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Tag: KaanPhod

  • Vh1 announces two new shows ‘Vh1 Unleashed’ & ‘PopCurry Rice’

    Vh1 announces two new shows ‘Vh1 Unleashed’ & ‘PopCurry Rice’

    Mumbai: Vh1, Viacom18’s international music and English entertainment channel, has announced the launch of its newest original show, ‘Vh1 Unleashed’, premiering on Thursday, 22 August 2024, at 10:00 pm. This new addition joins ‘PopCurry Rice’, which premiered earlier this year along with the launch of its anime content segment ‘AniNation’ to its dynamic lineup. With these new additions, Vh1 is elevating its content offering providing even more diverse and engaging content, while opening fresh avenues for brands and sponsors.

    In collaboration with Alpha Zegus, ‘Vh1 Unleashed’ promises to revolutionise the gaming landscape on multi-platform. The show offers an immersive experience, delving into how gaming serves as a therapeutic outlet, enabling individuals to tackle personal challenges and find empowerment. The show’s core message, “Slay Your Demons” symbolises the power of gaming to help people confront and conquer personal struggles. With segments including gameplay walkthroughs, gear reviews, and in-depth interviews with top gamers like Harsh Khelraay, Jimmy Gaming, Game Strange, and Kushal Mahajan, Willy Gaming and Chirag Nangru. ‘Vh1 Unleashed’ not only caters to gaming enthusiasts but also opens doors for diverse brand collaborations and sponsorship opportunities.

    The first episode, airing on 22 August and will spotlight Toaster Roaster, followed by Psy Gaming, and Meow16k. Repeat telecasts will be available on Saturday and Tuesday at 10:00 pm.

    ‘PopCurry Rice,’ which premiered on 18 May 2024, continues to serve up the freshest in independent Indian pop music. This genre-fluid music block showcases both popular and emerging artists, including Armaan Malik, Kayan, Yashraj, Zephyrtone, Chirag Todi, and Perp. ‘PopCurry Rice’ is not just a music show; it represents Vh1’s foray into local pop culture, featuring indie artists and their unique sounds, and reinforcing the channel’s dedication to diverse and dynamic content. Alongside, Vh1 celebrates the vibrant world of Japanese anime with ‘Vh1 AniNation’, catering to its immense popularity in India and featuring compelling storylines, genres, and music that resonate with audiences.

    Viacom18 business head, youth, music, and English entertainment cluster Anshul Ailawadi said, “Vh1 is always at the forefront of innovative, audience-centric programming. With the launch of ‘Vh1 Unleashed’, and recent shows ‘Vh1 PopCurry Rice’ and ‘Vh1 AniNation’, we are bolstering our robust slate of original lifestyle content across multiplatform, tapping into the evolving micro- and macro-trends of our audience. This offers a dynamic playground for diverse brands and sponsors to reach a wide audience.”

    On the launch of Vh1 Unleashed, Alpha Zegus founder Rohit Agarwal said, “Collaborating with Vh1 on ‘Vh1 Unleashed’ is an exciting and transformative opportunity for us. Vh1, with its established reputation for innovation, is taking a bold leap into the gaming world, showcasing how gaming can inspire and connect people. This partnership not only reflects the growing influence of the gaming community but also allows us to bring our expertise to a platform that’s set to revolutionize how gaming is experienced and celebrated. We’re thrilled to work together and create something unique that will resonate deeply with gamers across the country, offering them an enriching and engaging experience.”

    With Vh1 ‘Unleashed’, ‘PopCurry Rice’, and ‘AniNation’, Vh1 is broadening its programming to cater to wider audience, from gaming enthusiasts and pop culture lovers to animation fans. This expansion paves the way for fresh brand partnerships and exciting new opportunities, solidifying Vh1’s position as a leader in delivering diverse and engaging content. As Vh1 continues to grow and innovate, it remains committed to providing exceptional entertainment while offering valuable opportunities for its partners.

    Explore the world of Indian independent pop music with PopCurry Rice, stunning animation via AniNation and the dynamic gaming ecosystem with Vh1 Unleashed, only on Vh1, JioCinema, and Kaanphod YouTube channel.

  • Sociowash bags digital mandate for Viacom18’s music and English entertainment brands

    Sociowash bags digital mandate for Viacom18’s music and English entertainment brands

    Digital marketing agency Sociowash has won the digital marketing mandate for Viacom18’s music brands MTV Beats, VH1 and KaanPhod, English entertainment brands Colors Infinity and Comedy Central, and multiformat content destination Fully Faltoo YouTube channel, with NFT marketplace fullyfaltoonft.com. 

    Sociowash will be responsible for reinforcing each brand’s digital presence by conceptualizing relevant content that users can engage with daily. In addition to that, the agency will also work towards creating content that not only reiterates the quirky vibe of the brands but also emphasizes on creating dynamic and thought-provoking content for its viewers. This partnership will serve to further enhance the digital presence of Viacom18’s Music and English Entertainment brands, multi format content destination Fully Faltoo YouTube channel and fullfaltoonft.com.

    All these responsibilities will be taken care of by the Mumbai branch of the Sociowash. The aim for Sociowash will be to synergize with these youth-centric brands and create active digital media content across all social platforms. Collectively, the brands under this mandate offer content across genres including comedy, music, snackable shows as well as Fully Faltoo NFT marketplace.

    Viacom 18 marketing head for youth, music and English entertainment cluster Utsav Chaudhuri said, “With a unique mix of multi-genre and multi-platform content, our brands MTV Beats, Vh1, KaanPhod, Colors Infinity, Comedy Central are synonymous with pop-culture, and our new brand Fully Faltoo along with its NFT ecosystem will leverage the emerging pop-trends. With Sociowash, we aim to further strengthen our digital strategy for our content to reach and engage with the youth.”

    “We at Sociowash have always believed in adding value to brands and maximising the digital footprint. After having done the same for the Viacom 18 network we are extremely delighted to have their YME cluster on board with us. Creating strategies that will resonate with the target audience, while using marketing for the good is what will positively help us and Viacom 18 reach greater heights,” commented Sociowash co-founder Pranav Agarwal.

  • Viacom18 launches promo for music platform ‘KaanPhod’

    Viacom18 launches promo for music platform ‘KaanPhod’

    Mumbai: Viacom18’s youth, music and English entertainment cluster has launched a promo film for its recently announced artist label and music platform ‘KaanPhod.’  

    The new division will offer language-agnostic music-centric content across multiple digital as well as major audio streaming platforms including Hungama, Wynk, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Jio Saavn, Resso, and YouTube.

    ALSO READ | Viacom18’s YME cluster launches new business division ‘KaanPhod’

    “KaanPhod, aims to be the number one destination for artists and music discovery,” said the statement. “Music enthusiasts can dive into all things music – from original tracks of emerging artists, unscripted shows, to documentaries on renowned music personalities, international music trends, masterclasses and even live jam sessions with India’s favourite artists.”

  • Creating content for ‘FullyFaltoo’ is creatively liberating: Anshul Ailawadi

    Creating content for ‘FullyFaltoo’ is creatively liberating: Anshul Ailawadi

    Mumbai: Viacom18’s youth, music and English entertainment (YME) cluster which operates the channels MTV, MTV Beats, Comedy Central, Colors Infinity and Vh1, has added two more brands to its roster including short video destination and NFT marketplace ‘FullyFaltoo’ and its music division ‘KaanPhod.’

    The cluster garnered 9.8 billion impressions across its TV and social media platforms and its sports content clocked a watch time of 80 million viewing minutes in 2021. The 2021-22 season of La Liga garnered a cumulative reach of 14 million which is more than the reach of UEFA Champions League. NBA, broadcast on MTV and Vh1, saw almost 50 per cent of its audiences coming from rural markets. Viacom18 is planning to launch a full-fledged sports channel that brings to question whether sports content will remain on MTV.

    The YME network is bringing a fresh season of “MTV Roadies” this time held in South Africa and the second season of its music reality show “MTV Hustle.” Comedy Central has added seven new English shows that have never been viewed in India to its programming. The cluster also announced the launch of a new IP called “The Inventor’s Challenge” on the English entertainment channel Colors Infinity. The production of the show is underway.

    Spearheading the expansion of the cluster brands on digital and its fresh content slate is Viacom18 head – YME cluster Anshul Ailawadi. He spoke to IndianTelevision.com on his outlook on sports, English entertainment, NFT, and entering the music IP business.

    On relaunching the FullyFaltoo brand

    FullyFaltoo is one of our very own brands that we’re reviving. The thing about MTV is that people are used to seeing a certain kind of content and perspective on MTV. We may or may not always do that with FullyFaltoo. It is creatively liberating to have a different platform. You have some recall but not too much baggage. The team can push the envelope in a way that they might not have necessarily been able to do for MTV. That’s because you’re creating on a clean slate.

    For young people, narratives can vary and you can tell a story in 30 seconds, three minutes, or eight minutes. Fully Faltoo is our attempt at that. It is basically digital-only fun content. The content will be available across all video platforms whether it is YouTube, Facebook, or our own OTT Voot and Jio. We have over a dozen shows in the pipeline and in the coming months, you’ll see us drop at least three to four episodes per week on FullyFaltoo.

    The team behind FullyFaltoo is a mix of people who’ve been working for the cluster for some time now and some new folks who’ve joined. We have a programming team for channels, a creative team that works on promos and short-form etc, and a content team. These teams are working together to create the output.

    On the learnings from FullyFaltooNFT drop

    Our first drop with 3000+ pieces was sold out in 36 hours. The onboarding process was fairly simple. Our partner GuardianLink built the entire tech stack and managed the payments. We only allowed settlement in fiat currencies and didn’t accept crypto otherwise the pricing would have been very different.

    No one has seen how the NFT space will grow so I wouldn’t dismiss its revenue potential. I think that can change very quickly. If I told you ten years ago that someone would make a living out of creating videos, you’d be sceptical. 

    From a brand engagement perspective, we can do something special only for those fans who own our NFTs. An experience that money can’t buy. That would add value to our own properties whether it is “Roadies” or “Splitsvilla.”

    We’re planning our next drop-in for three to four months only because there’s so much for us to learn as well. The learnings from the first drop were interesting. It will help us innovate further. The timeline for the next drop can change by the way.

    On launching music division KaanPhod

    The brief to the team is any music that you think should be heard. There are no limitations in terms of genre. The first season of “Open Mic” will feature ten artists, ten music videos and 25 songs. It’s an interesting mix of Bollywood-style music, folk music, hip-hop etc.

    We’re tying up with certain partners to monetise the IP who will aid our conversations with streaming platforms. The IPs will also be monetised on social platforms such as YouTube and Facebook as well as our TV channels. We keep getting brands on MTV Beats but with our original IP we’ll try getting a brand to sponsor the music video opening up another avenue for monetisation. 

    On the insight driving youth, music and English entertainment cluster

    We conducted a lot of research post-pandemic which showed that people are looking forward to escaping into a new reality. This insight might mean different things to different people; however, our interpretation was that people wanted to experience a better version of the world that they currently reside in. Going forward, the revamp of our shows such as “Roadies,” “MTV Hustle” and the positioning of our brand will be aligned with this insight so that the viewers’ escapist tendencies are satisfied. 

    On reinvigorating the English entertainment genre

    The NTO impacted the distribution landscape for the English entertainment genre. In India, there is an opportunity for people who want to consume English content on TV. It is a medium that has very different friction because you have the opportunity to curate content. That’s a huge need gap and I think brands like Colors Infinity and Comedy Central are helping drive the curation story. I do think there should be more original English content on TV. The combination of Indian English content on OTT platforms and on English channels is a very robust conversation.

    On creating original shows for English entertainment

    In the past, we’ve done shows like “The Stage” and “Bffs” with Vogue, but “The Inventor Challenge” is a unique initiative in the English entertainment space.  We have just launched the call for entries and the production of the show is underway so I can’t share more about that right now. It has been a really steep learning curve for us and a lot depends on the kind of inventors we are able to get on board. The team is working day and night to ensure the show is a success.

    “The Inventor’s Challenge” is based on an international IP called “Everyday Edisons” that we’re adapting for Indian audiences. It is a little bit different. The show is about the journey of a young inventor who conceptualises an idea and takes it to prototype.

    On whether sports content will find a permanent home at MTV

    In some form, sports and sports-related content will be available on MTV. Though, we have to be careful about one thing. For us, properties that we picked up on MTV were strategically scheduled for the morning or late evening because our free commercial time (FCT) is very critical for us. MTV is not becoming a sports-only channel since our network will also launch a dedicated sports offering.

    It is interesting that 50 per cent of audiences for the NBA came from rural markets giving it a chance to be sampled by so many more homes. Emerging sports may be interesting to audiences in tiers 2, 3 provided that you do two things. One is making them less intimidating and the second is localising the language format. That means creating clarity on what the sport is, its rules, and sparking general interest. The second thing that we did was telecast NBA on MTV in Hindi which is something that nobody else has done.

    This period will be an inflection point for non-cricket sports across the length and breadth of India. It’s already happening and you’ll see that kids’ interest in sports like football is growing at a much faster clip than maybe even cricket. When you look at conventional ratings, you’ll see that in terms of absolute ratings there is a difference between cricket and emerging sports but in terms of growth, the latter is growing much faster.

  • Viacom18’s YME cluster launches new business division ‘KaanPhod’

    Viacom18’s YME cluster launches new business division ‘KaanPhod’

    Mumbai: Viacom18 youth, music and English entertainment cluster has created a brand-new business division called KaanPhod to provide emerging musical artists an opportunity to showcase their talent. The cluster comprises brands such as MTV, MTV Beats, Comedy Central, Colors Infinity, and Vh1.

    KaanPhod will co-create original music IPs with emerging artists and distribute them across platforms. The division is set to launch a show “Mic Test” that will introduce ten promising new artists and their original tracks which will also be made available for viewers on television (MTV, MTV Beats, Vh1), social and streaming platforms.

    The brand has also launched its maiden short-form video offering called Fully Faltoo, with over a dozen web shows and snackable content. This year the cluster is returning with the new season of MTV Roadies which is shot in South Africa with new host Sonu Sood. It is also returning with the second season of the rap reality show “MTV Hustle.” English entertainment channel Colors Infinity has announced a new show called “The Inventor’s Challenge” which highlights the journey of an idea from paper to a working prototype of the product created by amateur inventors.

    The clusters brands garnered 9.8 billion impressions on content across TV, social media and the networks streaming/OTT platform Voot in the past year. The business unit was also able to draw viewers during non-prime time through its sports content.

    The YME unit recently launched the Fully Faltoo NFT platform that saw more than 3000 digital collectibles sold out within a couple of hours. The marketplace offers a range of diverse digital collectibles from its iconic brands like MTV, Vh1 and Comedy Central.

    “Viacom18 YME is the only brand in its category that brings to the youth uniquely entertaining ‘escape clusters’. With fiction, non-fiction, sports, short-format and snackable content, and a foray in the metaverse, the brand has its finger on the pulse. The YME division will reinvent, reimagine and risk as it pivots across platforms in a way that is daring and contemporary, just like the audience it caters to,” said the statement.

    “The last two years have been unprecedented for young South Asians,” said Viacom18 head – youth, music and English entertainment Anshul Ailawadi. “They’ve emerged stronger after grappling with a once-in-a-generation black swan event. This is the right time for the youth, music and English entertainment (YME) cluster to pivot. In the coming fiscal we will scale up and revamp each and every legacy property from Roadies to Hustle to Splitsvilla and launch newer formats. We will double down on our growing digital presence and launch a multiplatform short video offering ‘Fully Faltoo’ along with ‘KaanPhod’ – a platform to discover and mount emerging musical talent and original songs. The success of our maiden NFT offering will be followed up with more Web 3.0-focused initiatives. We’ve also worked on a new slate of international English content for Colors Infinity and Comedy Central. The team is geared up for an action-packed year like never before.”