ITV

Tag: Hindi

  • How engagement works in the kids’ space

    How engagement works in the kids’ space

    MUMBAI: Kids make our world go around! Quite literally, for channels focused on children as audience, observing their growing influence on choices, preferences and consumption habits of families in India, is a revelation! In this season of holidays when families gather around a TV set, it’s the children who call the shots.

    In 2018, we have witnessed an upward spurt in viewership in the kid’s category, with numbers rising by 10 per cent (from average GRP 499 to 550 GRP)*. The newer entrants in a competitive space of children’ TV programming has actually helped in growing the audience which indicates that more children are opting to watch new programming. Keeping this insight in mind, Sony YAY! is committed to adapting and developing kids’ programming suited to their preferences and such trends help further validate our approach. The consumption patterns that have significantly grown this year further ensures our focus on homegrown toon characters. 

    The 2018 emerging trends clearly reflect that flagship shows and localising content in regional languages pay dividends. Kids’ entertainment channels prosper on the dominance of marquee/flagship shows. 70 per cent of airtime and 80 per cent of GRP for leading channels in India comes from one leading show. Thus reiterating the fact that building a long-term relationship with toon characters, around whom shows, merchandise, and digital engagement are built, being the most effective manner to engage with kiddie audiences.

    While kids treat their favourite characters as their best friends, they prefer watching them on multiple platforms – digital platforms help us fulfil every kid's demand, where we focus on curating content especially for our YouTube channel. Kids are engaged on all the digital platforms through games, shows, contests on social media, etc. thus creating a strong affinity towards their favourite toons. Building upon toon characters and developing them as digital properties have had our audience respond enthusiastically. Using social media also helps in strengthening this relationship. Kids have the world at their feet; we’ve got to keep them engrossed by offering them the best of everything.

    We always sensed that regional language programming for children has potential and outreach. Hence, Sony YAY! produced content in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages, of which we are leading in Kerala and West Bengal since we have the first mover advantage in these two markets. We have adapted to regionalisation effectively and swiftly. 

    Another trend is telefilms and programming with longer duration, keeps kids engaged for a longer time. We’ve produced over 12 films this year at Sony YAY! with each film was well received by the kids. It’s a space that’s waiting to explode and is evolving quickly. 

    The author is business head Sony Pictures Network India, Kids Genre (Sony YAY!). The views expressed here are  her own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.

  • News18 launches Google Progressive Web Apps in Hindi and Bengali

    News18 launches Google Progressive Web Apps in Hindi and Bengali

    MUMBAI: News18, India’s leading destination for news with more than 100 million active viewers per month, has worked with the Google team in India to launch Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) in Hindi and Bengali. For the uninitiated, PWAs are unique Google products that combine the best qualities of apps and websites. So while consumers may be on the https://hindi.news18.com website on their smartphones, via the Google Chrome browser, the website will have the look, feel and functionality of an app. PWAs are much lighter than other apps, they load much faster, consume much less data and storage and are therefore accessible to wider audiences.

    News18 offers content in nine regional languages, in addition to English and Hindi, in order to cater to the diverse Indian audience. “With the exponential growth that the Indian market has seen in content consumption and engagement on mobile, it is important that our products deliver our experiences to every relevant user. Given the accessibility that our multi-lingual coverage offers, our technology is now aligned to the same vision of democratising access to news,” said Mitul Sangani, Business Head, News18 Languages.

    With 80% of News18’s audiences accessing the information on their smartphones, these state-of-the-art PWAs ensure speed of access and reliability under poor network conditions and enhance user engagement. Network18’s Chief Product Officer Avinash Mudaliar confirms that the Hindi PWA, which was released first, has driven significant improvements in performance and consumer behaviour. He said, “Better load times have enabled us to provide a superior user experience. The proof is in the numbers. Users are spending more time on our pages, and engaging more with our content.”

    PWAs also offer the ability for users to subscribe to the publisher’s push notifications. Over 3 lakh users have subscribed to News18 Hindi’s push notifications since it was launched.

    Manish Maheshwari, Network18 Digital CEO said, “Progressive web applications have shown a lot of potential in improving access to quality content in the Indian market. Network18 Digital is one of the largest digital publishers in India, with over two dozen properties across formats in all major Indian languages. Given the success of the News18 Hindi PWA, we rolled out another one in Bengali and will be rolling out more of our other properties in the months to come.”

  • Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord now streaming on ZEE5 in hindi

    Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord now streaming on ZEE5 in hindi

    MUMBAI: ZEE5, India’s largest digital entertainment platform for language content, has announced the release of the popular Columbian drama, Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord. In keeping with its promise of bringing international content in Indian languages, ZEE5 has dubbed the Spanish-language series in Hindi.

    Based on the life of Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar, the series stars Columbian TV and film actor Andrés Parra Medina. The 74-episode series follows the rise of Escobar, from his days as a petty thief to becoming the head of a drug trafficking empire, turning the cocaine trade into a multi-million dollar business and ruthlessly eliminating whoever dared to stand in his way. He was often called “The King of Cocaine” and was the wealthiest criminal in history. The show also brings to light Escobar’s softer side – as a husband and father and a supporter of the poor.

    “Pablo Escobar has been one of the most popular TV shows internationally and attracted record audiences in Colombia when it was aired. We are thrilled to offer it in Hindi on ZEE5, in keeping with our promise to bring the best of content to viewers in the language of their comfort. Real life stories have a distinct appeal and there are few stories that are as sensational as that of Pablo Escobar’s. This is only one of the many premium international shows we will be brining to delight our viewers in India,” said Archana Anand, EVP & Head of Digital- ZEE5 India Business.

    With over 3500 films, 500+ TV shows, 4000+ music videos, 35+ theatre plays and 90+ LIVE TV Channels across 12 languages, ZEE5 truly presents a blend of unrivalled content offering for its viewers across the nation. With its strategic alliances with the best of the production houses across the globe, ZEE5 offers world class content from various countries such as Turkey, Pakistan, United States, United Kingdom, Korea, China, Spain and many more. With ZEE5, the content of Zindagi as a brand, which was widely appreciated across the country, has also been brought back for its loyal viewers.

  • Epic showcase popular travel series ‘Way back Home’ in hindi

    Epic showcase popular travel series ‘Way back Home’ in hindi

    MUMBAI: Continuing it’s endeavor to provide a vibrant and eclectic infotainment experience, EPIC channel has acquired English language series – Way Back Home and reinterpreted it’s narrative for a Hindi audience. Way Back home is a successful and much appreciated web series and EPIC is set to introduce it to a larger base of Indian audiences. The series will debut in Hindi on EPIC, starting 14th March every Wednesday at 10 pm.

    ‘Way Back Home’ is a Himalayan Travelogue centered on Rohan Thakur a.k.a Ronnie a young Himachali who embarks on an introspective journey across the seven valleys of the lower Indian Himalayas. 7 original soundtracks composed & performed by Rohan also form a pivotal part of the show. A visual delight shot across Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, this is a first-person narrative of a young man coming back to the land he grew up in and his travels that help him rediscover himself along with his homeland.

    Way Back Home embraces the spiritual inclinations of this journey and the lesser-experienced revelation of a parallel universe in the Himalayas which evolves through the course of the series, its dynamics, people, myths & legends. The show is not only based on an interesting premise but also informs and entertains through a string of activities brimming with adventure, music, lifestyle, and all the fun inherent in TRAVEL!

    Speaking on the show, Akul Tripathi, Head of Programming – EPIC, said, “As a channel, EPIC is committed to introducing path-breaking and quality content to its Hindi-speaking audiences. Along with EPIC Originals which is the mainstay of our programming, we wish to take a step ahead and be a national platform for content on India which deserves a larger audience. Way Back Home is our very first attempt at taking a show made in English and reinterpreting it for Hindi audience sensibilities. Not only does the language switch help in increasing reach, it subtly makes the show feel like ‘apna’. We are excited about the possibilities of the audience reception in a whole new audience market”.

  • Sony Ten1 starts regional feeds for Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam

    Sony Ten1 starts regional feeds for Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India is all set to launch regional language feeds for Sony Ten1 HD and SD. The languages are Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam.

    It was about time Sony took a bite of the regional apple, an opportunity rivals haven’t wasted time in invading. According to FICCI-KPMG report 2016, regional makes up 33 per cent of India’s TV viewing pie. Sony has already attempted several regional-focused attempts recently such as broadcasting the El Clasico in Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Hindi and Bengali.

    This move will give sports viewers the choice to pick their language any time of the day. The test signal of the Hindi feed was visible during the first test match in the ongoing India versus South Africa series.

    According to sources, the channels will be available on all pay DTH operators and some cable networks. 

    Also Read :

    Sony Ten to broadcast El Clasico in 4 languages

    ISL piggybacks on EPL’s popularity to gain viewership

  • Govt wants all ministry ads in Hindi too

    MUMBAI: Advertisements released by ministries/ departments/ offices and enterprises in English/ regional Languages shall be released compulsorily in Hindi.

    Replying to a question in the Parliament, the minister of information and broadcasting Smriti Zubin Irani said it was the view of the government of India, ministry of home affairs, department of official languages OM No. 20012/1/2017- dated 30.6.2017 which conveys the order of the president of India about the advertisements.

    She was replying to B. Vinod Kumar as to whether the government has asked all ministries and departments to have a Hindi version of every advertisement that they release.

    An earlier separate report stated that a video contest for consumer awareness of the ‘Jaago Grahak Jaago’ multimedia campaign has been announced by the department of consumer affairs to create awareness amongst consumers about their rights and redressal mechanisms available to them as well as their duties. The participants are required to upload video clips of not more than two minutes duration on the theme “Consumer Awareness.” The language of the video clip would be either Hindi or English.

    Also, another unrelated report stated that the rate of ten-second advertisements on All India Radio for the prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ was Rs 2,00,000, the Parliament has been told. This rate is for advertisement booking of AIR consisting of 200 primary channels/local radio stations, 41 Vividh Bharati stations and 30 FM Rainbow and gold channels.

  • Prasar Bharati Board favours separate DD News Hindi & English channels

    NEW DELHI: The Prasar Bharati Board is inclined towards bifurcation of the Doordarshan News channel into two – one for Hindi and another for English. However, the Board has sought the views of Doordarshan before taking a final decision.

    In a recent meeting, Prasar Bharati sources told indiantelevision.com that the Board had felt that having separate Hindi and English news channels would also help to increase its viewership in rural areas for the Hindi channel and in urban or semi-urban areas for the English News as there would be greater variety.

    DD News is the country’s only 24-hour terrestrial TV news channel, as all private channels are satellite-based. The Prasar Bharati board approved the proposal to start a 24-hour news channel in place of DD Metro and it was launched on 3 November 2003.

    The DD News mobile app for Android[ and Apple was launched on 7 May 2015 by then I&B Minister Arun Jaitley.

    Initially Doordarshan had launched a news channel in partnership with CNN, DD CNNi in 1995.

    Later DD again launched its DD News channel by replacing DD Metro in 2003 and assured its availability on terrestrial mode. It telecasts news bulletins daily in Hindi, English, Sanskrit, and Urdu, apart from broadcasting for the hearing impaired.

    It carries a daily evenig bulletin known as Metro News where Delhi links to news readers in Mumbai, Chennai, and Mumbai to give news from their respective areas.

    It also beams a unique bulletin twice a week known as Good News, where it gives news of individuals who take initiative to improve the enviroument and society around them.

    Regional news units attached to different Doordarshan Kendras also telecast daily news bulletins in regional languages. News headlines and breaking news updates are regular features.

  • Guest Column: What keeps broadcasters from cracking factual entertainment

    MUMBAI: Worldwide, the business of broadcast is typically categorized into three verticals: the entertainment piece (GECs, English, Hindi, Regional, Music and other entertainment), the News & Sports piece (mostly events driven and current affairs driven) and the Factual Entertainment piece.   

    Factual entertainment refers to ‘lifestyle’ entertainment and ‘Information & Knowledge’ category. Worldwide it is monopolized by the four majors: Discovery, History, National Geographic and Scripps.

    The business of factual entertainment worldwide commands 11.5% of the audience share while contributing nearly 20% of the advertising sales revenue pie.  This business is seen to be an attractive segment therefore. No major TV broadcaster from India or the Eastern part of the world has yet cracked it. Why?

    In India, the ratios for both the above parameters is approximately 1.5% and 2% respectively.  In terms of audience numbers, even as it is bigger than most of the English News Channels and other English entertainment, the ad revenue contribution remains highly under-performed.

    The way to crack this business requires one to reimagine the business of factual entertainment aben issue.

    Business Insights

    Two insights are important for this business to be understood:
    1.    Brand –Unlike GECs where individual programs pull their own weight, in the business of factual entertainment, the Channel is the brand. Channel = Brand. The shows are incidental. The audience is loyal to the channel and not necessarily to an individual program. The genre provides high engagement value and the audience profile can be decoded from channel personality and hence the advertising brand fits. The brand is expected to deliver certain standards and hence no daily valuations and audience ratings do not matter much.
    2.    Imagery – Not only are the content costs high but the marketing investments are also higher as imagery – leading to perception – is everything. You do not have viewers in this category…you need to create fans.

    Reimagining the Business Model

    The business model needs to be looked at absolutely differently as compared to other segments. The revenue streams need to come from five different sources:
    1.    Pre-Sales
    2.    Co-Production
    3.    Broadcast
    4.    Formats, and
    5.    Syndication

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    In this model, while individual contribution shares may vary, broadcast is seen to contribute no more than 25-30%. The shelf life of content is far longer and investments in quality content need to pay off through several channels as above. Example – Co-production can help set-off high initial content costs. No wonder then that Discovery’s annual content budgets are in excess of a few billion dollars.

    The broadcast players therefore need to decide to invest in Brand and Content as above. Most of all they will need to understand that this business has a long gestation period as getting the three unique factors – Audience communities as Fans, impeccable Brand integrity and cutting-edge Content – right makes the business thrive. Over and above this, the business model needs to follow the Five-Point Strategic approach rather than being looked at as a pure-play broadcast business.

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    (Piyush Sharma, a global tech, media and entrepreneurial leader, created the successful foray of Zee Entertainment in India and globally under the ‘Living’ brand. The views expressed here are of the writer’s and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

     

  • New TVC showcases smart eye Haier AC functionalities in a quirky manner

    MUMBAI: Haier, a global leader in Home Appliances & Consumer Electronics, is ready to welcome the summer season with the launch of its new TV commercial campaign for its recently launched inverter technology, ‘Smart Eye’ air conditioner.

    The TVC went live on television recently and is being aired across all metro cities in six different languages across leading English, Hindi, GECs and other regional entertainment, movies and music channels. The new TVC primarily highlights the consumer centric smart features of Haier’s ‘Smart Eye’ Air-conditioner. Haier partnered with Scarecrow Communications, Delhi as the creative agency for conceptualizing and executing the TVC.

    The story revolves around different characters including renowned actors such as Jugal Hansraj who plays the role of a progressive prince bringing the new Haier AC in the house and the lead character Remotu kaka played by Vaibhhav Mathur. The film has been directed by renowned Ad Film director – Pradeep Sarkar of Apocalypso Film Works.

    The story is of a royal family living in a palace where every member has different demands when it comes to the cooling intensity of the AC and Remotu Kaka holds the utmost responsibility in the house to adjust the temperature, the air throw direction, cooling intensity etc. of the each air conditioner with his multiple remotes. The TVC stars striking characters with unforgettable quirks. From Remotu Kaka who is wearing a jacket loaded with remotes to a Rajmata who plays polo sitting on an electric wheelchair to a king’s family wielding Japanese fans. Not only this, but also the entry of Haier Air Conditioners in the film is quite unique where they are escorted into the palace placed on a series of royal palanquins.

    The commercial details out the user benefits of the ‘Smart Eye’ air conditioner by Haier, which comes with Inverter Technology, energy saving capabilities and is designed to add comfort and convenience to the lives of the consumers.The Cooling intensity and temperature adjustment in an AC is a primary concern many consumers have, but to understand what the human body wants is also very difficult. Therefore, the TVC focuses on the recently introduced ‘Smart Eye’ AC by Haier, which comes with a human sensor where the AC automatically adjusts its cooling efficiency depending on the number of people in the room, their exact position as well as external light conditions. Moreover, the storyline of the commercial also highlights how constant manual adjustment of temperature or cooling intensity leads to wastage of electricity. Thus, with the introduction of Haier’s new ‘Smart Eye’ AC, “Remotu Kaka” does not have to manually adjust the temperature and other functionalities of the AC anymore and his life is now like a cool breeze of air as against the earlier times, when he had to constantly manage various things through multiple remotes.

    The campaign will run across all digital and social media platforms of Haier based on the theme “#Remotukaka”.

    Haier India president Eric Braganza said, “The demand of air conditioners will considerably increase, therefore, our aim is to create a top of mind recall amongst consumers for Haier air conditioners through the launch of this TV commercial. It is targeted towards consumers who intend to upgrade or purchase a new home appliance that is efficient and adds extra comfort to their lives.”

    Scarecrow Communications founder-director Raghu Bhat said “The AC market is getting increasingly cluttered and hyper-active. The first requirement for any communication is disruption and memorability. Hence the story line and the characters in the plot – have to appeal to consumers instantly. That’s why we created a character and a name – “Remotu Kaka” that consumers can remember and talk about. To communicate the propositions of the Smart Eye AC, we have used vivid visual demonstrations that bring alive the differentiated features like 50 feet cooling and Human Eye where the breeze follows a moving person.”

    YouTube Link for the TVC –