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Tag: A+E Networks

  • A+E Networks joins hands with Vice to launch Viceland

    A+E Networks joins hands with Vice to launch Viceland

    MUMBAI: A+E Networks and Vice Media have inked a joint venture – Viceland that will offer Vice as a new 24-hour channel programmed and produced exclusively by Vice.

     

    A+E Networks’ channel H2 will be transitioned to Viceland. H2 is an international channel brand in over 68 territories, which will continue to operate outside the US.

     

    Launching in early 2016, Viceland will be distributed in approximately 70 million homes, and will feature hundreds of hours of new programming developed and produced entirely in-house by the  creative minds of Vice.

     

     A+E Networks president & CEO Nancy Dubuc said, “Vice has a bold voice and a distinctive model in the marketplace. This channel represents a strategic fit and a new direction for the future of our portfolio of media assets. Shane Smith has led Vice from a fledgling magazine into a global media brand and all of us at A+E are excited to work with him and his passionate and innovative team.”

     

    Oscar-winning writer & director Spike Jonze, a long-time Vice partner and creative director for the company, has been overseeing the development of the new channel, from show creation, to production, to brand identity.

     

    “It feels like most channels are just a collection of shows,” said Jonze. “We wanted Viceland to be different, to feel like everything on there has a reason to exist and a strong point of view. Our mission with the channel is not that different from what our mission is as a company: it’s us trying to understand the world we live in by producing pieces about things we’re curious about, or confused about, or that we think are funny. And if it doesn’t have a strong point of view then it shouldn’t be on this channel.”

     

    Viceland will launch with a full slate of prime-time shows, including Gaycation (with Ellen Page and Ian Daniel), Huang’s World (with Eddie Huang), Noisey (with Zach Goldbaum), Vice World Of Sports (with Sal Masekela), Black Market (with Michael K. Williams), Flophouse, Party Legends, Weediquette (with Krishna Andavolu), and more.

     

    The launch of Viceland coincides with Vice’s growth across online and mobile. There’s a growing white space in the realm of Gen-Y programming, and to fill that void Viceland will offer engaging, original content covering fashion, food, music, sports, and more. The new network represents a critical build-out for the company: Vice will now be producing gold-standard content for all three screens.

     

    “This network is the next step in the evolution of our brand and the first step in our global roll-out of networks around the world,” said Vice co-founder and CEO Shane Smith. 

     

    “First: It allows us to be truly platform agnostic and enable our audience to view our content wherever they want. Second: It represents a continued growth in our content quality and raises the ceiling even higher for our brilliant teams to attack stories from long form features to multi-episode series and even short form interstitials that will challenge the accepted norms of current TV viewing. Third: We will test new and innovative monetization strategies placing VICELAND at the pointy tip of the spear of the rapidly changing terrain of TV advertising,” informed Smith.

     

    He further added,  “All in all, this new network allows us to continue our innovation in storytelling and content creation and take it to the next level. We couldn’t be happier working with Nancy and her team at A+E and we couldn’t be more excited to offer this opportunity to our Vice family of partners, producers, shooters, editors, and staff, to go out and make our indelible imprint on the cultural fabric of this modern age.”

    Drawing on Vice’s history as an innovator in branded content online, Viceland plans to work with brand partners to re-imagine the nature of the television commercial too—making the commercial time a valuable extension of the entertainment programming itself, and keeping viewers engaged, even as they follow Vice content across screens and formats.

     

    A+E Networks will oversee technical operations and distribution and will work with Vice on ad sales and sponsorships. Vice will also handle all marketing across all platforms, utilizing its various relationships with partners across mobile and digital.

  • History TV18 preps to unveil eight new shows

    History TV18 preps to unveil eight new shows

    MUMBAI: With the festival season underway in India, it’s raining new programming on television across genres. To capture audience interest during this time, History TV18 has lined up as many as eight new shows over the coming weeks.

     

    After the launch of Houdini, a biopic of America’s first innate talent and world-renowned superstar, Harry Houdini aka Ehrich Weiss on 1 October, 2015, History TV18 will launch another show called Bonnie & Clyde, based on the most infamous crime sprees in history. While this show will hit airwaves on 22 October, 2015, the launch dates of the other new shows will be unveiled soon.

     

    “We are going to have eight new shows premiering this festive season. The concept of Bonnie & Clyde is very interesting. The personalities of the two leads in the new show will remind the audience about the movie characters from the Hindi movie Bunty Aur Babli,” TV18 A+E Networks vice president and marketing head Sangeetha Aiyer tells Indiantelevision.com.

     

    The second show is called Genuis, which tells the story of the heroes, legendary icons and luminaries who changed the world through monumental innovations.

     

    The channel will also be launching a show for explorers titled Metropolis, which showcases destination cities such as New York, Paris, London and tells jaw-dropping stories of how each city came to be and why. 

     

    “Metropolis is a brilliant show, which will put light on the history of innumerable cities back in America,” informed Aiyer.

     

    The fourth will be game show called Pawnography, which will be a spin off of Pawn Stars where the aces of pawn face off against contestants in a series of trivia rounds about specific items featured in Pawn Stars.

     

    The next in line will be a show titled Four Rooms, which is for people who believe that they have valuable artefact. The show gives them a chance to sell these artefacts to one of the four world’s leading dealers. However, once they turn down an offer, there’s no going back.

     

    The sixth is a reality television series about two home-grown geniuses – master mechanic and auto-garage shop owner Steve “Pitbull” Trimboli and Bangladeshi car designer Nizamuddin “Leepu” Awlia. The show titled Leepu & Pitbull will showcase these two hailing fromdifferent worlds working together to turn scrap into gold and realising the ultimate American muscle car dream.

     

    The channel is also planning to launch a show called How 2 Win, which will give viewers the most ingenious and surprising insights and real tools that will help them win every day, such as tips from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac and survival skills from our ancient human ancestors.

     

    The last of the new shows, which will be launched during this festive season is titled Human Calculator, which will showcase a mastermind and genius in his own right.

  • Inaugural mipcancun a hit

    Inaugural mipcancun a hit

    MUMBAI:Television acquisition executives from across Latin America and international distributors praised the inaugural MIPCancun Latam TV Buyers Summit saying its one-to-one meeting format made for efficient business.

     

    40 buyers from 14 Latin American countries came to Cancun to do business with 33 sales companies from Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

     

    Distributors included industry heavyweights such as A+E Networks, FremantleMedia, BBC Worldwide, Fuji Television Networks, and Viacom International Media Networks.

     

    Reaction from the TV buyers to MIPCancun was upbeat. Construir TV’s Alejandra Marano from Argentina says “I’ve discovered 30 new distributors here in Cancun and am definitely closing acquisitions deals. What’s really great here is that everyone is more relaxed than at big events and really interested in my channel’s needs.”

     

    International distributors also expressed enthusiasm for the new event. “I am very pleased about all the new buyers we are meeting here in Cancun and the efficiency of the event’s 1-to-1 meeting formats,” notes Sheila Aguirre, SVP of Content Distribution and Format Sales at FremantleMedia International, one of the first companies to sign up for the event.

     

    “MIPCancun offers a very different style from other major events for the TV industry – more intimate, more private, with lots of occasions for encounters with buyers outside my busy pre-scheduled appointments. Also, I’m meeting people here who don’t attend any other market,” reports Iowanka Sanchez Sprehe, Sales Manager of Global Screen GmbH from Germany.

     

    MIPCancun’s opening conference revealed stats from Eurodata showing the progressive growth of pay-TV in Latin America and the continued popularity of fiction as the region’s dominant genre.

     

    “We’re delighted with the extremely positive reaction of buyers and distributors alike to the events’ 1-to-1 format and consider MIPCancun a resounding success in terms of the high level of satisfaction expressed by its inaugural participants,” says Laurine Garaude, Director of Reed MIDEM’s TV Division. “MIPCancun confirms the growing importance of the Latin American market and the enthusiasm among international distribution companies to spend quality business time with channel buyers from across the region.”

  • IDOS 2014: Niche content to play a critical role in digitised era

    IDOS 2014: Niche content to play a critical role in digitised era

    KOLKATA: With more consumers looking at content tailor-made for them and with TV consumption growing on multiple screens, niche content is likely to work as a pivotal differentiator in a digital universe. The viewership for special content has grown substantially, and with digitisation at a growing trajectory in the country, broadcasters with niche channels bet on the growth.

     

    Speaking at a session titled ‘Specialised content and channels in the digital ecosystem’, at IDOS 2014, FoodFood CEO SK Raj Barua said, “TV penetration has reached the masses and the lifestyle category is improving. I think there is a lot of opportunity in terms of capacity in the next phases of digitisation. We see a great opportunity for us. With new media on the rise, demand for food content has gone up by more than 200 per cent.”

     

    On the other hand Insync founder and managing director Ratish Tagde, a classical music channel, said: “There is a huge demand for classical music and the audience is looking for Sufi music. When we talk about niche channel, it is all about content. The digital era is likely to monetise content. There are many new platforms and niche content has a good future.”

     

    Apart from FoodFood and Insync, A+E Networks is also slowly growing its footprint in the country. A+E Networks APAC VP sales and operations Saugato Banerjee said that the ability to create local content is main for niche channels. He added that A+E Networks, that operates with Network 18 in India, can’t depend on advertising and sales for everything it does. “Growing audience share is our target and there is a lot of optimism here,” he said.

     

    While Videocon d2h deputy CEO Rohit Jain said that one needs to look at niche channels from an economic point of view. “If any new channel is launched in the market, we have to have the whole push model so that the customer gets a chance to see the content first. Every channel has its own audience base,” he said.

     

    While AsiaSat, that leads in the satellite broadcasting and telecommunications sector in Asia Pacific region, believes the same what Indian broadcasters feel about niche channels. AsiaSat senior regional manager Paulus Chau said that the broadcasters are looking at launching more channels. “We are also looking at the opportunity because regulation is India is not simple,” he said.

     

    Scripps Networks, a US-based media company, specialising in lifestyle content like food, home and travel categories, is evaluating its strategy in Asia and India. Scripps managing director APAC Derek Chang said that India is a huge market for the company as compared to other markets. He hinted that Scripps might look at the Indian market for launching its niche content related to lifestyle. “It could translate into partnerships. It depends on how we see the potential market. It has its own characteristics and challenges,” he said.

     
    All the panelists agreed that niche content providers have to invest in the content and said the broadcasters have to understand that niche in India has various definitions considering the national and regional clients.

     

    While talking about the challenges faced by the channels, Barua said that carriage fees have gone up. “In the process, the business model has to be slightly different. We do research for content creation for particular people,” he said.

     

    Tagde however felt that the niche channels involve too much of research and investment. “We are struggling with the issues of technology like reaching out to people overseas. The content is owned by us and we have to invest in marketing too. There is a hope that we will get support from distributors,” Tagde said.

     

    Niche channels are not cheap to create: tremendous funds are needed to do research, and programming teams to implement concepts for informative channels.

     

    While the digital world is changing phenomenally, a bouquet of channels, with some mainstream entertainment channels and other niche channels, will soon adapt to the change.
    Viewership will be segmented leading to an increase in the number of niche channels.

     

    Going niche is the future of television as it helps to target specific viewers and in terms of revenue generation from advertisers, it is much more focused.

     

  • Vice Media sells 10% stake to A+E Networks

    Vice Media sells 10% stake to A+E Networks

    MUMBAI: Shortly after media reports about Time Warner ending talks to buy a stake in Vice Media flashed, Financial Times reported that Vice is wrapping up a deal to sell a 10 per cent stake to A+E Networks, the cable television group jointly owned by Walt Disney and Hearst Corporation for $250 million.

     

    According to the report, the sale could be announced as early as next week. This deal puts the entire company’s market value at $2.5 billion which represents a steep increase in Vice’s valuation since last year. The company, last year, sold a 5 per cent stake to Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for $70 million, valuing the company at $1.4 billion then.

     

    Talking to the Financial Times, Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith said, “It’s a great deal for us, it means we can preserve our independence and it gives us a war chest for another three years of dramatic growth.”

     

    Smith also added that Vice is exploring the possibility of having its own channel, for the moment it will be producing programming for the network, which runs shows such as Duck Dynasty and Storage Wars.

     

    Vice operates a global network of online channels covering news, sport, technology and music. The company currently has 25 offices across six continents, while its YouTube channel has around 4 million subscribers and over 500 million views.

     

    According to reports, while Vice will produce digital and cable programming for A+E as part of the deal, it will not currently take over running any of its cable channels.

     

    Until recently, Time Warner was in acquisition talks with Vice about buying a 40 per cent stake in the company. The deal would have reportedly valued the company at about $2 billion. But talks stalled due to disputes over Vice’s valuation, The New York Times reported.

     

    Founded in 1994, Vice started out as a Montreal music and youth culture magazine but has since expanded into web content, making a splash with its myriad documentary videos on YouTube. It also has a television series on HBO. Vice’s free magazine is printed in 28 countries. 

  • Facebook adds LiveRail to its kitty

    Facebook adds LiveRail to its kitty

    MUMBAI: The news of Facebook acquiring video advertising company, LiveRail didn’t really come as a surprise.

     

    It was in March when Facebook first began offering 15-second video ads for a limited number of companies on its website. The company has moved cautiously in introducing video ads on its social network to prevent a backlash from users who might find the ads annoying.

     

    This acquisition is the social media company’s latest step to make video ads a bigger part of its business.

     

    According to Reuters, Facebook has not disclosed the price for the San Francisco-based company, which was founded in 2007 and has offices in several countries.

     

    It can be noted that LiveRail’s technology automatically pairs video ads with the videos that appear on many websites, such as Major League Baseball, ABC and A&E Networks website.

     

    The report on Reuters also states that video ads command higher prices than other forms of online advertising such as banner ads. Facebook and other internet rivals like Google are increasingly trying to grab a slice of lucrative TV-marketing budgets as they try to sustain rapid growth.

     

    For records, it was early last year that Facebook bought Whatsapp for US$19.5 billon.

     

    It will be interesting to see how Facebook ropes in brands to scale its video advertising inventory in the coming days.

  • Kiaran Saunders joins A+E Networks

    Kiaran Saunders joins A+E Networks

    NEW DELHI: Nicklodeon UK vice president and commercial director Kiaran Saunders has joined A+E Networks VP of EMEA.

     

    Saunders has joined the company in a senior strategic role within its own EMEA operations responsible for A+E Networks’ growth strategy, branded channels and digital distribution across the region.

     

    He will take charge from Liz Higgins, who has joined News UK as commercial development director, and report to MD Dean Possenniskie.

     

    Meanwhile, Jon Wildman has been hired in the newly created role of VP ad sales for EMEA.

     

    The announcement was made by A+E Networks EMEA MD Possenniskie to whom both will report.

     

    At Nickelodeon, Saunders was responsible for managing distribution activity, advertising sales, and business development.

     

    Earlier, he held senior corporate development and finance positions at Channel 4 and RSM Robson Rhodes.

     

    Saunders assumes his new role from September.

     

     

  • Prem Kamath to join A+E Networks, Singapore

    Prem Kamath to join A+E Networks, Singapore

    MUMBAI:  Earlier today, news emerged that Star India executive vice-present and general manager Prem Kamath – who heads Channel V and Star Pravah – was quitting India’s leading network. No announcement came in as to where he was headed. 

     

    A while ago we wrote that he was headed for a position in south east Asia or at one of the other three major broadcast networks in India.  Now, sources have revealed that our first conjecture was right: that Kamath is indeed headed to Singapore and is taking up a regional role at A+E Networks.

     

    A+E Networks runs The History Channel, Lifetime, bio, Crime Investigation Networks and H2 channels in the Asia Pacific region.

     

    Kamath confirmed his exit to indiantelevision.com but he was mum about his shift to A+E Networks.

     

    He will continue to be with Star India at least for another couple of months.

     

    Kamath joined Star India in May 2007 as vice-president marketing for the network.  In 2009, he was elevated to the role of executive vice president and general manager Channel V. In 2013, he was given additional role of general manager of Star India’s Marathi general entertainment channel Star Pravah.  Prior to joining Star India, Kamath was associate vice president at Leo Burnett. He served the agency from 1999 to April 2007.

  • Ajay Chacko too to say ta-ta to Network18

    Ajay Chacko too to say ta-ta to Network18

    MUMBAI: Speculation was that if B. Sai Kumar goes, there was very little chance that Ajay Chacko – his deputy and COO of the Network 18 group would stay on. And the prediction has proved to be true. Chacko apparently has put in his papers too, leaving the Network18 group without any leadership,  apart from founding/controlling shareholder and managing director Raghav Bahl.

     

    The 40 year old Chacko’s role was to ensure operating efficiencies and margins across businesses of the Network18 group, according to the company’s website.  Ajay also served as the president of A+E Networks TV18, a joint venture between TV18 and A+E Networks, where he was responsible for the operational, strategic and financial management of the joint venture and its suite of channels and services.

     

    Both Sai Kumar and Chacko formed a formidable team at Network18 and were instrumental in supporting Bahl and former CEO Haresh Chawla in their aggressive growth at the Network18 group. Sai Kumar had stepped into Chawla’s  shoes in 2011 and he and Bahl  relied heavily on Chacko. Hence, he was  empowered with responsibility and growth opportunities at the group. 

     

    He had earlier led many of the group’s businesses such as CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and Forbes India and was instrumental in their ascendency as market leading media brands in the country. Ajay has also led the group’s efforts in the business media domain as well as the successful launches of key digital properties of Network18.
     

  • TV18 Broadcast consolidated Q3 net profit up 142%

    TV18 Broadcast consolidated Q3 net profit up 142%

    MUMBAI: TV18 Broadcast Ltd’s consolidated net profit in the quarter ended December 31, 2013 rose 142 per cent from a year earlier on a fall in programming cost and marketing, distribution and promotional expenses and as its consolidated revenue increased.

     

    TV18’s reported revenues on a consolidated basis stood at Rs 525.5 crore in the third quarter of 2013-14, up 3 per cent from a year ago.

      

    TV18’s consolidated programming cost in the third quarter fell to Rs 142.58 crore from Rs 155.52 crore a year ago. Its marketing, distribution and promotional expenditure in the third quarter was down to Rs 140.78 crore from Rs 166.01 crore a year ago.

     

    The company reported its highest ever quarterly Operating Profit (EBITDA) at Rs 77.5 crore, up 61 per cent year-on-year with both the entertainment and news businesses turning in strong quarters.

     

    On a consolidated basis, the company’s advertising revenues grew 3 per cent year-on-year. While the news and infotainment advertising environment continued to be sluggish, entertainment led by Colors and MTV delivered strong double digit advertising growth.

     

    Its net distribution Income continued its steady growth at Rs 43.6 crore, a rise of 145 per cent year on year.

     

    TV18’s broadcast operations turned in a very strong quarter with an operating profit of Rs 91.1 crores, up 110 per cent on a year over year basis.

     

    TV18’s proforma results assuming financial consolidation of 100 per cent of ETV News  and 50 per cent of ETV Entertainment, showed its revenues were up 5 per cent at Rs 595.9 crore in the third quarter and pperating profit (EBITDA) was up 79 per cent year on year at Rs. 94.5 crores  led by a strong performance in ETV News.

     

    TV18 said on a proforma basis, this was a landmark quarter for TV18 with broadcast operations turning in an EBITDA of Rs 108.1 crore. ETV Entertainment reported a sharp reduction in losses compared to the previous two quarters as programming and marketing investments made in the first half led to an upswing in ratings and revenues.

     

    On 22 Jan 2014, after receiving the required regulatory approvals, TV18 completed the acquisition of the ETV channels  –  100 per cent of ETV News, 50 per cent of ETV Entertainment and 24.5 per cent of ETV Telugu.

     

    Raghav Bahl, Managing Director of Network18, the promoter of TV18, said, “…..the strong performance of TV18 (was) despite the continued uncertainty in the macro-economic landscape…. The environmental risks may continue in the medium term.”

     

    Bahl said the company’s pre-tax profits almost tripled due to the robust operating performance of the broadcast operations and a significantly deleveraged balance sheet.

     

    Network18’s Group CEO B. Saikumar, said, “Entertainment operations at Viacom18, led by Colors delivered a healthy performance even as Motion Pictures saw losses in this quarter. Infotainment operations at A+E Networks I TV18 broke into positive territory and IndiaCast continued on its robust growth trajectory.

     

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