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Tag: GE

  • Amita Maheshwari bids adieu to Kedaara Capital

    Amita Maheshwari bids adieu to Kedaara Capital

    Mumbai: Kedaara Capital MD & operating director Amita Maheshwari has decided to depart from the firm to embark on a new phase of her life. She plans to dedicate her time to giving back to society and the industry, utilizing her expertise in fostering talent, shaping culture and driving digitization in high-growth enterprise and building a social impact agenda.

    Prior to her role at Kedaara, Amita worked as President and Head of HR for Star India and later as the Head of HR for The Walt Disney Company and Star TV, including Disney Hotstar for Asia-Pacific, Middle East and India for 14 yrs. She spearheaded HR operations across 27 markets in Asia, including India, China, Japan, Korea, and the rest of the region.

    She played a pivotal role in facilitating the integration and transition of Fox and Disney across the Asia-Pacific, India and the Middle East as well as launching Disney+ and Disney+Hotstar in 11 APAC markets. Furthermore, she played a key role in the successful launch of the OTT platform Hotstar in India under the leadership of Uday Shankar. Over her 30-year career, she has held positions at Asian Paints, GE, Genpact, and MetLife Insurance, lending her expertise to diverse industries.

  • India suitably poised for data, analytics interplay, says GE chairman

    India suitably poised for data, analytics interplay, says GE chairman

    MUMBAI: ET NOW, a leading business news channel, organised the 3rd India Economic Conclave themed, ‘The Big Leap’ in partnership with Bennett University and Boehringer Ingelheim, in New Delhi on Friday. The event will be made into a series of episodes that will air on ET NOW.

    The eventful evening saw top minds debating and conversing about topics like, ‘The Quick Fix’ – where India’s top bureaucrats deliberated on the top 10 quick fixes for the economy; ‘Putting India First – The 10 Point Agenda’ – a power packed panel comprising of India’s policymakers and corporate India; ‘The Plenary Sesion – The Big Leap’ – A fireside chat between Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance, Jeff Immelt, Chairman & CEO, GE and Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group.

    Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand said, “The historic changes in the global and national socio-economic environment demanded some really deep discussion and our speakers were probably the best, being key decision makers themselves.”

    Finance minister Arun Jaitley said, “When a currency replacement takes place, inconvenience is bound to happen at the start. And every honest man felt he had no reason to worry because of demonetisation. India is becoming aspirational day by day. For job creation, we will have to create a blend of manufacturing sector with the informal sector. We are making India a global manufacturing hub. Recently we made GST look small and that are the kind of reforms India is going towards.”

    MoS power, coal and renewable energy Piyush Goel said, “We have to create an ecosystem where people are happy to make new investments. Demonetidation is providing equal opportunity to all people.”

    MoS (independent charge), ministry of commerce & industry Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We are talking about creating space in logistics, and government is investing in developing skilled employment.”

    GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, “From a business point of view, the future lies in the interplay of data and analytics, and India is suitably poised to ride that wave in the next five to 10 years.”

    Other eminent speakers included Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal, Infosys chairman R Seshasayee, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, power secretary P K Pujari, Coal secretary Anil Swarup, DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek, and Department of Economic Affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das.

  • India suitably poised for data, analytics interplay, says GE chairman

    India suitably poised for data, analytics interplay, says GE chairman

    MUMBAI: ET NOW, a leading business news channel, organised the 3rd India Economic Conclave themed, ‘The Big Leap’ in partnership with Bennett University and Boehringer Ingelheim, in New Delhi on Friday. The event will be made into a series of episodes that will air on ET NOW.

    The eventful evening saw top minds debating and conversing about topics like, ‘The Quick Fix’ – where India’s top bureaucrats deliberated on the top 10 quick fixes for the economy; ‘Putting India First – The 10 Point Agenda’ – a power packed panel comprising of India’s policymakers and corporate India; ‘The Plenary Sesion – The Big Leap’ – A fireside chat between Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance, Jeff Immelt, Chairman & CEO, GE and Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group.

    Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand said, “The historic changes in the global and national socio-economic environment demanded some really deep discussion and our speakers were probably the best, being key decision makers themselves.”

    Finance minister Arun Jaitley said, “When a currency replacement takes place, inconvenience is bound to happen at the start. And every honest man felt he had no reason to worry because of demonetisation. India is becoming aspirational day by day. For job creation, we will have to create a blend of manufacturing sector with the informal sector. We are making India a global manufacturing hub. Recently we made GST look small and that are the kind of reforms India is going towards.”

    MoS power, coal and renewable energy Piyush Goel said, “We have to create an ecosystem where people are happy to make new investments. Demonetidation is providing equal opportunity to all people.”

    MoS (independent charge), ministry of commerce & industry Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We are talking about creating space in logistics, and government is investing in developing skilled employment.”

    GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, “From a business point of view, the future lies in the interplay of data and analytics, and India is suitably poised to ride that wave in the next five to 10 years.”

    Other eminent speakers included Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal, Infosys chairman R Seshasayee, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, power secretary P K Pujari, Coal secretary Anil Swarup, DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek, and Department of Economic Affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das.

  • Times Internet forays into content marketing with ‘Spotlight’

    Times Internet forays into content marketing with ‘Spotlight’

    MUMBAI: When conventional modes of communication are failing marketers, they are increasingly looking to reinvent the old formulas in a new light, content marketing being one of them. Not just the media and creative start-ups but digital media behemoths like Times Internet have invested in the content game. Times Internet has recently launched a one stop digital content solutions studio -‘Spotlight.’ With an aim to be strategic partners with brands, Spotlight will cater to branded content needs of the clients.

    “Spotlight will help marketers define their content strategy, create it and distribute it, not only on our platforms but across their own and others. We will also help them understand how to measure their return on their branded content efforts by helping them translate them into traditional marketing metrics. What makes Spotlight stand out will be its ability to create branded content not only in English, but 9 other Indian regional languages across 150 million users,” said Times Internet, CRO, Gulshan Verma.

    The company is banking on its massive reach in the country through multiple content based platforms like Times of India, Economic Times, NavBharat Times, iDiva Gaana, MagicBricks, and many more. Spotlight intends to tap into the interest graph of its client’s target audience and drive brand recall and preference through contextualizing reach.

    “It’s been on our mind for a while and we finally had a robust plan together and got all the experts we needed to start the process and we did! With some of the best minds in the business across genres it’s makes absolute sense to give the very best we have to offer to our clients. Neha Gupta, who comes from NDTV Convergence will be heading the operations at Spotlight and I’m positive she will do a stellar job,” he added.

    When it comes to production, Verma informed that Spotlight will produce a huge chunk of the content in-house backed by capabilities in terms of photos, videos and articles, while also exploring commissioning options as well. “We have our in-house team of experts with in-depth knowledge across industries who work with the brand to understand the key result areas and building content with them, and thereafter they ideate and create the final product with the production team, who have been specially brought in the Spotlight team. We provide end to end solutions,” he said.

    Though digital videos are often synonymous with short form content, Spotlight will explore a ‘bit of both.’ With an intention to go beyond engaging audience over snack-sized content, Verma shared that they don’t mind investing in long term projects that may give rise to an extended storyline or even a web series.

    “We would prefer to work with marketers on a comprehensive plan and sometimes that may involve building a long term story including a video web series, but also articles, questionnaires, photo shoots. As to whether it would be long or short form – it depends on what the goal is – initially, the focus for a marketer is to do bite size content that can be consumed quickly and spark interest, but as you draw audiences in, it could be taken forward. We even partner with our brands to create on the ground events such as the one we recently did with GE at the ET Health World launch where CEOs and decision makers in that space got together for an evening,” explained Verma.

    Since the video boom, advertisers are jumping on the content marketing bandwagon. However, more often than not they make one time small investment that doesn’t give them the promised result from the medium, which in turn affects the adopt-ability of the marketing form.

    When asked how Verma intends to handle this trend within advertisers, he shared, “It’s a complicated and tedious process to coordinate one activity for a marketer and get content producers, execution and promotion across to a large audience in one place today. The power of content marketing is being realized through increasing adoption of native advertising already. The slower adoption rate is a function of lack of content experts who can create meaningful and qualitative content on a large scale and engage mass audience within the defined TG. Most marketers need to connect with one unit for content and another for reach. Spotlight intends to bring every aspect of content marketing as a one stop creative powerhouse.”

    With its brand new content marketing arm, Times Internet plans to become an umbrella under which all types of brands can seek solutions, rather than taking the specialisation route.

    “In the Industry we can see the first movers being mostly consumer brands but education, finance and real estate are also getting into content space extensively. Times Internet can help you along every stage of the sales funnel. From creating awareness, to driving trials, to point of sale conversions and re-targeting loyal consumers. This makes Spotlight the partner of choice for most industry categories. We have the capability of combining content marketing with the desired impact at any stage of sales process,” Verma shared, adding that they already are in talks with several brands to sign deals.

  • Times Internet forays into content marketing with ‘Spotlight’

    Times Internet forays into content marketing with ‘Spotlight’

    MUMBAI: When conventional modes of communication are failing marketers, they are increasingly looking to reinvent the old formulas in a new light, content marketing being one of them. Not just the media and creative start-ups but digital media behemoths like Times Internet have invested in the content game. Times Internet has recently launched a one stop digital content solutions studio -‘Spotlight.’ With an aim to be strategic partners with brands, Spotlight will cater to branded content needs of the clients.

    “Spotlight will help marketers define their content strategy, create it and distribute it, not only on our platforms but across their own and others. We will also help them understand how to measure their return on their branded content efforts by helping them translate them into traditional marketing metrics. What makes Spotlight stand out will be its ability to create branded content not only in English, but 9 other Indian regional languages across 150 million users,” said Times Internet, CRO, Gulshan Verma.

    The company is banking on its massive reach in the country through multiple content based platforms like Times of India, Economic Times, NavBharat Times, iDiva Gaana, MagicBricks, and many more. Spotlight intends to tap into the interest graph of its client’s target audience and drive brand recall and preference through contextualizing reach.

    “It’s been on our mind for a while and we finally had a robust plan together and got all the experts we needed to start the process and we did! With some of the best minds in the business across genres it’s makes absolute sense to give the very best we have to offer to our clients. Neha Gupta, who comes from NDTV Convergence will be heading the operations at Spotlight and I’m positive she will do a stellar job,” he added.

    When it comes to production, Verma informed that Spotlight will produce a huge chunk of the content in-house backed by capabilities in terms of photos, videos and articles, while also exploring commissioning options as well. “We have our in-house team of experts with in-depth knowledge across industries who work with the brand to understand the key result areas and building content with them, and thereafter they ideate and create the final product with the production team, who have been specially brought in the Spotlight team. We provide end to end solutions,” he said.

    Though digital videos are often synonymous with short form content, Spotlight will explore a ‘bit of both.’ With an intention to go beyond engaging audience over snack-sized content, Verma shared that they don’t mind investing in long term projects that may give rise to an extended storyline or even a web series.

    “We would prefer to work with marketers on a comprehensive plan and sometimes that may involve building a long term story including a video web series, but also articles, questionnaires, photo shoots. As to whether it would be long or short form – it depends on what the goal is – initially, the focus for a marketer is to do bite size content that can be consumed quickly and spark interest, but as you draw audiences in, it could be taken forward. We even partner with our brands to create on the ground events such as the one we recently did with GE at the ET Health World launch where CEOs and decision makers in that space got together for an evening,” explained Verma.

    Since the video boom, advertisers are jumping on the content marketing bandwagon. However, more often than not they make one time small investment that doesn’t give them the promised result from the medium, which in turn affects the adopt-ability of the marketing form.

    When asked how Verma intends to handle this trend within advertisers, he shared, “It’s a complicated and tedious process to coordinate one activity for a marketer and get content producers, execution and promotion across to a large audience in one place today. The power of content marketing is being realized through increasing adoption of native advertising already. The slower adoption rate is a function of lack of content experts who can create meaningful and qualitative content on a large scale and engage mass audience within the defined TG. Most marketers need to connect with one unit for content and another for reach. Spotlight intends to bring every aspect of content marketing as a one stop creative powerhouse.”

    With its brand new content marketing arm, Times Internet plans to become an umbrella under which all types of brands can seek solutions, rather than taking the specialisation route.

    “In the Industry we can see the first movers being mostly consumer brands but education, finance and real estate are also getting into content space extensively. Times Internet can help you along every stage of the sales funnel. From creating awareness, to driving trials, to point of sale conversions and re-targeting loyal consumers. This makes Spotlight the partner of choice for most industry categories. We have the capability of combining content marketing with the desired impact at any stage of sales process,” Verma shared, adding that they already are in talks with several brands to sign deals.

  • PwC report: content value, retransmission fees to boost E&M deals

    PwC report: content value, retransmission fees to boost E&M deals

    MUMBAI: If the new report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) comes true, the media and entertainment sector could witness increasingly lucrative retransmission fees and high value for content having key influences on deal activity in the sector.

     

    The value of deals in the US entertainment, media and communications sector in 2013 more than doubled, driven by several “megadeals,” according to PwC’s year-end update.

     

    The deal volume year-to-year was relatively stable, the company reveals in its US Entertainment, Media & Communications Deal Insights report, rising by just three per cent to 866, while deal value soared from $96.2 billion to $222.7 billion.

     

    In broadcasting, deal volume rose from 71 to 87, with deal value soaring from $5.8 billion to $26.3 billion, driven by Comcast’s acquisition of GE’s interest in NBCUniversal. Going forward, deal activity in broadcasting is likely to be influenced by the increasing importance of retransmission revenues, as companies look to broaden their geographic reach.

     

    “PwC is beginning to see increased activity from US government regulators around anti-trust, intra-market media ownership and foreign media ownership regulations, which will likely be another market factor influencing deal volume,” the report says in its broadcasting 2014 outlook.

     

    Cable deal volume was stable at 16, but the value of deals fell year-to-year from $9 billion to $5 billion.

     

    Last year also saw 46 deals in film/content, up from 40, with a value of $0.5 billion, down from $9 billion in 2012. The previous year included Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm.

     

    On the 2014 outlook for deals in film and content, PwC says, “The rising value of content has started an industry-wide race to acquire it. Buyers continue to look for ways to bridge the value gap and meet the premiums demanded by content providers through attractive deal structures, beneficial tax structuring and contingent consideration. Recent years have seen several major acquisitions of content assets, and despite the drop in deal value in 2013, the ongoing deal activity is likely to continue. Geographic location will hold no bar as U.S. participants look abroad and foreign players look to the United States for a means to acquire and monetize content.”

  • GE launches new campaign to reinforce commitment towards localisation

    GE launches new campaign to reinforce commitment towards localisation

    MUMBAI: General Electric Company has launched its ad campaign in India with ‘GE Works‘ as the theme.

    ‘GE Works‘ is the company‘s latest global advertising campaign showcasing how GE technology and employees work positively to impact lives of people, customers, communities and the world.

    The new campaign reinforces GE‘s commitment to localisation and improving quality of life. It focuses on developing localised products and solutions for Indian customers across transportation, healthcare, energy and financial services.

    GE approached traditional artists across India to help craft print the different ways in which GE has impacted the lives of people in India. The campaign depicts creative art forms like Patchwork Art, Soura Art, Madhubani Art and Kalamkari Art. These art forms are aligned to the four pillars of ‘GE Works‘ – Curing, Moving, Powering and Building – by which GE contributes to improving the quality of life in the country.

    GE India growth initiatives leader Vishal Wanchoo said, “GE‘s mantra has been to partner in India‘s growth and progress. The people of GE work on developing solutions that positively impact the life of local citizens. The ‘GE Works‘ ad campaign is a representation of the work we do and the core belief that GE and our solutions are relevant only if they benefit our customers and Indian citizens alike. We felt that art, which is integral to the culture of the country, is a great medium to tell our story.”

    The first phase of the campaign focuses on print and digital medium. It will be followed by a healthcare documentary TVC which will be played across select TV channels, captive live-media junctions across hospitals and premium cinema halls in India.

    GE also plans to extend the campaign to out-of-home and airport media in the coming months. The second phase of this campaign will be launched by the end of the current quarter through a TVC.

  • Zee consolidated net skids 30% at Rs 2.21 billion in FY06

    Zee consolidated net skids 30% at Rs 2.21 billion in FY06

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms has posted a 30 per cent fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 2.21 billion for the fiscal ended 31 March 2006, as against Rs 3.17 billion a year ago.

    Total income, however, rose to Rs 14.87 billion, up from Rs 13.3 billion.
    For the last quarter of the fiscal, the company has reported a 27.2 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 675.5 million, as compared to Rs 925.7 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

    Total income, however, rose 10 per cent to Rs 4.1 billion, up from Rs 3.8 billion. The operating profit stood at Rs 761 million, after expensing of initial investments in new activities viz. Zee Telugu, Zee Smile, Zee Sports and others, amounting to Rs 525 million (13.2 per cent of consolidated revenues). As a result, consolidated operating profits of continuing businesses were Rs 1.28 billion. These are higher by 4.8 per cent as compared to the corresponding quarter last year. “The growth rate is subdued mainly due to investments in marketing focused on long-term buildup of mainline channels,” Zee said in an official release.
    On a standalone basis, Zee Telefilms has posted a 54.39 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 740.00 million for the year ended 31 March 2006 as compared to Rs 1.62 billion a year ago. Total Income has increased to Rs 8.84 billion, up from Rs 6.93 billion.

    For the quarter ended 31 March 2006, the company reported a net loss of Rs 132.5 million as compared to a net profit of Rs 370.40 million a year ago. Total income, though, has increased to Rs 2.66 billion, up from Rs 1.75 billion during the period.

    “The business of Zee Sports channel started on 8 June 2005. Zee Sports Ltd is re-organised in ZTL during current quarter and content gathering and space selling activity is retained in Zee Sports through an agency arrangement. Hence the standalone results of the company for current quarter and year are not comparable, said the company.

    Commenting on the results, ZTL chairman Subhash Chandra said, ““We are pleased to report the continuing uptrend in advertising revenues and the strong recovery in our market position. You are aware of the hike in advertisement rates announced by Zee Network, which we are confident would start reflecting in FY2007 revenues.”

    “The Board has also given approval for the hiving off of Zee’s direct consumer business. All DishTV operations would now be under a single corporate entity, bringing strategic clarity to this high growth business. This shall complete the restructuring agenda we had set for ourselves to create four focused, pure play, listed companies ready to exploit the vast emerging opportunities in each line of business. Subject to necessary approvals, this would result in streamlined operations in each area to build long-term shareholder value. It would also clear the ground for acquisitions and strategic or financial partners in the de-merged businesses, apart from unlocking shareholder value,” said Chandra.

    Commenting on the results, ZTL CEO Pradeep Guha said, “While general entertainment (GE) as a genre has posted a 5 per cent decline in time spent, Zee TV has increased its viewership share from 16 per cent to 22 per cent along with a significant growth in time spent. Even within prime time Zee TV is the only channel to have grown, by 21 per cent, while its main competitors have dipped between 7 per cent and 12 per cent. Zee TV now conclusively occupies the second place in the pecking order of GE channels. With an average of 180 GRPs, we are fully 30 per cent higher than the number three GE channel, which continues to be behind Zee Cinema as well.”

    “The cinema space has shown a decline except however for Zee Cinema, which has grown 7 per cent, with a channel share of 37 per cent. Recently we won the BCCI Cricket Rights for the one-day internationals to be held in non-ICC countries.This further strengthens the long term business prospects of the company,” Guha added.

    The Board of Directors in its meeting held today, has taken on record the unaudited consolidated financial results of Zee Telefilms Limited and its subsidiaries for the quarter ended 31 March, 2006.

    REVENUE STREAMS:
    Zee’s advertising revenues increased to Rs 1.96 billion, a 11.7 per cent growth as compared to the corresponding quarter last fiscal. “This growth in advertising revenues was a result of higher average rates on most of the network channels,” the company said.

    Overall subscription revenues at Rs 1.76 billion registered an increase of 5 per cent over the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Domestic pay revenues stood at Rs 717 million. Other sales and services grew to Rs 253 million. “From 2Q FY2006, we are recording the net income component of the trading of set top boxes as part of other income”, the company said in the release.

    EXPENDITURE:
    Overall, the cost of goods and operations went up 44.8 per cent compared to a year-ago period, mainly due to investments made in new channels like Zee Sports, Zee Smile, Zee Telugu and Zee Jagran.

    Personnel costs were 6.5 per cent higher than corresponding period last year. Other costs, particularly marketing expenses have increased by 24.4 per cent. As a result, total expenses were higher by 35 per cent.

    From FY2006, the Company has accelerated its investments in the development and expansion of its network. “This has taken two directions. One, substantial marketing and content improvement initiatives have been put through and second, a number of new channels have been launched, to fill out our content offerings,” states the company.

    “As a result, Zee is in a phase in which the initial investments have been made and expensed fully, while the corresponding revenue build-up is to be realized in the next several quarters. The immediate impact is lowering of operating profits, which we hope to recover in successive quarters through increasing revenues and progressive reduction in costs,” the company adds.

    Zee’s Q4 segment-wise revenues are indicated in the table below:

    OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

    Cable Network
    Zee is looking forward to reinvention of its cable TV business and augmenting revenues. “The cable business is poised to pursue new technology opportunities with renewed focus including ‘triple play’ offerings, digitisation of cable, broadband and other similar initiatives that form the frontiers of cable today. Firm business plans are being given shape and field launch is due to commence shortly. There is more visibility now on the path of transition in the cable business towards digitalization. The recent regulatory and legal developments look set to lead to a roadmap for digitisation initially in the metros,” the company said.

    Direct Consumer Services business
    The DTH subscriber numbers have crossed 900,000 and are growing at the rate of about 2,500 per day. “We are poised to execute market expansion strategies which would lead to a ramp up of subscription from the urban markets, based on value added services not presently available on cable,” the company said.

    At the Bombay Stock Exchange today, the Zee scrip opened at Rs 241.50 and closed at Rs 246.65, after touching a high of Rs 253 and a low of Rs 242.50.