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Tag: Ajay Chacko

  • UDigital launches new brand viz Arré

    UDigital launches new brand viz Arré

    MUMBAI: Ronnie Screwvala, B Saikumar and Ajay Chacko founded digital media venture UDigital has announced a new brand named- Arré. The venture plans to go live with it later this calendar year.

     

    Arré portrays a range of emotions; from the ‘surprised and the questioning’ to the ‘friendly thumbs up affirmative’ to ‘disagreement and protest’ to ‘Arré yaar!’ It crosses boundaries of language, audience groups and geographies. Arré  will be an original  content  destination  which will  be  a  unique  storytelling  platform  across  genres and formats.   

     

    Arré will express itself across mediums, from text to graphic art to podcasts and video in multiple genres such as reality and fiction, factual and opinionated as well as pure entertainment. It is working with collaborators across the spectrum in developing original content;   from   writers,   artists,   journalists   and   storytellers   to   independent   filmmakers, established production houses as well as upcoming talent in fiction, reality and non-fiction genres.

     

    UDigital, managing  director B Saikumar said,  “Arré  was  born  out  of  the  need  to  create  a  truly  disruptive  digital  product.  Our  philosophy  is  to  continuously  challenge  the ‘moulds’ of format, media and structure to create content that is reflective of good storytelling in a digital environment. Much like the name, we hope to make Arré, the brand, a part of daily conversation in India and globally!”  

     

     The word Arré is one of the most commonly spoken Indian colloquial term which signifies ‘Hey’. While its origins are in Hindi, it is an expression that’s not only understood throughout the length and breadth of the country but has also been included in the Oxford dictionary of the English language, as an ‘all purpose Indian-English interjection’.

     

     The accent on the é in Arré is reflective of the varied expressions and emotions that the brand will straddle, as well as its international outlook. 

     

    The logo and visual identity of Arré is being designed and developed by AREA 17, an interactive agency based in Paris and New York. AREA 17 has an acclaimed body of work on international brands in media such as Vice, Quartz, The Atlantic, Style.com, Facebook, Pinterest and more.

  • Ronnie Screwvala enters digital biz; B Sai Kumar to head venture

    Ronnie Screwvala enters digital biz; B Sai Kumar to head venture

    MUMBAI: Media and broadcasting veteran Ronnie Screwvala has joined hands with B Saikumar to form a new age ­digital media company. Based out of Mumbai, in its first phase, the venture aims at launching a digital brand, which will offer multi-genre­, multi—lingual content across video, audio, text and other traditional and new age art forms. The investment envisaged is an outlay of up to Rs 150 crore across two phases. While the first phase would be largely domestic-f­ocused, the platform will evaluate new geographies and verticals in its second and subsequent phases. 

     

    The venture, with Sai Kumar as managing director, has also roped in former Network18 COO Ajay Chacko as CEO and has begun a global search for talent in creative, product and technology functions across entertainment, current affairs and infotainment spaces.

     

    Digital media across the world has been competing with the traditional broadcast television, radio and print in terms of choice of consumers and marketers. With over 300 million Internet users and around 200 million of these using mobile, India is slated to become the world’s third largest digital media market. This is expected to get a further boost with the government’s Digital India plan and the launch of pan-India ­broadband services by existing operators and well-cap­italized new players.

     

    At a time when the world is witnessing a range of digital-first ­media brands and companies generating tremendous stickiness, impact and value across markets, Screwvala’s new venture aims at becoming a valuable Indian digital media company with  footprints across geographies and content spaces. 

     

    Over the last two and a half decades, Screwvala has built some of the country’s valuable media businesses and has been an entrepreneur known for disruption and innovation across many verticals and genres; from cable to broadcast, from animation and gaming to motion pictures.

     

    Sai Kumar has been instrumental in taking Network18 from a single channel company to a $1 billion plus enterprise, while Chacko played a pivotal role in the launch of many of Network18’s flagship brands across print, TV and digital.

  • 2014: The year of big movements in the news channel space

    2014: The year of big movements in the news channel space

    MUMBAI: The year 2014 was an important year for the news channel industry, monetarily and otherwise. The bonus for the industry was the national election which not only kept them busy for the first half of the year, but also sent all the networks into profits for the first financial quarter. However, several changes took place on the people front with numerous big names moving out from their associated companies.

    The biggest shocker that hit the industry was the acquisition of Network18 by Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Independent Media Trust, putting the entire TV18 (news channels) section under the Mukesh Ambani conglomerate. Network18 founder and chairman Raghav Bahl, this year sold his baby to Ambani for a whopping Rs 4000 crore. Bahl has now set up his own new venture in the mobile space called Quintillion Media.

     

    What followed this was an upheaval of sorts, as one by one, the main pillars of the company began to fall. As soon as the meeting concluded between Bahl and the management of Network18, departures began which included group CEO B Sai Kumar, COO Ajay Chacko, CNN-IBN deputy editor Sagarika Ghose, IBN Network editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Network18 Media CEO Sanjay Dua, Network18 digital CEO Durga Raghunath, Network 18 CFO RDS Binni Bawa and deputy foreign affairs editor Suhasini Haidar.

    Soon after, the discussion circled the possibilities of news manipulation by the conglomerate as well as editorial interference started cropping up. In order to assuage the racing thoughts of the employees, the newly formed management took a town hall meeting. A new set of executives joined the company including former Zee Media CEO Alok Agrawal who took charge as Network18 group COO, Umesh Upadhyay as news director, Rohit Bansal as non executive director, Hariharan Mahadevan as CFO and Deepak Parekh and Adil Zainulbhai as independent directors.

    The year also saw several people shifting loyalties due to various reasons. The biggest of them were Rajdeep Sardesai joining India Today as consulting editor and primetime anchor, Dilip Venkatraman and Savvy Venkatraman joining ITV Network as group COO of strategy and business development and group chief marketing officer respectively, former Indian Express editor in chief Shekhar Gupta moving to India Today as the vice chairman and editor in chief of news properties but within two months relinquishing his positions and becoming editorial advisor to the group and Sanjay Dua joining ITV Network as NewsX CEO and ITV network chief revenue officer.

    Months after Times Television Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla was elevated to BCCL Group president of corporate development, he quit the company to join Grey group India as chairman and managing director.  Meanwhile, Times Now, ET Now and Zoom CEO Avinash Kaul went to IBN18 Network as CEO. ITV Network elevated CEO RK Arora to group CEO and soon after Arora quit to join News Nation as its CEO, which had been vacated by Shailesh Kumar, the former CEO and editor in chief of the channel. Kumar recently joined Focus Group as the managing editor for regional channels. Neeraj Sanan who headed distribution and marketing for MCCS that operates ABP news channels, quit and went to Focus Group as group CEO.

    News Xpress CEO and editor in chief Vinod Kapri decided to step down as well and was replaced by Prasoon Shukla. Early in the year, CNN-IBN managing editor Ashutosh quit to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and was replaced by Vinay Tewari who after several months shifted to Headlines Today as managing editor, a place left vacant by Nalin Mehta. Radhakrishnan Nair was appointed in place of Tewari.

    On the business side, Bloomberg TV India editor in chief Vivek Law quit to pursue entrepreneurial activities and the position was filled by Siddharth Zarabi. Zee News resident editor Sumit Awasthi joined IBN7 as deputy managing editor. News24 managing editor Ajit Anjum joined India TV in the same capacity. QW Naqvi who joined India TV as editorial director, left after a few months’ stint.

    On the international channels side, Naveen Jhunjhunwala replaced Preet Dhupar as BBC Global India COO while Ravi Agrawal was appointed as CNN International bureau chief for India. Bhupendra Chaubey who became executive editor of CNN-IBN, post takeover by Reliance, decided to shift his role to consulting editor. The year also saw the demise of veteran journalist Jehangir Pocha.

    The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has been fighting tooth and nail for keeping news broadcasters out of the 12 minute ad cap. The case is still being heard in the High Court for more than a year. NDTV executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao, after four years of heading the NBA as president was succeeded by India TV chairman and editor in chief Rajat Sharma. A new entity called the All India News Broadcasters Association (AINBA) was formed for the regional news channels with Azad News chairman MS Walia as its chairman.

    The other big takeover rumour that was making rounds was about the Adani group trying to stake claim in NDTV (which completed 25 years) which the company vehemently stated as a false one.

    The year also saw a few channel launches such as CNBC Bajar, News Nation UP/Uttarakhand, several regional news channels under the ETV group (now under Network18), Zee Purvaiya and Zee Kalinga which have now been converted into fully entertainment as against the earlier format of 50 per cent news and 50 per cent entertainment.

    2014 was also the year of revamps, with India TV, IBN7, NewsX, News Xpress and Zee News changing the look and feel of the channel. NDTV Profit converted into a dual channel NDTV Profit/Prime, with Prime operating as a fully sponsored channel, aimed at easing out the losses being made by Profit over the years.

    The 16th Lok Sabha general election added the much needed boost to the balance sheets of news channels that have been cribbing about high carriage fees, low subscription fees and advertising rates. CNN-IBN and Times Now came up with their election apps. The latter also tied up with north east channel News Live for poll coverage. Network18 tied up with Microsoft to set up an analytics centre for the elections while BBC used WhatsApp and WeChat for getting more traction from Indian audiences. This election season saw a new trend: that of editors moving out of the comfort zone of their studio and reporting from ground zero.

    As we approach the new year, burning issues are yet to be resolved such as the ad cap, carriage fees, paid news as well as foreign direct investment in news channels which is still stuck at 26 per cent and does not seem to have a better future any time soon.

  • More Network18 senior management to exit as Reliance begins to take full control

    More Network18 senior management to exit as Reliance begins to take full control

    MUMBAI: Black Wednesday. Network18 employees must be quite bewildered by the happenings of 28 May 2014. First came the announcement that group CEO B. Sai Kumar had decided to call it a day after 14 years of nurturing and growing it along with Raghav Bahl and Haresh Chawla. Then came the news that even COO Ajay Chacko had decided to bolt for the door.

     

    But this is just the tip of the iceberg, according to sources. Apparently, a senior management exodus is likely to hit the group over the next few days.  The group today issued a release  on the BSE stating that CFO RDS  Binni Bawa has already tendered in his resignation.  Among those who are tipped to follow  include : senior vice-president corporate affairs and company secretary Anil Srivastava and group general  counsel Kshipra Jatana. 

     

    Their departure is a precursor to the biggest announcement that is likely to come out: that of the exit of founding/controlling shareholder & managing director Raghav Bahl.

     

    Whether leading journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, Senthil Chengalvaryan, Sheeren Bhan, amongst others would quit  the Network18 group or not is not known at the time of writing. Though speculation is running rife that this will also come to pass in the next few days.  However, insiders insist that Sardesai is believed to have assured the team of CNNIBN journalists at an internal meeting at CNNIBN a couple of days ago that “he would be staying and that things are only going to get better from now on.”

     

    No one from the company was available for comment, despite several attempts by indiantelevision.com journalists.

     

    Apparently, the entire exercise is part of Reliance Industries getting into the driver’s seat at the Network18 group. The former is likely to make an announcement to buy out Raghav Bahl’s equity stake, followed by a offer to the public, in order to take a controlling stake in Network18

     

    Says a media observer: “These changes are happening at a time when Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)  has in recent times plumped up on media heavyweight media executives. It has lured away Zee Media Corp Ltd CEO Alok  Agrawal, senior journalists Gautam Chikermane, BV Rao and Rohit Bansal. Speculation is that this exodus is taking place as a precursor to Reliance taking over the management and control  of the group.”

     

    No one from Reliance Industries was also available for comment either, at the time of filing this report. Spokesperson Tushar Pania said he would send a formal statement as soon as possible. 

     

    It may be recollected that Bahl had sought the help of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani to bail out Network18 when its debt had ballooned beyond manageable proportions a couple of years ago. Ambani had extended a loan through a trust to Bahl’s companies that held the Network18 stake. That loan was used to pare down the group’s debt and also acquire the ETV channels. But it also left open the door for Ambani to wholly take over the Network18 group at a  later stage, though the commitment had been made that Bahl and the team would be left alone to manage it.

     

    Sources indicate that RIL has been pushing  Bahl to cede control of the management over the past few months and he seems to have finally consented. 

     

    (updated on 30 May 8 am)

  • 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.
     

  • IBN18 Network ropes in Avinash Kaul as CEO

    IBN18 Network ropes in Avinash Kaul as CEO

    MUMBAI: Times Television Network (TTN) CEO Avinash Kaul has decided to move on from the Network. The former TTN CEO has joined Network18 group as IBN18 Network CEO.  In his new role, Kaul will be responsible for the day-to-day operational, strategic and financial management of the general news network. Amongst the key tasks mandated for Kaul is the consolidation and diversification of TV18’s general news network.

     

    Network18 group CEO B Saikumar said, “Avinash brings a very successful track record as a leader and a wealth of knowledge about the media and broadcasting industry. Now, as we gear up for an ambitious phase of growth, I am convinced that he has the inclusive skills and leadership that are needed to steer us through. He has our best wishes and support.”

     

    Network18 COO Ajay Chacko added, “The IBN18 Network has over the years consolidated its leadership in the news space. I am confident in Avinash’s ability to play a significant role to sustain the growth and leadership momentum of these stellar brands.  He will be working closely with the talented and resourceful marketing, editorial and sales teams to achieve this.”

     

    With a career spanning over 16 years, Kaul has rich experience in a variety of roles in sales, marketing and general management across genres like news and entertainment , movie and lifestyle in India.

     

    Asserted Kaul, “With the heightened interest in general news among the populace as is evident in the highest turnout percentage in the general elections the timing of me joining Network18 couldn’t have been better.  My mandate is to ensure leadership of the brands and continued business success with a clear focus on general news across various languages.”

     

    Prior to this, Kaul held the position of CEO – TV Division of BCCL, managing Times Now, ET Now and zoOm. He has also worked in leadership and various capacities in networks like Star, NDTV Media and Discovery Networks among others.

  • Durga Raghunath takes charge as CEO, Network18 Digital

    Durga Raghunath takes charge as CEO, Network18 Digital

    MUMBAI: Network18 Digital, the digital content arm of Network18, has strengthened its leadership structure by elevating Durga Raghunath to CEO.

     

    She was earlier the CEO of Firstpost.com, the news and opinion portal from the group. Lakshmi Narasimhan, the previous CEO for the group’s digital content business, is now moving onto a corporate role.

     

    Network18 COO Ajay Chacko said “At Network18 Digital, we are proud to have built cult digital content brands which have had a defining influence on the space. As consumer internet in India undergoes a paradigm shift, we continue to be focused on leading this change from the front. Durga is well-equipped to lead this effort for us due to her strong understanding of the digital user, products and the opportunity.”

     

    Narasimhan added “Durga has played a stellar role in transforming Firstpost from an innovative idea into a leader brand today. We are confident that in this expanded mandate, she will take Network18 Digital to newer heights”

     

    Speaking on her elevation, Raghunath said “The Network18 Digital portfolio would make anyone proud. As digital usage and spends spiral up in India, it is exciting to have the opportunity to do more with our existing products as well as build new ones”

     

    Raghunath has over ten years experience in publishing – both books and digital. She previously worked with the Wall Street Journal, Mint and HarperCollins in New York. She has an MBA from ISB and studied publishing at Columbia University. Durga joined Network18 in 2011 and conceptualized and launched firstpost.com.

     

    Network18 Digital, earlier referred to as Web18, comprises a bouquet of digital content brands and services. This includes Moneycontrol.com, Ibnlive.com, Firstpost.com and Burrp.com. Cumulatively, Network18 Digital reaches over 25 million unique visitors on an average every month, according to comScore.

  • Network 18 and Microsoft set up analytics centre for 2014 elections

    Network 18 and Microsoft set up analytics centre for 2014 elections

    MUMBAI: Just as India enters its first leg of election 2014, Network 18 has announced a partnership with Microsoft India in order to create a Microsoft Election Analytics Centre for its two premiere English and Hindi channels: CNN-IBN and IBN7.

     

    The centre will make use of the software and hardware technologies from Microsoft in order to bring analysis, trends and data visualisation during the general elections. Both current as well as historical data will be used to give election insights that will be powered by data visualisation by a Microsoft partner, Gramener.

     

    Speaking on the development Network18 COO Ajay Chacko said, “General Elections 2014 are possibly the most complex electoral exercise ever undertaken. Technologically enabled tools and skills are required to decode, decipher and analyse the subtle nuances of these elections. We are excited about partnering with Microsoft in this context and leveraging their leadership in technology and analytics. We are confident that this will further add to our legacy of credibility and accuracy in elections programming.”

     

    Microsoft India chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said, “With a billion people gearing up to make their voices heard, there is a lot of data out there that can sometimes be confusing. Using cloud services, big data analysis and data visualisation will help CNN-IBN present that data in a manner that makes sense to the Indian voter, and helps them engage with the election process much more than ever before.”

     

    An ‘Indian Election’ app has been created for viewers to find, search and engage with election data in a unique way. This will be assisted by its online platforms such as IBNLive.com, Firstpost.com and Bing.com. The app can be downloaded by Windows phone and Windows 8 tablet users. Very soon, it will also be available to Android and iOS users.

     

    IBN Network editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, “We are very excited about the partnership with Microsoft India.  We have always believed in putting our viewers first and giving them the best we can. This partnership is another step in that direction. Microsoft with its vast expertise in technology and analytics will definitely add value and precision to our programming this election.”

  • Infomedia’s Chip’s journos get marching orders

    Infomedia’s Chip’s journos get marching orders

    MUMBAI: And so the pink slips continue at the Network18 group. Clear signs that the company is trying to bring efficiencies into what was once a bloated organisation. This time the layoffs have happened at  Infomedia 18, the group’s publishing arm, which has laid off journos at  Chip magazine today. The journos were given marching orders but were given three months severance pay in order to allow them to tide over until they get another job.

    Employees of chip magazine have finally heard what they have been expecting from a long time

     

    “The mood has been depressing since very long and people had started looking out months ago,” says a former employee. Currently, five people were running Chip and all of them were asked to leave. Other magazines such as T3 India, AV Max, could be next in line for layoffs.  Two magazines which have not been affected by the turmoil apparently are  – Better Photography and Overdrive – which reportedly are generating good revenues while the fate of others is in hanging on the ledge, says an industry source.

     

    Infomedia 18 had previously shut down its printing press as well as other assets such as Yellow Pages to cut down on its expenses.
    Calls to Network18 group CEO Sai Kumar and IBN Broadcast COO Ajay Chacko went unheeded.

  • Dilip Venkatraman bids adieu to TV18, to pursue entrepreneurial interests

    Dilip Venkatraman bids adieu to TV18, to pursue entrepreneurial interests

    MUMBAI: CNN-IBN and IBN7 CEO N. Dilip Venkatraman has decided to move on from his role in order to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. During his eight year stint, Venkatraman managed a variety of mandates on the general news side of the group. Prior to his current role, he led marketing operations for CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat and also managed IBN Focus, the customised media solutions unit for these news channels.

     

    Apart from his leadership role in building CNN-IBN into one of the country’s most reputed news brands, Venkatraman is well-known for conceptualising benchmark properties at the IBN News Network. Network18 COO Ajay Chacko will oversee the operations of the IBN News Network in the interim.

     

    Speaking on this development, Network18 group CEO B. Sai Kumar said “Dilip has played a pivotal role in building our general news network, right from the outset. Today, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat are benchmark brands in the general news space and Dilip has contributed significantly to laying such a strong foundation for the future. We thank him for his invaluable contribution and commitment to the group.”

     

    Commenting on this, IBN News Network editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai added “Dilip’s passion and leadership has been instrumental in making the IBN News Network into one of the most trusted news voices in the country today. He has been a great colleague and we wish him the very best for his future endeavors.”

     

    N. Dilip Venkatraman added “The past few years have been one of the most fulfilling and exciting phases of my professional career. I’m thankful to all my colleagues who have been a part of this enriching journey and I now look forward to taking on newer challenges.”

     

    Venkatraman has over two decades of corporate experience and prior to joining TV18, he held leadership positions at the India Today Group and Zee Network. Venkatraman is a graduate in public administration and holds management qualifications from IIM Bangalore and Harvard Business School.