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Tag: Ashok Venkatramani

  • News channels on road to slow recovery

    News channels on road to slow recovery

    NEW DELHI: Stung by high costs, shrinkage in the genre share and a slowdown in the economy, news channels have had a tough year. Expansion plans were shelved, the workforce was trimmed and operations were rationalised.

    The TV news industry is now beginning to show early signs of recovery as the economy is improving. “The ad volumes are coming back. It is a matter of time when the rates will also come back,” said Star News CEO Ashok Venkatramani.

    Still, news channels are far from being out of trouble. “One of the problems is that broadcasting is looked upon independently as a separate sector whereas it should include distribution. The total industry gets approximately Rs 300-350 billion. We hope to get our share of the distribution pie. The need is for a more addressable system,” said NDTV Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao.

    Agreed TV Today executive director and CEO G Krishnan, “About Rs 150 billion resides with the last mile. We want a share of that.”

    The challenge for news broadcasters is also to retain eyeballs at a time when events are absent. Though the total news audience grew 11 per cent in 2009, the time spent on news channels has fallen.

    “In 2009, there were lesser events. Regional news channels were eating into Hindi news. The viewership for English news channels has, however, grown,” said Tam Media Research CEO LV Krishnan, while speaking at the News Television (NT) Summit.

    The session on ‘Reality dawns in the news business’ was moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder and Editor-in-Chief Anil Wanvari.

    News channels, particularly in the Hindi space, are facing competition from general entertainment channels. The hard task cut out for news broadcasters is to have newsy as well as entertaining content in the mix.

    LV Krishnan said audiences don’t always accept frivolous content. “Social issues and science and technology work in smaller towns. Politics and astrology content work in metro markets,” he said.

    G Krishnan dismissed charges of weak newsy content on news channels. “About 65 per cent of content on news channels is pure news. Not more than 35 per cent is entertaining content,” he said.

    He blamed the government for interfering with pricing. “The content can’t improve because we are dominantly dependent on advertising revenues. Allow free market to take place,” he added.

    Den president SN Sharma said many new channels have been launched without a proper understanding of the distribution costs that they have to cough out to cable TV operators.

    P7 News director Jyoti Narain said news is coming back to news channels, while Sahara Media India CEO and Editor-in-Chief Sanjeev Srivastava raised the question of how news channels could arrive at an agreement on sharing infrastructure for news gathering.

    Associated Broadcasting Company Ltd (TV9) VP operations NVN Murthy said the regional space was on a growth trajectory and his company posted a 35 per cent growth even during the downturn phase.

  • Ashok Venkatramani joins MCCS as CEO

    Ashok Venkatramani joins MCCS as CEO

    NEW DELHI: Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS), the joint venture company between ABP Ltd and Star Group, has appointed Ashok Venkatramani as CEO.

    Venkataramani comes in from Hindustan Unilever Ltd, where he was VP for the skin care division.

    MCCS which houses Star News, Star Majha and Star Ananda was operating headless for almost a year after Uday Shankar shifted to Star India as COO (he later became CEO).

    MCCS Chairman Aveek Sarkar said, “We are delighted to get Ashok on board MCCS. His remarkable successes in FMCG marketing and business clearly demonstrate that Ashok has an acute sense of the consumer pulse.”

    Venkatramani said, “Television is an extremely exciting medium for a marketing person, offering as it does the opportunity to connect with the audience directly and at several levels in the same space and moment.

    “It allows for more nuanced communication, which is a marketing person’s delight. At the same time, with so many channels proliferating, it is a challenging task to keep ahead of the market as MCCS has successfully done, while driving revenues and growing profitably.” 

    Venkatramani has been working for HUL for more than 18 years. He has worked in most parts of the business, in the HUL foods division as well as the home and personal care businesses, in sales, marketing and general management role.

  • Investors In Cricket joins forces with DD, Zee, Miditech for cricket based reality show

    Investors In Cricket joins forces with DD, Zee, Miditech for cricket based reality show

    MUMBAI: With new sports channels coming in it is inevitable that new formats will also come in. One such format is a cricket based reality show called Cricket Star.

    This is an initiative to find a budding cricket star who has been bypassed by the system. The idea is the brainchild of Investors In Cricket (IIC) a firm that looks at sports rights relevant to the Asian subcontinent. This will be in the form of a reality hunt and will air as a television event for 11 weeks from 14 January 2007 on DD and Zee. DD and Zee Sports will each week simulcast three episodes. Zee TV will air an episode each week.Miditech has been roped in to produce the show. Airtel and HLL are the presenting sponsors. Aspiring cricketers can apply by calling 5052727 from GSM mobiles, 1277777 from MTNL landlines or 1255527 from MTNL and BSNL. One can also send an SMS CSTAR to 7575.

    Eight selection centres are open and one has to showcase one’s skills there, whether it is batting, bowling or wicket keeping. From there the chosen ones go to a pre academy phase. Finally 23 contestants will go to the Academy. There will be a countdown and thus an elimination process to find the winner.

    The channel has roped in Kapil Dev and Saurav Ganguly as judges. The flamboyant Ajay Jadeja will be the expert analyst. IIC chairman Manoj Badale points out that after the event in India is finished it will travel abroad to the UK and Pakistan among other countries. “This marks the first time a cricket based reality show is launching in India. This marks the first time a reality show that has originated from India travels abroad. Normally it is the other way around.

    This idea has taken a while to put together. We wanted the best possible reach, which is why we approached DD and Zee. DD as the national broadcaster can reach the small towns. Zee with its multi lingual channels will also help get the message across.”

    The winner gets an all expenses paid contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club and cash. The final 11 contestants will also get a chance to participate in the rollout of Cricket Star in the UK next Summer and in Pakistan. Also, Cricket Star aspirants will play a series of 20:20 matches.These will air on Zee Sports.

    When the 23 chosen contestants enter the cricket Star Academy each week the judges will nominate the four bottom performers out of whom two will be evicted by the participants., When it is down to the final 11 viewers will be able to vote by phone or through SMS. The final episode airs at the end of March 2007.

    Miditech CEO Nikhil Alva points out that the challenge begins from today as the lines are now open. Whether or not it is as big as Indian Idol will depend on the response. “We are confident that with our previous experience we will be able to handle the logistics of the event. There will certainly be drama as viewers get to know the human side of the candidates in addition to their cricketing abilities.

    Zee Sports business head Himanshu Mody says that this is the first time a format has brought cricket and television together in an entertaining manner. “We aim to find the hidden wonders in India’s villages and towns And showcase them to the country along with their travails and struggles. At Zee Sports it has always been about showcasing sports and sportspersons from India. As they say may the best man or woman win.”

    Jadeja says that more than just a show this will also be a coaching platform for aspirants. Kapil Dev and Ganguly will offer advice to aspirants on how to improve their skills.

    Ganguly sees this endeavour as a way to give back to the game for the opportunities it has given him. Dev says that every youngster who is passionate about the game should at least be given an opportunity. It should not be that a youngster feels that he/she could have made it but an opportunity was not given.

    Airtel marketing director Gopal Vittal says, “In India cricket and Bollywood share a passion that cuts across geographies, cultures and religions. Today every street, nukkad or galli in this country has an enthusiastic budding cricketer waiting for an opportunity to perform on a bigger stage. Cricket Star offers them an opportunity to perform at the highest level.”

    HLL is involved through its product Faior And Lovely Mens Active. HLL VP Skin Care Ashok Venkatramani says, ” Our product has already changed the story of male gooming in India. This association will catch the fancy of every male in India who aspires to get that opportunity to see themselves as the next Cricket Star.

    This is our contribution to Indian cricket and we are certain that this will help discover the Sachin’s Dhoni’s, Pathan’s Sehwags etc. Our support is a sure way of changing the story of Indian cricket and taking it to greater heights of glory.