ITV

Tag: Bharat Kumar Ranga

  • Beginnen Media’s Azaad and MX Player announce strategic partnership

    Beginnen Media’s Azaad and MX Player announce strategic partnership

    Mumbai: Beginnen Media’s premium rural entertainment channel Azaad and entertainment app MX Player have announced a strategic partnership to enable exponential growth by bringing together the linear, rural, and digital worlds.

    With the strong belief in the ‘power of engaged connections’ and the aspiration to meet its viewers at their doorstep, Azaad and MX Player are all set to reach out to the Indian diaspora with new stories embedded in the rural fabric and culture, said the statement. “Azaad will soon add to its repertoire original content, besides the syndicated content that is currently on air,” it added.

    Beginnen Media recently launched Azaad with the premise of being ‘People First. Rural First’ and MX Player, with its large and diverse audience of over 200 million monthly active users caters to its audiences with varied entertainment palettes.

    “The union with MX Player offers a seamless consumer experience on both mediums as we attempt to be innovators at the intersection of TV and digital,” said Beginnen Media’s managing director, Bharat Kumar Ranga. “Azaad is for people with rural mindsets where people access entertainment on both TV and the internet. We needed to find the right anchor that compliments Azaad on the internet. MX Player immediately aligned to our vision as we share a commonality of consumer centricity that will assist us with our expansion goals. MX valued our idea and intent, and Azaad loved their youthfulness, vigour, hunger for growth, and uncanny consumer centricity. For consumers, MX and Azaad will appear like one common platform. This reflects Beginnen Media’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to using our experience of innovation as the roadmap for propelling the industry forward to an all-new way of doing business,” he added.

    “In an industry first, this association will transcend traditional TV and digital OTT to drive synergies and foster growth for both players, by creating innovative new content and catering to a larger audience set. As a platform that can reach consumers at every touchpoint, this strategic partnership with Azaad is sure to entertain the masses and drive more engagement for both brands,” shared MX Group CEO, Karan Bedi.

    “We believe that this distinct UnionShip with MX Player will surely be the best manner in which two standalone brands together will unlock the power of TV and OTT in an integrated manner by leveraging synergies to reach and engage with maximum viewers,” said Beginnen Media CMO, Rachin Khanijo. “We have approached this association creatively as well as strategically to ensure that there’s a strong audience fit and have planned on scaling it with projected metrics of what TV and digital are expected to deliver – both at an attributed and holistic level.”

    “This unique union compliments MX strategically – adding many hues of entertainment to our diverse content offering and bringing with it fresh, young, and new flavours reflecting the ethos of today’s rural Indian fabric,” said MX Player, SVP, and head – content acquisitions and alliances, Mansi Shrivastav. “With this distinctive slate, we are well poised to cater to every palette and are excited that this association with Beginnen Media’s premium heartland entertainment channel Azaad will enhance viewership and aid market expansion.”

  • Bharat Ranga bids adieu to ZEEL

    Bharat Ranga bids adieu to ZEEL

    MUMBAI: After serving Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) for close to 16 years, the network’s chief content and creative officer Bharat Ranga has decided to move on. Ranga, who put down his papers on 23 September, according to a source in the network will serve his last day on 7 October 2014.

     

    Being a part of ZEEL since 1998, he took over the content role in April 2012 where he was managing content business for all domestic entertainment channels of the network.

     

    He is the man who can be credited for the launch of &pictures, labelled as India’s first interactive movie channel.

     

    Prior to that, he was the executive director – international operations, leading and managing international business of the company. Before joining ZEEL, he was with Times of India.

     

    A commerce graduate from the University of Rajasthan, Ranga has done his MBA from the University of Ajmer and an Advanced Management Program from Wharton Business School.

     

    A letter was sent out by ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka today morning to the team in the network to announce Ranga’s resignation. The letter read:

     

    “We wish to inform that Mr Bharat Ranga has decided to pursue his career beyond ZEE. With deep regret, we have accepted his decision and will always wish him the very best for his future endeavours.

     

    Bharat has been with the organisation since 1998 and he has had a long checkered career with us. Bharat moved across functions and domains seamlessly, from sales to business head roles to being the International Business Head and then, the Chief Creative and Content Head for the organisation. During his tenure, Bharat has been instrumental in creating value and building opportunities for the organisation.

     

    During his career span with the ZEE, Bharat has contributed to the overall growth of the organisation by leveraging new revenue opportunities, bringing about path breaking content, starting new streams of content through new channel launches and transcending the business beyond geographies; to name a few. Bharat had the capability to move with ease in managing the environment and challenges. We wish to sincerely thank him and put on record his valuable contribution made to the organisation.

     

    Bharat’s last day with the organisation will be 7 October 2014. All those verticals and functions which reported to Mr. Bharat Ranga will now report to the undersigned until further advised.

     

    We wish Bharat the very best for his future endeavor and the team continued success for future.”

     

    Best Wishes

     

    Punit Goenka

     

    MD & CEO

  • &Pictures gifts fans ‘Dil Se’

    &Pictures gifts fans ‘Dil Se’

    MUMBAI: For a country which loves its movies, there are many options to choose from. So when Zeel launched &pictures – Sapnon ki Udaan – in the Hindi movie space it promised to be different from the rest.

     

    Keeping the promise, the channel acquired movies, which would cater to the new mindsets, and took it to next-level through its various interactive programming. Who would have thought Chale Chalo, a documentary film, based on the making of Aamir Khan’s Oscar nominated movie Lagaan, would become a talking-point even before it was aired on the channel. The buzz created on the social media and the chance to speak to the actor through live dial-ins achieved unbelievable ratings.

     

    Now to up its ante after completing one successful year, the channel has come up with delightful surprise for its fans – ‘Dil Se.’ The new digital innovation will help bridge the gap between the Bollywood stars and their fans. Created by YouToo Technologies, first for the Zee TV viewers in North America in 2012 to help connect with each other, the creator has tweaked the video service a little for the movie buffs here.

     

    Expanding on the idea, Zee TV Americas marketing head Vibha Chopra says that in a large country like the USA, families  which couldn’t meet too often loved the idea of ‘Dil Se’ when Zee gave them an opportunity to send in small video chats. “It helped us to increase our viewership base as people loved the idea of seeing their loved ones on television. We have got more than 50,000 videos so far and a two to three minute spike in time spent.”

     

    “We are a movie channel and what would be better than to enhance the engagement level between audiences and the stars or movies they admire so much,” says Zeel chief content and creative officer Bharat Kumar Ranga while adding that through these 15 second videos the channel wants the viewers to share their message from the heart.

     

    The 15 second video will have to go through censors before being aired on the channel. Since, its TG lies in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM), the channel isn’t worried about language barriers. “It will be mostly Hindi but when a fan says something from within his/her heart, it doesn’t need a language to express his/her feeling,” says Zeel Hindi movie channels deputy business head Ruchir Tiwari.

     

    And to market the new section, the channel will take the digital route. Since it wants people who are always online and comfortable with the digital world, ample amount of the marketing spend will be on social media apart from the regular in-channel promotions.

     

    In the past one year, the movie channel has been able to distinguish between itself and its sister channel, let alone competition. Stating the example of Ghanchakkar, Ranga says that he had never allowed a Imran Hashmi film on Zee but the channel acquired the Hashmi and Vidya Balan starrer. “For a traditional masala movie, we have Zee Cinema and for the viewers with progressive attitude but still rooted there is &Pictures.”

     

    Another feather to its cap was the launch of the HD version of &Pictures which will have a completely different FTP than the SD version! The channel aims to target the very core of its target audience of &Pictures. “Even within a TG, one can see fragmentations. Through the HD channel we want to cater to the core TG and not the scattered movie buffs who surf through various channels,” says Ranga.

  • Zeel launches Anmol; to be available on TV, mobile and WAP

    Zeel launches Anmol; to be available on TV, mobile and WAP

     NEW DELHI: Zee network has launched Zee Anmol, a free-to-air channel, taking the number of Zee channels to 34. The new entrant will be available on both mobile phones and on WAP zeeanmol.tv from 1 September.

    Denying the charges of it being a channel of repeats on lines of Star Utsav, ZEEL chief creative and content officer Bharat Kumar Ranga in a press meet here said that not only will the channel reach those areas which were hitherto covered only by DD and DTH DD Direct Plus, but also be re-packaged to suit the audiences in smaller towns and semi-urban and rural areas.

    He said a series may even be cut from the original number of episodes to lesser episodes if research showed people did not want it to be too long.

    He said that this marked the first phase of the channel, which may have new programming in the second phase expected sometime next year.

    Ranga told indiantelevision.com later that Zee was presently spending around fifty per cent of its normal marketing budget for other channels for this particular channel. Asked to be more specific, he said around 15 per cent of the revenue from Zee Anmol will go into its marketing. But he admitted that this was going to be tough going since the aim was to reach unreached areas and even those where there was no television. He said he was prepared to advertise the channel on all platforms, including Doordarshan if the pubcaster accepted this.

    Four persons who have excelled in different programmes on Zee TV – Kratika Sengar who played Jhansi ki Rani, Sayantani Ghosh who was Naagin, Binny Sharma who won hearts in Dance India Dance, and Jasraj Joshi who won the SA RE GA MA PA 2012 were present at the press meet.

    ZEEL marketing head Akash Chawla said the new channel was more of a video brand than a television brand, and the expectation was to reach places where cable and satellite TV had just begun to make inroads, or where broadband was available. He said the mobile penetration had reached 100 million and was bound to catch on, particularly if the programmes are re-purposed.

    Asked if the ad cap could affect the channel since it was not based on subscriptions, Ranga said even advertisers had products they wanted to reach out to small consumers.

    Ranga said Zee Anmol was the only channel to have up to 39 hours repackaged programming for a week.

    Head content Ajay Bhalwanker said that the research had taken many months because the network wanted to know exactly what the people in small towns wanted. Ranga added that the channel had been astonished to discover that people were aware of serials and names of characters even in places with limited TV viewing.

    In the initial phase, the channel will have series like Maayka, Pavitra Rishta, Dance India Dance, India’s Best Dramebaaz, Chhoti Bahu, Saat Phere, Naagin, Kasamh Se, Sindoor, Jhansi ki Rani, and Shabaash India among others.

    Interestingly the press meet was attended by mediapersons from smaller cities like Ahmedabad and Jaipur who had been brought here to see a preview.

  • The inside dope on Zee’s &pictures

    The inside dope on Zee’s &pictures

    MUMBAI: Zeel marketing head (national channels) Akash Chawla is used to doing things differently and even pioneering initiatives in the broadcasting space. Being part of a very entrepreneurial organisation like Zee he says: “Our challenge is to keep re-inventing.”

    Some are calling the upcoming movie channel from the Zeel’s stable &pictures – Sapnon ki Udaan that is slated to go on-air on 18 August as a bold step. The network already has a couple of Hindi movie channels in the crowded and competitive genre. But Zeel chief content and creative officer Bharat Kumar Ranga is not worried as there is a clearly thought out strategy behind the new launch.

    Says he: “As new mindsets are emerging in India and Indians worldwide, there is a need to cater to that. Zee very successfully caters to certain mindsets, beliefs, values very effectively. There was a need to come up with a parallel brand in order to cater to the young audiences that we noticed. So, &pictures is an effort to come out with a brand that can speak to them and delight them.”

    The movie labeled as India’s first interactive movie channel has already made waves by buying out broadcasting rights for upcoming blockbusters like Chennai Express, Zanjeer and Besharam. Nonetheless, it will also telecast movies which the youth can relate to like Andaaz Apna Apna, Joh Jeeta Wahi Sikandar, ABCD, Kai Po Che and many more.
    The real difference lies in Zee’s approach to the new movie channel says Akash Chawla

    But the first question that comes to one’s mind is how different it is going to be from Zee Cinema? There is a big difference between the channels describes Chawla. He further says that Zee Cinema has been a market leader for a very long time now. “The real difference is going to be how Zee approaches the movie channel. The movie channel is far more experimental, interactive and adventurous in spirit,” he points out, adding, “Zee cinema will continue to cater to the family audience at home in a way that they want to watch real cinema. But that doesn’t mean that the two channels don’t cater to the same audience. It is just that sometimes one is in a mood to watch more adventurous films and interact with the movies and sometimes we just want to lay back and just watch a movie. Let the audience choose what they want to watch. And as part of the philosophy the two channels are very different.”

    Creative mantra

    What’s surprising is that this time there is no ‘Zee’ prefix in the name. Chawla explains why. Says he: “If we look at the consumer point of view, brand creation view, the two brands are different, they cater to different mindsets but they carter to the same families. If we don’t come up with such products someone else will. They accepted Zee Cinema earlier, they will accept the new channel as well.”

     

    Bharat Ranga says that there was a need to come up with a parallel brand in order to cater to the young audiences

    The real germ of an idea to come up with a non-Zee branded channel started around two years ago, but the actual work started around eight-10 months ago. After scanning through about 1000 logos the current one was finalised.

    “Using a symbol as a logo has been done for the first time in India and will have multiple connotations.” adds Chawla.

    Breaking down the logo, the network explains that the ampersand sign in &pictures signifies Udaan (flight) and Neev (rooted) and celebrates the duality of contemporary Indians. Where, Udaan signifies that one wants to go higher and ambitious in life whereas Neev is rooted with the network’s values and beliefs that Zee always promises its audiences. The color red similarly radiates its bold ambition as well as the richness of traditions, Chawla points out.

    The movie channel has appointed Scarecrow as its creative agency. The agency has worked on the strategic process for &pictures, giving the channel its name and logo. Scarecrow will be involved in all aspects of the brand from creating the corporate identity, brand guidelines, to internal communication to ATL and BTL communication but only for a year as that is time frame the agency has signed the contract with Zee.

    Speaking on the initiative, Scarecrow Communications founder director Raghu Bhatt asserts, “We will be working closely with the brand team to ensure that the business and marketing targets are achieved. The Indian media space is very competitive but this is an opportunity to offer a differentiated proposition based on differentiated content.”

    Chawla explains that the potential watcher of &pictures is: experimental, ambitious yet rooted, young at heart, reinvents oneself, is the right blend of modernity and tradition, is exploratory, goes off the beaten track and is energetic and spirited. “It is not just a youth channel”, adds Chawla. “We believe the fact that this is the channel which the entire family will watch. And we hope that like people patronise Zee TV and Zee Cinema, they would patronise this channel as well.”

    Differentiating factor
    Our plan is to anlayse every content before acquiring it reveals Ruchir Tiwari

    In terms of presentation and marketing of the channel, Zee is going to indulge in two-way communication with the audiences. “It’s true that today, a lot of traditional film concepts are not going to work. But it is also true that films, which explore the off-beaten path and are presented in a manner that is acceptable to the consumers and families of today, are also working”, clarifies Chawla.

    For the initial six months, the channel is going to be free to air, after which it will turn pay. Currently it is available across cable TV networks in testing mode, and will be on almost all DTH networks when it launches. And will spread its footprint overseas, later.

    “In the world of TVT, we have audiences across the world, so where ever the Hindi speaking people are, the channel will reach out to them,” adds Ranga.

    As for the movie library the channel’s main focus will be to aggregate the right kind of content which blends with its philosophy.

    “We always deeply anlayse before picking up and acquiring any content, All acquisitions will dovetail the philosophy, the DNA of &pictures,” says Zeel cluster programming head (Hindi movie channels) Ruchir Tiwari. “We are here just at the right time, with digitisation going on,” asserts Tiwari.

     
    Deepak Netram is optimistic about the new entrant in the genre

    With the 12 minute per hour ad cap becoming effective from 1 October, is this Zee’s way of getting more ad revenue? “We had started thinking about the new channel 20 months back, we were just waiting for the right time, and to pick up the right library. But of course it will help us with 10+ 2; however that is not the sole reason. We believe that there is a space in the market which is not tapped. If you will look at youth of today, they don’t just watch TV but are on other social platforms – they want to chat, tweet etc. and we think that space hasn’t been captured and hence we want to be the 1st movers in that space.” clarifies Chawla.

    Zeel’s new launch has got the applause of media professionals. They believe that &pictures is likely to do well. “Going by the recent success of other entrants in the Hindi movie genre, it certainly seems there is good potential,” says Lodestar UM vice-president Deepak Netram. “A new offering in the genre definitely will help the network to widen its basket.”

    “Success ultimately will require the ideal combination of the many ingredients like marketing, content, programming and distribution coming together. In these areas, it is also critical to continue sustained efforts even post launch. A lot depends on how the offering translates to viewers and to advertisers and this will define how the channel performs. The promos on the test signals revolving around new titles are inviting and this could create viewer interest.” Netram adds.

    What’s next to your kitty, Zee?