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Tag: Movies OK

  • TV channels celebrate the season of love

    TV channels celebrate the season of love

    MUMBAI: Come 14 February and television will play cupid to couch potatoes, who wish to spend the day at home. Obviously, not missing out on the opportunity, TV channels present a hearty meal to the viewers from romance and love specials to blockbuster movies.

    Star Plus intends to pull at viewers’ heart strings by airing a special two and a half hour extravaganza of love with leading Star Plus couples on 15 February at 9 pm. The Valentine Day special event will see popular faces of Star Plus’ shows performing to a medley of passionate numbers from Bollywood of 2014 to romantic songs including biggest hits from movie Aashiqui 2.

    Star wants to make this day even more special, bigger and better with its special #IThankYou campaign and an on air celebration of love with Star Valentine’s Day – Muskurane Ki Wajah Tum Ho. The campaign is a unique thought that gave Star Plus viewers the opportunity to thank their loved ones this V-Day. It was actively promoted on-air and across digital platforms with four leading protagonists (Sandhya, Ishita, Nisha and Anjali) explaining the concept of #IThankU and urging viewers to share their picture stories with Star Plus. The selected winners along with the loved ones will be given a chance to meet and greet their favourite celebrities on 14 February, 2015.

    On digital, the buzz was kept alive through active tweets of Star Plus celebrities of their #IThankU stories and urging fans to share the same. Exclusive vignettes of #IThankYou stories of key shows like MasterChef and Tu Mera Hero were shared across all the digital platforms. The campaign was rolled out on 4 February, 2015 and will culminate on 14 February, 2015.

    On the other hand, to add the glamour quotient, Zee TV has got Sunny Leone to sizzle on its special Valentine’s Day show Locha – E – Ulfat. Dressed to kill in the hues of love, Leone grooved to some of her popular numbers like Baby doll mein sone ki, pink lips and 4 bottle vodka. Celebrating love in all flavours, it will air on 15 February at 5 pm. The story revolves around a man, Birju, played by popular comedian Sunil Grover who fell in love when he was a child, but as destiny had it, his heart was crushed by the love of his life. He stopped believing in love and grew up to be an angry, young man who hates love stories but only till he sees the sensational Sunny Leone. From entertaining performances, rib-tickling humour, loads of glitz and glamour, oodles of masti and dhamaal, the show will also feature performances by popular lead couples from Zee TV performing on the dance numbers.

    Life OK is going to celebrate the day in a different style. The channel’s comedy offering – Comedy Classes will celebrate the day by spoofing on one of the biggest and most romantic movies of all time – Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. The show, which is known to spoof on celebrated movies will definitely leave viewers laughing throughout as the ace comedian Bharti Singh will play the character of Nisha, which was played by Madhuri Dixit.

    Salman Khan’s character Prem is played by Siddharth Sagar while Krushna Abhishek will play Mohnish Behl in the show. This special episode will air on 12 and 13 February at 10 pm.

    Sab TV’s most watched show in the comedy genre – Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is celebrating the season of love in a filmy way. The residents of Gokuldham Society will go all romantic for their respective wives this Valentine’s by dedicating poems written by them. The episode will air on 14 February.

    Not to forget the ones who own the occasion, youth channels too have some interesting programs lined up. To celebrate the essence of Valentine’s Day, bindass’ cult relationship show Yeh Hai Aashiqui that showcases unconventional love stories came up with a month long series called Love Heroes that highlights the role and importance of a cupid in the love story. Popular television actor Rithvik Dhanjani is seen as the host of the show and taking the viewers through the plots of some amazing love stories every week. To top it all, in order to celebrate love, bindass held a contest for couples who wanted to share stories of their cupid.

    Movie channels too are busy showering some romantic movies to the viewers. Sony Max plays cupid this day as it showcases Ishq Wala Shanivaara, a day-long movie festival featuring the best Bollywood romantic movies. Airing on 14 February, the channel spreads the love with back to back romantic comedies and dramas.

    The movie marathon consists of handpicked fan favourites airing from 7 am in the morning with Shudd Desi Romance, and culminating with Heropanti at 11 pm. The romantic extravaganza consists of various love themed movies which showcase how love emerges victorious in spite of the odds. Ishq Wala Shanivaar will get television audiences acquainted with the different faces of love, from modern-day love (Shudd Desi Romance) to, tragic love (Aashiqui 2), love and friendship (Mujhse Dosti Karoge) to love across lifetimes (Magadheera) and love set against a violent landscape (Heropanti).

    On its sister channel, Max 2, it will take viewers on a romantic journey. The channel has lined up a series of romantic movies titled Love ne bana de Jodi for viewers, beginning 8 February until 14 February. Consisting of classics from the 1950s till the 1990s the movie festival will pluck at the heart strings of viewers.

    Comprising of iconic films ranging from Chori Chori, Silsila to Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, the movie festival will charm the viewers with seven romantic movies.

    Keeping the ethos of airing differentiated content alive, Star Gold, Home of Bollywood Blockbuster Premieres, chooses to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day with a romantic thriller – Ek Villain on 14 February at 8 pm. The World TV Premiere of this romantic-thriller will be showcased immediately after Valentine’s Week Special: a weeklong line-up of romantic comedies dedicated to the day of romance. Being a love story with a thrilling twist along with a stream of melodious, chart-topping music, the movie makes for the perfect valentine viewing.

    This romantic season, Movies OK will bring to its viewers a heart-felt love story disrupted by diverse cultural barriers with the premiere of 2 States; a romantic saga starring superstar-duo Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Directed by Abhishek Verman, the movie will air on 14 February at 8 pm.

    Comedy Central is celebrating love by gifting viewers 10 hours of the most loved and acclaimed show Impractical Jokers on 14 February from 10 am to 8 pm. It is a hidden-camera series that follows four lifelong friends — Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano — who take dares to an outrageous level.

    Over the years, Vh1 has given viewers love songs and set the mood for the special day. This year, the channel wants to know who is your bae? It can be a guy or a girl and doesn’t need to be someone op the opposite sex. Just send in your dedication to your Bae and request for a song of your choice for your Bae, and see your request feature on Vh1. It’s simple, Just post your bae’s name and request a for a video with the hashtag #Vh1BaelentinesDay (on facebook/twitter/instagram) and see it featured on the show.

    Gone are the days when Valentine’s Day was celebrated amongst couples. This time around Nicktoons is all set to make the day of love exciting for kids across India. Nick has brought back its Kaun Banega Valentoon contest on Nickelodeon. The contest ran on Nick from 2 February to 10 February. As a gratification, kids get a chance to meet their valentoon on Valentine’s Day. The promotions have also been done through Social media posts and the winners will be announced on 14 February.

    On the other hand, Sonic presents an exciting movie marathon for its viewers from 15 to 21 February. From Motu Patlu series to Pakdam Pakdai to Keymon & Nani in Space Adventure, it is set to melt the hearts of the young kids. 

  • Hathway’s googly; comes up with new Star packaging

    Hathway’s googly; comes up with new Star packaging

    MUMBAI: A month after Star India’s reference interconnect offer (RIO) deals came into effect in the DAS areas, multi system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable & Datacom has come out with its new pricing and packaging system.

     

    Hathway has been conducting meetings with operators in various areas, the last ones being in Aurangabad, Pune and Pimpri. As per cable operators, who were a part of the meetings, Hathway has said that it will be empowering and training the operators to run the business of collection from subscribers.

     

    Four new packs have been introduced. The first is the ‘Basic Pack’ for Rs 230 that will, along with other channels, have seven Star channels. These are: Star Plus, Life OK, Star Gold, Movies OK, Channel V, NGC and Star Pravah, for Marathi regions and Star Jalsha in Bengal. This will depend on the stronghold of Hathway in the states.

     

    The second pack is for Rs 289 and called ‘Popular Pack’. This will have, in addition to the above, a choice of one out of the two sports channels from Star Sports 1 or Star Sports 3. Both these channels show the same content in English and Hindi respectively.

     

    The third pack will be for Rs 349 and will have Star Movies, Star World, Movies Action and FX while the last ‘Premium Pack’ for Rs 419 will consist of an addition of its other niche channels such as Fox Crime, Nat Geo Music, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, Fox Life etc.

     

    Regional channels such as Asianet, Asianet Suvarna and Star Vijay have been kept out of packs and will be available on a-la-carte while all of Star’s channels will be available on a-la-carte as well.

     

    Hathway will embark on a big marketing campaign to inform viewers about this and viewers can immediately switch over to new packs. For now, the MSO is not disconnecting signals to its subscribers. 

     

  • MIPCOM 2014: Star India eyes newer formats, greater reach

    MIPCOM 2014: Star India eyes newer formats, greater reach

    CANNES: It is a meeting place for the content industry across the globe. And this is precisely what the seven member team of Star India is doing in Cannes, at the ongoing MIPCOM 2014. The network, which includes Hindi general entertainment channels: Star Plus and Life OK as well as its movie cluster: Star Movies, Star Movies Action, Star Gold, and Movies OK is having a busy MIPCOM.

     

    While a three member team is here selling its content, which ranges from drama to mythology, a four member team: two each for GECs and movie channels is looking to buy formats that can be adapted for the Indian audiences, both fiction and non-fiction.

     

    Uncountable meetings have kept the seven member team busy on both day one and day two of the market, which will be here till 16 October, the last day of MIPCOM 2014.

     

    On sale is the entire cluster of shows from both Star Plus and Life OK. But what is being pushed more is Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, Ek Hasina Thi, Saraswatichandra and Mahabharat, apart from its other hit shows, including the just launched Airlines, Nisha Aur Uske Cousins and the biggest hit on Life OK, Mahadev.

     

    While the GEC cluster is looking at the entire world market for both selling and buying shows and formats, the English movie cluster is focusing on Hollywood movies.

     

    The number one channel in the Hindi GEC space, as per the TAM TV ratings, is also of key importance to 21st Century Fox co-chief operating officer James Murdoch.  “The business in India has been doing great. We are the number one network there. If we continue to innovate and lead in India, it will prove to be a game changer for us,” he had said during his keynote, here in Cannes.

  • Movies OK ‘Karo Diwali Share’ contest

    Movies OK ‘Karo Diwali Share’ contest

    MUMBAI: Don’t limit the celebrations and gifts for loved ones this festive season! Movies OK, the ultimate movie destination for family entertainment, is all set to reward its viewers this Diwali with the launch of ‘Karo Diwali Share’ contest. Television viewers have the opportunity to win Snapdeal e-vouchers worth Rs. 10,000/- and buy exciting Diwali gifts daily. Share celebrations and happiness with loved ones by participating in Movies OK’s ‘Karo Diwali Share’ contest, from 8th October – 24th October at 8 pm.

     

    Avoid the long queuesand over-crowded stores this festive season; Diwali shopping gets convenient and hassle-free with Movies OK’s ‘Karo Diwali Share’ contest. Viewers can participate in the contest by answering a simple question flashed during the film and buy exciting gifts for their loved ones with just one click. The vouchers, worth Rs. 10000, can be redeemed to select from a range of apparels, accessories, kitchen appliances, electronics, and much more available on Snapdeal.com. This three week contest will showcase entertaining Bollywood films such as Dabangg, Jai Ho, Son of Sardaar and many more to build up to the excitement of Diwali.

     

    So, this festive season, sit back and share a hassle-free Diwali with your loved ones! Watch the best of Bollywood and win grand prizes without stepping out of your homes, only with Movies OK.

     

  • Movies OK to launch an app soon

    Movies OK to launch an app soon

    MUMBAI: It was applauded for its unique launch in 2012 and has been working hard at making a mark in the genre that has seven channels competing with each other. We are referring to the second movie channel from the Star India bouquet- Movies OK, which after being at the fourth position in the ratings chart has beaten Zee Cinema to grab the third rank.

    The channel launched by premiering seven movies in seven consecutive days has continued with its innovation through ‘Ek Din 4 Premieres’, ‘7 Days 7 Premieres’ and ‘Ek Din Premieres Teen’.  The move has helped the movie channel in getting noticed by not just audiences, but also the industry pundits.

    Born as a consistent performer right from its inception, the week 34 of TAM TV ratings saw a new milestone for the channel. According to the data provided by Movies OK, it has been growing consistently and has been successful in narrowing the gap with the top three players. The channel reached out to 66 million viewers in the last two months.

    The movie channel is moving closer to competition, in the relatively premium audience set (HSM, CS Male 15+ ABC) and has overtaken Zee Cinema in the week 34, scoring 45 million TVTs as against Zee Cinema’s 44 million TVTs.

    Movies OK and Star Gold EVP and general manager Hemal Jhaveri believes that since its inception, the channel has been a consistent performer and the gap between number four and three players was always achievable.

    From the category share point of view, both Star Gold and Movies OK from the Star stable command 32 per cent market share.

    The channel which started at 60 GRPs, now delivers 82 GRPs and Jhaveri gives credit to its pure movie library. The channel has 1100 titles to its kitty.

    Jhaveri is a firm believer of differentiation, innovation and moving on. For him, every other movie channel in the genre is his competitor. “Any eyeball which is not on my channel, is my competitor. Movies OK competes with Star Gold equally as it competes with everyone else.”

    The channel walks through a simple strategy to sample audiences on-board. “We play good movies at the right time, communicate properly and rest follows. It is a very simple strategy that is why we have been consistent performers. Randomness gets you nowhere and in fact dilutes the assets,” opines Jhaveri.

     

    The channel which caters to the entire family believes in showcasing movies that can be watched by the whole family. And for this, the channel has gone ahead and refreshed its content library. “We know for a fact that the library content depreciates. So we are really not going out and refreshing content which is depreciating. We have been focused on movies and content which has been working from pure catalogue point of view,” asserts Jhaveri.

    The biggest achievement was when it redefined versatility with its very own TV premiere of Bobby Jasoos. Likewise, going forward the channel plans to achieve and create a bank of world television premiers. It can be noted that the network gets maximum world television premiers on its sister channel Star Gold first, which is then showcased on Movies OK.

    But Bobby Jasoos was the first one to jump the queue. “In the competitive market, we feel world television premiers are important. We are planning to do something huge in December on the line of world television premiers only,” reasons Jhaveri. 

    While the channel mostly appeals to family audiences who like romantic and family dramas; blockbuster and action movies featured in the prime time slot get maximum traction.

    The channel uses its own network to market the brand. According to Jhaveri, advertisers’ response towards the channel has also been very encouraging. “A lot of them have been surprised that it toppled a strong brand like Zee Cinema.” The channel has brands like Panteen, Pampers, Vimal Paan Masala and many more on-board.

    On the digital front, the official page of Movies OK on Facebook has a strong fan following with 3 lakh likes. On Twitter, Jhaveri feels it needs to get the push as it hardly has around 4,000 followers. “We will make it more engaging on Twitter. It’s very strange to narrow down our initiatives only to Facebook and Twitter. We are planning to launch an app very soon.”

    Interestingly, Jhaveri who also heads Star Gold reveals that the premier slate on Star Gold is all set with movies like Kick followed by Singham Returns, Bang Bang, Bombay Velvet and Creature 3D. “Our share degree of planning is done,” concludes Jhaveri.

  • Movie channels gear up for the IPL onslaught

    Movie channels gear up for the IPL onslaught

    Season seven of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a couple of weeks away, but instead of worrying about possible loss of viewership and ad revenue, movie channels are gearing up to serve even more interesting fare to their audiences.

    Helios Media MD Divya Radhakrishnan opines: “IPL affects television across genres. GECs do not launch new shows, there are no reality shows, and no big blockbusters happen on movie channels. During IPL, everything comes to a standstill because that is the focal point during these months. However, the only thing posing a hindrance for IPL this time is the elections.”

    The 9:00 pm slot is typically lost in the IPL frenzy however, over the years, television channels have learnt to work around the hugely popular tourney. Besides, movie channels claim that movies serve as entertainment for both – the young and the old, and hence, they can be consumed at any point of time irrespective of other activities happening in the broadcast space.

    Yet, according to broadcasters of English movies, the 11:00 pm slot enjoys high ratings during IPL season, and strategising around this slot helps them compensate for erosion of viewership that takes place during the 9:00 pm time band. Broadcasters of Hindi movies on the other hand remain unaffected, and continue to mark their FPCs as per their preferences. Hindi movie channels mainly focus on catching viewers in the afternoon just before the beginning of the cricket match.

    About Star Movies’ and Star Movies Action’s plans during IPL 7, Star India business head English cluster, Kevin Vaz, says: “The strategy is that viewers can immediately switch to exhilarating blockbusters after an exciting match of cricket. Both channels have a fantastic line-up for their audiences and will provide the best Hollywood content.”

    With a view to amplifying the excitement of IPL, Star Movies has crafted an exclusive, on-air festival that brings together some of the biggest Hollywood premieres. “Riding on the heels of the IPL, Star Movies is bringing out a month-long movie festival titled ‘Super Star League’ in April and May, every night at 11:00 pm. We also have Amazon on board as a presenting sponsor,” says Vaz.  

    Additionally, Star Movies will continue to premiere the biggest Hollywood blockbusters every month and has a great line-up including Oblivion starring Tom Cruise and a host of films featuring Jackie Chan. “Viewers can also look forward to a host of animation movies next month,” Vaz reveals.

    Star Movies Action plans a contest round the special superhero line-up plus a speed demon festival featuring racing hits like Death Race, Ghost Rider, Gone in 60 Seconds and Speed. The Action@ 8 segment will see favourites like Predator, The Man with the Iron Fists and Hell Boy.

    “We have always placed a great importance on the digital medium as we feel that we can really connect with our viewers and gauge their preferences via online activities. In the new age, everyone is online and it is the best place to really interact effectively with our audiences,” says Vaz.

    As for HBO, the channel will air season five of its ‘Hollywood Premiere League (HPL)’ alongside season seven of IPL. Blockbusters including Jack Reacher, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, The Dark Knight Rises, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, Wrath of the Titans, The Hunger Games and Parker will be telecast at 11:00 pm, Monday to Thursday, from April 14 to May 22, 2014.

    “The idea is to have a good content mix primarily driven by genres that are well received i.e. action and comedy. And that is what drives ratings, viewership and ad revenues in the end,” says HBO South Asia MD Monica Tata. “We will be doing on-ground activity, radio, on-air and social media promotions as well, building momentum for the two-month long festival that will offer blockbusters soon after the IPL matches get over.”

    Multi Screen Media’s Sony Pix, sister channel of official IPL broadcasters Sony Max and Sony Six, will air season four of its ‘Pix Premiere League (PPL)’ alongside IPL. “We will continue to program around IPL with the fourth season of PPL, as it is the biggest cricketing event in the country,” says Sony Pix business head Saurabh Yagnik. “The PPL has a line-up of our best titles and we have witnessed a spike in viewership during this time for the 11:00 pm slot as well. We want viewers to witness some of the best movies on our channel with the proposition, ‘Stay Amazed’.”

    PPL will be telecast at 11:00 pm Monday to Sunday from 16 April to 1 June. Only on Thursdays, there will be ‘Pix Doubles’ or ‘Super Pix’ or ‘Mega Premiere’ and Snapdeal.com will be the sponsor. With IPL being a MSM property, Pix will leverage Sony Max to get viewers to tune into PPL and catch some really good titles post the action on the field. The plan is to showcase 40 to 45 movie titles during IPL including The Amazing Spider-Man, Into the Blue, Rocky, The Terminator, Shaolin Soccer, Shutter Island, 2012, Kung Fu Hustle and After Earth. With less than two weeks’ time left, Sony Pix will premiere White House Down and Elysium to monetise well before the IPL begins.

    Zee Studio too is working on its programming around the IPL and will continue its Powerplay block that has been reloaded this year with a thrilling mix of Hollywood Action blockbusters through the month of May to attract viewers on to the channel. Powerplay starts 1 May, Monday to Friday at 10:00 pm.

    The block will see movies like: Cowboys and Aliens, Pirates of the Caribbean, Armageddon, Déj? Vu, Air Force One, John Carter and Enemy of the State.

    Talking about Powerplay Zee Studio EVP and business head Anurag Bedi says: “During the IPL, the English movie genre has historically witnessed a sizeable increase in male viewership and we will capitalise on the channel’s heavy online presence, of one million plus fanbase on Facebook and 50,000 followers on twitter by setting it abuzz with activities all through the month. Powerplay will also be promoted extensively via television and print in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.”

    Unlike most English movie channels which are trying to create a property around IPL through packaging and programming blocks, the Times Television Network English entertainment channels will stick to what they do best. “We don’t want to come across as gimmicky by doing a ‘premier league’ though these things may help in generating more revenues, but it does not really add to the viewership,” says Times Television Network English entertainment channels’ CEO Ajay Trigunayat.

    Movies Now will compete with IPL through ‘Adrenaline Drive’, a block which has been successful for the past two and a half years for the channel. It will play at 11:00 pm, Monday to Thursday, beginning 7 April. Apart from high-octane movies like Commando, Iron Man, Salt, Transporter 2, Clash of the Titans, Batman Begins, Mr & Mrs Smith, Knight & Day, Behind Enemy Lines, 300, Collateral Damage and Superman Returns, Movies Now will also air the Matrix trilogy on 20 April, Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows on 12 April, and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island on 5 April, all at 9:00 pm. While Movies Now gets around Rs 9,000 for a 10-second slot, it is pitching about Rs 12,000 per 10 seconds for ‘Adrenaline Drive’.

    Speaking of Romedy Now, Trigunayat says: “We have Friends With Better Lives launching from 1 April. It launched on CBS in the US at 8.30 pm on 31 March and we have done an interesting thing of launching a show at 11:00 pm, which is unprecedented, because prime time viewing has certainly shifted from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm as that is a better viewed slot today than 9:00 pm.”

    In addition, Romedy Now will introduce two tent-pole properties in April i.e. Jolly Good Chaplin, a Charlie Chaplin special, and Romedy Weddings, a collection of unique movies keeping in mind the upcoming wedding season. The channel is also gearing up for the launch of a brand new series, 1600 Penn, which will be aired in May.

    Romedy Now’s current properties including Kitchen Confidential, Witches of East End, Sunny Sundays, Y So Serious and Happy Hours will continue.

    “Romedy Now is a content-agnostic channel. The content line-up consists of the best entertainment, keeping the core proposition of ‘Love. Laugh. Live’ intact. The content planned for the next two months is incredibly exciting. The Chaplin series will be quite a favourite, along with, of course, Friends With Better Lives, which is a brand new series written by Dana Klein (from the popular series F.R.I.E.N.D.S.),” says Trigunayat.

    Asked about the strategy deployed by English movie channels, a media observer said, “Properties based around IPL on English movie channels essentially serve two purposes. One, they allow channels to package these properties for the advertisers, and hence, monetise them better than their regular FPC. Two, it helps keep the buzz on the channel alive, so that the channel is not lost in the IPL hype.”

    Unlike English movie channels, Hindi movie channels are on a different route altogether.

    As Star Gold & Movies OK executive VP & GM, Hemal Jhaveri says: “It is business as usual; it’s about forming the habit for viewers, and there is so much of cricket happening anyways, nothing really changes for us dramatically during the IPL. The premieres will get their share of the marketing push through our networks.”

    Star Gold’s highlight for the month of April is ‘Masaledar Hits’, where every day, the channel will dish out a ‘Masaledar’ movie in the early evening slot; this will be a key property to win share in the non-prime time band. Golmaal 3, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Agneepath (Amitabh Bachan), Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani, De Dana Dan and Bhagam Bhaag among others will be aired as part of this block.

    Similarly for May, Star Gold will have ‘Blockbuster Noon’, which Jhaveri describes as “a programming stunt that we are planning to pull off where we will showcase a slew of blockbusters in the afternoon time band on week days. As we believe weekdays are the new weekends.”

    Additionally, the first Rs 100 crore grosser of this year, Salman Khan-starrer Jai Ho will premiere on a weekend in May followed by the world television premiere of O Teri.

    Movies OK will continue running the Family OK Holiday Special Contest on weekdays, early evening. “The idea is to engage and interact with the entire family and at the same time, provide an opportunity to watch and win the contest,” says Jhaveri. The contest gives viewers a chance to win a smart phone every day and a lucky family to go for an all expenses-paid international holiday to Thailand. This band will see movies like Main Hoon Na, Khatta Meetha, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehtein Hain, Beta and Tere Naam among others.

    Bullett Raja will premiere on 27 April at 8:00 pm and in May; the channel will run the ‘SuperVeers – Action Blockbusters’ block at 8:00 pm on weekdays, apart from the channel premiere of the hit, Yaariyan in the weekend primetime band.

    Leveraging the election fever with an aim to provide viewers with iconic reel leaders, Zee Cinema is launching the ‘Hamara Neta Kaisa Ho’ festival which will air from 14-21 April, 2014 everyday at 9:00 pm. The festival will see titles like Nayak, Himmatwala and Aparichit – The Stranger.

    “Entering into our 20th year of entertaining our audiences with Movies, Masti and Magic, it has been our constant endeavour at Zee Cinema, to constantly provide our viewers novel offerings. We thrive to deliver the best to our audience hence have been rewarded with the highest GVTs, making the movie channel the undisputed leader in its genre. We are not aiming at combating IPL… in fact we look at it as an opportunity where television viewing will have increased eyeballs due to the election and IPL fervor,” explains Zeel deputy VP, head of programming – Hindi movie channels Ruchir Tiwari.

    Zee Classic is strengthening its programming line-up for the month of April by premiering movies such as Nasir Hussain and Shammi Kapoor’s Dil Deke Dekho, two Kishore Kumar classics like Dilli Ka Thug and Bombay Ka Chor and Biswajeet’s Bees Saal Baad for the first time on the channel. The month of April will also witness evergreen superstar Rajendra ‘Jubliee’ Kumar’s festival which will see films like Gawar, Doo Jassos and Saathi amongst others. Zee Classic will be airing a special movie Leader on Voting Day, starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala, which revolves around politics. The plethora of movies will recreate the magic of yesteryears.

     “Zee Classic being the only classic Hindi movie channel in India believes in showcasing the great works of cinema. We have an extensive and unique library of superhit classic movies, and hence have created two primetime slots – 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm daily. Apart from this, the channel will also be showcasing movies of the evergreen superstar Rajendra Kumar which will pay a tribute to the Jubilee Star by airing a month-long festival called ‘Jubilee Kumar’,” reveals Tiwari.

    The newest channel from the Zee’s stable – &Pictures – in anticipation of the upcoming IPL, has built up the Sunday 12 noon slot with ‘Hollwood Sundays’, a property that brings up a new Hollywood movie in Asli Desi Flavours every Sunday at 12 noon. “The creation of a destination Pictures@8 that shows high voltage entertainment daily at 8:00 pm was launched in order to develop a loyal viewer base for the daily prime time slot,” adds Tiwari.

    The main attraction for the month of May will see the premiere of Total Siyappa, a co-production of &Pictures. The romcom directed by E. Niwas, released in theatres on 7 March.

    On the marketing and digital strategy Tiwari says: “The activities are being constantly supported with on-air promotions and constant digital buildups and this will continue throughout the year.”

    Looks like the stage is set… not just for the biggest cricket tourney in the shortest format of the game but also for the movie channels vying for eyeballs during this period. Game On!

  • Star Gold’s high profile movie acquisitions for 2014

    Star Gold’s high profile movie acquisitions for 2014

    MUMBAI: The Star network continues on its path to keep pushing the envelope in terms of providing some of the best content to its viewers.

    Star Gold, the Hindi movie channel, is all set with a smashing blockbuster television premieres line-up for 2014. The network has announced its acquisition of a fresh movie library as part of its extensive plans for 2014 in the Hindi movies genre. The new acquisition comprises of 18 highly anticipated Bollywood films of the year including films of leading superstars such as Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan.

    Announcing the network’s movie acquisition plans for the year, Star Gold and Movies OK EVP Hemal Jhaveri said: “We have consistently received a phenomenal response for the big ticket premieres on our network.  Apart from entertaining the audiences, movie premieres also prove to be an extremely successful platform from the advertisers’ standpoint. Hence, it proves to be a win-win situation for all stakeholders. For 2014, we have targeted a diverse content line up acquiring films across different genres. Our strategy has always been to simply offer our viewers’ content they want to watch, rather than what we want them to watch.”

    Touted to be the first hit of 2014, Yaariyan shall kick start the movie premieres for the year across the network. This shall be followed by Salman Khan’s Jai Ho, the first Rs 100 crore grossing film of the year. The other acquired films of 2014 include Gang of Ghosts, Traffic, Sonali Cable, O Teri, Bhaag Johnny and Hawaa Hawaai. The newly acquired movies are bought for a period of 10 years with exclusive telecast rights.

    In early 2013, Star India had signed an exclusive television broadcast rights deal with superstars Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn for their films till 2017. In addition to this, the network has signed a deal for other exciting movies for its 2014 movies line up. Some of the high profile premieres slated for the year include: Jai Ho, Kick, Bombay Velvet, Bang Bang, Roy, Action Jackson, Singham 2, Hamshakals, Bobby Jasoos and Creature.

    In 2012, the network had acquired over 500 films from the Viacom 18 group followed by the deal with superstars Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn in early 2013. Star India has successfully premiered the maximum number of Rs 100 crore Bollywood films, including blockbusters such as Singham, Bodyguard, Ra.One, Housefull 2, Bol Bachchan, Son of Sardaar, Dabangg 2 and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

  • &pictures beats Movies OK on the digital platform

    &pictures beats Movies OK on the digital platform

    MUMBAI: The promise of &pictures being India’s first interactive Hindi movie channel is strengthened with the unique strategy adopted for the premiere of Chennai Express. The Chennai Express mania refuses to die garnering a staggering 5949 TVTs and propelled the channel to zoom ahead of competition. The Week 47 data issued by TAM reveals the following key highlights:-

    &pictures zooms past competition with 112609 GVTs on CS4+, HSM levels

    Source: TAM, wk 47, Cs4+, HSM

    On the digital platform, &pictures has beaten Movies OK garnering 80129 GVTs

    Source: TAM, wk 47, Cs4+, HSM

    Chennai Express garners higher Time Spent than that of Boss on Colors


    Source: TAM, wk 47, Cs4+, HSM

    &pictures garners highest Time Spent in the Hindi Movie genre.

    Source: TAM, wk 47, Cs4+, HSM

    Chennai Express on &pictures also zips past popular primetime GEC shows like Big Boss, Nach Baliye, CID, KBC, Crime patrol Comedy Nights with Kapil


    Source: TAM, wk 47, Cs4+, HSM

    The channel had lined up an extensive and innovative marketing campaign including TV, Radio, Print, Outdoor, OOH and Cable for this big ticket premiere that aired on November 23rd. Putting across a differentiated digital strategy helped the channel touch the pulse of the youth through Facebook, Twitter and the blogging community.

    The initiative of sending a reminder calls in Shah Rukh Khan’s Voice received a record breaking 153357 unique callers. Selecting four IndiBloggers to relive the journey that SRK and Deepika Padukone had done in the film is clearly a case of achieving success through customer-driven marketing innovation. The bloggers recreated the entire Chennai Express journey which engaged the audiences online. The same was supported by @AndPicturesIN to drive more conversations around the movie premiere. The activation which began on 18th November had four IndiBloggers (Karishma Rawat, Nandini Deka, Arvind Passey & Ramit Narang) travel via Chennai Express train from Mumbai to Rameshwaram. It proved to be an effective medium of getting the audience engaged with the blogging community who kept throwing them challenges enroute their journey. The link www.indiblogger.in/chennaiexpress had live updates from the 4 bloggers and they created record breaking conversations on twitter & Facebook.

    Talking about the marketing strategy, Akash Chawla, ZEEL, National Channels, Marketing Head, said, “The rise of social media and the increasingly connected customer makes us continuously think out of the box to engage them in newer and interesting ways. By allowing our viewers to experience a film in person before they see it in their own homes, we ensured that &pictures is synonymous with quality and a channel that puts their viewers first. This innovation in the online space has reaped us the benefit across platforms. It has helped us to overcome existing and emerging challenges and set benchmarks which we look to break again in the near future.”

    He adds, “Remarkably, the campaign saw an additional 500 tweets with #chennaiexpressandyou even after the film had premiered. The campaign successfully reached out to a whopping 1.4 unique Twitter users and received over 14 million impressions on Twitter. The impressions via IndiBlogger network was a staggering record 1 Million + and including the impressions generated by four bloggers traveling it comes to a whopping 6.6 million. Owing to the phenomenal response received by this activation, #chennaiexpressandyou was the most talked about topic on Twitter so much that we broke Twitter.”

    &pictures marketing strategy for the premiere of Chennai Express was a unique blend of traditional and digital mediums with innovation and differentiation.

  • Colors and Life OK the biggest gainers in TAM week 23

    Colors and Life OK the biggest gainers in TAM week 23

    MUMBAI: Week 23, TAM ratings. Hindi General Entertainment Channels (GECs) Colors and Life OK seem to have notched up the highest gains this week clipping on an additional 12 GRPs to take their individual scores to 198 and 149 GRPs respectively, according to ratings provided by a TV channel. On the other hand, Star Plus shed seven GRPs but has still managed to hold on to its No 1 spot.

    Zee TV lopped off four GRPs to end the week with 180 GRPs staying put at No 3. Sony Entertainment was at no 4 and it dropped four GRPs to end the week with 150 GRPs. Sab lost seven GRPs this week taking its tally to 138 GRPs.

    Numero uno Star Plus‘ chart topper Diya Aur Baati Hum remained stable generating 4.1 TVR. Other fiction series appear to be losing the connect with audiences. Thus, Yeh Rishta witnessed a drop to 3.1 TVR (3.7 TVR last week), Pyaar ka Dard to 3.0 TVR (3.6 TVR last week) followed by Veera at 2.1 TVR (2.6 TVR last week). The channel‘s talent hunt-cum-reality show India‘s Dancing Superstarmanaged to get 1.9 TVR on the weekend (Saturday – Sunday).

    Colors‘ popular celebrity dance reality show JDJ helped it maintain its position this week (it generated a 2.4 TVR on Saturday and 2.3 TVR on Sunday). Balika Vadhu witnessed stability at 2.8 TVR andMadhubala witnessed a jump to 2.9 TVR (2.6 TVR last week). Another dailyUttaran snipped off some viewers when it rated 2.2 TVR (2.5 TVR last week).

    Zee TV‘s new reality show DID Super Moms apparently managed to remain stable with 3 TVR on Saturday and leapt to 3.6 TVR on Sunday. Its fictional offering Qubool Hai remained stable at 2.9 TVR (3 TVRl ast week), Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Kesaw a slight growth to 2.3 TVR (2.2 last week), PunarVivaah fell to 1.1 (1.4 TVR). The new reality peep show Connected Hum Tumwitnessed a relatively lukewarm response with a 1.1 TVR. What was surprising was the rating that the Hindi feature film ‘Tarzaan the Wonder Car‘ got (0.7 TVR on Saturday) and another feature film ‘English Vinglish‘ got (a 0.6 TVR on Sunday).

    Fourth placed, Sony Entertainment‘s long running crime series CID showed a marginal improvement as it registered a 2.3 TVR (2 TVR last week); whereas Crime Patrol rose to 1.7 TVR (1.4 last week). Finally, Comedy Circus showed stability with a 1.3 TVR. Its new historical show Maharana Pratap generated 1.3 TVR (1.5 last week). Other fiction shows either held on to their viewership or dipped marginally during the week. Sony‘s all new Indian Idol Junior(IIJ) notched up 1.9 TVR on the weekend.

    Life OKs top series Mahadev‘s maha-episode on Sunday lured viewers scoring a 4 TVR making Life OK the second highest gainer of the week. The new fiction show Do Dil Ek Jaan managed to get 0.6 TVR. Hum Ne Li Hai… Shapathshowed an improvement to 1.5 TVR (1 TVR last week).

    Sab let go of seven GRPs ending the week with 138 GRPs. Its fiction show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah continues to be the channel leader with 3.0 TVR (3.1 last week). Other fictional shows witnessed a marginal fall.

    Sahara continued to be at the bottom of the heap with 16 GRPs.

    In the movie channels genre: Zee Cinema reported 108 GRPs (103 last week); Star Gold 99 GRPs (103 last week) and Movies OK was at 53 GRPs (52 last week).

  • I&B suspends Comedy Central & ManoranjanTV for 10 days for alleged content violations

    I&B suspends Comedy Central & ManoranjanTV for 10 days for alleged content violations

    NEW DELHI: Even as the government says it wants to give self-regulation a chance, two television channels – Comedy Central and Manoranjan TV – have been penalised for screening inappropriate content by the information & broadcasting ministry.

     

    The transmission or re-transmission of Comedy Central has been suspended for 10 days from midnight of 25 May for telecast of a show ‘Stand Up Club’ on 26 May last year at 20.52 hrs, while Manoranjan TV has been suspended from midnight 25 May for seven days for showing the film ‘Ek Chatur Naar’ with ‘A’ certificate on the afternoon of 11 February last year.

     

    Thus, Comedy Central will remain off air till 4 June while Manoranjan TV will not be transmitted till 1 June if all goes according to the ministry’s order.

     

    While the Viacom18 company spokesperson for Comedy Central said: “Since the matter is sub-judice, we cannot comment”, there was no response from Manoranjan TV despite repeated attempts. It is understood that a petition challenging the ministry order by Viacom18 is coming up for hearing early next week.

     

    The order says that the show on Comedy Central which had ‘obscene dialogues and vulgar words derogatory of women and hence appeared to offend good taste and decency. The portrayal in the programme did not appear suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and children.’

     

    The I&B’s inter-ministerial committee felt in the case of Manoranjan TV that this was a gross violation of the programme code and the argument of the channel that it happened due to a mistake on part of their staff cannot be accepted. Being a responsible TV channel, it should have put in place appropriate system to avoid such mistakes.

     

    The orders in both cases have been issued under section 20(2) and (3) of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and paras 8.1 and 8.2 of the Guidelines for Uplinking from India.

     

    In what is clearly hardening of stand, the I&B’s inter-ministerial committee has penalised five channels in the months of April and May for violation of the programme and advertising codes.

     

    Since one channel, Movies OK, obtained a stay order on the grounds that it had been served the notice too late, the ministry took precaution and had issued the penalty notices to both Comedy Central and Manoranjan TV on 17 May. The other channels penalised were Mahuaa and AXN.

     

    The I&B’s inter-ministerial committee had issued show cause notices to both Comedy Central and Manoranjan channels and also gave them an opportunity to make their representations.