ITV

Tag: Naresh Ramnath

  • 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.”

     

  • Naresh Ramnath joins Pioneer Channel Factory as COO

    Naresh Ramnath joins Pioneer Channel Factory as COO

    MUMBAI: There was an itch to do more, something bigger. That’s what got Naresh Ramnath to quit his position as vice president of programming at Astro Malaysia and join Yogesh Radhakrishnan’s Pioneer Channel Factory as COO in mid April.

     

    With two music channels in the pipeline, the company is looking at increasing its portfolio with the first in the line up being a live concert channel that will show recorded versions of live concerts by international rock, pop and jazz bands and later on will also include Indian bands. However, it won’t be restricted to just being a channel but will also be spread as a service.

     

    “Our main aim will be to create brands that can increase the willingness to pay from viewers, advertisers and operators. Apart from this focus will also be on the digital and OTT platform,” says Ramnath speaking to indiantelevision.com. He added that the company will also be keenly looking at launching other HD channels.

     

    Ramnath has over a decade of experience in the media industry starting off with the Zee Network and then moving on to UTV. His earlier stint was with Astro in Malaysia where he was vice president of programming for its channels for over seven years. As far as his new leaf with Pioneer Channel Factory is concerned Ramnath says, “I’ve always wanted to do something like this and it excites me!”