ITV

Tag: Anita Basu

  • Siddhartha Basu’s ‘News Wiz’ quiz series on India Today TV

    Siddhartha Basu’s ‘News Wiz’ quiz series on India Today TV

    MUMBAI: Indian news is primarily consumed by older males 20 and above. Or at least that is the perception. And that has been a challenge for most news channel sales folks  when they have reached out to media planners and buyers to get on brands targeting a younger demographic to advertise. The latter’s rationale for their aversion has been that the generation is mostly getting its information through the web or  on social media, computers, tablets, phones or watching anything but news on TV. 

    Now India Today is taking a stab at filling that perception gap by creating a TV show that hopefully will lure  back the school going lot with a challenging and brand new television quiz show titled News Wiz. Slated to launch on 24 July, the thirteen episode long programme will be hosted by senior journalist and an ardent quiz buff himself Rajdeep Sardesai. Something along the lines of The Bournvita Quiz Contest which in its early days aired on Sunday mornings on TV. 

    With a duration of an hour, News Wiz  will air every Sunday at 11 am.

    public://rajdeep--621x414.jpg

    Produced by Anita and Siddhartha Basu of Big Synergy who brought mega quiz shows Kaun Banega Crorepati, Dus Ka Dum, Mastermind India, University Challenge, etc for television, News Wiz will have the brightest and the best informed students from 27 schools around the country competing for the title of India Today News Wiz 2016. The competitors will show off their knowledge of news and current affairs, incidents and events around the world, with each episode featuring three school teams  (two students each) being pitted against each other . The top scoring teams in the nine preliminary episodes and three semi-finals will participate in the grand finale the likes of which has never been seen before on Indian news television.

    “News is knowledge and knowledge is news. But today there is a lot of misinformation going on as there are so many mediums – TV, newspapers, magazines and most importantly internet. How do people get to know about things, particularly young people,” says Big Synergy chairman and MD Siddharth Basu.

    Adding further, “We shortlisted these 27 schools from close to 1000 entries we received. Some of the schools – around  400 – entered via an online test while the others the regular way. In the end we were down to 60 schools, and of these, after interviews and further elimination procedures, we arrived at 27. These 27 schools will now face each other.”  

    The competition is open to class IX to class XII  students. The aim:  encourage bright young minds to dig deeper and read more, going beyond the headlines, and take a shot at winning the title. Other than the title, on offer are various prizes … up for grabs but only for the best of the best.

    The teams will be provided with a phone-in helpline where they can take help on their answers from a journalist in the concerned field. Apart from that, the show will also have a web guide station where one team member can look up the answers and assist the other team member who will be attempting the question in an allotted time.

    Sardesai  is quite kicked up about anchoring News Wiz. Says he:  “It was a dream to host a quiz show. One of my proudest moment as a young school boy was winning the Bournvita Quiz Contest at the age of 12 or 13. This was with Ameen Sayani for a radio show. I am delighted to be the quizmaster on a news TV show.”

    Sardesai strongly believes that youngsters will start taking interest in news through this show. “I think that quiz shows grab the attention of school going kids and also encourage them to follow news more closely”

    While Tata Motors has come on board as the title sponsor, discussions are on with six other brands to hop on as co-presenting sponsors and associate sponsors. Among those interested include:  personal finance and new age tech gadget advertisers.

    “We couldn’t have managed to get an anchor better than Rajdeep who also has a quiz connection. He welcomes the show with his hands wide open. India Today is already the leader in this space and was keen on broadcasting this show,” adds Basu.

    A promo has been rolled out featuring Salman Khan posing a question to viewers. He will also be seen in the first episode where viewers can ask questions to the Bollywood star. 

    The channel will promote News Wiz through both traditional and non-traditional media. A massive outdoor campaign in the metros supported with a 3600 TV plan across various genres including sister channels has been drawn up.  And ads and promos will roll out in print,  theaters, and online.

    “An array of promos will mount with various celebrities throughout the series. Apart from marketing this show across our network, there will be heavy promotional campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. We have planned various marketing innovations happening on the digital front to increase interactivity with our viewers. There will be a daily quiz organised on various social media platforms and the users will be rewarded with exciting prizes,” voices TV Today VP marketing Vivek Malhotra. 

    Kudos to Basu, Sardesai and their team for finally bringing an exceptional brain twisting show back on TV!

  • Siddhartha Basu’s ‘News Wiz’ quiz series on India Today TV

    Siddhartha Basu’s ‘News Wiz’ quiz series on India Today TV

    MUMBAI: Indian news is primarily consumed by older males 20 and above. Or at least that is the perception. And that has been a challenge for most news channel sales folks  when they have reached out to media planners and buyers to get on brands targeting a younger demographic to advertise. The latter’s rationale for their aversion has been that the generation is mostly getting its information through the web or  on social media, computers, tablets, phones or watching anything but news on TV. 

    Now India Today is taking a stab at filling that perception gap by creating a TV show that hopefully will lure  back the school going lot with a challenging and brand new television quiz show titled News Wiz. Slated to launch on 24 July, the thirteen episode long programme will be hosted by senior journalist and an ardent quiz buff himself Rajdeep Sardesai. Something along the lines of The Bournvita Quiz Contest which in its early days aired on Sunday mornings on TV. 

    With a duration of an hour, News Wiz  will air every Sunday at 11 am.

    public://rajdeep--621x414.jpg

    Produced by Anita and Siddhartha Basu of Big Synergy who brought mega quiz shows Kaun Banega Crorepati, Dus Ka Dum, Mastermind India, University Challenge, etc for television, News Wiz will have the brightest and the best informed students from 27 schools around the country competing for the title of India Today News Wiz 2016. The competitors will show off their knowledge of news and current affairs, incidents and events around the world, with each episode featuring three school teams  (two students each) being pitted against each other . The top scoring teams in the nine preliminary episodes and three semi-finals will participate in the grand finale the likes of which has never been seen before on Indian news television.

    “News is knowledge and knowledge is news. But today there is a lot of misinformation going on as there are so many mediums – TV, newspapers, magazines and most importantly internet. How do people get to know about things, particularly young people,” says Big Synergy chairman and MD Siddharth Basu.

    Adding further, “We shortlisted these 27 schools from close to 1000 entries we received. Some of the schools – around  400 – entered via an online test while the others the regular way. In the end we were down to 60 schools, and of these, after interviews and further elimination procedures, we arrived at 27. These 27 schools will now face each other.”  

    The competition is open to class IX to class XII  students. The aim:  encourage bright young minds to dig deeper and read more, going beyond the headlines, and take a shot at winning the title. Other than the title, on offer are various prizes … up for grabs but only for the best of the best.

    The teams will be provided with a phone-in helpline where they can take help on their answers from a journalist in the concerned field. Apart from that, the show will also have a web guide station where one team member can look up the answers and assist the other team member who will be attempting the question in an allotted time.

    Sardesai  is quite kicked up about anchoring News Wiz. Says he:  “It was a dream to host a quiz show. One of my proudest moment as a young school boy was winning the Bournvita Quiz Contest at the age of 12 or 13. This was with Ameen Sayani for a radio show. I am delighted to be the quizmaster on a news TV show.”

    Sardesai strongly believes that youngsters will start taking interest in news through this show. “I think that quiz shows grab the attention of school going kids and also encourage them to follow news more closely”

    While Tata Motors has come on board as the title sponsor, discussions are on with six other brands to hop on as co-presenting sponsors and associate sponsors. Among those interested include:  personal finance and new age tech gadget advertisers.

    “We couldn’t have managed to get an anchor better than Rajdeep who also has a quiz connection. He welcomes the show with his hands wide open. India Today is already the leader in this space and was keen on broadcasting this show,” adds Basu.

    A promo has been rolled out featuring Salman Khan posing a question to viewers. He will also be seen in the first episode where viewers can ask questions to the Bollywood star. 

    The channel will promote News Wiz through both traditional and non-traditional media. A massive outdoor campaign in the metros supported with a 3600 TV plan across various genres including sister channels has been drawn up.  And ads and promos will roll out in print,  theaters, and online.

    “An array of promos will mount with various celebrities throughout the series. Apart from marketing this show across our network, there will be heavy promotional campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. We have planned various marketing innovations happening on the digital front to increase interactivity with our viewers. There will be a daily quiz organised on various social media platforms and the users will be rewarded with exciting prizes,” voices TV Today VP marketing Vivek Malhotra. 

    Kudos to Basu, Sardesai and their team for finally bringing an exceptional brain twisting show back on TV!

  • International Emmy Awards judging held in Mumbai

    International Emmy Awards judging held in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Judging is not an easy task and especially when it is for the International Emmy Awards which are considered as the Oscars of the television world.

    Indiantelevision.com founder Anil Wanvari once again – for the ninth year – hosted the semi-final judging round of The International Emmy Awards for the New York-based International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. A bevy of Indian television professionals – 12 of them from both on screen and off screen – descended on to the Raheja Classique Club, in the Andheri suburb of Mumbai on 23 August to decide which of the entries – from two categories, comedy and telenovellas – would get into the final round of the International Emmy Awards 2013. The International Emmys had a healthy response from television content creators and broadcasters world wide with more than 1000 entries pouring in, but the Mumbai leg of judging saw seven entries for comedy and four entries for telenovelas being judged.

    The jury comprised of producers, directors, actors and writers. The ones judging comedy were: Anita Basu, Amit Aaryan, Harshad Joshi, Prabal Baruah and Divyanka Tripathi. On the other hand, Meghna Malik, Ashka Goradia, Shruti Ulfat, Rajan Shahi, Yash Patnaik and Sudhir Sharma were judging the telenovela category.

    Founded in 1969, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences promotes excellence in international television programming. With more than 700 members from 50 companies in the media and entertainment space in 500 countries, it is the International Emmy Awards are the premier recognition for those involved in content creation in television, internet, and mobile.

    “It is always a pleasure to have India as a part of our judging which is taking place in more than 20 countries worldwide this year,” says The International Emmy judging director Nathaniel Brendel. “And we are delighted to have indiantelevision.com and Anil Wanvari as our hosting partner, like we have done for so many years.”

    “The International Emmys is a recognition producers and broadcasters and creators globally aspire for,” says Wanvari. “By hosting the judging we continue the very good relationship we have with the International Academy and we also become a part of a global initiative. This apart, it gives me and my company a good opportunity to give the Indian creative and production community exposure to the best in global content. We are grateful to the Academy.”

    After the first round of shortlisting and filtration, six to seven entries for each category make it to the semi-final round. Following this, the entries are posted online for final jurors to decide on the final nominees and winners. The main two criteria of judging are content and execution. Indian industry professionals were more than happy with Wanvari’s initiative to host the judging and on being called to do International Emmy jury duty.

    Says comedy juror Big Synergy director / producer Anita Basu: “This is my third year with the International Emmy, and it is a fantastic experience to see a lot of rich and good content and be exposed to a lot of innovative content outside India.

    ”Telenovela juror and Beyond Dreams Entertainment producer & creative director Yash Patnaik says being on the jury is a time for him to get away and chill on the best of international content. “Judging the International Emmys is a wonderful experience. This is my second year with Emmy and we get to see a lot of good content and you get to know what kind of effort they put in. Their style of working is very different from ours. The storytelling, cameras, scale is different.”

    “It is always very good and educational to come and watch different programs and this time it is the international platform and watching good shows from all over the world. The telenovelas are brilliant and it’s a good experience and you get to see good work and good content of international quality,” says director and producer Rajan Shahi.

    “It was a very different experience judging the telenovela category,” says respected actor Meghna Mallick. “The entries were of a very high order, and a couple of them, well they blew me away.”

    What surprised the jurors was the absence of entries from India in the categories they were judging. Say Brendel: “The fact is Indians would not get not judge entries from India; they would be judged elsewhere. Going by the huge production base India has entries can only go up, I believe that Indian producers should compete in the International Emmys because it is the only way that their shows can be judged and be seen by the best producers, networks. These may then be interested in buying their shows.”

    Agrees Patnaik says: “Yes of course Indian shows should compete, because there is a lot of original content in India. Our programs are quiet popular in the US and UK and we have Indian audience everywhere. It will be good refreshing change for them to see Indian content which are original and go beyond self-zone.”

    Anita Basu chips in: “Production and technical wise we are much ahead and there is a lot of good content here. We are way ahead of the curve, and I think we need to make an effort to represent ourselves in a very big platform like the Emmy awards.”

    “There are two reasons why we don’t see Indian entries in Emmys is a lack of information and I think Indian television industry is still evolving. And you never know maybe next year we will see entries from here as well. Indian content is improving every year so we definitely stand a chance to showcase out talent in the international platform,” adds Sharma.

    The gala event is slated to take place on 25 November in New York. The next competition will start early this December and the deadline is till February 2014 to submit their shows.

  • Anil Ambani plans foray into TV channel business

    Anil Ambani plans foray into TV channel business

    MUMBAI: Anil Ambani is planning to make an entry into the broadcasting business, the final piece in the media chain where he had so far stayed out.

    On his radar is the launch of an entertainment business channel through Adlabs Films, the listed company where he acquired a majority stake in mid-2005.
    “We are considering it and have given the proposal for the launch of an entertainment business channel. But the board has to approve of it,” Adlabs chairman and managing director Manmohan Shetty tells Indiantelevision.com.

    The idea is to capitalise on the contacts that Shetty has with the film industry and synergise content with Adlabs’ film production business. The channel would also provide information on the gross earnings from box office collections and other financial data.

    Shetty, however, did not wish to talk on the content front, saying “it was too early to talk about anything” till the go-ahead signal was given for launching the channel.

    Adlabs already has a presence in film processing, production and distribution business. The company is also stepping into TV content production and has bought out majority stake in Siddharth and Anita Basu’s production house Synergy Communications Pvt Ltd. Ambani has ventured into the FM radio sector with aggressive bids for stations.

    “The acquisition process is not completed yet. We would be pumping money into the content business after that. We will be making content for other TV channels through this company,” says Shetty. Synergy has produced popular shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati or KBC (an Indian version of the popular western game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire) for Star and Jhalak Dikhla Jaa (a local adaption of Dancing With The Stars) for Sony.

    Adlabs has ambitious plans for animation. In the pipeline is a 3D feature film, Superstar, with Southern actor Rajnikanth’s Ochre Studios which is slated for release in April 2008. The second animation project is a feature based on the characters Gini & Jony, who represent one of the top brands in children apparel in India.

    “The first film will cost Rs 310 million and we will have a worldwide release. We haven’t finalised the budget for the second film as we are not ready with the script yet,” says Shetty.

    Rounding up the media cycle will be the foray into the broadcasting space. Ambani has already announced his plans for IPTV and a direct-to-home (DTH) service.

  • Adlabs Films finds Synergy in equity deal

    MUMBAI: The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)-backed Adlabs Films is set to formally make a foray into the television business.

    According to capital market sources, Adlabs Films is poised to pick up a sizeable equity stake in Siddharth and Anita Basu’s production house Synergy Communications Pvt Ltd.

    Sources close to the development, however, said that it is still not clear whether the stake being picked up is 51 per cent or higher.
    While Adlabs expressed ignorance of the deal when contacted by Indiantelevision.com, Synergy Communications refused to entertain any query on the issue.

    However, market sources said that a valuation of Synergy Communications has been pegged between Rs 470 million to Rs 500 million.

    The scrip of Adlabs Films Ltd closed on 6 September at Rs 332.10 after opening at Rs 332 on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The scrip reached an intra-day high of Rs 337.50, probably riding on the information of its radio division slated to roll-out FM operations in about four to six weeks time.

    It must be reiterated here that Adlabs Films CMD Manmohan Shetty had earlier confirmed to Indiantelevision.com that the company was looking at taking a controlling equity stake in a production house.

    Though Shetty had refused to divulge any names at that time, he had admitted, “All that I can say is that it (the targeted production house) is not a listed company and produces three to four shows with a good balance sheet.”
    Adlabs has been funding a few TV production companies and has chalked out eight projects with various producers who will be making programmes for TV channels.

    Synergy Communications, producers of Kaun Banega Crorepati or KBC (an Indian version of the popular western game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire), is presently working on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa (a local adaption of Dancing With The Stars) for Sony.

    KBC, hosted by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, first started airing in 2000 on Star Plus and created such a national hysteria that it changed the fortunes of Star India and put it in a leadership position that’s still being maintained.

    Synergy was started by ace quizmaster Basu and his wife after the gentleman became a household name in India by hosting the very popular Quiz Time on Doordarshan in the pre-cable television days.