ITV

Tag: crime

  • Watcho premieres new crime thriller ‘Happy’

    Watcho premieres new crime thriller ‘Happy’

    Mumbai: Streaming service platform Watcho has announced the premiere of a new crime thriller titled “Happy.” The eight-episode Hindi web series is currently live now on the platform.

    “Happy” follows the journey of a chef named Happy Singh who makes his living working as a chef at a girls’ hostel. The show revolves around Happy’s pursuit of happiness, who is known for his grumpy demeanor and extraordinary culinary skills.

    The thriller is written by Hitesh Bali, under the production of Percept Purple. It features Bhagwan Das Patel playing the titular character, alongside Deeksha Sahu – who essays the role of Gunjan, the parallel character. 

    “‘Happy’ is an unconventional crime thriller that comes with a blend of suspense and hard-hitting drama. The series has carefully crafted characters which makes the story delve into the theme of the class divide and how it reflects upon our society,” commented DishTV and Watcho’s corporate head of marketing Sukhpreet Singh. “As a promoter of entertainment, we have always strived to invent and deliver innovative content for our viewers. ‘Happy’ is yet another testimony to our path-breaking content that appeals to regional audiences,” he added.

  • Sahara One targets LC1 and LC2 with new brand image and shows

    Sahara One targets LC1 and LC2 with new brand image and shows

    MUMBAI:  Hindi GEC channel Sahara One aims to strengthen its position in the ratings race armed with niche content and new packaging. Rebranded under the tagline ‘ Har Pal Manoranjan ‘, the channel is looking at mythology and crime as its USP.  The channels new brand identity new brand statement statement and look will be kick started with a new crime show Masterminds, from 23 November onwards.
     

    “When Trilogic Digital went into a Bulk Airtime Purchase and Distribution Agreement (BAPADA) agreement with Sahara One in April 2014, the channel didn’t have a distinct USP or what it stood for. Post which, we did an extensive research on what works for our target audience and who are watching us, and realised that we clearly needed a brand statement for the channel to be communicated to our viewers, and therefore the rebranding ensued,” informed Trilogic Digital Media Limited (TDML), COO, Shivani Jaisingh, giving a premise for the rebranding.

    When it comes to the packaging, Sahara One has kept its design classy, while using bright colours that bring our a connect with its Indianness. Designed by Kolahoi Media, the trademark logo has a new look with a gamut of colours and the name of the channel in a new font. The multi-colour interface is a key component of the channel which personifies its identity and vibrancy. Right from promo bugs, transition windows, sponsor windows to the tickers, each element will propagate the brand philosophy of being fresh, innovative and progressive. Har Pal Manoranjan signifies the new brand promise of providing colossal entertainment.

    Explaining the new content strategy for the channel, Jaisingh said, “We are taking a distinct position on mythology and crime related shows and won’t be catering to all genres. Given that mythology, and crime especially, are working for our target group, we plan to dedicate a prime time band to the genre calling it ‘Prime Crime’, with two new shows launches. Apart from this we will also launch a new show Behula based on Bengali mythology sometime soon.”

    The two new shows that Sahara One will be launching under its new ‘Prime Crime’ band, Sahara One are– CBI Files and the above mentioned Mastermind. Behula will air in the afternoon band, Both CBI and Behula will hit the television airwaves in December.  TDML, being a content producer itself, is responsible for the creative content for the shows from its newly set up production office in Noida.
     

    The decision to rebrand and offer niche content also came in the wake of the BARC India ratings inclusive of rural data, indicating that this the perfect time for the channel to rebrand and reach out to the LC1 and LC2  market. “BARC’s rural data has given us a wakeup call and changed our lives. Hence the timing for the rebranding is absolutely right for us as our viewers is pretty much the same demographic and consuming our content for quite a long time. Our rebranding is targeted at them,” informed Jaisingh.
     

    Jaisingh delves deeper into the question of the channel’s target audience to explain how BARC ratings have prompted them to take the call for the revamp. “As per our research, most of our viewership comes from MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, with some presence in Delhi. It’s basically the Hindi Speaking Market and North. These areas are pretty much single TV homes where the remote gets passed around, and prime time is male dominated. Therefore we see the crime shows working well for that demography.  We have kept to mythology and some repeats when women are watching,” Jaisingh elaborates.

     

     

    She further added, “We have made heavy investments in both distribution and programming. And thanks to BARC we have seen a sea change in the hierarchy in channel rankings. We plan to capitalise on that and enter the race with full gusto.”

    The timing also makes sense in terms of digitization that is in progress. Jaisingh  informed  indiantelevision.com that TDML is ready to reap the fruits of digitisation and is awaiting the completion of DAS Phase IV. In fact, a part of the revamping also sgetting more cable operators and MSOs on board.

    Under the BAPADA agreement, TDML is to invest in Sahara One in terms of distribution, marketing and programming content for the channel which allows it to collect the revenue the channel makes from advertisements and subscription as well. The rebranding and the launch of the new shows are big advantages for TDML.

    “For existing viewers, we are using promos to inform them of the rebranding. When it comes to marketing, we are concentrating mainly on the digital platform, as that’s where we need to have a presence that was missing for a very long time. We are concentrating on bringing new and younger viewers on board with that,” Jaisingh highlights their current marketing strategy. “Brand to brand approach is what TDML is going for,” Jaisingh adds.

    Right from production, execution to marketing, the channel is spending big money on rebranding itself. In fact, according a source close to the development, approximately Rs 5 crore will be burnt towards marketing, for the rebranding as well as the three new shows that are to launch.

     

    Considering the investment amount, a hike in advertising revenue seems logical. “We are keeping our fingers crossed but we expect a 30 per cent increase in our advertising revenue. In terms of subscription and international distribution, we have some interesting plans that we will announce soon,” Jaisingh concludes.

  • Tata Sky gets ID in its basic pack

    Tata Sky gets ID in its basic pack

    MUMBAI: Even though many niche channels fear that people don’t consume them as they don’t fall into the base pack offered by the platform operators, the newly-launched ID-Investigation Discovery from Discovery Network’s stable has now hopped onto the basic pack of direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky on channel number 135.

     

    The channel was launched about three months ago and currently reaches about 30 million houses. ID is also available on Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon d2h, Siti Cable, Hathway, Den Networks, GTPL, InDigital and Digi Cable.

     

    The channel provides shows on crime and investigation that are dubbed in Hindi. Speaking on this development, Discovery Networks APAC EVP and GM South Asia and South East Asia Rahul Johri said, “ID has been recognised for its distinct appeal, refreshing programming and unique positioning. We are delighted to have Tata Sky as our distribution partner and its viewers can enjoy the best investigative programmes in Hindi in the comfort of their homes.”

     

    Series that will air on ID include Disappeared, Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?, I was Murdered, Evil,I, I Married a Mobster, Blood Relatives etc.

  • India short of trained manpower to tackle cyber crime

    India short of trained manpower to tackle cyber crime

    NEW DELHI: Even as India ranks third in terms of the highest number of internet users in the world after US and China and the number is projected to grow six-fold between 2012 and 2017 with a compound annual growth rate of 44 per cent, it is among the top 10 spam-sending countries in the world alongside the United States.

    According to a whitepaper launched by ASSOCHAM-KPMG, highlighted that India has a huge shortage of cyber security specialists with the number of trained manpower only accounting for 556 compared to 1.25 lakh in China and 91,080 in the US. This is despite the fact that cyber crime cases in the country registered under the Information Technology Act last year rose by about 61 per cent to 2,876 with Maharashtra recording the most number of cases.

    To check cyber crime and hacking of systems, the government launched the National Cyber Security Policy of India (NCSP) followed by the release of guidelines by the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre of the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) in July this year.

    One of the key agendas of the National Cyber Security Policy of India is to create a taskforce of 500,000 cyber security professionals in the next five years. Public and private sector partnership (PPP) is also seen as a key step to counter cyber crime.

    The whitepaper asserts that there is need for enterprises, SMEs and the government bodies to not only adopt the various guidelines and advisories issued by the security agencies but also to regularly review the implementation of the same. There needs to be a timely review of the IT act to keep pace with the developments and sophistications in cyber crime.

    Apart from consulting private sectors and cyber security equipment manufacturers, international coordination is also something that India needs to consider in the days to come to counter cyber attacks more effectively and efficiently. The implementation of all these aspects together will be a challenge that needs to be dealt with precision to secure the critical infrastructure of the country.

  • The story behind Life OK’s Police Dial 100

    The story behind Life OK’s Police Dial 100

    Crime always sells, believes Shruti Anindita Vermaa who has now put on a director’s hat for the crime show, Police Dial 100 on Life OK.

    Talking about her new initiative, Shruti says, “As a director what excites me is the newness of a genre. Spearheading interesting shows and innovative concepts has been my forte.”

    Police Dial 100 is a unique show that tracks the life of cops on duty

    With the urge to do something new and interesting, Shruti and her team conceptualised a show that had real cops in the place of reel cops, capturing on camera live cases with the police as opposed to reenactment of past cases.

    Dissuaded initially by friends in the police, Shruti took the show as a personal challenge

    “There are lots of shows abroad involving cops but for India this was new thinking and for the concept that we had, there was no format at all. There are no shows that one can connectPolice Dial 100 with. It is original and 100 per cent real,” she adds.

    Life OK GM Ajit Thakur said he had never imagined that a media team could do this, but he said the series will make the people feel safer as it showed the police as it actually worked to combat crime. “Police forces have a tough job of maintaining law and order, especially in densely populated Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.”

    “Police Dial 100 is Life OK’s effort to delve deeper into the functioning law enforcing agencies and capturing on camera the highly stressful lives our police forces lead. The one-of-its-kind show in India will showcase things that are often not discussed on camera. The series is not based on any script and will not feature dramatisation or enactments, but will only capture reality as it happens in the police’s world. We are confident that the audience will be thrilled to see our real life heroes on camera.” adds Thakur.

    Police forces have a tough job of maintaining law and ordersays Life OK GM Ajit Thakur

    The making of Police Dial 100…….

    A show that breaks away completely from the existing crime shows, we take you to the journey of Police Dial 100, produced by Endemol India.

    Shruti discussed the concept of doing a crime show the way she envisioned it with Endemol India managing director Deepak Dhar, who was not very sure that the police would agree with her idea. Taking it up as a challenge almost eight months ago Shruti explored the various routes that would make her team’s concept into a reality on television.

    An eight month long journey…………

    Dissuaded initially by friends in the police, Shruti took the show as a personal challenge. She met the Mumbai joint commissioner of police Himanshu Roy and narrated the concept to him. An impressed Roy was completely sold on her vision for the show.

    Next Shruti approached the Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar with the idea. Kumar immediately accepted the concept without even looking at any powerpoint presentation. “He said that everyone is out here to criticise the police. So if I meant what I was promising to do, he was there to give me all the support,” reveals Shruti.

    Police Dial 100 team has been permitted to sit in the control room at the police headquarters to better understand the functioning of the case

    Flushed with success, Shruti returned to Mumbai. Now she needed to have a channel on board. Dhar and Shruti discussed a couple of ideas for the show with Life OK general manager Ajit Thakur who said his channel would air it if she got permissions. “Ajit liked the idea but was not very sure if we would be able to pull it off,” says Shruti.

    Making a pilot that was great and acceptable was a major challenge.

    Even as Shruti started looking out for cases to highlight and track for it, 16 December happened. 23 year old physiotherapy intern Jyoti Singh Pandey was brutally gangraped, assaulted in a moving chartered bus by a gang of hooligans, and finally left on the streets to die with her intestines torn out.

    The media went berserk and everyone was lambasting the cops for their alleged gross inefficiency and disregard for what was going on.

    A skeptical Neeraj Kumar asked Shruti if she still wanted to go ahead with the show which would only track the police on their job (rather than be judgemental as the media was being) when she contacted him. She of course replied in the affirmative.

    Everyone is out here to criticise the police says Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar

    Neeraj Kumar asked the then DCP of Delhi South Chhaya Sharma – who was the main investigating officer on the Jyoti Singh Pandey case – to permit Shruti to sit with her and capture each and every move for the next 72 hours. She was reluctant at first but finally agreed on the commissioner’s insistence.

    And it was during the course of this that Shruti got to witness first hand the efforts put in by the police to hunt down and then book the perpetrators; she tracked the protests at India Gate, the police handling the family of the rape victim as they silently saw their daughter fight for her life. She also followed the capture of the last rapist.

    Talking about the police’s determination to do their job, she confesses: “The police team in South Delhi was busy filing charge sheets and ensuring that Jyoti Singh Pandey got justice. My commitment grew stronger following this. I knew what I wanted. I spent 10 days with Sharma and her team, had lunches and dinners in their canteen and sat in their Gypsy vehicle as a silent spectator while they went about on their night patrol even as the temperature dropped to near freezing.”

    Now there was no way she was looking back. She was determined to make her show.

    But things got stalled after that. “I left Delhi to come back again in January and yet again it was a case of wrong timing. 26 January preparations were on and once again the city was quiet… I had come to shoot action but the cops had none. And finally I got my first case that not only became my pilot but also became the opening story of my series. A kidnapping case that took place at Lodhi Colony in New Delhi” says Shruti.

    Her team rushed to Lodhi Colony and shot everything from zero hour. The case was cracked in two and a half hours. The team came back with the shoot and edited the story and presented it to Life OK.

    They are more comfortable with us and our presence does not irritate them as much as it did earlier says Shruti about cops

    Above (L-R) DCP of Delhi South Chhaya Sharma, Inspector Rajendra Singh and Shruti Vermaa

     

    Says Shruti : “I did not have a format to refer to or a show to follow. It was just pure conviction that worked. Deepak Dhar and I took the pilot to Life OK and Ajit Thakur and his team gave us a standing ovation.”

     

    She admits that it has not been easy. “In terms of difficulty that we had during the pilot, well, Delhi is a huge space and when we actually started shooting, the cops were not comfortable with the idea of a camera encroaching upon their privacy. So the commissioner’s permission initiated a conversation, but the task was to win their confidence. Gradually, they started opening up and were supportive.”

     

    How the Police Dial 100 team works….

    The Police Dial 100 team consists of more than 100 people. It includes a creative director who is responsible for what goes on when the filming is happening and a creative head who looks after the post-production, six cameramen, three associate creative directors, reality producers, sound engineers and a support production team on ground.

    Director Shruti has been on the streets of Delhi and Mumbai in the freezing nights following the cops investigating the cases

    Besides, there is a large post-production team with six editors and six assistant editors-cum-post producers. The team generally shoots with a simple HD camera, but depending on the kind cases, they use GoPros, cameras mounted on cars, pen cameras, button cameras and watch cameras as well.

    Additionally, there is a team that has been permitted to sit in the control room at the police headquarters. So whenever there is a case, Shruti gets a call from the police control room.

    Once she decides to follow a case, she sends a team to the police station after a conversation with the station house officer so that the team can capture events as they unfold from the crucial zero hour. And this Endemol bunch continues to be with the police team that is following the case till it is solved.

    Every night the team views the footage together and also plans the way forward. Once each case is shot and the no-objection certificates of all the concerned people are in place, the entire docket along with a log sheet reaches the Mumbai office where it is edited.

    A script is written, a voice over laid and then the graphics and the music are added. The episode is then handed over to the channel which plans an interesting promo for each week.

    A team of more than 100 people are documenting real life cops on the field; quiet a refreshing change from the other crime based shows

    “There are times when after two days of shoot we realise that the story is not going forward. We bounce it off and move on to the next case,” reveals Shruti.

    She explains how each episode is put together. She says: “It is the case that is most important. We start following many case files because it is difficult to figure out at the call level the intensity or layering of the case. And the camera just follows the action as it unfolds. It is not scripted at all because there is no space for that. Direction is mainly limited to directing the cameras how to operate and also the ACD gives direction on the pitch one needs to take.”

    Shruti believes Police Dial 100 will maintain its freshness for a long time; there’s no question of staleness setting in. She explains: “Police story telling is also like film story telling. Every case has a different narrative. No

    Every night the team views the footage together and also plans the way forward

    two murders are the same, no two kidnappings are the same, the suspects are different, their backgrounds are different, every crime has a different modus operandi. So there is no chance of duplicating ever. A major part of an episode is made on the editing table because it is here that the narration is planned and scripted. The post team is huge. There are more than 20 people working round the clock to meet deadlines and maintain quality.”

    Shruti’s team includes award winning director Sohail Tatari, Amitabh Varma who handles scripts, Bapi and Tutul are in charge for music, Himanshu looks after graphics.

    When asked how much say the Delhi police have in each episode, Shruti asserts that everything is based on mutual understanding. “They trust us and we trust them,” she confesses. “So we know when to switch off the camera and they know it pretty well. They are more comfortable with us and our presence does not irritate them as much as it did earlier. The only thing they do is direct us to follow the legalities of what can be shown and what cannot. The idea is to create a great show by highlighting the work of the cops and not create a problem in the case.”

    Endemol India Deepak Dhar MD and CEO says, “For the first time in the history of Indian television we present a show that explores the real world of cops and crime. Our cameras have captured the activities of the police force, working to solve a case in real time.” He said this was real TV, not reality TV.

    Current scenario…

    The show hit television screens on 22 June at 7.00 pm on Life OK.

    At the time of writing, 12 episodes have already been shot in Delhi. Both Life Ok and Endemol have an initial 13 week telecast schedule. Shruti however has been extremely pleased with the response the first episode has receieved. She says: “Superb. I got almost 900 messages from my friends and relatives. So I know that apart from the making of the show I am also contributing to its TRP. But I know we have made a path breaking show and with a social purpose as well. So I am very satisfied with Police Dial 100.”

    “Endemol has always broken the mould when it comes to new and innovative programming”, says Deepak Dhar

    A short note on Shruti Anindita Vermaa…..

    Shruti has been a TV professional for two decades and has a varied experience on a variety of programming formats with a clutch of production houses. Amongst these figure: Balaji Telefilms as the head of non fiction division, with Gajendra Singh as a creative director, with Miditech as a creative director and supervising producer and with Applause Entertainment as the head of non-fiction and events. She has spearheaded shows like K for Kishore for Sony TV , a very prestigious project called South Asian Superstar which is a parallel version of Indian Idol on a bigger platform with five countries participating for the final title. She worked as creative director for Antrakshari and Voice of India for Star Plus, and as a senior creative director for Raaz Pichle Janam Ka for NDTV Imagine for both the seasons. She has also worked as the production designer for the National Award Winning Film Antardwand that was released last year by PVR.

  • Life OK’s Sunday programming experiment

    Life OK’s Sunday programming experiment

    Attention! An experiment is about to hit Indian televisionscreens come Sunday 23 June. If you‘ve not been switching on your television set on Sunday morns or noons for want of there being any original programming – apart from movies, and have had enough of watching singing and dancing shows in the evenings, then Life OK may be your new destination this weekend.

    Bringing a new kind of programming, extending its spheres, Life OK promises uninterrupted entertainment 12 noon to 12 midnight (baara – se – baara) on 23 June. Life Ok general manager Ajit Thakur is bracing himself for this Sunday gamble…

    But is this attempt a first of its kind? A recap of Sunday programming tells us that there was a time in India, a couple of decades ago; when streets were deserted owing to the single channel king Doordarshan and its strong Sunday programming. Flashing forward from the era of a single channel universe, leading general entertainment channels (GECs) like Star Plus and more recently, Colors have also encroached this territory.

    While Star struck an emotional chord with the nation by launching the very successful Aamir Khan anchored social show Satyameva Jayate, Colors had started airing non-fiction award shows in the early afternoon, followed by a movie screening and concluding it with a soft scripted drama cum reality show- Zindagi Ki Haqeeqat Se Aamna Saamna. Zee TV has Ramayan, a mythology show in the morning slot which, however, is not living up to audience’s expectations.

    Yet, generation of 12 hours full of fresh content is somewhat a brave initiative by Star Plus’s sister GEC.

    Life OK, over the past couple of weeks has grown steadily in terms of GRPs (though it shed GRPs in week 24). The weekend slot of the channel is grabbing more and more eye balls with each passing week. With this as an opportunity, Life OK thought of going all the way and see if it works.

    Life OK GM Ajit Thakur is taking a punt with his baara – se – baara initiative on this Sunday (23 June)

    Thakur states: “I am quite delighted with the way we have received responses from the viewers over the past couple of weeks. Talking about 12pm to 12am, on weekends, we have found a bit of a gold mine as people are available throughout the day. Unlike other markets, in LC1 markets there is a lot of viewership happening. Everybody is doing show launches and wants to target between 8pm – 12am time slots so we thought to bring a change by extending our programming which has not been done by anybody till now.”

    The channel aims to own this Sunday with a combination of crime, terror, mythology programming. Audiences will get to see Savdhaan movie- part 2, which is going to be much more informative and different from the first one.

    New reality series on the list include Police dial 100, a new innovation where the channel crew will accompany the Delhi cops, running behind them, observing how they solve the cases and recording them. The reality show, produced by Endemol, will occupy a double slot along with the Savdhaan movie -Part 2. The channel had already shot 10 episodes of the show at the time of writing.

    The channel will also air fresh episodes of Mahadev and Shapat.

    More on the entertainment side, Life OK also plans to air a special Bollywood movie to garner more eyeballs.

    “Let’s raise the ambition with maha – thriller weekend baara – se – baara.” asserts Thakur when asked why he chose particularly Sunday and not Saturday as part of his weekend programming. “Saturday in terms of viewership, is not that high as Sunday. Besides, a large chunk of India works on Saturday’s and it‘s a humongous task for me to ask my team and my producers to do such a hectic programming, as 12 hours is a lot of time.”

    What is rather disappointing is the fact that this unique 12 hour programming is slated only for the coming Sunday. Thakur reasons: “To be frank, we want to test it first, this is the trail run. I wanted advertiser’s feedback and we attained success when we did 6am -6pm on 2 June. We received good responses in terms of viewership and advertisers as well. So we thought of further strengthening it by bringing baara – se – baara and I am sure we will get good responses for this as well. And when we do might it make it a regular initiative at least once a month.”

    The channel plans to promote the weekend initiative largely in the coming three days. However, the focus will be more on promoting across social media platforms rather than on-ground activities. Its management plans to leave no stone unturned to make its presence felt on digital media by targeting fan driven pages and profiles of their flagship shows likeMahadev and Savdhaan. To top it all, the channel is also buying air time on other channels, out of which, the promotion will be huge on Star network channels while few news channels and youth-based channels are also being approached.

    When asked what makes Life OK and Star Plus different in terms of content and programming Thakur says: “Star plus targets women in the household a lot more and that has always been Star’s strength. On the other hand, Life OK targets the whole family. In terms of content, Star talks about aspirations and about new Indian relationships whereas Life OK deals with crime, mythology, terror, spirituality and cops. Star Plus talks about relationships between Nanad – Bhabhi and new thinking and that is why ‘nayi soch’ whereas Life OK talks about today’s reality of life through our stories and what makes life OK on a daily basis. Life OK tries to inspire people by picking up serious social topics.”

    Further elaborating on the fact that this Sunday is an experiment, Thakur shares: “For us it is the experiment to change the rules of the game. I always have the support of Uday Shankar (Star India CEO) and Sanjay Gupta (Star India COO). And yes it is a big risk I am taking as nobody has gone into 12 hours of programming. Some would say wow great… while some would say it is too much. While, everybody is giving repeats to the audiences and we are giving original programming. What is more important for us is how our viewers will react to it.”

    Vivaki Exchange CEO Mona Jain says the experiment should do well for Life OK

    But will this trial run work for the channel? Vivaki Exchange CEO Mona Jain asserts: “There are many channels which are plugging in for reality shows on Sunday’s. Life OK is taking a good initiative by coming up with 12-hours of programming to create more impact with the audiences at large, where most of the people are at home resting. Mahadev and Savdhaanare high property shows and are taking the same route that is weekend slots, making it easy for them to spot on the ratings. And people who are loyal audiences of Life OK will watch these shows no matter what. Thus I am quite sure that this kind of experimentation should do well.”

    We, along with team Life OK, wait with anxious eagerness to know the result of this experiment…

  • Epic TV to experiment with long and short duration content

    Epic TV to experiment with long and short duration content

    MUMBAI: Here’s more dope on Epic TV, the new historical, folklore and mythological channel that is being wet-nursed by former Walt Disney India head Mahesh Samat and funded by Anand Mahindra personally.

     

    As revealed yesterday, the channel is expected to launch in August sometime. Currently, the company has applied to the I&B ministry for a broadcast license, which it hopes to have in its pocket in a couple of months. It is also negotiating for transponder space – one on the Insat series and the other with a south east Asia based vendor.

     

    Additionally, Samat says that the channel has plans to do narratives and programming of varying duration. “We are focusing on programming based on long form fiction narrative of an hour’s duration, non-fiction shows and short form fiction. Long form will have two-three hour episodic shows in a day. These will focus on new situations, supernatural content, drama and crime. Whereas narrative non-fiction will consist of one to two hours programming in a day, underlining narrative documentaries including contemporary, recreational and reenactment styles. And the last short form content will be seen as short vignettes, explaining interesting facts, and short ‘behind-the scenes’ videos.”

     

    Samat says all the shows will be shot in HD and with high production values. “We will be looking at monetising the content even across digital platforms, eking out revenues from wherever we can,” he reveals.

     

    Apart from Ravina Kohli and Aparna Pandey other professionals who have come on board include Niharika Kotwal as head production and Manish Thukral as chief financial officer.

  • IBN7 to investigate weekly in ‘Tehqiqat’

    IBN7 to investigate weekly in ‘Tehqiqat’

    MUMBAI: IBN7 has launched a weekly investigative show Tehqiqat. Starting 16 November every Sunday at 10 pm, the show will focus on a big event or happening of the week or a special story and tie all the loose ends to draw a final picture.

    Tehqiqat will not only showcase crime related stories, but will also span over a wide range of other themes like crime, politics, violence, social stigma, odd religious practice.

    The show aims at probing deep into these topics and takes a closer look at facts that were either undiscovered or ignored earlier. The show is an attempt to make people aware about unsolved mysteries, common man’s issues, false taboos, wired truth, frenzyness, malpractices, scams, wastage, negligence, miracles, fake gurus and many such traps that people get into.

    Said IBN7 managing editor Ashutosh, “Tehqiqat is an attempt by IBN7 to uncover the truth behind many issues that are affecting the society but seldom get spoken about. The show will put various malpractices of society under the scanner with topics varying from religion, politics to crime and many more”.