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Tag: AXN

  • Chrome Data: Eight metros see a hike in week 34

    Chrome Data: Eight metros see a hike in week 34

    MUMBAI: The week 34 of the opportunity to see (OTS) collated by Chrome Data Analytics and Media saw a rise in different genres in the eight metros.

     

    English Movies gained the maximum with 2.6 per cent and Movies Now topping the chart with 72 per cent OTS.

     

    The genre was closely followed by English Entertainment channels with 2.4 per cent hike. AXN with 66 per cent OTS gained the most in the category.

     

    Business News and English News genre came in next with 1.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent OTS, respectively. In the particular categories, CNBC Awaaz continued its reign in the genre with 75.8 per cent OTS while Times Now reigned supreme with 86 per cent OTS.

     

    Only one genre witnessed a drop during that week. Hindi News channels in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM) fell by 0.3 per cent. ABP News with 95.9 per cent OTS gained the most in the genre.

  • 1 pm weekend slot, the second primetime for English movie channels

    1 pm weekend slot, the second primetime for English movie channels

    MUMBAI: No one will disagree that at 1pm in the afternoon, the TV remote is controlled by housewives. But on weekends comes an added dilemma. Joining the fray for the remote are her children, husband and in laws all tuning in to watch their favourite movies or shows at the same time. In the ensuing melee are English movie channels that are all smiles as the 1 pm slot, particularly during the weekends has seen an increase in viewership.

     

    “The 1 pm slot today is the most important slot after the evening primetime as it garners the second highest viewership after the 9pm slot,” informs Romedy Now and Movies Now content head Mansi Shrivastav. The channel believes it is a potential target for repeats of previous night’s blockbuster movies. Earlier titles include X-Men: The Last Stand and Ghost Rider-The Spirit of Venegence.

     

    Similar thoughts are echoed by Star India English cluster general manager Kevin Vaz who says that the genre is heavily consumed at this time with Star Movies scraping a 21 per cent relative share. Knowing the slot’s potential, Star Movies had introduced it as a ‘one break movie time’ band to give the viewer a theatre like experience.

     

    Out of the entire day, the afternoon band contributes nearly 25 per cent of the viewership to the English movie genre, claims Sony Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik. “The 1pm slot is the second biggest day part for Sony Pix and majority of the viewership comes from younger demographics,” he says. This has come from premieres such as Skyfall, Hobbit, Captain Philips, Hobbit 2, Grown Ups 2 and MIB 3.

     

    Most channels show repeat telecast on weekdays while weekends are reserved for big  premieres.

     

    However, Turner International India English Entertainment south Asia senior director and network head Dhawal Katkar feels that weekday mornings and afternoons are emerging as the new favourite amongst youngsters for its two channels WB and HBO. Whereas, the genre itself has been witnessing a drop in primetime viewership for the entire week, he adds. HBO’s afternoon lineup includes GI Joe: Retaliation, The Hangover 3, Jack Reacher, The Great Gatsby and Star Trek: Into Darkness while WB’s premieres include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Due Date, Spiderman, Suckerpunch.

     

    However, channels strictly ensure that adult movies are not repeated in the afternoon. While a movie shown at night may have adult content, the same cannot be shown in the afternoon due to children being present in the viewing audience.

     

    According to media planners, a 10 second ad slot for the 1pm slot movie could command rates in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 4000 in the weekday with a 10 to 15 per cent rise on the weekends.

     

    Maxus managing partner north and east region Navin Khemka says, “Brands are keen to invest at this spot due to the increasing number of premieres and it draws kids and teenagers as well.” The weekend slot is heavy on content he adds.

     

    Another media planner quipped that the weekday spot is picked by women centric brands such as FMCGs and online shopping portals so this time should be more sharply targeted. However Madison Media COO Karthik Lakshminarayan informs, “1pm slot is not a high viewership slot, rather viewership starts picking up post 2pm.”

     

    While media planners vary on the role the 1pm weekend spot plays, they all agree that it helps garner added viewership in a very fragmented segment.

  • Chrome Data: Hindi GECs, the lone gainer in week 33

    Chrome Data: Hindi GECs, the lone gainer in week 33

    MUMBAI: Following the previous week’s trend, week 33 of Chrome Data Analytics and Media too saw only one gainer when it comes to opportunity to see (OTS).

     

    Hindi GECs across HSM markets jumped 0.7 per cent. Star Plus in the category garnered 97.4 per cent OTS.

     

    The eight metros saw a huge fall when it came to English Movies and English Entertainment. English movies genre fell 2.8 per cent closely followed by English Entertainment with 1.8 per cent. AXN with 66.4 per cent OTS and Movies Now with 73.6 per cent OTS topped their respective genres.

     

    Infotainment across India fell by 1.2 per cent. National Geographic channel with 86.1 per cent OTS topped the genre.

     

    Hindi News across HSM markets fell by 1.0 per cent with ABP News as the reigning channel in the genre with 95.5 per cent.

  • Mashraque to replace Anjuman in Middle East

    Mashraque to replace Anjuman in Middle East

    Anjuman, the UK-based Reminiscent Television Network’s (RTN) Urdu language entertainment channel, is being phased out in the Middle East due to its poor response.

    Anjuman will be replaced by a new combi channel, Mashraque, having an equal mix of Urdu and Arabic, that will essentially target expatriates from India and Pakistan who need a working knowledge of the two languages in order to be able to work in the region, along with the local populace.

    Mashraque is to be a free to air channel and will be beamed off the Arabsat satellite. The network’s Indian affiliate RITV was supplying 30 per cent of the content for Anjuman.

    It has also entered a deal with entertainment major Viacom, which will promote RITV’s Lashkara and Gurjari channels as part of a pay package ‘Asia Plus’ in the Middle East and North Africa. The package also includes the Sony channels (Sony Entertainment, MAX, AXN and CNBC India), MTV, 24-hour Hindi news channel Aaj Tak and Malayalam language channel Kairali.

    Although channel officials were unable to put a figure on the extent of viewership Mashraque would target, they said the channel’s profile would enable it to compete successfully with other government owned channels in the region, like Dubai TV and Saudi TV. The channel is being projected as an entertainment channel with a judicious mix of songs, soaps and comedy. The channel is, however, reluctant to divulge details about where it would be source content.

    While Asia Plus will be headquartered at the new Dubai Media City enclave, RITV too is planning to set up its offices there to establish its presence in the region, it is learnt. UK-based RTV which has the cutting edge of offering a group of ethnic channels under one umbrella, owns 20 per cent of RITV.

    RITV launched Lashkara and Gurjari in 1998, both 24-hour channels which address the needs of the Punjabi and Gujarati communities respectively. Since their launch, both channels have been telecast in over 30 South Asian contries. Lashkara made its UK launch in May 2000. RTN runs a seven-channel bouquet in the UK.

  • AXN looks at building familiarity of shows with viewers

    AXN looks at building familiarity of shows with viewers

    MUMBAI: Just days after announcing a multi-year television content deal with CBS Studios and AXN India, MSM English cluster head Saurabh Yagnik while speaking to indiantelevision.com says that building familiarity of exclusive shows with viewers has been a key challenge for AXN.

     

    “Viewers of the genre, many times are unaware when premiere shows are being telecast on television and therefore there is a principal need to build the familiarity of those programmes for our viewers,” Yagnik informs.

     

    To address the challenge, the channel has adopted a two point strategy. One, by investing in exclusive new shows starring well known Hollywood names; and two, by introducing a new permanent weekend slot called Not so Ordinary Weekends during which these new shows will be telecast.  “The slot is aimed primarily at younger audiences who want something different,” he adds.

     

    AXN’s new weekend lineup includes fresh shows like Extant, starring Academy Award winner Halle Berry; Penny Dreadful, starring Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton along with bond girl Eva Green and science fiction show Falling Skies produced by Steven Speilberg. “The famous names associated with these US series are already known to Indian audiences which will be of help. The biggest consumption problem arises when viewers are not familiar with the content,” opines Yagnik.

    While Extant will premiere on 8 August and will be aired every Friday at 10 pm, Penny Dreadful and Falling Skies will hit the television screens on 9 August with its telecast scheduled for every Saturday at 10 pm and 11 pm respectively. These shows have been produced by CBS Studios International. Apart from these, the channel will have access to existing series like Hawaii Five 0 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as well as new programmes the Studio will create during the term of the deal.

     

    Sources say that such multi-year content deals are usually for a period of three to five years. For Yagnik, joining hands with CBS made sense since it could aid AXN with its deep library.

     

    To promote these shows and the slot, the channel ran a 16 day digital campaign on Twitter and Facebook, where during contests, fans were invited to post selfies that were not mundane but extraordinary. “To add to the familiarity, we seek to reach out to the youngsters online through quality interaction,” Yagnik says. At the end of the contest, winners were declared online.

     

    Promotions on-air include three creatives. While one informs viewers how the channel hopes to make their ordinary weekends extraordinary through the slot, the second and third one are promos of Extant and Penny Dreadful respectively. These three creatives are being telecast on all the channels of MSM network as well as on its digital platforms including YouTube. The channel will also air the ads on Radio One in Delhi and Mumbai. As part of the outdoor campaign, bus wraps are being used in Mumbai alone.

     

    Talking about the best performing markets for AXN, Yagnik informs that Kolkata and Delhi are some of the metros that have been performing well for the channel as well as other tier II and tier III towns. “Kerala and Uttar Pradesh are doing quite well too”, he adds.

     

    “Our market share in the category is 24 per cent to 25 per cent while our reach during a nine week average is 2.8 million every week,” he says.

     

    Media planners meanwhile feel that it is too early to comment on the fate of such fresh new line up. “The new weekend slot adds some punch to the channel. Also the shows could do well because of the names associated with it which Indians are familiar with,” opines a media planner requesting anonymity.

     

     

  • AXN and CBS Studios lock multi-year television content deal

    AXN and CBS Studios lock multi-year television content deal

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) English entertainment channel in India, AXN has announced a multi-year content deal with CBS Studios International. The new deal gives AXN access to all content distributed by CBS, including exclusive rights to air some of the studios’ biggest existing television series, Hawaii Five-0 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The deal will also give AXN the access to all new shows produced by CBS Television Studios.

     

    Commenting on this occasion MSM CEO NP Singh said, “This acquisition marks a memorable milestone in the journey of MSM. It has been our endeavour to create a differentiation for our viewers through product offering and innovations, both through our marketing and content novelties. The CBS deal allows us to more effectively build and deliver a rich library of content to our viewers, thereby strengthening the commitment of MSM to the Indian entertainment market.”

     

    Talking about the deal MSM English cluster head Saurabh Yagnik commented, “This deal with CBS Studios International has only strengthened our long-standing relationship with them. Increasing our brand presence and reach in key markets is a cornerstone of our growth strategy. Now, with the new deal, we are bringing some of the most cutting edge shows from the US. This deal is all set to strengthen the ever expanding bouquet of AXN programming.”

     

    CBS Studios International president of sales Barry Chamberlain added, “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with AXN India and deliver more of our world class programming to audiences across India and the subcontinent. We have an exciting slate of new and returning content that will be right at home on the channel.”

     

    CBS Studios International distributes some of the best long-running shows, like Blue Bloods, Survivor, Elementary, Beauty and the Beast, NCIS, Hawaii Five-0, among others. Hawaii Five-0 won the favourite new TV drama award at the 37th People’s Choice Awards. Last year, Lucy Liu, who stars as Joan Watson in Elementary, won Best Actress at the Teen Choice Awards and the Seoul International Drama Awards. 

     

    The Studio distributes some of the most exciting new series. Extant, starring Academy Award winner Halle Berry and from Amblin Television, is a mystery thriller about an astronaut trying to reconnect with her family when she returns after a year in space.  Her experiences in space lead to events that ultimately change the course of human history. And in Penny Dreadful, some of literature’s most famous characters – including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula, all re-imagined in a whole new light – have become embroiled in Victorian London. The series stars Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Eva Green.

     

    This year’s line-up has shows including CSI: Cyber, a spin-off of the hit CSI franchise focused on the Cyber Crime Division of the FBI and NCIS: New Orleans, a sequel to the popular NCIS procedural set in the Big Easy. Other new CBS dramas include Madam Secretary, which stars Tea Leoni as the newly appointed secretary of state and Scorpion, which is about an eccentric genius and his team of brilliant misfits who help protect against high-tech threats of the modern age.

  • Chrome Data: Only two genres see a jump in week 29

    Chrome Data: Only two genres see a jump in week 29

    MUMBAI: After seeing a peak in opportunity to see (OTS) of various genres collated by Chrome Data Analytics & Media, week 29 didn’t see much rise.

     

    Only two genres namely music and religious channels in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM) saw a jump of 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

     

    Sony Mix continued ruling the charts in the genre with 87.9 per cent OTS. Similarly, Aastha channel with 95.9 per cent OTS topped the genre.

     

    The week saw steep drops with English Entertainment channels in the eight metros with 4.3 per cent drop in the genre. AXN with 70.4 per cent OTS maintained its rein in the category.

     

    Business News in the eight metros followed with 3.5 per cent drop. However, Zee Business remained on top with 76.8 per cent OTS.

     

    English Movies with 2.6 per cent and English News with 2.3 per cent too saw a drop in the eight metros. Movies Now with 72.9 per cent OTS and Times Now with 85.2 per cent OTS topped their respective genres.

  • Sony Pix goes big on social media and promotions

    Sony Pix goes big on social media and promotions

    MUMBAI: In the genre of English movies in India, nine players have been vying aggressively for a larger market share and online presence. One amongst these nine is Sony Pix. Read on about its efforts which include innovative micro properties on Facebook and giving out ‘money can’t buy merchandise.’

     

    The channel has been following a three point strategy since 2012. Sony Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik explains, “We began by investing in quality content. We then wanted to build a stronger perception and thirdly we wanted to innovate to break the clutter.” 

     

    Firstly, the channel invested in content by tying up with MGM. It bought the Bond franchise for three years including Sky Fall. Along the way, Pix had a makeover in late 2013 changing its previous tagline ‘Hollywood is Here’ to its current one ‘Stay Amazed’. The identity was unveiled with the world premiere of Skyfall in October 2013.

     

    It also premiered Men in Black 3 and The Amazing Spider Man. During the MIB3 premiere, Pix had launched an anti-alien day, where the channel said that eliminating various kinds of aliens from society was the need of the hour. Hash tags were displayed on the TV screen during the premiere, encouraging people to tweet. At that time, Yagnik had said that the initiative had trended through the day at number one and two in India and worldwide at number four. Similarly, with The Amazing Spiderman, Pix pitched the campaign around the amazing people in every person’s life, creating a web of amazing characters and stars.

     

    Earlier, the channel had also created ‘Premiere PIXathon’ where four back to back movies were premiered on a single day. “We chose movies that had four big stars, or spoke about Hollywood’s four big stars and what makes them click with the audience, four big cricketers and their achievements, and with this, we used the message of the ‘power of four’ for our big Premiere Pixathon,” Yagnik had said at that time.

     

    For 2014, the lineup includes Captain Phillips, The Hobbit: Desolation of the Smaug, The Amazing Spider Man 2 and Hercules.

     

    Next, to build a stronger perception, the channel started ‘Pix Premiere Nights’ on Facebook to give viewers an opportunity to watch a movie a day before it is actually released in India. Winners are chosen on the basis of a contest. In all, 2,200 winners across 10 cities will be provided passes to watch a mega movie on 11 screens. To facilitate the winner’s attendance, a special helpdesk has been set up. So far the contest has been held for Robocop, Spiderman 2 and The Hobbit.  Next in line is The Expendables 3. As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com, one such initiative could cost the channel anywhere between Rs 2-3 crore.

     

    Pix, which has more than two million followers on Facebook, according to Yagnik, decided to break from the clutter by creating micro properties on Facebook like: ‘Legendary Monday’ which has inspiring stories about celebrities; ‘Thoughtful Tuesday’ that is all about celebrity quotes; ‘Pixonomic Wednesday’ has box office collection facts while ‘Desi Thursday’ is a clash between Bollywood and Hollywood. ‘Superhero Friday’ includes all about action heroes while ‘Saturday Talks’ is about famous movie dialogues. The week culminates with ‘Gizmo Sunday’ which is all about gadgets.

     

    The channel plans to announce breaking news about Hollywood through the re-launch of its animated character ‘Notty Pixy’ on Facebook. “She is a gossip reporter who provides Hollywood news first in India,” Yagnik says. He flips a well bound book to showcase a list of Hollywood stars, reporters, movies, events and websites that are the “sources” for ‘Notty Pixy’s’ news.

     

    How has the three point strategy helped Pix?

    Revealing TAM data, the channel says that during the first quarter (April 14 to June 14) Star Movies stood first with 19.80 per cent market share while Pix followed closely at the number two position with 19.30 per cent share. The difference was just 0.50 per cent. However, in the same quarter during the primetime slot, Sony Pix led the charts with a market share of 23.6 per cent with Star Movies a distant second having a market share of 17.90 per cent (TAM Market: All India 1 Mn+ TG CS 15+AB).

     

    On Facebook, Pix has been leading the number one spot with 11.68 per cent engagement rate. Engagement includes likes, comments, shares and number of fans. In the second place is Movies Now with a 4.55 per cent engagement rate. Star Movies India and HBO India follow next with engagement rates of 3.35 per cent and 1.07 per cent respectively. Tonic Media is the digital agency that looks after these activities for Pix.

     

    Sharing details about future plans of the channel, Yagnik says that the channel will provide its audience with ‘money can’t buy merchandise’. For example, viewers can win the blue t-shirt worn by Tom Hanks for the film Captain Phillips, which will be premiered on 27 July. Yagnik adds that the t-shirt comes with a certificate of authenticity. Soon thereafter, the blood stained shirt and tie worn by Jamie Foxx in the movie White House Down is up for grabs.

     

    Yagnik revealed that Pix has been seeing revenue growth upwards of 25 per cent and is now available in HD on platforms like Dish TV, Hathway, Fastway and in Cable.

     

    According to Maxus managing partner north and east region Navin Khemka “the channel is trying to use innovative ways to capture audiences. By giving out exclusive merchandises it will attract audiences who will participate in a genre that is fragmented. They key objective is to build loyalty for the channel and therefore is a good strategy.”

  • Chrome Data: English channels gain in week 26

    Chrome Data: English channels gain in week 26

    MUMBAI: According to Chrome Data Analytics & Media that week 26 saw the rise in English Movie channels when it comes to opportunity to see (OTS).

     

    In the eight metros, the genre jumped 2.1 per cent. Movies Now topped the chart with 75.1 per cent OTS.

     

    English Entertainment channels in the eight metros followed suit and gained 2 per cent. AXN with 72.2 per cent OTS topped the genre.

     

    Business News with 1.3 per cent and Sports channels across the country jumped 1.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

     

    Zee Business with 78.6 per cent OTS and Ten Sports with 76.5 per cent OTS continued the roost in their respective genres.

     

    Only three genres dipped this week.

     

    Religious channels in the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM) fell 0.9 per cent. Aastha channel with 96.5 per cent continued its reign in the genre.

     

    Hindi News in the HSM dropped 0.5 per cent followed by Hindi Movies with 0.1 per cent. ABP News garnered 94.3 per cent OTS while Max got 95.9 per cent OTS.

  • ‘Teen Wolf’ returns on AXN

    ‘Teen Wolf’ returns on AXN

    MUMBAI: Get ready to howl, ‘Teen Wolf’ fans, because we’ve got a new breed of evil poised to strike and it’s safe to say it will have you counting down the days until the season four premiere on Friday, 27 June on AXN India.

     

    It’s time to kill the anticipation of the mystic revulsion series of ‘Teen Wolf’ created with the nail biting finale last season.  Referring to the tragic ending of season three and the anticipated triumphant return, season four of Teen Wolf is titled as “Can’t Go Back”.

     

    As we head in to season four, the very dark nature of this canny, engaging, addicting show will lighten up but only a little. The premiere Season, The Dark Moon, shot outside of Beacon Hills, begins in Mexico reflecting the time in the lunar phase in which the moon is the least visible in the sky and it’s often thought of a time of reflection and grief.

     

    This season, still healing from tragic losses, Scott (Tyler Posy), Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) & Lydia (Holland Roden) return to a new semester of school with more human worries than supernatural, while also trying to help their new friend, Malia (Shelly Henning), integrate back into society. But a surprising resurrection brings a new threat to Beacon Hills along with the emergence of another mysterious enemy known simply as The Benefactor.

     

    The eye brow raising opening sequence, based in Mexico, will take the “Teen Wolf” gang to a new direction. The storyline notches up to a new supernatural level as the resilient teenagers now have extraordinary challenges to face.  What’s more you ask? Well, Teen Wolf will be welcoming a new supernatural character and it’s said that this paranormal creature will huff and puff and blow Beacon Hills away with one giant roar.

     

    What is this new entity added to the acclaimed series? Well, it’s a “werejaguar,” and it’s played be the one and only Jill Wagner.

     

    Get set for an action packed series and emotional connect between the supernatural and humans.

     

    Join the pack in their redefining phase with the new Alpha on 27 June at 11 PM only on AXN India