Mumbai: While India may have warmed up to K-dramas only recently, One Take Media already knew that Korean content is going to be the next big thing.
Indians have always loved the dramatic long-running fiction serials on Indian
Television until 2020. However, the pandemic locked the world into their homes, and since then, Indians have caught up within the whirl of ‘Hallyu’ – the South Korean wave. The viewership of Korean dramas in India shot up by 370 per cent.
The Mumbai-based company, One Take Media Co (OTMC) – a leading hub that provides content and value-added services to DTH, Cable, OTT, and TV Channels in India and overseas has been a frontrunner in Korean content in India.
Long before other players realised the magic of Korean content, the company had already acquired Korean shows and dubbed them in local Indian languages like Hindi. They have been providing their curated Korean content to mainstream platforms and has now become a go-to spot for broadcasters and platforms wishing to spruce up their library with primetime Korean series dubbed in Hindi.
Some of the leading K-titles in One Take Media’s library are ‘Goblin’, ‘I am Not A robot’, ‘Flower of Evil’ and ‘SF8’ amongst others. The exciting storyline, great performances, good production sets, and relevant emotions are some of the elements that connected with the Indian audience.
One Take Media has recognised that Indians are not a big fan of watching shows with subtitles and hence has been the leader in providing their 50+ K- dramas dubbed in Hindi, for the entertainment of the Indian audience.
Mumbai: Balaji Telefilms announced its financial results for the quarter and half year ended 30 September 2021.
Selling 2.9m subscriptions during H1Fy22 (vs 1.7m in H1FY21) ts streaming platform ALTBalaji reached a current active direct subscriber base of over 1.45m. This excludes subs on partner apps. Direct subscription revenues stood at Rs 34cr vs Rs 24cr. ALTBalaji contributed Rs 39cr to the half-year Group revenues at Rs 141cr
The platform added nine shows in the half-year taking the overall library to 87. Some of the hits launched in H1Fy22 include Punchh Beat Season two, Broken but Beautiful season three, and Cartel. ALTBalaji continues its strategy of driving deeper audience engagement through differentiated content targeted at mass India.
During the half-year, the TV business produced 363.5 hours of content across seven shows for four broadcasters. Five new shows have been lined up, and should commence shortly, it said.
Movie business also resumed production. With five projects in the pipeline, the company said it is making good progress, even as it waits for the availability of theatrical launch windows. Deals across direct to digital are also being explored. As part of its strategy, it continues to control investments in movies and pursue pre-sales and co-production deals where feasible.
Balaji Telefilms Limited MD, Shobha Kapoor said, “ALTBalaji continues to drive subscription growth. We added 2.9m subscriptions during the half-year. We added nine shows in the half-year and now have a very strong lineup for the rest of the year. Our strategic content-sharing deals will ensure we maintain control on the cash spends while driving overall profitability.”
Commenting further on the TV and movies business, she added, “Our TV business has shown good recovery in terms of production hours and we hope to improve this momentum as five new shows commence. In the movie business, production for some of the exciting projects are at various stages of completion and we are closely monitoring the availability for theatrical releases as well and direct to digital launches. Overall, the year has started well and we will build on this momentum through the year.”
Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has moved the Bombay high court against two of its top investors – Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund IIC seeking the court’s intervention in declaring the requisition notice sent by them as “illegal and invalid”.
Zeel informed the stock exchange that “there are no expected financial implications on the company that may arise as a result of this civil suit, except legal costs”.
Both the investors together hold an 18 per cent stake in the media company. In a special notice sent to Zeel on 11 September, the two had called for an EGM of the shareholders seeking removal of its sitting MD Punit Goenka, and long-standing directors and close associates of the Chandra family from the Board. The two independent directors Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani had submitted their resignations a day prior.
The Boardroom tussle intensified last week when Invesco moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) highlighting Zeel’s failure to make any announcement regarding the EGM. The Tribunal had then directed Zeel to convene the EGM as per law.
The request for EGM was, however, turned down by Zeel board on Friday, terming the requisition notice sent by its investors as “illegal and invalid”. “The Board has arrived at this decision by referring to various non-compliances under multiple laws, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines, ministry of information and broadcasting guidelines, and key clauses under the Companies Act, and Competition Act, and after taking into account the interest of all the stakeholders of the company,” Zeel said in a statement.
According to rules, a company has three weeks to announce a date for an EGM from the day it receives such a request from any of its big investors. So, if the special notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, then the company had until October 2 to announce a date for an EGM.
However, Zeel has maintained that it will continue to take all the actions needed in the interest of the shareholders as per law. “The Board comprising of experienced professionals deliberated and discussed various legal and statutory implications of the requisition notice. It also sought the opinions of independent counsel, legal experts including retired SC judges, and evaluated the matter in a fair and transparent manner,” Zeel said in a statement.
Apart from Goenka’s exit, the investors had also sought the appointment of their own six nominees on the board of Zeel, which included Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, Gaurav Mehta as independent directors on the board for a term of up to five consecutive years.
Meanwhile, the media and entertainment company also marked 29 years of its foundation on Saturday, “Back then, a lot of people thought it was a bold and impossible idea, but the power of patience and perseverance has paid off and we are here celebrating the glorious milestone,” MD Punit Goenka said. “As we step into the 30th year of the company, we stay committed to many more successful years filled with glory, growth, and profitability.”
Mumbai: The Board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) on Friday said Invesco’s requisition notice is “illegal and invalid” and it has conveyed its inability to convene the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to both the investors.
The decision was taken in a meeting of the Board held on Friday.
“The Board comprising of experienced professionals deliberated and discussed various legal and statutory implications of the requisition notice. It also sought the opinions of independent counsel, legal experts including retired SC judges, and evaluated the matter in a fair and transparent manner,” Zeel said in a statement.
The decision came a day after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) asked the media and entertainment company to convene an EGM as per law. The Tribunal was hearing a plea filed by one of the largest shareholders of Zeel, Invesco which had sought its intervention in the matter.
NCLT had observed that it is the “mandate of the law” that Zeel should call for the EGM. “It is not a discretionary power of the board to call or not call for EGM,” the tribunal had stated on Thursday.
Invesco and OFI Global China Fund IIC together hold an 18 per cent stake in the media company. According to rules, a company has three weeks to announce a date for an EGM from the day it receives such a request from any of its big investors. So, if the special notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, then the company has until October 2 to announce a date for an EGM.
Zeel has maintained that it will continue to take all the actions needed in the interest of the shareholders as per law. “The Board has arrived at this decision by referring to various non-compliances under multiple laws, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines, ministry of information and broadcasting guidelines, and key clauses under the Companies Act, and Competition Act, and after taking into account the interest of all the stakeholders of the company,” Zeel said in a statement.
The company cannot comment on any future actions since the matter is sub-judice, it added further.
Invesco Developing Markets Fund had sent a special notice to Zeel on 11 September calling for an EGM of the shareholders seeking removal of its sitting MD Punit Goenka, and long-standing directors and close associates of the Chandra family from the Board. The two independent directors Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani had submitted their resignations a day prior.
The investors had also sought the appointment of their own six nominees on the board of Zeel, which included Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, Gaurav Mehta as independent directors on the board for a term of up to five consecutive years. The notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, and it informed the stock exchanges on 13 September, adding that the appointments are subject to the approval of the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).
Mumbai: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday asked Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) as per the law. One of the largest shareholders of Zeel, Invesco had moved NCLT earlier this week against Zeel’s failure for not yet announcing a date for the EGM.
While hearing Invesco’s plea, NCLT observed that it is the “mandate of the law” that Zeel should call for the EGM. “It is not a discretionary power of the board to call or not call for EGM,” the tribunal added.
Invesco and OFI Global China Fund IIC together hold an 18 per cent stake in the media company. According to rules, a company has three weeks to announce a date for an EGM from the day it receives such a request from any of its big investors. So, if the special notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, then the company has until October 2 to announce a date for an EGM.
Responding to the development, Zeel spokesperson said the Board of the company is scheduled to meet as per the statutory time allotted in relation to the matter. “The Company will continue to take all the actions needed in the interest of the shareholders as per law,” the spokesperson added.
One of the largest shareholders of Zeel, Invesco Developing Markets Fund had sent a special notice to Zeel on 11 September calling for an EGM of the shareholders seeking removal of its sitting MD Punit Goenka, and long-standing directors and close associates of the Chandra family from the Board. The two independent directors Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani had submitted their resignations a day prior.
The funds had also sought the appointment of their own six nominees on the board of Zeel, which included Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, Gaurav Mehta as independent directors on the board for a term of up to five consecutive years. The notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, and it informed the stock exchanges on 13 September, adding that the appointments are subject to the approval of the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).
Invesco had earlier stated that Zeel’s failure to take steps within its notice period to call an EGM, coupled with its delay in noticing our EGM on 11 September and failure to notice our 23 September letter to the exchanges, has prompted it to file a petition before NCLT to enforce its rights as shareholders to call for this EGM.
New Delhi: The boardroom tussle at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) rages on. One of its top investors, Invesco Developing Markets Fund has now moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against the company for not yet announcing a date of the extraordinary general meeting (EGM).
The application moved under Sections 98(1) and 100 of the Companies Act, 2013 requests the tribunal to order the company to hold EGM. The NCLT has listed the hearing on Thursday.
“The company’s failure to take steps within its notice period to call an EGM, coupled with its delay in noticing our EGM on 11 September and failure to notice our 23 September letter to the exchanges, has prompted us to file a petition before NCLT to enforce our rights as shareholders to call for this EGM,” a spokeswoman for Invesco said.
One of the largest shareholders of Zeel, Invesco Developing Markets Fund had sent a special notice to Zeel on 11 September calling for an EGM of the shareholders seeking removal of its sitting MD Punit Goenka, and long-standing directors and close associates of the Chandra family from the Board. The two independent directors Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani had submitted their resignations a day prior.
The funds had also sought the appointment of their own six nominees on the board of Zeel, which included Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, Gaurav Mehta as independent directors on the board for a term of up to five consecutive years. The notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, and it informed the stock exchanges on 13 September, adding that the appointments are subject to the approval of the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).
Invesco and OFI Global China Fund IIC together hold an 18 per cent stake in the media company. According to rules, a company has three weeks to announce a date for an EGM from the day it receives such a request from any of its big investors. So, if the special notice was received by Zeel on 12 September, then the company has until October 2 to announce a date for an EGM.
The latest move comes days after Zeel announced a mega-merger with its rival media group Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI). The merger will result in SPNI holding a majority of 52.93 per cent with Zeel and its shareholders having 47.01 per cent of the new entity which will continue to list on the stock exchanges. The joint company will appoint Punit Goenka as the CEO and managing director, with the promoter family being free to increase its holding from four per cent to 20 per cent over time.
Mumbai: Most common reasons for video revenue loss for publishers in India range from factors including inventory control, underutilisation of video advertising, traffic quality and not taking advantage of the latest technologies available.
Some of these issues and their solutions were discussed during a webinar- ‘Bridging Video Monetisation to Optimise Revenues’ organised by Indiantelevision.com in association with Aniview on Tuesday. The virtual panel discussion was moderated by Indiantelevision.com Group founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.
Experts discussed, how better content experience, fuller transparency, a self-service platform with better control on the video player, along with having an experienced team to operate the platform could drive higher revenues.
According to end-to-end video advertising and monetisation solutions provider Aniview, business director-APAC, Matthew Bray, currently India is the fastest-growing internet advertising market in the world, and video remains the most popular ad format. “It’s the sixth-largest market in consumption of video ads,” said Bray about the video advertising landscape in India.
Amongst the reasons for the loss in video revenue, Bray cited poor content experience, heavy player, player loading issues, inventory loss, lack of transparency on traffic insights among others. Non-adherence to Google policies and underutilisation of Google Adx are other primary causes of video revenue loss, Bray said. “Many publishers in India leak video revenue & underutilise their own video content on a regular basis,” he said, adding that full control over a video player can lead to an increase in revenue. “Google will likely remain the dominant SSP for video.”
According to HT Digital’s Prasad Sanyal, underutilisation of inventory plagues almost all publishers in India. “We are looking at avenues where we can have more control over our video assets & monetise them better,” he added.
By running a video player in these placements publishers can make better use of their own video content to engage their users and create more ad opportunities. While it not only allows full control over ad placements, player behaviour, and ad breaks, it leads to the creation of better quality traffic that drives higher CPMs. When deployed correctly this can even lead to significant revenue lifts. Aniview cited Jagran as a successful case study, as it has more than doubled its revenue on some ad placements on article pages by deploying Aniview.
“With Aniview we got a white label solution. There are the cities, and tier-2, tier-3 segments too, for all of which we need to create separate segmentation as per the category,” shared Jagran New Media, AVP and head-ad monetisation and strategic partnership, Dinesh Joshi. “We also produce a lot of text content, but definitely video is going to be big in the near future. Jagran is working on branded content on the video side, we have to work on the monetisation front too.”
HDFC Bank, vice president, and head- digital marketing, Jahid Ahmed, said, regulations apart from basics like viewability can give a lot of confidence on rolling out a video across platforms. Also, the decision on which video is to be used where- that also plays a significant role, he added.
Social Beat co-founder and director Vikas Chawla highlighted the need to scale up the inventory for advertisers to see it as a viable option to do large campaigns.
“Most of us have invested in analytics significantly, but we have a long way to go before advertisers get comfortable with us,” added HT Digital Streams’ Prasad Sanyal.
Manorama Online’s general manager (digital) Sathyajith Divakaran shared, “We have an OTT platform which is exclusively video-led and we only encourage video ads. We are clear in what we can offer as ads as we know which shows attract a certain kind of audience. It is just that the video inventory available is not utilised fully despite having a number of partners on board.”
According to Matthew Bray, Video is going to keep growing in India & in order to sell the inventory created one needs to have a system that they can properly control. “Then you see better yields and more video views because you can control the content,” he said, adding that there are exchanges in India that are having trouble moving video content because there isn’t enough inventory being created.
Sharing that increasingly they are evolving to a point where they know what to do with their inventories, HT Digital’s Sanyal said, “At HT we are getting to a stage where we should be able to drive more revenues out of videos & also do better videos in the process. We hope to deliver better value to our readers and viewers.”
HDFC Bank’s Jahid Ahmed said that every platform is evolving in its own space and it’s great to see such platforms coming up that helps publishers in their cause. He added, “It’s right to outsource such expert work instead of all platforms trying to do everything by themselves. For discoverability of our product-led videos, if some platform smoothly integrates with our CMS & gives good info to our users, then why not,” added Ahmed.
Talking about the near future Ahmed said, “Digital is growing significantly at 35 to 40 per cent Y-O-Y, and within digital, video-led content consumption is one key aspect we are focused on. Video along with a combined vernacular, with personalised elements like geography/ gender, is the way to go.”
All the panelists were in agreement on the significance of video content in today’s times.
Mumbai: Eight-part romantic drama ‘Bridgerton’ has trumped all shows to emerge as the most popular shows on Netflix, said co-chief executive Ted Sarandos on Monday, as he gave a sneak-peek into the streaming platform’s most popular shows.
“We’re trying to be more transparent with talent, and with the market. Netflix’s streaming data, is a big black box, mostly,” said Saranodos while addressing the Vox Media’s Code Conference held on Monday.
The top executive shared two slides. The first slide showed the most popular shows based on its proprietary metric of the number of accounts that selected a given title in the first month of release and streamed for at least two minutes. The second slide showed total time spent viewing (hours) within the initial 28-day of release- reported Variety.
The first season of the US drama ‘Bridgerton’ topped both the charts, and was closely followed by first season of ‘Lupin’, ‘The Witcher’, ‘Sex/Life’, and ‘Stranger Things-3’. Spanish drama ‘Money Heist -4’ featured at sixth position, followed by ‘Tiger King’ and ‘The Queen’s Gambit’. The movies’ list was dominated by ‘Extraction’ and ‘Bird Box’.
In terms of rankings for overall time-spent viewing in the first 28 days of release, ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘Money Heist-4’ again lead the charts. Sarandos also said that the recently released Korean horror series ‘Squid Game’ could become Netflix’s biggest non-English title so far.
Sarandos also dismissed news of the streaming platform looking to buy a movie theater chain. Netflix owns a theater in New York, and one in Los Angeles, which it bought in 2020, and uses the cinemas to hold movie premieres and to showcase some of its original films.
Mumbai: Fox Entertainment and in-house studio Fox Alternative Entertainment launched an international unscripted format fund to look for Intellectual Property (IP) for the global marketplace.
The decision is part of Fox Entertainment’s strategy to build and diversify its portfolio of content and revenue streams, said CEO Charlie Collier as he made the announcement on Friday. It will invest in and develop internationally originated unscripted program concepts ranging from reality-competition and variety series to other genres for platforms.
“Fox has long been a global leader in alternative programming. This enviable track record of more than three decades of success brings with it great expectations to remain as the world’s preeminent platform in the genre,” said Colier. “This fund presents us with the opportunity to continue identifying and curating formats that fulfil several key objectives: diversify our slate of owned content, expand Fox’s interests globally, and better serve our platform partners.”
Alternative Entertainment president Rob Wade who leads the Specials for Fox Entertainment will be responsible for overseeing the fund. FAE will co-produce series selected by the fund with each series’ partner, in order to provide cost-effective programming to local broadcasters.
FAE was formed in 2019 to oversee the production of Fox’s hit singing competition series and TV’s prime time programme – ‘The Masked Singer’. In addition to the ‘Masker Singer’, it produced ‘I Can See Your Voice’, last season’s top unscripted program, ‘The Masked Dancer’, ‘Name That Tune’, and Fox’s New Year’s Eve Toast and Roast 2021, as well as co-produces ‘Ultimate Tag’.
Mumbai: After days of conjectures fueled by boardroom battles, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) pulled off a tour de force early on Wednesday announcing the company’s plans for a mega-merger with arch-rival Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI). With their combined linear networks, digital assets, production operations, and programme libraries, the two companies are set to create one of India’s largest media and entertainment entities in terms of market share. It will not only rival market leader Disney Star India, but it could well pip the former at the post in revenues when it does go through.
The news was not completely unexpected; talks of a merger between the two networks had been in the news intermittently for almost two years now. They had flirted with each other and other suitors intermittently. According to various media reports, both SPNI and Zeel had been on the lookout for a partner that could bring in mutual synergies, while minimising clashes, to fend off competition amid growing consolidation in the media and entertainment industry. Each one of them had also explored a merger with the Mukesh Ambani-owned Viacom18 to challenge the Disney-Star collaboration that has been dominating the content market, however, without success. RIL owns a majority stake in Viacom18, which is a joint venture between TV18 Broadcast Ltd and US-based ViacomCBS Inc. With the current merger, the companies have seemed to found what each of them was looking for to turbocharge their future growth.
If Zeel is backed by its core strength in content creation in both mainline Hindi and regional languages, SPNI brings along its well-consolidated entertainment and sports genre creating a potent combination. SPNI also leads in the English/premium factual entertainment genre, but in return, it will get an opportunity to leverage Zeel’s pervasive reach built over decades.
Despite recent challenges, the network has come a long way since its launch three decades ago. Zeel continues to maintain its hold in the HSM with its FTA channel Zee Anmol being the steady top grosser in the UP/Uttarakhand market, and down south with regional GECs Zee Kannada or Telugu. The merger could also help SPNI to adopt a well-positioned strategy that has so far oscillated between targeting mass and metro audiences. It could also bolster their growing digital businesses, bringing together the two streaming platforms- Zee5 and SonyLIV.
The reality is that both Zeel and SPNI are no strangers when it comes to striking a deal. One can hark back to a time half a decade ago when the Subhash Chandra-run company had hawked off its Ten Sports channel and related sports business to SPNI – a deal which has served the latter well.
With the latest merger announcement, Zeel has also pulled off a coup of sorts in favour of its MD and CEO Punit Goenka who will now lead the combined media entity. The announcement is crucial, as it boosts his position at a time when two of Zeel’s top investors – had called for his ouster, making corporate governance allegations against him and some Zeel board members.
Over the last year, Goenka has focused on transforming the company into a new ‘Zee 4.0 vision’ – led by a revamped programming line-up of its linear channel portfolio in the key markets, and the launch of new channels. In its recent annual general meeting (AGM), Goenka had elaborated how Zeel’s future roadmap for the next three years will be led by digital. “We are still in investment mode for our digital business and our film business. We enjoyed leadership in several of the markets that we operate in,” he told shareholders last week.
Zeel’s linear business has managed to retain its profitability, but its flagship channel Zee TV has been looking to regain its standing in the non-fiction content where it used to be a strong player until a few years back, with popular properties like Sa Re Ga Ma and DID.
Goenka also told shareholders about Zeel’s plans to become the leading studio in films across six languages and increases its market share in the music category. SPNI, on its part, has recently stepped up its content creation capability in-house through its TV and OTT show and film production units. Zeel and SPNI’s union on this front will prove beneficial in many ways.
The most important benefit that the merger brings to the table is even higher economies of scale. Zeel has over the years built its reputation as an excellent cost-efficient media company, even as SPNI is one of the more profitably run broadcasters. Their coming together is likely to bring in even more cost-efficiencies because of the scale that their marriage will usher in, enabling tougher negotiating power with suppliers and with clients. Additionally, internal cost savings will also be generated as the merged entity right sizes itself in terms of manpower, talent, and functions.
The merger announced on Wednesday is subject to regulatory approvals, but once it goes through, it will result in SPNI holding a majority of 52.93 per cent with Zeel and its shareholders having 47.01 per cent of the new entity. But, the promoter family will remain free to increase its holding from four per cent to 20 per cent over time. SPNI will hold the majority share in the new media entity and its shareholders will pump in growth capital of $1.575 billion to strengthen the company’s digital platforms across technology and content, ability to bid for broadcasting rights in the fast-growing sports landscape and pursue other growth opportunities.
The combined company’s board of directors would include directors nominated by the Sony Group and result in it having the right to nominate the majority of the members.
