ITV

Tag: Gary Pudney

  • Arré Studio, O4 Media & MBC Korea partner to launch ‘The Masked Singer’ in India

    Arré Studio, O4 Media & MBC Korea partner to launch ‘The Masked Singer’ in India

    Mumbai: Arré Studio have entered into an exclusive option agreement with O4 Media and the creators of the international hit series ‘The Masked Singer’ to bring the pathbreaking global smash hit to Indian audiences.

    The agreement will see Arré Studio developing a localised version of ‘The Masked Singer’ for the Indian market. Known for its unique blend of mystery, music, and entertainment, The Masked Singer has taken audiences by storm since its inception in South Korea, captivating viewers in over 50 countries, including the United States United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany.

    “It’s awesome to be partnering with MBC Korea and Arré Studio to bring The Masked Singer to India,” said O4 Media founder and MD Gary Pudney. “The format’s success across the globe speaks to its universal appeal, and we believe that Indian audiences, with their passionate love for music, will embrace the title with the same enthusiasm.

    Commenting on the deal, MBC, director of the OTT global business team, Haewon Chin said, “We are excited to collaborate with O4 Media and Arré Studio to bring The Masked Singer to India. The show has demonstrated its ability to transcend cultural boundaries, and we believe that the vibrant and diverse Indian entertainment landscape is the perfect home for the next chapter of The Masked Singer.”

    Arré Studio’s CEO Namit Sharma, also expressed his enthusiasm about bringing The Masked Singer to India: “At Arré we believe in creating entertainment that will become part of pop culture and The Masked Singer is a format that has delivered on this in most territories. It is a phenomenal combination of music, celebrity, mystery and humour. We are proud that this is our first international format option and there are many more to follow.”
     

  • Aha partners with O4 Media to stream exclusive Korean content

    Aha partners with O4 Media to stream exclusive Korean content

    Mumbai: Good news for Korean drama (K Drama) fans! OTT platform aha has partnered with a Hong Kong-based global content distributor O4 media to stream Korean content from Korean Broadcasting System( KBS), including premium crime, drama, and comedy, onto the platform.

    aha’s CEO Ajit Thakur said, “We are among the fastest-growing OTTs in India, with a presence in Telugu and Tamil. Our diverse and differentiated local content has built a strong core fan base with a wide variety our content ranging from fiction, nonfiction, game shows, music, and talent shows original films, live news, kids’ content, and so on. Keeping in mind the evolving preferences of viewers and the popularity of Korean content amongst our audiences, we are now bringing some of the top Korean shows in local languages, enabling our viewers to watch their favourite programs from across the world.”

    Starting the last quarter of this year, 100 hours of Korean content will go live for Telugu consumers adding further value to aha’s exhaustive content library.

     O4 Media founder & managing director Gary Pudney said, “The south is a dynamic part of India, and working with Aha, such a new and fast-growing player in the market, illustrates that they have an acute eye for the content which is highly appealing and engaging for their audience. We see this as just the beginning of a long-lasting relationship.”

  • Keshet Asia establishes office in India, appoints Arpit Agarwal & Mihir Karlekar

    MUMBAI: Keshet Asia, the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Keshet International (KI), has expanded its footprint in India with two major hires and establishing an office in Mumbai.

    Arpit Agarwal will lead the Indian operation on the ground as director, India and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) reporting to Gary Pudney, head of Asia. Mihir Karlekar joins Agarwal as the senior sales manager, India and SAARC.

    Together, they will seek to increase the volume of KI’s scripted and non-scripted formats being adapted for the Indian audience, and uncover local IP for international distribution. They will also co-develop with Indian creators and begin to lay the foundations for an eventual local production business.

    The Indian operation has been established following the launch of two flagship KI properties in the country; the epic 110-episode adaptation of ‘Prisoners of War’ (Bandi Yuddh Ke) which aired on Star Plus and was the no.1 trending topic on Twitter during its premiere; and the country’s first-ever live voting talent show ‘Rising Star’ which is airing on Viacom18’s Colors, and peaked with a rating of 2.4 in prime time. With live voting powered by the Screenz Platform, the Color’s app garnered 3.6 million downloads at launch, and is steadily rising as the format sets the bar for innovation in TV engagement.

    Pudney said, “India is a vibrant market in which we see huge potential. The success of ‘Prisoners of War’ and ‘Rising Star’ has demonstrated our catalogue’s ability to resonate with local viewers, but as well as selling more content into the region, we are equally keen to begin producing and acquiring IP. With Arpit and Mihir on board, we feel we have the right people in place to capitalise on our success and drive the business forward.”

    Agarwal said, “Keshet International has made rapid inroads into the Indian market in the last year and I’m hugely excited at the prospect of further expanding its footprint in the SAARC region – home to over a billion eager TV viewers.”

    With more than 20 years’ experience, Agarwal joins Keshet Asia from Singaporean distribution and production company Bomanbridge Media where he was the director of business development & sales across south Asia and licensed more than 450 hours of finished tape and formats in the region. Prior to Bomanbridge Media, Agarwal was the business head at general entertainment channel Sahara One where he commissioned two major prime-time drama series. Agarwal also headed operations at FremantleMedia India, and was an intrinsic part of the launch of The X Factor India, and the roll-out of Indian Idol V and India’s Got Talent III among others.

    Karlekar joins Keshet Asia from consumer electronics conglomerate LeEco where he was the senior manager – content business development and strategic alliances, a role which saw him closing partnership deals with leading domestic and international OTT platforms. Prior to this he was the commercial manager, acquisitions at Zee Entertainment, where he managed all linear/non-linear content acquisition for three OTT platforms, FTA and niche channel clusters and format licensing for GECs, before stepping up to head of commercial at Zee TV’s digital convergence arm.

  • KI’s ‘Rising Star’ selected as flagship entertainment show to launch on new Cambodian Channel

    KI’s ‘Rising Star’ selected as flagship entertainment show to launch on new Cambodian Channel

    MUMBAI: Keshet International (KI)’s trailblazing interactive talent format Rising Star has been licensed by the brand new Cambodian broadcaster Town TV. Building on its existing talent management agency and production company, Town Group will launch its new free-to-air channel in late 2016/early 2017 with RISING STAR as its flagship, prime-time weekend entertainment show. The must-see series will be produced in-house by Town TV.

    Keshet International Asia head Gary Pudney said, “Rising Star is only just starting its life cycle in Asia. A success for CCTV China and RCTI Indonesia – which is soon to air its second season – it has proven its appeal with Asian audiences. I’m delighted that Town TV has chosen to brand its exciting new channel with Rising Star as the tent pole in its weekend schedule and am certain this is the first of many more deals throughout the region.”

    RCTI will begin airing its second season this winter. Season one aired successfully and won a Panasonic Gobel Award for Best Program Talent Show & Reality Show in 2015. The format has also aired across China on state TV channel CCTV-3, where it achieved higher ratings than The Voice and a 30% growth in audience share from the first episode to the last. The finale was also the leading programme of the night across the whole of China.

    Earlier this week KI announced two new hires in Asia, Sales Managers Cherry Lu (Beijing) and Kelvin Ko (Hong Kong). Both will report into KI’s Head of Asia Gary Pudney who has outlined the company’s intention to develop fully-fledged local production entities in China and India over the next two years. Since the opening of KI’s dedicated Hong Kong Asia HQ in late 2015 – following earlier successes such as the first season of MASTER CLASS China, which amassed more than one billion views online alone, RISING STAR China and Indonesia, and Spy(MICE) Korea – KI has licensed a number of its hit formats and premium dramas across Asia. The company recently announced the Indian remake of its premium award-winning drama format, Prisoners of War with one of the country’s leading general entertainment channels, Star Plus. The second 12 episode season of its children’s singing format MASTER CLASS, produced locally by 3C Media, has just finished airing on Beijing Satellite TV and Sichuan Satellite TV, and was the no.1 most engaging TV show (by click rate) on the social media site Weibo. KI Asia has also closed deals for MASTER CLASS in Vietnam (TTN Media Corp.), its branded entertainment car game show Trade Up in China (CCTV-2) and its original variety game show Who’s On Top in Indonesia (RCTI). RCTI is also home to series two of KI’s interactive talent show RISING STAR which will air this Winter. As well as selling into Asia, KI is actively acquiring content from the region and staffing up its local operations.

    Produced by Tedy Productions for Keshet Broadcasting, Rising Star became the fastest-selling talent show on record when it launched in October 2013, now more than 250 episodes of the show have aired with upwards of 160 million votes tallied worldwide. In Brazil it has become one of the country’s most popular shows with unprecedented activity on social media – some 41 million votes were cast across two seasons and a third season is currently in the pipeline. The show aired successfully in Portugal and beat off competition from the World Cup football fixtures throughout season one. Both season one and two of the show also rated well in Argentina, with more than two million users downloading the Telefe app and 22 million votes cast across both seasons.

  • KI’s ‘Rising Star’ selected as flagship entertainment show to launch on new Cambodian Channel

    KI’s ‘Rising Star’ selected as flagship entertainment show to launch on new Cambodian Channel

    MUMBAI: Keshet International (KI)’s trailblazing interactive talent format Rising Star has been licensed by the brand new Cambodian broadcaster Town TV. Building on its existing talent management agency and production company, Town Group will launch its new free-to-air channel in late 2016/early 2017 with RISING STAR as its flagship, prime-time weekend entertainment show. The must-see series will be produced in-house by Town TV.

    Keshet International Asia head Gary Pudney said, “Rising Star is only just starting its life cycle in Asia. A success for CCTV China and RCTI Indonesia – which is soon to air its second season – it has proven its appeal with Asian audiences. I’m delighted that Town TV has chosen to brand its exciting new channel with Rising Star as the tent pole in its weekend schedule and am certain this is the first of many more deals throughout the region.”

    RCTI will begin airing its second season this winter. Season one aired successfully and won a Panasonic Gobel Award for Best Program Talent Show & Reality Show in 2015. The format has also aired across China on state TV channel CCTV-3, where it achieved higher ratings than The Voice and a 30% growth in audience share from the first episode to the last. The finale was also the leading programme of the night across the whole of China.

    Earlier this week KI announced two new hires in Asia, Sales Managers Cherry Lu (Beijing) and Kelvin Ko (Hong Kong). Both will report into KI’s Head of Asia Gary Pudney who has outlined the company’s intention to develop fully-fledged local production entities in China and India over the next two years. Since the opening of KI’s dedicated Hong Kong Asia HQ in late 2015 – following earlier successes such as the first season of MASTER CLASS China, which amassed more than one billion views online alone, RISING STAR China and Indonesia, and Spy(MICE) Korea – KI has licensed a number of its hit formats and premium dramas across Asia. The company recently announced the Indian remake of its premium award-winning drama format, Prisoners of War with one of the country’s leading general entertainment channels, Star Plus. The second 12 episode season of its children’s singing format MASTER CLASS, produced locally by 3C Media, has just finished airing on Beijing Satellite TV and Sichuan Satellite TV, and was the no.1 most engaging TV show (by click rate) on the social media site Weibo. KI Asia has also closed deals for MASTER CLASS in Vietnam (TTN Media Corp.), its branded entertainment car game show Trade Up in China (CCTV-2) and its original variety game show Who’s On Top in Indonesia (RCTI). RCTI is also home to series two of KI’s interactive talent show RISING STAR which will air this Winter. As well as selling into Asia, KI is actively acquiring content from the region and staffing up its local operations.

    Produced by Tedy Productions for Keshet Broadcasting, Rising Star became the fastest-selling talent show on record when it launched in October 2013, now more than 250 episodes of the show have aired with upwards of 160 million votes tallied worldwide. In Brazil it has become one of the country’s most popular shows with unprecedented activity on social media – some 41 million votes were cast across two seasons and a third season is currently in the pipeline. The show aired successfully in Portugal and beat off competition from the World Cup football fixtures throughout season one. Both season one and two of the show also rated well in Argentina, with more than two million users downloading the Telefe app and 22 million votes cast across both seasons.