ITV

Tag: C&S channel

  • ‘Sholay’ pulls Zee Cinema into top 50

    MUMBAI: Zee Cinema’s Sholay gamble has paid off, claims the channel.
    The evergreen hit that had an unprecedented run in cinema theatres when it was released 30 years ago, ranked 43rd among the top 100 shows in the week ended 27 September, in C&S households, 4+, with a TVR of 3.5. The channel also recorded its all time high channel share during the screening of the ageless classic.
    The film, in its unabridged version, made a return to the small screen after five years, and according to Zee Cinema, has become the highest rated movie ever on a movie channel. Quoting TAM statistics, the channel says that with a 15 min+ TVR of 4.29 in Hindi-speaking markets and 3.73 in all India markets. During the screening, 11.3 million individuals tuned into watch Sholay, the channel claims.
    Backed by an aggressive on air cross promotion across the Zee Network, Sholay was part of Zee Cinema’s initiatives to rope in audiences with unique content. Says an exultant Yogesh Radhakrishnan, Business Head, Zee Cinema “With the kind of promotional efforts undertaken by the channel to create the excitement about the screening of the movie, we were always expecting this kind of response from our viewers.”
    During the time of screening of Sholay, Zee Cinema had an all time high channel share of 27.2 per cent. According to the channel, Star Plus lagged behind with a channel share of 16.59 per cent. Zee Cinema closed week 39 with 200.47 GRPs in C&S 4+ Hindi-speaking markets, vis-?-vis 128.74 of Max and 106.05 of Star Gold. Deewangee, which was a satellite premiere on Sony at the same time as Sholay aired, too could not entice in as many viewers as the Amitabh-Dharmendra starrer. 
    Just about a year ago, the recent blockbuster hit Lagaan had helped pull in Sony into the top 10 in the ratings stakes. SET executive V-P Sunil Lulla had said at the time that Lagaan’s 10.24 TVR for the key north, west and east territories made it the highest rated film of the last 15 months on any C&S channel in both absolute and relative terms. Lagaan however had not been able to generate as high TVRs as the patriotism flavoured Border had done a year earlier. Zee’s Gadar -EK Prem Katha too had made it to the top 20 with a TVR of 5.05.
    Last year’s magnum opus Devdas, aired on 27 April this year on Max, had managed a TVR of 3.7 and was ranked 42 in C&S homes, 4+. But the day belongs to Radhakrishnan who points out that the honour of being first among movie channels currently belongs to Zee Cinema. 
    TVR of Hindi films on Sep 27 (night slot) – C&S 4+ (Data supplied by Zee Cinema)

    Channels    HSM: 1 min+    HSM: 15 min+    All India: 1 min+    All India: 15 min+    Movie
    Zee Cinema    5.03    4.29    3.47    3.18    Sholay
    Max    0.72    0.32    0.49    0.21    Kyuniki Mein Jhoot Nahi Bolta
    Star Gold    1.32    0.89    1.05    0.74    Fist of Fury (Dubbed)
    Sony    1.15    0.82    0.86    0.61    Deewangee (Satellite premier )

  • BR Films to produce new serials for DD, Sahara TV

    MUMBAI: The original mytho moghul is looking to tread new ground. BR Films is producing four new serials: Dhristi and Kaamna on Doordarshan; Asha Nai Asha on Sahara TV and Shrimad Bhagwad to be aired on a C&S channel. 
    BR TV has popular serials such as Aap Beeti which featured in seven out of the Top 10 shows on DD in 2002. Another popular serial Vishnupuran has just completed 78 episodes and features in the Top 20 list. Vishnupuran is slated to go on for at least 100 more episodes, with Nitish Bharadwaj (Krishna in Mahabharat) poised to make his entry once again as Krishna.
    BR Films managing director Ravi Chopra says: “The serials provide entertainment and simultaneously highlight a social issue. Drishti questions the gender bias prevailing in Indian society and puts forth the view that women should have equal rights as men. Kaamna probes whether people still listen to their inner conscience.” The slots for the telecast have not yet been finalised.
    BR Films is also making Shrimad Bhagwad, a mythological which presents teachings from the Gita, and which will be telecast on a C&S channel. Sources claim the serial will be aired on Zee TV.
    Asha Nai Asha on Sahara TV is a departure from the routine as it is built around the theme of scouting for talent. “There are many talented people in different parts of the country. I had conceived the theme long back and presented it to Sahara TV,” adds Chopra.
    BR Films has created mythos like Mahabharat that have broken several records on the television front. However, Chopra feels that mythologicals are passe. “The mythological theme has been squeezed dry and all the producers have done it to death. However, there will always be a demand for mythos and people will continue to watch them.”
    While BR Films, says Chopra, has always maintained high production standards, the media buying phenomenon has affected the margins and also threatened production aspects, he says.
    About DD producers not getting their due from advertisers, Chopra says: “The advertisers and ad agencies conduct aggressive negotiations and bargain as if there were no tomorrow. The cost of production and DD dues work out to Rs 500,000 per 30-minute episode. This puts a severe pressure on our margins. Some producers compromise on quality but we don’t do so. We recover our investments from extending the revenue streams to earnings from overseas rights.”
    Chopra feels that advertisers must realise that the money that they invest in serials will eventually enhance the production quality of the content. “C&S producers such as Balaji Telefilms can create an ambience of glamour and grandeur because they know that they will get compensated for the same. DD producers need to do a balancing act,” he adds.
    “BR Chopra’s serial Aap Beeti had seven slots in the Top 10 list of DD’s programmes in week 1-46 of 2002. The high TRPs ranged between 13.38 and 12.42 for this period. An Aap Beeti episode reached out to 14,33 million viewers on 3 September 2002. Balaji’s Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi could manage 7.04 million and 7.01 million viewers,” says Reasonable Advertising vice-president marketing SA Khan who markets the BR TV’s serials Aap Beeti and Vishnupuran.
    BR Films is also producing Baghban, a feature film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Star’s game-show Khulja Sim Sim host Aman Verma, which will be released in May 2003.
    Chopra is still non-committal on the company’s plans to get publicly listed. Till then, the focus is on creating well-made serials that scale the TRP chart.
    Click here for
    Media planners blamed for shrinking DD advertiser base

  • Cricket: business, not sport – Ad Club debate

    Cricket: business, not sport – Ad Club debate

    MUMBAI: Former Test cricketer K Srikkanth’s summation of the current state of cricket as a means of business and entertainment aptly described the mood at a panel discussion that had media bigwigs rubbing shoulders with cricketing celebrities and C&S channel heads on Thursday evening.

    The Advertising Club Bombay had organised a panel discussion on marketing opportunities that advertisers could leverage for their brands by ensuring participation in the forthcoming World Cup cricket (WCC) 2003.

    Panelists included SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta; Lodestar Media executive director Shashi Sinha; former Indian captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former India all rounder Mohinder Amarnath and The Times of India group sports editor Ayaz Memon. 

    Memon set the tone for the discussion by stating that Destination India was the in thing as far as the International Cricket Council (ICC) was concerned. Dasgupta too pointed out that the ICC has recognized the power of the Indian audiences and has ensured that the timings of the matches coincide with the prime viewing time slots in India. He added that all the matches for the forthcoming WCC are slated for prime time viewing.

    He followed it up with a presentation called “World Cup – Opportunities”; highlighting the reasons why SET felt that the World Cup was worth every penny of the humungous amount that it had invested. 

    Memon lamented the fact that the performances of the Indian team in New Zealand were making shivers run down advertisers’ spines. Lodestar Media’s Sinha, however, placated the panel by reminding that amnesic Indian audiences were renowned for ‘forgiving and forgetting’. 

    Memon raised an apt point when he questioned the situation wherein too much money was chasing moderately talented Indian cricketers. Sinha claimed that cricket-mania had ensured that players created a persona that reaped rich benefits for them in the long run. 

    A garrulous Srikkanth added zing to the discussions with his incisive analysis of the game and the probable reasons for its popularity. Srikkanth made a valid point when he mentioned that cricket was one game where all the constituents benefited; the Boards, players, channels, advertisers, viewers, shops and small businesses.

    Srikkanth blasted the TRP ratings and urged the media planners to go by ‘ public feel.’ In the same breath he emphatically stated that Extraaa Innings, a revolutionary concept, received a lot of flak from critics who resist any new change; but surpassed all expectations by generating high TRPs.

    Dasgupta revealed that MAX would give 40 Indian brands a unique opportunity to make it big without getting bogged down by clutter. Sinha countered that media planners were aware of the power of cricket but had issues about the pricing of the cricket properties. He mentioned that the premium on cricket was linked to the frenzy and the weight of expectations from the unpredictable Indian team. He maintained that the key was to create a great impact at cost-effective rates.