ITV

Tag: Epic TV

  • Helios Media elevates Shrutish Maharaj as chief sales officer

    Helios Media elevates Shrutish Maharaj as chief sales officer

    MUMBAI: Helios Media has promoted Shrutish Maharaj as chief sales officer. 

    He has been a part of the company’s core team since its inception four years ago.

     

    In the new role, Maharaj will be responsible for spearheading the revenue and content marketing functions at Helios. He has about 12 years of experience and has earlier worked with organisations like India Today Group, HT Media Ltd, Network 18, UTV News ltd and Times Group in various capacities.

     

    Maharaj said, “The last four years haven’t been the easiest but surely most exciting and enriching. We have created benchmarks and then recreated them. We are constantly redefining the way people approach media sales and it’s most satisfying to see larger networks counting on us as experts of specialty products. We have built this team of handpicked people for whom sales is a passion; more than just a career and I would say our people are our biggest assets. I am definitely thrilled at this development and am geared up for all the challenges and opportunities coming our way this year.”

     

    Helios Media currently handles revenue mandate for MTunes HD, Living Foodz, Epic TV, Music F Fatafati, food vertical of Femina (WWM Group), Fashion TV in exclusive capacity.

     

    Apart from the above he will also lead Brand Chef, which is an indigenous initiative by Helios connecting the brand, consumer and content in the food domain.

     

    Commenting on Maharaj’s appointment, Helios Media managing director Divya Radhakrishnan said, “I am glad that the reins are now in the right hands and Shrutish will continue to make us proud. His organisational pride of wearing the Helios Spirit on his sleeve has been heartening and also infectious.”

     

    Helios Media COO Bala Iyengar added, “Shrutish is a perfect example of what it takes to sprint your way to this coveted position, which was waiting for him to occupy. The right persona that a rapidly growing organization likes ours is what Shrutish has worked towards developing and successfully at that.”

  • Epic awaits BARC rollout; to launch new programming

    Epic awaits BARC rollout; to launch new programming

    MUMBAI: The media and entertainment industry will now have to get used to a new ratings system, which is scheduled to begin by the end of this month. And as Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) gears up to roll out its ratings data, Epic has a treat in store for audiences with a fresh programming line-up.  

     

    A lot of speculation and anxiety over the new television rating system came to rest last week when BARC announced that the new ratings system would be out every Wednesday by April end.

     

    In order to launch its new shows the “segmented” Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Epic is waiting for the new ratings rollout.

     

    A source close to the development tells Indiantelevision.com, “The channel is now four months old and has gone through its initial run. We are waiting for the BARC ratings to roll out and then put the new programmes on-air so that we know how the shows are doing in terms of numbers. Moreover, with that we will also have a clearer picture to show to advertisers.”

     

    Though the content is kept under wraps, a show which has already created a lot of buzz before its release is Anurag Basu’s adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Chokher Bali.

     

    Additionally, veteran Bollywood scriptwriter and poet Javed Akhtar has also been roped for a show called Jaane Pehchaane on the channel. The series is slated to go on air in June and will have Akhtar as a narrator reminiscing about films, actors and famous dialogues of yesteryears.

     

    Positioned as the first ‘segmented’ channel on Indian television, Epic currently airs only four shows throughout the day  – two fiction series titled Dharmakshetra and Siyaasat and two non-fiction shows – Kahi Suni and Ekaant.

     

    Founded by former Disney India managing director Mahesh Samat, Epic clocked around 1,246 GVTs in its debut week when it launched in November last year.

     

    Wanting viewers to step in and out as per their convenience, all the shows on the channel were designed for a finite period. Epic began airing content pertaining to Indian history, folklore and mythology, in a contemporary storytelling format.

     

    The channel started with around 13-15 weekly shows, most of which were hour-long. On weekends, the channel airs films that are in sync with its core proposition, Kahaniyaan Hindustan Ki (Hindi for fables of India), chosen from the channel’s library of 20 movies. On weekdays, Epic airs around two-and-a-half hours of original content starting at 8 pm.

  • Total number of private TV channels in the country goes up to 821

    Total number of private TV channels in the country goes up to 821

    NEW DELHI: The number of permitted satellite television channels has jumped to 821 by November-end from 798 in July following streamlining of clearance procedures by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

     

    These include 404 news and current affairs channels and 417 general entertainment channels.

     

    The statistics show that 693 channels (including 382 news channels) are permitted to uplink and downlink from within the country, while 93 (including 16 news channels) are uplinked from overseas and downlinked into India and 35 (including six news channels) are uplinked from India for beaming overseas and not in the country.

     

    Some of the new entrants over the past few months have been the GEC Epic TV, Bengali Orange TV. Luck TV; the non-news  Sairam TV; Bhojpuri Cinema TV, the non-news Tamil Meenakshi TV; the non-news Blue TV in Hindi, English, Punjabi and regional languages; the news Janam TV, INE Live, and Kalinga TV in scheduled languages.

     

    This apart, Times Television Network (TTN) has also got three new licences: Times Now 2, Times Now 3 and ET Now 2.

     

    The biggest gainer is the Star Network with Star Cricket Asia, Star Sports Highlights, Star Sports HD3, Star Sports HD4, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports HD1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports 4, Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 1 in all permitted languages under the Constitution.

     

    The year 2014 has thus seen the clearance to more than 25 channels.

     

    To expedite the process which had remained stagnant after March-end, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry now holds the Open House meetings with stakeholders two times every month instead of once.

     

    The Ministry also placed on its website the names of the companies which own these channels, the language, and the date when permission was granted.  

     

  • Epic channel set to roll out by end 2014

    Epic channel set to roll out by end 2014

    NEW DELHI: India’s first genre specific Hindi entertainment channel, Epic is all set go on air by the end of the year  and will showcase content based on Indian history, folklore and mythology in a contemporary format. It is the first segmented channel in Indian television.

      

    Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra and Rohit Khattar are the three promoters of the company. Mahindra & Mahindra chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra speaking on the occasion said that the landscape of Hindi entertainment is undergoing a dramatic transformation and in order to appeal to an evolved audience, and to sustain their engagement, there was a need for a revolution in the broadcast space.

     

    “We have all been entertained with the history and mythology of India through books and grandparents’ stories. These stories will now come to life on television in a contemporary manner,” he added

     

    The channel identified fragmentation of audiences as a huge opportunity for differentiated and genre specific content. By integrating India’s rich heritage with the current consumption patterns, the channel is creating original content within the Indian history, folklore and mythology genre and will be using a contemporary story telling format.

     

    Epic Television network founder and managing director Mahesh Samat commented, “The ‘segmented’ content will allow viewers to choose and consume genre-specific content of their liking. Our vision is to create a brand in television that will translate our vibrant past into entertainment with the objective of creating new IPs, strong characters and new heroes that strike a chord with audiences.”

     

    The channel will have action, drama, comedy, supernatural and narrative non-fiction content, set against Indian history and mythology. The stories will be innovative with high production quality and a distinct look that will appeal to both men and women. Most of the content will be shot at real locations with HD cameras. The programming line-up has a mix of fiction shows, narrative non-fiction shows, short form content as well as films at launch.

  • Total number of TV channel goes up to 813

    Total number of TV channel goes up to 813

    MUMBAI: Within a fortnight, three more channels have been added to the entire list of channels that can be viewed in India. This includes 400 news and current affairs channels and 413 non-news and current affairs channels, as on 15 September 2014.

     

    The number of TV channels that can uplink from and downlink to India is 685 (earlier 682).This includes 378 news (earlier 376) and 307 (earlier 306) non-news channels.

     

    As for the channel that can only uplink and only downlink, the number remained constant at 35 and 93, respectively. The new channels include Kalinga TV, Epic TV. The latter, started by former Disney MD Mahesh Samat, has been waiting for more than a year to get a licence approval from MIB.

     

    At a recent function, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that the ministry is working towards clearing licences of all the pending channels that had been deliberately kept pending by the earlier government. Near about 14 channels were to be listed.

     

    The ministry has also simplified the process of security clearance for broadcasters.

  • Code of Conduct bars clearance of any new TV channels in May 2014

    Code of Conduct bars clearance of any new TV channels in May 2014

    NEW DELHI: Even though it is said that the government is run by bureaucrats and not by politicians, the change in government in the month of May brought stagnancy to the process of clearances of television licences.

     

    In fact, the month saw the first half being ruled by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the second half by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

     

    A large number of new applications including Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS) that runs the ABP group of channels, Star India, Epic TV among others have been waiting in queue for a new licence.

     

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry secretary Bimal Julka says that the delay was primarily because of the Code of Conduct that had come into force. He adds, “There was clear mandate from the Election Commission that no action like clearances for new channels should be given without its permission.”

     

    The list of permitted private satellite TV channels in India remains constant at 795. Out of these 393 are news and current affairs channels while the remaining 402 are non-news and current affairs channels.

     

    The first four months of 2014 saw licences being given to nine channels including AXN HD and SET HD.

     

    The Ministry also placed on its website the names of the companies which own these channels, the language, and the date when permission was granted. 

  • Licensed Indian channels drop to 784

    Licensed Indian channels drop to 784

    MUMBAI: It has come under flak in the past for being rather liberal in issuing licences to TV broadcasters. But the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has been cracking down on this front over the past year or so.

    And this is evident from the list of permitted private satellite TV channels which the MIB released on 2 December 2013. According to the list, there are 784 channels which have been allowed to beam over India.

    The MIB’s 2012 official list had 848 channels when it was released on 20 December 2012. That means around 64 licences have been revoked in the past year.

    After the Sarada Group scam last year, the MIB had sent notices to various companies asking for details about their shareholdings and structure. It then started the process of cancelling licences based on their response.

    Among the reasons that it gave for the revocation figured: companies had not started broadcasting even a year after being issued a licence and shareholding patterns and directors were changed without the ministry being informed.

    The MIB has also gone easy on issuing new licences to potential broadcasters. Some 50 applications are pending with it, according to industry officials.

    The files for licence clearances have piled up because several representative meetings between the MIB and the Ministry of Home Affairs have been postponed over the past two months, point out industry executives.

    A highly-placed industry source reveals: “A meeting was supposed to happen last week and this week as well, but it failed to take place.”

    Among some of the channels which are awaiting MIB’s nod include: Epic TV, Al Arabiya News, Maha Movie, Blue TV etc.

    Another source adds: “State elections and general elections have been a priority for the government. We, as an industry, are worried and feel that licenses are not on its priority list.”

    Click here for List of permitted Private Satellite TV channels as on 02.12.2013

    Click here for List of permitted Private Satellite TV channels as on 20.12.2012

  • Licensed Indian channels drop to 784

    Licensed Indian channels drop to 784

    MUMBAI: It has come under flak in the past for being rather liberal in issuing licences to TV broadcasters. But the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has been cracking down on this front over the past year or so.

     

    And this is evident from the list of permitted private satellite TV channels which the MIB released on 2 December 2013. According to the list, there are 784 channels which have been allowed to beam over India.

     

    The MIB’s 2012 official list had 848 channels when it was released on 20 December 2012. That means around 64 licences have been revoked in the past year.

     

    After the Sarada Group scam last year, the MIB had sent notices to various companies asking for details about their shareholdings and structure. It then started the process of cancelling licences based on their response.

     

    Among the reasons that it gave for the revocation figured: companies had not started broadcasting even a year after being issued a licence and shareholding patterns and directors were changed without the ministry being informed.

     

    The MIB has also gone easy on issuing new licences to potential broadcasters. Some 50 applications are pending with it, according to industry officials.

     

    The files for licence clearances have piled up because several representative meetings between the MIB and the Ministry of Home Affairs have been postponed over the past two months, point out industry executives.

     

    A highly-placed industry source reveals: “A meeting was supposed to happen last week and this week as well, but it failed to take place.”

     

    Among some of the channels which are awaiting MIB’s nod include: Epic TV, Al Arabiya News, Maha Movie, Blue TV etc.

     

    Another source adds: “State elections and general elections have been a priority for the government. We, as an industry, are worried and feel that licenses are not on its priority list.”

  • Epic TV to experiment with long and short duration content

    Epic TV to experiment with long and short duration content

    MUMBAI: Here’s more dope on Epic TV, the new historical, folklore and mythological channel that is being wet-nursed by former Walt Disney India head Mahesh Samat and funded by Anand Mahindra personally.

     

    As revealed yesterday, the channel is expected to launch in August sometime. Currently, the company has applied to the I&B ministry for a broadcast license, which it hopes to have in its pocket in a couple of months. It is also negotiating for transponder space – one on the Insat series and the other with a south east Asia based vendor.

     

    Additionally, Samat says that the channel has plans to do narratives and programming of varying duration. “We are focusing on programming based on long form fiction narrative of an hour’s duration, non-fiction shows and short form fiction. Long form will have two-three hour episodic shows in a day. These will focus on new situations, supernatural content, drama and crime. Whereas narrative non-fiction will consist of one to two hours programming in a day, underlining narrative documentaries including contemporary, recreational and reenactment styles. And the last short form content will be seen as short vignettes, explaining interesting facts, and short ‘behind-the scenes’ videos.”

     

    Samat says all the shows will be shot in HD and with high production values. “We will be looking at monetising the content even across digital platforms, eking out revenues from wherever we can,” he reveals.

     

    Apart from Ravina Kohli and Aparna Pandey other professionals who have come on board include Niharika Kotwal as head production and Manish Thukral as chief financial officer.