ITV

Tag: Alpha Marathi

  • Alpha Marathi kicks off brand building exercise with below-the-line activities

    MUMBAI: Zee Network’s Marathi language channel Alpha Marathi is planning a slew of brand building initiatives based on below-the-line (BTL) activities. This will include daily online contests, promo campaigns on local cable networks and outdoor campaigns.
     
     
    Alpha Marathi, which had earlier advertised its programmes on the local cable networks in Mumbai, is going one step ahead and launching promotional campaigns of its shows on local cable networks across Maharashtra. The initiative is targeted at both the urban and the rural segments. Another ploy the channel is planning is to set up television sets which would beam only Alpha Marathi channel in Mumbai’s 12 Apna Bazar super market outlets.
    “This year, the marketing strategy is to groom Alpha Marathi as a brand. The brand building exercises will be conducted all major cities across Maharashtra with a focus on consumers. For the promotions, we want to explore the possibilities of below-the-line activities to its full extent,” offers Alpha Marathi senior manager – marketing – Pranita S. Loke.

     
     
    The online daily contests were first launched on primetime shows Avantika (Monday-Friday 8:30 pm) and Vaadalvat (Monday-Friday 9 pm). Inspired by the success of the two contests, the channel is now launching two more show-based contests, on Bandhan (Mon – Fri 8 pm) and Adhuri Ek Kahani (Mon- Fri 10 pm).
    Episode-based questions were asked to the viewer on the channel ahead of the show and viewers were given two options to send in their answers – either by a calling a BSNL number or by sending SMS to 7575. The correct answer was revealed in that day’s episode and the winners’ names were announced in the primetime news bulletin. The Avantika, Vaadalvat contests ended last week.

     
     
    The channel claims to have received 347000 calls and 74599 during the three-week long activity (23133 calls per day on an average). According to the channel, calls have been received from all corners of Maharashtra and even outside with places like Delhi, U.P., Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The prizes ranged from Maruti Alto (mega prize, awarded to the person who sends in the maximum number of correct answers in a week) to two wheeler bikes to washing machines and pearl jewellery.
    Alpha Marathi senior vice president Nitin Vaidya informs that the channel could generate a huge database through the contests. “We generated a vast database of the contact details of our viewers in just three weeks. This will be useful for our future interaction purposes”, he offers.

    The coming months will see the regional channel launching more marketing initiatives. According to Loke, the channel will be making an extra effort on the brand building part in 2005.

    “This year, our efforts will be to position Alpha Marathi as a strong brand. The contests and other activities are meant to get closer to our viewer and keep them glued to the channel,” sums up Loke.

  • Alpha Marathi to premiere Lata Mangeshkar documentary

    Alpha Marathi to premiere Lata Mangeshkar documentary

    MUMBAI: Alpha Marathi has acquired the telecast rights of a documentary film on India’s reining queen of melody, Lata Mangeshkar. The channel will telecast the film Maithra Jeevache on 27 February at 7:30 pm.

    Maithra Jeevache is produced by Lata Mangeshkar’s sister Usha Mangeskhar under the banner of Mahalakshmi Chitra. Alpha Marathi senior vice president Nitin Vaidya is upbeat about the fact that the reclusive Mangeshkar has chosen the channel to telecast the movie.

    “It is an honour to Alpha Marathi. Lataji’s family approached us with the film and we responded immediately. In every Maharashtrian’s heart, she has got a special place,” says Vaidya.

    In the film, Mangeshkar speaks at length about her evolution as a singer. She recollects vivid memories about her father and her childhood. She also speaks about some of the music directors she worked with including Shankar Jaikishan and R D Barman. She thanks her audience in the film for the kind of support they have given her.

    The two and a half hours film is shot at various places close to Mangeshkar’s heart including her farmhouse at Kolapur. The highlight of the film is the six songs she sung exclusively for the film. The songs are composed by Mangeshkar’s brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Lata Mangeshkar has also sung many of her unique songs in the film.

  • Alpha honors Marathi entertainment industry with Alpha Gaurav ’05

    Alpha honors Marathi entertainment industry with Alpha Gaurav ’05

    MUMBAI: Alpha Gaurav, Alpha Marathi’s prestigious award show rewarding excellence in Marathi films, theatre and music, honored eminent personalities from 18 categories in Marathi films,10 categories in Marathi Theatre and 5 categories in Music industry.

    The channel also gave away awards to winners from state intercollegiate one- act play competition organized by Alpha Marathi.

    The awards comprises an eminent juries which has the likes of director Shrabani Deodhar, cinematographer Girish Karve, writer director Raghuvir Kulkarni And film critic Hemant Desai for films, director Vijay Kenkare, Prakash Buddhisagar, Achyut Vaze for commercial plays, Chandrakant Kulkarni, Premanand Gajvi, Vijay Tapas for experimental plays and Vikas Bhatavdekar, Shashank Katty and Chandrashekhar Gokhale for music.

    The event will be televised on 13 February at 7:30 pm.

    Alpha Gaurav Awards 2005

    Winners – Films

    1. Best Art Direction Arun Rahane : Savarkhed Ek Gaon

    2. Best Choreography Umesh Jadhav : Saatchya Aat Gharat

    3. Best Cinematography Mahesh Limaye : Uttarayan

    4. Best Editing Vishal Kharat : Uttrayan

    5. Best Lyrics Gajendra Ahire : Pandhar

    6. Best Music Amartya Rahut : Uttarayan

    7. Best Playback Singer(Male) Suresh Wadkar : Shegavicha Rana Gajanan

    8. Best Playback Singer(Female) Anjali Kulkarni : Pandhar

    9. Best Story Sumitra Bhave : Devrai

    10.Best Screenplay Bipin Nadkarni : Uttarayan

    11.Best Dialogue Sanjay Pawar : Saatchya Aat Gharat

    12. Best Child Artist Ankita Jog : Pheonix

    13. Best Supporting Actress Uttara Baokar : Uttarayan

    14. Best Supporting Actor Ashok Shinde : Mukhwate

    15. Best Actress Amruta Subhash : Kavdase

    16. Best Actor Atul Kulkarni : Devrai

    17. Best Direction Bipin Nadkarni : Uttarayan

    18. Best Film Uttarayan : Opticus Films

    Winners – Plays

    1. Best Set Design : Rajan Bhise – Ham To Tere Aashik Hai

    2. Best Lights : Sheetal Talpade – Gopala Re Gopala

    3. Best Writer : P.L. Mayekar – Kamalicha Kai Jhala

    4. Best Music : Bhaskar Chandavarkar- Jyacha Tyacha Vithoba

    5. Best Supporting Actess : Madhuganha Kulkarni – Lali Lila

    6. Best Supporting Actor : Ramesh Vani – Gopala Re Gopala

    7. Best Actress : Madhavi Juvekar – Lali Lila

    8. Best Actor : Ankush Choudhari -Gopala Re Gopala

    9. Best Direction : Sanjay Mone – Ham To Tere Aashik Hai

    10. Best Play : Ham To Tere Aashik Hai- Ekdant Creations

    Best Promising Play ‘Sohala-Goshta Pramachi’

    Winners – Music Album

    1. Best Lyrics Bharati Diggikar : Chandraswapna Aikale

    2. Best Singer (Male) Shaunak Abhisheki : Pandharicha Swami

    3. Best Singer (Female) Devaki Pandit : Sangu Kunas Hee Preet

    4. Best Music Mandar Apte : Door Rahila Gaon

    5. Best Album Pandharicha Swami : Fountain Music

    Alpha Mahakarandak One- Act Play Compitition
    Winners

    Best Actress Supriya Argade – Sala Ekada Tari : Pune Vidyarthi Griha
    Engineering College

    Best Actor Pravin Pawar, Sudarshan Patil- Khara Khura Natak: Birla
    College, Kalyan

    Best One- Act Play Sala Ekada Tari : Pune Vidyarthi Griha Engineering College

    Alpha Gaurav Lifetime Achivement Awards

    1. Sulabha Deshpande
    2. Ganpat Patil
    3. Ramesh Deo

  • Alpha Marathi trains its guns on Hindi channels

    Alpha Marathi trains its guns on Hindi channels

    MUMBAI: At a time when its Hindi counterparts are devoting more night-slots for primetime shows, Zee Network’s Marathi channel Alpha Marathi doesn’t want to be left behind. In an attempt to wrest Marathi viewers from Hindi channels, the channel has extended its primetime with a daily soap and news fare.

    Alpha Marathi has launched a daily soap Adhuri Ek Kahani for the 10 pm slot. The channel has pushed its 10 pm’s half-an-hour news bulletin to 10:30 pm and its duration has been increased by 30 minutes. The daily political satire Ghadalay Bhigadalay at 10:30 pm will now make its appearance as a weekly on Sundays at 12 pm with a repeat on Tuesdays.

    “Primetime should be the time when you have your viewers. So following that theory, we have now expanded our primetime to 11:30 pm,” offers Alpha Marathi senior VP programming Nitin Vaidya.

    Vaidya is making his intentions clear. “The attempt is to make a dent on Hindi channels’ Marathi speaking primetime viewership. Any region which offers Marathi viewership is our target. The whole attempt is to divert the Marathi viewership from Hindi channels, ” he says. “Entertainment programmes are very crucial in the night-slots. The game plan is to bring the Marathi viewer entertaining shows throughout this time segment so that he wouldn’t need to switch to Hindi channels. So we have now dedicated the 10 pm slot to an entertainment property.”

    For the new show Adhuri AK Kahani, Alpha Marathi has roped in many of the reputed Hindi serial artists who are Maharashtrians. According to Vaidya, the strategy is to capitalise on the regional factor and thereby giving competition to Hindi soaps even star cast-wise.

    The channel has kicked off an aggressive promotional campaign for Adhuri Ek Kahani. Apart from an outdoor campaign which has put up 50 hoardings across six markets in Maharashtra, the channel has been conducting on-ground activities to promote the show across Maharashtra. The below-the-line activities included hydraulic vans travelling across the state promoting the show, entertaining the audience with songs, plays and puppet shows and installing reminder boxes.

    “The effort was to make the customer involved to the maximum. All these methods were used to build up a pre-release hype. Now post-launch of the show, we will be coming up with more activities,” informs Zee Network senior marketing manager Pranita S Loke.

    According to Vaidya, Alpha Marathi will be launching its 10:30 news bulletin in a week’s time. Since the duration is increased by 30 minutes, the channel is planning to add more features to the news bulletin. Live interactive sessions with newsmakers and a section on crime are some of the new features being planned.

    The channel is converting its daily political satire Ghadalay Bhigadalay to a weekly show now. “When we launched the show in December 2003, the decision was to run the show till Maharashtra assembly elections as a daily and post-elections as a weekly. We are going ahead with our plans,” says Vaidya.

    The channel launched a daily interactive game show Home Minister in August-end to lure the `D’ class segment. The 7:30 pm show is targeted at housewives.

    “During our annual conference last year, it was revealed that we have not been getting our due share from the `D ‘class segment. So we have come up with this new show, which offers a lot of attractive prizes. Slowly we are consolidating,” says Loke.

  • Nitin Vaidya made Smile TV business head

    Nitin Vaidya made Smile TV business head

    MUMBAI: Alpha Marathi senior vice president Nitin Vaidya has been given the additional responsibility of Zee’s newly launched channel Smile TV. He has been made the business head of Smile TV.
     
     
    Subsequently, Alpha Marathi head of all India sales Sujay Kutty will take on the additional responsibility of Smile TV all India sales head. Alpha Marathi assistant vice president programming Ajay Bhalwankar has been given the additional responsibility for programming of Smile TV.
     
     
    Both Kutty and Bhalwankar will continue reporting to Vaidya. Vaidya has 17 years of experience in print and electronic media business. Vaidya, who began his media career as a newspaper journalist joined the Zee network as Zee News bureau head in 1998. Then he moved to Alpha Marathi as channel manager.

  • Alpha Marathi Opinion poll shows Congress NCP in lead

    Alpha Marathi Opinion poll shows Congress NCP in lead

    MUMBAI: Alpha Marathi is all geared to unviel the result of the third and the final phase of the opinion poll conducted by them.

    The poll indicates that though Congress NCP front has maintained its edge over the Sena BJP alliance their share of seats has come down from the second phase of poll and independents and others may decide who would come to power in Maharashtra.
     
     
    The third phase of the opinion poll conducted by Ahmedabad based Taleem organization between 4 and 6 October for Alpha Marathi, was be telecast by the channel on a special programme Janadesh from 10 pm to 11 pm on Saturday, 9 October 2004.

    According to the poll, 23 per cent voters are still undecided over whom to vote. A vast majority of 72 per cent respondents said that they will not vote for a rebel candidate and only 12 per cent said that they would vote for a rebel candidate while 15 per cent said that there was no rebel candidate in their constituency, says a company release.

    One striking outcome of the poll is that the voters have rejected use of religion in politics. Only 8 per cent respondents approved use of religion in politics. Eighty five per cent voters have supported reservations for women in jobs and interestingly 80 per cent men have supported the reservations for women.
     
     
    In Opinion Poll III, apart from 36 selected constituencies surveyed in Opinion Poll-II, an additional assembly constituency in Mumbai, namely Worli has been included, in order to provide better representation of Mumbai. In this way, a total of 3686 voters were interviewed in the third opinion poll, adds the release.

  • Alpha Marathi opinion poll anticipate Congress-NCP to win

    Alpha Marathi opinion poll anticipate Congress-NCP to win

    MUMBAI: The second phase of an opinion poll on Maharashtra Assembly Elections conducted between 19 to 23 September, found Congress-NCP is anticipated to sweep a clear majority by winning 163 to 169 seats, while Sena-BJP alliance is expected to win 98 to 102 seats.

    The outcome of the poll was revealed in a special programme Janadesh on Alpha Marathi channel on Saturday night. The programme will be repeated on Alpha TV on 26 September at 1 pm.

    The opinion poll was conducted by Alpha Marathi and Taleem, Ahmedabad based organisation, where 3475 voters from 36 constituencies were interviewed for the poll. However, the study signifies 28 per cent of voters are still undecided on whom to vote or may not vote at all. This number has increased by three per cent over the first phase of the poll, informs the official release.

    Alpha Marathi business head Nitin Vaidya says, “The second phase of opinion poll is self explanatory that the voters are looking forward to the Congress-NCP alliance government. It is clearly indicative that the voter’s decision is evolving. Alpha Marathi, decided to undertake this opinion poll with the prime objective of understanding the main issues which the electorate wants to be addressed. Whether the voters are inclined towards INC / NCP ruling party and the likelihood of their returning them to power or to BJP / Shiv Sena alliance.”

    The election issues, which concerned the respondents, ranked the order of concern on development (87 per cent), farmers’ related issues (85 per cent), unemployment (84 per cent) and good governance (78 per cent), criminalisation of politics is concerned for 46 per cent respondents, separate Vidarbha 27 per cent and Savarkar controversy 25 per cent. While only 51 per cent respondents have favoured reservations in jobs, only 23 per cent respondents have opined that it was proper to launch Tiranga Yatra, informs the official communiqué.

    The poll also highlights that 30 per cent of the respondents favoured chief minister Susheelkumar Shinde over the other contenders, followed by BJP’s Gopinath Munde having support of nine per cent and Uddhav Thacekray having eight per cent. However 34 per cent respondents were unable to say who they would prefer as next chief minister.

    According to the poll results, as much as 27 per cent voters plan to vote for Congress followed by 15 per cent for NCP; BJP -Shiv Sena have been favoured by only 12 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. The remaining five per cent voters are distributed among various regional parties, the visible being the Bahujan Samaj Party with two per cent voters opting for it.

    When asked on the formation of the next government, around 41 per cent of respondents favoured Congress/NCP, followed by with 26 per cent BJP/Shiv Sena combine will come to power. Here too, the percentage of cannot say is huge 31 per cent.

    In the first phase of the opinion poll conducted last month, Congress-NCP combine expected to win 144 seats and Sena-BJP expected to win 128. Other parties and independents were predicted to win 16 seats.

  • Alpha Marathi plans global expansion

    Alpha Marathi plans global expansion

    Zee’s Marathi language channel Alpha Marathi has set its sights on the international market. According to Zee chairman Subhash Chandra, the channel would ‘hopefully’ make it entry in the major international destinations within one year.

    Revealing the plans during his speech at the Apla Alpha Marathi awards function, Chandra said the move is to cater to the Marathi expats.”
    Alpha Marathi business head Nitin Vaidya offers, “The demand for the channel outsid India has been overwhelming. So we think there is a strong market out there.”

    Alpha Marathi is already available in the Middle East and in South East Asia.

  • Zee to provide financial aid to Marathi film industry

    Zee to provide financial aid to Marathi film industry

    MUMBAI: Zee chairman Subhash Chandra has revealed Zee Telefilms’ plans to support the Marathi film industry financially. Chandra was speaking on the occasion of Alpha Marathi’s Apla Alpha Awards ceremony held on 11 August.

    “Though initially there had been doubts on the potential of a Marathi satellite channels when we started Alpha Marathi, the effort has finally met with success. In this context, we also have plans to support the Marathi film industry financially,” he said.

    Marathi film industry has welcomed Chandra’s announcement. Talking to Indiantelevision.com, actor-producer Sachin Pilgaonkar offers, “I feel very good. This is a great gesture from Chandra.”
    Pilgaonkar refused to comment further on the development saying the industry is waiting for Zee’s final plans.

    “We have to see the kind of policy Zee comes up with. Are they going to co-produce, provide financial assistance or is it going to be world rights controlling. So we have to wait for the final decision from Zee,” he said.

    Sources close to Indiantelevision.com inform that Zee has plans to provide two kinds of support: 1) Financially supporting producers who approach Zee, 2) Providing marketing support to the movies through Alpha Marathi. The final deal is believed to be under preparation.

    Valued at Rs 100 million, the Marathi film industry churns out 20-25 films per year on an average. According to industry sources, the film industry is now doing better as compared to the past years with more and more filmmakers starting to show their inclination to experiment.

  • Alpha Marathi celebrates 5th birthday with Apla Alpha Awards

    Alpha Marathi celebrates 5th birthday with Apla Alpha Awards

    MUMBAI: Alpha Marathi, the local language channel from the Zee stable, has unveiled Apla Alpha Awards on the occasion of completing its five years. 

    Alpha Marathi, which has claimed that it runs neck and neck in terms of TRPs with Star Plus, appreciates best performers in its family with this ‘triple A’ awards.

    The winners have been selected in true democratic way by viewers — through physical ballot papers that were made available at all the 1,000 Playwin counters and through cable operators, through SMS and through IVRS (interactive voice recording system).

    When queried if Alpha Marathi has followed a rival channel’s example by initiating competition among its own shows, Alpha Marathi business head Nitin Vaidya got candid,”We have so many awards around us and none of these can claim any uniqueness. In our case what was unique was the democratic way we chose to select the winners.”

    The nominees even campaigned for their shows by travelling in local trains and visiting houses, interacting with the public. At the end of the day, the whole exercise turned out to be a perfectly engineered publicity campaign for Alpha Marathi.

    The channel has roped in Dabur Vatika as the main sponsor for the event. Associate sponsors include P&G and Birla.

    Alpha Marathi event went on to the ‘extent’ of replacing the artistes with the characters they played. When the awards for the best actor, best actress and the best character – male awards were announced, the winners were addressed in the names of their characters.

    Says Vaidya, “When viewers remember an artist in the names of the character he/she played, it shows the success of the artiste and through this exercise we have been conveying this message.”

    Alpha Marathi will telecast the awards function on 14 August. The channel has instituted special prizes for those viewers who have wholeheartedly participated in the selection process and the winners will be announced in the show.

    Winners of Aapla Alpha Awards 2004:

    ‘Wadalvaat’ steals the show

    Best non-fiction — Good Morning Maharashtra
    Best event — Nahshatranch Dene
    Best title track — Ghadalay Bighadalay
    Best child artist — Jui Nerurkar
    Best villain — Devran Khnadagale (Wadalvaat)
    Best vamp — Vishakha Choudhary (Wadalvaat)
    Best anchor Male — Jitendra Joshi (Campus – a fair war)
    Best anchor Female — Sampada Joglekar (Namaskar Alpha)
    Best comedy show — Hasa Chakat Phu
    Best interactive show — Aamne Saamne
    Best father figure — Abaa Choudhary (Wadalvaat)
    Best mother — Shyamal Tipre (Shreeyut Gangadhar Tipre)
    Best on-screen couple — Padmini / Shrikant (Bandhan)
    Best performance in supporting role — Salil Dixit (Avantika)
    Best comedian — Mohan Ajgaonkar (Saheb Bibi ani Mee)
    Best character Male — Saibaba (Saibaba)
    Best character female — Rama Choudhary (Wadalvaat)
    Best actor — Aba Tipre (Shreeyut Gangadhar Tipre)
    Best actress — Avantika Dixit (Avantika)
    Best serial — Wadalvaat
    Best Alpha family — Tipre family (Shreeyut Gangadhar Tipre)