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Tag: Amit Shah

  • Zee launches ‘Ticket To Hollywood’ in 10 languages

    Zee launches ‘Ticket To Hollywood’ in 10 languages

    MUMBAI: Zee has lined up a slew of Hollywood blockbusters to thrill viewers during this festive season. Catering to the evolving Hollywood fan base in India, ‘Ticket to Hollywood’ will showcase the latest international hits on Zee’s English movie channel &flix with a simultaneous telecast of the dubbed versions on its regional language channels.  

    Starting with the ultimate action hero Vin Diesel-starrer, Bloodshot, the simulcast with &flix will be seen across &PrivéHD, Zee Café, &Pictures, Zee Thirai, Zee Cinemalu, Zee Punjabi, Zee Biskope, Zee Talkies, Zee Picchar, Zee Sarthak and Zee Bangla Cinema. This will be followed by simulcast of other recent superhits like Spider Man Far From Home, Jumanji-The Next Level, Bad Boys For Life, Charlie’s Angels (2019), among others.

    Zee chief consumer officer Prathyusha Agarwal said, “With Ticket To Hollywood, we aim to unlock the true potential of Hollywood in India whose fandom cuts across demographics and regions. &flix’s multi-language block ‘Flix For All’, delivered a 41 per cent jump as viewers aspired for a premium movie experience in their native language, further fuelling the need to curate a property that offers the best of Hollywood experiences in a language of the consumers’ choice.”

    Zee west, north & premium channels cluster head Amit Shah said, “When it comes to Hollywood, viewers’ affinity for English movies has grown considerably over the years. Consumption of Hollywood movies on TV is on the rise and the genre continues to operate at 40 per cent higher viewership compared to pre-lockdown unearthing countless passionate fans for the latest Hollywood titles in their native language. With Ticket To Hollywood, we have an opportunity to deepen our engagement with a broader pool of Hollywood buffs across the nation, offering the latest blockbusters via a multi-channel and multi-lingual brand."

    About Bloodshot: Based on the bestselling comic book, Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a soldier recently killed in action and brought back to life by a team of scientists as the superhero Bloodshot. With an army of nanotechnology in his veins, he’s an unstoppable force, stronger than ever with a special superpower – the ability to resurrect and heal instantly. But in controlling his body, the organization has sway over his mind and memories, too. Now, Ray doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not – but he’s on a mission to find out.

  • Reliance Big Synergy’s new comedy non-fiction series to air on Zee Punjabi

    Reliance Big Synergy’s new comedy non-fiction series to air on Zee Punjabi

    MUMBAI: Reliance Big Synergy’s new comedy non-fiction series Haasya Da Halla Payega Jaswinder Bhalla is all set to premiere on leading Punjabi GEC Zee Punjabi on 24 October.

    The family entertainment show will air on Saturdays and Sundays at 7 pm, and will be hosted by legendary Punjabi actor and comedian Jaswinder Bhalla. The series will also feature a range of artists including Mintu, Lucky, Nisha Bano, Gurpreet Bhangu and a spectacle of celebrity guests. It has been written by the renowned Manoj Sabharwal.

    Zee Punjabi business head Rahul Rao said, “The saying ‘laughter is the best medicine’ is all the more relevant in current times. Our endeavor with this show is to spread positivity and happiness in our viewers’ lives and with Jaswinder Bhalla at the helm, I am sure the audience is in for a fun ride.”

    Reliance Big Synergy CEO Rajiv Bakshi said, “We are committed to create home grown formats, alongside the global IPs, with the finest local talent and continue in our endeavor to bring the finest entertainment for the diverse range of audience in Hindi and regional languages on both OTT and television platforms. I am confident that the audience will enjoy our new series Haasya Da Halla Payega Jaswinder Bhalla and that it will further strengthen Zee Punjabi’s market leadership.”

    ZEEL west & premium channels north cluster head Amit Shah said, “With our consumer understanding and the innate ability to create magic with stories, our content offerings have been well received and much loved by viewers in the Punjab market. Reliance Big Synergy has been an ideal content partner for us in achieving this success, having given us two popular fiction series. We are confident that with their distinct strength in non-fiction, Haasya Da Halla Payega Jaswinder Bhalla will further strengthen our foothold in the market.”

    Over the years, Reliance Big Synergy has entertained millions of Indians through the highest rated and breakthrough non-fiction shows including Kaun Banega Crorepati, Dus Ka Dum, India’s Got Talent, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and more. It has also produced a range of fiction TV shows and web series in Hindi as well as regional languages.

  • Zee Entertainment launches its first lifestyle channel, Zee Zest

    Zee Entertainment launches its first lifestyle channel, Zee Zest

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) launched its first lifestyle channel – Zee Zest, where one can unlimit life through its varied and comprehensive line-up of shows. The channel which has started from will present content that will be a perfect encapsulation of food, travel, lifestyle, home improvement, wellness, culture, and DIY to enable one to unlimit life straight from the confines of your armchair.  

    Zee Zest will bring unique offerings to the audiences as they meet our desi stars like chef Ajay Chopra, Rakesh Raghunathan, and our very own celebrity chefs – Pankaj Bhadouria, and Kunal Kapur through some highly engaging original shows like 100 per cent south Indian, India’s 50 Best Dishes, Ghar Sa Yummy – Swaad Familywala, Food Veda, and Meetha toh Banta Hai. Through these shows, the audience sets on a journey to shortlist India’s 50 best dishes with the host Ajay Chopra, witness stories of home cooks and what is cooked in a million Indian homes with chef Pankaj, and discover 100% South Indian dishes with the host Rakesh Raghunathan. Determine the importance and methods of adapting the age-old tradition of ayurveda into our modern-day lifestyle with host Kunal Kapur, while host Akanksha Khatri will take you all on an exciting journey to discover the emotion behind ‘Meetha toh Banta Hai’.

    The channel will also bring some highly popular global shows for the first time in India, like Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown season five, Jaime: Keep Cooking & Carry On, Far Flung with Gary Mehigan, MasterChef Australia – season 9, MasterChef USA Junior season five, and much more across various genres. Late Anthony Bourdain, the famous American celebrity chef, author, journalist, and travel documentarian, traveled across the globe to uncover little-known areas of the world and celebrated diverse cultures through his show. Jamie Oliver shows some incredible recipes, tips and hacks, specifically tailored for the unique times we're living in, through Jamie: Keep Cooking & Carry On. The portfolio of international shows on this channel will be newfound in India. While the international shows will give a perspective for global offerings, the original shows are a self-reflection of the audience’s aspirations and interests.

    Zee Zest business head Amit Nair says, “Zee Zest is the promise of a new tomorrow with taking charge of life and experiencing newer journeys and amazing stories. Our carefully curated international shows and India originals will be an escape from the regular, a path to your aspirations, a catalyst to unlimit the horizon of your experiences. The diverse content across sub-genres with a homegrown appeal will entertain, lead to discovery, and will liven up every moment of the viewer with the intent to unlimit life itself. We hope to inspire our audiences to take up their own journeys of joy, creativity and breaking boundaries by adding Zest to their lives”

    Zeel north, west and premium channels cluster head Amit Shah says, “Zee has always created strong curated brands that cater to the diverse entertainment needs of the consumer. We have been market leaders with our offerings, the pioneers in setting trends when it comes to content creation. Zee Zest’s unique proposition of offering an enhanced experience with a TV & digital presence ensures we engage with our viewers across all relevant touchpoints and are also able to provide more value to the advertisers with platform agnostic solutions. Zee Zest will capture the consumers’ mind space by offering the best of lifestyle content with shows that not only entertain but educate and add value to our viewers’ lives.”

    Zee Zest will be a 360-degree platform and will reach the audience via TV, internet, events, and social media. While TV will bring interesting content, the social media platform will provide as a means to make it happen. Stay tuned as the web platform and events will become the two-way communication channel between the audience and the brand. With various recipes, itineraries for road trips, DIY hacks, articles on interesting cultural and historical facts will bring the audience a step close to the life they have always hoped to explore. To sum it up, unlimit life by joining Zee Zest to imagine and experience some of the never seen before, heard before ideas and stories as the channel offers shows revolving around travel, food, culture, home decor, health, relationships and more along with some exclusive global content featuring for the first time in India.

    Zee Zest will be available across all major cable, DTH, and digital platforms starting from 1 October 2020. The channel will also be available on Zeel’s digital and mobile entertainment platform, Zee5.

  • Reliance Big Synergy’s fiction series Heer Ranjha & Kamli Ishq Di garner top two slots on Zee Punjabi

    Reliance Big Synergy’s fiction series Heer Ranjha & Kamli Ishq Di garner top two slots on Zee Punjabi

    MUMBAI: Reliance Big Synergy's journey in fiction content got another distinction with its two daily shows Kamli Ishq Di and Heer Ranjha garnering the top two slots on the new Punjabi language channel Zee Punjabi. Zee Punjabi has now made history with the biggest ever GEC launch.

    In the first week data released by BARC, the channel debuted with an astonishing 31per cent share in the GEC category in Punjab.

    Speaking on the company’s fiction content strategy on OTT & TV platforms, Reliance Big Synergy CEO Rajeev Bakshi said “We are deeply committed, passionate and resourced to produce high impact and successful fiction shows for our clients across all platforms and languages. The phenomenal success of both our shows on Zee Punjabi in the opening week, competing with Hindi GEC channels’ domination in the Punjab market, will further strengthen our resolve to develop and produce differentiated and localized content and entertain the audience across India. The record opening for the channel underlines the partnership spirit that we enjoy with the Zee team leading to this historic landmark for the GEC category.”

    ZEEL North, West & Premium Channels cluster head Amit Shah said, “It is very encouraging to see the overwhelming response Zee Punjabi has received in such a short span of time. Our aim has always been to entertain our audiences with content deep-rooted in the culture of the region. While we are pleased to see most of our shows resonate so deeply with the viewers, the shows by Reliance Big Synergy have garnered more affection from the Punjabi audience for the rich cultural narrative and strong characters. We will continue to build on this success and strengthen Zee Punjabi further."

    Speaking on the successful foray in Punjab, Zee Punjabi business head Rahul Rao said  “This achievement is the result of team effort and the hard work sown in to create every element of the channel, ensuring it resonates with the audience of the region. This grand response is a testimony to our culturally-rooted content which has been created with the support of our partners. Reliance Big Synergy has brought to life the iconic love story of Heer Ranjha & the passion and patriotism of Punjab in Kamli Ishq Di which is being much loved by our audiences”

    “We have put in our heart and soul in both the shows and seeing them shine is encouraging for the entire team. This phenomenal success will further boost our fiction wing,” said Reliance Big Synergy VP Simmi Karna.

    Heer Ranjha, Mon-Fri, 8:30 PM: An epic love saga of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Heer is being played Sara Gurpal while Amarinder Pal Singh as Ranjha made his television debut. Kamli Ishq Di, Mon-Fri, 7:30 PM: The story is about a young man Veer, acted by Jashn Kohli who wants to become a soldier and Mahi’s, acted by Sehar, unabashed love for him; a perfect blend of patriotism and romance.

    Reliance Big Synergy has in the past years entertained millions of Indians through the highest-rated and breakthrough non-fiction shows including KBC, Dus Ka Dum, India’s Got Talent, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and more, has now moved full strength in fiction vertical as well with its range of fiction shows in both Hindi and regional languages.
     

  • Zee seeks to tap into regional opportunity with four new language channels

    Zee seeks to tap into regional opportunity with four new language channels

    MUMBAI: Expanding its regional footprint further, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on Thursday announced four new regional channels — Zee Punjabi (GEC channel) and three movie channels Zee Biskope (Bhojpuri), Zee Thirai (Tamil) and Zee Picchar (Kannada).

    Zee Punjabi and Zee Biskope are scheduled to go on air on 13 January and 14 January 2020 respectively whereas, Zee Thirai and Zee Picchar will launch between February and  March  2020.

    Zee Punjabi is to be a mixture of shows, films, and movies. It will have five fiction and three non-fiction shows along with music, movies and more at launch. The channels tag line has been decided as ‘Kahaaniyaan Punjabi, Boli Punjabi, Zee Punjabi’.

    The three regional movies channel — Zee Biskope, Zee Thirai, and Zee Picchar will be  in addition to the already established regional GEC channels that Zee has  in Bhojpuri, Tamil, and Kannada languages.

    ZEEL’s domestic broadcast business chief executive officer, Punit Misra said, “We have always believed that deep understanding of cultures across the nation and serving people entertainment rooted in each culture win hearts. In the last four to five years, if you look at the regional viewership then all Hindi i.e., GEC and movies was let’s say 38 percent of the total television consumption. All languages (GEC+movies) were around 32 percent. So, there is movement ahead of overall market growth in all regional markets put together. Plus, if you look at the movie genre it has grown in the regional market 2x of the total viewership growth of the country.

    He further added that cultural pulse is at the core of the differentiated strategy at ZEEL. “Our newest offerings are designed to add to our growth trajectory, further cementing our belief in winning hearts across many states.”

    ZEEL’s chief growth officer, Ashish Sehgal spoke about the disruption in the broadcasting industry due to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO). He said that the dust is settling and the industry has started showing signs of revival and growth and hence the new channels will only help the network going forward.

    Zee's regional portfolio contributes to over 50 per cent of its overall share, with GECs contributing almost 90 per cent of the regional pie. It is the dominant market player in Marathi, Bangla and Kannada with over 50 per cent market share in Marathi and Bangla markets.

    The content of all these four channels will be shared and available to viewers on Zee’s OTT platform ZEE5, so that they continue binge-watch their favourite TV shows missed episode and films any time.

    ZEEL’s chief marketing officer, Pratyusha Agarwal said: “From a highly TV penetrated but hugely under-consumed latent Punjabi GEC opportunity to insatiable, thriving demand for movies in the Bhojpuri, Tamil, and Kannada markets, the regional need gaps present the perfect opening to further deepen the bonds we have with viewers all over India in various languages. We crafted and curated these four new offerings powered by deep viewer understanding, loads of passion and hoping that our viewers enjoy them as much as we did creating them!"

    ZEEL has completed 27 illustrious years, now entertaining over 800 mn people across India, 650 mn of which comes through non-Hindi offerings, a press statement said.

    Zee Punjabi

    With over 20 hours of original weekly content, Zee Punjabi is the first Punjabi GEC that will celebrate Punjab with stories of Punjabiyat. Zee Punjabi offers its viewers a mixture of blockbuster cinema, ground contest shows, and chart-busting music.

    ZEEL’s cluster head – north, west premium channels, Amit Shah said, “Despite the highest TV penetration (88 per cent) in the country, Punjab has a significantly low time spent and that is a factor of not having dedicated Punjabi content across that does justice to the region and culture.”

    He added, “Zee Punjabi is being launched by understanding the viewer’s need gap; for a culture that is so powerful, Punjab definitely needs its own authentic Punjabi channel.”

    “We have a strong line-up of stories with themes familiar to Punjab, characters that people will fall in love with and faces like Gurdas Mann, Jazzy B, Sonu Kakkar among others, who are respected in Punjab,” adds Zee Punjabi’s business head, Rahul Rao.

    Zee Thirai

    Zee Thirai is a new Tamil movie channel that will present the passion of Tamilians for their cinema and will fuel their heroic spirit through powerful movies, a press statement added.

    The channel will have a programming library of above 400 celebrated titles from Tamil cinema that includes widespread genres from blockbuster hits to critically acclaimed movies such as Mersal, 2.0, Kanna, Kolamavu Kokila among others.

    The channel is to have uninterrupted entertainment with break-less movies in the afternoon slot. The first look of the channel will be unveiled during Zee Cine Awards Tamil in January 2020.

    According to ZEEL’s south cluster head, Siju Prabhakaran, “The launch of Zee Thirai is a showcase of Tamil cinema which has deep-rooted cultural and emotional context. We are seeking to channelise the heroic spirit it infuses in people into a strong brand and content stance.”

    Zee Picchar

    Zee Picchar is a new Kannada movie channel that will make every day a superhot day for the Kannadiga families, a press statement said. The channel will have a library of over 35 celebrated titles spanning across genres and generations from timeless classics to new age trendsetters.

    With an aim of a one-break movie at specific slots for entertainment with minimal disruptions, ZEEL will launch the channel with 12 Picchar premieres to be aired on 12 consecutive days.

    Zee Kannada’s business head, Raghavendra Hunsur said:  “After winning hearts of Kannadigas with Zee Kannada, we are all set to appeal to the viewers’ appetite and further strengthen our presence in the state.”

    Zee Biskope

    Bhojpuri movie channel Zee Biskope will be in addition to the successful GEC Zee Gang and will have a library of over 300 super hit movies with the biggest blockbuster movies of the last five years.

    “Larger-than-life’s south Indian movies dubbed content will be broadcast on Zee Biskope,” a ZEEL official said. He added that people in the north relate to the story of the movies made in the southern part of India, especially Telugu and Tamil cinema.

    ZEEL cluster head, east, Samrat Ghosh added: “The Bhojpuri content industry is increasing manifold in recent years. While Hindi GEC has grown at 40 per cent in the past three years in terms of consumption, the Bhojpuri GEC and movie verticals have grown by 85 per cent.”

  • WhatsApp offers to track ‘dubious’ individuals for Indian govt

    WhatsApp offers to track ‘dubious’ individuals for Indian govt

    MUMBAI: Facebook vice president of global affairs and communications Nick Clegg met home minister Amit Shah, national security adviser Ajit Doval, IT and communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and commerce minister Piyush Goyal regarding the dispute over traceability of messages in WhatApp. However, it remained unresolved.

    According to an ET report, Clegg offered to track WhatsApp communication activities of persons deemed “dubious or suspicious” by government agencies. However, Facebook will only do this for persons identified by the government from now on. The company also does not want to break end-to-end encryption, which is at the core of the traceability issue.

    Clegg also informed that instead of message content, Facebook could help with metadata. His discussion with Shah was around protecting end-to-end encryption as well as sharing different forms of signals in response to legal requests that can be helpful.

    Clegg also commented that data localisation will create "balkanisation" of the internet and make it unlikely that the next Facebook or Google will come from India.

    On Friday, the Supreme Court asked the government for an update on the proposed intermediary guidelines which mandate traceability for social media companies such as Facebook when content is deemed officially to have created law and order problems.

  • Big Ganga launches 4 new Bhojpuri shows

    Big Ganga launches 4 new Bhojpuri shows

    MUMBAI: Big Ganga, ZEE Entertainment Enterprise Ltd’s Bhojpuri general entertainment channel in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Purvanchal is all set to cater to the demands of its audience for original content with two hours of weekday and one hour of weekend with four new shows.

    All shows will be aired from 18 March, Monday to Friday between the time band 6 pm to 8 pm and Saturday to Sunday from 6 pm to 8 pm. All the new shows are offered to the viewers in a bid to entertain the entire family viewing during the prime time slot.

    Big Ganga business head Amarpreet Singh Saini said, “In the region we have received high demand for original content, especially amongst genres like socio-mytho and comedy, which is also is amongst the most consumed genres in the non-Bhojpuri content space as per the consumer research data. Thus we are extremely confident that through our fiction offerings we will be catering to this need gap and will once again be triumphing our core consumers’ cause.  With the backing of iconic and topical non-fiction properties, we are sure to further deepen our pride positioning amongst Bhojpuri viewers as they will now have their own original Bhojpuri Prime Time. We are very optimistic about a positive and buoyant response from our viewers.”

    On weekdays, the prime time will start with ‘Memsaab No 1’. This will be followed by the first-time launch of two Bhojpuri fiction shows for the region given the growing demand from viewers – Divya Shakti and Bagal Wali Jaan Maareli. Adding to the list will be Raag Chunavi to facilitate relaxed weekend viewing. With the channel being a prominent entity on Free Dish and other distribution networks (Airtel, D2H, Tata Sky, Dish TV), this quartet of offerings shall cater to the growing demographic of the Bhojpuri-speaking audience in the region.

    ZEEL regional hindi speaking markets cluster head Amit Shah further added, “Bhojpuri entertainment is one of the fastest growing industries in the country and being a network with one of the highest viewership in the market, it is our key focus. The market has grown exponentially in the past few years and like other regional Hindi speaking markets, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Purvanchal regions are also seeking differentiated customized regional content. We at ZEE have always set new benchmarks in national as well as regional content space. With our new launches, we aim to form a further deeper bond with our viewers by offering content that resonates with their sensibilities as well as caters to their growing aspiration. With these launches, we are not only making inroads in the region but are opening doors for many of our stakeholders as well as advertisers. We have some of the most talented names associated with these shows which have received an unprecedented viewership in this respective belt.”

    Memsaab No.1 is a reality series in the region. It will provide a status platform for women to display their skills across dance, music, games and various challenging activates to win the coveted title of being the best Memsaab of the season.

    Bagal Wali Jaan Maareli is a fun-filled ride of two neighbouring gentlemen who despite being in love with their wives, also strongly adhere to the idea of ‘love thy neighbour’s wife’. The show’s quirky humour is bound to be a success with young and old alike, given the region’s high liking for OTT.

    Divya Shakti is a socio-mythological fiction showcasing stories of the power of faith and bhakti. The show will feature topical vrats, festivals, regional spiritual figure, bhakti and miracle stories, which shall evoke a high connect amongst the viewer.

    Raag Chunavi will be a multi-talent format non-fiction show featuring the region’s best stand-up comedians, comedy poets, mimicry artists, who will take pot-shots at various election-related themes through a common man's viewpoint and pathos. It will have high traction given the topicality as well as the connect with on-ground reality of a common Indian voter.

  • Broadcasters see regional adex space growing

    Broadcasters see regional adex space growing

    MUMBAI: Now that the Hindi fervour has died down, broadcasters and advertisers have latched on to the regional segment. It's no wonder that the adex in the space is expected to grow as well.

    According to the global ad growth forecast of GroupM, India’s adex is expected to grow at 14.2 per cent compared to the global growth average of 3.9 per cent in 2019 and is likely to change. Indian adex has grown by 13.2 per cent in 2018 as per estimates by the media agency network. Moreover, according to the KPMG report 2018, regional and Hindi GECs continued to be the leading genres in terms of advertisement expenditure in FY18. However, the adex on Hindi GECs declined by 9 per cent in FY18 as compared to an increase of 5.4 per cent in adex on regional channels, outlining the overall growth of the regional market in India.

    Throwing light on the Tamil and Marathi genre, they saw a marginal decline of 2 per cent and 9 per cent respectively while other major regional languages such as Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Malayalam and Oriya, saw a growth in their contribution to the overall adex in FY18. This indicates that other regional languages are picking up quick.

    In Februrary 2018, Viacom18 entered the Tamil GEC market with the launch of Colors Tamil, with an availability across 11 million households in Tamil Nadu and 22 hours of weekly original content at launch.  

    Commenting on the same, Viacom18 head regional entertainment Ravish Kumar said that part of it could possibly be caused by the FTA channels which have come up in Hindi. The viewership has moved to them and that has led to margin dilution as opposed to margin accretion. “On the regional space, you must have seen a lot of consolidation on the top end so where the strong are getting stronger and the weak are getting weaker, more margins are analysed which normally means that the ability to command high rates are high.” He added that it is backed up with a lot of investment in formats like reality, movie premiers or events which typically tend to command higher rates.

    He further added that the growth in regional space is in double digits. Commenting on the decline in Tamil and Marathi, Kumar said that the ratings of regional channels have only increased steadily over the years and short term ups and downs are expected.

    The other factors that would aid adex growth are big ticket events such as several state elections, government advertising and cricketing events. FMCG continues to contribute 51 per cent to the total television spends followed by telecom 12 per cent and auto 8 per cent that helped reach a growth of Rs 820 crore in television adex in 2017. Hindi GECs, including FTA, contributed 28 per cent of overall television adex and Hindi is by far the largest contributor to television adex.

    As per the report, Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand said, “2018 will be a good year for adex overall. The economy has more or less come to terms with the earlier disruptions. We don’t expect any major new policy changes since it’s an election-eve year. And not to forget, the 2017 base is a depressed one. So growth will be decent.”

    Speaking about the Bengali cluster, Zee Bangla had recently refreshed its channel’s campaign by observing a wide surge in the viewership off late. Meanwhile, in an interview with Indiantelevision.com, ZEEL business head for Zee Bangla and Zee Bangla Cinema Samrat Ghosh said that in terms of ad space, it has observed a good amount of contribution to the national players as well as the local players and it sees a lot of opportunity in West Bengal in the GEC space in terms of viewership. “As I have already said that the Bengal TV viewership is growing at a CAGR of 5 per cent whereas the ad expenditure is growing at 13 per cent.”

    Adding more relevance to Ghosh’s point, ZEEL cluster head regional markets Amit Shah said that the total Bengali TV ad market is pegged at Rs 1000 crore with 90 per cent of the spends going towards Bengal GECs. “National advertisers are seeing a lot of merit in choosing Bengal for their incremental purpose where the national brand is concerned. Now, most companies divide the country into zones. According to that division, East zone in most cases is growing faster than the rest of the country which itself means that there is some good momentum in the market.”

    Whereas, in terms of Kerala market ZEEL CMO Prathyusha Agarwal said that South GECs is a larger universe with larger audience. “It actually contributes 33 per cent viewership of the network and 23 per cent of the adex share. Hence, there is scope to grow there. The total adex in the Kerala market is estimated to be Rs 650-700 crore.”

    As per the reports, with increasing focus on quality content in the regional markets, the production costs also saw an increase in FY’18. The production cost of a single original episode in the southern languages ranged between Rs 1.75-2 lakh and the acquisition price for a single ready dubbed Hindi series episode was between Rs 35,000-50,000 per episode. The proportion of local advertisers in regional channels ranges from 40-60 per cent, with the remaining being national advertisers, and this mix is skewed in favour of local advertisers for regional GECs outside the top three to four.

    Star India south business MD K Madhavan said, “The content costs saw an increase in FY18 on account of significant improvements in the quality and production value of regional content. For non-fiction properties like Big Boss Tamil, the content costs were significantly higher, an indicator of the quality that audiences are now expecting.”

    It remains to be seen what does the year 2019 have to say to the broadcasters about adex in the near future.

  • Uday Shankar sole media exec in top-100 powerful Indians list

    Uday Shankar sole media exec in top-100 powerful Indians list

    MUMBAI: Sharing the space with the likes of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mukesh Ambani and Virat Kohli is the torchbearer of the Indian broadcast sector, Star India’s Uday Shankar. Indian Express’ list of most powerful Indians has ranked him at 69, making him the sole representative of the entire broadcast industry of the country.

    Those who made the top 100 include people from various walks of life–politicians, Bollywood actors, businessmen and cricketers. In December 2017, Shankar was bumped up from the position of Star India CEO and chairman to 21st Century Fox Asia president. Taking pride in Shankar’s work, 21 Century Fox executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch and CEO James Murdoch commented, “Uday’s new role will enhance our strategic focus across all of Asia and enable us to further capture opportunities, building on the transformation Star India has driven in our most important growth market.”

    Under Shankar’s leadership, Star India has grown by leaps and bounds. In September, Star successfully won a Rs 16,347.50 crore bid for IPL’s global media rights across platforms. He also leads the company’s video business across entire Asia for both Fox and Star and is closely involved with the parent company’s key leaders, including Rupert Murdoch and his sons, on key strategic initiatives in the region.

    Holding the reigns of a global media powerhouse, Shankar has expanded Star India into regional language channels and produces close to 17,000 hours of content each year in eight languages. Shankar’s mantra for success has been to string together a group of high-calibre executives who understand the territory and carry out the work precisely.

    The network has grown into two major areas–entertainment and sports. The latter has seen the inclusion of several non-cricketing properties, thanks to Star, such as Pro Kabaddi League, Indian Super League and leagues for sports like table tennis, badminton, etc. Lately, the network has even carved a niche for itself in the OTT space with Hotstar.

    Also Read :

    Comment: The rise and rise of Uday Shankar

    Uday Shankar becomes president of 21st Century Fox, Asia

  • India Today Group’s Karnataka Panchayat On March 31

    India Today Group’s Karnataka Panchayat On March 31

    MUMBAI: Top political and business leaders, bureaucrats, technocrats, celebrities and influencers are set to come together at the India Today Group’s Karnataka Panchayat this weekend in Bengaluru to discuss the state’s political, social and economic climate ahead of the May 12assembly elections. 

    The Panchayat, scheduled for March 31, 2018 at the city’s Hotel Lalit Ashok, will have the newsmakers and decision-makers discuss a range of issues confronting the people of Karnataka.   

    WHO WILL WIN KARNATAKA? 

    The March 31 conclave will set the agenda for the upcoming elections that are likely to have a far-reaching impact on national politics. 

    Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, and party colleague Veerappa Moily will open the Panchayat with his participation in the session titled “Will Congress Retain Karnataka?” 

    The day-long event will wrap up with a session focusing on the BJP’s prospects, “Will Lotus Bloom in Karnataka”. Party chief Amit Shah will deliver his concluding address after union minister Ananth Kumar’s. 

    THE BIG KARNATAKA FACE-OFF 

    The Panchayat will bring political opposites face-to-face. 

    Union minister Prakash Javadekar and Congress leader Sachin Pilot and the BJP’s Sambit Patra versus the Congress’ Raj Babbar will debate bottom-line issues as India watches the high-stakes race for the May 12 vote.

    The Congress’ Jitin Prasada and union minister Babul Supriyo will also be participating in the Panchayat face-offs. 

    CULTURE AND IDENTITY POLITICS 

    With regional identity gaining prominence in the Karnataka campaign, speakers from a variety of sectors will exchange views in sessions titled “The Culture Wars” and “The Battle For Karnataka Pride: Whose Identity Is It Anyway”.

    Participants will include actors Prakash Raj and Prakash Belawadi, union minister Babul Supriyo and the Congress’ Khushbu Sundar among others. 

    FUTURE OF INDIA’S IT HUB 

    The Panchayat will discuss the future of IT industry in Bengaluru in the light of massive job losses in the technology sector. 

    State minister Priyank Kharge, MP Pratap Simha and Manipal Global Education chairman T.V. Mohandas Pai will present their views in this session.  

    LAW AND ORDER/ENVIRONMENT

    Security and environment experts will speak about challenges emanating from rapid urbanization of the southern state.

    IPS officer D. Roopa, former DG and IGP Shankar Bidari and Global Concerns India director Brinda Adige have confirmed participation in a session on law-and-order issues in Karnataka. 

    Urban expert R.K. Misra, Bengaluru mayor R. Sampath Raj and MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar will be among the speakers in a session titled “Garden City To Garbage City”.