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  • SPNI and Zeel sign definite agreements to merge

    SPNI and Zeel sign definite agreements to merge

    Mumbai: Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNI) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel) announced early on Wednesday that they have signed definitive agreements to merge Zeel with and into SPNI and combine their linear networks, digital assets, production operations, and program libraries.

    The agreements follow the conclusion of an exclusive negotiation period during which Zeel and SPNI conducted mutual due diligence. After closing, the new combined company will be publicly listed in India. The closing of the transaction is, however, subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory, shareholder, and third-party approvals.

    Under the terms of the definitive agreements, SPNI will have cash balance of $1.5 billion closing, including through infusion by the current shareholders of SPNI and the promoters (founders) of Zeel, to enable the combined company to drive sharper content creation across platforms, strengthen its footprint in the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, bid for media rights in the fast-growing sports landscape and pursue other growth opportunities.

    SPNI is an indirect subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc (SPE). Under the transactions contemplated by a non-compete agreement, SPE, through a subsidiary, will pay a non-compete fee to certain promoters (founders) of Zeel, which will be used by such promoters (founders) to infuse primary equity capital into SPNI, entitling the promoters (founders) of Zeel to acquire shares of SPNI, which would eventually equal approximately 2.11 per cent of the shares of the combined company on a post-closing basis. After the closing, SPE will indirectly hold a majority 50.86 per cent of the combined company, the promoters (founders) of Zeel will hold 3.99 per cent, and the other Zeel shareholders will hold a 45.15 per cent stake.

    Punit Goenka to lead the combined entity

    Punit Goenka will lead the combined company as its managing director & CEO. The majority of the board of directors of the combined company will be nominated by the Sony Group and will include the current SPNI managing director and CEO, N P Singh. On closing, Singh will assume a broader executive position at SPE as chairman, Sony Pictures India (a division of SPE) reporting to SPE’s chairman of Global Television Studios and SPE Corporate Development Ravi Ahuja.

    “It is a significant milestone for all of us, as two leading media & entertainment companies join hands to drive the next era of entertainment filled with immense opportunities. The combined company will create a comprehensive entertainment business, enabling us to serve our consumers with wider content choices across platforms,” said Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka. “This merger presents a significant opportunity to jointly take the businesses to the next level and drive substantial growth in the global arena.”

    Synergy in Scripted, factual, and sports programming

    The combination of Zeel and SPNI is expected to achieve business synergies and given their relative strengths in scripted, factual and sports programming, respective distribution footprints across India and iconic entertainment brands, the combined company try to meet the growing consumer demand for premium content across entertainment touchpoints and platforms.

    As part of the definitive agreements, the promoters (founders) of Zeel have agreed to limit the equity that they may own in the combined company to 20 per cent of its outstanding shares. “This construct does not provide the promoters (founders) of Zeel any pre-emptive or other rights to acquire equity of the combined company from the Sony Group, the combined company or any other party. Any shares purchased by the promoters (founders) of ZEEL, must be in compliance with all applicable laws including any pricing guidelines,” it said in a statement.

     “Today marks an important step in our efforts to bring together some of the strongest leadership teams, content creators, and film libraries in the media business to create extraordinary entertainment and value for Indian consumers,” said SPE’s chairman of Global Television Studios and SPE Corporate Development Ravi Ahuja. “I especially want to thank N P Singh, who presented us with the idea to explore this merger well over a year ago.”

    SPNI MD and CEO N P Singh said the merger will create a company that will redefine the contours of the media and entertainment industry. “As a representative of SPE on the Board of the new merged company, it will be my endeavour to provide strategic guidance and support to the company’s operating team in achieving our vision,” he added.

  • Dentsu India onboards Ramsai Suriyanarayanan as managing partner – trading, media

    Dentsu India onboards Ramsai Suriyanarayanan as managing partner – trading, media

    Mumbai: Dentsu India has appointed Ramsai Suriyanarayanan as managing partner- trading, media. In his new role, Suriyanarayanan will lead media investments for Reckitt and play an integral role in developing dentsu Media’s investment model and portfolio, said the company.

    Speaking on the appointment, dentsu Media South Asia  CEO Divya Karani said, “We are elated to welcome Suriyanarayanan to the team. He will collaborate with our agencies and media partners to create ROI and deliver value to our clients across media in today’s dynamic media industry.”

    Suriyanarayanan has over 25 years of experience, with almost 14 years at senior positions across procurement, sales and marketing functions in the media industry. In the past, he has driven many industry-first innovations across multiple clients and sectors.

    Commenting on his new journey, Ramsai Suriyanarayanan stated, “It is a privilege to join this team that combines the needs of the clients with consumer intelligence insights, unlocking unique possibilities for sustainable value and lasting change. I look forward to the association and contribute to the greater objectives of dentsu and our clients.”

  • #Retrace2021: Cautious optimism will drive industry growth in 2022

    #Retrace2021: Cautious optimism will drive industry growth in 2022

    Mumbai: The year 2021 saw work-life turning 360 degrees for former Havas media India boss Anita Nayyar, as she joined Patanjali Ayurved as COO- Media & Communications, after a year-long stint with Zee5 as head of customer strategy and relations.

    An industry veteran with over three decades of experience, Nayyar has managed many portfolios of brands across sectors. She has played leadership roles in several media and advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, Initiative Media, MediaCom, and Starcom Worldwide. Nayyar spent the longest tenure at Havas – the agency she joined in 2007 as chief executive of the India operations. Under her aegis, the agency grew exponentially and expanded its offerings as an integrated communications group. She subsequently headed Havas Media Southeast Asia (SEA) in addition to her role as CEO of Havas Media.  

    As the year draws to a close, Indiantelevision.com, got into a freewheeling conversation with Anita Nayyar about her big professional move in 2021, leading the media and communications strategy at Patanjali Ayurved, and outlook on industry’s growth as we enter 2022.

    Edited excerpts:

    On looking back at 2021 and her transition from Zee5 to Patanjali

    I spent over 30 years working with agencies and publishers. After so many years on the agency side, I thought I had done my bit. Plus, the monotony tends to set in. So, it’s good to learn something new from the other side of the table. That’s how Zee5 happened. On the whole, I have worked with advertising agencies, media agencies, publishing platforms, as well as new-age digital platforms like Zee5. So when Patanjali came in, I thought it’s a good opportunity to do a full circle and explore all aspects of advertising, marketing, and communication. So to that extent, I feel it completes my circle in the industry.

    On how the year was for Patanjali as a brand, and her priorities when she joined the company in July

    Patanjali is one of those aggressive Indian brands, which has galloped its way through to the top in the Indian FMCG industry. When I took over as the COO for media branding and communication, the idea was to oversee all the strategies that are happening in their advertising domain, how they are progressing and what is it that we can do better. It was interesting to see their (Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna) vision. Sometimes, it’s even difficult to match up to the speed at which their vision for the company goes- both in the Wellness, fitness, and the Ayurveda sector. Also, the fight that they are bringing to the table for the MNCs in the FMCG category. Patanjali Ayurveda, along with Ruchi Soya, is the second-largest FMCG brand in the country.

    On any key innovation that the brand brought in this year

    The company is constantly innovating, in terms of the categories and areas they have entered in over the years. Like IT solutions or Agri sciences for example and this foresight of acquiring Ruchi Soya. The brand has kept up with the times, even by propagating the fact that they are ‘swadeshi’ as well as ‘Make in India’ initiatives. So innovation, to my mind, is the core of this brand. We have recently launched a Nutrela nutraceutical range of supplements, that’s the new category that Patanjali along with Ruchi Soya has entered into. And it’s interesting as there aren’t too many players in this segment and the fact that people have become very conscious about their health and wellness, especially in the last two years.

    On any changes in the brand’s media strategy in 2021

    This past year has fared fairly well for the brand because we have strategically invested in some high-impact properties. As a brand, we have been highly visible on the news channels and we have done a lot of GECs as well, and as such, there’s a tremendous amount of reach and awareness for the category. New marketing campaigns are on and we are in the process of working on our annualised spend and strategies, so let’s see how that goes.

    On looking ahead to 2022 and expectations for the brand

    We are cautiously optimistic. In businesses, when there’s recovery, optimism is the core. If you aren’t optimistic how will you take risks and move forward? That applies to life in general. But, if I were to wrap up my expectations for the brand in a single word, it’s ‘growth’. That is what every organisation’s looking for and we specifically do so, because we want to bridge the gap between the number one in the industry. And we are getting there. In the media branding and communications domain, I want to maximise the return on investment (ROI) that we are doing in the media industry.

    On key industry trends that might dominate next year

    The past year has certainly fast-paced the digital transformation of companies, whether it was entertainment, online shopping, or the use of digital platforms to connect with other people. It was anyways slated to grow between 25-30 per cent earlier also, the needle just moved quicker now. To my mind, next year we will see a healthy mix of both TV and digital and each medium plays an important role, depending on what the objectives are. TV, of course, remains the mainstay because of its reach and low CPMs (Cost per Thousands) that it offers.

    Print was badly hit during the pandemic. It is doing a little better, but still nowhere close to where they were pre-pandemic as yet. Outdoor is back and Cinema is also showing signs of recovery, depending on the titles that are playing.

    Each medium today has a role to play from that aspect and we use them for their attributes. So I think overall for the media industry and, as per industry reports too, there should be a growth of 12-16 per cent in the media & advertising industry, which given the situation is not a bad thing. 

    On any personal learnings that she will take into the next year

    My personal learning may sound a little clichéd, but it was very important for me to explore other areas and not remain stuck to a particular area of expertise. It’s when you try to explore other fields that you know what your proficiencies are. Every domain that I’ve worked in has given me immense learning. So, it’s a good check for one to constantly keep trying newer opportunities and opening up newer avenues for one’s own learning. If you continue to explore newer domains, it just keeps adding to your professional and personal growth as well. 

  • #Retrace2021: Digital evolution has changed the game for kids genre

    #Retrace2021: Digital evolution has changed the game for kids genre

    Mumbai: A seasoned professional in the broadcast industry with over two decades of experience under her belt, Leena Lele Dutta has worked with Ten Sports India, Channel 9 (Nine Broadcasting Media) and MTV India amongst other reputed companies, besides having worked in sales with SPN (then SET India) from 1995-1999. During her stint with Sony Pictures Television, she spearheaded, structured and developed the content distribution and licensing division for the company in India and South Asia.

    In her current role, as the business head – kids genre at Sony Pictures Networks India, she is responsible for driving the overall business and building the growth trajectory of the Kids’ genre for SPN by focusing on strategic content development and marketing initiatives.

    The kids channel – Sony Yay! has launched 140 hours of fresh programming, including new shows and movie premieres, and captured a significant share of viewership in the kids’ genre in October which saw the highest ad volumes of 2021. With 63.7 gross rating points (GRPs) in the Hindi-speaking market for week 43-45 (Avg, 24 hours, 2-14 ABC, BARC data), it reached the pole position in ratings compared to other kids’ channels.

    As the year draws to a close, Indiantelevision.com caught up Leena Lele Dutta to talk about the channel’s performance in 2021 and the key trends that shaped the kids’ entertainment space.

    Edited Excerpts

    Looking back at 2021

    It has been a stupendous year for us, especially the festive season. Every year we have two periods for our tentpole launches – summer (April-May-June) and the festive months. The festive period is the most potent time, in terms of ad monies and the revenue involved. So, this year, we had envisioned our programming line-up starting from Dussehra to Durga Puja, Navratri going all the way to Diwali, Christmas as well as the New Year. We actually had a lot of ammunition to fire so that we could get a share from the advertising market for our channels viz-a-viz the rest of the channels in the category.

    Unlike 2020, when the kids’ category was down by half in terms of inventory sold out because there was uncertainty and sales only picked up during Diwali, the mood of all our advertisers across all categories has been encouraging this year. Everything has opened up. Also, this year, since Diwali was in the first week of November, it gave advertisers a long four-week period in October to advertise. Barring FCT, advertising spots and sponsorships selling out, there has been demand from new clients that wanted to make their mark this season.

    On the launch of new shows, and programming line-up

    Kids genre is a highly saturated marketplace. So, when we entered the space, we knew we had to bring something different. We’re still relatively new, while our competitors are over a decade old. What we have realised, is that unlike any GEC, the rotation of audiences on the kids’ channel has become even shorter now. Kids between the age group of four to seven who land on our channel grow out of it in three years and you have a fresh set of audiences coming in.

    So, our differentiator has been local programming, indigenous characters and multi-language feeds. From a slate of four original IPs in a year we’ve ramped up and produced almost seven original shows by year, with the help of in-house scriptwriters and array of dubbing studios that are aligned to us.

    On any new innovation that the channel brought in this year

    The pandemic had first led to a surge in viewership during summer when kids and their parents were at home. There was a lot of co-viewing happening. We altered our programming strategy and introduced a variety of different characters that can appeal not just to kids but also to their mothers. This included ‘Oggy’, and a new anime show ‘Obocchama-kun’. We also revamped a show called ‘Horrid Henry’ for the Indian context and called it ‘Haste Raho Henry’.

    Through research that we conduct periodically, we understood that kids don’t necessarily want home grown IPs but want to be entertained by an array of characters that appeal to them and are a reflection of themselves. We followed it up with a 360-degree amplification including on-ground, digital platforms and through our association with network channels.

    What we’ve added because of the lockdown is a whole lot of digital innovation as kids are spending more time on devices. Whether it is a watch party, an online contest, or a digital workshop with videos from our creators and DIY activities, we’re doing all of those engagements as well on our digital platforms.

    On how the kids’ audience has evolved

    Today, a child has a lot of content choices that he/she can make. The child may go to gaming platforms, subscription video-on-demand players, YouTube, or ed-tech platforms. Right now, if you look at the ecosystem, it is not about creating the next ‘Tom and Jerry’ but also about what a new character can do to enhance your kids’ ability. We cannot satiate the kids’ appetite by just showing them content. It needs to go beyond that.

    On the trends that dominated the kids’ genre this year

    Today, OTT platforms’ acquisition of kids’ content is running into millions of dollars as they have begun to see the potential. The fact that so many players are investing in this genre is a great sign for us. That’s why at Sony YAY! apart from the production pipeline we’re also building a parallel ecosystem to make diverse content for kids and feed it into digital platforms. We have a couple of shows developed specifically for OTT platforms and YouTube that’s concurrently happening while we cater to our channel’s audiences.

    We also recently concluded our on-ground activation plan across 30 cities including metros. We’ve observed that people are going to markets and shopping with their kids so on-ground has come back and is here to stay as the more efficient form of engagement to grab a captive audience.

  • Sebamed takes on tall claims of shampoo brands in new ad

    Sebamed takes on tall claims of shampoo brands in new ad

    Mumbai: German personal care brand Sebamed has unveiled its latest campaign- a satirical, tongue-in-cheek take on the tall claims peddled by hair care brands under the garb of the “Conditions Apply” disclaimer.

    The commercial urges consumers to switch to its ‘scientifically superior’ shampoo that comes with “No Conditions Apply”, unlike the claims made by its rival shampoo brands.

    Conceptualised by The Womb, the ad has been shot in a courtroom, where the personification of the commonly misused ‘Conditions Apply’ (personified by the actor, Liliput) is on trial. The judge portrayed by actor Ratna Pathak questions ‘Conditions Apply’, and the accused pleads not guilty to all the charges and puts the onus squarely on the hair care brands for hiding the truth from consumers under its facade.

    “This campaign has the perfect recipe of How Not To Make A Shampoo Commercial. Jokes aside, we have no beauty shots, no product demo and no false claim. The truth is that most shampoo brands hide in the garb of a tiny little ‘Condition Apply’ asterix. So, we just wanted to communicate that in an interesting way. With Ratna Pathak Shah and Lilliput ji under Rensil’s direction, we are confident the consumers will know this Sach,” shared The Womb creative head Suyash Khabya.

    The brand is known for taking on other brands earlier too, through its series of ads and campaigns such as #PrathamSnanSe, #FilmstarsKiNahiSciencekiSuno, #SirfScienceKiSuno which targeted its rival brands directly, while nudging consumers to ask unasked questions regarding the popular brands’ products.

    Commenting on the latest campaign, head- Consumer Business, Shashi Ranjan shared, “Hair loss is one of the biggest concerns for both male and female consumers. Sebamed continuously conducts consumer studies to understand hair concerns and formulates efficacious solutions with pH5.5 benefits. Through “#NoConditionsApply” campaign we are addressing the need of discerning consumers by unravelling the truth behind anti hairloss product claims. We are confident that our honest and differentiated messaging around hair loss will resonate with our audience.”

  • Kerovit launches new TVC with Ranveer-Anushka

    Kerovit launches new TVC with Ranveer-Anushka

    Mumbai: Faucets & sanitaryware brand Kerovit, from the house of Kajaria, has launched a new television ad campaign featuring actors Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.

    The commercial, titled ‘Freedom 3.0’ carries forward the brand’s expression ‘Kerovit is Freedom’ showcasing a bathroom as a space to express, and unwind.

    “Both these superstars are inspiring, dazzling, stylish and certainly unique. They also exhibit incredible versatility and that just goes to show that they have the feeling of “freedom” deeply rooted within. This coincides with our brand strategy and hence made our association like peas in a pod,” said MD Kajaria Bathware and JMD of Kajaria Ceramics Rishi Kajaria.

    The company has previously released campaigns starring Anushka Sharma, dubbed 2.0. To take it a step further, the new campaign has been dubbed 3.0 in an effort to revamp the brand’s style quotient while also hammering the brand expression of ‘Freedom.’

    “We believe that Ranveer Singh has always embodied the feeling of ‘freedom,’ and the common thread of craziness, style, and uniqueness. This makes us the perfect match. As a prominent figure in the Indian film industry, Anushka Sharma has always been a fan favourite and has delivered nothing but brilliance in her craft. We saw her as an inspiring icon and felt that she perfectly fits our brand’s narrative of freedom,” said Kajaria on the choice of brand ambassadors.

  • Eyes on the billboards again, as OOH business rebounds

    Eyes on the billboards again, as OOH business rebounds

    Mumbai: As the markets and public spaces open up and consumers’ mobility return back to normal, the OOH (Out-Of-Home) industry is rebounding from a long phase of shutdowns. The festive season in India this year witnessed a resurgence in OOH campaigns as the industry shifted gears and advertisers adjusted their game plan to take advantage of the evolving OOH landscape.

    “Though the internet gained momentum in the last few years, people are always going to be spending time outdoors, including a significant amount of time commuting. That means there will always be opportunities for companies to make an impact and grow their brand using attention-capturing, visually appealing billboard advertising,” said Posterscope OOH country head Imtiyaz Vilatra.

    OOH has always been a critical part of the media mix for most marketers, and it was also the one which was hardest hit by the lockdown. But, it is slowly reviving as vaccination drives gain pace, offices open up and economic activity revives. The festive period also saw a flurry of campaign launches from across categories such as OTT, Retail, Education, Automobile & BFSI.

    “We witnessed more than fifty campaigns in a span of forty days- campaigns where OOH has been an integral part- Parle, Airtel, Viacom18, Tata Sky, Bike Bazaar, to name a few,” said Vilatra, adding, “We have been able to drive measurability data and deliver better ROI through our Location specialist capabilities for our clients and the response has been great.”

    As India lifted lockdown restrictions, major brands such as Tanishq, Tissot,  Titan, Croma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Raymond unveiled festive campaigns, and so did new age brands like Rapido, Tendercuts and Bumble. The women-first social networking & dating app launched exclusive out of home campaigns across major cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai that grabbed eyeballs, leveraging the medium featuring taglines with humorous, localised takes at dating culture.

    Laqshya Media Group also executed a multi-city high decibel OOH campaign for Hero Lectro E-cycles. The campaign encompassed a mix of large format media units, cluster brandings and other unconventional mediums across all cities.

    “A host of brands are choosing OOH – not only as a medium, but as one of the lead mediums. Across the country, the biggest spenders straddle industry verticals from Real Estate to Automobiles, from insurance to OTT, and from Jewellery to electronics (D2C as well as Legacy,” said Laqshya Media Group chief strategy officer Sai Nagesh. “During the month of October, we executed several prominent campaigns for clients like Tanishq, Maruti Suzuki etc, amongst others.”

    He cites two recent innovations executed by the agency-  cluster advertising used by Titan to dominate a geography across its brands, Titan watches and Tanishq and 3-dimensional billboards used by Maruti Suzuki for its brand Celerio- to highlight his point.

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    Agencies also highlight how brands today are becoming highly data-centric and using advanced algorithms to measure the impact of various media available to them. “On our part, we have been sharing advanced OOH metrics off our proprietary platform SHARP that is able to generate the measure of quantum and quality of traffic across 32 cities in India along with metrics like Nett Reach & OTS. This has also aided the clients in re-allocating significant funds for OOH,” added Nagesh.

    The best measure of whether OOH campaigns are truly ready for a comeback after the pandemic-induced hit it took is the traffic on the roads. And the traffic back on streets is a positive sign for both businesses and media partners. Some of the agencies also tracked the mobility trends during the course of the pandemic and updated their clients. With people moving out after the pandemic-induced lockdowns, the traffic has also resumed across all roads.

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    Out of Home advertising as a fast-growing industry is only set to develop further with advanced AI-powered tools that aid in accessing appropriate locations in each city to reach out to the core TG of the campaign and new technology trends over the year. A medium that was once static images with simple captions now also features interactive and electronic billboards with DOOH (Digital OOH). Brands can be much more creative with how they reach customers in all demographics using these latest innovations.

    Across the world, the OOH and mobile media are fast moving towards convergence. There is even data to show that OOH + Mobile advertising produces better recall than any other medium, according to a PJ Solomon study conducted in the US. “Unlike digital advertising, people can’t skip, quickly scroll past, use ad-blocks or avoid billboards using premium subscriptions. I think in a smartphone world, the biggest screens still matter,” summed up Vilatra.

  • The world survives on creativity: Piyush Pandey at Ad Asia 2021

    The world survives on creativity: Piyush Pandey at Ad Asia 2021

    Mumbai: The pandemic took a heavy toll on people, and constrained activities across industries. So much so that it made the advertising industry apprehensive of its deleterious effects on the creativity of its workforce. But according to Ogilvy chairman of global creative Piyush Pandey, ‘creativity is still alive and kicking’ and fuelling the industry in the post-pandemic world.

    Sharing his views on the ‘Advertising innovation under Covid-19 pandemic’, Pandey said that he is frequently asked whether the pandemic has killed the creativity of the advertising industry.

    “The world survives on creativity,” responded the industry veteran while allaying any such concerns. “In fact, the pandemic has taught us that lives can be saved through creativity. Right from scientists who brought vaccines at unprecedented speeds to governments who found new solutions to administer those vaccines to millions, and to common people who remained confined in their homes, every one of us had to get creative with their lives to survive and thrive,” he said emphatically.

    Pandey also lauded the work done by several advertising agencies during the lockdown, and cited three examples of great creativity that stood out for him.

    The first, a made-at-home short film ‘Family’ launched in April 2020 which carried the message of ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ while also raising funds for the daily wage workers and technicians of film industries across the country hit by the pandemic. The film featuring several top actors was virtually directed by Prasoon Pandey, without any of the actors stepping out of their homes. Sponsored by Sony Pictures & Kalyan Jewellers, the film helped in collecting $3 million a because of a little creativity in the most terrible of times.

    The second film Pandey named was Savlon India’s campaign promoting handwashing, released in October 2020. The campaign “Hand Hygiene for all” executed in partnership with Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) highlighted the message of handwashing effectively. The story was told through a day in the life of Swapna, a talented foot artist, who by her own example shows how handwashing is the easiest way to prevent Covid and other infections and why we should all be doing it. “Think of solutions executed with both your hands tied behind your back,” said Pandey.

    He also made a special mention of the Cadburys’ Dairy milk Diwali campaign, ‘Not just a Cadbury ad’ where the confectionary major batted for the small shop owners by getting ‘India’s biggest brand ambassador’, Shah Rukh Khan to be the brand ambassador for each of the local stores. Retailers and small local stores were shut due to pandemic, as people ordered even essential, everyday items online. So the brand used machine learning & AI to help retailers create their own ads, which were promoted by Khan as per the pin code of the viewer.

  • TV9 Network onboards Munaf Merchant as VP – sales

    TV9 Network onboards Munaf Merchant as VP – sales

    Noida: As part of its aggressive expansion plans, TV9 Digital has strengthened its digital sales team further and onboarded Munaf Merchant as vice president – sales. Merchant will be responsible for building and driving direct revenue streams that cater to the TV9 Digital platforms bouquet.

    He will report to TV9 Digital president – revenue Azim Lalani.

    TV9 Network chief growth officer (digital and broadcasting) Raktim Das said, “Just like the broadcasting space, most of our digital platforms are already leaders in their respective markets. Advertisers are showing immense confidence in our ever-growing digital footprint.  We are aggressively pursuing ambitious growth objectives and Munaf’s appointment is another step in that direction.”

    Merchant comes with an experience of over a decade and was earlier associated with the Network 18 working there as national sales head for Brand Solutions & Convergence.

    “I am delighted to be entrusted with this responsibility. TV9 Digital is a perfect platform to channelise my abilities and at the same time showcase my creativity. As I take up this new opportunity, I will aim to deliver enhanced value to all our partners and clients,” said Merchant.

  • We’re conveying broadcasters’ concerns to the regulator: MIB Secy Apurva Chandra on NTO 2.0

    We’re conveying broadcasters’ concerns to the regulator: MIB Secy Apurva Chandra on NTO 2.0

    Mumbai: Despite the pandemic-induced slowdown, India’s media and entertainment industry can grow at least nine per cent every year to reach $70 billion by 2030, said ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) secretary Apurva Chandra.

    The top ministry official was discussing the evolution of India’s broadcasting industry at the Apos India Summit that began virtually on Tuesday.

    Highlighting how the $25 billion industry is being recognised as a significant generator of employment, Chandra said the sector’s role in growing the nation’s soft power through dissemination of content worldwide is laudable.  The phenomenon has especially been powered in a big way by the pandemic-induced OTT boom.

    “The massive proliferation and adoption of OTT platforms have led to Indian content being translated into several languages and released internationally, thus making it available anywhere in the world at the same time. As I understand from the likes of Amazon and Netflix, there are a lot of viewers of Indian content abroad, including in countries like Mexico, Brazil and Spain,” said Chandra.

    The burgeoning of online video has however been accompanied by growing piracy concerns. While there exists in India a robust and well-entrenched Copyright Act that is administered by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade, the MIB is in the drafting stages of a ‘Cinematograph Act’. “The new legislation which will have a specific anti-piracy provision has already been introduced in the parliament,” informed Chandra.  

    Additionally the ministry has also agreed to extend in-principle support to CII’s (Confederation of Indian Industry) proposal of formulating an industry body to tackle all forms of copyright violations.

    The MIB secretary also noted the recent developments pertaining to the implementation of the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0, and said the ministry is in touch with the broadcasters regarding the issue.

    “The New Tariff Order (NTO) 1.0 guidelines implemented a couple of years ago gave rise to some apprehensions among broadcasters, and these seem to have been further aggravated by NTO 2.0. Prior decision on the matter has been challenged in the Supreme Court. We are also in touch with the broadcasters regularly and are conveying their concerns to the regulator (Trai),” said Chandra, adding that the ministry can act as a bridge between industry stakeholders and regulators, particularly in the context of recent regulatory changes.

    Chandra added that he welcomes the idea of the ministry having a larger role to play in the regulation of the broadcasting industry. “The MIB has received a request for inducting a part-time member from the sector into Trai, and we are open to the suggestions/nominations in this regard,” he added.

    Sharing his perspective on the scope for a unified regulatory policy/body for the M&E industry, he said that given the complexities and diversity of the sector, there needs to be a much larger debate on whether all stakeholders can come under a common policy. “It is bound to have its own challenges and concerns,” he reckoned.

    Among other initiatives, a ‘Broadcaster Seva Portal’ will soon be launched to take all application and approval procedures online. Changes in uplinking and downlinking guidelines can also be expected in the next three-four months, he said.