ITV

Tag: Discovery Networks

  • PROMAX INDIA IS THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE AN ADDITION TO AN EVEN MORE STELLAR LINE-UP OF SPEAKERS for ‘Re-Invent’ PROMAX INDIA VIRTUAL 2020 -CONFERENCE & AWARDS LIVE on 7th, 8th & 9th of October, 2020

    PROMAX INDIA IS THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE AN ADDITION TO AN EVEN MORE STELLAR LINE-UP OF SPEAKERS for ‘Re-Invent’ PROMAX INDIA VIRTUAL 2020 -CONFERENCE & AWARDS LIVE on 7th, 8th & 9th of October, 2020

    Get transported into the Future of Creativity in Augmented Reality all the way from Sydney with Emile Rademeyer, and the Climb to the Top of the Pyramid and witness a fireside chat with Megha Tata and Navika Kumar, as they highlight their journey and experiences in the media landscape. Then, sit back, relax and get an insight into OTT Marketing where leading OTT marketeers will truly deep dive and unearth some non-conventional ways of winning customer.
    ’Re-invent’ Promax India Virtual 2020 promises to keep you engaged and entertained.

    Emile Rademeyer presents The Future of Creativity in Augmented Reality….PART II.
    Emile is Executive Director, Creative Strategy & Innovation at VANDAL in Sydney, Australia where he creates innovative moving image, sound, art, immersive and augmented reality experiences for public, commercial, advertising and entertainment platforms. Emile’s recognised talent earns international respect and he’s regarded as one of Australia’s most prolific new media, creative trailblazers.

    So, take a seat and buckle up…! You are about to travel into the future and witness new augmented realities of creativity.

    TOP OF THE PYRAMID – with Megha Tata & Navika Kumar
    Promax India is proud to present Megha Tata, the MD of Discovery Networks who has made her place amongst the top CEOs of Media Networks & Navika Kumar, Group Editor – Politics, Times Network and her journey to go head-to-head with the predominantly male bastion of Indian TV Journalism.

    Come join us for a Fireside chat with the two women powerhouses as they highlight their journey and experiences in the Indian media landscape. 
    A not to be missed session that will keep you entertained and inspired!

    An engaging session on OTT Marketing as they share invaluable insights on new ways of winning and retaining customers. Led by Rahul Mishra of Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd and the panelists include Avi Kumar – Head Supply and Brand Marketing, ZEE5 India, Abhishek Joshi – Lead Marketing – MX Player & and others.

    Rahul Mishra, Head of Marketing & Communications, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd said,  “Promax has been setting new standards in the M&E space and this year too Promax India 2020 promises to be an exciting and enriching event. I am looking forward to moderating the OTT session with industry stalwarts and getting to hear their perspectives in the changing times and bring new learnings for our industry.”

    Avi Kumar, Head of Supply and Brand Marketing, ZEE5 India said “It is exciting to see  Promax India Virtual Conference 2020 in a new avatar while adapting to the new challenges. As more and more audiences become receptive to the new way of entertainment, it is even more imperative for marketers, to constantly innovate and customize their offerings as per demand. The way forward for the OTT marketing landscape is going to be an interesting one, and this session will truly deep dive and unearth some non-conventional ways of winning customers.”

     Abhishek Joshi, Head of Marketing and Business Partnerships at MX Player said, "Promax has always been at the forefront of bringing together industry leaders to explore and ideate on new strategies. I am looking forward to being a part of its virtual 2020 edition, discussing the world of OTT marketing that is now fostering and enabling new viewer relationships post pandemic – wherein a digital first, and most importantly a consumer first strategy has to be top priority."

    Do register your teams at https://www.promaxindia.tv/indiavirtual2020/

    RE-INVENT' PROMAX INDIA VIRTUAL 2020 – CONFERENCE & AWARDS goes LIVE on 8th & 9th of October, 2020 

  • Dsport to telecast Major League Soccer in India

    MUMBAI: The full season of Major League Soccer (MLS) is to be telecast on Discovery Networks’ newly launched sports channel Dsport. The channel will telecast the league live from 4 March 2017.

    Launched in 1996 with 10 teams, Major League Soccer will kick-off its 22nd edition with 22 teams, up from 20 last year. The new teams are the Atlanta United and Minnesota United.

    MLS officially kicks-off the 2017 season with a match between hosts Portland Timbers and the debutants Minnesota United.

    Portland Timbers were the MLS Cup champions in 2015 but failed to make the playoffs last season. The two teams played out a 2-2 draw in the pre-season.

    Some of the star players who are poised to figure prominently in the quest for MLS Cup 2017 glory include David Villa (New York City FC), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Giovani Dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Kaka (Orlando City), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United), Nicolas Lodeiro (Seattle Sounders), Cyle Larin (Orlando City), and Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers).

  • DSport, Discovery’s expansion into under-served areas beyond factual

    DSport, Discovery’s expansion into under-served areas beyond factual

    MUMBAI: After dividing its offering into two verticals- female & family entertainment product and real world entertainment product- Discovery Networks has now entered the sports genre with its latest offering. Priced at Rs 12.6 on reference interconnect offer (RIO), and Rs 32 for the  high-definition version, DSport provides access to unmatched live sporting action from around the world. With an aim to provide 4000+ hours of live content annually, DSport will air international sports properties ranging from horse racing to football, motorsports, rugby and cycling. Targeted at the passionate community of sports lovers, the channel will offer a daily dose of 10+ hours of live content for viewers across the country.

    The channel went live on 6 February and reached about 35 million households.

    In this fast evolving digital space where more and more digital platforms are providing live coverage of several sports events, Discovery Networks, in the current scenario, does not see owning a digital platform as the best profitable business in India. Though, it is entering the digital space with its remarkable IPs which they are licensing across multiple digital Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms.

    “The only thing we are not entering right now as is our own platform because I don’t think the economics of it are suitable for every broadcaster. Going on hypothesis, I think that owning a digital platform might not be the best profitable business in India because the consumer acquisition cost is very high and the retention rates of the platforms are very low. It’s the easiest thing to launch a technological platform with content offering but acquiring people to sign in on the platform is a high end cost. 80 per cent of the subscribers are out of the platform in a month. They have no stickiness to the platform. So, we will create remarkable IPs like we have for sports and then decide whether to sign exclusive deals with the existing platforms or to distribute it across a range of digital platforms. Whatever makes the best financial sense. Our push for digital is very aggressive,” said Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific senior vice president and general manager Karan Bajaj.

    He further added, “I think that we should possess content that is so remarkable that every network wants to own it, which is much more profitable business rather than owning your own platform. We are acquiring linear and digital rights for every property. We are creating digital brands with digital native players which we will be licensing through multiple platforms. My objective is to serve the digital consumers; the consumers who are looking at things digitally. And launching a digital platform is subscale for us.”

    Former MD of ESPN Star and former CEO of Dish TV India R.C. Venkateish will be working closely with DSport especially in areas related to content acquisition for the channel.

    The channel will be a part of the sports tier via a subscription model on both DTH and cable in both HD and SD. It has already partnered with Hathway and bunch of other cable platforms and are in talks with several DTH players. “The channel will be distributed in the same way as our other channels,” added Bajaj.  

    Bajaj also opined that the channel has received very strong response from the advertisers. In its initial phase, the channel does not plan to have any advertisements to hit the scale and distribution for a lucrative business of its advertisers.  

    The network is marketing the channel thoughtfully. It is promoting the channel community wise rather than massively. “It is best to target specific communities to market the channel rather than doing one or two big promotional activities,” added Bajaj.  

    DSport redefines sports coverage in India with a wide repertoire of exciting properties from across the world of sports. These will initially include:

    ·  Horse Racing: exclusive rights to telecast daily live racing from the best of UK and Irish tracks totaling over 7000 races/ year

    ·  Football: Brazilian League, Chinese Super League, Portuguese League, Major League Soccer (USA)

    ·  Golf: British Open (The Open Championship), US Open, PGA Championship, LPGA

    ·  Motorsports: NASCAR, FIA World Rallycross Championship

    ·  Rugby: 6 Nations Rugby

    · Cycling: Tour de France (a property of Eurosport)

    DSport is in advanced negotiations for selected high quality cricket events to add to the above-mentioned portfolio.

    The other channels of the network, Discovery, Science, Turbo, Animal Planet, TLC, ID, Kids, will perceive a complete change in its look and feel starting with Discovery channel by June end followed by the rest. It plans to have 200 hours of original localized content not limited to infotainment but diversifying into other genres like crime, adventure, automation, etc. The key focus, apart from localisation and number of hours, will be on the nature of storytelling.

    Also Read:

    Discovery’s D-Sport goes live today

  • Discovery appoints Tanna as VP – S Asia; Dua to head M&A

    Discovery appoints Tanna as VP – S Asia; Dua to head M&A

    MUMBAI: In line with its ambition to expand and accelerate growth in India through new investment and leadership, Discovery Networks has appointed Vikram Tanna as Vice President, Head of Advertising Sales and Business Head of Regional Clusters, South Asia. The current product suite has 11 unique content channels in the factual and lifestyle genres. Tanna takes over from Karamjit Dua who moves into a new role as head of new business and mergers and acquisitions in line with Discovery’s focus on inorganic growth opportunities in both linear and channel business with immediate effect.

    Tanna will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Karan Bajaj, SVP and GM-South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific. Tanna will further strengthen the company’s efforts towards building engaged local audience franchises and re-instate its omni-channel platform play.

    Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific SVP & GM-South Asia Karan Bajaj said, “India is a high-priority market for us and we have very aggressive growth ambitions here as we look to future-proof our business and build a broader product eco-system. I am thrilled to have someone of the calibre of Vikram Tanna joining our team. He brings the relevant product and revenue experience and strategic planning ability that will be integral to our efforts in re-defining our ad sales, improving workflow and growing our business nationally and across regional clusters.”

    An industry veteran, Tanna brings with him over two decades of experience spanning the broadcast, gaming and online industries. Tanna joins from Star India where was the Senior Vice President leading Product & Revenue strategy for three of the major channel clusters- Hindi Movies & Music and HSM Regional Channels (West Bengal & Maharashtra). He has grown in various roles at Star from heading revenue for Channel V, Star Digital & V Events. Prior to which, Tanna was the revenue lead for Zapak Digital Entertainment that operated the online gaming portal. Earlier in his career, he worked with MTV for two years and with Star Movies and Star World.

    Tanna has done MBA in marketing from Mumbai University and is a visiting faculty at management institutes in Mumbai.

  • Discovery appoints Tanna as VP – S Asia; Dua to head M&A

    Discovery appoints Tanna as VP – S Asia; Dua to head M&A

    MUMBAI: In line with its ambition to expand and accelerate growth in India through new investment and leadership, Discovery Networks has appointed Vikram Tanna as Vice President, Head of Advertising Sales and Business Head of Regional Clusters, South Asia. The current product suite has 11 unique content channels in the factual and lifestyle genres. Tanna takes over from Karamjit Dua who moves into a new role as head of new business and mergers and acquisitions in line with Discovery’s focus on inorganic growth opportunities in both linear and channel business with immediate effect.

    Tanna will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Karan Bajaj, SVP and GM-South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific. Tanna will further strengthen the company’s efforts towards building engaged local audience franchises and re-instate its omni-channel platform play.

    Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific SVP & GM-South Asia Karan Bajaj said, “India is a high-priority market for us and we have very aggressive growth ambitions here as we look to future-proof our business and build a broader product eco-system. I am thrilled to have someone of the calibre of Vikram Tanna joining our team. He brings the relevant product and revenue experience and strategic planning ability that will be integral to our efforts in re-defining our ad sales, improving workflow and growing our business nationally and across regional clusters.”

    An industry veteran, Tanna brings with him over two decades of experience spanning the broadcast, gaming and online industries. Tanna joins from Star India where was the Senior Vice President leading Product & Revenue strategy for three of the major channel clusters- Hindi Movies & Music and HSM Regional Channels (West Bengal & Maharashtra). He has grown in various roles at Star from heading revenue for Channel V, Star Digital & V Events. Prior to which, Tanna was the revenue lead for Zapak Digital Entertainment that operated the online gaming portal. Earlier in his career, he worked with MTV for two years and with Star Movies and Star World.

    Tanna has done MBA in marketing from Mumbai University and is a visiting faculty at management institutes in Mumbai.

  • Discovery Kids announces second series of ‘Sheikh Chilli and Friendz’

    Discovery Kids announces second series of ‘Sheikh Chilli and Friendz’

    MUMBAI: Going strong on its go-local drive, Discovery Kids has announced the second season of Sheikh Chilli and Friendz. Slated to premiere early 2017, the channel is committed to bring refreshingly new, clutter-breaking and heart-warming entertainment to millions of its fans across India.

    “Sheikh Chilli and Friendz will be one of the most endearing series on Indian television. Each character has been crafted to offer unmatched entertainment and will reset the narrative of kids’ content. Nothing stimulates mind more than an overwhelming emotion of humour and this series will offer it in abundance,” said Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific vice president – entertainment products – South Asia Rajiv Bakshi.

    The show revolves around the adventures of an innocent boy Sheikh Chilli and his friends of Jhunjhun Nagar. Sheikh Chilli is a day-dreaming simpleton who lives with his mother. He has his heart in the right place, but his plans and actions are a source of humour as well as trouble for his friends. He is joined in his adventures by Malika, his smart neighbor and classmate, Bulbul histalking friend-turned-brother donkey, the pocket-sized dwarf Khatkoo and the enchanting Noorie Djinnwho has come from another planet to fulfilling Sheikh Chilli’s incredible wishes.

    Creating trouble for Sheikh Chilli & Friendz is the evil witch Buri, who is after the magical necklace worn by Noorie Djinn so that she can become all-powerful. The friends encounter various other characters through the course of the series which results in hilarious situations and many laughs.

    The franchise was introduced to children on television through a movie, aired early in the year on Discovery Kids. The series has also been conceptualized and created in partnership with the Mayapuri Group and iRealities Entertainment.

  • Discovery Kids announces second series of ‘Sheikh Chilli and Friendz’

    Discovery Kids announces second series of ‘Sheikh Chilli and Friendz’

    MUMBAI: Going strong on its go-local drive, Discovery Kids has announced the second season of Sheikh Chilli and Friendz. Slated to premiere early 2017, the channel is committed to bring refreshingly new, clutter-breaking and heart-warming entertainment to millions of its fans across India.

    “Sheikh Chilli and Friendz will be one of the most endearing series on Indian television. Each character has been crafted to offer unmatched entertainment and will reset the narrative of kids’ content. Nothing stimulates mind more than an overwhelming emotion of humour and this series will offer it in abundance,” said Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific vice president – entertainment products – South Asia Rajiv Bakshi.

    The show revolves around the adventures of an innocent boy Sheikh Chilli and his friends of Jhunjhun Nagar. Sheikh Chilli is a day-dreaming simpleton who lives with his mother. He has his heart in the right place, but his plans and actions are a source of humour as well as trouble for his friends. He is joined in his adventures by Malika, his smart neighbor and classmate, Bulbul histalking friend-turned-brother donkey, the pocket-sized dwarf Khatkoo and the enchanting Noorie Djinnwho has come from another planet to fulfilling Sheikh Chilli’s incredible wishes.

    Creating trouble for Sheikh Chilli & Friendz is the evil witch Buri, who is after the magical necklace worn by Noorie Djinn so that she can become all-powerful. The friends encounter various other characters through the course of the series which results in hilarious situations and many laughs.

    The franchise was introduced to children on television through a movie, aired early in the year on Discovery Kids. The series has also been conceptualized and created in partnership with the Mayapuri Group and iRealities Entertainment.

  • Discovery appoints FremantleMedia’s Monisha Jaising Vaid

    Discovery appoints FremantleMedia’s Monisha Jaising Vaid

    MUMBAI: Discovery Networks is on a hiring spree. In its endeavour to accelerate growth and embrace opportunities beyond linear, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific has now appointed Monisha Jaising Vaid as the director of original content for real world products. She joins from FremantleMedia India TV Productions where she served as the senior creative director and consultant for almost eight years.

    Senior executives Sameer Rao and SVP head of products Nikhil Madhok are the other recent hires.

    Vaid will be based in Mumbai and will report to Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific vice-president real world products – South Asia Sameer Rao.

    She will curate home-grown concepts, identifying formats, localizing for India, pitching to broadcasters, supervising pre and post sales, brand integrations, show production for Discovery’s Real World product suite which includes Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Tamil, Discovery HD World and Animal Planet HD World.

    Experienced in content creation, project management, creative strategy for brands and broadcasters, partner tie-ups and discovering new content opportunities, Vaid is a veteran in the media and entertainment professional.

    She has the ability to ideate cross-platform with a successful background in non-fiction, international formats, magazine format, reality, talent, fiction and digital. She has been a part of various projects like, international formats: Indian Idol , India’s Got Talent , X Factor; indigenous formats: Mission Covershot , Nat Geo Covershot Maximum city; regional formats: Amra na Ora , Amar Bor Superstar; digital : Opening up Fremantlemedia India as a digital fiction player with Confessions – It’s Complicated.

  • Discovery appoints FremantleMedia’s Monisha Jaising Vaid

    Discovery appoints FremantleMedia’s Monisha Jaising Vaid

    MUMBAI: Discovery Networks is on a hiring spree. In its endeavour to accelerate growth and embrace opportunities beyond linear, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific has now appointed Monisha Jaising Vaid as the director of original content for real world products. She joins from FremantleMedia India TV Productions where she served as the senior creative director and consultant for almost eight years.

    Senior executives Sameer Rao and SVP head of products Nikhil Madhok are the other recent hires.

    Vaid will be based in Mumbai and will report to Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific vice-president real world products – South Asia Sameer Rao.

    She will curate home-grown concepts, identifying formats, localizing for India, pitching to broadcasters, supervising pre and post sales, brand integrations, show production for Discovery’s Real World product suite which includes Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Tamil, Discovery HD World and Animal Planet HD World.

    Experienced in content creation, project management, creative strategy for brands and broadcasters, partner tie-ups and discovering new content opportunities, Vaid is a veteran in the media and entertainment professional.

    She has the ability to ideate cross-platform with a successful background in non-fiction, international formats, magazine format, reality, talent, fiction and digital. She has been a part of various projects like, international formats: Indian Idol , India’s Got Talent , X Factor; indigenous formats: Mission Covershot , Nat Geo Covershot Maximum city; regional formats: Amra na Ora , Amar Bor Superstar; digital : Opening up Fremantlemedia India as a digital fiction player with Confessions – It’s Complicated.

  • Network18 appoints News X’s Karishma Dhawan

    Network18 appoints News X’s Karishma Dhawan

    MUMBAI: The factual entertainment genre in India is witnessing several changes — revamps, channel launches and senior level movements. After hiring former Discovery Networks programming head Arun Thapar as its EVP and head of content, Network18 has appointed Karishma Dhawan as the cluster head of History TV18, FYI TV18 and international business.

    In her second stint with the network, she will handle ad-sales, client servicing and sales management of the entire network.

    Dhawan will report to the group’s recently appointed executive vice president of English news cluster and network sales head for north and south Priyanka Datta as well as VP of head sales for Forbes India and international business for English news channels of the network, Preeti Sahni. The two executives report to TV18 president for revenue and Forbes CEO Joy Chakraborthy.

    With more than 13 years of experience of generating revenue beyond the regular vanilla advertising, she has handled brands such as HT City, Indian Express, Radio City, Trav Talk and CNN IBN, etc. She has also handled concept sales on profit and generated revenue through organising events, media partnerships and AFPs, and integrations.

    Prior to taking this role, she was with NewsX as the sales head since March 2016. She handled the national responsibility for all the regional sales team (revenue, sales grooming, hiring etc.)

    She was hired as the assistant VP and regional head of HistoryTV18 in April 2013. In her tenure of around three years with the group, Dhawan was responsible for revenue generation as well as grooming and creating next level managers.