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Tag: Chuckle Festival

  • Live Viacom18 brings second season of Comedy Central Chuckle Festival

    Live Viacom18 brings second season of Comedy Central Chuckle Festival

    MUMBAI: This monsoon season, Live Viacom18 will ensure that Indian audiences cackle, chortle and hoot with laughter as it brings to India the bright & funny and one of the finest names in international comedy, Russell Brand. Organized as part of the second season of the biggest international comedy festival ‘Comedy Central Chuckle Festival’ Brand who is also a renowned presenter, author and actor will entertain audiences with his famous one-liners and side-splitting stories. While this will be Brand’s first performance in India scheduled to be held across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore on June 26th, 27th and 28th respectively this will be his third visit to India.

     

    Best known for his satire, whimsy and observational humour along with his comical acts in movies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, and the voice of Dr. Nefario in Despicable Me 1 & 2. A livewire comedian, he has brought the house down in most of his performances with his unique brand of humour. Far from being a traditional stand-up comic, Brand’s audiences engage not only with the lines he delivers on stage but also with the quirky persona he has created. All in all, these three nights are expected to be filled with fun, excitement and rip roaring laughter.

     

    Confirming the news Integrated Network Solution SVP Jaideep Singh said, “Live Viacom18 is in the business of bringing alive unique experiences in all genres of entertainment. We today have IP’s in all genres with the focus on experience and cutting edge programming. We believe in the power of comedy and our first edition of the ‘Comedy Central Chuckle Festival’ met with stupendous success. Having partnerships with artists around the globe has continually ensured that Live Viacom 18 continues to present vibrant world-class performances to a huge range of audiences in India. We can now deliver a landmark event to local audiences’ top- lining some of the most brilliant comedic artists working today. This time around who better than Russell Brand – a true heavyweight from the world of comedy to lead the show”

     

    Live Viacom18′ Chuckle Festival made a big bang entry into the Indian comedy scene in 2013 and has been a destination venue for world-class comedy since then presenting some of the best international comedy talent that the world has to offer. The festival reflects its growing profile in presenting the world’s best comedians to Indian audiences and recent performances include renowned names – from Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias to Eddie Ifft, Paul Varghese and now Russell Brand.

  • Viacom18’s live events business sees two-fold increase in a year

    Viacom18’s live events business sees two-fold increase in a year

    MUMBAI: Over the last decade or so Viacom18 has created fresh new ways to connect with its audience and build enduring relationships. The company’s on-ground property Live Viacom18, which has been building innovative IPs, multi-dimensional marketing and engagement platforms, has witnessed tremendous growth ever since it conception in October 2012.

     

    Sharing insights on the business with Indiantelevision.com, Viacom18 Media’s Integrated Network Solutions (INS) senior vice president and business head Jaideep Singh said, “From 2013 to 2014, we’ve doubled our business and this year too we intend to double it. If you look at the whole industry, we are the largest players. What took others five to six years to achieve, we did in a year’s time. Nobody has the ecosystem that we do, and nobody has that kind of IPs that we have. So in a way, we are the leaders in the Rs 400-450 crore market of live events.”

     

    Viacom18 began with 13 IPs and a few events in 2013. It then scaled up to 210 events in 2014 and plans are afoot to expand it to 300 plus events this year.

     

    Singh further informs that the property has been constantly increasing the number of hours of content produced. “The brand, which used to produce 10-15 hours of content when it began in 2013, will produce 50-60+ hours of content this year and that’s huge in the live events industry.”

     

    Live Viacom 18 has properties like Super Sonic, Chuckle Festival, MTV Bollyland, Emerge, MTV Extreme and the awards property, which will be held in the third or fourth quarter this year. Additionally, more than 350 plus artists globally are set to add yet another feather to its success cap.

     

    While Live Viacom 18 is looking to explore with newer formats and enter newer markets, the ultimate aim is to give the audience a better experience, with great artists and bring in the best of the latest technology experience. Singh asserts, “This year we have introduced something new called Spiro, which is an initiative by MTV Indies.”

     

    Live Viacom18, which is a division under Viacom18’s Integrated Network Solutions, currently has presence in about 25 cities and is looking at expanding its footprints to 35 cities this year. When queried as to whether they intended to cater to markets outside India, Singh said, “Given an opportunity, we will explore markets outside India like Middle East Asia and South Asia to begin with.”

     

    Speaking about advertisers’ response to its properties, Singh said, “In the first year, we had about 15 brands on board, then in 2014 we had 40 brands and this year we have 70 plus brands on board. So the response from brands has been overwhelming for us.”

     

    Of the 300 plus events planned this year, Live Viacom 18 has already held 30 events in the first quarter of 2015. What’s more, the team is all prepared to handle the pressure. Asked whether the company was looking at beefing up its team, Singh said, “No we are not beefing up our teams. We have separate teams for our properties and hence there is focus among them and they are all set and excited for the line up of events.”

     

    On the marketing front, Live Viacom 18 will leverage its advantage of being a broadcaster and its digital presence to engage with audiences. Additionally, the traditional forms of media like print, radio and OOH will also be used to gain marketing traction. All in all, the company will roll out a 360 degree integrated marketing campaign, which will be executed across properties.

     

    Apart from this, the company also has an innovation up its sleeve. A tie-up with US-based technology company Mixify will help Viacom18 bring in artists to perform on video without them being present physically. With this technology not only will they increase their fan base but also create a lot more engagement in multiple cities at the same time.

     

    Highlighting three key trends that the industry was moving towards, Singh said, “The first one is towards more and more live entertainment events with newer formats. Secondly, there’s been an increase in consumer spends and thirdly consuming merchandise.”

     

    Singh informed that currently LIVE Viacom18 is not active in the merchandising front, but it is an avenue that the company will explore going forward.