Tag: Asianet

With Newsfast acquisition, Asianet may become dominant regional video news destination

MUMBAI: Asianet News Network group’s digital news media reach now spans four southern languages and English with the acquisition of Newsfast, a leading Tamil digital news platform.

With regional being the growth driver for digital news, Newsfast, though a relative newbie in the space, has been a strong challenger to many of Tamil’s established legacy news brands. Claiming over a million unique visitors, that site is recognised for breaking news especially in the context of the recent volatility in Tamil Nadu’s politics.

A leader in Malayalam and Kannada with www.asianetnews.tv and www.suvarnanews.tv, Asianet News Digital also recently launched www.telugu.asianetnews.tv

Asianet News Digital chief operating officer Anoop N said “Asianet has been focusing on creating a compelling digital video news platform that addresses the underserved south through its respective local languages and technology innovations in video and content distribution.”

Renowned TV journalist and Newsfast founder Mathivanan M said: “As a part of Asianet, we will now have access to a wider audience base and a stronger technology platform.”

Through this acquisition, Asianet News network gets a headstart in the competitive Tamil digital news space. The network now has the ability to leverage the new Tamil news entity to further enhance the content stream in www.newsable.com, its English digital video platform. Newsable recently inducted senior journalist and Firstpost co-founder Lakshmi Chaudhry as an editorial advisor.

Chaudhry said: “Asianet’s strong brand credibility and presence across the four southern states with strong regional teams and deep regional insights, provides us the edge to source and deliver content like none other.”

According to a recent industry report, Tamil (language) has the highest internet adoption amongst regional languages and the Tamil audience is also the most engaged on content with over one-third of them accessing news content online and most of them on mobile devices.

“For brands that work with us, this multi-platform reach across broadcast, print and digital offers a significant opportunity to influence the southern markets,” added Anoop.

“It allows us to craft digital-first solutions with deep regional relevance, supporting brands that want to look at vernacular markets as the next driver for brand expansion and growth. With the very mature Tamil market now in our scope, the opportunity to disrupt with superior content delivery is significant,” he concluded.

September 1, 2017
Vivo sponsors Anand TV Awards on Star India’s Asianet on Sun

BENGALURU: Star India’s Malayalam flagship GEC will air the second European Malayalam film award – Anand TV Film Awards 2017 on Sunday, 13 August, between 1830 and 2230 hours. The awards were distributed in a glittering function held recently at O2, Apollo, Manchester, UK. Several prominent persons from the film industry and socio-cultural spheres were present on the occasion says the channel.

The on-air event is powered by mobile band Vivo. Asianet has roped in Mr. White Shirts, Enchanter, Janson Dothies, Bima Jewellers, Unibic Cookies, Big Bazzar, Jockey, and Josco Jewelers as sponsors.

Amongst the film actors felicitated included Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor. Cine artistes such as Anusree, Aparna Balamurali Suraj Venjaramoodu Nobi Dharmajan Thesni Khan M G Sreekumar Sreya Jayadeep Shan Rehman entertained the viewers numbering in thousands, claims an Asianet press release.

Malayalam film Action Hero Biju won the award for the best film. Vaishak won the award for the best director for the movie Pulimurugan. Nivin Pauly won the best actor award for his role in Action Hero Biju and Jacobinte Swargarajyam and Manju Warrier was awarded the best female actress for the film Vetta & Karikunnam Six’s . Bhavana was on hand to collect the popular actress award for her outstanding performance in various movies.

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Asianet to air European Malayalam Anand TV Film awards 17 July

Sun Network channels rule ratings in south India

Malayalam KBC ‘Ningalkkum Aakam Kodeeswaran’ S4 on Asianet

August 10, 2017
Sun Network, Star India rule channels and programmes ratings in South India

The Sun Network’s channels were the most watched channels across the four South Indian languages for the first eight weeks of 2017 (Saturday, 30 December 2016 to Friday 24 February 2017).

This paper must be read with a caveat: It deals only with the players present in BARC’s top 5 lists of channels per week and programmes per week for each language. The sums/percentages of other genres/players’ ratings or Impressions (000s) Sums other than those indicated in BARC’s top 10 lists of channels and programmes have not been considered/mentioned in this paper during the period under consideration and those numbers could be more/higher. Further, Combined Total Impressions mentioned in this paper means the sum of all the Impressions (000s) Sums for all the weeks under consideration of a network, channel and/or programme/s.

Statistical analysis of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data for Top 5 Channels for the four South Indian regional channels shows that 8 Networks/affiliates/channels represented by their respective channels across the four South Indian languages shared the top five positions per week for the first eight weeks of 2017. The four languages are Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Channels such as ETV have been included in the Network 18 network by the author.

BARC data that has been referred to inthis paper is for weeks 1 to 8 of 2017 is (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals for the following markets: Karnataka; Kerala; Tamil Nadu/ Puducherry; and AP/ Telangana

If all the channels of a network were present in the top 5 channels list for each of the four languages, that network’s frequency of appearance in the list would be 160 for the first 8 weeks of 2017 period. In order of frequency of presence of their respective channels in the top 5 lists and the total weekly impressions across all the eight weeks of the four main networks were:

(1) The Sun Network (frequency 59, Combined Weekly Impressions 1,89,24,315 (000s) Sums). The Sun Network’s television channels in all the four Southern markets found a place in the top 5 lists for weeks 1 to 8 of 2017.

(2) Star India (frequency 37,Combined Weekly Impressions 94,10,831 (000s) Sums). Star India’s television channels in all the four Southern markets found a place in the top 5 lists for weeks 1 to 8 of 2017.

(3) Zeel(Frequency 24, Combined Weekly Impressions 70,47,165(000s) Sums). Zeel’s television channels in three of the four Southern markets found a place in the top 5 lists for weeks 1 to 8 of 2017. Its channels were absent from the lists for the Kerala market

(4) Network 18 (frequency 16, Combined Weekly Impressions 59,16,540 (000s) Sums). Network 18’s television channels in two of the four Southern markets found a place in the top 5 lists for weeks 1 to 8 of 2017. Its channels were absent from the lists for the Kerala market.

The other networks whose channels found a place in the top 5 lists for weeks 1 to 8 of 2017 wereMalayalaManorama (Kerala market); Flowers TV (Kerala market); Polimer(TN/ Puducherry market); Jaya TV (TN/ Puducherry market).

The Sun Network’s and Star India’s channels were present in all of the Top 5 channels list across the four languages for all the first 8 weeks of 2017.

Top 5 programmes during Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs)

Only the programmes by channels of the top four networks were The top 5 programmes list across all the four languages/markets. BARC data that has been referred to in this paper is for weeks 1 to 8 of 2017 (U+R) : NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals for the following markets: Karnataka; Kerala; Tamil Nadu/ Puducherry; and AP/ Telangana.

While the frequency of presence in the top 5 lists of programmes was highest in the case of Star India channels (frequency 60, Combined Weekly Impressions 3,31,289 (000s) Sums), the Sun Network channels (frequency 43, Combined Weekly Impressions 5,21,763 (000s) Sums) programmes garnered much higher viewership.

The Sun Network channels found a place in the top 5 programmes lists in three languages – Tamil (Frequency 40, Combined Weekly Impressions 502758 (000s) Sums Telugu (Frequency 2, Combined Weekly Impressions 14036 (000s) Sums and Kannada (Frequency 1, Combined Weekly Impressions 4969 (000s) Sums) during the period under consideration in this paper.

Star India channels programmes also found a place in the top 5 programmes lists for three languages – Malayalam (Frequency 40, Combined Weekly Impressions 2,09,083 (000s) Sums); Telugu (Frequency 18, Combined Weekly Impressions 1,14,637 (000s) Sums and the Kannada market (frequency 2, Combined Weekly Impressions 7,569 (000s) Sums).

Network 18 channels programmes found a place in the top 5 lists in 2 languages – Kannada (Frequency 28, Combined Weekly Impressions 1,43,113 (000s) Sums) and Telugu (Frequency 10, Combined Weekly Impressions 62,796 (000s) Sums).

Zeel channels programmes also found a place in the top 5 lists in 2 languages Telugu(Frequency 10, Combined Weekly Impressions 63,147 (000s) Sums) and Kannada (Frequency 9, Combined Weekly Impressions 38135 (000s) Sums).

Tamil Nadu/ Puducherry (Tamil) market top channels

The Sun Network’s Sun TV is numerouno in this market, as well as across all television genres and markets in India, period!

The Tamil market had four channels from three networks in the first four positions for all the first eight weeks of 2017. The Sun Network’s Sun TV and KTV, Zeel’s Zee Tamil and Star India’s Star Vijay.

In the Tamil market, Sun TV found the first place eight times out of eight with Combined Weekly Impressions of 85,46,618 (000s) Sums. During the eight weeks under consideration in this paper, its KTV channel was number 2 most watched channel for 7 weeks with Combined Weekly Impressions of 20,47,381 (000s) Sums. In week 3, the number three Tamil player –Zee Tamil had second place.

Zee Tamil was the third most watched channel in the Tamil space for seven of the eight weeks with Combined Weekly Impressions of 18,56,448 (000s)Sums, except as mentioned above – it was at number two position in week 3 of 2017.

Star Vijay was the fourth most watched channel in the Tamil language TV space with Combined Weekly Impressions of 16,47,623 (000s)Sums during all the first 8 weeks of 2017.

Polimer’sPolimer TV was the fifth most watched Tamil language TV space with a frequency of 4 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 3,25,149 (000s)Sums, while its Polimer News was the seventh most watched Tamil language TV space with a frequency of 2 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 1,92,213 (000s)Sums in weeks 1 to 8 of 2017.

The sixth most watched Tamil channel during weeks 1 to 8 was Jaya TV with a frequency of 2 and Combined Total Impressions of 2,40,799 (000s) Sums.

Tamil Nadu/ Puducherry (Tamil) market top programmes

Eight of the Sun TV’s programmes and two film telecasts grabbed all the five top spots during all the first eight weeks of 2017. The eight top programs in the Tamil TV space that had a combined frequency of 37 out of a possible 40 have been listed below:

The other three slots were taken by three films broadcast by Sun TV on Sunday in weeks 1, 3 and 5 of 2017. DeivaMagal had the highest primetime viewership during all the first eight weeks of 2017.

AP/ Telangana (Telugu)market top channels

The Telugu market also was dominated by the Sun Network’s channels. The two channels of the network had a frequency of 8 in the top 5 channels list for the Telugu market and the Sun Network had Combined Weekly Impressions of 52,80,885 (000s) Sums. Its Gemini TV was the most watched channel during all the weeks under consideration in this paper.

Gemini TV had a frequency of 8 in the top 5 channels list with Combined Weekly Impressions of 40,16,489 (000s) Sums. Zee Telugu was the second most watched channel during these first eight weeks of 2017 with a frequency of 8 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 3384804 (000s) Sums.

Network 18’s ETV Telugu was the third most watched channel in weeks 1 to 8 of 2017, also with a frequency of 8 in the top 5 channels lists for the Telugu market and Combined Weekly Impressions of 33,65,528 (000s) Sums. Star India’s Maa TV/Star Maa was the fourth most watched channel in the AP/ Telangana market with a frequency of 8 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 32,75,864 (000s) Impressions.

The fifth most watched Telugu channel during weeks 1 to 8 of 2017 was the Sun Network’s Gemini Movies with a frequency of 8 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 13,12,922 (000s) Sums.
AP/ Telangana (Telugu)market top programmes

KumkumaPuvvu, (means Saffron) the Telugu edition of the 785 episode Malayalam soap opera Kumkumapoovu on Star India’s Maa TV/ Star Maa was the most watched primetime programme during weeks 1 to 8 of 2017. The programme had a frequency of 8 in the top 5 programmes list during the period under consideration in the paper with Combined Weekly Impressions of 52,561 (000s) Sums. Though KumkumaPuvvuwas ranked first in terms of Weekly Impressions only during weeks 1, 2, 5 and 8 of 2017, the sum of its weekly impressions for weeks 1 to 8 was more than any other programme in this space.

Of the possible 40 slots in five weeks, 37 were shared by Television Programmes, while the remaining three slots were shared by movies – one aired by the Star Network and two aired by Gemini TV.

Please refer to the figure below for the top nine Telugu programs during weeks 1 to 8 of 2017.

Zee Telugu’s story of two strong willed women – MuddaMandaram was the second most watched Telugu programme in the first eight weeks of 2017 with Combined Weekly Impressions of 51,560 (000s) Sums and a frequency of 8 in the top 5 Telugu programmes.

Karnataka (Kannada) market top channels

Five Kannada channels were in the top 5 Kannada channels list during the first 8 weeks of 2017. The channels ranks remained unchanged during all the first eight weeks of 2017. The frequency of each channel was 8. Network 18’s Colors Kannada was ranked number one with Combined Weekly Impressions of 25,51,012 (000s) Sums, followed by Zeel’s Zee Kannada with 18,05,913 (000s) Sums.

Star India’s Star Suvarna with 15,30,643 (000s) Sums was the third most watched Kannada channel in weeks 1 to 8 of 2017.

Two of the Sun Network’s channels – Udaya Movies and Udaya TV were ranked fourth and fifth with Combined Weekly Impressions of 12,05,222 (000s) Sums and 9,36,342 (000s) Sums respectively. If one were to combine the viewership of these two channels, then the Sun Network would be the second most watched Kannada television network during the first eight weeks of 2017 with Combined Weekly Impressions of 21, 41,564 (000s) Sums.
Karnataka (Kannada) market top programmes

Colors Kannada’s daily soap PuttaGowriMaduve that chronicles the journey of child bride from the brink of childhood to womanhood was the most watched Kannada programme during the first 8 weeks of 2017. The programme was ranked first during all the first eight weeks of 2017 with Combined Weekly Impressions of 53,098 (000s) Sums.
Also from the Colors Kannada stable, Lakshmi Baaramma was the second most watch Kannada programme in weeks 1 to 8 of 2017 with Combined Weekly Impressions and a frequency of 8 in the top 5 Kannada programmes list.

Please refer to the figure below for the top Kannada Programs in weeks 1 to 8.

Of the possible 40 top 5 program lists during weeks 1 to 8 of 2017, 38 were shared by television programmes, while two were shared by films.

Kerala (Malayalam) market top channels

Star India’s Asianet ruled the Malayalam television space during the first eight weeks of 2017. The channel was ranked first in terms of Weekly Impressions during all the eight weeks. It has Combined Weekly Impressions of 26,25,543 (000s) Sums. MalayalaManorama’s GEC MazhavilManorama also found itself in the top 5 channels list eight times with Combined Weekly Impressions of 6,81,232 (000s) Sums.

The Sun Networks Malayalam channel Surya TV also had a frequency of 8 was the third most watched Malayalam channel with Combined Weekly Impressions of 6,60,045 (000s) Sums. Flowers TV came in fourth with frequency of 8 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 5,77,569 (000s) Sums.

Star India’s Asianet Movies was fifth with a frequency of 5 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 3,31,158 (000s) Sums. The Sun Network’s second Malayalam channel – Kiran TV found itself in the top 5 channels list thrice during the first eight weeks of 2015 with Combined Weekly Impressions of 1,99,296 (000s) Sums.

Kerala (Malayalam) market top programmes

In the case of top 5 programmes for a week, it was Aisanet programmes that were amongst the top 5 ranks during all the first 8 weeks of2017. Parasparam, the daily family soap that completed 1070 episodes in end January 2017 was the most watched Malayalam programme during the first eight weeks of the year with a frequency of 8 and Combined Weekly Impressions of 50,100 (000s) Sums. Parasparamwas the most watched programme for three of the eight weeks of 2016 and the second most watched program for five of the eight weeks of the year.

Chandanamazha, a series about the trials and tribulations of two sisters who marry into the same family was the second most watched Malayalam programme during the first eight weeks of 2017 with Combined Weekly Impressions of 49,972 (000s) Sums.

Please refer to the figure below for the list of the Top Malayalam programs in weeks 1 to 8 of 2017.

Of the forty possible slots among the top five primetime programmes per week during the eight weeks under consideration in this paper, four were one off awards, while 36 spots were held by the channels regular programmes.

Conclusion

There is no denying the fact that the Sun Network’s Sun TV was the most watched channel across genres and languages in India, as is evident from BARC’s list of top 10 channels Across Genre: All India (U+R): 2+ individuals as well as BARC data for the TN/ Puducherry market. It dominated the channel viewership in two of the largest media and entertainment (M&E) centres in the country with two channels each in the Tamil and the Telugu space through Sun TV, KTV and Gemini TV, Gemini Movies respectively. Two each of its channels were also among the lower top 5 in the smaller Kannada and Malayalam markets.

On the programme front, the Sun Network’s programmes were the only ones that made it to the top 5 Tamil programmes list during all the first eight weeks of 2017. However, in the other three South Indian markets, ratings performance of its programmes was sketchy.

Though the Star Network’s Combined Weekly Ratings in the four South Indianmarkets were a little more than half of the Sun Networks, the programmes of its respective channels dominated the Telugu and the Malayalam markets.

Zeel’s South Indian channels were a mixed bag and surprisingly the gap between its Combined Weekly Insertions and those the Star India South Indian channels was not large, considering the fact that its channels operate in only three South Indian markets as compared to the four markets that Star India operates in.

Network 18 has channels in only two of the four South Indian markets. Its channels and programmes have dominated the Kannada market, and its programmes Combined Weekly Impressions were not too far behind the second largest player in the Telugu market – Zee Telugu.

The other networks/channels that were present in the top five channels list for each of the markets can be consideredas work in progress before they begin to challengethe four major networks and their respective channels.

March 6, 2017
Malayalam KBC ‘Ningalkkum Aakam Kodeeswaran’ S4 on Asianet

BENGALURU: Star India’s Malayalam GEC Asianet is all set to start airing season 4 of the Malayalam version of the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? or Ningalkkum Aakam Kodeeswaran (NAK) from 9 January 2016 onward at the 930 pm primetime slot from Monday to Thursday. The one hour show will be anchored once again by Mollywood anchor Suresh Gopi. Asianet and Big Synergy Media Limited are the show producers.

NAK replaces two thirty minute fiction shows Kavacham and Vellanakalude Nadu. The channel has roped in Nestle India Limited’s coated wafer brand Munch as title sponsor and is powered by Vivo phones. NAK season 4 will be co-presented by realty player Asset Homes; Jewellery brands Josco, Chungath; and Ayurmix.

The game show will test the competence of the participants in general knowledge, current affairs and all the major fields of knowledge. The preliminary round had participants vying for opportunity to attend the phone-in, written test and interview. The finalists can join the anchor in the hot seat and try their luck in the 15 rounds of the game. Like last year, the prize money for a contestant who successfully answers all the 15 questions is Rs one crore.

The finalists play a ‘Fastest Finger First’ round to make it to the main game. From there on, they play rounds with increasing levels of difficulty, and winning higher amounts of money, culminating in the Rs one crore prize. Contestants can stop at any time after having viewed the next question.

December 29, 2016
Malayalam KBC ‘Ningalkkum Aakam Kodeeswaran’ S4 on Asianet

BENGALURU: Star India’s Malayalam GEC Asianet is all set to start airing season 4 of the Malayalam version of the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? or Ningalkkum Aakam Kodeeswaran (NAK) from 9 January 2016 onward at the 930 pm primetime slot from Monday to Thursday. The one hour show will be anchored once again by Mollywood anchor Suresh Gopi. Asianet and Big Synergy Media Limited are the show producers.

NAK replaces two thirty minute fiction shows Kavacham and Vellanakalude Nadu. The channel has roped in Nestle India Limited’s coated wafer brand Munch as title sponsor and is powered by Vivo phones. NAK season 4 will be co-presented by realty player Asset Homes; Jewellery brands Josco, Chungath; and Ayurmix.

The game show will test the competence of the participants in general knowledge, current affairs and all the major fields of knowledge. The preliminary round had participants vying for opportunity to attend the phone-in, written test and interview. The finalists can join the anchor in the hot seat and try their luck in the 15 rounds of the game. Like last year, the prize money for a contestant who successfully answers all the 15 questions is Rs one crore.

The finalists play a ‘Fastest Finger First’ round to make it to the main game. From there on, they play rounds with increasing levels of difficulty, and winning higher amounts of money, culminating in the Rs one crore prize. Contestants can stop at any time after having viewed the next question.

December 29, 2016
Whether BARC action can stop unethical practices?

MUMBAI: Can businesses and industries practise their art of selling fairly although they have ‘Fair Practices’ training during academic courses, workshops and several ISO and other certifications? There seems to be the fear of the lawman, and not the law in India. If the traffic cop is watching, nobody would jump a signal on the highway, if the competition or the monopolies regulator is watching closely, none would dare to contravene rules. The case in point is of two television broadcast channels which had been caught trying to influence the sample of a rating agency in order to get higher viewership numbers, which in turn would help them get higher advertising revenue.

Close on the heels of Tamil Nadu-based Raj TV having been issued a legal notice by audience measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, another similar contravention of law has been caught by it.

The Tamil Nadu-based satellite television network Raj TV was, in March 2016, issued a legal notice by BARC which, as reported by indiantelevision.com, alleged that certain ‘sample’ homes with viewership meters “have been approached and have been asked to watch your channel ‘Raj TV’ in exchange for some financial consideration.”

And now, BARC India and Kerala TV Federation (KTF) have filed a police complaint with the director-general of Kerala police after the former’s vigilance team received complaints regarding attempts to retrieve addresses of BARC India panel homes and influencing them.

KTF is a trade body representing Malayalam channels in Kerala. Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Asianet MD and KTF president K Madhavan said that it had facilitated BARC’s police complaint against certain unidentified individuals who are trying to influence sample homes. “More the number of panels, more is the likelihood of such problems,” Madhavan said.

Thiruvananthapuram-based Federation secretary and Kairali TV MD John Brittas could not be reached for comment on the possible way forward, and concrete action on the ground. But, the fact remains how effective will a mere complaint be, or how efficiently will the local police in the distant state of Kerala act against local unlawful persons on the basis of a complaint from a ratings body based in Mumbai or Delhi.

The complaint was filed after the BARC India vigilance team’s gathered conclusive evidence of more than one effort to tamper with its TV viewership measurement system in favour of a couple of channels. Preliminary scrutiny by the on-ground vigilance team has confirmed that attempts had been made by some individuals to not only find out addresses of the TV panel homes, but also to incentivise them and influence their viewership.

These acts of the suspects are a cause for concern for BARC India and the broadcasting community in Kerala, and are allegedly causing financial losses to other channels. Kerala Police are reportedly investigating the matter further.

As per its established standard operating procedure, BARC India immediately quarantined the impacted panel homes from its TV viewership measurement system to ensure efforts at infiltration don’t impact the ratings of channels operating in the region.

In the case of Raj TV too, it seemed like a one-off case. “The network, in order to garner higher ratings, was perusing households with the meter boxes to tune in to its channels. BARC found this as a criminal offense and hence have issued a legal notice to the broadcaster,” a source close to the development had said.

However M Ragunathan, director of marketing at Raj Television Network, had termed the allegations as ‘baseless.’

It seems BARC is trying its best to send out a strong message to channels and broadcasters that such unethical means of influencing their respective ratings are not going to be taken lightly. BARC is attempting to project that it is not a toothless body. It is the first time that it has filed an FIR after meeting the Kerala director-general of police against these “criminal activities.”

In the fresh case, Dasgupta, in a statement earlier, said, “TV industry trades on the currency released by BARC India and we understand how important every rating point is to the broadcaster. We have evidence of a couple of broadcasters trying to tamper with our panel homes to improve ratings. We have taken steps to quarantine the affected panel homes. While we have filed a complaint this time, we want the industry to be aware that, going forward, BARC India will stop publishing ratings for those channels found involved in such activities,” he said.

“Well done, BARC, for taking strong action against those tampering with the system. Must name and shame offenders,” Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia Chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin has tweeted.

It remains to be seen whether BARC is going to name or shame the broadcasters in question. It’s over to team BARC.

October 21, 2016
Whether BARC action can stop unethical practices?

MUMBAI: Can businesses and industries practise their art of selling fairly although they have ‘Fair Practices’ training during academic courses, workshops and several ISO and other certifications? There seems to be the fear of the lawman, and not the law in India. If the traffic cop is watching, nobody would jump a signal on the highway, if the competition or the monopolies regulator is watching closely, none would dare to contravene rules. The case in point is of two television broadcast channels which had been caught trying to influence the sample of a rating agency in order to get higher viewership numbers, which in turn would help them get higher advertising revenue.

Close on the heels of Tamil Nadu-based Raj TV having been issued a legal notice by audience measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, another similar contravention of law has been caught by it.

The Tamil Nadu-based satellite television network Raj TV was, in March 2016, issued a legal notice by BARC which, as reported by indiantelevision.com, alleged that certain ‘sample’ homes with viewership meters “have been approached and have been asked to watch your channel ‘Raj TV’ in exchange for some financial consideration.”

And now, BARC India and Kerala TV Federation (KTF) have filed a police complaint with the director-general of Kerala police after the former’s vigilance team received complaints regarding attempts to retrieve addresses of BARC India panel homes and influencing them.

KTF is a trade body representing Malayalam channels in Kerala. Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Asianet MD and KTF president K Madhavan said that it had facilitated BARC’s police complaint against certain unidentified individuals who are trying to influence sample homes. “More the number of panels, more is the likelihood of such problems,” Madhavan said.

Thiruvananthapuram-based Federation secretary and Kairali TV MD John Brittas could not be reached for comment on the possible way forward, and concrete action on the ground. But, the fact remains how effective will a mere complaint be, or how efficiently will the local police in the distant state of Kerala act against local unlawful persons on the basis of a complaint from a ratings body based in Mumbai or Delhi.

The complaint was filed after the BARC India vigilance team’s gathered conclusive evidence of more than one effort to tamper with its TV viewership measurement system in favour of a couple of channels. Preliminary scrutiny by the on-ground vigilance team has confirmed that attempts had been made by some individuals to not only find out addresses of the TV panel homes, but also to incentivise them and influence their viewership.

These acts of the suspects are a cause for concern for BARC India and the broadcasting community in Kerala, and are allegedly causing financial losses to other channels. Kerala Police are reportedly investigating the matter further.

As per its established standard operating procedure, BARC India immediately quarantined the impacted panel homes from its TV viewership measurement system to ensure efforts at infiltration don’t impact the ratings of channels operating in the region.

In the case of Raj TV too, it seemed like a one-off case. “The network, in order to garner higher ratings, was perusing households with the meter boxes to tune in to its channels. BARC found this as a criminal offense and hence have issued a legal notice to the broadcaster,” a source close to the development had said.

However M Ragunathan, director of marketing at Raj Television Network, had termed the allegations as ‘baseless.’

It seems BARC is trying its best to send out a strong message to channels and broadcasters that such unethical means of influencing their respective ratings are not going to be taken lightly. BARC is attempting to project that it is not a toothless body. It is the first time that it has filed an FIR after meeting the Kerala director-general of police against these “criminal activities.”

In the fresh case, Dasgupta, in a statement earlier, said, “TV industry trades on the currency released by BARC India and we understand how important every rating point is to the broadcaster. We have evidence of a couple of broadcasters trying to tamper with our panel homes to improve ratings. We have taken steps to quarantine the affected panel homes. While we have filed a complaint this time, we want the industry to be aware that, going forward, BARC India will stop publishing ratings for those channels found involved in such activities,” he said.

“Well done, BARC, for taking strong action against those tampering with the system. Must name and shame offenders,” Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia Chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin has tweeted.

It remains to be seen whether BARC is going to name or shame the broadcasters in question. It’s over to team BARC.

October 21, 2016
Savdhaan India launches it’s new season of Savdhaan India

MUMBAI: Life OK’s flagship series Savdhaan India has received tremendous love and respect from the viewers in the last 4 years. In this journey, it has not only alerted citizens against crime and but has also given them the strength and motivation to face crime. In addition to showcasing real life incidents, the show has also advanced to acknowledging brave hearts who chose to fight against crime through Samman Awards.

Savdhaan India is all set to start its new season with a hard-hitting avatar. The new season’s philosophy – ‘darrkarnahi, dattkar’ urges the citizens to break their prevailing attitude of letting things be, of letting the powerful get away with crime, of not speaking up out of fear and face crime head on. As a brand that has always believed in walking the talk, Savdhaan India took the campaign on ground across the country and interacted with the citizens of Delhi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad

The campaign began at the capital city Delhi where the ‘darrkarnahi, dattkar’ anthem along with the pledge movement was unveiled for the very first time. In the next leg of the campaign, the anchors visited notorious crime locations and interacted with the citizens there. SarkhejGandhinagar Highway in Ahmedabad and PatrakarpuramChauraha in Lucknow were visited as hit and run cases and eve-teasing incidents are very prevalent in these locations respectively.

Savdhaan India has always acknowledged the youth to be change agents. Hence, following the visit to the crime locations, the team of Savdhaan India visited schools and colleges. The hosts invited the students to become partners in this attitudinal revolution. The students using a palm scanner digitally pledged their support. The hosts discussed youth related issues like eve teasing, ragging, bullying and cybercrime. At HK College in Ahmedabad many students shared harrowing experiences of being bullied and eve-teased and how they fought it. While in CMS, Gomtinagar – the students and the hosts had a very relevant discussion on how to protect oneself on social media.

A picture lasts forever and with that thought – the team of Savdhaan India created a huge pledge wall in these 3 cities. All those who were a part of this initiative clicked a picture of themselves against the wall to remind themselves of the pledge they took. More than 1000 pictures were collected. Lastly, the hosts felicitated the bravehearts who narrated their own stories of facing crime fearlessly thereby taking the of initiative ‘darrkarnahi, dattkar’ to life.

Stay Tuned to Savdhaan India to catch some of the most unnerving stories everydayat 10:00 pm only on Life OK

About STAR India:

STAR India has defined India’s broadcast media for over two decades and is today one of the country’s leading media and entertainment companies. It broadcasts more than 40 channels in 7 languages, reaching more than 720 million viewers every week across India and 100 countries. The network’s entertainment channel portfolio includes Star Gold, Channel V, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav, Life OK, Movies OK and Star Plus, India’s No. 1 General Entertainment Channel. It has a leading presence in regional broadcasting as well, through a bouquet of affiliate channels which includes Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Star Pravah, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Suvarna, Suvarna Plus and Vijay.

STAR India is making quantum leaps in transforming sports in the country by leveraging the group’s strengths in superior content and audience engagement. STAR’s sports business has grown rapidly to 8 channel properties (STAR Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and STAR Sports HD1, HD2, HD3 and HD4), making it the leading sports network in the country.

With our viewers on the move, Star is set to drive the agenda on digital content consumption in the country. starsports.com has redefined the future of sports consumption in India and now hotstar.com brings your favourite TV shows, movies and sports in one destination.

September 28, 2016
Savdhaan India launches it’s new season of Savdhaan India

MUMBAI: Life OK’s flagship series Savdhaan India has received tremendous love and respect from the viewers in the last 4 years. In this journey, it has not only alerted citizens against crime and but has also given them the strength and motivation to face crime. In addition to showcasing real life incidents, the show has also advanced to acknowledging brave hearts who chose to fight against crime through Samman Awards.

Savdhaan India is all set to start its new season with a hard-hitting avatar. The new season’s philosophy – ‘darrkarnahi, dattkar’ urges the citizens to break their prevailing attitude of letting things be, of letting the powerful get away with crime, of not speaking up out of fear and face crime head on. As a brand that has always believed in walking the talk, Savdhaan India took the campaign on ground across the country and interacted with the citizens of Delhi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad

The campaign began at the capital city Delhi where the ‘darrkarnahi, dattkar’ anthem along with the pledge movement was unveiled for the very first time. In the next leg of the campaign, the anchors visited notorious crime locations and interacted with the citizens there. SarkhejGandhinagar Highway in Ahmedabad and PatrakarpuramChauraha in Lucknow were visited as hit and run cases and eve-teasing incidents are very prevalent in these locations respectively.

Savdhaan India has always acknowledged the youth to be change agents. Hence, following the visit to the crime locations, the team of Savdhaan India visited schools and colleges. The hosts invited the students to become partners in this attitudinal revolution. The students using a palm scanner digitally pledged their support. The hosts discussed youth related issues like eve teasing, ragging, bullying and cybercrime. At HK College in Ahmedabad many students shared harrowing experiences of being bullied and eve-teased and how they fought it. While in CMS, Gomtinagar – the students and the hosts had a very relevant discussion on how to protect oneself on social media.

A picture lasts forever and with that thought – the team of Savdhaan India created a huge pledge wall in these 3 cities. All those who were a part of this initiative clicked a picture of themselves against the wall to remind themselves of the pledge they took. More than 1000 pictures were collected. Lastly, the hosts felicitated the bravehearts who narrated their own stories of facing crime fearlessly thereby taking the of initiative ‘darrkarnahi, dattkar’ to life.

Stay Tuned to Savdhaan India to catch some of the most unnerving stories everydayat 10:00 pm only on Life OK

About STAR India:

STAR India has defined India’s broadcast media for over two decades and is today one of the country’s leading media and entertainment companies. It broadcasts more than 40 channels in 7 languages, reaching more than 720 million viewers every week across India and 100 countries. The network’s entertainment channel portfolio includes Star Gold, Channel V, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav, Life OK, Movies OK and Star Plus, India’s No. 1 General Entertainment Channel. It has a leading presence in regional broadcasting as well, through a bouquet of affiliate channels which includes Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Star Pravah, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Suvarna, Suvarna Plus and Vijay.

STAR India is making quantum leaps in transforming sports in the country by leveraging the group’s strengths in superior content and audience engagement. STAR’s sports business has grown rapidly to 8 channel properties (STAR Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and STAR Sports HD1, HD2, HD3 and HD4), making it the leading sports network in the country.

With our viewers on the move, Star is set to drive the agenda on digital content consumption in the country. starsports.com has redefined the future of sports consumption in India and now hotstar.com brings your favourite TV shows, movies and sports in one destination.

September 28, 2016
What Onam heralds for Kerala’s TV channels

When it is half a year for the rest of the world, the new year dawns in Kerala when the Malayalam calendar heralds the arrival of the month of Chingam. In agrarian Kerala, Chingam was the most vital month of the year for it was the harvest season with the promise of year long prosperity. Add a dollop of ancient history of a wronged, but redeemed king (Mahabali) who visits to check if his subjects are as prosperous today as when he last saw them, and Chingam has all the glamour of a superstar’s new movie.

Kerala has long since been shorn of its glory agrarian days and having never tried its hand in industry, has now settled down to being a service economy bolstered by tourism and money from the Middle East (the (in) famous “Money Order economy”). Yet, for the average Keralite there are no spring- summer-winter season shopping nor end-of-season sales as tempting and as awaited as the Big Fat Onam Shopping !

About four weeks leading to Onam and a couple of weeks afterwards, the consumer in Kerala watches as national brands and local biggies line up launching advertising blitzkriegs and never before offers . New launches, exchange offers, scratch-and-win schemes, BoGo offers, raffles, the works! The retail industry goes into an overdrive. And why not? White goods brands reach 40-45 per cent of their annual sales target for Kerala in the tiny three month (even lesser) window of opportunity that Onam offers. The buyer meanwhile, having deferred purchase to make a kill at the Big Fat Onam Sale, slowly loosens her purse strings. It is Win-Win all around.

In 2015, Onam was on Friday 28 August. A study of TV consumption in the Top 10 Malayalam channels (Asianet, Asianet News, Asianet Movies, Asianet Plus, Surya, Kiran, Mazhavil Manorama, Flowers, Manorama News and Kairali) reveals many interesting insights into the melee that Onam is. In August 2015 (source: TAM), the jewellery category, which is anyway among the top consumers of TV ad space, hiked its presence by 56 per cent over July and promptly slashed it by 59 per cent in September.

No surprise there, as auspicious Chingam is sandwiched between two inauspicious months, hence is a very busy wedding season. There can be no Onam without Onasadya (a grand meal), who would know it better than Instant Mix brands (payasams etc) that upped their TV presence more than two fold! Onam is as synonymous with Onakkodi (new clothes) as it is with the Onasadya. Textile retailers wishing to make hay while the Onam sun shone, hiked their TV presence by 120 per cent in August from July, and almost went incognito with an 84 per cent slash in September. The same trend was seen in the readymade clothes category as well.

The category that has the highest stake in Onam, retail- durables/electronics ,was out there on a limb with close to fivefold (370 per cent) increase in TV presence ! Following Onam, there was almost total silence from this category. They were probably laughing all their way to the bank.

Automobile manufacturers (cars/jeeps) and their compatriots – two wheeler makers increased TV presence by 44 per cent and 69 per cent respectively in the run up to Onam which they promptly slashed in September. Bright, sunny days of Chingam after the monsoons were a welcome reprieve to the paints category which hiked its presence by a whopping 80 times, and bucking the general trend, hiked it by another 25 per cent in September. On the other hand, the usual top three TV advertisers in Kerala -chocolates, toilet soaps and milk beverages- piped down during Onam month, reducing their TV presence by 18 per cent to 20 per cent.

Leading brands earmark close to 25 per cent to 30 per cent of their annual ad budget for Kerala for the Onam season alone. For TV channels, this is the season to air film premieres, special events, programs with celebrities, all aimed at capturing eyeballs and at creating the right content to place the sudden surge in advertising. Total advertising duration (in the 10 Malayalam channels under study) shot up by about 35 per cent in Onam month compared to the previous month. Asianet and Mazhavil, the top two Malayalam GECs, garnered close to 45 per cent MORE advertising in August 2015 compared to the previous month.

The viewers, in whose honor all the fuss is made, were very obliging on their part. Time spent analysis shows that on the days prior to Onam an average 40 minutes was spent on Asianet, which shot up to 57 minutes on the first Onam day and further to 65 minutes on Onam Day (day two of Onam a.k.a ThiruOnam is the actual Onam day). The same trend is visible across all Malayalam GECs. Mazhavil Manorama’s viewers, for instance, who used to spend an average 12 minutes on the channel pre-Onam, hiked their viewing to 16 minutes and 18 minutes on first and ThiruOnam days respectively. Surya increased its channel share to an average 14 per cent on the two days of Onam from its usual eight per cent to nine per cent . As the day finally drew to a close on 28 August 2015, the Bhima Jewelers Jewelers group had garnered the highest presence having spent 3790s on air (excluding promo tags and other promotional activities of the brand). In terms of Impact, another jeweler Josco got top marks garnering 493 GRPs.

In 2016, Onam is scheduled to arrive mid-September. Every brand worth its salt is already out there with guns blazing to woo the consumer and make the most of the Onam fervor. It is no secret that Kerala economy needs a boost, and Onam shopping is just what the doctor ordered. All that remains to be seen is whether the consumer will be lured by the offers and whether she will script the Onam of every brand’s dreams.

The author is the managing partner of Chennai based adMax Media Consultants.

(The views and data expressed in this article are entirely the author’s. Indiantelevision.com is a medium on which they are being expressed)

August 17, 2016