ITV

Tag: KBC

  • MMPL in talks to sell Kolkata assets for Rs 40 crore

    MMPL in talks to sell Kolkata assets for Rs 40 crore

    KOLKATA: Mahuaa Media Private Limited (MMPL), which closed two regional channels namely Mahuaa Bangla, (a Bengali general entertainment channel) and Mahua Khabor, (a 24-hour Bengali news channel) last year in Kolkata, is in talks with investors to sell off its assets.

     

    Industry insiders on the condition of anonymity told indiantelevision on Thursday: “A party has negotiated a deal with Mahuaa Media which is around Rs 35 crore-Rs 40 crore. The assets mainly include big studio and equipments and camera.”

     

    “People those who were appointed for Kolkata bureau and operations are no more associated with the company. The discussions are on with the top honchos of the company only,” he said hinting that the chairman and managing director of MMPL PK Tewari might be negotiating the deal with the prospective buyers.

     

    Tewari and Mahuaa Bangla chief executive officer, Yuvaraj Bhattacharya and other senior journalists who were roped in for Kolkata operations could not be contacted.

     

    In the beginning of the year 2012, Mahuaa Bangla shut its operations in Kolkata. Insiders added that the company has not yet paid the public relations agency the retainership fee which amounted to Rs one lakh a month.

     

    Unlike other general entertainment channels, Mahua Bangla offered a wide variety of programmes, including popular shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati, a Kolkata based media manager said.

     

    A regional media employee remembers that Mahuaa Bangla started with a bang and the slogan of the channel was Jomiye Din Saradin. It created history by starting as a sports reality show. “It started a reality show titled The Match. The main attraction was the inclusion of Brazilian football players Branco and Romario in the show,” he recounts.

  • Bhansali’s TV debut ‘Saraswatichandra’ opens with 2.5 TVR on Star Plus

    MUMBAI: When Bollywood names get associated with television, the aspiration of the channels airing those shows rises. Be it Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate or Amitabh Bachchan’s Kaun Banega Crorepati or Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss, these Bollywood personalities have time to time proved that their charisma can pull the audience to the television screen as well.

    This time it is someone who is not seen on camera but is someone who has been behind many Bollywood blockbusters like Devdas, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Black. Director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali tried out the television medium with ‘Saraswatichandra’ – and the fiction show has worked well on Star Plus.

    ‘Saraswatichandra’ debuted with 2.5 TVR on 25 February. The average rating of the show in its opening week stood at 2.1 TVR, according to TAM data for the Hindi Speaking Market (C&S 4+) provided by a Hindi GEC.

    Helios Media CEO Divya Radhakrishnan believes the debut rating of ‘Saraswatichandra’ is pretty good. “Earlier prime-time was from 8 pm which has now shifted to 7 pm. Considering the Hindi GECs’ standards, it is a big show and the channel has spent a bomb on it. I had thought it would get a better slot on the channel but for a 7.30 pm slot, 2.5 TVR ratings is good and it has picked up pretty well,” she said.

    Star Plus VP-marketing Nikhil Madhok said, “We are happy with the way the show has opened up. It is the highest rated debut amongst past few launches of our channel.”

    As per TAM data (HSM including 5 new LC1 markets, C&S, 4+) sourced from a channel, Star Plus continued to maintain its leadership position in the genre with the addition of 17 GRPs to notch a total of 265 GRPs. The other shows of the channel like Diya Aur Bati Hum (5.9 TVR), Nach Baliye (2.9 TVR) and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (4.4 TVR) have seen rise in eyeballs.

    Zee TV climbed to second position with 226 GRPs, despite a loss of five GRPs. The channel’s recently launched kids’ reality show India Ke Best Dramebaz notched a whopping 4.4 TVR in the week ended 2 March.

    Following Zee TV is Colors that slipped to third position with a loss of 15 GRPs. The channel had earned 30 GRPs last week as it had aired Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Khiladi 786’ on 23 January. The fiction shows of the channel recorded marginal difference in their ratings as it closed the week with 220 GRPs.

    Sony Entertainment Television lost 18 GRPs to clock 170 GRPs. The channel had gained numbers last week as it had aired the Filmfare Awards. Its recently launched fiction show ‘Khubsoorat’ opened with a TVR of 1 as it averaged 0.9 TVR in the week.

    Sab with 138 GRPs (same as last week) went ahead of Life OK in the ninth week of TAM. Life OK ended the week with 132 GRPs (last week 144).

    Sahara One with 24 GRPs (last week 24) remained at the bottom of the ladder.

  • MEC launches Partnership Intelligence study

    Mumbai: MEC, media and planning agency and a founding partner of GroupM, has announced the launch of its global research study Partnership Intelligence.

    Partnership Intelligence is an online tool that enables in-depth analysis into consumer interest, media consumption and attitudes towards partnership platforms including Sport, TV programming, Art, Entertainment and other global properties.

    This Partnership Intelligence global research has been conducted via an online survey across 17 markets including India, with a sample size of 1500 in each market.

    Besides delivering an analysis of property attributes, the tool also provides “comprehensive assessment” of the potential fit of a property with a brand‘s own values.

    MEC national director- Analytics and Insight Geetha Shiv said, “Partnership Intelligence provides insights that help in deciding the most effective partnerships for brands based on how engaged their Target Audience is with different properties. It also helps select properties based on image profiles that fit with brand values.”

    Some of the key findings from the research include among cricketing properties, ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup were considered the most preferred with ‘love‘ and ‘like‘ score of 80-81 per cent. IPL only came third with a 71 per cent ‘love‘ and ‘like‘ score. FIFA World Cup had the highest interest among non-cricket properties with 66 per cent ‘love‘ and ‘like‘ score whereas Formula1 is far below in the seventh position with a score of only 51 per cent.

    The research also revealed that loyalty towards teams was translated with the national cricket team scoring the highest at 75 per cent ‘love‘ and ‘like‘ score, followed by the National Hockey and Olympics teams at 59 per cent and 54 per cent respectively.

    Within the entertainment segment KBC dominated television reality shows cutting across age groups. Other than KBC, Dance India Dance (62 per cent), Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma (59 per cent) and India‘s Got Talent (56 per cent) are among the Top five properties.

    The interest in KBC is greater than IPL as per the study. KBC is the only non-cricket property with a ‘love‘ and ‘like‘ score of 74 per cent, which made it to top five properties in MEC‘s Partnership Intelligence study.

    MEC India managing director T Gangadhar says, “This is a unique, never-done-before study that helps advertisers make choices between seemingly disparate opportunities. It offers an intelligent view on how one can go about choosing the right partnership or association for a specific brand. The study offers terrific insights based on people‘s motivations and choices.”

  • MEC forecasts 30% increase in Big Boss’ debut ratings

    Mumbai: MEC, a leading media buying and planning agency and a founding partner of GroupM, has estimated 30 per cent increase in the debut ratings of the sixth season of Big Boss on 7 October.

    MEC has predicted the opening TVR for this season to be at 3.9 among all Adults, 15 years+, SEC ABC, all India. This is 30 per cent higher compared to the opening TVR of 3 in the last season.

    Big Boss is moving from the late night slot of 10:30 pm last season to the prime time slot of 9 pm this season. This in itself should lead to an increase in rating compared to last season. However, it will compete with KBC in this time slot.

    MEC national director, analytics and insight Geetha Shiv said, “We have found in our model that promos are a key influencing factor. While the promos on Colors are comparable to last season, we are seeing a spike in promos on other channels in the last one-week. This can add to the rating increase.”

    It may be noted that Colors has been holding its share in the 9 to 10 pm slot with Jhalak Dikhla Ja even post the launch of KBC.

    The search volume index which has been taken as an indicator of buzz is comparable to the last season.

    Meritus Analytics managing partner Sunder Muthuraman added, “Analytical process of forecasting is fine-tuned with testing/ validating various variables that are affecting the results and a sound business appreciation of those variables. Continuous forecasting helps in managing and timing investments better.”

  • ‘We have a 3-tier growth plan and are eyeing a bn viewers internationally in 3 years’ : MD & CEO – ZEE Punit Goenka

    ‘We have a 3-tier growth plan and are eyeing a bn viewers internationally in 3 years’ : MD & CEO – ZEE Punit Goenka

    For Subhash Chandra the last 20 years has been one man‘s war. He has allied and fought against Rupert Murdoch, fallen and bounced back in winning spirit, triumphed over the competitors, and grown a media empire that can make anybody proud. A nationalist to the core, he has a strong footprint in all the value chains of the media business and stands independent in a media landscape that is occupied by the multinationals.

    When in my early years of journalism, I remember the day I rushed to my editor. I told him that I heard from a source that the merger talks between Chandra and Murdoch had snapped. He told me to go ahead with the story and I was afraid that I could be proven wrong.

    I felt happy that the divorce took place. Some may call this a sadistic pleasure but it made me feel nice that my story in The Financial Express was right and, more importantly, allowed me to observe the growth of a warrior who was blessed with intuitive powers, strong business acumen and an innate ability to get into untapped areas.

    Chandra showed his true colours very early in life and in 1991 got the better of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing who asked for $5 million to lease a transponder on AsiaSat. He signed a deal with Richard Li a few months later that would kick-start his Zee empire.

    Zee‘s unchallenged growth from its origins in October 1992 halted in 2000 when Murdoch‘s Star launched Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) and the three Balaji ‘K‘ soaps. Chandra‘s convergence game also went nowhere and kicked in losses. But Zee expanded into the regional language markets and Chandra also ventured into online lottery with Playwin.

    The rebound in the Hindi entertainment business happened slowly. Chandra appointed Pradeep Guha as CEO in 2005 and inducted his son Punit Goenka  into the organisation.

    Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL) got demerged in late 2006 into Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel), Zee News Ltd (ZNL), Wire and Wireless India Ltd (WWIL) and Dish TV (DTH). He acquired Ten sports and has a growing sports broadcasting business.

    Chandra‘s sprawling empire is not just in India but has strong positions in different corners of the world with his Indian content.

    Even in 2012, Chandra is not in full retreat. He has passed on the baton to his son but is still around. His overwhelming personality can‘t be missed in the Zee office.

    Asked to “get off the fence” and “get in the game” as head of Zeel in 2008,Goenka has proved that he definitely is his father’s son. He ended the rivalry with Murdoch and formed a distribution joint venture company in 2011 to correct revenue leakages and lift subscription revenues. He has identified growth areas in regional, international and new media. His target: to reach a billion viewers internationally in three years.

    Punit (as he is called by his colleagues in the Zee group) is hungry to grow his charge; whether it is sports broadcasting, entertainment, overseas or in niche genres. In a tete a tete with Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das, he speaks pretty forthcomingly about the road ahead.

    Excerpts:

    Q. When did you first realise that your father was building a media powerhouse in India and that you would be part of this momentous history of television broadcasting?
    For over 12 years, he was practically handling the business by himself. He was running around, surmounting all hurdles, and being a pioneer in all ways to spearhead private satellite television in India. I never thought I would run this kind of organisation. But when he told me to get into it, I quickly became a part of the Zee culture and liked it.

    Q. Now when you look back, do you see any lost opportunities amid this explosive growth of the company?
    The company has grown so rapidly in such a short span of time that it completely overshadows everything else. Zee started in 1992 from a single channel network and two hours of original programming – and look at where it is today! In fact, the first ten years were maddening growth. We have grown to 31 channels spread across genres, languages and geographies. Our international business is also very healthy. And today Zee (read Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd) is one of the top ranked Ebitda delivered companies in the media sector.

    Q. What did you feel when the joint venture with Rupert Murdoch collapsed and your father bought out New Corp‘s stakes in Asia Today, Patco and Siticable?
    The split was bound to happen. Murdoch violated the JV agreement and began to show Hindi content. The pact prescribed Star to focus only on non-Indian language programming. When Zee bought out the JV companies, it was a proud moment for all of us.

    Q. You broke this 12-year divorce three years after you took charge as CEO of Zeel and inked a JV agreement for the distribution business. What made you overcome the past enmity?
    We formed Media Pro Enterprise to correct the faulty distribution structures of the analogue cable TV business. It took us almost a year to finalise the agreement. The purpose is to fix the problems of the industry. There are revenue leakages in the distribution business and broadcasters get a small share of the subscription income collected by the cable networks.

    The media industry has matured and we are living in a period of history when there is need to both compete and co-operate. That is what Star and Zee are doing in India. And it has been beneficial for all the partners. Zee and Star were growing their subscription incomes from domestic cable by 6-7 per cent when they were handling the distribution of their bouquet of channels independently. But both the companies are seeing 15 per cent growth from cable subscription income in the first year of operations of Media Pro itself. We are happy with the way Media Pro is shaping up.

     

    ‘The industry can’t survive on ARPUs of Rs 180. Broadcasters have heavily subsidised the content cost to support the DTH companies to grow. A similar trend is happening in digital cable‘

     

    Q. Media Pro is currently distributing 75 channels and more launches are planned by the JV partners. Won‘t this be too heavy a load and the logic of a distribution JV become irrelevant in a completely digitised television carriage-services environment? Are we completely different from the rest of the world where broadcast companies manage their carriage agreements independently?There is no reason why we can‘t work independently in India as well. In a transparent environment, there may not be a need. In any case, the JV agreement is only for five years. We will weigh the market conditions then and take a call after that.

    But having said that, Media Pro has been set up not to just take care of revenue leakages. There are other challenges in the distribution side of the business. The industry can‘t survive on ARPUs (average revenue per user) of Rs 180. Broadcasters have heavily subsidised the content cost to support the direct-to-home (DTH) companies and allow them to grow. A similar trend is happening in digital cable. But content is worth much more and we will have to lift ARPUs.

    Q. Zeel gets subscription income of Rs 4.58 billion from content supply to 20 million paying DTH customers while domestic income from analogue cable is Rs 4.14 billion. What is the potential revenue growth from cable after the networks are digitised?
    We expect healthy growth in subscription income over the next few years. As the cable TV subscriber universe becomes transparent, the paying subscribers will automatically become much more than DTH. Zee will be able to monetise its digital cable subscribers and the revenue gains will be significant. ARPUs will also have to go up.

    Q. Since you have taken charge of Zee‘s broadcasting business, what are the future growth engines that you have identified amid new challenges of digitisation, audience fragmentation and competition from multinationals and big Indian corporates who are tiptoeing into the media business?
    We have identified three-tier strategies for our growth. On the domestic front, regional will drive growth for us. We will participate in fragmenting the regional markets. Our launch of a Bengali movie channel, Zee Bangla Cinema, is part of this game plan. We are working on other genres and in other languages.

    On the international front, we plan to expand our reach from 650 million viewers to 1 billion viewers within three years. We will not just restrict our focus on South Asian audiences; we will have to address local audiences in those geographies as well.

    We have identified Middle East as a key market for us and intend to invest between Rs 1 billion and Rs 2 billion over the next two years. We have just launched our second Arabic channel, Zee Alwan. This will complement Zee Aflam, our first Arabic channel that shows Bollywood movies dubbed in Arabic. We plan to invest $100 million in that market.

    Q. What made Zee so bullish about the Middle East market?
    We had success with Zee Aflam which is a profitable channel. We are also look aggressively at growing in Russia (digitisation by 2014 in that market) and Africa. Russian audiences love Bollywood and our drama content. Besides, we are doing extensive research for the Indonesian and Malaysian markets where we are growing in single digits.

    Q. Is new media a big growth piece for you?
    Yes, this forms the third pillar of our future growth strategy. We have launched our over-the-top (OTT) television distribution platform, Ditto TV, in India and plan to take it to the rest of the world next year. We also have India.com and will continue to offer content across leading genres. With these content formats and advanced distribution avenues, we intend to target new audience segments. I cannot give you a number (in terms of investments or revenues), but we are committed to see that these businesses become successful.

     

     

    ‘On the domestic front, regional will drive growth for us. Internationally, we plan to expand our reach from 650 mn to 1 bn viewers in 3 years.New media forms the third pillar of our future growth strategy‘

     
    Q. Digitisation will throw open a lot of growth opportunities. Will we see a more aggressive Zee launching new genre channels and addressing new geographies as distribution costs fall?
    We are getting into the kids TV segment and will be launching Zee Q. The content will aim at ‘learning through fun and entertainment.‘ In the past year, we have already launched six channels.

    But only the four metros will have digital cable. The real action will start in the second phase of digitisation when we go to the smaller towns. We have not studied the potential yet. We will have to wait for knowing the impact after the first phase of digitisation rollout. And then possibly you will see a flurry of channel launches.

    We will also have to keep in mind what we are launching and whether it is going to cannibalise on our Hindi product. And let us not forget that there may be free-to-air (FTA) opportunities in the broadcasting space as well.

    Q. Zeel is sitting on a cash pile of Rs 11 billion. Will you acquire channels to grow in a digital environment?
    We are looking at acquisition opportunities if they come at the right price and make business sense for us. But we are also aware that it is cheaper to build.

    Q. Zee has always been conscious of its costs and its Ebitda margins from non sports business is around 34 per cent and is higher than Star‘s. But with plans to increase original content hours on flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV and more channel launches in the pipeline, will Ebitda margins fall?
    There should be some fall. Even in this fiscal, we are increasing our original content from 24.5 hours to 32-34 hours. This in itself will amount to a rise in content cost by 14-15 per cent. Our revenue in the first quarter of this fiscal has also seen strong growth.

    Q. Zee has already renewed the South Africa and Zimbabwe cricket boards at around 10 per cent inflation cost. But Star has bought out Disney‘s stake in ESPN Star Sports and Sony, deprived of the BCCI rights, will be hungry for acquiring cricket rights. There is also the threat of ESPN entering the marketplace after the two-year non compete contract with Star is over. So will we see Zee bid aggressively to renew the rights for the three boards that are going to come up?
    We are in active negotiations with two boards. But we will be aggressive up to a reasonable level. We realise that sports is a strategic business for us. It gives us dedicated youth and male audiences and adds to our viewership base.

    Q. Will forex fluctuations affect the earlier target of the sports business turning around in FY‘14?
    Yes it could, as most of our sports content is contracted in dollars. But we expect our sports business to come out of the negative zone. We also realise at the same time that sports broadcasting across the world is a low Ebitda margin business.

    Q. Is Zee News Ltd planning to launch an English-language general news channel?
    At ZNL, we are working on our English language strategy. We believe the news channel business will go through a phase of consolidation.

  • MEC predicts 25% fall in viewership for IGT

    MUMBAI: Reality television series India‘s Got Talent, which kicked off on Colors on 22 September, will see a 25 per cent fall in its opening viewership over last year, according to a forecast by MEC.

    The GroupM media and analytics agency has predicted the show to score a debut rating of 2.4 among the 15 years+ age group in SEC ABC compared to a TVR of 3.18 in the last season.

    The promo levels are currently similar to last year and, thus, there is nothing additional to drive viewership for a tight time slot, said MEC.

    MEC alongside Meritus Analytics India has extended the same methodology to estimate IGT ratings as was used during Indian Premier League (IPL) and Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) forecast.

    Earlier, the agency had predicted that KBC would clock 5.4 TVR in its opening weekend, 10 per cent higher than the previous edition.

    MEC national director, analytics and insight Geetha Shiv said there will be duplication of audiences between KBC and IGT.

    “Though the formats of KBC and IGT are completely different, both being reality shows there could be some duplication between audiences. With IGT being scheduled immediately after KBC in this season, there could be viewer fatigue which can lead to dip in rating compared to last season,” Shiv said.

    According to MEC, the key influencing factors remain the same for IGT as in the case of KBC, which are: Program promotions on the channel, network and other channels, promotions across other media platforms like radio and newspapers, search volume index as a measure of viewer buzz, the base channel share of the airing channel.

    The KBC and IGT were scheduled in non-conflicting time bands in the last season with KBC during weekdays and IGT during weekends.

    Meritus Analytics managing partner Sunder Muthuraman added, “In difficult times, planning investments and ROI is critical. Forecasting trends and results help in doing the right levels of investment and avoid over/under spending. This applies to media business (and any business) today. Meritus has tested frameworks to help forecast results with given inputs and help businesses plan for better ROI.”

  • KBC delivers record debut TVR, advertisers pleased

    MUMBAI: Well, well, we predicted that it would be a runaway hit for Sony Entertainment Television (Set). And sure it has. The Amitabh Bachchan hosted Kaun Baega Crorepati premiered on 7 September and as per TAM data (C&S 4+) provided by the channels, it registered a whopping 6.1 TVR and had an average reach of 19 per cent.

    Those numbers are the best registered by any first episode of a non-fiction show on a Hindi GEC since the start of 2012. The great performance has also rocketed Set to its highest GRP reportcard in 2012 with the number at 244.

    The gambit by the Set management to take KBC to the weekend spot from last season’s weekday worked very well for the show. During the previous season when it aired during weekdays, the debut episode had scored 5.24 TVR. What also helped it achieve those numbers was the fact that it had no commercial breaks in the first hour of its two hour telecast.

    According to a statement by Set, KBC was viewed by over ­­­­29 million viewers across the country. What’s even more pleasing for Set is the numbers it generated in SEC A and B homes: its TVRs with those audiences were 7.7 and 8.3 respectively. Obviously, the well heeled and educated have really taken a shining for KBC.

    Says Set senior EVP & business head Sneha Rajani, “KBC 2012 has had a record breaking opening and has seen the highest opening this year across all shows on GECs breaking all previous records. We were confident that viewers would really enjoy watching this season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The numbers more than corroborate this. We are really pleased with the opening week results and there is a lot more to look forward to on the show in the days to come. Overall we are delighted at the performance of all our shows and over the next 4 to 5 weeks we aim to further consolidate our position.”

    KBC’s TVRs met the expectations media outfit MEC which had only last week predicted that the show would generate a 5.4 TVR during its opening weekend. It had made this call based on the extensive promotion Set had undertaken across channels and media; the extensive buzz that the show had generated, and the higher base channel share of Set compared to last year.

    Sponsors and media planners and buyers of course are pleased as punch. Take Cadbury which is the presenting sponsor of KBC which is handled by Madison Pinnacle. According to Pinnacle COO Dnyanada Chaudhari what worked for KBC in its previous season was the in-built inherent drama of the underdog winning and the aura of a superstar host who connects audiences in a real sense. Says she, “Sony has retained the real life makeover in the storyline and reinforced the age old Indian belief in the power of knowledge. The challenge in a quiz show in long format is that it can easily get boring; the channel has consciously added auditions to extract elements of entertainment to sustain engagement.”

    “Last year, KBC was the one show that catapulted Sony into market leadership and was successfully used by the channel as a funnel to build their new primetime shows. These new soaps have long sustained on their own steam. It would jeopardize current loyal audiences, if the channel were to launch KBC on weekday. The initial viewership numbers are as good as prime time soaps. We hope that the programme leverages and builds enough anticipation for the Rs 5 crore milestone to sustain viewership on weekends. The opportunity for KBC is the possibility of strengthening Sony’s presence in no man’s land – its weekends. And more important, is whether KBC will redefine audience loyalties on weekends in the long run,” Chaudhari adds.

    Mindshare principal partner – client leadership Anita Kotwani said that the promotional campaign carved out by Sony ensured that everyone eagerly awaited KBC’s launch episode. “A personality like AB has a huge following and the entire promotional nuances touched the masses emotionally getting them charged up to watch the show. Scheduling it on the week end has definitely added to the numbers, and its appeal seems to cut across SEC groups. My sense is that the show will have a good run in terms of ratings. Sony will ensure that KBC’s steam does not run out and its team will go all out to ensure that it sizzles enough to keep the ratings going.”

    KBC associate sponsor Axis Bank CMO Manisha Lath Gupta is all smiles about its decision to partner the show, “Last year KBC had  averaged something around 5 TVR and that’s what we had kept in mind before doing the deal again. We are happy with the opening ratings of the show and also with the brand integration that has been giving us good visibility.”

    For the record, KBC’s second episode which aired on 8 September (a Saturday) saw its average reach shift a little southward to 16.2 per cent and the TVR to 5.3. We will have to wait for next week’s ratings release to find out how it fared in episode 3 when contestant Manoj Kumar Raina pocketed Rs 1 crore.

  • MEC forecasts 5.4 TVR for KBC in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: Some more good news for Sony Entertainment Television. The channel‘s mega game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), which is kicking off its sixth season on 7 September, is expected to clock 5.4 TVR in its opening weekend, according to MEC‘s latest forecast.

    This will be 10 per cent higher than the previous edition of the Amitabh Bachchan-hosted show. MEC, a leading media buying and planning agency and a founding partner of GroupM, has based its estimation among audiences above 15 years from SEC ABC in cable and satellite homes.

    So what will give KBC a big boost this year? MEC believes Sony as a channel has grown its viewership base since the launch of KBC last year. The rise in base viewership for the channel will pump up the show‘s ratings this year.

    The second beneficial factor is the shifting of the show to the weekends this year. This will ensure that KBC doesn‘t clash with the weekly soaps.

    The buzz for the show gathered from search volumes is almost double of last season‘s, according to MEC.

    Says MEC National Director, Analytics & Insight Geetha Shiv, “The performance of this season of KBC will be followed closely by media and clients given that last season had helped Sony displace competition. MEC‘s initiative in estimating ratings of such high expectation properties like IPL, World Cup and now KBC, is part of our endeavour to deliver insights that help our clients in formulating their investment decisions.”

    MEC outlines four key influencing factors: program promotions on the channel, network and also other channels; promotion across other media like radio and newspapers; search volume index as a measure of viewer buzz; and the base channel share of Sony.
    MEC, which had earlier estimated ratings for the Indian Premier League, has again partnered Meritus Analytics India to estimate KBC ratings.

    According to MEC, the approach used for KBC was based on past learning from IPL estimation and the fact that increase in TVRs for a new program is due to a combination of increase in PUT (People Using Television) and people already viewing Television moving to the new program from their regular programming. MEC and Meritus built a statistical model using a set of TV shows to understand the factors affecting PUT and channel share for such non-sports programs.

    Says Meritus Analytics managing partner Sunder Muthuraman, “For big properties where the cost of association is high, the rating the program delivers can be looked at as a very simple measure of ROI. We have used best in class statistical methods to estimate KBC ratings. Our finding that KBC advertising on other channels had the highest impact on the increased PUT of the program time slot seems to suggest that substantial part of the increased rating is likely from viewers of other channels and time bands tuning into Sony during KBC.”

  • Indigo Consulting wins KBC’s digital duties

    MUMBAI: Leo Burnett‘s Indigo Consulting has been roped in by Sony Entertainment Television to launch the digital media campaign for its game show Kaun Banega Crorepati. Work on the show has already begun.

    The objective of the project will be to create a brand impact.

    Sony Entertainment Television senior vice president – marketing Danish Khan said, “KBC has been a household name for a long time now. But we wanted to up the ante for the sixth season of the show. Indigo Consulting has done some fabulous work in the digital space. The freshness they bring to each project is exactly what we needed to keep pace with the evolving market terrain.”

    Indigo Consulting director – digital strategy and business development Sunil Kher said, “This year‘s KBC campaign celebrates the power of knowledge. We are happy to extend this concept online for Sony and help them achieve maximum impact.”

  • Sony ropes in 10 sponsors for Kaun Banega Crorepati

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television (Set) has roped in eight associate sponsors and two title sponsors for the sixth season of its premium game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’.

    The channel has once again got Cadbury as the title sponsor on board while the show is powered by Idea. The associate sponsors for the show are Axis Bank, Just Dial, Ceat, Maruti, Sony India, Hero Motor Corp and Aakash Institute. Sony might extend the number to 11 by bringing one more associate sponsor on board.

    MSM president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta said, “KBC is an impact property and we have received great response from the advertisers for this season too. We are expecting to grow by 20-25 per cent this season.”

    As reported earlier, Kaun Banega Crorepati 5 had made Rs 2 billion from ad revenue.

    Gupta said that 70 per cent of the inventory would be consumed by sponsors. “The remaining 30 per cent will be for spot buys. There is some inventory left for spot buys that we are looking to sell during festive season of Diwali so that we can charge a higher premium. Right now we are offering a packaged deal for spot buyers who are advertising for all the episodes,” he added.

    Starting 7 September, Kaun Banega Crorepati 6, will air Friday-Sunday at 8.30 pm. The show this season will air for 21 weekends with 58 episodes. It will also comprise special episodes with “unique” and “distinct” themes which will capture a little bit of India in every episode, lined up to ignite the minds and hearts of Indian audiences, the channel said.

    “It is a glorious moment for all of us at Sony to bring back another power packed season of the magnificent game show Kaun Banega Crorepati on our network, This year’s theme ‘Sirf Gyaan Hi Aapko Aapka Haq Dilata Hai’ celebrates knowledge as the greatest leveller in our society and a potent change agent,” Multi Screen Media COO N.P Singh said in a statement.