ITV

Tag: Mumbai

  • Doordarshan to telecast RBIQ this year

    Doordarshan to telecast RBIQ this year

    MUMBAI: A partnership between RBI and Doordarshan led to the production of the second edition of the quiz conducted by RBI called RBIQ. The quiz that was conducted across 4,000 schools in 42 cities saw the finals being held at the Doordarshan studio in Mumbai, the production for which was done by DD on 2 October. It has recently revamped its whole studio by making it HD friendly.

     

    The inter-school quiz was started last year to impart financial literacy to the country’s students. RBI governor Raghuram Rajan was present for the finale that saw the students of Maharshi Vidyamandir Public School of Guwahati take home the trophy. Questions asked were from the fields of banking, finance and general knowledge.

     

    The show will be telecast on DD in the coming few weeks, the date is not yet finalised. Last year, it was telecast on Zee Business. The number of students participating this year was up by 1,000.

  • Journalists, anyone?

    Journalists, anyone?

    MUMBAI: The past few months have seen established news channels showing their employees the door; be it a TV18 Broadcast or UTV Bloomberg or NDTV, which took the cake when it shut down the entire Mumbai office as cost-cutting measure. Media as a whole – particularly English news channels – has sunk into a lull. However, all’s not lost. There’s still hope for aspiring journalists in the form of a smattering of channels that are out to hire in the time of widespread lay-offs.

    A case in point is the ITV Network – comprising English news channel News X and Hindi news channel India News – which is currently hiring people both in its editorial and management departments. Not so long ago, the network roped in known faces such as Rahul Shivshankar and Diptosh Majumdar as Managing Editor and National Affairs Editor, respectively. “We ensure team structure and size is controlled in order to optimise cost,” says ITV Network HR Shikha Rastogi.

    Popular news channel India TV too is looking to fill vacancies in editorial and digital media. About 20-30 people have already been hired in various departments in the last quarter.

    Even in these difficult times, many new channels are making their way into the ecosystem, paving the road for hiring more people. So, while English news channels have started containing themselves, a number of new Hindi and regional news channels have cropped up.

    Just launched Hindi news channel, Jia News, will complete its second phase of hiring within the next two or three months. News Nation, another Hindi news channel which was launched earlier this year, did a significant amount of hiring to reach its current 350 staff strength. Hereon, the channel will hire as per specific requirements. There are also instances of new channel additions, where hiring is not really a prerogative except when the need arises.

    MCCS (Media Content and Communication Services) is adding a Punjabi news channel to its existing flock of ABP News, ABP Majha and ABP Ananda but no hiring is taking place in the ABP channels presently. Ditto for ZMCL, which added Zee Rajasthan Plus to its portfolio and recently acquired Maurya TV that runs in Bihar and Jharkhand. “We only hire when we need to. No attrition has taken place so no addition will either,” says MCCS CEO Ashok Venkatramani.

    Anurradha Prasad says that the situation can be much better once pay TV kicks in

    BAG Films and Media MD Anurradha Prasad, which owns the channel News 24 agrees that the scenario is not too good but since elections are approaching they will be looking at hiring competent people to cover it. Overall, there isn’t any such post vacant in the channel.

    Again, many channels are looking at getting their staff to multi-task to restrict hiring to the minimum. Sahara Samay Editor (Network Operations) Sanjay Banerjee says that their company has not fired any employee since their hiring itself is kept to a bare minimum. “Only when we have vacancies will we fill them as we did with the recently re-launched Sahara Samay NCR as Samay Rajasthan,” he adds. The Samay Rajasthan re-launch took place in mid-September and a good number of reporters and cameramen were hired in many cities of Rajasthan.

    Meanwhile, industry insiders feel the whole ruckus has been caused due to hiring more people than required. “A lot of unnecessary hiring has happened. Where just two people could do the work, six people have been taken in,” says an industry source. “The field hasn’t matured in all these years. There’s no formula to reach the top and there’s no benchmark either. At the same time, recession is happening and then if you aren’t a strong team, you are going to be in a mess,” opines a channel editor.

    Asked about what could be the reason for this sudden lull Prasad points out :”The cost of producing news has not come down in all these years and the system of pay TV has not yet kicked in.” Most channels say they are incurring losses rather than making a profit out of the business. The wait is on for digitisation to set in which will see news channels getting a better share of revenue.

    And though the gloom hasn’t passed yet, journalists would do well to hold on to whatever they have or look for and accept any opportunity as a stepping stone till an established name in the business is ready to hire once again.

  • Wift in conversation with Anupama Chopra and Zoya Akhtar

    Wift in conversation with Anupama Chopra and Zoya Akhtar

    MUMBAI: The name is Chopra, Anupama Chopra. Yes, if you are a movie buff then you know whom we are talking about.

     

    The author, journalist and film critic has written several books on Indian cinema and the latest addition to this long list is ‘100 Films To See Before You Die’. With Indian cinema completing hundred years in 2013, it is a perfect guide for cinema enthusiasts.

     

    Wift Mumbai Chapter, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing a dynamic platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas, accelerate the professional development and recognise the achievement of women in film, television and other screen based media, is giving an opportunity to such enthusiasts to have conversation with the author herself.

     

    The event is a networking evening for women who get to interact with other professionals from the industry. “They get an opportunity to meet Anupama Chopra who has written the book and director Zoya Akhtar. The biggest challenge is to meet the right people. Wift gives them the opportunity through workshops like these with leading industry professionals,” says founder Petrina M D’Rozario.

     

    The organisation aims to have one such event every month. It also has an initiative called SNF (Saturday Night Fever) which is a relaxed evening one Saturday of the month with a theme over vino and cheese!

     

    Unlike some of the other events held by the organsiation which are only for the members, today’s event is open for all but will come with a charge of Rs 300 per head. “Only to be fair to our members who pay for the events and to pay for the F&B served at the event do we charge people,” clarifies Petrina.
    So, on a Friday evening head out to Le Sutra (Khar) to mingle with the industry professionals as well as to get an insight on the biggest churner of entertainment – Bollywood – from 6.30 pm onwards.

  • Maharashtra’s LMOs to blackout TV on 2 Oct

    Maharashtra’s LMOs to blackout TV on 2 Oct

    MUMBAI: A mid- week holiday is always welcome and is a good time to catch up with friends and family as well as your favourite TV shows and channels. However, this Gandhi Jayanti will see a different type of revolt on television in the west Indian state as the Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) has decided to put their foot down on the alleged “harassment” that they have been facing from the MSOs.

     

    From 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm tomorrow, 2 October, about 3,000 cable operators under the MCOF have decided to blackout their screens opposing the ‘high-handed’ behavior that MSOs have adopted towards LMOs (Last Mile Operators), as MCOF president Arvind Prabhoo puts it. This includes the areas of Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nasik and Indore in MP where DAS I and II have been implemented. Approximately 15-20 lakh customers in Maharashtra alone will not get to see their favourite shows during prime time. LMOs in Gujarat have also been approached and a response is awaited from them.
    Arvind Prabhoo feels that it is time to start treating LMOs as equals and respect their demands

     

    The federation says that its intention is not to harass customers but just demonstrate that cable operators are united and it is high time MSOs give them their due credit in the cable TV chain. Communications to customers have already started in the form of SMSes and emails as well as leading papers – both English and Marathi – are being used to inform people about the flash blackout.

     

    “If the MSOs and broadcasters sit and talk with us there is no need to do this but no one is listening to us,” stresses Prabhoo. He does not even feel that the two will reach out to the LMOs before evening of tomorrow. Initially the plan was to shut it down for a whole day but due to legal regulations, it was reduced  to three hours.

     

    This isn’t the end as well. If nothing comes out of this then more such days will see blackouts with increased hours especially during festive times.

     

    There is a possibility that MSOs may take legal action against MCOF for this move but it is ready to fight the biggies. “This is exactly what we are opposing. When an MSO switches off channels on its own, no one questions its decision but the local guy is questioned. No legal action is taken but we have to bear all the brunt from both the MSOs as well as the customers,” adds Prabhoo. Recently, InCable had decided to switch off signals to all sports channels, right before the Champions Trophy T20, a way to bully the LMOs to cough up more cash, claims the federation.

     

    The issues that LMOs have been grappling with are many. Prabhoo points out that last minute decisions taken by MSOs lead to chaos which has to be resolved by local operators. This happened during DAS Phase I when STBs (Set Top Boxes) were being installed in homes. Unending trips to customers to fill forms is a burden on them as well, discloses Prabhoo. MSOs have the power to switch off signals to channels arbitrarily as well as make channels unavailable on a-la-carte rates so that only packages exist. “They should talk business, not superiority or inferiority,” adds Prabhoo.

     

    For now, the impending blackout is on the cards for tomorrow. Unless discussions take place soon, cable TV viewers in Maharashtra could well be in for more evenings of just looking at a blank TV set or one with a flickering static-riddled picture.

  • Siti Cable’s Q1-2014 losses almost quintuple Q1-2013 losses

    Siti Cable’s Q1-2014 losses almost quintuple Q1-2013 losses

    BENGALURU: Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable), the erstwhile Wire and Wireless (India) Limited, reported for Q1-2014 a negative PAT of Rs 27.07 crore, almost five times (467 per cent) the negative PAT of Rs 4.77 crore the company had reported during the corresponding quarter (Q1-2013) last year.

     

    However, Siti Cable’s consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) for Q1-2014 was Rs 31.18 crore as compared to Rs 27.74 crore during corresponding quarter last fiscal, showing a 12.4 per cent growth.

     

    Siti Cable paid Rs 61.80 crore towards carriage sharing, pay channel and related costs during Q1-2014 as compared to NIL during Q1-2013 and Q4-2013. The cable service provider had paid Rs 234.345 crore towards this expense head during FY-2013.

     

    Let us look at some of the other results for Q1-2014

     

    Operating revenue in Siti Cable’s case is primarily generated from subscriber related income especially from Digitisation, income from bandwidth charges, income from advertisements, STB activation charges and other operating revenues.

     

    The company reported a 27 per cent growth in consolidated revenues to Rs 144.29 crore for Q4-2014 as compared to Rs 113.5 crore for Q1-2013. Siti Cable’s consolidated revenues for Q1-2014 were slightly lower (2.1 per cent) than the Rs 147.44 crore reported for Q4-2013.

     

    Siti Cable’s main operating expenses include cost of goods and services, employees’ cost, selling and distribution expenses and other expenditure. Its major cost item was cost of goods and services recorded as Rs 77.83 crore during the quarter representing 54 per cent of the total revenue in comparison to Rs 60.04 crore in Q1-2014, representing 53 per cent of the total revenue. Another major cost item was Foreign Exchange Fluctuation due to Rupee devaluation during the Q1-2014, which has been recorded by Rs 5.11 crore.

     

    Total operating costs for Q1-2014 at Rs 113.1 crore (78 per cent of consolidated revenues for Q1-2014) were higher by 32 per cent than the Rs 857.6 crore (76 per cent of consolidated revenues for Q1-2013) for the corresponding quarter last year, and were 6.9 per cent lower than the total operating costs of Rs 121.42 crore reported for Q4-2013.

     

    Employee benefit costs for Q1-2014 at Rs 9.11 crore, though two per cent lower than the Rs 9.29 crore reported for Q4-2013, were 17.3 per cent higher than the Rs 7.69 crore reported for the corresponding quarter last year (Q1-2013).

     

    Other expenses for Q1-2014 at Rs 39.90 crore also saw a steep reduction of 48.3 per cent as compared to the Rs 77.18 crore in Q1-2013 and were lower by 67 per cent than the Rs 121.12 crore during Q4-2013.

     

    Siti Cable paid Rs 26.13 crore towards finance cost for Q1-2014, 48 per cent more than the Rs 17.57 crore it paid in Q1-2013, but 15.4 per cent lower than the Rs 30.9 crore it paid in Q4-2013.

     

    Siti Cable chairman Subhash Chandra said, “The on-going digital revolution in Indian cable television distribution industry is set to bring in all round gains for the entire industry value chain. Digitisation will transform the way television is seen, consumed and marketed. For customers, digitisation brings an enhanced viewing experience, expanded channel pool, power to choose and pay only for the chosen channels. For MSOs like Siti Cable, the digitisation will bring digitally addressable consumer base leading to higher revenues and profitability.”

     

    Despite uncertain environment Siti Cable has done well in this quarter and has driven higher revenue through relentless focus on operational excellence. Siti Cable is EBITDA positive in this quarter as well, which clearly indicates continuing growth path”, Chandra said.

     

    Siti Cable executive director and CEO V D Wadhwa said, “Our focus area is to increase the collection of monthly subscription revenues from the ground. We made healthy progress in metros cities where we are present. We are far ahead of other operators in terms of subscriber wise billing and collection. In phase-II cities the collection are likely to improve in coming quarters. We have also collected significant numbers of Subscriber Application form (SAF) and Channel/Package selection form from Delhi & Mumbai.”

     

    Wadhwa added, “Digitisation marks the beginning of an organised and professional way of conducting business and opens up possibilities of multiplier revenues from television and numerous value added services (VAS). The encouraging growth trends make us more confident of further accelerating the growth momentum and serving the cable TV viewing needs of many more million Indians on Siti Cable Network.”

     

  • No Talkies brings out maximum Deewangi in media agencies

    No Talkies brings out maximum Deewangi in media agencies

    MUMBAI: SONY MAX, the premium Hindi movies and special events channel which recently launched its latest initiative“NO TALKIES”-India’s first National Dumb Charades competition for Media Agencies across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, has received an overwhelming response. The activity had its first ever regional rounds in Delhi on 18th September, followed by Bangalore on the 19th and Mumbai on 25th September. The media agencies who had enthusiastically registered for the initiative were waiting to get on stage and put their best foot forward.

     

    Five teams have qualified for the finale of NO TALKIES. Delhi MAXUS had a clean sweep by clearing the regional round with 2 winning teams namely ‘Engineers’ & ‘MAXUS ke Deewane’. From Bangalore, ‘Thakur ke Aadmi’ from MAXUS qualified for the deciding round. The teams which performed the best in the Mumbai regional round were ‘Eena Meena Deeka’ and ‘MEC Fimly Deewane’ from Mindshare and MEC respectively.

     

    The preliminary rounds of the activity witnessed team participation from top media agencies across Mindshare, Maxus, MEC, Motivator, Lodestar, Madision, Starcom, Lintas, OMD, MPG amongst others in the three cities.

     

    Witnessing the passion of the participants, Vaishali Sharma, VP Marketing, MAX commented, “We are overwhelmed to see the enthusiasm with which media agencies have connected and participated in ‘NO TALKIES’. Everyone has a little bit of filmy deewanapan in their life and ‘NO TALKIES’ has given them the perfect avenue to showcase it. We look forward to an even more successful finale in Mumbai.”

    The top 5 teams are now sharpening their acting skills to clinch the title of being crowned as the winner of ‘NO TALKIES’on 1st October at Blue Frog, Mumbai. It’s going to be a perfect recipe of a delightful & entertaining evening.

  • KTM hosted successful version of Orange Day in Delhi

    KTM hosted successful version of Orange Day in Delhi

    KTM, the European Racing Legend, conducted the third successful version of “Orange day” for customers in Delhi. The “Orange day” is conceptualized to make the customer experience the racing genes of the KTM 200 Duke. It gives the KTM owner an experience of performance of 200 Duke and also an opportunity to interact with the fellow KTM 200 Duke owners on a race track.

     

    With more than 230 world championship titles in the various categories, including the consecutive 12 prestigious Dakar rally titles, racing is integral part of brand KTM. The racing philosophy is demonstrated in the way the bikes are designed. By using light but high strength alloy components, KTM bikes have one of the best power to weight ratio in its class.

     

    The “Orange Day” was organized at Parking Area, Near ATC Tower, Cargo Stand Indira Gandhi International Airport, Terminal 2 Road, New Delhi. The Orange Day started at 06:00PM with the riders registering themselves for the racing. A classroom session was organized by a racing expert on the basics of racing and how to extract the most out of the KTM 200 Duke. This was followed up by a demonstration on the track and then the final race. Podium finishers were awarded and the event ended with a breath taking “stunt show” on KTM 200 Duke.

     

    All the KTM owners and Non-KTM motorcycle enthusiasts in the city were invited to participate in the Orange Day. Besides all the action on the track there was service-camps, stalls for KTM Powerwear and Powerparts, refreshments, music and a general ambience of fun and camaraderie.

     

    Another highlight of the show was the showcase of Superbike 1190RC8-R, 350 SX-f and recently Launched 390 Duke. Also the keys were handed over to the first few customers of KTM 390 Duke.

     

    Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Ishwinder Singh Khurana, DGM- Probiking, Bajaj Auto Ltd. said “The KTM brand has its roots in racing and we want KTM owners to experience the thrills that a KTM bike can provide on a race track.  Orange days are being conducted in every major city and will keep on growing in scale in the next few months. KTM is a an exclusive premium brand and we are keen to ensure we provide KTM customers an experience that is uniquely KTM”

     

    Till now KTM has organized “Orange Day” at Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Noida, Chennai, Vadodara, Jaipur, Kochi and now in Delhi .More KTM “Orange Days” would be organized in other Metro towns of India.

  • Yes! I am the change Film Festival

    Yes! I am the change Film Festival

    The city of movies and films is all geared for a unique cinematic experience with YES! i am the Change – Film Festival for Social Transformation. The inaugural edition of the two-day festival organised by YES FOUNDATION, the social development arm of YES BANK will be held in Mumbai on 2nd and 3rd October 2013 at the Hall of Culture, Nehru Centre, Worli.

    Come, learn the nuances of filmmaking, script writing as well as being able to see Social needs around you, from a ‘filmmaker’s Lens through thought provoking workshops by eminent personalities!

    YES! i am the Change is a nationwide film-making competition that aims to provide the youth of our nation, a platform to contribute to India’s social development through filmmaking. The initiative has successfully mobilised over 500 teams comprising 2100 citizen filmmakers, who have made short-films of up to 5 minutes duration in just 101 hours on NGOs, everyday heroes and social causes.

    A prescreened and selected 60 best films from the project will be screened at the Two Day Film Festival with an aim to create awareness and engagement with social causes.

    Eminent personalities like Shaheen Mistry, Prahalad Kakkar, Kailash Surendranath, Harish Iyer, among others have been mentors to the project and would speak and interact with youth at the festival.

  • Aircel and Micromax join hands to share channel and retail network

    Aircel and Micromax join hands to share channel and retail network

    BENGALURU:  Telecom player Aircel and Indian handset supplier Micromax announced a strategic partnership with the aim to drive data growth. Under this new partnership, Aircel and Micromax will share their channel and retail networks, sales resources and run an integrated device sales activation program. The announcement was made simultaneously in four cities in India – New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai today. 

    Also, the duo introduced reverse bundling handset offers worth Rs 12,000 per month for every new Aircel customer. Aircel’s focus on data innovation and its expertise in mobile network, along-with Micromax’s expertise in device marketing will redefine the user experience and take data penetration to the next level claim the companies. 

    In Bengaluru, Aircel Circle Business Head, Karnataka, Kadhiravan K, said, “India is at the cusp of a data revolution and device tie-ups will strengthen the telecom ecosystem in the country, which is critical to drive data penetration.  According to a recent study, by the year 2020, mobile internet users are set to grow four – five times and smartphone penetration is set to increase five times to 50 per cent in India. Affordability in devices will give a rise to data proliferation which will be the main revenue generator for both telecom operators as well as handset manufacturers in the near future.” 

    “Aircel recognises the importance of smartphone devices to drive data usage. In line with that, it is our focus to get into partnerships with leading smartphone device manufacturers in an endeavor to bring to our customers exciting bundled products. In this exclusive partnership with Micromax, we will share their robust channel and retail network to deliver innovative and best value for money products and services,” added Kadhivaran. 

    At present, mass media communications will be limited to print media by Aircel and Mircomax individually, where each company will mention the other in their advertisements. Since the festive season is not very far off, a joint multimedia ATL and BTL campaign will be launched before the Durga Pooja/Duhessara and Diwali festivals revealed a source.

  • Bajaj Auto wins civil suit on Hamara Bajaj

    Bajaj Auto wins civil suit on Hamara Bajaj

    A bollywood entertainment company had planned to release an entertainment movie with a title “Hamara Bajaj”. This was extensively covered by the media.

     

    Aggrieved by the infringement of its intellectual property rights vested in the marks “Hamara Bajaj” and “Bajaj”, Bajaj Auto Limited along with Bajaj Electricals Ltd. moved the Bombay High Court on March 25, 2013.

     

    The matter was heard at length by the Court.

     

    On September 21st, 2013 the Bombay High Court passed its order granting permanent injunction against the bollywood company from using the mark “Hamara Bajaj” as the movie title or in any other manner and from using the mark “Bajaj” in the proposed film.

     

    Copy of the Order is enclosed.
    Bajaj was represented by M/s Dhru and Company, Mumbai.