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Tag: Disney

  • Q2-16: Disney income up 10 percent aided by ESPN performance, studio entertainment

    Q2-16: Disney income up 10 percent aided by ESPN performance, studio entertainment

    BENGALURU: The Walt Disney Company Inc (Disney) reported 9.8 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in operating income for the quarter ended 2 April 2016 (Q2-16, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. Operating income in the current quarter was $3,822 million as compared to $3,482 million in Q2-15 (quarter ended 28 March 2015).

    The company saw an increase of $340 million in operating income in its current quarter vis-à-vis the corresponding prior year quarter. Its Media Networks segment reported operating income of $198 million, while its Studio Entertainment segment reported operating income of $115 million.
    Disney’s Media Networks segment’s sub-segment Cable Networks of which ESPN is a part saw 12.3 percent y-o-y increase in operating income. The increase at ESPN was partially offset by lower equity income from A&E Television Networks says Disney.

    Disney reported 4.1 percent y-o-y growth in revenue in Q2-16 at $12,969 million as compared to $12,461 million in the corresponding prior year quarter. Growth in revenue of $508 million was contributed to by $168 million and $377 million growth by Disney’s ‘Parks & Resorts’ and ‘Studio Entertainment’ segments respectively.

    Company speak

    “We’re very pleased with our overall results in Q2, which marks our 11th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in adjusted EPS,” said Disney chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger. “Our Studio’s unprecedented winning streak at the box office underscores the incredible appeal of our branded content, which we continue to leverage across the entire company to drive significant value. Looking forward, we are thrilled with the Studio’s slate and tremendously excited about the June 16th grand opening of the spectacular Shanghai Disney Resort.”

    Segment numbers excerpts

    Media Networks

    Media Networks revenue in Q2-16 was relatively flat y-o-y (declined 0.3 percent) at $5,793 million as compared to $5,810 million in Q2-15. The  segment’s operating income increased 9.4 percent y-o-y to $2,299 million in the current quarter from $2,101 million during the corresponding prior year quarter.

    Disney Media Networks segment has two sub-segments – Cable Networking and Broadcasting.

    Cable Networks revenue for the quarter decreased 1.9 percent y-o-y to $3,955 billion from $4,030 million in Q2-15. Operating income in Q2-16 increased 12.3 percent y-o-y to $2,021 million from $1,799 million due to an increase at ESPN, partially offset by lower equity income from A&E. 

    The increase at ESPN was due to the benefit of lower programming costs and higher affiliate revenues, partially offset by a decrease in advertising revenue.

    Lower equity income from A&E was due to a decrease in advertising revenue, higher programming costs and a negative impact from the conversion of the H2 channel to Viceland as Viceland is in a start-up phase says Disney.

    Broadcasting revenue for the quarter increased 3.3 percent to $1,838 million from $1,780 million. Operating income of the sub-segment decreased 7.9 percent y-o-y to $278 million from $302 million due to lower operating income from program sales and higher programming and marketing costs, partially offset by advertising and affiliate revenue growth. Lower operating income from program sales was due to a significant SVOD sale in the prior-year quarter and a higher cost mix of programs sold in the current quarter. 

    The increase in programming costs was due to a higher average cost of new scripted programming and increased program cost write-offs. The increase in network advertising revenue was due to higher rates, partially offset by lower ratings. Affiliate revenue growth was primarily due to contractual rate increases.

    Parks and Resorts

    Parks and Resorts revenue for the current quarter increased 4.5 percent y-oy- to $3,928 million from $3.760 million. Segment operating income in Q2-16 increased 10.2 percent y-o-y to $624 million from $566 million. Operating income growth for the quarter was due to an increase at Disney’s domestic operations, partially offset by a decrease at its international operations.

    Studio Entertainment

    Studio Entertainment revenue for the current quarter increased 22.4 percent to $2,062 million from $1,685 million in Q2-15. Segment operating income increased 26.9 percent to $542 million from $427 million. 

    Disney says that higher operating income was due to an increase in theatrical distribution results and growth in TV/SVOD distribution, partially offset by the impact of foreign currency translation due to the strengthening of the US dollar against major currencies, decreased home entertainment results and higher film cost impairments.

    The increase in theatrical distribution results was due to the strong performance of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Zootopia in the current quarter compared to the continuing performance in the prior year quarter of Big Hero 6 and Into the Woods, both of which were released domestically in the first quarter of the prior year. Higher TV/SVOD distribution results were driven by international growth. The decrease in home entertainment results was primarily due to lower unit sales reflecting the performance of Big Hero 6, Frozen and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in the prior-year quarter compared to The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out and Marvel’s Ant-Man in the current quarter. The decrease from lower unit sales was partially offset by the benefit from Star Wars Classic titles that are distributed by a third party.

    Consumer Products & Interactive Media

    Consumer Products & Interactive Media revenue for the current quarter decreased 1.7 percent to $1,186 million from $1,286 million. Segment operating income decreased 8 percent to $357 million from $388 million. 

    Lower operating income was primarily due to the impact of foreign currency translation due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies, lower operating margins and comparable store sales at Disney’s retail business and lower results for Infinity. 

    These decreases were partially offset by higher licensing revenues. Increased licensing revenues were driven by higher revenue from Star Wars  merchandise, partially offset by an adverse impact from the timing of minimum guarantee shortfall recognition and a decrease in revenue from merchandise based on Frozen.

     

  • Q1-16: Connected Homes segment revs Technicolor revenue 57 percent

    Q1-16: Connected Homes segment revs Technicolor revenue 57 percent

    BENGALURU:  Buoyed by its Connected Homes segment which more than doubled its revenue, TechnicolorGroup (Technicolor, Group) reported a 57 percent revenue jump on constant currency basis for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q1-2016, current quarter) as compared to Q1-2015. Except for its Technology segment which reported a 4.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in the current quarter vis-à-vis Q1-2015, all the other segments reported a hike in revenue.  Further, Technicolor closed the acquisitions of Cisco Connected Devices and The Mill, which had a positive impact on prior-year result comparison.

    Technicolor CEO Fredric Rose said, “Our significant customer wins in the first quarter demonstrate the successful start to integrating our 2015 acquisitions. This puts us in good stead to achieve our financial objectives.”

    Technicolor Group reported revenue of €1,262 million in Q1-2016, which as 56.7 percent more than €805 million in Q1-2015.

    Connected Home

    Connected Home revenues amounted to €698 million in Q1-2016, including a €396 million contribution of Cisco Connected Devices. Technicolor says that excluding Cisco Connected Devices, Connected Home recorded year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth in all regions, except for Latin America. Revenues in North America, EMEA and APAC regions were up 26 percent year-on-year at constant currency. Latin America revenues were impacted by the Brazilian crisis and recorded a sharp drop of 45 percent year-on-year at constant currency.

    Within Connected Home, by product, Video revenue went up by 2.65 times YoY to €428 million in Q1-2016 as compared to €164 million. Broadband revenue increased 81 percent to €270 million in the current quarter to €164 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Entertainment Services

    Entertainment Services revenues amounted to €450 million in Q1-2016, up 34.6 percent at constant currency compared €338 million to Q1-2015. This performance reflected a strong double-digit growth in Production Services, including the contribution of last year’s acquisitions, combined with increased DVD Services revenues.

    Production Services revenues amounted to €179 million in Q1-2016, up by more than 50 percent at constant currency compared to the first quarter of 2015. This strong performance resulted from a double-digit organic revenue growth and the additions of OuiDo, Mikros Image and The Mill.

    The level of activity in Visual Effects for feature films was stable year-on-year as the Group started ramping up new titles in the current quarter and thus fully offset the completion of large-scale projects in Q3-2015.

    DVD Services revenues amounted to €272 million in the current quarter, up 25.2 percent at constant currency compared to Q1-2015. This performance was driven by a 24.6 percent year-on-year growth in total volumes from 271 million in Q1-2015 to 337.5 million, reflecting new customer additions secured in 2015, as well as selected key new release theatrical titles produced in the Q1-2016. During the period, DVD volumes increased by c.12 percent, while Blu-ray disc volumes were up c.26 percent compared Q1-2015. Overall Games volumes increased by c.6 percent year-on-year, as growth in Xbox One Blu-ray games volumes was tempered somewhat by the ongoing (and largely complete) shift in demand from the prior generation DVD based Xbox console. CD volumes were up substantially in the first quarter, due primarily to last year’s new customer additions.

    The company reveals that key theatrical titles produced in the current quarter included Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Disney), Spectre (Fox), as well as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (Lionsgate), while key games titles included Tom Clancy’s The Division (Ubisoft) and Quantum Break (Microsoft).

    Technology

    Licensing revenues amounted to €112 million in Q1-2016, down €6 million at current currency compared to Q1-2015. This decrease was due to a €62 million decline in MPEG LA revenues, which was partially compensated by a strong quarter in Patent Licensing, driven by Video Coding and Digital TV activities. In Video Coding, the strong performance was driven by the first material licensing agreement for the use of its HEVC patent portfolio thatTechnicolor signed with a leading technology company in early February.

    In the current quarter, Technicolor slightly increased its Trademark Licensing revenues and continued to make additional progress in the dissemination of its High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology. Technicolor says that several silicon manufacturers have started to embed its technologies, for TVs or set-top boxes, and chips will be available by the end of this year.

    Click here for detailed report.

  • Q1-16: Connected Homes segment revs Technicolor revenue 57 percent

    Q1-16: Connected Homes segment revs Technicolor revenue 57 percent

    BENGALURU:  Buoyed by its Connected Homes segment which more than doubled its revenue, TechnicolorGroup (Technicolor, Group) reported a 57 percent revenue jump on constant currency basis for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q1-2016, current quarter) as compared to Q1-2015. Except for its Technology segment which reported a 4.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in the current quarter vis-à-vis Q1-2015, all the other segments reported a hike in revenue.  Further, Technicolor closed the acquisitions of Cisco Connected Devices and The Mill, which had a positive impact on prior-year result comparison.

    Technicolor CEO Fredric Rose said, “Our significant customer wins in the first quarter demonstrate the successful start to integrating our 2015 acquisitions. This puts us in good stead to achieve our financial objectives.”

    Technicolor Group reported revenue of €1,262 million in Q1-2016, which as 56.7 percent more than €805 million in Q1-2015.

    Connected Home

    Connected Home revenues amounted to €698 million in Q1-2016, including a €396 million contribution of Cisco Connected Devices. Technicolor says that excluding Cisco Connected Devices, Connected Home recorded year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth in all regions, except for Latin America. Revenues in North America, EMEA and APAC regions were up 26 percent year-on-year at constant currency. Latin America revenues were impacted by the Brazilian crisis and recorded a sharp drop of 45 percent year-on-year at constant currency.

    Within Connected Home, by product, Video revenue went up by 2.65 times YoY to €428 million in Q1-2016 as compared to €164 million. Broadband revenue increased 81 percent to €270 million in the current quarter to €164 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Entertainment Services

    Entertainment Services revenues amounted to €450 million in Q1-2016, up 34.6 percent at constant currency compared €338 million to Q1-2015. This performance reflected a strong double-digit growth in Production Services, including the contribution of last year’s acquisitions, combined with increased DVD Services revenues.

    Production Services revenues amounted to €179 million in Q1-2016, up by more than 50 percent at constant currency compared to the first quarter of 2015. This strong performance resulted from a double-digit organic revenue growth and the additions of OuiDo, Mikros Image and The Mill.

    The level of activity in Visual Effects for feature films was stable year-on-year as the Group started ramping up new titles in the current quarter and thus fully offset the completion of large-scale projects in Q3-2015.

    DVD Services revenues amounted to €272 million in the current quarter, up 25.2 percent at constant currency compared to Q1-2015. This performance was driven by a 24.6 percent year-on-year growth in total volumes from 271 million in Q1-2015 to 337.5 million, reflecting new customer additions secured in 2015, as well as selected key new release theatrical titles produced in the Q1-2016. During the period, DVD volumes increased by c.12 percent, while Blu-ray disc volumes were up c.26 percent compared Q1-2015. Overall Games volumes increased by c.6 percent year-on-year, as growth in Xbox One Blu-ray games volumes was tempered somewhat by the ongoing (and largely complete) shift in demand from the prior generation DVD based Xbox console. CD volumes were up substantially in the first quarter, due primarily to last year’s new customer additions.

    The company reveals that key theatrical titles produced in the current quarter included Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Disney), Spectre (Fox), as well as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (Lionsgate), while key games titles included Tom Clancy’s The Division (Ubisoft) and Quantum Break (Microsoft).

    Technology

    Licensing revenues amounted to €112 million in Q1-2016, down €6 million at current currency compared to Q1-2015. This decrease was due to a €62 million decline in MPEG LA revenues, which was partially compensated by a strong quarter in Patent Licensing, driven by Video Coding and Digital TV activities. In Video Coding, the strong performance was driven by the first material licensing agreement for the use of its HEVC patent portfolio thatTechnicolor signed with a leading technology company in early February.

    In the current quarter, Technicolor slightly increased its Trademark Licensing revenues and continued to make additional progress in the dissemination of its High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology. Technicolor says that several silicon manufacturers have started to embed its technologies, for TVs or set-top boxes, and chips will be available by the end of this year.

    Click here for detailed report.

  • APOS 2016: Shane Smith, Viceland and ageing down networks

    APOS 2016: Shane Smith, Viceland and ageing down networks

    BALI: “Don’t hire traditional TV people.”  With those closing remarks during his keynote conversation at APOS 2016 with MPA executive director and  co-founder Vivek Couto , Vice Media co-founder and CEO Shane Smith set the tone for what his company stands for.

    Smith stated that the media today  is changing. “The Baby boomers have run media for the past 40 years. Gen Y – which is companies like us – will run it for the next many years,” he stated with absolute confidence.

    Like at a Mipcom a couple of years ago, Smith – dressed in shorts with a tattoo on his leg – reiterated that Vice hires interns and gives them money  to produce content for his network which includes news, food, music and lifestyle channels. “Yes, you give them $10 million. Sometimes you win, sometimes you get a law suit as the intern runs away to Mexico,” he said with a wry smile.

    Smith was clear that he will extend his brand to all screens and he will extend his networks to other territories with local partnerships. Earlier this year, his company launched Viceland in both Canada (with Rogers Cable) and US (in partnership with A+E Networks and Disney).  Something which got sniggers from traditional TV execs that Vice was going the traditional way. But Smith has his point of view on this.

    “Our extension to TV is helping ageing down the networks,” he stated. “We are bringing back the younger demographic to TV. We will produce anywhere there is a younger audience.”

    His belief is that the younger audiences had no programming for them, which is what has helped Vice.com succeed.  “Whether it is in China, India, Indonesia, we will move in there to serve our key demo,” he said.

    “OTT and mobile are very important for us,” he added. “But so is delivery across television but with content which is of a quality that appeals to our audience.”

    Viceland is a multinational television channel brand owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland’s programming consists primarily of lifestyle-oriented documentaries and reality series aimed towards millennials, directed in Vice’s trademark style of ‘character-driven documentaries’ 

  • APOS 2016: Shane Smith, Viceland and ageing down networks

    APOS 2016: Shane Smith, Viceland and ageing down networks

    BALI: “Don’t hire traditional TV people.”  With those closing remarks during his keynote conversation at APOS 2016 with MPA executive director and  co-founder Vivek Couto , Vice Media co-founder and CEO Shane Smith set the tone for what his company stands for.

    Smith stated that the media today  is changing. “The Baby boomers have run media for the past 40 years. Gen Y – which is companies like us – will run it for the next many years,” he stated with absolute confidence.

    Like at a Mipcom a couple of years ago, Smith – dressed in shorts with a tattoo on his leg – reiterated that Vice hires interns and gives them money  to produce content for his network which includes news, food, music and lifestyle channels. “Yes, you give them $10 million. Sometimes you win, sometimes you get a law suit as the intern runs away to Mexico,” he said with a wry smile.

    Smith was clear that he will extend his brand to all screens and he will extend his networks to other territories with local partnerships. Earlier this year, his company launched Viceland in both Canada (with Rogers Cable) and US (in partnership with A+E Networks and Disney).  Something which got sniggers from traditional TV execs that Vice was going the traditional way. But Smith has his point of view on this.

    “Our extension to TV is helping ageing down the networks,” he stated. “We are bringing back the younger demographic to TV. We will produce anywhere there is a younger audience.”

    His belief is that the younger audiences had no programming for them, which is what has helped Vice.com succeed.  “Whether it is in China, India, Indonesia, we will move in there to serve our key demo,” he said.

    “OTT and mobile are very important for us,” he added. “But so is delivery across television but with content which is of a quality that appeals to our audience.”

    Viceland is a multinational television channel brand owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland’s programming consists primarily of lifestyle-oriented documentaries and reality series aimed towards millennials, directed in Vice’s trademark style of ‘character-driven documentaries’ 

  • APOS 2016: Decoding APAC’s digital video and TV future

    APOS 2016: Decoding APAC’s digital video and TV future

    BALI: The stage is set for a crackling APOS 2016 in Bali. The annual do organized by Vivek Couto’s Media Partners Asia got off to a flying start this evening with the opening and welcome reception hosted by Disney.

    It was held on the lawns of the Ayana Resort in the Jimbaran district of Bali. The mood was perfect: the skies perfectly clear and the breeze gentle, unlike one of the years earlier when rain disrupted the proceedings. The beer, fruit juices and cocktails flowed freely as Asia Pacific’s TV and digital industry professionals hobnobbed with each other.

    The attendance was stellar: distribution executives, owners & promoters, CEOs, APAC heads,  from the broadcast, cable, satellite sides of the business were all there. HBO Asia head Jonathan Spinks, the new Netflix vice president business development Asia Tony Zameczkwoski, Vice’s iconoclast co-founder & CEO Shane Smith, Walt Disney Co SEVP and chief strategy officer Kevin Mayer, Fox Networks Group Asia President Zubin Gandevia, SES Asia senior VP commercial Deepak Mathur, TV5 Asia director Alexandre Muller,  were among the familiar faces from the APAC region. and elsewhere.

    Among the Indian big names who showed up included: Zee Entertainment international head Amit Goenka was seen with his international team of Rajeev Kheror and Mukund Cairae. Videocon d2h deputy CEO Rohit Jain, COO Himanshu Patil were seen chatting with partners. Indiacast’s Anuj Gandhi was seen hobnobbing with executives from the region. Times Network was represented by international business head Naveen Chandra. For some the festivities continued late into the night as they headed to various restaurants and warungs  across Bali for some of the delicious Balinese food.

    APOS 2016 is markedly different this time because of the focus on different countries. Australia, China, India, Korea and Japan have special sessions that will look at unraveling the opportunity in each of these markets.  

    Global media leaders have sessions on their own. Whether it is Shine Endemol’s Sophie Turner Laing, or Netflix’s Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Kevin Mayer or A&E Networks EVP & CFO David Granville-Smith or Kudelski Group chairman & CEO Andre Kudelski or Viacom International Media Networks President & CEO Bob Bakish, or Emerald Media CEO Paul Aiello – they have all turned up to attend, hear, network and speak. One noteworthy absence is Dreamworks’ Jeffery Katzenberg who has not been able to make it for personal reasons.

    Of course, as most of MPA’s gigs are vaunt to be, APOS 2016 has oodles of investment banks, private equity firm executives all lined up to give their perspective on video distribution opportunities in the Asia Pacific market and in which territories and businesses they are willing to invest in. Among the notable names here: Evolution Media Capital’s founder & co managing partner Rick Hess, CAA head of global client strategy Brian Weinstein, CMC Capital Partners chairman & founding partner Li Ruigang and MD Alex Chen, Providence Equity Partners Head of Asia Bis Subramanian, and senior advisor Tony Ball, Jungle Ventures managing partner David Gowdey, Paul Aiello, iflix group advisor David Goldstein, and Raine Ventures managing partner Godron Rubenstein.

    Several operational heads from the US, Europe and Asia who have their teeth in the business are also speaking. Among these: Discovery Networks Asia Pacific president & CEO Arthur Bastings, PCCW Media group MD Janice Lee, A+E Networks president international & digital media Sean Cohan, Optus CEO Allen Lew, Cartoon Network president & general manager Christina Miller, Taiwan Broadband executive vice-chairman Thomas EE, CJ E&M media content business president DJ Lee,

    Additionally,  the two days of the conference are peppered with digital video discussions considering that OTT and digital VOD services are exploding in the region, including in India.

    The India session looks appealing especially considering the rollout of digitization in India cable and satellite TV. Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta, Reliance Industries’ independent director o the board Adil Zainulbhai, Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal and Viacom18 Media Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats slated to give their perspectives.

    Indiantelevision.com will be reporting from Bali to give you updates that are relevant to the Indian distribution ecosystem – right from cable TV to DTH to OTT platforms to content creation. So stay tuned

  • APOS 2016: Decoding APAC’s digital video and TV future

    APOS 2016: Decoding APAC’s digital video and TV future

    BALI: The stage is set for a crackling APOS 2016 in Bali. The annual do organized by Vivek Couto’s Media Partners Asia got off to a flying start this evening with the opening and welcome reception hosted by Disney.

    It was held on the lawns of the Ayana Resort in the Jimbaran district of Bali. The mood was perfect: the skies perfectly clear and the breeze gentle, unlike one of the years earlier when rain disrupted the proceedings. The beer, fruit juices and cocktails flowed freely as Asia Pacific’s TV and digital industry professionals hobnobbed with each other.

    The attendance was stellar: distribution executives, owners & promoters, CEOs, APAC heads,  from the broadcast, cable, satellite sides of the business were all there. HBO Asia head Jonathan Spinks, the new Netflix vice president business development Asia Tony Zameczkwoski, Vice’s iconoclast co-founder & CEO Shane Smith, Walt Disney Co SEVP and chief strategy officer Kevin Mayer, Fox Networks Group Asia President Zubin Gandevia, SES Asia senior VP commercial Deepak Mathur, TV5 Asia director Alexandre Muller,  were among the familiar faces from the APAC region. and elsewhere.

    Among the Indian big names who showed up included: Zee Entertainment international head Amit Goenka was seen with his international team of Rajeev Kheror and Mukund Cairae. Videocon d2h deputy CEO Rohit Jain, COO Himanshu Patil were seen chatting with partners. Indiacast’s Anuj Gandhi was seen hobnobbing with executives from the region. Times Network was represented by international business head Naveen Chandra. For some the festivities continued late into the night as they headed to various restaurants and warungs  across Bali for some of the delicious Balinese food.

    APOS 2016 is markedly different this time because of the focus on different countries. Australia, China, India, Korea and Japan have special sessions that will look at unraveling the opportunity in each of these markets.  

    Global media leaders have sessions on their own. Whether it is Shine Endemol’s Sophie Turner Laing, or Netflix’s Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Kevin Mayer or A&E Networks EVP & CFO David Granville-Smith or Kudelski Group chairman & CEO Andre Kudelski or Viacom International Media Networks President & CEO Bob Bakish, or Emerald Media CEO Paul Aiello – they have all turned up to attend, hear, network and speak. One noteworthy absence is Dreamworks’ Jeffery Katzenberg who has not been able to make it for personal reasons.

    Of course, as most of MPA’s gigs are vaunt to be, APOS 2016 has oodles of investment banks, private equity firm executives all lined up to give their perspective on video distribution opportunities in the Asia Pacific market and in which territories and businesses they are willing to invest in. Among the notable names here: Evolution Media Capital’s founder & co managing partner Rick Hess, CAA head of global client strategy Brian Weinstein, CMC Capital Partners chairman & founding partner Li Ruigang and MD Alex Chen, Providence Equity Partners Head of Asia Bis Subramanian, and senior advisor Tony Ball, Jungle Ventures managing partner David Gowdey, Paul Aiello, iflix group advisor David Goldstein, and Raine Ventures managing partner Godron Rubenstein.

    Several operational heads from the US, Europe and Asia who have their teeth in the business are also speaking. Among these: Discovery Networks Asia Pacific president & CEO Arthur Bastings, PCCW Media group MD Janice Lee, A+E Networks president international & digital media Sean Cohan, Optus CEO Allen Lew, Cartoon Network president & general manager Christina Miller, Taiwan Broadband executive vice-chairman Thomas EE, CJ E&M media content business president DJ Lee,

    Additionally,  the two days of the conference are peppered with digital video discussions considering that OTT and digital VOD services are exploding in the region, including in India.

    The India session looks appealing especially considering the rollout of digitization in India cable and satellite TV. Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta, Reliance Industries’ independent director o the board Adil Zainulbhai, Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal and Viacom18 Media Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats slated to give their perspectives.

    Indiantelevision.com will be reporting from Bali to give you updates that are relevant to the Indian distribution ecosystem – right from cable TV to DTH to OTT platforms to content creation. So stay tuned

  • Disney India launches ‘Gajju Bhai’ with Hyundai and Patanjali as sponsors

    Disney India launches ‘Gajju Bhai’ with Hyundai and Patanjali as sponsors

    MUMBAI: After thrilling the tiny tots with the action adventure series Arjun, Disney India is all set to win more hearts with its latest action comedy original animation series, Gajju Bhai that premieres on Monday 18 April.  Co produced by Disney and Toonz Animation India,  Gajju Bhai is about the coming of age story of a legendary ‘jollywood’ superstar and his transformation from a reel life to a real life hero. Add to that a mix of fantasy as he finds himself transported to a fantastical kingdom and solving young prince Iravan’s problems.

    Slated to air  on Mondays at 6 pm, with repeats throughout the day and the week, the show is targeting kids between the age of 6 to 10 years of both genders. Explaining the concept of the story, Disney India  Content and Communications, Media Networks – head and VP Vijay Subramaniam shares, “While Gajju Bhai knows he isn’t a hero in real life, after being sucked into prince Iravan’s fantastical kingdom, and finding out how the prince is a huge fan of his, he has to live up to his screen image, and by doing so he somehow manages to save the day in the end.”

    While the show will showcase long and plot heavy arcs, the format of the program is mostly episodic with each 22 minute long episode telling a story in itself. So far the network has slotted 52 episodes  in the first season along with a full length 90 minute movie that the channel plans to air two months into the show. Apart from the high quality 2D animation, the show also boasts of a 90 second song sequence in each episode. On an average each episode has cost the channel between Rs 20 to 25 lacs.

    When it comes to marketing, the channel has opted for conventional modes of communication and is hedging on its own network to create the initial buzz with music being the focus of the promotions. “We also plan to do an on ground activation around the middle of the show, to build the buzz up to the premiere of the full length feature. You can expect costumed characters and fun interactive activities surrounding the show’s characters then,” Subramaniam adds.

    On sponsorships, Subramaniam reveals that while Disney India doesn’t do title sponsors, there are a couple of lead sponsors on board the Gajju Bhai including  automobile brand Hyundai and FMCG brand Patanjali Juice. “The show will be driven by Hyundai and in association with Patanjali Juice. Each of our local animations has gotten a very welcome response from advertisers. Local animation has a lot of purchase among all our advertisers and Gajju Bhai isn’t any exception,” revealed Subramaniam further.

    The channel is strategically launching the show early into the summer, so that it airs during the full length of vacation season and builds a connection with the young audience. “Summer is the time when kids have more time to be in front of the TV. As a kids channel we plan to make the most of it and cater to the variety of demands the kids have. We understand that children do not want the same type of story to entertain them and therefore we have a different show every month for the,”

    With an aim to launch a new original programming every month during summer, the channel has two more soon to be launched shows in its kitty in the upcoming months.

     

  • Disney India launches ‘Gajju Bhai’ with Hyundai and Patanjali as sponsors

    Disney India launches ‘Gajju Bhai’ with Hyundai and Patanjali as sponsors

    MUMBAI: After thrilling the tiny tots with the action adventure series Arjun, Disney India is all set to win more hearts with its latest action comedy original animation series, Gajju Bhai that premieres on Monday 18 April.  Co produced by Disney and Toonz Animation India,  Gajju Bhai is about the coming of age story of a legendary ‘jollywood’ superstar and his transformation from a reel life to a real life hero. Add to that a mix of fantasy as he finds himself transported to a fantastical kingdom and solving young prince Iravan’s problems.

    Slated to air  on Mondays at 6 pm, with repeats throughout the day and the week, the show is targeting kids between the age of 6 to 10 years of both genders. Explaining the concept of the story, Disney India  Content and Communications, Media Networks – head and VP Vijay Subramaniam shares, “While Gajju Bhai knows he isn’t a hero in real life, after being sucked into prince Iravan’s fantastical kingdom, and finding out how the prince is a huge fan of his, he has to live up to his screen image, and by doing so he somehow manages to save the day in the end.”

    While the show will showcase long and plot heavy arcs, the format of the program is mostly episodic with each 22 minute long episode telling a story in itself. So far the network has slotted 52 episodes  in the first season along with a full length 90 minute movie that the channel plans to air two months into the show. Apart from the high quality 2D animation, the show also boasts of a 90 second song sequence in each episode. On an average each episode has cost the channel between Rs 20 to 25 lacs.

    When it comes to marketing, the channel has opted for conventional modes of communication and is hedging on its own network to create the initial buzz with music being the focus of the promotions. “We also plan to do an on ground activation around the middle of the show, to build the buzz up to the premiere of the full length feature. You can expect costumed characters and fun interactive activities surrounding the show’s characters then,” Subramaniam adds.

    On sponsorships, Subramaniam reveals that while Disney India doesn’t do title sponsors, there are a couple of lead sponsors on board the Gajju Bhai including  automobile brand Hyundai and FMCG brand Patanjali Juice. “The show will be driven by Hyundai and in association with Patanjali Juice. Each of our local animations has gotten a very welcome response from advertisers. Local animation has a lot of purchase among all our advertisers and Gajju Bhai isn’t any exception,” revealed Subramaniam further.

    The channel is strategically launching the show early into the summer, so that it airs during the full length of vacation season and builds a connection with the young audience. “Summer is the time when kids have more time to be in front of the TV. As a kids channel we plan to make the most of it and cater to the variety of demands the kids have. We understand that children do not want the same type of story to entertain them and therefore we have a different show every month for the,”

    With an aim to launch a new original programming every month during summer, the channel has two more soon to be launched shows in its kitty in the upcoming months.

     

  • BARC week 10: Pogo’s Chhota Bheem on top of the program list

    BARC week 10: Pogo’s Chhota Bheem on top of the program list

    MUMBAI:Pogo TV’s Chhota Bheem and the Incan Adventure topped the program list for week 10, which saw Viacom 18’s Nick staying strong at its top position as per  Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India’s all India (U+R) data in NCCS All 4-14 Individuals category.

    Nickl bagged  77946 (000s sums) ratings, followed by Pogo TV with 74796 (000s sums) and Disney Channel was next with 58329 (000s sums) ratings. Turner’s Cartoon Network  took the fourth spot with a viewership rating of 56442 (000s sums), while Hungama came last among the five most watched channels in the genre with a rating of 53974 (000s sums).

    Amongst the top five programs in the kids genre, as mentioned above, Pogo TV’s  Chhota Bheem and the Incan Adventure took the lead with a rating of 713 (000s sums) closely followed by Nickelodeon’s  Motu Patlu Mission Moon  with 695 (000s sums) ratings. POGO TV’s  Tashi  took the third spot with a slightly lower rating of 665 (000s sums), while  its Chhota Bheem Dholakpur Maha Mela  followed after 643 (000s sums) ratings. Last but not the least among the top five program’s list was Nick’s Motu Patlu Deep Sea Adventure  with a ratings of 573(000 sums) . It must be noted that the top program ranking is based on average rating across all airings in the week, including original telecasts and repeats.