Tag: covid-19

DocuBay premieres ‘Epicenter: 24 hours in Wuhan’

MUMBAI: After bringing some extraordinary titles across politics, crime, human issues in recent times, DocuBay adds a new and very topical film to its rich content library. While the world grapples to deal with the invisible enemy, this documentary brings to fore how the people of the city banded together to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

Titled ‘Epicenter: 24 hours in Wuhan’, the 50-minute feature is a humane and compassionate story, highlighting how the people of that city fought against the COVID-19 outbreak.

Trailer link – https://www.docubay.com/epicenter-24-hours-in-wuhan

The city of Wuhan, located in the centre of Hubei province, is a highly-populated area and one of the main industrial and technological zones of China. Millions set out across the country to see family during the Lunar New Year, China's biggest festival, had their plans changed as deadly pneumonia-like virus started making news outside of the city of Wuhan. Just before Lunar New Year the city of Wuhan went into lockdown to fight the novel virus named ‘COVID-19’. The coronavirus which was spreading rapidly through the city, as asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic people went about their lives, was proving deadly to elderly or weak patients. The city administration mobilized to fight the virus, with healthcare workers at the frontline.

Get a glimpse of the herculean efforts by healthcare workers to deal with this unprecedented crisis in the EPICENTER. Viewers can watch this documentary without membership on DocuBay app, which is available across 180+ countries on the App Store, Google Play, Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV.

Watch the documentary here: – https://www.docubay.com/epicenter-24-hours-in-wuhan

April 3, 2020
Cannes Lions 2020 Cancelled

MUMBAI: Cannes Lions today announced that the annual Festival of Creativity will not take place in October as previously planned. The next edition of the Festival will run June 21-25, 2021, said a Cannes Lions statement.

“As the impact from COVID-19 continues to be felt across the world on consumers and our customers across the marketing, creative and media industries, it has become clear to us our customers’ priorities have shifted to the need to protect people, to serve consumers with essential items and to focus on preserving companies, society and economies. Our difficult decision follows in-depth consultations with our partners and customers and reflects the unprecedented societal, health and economic challenges currently facing the world, as well as our desire to remove any uncertainty about the running of the awards and event for our partners and customers,” said the statement.

Cannes Lions chairman Philip Thomas said: “Cannes Lions at its core has always been about creativity and the Lions. We realise that the creative community has other challenges to face, and simply isn’t in a position to put forward the work that will set the benchmark. The marketing and creative industries, in common with so many others, are currently in turmoil, and it’s clear that we can play our small part by removing all speculation about the Festival this year. We have tried to make our decisions as early as possible to give the industry total clarity on the situation, and that is why we are announcing this move today.”

Cannes Lions managing director Simon Cook said: “We all look ahead to a more positive time – right now, Cannes Lions will continue to bring the global creative community together and provide inspiration where we can find it. Our recent call for inspirational creative stories from around the world has already garnered hundreds of accounts of our community uniting and showing progress in this crisis. We believe firmly that the Lions continue to offer valuable recognition to that community and we look forward to celebrating and honouring the work in 2021, when the world will hopefully feel more stable, and our community can give their work the focus it deserves.”

April 3, 2020
COVID-19 boon: News channels show 300% viewership growth

MUMBAI: The lockdown amid COVID-19 may adversely impact businesses, but it has helped the television industry, especially the news segment, to achieve a new high in terms of viewership, says a report released by Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) and Nielsen on crisis consumption.

According to the report, news genre has clocked around 300 per cent increase in terms of viewership across the general category (English, Hindi and regional). Whereas, the business news channels in both Hindi and English languages have risen by 180 per cent in viewership.

The report also points out that while the primetime consumption of news across the country has surged by over 250 per cent, non-prime time news slot saw a rise of 344 per cent in terms of viewership. However, perhaps, for the first time, there has been a drop of over 15 per cent in viewership in general entertainment channels during the primetime slot.

Be it prime time or non-prime time, the overall growth of news channels across languages have seen a substantial rise of over 20 per cent from 7 per cent during the Covid-19 lockdown, mentions the report.

These growth figures of news channels and all other genres are recorded in week 12 of BARC (21-27 March) when compared with week two and four of BARC (11-31 January).

The country is grappling with the rising COVID-19 pandemic. During these testing times, people are consuming more news than any other genre because it keeps them updated about the virus menace and other related information such as the number of cases, do’s and don’ts and various governments’ initiative to curb the pandemic.

Many tech events, sports matches, shootings of films and television shows have stopped and the whole content generation process has come to a standstill, except for the news genre, which has been coming up with Covid-19-related content on a time-to-time basis, as it has been kept under the essential services list.

April 3, 2020
Times Prime offers complimentary ZEE5 subscription to entertain during COVID-19 social distancing

MUMBAI: As more and more people stay home following state-imposed lockdowns or self-quarantine due to rising cases of COVID-19, Times Prime has partnered with ZEE5 to offer digital entertainment to all those who are confined to their home during this unprecedented situation. As part of this initiative, Times Prime is offering new users complimentary access to six months of ZEE5 subscription worth Rs 599 as a part of the membership experience.

ZEE5 offers an exhaustive array of digital content with 100+ live TV channels and 1.25 lakh+ hours of viewing across the languages of English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Punjabis, making it one of the most comprehensive video destinations for OTT viewers. The platform is also set to host a large bouquet of blockbuster movies, new exclusives, binge-worthy ZEE5 Originals, and bespoke premium content to cater to this burgeoning new audience.

Times Prime business head Vivek Jain said, "The world is currently fighting a battle with the COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of millions of Indians having to be confined to their homes to be safe. Social distancing is surely the need of the hour. We want our members to stay home, stay safe and stay entertained. To enable this we are adding many partners that can help Prime patrons workout from home, get access to nutritionists and digital diet passes and most importantly get online consultation from doctors. I am very pleased to share that ZEE5, a leading OTT platform in India, will now be available on Times Prime keeping all our users entertained 24×7 across devices.”

ZEE5 India business development and commercial vice president Manpreet Bumrah said, “We are fully committed to undertake any preventive measures necessary to help the media ecosystem curb this unprecedented situation caused due to the COVID-19 crisis. With our partnership with Times Prime, we want to reach out to all the audiences across the country and help them enjoy responsibly by staying home whilst, catching up on their favourite shows/movies uninterrupted across 12 languages – only on ZEE5.”

At an introductory price of Rs 999, Times Prime’s premium lifestyle membership now offers exclusive access to nine premium memberships that include Zee5 subscription worth Rs 599, Gourmet Passport by Dineout worth Rs 1499, Grofers membership worth Rs 249, Gaana+ by Gaana worth Rs 399, exclusive access to TOI+ the ad-free online version of the world’s largest circulating newspaper, ETPrime membership worth Rs 399, FitCoach membership worth Rs 999, FreshClub subscription worth Rs 399, and OYO Wizard Blue worth Rs 499. Additionally, Times Prime’s exclusive payment partnerships with HDFC Payzapp and HDFC Times Card can be used to purchase the Times Prime membership at up to 30 per cent discount. Customers can easily recover their membership fee within the first week and save up to Rs 60,000 every year, making Times Prime the most comprehensive and cost-effective premium subscription service available in India.

April 2, 2020
PokerBaazi.com to donate Rs.10 lakhs to fight off Covid-19, help daily wage workers

MUMBAI: As a humble contribution towards defeating the pandemic spread across the entire country, PokerBaazi.com, a leading online gaming platform, has stepped forward to donate a minimum of Rs 10 lakhs to support India’s battle against Covid-19 by associating with Dehi Youth Welfare Association (DYWA). The platform has organized a special tournament series on their app to support the cause. The brand will be donating the entire tournament fee raised from the main event as well as an equivalent amount from the company’s side towards supporting daily wage workers with ration and money.

The development comes as the company believes in joint efforts by every responsible corporate to overcome these harsh times and wants to extend aid to the most vulnerable section of society. Also, through this initiative many players associated with the company are likely to come together to make their contribution.

Mr. Navkiran Singh, Founder and CEO at Baazi Games, the group entity of PokerBaazi.com, said, “The entire world is going through a very tough time and the situation is extremely unfortunate. We believe that only collaborated efforts from all will help the world sail through this pandemic. We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to extend our support and be a part of the battle against coronavirus. We wisheveryone to stay safe and careful during this time.”

This comes at a time when the fantasy sports business vertical of the group, BalleBaazi.com, is highly affected by the global lockdown. Singh feels optimistic about things getting better soon and added,”Fantasy sports gaming in India has very bright prospects and we are confident that things will get to motion as soon as things get better on ground. In the meanwhile, we have to come together and help the needful for their sustenance.”

In the past as well, PokerBaazi.com has been associated with various causes to uplift underprivileged sections of the society. The company last year had organized a motivational session with Olympics Bronze medallist, Vijender Singh and has actively participated in numerous social initiatives like Kerala Flood Relief, Clean Yamuna campaign and sustainable food development systems for underprivileged children.

April 2, 2020
Govt sets up COVID-19 Fact Check Unit to counter fake news

MUMBAI: In the wake of influx of misinformation that the government says is being spread through social media, the press information bureau of the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has set up a portal, COVID-19 Fact Check Unit, which will be operational from morning of 2 April to receive messages by email and send its response in quick time.

PIB will release a daily bulletin at 8 pm every day to inform government decisions, developments and progress on COVID-19. The first bulletin was released on Wednesday at 6.30 pm.

The bulletin has been established after the supreme court gave a directive on controlling fake news during the pandemic. One of the reasons for the mass migration of labourers was a rumour that the lockdown would continue for more than three months.

The solicitor general of the government said that an official bulletin would be published via all media avenues, including social media; other media outlets should use only the official data. The apex court clarified that although it won't interfere with free discussion, the media should refer to the official version of the developments.

The ministry of health has set up a technical group consisting of professionals from AIIMs, etc., to clarify any doubts in the minds of the general public on any technical aspect of COVID-19.

The cabinet secretary has written to all the state governments informing them of the constitution of 11 empowered groups under the Disaster Management Act with clear-cut mandate to decide on various aspects of management of COVID-19, with a request to develop a similar mechanism at the state level.

Moreover, the health department has issued detailed guidelines to deal with psychological issues amongst migrants. State governments have been requested to engage volunteers to supervise the welfare activities of the migrants.

April 2, 2020
NBSA advises news channels to use social media content after thorough verification

MUMBAI: The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) has advised member broadcasters of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) to verify any content used from social media platforms in their news programmes at the highest editorial levels before being telecast in the wake of the recent supreme court order regarding news related to Covid19 coverage.

“In particular, we expect the media (print, electronic or social) to maintain a strong sense of responsibility and ensure that unverified news capable of causing panic is not disseminated. A daily bulletin by the government of India through all media avenues including social media and forums to clear the doubts of people would be made active within a period of 24 hours as submitted by the solicitor general of India. We do not intend to interfere with the free discussion about the pandemic, but direct the media to refer to and publish the official version about the developments,” the apex court stated.

NBSA said under these circumstances member broadcasters could also consider telecasting the positives steps being taken by various individuals/ persons/ entities / governments and all medical personnel in order that objective, balanced, accurate and impartial news gets telecast.

It also added that the issue that the supreme court has touched upon relates to “fake news” whether intended or not, published either by electronic, print or social media which will cause panic in the society. The court observed that the media should maintain a strong sense of responsibility and ensure that unverified news capable of causing panic is not disseminated.

“News media plays a critical role during public health emergencies by providing reassurance, bringing calm, motivating people to overcome the crisis and in bringing their lives back to normal. Inaccurate information can lead to rumours and misinformation, resulting in panic and chaos,” the advisory highlighted.

April 1, 2020
Don’t disconnect cable service for next 1 month due to non-payment: West Bengal govt tells operators

MUMBAI: West Bengal government has directed not to disconnect cable TV connections for the next one month if subscribers fail to pay monthly bill. This is in view of the fact that there are chances of households being unable to meet monthly expenses on account of the current impasse due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In view of the lockdown, Cable TV connections should not be disconnected by the service providers for the next one month on account of non-payment of subscription fee,” the chief secretary stated in a letter dated 31 March. According to sources, other states may replicate the move.

Indians have been spending more time in front of their television, as per data released by TV viewership measurement agency BARC India and global measurement and data analytics company Nielsen, ever since the government imposed a nationwide 21-day lockdown. The total TV consumption has increased by 8 per cent across India in the week ended 20 March (Covid-19 Week 1), while the total time spent per user on smartphones went up by 6.2 per cent to 25 hours a week.

April 1, 2020
News Broadcasters Federation welcomes SC order on fake news

MUMBAI: The News Broadcasters Federation has welcomed the Supreme Court order against the menace of fake news. The apex court in its order on Tuesday, 31 March , made observations on the “menace of fake news either by electronic, print or social media” and has put the onus on the media to ensure unverified panic inducing news is not circulated.

The NBF, which is the largest body of news broadcasters pan-India, not just acknowledges but welcomes the Supreme Court Order which states “we expect the Media (print, electronic or social) to maintain a strong sense of responsibility and ensure that unverified news capable of causing panic is not disseminated.” In the midst of India’s current battle against the novel coronavirus, the NBF recognises that there is a great need to be vigilant against fake news that is being proliferated both on certain media platforms, as well as on social media, said the federation in a release.

NBF president Arnab Goswami said in a statement that the NBF stands in solidarity and supports completely the proactive initiatives undertaken by the Government of India to contain, control and defeat the COVID-19 pandemic whose grave impact spans over 199 nations and over 8.5 lakh individuals, at present. The NBF believes the nationwide lockdown to contain the COVID-19 threat needs to be upheld, and any fake news that deters this national fight needs to be debunked at the earliest. In light of this, the NBF strives to uphold it's national duty and stands by the Supreme Court intervention to curb rampant fake news.

He added that the battle against the novel-coronavirus is and must remain a national effort, with each pillar of our democracy doing its part to ensure the social distancing norms are maintained, the lockdown rules are followed, and the concerted efforts to spread fear and mistrust amongst the people by a handful in detriment to this effort are defeated. The NBF believes that it's fundamental duty “to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so”, in the present times, includes being an active participant in fighting fake news.

“India is at the cusp of its battle against the pandemic, and has rapidly increased efforts to flatten the curve and delay the onset of Stage-3, that is, community transmission. The nature of the infection and the person-to-person spread means there is a need for restriction of movement in our nation of 1.3 billion, and any fake news to defeat this effort needs to be curtailed at the earliest,” he points out.

Goswami notes that the NBF acknowledges that this fight requires a united effort by all sections of society, all organisations and all groups need to come together. The NBF pledges its complete support to our frontline warriors and stands behind the Supreme Court order to curb fake news during the extraordinary situation currently faced by the nation and the world.

April 1, 2020
Tata Sky offers emergency credit facility, free access to interactive services

MUMBAI: Leading content distribution and Pay TV platform Tata Sky has announced emergency credit facility for subscribers who have been unable to recharge their account due to various reasons, inability to find a dealer to do it for them being one of them.

This is aimed at ensuring that all subscribers have access to uninterrupted entertainment round the clock while staying at home during the nation-wide lockdown period.

The step has been taken largely to ease out the lives of the non-tech savvy viewers who constitute a considerable size of the subscriber base.

In addition to this, 10 of Tata Sky’s interactive content services have been made free to encourage the consumers to remain fruitfully engaged, learn and do something new in the safety of their homes during this period of public health scare.

The emergency credit facility will provide subscribers a balance loan for a specified time period. The credited amount will be debited from the user's account as soon as he re-activates his service without any interest.

Meanwhile, free access to content will include value-added services for the entire family, targeted towards a variety of age groups. Tata Sky Fun Learn, Smart Manager, Vedic Maths, Cooking, Classroom, Dance Studio, Beauty and Fitness count amongst the most popular services that will be available at a time when it is imperative for people to join the drive to stay at home. The credit facility can be easily accessed by giving a free missed call. The free interactive services can easily be accessed on the set top box or on the Tata Sky Mobile App.

To spread the word on these initiatives, Tata Sky has created a unique TVC to celebrate the spirit of Stay Home, Stay Jingalala. The creative idea – “Chalo Ghar baithe baithe kuch naya seekhein”- has been conceptualised by Ogilvy India for Tata Sky. The TVC was shot and directed remotely by real people on their phone cameras in seven different cities – Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Lucknow, Chennai and Jodhpur. Not a single person stepped out of their homes for the production which was executed in a period of just two days.

Talking about the campaign, Ogilvy India Chief Creative Officer Sukesh Nayak said, “In times like these, it’s important that brands contribute to help its consumers in their own way. By deciding to free up services, Tata sky is doing their bit to entertain and engage its subscribers while they stay at home.”

April 1, 2020