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  • Hathway launches cable TV services in Jhansi

    Hathway launches cable TV services in Jhansi

    MUMBAI:The Rajan Raheja promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom has teamed up with the dominant cable operator in Jhansi and launched services under the name Hathway JMD SR Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd.

    SR Network started its operations in December 2004 and it provides cable TV services to the entire city of Jhansi.

    Hathway will provide over 90 analogue television channels to its subscribers. The cable service company will soon be launching ‘voice over cable’ services, which will enable the MSO to be a true ‘triple player’ with digital, high speed internet and voice services, according to an official statement.

    The deal Hathway has struck with SR Network is similar to the one it entered into in Kanpur in April where it operates as a joint venture with Jai Mata Di Sherawali (Sanjeev Dikshit promoter) under the brand name Hathway Jai Mata Di Sherawali Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd. Hathway JMD has subsequently started operations in Farukhabad and Unnav.

    Starting with Kanpur, Hathway plans to take the digital revolution forward gradually in other cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Kanpur will be the first city in UP which will provide Digital Cable TV transmission from December 2006.

    Hathway’s Digital Cable TV services are presently available in Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore , Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Jalandhar.

    The digital services are offered through a remote controlled digital device called the Set Top Box. The digital device is feature packed and it changes the entire TV viewing experience for the subscriber. The key features include DVD picture quality, stereophonic sound, a capacity to receive more than 1000 channels, an EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) which enables programme reservations & reminders, positioning of favourite channels, parental control, information banner and selection of channels by genre etc.

    The other value added services such as video-on-Demand, interactive gamming etc. are also available with Hathway’s digital set top box.

    Apart from Analogue Cable TV and Digital Cable TV services, Hathway provides Cable Broadband services with high – speed connectivity from 256 Kbps onwards through the high bandwidth capability of cable. Hathway’s Broadband Internet is presently available in the cities of New Delhi, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore and Chandigarh.

    Hathway also has under its umbrella Cine Channel (CCC), a movie based entertainment channel and I-TV a dial – up interactive music channel that operates like a juke box and local channels like Win Cable & Win Movies.

  • Disney unveils its first branded apparel store ‘Disney Jeans’ in Mumbai

    Disney unveils its first branded apparel store ‘Disney Jeans’ in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Disney India has the launched the first of its non-character franchise stores ‘Disney Jeans’ in Mumbai.

    This is the first of 20 exclusive ‘Disney Jeans’ stores that Disney, along with Indus Clothing plan to set up between now and end-2007

    As reported earlier, Disney and Indus Clothing have inked a licensing agreement wherein the latter would be pumping in approximately Rs 210 million towards the setting up of the stores.
    The Disney Jeans concept will soon be followed by three more stores to be launched in Delhi with another two more opening in Mumbai. next on the list are Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun and Kanpur.

    The first phase of expansion will target the Northern and Western regions while the Southern and Eastern markets will see Disney Jeans stores by spring next year.

    The core denim range is complimented with tees, fleece, jackets, woven shirts, woven bottoms and accessories in for kids between the age of 4-14 years. Elements such as adjustable waist bands which loosen and tighten according to the child’s growth, hook buttons that are easy for children to manage, offer a casual and fun option. T-shirts and tops will be priced from Rs 99 onwards while the range of jeans will be priced between Rs 800 – 1300.

    Explaining the rationale for introducing non-character merchandise as opposed to the much loved Disney characters, Softlines – Disney Consumer Products (DCP) Regional Director Lester W Lee said, “The non character market is seven to eight times larger than the character market, comprising almost 85 per cent and therefore we see this as a big opportunity for us. From packaging, labels and tags the range will bear the Disney identification.”

    The Disney Jeans product range will however, have cartoon strips and comics on the inner pockets and undercuffs of jeans. This range will also extend to accessories lie bags, hats, socks and footware.

    “We wanted to create a non-character apparel brand that kids like. Ultimately the range will evolve, to provide a total head-to-toe fashion experience for kids through diversification into footwear, eyewear, watches and innerwear,” added Lee.

    “The launch of Disney Jeans is an exciting milestone as we continue to build the depth and breadth of Disney brand among new consumers in India,” said The Walt Disney Company (India) MD Rajat Jain. “We are focused on delivering internationally successful products that appeal and offer great quality, “fashionability” and functionality and are appropriately customized for the local consumers.”

    Eyeing the ‘tween’ market as having great potential, Lee added, “Tween consumers are a key segment, they will be the new generation of spenders as they determine the trends in the market.”

    The Kids branded Apparel and Accessories market in India was at $ 600mn in FY’05 and is estimated to grow to $ 850mn by 2010. The Softlines revenue generated from Asia is pegged at 300 million, China making up for 40 per cent and India 10 per cent of overall revenues.

    “Indus Clothing continues to be the front-runner in the organized Indian fashion business. Our mission is to lead the apparel industry through a superior product portfolio, innovative technology and an unrivalled commitment to customer driven excellence. We have aggressive marketing and promotional plans to build and strengthen our portfolio of brands in India,” said Indus Clothing managing director HP Singh.

    In addition to an extensive retail push, ICL plans innovative marketing initiatives to drive optimum product visibility for the consumers. ICL also plans to invest around 210 million rupees to set up the exclusive ‘Disney Jeans Stores’ by the end of 2007. The number of Disney Jeans Stores is expected to be increased to 50 by year 2008.

    The brand is already present in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium. The range will be launched shortly in North America and other parts of Europe. In Asia, the brand is currently available in Taiwan, Thailand, China and in Hong Kong the store as even been extended to include adult merchandise.

  • Tata Sky on track for one million subscribers, unveils interactive edutainment service for kids

    Tata Sky on track for one million subscribers, unveils interactive edutainment service for kids

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky Ltd. is putting together a product offering that would help it ramp up one million subscribers in the first year of operations. The latest in this effort: a new interactive service, Active Wizkids, aimed at kids in the age group between 3-6 years.

    “We are enhancing our product offering virtually every week with more channels and functionality,” says Tata Sky managing director and CEO Vikram Kaushik.

    The result: Tata Sky has crossed 100,000 subscribers within the first 15 days of launch and almost 30 per cent of these subscribers are from rural areas.

    “Our service is on track to reach one million subscribers by the end of the first year,” says Kaushik.

    Kaushik expects the Zee-Turner channels to come on board soon as the dispute is up for final hearing in a Delhi court next week. The DTH service provider is also in talks with Sun TV, the most popular network in the southern states, but no commercial agreement is expected soon. “We gave them a proposal and are in negotiations with them. But a deal is still far away,” says Kaushik.

    Tata Sky is currently offering 75 channels and eight interactive services at the introductory price of Rs 200 a month. “We may look at new pricing later. But for a consumer who takes our service, the introductory offer is at least for four months,” says Kaushik.

    For Active Wizkids, Tata Sky has partnered with IL&FS and the product was developed after a year of research. The aim is to make learning an entertaining activity for children, through games, audio instructions and animated mascots. These games encompass a variety of subjects ranging from mathematics to english and general knowledge. It seeks to be applicable to children’s differential learning styles, to hone their basic learning skills.

    Tata Sky claims Active Wizkids to be a first of its kind interactive edutainment service in the world that would enhance a child’s classroom learning through entertaining, yet educational games.

    Developed by an in-house team at Tata Sky, the service has four sections called Beginners, Juniors, Seniors and Happy Times, attempting to make it as age, time and activity appropriate. The television-based service will be refreshed on a daily basis to avoid monotony and is supported by four friendly mascots, each representing a specific learning style. Jimbo the baby elephant, represents listening, the Busy rat represents doing, Spiky, the teenage alligator, represents looking or observing and Hi Ho, the donkey with his big muscles, represents playing.

    In connection with this, another child centric service available on Tata Sky’s platform is the Parental Control service which allows parents to regulate what their children watch on television. The Parental Control service not only allows an entire channel to be blocked out, but also allows blocking of movies based on parental ratings across channels, reiterating Tata Sky’s commitment to transferring control and convenience into the hands of consumers.

    The DTH service has 11 localized language options. However, Active Wizkids is presented in English. Explaining the rationale behind using this medium of communication, Kaushik says, “We have observed that parents are keen to have the basic education of their kids in English. Our focus is on learning of alphabets and numbers. Though we are initially aiming at the 3-6 year olds, we will expand this age category in future,” says Kaushik.

    Tata Sky has strengthened its distribution network to cover 3200 towns and cities, with 12,500 dealers across the country. The service is backed up by three call centres in Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh which receive about 10,000 calls a day.

    So how does Kaushik view the battle between cable TV and DTH? “There will be a restructuring in TV distribution. Going forward, DTH and cable will co-exist. In the US, 70 per cent of the market is dominated by cable TV while in UK DTH enjoys 70-80 per cent of the slice,” says Kaushik.

  • Cartoon Network Enterprises unveils branded merchandise ‘Pogo Wheels’

    Cartoon Network Enterprises unveils branded merchandise ‘Pogo Wheels’

    MUMBAI: Following on the heels of the announcement of the two theme parks slated to launch next year, the Cartoon Network Enterprises’ (CNE) merchandising programme has rolled out a new range of Pogo branded consumer products, ‘Pogo Wheels’.

    The consumer products division was launched last year in India and following the success of the Powerpuff Girls, Dexter and Johnny Bravo merchandise, they are now focusing on extending the width of consumer products. Following the success of Beyblade, this eight-product range represents a sophisticated version that combines Formula 1 racing and the Beyblades concept. As the company forsees a strong competitive streak in Indian kids these days, they believe such toys will be a big rage.

    The range will be priced between Rs 399 (Basic Launcher) to Rs 1129 (Turbo Launcher) and will be available at multi brand retail outlets with over 450 retailers across 38 cities such as Lifestyle, Shoppers’ Stop, Pantaloon, Pyramid, Landmark, Hypercity and Crossword. Pogo Wheels will be manufactured and distributed by Cybershop Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Besides the main metros, it will also be launched in cities like Ahmedabad, Pune, Indore, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bhopal, Gwalior, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Nasik, Aurangabad and Surat amongst others.

    The consumer products division has specifically kicked off with toys. However, they have plans to launch more Pogo merchandise across other categories inculding apparel, innerwear, stationery, gifts and novelties, bags and activity games amongst others.

    Commenting on the same, Cartoon Network Enterprises India and South Asia director Jiggy George said, “We decided to start with toys and thus, wanted to bring out a product with a brand like Pogo that has great resonance with kids. Pogo lends itself to extending properties and building brands therefore we decided to foray into the retail segment. We don’t however, want to continue within the space of toys with just a one off therefore, we will come up with a whole range of toys under Pogo. As most of the brands on Cartoon Network are TV property based, this would be completely on the brand level.”

    Although it appears to be catering more to the boys segment George said, “We have tried to keep this product as ‘gender neutral’ as possible, even in terms of packaging.”

    When queried as to the rationale behind the launch at this time, George said, “We are hoping that this will become the flavour for Diwali gifting, followed by December which is a peak season for toys. Secondly, we also needed to launch quickly enough in these and more categories before the summer launch of the Pogo theme park. As the key focus is that they will all be available at the theme park.”

    The toys will be rolled out in stores in the first week of October and it is estimated that 5 per cent of sales will be spent on marketing activities and giving a major push to this new category a TVC will be aired on both the networks. Also, the product will be placed within shows and given out via contests. Other on ground initiatives will include creating racing arenas at various stores like Landmark and Lifestyle where kids can play with the toy and get familiar with it. It is important to capture the consumer at the point of sale and thus, several retail outlets will have screens where the TVC will also be shown.

    Speaking to this website on their perception of the competition in this space, George opined, “The current toy market in India is approximatetly a 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) business, while only 40 per cent is organized. Within the 120 crore organsied space most of the share is maintained by Funskool and Mattel and a few smaller players. We will be a very small but significant player in this space.

    “We are not competing against the big boys but we know we will make a very important dent in the organized space. As a division we are growing year on year at 50 per cent and we contribute to 10 per cent of the overall Turner revenue but we are growing rapidly and so it is exciting times for us.”

  • McDonald’s & NGC kick off ‘Roboraptor Contest’

    McDonald’s & NGC kick off ‘Roboraptor Contest’

    MUMBAI: McDonald’s, food service retailer in association with National Geographic Channel flags of its latest in-store promotion for kids, the ‘Roboraptor Contest’.e

    McDonald’s outlets across Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bangalore and Hyderabad will promote the ‘Roboraptor Contest’, where kids can win toys from the animated series Dragonball Z with every happy meal.

    In addition, the ‘Roboraptor’ a remote controlled dinosaur, as the bumper prize is up for grabs.

    McDonald’s, food service retailer in association with National Geographic Channel flags of its latest in-store promotion for kids, the ‘Roboraptor Contest’. Every ‘Happy Meal’ entitles kids to participate in the ‘Roboraptor Contest’. With a coupon from the happy meal box kids can SMS the six-digit code to 7007 and winners will be chosen randomly and announced daily at the McDonald’s outlet.

    The bumper prize, will be announced at the end of the promotion, which will culminate on 7 October 2006.

  • Radio Mirchi swells ad rates by 25%

    Radio Mirchi swells ad rates by 25%

    MUMBAI: On the heels of recently launching new radio stations in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur, the Entertainment Network India Ltd, which manages the brand Radio Mirchi has introduced a hike in spot prices ranging between 10 and 25 per cent for all their stations.

     

    The prices for their older network of seven stations – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune & Indore – have gone up by 25 per cent and for the newly launched stations an increase of 10 per cent has been announced from the introductory prices of April when the stations were launched, according to an official release.

     

    Radio Mirchi sales head Naveen Chandra says that the price increase was part of the normal price increase the brand takes every September.

     

    Radio Mirchi, Chandra adds, “Radio Mirchi had quickly attained leadership status in the Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur markets and added to its significant lead over its competition in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkota.”

     

    Chandra further states that Radio Mirchi was the only medium to provide large numbers of urban audiences when compared with TV where audiences are increasingly fragmenting and the reach is significant outside of the urban areas. Radio Mirchi for instance delivers 15.5 million listeners on a daily basis in its 10 cities of operation, compared with a reach of 9.9 million for Star Plus and a cumulative reach of 10.1 million for all the No. 1 newspapers in these 10 markets.

    Given the fact that radio is 60 per cent as effective as television in building awareness, while coming at a cost of just 14 per cent, it was felt that pricing for radio could increase marginally in the Indian context.

     

    In the April – June 2006 period, Radio Mirchi’s revenues grew by 63 per cent compared to the same period last year, informs an official release.

  • Radio Mirchi to be on common frequency 98.3 FM from 1 Aug

    Radio Mirchi to be on common frequency 98.3 FM from 1 Aug

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai based Entertainment Network Ltd, which runs radio stations under the brand name Radio Mirchi will be available on a common frequency 98.3 FM, with effect from 1 August.

    At present, the brand which operates in Pune, Indore and Ahmedabad are not yet part of the common frequency network.With this, Radio Mirchi, which launched its radio operations on different frequency in Hyderabad 95 FM, Bangalore 93.3 FM and Jaipur 105 FM, will all shift on 98.3 FM, according to a press statement.

    Radio Mirchi, which is heard in metro cities; Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai are already running on 98.3 FM.

    Earlier this year, the private radio FM operators had made a presentation to the information & broadcasting ministry seeking permission to switch over to a common frequency, per operator, across markets.

    According to Entertainment Network (India) LTD MD and CEO, “Operating from a common frequency will provide us with the benefit of building the brand in a consistent manner and help make our communication more effective, across cities.

    “Moreover, listeners frequently on the move too can get their daily dose of Radio Mirchi while travelling inter city (between Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata).”

    Radio Mirchi airs hits in contemporary music, city happenings, Bollywood gossip, special interviews, exclusive film promotional tie-ups and lots more.

  • Hathway rolls out broadband services in Chandigarh

    Hathway rolls out broadband services in Chandigarh

    MUMBAI: The Rajan Raheja promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom, in which Star India has a 26 per cent stake, has launched its broadband service in Chandigarh.

    Apart from cable internet services, Hathway is also planning to launch digital cable in the city.

    The company has launched a mix of pre-paid and post paid packages to provide choice to the customers. The packages will be available from 256 kbps for Rs 250 per month (download limit of 400 mb) and 512 kbps for Rs 500 per month (download limit of 1 gb), according to an official release.

    The company is targeting residential, small medium enterprises and corporates. Hathway’s broadband services are available in the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Pune, Nashik, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore and Chandigarh.

    “We are planning to launch our cable internet services in Kanpur as well. We have close to 90,000 broadband subscribers,” says Hathway & Cable Datacom CEO K Jayaraman.

  • Broadcast Worldwide to rework on Tara Bengali programming

    Broadcast Worldwide to rework on Tara Bengali programming

    The Rathikant Basu promoted Broadcast Worldwide’s Tara Bengali channel is being rejigged by its programming team.

    This decision comes in the wake of the recent survey conducted by IMRB at the behest of BWW for its regional channels (read: Broadcast Worldwide initiates broad-based research programmes). The survey found out that the viewers were overall satisfied with the kind of programmes being shown on the channel, but said that the programming was “too intellectual”. Tara Bengali officials claim that the channel enjoys 100% awareness in the Bengali audience.

    Speaking about the Tara Marathi channel, the channel officials said that they were expecting the results of the IMRB research in a short time. As far as the awareness about the channel was concerned, officials said that Tara Marathi has been accepted and appreciated in areas like Pune and Nashik. As far as Mumbai was concerned, the channel is not being received by too many households because the Hinduja-run InCablenet is proving a hurdle. It is reportedly demanding high carriage fees for retransmitting the signal.

    It can be mentioned here that Star TV has been roped in as the distribution partner for Broadcast Worldwide but the details of the deal are still being worked out.

    Meanwhile BWW also has plans to launch a comprehensive regional cultural portal aimed exclusively at the NRI audience. Webcasting its original television software on the Internet will be one of its activities.

  • Sun TV to consolidate radio assets in Kal Radio, South Asia FM

    Sun TV to consolidate radio assets in Kal Radio, South Asia FM

    MUMBAI: Sun TV is transferring the existing licenses of its operational radio stations to the subsidiary companies – Kal Radio Ltd and South Asia FM Ltd.

    The company has applied to the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) for approval. The plan is to consolidate Sun’s FM radio assets in Kal Radio and South Asia FM, the two subsidiaries who have bid for licenses under Phase II of FM radio expansion.

    Sun’s existing FM radio operations are in four cities. Suryan FM has licenses and operates in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli. Udaya TV Pvt Ltd. operates Vishaka FM in Visakhapatnam and has also applied to the MIB for the transfer of the license to Kal Radio.

    Some analysts expect radio operations to contribute to 20 per cent of Sun’s total revenues by FY 2008. Suryan FM generated 9.3 per cent and 8.8 per cent of the total advertising income of Sun TV for fiscal 2005 and nine months ended 31 December 2005. Suryan FM was launched in Coimbatore and Tirunelveli in March and in Chennai in May 2003.

    Sun TV is using the radio vehicle to expand to language markets other than Tamil and Malayalam. It plans to set up and operationalise FM radio stations in 41 cities across the country. Kal Radio has bid for stations like Bangalore and Hyderabad in the southern region while South Asia will operate in the other markets including cities like Pune, Ahmedabad and Allahabad.

    Sun TV will use a major chunk of the proceeds from the initial public offering (IPO) to capitalise the radio business. The company aims to raise Rs 6.03 billion at the top end of the price band at Rs 875 per share.

    Kal and South Asia FM would require an approximate of Rs 1.83 billion towards acquisition of broadcasting equipement (FM transmitters, FM antennas, payment of common infrastructure), setting up of local offices and radio studios. Besides, the inter-corporate deposits provided to the subsidiaries for bidding in Phase II amounted to around Rs 1.55 billion.

    The public issue opens on 3 April and will close on 7 April.

    Sun TV owns 89 per cent in Kal Radio and 94.91 per cent in South Asia FM. Promoter Kalanithi Maran holds 10.5 per cent in Kal Radio and 5.1 per cent in South Asia FM.