ITV

Tag: ETV Uttar Pradesh

  • ETV News to be re-branded as News 18

    ETV News to be re-branded as News 18

    KOLKATA: Re-branding is not new to the world of media; brands across sectors undergo the change on various accounts – to catch the target group’s attention, due to mergers or just to give a facelift.

     

    The latest to join the bandwagon is TV18 Broadcast. Part of Network18 Group, the network has various regional news channels under its umbrella.

     

    Come April, next year, and ETV news channels will be known as News18, as per the agreement between the TV18 Group and the erstwhile owner, Eenadu Group, an ETV insider revealed.

     

    Also, TV18, which has acquired 100 per cent interest in the regional Hindi news channels namely ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan and ETV Bihar will be known as News 18 UP, News 18 MP, News 18 Rajasthan and News 18 Bihar, respectively as per the agreement.

     

    ETV Network’s head when contacted on the same, confirmed the development. “Till March 2015, TV18 group would use the old name and logo. But from April 2015, the logo and name of the channels will change,” he says.

     

    However, Viacom18 executive vice-president Ravish Kumar refused to comment on the same.

     

    Incubators Group CMD Kaushlendra Singh Sengar highlights that one of the key strengths of ETV channels’ is their ability to attract and retain loyal viewers. And TV18 is confident of taking these regional channels to even greater heights with its strategic inputs, improved content/programming strategies and operational synergies. “If the ETV channels are re-branded as News18, it will be a good move since TV18 has a bouquet of leading television channels under its umbrella.”

     

    Recently TV18 completed its acquisition of ETV Bangla.

     

    Sengar adds, “As part of the deal for acquisition of ETV channels, Network18 and TV18 have also entered in to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Infotel Broadband Services (Infotel), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Under the MoU the companies and their associates will have the right to distribute the content of all the media and web properties of Network18.” he says.

     

    The tie-up with Infotel will enable Network18 and TV18 to build on their first-mover advantage for the distribution of their content through the latest broadband technology.

     

    “The key advantage for millions of viewers will be the ability to enjoy an uninterrupted, high quality, 24-hour viewership, even while they are on the move,” concludes Sengar.

  • CNN-IBN, IBN7 and ETV to work in sync for upcoming elections

    CNN-IBN, IBN7 and ETV to work in sync for upcoming elections

    MUMBAI: With the conclusion of an unremarkable 15th Lok Sabha, the lead-up to the general elections has well and truly begun.

     

    And not just Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind ‘Aam Aadmi’ Kejriwal but also their media and publicity machinery and news television channels are part of this unfolding political drama.

     

    With political parties estimated to spend nearly Rs 300 crore on advertisements on television and an additional Rs 400 crore to be pumped in by various brands, according to sources, news channels, especially the Hindi ones, stand to gain a fat load of moolah from election programming.

     

    Indiantelevision.com kicks-off its special weekly series exploring what news channels have in store for 2014 elections, starting with TV18’s English and Hindi channels CNN-IBN and IBN7, respectively.

     

    The network – which recently acquired ETV channels including ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Urdu – is looking to dominate election programming through its national and regional channels.

     

    “Language capabilities play an important role during election time. Our synergy is the widest and now with ETV on board as well, we believe we have an edge,” says CNN-IBN and IBN7 managing editor Vinay Tewari.

     

    “Our programming line-up will also be extensive and will run over several months in order to do full justice to the scale of the upcoming elections. As a network, we take great pride in the quality and depth of our coverage on elections and thus are investing a lot of time and effort in ensuring that our coverage is unmatched. There is always a huge interest in elections, this year, it’s possibly the highest.”

     

    Indeed, shows such as Open Mike and Vinod Dua ka Prashnakaal have already begun showcasing public views and opinions.

     

    Led by editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai along with Karan Thapar, Vinod Dua, Sanjay Pugalia, Sagarika Ghose, Bhupendra Chaubey, Sandeep Chaudhary, Suhasini Haider and Anubha Bhonsle, the channels will look at broad trends, analyse the importance of regions going to polls and engage in extensive discussions with key experts and political commentators such as Dr. Ramachandra Guha, Swapan Das Gupta, Surjit Bhalla, Kumar Ketkar, Dr. Sanjay Baru, Manini Chatterjee and Prof. Dipankar Gupta.

     

    The key shows include A Billion Votes / Mera Vote Meri Sarkar – 7 RCR Ki Race (Counting day Specials), The Election Tracker / Agar Abhi Chunav Ho Toh, India Decides / Vote India Vote, Kings & Queens, Campaign Trail, Follow the Leader, Chaupal, Election Gyaan with Ram (with noted historian Ramachandra Guha), MP ka Report Card etc.

     

    It is learnt that from the last day of polling till the formation of the government, 100 hours of non-stop programming has been planned. This will only help the network achieve the aimed viewership.

     

    Promotion of these shows will be amplified through a 360 degree campaign that will target key markets including metros and Hindi speaking markets. Print, outdoor, radio and digital will be the focus points.

     

    The creative for the campaign for CNN-IBN and IBN7 is being handled by Everest Brand Solutions. On the digital front, channels will interact with viewers through social media as well as upload content that will be edited due to restrictive on air timing.

     

    Going by TAM data during the last general elections, CNN-IBN was the number one channel (Source: TAM, TG: CS 15+, All India; Period: Wk 16-20 ’09, 16th April, 23rd April, 30th April, 7th May, 13th May & 16th May, 06-2400 hrs) on all polling and counting days whereas IBN7 was amongst the top 3 channels (Source: TAM, Markets: HSM; Period: Wk 20 ’09 (16th May ’09); Time 0600-2400 hrs).

     

    With such a comprehensive strategy, this time round too, the network may stand to be the winner…

  • TV 18 completes ETV channel acquisition

    TV 18 completes ETV channel acquisition

    MUMBAI: A year ago, one of India’s leading media companies announced that it was acquiring the regional broadcast network; yesterday it informed the stock exchange that it had completed the transaction. We are referring to  TV18 Broadcast, a subsidiary of Network 18, which sent a note out to the Bombay stock exchange that it had successfully completed the acquisition of the Ramoji Rao promoted  ETV network with effect from 22 January 2014.

     

    The channels  were acquired at a price of Rs 2,053 crore according to the Share Purchase Agreement which is well within the budget of Rs 2,100 crore that was approved by its board last year. The deal resulted in it acquiring 100 per cent of regional Hindi news channels ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya  Pradesh,  ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Urdu and 50 per cent in ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and ETV Oriya. The Telugu news and GEC channels ETV Telugu and ETV Telugu News will, however, see TV18 owning only 24.50 per cent equity. 

     

    Excepting for the two Telugu channels, TV18 will have complete board and management control over all the other channels. Additionally, it will be holding the 50 per cent stake in the five regional GECs as an asset held for sale. The interest in these channels, its filing with the BSE states, will transferred to an associate company. Sources indicate that the channels are most likely  going to  be added to its Viacom18 joint venture or another company in the group. This will help it keep separate identities for TV18 Broadcast as a news channel enterprise, and GECs under Viacom18, if  the transfer does happen under it.

     

    The deal cements TV 18 and Viacom 18’s presence in the regional space. When contacted, Network 18 group CEO B Sai Kumar, he said that the deal had been waiting to come through and more details would have to wait a while.

     

    With one more transaction out of the way, Network18 can now focus on expanding its portfolio further through a Gujarati business news channel in the next few months as announced by Sai Kumar barely a week ago, clearly signalling that things are turning around at the group which was once ailing, thanks to its heavy debt burden.