Tag: ABP Ananda

This FIFA, news channels will even the score

MUMBAI: It’s raining goals this FIFA World Cup. Favourites are being kicked out while the underdogs are rising up the points table. And news channel are now vying to latch on to the football fever by focusing on dedicated FIFA shows and content.

Official FIFA broadcaster, Sony Six, has associated with India’s premier news channel Times Now, to provide excerpts from their two shows: Café Rio and Football Extraaa, but not match content. Times Now utilises this exclusive content consisting of expert analysis for its sports slot between 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

According to Sony Six assistant vice president marketing Murtuza Madraswala the association with the newscaster will benefit them both. He says, “We are happy to associate with Times Now as there is a synergy in our passion for the sport and we cater to a similar profile of target audience. FIFA World Cup is the greatest sporting extravaganza and this partnership only adds to the magic and the fervour of the greatest party in the world!”

Other major news channels too have joined the FIFA bandwagon by bringing in dedicated shows with big names associated as anchors and guests. Some of these channels include ABP News, ABP Ananda, CNN-IBN, IBN7, Headlines Today, NewsX and Al Jazeera.

Headlines Today has come up with Carniball2014: Brazil which is aired between 7 pm to 8 pm every night. It covers performances and off-field developments with pre and post analysis of the games.

The guest line up for Carniball2014, anchored by Shivani Gupta, comprises of former India manager Eric Benny, sports historian and consulting editor from Kolkata Boria Majumdar, former India skipper and current ISL football team owner Sourav Ganguly, I- league winning coach of Bengaluru FC team Ashley Westwood, super model Gabriela Bertante, soccer expert Roy Hay and director of the national football museum in Manchester Kevin Moore.

The ABP group’s main show Duniya Gol Hai is aired at 8:30 am and 10:30 pm. The morning version focuses on match results, golden boot contenders and light features whereas the evening show is primarily a preview based show looking at players to watch out for and the games to expect. The group’s impressive guest lineup has famous Indian midfielder Renedy Singh whose career graph extends 14 long years. Joining him is football commentator Ghaus Mohammad and the show is anchored by GS Vivek along with a news anchor and two correspondents who are covering FIFA from Brasil.

The ABP group, through ABP Ananda, has also focused on the regional Bengali market where a large football fan base exists. MCCS marketing manager Vikas Singh says, “Through ABP Ananda we have a battery of experts and a round the clock coverage catering extensively to the high fan base market like Bengal. For us, FIFA World Cup is not a sports event but a news event.”

Network18’s CNN-IBN and IBN7 are not far behind. A Beautiful Game airs on CNN-IBN while Mission Brazil airs on IBN7. The expert lineup includes renowned former Moroccan footballer and coach Karim Bencherifa, football analyst and commentator Novy Kapadia and former captain and coach of the Indian football team Shabbir Ali.

Commenting on the network’s special programming, IBN18 Network editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, “Football has a massive fan following in India and our extensive programming will be an absolute treat for the football enthusiasts of the nation. The programming will focus on providing extensive coverage of the tournament including unmatched analysis of the strategies adopted by various teams and a scrutiny of the players’ performances.”

Tapping into the FIFA fever, Al Jazeera English has introduced Football Rebels, a show presented and narrated by former Manchester United star Eric Cantona. It is a five part documentary that sheds light on some unusual stories of football heroes.

Meanwhile, News X has a special show-War of the World aired from Monday to Friday at 8:30 am and 6:30 pm and7:30 pm on Saturday and Sundays. Its morning show features guests like former EPL footballer with Liverpool Mark Seagraves, football journalist Anurag Jacob and News X consulting editor Ayaz Memon. War of the World is anchored by sports anchor Anil Senghera.

India News has launched Dan Dana Dan which is broadcast daily at 7:30 am and 6:30 pm. Dan Dana Dan is anchored by Rajeev Mishra along with a guest line up of ex FIFA referee Melvyn Da Souza, former Mohan Bagan coach Santosh Kayshap and former India players Mahesh Gawli and Shamsi Raza.

To make the shows more engaging and interactive in nature, a few of the news channels have realised that it is extremely important to engage with netizens and make them active viewers rather than just passive audiences. Headlines Today has two contests – a Carniball Weekly Contest and Trivia of the Day. Participants stand a chance to win Adidas FIFA merchandise and a Maruti Suzuki Swift Car. On twitter the channel has been engaging with the twitterati by creating the hashtag #Carniball2014. These tweets are displayed on air during the show.

For those who think that news channels only show political news seem to forget that FIFA is not just a sport; it’s a news maker and audience capturer all by itself!

July 1, 2014
ABP Ananda gains big in week 25

KOLKATA: When it comes to Bengali News channels and their performance in the week 25 of TAM TV ratings, ABP Ananda gained highest in terms of gross viewership in thousands (GVTs) as compared to other channels in the state.

The channel from the house of Kolkata headquartered ABP Group garnered 1,477 GVTs as compared to the 1,394 GVTs achieved by 24 Ghanta.

While Focus Bangla revamped, recently, from NE Bangla was seen to make a mark on people’s mind here. It overtook Kolkata TV by reporting a GVTs of 557.

On the other hand, Kolkata TV, which was doing well till a few weeks ago, managed to garner only 143 GVTs.

All the TAM findings take into account CS4+ for all the days in the state.

June 28, 2014
ABP Ananda biggest gainer in Bengali news space: TAM TV Ratings

KOLKATA: The Bengali news space is led by ABP Ananda. The News channel, according to the week 21 and 22 of TAM TV Ratings, has garnered 3,077 GVTs as compared to the 2,375 GVTs recorded by 24 Ghanta which stood second in the ratings chart in week 22. In week 21, ABP Ananda had received 2,934 GVTs as compared to the 2,234 GVTs achieved by 24 Ghanta.

According to a senior media analyst Pulakesh Ghosh, the two channels gain the most, considering they belong to networks having national presence. “The two channels, because of the national backup of news can break more news and have more content to air. They can even telecast national events live,” he said.

Said another senior media analyst, “The two channels know the pulse of the audience. They know exactly what the audience wants to know and hear about. They have a long experience in reporting in Bengal.”

Focus Bangla piped Kolkata TV by reporting 842 GVTs in week 21 and 30.48 GVTs in week 22. Kolkata TV, on the other hand garnered 208 GVTs in week 21 and 140 GVTs in week 22.

June 7, 2014
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.

May 16, 2014
Narendra Modi on ABP News’ Ghoshnapatra

MUMBAI: ABP News election special- “GHOSHNAPATRA”, brings BJP Prime Minister candidate Narendra Modi interacting with the Editors, ABP News, ABP Majha and ABP Ananda on the array of issues in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls 2014. This interview was recorded on April, 20, 2014, Sunday.

Please find below some of the highlights of the interview.

Please note that the interview was in Hindi and the translation in English is indicative. Kindly refer to the detailed intercepts in Hindi on our website http://abpnews.abplive.in/ and for English at http://www.abplive.in/ at 9pm.

Modi on RSS, ‘India First’- “I need to run the government, and the government functions as per the constitution. I believe that there is only one religion for the government- India First. There is only one Holy Book for the government- our Constitution, the government believes in one prayer- “Bharat Bhakti”. There is only one way to governance- “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas”.

Modi on ‘Rajdharma’- “I have taken it (moral responsibility of any person killed in Gujarat) since day one. All my interviews, speeches (in the assembly) are available. I request you to do some research. Everything is available…you will find answers to all your queries (in those speeches and interviews).”

Modi on being grilled for 9 hours in the 2002 riots case: “you can try me as much (on the 2002 riots), but you wont be able to do it. In 2007, when UPA came into power the second time, I was dragged to Supreme Court due to (political) conspiracy..it was then that I decided not to speak since the Supreme Court must not get influenced. Till date, no chief minister in India has been grilled by police for nine hours…this (me) is the chief minister who has been grilled for 9 hours by police officers. Supreme Court has seen the video recording (of the questioning). I have proven myself on these fronts and will continue to do so in future as well. But I refuse to surrender to lies and political conspiracies.”

Modi on “Muslims scared of Modi”- “You would have my interview in your library (archives) in 2002 (post-winning the Gujarat polls). After winning the polls in 2002, I went to Maninagar in the evening to thank the voters…I said in my speech that day, that this (Gujarat) government belongs to those who have voted for it, against it and even to those who have not voted. The ‘mantra’ for my government is ‘Abhai (fearless), Abhai, Abhai’…I said it thrice.”

Modi On Giriraj- “Nobody can agree with what he (Giriraj) has said”…

Modi on his aggressive personality, issues like Ram Mandir, Uniform Civil Code in the manifesto- “The country doesn’t work with aggression, the nation works as per the Constitution, country moves forward with constitutional dignity…aggression is meant for polls…not to run the government.”

Modi on- “Acche din aane wale hai”- “Is there an expiry date mentioned everywhere…a (party) manifesto stands for five years, a government is formed for five years…it (government) has to deliver in these five years- some work (projects) is initiated and some work (projects) are meant to be accomplished…It is very clear that a manifesto is not a final declaration of the 21st century (a decade)…it stands for the term of a government.”

Modi on Vadra- “Jeejaji”- “see you will have to acknowledge, how will you acknowledge…if something (Vadra’s alleged growth in real estate) has happened, if there is a connect with the family (The Gandhis), then the connect lies within this word (‘Jijaji’)…I am not aware of any other word (connect), otherwise I would have taken up that…”

Modi on Ambani and Adani: “This is not your question. It is not expected from media to carry forward the agenda taken up by the political opponents. You are expected to talk about how Modi has governed (in Gujarat) for the last 14 years. There was a government where you could find only middlemen (in political corridors)..Modi’s identity is a government where you can not find any middlemen…people of India can proudly say that there is a (state) government which can not be pressurized, which can’t be managed (with money). My 14-year track record speaks for me…at least people like you (media) should should not own such (allegations) things…here I am using the word media.”

Modi on “Shehzada”: “This is weird…this word “Shehzada”…we have read about it in history…around four-five years back, Congress had termed Sonia Gandhi as “Rajmata”…and they continued using the word (“Rajmata”) this for a long time…so now should I question Congress for using these princely terms when those times are long over…It’s fine (no big deal) if they have said such a thing.”

Modi on his marital-status row: “I am not surprised at anything, there is nothing to my (personal) life…since there is nothing much for them (to talk about), they keep talking about (such) things…”

Modi on black money: “there is a word about Indian money stashed in banks abroad…by and large there is no dispute in that. The government has the information on that…but we are not in the government, and those in the government are not responding to it. So our stand is, that we will bring the truth out as we form the government. The rounds will stop if there is nothing to it and if it is (money stashed abroad) then we will get it back.”

Modi on political alignment with Lalu and Pawar- “No, no no…there is no such (political alignment with Sharad Pawar) thing. As far as friendship is concerned, you would be surprised to know that I am friends with Laluji…we exist in a social setup, but we need to take individual stands due to our political ideologies. But this is one big family…and there can’t be any enemies here.”

Modi on support from Raj Thackeray: “As far as the results are concerned on May 16, I firmly believe that we will not need any such support to govern the nation. But you need everyone’s support to run the nation. I am of the opinion that in a democracy, to run the nation, we must rise above politics and take support from everyone, (though) we would not need (support) to the run the government, we will get full support from the people. Even if Rahul wins from Amethi, though the chances of that are bleak, and becomes the leader of Opposition…we will take his support too. In my view, you need to take everyone along to run the nation.”

Modi on firm-handedness with Pakistan: “first and the foremost thing is that we should run the country in such a way that nobody should be able to dare look at us. We need to be balanced (look straight into the eyes at the international level) and that should get reciprocated…that is the best way forward.”

Modi on visting US: ”this is a tough question…yes a very tough question…the country has chosen me to work for the nation.”

April 23, 2014
Elections 2014 through the eyes of Bengali TV channels

KOLKATA: Most television channels in West Bengal have started election coverage about a month ago and with the state going to polls from Thursday, it will only intensify in the coming weeks.

With elections in five phases between 17 April and 12 May, both news and infotainment channels are pulling out all stops to ramp up their reportage of poll-related news and analyses.

Not only 24×7 Bengali news channels such as ABP Ananda, 24 Ghanta, ETV News Bangla, Focus TV, Kolkata TV and Tara Newz but also infotainment channels like Aakash Bangla that has three news slots, are beginning to resemble a battlefield before the onset of war.

Even networks that were hitherto fighting shy of election coverage are now taking to it like a fish to water, with crowd shots of the constituencies going to polls including Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar, among others. Television channels have gone so far as keeping their websites up-to-speed with the latest election updates.

Focus Bangla (earlier Ne Bangla) editor-in-chief Biswa Majumdar said that the channel had interviewed most of the big shots in these elections. “For elections, we have 14 special programs. Celebrities will go to places and interact with people,” he said. Focus Bangla has dedicated five to six hours every day for election coverage and earmarked anywhere between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh for it.

For ETV News Bangla, elections are an important occasion for making a mark in the regional news space. “This year, the election is colourful and especially in Bengal with many celebrities contesting either from TMC or BJP. For Thursday, we have deployed the team and OB vans for Darjeeling. From 8am till 12 noon and then again from 4 pm to 9 pm, we will telecast live news, latest developments and talk shows to stay ahead of the others in terms of content,” said ETV News Bangla editorial advisor Prabir Ghosal. He added that the channel would be spending a huge amount on election coverage.

TARA (Television Aimed at Regional Audiences) Newz, one of the survivors of the now defunct media arm of the Saradha Group has formed three teams to cover elections in the state and will deploy one more team for election coverage in the national capital.

Tara Newz chief reporter cum input editor Dipankar Nag said that the channel had saved the money collected from advertisements and donations to buy a back pack, so that it could telecast on-ground happenings to viewers within seconds.

While elections seem to be top priority for most of the TV channels, one of the news analysts opined, “The reporters are sweating but hardly anything new is coming out. All the channels are doing the same sort of stories and even special programs are very similar with no sense of innovation.”

While another 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.”

A third expressed the view that while some news channels are carefully passing on information to viewers, others are manipulating facts to up the news quotient.

April 17, 2014
ETV Bangla earmarks Rs 150 mn capital expenditure for its Bengali news channel

KOLKATA: Earlier in January, Indiantelevision.com reported how the Bengali general entertainment channel ETV Bangla of the Network 18 group is looking at a news foray. The latest word is the Network has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs 150 mln for launching a 24-hour Bengali news and current affairs channel.

The channel would be launched by March 15 and will have a team of 200 professionals, including journalists and technical staffs, said one of the editors of ETV.

The programming for the news channel will be uplinked from Hyderabad for the time being. By the end of the year, the company plans to set up a transmission system in Kolkata to be able to uplink directly. The company has already received a license from government authorities.

Dhrubajyoti Pramanik, formerly with ABP Ananda – a 24-hour news channel from the house of Kolkata headquartered ABP Group, will is joining as the Editor of ET’s Bengali news channel. “He is likely to join the organisation from 1 March,” said a reliable source from ETV.

An official from ETV Bangla said, “We had the set up and infrastructure for running a 24-hour news channel and now we will be using it. To run the news channel, around 200 people would be required.”

ETV Bangla, which airs three news bulletins at present, will no longer telecast news once the news channel is launched. ETV Bangla will strictly become a general entertainment channel (GEC) going forward, the official said.

Recently Viacom18, the 50:50 joint venture between US-based Viacom and India’s Network 18 Group, completed its acquisition in ETV Bangla. It should be noted that ETV Bangla, a part of the ETV Network group of channels, was launched in 1999.

February 4, 2014
Uday Shankar receives award for contribution to Bengali Television

MUMBAI: Star India has received the 2014 West Bengal Tele Academy Award that celebrates the group’s significant contribution to Bengali television, making it the first broadcaster to win the coveted recognition.

The network’s CEO Uday Shankar was conferred the award by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The award recognises Star’s special contribution to Bengali television through two successful TV channels – Star Jalsha and Star Ananda (currently known as ABP Ananda).

“As a group, we are delighted to receive the West Bengal Tele Academy Award, as it clearly shows the society has embraced our focus on quality content,” Shankar said. “I really believe socially sensitive content is the way forward for the future of a healthy society. The plaudits go to the entire team.”

Star Jalsha, the entertainment channel, has set new benchmarks in regional programming through innovative content and compelling storytelling. It enjoys an undisputed leadership position in the Bengali general entertainment space in terms of viewership, surpassing immediate competition by over 200 GRPs, according to recent TAM data.

Star Ananda (now known as ABP Ananda) is a Bengali TV news channel that was launched under the stewardship of Shankar when he was the CEO of MCCS India. The channel was an erstwhile joint venture between STAR and ABP TV.

The West Bengal Tele Academy Awards 2014 covers the entire gamut of film and TV, rewarding excellence in production, programming, photography and technology, among others. Headed by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, with Aroop Biswas as the chairman, the awards have been constituted as a token of respect and gratitude to the entire industry in West Bengal.

January 3, 2014
ABP ananda makes history by becoming the first television channel to strike gold at the emvies 2013

MUMBAI: ABP Ananda a News Channel makes News and history by becoming the first Television Channel to strike Gold and Silver at the prestigious EMVIES 2013. The EMVIE was introduced by the Advertising Club Bombay, honours measurable and significant contributions in the field of Media.

This year’s EMVIES saw an overwhelming 742 entries from across the country which required more than 100 judges from the Advertising and Marketing fraternityin Mumbai and Delhi. The leading consumer companies like Unilever, Tata Docomo, P & G had participated in the Awards by sending their entries.

ABP Ananda’s “Cholchhe Na Aar Cholbe Na” – a thought leadership campaign on an unprecedented scale struck an emotional chord with the Judges and Viewers to win 2 of the leading metals at the EMVIES.

ABP Ananda was awarded the most prestigious Gold EMVIE in the category of Integrated Campaign – Media / Media Property. It is interesting to note that this category had no Silver or Bronze winners.

ABP Ananda was awarded the Silver EMVIE in the category of Best Media Strategy – Media / Media Property. This was the highest Award in this Category as its pertinent to point out that there were no Gold Winners.

The EMVIES are awarded by the Ad Club Bombay for the most strategic communication campaigns. The EMVIES use the following criteria to judge winners:

– ‘What is the strategic objective’,

-‘What is the big idea’,

-‘How has the idea has been brought to life’

and

-‘What are the results’.

September 9, 2013
Bengal’s broadcasters battle ad slowdown

KOLKATA: Last week, if one followed the rupee-dollar crisis anything close to a heart attack was inevitable. Thanks to the economic upheaval and slowdown thereafter, the media industry is going through a rough patch.

Bengali general entertainment channels (GECs), news and other TV channels are seeing a downward trend in ad spends. The urge to splurge is giving way to an urge to curb spends and the Bengali TV ad market is expected to remain flat at last year‘s Rs 700 crore, according to media analysts.

The largest chunk of this revenue, which is anything between 35-40 per cent, comes from non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs). However, that has melted down, because of a loss of investor confidence in NBFCs. The experts say that the change has come in after the Saradha Group’s chit fund scam that occurred in the beginning of the current financial year.

“Many other companies which are engaged in money marketing have reduced their ad spends too. Firstly, to stay away from the authorities’ menacing eyes and secondly, they seem to think even after spending a huge amount on advertising, investors are not gullible enough to put in their hard earned money into the chit fund schemes,” says a media buying professional who didn’t want to be named.

A slowing economy hits smaller companies first as they don‘t have enough resources to get through the downturn. And hence, the first steps taken by them is pulling the noose on marketing and ad spends.

“The main spenders for ads in the electronic media are the chit fund companies. With these companies now lying low or some even going bust, the regional channels are bleeding badly. And even channels as big as 24 Ghanta and ABP Ananda aren’t spared. If one looks at the current situation in the news genre, the two popular vernacular channels – 24 Ghanta and ABP Ananda – do a monthly business of around Rs 2 crore as compared to Rs 2.5 crore garnered earlier. Hence, they are coming up with several attractive advertising packages to lure clients,” informs a media analyst.

Some of the main advertisers on these channels are Japani Oil, Chayya Prakashini, Rice Group??? . However, their spends have not managed to compensate for the loss of chit fund advertising and are not adequate enough for the news channels to meet their operational expenses. “These channels must devise their strategies to remain afloat in the market,” media managers added.

George Telegraph Group, engaged in education, earmarks around Rs 2 crore as its annual ad budget. “We allocate 75 per cent to the print media and in the electronic media, we advertise on mainly news channels and some music channels,” says George Telegraph Group director Atin Dutta. He goes on to add that the group doesn’t advertise much in the month of October because the admission season is over and there is too much clutter during the Puja.

Kolkata TV editor-in-chief Biswa Majumdar says: “Most of the TV channels whether big or small are in trouble as their ad revenues have gone down by at least 30 per cent due to the slowdown and clients not spending much on regional media.”

“Within the Kolkata market wherein city-based advertisers contribute almost 25 per cent of the total revenue (Rs 700 crore), the advertising rate is Rs 1,000 per 10 seconds .It is likely to remain the same this year as well. Soon, we all would have to come out with packages. Also, there is a need for national advertising to spread out to regional channels as well,” says Akash business editor Amitabava Banerjee.

Kolkata TV‘s Majumdar says that the financial scene is so bad that till now nobody has started booking for the festive season (Durga Puja) as well. “The scene is dire with no signs of recovery,” he says.

Pipalmajik CEO and founder CM Mitra says: “When sales of the companies go down due to downturn, promotion related ads are adopted by companies to increase the topline. Retail and FMGCs are likely to spend on such promotions to liquidate their stocks.”

Also, with Digital Addressable System (DAS) in place, customers are going to opt for their preferred channels. Therefore, smaller and not-so-popular players will perish.

GECs gain as others lose

“In the current year, around Rs 550 crore would be bagged by the GECs while the rest will be split between news, movies and other channels,” asserts media analyst Mrinal Chatterjee.

“The GECs continue to dominate the canvas of Kolkata television ad market, with high production values and a robust content bank based on local programming,” he adds.

BPN India executive VP Mahesh Motwani too feels that considering the viewership trends in Kolkata, GECs will continue to attract more ads than any other TV genre.

The trend of the maha episode was started by the Late Jishu Dasgupta in his serials likeKuhasha Jhokon and Tithir Athithi on ETV Bangla in the late 90s and has been copied by other GECs like Star Jhalsa and Zee Bangla now. “Clients can spend crores to catch the attention of the TV viewers who are glued to their screens to know what would happen next!” adds Motwani.

“We Bongs don’t allow ourselves to be deprived of fish in our daily meal, so how could any fast-moving consumer goods brand manufacturing mustard paste let an opportunity go past an audience who are big time foodies?” feels consultant Sayan Chatterjee. He adds that FMCG companies would and should spend on marketing and advertising no matter how bad the economy is.

Talking about cable TV advertising, Chatterjee, who is also the convener of the Cable Shilpa Bachao Committee, said it has been on the up.

For GECs, the clients’ aim is to place spots between 7:30 pm and 11:00 pm and for news channels the preferred slot is between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, inform media managers.

Furthermore, with just 40 days to go for Durga Puja, undoubtedly, it is the time for local and national conglomerates to reach out to the hearts, sentiments and pockets of every Bengali family via the Bengali media.

However, this time, from all indications, it appears as if most of the players in Bengal‘s broadcast space will be in not as celebratory a mood as in previous years. Is the goddess listening?

September 2, 2013