ITV

Tag: IPL

  • BCCI invites third party interest for IPL title sponsorship rights

    BCCI invites third party interest for IPL title sponsorship rights

    KOLKATA: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has invited third parties to express their interest (EOI) in acquiring the title sponsorship rights for the Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL) to be held in the United Arab Emirates from 19 September 2020 to 10 November 2020.

    The rights are available for the period from 18 August 2020 to 31 December 2020. The turnover of the interested third party must be over Rs 300 crore as per the last audited accounts.

    The BCCI confirmed on 6 August that Vivo will not be the title sponsor for IPL 2020 which signed a five-year sponsorship deal in 2018. The title sponsorship is a large source of IPL revenue.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that marketing agency/agents are not eligible to bid and any bid submitted by a marketing agency/agent shall be rejected at the outset,” BCCI added.

    The rights and the product categories will be discussed after the delivery of EOIs, with each third party having submitted an EOI and to clarify, third parties need not include any indicative level of fees for acquiring the rights in their EOIs. 

    “For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that BCCI shall not be obliged to award the rights to the third party which indicates willingness to pay the highest fees in the course of discussions/ negotiations with BCCI after submitting an EOI. BCCI’s decision in this regard will also depend on a number of other relevant factors, including but not limited to, the manner in which the third party intends to exploit the rights and the potential impact of the same on brand IPL as also the fan/ viewer experience, which will be examined/ evaluated by BCCI in the course of discussions/ negotiations with interested third parties who submit an EOI,” BCCI stated. 

    Each EOI has to reach BCCI’s relevant email id by 5 pm IST on 14 August. Any EOIs received after this deadline will not be considered unless BCCI decides otherwise at its sole discretion. Post-delivery of the EOI, BCCI shall inform the rights, product categories and entitlements to the interested third parties. The final bid should be sent to the board between 11 am to 1 pm on 18 August 2020. 

  • “India is not yet developed to venture into TV pay model”: Sri Adhikari Brothers’ Markand Adhikari

    “India is not yet developed to venture into TV pay model”: Sri Adhikari Brothers’ Markand Adhikari

    15 September 1959 saw a small transmitter and a makeshift studio in a corner of Delhi give birth to terrestrial television. Decades later in 1990, India saw the arrival of private television channels. When saas-bahu dramas ruled, SAB TV is credited for putting a smile on the face of the Indian audience with the launch of India’s first and only comedy channel. After acquiring relevant experience in the fields of advertising, marketing and media publicity, Markand Adhikari, along with his late brother Gautam Adhikari, started Sri Adhikari Brothers (SAB) Group – in 1985 as a partnership firm. Later, it went on to become the first publicly-listed television production company in India when it was listed on the BSE in 1995.

    The company initially created regional language programs in Marathi and Gujarati and then moved on to producing Hindi programs on the Doordarshan. With the advent of satellite channels in India, SAB started producing serials for Zee TV. The group had numerous channels like SAB TV (now owned by Sony Networks), Mi Marathi & Mastii. The group made regional channels for rural parts of India like Dabangg, Dhamaal and Dillagi. The duo further forayed into films.

    Sri Adhikari Brothers co-founder Markand Adhikari, in an insightful fireside chat with indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari, got candid about his journey, plan going forward, advertising and subscription model in television and more.

    Edited Excerpts:

    You have been a part of television industry for 40 decades; can you tell us more about your journey?

    When Doordarshan started in India, it only used to telecast an infotainment show called Krishi Darshan. When I was just a teenager, I met then information and broadcasting minister Vasant Sathe to discuss the chances of bringing commercial shows in India just like the west. At that time, he only asked me to look outside the window and asked me what do you see, I said I could see green trees and a colourful world. He explained to me about vision to bring colour television in India which was heavily criticised back then. Somehow, he accepted my proposal to create a show with Shashi Sharma. It started the era of sponsorship programs on television. We did sponsorship programs on Doordarshan for quite a few years then we ventured into regional space with LPTS (Low Power Transmission). We connected to the regional centres of Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Bandini became the first serial for Bombay Doordarshan. We carried a lot of shows for Doordarshan from the mid 80s to 1991.

    My late brother Gautam Adhikari’s name was registered in Limca book of world records for directing the maximum number of shows. I made Commander with Essel Group chairman Dr Subhash Chandra and I learned a lot from him. With the help of Jeetendra Kapoor (veteran Bollywood actor), I met Ketan Somaiya, a Nairobi-based entrepreneur who used to run an Asia channel in London with Amitabh Bachchan. We created a show called Waqt for him for $11,000 per episode and at that time import and export were free. The show had 52 episodes but due to some non-payment issues, the show was stalled at 26 episodes. After this, I again switched back to Doordarshan because Zee never used to give rights to the shows. DD Metro was recently launched where I did popular shows like Shriman Shrimati and All The Best. At that time, it was Rs 1,20,000 for 10-second spots on DD Metro. Doordarshan wanted us to make an afternoon soap within 15 days. I spoke to TV Asia about my 52 episodes out of which I was only paid for 26 episodes. I imported the pending episodes on half of the rate. Starting with 52 episodes I made Waqt Ki Raftaar which eventually had 600 episodes.

    What happened after you listed your company in 1995?

    Due to the Harshad Mehta Scam, the entire stock market suffered until 1998. Finally, in 1999 the economy was witnessing a boom then I realised it is the perfect time to start our own channel. The main challenge was we were always in production. Broadcasting was altogether a new experience. Our financial adviser only gave the plan of Rs 115 crore for the channel but to launch a channel it was too less. Then with the limited amount at my disposal, I started SAB TV in 2000. Again, due to Ketan Parikh’s scam, the economy was in shambles still we managed to run the channel for five years. We were a trend-setter by bringing a niche comedy channel. Sony Networks took over SAB in 2005, which till date is my biggest regret. However, I am happy that SAB is a big brand. After SAB TV we started two news channels Janmat and Mi Marathi which later I sold at a good price.

    What do you think about the future of television?

    Television in India is not going to die so soon, it will at least stay for another ten years. In the typical Indian household, it is still a culture to watch TV together. Most of the people are not aware of the multi-set concept or firesticks. However, one of the benefits with digital channels is that it is moving whereas television is static. Television is appointment viewing, on the other hand, digital is infinite. But digital requires a lot of capital investment. One cannot enter the digital market with a three-year plan.

    Are you looking at OTT content production?

    Our next-generation has already ventured to digital space with a series called Dheet Patangey that was uploaded on Disney+ Hotstar. It is directed by Gautam Adhikari’s son Ravi. My son Kailashnath and Ravi already have close to five shows which are almost done.

    Television is heavily dependent on advertisers; do you think subscription-based models will be a viable option in the long run?

    As far as television is concerned, I think in India most of the channels will be dependent on ad revenue. Also, I believe India is not yet developed to sustain on a pay model. There are broadcasters, MSO, semi-MSOs and then cable operators who collect money from individual households. So it has a lot of loopholes and layers in between which needs to be identified. There is a lack of transparency. At the same time advertising models will not work on digital platforms because audiences are now used to watching OTT content ad-free.

    What are your thoughts on IPL which is expected to happen during Diwali? Also, will it benefit all the channels or only sports channels?

    I believe it is good news; it is creating a moment with the advertising world and advertisers. IPL or any other cricket forms were running in the same manner as it was before Covid2019. Advertising spends were created keeping all the channels in mind; it was just not for sports channels. I don’t think so IPL will impact the revenue of any other channel.

    According to media planners, 30 per cent of advertising spends are kept for IPL, so do you think it will impact other channels?

    It is not a new scenario. In fact, it is a testing time for other channels, where we will get to see how they perform when IPL arrives.

  • #BoycottIPL trends as Vivo retains title sponsorship

    #BoycottIPL trends as Vivo retains title sponsorship

    NEW DELHI: Talk about brand image and India’s favourite sporting tournament, Indian Premier League (IPL), has found itself in a tough spot after the news of it retaining Chinese mobile brand Vivo as its title sponsor came out last evening. Soon after, #BoycottIPL started trending across social media sites. 

    There has been a great rise in the anti-China sentiment in India following the Galwan valley clash between the South-Asian neighbours at the beginning of June. People have been boycotting Chinese goods and the announcement has left a sour taste in the fans’ mouth, who were eagerly waiting for the tournament to start, which was delayed because of the Covid2019 pandemic. 

    BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal reportedly told PTI, "When you talk emotionally, you tend to leave the rationale behind. We have to understand the difference between supporting a Chinese company for a Chinese cause or taking help from Chinese company to support India's cause. When we are allowing Chinese companies to sell their products in India, whatever money they are taking from Indian consumer, they are paying part of it to the BCCI (as brand promotion) and the board is paying 42 per cent tax on that money to the Indian government. So, that is supporting India's cause and not China's.” 

    However, the audience is possibly not buying the logic, as they are swarming Twitter with their displeasure:

  • IPL governing council clears UAE as venue; Vivo as sponsor

    IPL governing council clears UAE as venue; Vivo as sponsor

    MUMBAI: So, the Indian Premier League is moving to the UAE after all. All that it awaits is the official government go-ahead, which is likely to come in the next couple of days or so.  The IPL’s governing council green signaled the holding of the world’s most premium cricket tournament in the UAE on Sunday from 19 September to 10 November.

    The council also approved the retention of all its sponsors including Chinese mobile company Vivo, which has committed to Rs 440 crore annually for five years. The tournament will be played in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi – all of which have world class stadiums.

    Ten of the matches will be played in the afternoon from 3.30 IST while the evening matches will be played from 7.30 pm.

    The IPL governing council agreed that each team will have a squad of 24 while allowing any number of replacements in teams in case players get infected. However, standard operating procedures are being prepared.  The final will take place during the Diwali week, which should augur well for brands and broadcaster Disney Star India as well.

    Fans who have been starved of cricket are clearly looking forward to the recommencement of live cricket starring their favorite Indian players.

    Meanwhile the IPL council has also agreed to go ahead with the women’s IPL, featuring three teams and four matches to be played during IPL Playoff week. 

  • IPL 2020 to be held from 19 September to 8 November

    IPL 2020 to be held from 19 September to 8 November

    KOLKATA: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 has finally got its dates. It will commence on 19 September and the final will be played on 8 November. The T-20 league will be held in the UAE, pending clearance from the Indian government.

    The tournament was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but was postponed indefinitely due to the Covid2019 crisis. Recently BCCI decided to hold the tournament in the UAE as the number of cases are rising rapidly in India. Moreover, ICC postponing the Men's T20 World Cup opened up the window for IPL to be held.

    According to reports, the IPL governing council will meet next week to chalk out the final schedule. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly repeatedly expressed his strong will that the tournament will be held this year. 

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  • Minor changes in Across Genres lists as GECs continue to lose ratings

    Minor changes in Across Genres lists as GECs continue to lose ratings

    BENGALURU: Overall television consumption increased slightly in Week 22 of 2020 (Saturday, 30 May 2020 to Friday, 5 June 2020, week or period under review) according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data as compared to the previous week (Week 21 of 2020). BARC data reveals that TV consumption in terms of weekly impressions increased to 16.4 billion during the week under review from 16.3 billion in the previous week. However, on analysis of BARC data for top 10 or top 5 channels of various genres/languages in the public domain, it seems that GECs’ continued to lose viewership, if not the GEC genre across languages, then at least the top 5 or 10 GEC channels of most languages had lower consumption in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to  Week 21. The top 10 Hindi GECs’ on all platforms, on the Pay and Free Platforms as well as in Urban and Rural India had lower weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the preceding week. The Top 5 Hindi Movies channels in Urban and Rural India saw viewership increase slightly, as did Hindi Movies on the Pay platform. The Top 5 Hindi Movies channels on the Free Platform saw a dip in viewership during the week under review as compared to the previous week.

    News channels and movies channels seemed to be the biggest gainers, and of course, in the case of the Top 5 Kannada channels for which production of new content had begun on June 1, 2020 also gained viewership. It must be noted that the Top 5 News Channels ofthree South Indian languages -Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu had lower weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Hindi and English News channels along with Assamese, Bangla, Oriya and Tamil News channels garnered higher weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. The 2 Hindi Business News channels saw a 25 percent increase in weekly impressions in Week 22 as compared to Week 21 of 2020, while the 3 English Business News channels which have a lower consumption than the 2 Hindi Business News channels saw Weekly Impressions in Week 22 decline 17 percent as compared to Week 21 of 2020.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres declined by 2.9 percent in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. All of the ten channels in the list were the same as in the previous week with some changes in the rankings.

    One of the most significant changes was the Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV slipping to third place with an 8.2 percent decline in weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 from rank 2 in the previous week. Despite a 2.5 percent decline in weekly ratings from the previous week, Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus replaced Sun TV at second rank in Week 22 of 2020.

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres comprised of four Hindi GECs’, three Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were three channels from Star India, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel each from, Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network, Viacom18.  While Dangal is available on both the pay TV and FTA platforms, Zeel’s acquired Hindi GEC Big Magic is FTA. The other eight channels were Pay TV. It must be noted that Dangal, Sony SAB and Zee Cinemagarnered higher weekly impressions in Week 22 of 2020 than in week 21, despite the lower combined ratings of the Top 10 channels in the list.
    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres declined 3.4 percent in Week 22 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Nine of the ten channels in the list in the week under review were the same as in Week 21 of 2020 with some changes in the ranks. One channel – Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors exited BARC’s Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres list in Week 22 of 2020 an was replaced by Star India’s Hindi GEC Star Utsav at tenth place.

    There were three channels each from the Hindi GECs’ and Hindi Movies genres, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kids and Tamil genres in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 19 of 2020.  There were four channels from Star India, two channels each from SPN and the Sun Tv Network and one channel each from Viacom18 and Zeel in the list. While 8 of the channels in the list in Week 22 of 2020 from the previous week’s list had lower weekly impressions, Zeel’s Hindi Movies channels Zee Cinema had higher weekly impressions in the week under review as compared to the previous week.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels on Across Genres

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres shows that the combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels in Week 22 of 2020 were 4.3 percent lower than in Week 21. Nine of the 10 channels in the list in Week 22 of 2020 were the same as in week 21 with some shuffling in the ranks.Zeel’s Youth channels Zing exited the list in Week 22 of 2020 and was replaced by Viacom18’ Hindi Movies channel Rishtey Cineplex.

    There were four channels from the Hindi Movies genre and three channels each from the Bhojpuri and Hindi GEC genresin BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 22 of 2020, There were three channels each from Zeel and Enterr 10 Television, two channels from B4U Network and one channel each from the pubcaster network Doordarshan or DD  and Viacom18 during the period under review.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • Same channels in Across Genres, but TV viewership continues to decline

    Same channels in Across Genres, but TV viewership continues to decline

    BENGALURU: Indian television viewership seems to be declining after the lofty peaks of the early COVID2019 (COVID-19) Lockdown as India enters Unlock 1.0, when compared to Week 4 of 2020. The drop in television consumption continued in Week 21 of 2020 (Saturday, 23 May 2020 to Friday, 29 May 2020, week or period under review) with viewership declining to 16.3 billion impressions during the week under review. However, overall television consumption in terms of impressions was still 12.4 percent more in Week 21 of 2020 as compared to Week 4 of 2020 which had garnered 14.5 billion impressions.

    Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) and Nielsen have set the average viewership data between Weeks 2 and 4 of 2020 as the yardstick to measure television consumption trends during COVID-19 weeks. While the lockdown in India commenced on 25 March 2020, which was midweek of Week 12 of 2020, BARC-Nielsen COVID-19 reports are available for weeks between Weeks 11 and 20 of 2020 at the time of writing of this paper. The author has considered Week 4 of 2020 as the reference week here.

    As is obvious from the chart below, viewership has been dropping over the past few weeks.

    Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres declined by 2.2 percent in Week 21 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. All of the ten channels in the list were the same as in the previous week with some changes in the rankings.

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres comprised of four Hindi GECs’, three Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were three channels from Star India, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN)and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel each from, Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network, Viacom18.  While Dangal is available on both the pay TV and FTA platforms, Zeel’s acquired Hindi GEC Big Magic is FTA. The other eight channels were Pay TV. It must be noted that Dangaland Sony SAB had higher impressions in Week 21 of 2020 than in week 20, despite the lower combined ratings of the Top 10 channels in the list.
    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres declined 3.8 percent in Week 21 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. All of the channels in the list in the week under review were the same as in Week 20 of 2020 with some changes in the ranks.

    There were three channels each from the Hindi GECs’ and Hindi Movies genre, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kids and Tamil genres in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 19 of 2020.  There were three channels from Star India, two channels each from SPN, the Sun Tv Network and Viacom18 one channel from Zeel in the list.
    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels on Across Genres

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres shows that the combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels in Week 21 of 2020 were1.7 percent lower than in Week 20. All the channels in the list in Week 21 were the same as in week 20 with some shuffling in the ranks.

    There were three channels each from the Bhojpuri,  Hindi GEC and Hindi Movies genres, and there was one Youth channel in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 21 of 2020, There were four channels from Zeel, three channels from Enterr 10 Television, two channels from B4U Network and one channel from the pubcaster network Doordarshan or DD during the period under review.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • Dangal continues on top across genres as TV consumption drops

    Dangal continues on top across genres as TV consumption drops

    BENGALURU: Television consumption continued to drop in week 19 of 2020 (Saturday, 9 May 2020 to Friday, 15 May 2020, week or period under review), according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for Top 10 channels on all platforms across genres. However, overall television consumption in terms of impressions was still 24.1 percent more in Week 19 of 2020 as compared to week 4 of 2020. Viewership in terms of billion impressions in week 19 of 2020 was 18 as compared to 14.5 in week 4 of 2020.

    BARC and Nielsen have set the average viewership data between weeks 2 and 4 of 2020 as the yardstick to measure television consumption trends during COVID-19 (Covid2019) weeks. While the lockdown in India commenced on 25 March 2020, which was midweek of Week 12 of 2020, BARC-Nielsen COVID-19 reports are available for weeks between Weeks 11 and 18 of 2020 at the time of writing of this paper. The author has considered week 4 of 2020 as the reference week here.

    As is obvious from the chart below, viewership has been dropping over the past few weeks.

    Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres declined by 4.5 percent in week 19 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Nine of the ten channels in the list were the same as in the previous week. pubcaster network’s flagship Hindi GEC DD National exited the list to be replaced by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) Hindi Movies channel Zee Cinema.

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genrescomprised of five Hindi GECs’, two Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN), Star India and Zeeland one channel each from DD, Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network, Viacom18.  While DD Bharti and Dangal are available on both the pay TV and FTA platforms, Zeel’s acquired Hindi GEC Big Magic is FTA. The other seven channels were Pay TV. It must be noted that Dangal, Star Plus, Big Magic, Star Maa and Sony Max had higher impressions in Week 19 of 2020 than in week 18, despite the lower combined ratings of the Top 10 channels in the list.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres declined 3.5 percent in Week 19 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Nine of the channels in the list in the week under review were the same as in Week 19 of 2020. Here also, DD National exited the list and was replaced by the Sun Tv Network’s Telugu GEC Gemini.

    There were three channels each from the Hindi GECs’ and Hindi movies genre, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the kids and Tamil genres in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 19 of 2020.  There were three channels from Star India, two channels each from SPN and the Sun TV Network one channel each from the DD, Viacom18 and Zeel in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels on Across Genres

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres shows that the combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels in Week 19 of 2020 was 8 per cent lower than in Week 19. All the channels in the list in Week 19 were the same as in week 18 with some shuffling in the ranks.

    Four of the channels were Hindi GEC; there were three Hindi movies channels, two were Bhojpuri channels and there was one youth channel in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 18 of 2020, There were three channels each from Enterr 10 Television and Zeel and two channels each from DD and B4U Network during the period under review.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • After Ramayan, Dangal back as most watched channel across genres

    After Ramayan, Dangal back as most watched channel across genres

    BENGALURU: Enterr10 Television’s flagship free to air (FTA)-cum pay TV Hindi GEC Dangal had to normally battle it out with either the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV, or with the Hindi sports channel that aired India’s cricketing bonanza – the Indian Premier League or IPL live since the implementation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO) in early 2019. The lockdown during Covid2019 changed all that. The edition of the IPL for 2020 has been postponed with no firm date of its playout being announced until the writing of this paper. However, Lockdown 4.0 may provide some relief to the public and the broadcaster – sports grounds will be opened with restrictions and without spectators. 

    Further, pubcaster network Doordarshan started airing is library Mythologies and classical programmes on its Hindi GECs’ DD National and DD Bharti with the advent of lockdown 1.0. Even during their initial weekend runs on Sunday’s in the previous century, roads across the countries emptied as people across languages, religions and faiths had eyes glued to their television sets. Now, suddenly a new generation of the country along with their parents were exposed to these magnum opuses – and note – not once a week, but every day. Viewership of DD National and DD Bharati and along with them, viewership of Hindi GECs’ shot up to all time highs’.

    Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data for week 18 of 2020 (Week 18: Saturday, 2 May 2020 to Friday, 8 May 2020) reveals that the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres comprised of six Hindi GECs’, and one channel each from the Hindi Movies, Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were two channels each from DD, Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Sony Star India, and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network, Viacom 18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel).  While DD National, DD Bharti and Dangal are available on both the pay TV and FTA platforms, Zeel’s acquired Hindi GEC Big Magic is FTA. The other six channels were Pay TV.

    Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly top 10 channels on all platforms across genres list in week 18 of 2020 were same as the previous week with some shuffling of ranks. One channel – the Sun Tv Network’s Telugu GEC Gemini TV exited the list in week 18 0f 2020 to make way for the Star Network’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa. Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Pay TV channels Across Genres

    Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in Week 18 of 2020 were same as in week 17 with some shuffling of ranks. As above, Gemini TV exited the list in Week 18 of 2020 only to make way for Zeel’s Hindi Movies channel Zee Movies.

    There were four Hindi GECs’, three Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu gernes in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay TV Channels Across Genres in week 18 of 2020.  There were three channels  from Star India, two channels each from DD and SPN and one channel each from the Sun Tv Network, Viacom18 and Zeel in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres

    All the channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 18 of 2020 were the same as in the previous week with some shuffling of ranks. Four of the channels were Hindi GEC, there were three Hindi Movies channels, two were Bhojpuri channels and there was one Youth channel in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 18 of 2020, There were three channels each from Enterr 10 Television and Zeel and two channels each from DD and B4U Network. Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • Uday Shankar speaks on IPL and sports post-Covid2019

    Uday Shankar speaks on IPL and sports post-Covid2019

    MUMBAI: It seems like nothing can put this journalist-turned-CEO down. Even as most would have been wringing their hands in despair following the disruption in the way business operates following the Covid2019 effect, Uday Shankar, the head honcho of Disney Star India, is taking things in his stride.

    “We need to break our muscle memory. No matter which business you are in, those who are able to think differently and work backwards from the new reality, they will be able to create much more value,” said Uday Shankar, while interacting with Indian Express about how his company will deal with the fact that its biggest cash cow the IPL has not happened in the 2020 season, and may not happen if the virus continues to wreak havoc in India and the world.

    The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has been mulling over options like finding a date in the calendar when the IPL can be pushed in and how the matches will be played in stadia when distancing and safety regulations may prevent large public gatherings in them.

    Shankar explained that even empty stands during the IPL when it does happen post clearances from various country boards would not be a problem. He pointed out that players could come in, and instead of coming in five days earlier, they could come in two weeks prior and serve the quarantine period before getting on the field. 

    “I don’t buy it when people say, ‘oh, the experience will be incomplete’. Sports has become bigger because people are able to watch it on multiple media. Yes, the presence of the audience at the ground does help to create an atmosphere, so we will figure out ways of creating and enhancing the atmosphere through graphics, audio, sound effects and all that,” he elaborated. “It will be a challenge and we are required to deal with it for the first time. But it will get easier. Look, on Day 1 of lockdown, even using sanitiser and mask was a big disruption. I heard so many people say that they were not able to breathe properly. Now everybody is wearing masks. We will get used to it.”

    He further went on to state that technology will step in and his company was working on ways to get the home-viewing audience’s experiences onto the TV screen.

    “It’s a creative challenge; it’s not a sporting challenge. You watch sports at home on TV or Hotstar. Whenever you’re watching a tense moment, do you not have a very intense expression on your face? So, all we need to do is capture it. And today technology is ready for that. So, you can be at home but you can also be on television,” he said. “Our ability to recreate the same atmosphere for the fans who are watching it from home is limited only by our imagination; otherwise the fan gives you enough opportunity to capture those moments of intensity and excitement. It will be a somewhat different experience but it surely will be as rich, if not richer. If this had happened 20 years ago, without broadband and hundreds of millions of smartphones with cameras, it would be a challenge. Today it’s happening at a time when we’re ready.”

    Shankar believes that the sports bodies are going to be supportive of any initiatives that Disney Star India takes to bring sport back into Indian homes. Said he: “It has hurt us greatly; but it has hurt everybody. So, I won’t read too much into this. Look, first and foremost, we have a contract. We are an honourable company and we will honour it. But you should also understand that sports bodies are also aware of the challenges in the market place… The economy and incomes have taken a hit. And as far as Star and cricket are concerned, it is the goose that lays the golden egg. We have invested more in cricket than any other media company, any time in the world. I think in my experience, all sports bodies and authorities value the fact that our commitment to cricket is so high. If there is a real problem, we will go to them and I’m sure we will get a fair audience.”