ITV

Tag: Jodha Akbar

  • TAM week 42: Zee packs a punch, now at No 2

    TAM week 42: Zee packs a punch, now at No 2

    MUMBAI: In week 42 of the TAM TV ratings, Zee TV props up to number two position with 409,304 GVTs (406,987), whereas Colors sheds and moves down to number three with 384,496 GVTs (407,337).

     

    With a huge rise, Star Plus continues to be the GEC leader with 517,048 GVTs (464,989).  Sab,which was at number six position last week, notched up with 319,214 GVTs (291,781) going back to number four. Life OK ranks fifth this week with 316,904 GVTs (344,750). Sony goes back to six once again with 292,327 GVTs (313,411). Sahara One continues to be at the bottom of the chart with 32,081 GVTs (33,705).

     

    Coming back to the chart topper, Star Plus’s fiction shows have seen a good amount viewership. Thus, its popular show Diya aur Baati Hum scored 9,981 TVTs (9,243), Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai reported 6,819 TVTs (6,032), Pyar Ka Dard Hai generated 6,878 TVTs (6,250) and Saathiya registered 7,007 TVTs (6,314). Epic series Mahabharat too witnessed a rise and scored 4,815 TVTs (4,523). On 20 October, the channel aired Hindi feature film Bhag Milkha Bhag 4,702 TVTs.

     

    Second placed, Zee TV’s fictional offering Qubool Hai witnessed a drop and scored 5,412 TVTs (5,676). Pavitra Rishta generated 4,736 TVTs (4,196). Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke secured 4,660 TVTs (5,085). The channel’s historical show Jodha Akbar noted 8,551 TVTs (8,777). Drama series Do Dil Bandhe Ek Dori Se registered 4,726 TVTs (5,104). On 19 October, its dance reality DID – Dance ka Tashan aired its finale taking its tally to 4,572 TVTs.

     

    Third placed, Colors long running fiction series Balika Vadhu saw a drop in its ratings and marked 5,767 TVTs (6,624), Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon scored 4,230 TVTs (4,157) and Uttaran reported 3,663 TVTs (3,252). Comedy Nights with Kapil lost its viewership and registered 5,228 TVTs (6,518). Much hyped reality show 24 witnessed a slight rise and scored 2,776 TVTs (2,625).

     

    Fourth placed, Sab’s fiction show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah continues to be the channel leader with 7,224 TVTs (6,945). Chidiya Ghar saw a rise and rated 3,386 TVTs (3,096). Lapataganj reported 2,189 TVTs (2,090) and Baalveer registered 2,750 TVTs (2,600). It was a roller-coaster ride for other fictional shows as well.

     

    Fifth placed, Life OK’s top mythological series Mahadev scored 3,316 TVTs (3,416). Do Dil Ek Jaan stood at 1,711 (1,669), Savdhan India rated 2,563 TVTs (2,566). Shapath generated 3,460 TVTs (3,470). Ek Boond Ishq noted 2,673 TVTs (2,551).

     

    Sixth placed, Sony’s long running crime series CID witnessed a drop and recorded 3,229 TVTs (5,292), Crime Petrol too saw a drop and registered 2,940 TVTs (3,423). The channel’s historical show Maharana Pratap generated 2,680 TVTs (2,772). KBC garnered 3,796 TVTs (3,960). New reality series The Bachelorette India stood at 1,875 TVTs (1,888). Other fiction shows either held on to their viewership or dipped marginally during the week.

     

    In the movie channel genre, Zee Cinema reported 205,828 GVTs (196,371); Star Gold witnessed a fall and registered 179,697 GVTs (192,339) and Movies OK scored 116,200 GVTs (115,017). On the other hand, &pictures garnered 64,687 GVTs (62,839), Zee Anmol notched up and rated 52,080 GVTs (47,173) and Max scored 199,906 GVTs (177,170).

    Let’s see what’s in store for the channels in the coming weeks.

  • Zee’s digital plan: Apps for all

    Zee’s digital plan: Apps for all

    The title of Zee TV’s latest primetime offering – Connected Hum Tum – inadvertently spells out the predicament most general entertainment channels (GECs) find themselves in today.
    Indeed, be it a Sony Entertainment Television, Star Plus, Colors or Zee, given the increasingly competitive TVT scenario, every channel today faces the continual challenge of staying connected to stay in the minds of its audience.

    Zee TV has differentiated its digital presence based on the kind of shows on air. Right from religious, musical, self-help to horror programmes, says Akash Chawla

    So, how do channels go about cracking this rather tough nut? How do they perfect the science of understanding viewer habits amidst the growing clutter of GECs? Apparently, they’ve found the perfect solution in social media.

    True. From being just an informal platform for friends to chat and share pictures, social media has evolved into the most preferred medium to stay connected and TV channels are no exception to this norm.

    In fact, indiantelevision.com kick-started its digital series in a bid to understand the individual digital strategy of each television channel within our purview. After a close look at the digital strategies adopted by the likes of Sony Entertainment Television, Star Plus and Colors, we now take a sneak peek at the digital approach of Zee TV.

    With a slew of social media initiatives including mobile apps and missed call theory incorporated into its reality shows, Zee TV has tried to stay on top of its game as far as remaining connected with its audiences. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer…

    A finger in every digital pie

    Zee TV’s tryst with the digital space began in 2009 when it launched its official channel on YouTube.

    Today, the YouTube channel boasts 613,650 subscribers, with over 428 million views of the 30,950 videos, making it one of the most viewed channels on YouTube.

    Episodes of daily soaps like Qubool Hai, Pavitra Rishta, Jodha Akbar and Punarvivaah as well as reality shows like Connected Hum Tum and Dance India Dance Super Moms are regularly uploaded on the YouTube channel. These apart, “Episodes of previously aired popular soaps like Chhoti Bahu, Star Ya Rockstar, DID Li’l Masters 2 and Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli are also made available on it,” informs Zee marketing head, national channels, Akash Chawla.

    The mainstay platform of Zee has web exclusive content, photo galleries, polls, full schedule of the shows and much more

    Apparently, “Qubool Hai – the sweet, light-hearted love story of Asad and Zoya and their families leads the pack on the Zee YouTube channel,” reveals Chawla, adding, “We get an average of 1,60,000 views per episode of Qubool Hai uploaded on our YouTube channel.” Pavitra Rishta follows suit with an average of 50,000 views per episode

    Apart from the YouTube channel, Zee TV keeps its viewers updated about the cast of its shows, teasers of upcoming episodes, and show launches through its official Facebook page that boasts 422,915 likes and more than 23,500 fans in constant discussion.

    “Even our shows have a huge following with pps that engage the audience. Dance India Dance for instance has 503,700 likes with 13,000 plus active followers,” gushes Chawla, adding, “The last season of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa attracted 0.15 million likes, and the number of active users went up to 8,000 while the show was on-air.”

    Hum, tum aur social media

    Zee’s latest primetime offering Connected Hum Tum is the latest in its endeavours in the digital space.

    Even before the show premiered on television, Zee created original parallel online content to promote it.

    Short comic videos were created with the central theme of ‘Men Who Understand Women’ Society. They all had a crew turning up during scenarios where the man is clueless about what has upset his woman and provide him with remedial measures. Parodies of real-life situations, the videos all but left the audiences in splits.

    A month prior to the show launch, Zee created a wave of curiosity around it through daily teaser posts on Facebook and Twitter. These built intrigue around the show’s novel concept and the identity of its celebrity host.

    Ultimately, “When Abhay Deol was revealed as the host, the social media space kept buzzing with pictorial posts of the actor with his tongue-in-cheek commentary about women and how he just cannot understand them! The title song of the show – a fresh, catchy video featuring the actor, was launched on YouTube and all other video platforms alongside its on-air launch,” Chawla informs about Zee’s social media strategy during the launch of this show.

    He points out that on the anvil are live chats with Abhay on Twitter, Google hangouts with the participants and live tweeting during the telecast of an episode with an on-air twitter feed – all to drive increased viewer interactivity and participation.

    Zee TV has also created a YouTube gadget, which serves as the primary engagement platform for audiences to consume Connected Hum Tum online. It has episodes, uncut videos, a discussion forum on the themes of daily episodes, and video biographies of the six protagonists – all updated on a day-to-day basis.

    Going a step further, Zee TV has differentiated its digital presence based on the kind of shows on air. “Right from religious, musical, self-help to horror programmes, we have apps for all,” informs Chawla. “When Ramayan was first telecast on Zee, the channel launched a virtual Ram Mandir app on Facebook. This helped people to perform virtual aarti. We got an impressive 10,000 page views for this app, within the very first week,” he says.

    Similarly, when Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012 was launched, Zee TV introduced the Call and Sing app, allowing fans to record their songs and post their recording either on their own walls or friends’ walls. “This was a way to engage people, as they could now showcase their singing prowess to their friends and Zee TV followers alike,” Chawla reveals.

    It doesn’t end there. Zee TV’s Twitter handle, @ZeeTV, has nearly 73,233 followers. Interactions are usually driven by the channel and picked up by followers. Fans who are interested in behind-the-scenes gossip are kept updated through live tweets.

    Exults Chawla: “Our comprehensive digital presence is further topped by the official website www.zeetv.com. This being our mainstay, we use all other platforms to drive traffic towards the website, which is complete with a picture gallery, video uploads, trends, show trivia, news and discussions and much more.”

    During the audition of Dance India Dance 3, Zee TV went to the extent of allowing online entries. “We recorded a whopping 50,000 participants registering for auditions with votes reaching a cumulative figure of 1.75 lakh,” says Chawla.
    Mobile’s the way to go

    With Ditto TV, users can watch movies, television shows, sports and latest news and updates, at their own convenience, even when away from home says Manoj Padmanabhan

    The launch of Ditto TV on 29 February 2012 marked the channel’s foray into the mobile space. Ditto TV was unveiled as an Over-The-Top TV (OTT) distribution platform offering live TV channels and videos-on-demand (VOD) to consumers on their mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, entertainment boxes and connected TVs.

    About Ditto TV, Zee business head, new media, Manoj Padmanabhan, says: “With Ditto TV, users can watch movies, television shows, sports and latest news and updates, at their own convenience, even when away from home.”

    The platform has a Movies-on-Demand section with close to 500 Hindi, English and regional movies, and a vast library of videos-on-demand from popular TV shows such as Hum Paanch, Saath Saath, MTV Coke Studio, MTV Bakra and Comedy Nights with Kapil as well as online content. 

    “What’s exciting is that users can watch missed episodes of their favourite on-air shows from Zee TV, Colors and other regional channels on Ditto TV within a few hours of their telecast on television,” Padmanabhan informs.

    With a presence across mobile platforms such as Android, iOS, Symbian, Windows 8 and Blackberry, Ditto TV has 65,210 likes on Facebook and 1,420 active followers on its Twitter handle – @ditto_tv.

    Padmanabhan reveals that they recently launched an innovative teaser campaign on the Zee YouTube channel comprising interactive videos to give a fresh twist to the concept of ‘anytime viewing’. He is quick to point out that though currently, most of their traffic is from India with only 10 per cent of their base being international users they plan to expand their international presence this year.

    Zee’s YouTube page has all the popular shows and gets more than 40,000 average video views per episode

    Zee’s next big initiative in the mobile space came with the launch of the Dance India Dance (DID) mobile WAP site and mobile app, which coincided with the third season of the show. This made DID the first ever reality show on Indian television to be present as an application on all mobile and digital platforms.

    In March 2012, within three days of unveiling it, the app reported more than 10,000 downloads and rated 4.5 out of 5 on the Android app store – a very competitive score, considering the Android store is an open platform and the reviews therein are all user-generated.

    About the overwhelming response, Chawla says: “The interactions with popular judges and contestants of the show made the mobile application go viral in the digital space, setting new benchmarks with 2,12,852 WAP site page hits, 18 lakh page views and 14,642 comments in the ‘live comments’ section within months of its launch.”

    Not only did the DID 3 app become a major hit in India but also in 25 other countries including the US and the UK. “It reinforced the fact that mobile marketing is the best way to capture the youth and the tech-savvy generation of smart phone and feature phone users,” points out Chawla.
    Riding on the success of the DID 3 app and following the overwhelming response to the initial episodes of DID L’il Masters, the app was converted to its DID l’il Masters avatar in May 2012. This actually made users come back for more.

    Zee TV constantly updates its Facebook profile with pictures, polls and snippets

    “Features like live chats and personalised dance tutorials with masters and skippers were introduced along with regular updates. A built in missed call feature allowed users to vote for their favourite contestants,” says Chawla, adding, “There was an increase in the number of users with the official download count crossing three lakh downloads across all four platforms.”

    To top it all, the app won accolades from the marketing fraternity when it won a Gold and a Bronze at the Smarties 2012 and MMA Global for being the best mobile app and the missed call feature, respectively.

    “The missed call feature recorded a landslide 56.1 million votes just through DID Li’l Masters 2,” informs Chawla. Overall, Zee recorded a one million download mark among Hindi GECs for its non-fiction shows, demonstrating the success of its mobile app revolution.

    While it may be safe to say Zee has been pressing all the right buttons digitally speaking, let’s see what does the channel comes up with next considering creativity never ends in this space

  • Immortalize your lovers name on ‘Virtual’ monuments

    Immortalize your lovers name on ‘Virtual’ monuments

    MUMBAI: Love birds can now stop inscribing their names on heritage monuments. Instead, use the ‘virtual‘ heritage monuments to immortalize your love. Jodha Akbar, the historical magnum opus aired on Zee TV has launched a Facebook app that allows couples to do just that.

    The show through the app will support the preservation of the vast Indian heritage. The app gives users a choice between four different monuments where they would like to have their names inscribed.

    Once the user has typed their name and the name of their partner, the app gives them a choice between posting an image of their ‘immortal space‘ on their Facebook page and sending their significant other a more detailed love note via a message.

    The app provides lovers with an interesting space to express their love in the virtual arena

    “Very often, one finds people in India using the facades of national monuments to engrave their names alongside their lover‘s as a sign of eternal love. However, it is important that India takes adequate and timely measures to conserve its national heritage rather than allow its own citizens to deface historically significant monuments with graffiti. This is what prompted us to come up with a unique solution whereby we provide lovers with an interesting space to express their love in the virtual arena,” says Zeel head-marketing, national channels Akash Chawla.

    Besides the app, Zee TV‘s marketing campaign for ‘Jodha Akbar‘ has seen several innovative initiatives. In the pre-launch phase, the channel created boards on Pinterest to familiarize viewers with the architecture, monuments, artifacts, clothes and jewellery from the Mughal era.

    The channel also plans to organise edutainment excursions for school children where they will watch the shoot of the show and be taken on a guided tour of the ‘Jodha Akbar‘ sets that resemble Jodha and Akbar‘s palaces, showcasing replicas of the costumes, jewellery, weapons used in the Mughal era that are currently being used in the show.

    The app can be accessed on Zee TV‘s official Facebook homepage https://www.facebook.com/ZeeTvIndia

  • Jodha Akbar: Ekta Kapoor’s & Zee TV’s historical romance

    Jodha Akbar: Ekta Kapoor’s & Zee TV’s historical romance

    They have become the in-thing and they seem to be working just like their cousins – mythological series – are. We are referring to historical shows on television. Following closely on the heels of Sony Entertainment‘s Maharana Pratap which was launched on 27 May 2013, is Zee TV which is set to premiere the old time romantic tale of Jodhaa Akbar on 18 June at 8.00 pm. The story was interpreted on the big screen under the crafty hands of helmer Ashutosh Gowariker, and most lovers of cinema are familiar with that.

    Rajat Tokas as Akbar and Paridhi Sharma as Jodha strike a pose

    But TV czarina Ekta Kapoor says that “the beauty of Indian history remains open to perception and interpretation.” And it was this that encouraged her to take up the challenge of producing the show under the banner of Balaji Telefilms. 

    The magnum opus historical will capture the intriguing journey of love that, in fact, began with intense hatred.

    How Jodha’s love softened the hard edges of Akbar’s personality and made him a kinder, more compassionate soul forms the crux of Zee TV’s Jodha Akbar which is set to replace Rab Se Sona Ishq.

    Balaji Telefilms has churned out shows in all genres such as drama, romance, thriller, horror and even kitchen politics. Jodha Akbarmarks Kapoor‘s maiden encounter with history (if you exclude the disaster that was Mahabharat on NDTV Imagine) and she says she is ready to take any sort of criticism that comes her way.”It‘s a huge risk I am taking,” says Kapoor. “But I love taking on challenges. Balaji is the premier TV production house in the country and this will be shown through Jodha Akbar.“

    Santram Verma who has previously directed a thriller drama show titled Kaahin Kissii Roz on Star Plus and has also helmed the movieKrishna Cottage (2004) to his credit will be occupying the director’s chair for Jodha Akbar.

    Says Verma: “Viewers will get to see a very strong love story for the first time in a historical show. A similar period drama Jhansi Ki Rani on Zee was a huge success and we expect a similar response for Jodha Akbar as it has a very innovative storyline that will touch the hearts of many.”

    The brains behind the creative‘s – Sujata Rao

    Scriptwriter Rajesh Joshi is penning the epic series, following eight months of research, courtesy Bodhisattva, who is the man behind scores of historicals and mythologicals. Prakash Kapadia, who has written for films likeDevdas (2002), Black (2005) andSaawariya (2007), is writing the dialogues.

    Sujata Rao, a master of her art, and of known for her work for Jhansi Ki Rani and Veer Shivaj has been hired to creatively direct Jodha Akbar.

    Says Rao: “We are going to be a lot more different and innovative when it comes to creativity of the show. We are penetrating equally into the characters, scenes and inter-personal relationships be in terms of father who is a king and his daughter. How they behave behind the doors, how the father talks to his daughter not being a king, these things are not going to be typical. We have gone into the depth of the history. am sure the show is going to be unique in its own way. With the help of Bodhisattva, we have managed to make a good historical set for Jodha Akbar.”

    Ekta Kapoor talks about her comeback on Zee with Jodha Akbar

    Says Kapoor: “Zee is my lucky mascot. I started my career withHum Paanch on Zee. I followed withKasamh Se a huge success. The story of Jodha and Akbar is an intriguing chapter from India’s history. It speaks of love in the time of hate. It is relevant and relatable to present times as well. In India, history books are more incident-based. But we are looking at human stories, characterisations that focus on inter-personal relationships, politics, how they think and communicate.”

    Nearly 11 episodes have been filmed in scenic locations of Jaipur at Sawai Madhopur‘s Nahargarh Haveli (the schedules ran for almost a week) followed by another stint at Kolhapur and finally at the grand ND Studios in, Karjat.

    Heavy investments have been put into the sets, with lots of detailing to rightly depict Akbar’s grand ‘Diwaan-e-khaas‘, ‘Diwaan-e-aam palace‘s and ‘Jodha Mahal‘.

    Kapoor further reveals that history gives a roadmap, incidents, experiences, various dates, and a broad structure of what happened in the past. To add on further, Ekta says, the creative team has been her strength for it is they who are adding colors to the characters and relationships.

    The cast of Jodha Akbar is all set to ‘recreate‘ history

    Prithviraj Chauhan fame Rajat Tokas will be playing Akbar, while Ruk Jaana Nahin second lead fame Paridhi Sharma being his Jodha. Ekta travelled across the country and attended every audition personally to hand-pick the right actors for the roles of Jodha and Akbar.

    In the young and handsome Tokas, Ekta has found the ideal blend of boyish innocence and rugged manliness required for Akabr, says she. She adds: “He is quite mature as an actor. He is an expert in martial arts and horse riding, so he was the perfect choice for her.”

    Ekta went through as many as 7,000 auditions during the course of a nationwide hunt before she gave her final nod to the beautiful Paridhi. Other in the ensemble o the show include prominent actors such as Ashwini Kalsekar playing Mahamanga, a pivotal mother figure in Akbar’s life who saved him from the clutches of death on many an occasion. Chetan Hansraj has been chosen to portray Adham Khan, the mighty son of Mahamanga who has an eye on the Mughal throne.

    Zeel Head Content – Ajay Bhalwankar

    Zeel head content Ajay Bhalwankar states: “Our experience with Jhansi ki Rani gives us the conviction that viewers in India are curious to know more about prominent historical figures. It was a story that was received extremely well because it was told interestingly. The key objective is to highlight to our audiences the power of love and its significant role in making someone a better human being. And on top of that we have a wonderful team consisting between 800 – 1000 who have been working thick and thin for the show. So it will work very well with the audiences at large.”

    He further reveals to indiantelevision.com that the show is going to be the most expensive ever produced for Indian television right from the sets at different locations, costumes, jewellery, weapons and so on.

    Zee TV is leaving no stone unturned in terms of marketing and digital activities. The channel plans to create a virtual historical monument on Facebook giving online users a chance to immortalise their love by inscribing their and their lover’s names on the monument.

    Moreover, Zee intends to create Pinterest boards, familiarising viewers with the architecture, monuments, artefacts, clothes and jewellery from the Mughal era. To top it all, it will also organise edutainment excursions for school children where they will watch the shoot of the show and be taken on a guided tour of the Jodha Akbar sets that resemble Jodha and Akbar palaces, showcasing replicas of the same.

    The channel has tied up with the local Delhi authorities and plans to make the toll booth on the DND Flyover toll-free on 18 June in remembrance of the fact that Emperor Akbar had waived off a pilgrimage tax for all countrymen in his time. Plans are to have stalls serving sherbet outside prominent dargahs in Uttar Pradesh as a goodwill gesture on the launch day.

    Jodha Akbar is going to come up against other long-running fiction series like Balika Vadhu on Colors (2.8 TVR) and newers ones such as Anamika on Sony (0.8 TVR) and the upcoming show Meri Bhabhislated to debut on 17 June on Star Plus.