ITV

Tag: music channel

  • FIPB defers INX Music’s proposal

    FIPB defers INX Music’s proposal

    NEW DELHI: The proposal by INX Music to undertake the additional activity of broadcasting of a non-news and current affairs channel as proposed scheme of arrangement has been deferred by the Foreign Investments Promotion Board of the Finance Ministry (FIPB).

    INX Music aggregates and distributes music content for TV channels, having 70.85 per cent indirect foreign investment.

    The FIPB has also deferred a proposal by Insight Media City for allotting shares to a non-resident Indian.

    IMC was incorporated on 21 March 2013. FIPB was informed that IMC has received inward remittance of Rs 2,40,00,052.05 from the NRI Alungal Mohammad and shares would be allotted to the NRI investor after FIPB approval. The existing shareholding in IMC is entirely held by resident Indians.

    After the FIPB approval, 17.379 per cent of the total share capital in Insight Media City will be held by Mohammad and the rest 82.621 per cent by resident Indians.

     

  • Premium HD viewing: Strategic advantage of Bollywood music in HD

    Premium HD viewing: Strategic advantage of Bollywood music in HD

    MUMBAI: Broadcasters are constantly trying to tap into the premium affluent viewer by introducing HD channels to their existing channel bouquet. With as many as 29 HD channels available across various categories viz., GECs, Hollywood movies, Lifestyle and Infotainment, MTunes is the only Bollywood music channel available in HD 1080i and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Launched 3 years ago, MTunes has continued to drive a superior and one of a kind viewer experience in the cluttered and undifferentiated category of Bollywood music.

    The arena for premium eyeballs has a sharper focus with HD offerings. As per the latest HD report for the month of October 2014 by TAM, HD channels in India are already reaching over 20 million viewers!  In this rapidly growing and competitive space, MTunes has emerged as the preferred choice, garnering higher reach over 20 other premium HD channels barring only GECs and Star Sports 1. With a reach of over 1.4 million HD viewers across Hindi speaking markets, MTunes HD leaves behind some prominent HD channels as seen below:

    •    MTunes HD (1.4Mn) vs Infotainment channels: History TV18 (0.91Mn), Nat Geo Wild (0.72Mn), NGC (0.57Mn), Discovery (0.56Mn), Fox Traveller (0.14Mn)
    •    MTunes HD (1.4Mn) vs Sports channels: Ten Sports (1.2Mn), Star Sports 4 (0.79Mn), Sony Six (0.54Mn)
    •    MTunes HD (1.4Mn) vs English movie channels: Star Movies (0.95Mn), Zee Studio (0.60Mn), Movies Now (0.48Mn), Sony Pix (0.09Mn)
    •    MTunes HD (1.4Mn) vs Business news channel: CNBC TV18 (0.11Mn)•    MTunes HD (1.4Mn) vs English Entertainment channel, Star World (0.32Mn)

    In the category of Bollywood music, MTunes HD is the only channel offering high definition content and delivering over 1 Million premium GVTs vis a vis all other standard definition Hindi music channels.

    Commenting on this emphatic performance, Mr Naresh Ramnath (COO, Pioneer Channel Factory) said, “Launching a premium Bollywood music channel in HD has been a pioneering & visionary consumer offering which is now empirically proven by the TAM HD report. Delivering an unparalleled premium viewing experience is the core of our channel strategy. Technological differentiation, single-minded focus on relevance and innovative on-air programming has helped us build premium viewer affinity within the highly competitive category of Bollywood music. ”

    Sharing his views on this development, Mr. Bala Iyengar (COO, Helios Media) said, “High definition is synonymous to premium audience. MTunes, being the only Hindi music channel in high definition has already carved a niche for itself. To top this, MTunes HD reaching out to more viewers across categories definitely makes it the best buy to cater to premium viewers.”

     

  • Week 21: Music channels sees a rise

    Week 21: Music channels sees a rise

    MUMBAI: As per Chrome Data Analytics & Media’s opportunity to see (OTS) data, music channels were the highest gainers for the week 21. The genre witnessed a growth of 1.2 per cent in the HSM markets.

     

    In this category, Sony Mix stood at number one position with 88.8 per cent OTS followed by MTV 87.7 per cent OTS, 9XM 82.8 per cent OTS, B4U Music 71.2 per cent OTS and 9X Jalwa 70.8 per cent OTS.

     

    Hindi GECs, this week saw a growth of 0.6 per cent with Star Plus at 96.8 per cent OTS followed by DD National 96.6 per cent OTS, Zee TV 96.4 per cent OTS, Life OK 96.0 per cent OTS and Sony Entertainment also 96.0 per cent OTS at the HSM markets.

     

    With a minor difference, Business News channels in the eight metros saw a gain of 0.4 per cent. Zee Business topped the genre with 80.2 per cent OTS followed by CNBC Awaaz 76.2 per cent OTS, ET Now 69.1 per cent OTS, CNBC TV18 64.3 per cent OTS and NDTV Profit 62.5 per cent OTS.

     

    Lastly, English movies channels gained 0.2 per cent with Movies Now scoring 76.2 per cent OTS followed by PIX 76.0 per cent OTS, Star Movies 68.6 per cent OTS, Zee Studio 64.9 per cent OTS and HBO 63.8 per cent OTS.

     

    As for the genres which saw a drop are Sports channels (All India), Hindi News channels (HSM), Kids (All India) and Hindi Movies (HSM).

  • Conan O’Brien to host the 2014 MTV Movie Awards

    Conan O’Brien to host the 2014 MTV Movie Awards

    MUMBAI: You might think that the Oscars were the end of awards season, but Conan O’Brien begs to differ. That’s because MTV has just announced that the late night personality is hosting the 2014 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, 13 April 2014.

     

    “Well, I’m proud to announce that, I, Conan O’Brien, will realise my life-long dream of hosting the 2014 MTV Movie Awards,” O’Brien said.

     

    In a little over a month, Conan will take Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on MTV to deliver the golden popcorn and celebrate the year’s best movies and performances. The 2014 MTV Movie Awards will also feature exclusive sneak previews of the summer’s most anticipate movies with never-before seen footage and previews.

     

    Before all of that fun can get underway, there has to be some nominees, right. Well, MTV has got that covered too. You can find out which films, actors, actresses, kisses and villains will compete for golden popcorns on 6 March at when nominations for the 2014 MTV Movie Awards go live on MovieAwards.MTV.com.

     

    Hosting a big award show isn’t exactly a new gig for Conan. He hosted the Emmy Awards in 2002 and 2006. Be sure to check back on Thursday, 6 March to find out which movies will vie for golden popcorns at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards.

  • Music channels see uptick in OTS in week 49

    Music channels see uptick in OTS in week 49

    MUMBAI: From exit polls to winning speeches, week 49 should have been the week of news channels. However, the truth is far from it. According to the Delhi-based Chrome Data & Analytics which keeps a tab on around 73 million TV homes nationally in analogue cable TV, digital cable TV and DTH, it was the week for music.

    Yes, you read it right. Music genre was the top gainer with a 1.8 per cent opportunity to see (OTS) gain.  For week 48, in Hindi speaking markets (HSM), the OTS was 47.4 per cent and in the following week reached 48.2 per cent. The music genre recovered what it lost in the previous week.

    Second in line is the English movie channel genre which saw an increase of 1.6 per cent in the eight metros. The year is coming to an end and as most channels air the biggest blockbusters of the year to wrap up the year, one can say that there are a lot of movie fans in the metropolitan cities.

    Next come the Hindi movie channels and religious channels with both seeing an increase of 0.4 per cent in the HSM. Star Gold continued to be the biggest gainer with 97.0 per cent OTS. In the religious genre, Aastha channel rose above all in the category with and OTS of 97.5 per cent.

     

    As for the bottom four genres, English Entertainment channels saw the biggest drop with 2.5 per cent in the eight metros. Star World topped the chart with 82.0 per cent. Even with elections in five states, the English news channels should have continued to gain but the genre failed to do so and saw a drop of 0.3 per cent unlike the previous week (week 48) where it was the highest gainer. Times Now was the leader in the genre with 88.3 per cent OTS in the eight metros.

    Next were Hindi GECs which dropped 1.0 per cent in HSM. The channel in the genre which saw the biggest drop is Colors; its  OTS was 95.7 per cent in week 49 as compared to 97.3 in week 48.

    The kids’ genre across the country and Hindi news in HSM too saw falls of 1.0 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively. Cartoon Network caught children’s attention and ranked number one in the category with 85.9 per cent while ABP News was the highest gainer with 92.7 per cent in the genre.

    The OTS numbers might be music for executives operating in  certain genres, but let’s wait and watch how things unfold for them in the coming week.

    Click here for the full analysis

  • ‘We are adequately funded by New Silk Route’ : 9X Media business head- new business Punit Pandey

    ‘We are adequately funded by New Silk Route’ : 9X Media business head- new business Punit Pandey

    9X Media has seen its share of ups and downs. Launched in 2007 as INX Media by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, the company started with a Hindi general entertainment channel 9X, a music channel 9XM and later an English news channel NewsX.

     

    Then came the economic slowdown and coupled with problems at management level and fund crisis, the Indian promoters exited after selling off the English news channel.

     

    The new management had a huge task: to reduce debt and turnaround. INX Media sold off 9X to Zee and started focussing on its only success – 9XM.

     

    Today, with a new name, 9X Media, the company has four channels under its ambit. It has also relaunched in the UK.

     

    Indiantelevision.com’s Gaurav Laghate caught up with 9X Media‘s business head- new business Punit Pandey to talk about the turnaround of the company and how it plans to grow further.

     

    Excerpts:

    INX Media was into losses and your Indian promoters exited. Why did New Silk Route agree to fund the music channels while the Hindi GEC 9X was sold to Zee?
    The Hindi GEC did not work and we decided to concentrate all our energies, time and investments on 9XM as it was doing very well right from its day of launch. The turnaround story was around 9XM. NSR as a private equity partner, along with others, assured faith in not only the product but also in the management team.

     

    Fortunately for us and 9XM, they continued to show faith in us. And obviously, we are backed by a strong product and a strong revenue stream as a business model.

     

    NSR continues to partner and fund us and we have delivered on what we were supposed to. Today, we are a zero debt company and adequately funded.

     

    With their funding support, we have launched three more channels over the last seven months. We launched Punjabi music channel Tashan in August, first Marathi music channel Jhakaas in October and recently Jalwaa. We have also relaunched 9XM in UK.

    Weren‘t you planning to first launch the Bengali music channel in the regional space. Why didn‘t it happen?
    While you are at a business plan state, you obviously think of so many things. But if you look at it, we have managed to consolidate 9XM, which is our flagship brand. Then we have also launched three more channels and UK feed.

    And what about the performance of these channels?
    Well, the Punjabi channel has replicated 9XM‘s success across the PHCHP (Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh) region and has achieved leadership status in the first week of its launch. So, it has become our second winning product.

     

    Jhakaas and 9XM UK also have been received well. And though Jalwaa was launched just last week, we are getting tremendous response not just from trade but also from consumers that it is looking well.

     

    So we have five operating products.

    But Marathi channel has not picked up yet?
    Jhakaas is not only Maharashtra‘s but India‘s first Marathi music channel. Since it is the only music player, it has been received well. But if your benchmark is going to be what Tashan has achieved in Punjabi, it is never going to be there.

     

    Maharashtra, as a region, is 800 GRP market, and bulk of it is from general entertainment – Marathi as well as Hindi. It is followed by movies and news. And if you see, we have not launched just a channel, but a genre. There was no Marathi music channel before Jhakaas.

     

    Being the first music channel, viewers have to get used to watching a music channel. Considering that, it is doing well as per our expectations. We are interacting with people, and they are liking it. To my view, it has opened well. There is scope to grow.
    “West Bengal is a big market. So is Bhojpuri. But that doesn’t mean that we will launch everywhere. Let’s see, you will hear from us once we are ready to launch“

    Talking about the business model, all your channels are FTA and only advertising lead. No plans for other revenue streams?
    India currently is an ad-led business model and this applies to our channels as well. A large part of our revenue is from advertising, but we have also ventured into selling our merchandise through ecommerce.

     

    We have to build the category. So, we have started merchandising and we have a very strong online presence.

    You have been very bullish on the digital front and all your channels have live streaming. Why?
    Currently, all our offerings and channels are in music space and large part of music consumption also happens on the online platform. So it is important that as a product we are present across all platforms, not just television but online and mobile also.

     

    The idea is to reach out to your consumers, whoever they are and wherever they are and online cuts across that bet.

     

    Online is a very important medium for us and is very visible. We are on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, everywhere.

    But can it be monetised?
    As I said, we have already started ecommerce website; this is our first initiative. And as we move on, we will have revenue lines attached to it also.

     

    But yes, our business is driven by, and will continue to be driven by advertising.

    How will you differentiate between the business models of all the channels?
    Well, all our channels have a business plan and we ensure that we continuously monitor and follow it. That‘s how you see more new products.

     

    Each new product brings in a lot of confidence as to how the product is delivering from the content and business perspective. And that is how you move ahead.

    Which all regional markets you think have potential for another regional music channel? And when is the Bengali channel coming?
    Responding to important markets, we saw that Punjab is a good market and we got into that. Marathi is also a good market. We saw that there is a clear need gap for 25+ audiences, so we launched Jalwaa.

     

    Obviously, West Bengal is a big market. So is Bhojpuri. But that doesn‘t mean that we will launch everywhere. Let‘s see, you will hear from us once we are ready to launch.

    And what about English? 
    English is also an interesting space. I am not saying we are launching, but it should interest a music broadcaster.
  • Kajol to present special show ‘The Manish Malhotra Magic’ on Zee Muzic

    Kajol to present special show ‘The Manish Malhotra Magic’ on Zee Muzic

    MUMBAI: Bollywood actress Kajol is set to make her presence felt on the small screen hosting a special show on the music channel — Zee Muzic on 21 April.

    The channel will showcase The Manish Malhotra Magic at 9 pm. In the show, Kajol will share her insights on fashion icon Manish – the designer, the man and the friend. She will speak on Manish’s paranoia, along with her penchant for his designs.

    Commenting on this special Zee Muzic business head Irshwin Balwani said, “Manish has always been strongly associated with Bollywood. Keeping in mind the whole fashion season that’s been going on, be it the Lakmé Fashion Week or the WLIFW, we decided to focus on one designer as a one hour special show. And since Zee Muzic is a Bollywood driven music channel, we thought Manish was apt for this special since he’s synonymous with Bollywood like no other designer is.”

    He said, “We wanted someone who was articulate, who could present Manish correctly and knew him in and out as a person and as a designer, and we couldn’t think of anyone bigger and better than Kajol. Kajol’s is very closely associated with Manish and we couldn’t think of anyone better, who would speak about him the way she has.”

    The one-hour special will showcase Manish’s collection from Lakmé Fashion Week 2006. Kajol will also share her first experience on the ramp. Along with Kajol, Karisma Kapoor and Karan Johar, will share their thoughts on Manish Malhotra.