ITV

Category: Specialised and Niche

  • Discovery bags nine sponsors for Battle Ops

    Discovery bags nine sponsors for Battle Ops

    MUMBAI: Battle Ops, Discovery Communications India’s (DCIN) integrated television and digital offering, has received a resounding response from the advertiser community. The show, which will premiere on Discovery Channel and Veer on 26th January, has already sold out with nine sponsors on board.

    Mahindra KUV and Thums Up have come on board as the co-presenting sponsors of Battle Ops while the series is co-powered by Swiggy, Suzuki Intruder, Parle G and Gillette. Idea, LIC of India and K P Foodshave come on board as the associate sponsors.

    Discovery Communications India SVP and GM- South Asia Karan Bajaj said, “In response to the exploding multi-screen viewership in India, we wanted to break the linear and digital silos that currently exist in the market and offer a seamless consumer experience, a first-of-a-kind approach adopted by a broadcaster in India. We are delighted that this unique offering has been able to draw unprecedented advertiser interest. We will only accelerate from here on.”

    He added, “Discovery is the undisputed leader in the infotainment category on television and our clutter-breaking digital-first content proposition on digital is designed to help us achieve our ambition of being the number 1 mobile content brand in the country.”

    The scale of advertiser interest stands testimony to DCIN’s new strategy of aggregating television and digital audiences with an aim to multiply advertiser value. The company spotted a big market opportunity with no major at-scale digital/mobile-first channels and announced its plans to launch four direct-to-consumer, social and mobile-first channels.  

    Discovery Communications India VP-head of advertising sales Vikram Tanna said, “The military genre has always been a favourite with advertisers. The aggregation of premium audiences with the unique television plus digital offering makes our product highly differentiated and robust.  In today’s multi-screen environment, reach multiplication across screens, with a strong and focused content ecosystem makes the combination of Discovery channel and Veer by Discovery, truly, a game changer.”

  • Discovery hikes stake to majority in Oprah Winfrey JV

    Discovery hikes stake to majority in Oprah Winfrey JV

    MUMBAI: David Zaslaw-headed Discovery Communications has been on an aggressive acquisition spree as it seeks to increase its relevance in an increasingly fragmenting multiplatform video world. It first acquired Eurosport completely in 2015 and followed it by acquiring Scripps Networks earlier this year for a massive $14.6 billion. Now, it has gone ahead and signed an agreement with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Inc to acquire another 24.5 per cent stake in the 50:50 joint venture it has with her in the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

    This transaction represents Winfrey’s first payment from Harpo ownership stake in OWN in the 10 years since forming the joint venture with Discovery. Winfrey’s Harpo will retain a significant minority interest in OWN and Winfrey will continue in her role as CEO, with her exclusivity commitment to the network extended through 2025.

    “Ten years ago, Oprah and I began to imagine what a network, inspired by her vision and values, could mean to viewers across the US,” said Discovery president & CEO David Zaslav. “In an increasingly crowded landscape, OWN has emerged as the leading destination for African-American women and one of the strongest super-fan brands across all screens and services. This transaction allows Discovery and Oprah to unlock more value from our partnership; extends once more her commitment to the network; and lets us continue our strong work together to nourish OWN viewers with the content they love.”

    “Creating OWN and seeing it flourish, supported by Discovery and a rapidly growing group of the finest storytellers in film and television, is one of my proudest achievements,” said Winfrey. “I’m thrilled with the network’s success and excited about this next chapter in our partnership. Together, we’ll continue to inspire our viewers with real-life stories that are emotional and entertaining, connecting them to each other and to their greatest potential.”

    Launched in 2011, OWN has become the #1 network for African-American women with the top four original scripted series on ad-supported cable. The network is led by hit series including Queen Sugar andGreenleaf, the top two original series on all of television Wednesday nights for African-American viewers. OWN and Winfrey have created unparalleled social media engagement, delivering the most social shows on ad-supported cable with three shows in the Top 10. The network has recently expanded its relationships with premier storytellers and producers including Ava DuVernay, Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, Academy Award-winning “Moonlight” writer/producer Tarell Alvin McCraney and prolific filmmaker Will Packer.

  • Travelxp localises for Slovakia & Czech Republic

    Travelxp localises for Slovakia & Czech Republic

    MUMBAI: Travelxp opens a window to the world for the viewers of Slovakia and Czech Republic, through its fully localised launch on Slovak Telekom. The channel’s foray into Slovak is a very important step for the channel as it further expands its reach, strengthening its foothold in the Central Eastern European (CEE) region. This is the third language after Serbian & Croatian in which Travelxp is fully localised apart from the primary English feed.

    With travel content filmed in more than 40 countries across the world with multicultural hosts from all over, Travelxp brings to the audience a never-before-seen experience of travelling from their homes.

    “After localising the Travelxp service in the Czech language, our endeavour is to gradually showcase more content originating out of Slovakia and Czech Republic. Taking local content globally and getting global content locally is the core philosophy of Travelxp. We would be working with independent content producers in the region to have the local perspective as diversity of content is key to Travelxp’s offering,” said Travelxp Europe director Sumant Bahl.

    The channel offers 100 per cent originally-produced premium travel. Lifestyle programming is being distributed to over a 50 million homes globally, with a classic mix of path-breaking travel and lifestyle content in High Definition and 4K.

    Slovak Telekom marketing expert Andrej Miklanek said, “Telekom traditionally brings high-quality family and sports content to its customers. Enhancing the portfolio with Travelxp is another boost to the quality and attractiveness of our TV services.”
    The channel has selected HEVC encoding with 10 bits os colour depth (one billion colours), at 50 frames per second.

    It broadcasts in 10 bits REC 2020 colour space using the new HDR (high dynamic range) standard developed by the BBC and NHK that creates richer and more dynamic images by increasing the contrast ratio between the lightest and darkest areas of the screen and expanding the volume of colours displayed. This standard uses HLG (hybrid log-gamma) technology, enabling legacy standard dynamic (SDR) displays to decode the HDR standard.

    Travelxp IFC Media MD Jozef Pipek said, “Our next goal is to develop also Travelxp 4K which can bring to audience unforgettable travel experiences in the highest picture quality”

  • Doordarshan calls off DD Kashir’s channel packaging

    Doordarshan calls off DD Kashir’s channel packaging

    NEW DELHI: Over five months after bids were invited and three months since agencies were shortlisted, Doordarshan (DD) has cancelled the tender for the channel packaging work of DD Kashir.

    DD said the tender has been cancelled ‘due to administrative reasons’ and said bidders could collect the earnest money and processing fee paid by them.

    The decision is the third major decision rescinding in an ongoing exercise at DD since Smriti Irani took over as Information and Broadcasting minister. Earlier, the auctions for DD FreeDish were cancelled and the successful bidders for DD National Prime Time auctions were not allowed to air their programmes as the minister wanted to reportedly study the issue.

    The three agencies finalised for the packaging work were Prime Focus Technologies, Beehive Systems, and Grasshopper Media.
    DD Kashir had issued a similar tender for April but had made some changes following some feedback and changes made by DD Directorate General, particularly relating to the payment mode and sought fresh tenders with 29 June as the last date.

    Details of documents can be viewed at ddindia.gov.in

    DD Kashir was launched in the year 2003 to show the richness, variety and diversity of local culture to Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) viewers. Prasar Bharati is making special efforts in J&K to promote and nurture talent, provide a platform to deserving producers/artists from the state as well as from outside to encourage production of better programmes for Doordarshan viewers.

  • HomeShop18-Shop CJ merger begins to take effect

    HomeShop18-Shop CJ merger begins to take effect

    MUMBAI: When two companies decide to come together, the ramifications are felt by all concerned: internally by employees and externally by vendors and partners. That is exactly what is happening at the Network18-owned teleshopping major HomeShop18 and the previously Providence Equity-CJO Shopping-owned Shop CJ Network. The former had announced that it was acquiring a 76 per cent stake in the latter last month. Since then, the process of integration has been on to derive the benefits of the fusion.

    For starters, CJ Home Shopping’s offices and studios in Mumbai are being shut down. CEO Dhruva Chandrie, who was given the option to shift to Noida, where Home Shop18 has its offices, has decided to part ways, with the caveat that should the new entity need him in Mumbai he was up for it. Former Skechers boss Sanjeev Agarwal, who has been heading Home Shop18 since 2015, will function as the interim CEO of the merged outfit.

    According to sources close to the group, Chandrie is not the only one who has taken the option to discontinue. Several other employees too have decided the same. “Many executives have their families in Mumbai. Relocation is not easy so they decide to quit. Those who can are shifting to the capital,” says a source.

    Sources indicate that it is the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance group, which is driving the agenda for the two home shopping ventures.

    Sources indicate that the final details of the acquisition of Shop CJ by the megacorp will be out within the next week to a fortnight. Questions that arise are: will Reliance take on all the liabilities should the South Korean home shopping major abstain from doing so as it is only a 26 per cent owner? Or will it honour the liabilities in an equitable manner?

    Employees refused to open up about any developments within HomeShop18 or Shop CJ Network. Chandrie could not be reached, despite efforts by indiantelevision.com to do so. Neither was Sanjeev Agarwal reachable.

    For Reliance, the synergies are immense. The group has a presence in Reliance Retail and buying over the mobile, internet and television home shopping major gives HomeShop18 scale like no other home shopping channel has in India. Apart from the brick and mortar stores, it boasts of many additional outlets – online, mobile and now TV – where it can bring in economies of scale. The Reliance group has also shown that it knows how to handle media and entertainment; allow professionals to run the firms you acquire and give broad directions only. Hence, its two to three year old acquisition Viacom18 has only been going from strength to strength.

    In the case of the Home Shop18-Shop CJ Network (both of which have been doing relatively poor on financials) merger, the tremors are being felt. Hopefully, when these ease, we will get to see a streamlined healthy beast.

  • FTV India working on linear and SVoD launch by Dec ’17

    FTV India working on linear and SVoD launch by Dec ’17

    MUMBAI: FashionTV is taking a leap forward by presenting its unique 12+ new FTV+ OTT channels and FashionFlix SVoD at at MIPCOM, Cannes 2017.

    The 20-years young global satellite TV network dedicated to lifestyle and fashion, launched its multi-content platforms FTV+ and FashionFlix, presenting significant amount of original and informative programming for the platforms of the next generation TVs.

    The company is currently working on the launch of the FTV China, FTV India, FTV Indonesia, FTV Spain, FTV Japan, FTV Africa, etc. both, in linear and SVOD, formats by the end of the year.

    FashionTV group president Michel Adam said: “FTV channels and VOD are now more engaging to our audience across all devices. The FTV+ platform presents 12+ visually stunning OTT streams on FTV+ cover all types of themes and can be received through satellite, IP or mobile application.”

    FashionFlix is a SVOD platform focusing on the cult movies as “The Devil Wears Prada”, “Yves Saint Laurent”, “Coco Chanel,” and Fashion trend-setting films as “Matrix”, “James Bond — Skyfall,” and documentaries about the fashion industry and the iconic people behind the luxe of the world of fashion.

    The content on the platforms is available in SD, HD, UHD and VR and can be received on the Web, Apple Store, Google Play, AppleTV, AndroidTV, AmazonTV, Roku and on many OTT platforms.

    FashionTV just launched two localised livestreams – FTV USA and FTV Brazil, broadcasting world class production, exclusive shows and the hottest up-and-coming fashion trends from USA and Brazil,” the FTV CEO said.

  • Travelxp’s Prashant Chothani’s 4K HDR TV global mission

    Travelxp’s Prashant Chothani’s 4K HDR TV global mission

    MUMBAI: Prashant Chothani is probably India’s most underrated TV professional and entrepreneur.  The 49-year-old founder of the infotainment channel Travelxp looks more like a typical Kutchi baniya businessman probably involved in the commodities trade. But, Chothani is actually a wiz at all things tech, all things high definition and all things Ultra HD.

    He has been beating a pioneering 4K or UHD HDR (ultra high definition – High Dynamic Range) trail globally. In the process, he’s been getting oodles of accolades worldwide — at almost every 4K gathering  – apart from his home country, India, where almost everyone scoffs at what they call a technology which is years away. Especially considering the rickety cable TV infrastructure that distributes television channels to more than 100 million homes. Chothani is the only Indian who has been co-opted on the Global Ultra HD Forum, which is the organisation responsible for setting standards for the format.

    Since a prophet is respected but in his own home, Chothani has been pushing his Travelxp 4K HDR channel globally. And he’s got a big supporter in the world’s top two satellite operators – SES and Eutelsat – who have been goading him to spread his tentacles even further. Says he: “SES and Eutelsat have been going all out to promote the 4K ecosystem. We have partnered with them for our launches.”

    Earlier this year, he rolled out Travelxp 4K – the world’s first 4K HDR travel channel – in the US with the help of the satellite company SES. The greatest potential is, of course, in Uncle Sam, where operators serving close to 30 million TV homes are currently testing 4K delivery.

    “Operators are hungry for 4K HDR channels. There’s a lot of demand, but limited supply. And, they are awaiting 4K boxes,” says Chothani. “Subscribers are already signing on, as we have signed distribution deals with three small to medium-sized operators.”

    On 1 October, Travelxp 4K HDR  was officially launched in Europe off Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13E.

    Says Chothani: “The majority of operators are planning to launch 4K services in the next six months, and they were waiting for a HDR channel. That is where we come in. The operators will now start testing and sampling it.”

    Hotbird’s market-leading penetration in cable and IPTV networks across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, gives it a wide footprint to get Travelxp the widest coverage. There are plans to widen it even further by taking the channel to APAC and Latin America in the next few months.  To date, Chothani’s company Media WorldWide has a clutch of 10 channels under its belt. 

    At the time of writing Chothani was in Russia, exploring a distribution deal for Putin’s land, and he chatted with Indiantelevision.com over Whatsapp.

    Travelxp 4K has close to 50 hours of 4K HDR content –arguably the largest library globally. “It costs close to $500,000 to produce a good hour of 4K HDR content,” he says. “If you dig for gold, how much you spend to get it is your creativity. But, the market price is what you get when you sell the gold.”

    To get more value out of the content, Chothani has dubbed the Travelxp HD and 4K HDR content filmed all over the world with multicultural hosts in several languages. The programmes are currently available in English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Serbian, Croatian, Czech and Dutch, and more languages are slated to follow suit.

    The channel has selected HEVC encoding with 10 bits of colour depth (one billion colours), at 50 frames per second. It broadcasts in 10 bits REC 2020 colour space using the new HDR (high dynamic range) standard developed by the BBC and NHK that creates richer and more dynamic images by increasing the contrast ratio between the lightest and darkest areas of the screen and expanding the volume of colours displayed. This standard uses HLG (hybrid log-gamma) technology, enabling legacy standard dynamic (SDR) displays to decode the HDR standard.

    While Chothani has a long way to go with Travelxp 4K HDR, his HD channel has travelled a lot, and is available in around 50 million homes globally.

    “There are other launches planned for the HD service,” he says with a gleam in his eyes. “Very soon. Very soon.  We will be in about 100 million homes in SD and HD worldwide by end-2018.”

    He adds: “We were amongst the first to launch HD programming in India. Now, we are amongst the first in 4K HDR in the world when HD is on its way down worldwide. A year down the line when UHD HDR will have taken root globally, Travelxp 4K will be in every 4K basic packs of most operators by virtue of it being the first mover and because of the quality of HDR content.”

    Chothani would like to make an appeal to the regulator and the TV industry in India.

    “The first round of digitisation of cable TV saw some plain vanilla set-top boxes being brought in to meet deadlines,” he says. “Now, planning for 4K HDR needs to be borne in mind when set-top box standards are drawn up. It requires very little extra investment in hardware and software. This will prevent regrets in the future. I would like Indians to enjoy the experience of 4K HDR from an Indian TV channel provider. ”

    Clearly, this is a man for whom 4K HDR is not just a business,  it is a passion. And, that is the first ingredient needed to achieve success.

    Also Read :

    Travelxp becomes first travel channel to launch in 4K on SES-1 satellite

    Travelxp’s Prashant Chothani’s 4K HDR TV global mission

    Travelxp to launch new Tamil channel; 4K feed before Feb  

    Lifestyle genre: Travel XP HD enters & NDTV Good Times exits Top 5 list in Wk 29

    July: 2 Viacom & 3 south channels among 9 permitted, far short of MIB’s March target

  • Network18 forms India’s largest TV home shopping platform, acquires Shop CJ

    Network18 forms India’s largest TV home shopping platform, acquires Shop CJ

    MUMBAI: The Board of Directors of TV18 Home Shopping Network Limited and Shop CJ Network Private Limited approved entering into a definitive agreement to combine the businesses of both entities.

    HomeShop18 has a portfolio of over 14 million SKUs across multiple categories and a logistical reach of over 3000 locations across India. Shop CJ Network (formerly Star CJ Network) was is a 50:50 joint venture between the South Korean home shopping major, CJO Shopping, and the P5 Asia Holding Investments (Mauritius), belonging to the Providence Equity Partners group.

    The transaction is aimed at uniting two of India’s top home-shopping players, to create the largest home-shopping platform in India.

    The resultant benefits of scale shall better the growth prospects for the combined entity, allowing it to improve its standing in the TV home-shopping landscape and compete better with the challenge from e-commerce players. HomeShop18 has optimised its operations substantially since the challenges faced in the last year. It believed multiple synergies with respect to sourcing, marketing and delivery can be exploited through a combination with Shop CJ, which shall further accelerate this process.

    This combination shall be effected by way of a share-swap. The shareholders of Shop CJ shall be issued 25 per cent equity in HomeShop18, making Shop CJ a subsidiary of HomeShop18. Post the transaction, HomeShop18 shall cease to be a subsidiary of Network18 Media & Investments. However, Network18 shall continue to be the largest shareholder in the combined entity.

  • NDTV Good Times is back with Luxe Interiors S3

    MUMBAI: NDTV Good Times, India’s premier lifestyle channel is all set to launch the third season of its popular show Luxe Interiors presented by Kohler .The show which has garnered immense popularity for showcasing beautiful spaces and highlighting unique interior trends, will see award-winning Architect Saket Sethi as the host for the second year

    The new season of Luxe Interiors will travel across the country in a quest to uncover the varied architectural stamps of India. Each episode will feature some of the industry’s leading designers and their creations. The show will also give out tips and tricks to restyle homes, show case beautiful spaces, discover unique styles and throw light on options for luxurious products for any space.

    Speaking about the success of the show, Arati Singh, Channel Head, NDTV Good Times said, “At NDTV Good Times, we constantly strive to engage our audience with up-to-date content that they can resonate with. There is much growing interest in design and architecture today, and we want to inspire our viewers to create their own spaces or do up interiors to suit their personality and style.”

    Sethi said, “Season 3 is about getting viewers to experience an even wider range of projects and by giving them a view into what makes them special. The show is about making design more democratic and accessible by providing viewers quick and easy tips to enhance spaces through DIY projects. We want people to experience how the power of everyday design can transform their lives.”

    This 13 episode series gets exclusive access into the homes of some of the renowned names of the country, across fields, to understand how their personalities have moulded their surroundings. The viewers will discover this season’s coolest products and hottest trends on walls, furniture, unique flooring options, lighting and also bathrooms along with some quick DIY lessons. If that wasn’t enough, some lucky viewers stand a chance to get expert advice on restyling their homes by Saket Sethi. Join Sethi on this exciting journey of design every Thursday at 8:30PM only on NDTV Good Times.

  • India teleshopping market may expand at 17% CAGR

    MUMBAI: Teleshopping market in India is projected to expand at a CAGR of 17.20% during 2016-2021. Research and Markets, a research firm, has announced the addition of the “India Teleshopping Market” report to their offering.

    In the study of the competitive landscape in India, the research firm covered companies such as Tv18 Home Shopping Network, Naaptol Online Shopping, TVC Skyshop Ltd, Shop CJ Network, DEN Snapdeal TV Shop, HBN Network, Ace Teleshop, Telemart Shopping Network, and Teleone Consumers Products.

    Teleshopping market in India grew significantly over the past few years owing to, increasing disposable income, ease of shopping, rising television penetration in the country. Moreover, increasing offerings by private label brands at affordable prices, growing discounts and offers, coupled with rising working population are other factors driving teleshopping market in India. In addition, improving standard of living, coupled with changing consumers tastes and preference from traditional way of shopping to new and innovative forms.

    In 2015, dedicated channels segments accounted for lions share in teleshopping market in the country, and is forecast to maintain its dominance through 2021, owing to 24 hours telecast, continuous announcement of various cashbacks/ discounts offers and branded products that are offered.

    Cash on Delivery dominated India teleshopping market in 2015, and the same trend is expected to continue during the forecast period owing to rising customer preference towards cash on delivery as a payment method, as customers do not have to pay anything at the time of order, and instead pay at the time of delivery, which also boost confidence of new and existing customers on teleshopping companies.