ITV

Tag: Music India

  • Media Worldwide launches Bangla Talkies

    Media Worldwide launches Bangla Talkies

    MUMBAI: Music channel network, Media Worldwide Ltd has announced the launch of an all new channel Bangla Talkies.

    The music channel network launched with Sangeet Bangla in the year 2005, a Bengali music television channel. Since its inception, Media Worldwide has grown to a 5-channel network with Music India, Sangeet Bangla, Sangeet Bhojpuri, Sangeet Marathi and now Bangla Talkies added to the portfolio.

    Bangla Talkies will be a back to back Bengali music channel with 100 per cent exclusive content available on no other channel. It will be airing all time bangla hits with a collection never ever seen on any Bengali music channel.

    Media Worldwide Ltd co-founder Mahendra Soni said, “I am delighted to announce the launch of our latest channel in the Media Worldwide network called Bangla Talkies. It is with immense pleasure that I speak of the growth story of Media Worldwide from its inception to having 5 channels under its brand name today. Media Worldwide envisions providing wholesome entertainment of the vibrant music and film industry to a country of over a billion people in the language, ethos and culture which we all celebrate and are proud of.”

  • Failure of Govt to fix rates forces DAVP to extend dates for empanelment of FM radio

    NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) has extended by three months up to 31 March 2013 the empanelment of FM radio channels.

    This follows the failure of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to announce the guidelines for empanelment and rate of FM Radio channels.

    The current deadline was to expire on 31 December and it is understood that the Ministry is trying to iron out some thorny issues so that it can also clear the path for ascending e-auction of the FM Radio Phase III.

    Meanwhile, the DAVP has said that empanelment of certain television channels for the period 2012-15 has expired as they failed to apply for fresh empanelment before the last date, 15 December.

    These include the Lok Sabha TV, two channels of Disney, Hungama TV, Music India, and 17 regional channels.

    It has said that regional channels may apply for the empanelment from the first to the seventh day of every month through the online form.

  • Empanelment with DAVP of 22 TV channels expires

    NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) has said that empanelment of certain television channels for the period 2012-15 has expired as they failed to apply for fresh empanelment before the last date, 15 December.

    These include the Lok Sabha TV, two channels of Disney, Hungama TV, Music India, and 17 regional channels.

    It has said that regional channels may apply for the empanelment from the first to the seventh day of every month through the online form.

    Meanwhile, DAVP has extended by three months up to 31 March 2013 the empanelment of FM radio channels.

    This follows the failure of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to announce the guidelines for empanelment and rate of FM Radio channels.

    The current deadline was to expire on 31 December and it is understood that the Ministry is trying to iron out some thorny issues so that it can also clear the path for ascending e-auction of the FM Radio Phase III.

  • ‘Cable companies should start thinking like DTH operators’ : Seemanto Roy – Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO

    ‘Cable companies should start thinking like DTH operators’ : Seemanto Roy – Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO

    After taking charge, Subroto Roy’s younger son Seemanto Roy has drawn up an aggressive plan to grow Sahara’s media and entertainment business. His target: launch of five channels over 6-8 months, revival of the motion pictures business and setting up of a film institute.

     

    In this his first interview to the media after becoming Sahara One Media & Entertainment CEO, Roy spells out his plans to Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das.

     

    Excerpts:

    Media companies have seen opportunities and been on aggressive mode in the recent past. Why haven’t we seen that sort of game being played out by Sahara?
    We have just launched Firangi, a world TV channel dubbed in Hindi. We are also going to launch five more channels over the next 6-8 months. This will include a Bengali language channel, details of which I can’t specify now.

    Won’t this be in the entertainment space as the channel will be under the Sahara One Media & Entertainment umbrella?
    In that sense, yes. It will be in the non-news space. But we can’t spell out the positioning of the channel at this stage. We are finalising the details.

    There were plans of launching a music channel and Sahara had also initiated talks to buy out Music India. What is the status?
    Launching a music channel is on our agenda. Though people say it is a cluttered and thin-revenue market, we believe the space is growing. There is an opportunity, if the positioning is done well. We are figuring out the positioning of the channel.

    Sahara had announced in late 2004 an investment plan of Rs 15 billion for its media and entertainment business and Percept was put in an operational role. Are you happy with the speed of the progress since then?
    We relaunched our flagship Hindi general entertainment channel and ramped up our movie production business. We also launched a Hindi movie channel called Filmy. Our focus now is to widen our channel offerings.

    How much money Sahara is going to pump in for this?
    We can’t give you the financial details. We’ll announce them early next fiscal.
    ‘In the news channel business, alliances are taking place. But in any case, we are not interested in diluting majority‘

    Is there a move to transfer the broadcast operations of the entertainment channels into Sahara One Media & Entertainment?
    The process is on. We want the entertainment business to be in a single entity.

    Obviously this will enhance the turnover of Sahara One Media & Entertainment. Now the listed entity does not capture the advertising revenues which is with the broadcasting entity. But is it that the past liabilities of Sahara India TV Network, the broadcasting arm, will not be transferred to Sahara One?
    No, we are not transferring the liabilities.

    How do you separate the broadcasting arm of the news channel business?
    The news channel operations, because of the regulations on holdings and other issues, will need to be separate.

    Sahara One was planning to raise up to $50 million through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs). Are you going ahead with it?
    We have no plans of raising money at this stage.

    Sahara One had diluted 14.98 per cent to Sivasankaran’s Aircel Televentures (later renamed Siva Ventures) for Rs 1.2 billion. BCCL (Times Group holding company Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd) also acquired close to 6 per cent stake in the company. Are there plans to further dilute equity?
    No.

    Sahara had mandated Ernst & Young (E&Y) for offering suggestions to restructure the news channel business. What were the recommendations?
    They were appointed to look into the growth prospects. We appoint consulting firms to get their perspectives.

    Are you looking at diluting equity in the news business?
    There is nothing.

    Are you in talks with investors?
    It is difficult to comment on this. In today’s market, alliances are taking place. But in any case, we are not interested in diluting majority.

    Why did you drop the Sahara name from Samay, your national news network?
    We gave the channel a new look. Besides, we are developing the sub-brands. Having lots of brands with the Sahara tag can be confusing. We did it in Filmy as well. We are maintaining Sahara as a network brand.

     

    Isn’t the Hindi news space getting too cluttered and hurting channels like yours?
    There is a lot of sampling happening at the moment. Our region-centric channels continue to perform well.

    One area where Sahara had a big opportunity but let it slip was the motion pictures business which had several hits at one point of time. What went wrong?
    The movie business doesn’t always give you hits.

    But the movie production business stayed dormant for a long time as there was an exodus in the team?
    There was a gap in between. Film production is futuristic – actors are not always available, nor even directors. But it is not that we lost momentum. We went back to get our plans in place. We will be getting back into it big time in the next fiscal. We will be producing 10 movies in 2008-09, out of which 4-5 will be big budgets and the remaining in the medium range.

    Don’t you think Percept hijacked the motion pictures platform?
    Not really, we are still working with them. We are acquiring movies – so we could be buying from them as well.

    Earlier you did a long-term deal with K Sera Sera where you even took an equity in the company. Are you looking at such deals again?
    We will follow all kinds of business models – producing films ourselves, acquiring, locking directors, co-producing (including international). We will have the studio model. We have a strong team and will also be in film distribution. Besides our own movies, we will also be acquiring for distribution. We are, however, not looking at overseas distribution now. We feel the home turf is an important market.

    What about home video?
    We are not getting into it. Nor will we be launching our music label.

    Sahara has not been going slow on movie acquisitions for satellite TV rights. Why is it so when the other movie channels have been more aggressive?
    Acquisition prices have gone up, but we have brought some big titles like Guru. We have also been buying syndicated content.

    Is it that you believe in syndication of titles rather than acquisition?
    We do both. Though we have introduced programming as well, we realise that movie channels will have to revolve around films.

    Is Filmy in course for its revenue target of Rs 500 million in the year?
    I don’t want to comment on the financials. But we are doing well and reaching our targets.

    What are the plans of beefing up content on Sahara One which seems to be hovering around 60-70 GRPs?
    The market is evolving and we have plans for the channel. In future, the fight in the Hindi GEC (general entertainment channel) space will be for slots. We are targeting slots.

    Do you have a strategy for regional channels in the entertainment space?
    We may launch two channels in the regional space. We want to test the regional market. But we don’t plan to grow in every direction.

    What made you launch Firangi and how do you see its growth potential?
    We are looking at the birth of a new genre. In the general offering, it is like a GEC. And it also can be looked at like Star World. Firangi is somewhere in the middle. We can attract audiences from both sides. The content is picked up from across the world, is fresh, contemporary and bold. And its strength is that the stories end in 6-8 months.

    Have you shelved plans to start a film institute?
    We will be in it. We are talking to strategic partners. For location, we are weighing various options including Mumbai.

  • Viewers looking for FM feel in visual space?

    The viewer‘s verdict for music channels for the year 2007 is out. The long established players like MTV and Channel [V] are losing on the front of relative shares while new kid on the block 9XM has shown an unprecedented growth from the second month of its launch.

    Indiantelevision.com‘s analysis of music channels using Tam data (HSM, CS 15 – 24 years, all day parts) during the one-year period beginning January 2007 reveals that 9XM is way ahead than MTV and Channel [V].

    Launched in October 2007, 9XM, with its tagline Haq Se, had secured a relative share of 43 per cent by December. In comparison, MTV stood at 20 per cent while Channel [V] had 11 per cent.

    Music Channel‘s Relative Shares
    Channel Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
    9XM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 34 43
    MTV 32 29 31 32 29 30 31 31 32 29 21 20
    Channel V 15 14 13 11 11 14 13 11 13 16 11 11
    Music India 12 15 12 14 19 20 18 17 16 17 11 7
    B4U Music 12 11 11 11 9 10 10 13 13 11 6 5
    Zee Music 8 11 11 11 12 7 10 12 9 7 5 4
    ETC 15 12 12 9 9 10 8 8 7 6 4 4
    YO Music 3 3 6 7 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3
    Enterr10 4 4 4 4 3 2 4 3 5 5 4 3
    Lemon 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0
    Source: TAM, TG 15 – 24, HSM, Jan-Dec 2007, All Day Part

    From January to October 2007, MTV was on top of the music channel heap with an average relative share of 30 per cent while Music India and Channel [V] were tossing for second and third position with 15.8 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively.

    The whole scenario changed dramatically with the launch of 9XM in October. By the second month of launch, 9XM had 34 per cent whereas MTV was reduced to 21 per cent and Music India and Channel [V] had 11 per cent each.

    In December, it was thumbs down for other channels like Zee Music (4 per cent), B4U music (5 per cent), ETC (4 per cent), Enter10 (3 per cent) and Yo Music (3 per cent). Wooden spooner Lemon‘s share is so insignificant that it has not even registered on the GRP scale.

    On the new market scene, INX Media‘s music entertainment channel head Vikas Varma says, “I think the qualities of youth are what our channel targets, not necessarily as the demographic youth. That is why we are getting the unprecedented ratings.”

    It is to be noted that 9XM has no VJ‘s, only some animated characters. The USP of the channel is current Bollywood songs. However, the verdict among the media pundits is that 9XM is playing only songs; it is more like an FM station in the visual space.

    The ratings have not got in much by way of ads as yet though so how is it going to generate revenue? Avers INX Media revenue management, advertising sales and new media group director Probal Gaanguly, “We are offering ‘Club INX‘ partnerships to sponsors. Very soon we will officially announce the tie-ups. An exclusive platform will be provided to them.”

    MTV India vice president ad sales and marketing Aditya Swamy has a different story to tell: “Our ad sales and revenue has gone up. We have established the youth based music channel in India. Roadies, Konees (animated characters) etc are our initiatives; it is not fair to compare it with a channel like 9XM. We are a youth brand.”

    Channel [V] head honcho Amar K Deb sings a similar tune. “Channel [V] has won awards for many initiatives we have taken. We have our hands full and our competition is not with 9XM. It is anyways too early to comment on the future,” avers Deb.

    Music India that started life without ad breaks, gave in to the lure of commercials in 2007. 9XM appears to be going the same route, with a few ads visible on the channel intermittently since the beginning of the year.

    If indeed all that the Indian viewer is interested in is uninterrupted songs sans ads, it will be interesting to watch how the year unfolds for 2008.

  • Music India dedicates channel to kids on Children’s Day

    Music India dedicates channel to kids on Children’s Day

    MUMBAI: Celebrating Children’s Day, Music India, a 24 hr Hindi music channel plans to dedicate it to kids allowing them to script, present and package all the shows.

    The channel promises that on the 14 and 20 November, it would be transformed into a platform that is “for the children, of the children and by the children.”

    Special guests Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao (from Vivah) and Shreyas Talpade (from Iqbaal) will brighten up the day for the little ones. Watch the kids take on the stars and pose questions about their childhood and school days, states and official release.

    Sending out a message to kids Shahid Kapoor says, “I think childhood is the best time of your life, I’ve had a lot of fun before I took on the responsibilities, and when you are a kid you experience the best time. Have fun enjoy yourself but be a good person.”

    Another treat to add to the fun will be brought to viewers on Judwaa hosted by identical twins, Aanya and Manya playing back to back Hindi songs. Music India will thus bring a bouquet of shows on Children’s Day.