ITV

Tag: Akash Bangla

  • Zee unlocks Bengal’s TV potential with a two-pronged attack

    Zee unlocks Bengal’s TV potential with a two-pronged attack

    MUMBAI: While West Bengal might be lagging behind the national average in TV penetration, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) isn’t just seeing a gap, they’re seeing a blooming opportunity. With over 15.3m TV households, the state’s 66 per cent penetration (compared to a national 71 per cent) means there’s a whopping headroom for growth, as Samrat Ghosh, who is the chief cluster officer – East, North and Premium cluster, declares with a grin smile on his face.

    “There are a large chunk of consumers who are yet to see their stories being told on screen,” Ghosh states, adding that India’s robust rural growth story is mirrored in Bengal, where the urban-rural split currently stands at a tantalising 47:53. This, he suggested, is a clear signpost. “Somebody has to come and tap into it,” says Ghosh, and Zee, ever the shrewd operator, is more than ready to do the tapping.

    The Bangla General Entertainment Channel (GEC) market has traditionally been a bit of a duopoly, with Zee Bangla and Star Jalsha hogging a staggering 85 per cent of the viewership. The rest, including Sun Bangla, Akash Bangla, Sony Aath, and Colors Bangla, are left scrapping over a measly 15 per cent. “This is an opportunity for us,” Ghosh asserts, highlighting the “need for a very strong number three player” to shake things up.

    Enter Zee Bangla Shonar, the conglomerate’s strategic new venture designed to complement Zee Bangla and target those previously underserved segments. “With Zee Bangla and Zee Bangla Shonar together, we want to create a very, very synergistic ecosystem,” Ghosh explains.

    While the venerable Zee Bangla will continue its broad mass appeal and legacy format of storytelling, the new kid in town, Zee Bangla Shonar, will be all about experimental formats, refreshing content, innovative shows etc and also aims to consolidate Zee’s leadership journey in the West Bengal market.

    Interestingly, while Zee Bangla has traditionally targeted urban female audiences (25+), Zee Bangla Shonar is boldly setting its sights on male viewers (30+). “This isn’t about alienating the female base. 98 per cent of homes are still sitting on televisions, but about addressing a blue ocean strategy to serve a distinct need,” he explains.

    “There is no dedicated channel which is also talking to these male audiences, representing their stories on screen,” Ghosh further points out, seeing this as a golden ticket to boost overall advertising revenue by attracting brands whose core target is male.

    Despite West Bengal’s internet access (80 per cent) being slightly below the national average (87 per cent), television still reigns supreme. “It is still an aspirational medium because at the end of the day television caters to the entire needs of the family,” states Ghosh. Zee’s content philosophy, even for the new channel, isn’t about edgy, uncomfortable viewing; it’s about content designed to help the entire family to come together.

    Jalaluddin Mondal, another voice from Zee, who is the chief channel officer of Zee Biskope & Zee Bangla Shonar, chimed in on the content strategy for the new kid in town. Expect innovation in terms of the format and theme, with a focus on areas like crime investigation, travelogues (something largely untouched in the GEC space), and slice-of-life stories. Non-fiction will see fresh formats, including a unique singing competition featuring Jugalbandi between vocalists and instrumentalists, and a gamified “couples compatibility” show offering prizes of up to Rs one lakh daily. “There’ll also be snackable content like prank shows and spooky narratives, plus investments in acquiring and producing original movies, some even getting a cinematic release before a channel premiere,” concludes Mondal.

    On the surge of old shows making a comeback across the industry, both dismissed the idea of a “lack of content”. Instead, they argued it’s about “bringing back the nostalgia factor amongst the audiences,” leveraging “iconic characters” that people still adore. While new stories are crucial, the emotional connection to established characters is a powerful hook. They conclude by saying, “At the core, you have to understand the consumer for a successful design of a content.” 

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  • News channels to telecast Durga Puja live

    News channels to telecast Durga Puja live

    KOLKATA:  With the arrival of Durga Puja in Bengal, the biggest festival in the state, India’s national broadcaster, Doordarshan along with other regional Bengali channels will telecast the grand festival from Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal live for the next four days.

     

    Channels planning live telecast of the celebrations include 24 Ghanta, Akash Bangla, Star Ananda, Tara News, ETV News, Channel 10, Ne Bangla and Kolkata TV among other channels.

     

    Talking about the same, a Focus Bangla official said, “We will invite singers to our studios. We will also visit a celebrity’s house for the puja and be a part of their home experience.”

     

    Adding to that, a 24 Ghanta reporter added, “Each year, organisers come up with new themes and try to better their previous attempts. We try to cover all the important pujas from different locations so that old people and the young alike can enjoy the live puja from indoors.”

     

    The 10-day festival which started on 25 September will conclude on 3 October.

     

    Festooned with lights, giant cardboard cut-outs and clay figures adorn the entrances to lanes. The city has also been decked up like a bride to welcome the goddess.

     

  • What’s brewing at Aakash Aath?

    What’s brewing at Aakash Aath?

    KOLKATA: What’s brewing at the Bengali infotainment channel, Aakash Aath? If sources are to be believed, there’s an ongoing tussle between managing director Avik Dutta and investor Ashok Surana over transfer of shares. Furthermore, the channel is looking for an investor, according to them.

     

    “Aaakash Aath is looking for investors as Surana might be asked to leave since he wants shares to be transferred against his investment,” revealed a source from the channel. “In fact, Surana and his daughter have refused salaries of employees as they did not get the shares. Dutta has promised to pay salaries for the month of March. The rift at Aakash Aath started lately after the new owner took control.”

     

    Akash Bangla was re-launched as Aakash Aath in October last year. While Dutta remained unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts, Surana said Aakash Aath runs on software provided by Channel 8. When he joined hands with Sky Bangla, Aakash Bangla’s parent, the GRP of the channel was 9 and within five to six months, it shot up to around 56. He didn’t comment on the share transfer issue and added that people should find out the truth for themselves, if they so wished.

     

    While a city-based media analyst said it was very difficult to find an investor for the channel.

     

    Just last month, indiantelevision.com had reported that Aakash Aath was likely to launch a 24×7 Bengali news and current affairs channel in the next one year, for which, it had already applied to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for up-linking and down-linking licenses. However, the management had maintained there were no such plans to foray while clarifying that Surana was an investor and not the proprietor.

     

    At the time, sources had hinted that some employees had been asked to leave the channel while others had been asked to look for better opportunities. To this, Surana had said that with the change in genre from news to infotainment, the re-shuffle was bound to happen.

  • DD Bangla, among other Bengali channels to live telecast Durga immersions

    DD Bangla, among other Bengali channels to live telecast Durga immersions

    KOLKATA: India’s national broadcaster, Doordarshan is likely to live telecast Durga Visarjan (immersion of Goddess Durga) on DD Bangla from 6:15 pm today.

     

    While other regional Bengali channels like 24 Ghanta, Akash Bangla, Star Ananda, Tara News, ETV Bangla, Channel 10, Ne Bangla and Kolkata TV among various other channels apart from covering news will live telecast the Durga Visarjan from Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal from noon till late evening.

     

    Biswa Majumdar, editor-in-chief, Northeast Bangla (Ne Bangla), a Bengali language 24×7 news channel, said: “We will show live Visarjans from noon till late evening. Most of the channels would be busy in covering the immersion as most of the idols will be immersed today as tomorrow is Eid.”

     

    Covering teary eyed devotees bidding an emotional farewell as idols of goddess Durga and her four children – Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartik – be to immersed in ponds, lakes and rivers of West Bengal is a touching experience, said a cameraman.

     

    We will invite singers in our studios. We will also go to some celebrity puja and be a part of their home experience, said another reporter.

     

    Married women would be decked in the ritualistic red-and-white sarees marking the event with the customary “Sindoor Khela” or smearing each other and the idols with red vermillion to prepare the goddess and her clan for their long journey home, as dhaaks (traditional drums) plays in the background.

     

    There will be festive look on the banks of the Ganges and other water bodies, with spirited chants of “Bolo Durga Mai Ki Jai” adding to the fervour.

  • Zee News Ltd’s Q4 Ebitda stays strong, slips into net loss due to Akash Bangla

    Zee News Ltd’s Q4 Ebitda stays strong, slips into net loss due to Akash Bangla

    MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has slipped into net loss in the fiscal-fourth quarter due to an old investment made in Akash Bangla, but its Ebitda has stayed healthy and beat forecast expectations.

    ZNL has provided for Rs 166.7 million towards diminution in value of strategic investments and provision for doubtful advance share application money given to Akash Bangla. ZNL holds around 18 per cent stake in Akash Bangla, the Bengali infotainment channel.

    The company has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 39.51 million for the three-month period ended 31 March 2012 compared to a net profit of Rs 66.49 million a year ago. In the trailing quarter, ZNL’s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 99.7 million (after minority interest), even as its advertising revenue had degrown marginally compared to the year-ago period.

    Ebidta for the quarter rose to Rs 184.1 million from Rs 138.3 million, representing a 33 per cent increase. Margins stood at 21.3 per cent.

    The company’s net sales from operations climbed to Rs 859.81 million for the quarter, an increase of 13.8 per cent over the year-ago period.

    ZNL CEO Barun Das said, “We have come out of the economic slowdown stronger than most. Our focus on ad revenues from non-traditional streams has helped us post a better growth compared to the industry which is expected to stay flat or show early single digit growth.

    ZNL’s advertising revenue stood at Rs 562.9 million, up 0.4 per cent YoY. Subscription revenue grew 8.1 per cent QoQ to Rs 208.3 million on better collections by Media Pro.

    “The real growth in subscription revenues was higher as they were booked net of expenses which were necessitated due to formation of Media Pro, which pays subscription revenues to Zee net of expenses,” ZNL said.

    The company reported fourth quarter consolidated revenues of Rs 863.6 million, an increase of Rs 104.42 million over the earlier year. Revenue from other sales and services was at Rs 92 million. This mostly includes the value of inventory of programmes and films of Zee Tamil transferred to Zee Entertainment.

    The company’s total expenses for the quarter under review rose 9.4 per cent to Rs 679.5 million as against Rs 620.9 million a year ago.

    Cost of operations went up from Rs 159.85 million to Rs 200.8 million even as employee benefits cost remained flat at Rs 176.42 million compared to Rs 174.14 million in the corresponding quarter of the same fiscal.

    The revenues for Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi, and 24 Ghanta grew at 15.5 per cent for the quarter to Rs 822.3 million from Rs 711.8 million, with Ebidta margins of 28.1 per cent.

    The new business loss for the quarter came down to Rs 47 million for the last quarter from the loss of Rs 108.2 million in the same period last year due to discontinuance of Zee Tamil.

    Subsequent to discontinuance of Zee Tamil, the company has transferred part of inventory of programmes and films related the channel to Zeel of Rs 198.47 million for FY’12.

    Full fiscal performance

    ZNL has posted consolidated full-fiscal revenue of Rs 3072.2 million, an increase of 11 per cent over the earlier year.

    Advertising revenue grew 2.2 per cent to Rs 2 billion during the fiscal while subscription revenue rose just one per cent to Rs 742.7 million.

    Total expenses rose 8.3 per cent to Rs 2.54 billion on account of increase in cost of good & operations and employee cost increasing 19.5 and 7.5 per cent to Rs 703.7 and Rs 744.8 million respectively.

    Commenting on the results, Das said: “Our Ebidta has stayed strong. We continue to be committed to long term growth in all aspects of business. Being on a healthy growth path post demerger of GECs, a series of strategic initiatives are on the cards which will be implemented in due course of time.”