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Devika: The core value that Disney stands for is celebration of the family. Expressing yourself, following your dream – these are universal themes. When we create content, we try to locally recreate it. Best of Luck Nikki is one of the best examples of a show that‘s able to balance a very strong track that focuses on both parents and children. As it‘s a large family, there‘s something for every age group to connect with. Your content has evolved and today, you have various channels under the Disney umbrella. Please elaborate. Devika: Disney is a kid-centric family-inclusive entertainment channel. That‘s something we‘ve been very mindful of and committed to.
In terms of content, we started off with Disney Animation, which has sound heritage value, then adding Disney Live Action. Initially, we had a lot of the original series used by Disney USA but over the years, we felt the need to make our content more relevant to viewers in India. So, we created local series such asBest of Luck Nikki, Karan and Kabir and Shake it Up, which we are proud to have pioneered in this space. While there have been many attempts to create live action in the past, there hasn‘t been anything created so family-focused and family-inclusive and we are happy to be the ones to initiate such programming and keep it going. In 2011, live action was only six per cent of our schedule but this year, it is nearly 18 per cent. We are committed to growing that because we want Disney to be enjoyed by all. As for the different channels, Disney XD is all about humour, action and passion and is also the home of our Marvel Comics content. Hungama celebrates the fun and mischief of childhood – something anyone of any age can relate to and appreciate. Disney Junior, which targets pre-school children between two and seven years of age, is literally our baby. It is the home of pre-school content and popular shows like Micky Mouse Clubhouse and The Lion King. While you say you are committed to growing live action at Disney, will these live action shows be originals or remakes? Indrajit: Great stories are great stories. So whether it‘s a version of a show written in the US or an original, we focus on great stories with great characters as wholesome entertainment for kids.
Many of our shows are re-versions but at the end of the day, it‘s about great stories that are universal. How easy or difficult is it to adapt from an original? Indrajit: We contextualise it in terms of the setting such as the kind of family, which part of India will they be from and what are the characters. For instance, in one of the upcoming shows, there is this character of a governess which doesn‘t really fit into the Indian milieu. So, it‘s about adapting to the closest Indian character – in this case, a ‘daima‘ – who fits in. Then you go on to the dialogue – will it be in Gujarati, Punjabi, et al. How do you package shows to suit different age groups? Devika: Being in the kids‘ space, our demographic is four to 14 years. In this country, school timings are varied, so we make sure we have quality entertainment all day. We do schedule our live action post 8:00 pm so that the family can sit together and enjoy. There‘s special focus on the weekend, especially the mornings. On Sunday mornings, we have show premieres while Saturday mornings are for movies. What‘s the kind of response you get? Devika: It is important for us to understand family demographics and reflect that. For instance, we understand that kids are becoming more democratic than ever before, parents are looking to be closer to their children, and children are having a greater say in things that influence their lives. So we choose to keep the dialogue open, and do that through syndicated research, focus groups and facebook pages. There are many avenues for us to interact with them. Indrajit: In terms of structure, we are very focused and undertake research to understand the viewer better. One of the things that came out was that kids are very techno-savvy these days. They enjoy a lot of their entertainment on screens other than television as well. This kind of feedback that we get on a regular basis is worked back into the setting to make the content even more relevant to viewers. What is it that sets Disney apart? Devika: For instance, we have the magical world of Disney movies on Saturday mornings and these are what the parents have grown up with as well – The Lion King, Cinderella, Peter Pan,101 Dalmatians. These stories take you down memory lane and you enjoy sharing them with your kids. The kind of content we have on Disney, keeping these aspects in mind, sets it apart.
Indrajit: There‘s a huge thing about trust. Adults trust us with our content, and that is very important to us. Yes, there‘s always going to be competition and pressure, but these things make us what we are and what differentiate us from the rest. With so many GECs in the race, how does Disney UTV manage to stay on top in the minds of its audience? Vishaka Chakrapani spoke to Disney UTV Digital COO Sameer Ganapathy to understand the channel‘s social media strategy. How is Disney making its presence felt online? Disney is a family entertainment brand with content present across television, cinema, consumer products and digital. With the evolution of the digital space, especially social media, we believe it‘s a great way to engage fans and have a two-way communication with them. A strong online presence across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter is a significant step in that direction.
Our strategy is to provide our web users with constant updates on our programming and also create a platform for Disney fans to get together and enjoy content on their favourite franchises. Our efforts are to ensure that our content is available to viewers and fans whenever and wherever they want it. Of the three platforms Disney India is operating on, which one is getting the most traction? Why and how are you maintaining this? Currently, the Facebook page is garnering maximum engagement among fans. With Facebook, we have an average of 13 per cent engagement over the past six months. The Disney India Facebook page is home to all things Disney including daily contests and interactive content for our fans. In the past, we‘ve had multiple activities on the page, ranging from Disney Consumer Product franchises to show promotions and awareness. Activities like Disney Back2School, DisneyQ and Art Attack received a very positive response and we hope to continue the momentum with the release of Disney‘s Planes that is just round the corner. How important are mobile devices? What is the split between these and desktop viewing? Are apps big for you? At Disney Media Networks, our efforts are to ensure that our content is available to viewers and fans whenever and wherever they want it. An important part of our strategy is to ensure content availability across multiple screens including mobiles. On YouTube, we have 6.3 million views for Disney India; of which, over 1.2 million views come from mobile phones. Ours is a generation of screen-agers and mobile phones have emerged a personal source of entertainment to access games, videos and more. We aim to provide our users with content that can travel with them across screens, from television to computers to mobile phones. Just last year, we launched the Disney App for feature phones, which has short format videos for fans. The beauty of this app is that fans get seamless video viewing experience even on data connectivity like Edge and GPRS. With its niche content and programming, who are the advertisers on Disney UTV? Vishaka Chakrapani spoke to Disney UTV Media Networks ad sales executive director Nikhil Gandhi to get a feel of the kind of advertising the channel attracts. Who are the advertisers you have on board? Currently, we have several long-term advertisers on our channels like ITC Foods, Nestle, Cadbury and Hindustan Unilever to name some.
Which shows get the best/highest number of advertisements? There are no specific shows that are the key drivers. Advertisers are driven by two types of content – Performance driven shows or shows and movies based on saliency. We are very excited about our original productions and live action is definitely the way forward for us. Which categories/companies spend the most on advertising on your channels? Are there any emerging spenders? We have a significant number of FMCG (Fast Manufacturing Consumer Goods) advertisers on our channels. However, with our content reaching out to family audiences, there is a new genre and categories of advertisers who target families, especially mothers looking to explore our channels. What does advertising on such channels offer to these advertisers? Any trends and insights you can share with us? Families are becoming far more democratic in nature and kids today have become key influencers and more involved in the decision making process. With kids at the centre, our channels engage families, especially mothers, and therefore, offer a greater efficiency to any media plan. Which time band is most preferred and why? In the kids‘ genre, we cater to a broad segment of children across our channels. During weekdays, the afternoons become a significant band for us. Sunday mornings have already been established as an exciting band with our live action shows such as Best of Luck Nikki,Shake It Up and more. We already have the Magical World of Disney block on Saturdays, and we are focusing on building Saturday mornings as a key slot for advertisers as well.
So what is the primetime for advertising? Like mentioned before, afternoons on weekdays since kids are generally in schools. However, with our live action shows – Sunday mornings become extremely important for us, and we are building on Saturday mornings as well.
Do advertisers differ for weekends and weekdays? No. We see the same traction on weekdays as well as weekends. |
Tag: Disney UTV
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UTV Stars’ new show promises to bring the box-office home
MUMBAI: UTV Star, a channel from the UTV bouquet, was launched with the promise of being the intimate insider of Bollywood. And keeping to it, the channel has started a new show – Box Office Live.
The show will catch the pulse of the nation on every new release and promises to be the ‘sensex’ of Indian Cinema by providing its viewers with first-hand information about that day’s release. In addition to viewer’s opinions, the show will also feature a t?te-?-t?te with producers, distributors and studio executives to discuss how the movie is faring at the single and multi-screens across cities.
Speaking on the show, Disney UTV, UTV Stars media networks director, content & editor Manish Dubey says, “Box Office Live! a yet another significant and path-breaking step fulfilling the long standing commitment of UTV Stars to get Bollywood closer to its audience. As the official channel of Bollywood, it’s our responsibility to give the audiences the real and the big picture of Indian Cinema and this show does exactly that in a format that has not yet been seen on Indian Television.”
The show premiering with Chennai Express’ release will be bringing all the box office updates in a three-minute segment hitting every top of the hour throughout the film opening day. It will be talking to the audiences from theatres across the country and provide minute by minute reactions on the day of release enabling the viewer to give his or her personal “Hit” or “Miss” verdict.
The show is hosted by Sunanda Wong, a Bollywood and lifestyle journalist, who has over five years of experience up her sleeves.
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Disney UTV Studios goes gung-ho on digital movie marketing
MUMBAI: As one of the TVC‘s says ‘In the age of technology its criminal to think one is stranded,‘ similarly, in 2013 it will be stupid to think that a movie release is only limited to the theatres.
Today, the social media has changed the way people connect, discover, and share information. Production houses are not leaving any stone unturned to promote their films – from promotions on television to launching various campaigns on the digital space. The digital space is now the new entrant in the list of marketing and promotion strategies of most media houses.
How can one forget the craze created by Kolaveri Di when it was leaked on the internet, and everyone wanted to watch the movie 3 after the hype generated by it. Similarly, before Himmatwalareleased, snippets of the making of various days was uploaded on YouTube for fans to see what happens behind the scenes. This was also done to create hype about the movie before its release.
In the past two years, Disney UTV Studios has tried to make the optimum use of the fact that digital has increased in importance progressively. The studio feels that the medium is perfect to engage with young movie consumers, always on-the-go, and to also build a loyal community of Hindi film fans online.
“We have a Klout score of 84 which is highest for a Hindi film studio. We have a million fans on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/utvmotionpictures), 90, 000 followers on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utvfilms) and 200, 000 subscribers on our YouTube channel,” says Disney UTV executive director, marketing, studios, Shikha Kapur.
The latest movie to come out of the production house stable is Ship of Theseus. And even before the movie‘s official release date, the production house created a special ‘Vote for your city‘ campaign to promote it. Through this campaign, movie lovers in other cities (The movie is releasing in five cities – NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata on 19 July) can get the film released in their city via an online voting mechanism on Facebook.
“All they have to do is log on and vote for their city from the list provided or add their city and get a chance to watch the movie in their city. Based on the responses so far, we have already added Hyderabad to the list of cities where the movie will be released. We are getting a good response for the same,” explains Kapur.
Depending on the script and the type of the movie, the production house designs its online communication to bring out the true essence of the film and at the same time engage with customers in the most innovative and interesting way possible.
In the past too, Disney UTV Studios came up with various such campaigns to connect with its audience before the film release. For instance, for Rowdy Rathore an app was created where people could vote for the different mustached looks of Akshay Kumar. More than 3000 fans participated and the look that won the most votes was adopted by Akshay in the film.
Acccording to the folks at the studios , Barfi! changed the way audiences consume content today. For this movie a digital app was created on YouTube (www.youtube.com/barfi). “People through this app could make Ranbir Kapoor dance, smile, cry and do anything else they desired. The app was a viral hit which gained over 250,000 users in two weeks and was hailed by the Google India team as the best online innovation that has been done on YouTube in the past one and a half years. The app also won a bronze in the video innovation category at the prestigious Yahoo Big Idea Chair Awards. The only media product to do so!” informs Kapur proudly.
The production house has spread its wings in a big way in the online space and doesn‘t shy away from spending on it. “On an average between five and ten per cent of marketing spends is kept for social media marketing, but for small films like Ship Of Theseus (SOT) that spend could go up to 25 per cent. SOT is the first film that we are marketing predominantly online with a limited spend on print and no spend on TV,” says Kapur who clarifies that the spend depends from movie to movie.
Now for its forthcoming movie, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chennai Express, the production house had crowd-sourced the trailer launch to its fans. “The concept was that the more they tweeted the faster the trailer would be released. In fact the trailer was first broken online and several hours later SRK, Deepika and Rohit Shetty revealed it to the media at a press conference,” she adds.
Digital space has thrown a new challenge for production houses: to engage the audiences to drive them to the theatres; to continuously evolve new ideas, better than their competitors. In a scenario when box office results are dependent on the marketing strategy, we can surely sense some creative war awaiting on the digital space!
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Phase II of ad cap comes into effect; channels follow TRAI mandate
NEW DELHI: Indian TV viewers are going to be a delighted bunch. Reason: the number of TV commercials being bombarded at them on TV channels just got reduced.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) ad cap regime imposed on news and general entertainment channels came into force today with an upper limit of 20 and 16 minutes per hour respectively. This will run till 30 September, following which the 12-minute rule will come into play from 1 October.
Both Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) have said their members are following the regime, the first phase of which came into effect on 29 May when its members agreed not to exceed 30 minutes of advertising per hour. IBF president Man Jit Singh and NBA president K V L Narayan Rao told indiantelevision.com that the TV channels would stand by their commitment to the government since this was now the law.
The final decision of 29 May had taken a lot of wrangling, with the matter also going to the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal against TRAI which insisted that it was only implementing a regulation which was part of the Cable TV Networks Rules 1994.
Following this, the IBF Board finally appointed a committee of five persons – K V L Narayan Rao, Zee Entertainment CEO Puneet Goenka, Asianet managing director K Madhavan and Disney UTV media managing director K Anand with the assistance of secretary general Shailesh Shah – to research, debate, consult and arrive at what will work.
The committee admitted in its report that some channels especially those in regional languages ran more than 30 minutes of advertising per hour. Shah, however, claimed to indiantelevision.com that the per hour ad time works out to just over 11 minutes if a full-day average is taken.
The TRAI, however, says it is going to keep a sharp eye on each channel to ensure that there is no violation of the time cap set on the TV broadcast industry. “TRAI would continue to monitor the timing of commercials per hour by various channels,” says TRAI principal advisor on broadcasting and media N Parameswaran.
It is quite likely that the air time reduction, could result in revenue losses for the channels. Though none of the broadcast bodies have clearly highlighted how much this erosion could be, media buyers do acknowledge that broadcasters will no doubt hike ad rates with the implementation of 12 minute ad cap on 1 October.
“The impact cannot be felt as of now. Once the ad time comes down to 12 minutes (across GECs) in October that is when the crunch will be felt,” said an executive from a leading media buying and planning company. June to September is a lean period for advertising on channels, especially considering it is the monsoon season all over India.There are also few who believe that the ad cap restriction will improve quality of viewing. Madison Group COO- buying Neel Kamal Sharma opines, “It is a win-win situation. On one hand the advertisers will benefit as now they can target their audiences in an effective way. The broadcasters will also increase their ad rates. Parallel to this even digitisation will bring in extra revenue for the broadcasters, decreasing their dependence on ad revenue.”
Sharma hopes for the transition to take place in a fair manner, which has been recognized by all without shifting the entire burden onto advertisers. “We must take a long term view of the situation and handle it carefully as some people may try to take advantage of the situation to increase rates disproportionately which may neither be good for them nor good for TV industry’s growth in the long run as many advertisers have already started exploring alternative options,” he adds.
The message for broadcasters is clear: take tiny steps – together with your advertising partners. Don’t go for the long jump; you might end up jumping alone.
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Titan joins hands with Marvel to launch Iron Man 3 Watches
BENGALURU: Zoop, the children’s brand of watches from Titan Industries Limited, has joined hands with Marvel Comics Group. With this collaboration Zoop will launch Iron Man 3 collection that is inspired by the popular character in the Marvel Studio feature.
Speaking about the association, Titan & Retail, VP, Ajoy Chawla said, “To connect with kids it’s important to be a part of their world. Zoop’s proposition ‘Be Cool’, its many exciting collections and this latest association with Marvel is an attempt to be true to this philosophy. This unique association with global brands like Marvel will present to our little consumers a range of exciting products that are inspired by their favourite Superheroes.”
“Iron Man, one of Marvel‘s most iconic characters resonates with families and the kids’ audiences alike. This year, to bring the theatrical experience alive, we have launched an exciting range of products inspired by Iron Man and giving the India fans an amazing opportunity to own products that features their favourite Super Hero”, said Disney UTV, Consumer Products and Retail, MD, Roshini Bakshi.
Zoop looks to take advantage of the new Iron Man release and hopes this would attract the kids to grab this opportunity of owning this new range. The collection priced at Rs 895 comprises of eight special edition watches for young boys and girls, in bold colours of red, blue & yellow.
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DAS Phase II: Indiacast-Hathway- GTPL slugfest on DAS deals
MUMBAI: A war of sorts has broken out between India‘s second largest content aggregator IndiaCast Media Distribution and Hathway Cable and Datacom, the country‘s biggest Multi System Operator (MSO) and its affiliate GTPL, Gujarat‘s largest MSO with footprints in other states too.
This is happening at a time when the entire broadcast and cable TV industry and government have been grappling with how to deal with the Phase II digitisation (DAS) of India‘s cable TV. And it clearly reveals how much more needs to be done to make the government‘s agenda to professionalise and spruce up India‘s cable TV sector a reality. (MIB wants MSOs-b‘casters to sign DAS agreements within 15 days )
Now on to the problem between IndiaCasat and GTPL and Hathway. Both Hathway and GTPL have switched off IndiaCast channels in multiple markets across India including Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh as the latter is demanding a reduction in carriage fee and growth in subscription fee.
IndiaCast distributes 35 channels from the TV18, Viacom18, Disney UTV and A+E Networks spanning across Hindi general entertainment, news, kids, youth and regional genre.
Hathway, on the other hand, has cable operations that straddle across key Indian geographies and offers cable television services across 140 cities and towns.
However, Hathway and GTPL feel IndiaCast‘s demand is unjustified. Their contention is that the time is not ripe for a carriage fee reduction or an increase in subscription fee payouts as they have hardly started collecting money from the ground.
IndiaCast though feels that its demand is justified as the analog cable TV networks around the country are being digitised in a phased manner which will lead to broadcasters getting their fair share of subscription revenue due to transparency in subscriber base of LCOs.
The content aggregator alleges that both Hathway and GTPL want to maintain status quo by doing deals similar to that in the analogue era. According to IndiaCast, the two MSOs also want to revisit phase I deals which were done on cost-per-subscriber basis.
Hathway Cable and Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar feels the broadcasters‘s maw is increasing and they are unwilling to support the MSOs in this transition phase.
“Broadcasters have become too greedy. They are behaving like ostriches. They want a reduction in carriage fee and a growth in subscription revenue. Reduction of carriage fee is not going to happen overnight. As far as growth in subscription revenue goes, the MSOs themselves have not started collecting money from the ground,” thunders Kumar.
Kumar‘s suggestion to broadcasters is to do “equitable” deals till the situation on the ground stabilises particularly since the MSOs have made large investments in making digitisation a reality.
“We also have to look at returns on the investments that we have made so far,” adds Kumar.
The dispute that began end of December has reached the sector regulator‘s door. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked GTPL to respond by 10 April to a complaint filed by IndiaCast alleging abuse of its dominant position in Gujarat.
Says IndiaCast COO Gaurav Gandhi, “GTPL‘s intention is to use these coercive methods on broadcasters and aggregators to pressurise them to keep DAS deals in line with what was there in the analogue regime – at any cost they don‘t want a reduction in their carriage income. Almost all our deals in DAS Phase I were done on a cost-per-subscriber model. We have written to Trai on the violations done by GTPL & Hathway and the regulator has now asked GTPL to respond by 10 April.”
In its complaint, IndiaCast has alleged that Hathway and its affiliate GTPL illegally collided to coerce IndiaCast into acceding to their demands including increasing the placement fees, reducing subscription fees and also to re-open DAS Phase I deals already executed.
Giving his perspective on the dispute, GTPL president Sumit Bose says that the MSO has followed Trai regulations in letter and spirit while dealing with IndiaCast. GTPL, he says, had an agreement with IndiaCast till 31 March 2013.
He claims that IndiaCast itself did not respond to GTPL‘s offer of working on a new deal for phase II for almost two and a half months. IndiaCast officials did get in touch with GTPL by that time the company‘s management had decided against entering into a new deal with IndiaCast.
“IndiaCast was never inclined to sit across the table to discuss the deal with us despite our keenness. We waited for more than two and a half months but there was no response from them (IndiaCast). Since we did not get any response, the GTPL management decided to switch off the channels as we had to look at our own business objectives as well,” affirms Bose.
The MSO then switched off IndiaCast channels in Gujarat citing financial unviability.
However, IndiaCast‘s Gaurav Gandhi is amused with the idea. On the contrary, he feels that the deal is unviable for IndiaCast as its analogue deal had it paying out more in carriage fees than the subscription fees that accrued to it courtesy GTPL.
“Both GTPL and Hathway have cited financial unviability and financial constraints as reasons for discontinuation of deals for IndiaCast channels. This is the basis of the notice they sent for their existing deals – and these existing deals are where we were paying them more carriage, then they are paying us for subscription. So how can a deal be financially unviable for the MSO if they are receiving more than they are paying? This clearly demonstrates the strong-arm tactics and the intentions of GTPL and Hathway,” avers Gandhi.
Bose strongly denies charges of strong arm tactics by IndiaCast. To buttress his point, he says that Gujarat is as competitive a market as any other market in India is, with the presence of several leading MSOs and DTH operators.
According to Bose, it is quite optimistic on the part of anyone to think that carriage fees will come down so soon despite digitisation. He also asserts that GTPL has managed to retain its carriage fee level in the deals they have done so far to what they were earlier.
“I don‘t see the carriage fee coming down in the near term. Particularly the market that we are operating in, we expect to cross our own expectations on the carriage front. The deals we have done so far are in line with our expectations,” declares Bose.
The last word on the dispute has not yet been said.
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Disney UTV to produce Tamil film Theeyaa Vela Seiyyanum Kumaru
MUMBAI: Disney UTV Studio has said that its next Tamil film would be titled Theeyaa Vela Seiyyanum Kumaru (Kumar! You‘ve Gotta Work Really Hard, Yaar!).
Written and directed by Sundar C who had earlier directed the studio‘s superhit Kalakalappu, the film stars popular south stars Siddharth, Santhanam, Hansika, Ganesh Venkatraman and many others. The shooting for the film is currently in progress and it is scheduled to release in June 2013.
Commented Disney UTV, Chief – South Business, Studios G. Dhananjayan, “Our association with Sundar C has been hugely successful with Kalakalappu in 2012 and we are glad to continue this with Vela Seiyyanum Kumaru this year.
Comedy films have found a wide audience in South with many recent successes and we are hopeful to create another good film in this genre. We are working towards an eclectic slate for this year and this project is yet another step in that direction.”
Sundar C, known as a ‘Genius of Comedy‘ in South Cinema, is presenting Siddharth in an interesting lead role for the first time along with Comedy Super Star‘ Santhanam and one of the top actresses of South Hansika. Ganesh Venkatraman in a pivotal role adds strength to the cast of the film.
The film is to be shot at Kumbakonam, Hyderabad and Chennai.
While Settai will be UTV‘s first film in Tamil this year; it will release in April. It will be followed by Theeyaa Vela Seiyyanum Kumaru that is to open in June. This will be later followed by the Gaurav and Vikram Prabhu starrer Sigaram Thodu in December 2013.
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Disney UTV signs Remo D’Souza for a two-film deal
MUMBAI: Disney UTV has signed choreographer-turned-director Remo D‘Souza for a two film deal.
One of the films is likely to be the sequel of ABCD – Any Body Can Dance which is directed by Remo and stars Prabhudheva, Ganesh Acharya, Dharmesh, Prince, Mayuresh and Vrushali and Lauren Gottlieb (the finalist of the popular international television dance talent show So You Think You Can Dance) besides Dance India Dance winners Salman Khan.
Said Disney UTV Managing Director – Studios, Siddharth Roy Kapur, “Remo is of course a gifted choreographer but as Prabhudheva said after working with him, he is an even better director. We have had a wonderful experience with Remo on ABCD. The film showcases his amazing ability to thrill and entertain his audience while at the same time to handle emotion and drama with sensitivity and depth.
He has worked with a team of superb dancers and brought out the actor in each of them. To shoot a grueling dance film at this massive scale in 3D is not an easy job, but Remo coupled his talent and ability with patience and perseverance to make a superb film. We‘re thrilled to be continuing our association with him, and here‘s to making many more great movies together!”
Averred Remo, “UTV has whole-heartedly backed my vision of making India‘s first ever 3D dance film ABCD. They were kicked about the project from the word go and I‘m really happy I had them as my producer. It‘s important for a producer to trust his director, trust the vision and UTV has done just that.
I‘m really excited that I have been offered two more films under the UTV banner – one which could be the sequel to ABCD – which I‘m currently working upon. UTV and I have had a super journey and we are only strengthening our bond now. We will do some great work together.”
Bringing together the best of both worlds, the Walt Disney Studios and UTV Motion Pictures have formed one of the leading film studios in India, the activities of which spans across creative development, production, marketing, distribution, licensing, merchandising and syndication of films in India and the world.”
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TV18’s IndiaCast, Disney UTV form distribution JV company
MUMBAI: India is witnessing a consolidation in the distribution business for television channels. In the latest round, TV18 Group and The Walt Disney Company are floating a joint venture company to distribute their television channels across analogue and digital platforms, including cable TV and direct-to-home (DTH), in India.
IndiaCast, TV18 and Viacom18‘s multi-platform, global distribution company, will have 74 per cent stake in the JV while UGBL, a Disney UTV firm, will hold the remaining 26 per cent.
The new entity will distribute 35 channels from the TV18, Viacom18, Disney UTV and A+E Networks, making it the second largest distribution company in terms of bouquet of channels after Media Pro Enterprise India.
Anuj Gandhi (IndiaCast CEO) will be the chief executive officer of the joint venture company.
The yet-to-be-named company will be responsible only for distributing the channels in India while international operations will be handled independently by the two companies.
IndiaCast will move its domestic distribution business into this new venture, while continuing to manage its other content monetisation businesses which include international distribution, ad sales & content sales as well as the new media distribution for TV18, Viacom18, A+E Networks | TV18 and Eenadu channels.
Disney UTV will also move its domestic distribution activities for its bouquet of all nine channels (Disney, Hungama, Disney XD, UTV Stars, Bindass, UTV Movies, UTV Action and the newly launched preschool channel Disney Junior) to the new entity.
The joint venture will become operational post the necessary regulatory approvals and will provide the channels to cable, DTH and Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) platforms in India.
Says Gandhi, “This partnership will build a strong distribution company that will offer a broader and more diversified range to platforms giving us a foothold across genres – including in general entertainment, general and business news, movies, youth and kids genres. We have had a great first year for IndiaCast and this JV will give our domestic distribution business scale and wider reach.”
Strength of the JV
The combined entity will particularly be strong in the youth (MTV, UTV Stars and Bindass) and kids genres (with the Disney and Nick channels). IndiaCast will also get a presence in the movie genre with UTV Movies and UTV Action.
Says MK Anand, managing director – Media Networks, Disney UTV, "There are some clear and unique synergies in this partnership. The new bouquet is a more comprehensive offering from the viewer’s perspective that gives the combined entity an edge in the marketplace."
In the news businesss, the JV will have the TV18 group of channels including CNBC TV18, CNN IBN, IBN7 and CNBC Awaaz. The Hindi general entertainment channel Colors will continue to remain as a big driver while the niche channels will give the bouquet a wider presence. It will also have regional-language channels with ETV a part of the pack.
"IndiaCast fills up the gap of a Hindi movie channel in its bouquet while Disney gets the support of a stronger platform. The Disney UTV movie channels, however, have to gather more steam to match the other two main distribution companies (Media Pro and TheOne Alliance) in this space. The strength of the new JV will be more obvious in the youth and kids space," says a media analyst.
Sports will be a gap in the bouquet. Only MSM Discovery (which operates through TheOne Alliance brand) has sports in its bouquet with Sony Six and the Neo channels. Media Pro, the JV between Star Den and Zee Turner, does not get to distribute Star‘s (Star Cricket, Star Sports, etc) and Zee‘s sports channels (Ten Sports, etc).
The fate of the Sun TV group of channels, which are distributed by IndiaCast in the Hindi Speaking Markets (HSM), is uncertain at this stage. If Sun TV agrees, then it will be the first set of external channels distributed by the JV.
TV18 to hold majority in the JV
TV18 will continue to hold majority economic interest in both IndiaCast and the new step-down joint venture through a combination of its direct holding through TV18 and the indirect holding through Viacom18. TV18’s effective economic interest in IndiaCast is 75 per cent and 56 per cent in the new venture.
Says Network18 managing director Raghav Bahl, “The Indian television industry in on the throes of a transformation on the back of digitisation. The distribution joint venture of TV18 and Viacom18 with DisneyUTV is a landmark deal and will help in shaping the future course of the domestic distribution landscape. At TV18, we have always believed that as industry leaders we should not only forge and nurture successful partnerships but also spearhead initiatives that accrue benefits to all stakeholders.”
Consolidation in the distribution business
The trend started years ago when Zee Turner and Set Discovery (now MSM Discovery) formed joint venture companies to add strength to their distribution businesses and ramp up subscription revenues. The biggest move in this direction came in mid-2011 when Zee Turner and Star Den merged their distribution businesses to create an elephant that marginalised the smaller players.
"With this new JV, there will almost be no space for individual players. Media Pro is at the top followed by TheOne Alliance and then the IndiaCast-Disney UTV JV so far as revenue figures go. We will see further consolidation in the industry," says a media analyst.
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UTV’s Kai Po Che to premiere at Berlin Film Fest
MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures‘ upcoming film Kai Po Che is scheduled to have its world premiere at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival scheduled to go under way next month.
The film, based on Chetan Bhagat‘s novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life, will be screened at the film festival on 13 February.
The film, which stars newcomers Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar Yadav and Amit Sadh in lead roles, portrays the journey of three friends as they discover cricket, religion and business in their respective fields.
Said Disney UTV Managing Director – Studios, Siddharth Roy Kapur, “We are incredibly proud that Kai Po Che has been selected for a world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. What is even more creditable is that it is the only Indian film in the official panorama selection announced by the festival this year.
For a film dependent entirely on its strong story line rather than its lineup of stars, this is a huge achievement and for that I would like to commend Abhishek Kapoor and his entire cast and crew for bringing all their talent and passion to bear, to make Kai Po Che a film for the ages.”
Set against the backdrop of religious politics, the story of Kai Po Che underlines the three mistakes made by Govind. The film as well as the book is set in Gujarat and hence the title Kai Po Che.
Thirty-one fictional features from 23 countries will provide insights into contemporary world cinema production at the 10-day-long Berlin ale festival.
The film will hit screens in India on 22 February.
