ITV

Tag: Indian Idol Junior

  • Sony re-jigs weekend programming for ‘Indian Idol Junior’

    Sony re-jigs weekend programming for ‘Indian Idol Junior’

    MUMBAI: While it may not have found favour with audiences on its fiction fare recently, Sony Entertainment Television is all set to enthrall audiences with the second season of its popular singing reality show format – Indian Idol Junior.

    The show, which will launch on 30 May, will be aired at 8.30 pm on weekends. With this, Adaalat, which was aired from 8 – 9 pm on Sony, will now get a new time slot and will be aired from 7.30 – 8.30 pm. Additionally, Bhanwar, which aired at 9 pm will be taken off air. The show’s last episode will be on 24 May.

     

    Indian Idol Junior, this time round, will see the juniors paying a tribute to the maestros of Indian music at the season’s grand launch. With the success of the first season, Sony Entertainment Television is upbeat about giving talented youngsters this platform to exhibit their talent yet again.

     

    What’s more, the talent quotient for this season has gone several notches higher with the inclusion of actor Sonakshi Sinha as one of the judges.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com at the launch of the show, Sony Entrainment Television senior executive vice president and business head Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “The unique thing about this show is that for the first time ever, we are using a celebrity i.e. Sonakshi Sinha as a representative of the common people. You normally find that the judges are experts in their own fields but with Sonakshi, we want to explore the connect further.”

     

    “With the second edition of Indian Idol Junior, we intend to bring the entire family together and recreate the entertainment quotient of this season substantially while gifting the music industry with some really outstanding talent,” Pantvaidya added.

     

    Sharing insights on her television debut, Sinha said, “Playback singing is unique to Indian cinema. For our films, music is as essential an entity as the story. With every era of movies, there has come a whole generation of musicians who have almost immortalized some movies through the music. I’m really excited and happy to be associated with Indian Idol Junior, a reality show that celebrates music and creates platform for young talent to follow their dreams and reach out to the stars.”

     

    Sony Entertainment Television chief creative officer Ajay Bhalwankar added, “The whole selection process, auditions, theatre took about a year. The gala rounds episodes will go on for fourteen weeks and will have the normal voting system like previous formats.”

     

    Fremantle Media India managing director Anupama Mandloi said, “It’s always been nice to work with this format. We have been doing it for years now and this time it’s special because we found talent across the country – north, south, east and west.  Also in time to come, you will see what surprises this season will bring.”

     

    Sony has brought on board three sponsors for the second season of Indian Idol Junior. While Horlicks is the ‘presenting’ sponsor, Lifebuoy and Aquaguard have associated with the show as ‘co-powered by’ sponsors.

     

    Apart from Sinha, the show will have judges like Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and Shalmali Kholgade. It will be hosted by Hussain Kuwajerwala and Asha Negi.

  • Sony to push digital platform Liv for ‘Indian Idol Junior’ auditions

    Sony to push digital platform Liv for ‘Indian Idol Junior’ auditions

    MUMBAI: It’s time for all the little ones to strengthen their vocal cords and showcase their talent as Indian Idol Junior (IIJ) is back with a bang on Sony Entertainment Television. And this time round, Sony is looking at giving its digital platform – Sony Liv a push via the show’s auditions.

     

    For the first time ever, IIJ will give a chance to the audience to be a part of the auditions through a digital process called Digital Ace.

     

    To take part, all kids have to do is upload their best audio or video performances on the Sony Liv website or the Sony Liv app. A digital jury will review all the performances and will select 12 kids who will be called to Mumbai for the Jury Round. Out of the 12 performances, the top four will get an opportunity to perform in front of the show’s judges.

     

    This second edition of IIJ will be judged by Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and Sonakshi Sinha. Singer Shalmali Kholgade will be the special judge for the auditions. 

     

    The first leg of the auditions kickstarted in Kolkata on 4 April and saw outstanding participation from kids. The city also saw the show bring in a new twist to the audition process with the announcement of digital auditions.

     

    SET SVP and marketing head Gaurav Seth said, “After the over-whelming response received last season, we are delighted to announce the commencement of Indian Idol Junior auditions. We would like to urge all the kids to show their singing talent and be a part of the new season. Digital Ace will only help kids to give the long lines a skip and impress the judges through their audios or videos. It’s definitely an endeavor that will help aspirants all over.”

     

     

    Dadlani added, “I am thrilled to be part of Indian Idol Junior once again. Looking at such talented kids is an inspiration in itself. Kolkata has always given us some of our best contestants and this time too we were not disappointed. We are also looking forward to the performances of the winners of the Digital Ace. We are sure this season is going to be an equally exciting one.”

     

    After Kolkata, the audition process will move to Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai on 11 April, 18 April and 25 April respectively.

     

  • Zee TV sings the right tune with ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs 5’

    Zee TV sings the right tune with ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs 5’

    MUMBAI: Singing, like any other art form, is a talent which comes to the fore very early in life. These seeds of talent are then nurtured and some of them even get a chance to be part of highly-competitive reality shows.

    Right from the country’s finest, budding talent to some of the who’s-who of the music fraternity are wooed as judges. It’s a platform that has grown from strength to strength with each successive season and has struck the right chord right from its very inception.

    Yes, we are talking about none other than Zee TV’s ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’, the first-of-its-kind singing talent search show on Indian television. It has been instrumental in introducing the country to some of its demigods of music over the last two decades. Not only that, it has given a glimmer of hope to countless, aspiring singers, to tirelessly showcase their talent season after season.

    The channel stood tall on the ratings chart when it bought back the fifth season of ‘Li’l Champs’ on 27 December, 2014. And the audiences simply lapped it all up! It therefore comes as no surprise at all, that the premiere week of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs 5’ garnered a stupendous opening of 4,776 TVTs in the very last week of TAM TV ratings.  And so, 2014 closed on a very high note!

    It shot to the top of the table amongst all singing reality shows of 2013-2014. According to TAM TV ratings, other singing shows like ‘Indian Idol Junior’ (2013) on Sony Entertainment Television (SET) opened at 3,777 TVTs and ‘India’s Raw Star’ (2014) on Star Plus opened at 4,521 TVTs.

    Zee TV Business Head Pradeep Hejmadi believes that this ride to success not only hinges on a strong weekday fiction line-up; but it has equally focused on building strong weekend pillars in the ‘Super Weekend’ non-fiction band.

    He goes on to say, “The promising opening to our latest non-fiction property ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs’ only adds to our weekend offering. It has 12 beautiful young voices of India and the larger vision of the show is to lend ‘Har Lamha Nayi Ummeed’ to countless other similarly talented children, to be inspired and hone their latent talents. Let’s hope the journey of each of the ‘L’il Champs’ motivates India’s youth!”

    Moreover, the marketing also paid off well for the channel. An aggressive on-air and off air strategy was done which included promos on TV channels.  A roadblock was executed across news, kids and music channels on the launch day.

     

    To top it all, a high visibility print campaign across key main lines pan-India and high frequency radio plan across key HSM markets was done.

    2014 was an unforgettable year of jubilation for the channel. It made a clean sweep in the fiction genre last year with four of its weekday primetime shows leading the pack in the top 10 fiction launches of the year.

    Likewise, the channel’s fiction line-up has grown from strength to strength with each successive launch. Jamai Raja’s opening episode that clocked in 5,930 TVTs, combined with an opening week average of 5,488 TVTs, made it the highest opening soap in the last two years. The show also emerged as the quickest gainer and attained slot leadership within three weeks of its launch.

    Kumkum Bhagya saw a stupendous 171 per cent growth during its ‘shaadi’ highpoint (first four weeks average: 2,963 TVTs and the ‘Shaadi’ event registered 8,043 TVTs), thereby gaining slot leadership in week 34. The soul-stirring, historic series Jodha Akbar continues to be a consistent slot leader and winner for over a year now.

    “The sustained success of our fiction programming speaks volumes of our relationship with audiences…It has not only evolved but strengthened over the years. Viewers seek refuge in our main protagonists, who give them a ray of hope, as every story unfolds; thereby, bringing to our audiences, a reflection of our core proposition of ‘Nayi Ummeed’,” adds Hejmadi.  

    The spirit of innocent camaraderie, fun and frolic is in the air!  In a hugely competitive format, these cute, gutsy ‘Li’l Champs’ now embark on a historical, musical journey. They will simply floor you with their command over ‘sur’ and ‘taal’ way beyond their years, week after week, leaving you in raptures with mature renditions of songs, that you would least expect little ones to even attempt, let alone have heard of.

     

  • Sony LIV celebrates its 1st Anniversary with an open love letter to its viewers

    Sony LIV celebrates its 1st Anniversary with an open love letter to its viewers

    MUMBAI: Sony LIV, Multi Screen Media (MSM)’s premium video-on-demand service has launched a unique campaign to thank its viewers for the successful completion of its first year. The brand has written an open letter to viewers personifying Sony LIV as the doting partner of the viewer and describing the relationship between the two. The thought was derived from all the gestures couples indulge in when they complete their first year of togetherness like sending each other flowers, chocolates, putting up testimonials on social media, etc. The letter highlights all the high points of the year gone by for Sony LIV and its viewers.

     

    The beautifully-designed letter that put Sony LIV’s gratitude in words was sent to viewers through Facebook and emails. Overwhelmed viewers wrote back expressing their joy at such a warm way to involve them in the celebrations. Messages ranged from thank you notes to congratulatory messages on social media. Some of them read like this: “The letter made be blush, such a sweet gesture from Sony LIV” and “I have been watching shows on Sony LIV right from the start and I can totally relate to the sentiment of the letter.”     

     

    While the first few months passed akin to the honeymoon phase of a relationship, soon Sony LIV began innovating and experimenting to keep its partner interested and engaged. The idea was to give LIV’s viewers breaks that were worthwhile and fun. After all, modern life is all about those little escapes from the mundane. It successfully stayed at the forefront in terms of product development and technological advancements by introducing the iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry applications so that viewers could truly enjoy the brand proposition: “Mazey Ke Break Lo, Kahin Bhi Dekh Lo”. 

     

    Sony LIV also ran various interactive campaigns to create a buzz around its 1st Anniversary. A special logo was created for this occasion, the Sony LIV website held a contest which allowed fans to wish the brand Happy 1st Anniversary in the style of their favourite Sony character. Fans went all out to express their wishes. Some did it in the signature ACP Pradyuman (of the CID fame) way: “Daya Darvaza Todo, Andar Anniversary ka Cake Band Hai, Happy Anniversary!” or in the style of Dr. Hansraj Hathi from Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah: “Arey Komal! Badi Zorose Bhook Lagi Hai, Chalo Jaldi, Sony LIV ka Anniversary Cake Khane! Badhai Ho!”

     

    Also on Facebook and Twitter Sony LIV ran a contest called ‘Gift a Maze ka break’ where people could gift their friends Sony LIV merchandise and movie tickets by tagging them and stating why their friends deserved to win a maze ka break.

     

    The brand came up with promotional videos to drive traffic on the website. Encouraging viewers to participate in the Sony LIVanniversary party from 24th to 31stJanuary where movie tickets, autographed merchandise and gift vouchers were up for grabs.        

     

    Over the past one year, Sony LIV has consistently brought marquee shows from the Sony Network to its viewers on a device that they could access anywhere, anytime. Indian Idol Junior, KBC, Boogie Woogie, Top Gear and other popular shows were brought to the viewers on their preferred device, so that they never had to worry about missing a single episode. The content repertoire expanded over the year to include English shows from AXN and Sports – LIVE streaming of the New Zealand vs India cricket series; thereby catering to different audience groups, both male and female.

     

    Extensive data analysis helped keeping engagement levels high. Innovations such as driving Indian Idol Junior auditions via the online medium and the app, offering the option to vote across all platforms including social media was offered. Also, introducing the play-along gaming application for KBC viewers enabled audiences to become active and facilitated a two-way communication via LIV.

  • Eid celebration on Indian Idol Junior

    Eid celebration on Indian Idol Junior

    MUMBAI: The upcoming gala episode of Indian Idol Junior will see Eid celebration on the sets with Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha as the special guests. The superstars will make an appearance on the show to promote their upcoming film ‘Once upon a time in Mumbai Dobara’.
    Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha will be seen in the upcoming ‘Qawali’ theme gala episode. All the contestants will be dressed in signature ‘Qawali’ attire. They will sing some of the best ‘Qawali’ songs and impress one and all. Sonakshi Sinha will be seen in a festive mood and getting ‘Sewai’ for everyone. She will start by feeding it to host Karan Wahi. Then she will go ahead and distribute it amongst the contestants and Mandira. Imran and Sonakshi will also dance on the song from their film and performing Qawali with the contestants.
    Catch the Eid celebration with Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha on Indian Idol Junior this Saturday August 10 at 8:30pm only on Sony Entertainment Television.

  • Clash of the Titans

    Clash of the Titans

    Sony, on the other hand, is all geared up to strike a chord with family viewers through Indian Idol Junior (IIJ), which will be running for 14 weeks. Title sponsor being Nissan Micra and powered by Horlicks, this new kids singing reality show has Real Fruit, 99acres.com, Kellog’s Oats and Alpenliebe as other associate sponsors. According to the channel, over 6,000 promos spots have been played for IIJ.

    “IIJ has one thing going for it,” says a media observer. “It is commencing at 8:30 pm, half an hour before the rest. This could well work in its favour in terms of it getting viewers tuning into it Whether it will manage to make them sticky will depend on the show’s content.”

    Indian Idol Junior judges Shekhar, Shreya & Vishal will be innovating while dealing with kids on the show

    That is a legacy story, says Sony Entertainment Television (SET) marketing head Gaurav Seth. But what sets IIJ apart from the rest is its brand positioning, he adds. He further elaborates: “It is a brand extension of the very popular Indian Idol format on SET. We believe children have a lot of potential and talent on offer and hence, we wanted to explore this segment and showcase it to pan Indian audiences. We conducted a massive nationwide hunt to search for these kids through our eminent judges and we believe our viewers are going to be stunned with the talent on display through the rounds. Kids have a lot to offer in terms of their innocent, spontaneous and completely endearing actions which makes for compelling television viewing.”

    Sony’s Seth has marketing for Indian Idol Junior covered from all angles

    Launching an extensive campaign revolving around kids, Sony is comprehensively promoting the newest branch of its much loved franchise. Seth explains: “We have executed a huge national communication roll-out to inform TV viewers across India about the show and what to expect. This has been across all major media platforms and has succeeded in building immense recall for the show prior to launch. As it progresses, we believe that the talent on display will continue to attract loyal viewers interested in following the fortunes of their favourite contestants.”

    Sony plans to sustain viewer interest through city concerts, activation and celebrity episodes designed to keep highlighting the high-points in the show throughout the current season. Says Seth: “It has been one of the most popular talent shows on television and we hope to keep the success of its past editions alive with this new and fresher avatar. Indian Idol is a profit maker and the latest offering has received a favorable response from our advertising partners.”

    Zee TV is counting on its all new concept of DID Super Moms derived from one of its most successful properties – Dance India Dance (DID) to do the trick for it. For the first time, mothers, who always have been seen supporting their children in DID, take center-stage in this unique dance reality show focused on moms.

    DID Super Moms team are looking at replicating DID’s success

    Zeel marketing head Akash Chawla asserts: “With DID Super Moms we wanted to capture the emotions of the audiences where a mother is a very important part of our lives and she always played a crucial role in our success. Our communication revolved around the fact that now it’s time for mothers to be in the spot light and we should cheer them and support them helps them to fulfill her dreams.”

    Coming back to JDJ, one of the innovative strategies launched by Colors exclusively for the show is a promotional tie-up with YRF’s upcoming Ranbir Kapoor- Deppika Padukone starrer Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. “We will be running JDJ promos during YJHD. We have targeted 900+ screens in over 40 cities. While in terms of amplifying the campaign with the help of cable TV, we have planned a 10 Day activity in 130 cities and have bought over 1,000 spots,” adds Rajesh Iyer.

    Movie promotions are what IIJ will be banking on too to rope in celebrities and also heighten viewer engagement. Seth reveals: “There will be movie integrations at a later stage once gala rounds begin. We will also form strategic tie-ups with news channels to promote content and/or activation and concerts.”

    Season six of JDJ is being lauded for its aesthetically beautiful promos directed by Colors’ in-house team led by Monica Nair. JDJ is being heavily promoted on the channel with promos not only seen during the ad breaks but within shows as well. “In order to increase the recall value of the viewers, we’re trying this different mode of in-show promotion wherein we show a JDJ promo even before the advertisement break – between the show and the coming – up of the next segment,” asserts Iyer.
    Creatives

    Colors- Marching Ants

    Sony- Leo Burnett

    Zee TV- Draft FCB Ulka

    Sony’s IIJ also has commendable creatives designed by Leo Burnett, with a strong positioning- Gaanon ka wohi jaadu ab bachchon ki awaaz mein. The promos, directed by the creative team at SET along with Fremantle Media, depicting young kids singing old classics have become quite popular. It has been an immensely clutter breaking campaign on all media especially TV with the spots getting high salience and recall,” says Seth.

  • Sony’s Indian Idol Junior auditions open through app

    Sony’s Indian Idol Junior auditions open through app

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television has opened auditions for Indian Idol Juniors.

    Set is inviting singers in the age group of 5 – 15 years to give youngsters a platform to showcase their talent. Parents can now register their child online and upload their performance videos through the app to be shortlisted for an audition in front of the judges.

    The performance videos can also be shared on Twitter and Facebook using the Indian Idol Junior mobile app. To keep up with the action, the app will also feature top audition videos which can be shared with friends.

    With entertainment now increasingly being consumed online, Set sees this step as an exciting platform to engage participants and audiences with.

    MSM SVP – new media, business development and digital/syndication Nitesh Kripalani said, “We want talent from all over India to participate and take a shot at being the first Indian Idol Junior. Now any parent can download the application, and submit their child’s video entry, across all Android and Apple devices. The app will help people connect to the action in Indian Idol Junior and directly participate in the competition, all one click away.”

    The Indian Idol Junior app is available for download on Google Playstore and ITunes free of cost.