ITV

Tag: Big FM

  • 92.7 Big FM ropes in Sehwag, Ayaz & RJ Abhimanyu

    MUMBAI: 92.7 Big FM is known to provide thematic content during the 20-20 cricket match series, thereby becoming the most popular radio destination during the cricket extravaganza.

    This year the radio station is all set to ride the 20-20 cricket wave yet again, with two exclusive segments. The radio station has roped in celebrated cricket analyst Ayaz Memon to co-host ‘BIG Cricket League’ with sports RJ Abhimanyu. The duo will present a star player’s biopic every week from Monday-Thursday 8pm-9pm from 3rd April to 26th May for its listeners across HSMs. Leveraging the cricket fever, 92.7 BIG FM is collaborating with legendary cricketer Virender Sehwag for the third time to bring match analysis to a cricket crazy nation during the morning show across the network.

    Big Cricket League will see Ayaz Memon presenting biopics of iconic players every week and bringing alive interesting facts of the lives of famous cricketers like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay that will be focusing on their childhood, family background, education and more. Spread over a period of eight weeks, this cricket season will see the flamboyant Virender Sehwag offer exclusive pre and post match analysis.

    Sehwag said, “This is my third year with 92.7 BIG FM for the 20-20 cricket series and it gives me immense pleasure to be associated with them yet again. I feel privileged to connect with all the cricket enthusiasts off the field. Cricket has always been my passion and I am humbled to be doing what I love through this unique offering.”

    Memon, said “This is a great platform through which listeners can acquire information and insights about their favorite players. Cricket is a religion in our country and fans want to know everything about their heroes. BIG Cricket League will provide the audience with just what they are looking for.”

    Spokesperson from 92.7 BIG FM said, “92.7 BIG FM has always catered to the various entertainment needs of its listeners through a plethora of distinctive content formats. Cricket is one sport that is celebrated largely in the country.”

    92.7 BIG FM will further drive engagement by conducting daily musical contests for the listeners largely segregated under two categories, BIG 4 and BIG6. In the BIG 4 contest, the listeners will have to identify one common thing between 4 consecutive songs played in an hour. The BIG 6 will have an RJ play a 15-sec mash-up of 6 songs, wherein the listeners will have to identify all 6 songs. This light-hearted segment will make the content more interactive, providing listeners a chance to win exciting prices.

  • Maxus co-creates Sonata campaign

    Maxus co-creates Sonata campaign

    MUMBAI: Starting the year on a high note, Maxus partnered with Big FM to co-create and conceptualise a powerful radio campaign for Sonata’s newly launched safety watch ACT– App-Enabled Coordinates Tracker, designed exclusively for women. The watch has a button placed at the 8’clock position which when double clicked sends distress alarms to 10 designated guardians. Keeping in line the safety features and uniqueness of the watch, an innovative three-tiered campaign using radio as a medium was executed in 21 cities.

    The first phase included time checks sponsored by Sonata; as time-checks have a synergistic fit with the 8‘o’clock button awareness generation. The second phase comprised conversations with some of the great Indian women achievers like Sakshi Malik, Saundarya Rajesh, Sujitha Bora, Tashi & Nungshi, Deepa Malik, Sneha Mohandass and many more with RJ Richa Anirudh on a show titled as ‘Manzil Pe Nazar’, bringing alive their stories of courage & achievement. In the third phase, Big FM will be shifting their studios at various on-ground public locations and bringing in 12 hours live programming from 8 pm – 8 am with an all-female crew. This first of its kind activity, under way in five metros, will continue till 7 January, 2017.

    Maxus South Asia – south India managing partner Sanchayeeta Verma said, “Sonata ACT is a smart watch with a purpose, enabling women to courageously follow their dreams. Safety is a need for every woman and concerns not only her, but her family and colleagues as well. However, we also noticed a low adoption of current safety options and realized that we needed de-mystification of the technology, create a wave of collective participation from women to corporates, and build a habit of mindfulness and usage. To do this we needed a platform with relatable real-life people & generate momentum. Our effectiveness studies have shown high ROI for radio. The medium not only helps participation and engagement, but also offers significant digital platforms and multimedia amplification.”

    Titan Company CMO – watches and accessories Suparna Mitra said, “In India, safety is a huge concern for women and their families. As Indian women are evolving and progressing to take on more challenges, we realized there is a huge market for a safety watch which will help women pursue their dreams.”

    BIG Network CEO Tarun Katial said, “We at 92.7 BIG FM, are thrilled about the initiative that Sonata has implemented on a large scale as part of the brand launching a line of safety watches called ‘ACT-App-Enabled Coordinates Tracker’.”

  • Maxus co-creates Sonata campaign

    Maxus co-creates Sonata campaign

    MUMBAI: Starting the year on a high note, Maxus partnered with Big FM to co-create and conceptualise a powerful radio campaign for Sonata’s newly launched safety watch ACT– App-Enabled Coordinates Tracker, designed exclusively for women. The watch has a button placed at the 8’clock position which when double clicked sends distress alarms to 10 designated guardians. Keeping in line the safety features and uniqueness of the watch, an innovative three-tiered campaign using radio as a medium was executed in 21 cities.

    The first phase included time checks sponsored by Sonata; as time-checks have a synergistic fit with the 8‘o’clock button awareness generation. The second phase comprised conversations with some of the great Indian women achievers like Sakshi Malik, Saundarya Rajesh, Sujitha Bora, Tashi & Nungshi, Deepa Malik, Sneha Mohandass and many more with RJ Richa Anirudh on a show titled as ‘Manzil Pe Nazar’, bringing alive their stories of courage & achievement. In the third phase, Big FM will be shifting their studios at various on-ground public locations and bringing in 12 hours live programming from 8 pm – 8 am with an all-female crew. This first of its kind activity, under way in five metros, will continue till 7 January, 2017.

    Maxus South Asia – south India managing partner Sanchayeeta Verma said, “Sonata ACT is a smart watch with a purpose, enabling women to courageously follow their dreams. Safety is a need for every woman and concerns not only her, but her family and colleagues as well. However, we also noticed a low adoption of current safety options and realized that we needed de-mystification of the technology, create a wave of collective participation from women to corporates, and build a habit of mindfulness and usage. To do this we needed a platform with relatable real-life people & generate momentum. Our effectiveness studies have shown high ROI for radio. The medium not only helps participation and engagement, but also offers significant digital platforms and multimedia amplification.”

    Titan Company CMO – watches and accessories Suparna Mitra said, “In India, safety is a huge concern for women and their families. As Indian women are evolving and progressing to take on more challenges, we realized there is a huge market for a safety watch which will help women pursue their dreams.”

    BIG Network CEO Tarun Katial said, “We at 92.7 BIG FM, are thrilled about the initiative that Sonata has implemented on a large scale as part of the brand launching a line of safety watches called ‘ACT-App-Enabled Coordinates Tracker’.”

  • FM Radio revenues witness seasonal slump in Q4-16, Q1-17

    FM Radio revenues witness seasonal slump in Q4-16, Q1-17

    BENGALURU: Generally the Indian private FM industry witnesses a quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) advertisement (ad) revenue slump in the first quarter of every year (Q1, quarter ended 30 June), which may sometimes carry over to the second quarter (Q2, quarter ended 30 September) of the fiscal. Since fiscal 2014, the industry has also seen fourth quarter (Q4, quarter ended 31 March) revenue slumps. Continuing the trend, private FM in India has seen a drop in revenue for quarters ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-16) and 30 June 2016 (Q1-17). As mentioned above trend was noticed Q4-14 and Q1-15 onwards, when the country held general elections and political parties used this so very local medium to garner votes.

    As per data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), for Q1-17, 244 radio stations had consolidated ad revenues of Rs 468.08 crore, down 9.81 percent q-o-q as compared to the Rs 514.75 crore reported by 242 stations in Q4-16. The last quarter of the previous fiscal also saw ad revenue decline of 4.35 percent from Rs 533.70 crore reported for its immediate quarter that ended on 31 December 2015 (Q3-15).

    Please refer to Figure A below for FM Radio Ad Revenue over a five year plus period spanning a 21 quarter period starting with the quarter ended 30 June 2011 (Q1-12) until the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q1-17) as per TRAI data. The amounts are in Rs crore and rounded off to the nearest decimal place.

    public://f1.jpg

    As is obvious from the red dots on the chartabove, Q1-12, Q1-13, Q1-14, Q1-15, Q1-16 and Q1-17 have all seen q-o-q revenue drops, as have Q4-14, Q4-15 and as mentioned above- Q4-16.

    Figure B below shows the q-o-q and year-over-year FM Radio Ad revenue trends. Generally y-o-y, revenues have been higher across all quarters in the period under consideration in this report, except for Q3-12 that saw a y-o-y ad revenue decline. For Q3-11, TRAI Indicator Reports mentioned ad revenue of Rs 284.88 crore from 227 radio stations or an average revenue of Rs 1.25 crore per station, as compared to ad revenue per station of Rs 1.20 crore for Q3-12.

    public://f2.jpg

    Conclusion

    Overall, despite the year-end andnew fiscal drops, ad revenues as well as ad revenues per station show a linear increasing trend as more and more advertisers have begun to understand the value proposition this very local medium with a pan-India footprint can offer. Further, the third quarter of the fiscal (Q3, quarter ended 31 December) is also the festival quarter of the year in India – a sweet quarter as far as the radio industry is concerned. The industry should see revenues rising in Q3-17.

     A few of the companies such as JagranPrakashan that has large networks like Radio City and Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL) which has the Radio Mirchi network in the country have already started operations of the new stations that they obtained in the FM Phase 3 auctions. The revenue of the new stations acquired in phase 3 auctions by other players such as Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL, Big FM) and HT Media Limited (Hindustan Times fame, Fever FM) if/once they start operations this fiscal, the radio industry should report substantial revenue increases. Profitability may take a hit initially, but over time that too is bound to change for the better.

    Results for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 of companies whose financials are within the public domain can at the most be termed a mixed bag. While ENIL has reported a growth in revenue, its profit after tax – both on a y-o-y and a q-o-q basis have been hit with a70.3 percent y-o-y decline and a51.7 percent q-o-q decline.

    ENIL won 17 stations in Phase 3 auctions and has launched 4 new stations in Q2-17 – at Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Surat and Jaipur. Earlier the company had launched Bengaluru, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Kochi stations. Bengaluru wasRadio Mirchi’s first launch in the second frequencies network.

    However, ENIL managing director and CEO Prashant Panday is upbeat. In ENIL’s Q2-17 results press release he said, “We have stepped up marketing spends and early research indicates that we have made a strong start and in fact have become leaders in key markets. I am confident this will translate into a stronger business in the years ahead!”

    Note:The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

     

  • FM Radio revenues witness seasonal slump in Q4-16, Q1-17

    FM Radio revenues witness seasonal slump in Q4-16, Q1-17

    BENGALURU: Generally the Indian private FM industry witnesses a quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) advertisement (ad) revenue slump in the first quarter of every year (Q1, quarter ended 30 June), which may sometimes carry over to the second quarter (Q2, quarter ended 30 September) of the fiscal. Since fiscal 2014, the industry has also seen fourth quarter (Q4, quarter ended 31 March) revenue slumps. Continuing the trend, private FM in India has seen a drop in revenue for quarters ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-16) and 30 June 2016 (Q1-17). As mentioned above trend was noticed Q4-14 and Q1-15 onwards, when the country held general elections and political parties used this so very local medium to garner votes.

    As per data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), for Q1-17, 244 radio stations had consolidated ad revenues of Rs 468.08 crore, down 9.81 percent q-o-q as compared to the Rs 514.75 crore reported by 242 stations in Q4-16. The last quarter of the previous fiscal also saw ad revenue decline of 4.35 percent from Rs 533.70 crore reported for its immediate quarter that ended on 31 December 2015 (Q3-15).

    Please refer to Figure A below for FM Radio Ad Revenue over a five year plus period spanning a 21 quarter period starting with the quarter ended 30 June 2011 (Q1-12) until the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q1-17) as per TRAI data. The amounts are in Rs crore and rounded off to the nearest decimal place.

    public://f1.jpg

    As is obvious from the red dots on the chartabove, Q1-12, Q1-13, Q1-14, Q1-15, Q1-16 and Q1-17 have all seen q-o-q revenue drops, as have Q4-14, Q4-15 and as mentioned above- Q4-16.

    Figure B below shows the q-o-q and year-over-year FM Radio Ad revenue trends. Generally y-o-y, revenues have been higher across all quarters in the period under consideration in this report, except for Q3-12 that saw a y-o-y ad revenue decline. For Q3-11, TRAI Indicator Reports mentioned ad revenue of Rs 284.88 crore from 227 radio stations or an average revenue of Rs 1.25 crore per station, as compared to ad revenue per station of Rs 1.20 crore for Q3-12.

    public://f2.jpg

    Conclusion

    Overall, despite the year-end andnew fiscal drops, ad revenues as well as ad revenues per station show a linear increasing trend as more and more advertisers have begun to understand the value proposition this very local medium with a pan-India footprint can offer. Further, the third quarter of the fiscal (Q3, quarter ended 31 December) is also the festival quarter of the year in India – a sweet quarter as far as the radio industry is concerned. The industry should see revenues rising in Q3-17.

     A few of the companies such as JagranPrakashan that has large networks like Radio City and Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL) which has the Radio Mirchi network in the country have already started operations of the new stations that they obtained in the FM Phase 3 auctions. The revenue of the new stations acquired in phase 3 auctions by other players such as Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL, Big FM) and HT Media Limited (Hindustan Times fame, Fever FM) if/once they start operations this fiscal, the radio industry should report substantial revenue increases. Profitability may take a hit initially, but over time that too is bound to change for the better.

    Results for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 of companies whose financials are within the public domain can at the most be termed a mixed bag. While ENIL has reported a growth in revenue, its profit after tax – both on a y-o-y and a q-o-q basis have been hit with a70.3 percent y-o-y decline and a51.7 percent q-o-q decline.

    ENIL won 17 stations in Phase 3 auctions and has launched 4 new stations in Q2-17 – at Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Surat and Jaipur. Earlier the company had launched Bengaluru, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Kochi stations. Bengaluru wasRadio Mirchi’s first launch in the second frequencies network.

    However, ENIL managing director and CEO Prashant Panday is upbeat. In ENIL’s Q2-17 results press release he said, “We have stepped up marketing spends and early research indicates that we have made a strong start and in fact have become leaders in key markets. I am confident this will translate into a stronger business in the years ahead!”

    Note:The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

     

  • Paritosh Painter quits Reliance Broadcast Network

    Paritosh Painter quits Reliance Broadcast Network

    MUMBAI: Paritosh Painter, who was brought in as network creative director by Reliance Broadcast for radio channel 92.7 Big FM as well as television channel Big Magic, has quit. 

     

    Painter will now be concentrating on his theatrical productions, film & TV writing.

     

    Painter had created & written Akbar Birbal  for Big Magic, which is one of the channel’s biggest shows. He also helped create a number of shows for Big Magic & Big FM.

     

    “Beside concentrating on his theatre and writing projects, the channel’s gradual shift towards non-fiction from fiction is also a reason behind Painter’s resignation,” said a source close to the development.

     

    Having over 15 years of experience in the field of entertainment, Painter has directed over 23 plays in Hindi and English and has done 2500 shows across the globe. Besides this, he has scripted several Bollywood films like Dhamaal (2007), Paying Guest (2009) and All The Best: Fun Begins (2009). His repertoire also includes stand-up comedy, content development and producing shows on television.

  • Big Magic to launch fourth integrated show ‘Nautanki News’

    Big Magic to launch fourth integrated show ‘Nautanki News’

    MUMBAI: After launching three integrated shows namely Fakebook with Kavita, Chutki Baja Ke and Lete Hai Khabar Khabro Ki, Big Magic and Big FM are all set to launch a new show from their bouquet of spoofy and comedic content titled Nautanki News. The show will air from 4 November on Wednesday – Thursday at 9:30 pm time slot.

     

    Coming on board as the host is theater actor Darshan Jariwala, who will don several hats on the show. Being played out in a fictitious news channel set-up, Jariwala will play the aggressive managing editor, and switch roles every now and then from being a news reader, to a live-reporter, to a chat show-host and even a newsroom editor.

     

    Through mock panel discussions, live reporting and chat shows, the show will hilariously throw light on how tactics such as yellow journalism, paid news, sensationalised coverage and more, are driving the agendas of TRP-hungry news channels today, thereby promising to be an out and out laughter riot for the viewers.  

     

    Big Magic creative director Bimal Unnikrishnan said, “Nautanki News will take the entertainment quotient on Big Magic a notch higher. It will be the perfect example of combining topicality and humour. Nautanki News will throw light on the news making business as a whole in a fun and witty manner that has never been showcased before on television.”

  • Big Magic to fortify programming with four new show launches

    Big Magic to fortify programming with four new show launches

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network’s Hindi entertainment channel Big Magic is looking at fortifying its programming line-up with a slew of new show launches during the festive season.

     

    After launching three new shows namely Chutki Baja Ke, Fakebook with Kavita and Comedy Ka Rocket over the last one month, Big Magic is gearing up to take its entertainment quotient a notch higher by unveiling four more shows in the coming weeks.

     

    The first show, which is slated to go on air from 26 October will be an adaptation of the American game show Family Feud. Called Family Fortunes (as the British version is titled), the show will be aired from Monday – Thursday at 8:30 pm and is being produced by SOL. The channel has roped in Mantra as the host of Family Fortunes.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the same, Big Magic creative director Bimal Unnikrishnan said, “Family Feud is the most loved and watched game show across the world, which has also been commissioned in over 65 other countries. As content will be tweaked and adapted for the Indian audience but the basic format of the show will remain the same. One of the reasons why we roped in Mantra is because he’s extremely talented, funny and presentable as a host.”

     

    Family Fortunes (65 episodes) will run for 16 weeks on Big Magic. Currently, the channel is filming all the episodes and has readied a bank of the first 10 episodes. The game show gives participants an opportunity to win prizes by answering simple questions that have passed a generic survey. If their answers match with the top answers of the survey, they win points, which get translated into prizes.

     

    Coming on board as the official radio partner, 92.7 Big FM will be promoting the show through Family Fortune hour every Monday – Friday at 7 pm across all its 45 stations pan India. The radio station will also give its listeners an opportunity to get a direct entry to the game show.

     

    Big Magic’s  second new show is a comedy titled Ji Sirji, which will go on air from 11 November and will be aired on Wednesday and Thursday at 10 pm.

     

    Unnikrishnan said, “Ji Sirji is a satirical and humour show based on bad bosses, which will showcase the relationship between bosses and their subordinates.”

     

    The third show is titled Bollywood Frydays and is based on social commentary on Bollywood. Come November, the show will be aired on Fridays. However, the exact date of launch has not yet been decided.

     

    The fourth show is titled Lete Hai Khabar Khabron Ki and will go on air soon. The bi-weekly show, which will be hosted by actor Varun Badola, is a commentary on the latest happenings on the news platform across the country. 

     

    “The bi-weekly show will be based on the news scene in the country. We are planning to launch the series in the coming few weeks,” Unnikrishnan added.

     

    Big Magic plans to launch these shows as finite series, which will have multiple seasons.

     

    Speaking on the channel’s programming strategy, Unnikrishnan said, “We are a comedy channel and we will keep experimenting with new comedy shows with a different approach. Our programming strategy is to present unique comedy content for urban families. We realise that it is a great format that engages as well as provides a play along feature to the audience.”

     

    “We are very optimistic about our content offering because I don’t think anybody else is providing the kind of content that we are planning to launch. It’s is really something that we are hoping will work,” he added.

     

    RBNL recently adopted a unique strategy to launch integrated shows on its television (Big Magic) and radio (Big FM) platforms. The first two integrated shows launched were Fakebook with Kavita and Comedy Ka Rocket.

     

    Speaking on promoting the content across radio, Unnikrishnan said, “Promoting content is another part of our strategy. We are promoting a lot of content on topicality and as a part of our strategy, we are using a 360 degree approach to promote our content across our radio platforms as well.”

     

    MARKETING & PROMOTIONAL PLANS

     

    Big Magic has identified the digital medium as the core platform to promote all its upcoming shows. 

     

    Discussing the channel’s marketing initiative, RBNL network chief marketing officer Manoj Lalwani said, “Digital media is the leading platform for promotions. For digital, we have a series of videos on Facebook, which will be pushing to our fan base. Other than that, we are running promotions on our own platforms including Big Magic.”

     

    Unnikrishnan added, “For almost every show, we will be carrying out 360 degree promotional campaigns across all platforms. We have our own radio partner in Big FM, so all the content will be available on radio as well.”

     

    The channel also plans to conduct crowd sourcing activities online and inviting participating. “We will be rolling out multiple contests and promotion activities online for our shows,” he informed.

     

    Big Magic has received a positive response from advertisers. “There are brands, which are really impressed and are ready to work closely with us. The content will go across our radio stations apart from television and digital platforms and these are new opportunities that an advertiser can avail of. We are in the process of sealing a few deals,” informed Lalwani.

     

    Grey Worldwide is the creative agency for the channel, whereas Resultrix Media Pvt. Ltd has been roped in as the digital agency.

  • Big Magic & Big FM launch integrated show ‘Fakebook with Kavita’

    Big Magic & Big FM launch integrated show ‘Fakebook with Kavita’

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network’s entertainment channel Big Magic and 92.7 Big FM will be launching an integrated satirical comedy show called Fakebook with Kavita with TV actress Kavita Kaushik.

     

    The show, which will be aired as a simulcast on television and radio for the first time in the industry, is a fresh take on the hypocritical Indian society, focusing on topical issues, which make you sit up, think and introspect, albeit with a pinch of humour.

     

    Starting from 19 October Fakebook with Kavita will be aired at 9 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays on Big  Magic and from Mondays to Thursdays on 92.7 Big FM.

     

    In line with the programming strategy, the content will be sarcastic, irreverent, relatable and cutting edge. Kaushik will be seen doing sketches where her character will vary depending on situations.

     

    Big Magic creative director Bimal Unnikrishnan said, “We are introducing a genre – satirical comedy, which has not been explored much on the small screen. Fakebook with Kavita is a light hearted, relatable, satirical comedy series with a fresh take on the hypocritical Indian society. We are excited to launch our first integrated show, which will enthrall viewers of Big Magic as well as the listeners of 92.7 Big FM, thus enhancing the reach of the show across India. It is our consistent endeavour to create shows with cutting edge content coupled with ‘full on LOL’ moments and we do hope that the audiences will love this.”

     

    Kaushik added, “I am glad to be associated with this unique show. It is a take on our hypocritical society but with a dose of comedy. Audiences will see me discussing real life issues and topical situations with lots of humour. Looking at the scenario today, I genuinely believe that a show of this nature is much needed and it is the perfect time to launch it. The best part is that the reach of the show will be manifold as it will air on both Big Magic and 92.7 Big FM.”

  • Big Magic targets young adults with two new shows

    Big Magic targets young adults with two new shows

    MUMBAI: With an aim to provide humour and unpredictable content that appeals to the urban audience, Big Magic is coming up with two new male centric shows targeting young adults within the age group of 15 – 30. The first show is called Boyz, which recently went on air, whereas the other show – Pyar Marriage Shhhh (PMS) will begin airing from 7 September.

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network COO Ashwin Padmanabhan said, “We have successfully created a position of our channel in the comedy space. Our new programming content is based in an urban kind of setting.”

     

    What’s more, Big Magic is also planning to launch another three to four shows and short formats in the coming months. “We are working on a talk show format, which is likely to launch in the next three months. We are also getting multiple short formats like Chutki and Shopkeeper, which has become very big already. We have introduced another short format called Mania Ki Dunia. The short-format YouTube content, which already has 20 million views, will also be put on radio, television and online. As we started building comedy as a genre, our effort is to create relevance of this genre across multiple platforms,” he added.

     

    Elaborating the story of new shows, Padmanabhan said, “The theme of Boyz is about three college friends and their crazy experiences of coming out of their comfort zone and discovering life. So it’s a typical college story but like every other boy, they carry the fantasy of not just the perfect job but also the girl of their dreams. Each character is sketched extremely sharply and differently. The show will fill in the gap of urban TV viewing male audience with an edginess that has hitherto been unavailable on television.”

     

    The theme of Boyz captures the target audience who are in a similar phase and hence the youth can relate to it. “This high octane comedy is another innovation in Big Magic’s attempt at strengthening its new positioning in providing edgy and contemporary content,” Padmanabhan added.

     

    Speaking about Pyar Marriage Sshh, Padmanabhan said, “The show has a very interesting plot about three friends and revolves around the crazy things that happens to them. These guys are neighbours who come together and become friends. Every episode shows something new happening in their life.”

     

    Being the only channel that focuses solely on the comedy genre, Big Magic has a clear cut vision to make young India laugh out loud and the programming strategy is based around the same philosophy.

     

    The channel will now also venture into the episodic format. Speaking on the same, Padmanabhan informed, “The story starts and ends with the episodes. It’s just like F.R.I.E.N.D.S wherein every episode is new and different in its own way. A story will not carry forward into the next episode. It’s the kind of content that works with the current generation.”

     

    Following the international format, Boyz will have multiple seasons and each season will have a run period of six months. Following the format, Big Magic has already re-launched Hazir Jawab Birbal, which was earlier named as Akbar Birbal.

     

    Addressing the need gap for male centric entertainment shows, Big Magic took the humour approach to attract its TG. Padmanabhan added, “There’s not much good content available for men on television and that’s why men tend to consume more news or sports. Humour has a wide appeal so, if we present a story from a man’s perspective, the kind of humour gets integrated across the audience.”

     

    Big Magic will be promoting the shows across platform. “Digital is a very key component of marketing strategy. Apart from that, we are also using television channels that are targeting young adults like MTV and Bindass as well as news channels. Along with promotions, we are also doing a whole lot of integration. Funny portions of the content is cut and tweaked for radio. RJs from our networks as well as partner networks are supporting this campaign. In radio, apart from the in-house Big FM, we have also roped in Fever 104 and Red FM as partners,” he informed.

     

    The marketing initiative will cut across major cities like Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Lucknow, Baroda and Surat.

     

    The campaign has been developed by Grey Worldwide, whereas MEC is the media buying agency. The digital campaigns are being handled by Resultrix Media.

     

    Throwing light on the research that was done before launching the shows, Padmanabhan said, “From the show perspective, we do a pilot testing, which has been done across some centres in Mumbai, Delhi and other metro cities. On the basis of that, we received good feedback. We are not only testing the shows but are also testing the promos online.”

     

    There was a pre-launch campaign rolled out for Boyz where people were asked to give their feedback on the promos that were uploaded on YouTube.