ITV

Tag: Nick Masala

  • Nickelodeon Chhota VJ Hunt draws nearly 300 responses in Mumbai

    Nickelodeon Chhota VJ Hunt draws nearly 300 responses in Mumbai

    Kids channel Nickelodeon held auditions for kids who want to be a VJ on the channel on Saturday and Sunday at Worli Naka in South Mumbai. And did the children stroll in! Over 275 kids filled in application forms and auditioned to become the junior Cyrus’, Nikhils and Nafisas. 

    The auditions took place in a studio in front of a camera with the production team guiding the children through the proceedings. Kids aged 14 and below identified themselves and spoke about their interests. They also explained the reasons for wanting to appear on the channel. Then they performed. Performances varied from a rap song to a mock interview.

    MTV India director marketing Vikram Raizada says that the earlier auditions held in Bangalore and Chennai garnered 150 and 100 responses respectively. The response in Mumbai with over 275 wannabe VJs was higher due to the population size and increased awareness. Two spots have been airing on Nick, MTV and Zee English and MGM.One aims at stirring interest in the hunt while the other is in the form of a livewire. This gives information of audition dates and how kids can post their entries or send them online.

    In terms of other promotional activities the Chota VJ Hunt effort is getting radio support in the form of spots on the Midday run radio station Go. Print ads have also featured in major publications with ground support in the form of road shows with flyers being distributed where kids hang out.

    Raizada said that the objective of the hunt is not just to increase brandawareness but also to tell kids that the exclusive space where they can have fun and enjoy themselves has just expanded.

    Through feedback and market research the channel found that kids wanted to be on the tube and see themselves on it.

    The final stage of live auditions will take place in Delhi on 15 June. As mentioned earlier the Chhota VJ hunt, which gives a kid the chance to host Nick Masala on the channel and on the Nickelodeon block on Zee TV, closes on 30 June. 

  • Nickelodeon launching Hindi band 4 September

    Nickelodeon launching Hindi band 4 September

    It’s been a year and ten months since the Viacom-owned kid’s channel Nickelodeon entered Indian air space but it might as not have come at all considering the kind of recognition levels it has achieved till date. In a fresh attempt to get it some viewer cachet, Nickelodeon will be launching a Hindi band of programming – “Nick Masala” – from 4 September.

     

    Beginning the first Tuesday of September (the 4th) “Nick Masala” will be aired thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the slotting is in the evening band from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM while on Sundays it will be in the noon band from 11 am to 1 PM Depending on how the new initiative is received, MTV India – which is directly responsible for pushing the channel in India (without disturbing the existing distribution arrangement with Zee that is) – will take a call on whether to increase Hindi programming.

     

    How Nickelodeon is being distributed by the Zee-promoted Siticable has been a major sore point, with the pay TV service reportedly managing to get a cable TV penetration of less than 3-4 million, and a paying subscriber base less than one tenth of that.

     

    Queried about what Zee was doing to improve things, Partha Sinha senior VP, marketing and communication said a promotional push which involved a host of on-ground activities – including direct-to-people contact efforts and other promotional spots – were in the pipeline to increase the visibility of the channel. Sinha said the rollout of these initiatives would take off by September-end.

     

    DISNEY SHOWS ON FOUR ALPHA CHANNELS: Sinha confirmed that Zee had entered into a deal with Buena Vista (distributors of Disney programming in India) for airing dubbed Disney shows on four of Zee’s Alpha regional channels – Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, and Punjabi. As for whether there were plans to bring Disney onto the other Alpha channels, Sinha replied in the negative.

     

    When queried as to whether there wasn’t cross-purpose activity going on when Disney shows were airing on Alpha channels while Zee was supposed to be promoting Nickelodeon, Sinha had this to say. He justified the move on the grounds that before Nickelodeon could be introduced onto the Alpha channels it would have to become more familiar to viewers. A chicken and egg scenario it would seem.

     

    In the meantime, Nickelodeon still has a mountain to climb before it can turn from being a mere blip on the viewerscope to something more substantial.