ITV

Tag: Delhi

  • PVR to celebrate 85th Academy Awards from 15-21 Feb

    PVR to celebrate 85th Academy Awards from 15-21 Feb

    MUMBAI: PVR, the leading entertainment company in India, will be celebrating the 85th Academy Awards by showcasing popularly celebrated movies at the Oscars at PVR multiplexes from 15-21 February in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Ahmedabad.

    The multiplex brand, PVR intends to keep the movie lovers hooked with an interesting showcase of movies like Silver Linings Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Life of PI, Les Miserables and The Impossible.

    PVR JMD Sanjeev Bijli said, “We feel delighted to showcase the Oscar nominated movies known for its excellence in cinematic achievements at PVR cinemas. With the film fraternity looking up to the Academy Awards for its quality cinema and global outlook, it is a feeling of pride to celebrate the Oscars.

    “Over the years, PVR has offered to its movie aficionados an interesting mix of movies, satiating the appetite of entertainment of different classes. We at PVR cinemas intend to bring quality entertainment to our audience so that it does not have to wait to catch its favorite stars, action and drama for long.”

  • Paranthe Wali Gali to highlight unexplored areas of Delhi

    Paranthe Wali Gali to highlight unexplored areas of Delhi

    MUMBAI: In his film Paranthe Wali Gali, debutant director Sachin Gupta promises to highlight some of Delhi‘s unexplored areas through his film.

    As the name suggests, old Delhi‘s famous bylane known for its variety of paranthas will feature as a backdrop of the film.

    Paranthe Wali Gali will start from the famous and popular paranthe wali gali and then move into the lives of the characters. “Through the film, we are trying to touch that part of Delhi that has not been explored till now. That is the USP of the film,” Gupta said.

    A qualified software engineer, Gupta is the founder and CEO of Chilsag Chillies Theatre Company that was launched in 2003. Till now, Gupta has done 13 original productions. Recently, he bagged a National Award Natya Bhushan for his contribution to theatre.

    The 34-year-old Delhi-based director has trained more than 300 talents through various acting programmes. Gupta is not just helming the project, but is also writing the screenplay for it too.

  • Zee News Ltd Q3 ad rev strong, no big fall in carriage fee

    Zee News Ltd Q3 ad rev strong, no big fall in carriage fee

    MUMBAI: A double-digit ad revenue growth has helped Zee News Ltd (ZNL) put up a performance better than the market expectations in the festive quarter but a top executive of the company cautioned that a significant turnaround in spending by advertisers is yet to be visible.

     

    The carriage payout to cable networks has only marginally dropped in the digitised markets and subscription growth has been subdued.

     

    ZNL’s ad revenue rose 14.8 per cent to Rs 595.6 million in the fiscal-third quarter from Rs 518.8 million a year earlier, despite a ‘significant opportunity’ loss in terms of advertising revenues from the government.

     

    “There was a better utilisation of ad inventory during the festival season and we also offered branding and event-based solutions to advertisers. But this is not to say that the ad slowdown has lifted and there is a big turnaround. We will outperform the market which is growing in single digit,” ZNL chief executive officer Alok Agrawal told Indiantelevision.com.

     

    ZNL’s ad revenue growth for the full-fiscal will be in single digit. TV news broadcasters have been fighting the government on ad rates and are not accepting DAVP (Directorate of Audio Visual Publication) advertising. “The standoff continues and NBA (News Broadcasters Association) members are not carrying DAVP ads,” said Agrawal.

     

    ZNL posted a 14.2 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 185.5 million in the third quarter ended 31 December from Rs 162.5 million a year earlier.Its operating profit (Ebidta) in the third quarter stood at Rs 196.7 million against Rs 189.7 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

     

    The news broadcaster, which has seven channels in its portfolio, reported consolidated revenues of Rs 858.4 million in the third quarter, an increase of 10.1 per cent from Rs 779.7 million a year ago.

     

    Subscription revenue stood at Rs 222 million, down 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter, and up 15.2 per cent from the earlier-year period.

     

    Operating expenditure jumped 12.2 per cent to Rs 661.7 million due to increase in employee costs and other expenses.

     

    Carriage fee has only fallen marginally in the digitised markets. “There has been no significant reduction in carriage fee in the completely digitised markets of Delhi and Mumbai. It has not definitely gone as per the plans of the news broadcasters,” said Agrawal.

  • IAA announces ‘Gender Sensitisation Drive’

    IAA announces ‘Gender Sensitisation Drive’

    MUMBAI: India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) has announced “IAA Gender Sensitisation Drive” the components of which seek to fundamentally change the deep routed bias against women.

    The initiative has an acronym “VOW” standing for “Violence on Women” which we seek to stop consciously doing our bit and taking a vow to get rid of this bane in our society.

    The initiative consists of two segments. Gender sensitisation Seminars for content creators: The first part of the drive would be to hold a series of Seminars across India to sensitise content writers in film and TV industry, story writers (in print media) and in advertising, to guard against typifying women and on other gender nuances, and create focused awareness about the right way to project women across media.

    The Seminars would be addressed by experts in the field and also people of the communications industry.

    The first one is scheduled in Mumbai on 16 February. IAA is hoping to have Union Minister of Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath to inaugurate it.

    Seminars are also being planned in Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune in the next few months.

    The second segment is multi-media advertising campaign against ‘eve teasing‘: The initiative is a national advertising campaign that will use the creative resources of the communications industry and the strength of media linkages to use creative communications to try and change behavioral patterns in a manner that would benefit women. Eve Teasing has been identified as the critical issue that needs to be addressed.

    IAA president Srinivasan K Swamy said, “eve teasing is seen as the mother of most evils affecting women. Today‘s eve teaser is tomorrow‘s molester, and could be a future rapist. It is necessary to nip this in the bud itself. Research and experience of experts in the field like UNFPA and leading NGO‘s like Laadli have also suggested this subject as the critical one to address.”

    A national contest would be run inviting entries from creative people all over the country on how to tackle this issue through effective communication.

    The entries for this Contest would be judged by the best creative minds in the communications industry and short list some good campaigns; and a jury consisting of leaders from a cross section of society and NGOs would then select the winning campaign.

    The IAA would fund the production of this winning entry and use its media linkages to run the campaign on all newspapers and TV channels across the country.

  • Cinerama inks distributor deal with Sling Media

    Cinerama inks distributor deal with Sling Media

    MUMBAI: Cinema sound and projection company Cinerama Pvt Ltd has announced an exclusive sub distributor deal in the West and South India with Sling Media for its product the Slingbox. This partnership will enable Sling Media to leverage Cinerama‘s existing network in over 20 cities catering to high net worth individuals (HNI).

    Cinerama will play an integral role in helping Sling Media extend its product reach in India, which in the past has focused on large format retail stores and ecommerce websites. Through Cinerama‘s existing and well established network, Sling Media intends to focus on tapping the fast growing markets in up and coming cities in India.

    Cinerama director Sanjay Agarwal said, “We are delighted to partner with Sling Media in their new go-to-market strategy. We are confident that Sling Media‘s unique product and our expertise with the HNI segment in south and west regions will result in mutual growth and benefit.”

    The Slingbox is a unique consumer electronics product that allows customers to watch their home TV live (or access recorded programming or VOD) in and around the home or away from home using popular devices such as PCs and Macs, tablets and smartphones. It was launched in India in 2011 and is available in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Chennai.

    “The consumer market in west and south India has evolved phenomenally with the growth of tablets and smartphones. We believe that Cinerama has the competence and expertise needed to reach potential Slingbox customers and build a strong proposition for our products in these markets,” said Sling Media, India general manager and head of operations Raman Venkatachar.

  • Govt may mandate local sourcing of a percentage of STBs: I&B secretary

    Govt may mandate local sourcing of a percentage of STBs: I&B secretary

    NEW DELHI: The government could consider making it mandatory for procurement of certain percentage of locally-made set-top boxes (STBs) if domestic manufacturers priced them competitively.

    Information and Broadcasting (I&B) secretary Uday Kumar Varma said most of the STBs at present are being imported and the share of the domestic manufacturers is negligible, mainly on account of cost disadvantage.

    He said with the government embarking upon a massive drive to switch over to digital delivery of television channels to households, there is a huge demand for STBs.

    If domestic manufacturers are able to price their products competitively, I&B Ministry may even mandate a certain percentage of STBs to be procured domestically, he added.

    Varma also said the I&B Ministry has written to the finance ministry over the issue of locally manufactured STBs attracting higher rate of value-added tax (VAT), while imported STBs are subjected to a lower rate of service tax as it is considered a service offered by cable operators.

    The I&B Ministry has asked the finance ministry to remove the tax anomaly and create a level playing field for domestic STB manufacturers.

    He said the government is confident of meeting the 31 March deadline for digitisation in 38 cities (with one million plus population) across the country in the second phase of digitisation.

    Varma said, �It is estimated that 16 million STBs would be required to digitise the 38 cities, excluding the four metros. But a study conducted by the ministry has revealed that already six million TV sets in these cities are already digitised."

    Cities like Ludhiana and Amritsar are already 90 per cent digital, according to Varma. The level of digitisation is high even in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

    The four metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai — were part of the first phase of digitisation effective 1 November.

    Varma expressed satisfaction over the implementation of the first phase of digitisation. He said the exercise was "more or less completely successful" in Mumbai and Delhi. He added that even Kolkata, which initially had reservations about digital conversion, has come on board with a conversion rate nearing 90 per cent.

    It is held up in Chennai because of a petition by cable operators in the Madras High Court challenging the digitisation notification itself.

    Varma said the I&B Ministry has been reviewing the progress on a continuous basis and nodal officers have been appointed in every state to oversee the conversion process.

    He said the first phase of digitisation was a learning and the government was working to refine the process in the second phase. The feedback from the newly-converted digital homes has been mostly favourable and added that the move is bringing in a more transparent cable TV regime in the country.

  • Petition against Hindi film ‘Delhi 6’ quashed by Delhi High Court

    Petition against Hindi film ‘Delhi 6’ quashed by Delhi High Court

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has quashed a first information report against the Hindi film’Delhi 6’ which had alleged that a character in the film enacting the role of a lady sweeper (played by Divya Dutta) had been insulted and thereby the entire Balmiki Samaj had been insulted.

     

    The Court observed that the film seen in its entirety generates empathy for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,

     

    The FIR had been filed by Delhi MLA Jai Kishan against film director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and others. It had been lodged under The Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and The Protection of Civil Rights Act at the Mandir Marg police station in New Delhi in 2009.

     

    In its judgment on a petition by Mehra and others, Justice Manmohan said: “The present film seen in its entirety generates empathy for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. No intention to insult the members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes community can be attributed to the petitioners in the present case.”

     

    “The present film in no manner supports the practice of untouchability in any manner. The acts attributed to the petitioners do not amount to preaching and practicing untouchability….” Justice Manmohan stated.

     

    Allowing the plea, Justice Manmohan observed in his 37-page judgment that “in fact, a film is an expression of an idea which is protected by Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India. Freedom of expression is of inestimable value in a democratic society based on the rule of law. Our written Constitution guarantees not only freedom of speech but also freedom after speech”.

     

    Justice Manmohan also dismissed the plea by the complainant that an FIR could not be quashed when the investigation was on, saying that “this Court has the power to quash an FIR under investigation at the initial stage itself”.

     

    Seeking quashing of the FIR, counsel for the petitioners submitted that the film conveyed a strong message to the public at large against the caste system and was not intended to hurt the sentiments of any section or society.

     

    Petitioners’ counsel further submitted that the impugned FIR had been lodged by the MLA only to gain cheap popularity and with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the petitioners who were attempting to create awareness about the condition of the Scheduled Castes community.

     

    The film starring Abhishek Bachchan with Sonam Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman among others, had been inspired by a real-life incident that had occurred some years earlier in the walled city

  • No relaxation on digitisation in Delhi, Mumbai & Kolkata

    No relaxation on digitisation in Delhi, Mumbai & Kolkata

    NEW DELHI: The Government has ruled out any possibility of allowing multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata more time to completely switch over to digital delivery of television channels, as has been offered in Chennai.

    During the hearing of a case in the Madras High Court, the ministry had said it was willing to extend the digitisation deadline to 31 December for Chennai if all the MSOs or LCOs signed affidavits assuring that they would go digital within the extended deadline.
    Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry sources said the extension in deadline offered for Chennai was not applicable to Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkata since the situation in the southern metro was very different.

    The sources said while the ministry had signed agreements for digital addressable system with 11 MSOs in Chennai, the largest MSO – the state government-owned Arasu –had only analogue delivery system and needed more time to convert to DAS.

    The sources also said I&B Minister Manish Tewari had categorically ruled out any extension of the date in any of the phases, of which the first phase covering the four metros became effective on 1 November. The second phase of digitisation covering 38 cities takes effect on 31 March and all the cable TV delivery systems across the rest of the country are scheduled to go digital by December 2014.

    The ministry sources admitted that there would be some differences in the figures given by it on implementation of digitisation or installation of digital set top boxes (STBs) with the actual figures on the ground, but it does not pose any problem as the consumers of these four cities were keen to go digital.

  • TAM to release data after 9 weeks

    TAM to release data after 9 weeks

    MUMBAI: India will have no television ratings for nine weeks till 8 December as it moves towards digitisation in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

    TAM, the sole ratings measurement agency in India, will stop releasing the TV viewership data for the week ended October 7, which was to be released today. The reporting will be from 9 December. This decision follows the pressure from broadcasters and advertising agencies.

    “TAM will suspend data for all India. The release of data will be nine weeks later,” a source said.

    The Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) have reached a consensus on the issue of suspension of TAM data.

    The representatives of three industry bodies have reached an agreement but have decided to first circulate among their members before making it public.

    The representatives of the three bodies met on Monday but a consensus eluded them. They did not meet on Tuesday but held discussions through different means and have more or less reached an agreement. They have decided to take one more day to iron out the creases on the matter.

    A TAM Media Research representative had attended the meeting on Monday but was not part of the discussion on Tuesday. The decision of the three industry bodies would be communicated to TAM and the television viewership rating agency would accordingly act on the decision.

    The industry bodies needed to agree on the period of suspension of reporting of TAM ratings in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata after the government-mandated complete switchover to digital delivery of cable television from 1 November. The suspension has been felt necessary as there would be disruption of television services for some period after analogue signals are switched off in the four metros.

    An industry source informed indiantelevision.com, “The bodies were hoping to issue a statement today (Tuesday), but it just required a bit more alignment from all sides. Whatever be the decision, it should be communicated to the members first before making it public through the media.”

    IBF president Man Jit Singh also said, “An official statement bearing the decision taken by the industry bodies will be released to the press tomorrow (Wednesday).”

    Details of the agreement, however, could not be obtained.

    Also read:

    Digitisation: Consensus eludes broadcasters and advertisers on suspension of ratings

  • Draftfcb Ulka names Naresh Kumar as vice president, planning – Delhi

    Draftfcb Ulka names Naresh Kumar as vice president, planning – Delhi

    MUMBAI: Naresh Kumar has joined Draftfcb Ulka as vice president, planning for its Delhi operations. In a career spanning 16 years, Kumar has been associated with agencies like Momentum Strategy (Bengaluru), Avalon Consulting (Delhi) and Law & Kenneth (Delhi) as well as in the capacity of an independent consultant.

    Kumar has experience across fields of consulting, market research and planning, and has worked with brands like Bharat Petroleum (Pure for Sure), MTR Foods re-positioning, Lakme, Tata Steel, Big Bazaar, GMR Infrastructure, ITC and Onida.

    Draftfcb Ulka Delhi COO Sanjay Tandon said, “As a key player in the Delhi team, Naresh will help us sustain and strengthen our strategic credentials that are the building blocks of creating brandwealth for our clients.”

    Kumar said “Draftfcb Ulka has an amazing reputation as a strategic brand-building partner to clients. The quality and testimony of their client relationships, and their senior management personnel is ample proof of that. Joining Draftfcb Ulka is like coming home, and I look forward to a long and fulfilling innings here.”