ITV

Tag: Nikhil Mirchandani

  • Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.

    A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.

    As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.

    Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.

    He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.

    Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”

    Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”

  • Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.

    A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.

    As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.

    Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.

    He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.

    Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”

    Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”

  • The History Channel looks to strengthen weekdays primetime with dramas, factual shows

    The History Channel looks to strengthen weekdays primetime with dramas, factual shows

    MUMBAI: It has been six months since The History Channel (THC) went a repositioning from an infotainment channel to an entertainment one. After having consolidated its position on weekends with blocks like Jumbo Movies the channel is now looking to focus on its weekday slots.

    To this end it will launch drama shows and factual shows. Speaking to indiantelevision.com this evening, THC India MD Nikhil Mirchandani says, “Our revamp, which marked a shift through the introduction of fresh content like films, mini series has worked for us. We target males 25+. There we have seen a 150 per cent growth in the weekly time viewers have spent on us each week since the revamp. Our reach has grown by 72 per cent and our share in primetime has more than doubled.

    “We are now focussing on our weekdays primetime starting at 9 pm. Our aim is to create recognisable franchises here to grow viewer loyalty. So at 9 pm we will have dramas. New shows that we will launch are Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett playing the legendary detective. Then we have Sharpe with British actor Sean Bean. We will also air the mini series Kane And Abel which is based on Jeffrey Archer’s bestseller.”

    There is also Reilly – a spy story set in the 20th century – as well as Kennedy, about the late John F Kennedy. Mirchandani says that amny of these characters are already familiar with viewers to a certain extent.

    Sherlock Holmes launches next week, with other shows to follow soon after. THC is reserving the 10 pm slot for factual shows. One show that will at 10 pm is Shootout, which looks at heroic acts and deeds done after the Second World War.

    Other shows on the new, improved programming menu include Dogfight – a dramatic recreation of what might happen if say two airplanes fought each other – and Egypt: Engineering An Empire, which follows on the success that THC had earlier with Rome: Engineering An Empire.

    Mirchandani says that the aim is to see stability in the weekday slot.

    On the advertising front Mirchandani expects a 200 per cent growth in ad revenues for this fiscal ending 30 June 2007. That is because 60 new clients have come on board as Charter Partners. Earlier, when the repositioning took place, Samsung and Microsoft had come on board. A Charter Partner gets visibility across the prime properties. The clients he says come from different categories like finance, IT, automobiles, consumer durables.

    The rate increase he says have been substantial given that THC spent a million dollars acquiring content with the repositioning. In terms of below the line marketing activities one innovation that THC has come up with is a Sherlock Holmes game which can be played online by visiting the channel’s site. Here the participant gets to play detective and clues are laid out. If you solve the puzzle you win.

  • NGC-science ministry film project ‘Science Safari’ unveiled

    NGC-science ministry film project ‘Science Safari’ unveiled

    NEW DELHI: India’s ministry of science and technology and the National Geographic Channel today unveiled the Science Safari, a film that showcases Indian science and technology through the Nat Geo perspective, which encourages viewers to ‘think again’.

    The film is a part of the year long campaign announced by the ministry and the NGC earlier this year.

    The 48-minute film produced by All Time Productions in close association with National Geographic Channel is an eclectic mix of scientific achievements across India and presents various innovations made by well known Indian scientists and some unknown inventors in an interesting travelogue format.

    The film will premiere on the National Geographic Channel on 26 September at 9 pm. and will be telecast four times during the first month and subsequently once every month in the following one year.

    The film will also be telecast on Doordarshan. Both Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Geographic Channel will promote the film extensively with the film being telecast in Hindi and English initially and then later being dubbed in other Indian regional languages to reach out to a wider audience pan India .

    A year-long 360-degree campaign encompassing both on-air and off-air initiatives to promote the film will be also launched.

    On air promotion initiatives will include programme promos on National Geographic Channel and The History Channel pre and post the premiere of the film and telecast of a special compilation of the channel’s best science and technology programming .

    The channel will also run informative scrollers, factoids, vignettes and 15 short films throughout the year on Indian science and technology.

    An extensive school outreach programme will also be initiated to generate further interest about Indian Science and Technology through this film.

    Specially commissioned Science Safari audio visual merchandise including DVD sets, CD sets, t-shirts and bags will be given out to school children during screening of the film in various public and private schools.

    “India is making great strides in the field of science and technology today, innovation and creativity are the most important assets for our future. Through this programme, we want to create more awareness amongst the people of our country, especially children about our achievements in this field and to encourage the spirit of scientific inquiry,” commented Kapil Sibal, minister for science, technology and earth sciences.

    Speaking at an event today, NGC India MD Nikhil Mirchandani said it is a constant endeavour to make viewers ‘think again’ about the world.

    “Science Safari is an extension of this philosophy. Through this initiative we look forward to stimulate the intellect of our viewers and encourage them to expand their thought horizons beyond the cognitive by exploring new frontiers of science and technology from an Indian perspective,” he added.

  • ‘Our aim is to give history a more broad based appeal, which is why we are focussing on entertainment’ : Nikhil Mirchandani – The History Channel India MD

    ‘Our aim is to give history a more broad based appeal, which is why we are focussing on entertainment’ : Nikhil Mirchandani – The History Channel India MD

    Live the Story! With the aim of competing better in the English entertainment space The History Channel is pursuing a new strategic direction in India. The aim is to spread the appeal of the channel to more viewers and increase the stickiness level through a variety of shows. These include television movies, documentaries, mini series and long running series.

     

    Indiantelevision.com’s Ashwin Pinto caught up with The History Channel India MD Nikhil Mirchandani to find out about the plans and what lies in store.

     

    Excerpts:

    Could you talk about The History Channel’s new direction?

    I would like to point out that we have not changed our positioning. We own the theme of history and will continue to do so. Our aim is to give history a more broad based appeal, which is why we are focussing on entertainment. Over the last three years we did a few things that set the stage for what we are trying to do today.

     

    We established our positioning of history that no other channel has. History is our middle name so to speak.

     

    In a scenario of over 300 channels distribution is very important. We are the 16th best distributed channel in the country. We managed to do that since we are a part of the Star family.

     

    We established a loyal viewer and advertiser base. We have also marketed ourselves well like getting Diana Hayden to host Biography. Moving towards entertainment is the next logical stage of evolution in our product lifecycle. Our aim is to attract more viewers and advertisers.

    In what way has the programming strategy been embellished?

    We begin our primetime with factual content at 8 pm. Then there are drama series at 9 pm There will be classic product from our library at 10 pm. At 11 pm there will be a thriller band. On the weekends you have a television movie on Friday at 9 pm For example Hitler The Rise of Evil.

     

    There will also be a combination of fact and fiction. For instance you could see a biography of Marilyn Monroe followed by a drama or a television movie. We are also targeting women in the afternoon with programming that we are confident will appeal to them.

     

    The primetime moves from a youngish factual content to drama to thriller. That evolution of our programming blocks is logical.

    According to research how do viewers perceive the channel?

    Viewers perceive us as a well respected credible authority on the subject of history. They have constantly expected that of us and we will not dilute that offering. They find us interesting as we deal with personalities like Hitler, Helen of Troy.

     

    The great thing about the History Channel is that it is not restricted by formats. That is not the case with a movie channel that focuses on blockbusters. If they deviate one immediately notices that. Our only concern is whether the story is historically relevant. I would say that English movie channels are undifferentiated from each other.

     

    We have a wide basket from the lifestyle genre, to thrillers to even perhaps stories on 9/11. It will be in terms of formats. By this I mean documentaries, movies, series, one off biopics, long series. The topics have also grown. We will also showcase concerts like Woodstock. History is never going to be the same again and we take advantage of that.
    ‘The new stories we are telling are universal. Also with our dubbing initiative in Hindi we see the appeal spreading beyond the current TG that we have‘

    Is it fair to say that the audience has become more sophisticated and demanding in the last three years as their exposure has grown?

    They have more options today. A time will come not far from today when they will have options to choose how they watch content whether it is through cable or IPTV or DTH. He will also have the choice of when he wants to watch it. The environment is also getting more sophisticated in terms of addressability.

    What is the viewer mix like on the channel?

    It is pretty equally distributed between male and female. While our core audience is male-female SEC A, B 25-44 Metros and mini Metros we do realise that there are viewers coming in from other demographics.

     

    The new stories we are telling are universal. Also with our dubbing initiative in Hindi we see the appeal spreading beyond the current TG that we have. Having said that our acquisition and scheduling strategy is governed by the SEC A,B TG in the Metro cities.

    To what extent have acquisition costs gone up?

    Significantly! The drama content are all epic big budget productions. We will leave no stone unturned.

     

    Over a million dollars has been invested in the acquisitions and also on dubbing and marketing activities.

    Could you talk about the strategy The History Channel has followed to debunk the theory that history is boring and staid?

    We have done focus groups to find out what our viewers think. We tested the entertainment initiative out. Previously they might think that history is boring and what they remember from school as in being a textbook, black and white.

     

    However when we shown them our content where history is brought to life then they want to immerse themselves in the story, the cultural setting. Production values also help a lot. One viewer even told us that our television movie Spartacus reminded him of Gladiator. Their minds open up and their imagination works overtime. It becomes a great story that they want to know more about which they may have only read about previously.

    Apart from Biography which of your other shows have proven to be popular?

    Conspiracy, Crusades, Secret Agents, Breaking Vegas were appreciated. The last one was about MIT graduates who cracked the codes in Vegas and made history. They were able to fool the casinos. That is what I mean by becoming more broad based. This is about the glamour of Las Vegas and not dull black and white.
    ‘We think that we should be close to the English movies and English entertainment space. This is between 0.4 – 0.6% of the total C&S viewership‘

    What are the major property acquisitions that have been made in the past couple of months?

    There are many. There is Marilyn and Me. There is Nero, Augustus, Saint Peter. We have formed alliances with BBC, Disney, Granada, Universal, Warner Bros.

    There are two major media events coming up. One is the release of the film The Da Vinci Code. The other is the Fifa World Cup. Will you be showcasing any specials around these two events?

    In June you will see interstitial on the World Cup. June will a Rome month. We will debut the show Rome: Engineering an Empire. This is to coincide with the film release with Tom Hanks. For Fifa there will be short form programming like biographies.

    What targets have been set in terms of viewership?

    We think that we should be close to the English movies and English entertainment space. This is between 0.4 – 0.6 per cent of the total C&S viewership. Our dubbing will help here.

    Who does the dubbing for you?

    UTV does the work for us. Drama dubbing is more difficult than documentary. There is a lot more dialogue, emotion involved with fiction shows. The drama has to be put forth succinctly.

     

    When you dub emotions the talent involved needs to be far better We already offer a parallel feed. In the North and West regions we find that a lot of people prefer the Hindi feed. But down South they would rather have English.

    One challenge for the English entertainment genre is to create a 360-degree environment. This means interacting with the consumer through other mediums besides on air. What plans does The History Channel have in this regard?

    As I pointed out earlier when we exposed out content in our focus groups their minds opened up. This showed us that we need to constantly expose our content to viewers at different outlets. They need to sample us more. So we will use the Star network.

     

    Cinema halls will be important as an audio visual medium best brings out our offerings. We will also use Internet auditoriums. Here you can download links and watch clips, promos. This lets people touch and feel us. This will help us break the myth that history cannot be entertaining.

     

    We are looking to have a presence in malls as they have high footfalls. We also realise that History Channel aficionados also watch movies and read books. So we are trying to tap into them at bookstores and DVD rental libraries. We are looking to expose our content through them through posters.

    Is The History Channel taking a cue from the success NGC has had with its mission property in terms of on ground initiatives?

    We are exploring available opportunities. It wouldn’t be fair though to compare the History Channel to NGC as the content is different.

    Is The History Channel looking to localise? Kindly elaborate.

    We will shortly be airing a show on the Mughals. Next year is the 150th anniversary of the 1857 uprising. We will be doing something around that. We have in the past aired biographies on Gandhi. We constantly talk to production houses to do work. This will unfold over the next couple of years.

    Are you planning initiatives like maybe school and college contact programmes to create awareness about your product?

    This will depend on the show. Most of our audience as I mentioned earlier is in the 25-44 age bracket. If however there is a property that demands that we go to a school then we will.

     

    For example if ninth class students are reading about Mein Kamph or are studying about Hitler then it makes sense for us to show themHitler the Rise Of Evil. That will give them a perspective. As Mein Kamph was written by Hitler a complete perspective is not present. This I am sure will make the subject more exciting for them.

    On the advertising front how is The History Channel being sold to clients? What targets have been set?

    We are looking to double our revenues in the next fiscal. We have a transparent rate card. We are looking to allow the advertiser to pick and choose the content he wants to be associated with. This marks a change in how television channels are sold.

     

    It is not clubbed with NGC. The History Channel has a separate dedicated team and they have their own set of targets. Nokia, L’Oreal, Samsung are some of our major clients. We have received positive feedback from them on our new initiatives.
  • ‘Our aim is to give history a more broad based appeal, which is why we are focussing on entertainment’

    ‘Our aim is to give history a more broad based appeal, which is why we are focussing on entertainment’

    Live the Story! With the aim of competing better in the English entertainment space The History Channel is pursuing a new strategic direction in India. The aim is to spread the appeal of the channel to more viewers and increase the stickiness level through a variety of shows. These include television movies, documentaries, mini series and long running series.

    Indiantelevision.com’s Ashwin Pinto caught up with The History Channel India MD Nikhil Mirchandani to find out about the plans and what lies in store.

    Excerpts:

    Could you talk about The History Channel’s new direction?
    I would like to point out that we have not changed our positioning. We own the theme of history and will continue to do so. Our aim is to give history a more broad based appeal, which is why we are focussing on entertainment. Over the last three years we did a few things that set the stage for what we are trying to do today.

    We established our positioning of history that no other channel has. History is our middle name so to speak. In a scenario of over 300 channels distribution is very important. We managed to do that since we are a part of the Star family.

    We are the 16th best distributed channel in the country. We established a loyal viewer and advertiser base. We have also marketed ourselves well like getting Diana Hayden to host Biography. Moving towards entertainment is the next logical stage of evolution in our product lifecycle. Our aim is to attract more viewers and advertisers.

    In what way has the programming strategy been embellished?
    We begin our primetime with factual content at 8 pm. Then there are drama series at 9 pm There will be classic product from our library at 10 pm. At 11 pm there will be a thriller band. On the weekends you have a television movie on Friday at 9 pm For example Hitler The Rise of Evil.

    There will also be a combination of fact and fiction. For instance you could see a biography of Marilyn Monroe followed by a drama or a television movie. We are also targeting women in the afternoon with programming that we are confident will appeal to them.

    The primetime moves from a youngish factual content to drama to thriller. That evolution of our programming blocks is logical.

    According to research how do viewers perceive the channel?
    Viewers perceive us as a well respected credible authority on the subject of history. They have constantly expected that of us and we will not dilute that offering. They find us interesting as we deal with personalities like Hitler, Helen of Troy.

    The great thing about the History Channel is that it is not restricted by formats. That is not the case with a movie channel that focuses on blockbusters. If they deviate one immediately notices that. Our only concern is whether the story is historically relevant. I would say that English movie channels are undifferentiated from each other.

    We have a wide basket from the lifestyle genre, to thrillers to even perhaps stories on 9/11. It will be in terms of formats. By this I mean documentaries, movies, series, one off biopics, long series. The topics have also grown. We will also showcase concerts like Woodstock. History is never going to be the same again and we take advantage of that.