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Tag: Reliance Broadcast Network

  • Reliance Broadcast Network appoints Atul Razdan, Nidhi Gulia & Sanil Suneja

    Reliance Broadcast Network appoints Atul Razdan, Nidhi Gulia & Sanil Suneja

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Limited, a media and entertainment company with interests in radio, television and television production, has strengthened its core leadership team with consumer-focused professionals as it expands into the next phase of stations.

    Atul Razdan, with over 14 years of experience in consumer insights, product development and communications joins RBNL as the National Programming Head. Nidhi Gulia, with over 13 years leading marketing communication for consumer facing online as well as lifestyle brands joins as National Marketing Head, and with over 12 years of business experience, Sanil Suneja takes charge as the Regional Business Head (Delhi). The three new appointees will drive new strategic initiatives as part of their respective roles, aligned to the key business goals of the organization and catapult RBNL on to an exponential growth trajectory.

    Razdan, who has worked with scaled FMCG brands in the past, has a rich and diverse experience in areas such as Brand Building, Communication Strategy, Marketing Research, Consumer Insights and Brand Activation. His previous career stints have been with Hershey’s India Pvt Ltd and Cadbury India Ltd. On his new role at RBNL, Atul said, “I look forward to this opportunity as one that would enable me to tap into my fullest potential, thereby presenting me with newer challenges to overcome. My previous responsibilities have allowed me to take a deep dive into the world of consumer insights, and I hope to implement all that I have gained from those experiences to my new role here at RBNL.” At RBNL, Atul will lead content development initiatives for the existing network of 45 Radio stations as well as upcoming launches in 14 new cities.

    Nidhi Gulia who has previously worked with brands like Sodexo, Adidas, MakeMyTrip and Yahoo about her new role at RBNL said “As marketers, it is important to keep pushing the pedal of innovation by constantly thinking out of the box. It is one of the keys to success in an ever evolving and dynamic domain. At RBNL, I look forward to working with an enterprising marketing and content team to align all strategic marketing initiatives with the key business goals of the organization.” Nidhi will lead the continued evolution of Brand BIG FM which completed a decade in 2016 as the “Most trusted Radio brand”.

    Sanil Suneja possesses key competencies in Business Strategy, B2B Sales, Brand Management, Sales Marketing, and Digital Marketing. He has handled multiple roles in his over a decade long career with Asian Paint. On his new position at RBNL, Sanil said, “From my previous work stint, I have learnt that effective leadership leads to desired results. All my insights are formulated from real life experiences. At RBNL, my aim is to apply these insights as effectively as possible, as I work towards driving key business initiatives in the Delhi region.” Sanil will be responsible for driving business growth in the fastest growing consumer market in the country.

  • Big Magic & Big FM to launch comedy show

    Big Magic & Big FM to launch comedy show

    MUMBAI: After launching an integrated satirical comedy show called Fakebook with TV actress Kavita Kaushik, Reliance Broadcast Network’s entertainment channel Big Magic and 92.7 Big FM will be launching yet another integrated series.

     

    The series called Comedy Ka Rocket will be presented in a completely fresh, upbeat and contemporary avatar; designed for viewers to embrace the weekend with variety comedy entertainment.

     

    The first few episodes of Comedy Ka Rocket will be around Dussehra (23rdOctober), Indian weddings (30th October) and Diwali (6th November) on BIG Magic at 9 pm and every Sunday at 12 pm on 92.7 BIG FM.

     

    Sharing some insights on the new series, Big Magic creative director Bimal Unnikrishnan said,”In sync with our viewers preferences and new programming strategy, we have conceptualised Comedy Ka Rocket, a series which will appear every Friday with optimal comedic content and an amalgamation of all genres of comedy. We are aiming to take entertainment a notch higher, with new innovations in content designing and programming. We are sure our viewers will enjoy the show and will see this as one of the best ways to embrace the weekend.”

     

    The show will have three hosts namely Karan Tacker, Vishal Singh and Gaurav Khanna, who will take audiences on a rib-tickling riot. They will be joined by different celebrities every week, adding to the fun quotient.

     

    Big Magic will celebrate the festive season through a #FullOnLoL feast of sketches, spoofs, song parodies, mimicry, candid content, stand-up acts, dances, fun interactions with celebrities and lots more. The Dussehra special episode Bollywood Ke Villain will features popular villain Shakti Kapoor as a special guest. 

     

    Taking a cue from the essence of this festival, villains will take centre stage this time round instead of the heroes. They will be celebrated and their importance in the life of a hero will be showcased in full splendour.

     

    Celebrating the Wedding season, Sana Kapoor of Shaandaar fame will be seen as the celeb walk-in and the event will focus on the madness that surrounds a bollywood themed Indian wedding. The audience will witness a glimpse of the hilariously chaotic moments that leads up to a Big Fat Indian wedding. Celebrating Diwali with Bollywood Ke Patakhe, Sana Saeed and Natasa Stankovic will enthral audiences with their dance performances.

  • Big Magic & Big FM launch integrated show ‘Fakebook with Kavita’

    Big Magic & Big FM launch integrated show ‘Fakebook with Kavita’

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network’s entertainment channel Big Magic and 92.7 Big FM will be launching an integrated satirical comedy show called Fakebook with Kavita with TV actress Kavita Kaushik.

     

    The show, which will be aired as a simulcast on television and radio for the first time in the industry, is a fresh take on the hypocritical Indian society, focusing on topical issues, which make you sit up, think and introspect, albeit with a pinch of humour.

     

    Starting from 19 October Fakebook with Kavita will be aired at 9 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays on Big  Magic and from Mondays to Thursdays on 92.7 Big FM.

     

    In line with the programming strategy, the content will be sarcastic, irreverent, relatable and cutting edge. Kaushik will be seen doing sketches where her character will vary depending on situations.

     

    Big Magic creative director Bimal Unnikrishnan said, “We are introducing a genre – satirical comedy, which has not been explored much on the small screen. Fakebook with Kavita is a light hearted, relatable, satirical comedy series with a fresh take on the hypocritical Indian society. We are excited to launch our first integrated show, which will enthrall viewers of Big Magic as well as the listeners of 92.7 Big FM, thus enhancing the reach of the show across India. It is our consistent endeavour to create shows with cutting edge content coupled with ‘full on LOL’ moments and we do hope that the audiences will love this.”

     

    Kaushik added, “I am glad to be associated with this unique show. It is a take on our hypocritical society but with a dose of comedy. Audiences will see me discussing real life issues and topical situations with lots of humour. Looking at the scenario today, I genuinely believe that a show of this nature is much needed and it is the perfect time to launch it. The best part is that the reach of the show will be manifold as it will air on both Big Magic and 92.7 Big FM.”

  • Big Magic targets young adults with two new shows

    Big Magic targets young adults with two new shows

    MUMBAI: With an aim to provide humour and unpredictable content that appeals to the urban audience, Big Magic is coming up with two new male centric shows targeting young adults within the age group of 15 – 30. The first show is called Boyz, which recently went on air, whereas the other show – Pyar Marriage Shhhh (PMS) will begin airing from 7 September.

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network COO Ashwin Padmanabhan said, “We have successfully created a position of our channel in the comedy space. Our new programming content is based in an urban kind of setting.”

     

    What’s more, Big Magic is also planning to launch another three to four shows and short formats in the coming months. “We are working on a talk show format, which is likely to launch in the next three months. We are also getting multiple short formats like Chutki and Shopkeeper, which has become very big already. We have introduced another short format called Mania Ki Dunia. The short-format YouTube content, which already has 20 million views, will also be put on radio, television and online. As we started building comedy as a genre, our effort is to create relevance of this genre across multiple platforms,” he added.

     

    Elaborating the story of new shows, Padmanabhan said, “The theme of Boyz is about three college friends and their crazy experiences of coming out of their comfort zone and discovering life. So it’s a typical college story but like every other boy, they carry the fantasy of not just the perfect job but also the girl of their dreams. Each character is sketched extremely sharply and differently. The show will fill in the gap of urban TV viewing male audience with an edginess that has hitherto been unavailable on television.”

     

    The theme of Boyz captures the target audience who are in a similar phase and hence the youth can relate to it. “This high octane comedy is another innovation in Big Magic’s attempt at strengthening its new positioning in providing edgy and contemporary content,” Padmanabhan added.

     

    Speaking about Pyar Marriage Sshh, Padmanabhan said, “The show has a very interesting plot about three friends and revolves around the crazy things that happens to them. These guys are neighbours who come together and become friends. Every episode shows something new happening in their life.”

     

    Being the only channel that focuses solely on the comedy genre, Big Magic has a clear cut vision to make young India laugh out loud and the programming strategy is based around the same philosophy.

     

    The channel will now also venture into the episodic format. Speaking on the same, Padmanabhan informed, “The story starts and ends with the episodes. It’s just like F.R.I.E.N.D.S wherein every episode is new and different in its own way. A story will not carry forward into the next episode. It’s the kind of content that works with the current generation.”

     

    Following the international format, Boyz will have multiple seasons and each season will have a run period of six months. Following the format, Big Magic has already re-launched Hazir Jawab Birbal, which was earlier named as Akbar Birbal.

     

    Addressing the need gap for male centric entertainment shows, Big Magic took the humour approach to attract its TG. Padmanabhan added, “There’s not much good content available for men on television and that’s why men tend to consume more news or sports. Humour has a wide appeal so, if we present a story from a man’s perspective, the kind of humour gets integrated across the audience.”

     

    Big Magic will be promoting the shows across platform. “Digital is a very key component of marketing strategy. Apart from that, we are also using television channels that are targeting young adults like MTV and Bindass as well as news channels. Along with promotions, we are also doing a whole lot of integration. Funny portions of the content is cut and tweaked for radio. RJs from our networks as well as partner networks are supporting this campaign. In radio, apart from the in-house Big FM, we have also roped in Fever 104 and Red FM as partners,” he informed.

     

    The marketing initiative will cut across major cities like Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Lucknow, Baroda and Surat.

     

    The campaign has been developed by Grey Worldwide, whereas MEC is the media buying agency. The digital campaigns are being handled by Resultrix Media.

     

    Throwing light on the research that was done before launching the shows, Padmanabhan said, “From the show perspective, we do a pilot testing, which has been done across some centres in Mumbai, Delhi and other metro cities. On the basis of that, we received good feedback. We are not only testing the shows but are also testing the promos online.”

     

    There was a pre-launch campaign rolled out for Boyz where people were asked to give their feedback on the promos that were uploaded on YouTube.

  • Big Magic acquires adaptation rights of ‘The Middle’ from Warner Bros

    Big Magic acquires adaptation rights of ‘The Middle’ from Warner Bros

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network’s Hindi comedy channel Big Magic has acquired the adaptation rights to Warner Bros’ popular American sitcom The Middle.

    Reliance Broadcast Network’s creative head Paritosh Painter and his production team will work closely with Warner Bros. to rewrite the script in Hindi for Indian audiences.

    What’s more, given the potential for the show, the channel is betting big on it. Plans are to market it via campaigns across TV, radio and digital mediums. The channel has earmarked marketing spends of Rs 3 – 5 crore for the same. 

     

    “Apart from our own radio and television platforms, we are looking forward to engage other media in promoting the launch of the show. Digitally, our in-house marketing team is engaging viewers with the campaigns. Excluding our own media holdings, we are looking at a figure of around Rs 3-4 crore in media spends, which can easily cross the Rs 5 crore mark if we take our media platforms into consideration,” said Reliance Broadcast Network EVP and business head Ashwin Padmanabhan, adding that there will be limited OOH campaign done for this show.

     

     

    This six-season-long show The Middle, which ran on the ABC network, draws its comic inspiration from the day to day lives of a highly dysfunctional middle class family. Big Magic believes that the theme will strike a chord with Indian viewers as well. 

     

    “The main characters of The Middle, the parents and their three kids are unique and very different from one another, which gives The Middle a huge potential to be recreated in an Indian setting. Moreover it fits well with the kids and family time slot we are aiming at for our evening band,” said Padmanabhan.

     

    Big Magic was in talks with Warner Bros, the television distributors of the original show, for some time and the deal was signed 45 days ago.

     

    With an aim to air the pilot episode by 1 June, the shooting for the show, which will have an Indian twist to the tale, started a week back with the new Indian star cast. 

     

    Actress Ami Trivedi has been cast as the mother while Iqbal Azad plays the father. Sushant Mohindra, Saloni Daini, and Dharmik Joisar have taken up the characters of the eldest son, middle daughter and the youngest boy respectively.

     

    Apart from the fact that the show will have a Hindi name, Padmanabhan refused to reveal further details about its title.

     

    While the crux of the sitcom’s story makes for engaging television content for Indian viewers, the social setting of the characters are vastly different. Keeping that in mind, when queried as to how much of the content Big Magic was looking to Indianise, Padmanabhan said, “We are keeping the main storyboard of all the seasons intact structurally, and the character personalities and their internal conflicts will also be true to the originals. But we are rewriting the parts where the story influenced by the character’s social and cultural surroundings.” 

     

    The channel is currently looking at two majorly distinctive time slots in terms of its target comedy consumers — the 7 – 9 pm slot where the viewers are mostly kids and teens, which gradually shifts to family audience by 11 pm. “Post 11 pm, our target viewers are mostly the male members in the family. Shows that will be scheduled post 11 pm will be more edgy,” Padmanabham said. 

    The campaign for the launch of this show will be closely followed by a bigger campaign for the entire channel where Big Magic is looking to engage in more OOH services. These campaigns are closely related to the new content strategy that the channel has adopted.

     

    Padmanabhan also hinted at two new show launches in a couple of weeks that will be aimed at the male audience, apart from another short form comedy show like Googly, which will have a topical and more dynamic format.

  • Big Magic Ganga to air ‘Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal’ in Bhojpuri

    Big Magic Ganga to air ‘Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal’ in Bhojpuri

    MUMBAI: With a view to reach out to a larger audience base, Reliance Broadcast Network will be dubbing its Hindi language historical comedy show Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal in Bhojpuri.

     

    The show, which is currently aired on the Hindi channel Big Magic, will now also be showcased on the network’s regional channel Big Magic Ganga in Bhojpuri, from Monday to Friday at 5:30 pm, with a repeat at 9:30 pm.

     

    The channel hopes that the step towards extending its Hindi shows to a regional audience in their language, will bring in larger affinity supported by widespread distribution of Big Magic Ganga.

     

    Akbar Birbal is a fresh comic take on the childhood folktales of Akbar and Birbal that have never been showcased on television before.

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network executive vice president and business head Ashwin Padmanabhan said, “With over 50 per cent market share, as per BARC ratings, Big Magic Ganga is the number one regional channel of Bihar and Jharkhand. The national audience loves Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal and we are sure it will garner a loyal viewership in Bhojpuri as well.”

  • Reliance Broadcast Network ups executive leadership; Lavneesh Gupta quits

    Reliance Broadcast Network ups executive leadership; Lavneesh Gupta quits

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) has made a series of promotions in its top-level management. The newly appointed executive leadership team will work seamlessly across RBNL’s radio (92.7 Big FM) and television (Big Magic and Big Magic Ganga) businesses.

     

    The leadership team with Reliance Broadcast Network CEO Tarun Katial at the helm, will comprise Asheesh Chatterjee as the executive vice president and chief financial officer, who will be looking at new opportunities and expansion plans in addition to the finance and regulatory portfolios.

     

    On the other hand, Ashwin Padmanabhan as executive vice president and business head will oversee the television channels, in addition to his existing role as business head for 92.7 Big FM.

     

    RBNL chief strategy officer Sunil Kumaran will across handle revenue and product as well as marketing for both the radio and television businesses. The network’s creative director Paritosh Painter will also work across both the mediums.

     

    Meanwhile, after a stint of almost two years with the organization, RBNL chief operating officer Lavneesh Gupta has decided to move on.

     

    Katial said, “In order to build a future ready organisation, we want to build a team of lateral leaders. Their focus will be on developing skills of the team in the areas of innovation, creativity, risk taking and adopting an entrepreneurial approach. I am certain that the team will deliver and continue to successfully drive the growth story for the Group.”

  • Big Magic set for a week-long Holi celebration

    Big Magic set for a week-long Holi celebration

    MUMBAI: Big Magic Ganga is all set to entertain viewers this Holi weekend. The channel has readied a week-long programming line-up starting from 6 March called Faguaa. This was announced by Ravi Kishan and Bhojpuri actress Shinjini Kulkarni of Panditji Batai Na Byah Kabh Hoi-2 in Mumbai on 4 March.

     

    The channel built on local insights with a deep cultural connect has shows pegged on festivities and devotion, offering entertainment which can be watched by the entire family. In keeping with the same, it will celebrate the festival of Holi with exciting content such as Bhakti Sagar (7.30 am), Holi Dangal (10.30 am), Jogira Sara Ra Ra (4.30 pm), Bhakti Samrat (9 pm), Holi ki Hurdang (10.30 pm) and throughout the day on 5 and 6 March the channel will air Holi Thitholi. 

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “Big Magic Ganga provides pure and clean culturally enriching content for the entire family and that is what has made us connect with the region or migrants across the country understanding their needs of entertainment and reflection of the region. We wish all our viewers and partners a very happy and colourful Holi and look forward to continuing to entertain with our un-matched and locally enriching programming mix.”

  • Big Magic Ganga’s aspirational connect helps spike viewership

    Big Magic Ganga’s aspirational connect helps spike viewership

    MUMBAI: Big Magic Ganga, the regional general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Reliance Broadcast Network stable, has carved out a niche for itself in the Bihar+Jharkhand region. The channel, which has been seeing a growth in television ratings week on week, reached a new high in week eight of TAM TV ratings.

     

    Big Magic Ganga, which garnered 1474 GVTs in week seven of TAM TV ratings saw a 51 per cent jump in its ratings in week eight, registering 2238 GVTs.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Reliance Broadcast Network COO Lavneesh Gupta said that the week on week growth could be attributed to sustained insight backed programming. The time spent per viewer (TSV) for the channel currently stands at 58 minutes. “This too has been on a rise,” says Gupta.

     

    The channel, apart from its regular programming, banks highly on festivities.

     

    “For week 8, programmes related to Mahashivratri, aired across our various time slots did really well,” informs Gupta.

     

    In order to catch viewers attention, Big Magic Ganga, named the week Shiv Sapta, which had elements revolving around Lord Shiva. This apart, it also organised an on-ground event ‘Jai Baba Baijyanath’ with devotional singers. The same was also telecast on the channel.

     

    It also created a morning devotional band Bhakti Sagar, which telecast the Shivratri special from 6:30 – 9 am. A day-long programme on the case study of religious places called, Vishwas se Upar Aastha and Ram Charan Sukhdai telecast between 4-5 pm also gave a fillip to the channel’s ratings. Big Magic Ganga’s show Mahadev aired between 8-9 pm with repeats from 9:30 – 10:30 am also rated well, according to Gupta.

     

    Gupta feels that considering the region is high on pride of association and celebration of festivals, and there are festivals each month, which the channel celebrates, there is a strong local connect between the channel and the audiences, both on-ground as well as on-air.

     

    Big Magic Ganga has been the leader in the market for its devotional content and reality shows such as Bhakti Samrat, Beg Memsaab and Police Files. “Our strongest slot would be the morning slot – from 7:30 am right up to 10:30 am. This is highly skewed on devotion and resonates excellently with our viewers. Again in prime time evening too we do well,” adds Gupta.

     

    With six hours of original programming, the channel has the maximum original content, as compared to its competition, which includes a mix of devotion, reality and socially relevant programmes. “We increase the amount of content at the time of festivals. But we are largely happy with the audience feedback and will continue to deliver engaging content to them,” Gupta says.

     

    The channel is working towards giving audience the opportunity to engage with the brand. “In times of festivals, we craft our programming around devotion, festive and culture of the region and thus bring in fresh age groups including the youth as the channel is known for its programmes crafted on local connect and local festivals,” informs Gupta.

     

    Big Magic Ganga believes that it is essential to keep communicating with its viewers. In order to facilitate that, the channel has built local teams in Ranchi and Patna, and it is through them, that the channel undertakes several audience engagement initiatives.

     

    “From auditions on ground in the region to scout for talent, to consumer home visits to research we do it all. We also undertake regular focused group discussions and marketing through heavy on ground activations,” he informs.

     

    Big Magic Ganga, which conducts extensive research before closing in on any concept, understands that programming pegged on devotion, festivals, reality, drama and musicals works for the region. “Quantitative research, followed by focused group discussions with the pilot is always done to ensure audience acceptability,” he says, adding that the channel is looking at launching a slew of new shows soon.

     

    The channel has been standing strong, even after stern competition from the national GECs. Shedding light on how it deals with this competition, Gupta says, “Viewers watch national GECs because of aspirational value and not due to local connect. This is unique and we aim to provide local content with an aspirational and pride angle with higher relevance.”

     

    The channel, as per Gupta, has connected with its audience by making Bhojpuri more aspirational and bringing in new elements, targeting even the youth.

  • Big Magic strengthens distribution network with Tata Sky

    Big Magic strengthens distribution network with Tata Sky

    MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from Reliance Broadcast Network, Big Magic, has strengthened its distribution with direct-to-home (DTH) player, Tata Sky.

     

    Starting 1 February, the channel will be available on Tata Sky channel number 138 to subscribers across the country.  This move helps Big Magic to gradually fortify its space in the comedy genre in India with original differentiated content.

     

    This announcement enables Tata Sky to offer its viewers a differentiated content around comedy with Big Magic’s programming mix targeted to a relevant and discerning audience base across relevant markets. Big Magic’s original programming mix is a comical line up of hilarious sitcoms, a side splitting historical comedy; laugh out loud weekend specials, festive specials and comedy blockbuster films.  Its shows include Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal, Uff Yeh Nadaniyan, Bal Gopal Kare Dhamaal and more catering to wholesome entertainment for each segment and age group. With new shows coming up centered around comedy, Big Magic is poised to engage, enrich and entertain its new audiences across the country.

     

    Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli said, “For Tata Sky, catering to consumers across age groups with the growing preference towards comedy, Big Magic as a channel would be a rather unique offer suiting the needs of our customers across the country. We will finally showcase the range of offerings from Big Magic on our platform.”

     

    Added Reliance Broadcast Network COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “We are happy to announce our availability on Tata Sky, which allows Big Magic to immediately grow its reach across the geography. We are confident of our product with differentiated comedy content and designed as per audience needs for the entire family. Strengthening our distribution spectrum is a strategic move towards focusing on growing the channel with additional new content that is expected soon.”