Colors Bangla and Colors Odia are established brand names and I look forward to working with the talented channel teams to propel these regional channels to greater heights.”

    Rahul Chakravarti has taken over as Business Head of the two channels with effect from this week. He will be responsible for driving ratings, developing innovative content and increasing the reach and share of voice of the channels in the markets. Rahul is passionate about sports and competes regularly in marathons. He also loves reading and is an avid music aficionado.

  • Infringement case filed against makers of Pushpaka Vimana

    Bangalore March 21, 2017: According to a suit filed against the makers of the Kannada movie Pushpaka Vimana (2017), they have not purchased the Kannada-language remake rights of the movie. It is an infringement of the rights owned by Kross Pictures India.

    Kross Pictures and Kross Television India, the owners of the Indian remake rights of the superhit Korean movie “Miracle in Cell No.7” have​ filed an injunction order and a case of infringement in the Bombay High Court against Vikhyat Chitra Productions, Pawan Wadeyar Film Factory and others involved in the making of this film.

    Vikhyat Chitra Productions allegedly claim via some media reports to have bought the remake rights of the Korean movie “Miracle in Cell No.7” and have produced the Kannada movie “Pushpaka Vimana” based on it, without any form of agreement with Kross. The matter is sub-judice before the court.​”