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Tag: Sai Kumar

  • Ronnie Screwvala enters digital biz; B Sai Kumar to head venture

    Ronnie Screwvala enters digital biz; B Sai Kumar to head venture

    MUMBAI: Media and broadcasting veteran Ronnie Screwvala has joined hands with B Saikumar to form a new age ­digital media company. Based out of Mumbai, in its first phase, the venture aims at launching a digital brand, which will offer multi-genre­, multi—lingual content across video, audio, text and other traditional and new age art forms. The investment envisaged is an outlay of up to Rs 150 crore across two phases. While the first phase would be largely domestic-f­ocused, the platform will evaluate new geographies and verticals in its second and subsequent phases. 

     

    The venture, with Sai Kumar as managing director, has also roped in former Network18 COO Ajay Chacko as CEO and has begun a global search for talent in creative, product and technology functions across entertainment, current affairs and infotainment spaces.

     

    Digital media across the world has been competing with the traditional broadcast television, radio and print in terms of choice of consumers and marketers. With over 300 million Internet users and around 200 million of these using mobile, India is slated to become the world’s third largest digital media market. This is expected to get a further boost with the government’s Digital India plan and the launch of pan-India ­broadband services by existing operators and well-cap­italized new players.

     

    At a time when the world is witnessing a range of digital-first ­media brands and companies generating tremendous stickiness, impact and value across markets, Screwvala’s new venture aims at becoming a valuable Indian digital media company with  footprints across geographies and content spaces. 

     

    Over the last two and a half decades, Screwvala has built some of the country’s valuable media businesses and has been an entrepreneur known for disruption and innovation across many verticals and genres; from cable to broadcast, from animation and gaming to motion pictures.

     

    Sai Kumar has been instrumental in taking Network18 from a single channel company to a $1 billion plus enterprise, while Chacko played a pivotal role in the launch of many of Network18’s flagship brands across print, TV and digital.

  • 2014: The year of big movements in the news channel space

    2014: The year of big movements in the news channel space

    MUMBAI: The year 2014 was an important year for the news channel industry, monetarily and otherwise. The bonus for the industry was the national election which not only kept them busy for the first half of the year, but also sent all the networks into profits for the first financial quarter. However, several changes took place on the people front with numerous big names moving out from their associated companies.

    The biggest shocker that hit the industry was the acquisition of Network18 by Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Independent Media Trust, putting the entire TV18 (news channels) section under the Mukesh Ambani conglomerate. Network18 founder and chairman Raghav Bahl, this year sold his baby to Ambani for a whopping Rs 4000 crore. Bahl has now set up his own new venture in the mobile space called Quintillion Media.

     

    What followed this was an upheaval of sorts, as one by one, the main pillars of the company began to fall. As soon as the meeting concluded between Bahl and the management of Network18, departures began which included group CEO B Sai Kumar, COO Ajay Chacko, CNN-IBN deputy editor Sagarika Ghose, IBN Network editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Network18 Media CEO Sanjay Dua, Network18 digital CEO Durga Raghunath, Network 18 CFO RDS Binni Bawa and deputy foreign affairs editor Suhasini Haidar.

    Soon after, the discussion circled the possibilities of news manipulation by the conglomerate as well as editorial interference started cropping up. In order to assuage the racing thoughts of the employees, the newly formed management took a town hall meeting. A new set of executives joined the company including former Zee Media CEO Alok Agrawal who took charge as Network18 group COO, Umesh Upadhyay as news director, Rohit Bansal as non executive director, Hariharan Mahadevan as CFO and Deepak Parekh and Adil Zainulbhai as independent directors.

    The year also saw several people shifting loyalties due to various reasons. The biggest of them were Rajdeep Sardesai joining India Today as consulting editor and primetime anchor, Dilip Venkatraman and Savvy Venkatraman joining ITV Network as group COO of strategy and business development and group chief marketing officer respectively, former Indian Express editor in chief Shekhar Gupta moving to India Today as the vice chairman and editor in chief of news properties but within two months relinquishing his positions and becoming editorial advisor to the group and Sanjay Dua joining ITV Network as NewsX CEO and ITV network chief revenue officer.

    Months after Times Television Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla was elevated to BCCL Group president of corporate development, he quit the company to join Grey group India as chairman and managing director.  Meanwhile, Times Now, ET Now and Zoom CEO Avinash Kaul went to IBN18 Network as CEO. ITV Network elevated CEO RK Arora to group CEO and soon after Arora quit to join News Nation as its CEO, which had been vacated by Shailesh Kumar, the former CEO and editor in chief of the channel. Kumar recently joined Focus Group as the managing editor for regional channels. Neeraj Sanan who headed distribution and marketing for MCCS that operates ABP news channels, quit and went to Focus Group as group CEO.

    News Xpress CEO and editor in chief Vinod Kapri decided to step down as well and was replaced by Prasoon Shukla. Early in the year, CNN-IBN managing editor Ashutosh quit to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and was replaced by Vinay Tewari who after several months shifted to Headlines Today as managing editor, a place left vacant by Nalin Mehta. Radhakrishnan Nair was appointed in place of Tewari.

    On the business side, Bloomberg TV India editor in chief Vivek Law quit to pursue entrepreneurial activities and the position was filled by Siddharth Zarabi. Zee News resident editor Sumit Awasthi joined IBN7 as deputy managing editor. News24 managing editor Ajit Anjum joined India TV in the same capacity. QW Naqvi who joined India TV as editorial director, left after a few months’ stint.

    On the international channels side, Naveen Jhunjhunwala replaced Preet Dhupar as BBC Global India COO while Ravi Agrawal was appointed as CNN International bureau chief for India. Bhupendra Chaubey who became executive editor of CNN-IBN, post takeover by Reliance, decided to shift his role to consulting editor. The year also saw the demise of veteran journalist Jehangir Pocha.

    The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has been fighting tooth and nail for keeping news broadcasters out of the 12 minute ad cap. The case is still being heard in the High Court for more than a year. NDTV executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao, after four years of heading the NBA as president was succeeded by India TV chairman and editor in chief Rajat Sharma. A new entity called the All India News Broadcasters Association (AINBA) was formed for the regional news channels with Azad News chairman MS Walia as its chairman.

    The other big takeover rumour that was making rounds was about the Adani group trying to stake claim in NDTV (which completed 25 years) which the company vehemently stated as a false one.

    The year also saw a few channel launches such as CNBC Bajar, News Nation UP/Uttarakhand, several regional news channels under the ETV group (now under Network18), Zee Purvaiya and Zee Kalinga which have now been converted into fully entertainment as against the earlier format of 50 per cent news and 50 per cent entertainment.

    2014 was also the year of revamps, with India TV, IBN7, NewsX, News Xpress and Zee News changing the look and feel of the channel. NDTV Profit converted into a dual channel NDTV Profit/Prime, with Prime operating as a fully sponsored channel, aimed at easing out the losses being made by Profit over the years.

    The 16th Lok Sabha general election added the much needed boost to the balance sheets of news channels that have been cribbing about high carriage fees, low subscription fees and advertising rates. CNN-IBN and Times Now came up with their election apps. The latter also tied up with north east channel News Live for poll coverage. Network18 tied up with Microsoft to set up an analytics centre for the elections while BBC used WhatsApp and WeChat for getting more traction from Indian audiences. This election season saw a new trend: that of editors moving out of the comfort zone of their studio and reporting from ground zero.

    As we approach the new year, burning issues are yet to be resolved such as the ad cap, carriage fees, paid news as well as foreign direct investment in news channels which is still stuck at 26 per cent and does not seem to have a better future any time soon.

  • Infomedia’s Chip’s journos get marching orders

    Infomedia’s Chip’s journos get marching orders

    MUMBAI: And so the pink slips continue at the Network18 group. Clear signs that the company is trying to bring efficiencies into what was once a bloated organisation. This time the layoffs have happened at  Infomedia 18, the group’s publishing arm, which has laid off journos at  Chip magazine today. The journos were given marching orders but were given three months severance pay in order to allow them to tide over until they get another job.

    Employees of chip magazine have finally heard what they have been expecting from a long time

     

    “The mood has been depressing since very long and people had started looking out months ago,” says a former employee. Currently, five people were running Chip and all of them were asked to leave. Other magazines such as T3 India, AV Max, could be next in line for layoffs.  Two magazines which have not been affected by the turmoil apparently are  – Better Photography and Overdrive – which reportedly are generating good revenues while the fate of others is in hanging on the ledge, says an industry source.

     

    Infomedia 18 had previously shut down its printing press as well as other assets such as Yellow Pages to cut down on its expenses.
    Calls to Network18 group CEO Sai Kumar and IBN Broadcast COO Ajay Chacko went unheeded.

  • Dilip Venkatraman bids adieu to TV18, to pursue entrepreneurial interests

    Dilip Venkatraman bids adieu to TV18, to pursue entrepreneurial interests

    MUMBAI: CNN-IBN and IBN7 CEO N. Dilip Venkatraman has decided to move on from his role in order to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. During his eight year stint, Venkatraman managed a variety of mandates on the general news side of the group. Prior to his current role, he led marketing operations for CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat and also managed IBN Focus, the customised media solutions unit for these news channels.

     

    Apart from his leadership role in building CNN-IBN into one of the country’s most reputed news brands, Venkatraman is well-known for conceptualising benchmark properties at the IBN News Network. Network18 COO Ajay Chacko will oversee the operations of the IBN News Network in the interim.

     

    Speaking on this development, Network18 group CEO B. Sai Kumar said “Dilip has played a pivotal role in building our general news network, right from the outset. Today, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat are benchmark brands in the general news space and Dilip has contributed significantly to laying such a strong foundation for the future. We thank him for his invaluable contribution and commitment to the group.”

     

    Commenting on this, IBN News Network editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai added “Dilip’s passion and leadership has been instrumental in making the IBN News Network into one of the most trusted news voices in the country today. He has been a great colleague and we wish him the very best for his future endeavors.”

     

    N. Dilip Venkatraman added “The past few years have been one of the most fulfilling and exciting phases of my professional career. I’m thankful to all my colleagues who have been a part of this enriching journey and I now look forward to taking on newer challenges.”

     

    Venkatraman has over two decades of corporate experience and prior to joining TV18, he held leadership positions at the India Today Group and Zee Network. Venkatraman is a graduate in public administration and holds management qualifications from IIM Bangalore and Harvard Business School.

  • Viacom18 looking at regional play and more channel launches: Bob Bakish

    Viacom18 looking at regional play and more channel launches: Bob Bakish

    MUMBAI: Viacom18, the equal joint venture company between Viacom and TV18, is looking at launching more channels, expanding into regional markets and creating content for new media.

    Viacom is conducting a due diligence on the ETV general entertainment channels (GECs), Viacom International Media Networks President, CEO and Viacom18 board member Robert Bakish said today. "The regional markets are seeing fast growth," he added.

    Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that TV18 had offered Viacom the option to buy 50 per cent stake in five ETV GECs and 24.5 per cent equity interest in ETV Telugu. If Viacom decides to buy stake, the ETV GECs would move to Viacom18.

    When asked about what kept the joint venture alive (the only surviving one in the M&E space between a global media giant and a local company), Bakish said that it is not enough to have a shared vision. “The success of a JV is all about having a cultural fit. Our venture has had challenges and we have been forced to evolve. We decided to get into film production. We launched more channels like Sonic. Then we created IndiaCast to take advantage of digitisation. We see an opportunity to export content from India. We created a channel in the UK, Rishtey, using content from Colors and MTV.”

    The aim of Viacom partnering with Network18 was to make a local cultural connection. “In 2006 we realised that India offered opportunities we could not ignore. Viacom has resources but we felt the need for a local partner. JVs are a tradeoff. You don’t have complete control. Therefore it is important to have productive dialogue. In Korea, we have a JV with SBS which started a year ago,” said Bakish.

    In India, the company realised that brand positioning would be key. Therefore the decision was taken to make Colors edgier and more of a risk taker. “The good news for India is that more local production money is coming in. Out of this will come quality content.” He also noted that a hit television format is the most valuable IP. “After all, a local version of ’Fear Factor’ played a key role in Colors’ launch and success.”

    Network18 Group CEO Sai Kumar said the joint venture had been helped by the alignment between the two companies in terms of the scale of ambition and challenges that would have to be met. He noted that IndiaCast has allowed for reverse migration. Colors is now in 70 countries. “It is not just about the channel going abroad. Even shows like Ballika Vadhu have been being picked up abroad,” he said.

    Talking about new media, Sai Kumar said while platforms like OTT and VoD represent a risk and an opportunity, Viacom18 prefers to focus on the latter. Kumar noted that 13 years ago distribution became king as there was a lack of platforms to showcase content. Today the good news is that content is once again king. "The challenge today is that while consumption of content is at its highest it has gone multi device. The different platform windows are each a kingdom. With these platforms the possibility of milking content for revenue has gone up. The long tail will stand a better chance in the future,” he averred.

    Kumar called IndiaCast the second phase of the JV partnership.

    “Indiacast has a global multiplatform mandate.” Bakish said. “Star and Zee surprised people by coming together. We responded by creating one entity and partnered with Disney UTV to unlock the value of digitisation. While Nickelodeon and Disney compete fiercely with each other globally, the fact is that you have to look at each country differently."

    Referring to film business in India, Kumar noted that it is a great adjunct for Viacom18’s other businesses. “There are opportunities for synergies in our film business with Colors and other channels. At the same time, our exposure to film will be strategically limited. Having two films that are hits does not mean that the next three will also work. With each film you start from ground zero.”

    Bakish noted that film production business is not for the faint at heart. “We had long conversations about why we were in the film production business. We have had hits and misses but that is the nature of the game. Not everything will work.”

    In terms of the challenges facing the media and entertainment industry, Bakish spoke about the lack of reliability in measurement globally due to multiple platforms. “India is great to do business in but it isn’t perfect. Could digitisation have happened sooner? Sure. Could Phase one of DAS have been a solid four cities? Sure! Phase two is now happening and the industry needs to keep up the pressure to see that things work”, he noted.

    Kumar noted that advertising is now at its softest. Things will not change unless the measurement system improves. More homes for SEC A could help the niche genre, he added.

  • Lakshmi Narasimhan joins TV18; to head new venture

    Lakshmi Narasimhan joins TV18; to head new venture

    MUMBAI: Lakshmi Narasimhan, who recently resigned as national director for GroupM’s Central Trading Group (CTG), which is the centralized buying unit of all the agencies of GroupM, is joining Raghav Bahl’s TV18 as head of a new business venture.

    Narasimhan, who is still serving out his notice at GroupM, takes up his new assignment as of 1 March and will be reporting to TV-18 Media CEO Sai Kumar.

    No details were available about the nature of the new venture.

  • TV18 strengthens senior management

    TV18 strengthens senior management

    MUMBAI: The Raghav Bahl promoted Television Eighteen has embarked upon a big and aggressive expansion not only into the online media, but also leveraging on the strengths of the ‘CNBC universe’ in order to cash in on the advertising boom.

    Thus, TV18 Media Networks, the ad sales division of the group has realigned ad sales operations to strengthen and capitalize on the TV18 Group’s television, online and mobile media properties.

    According to TV18 Media Networks CEO B Saikumar “The kind of growth our TV18 network has seen the challenge now is to do justice to individual products and revenue streams.”

    The business news channels, the online ventures, the CNBC bestsellers CD division and Focus (the ground events division have, thus, been grouped under an umbrella brand loosely referred to as the ‘CNBC Universe’.

    Streamlining the responsibilities of key professionals like Raj Kamath, Anil Uniyal and Sanjay Dua is one such move in this direction, says Sai Kumar. Reason: create ‘new touch points’ for clients and offer better business solutions, which all would add to the company’s
    revenues.

    For example, Kamath’s role has been expanded from handling sales activities of CNN-IBN to be in charge of ad sales inventories of the TV18 Network (business and general news channels).

    Uniyal, who earlier handled the west and south Indian regions of TV18 business channel, has been given the added responsibility of ‘CNBC Universe’. Dua, who earlier was responsible for north and eastern markets of India for the four channels (CNBC TV18, Awaaz, CNN-IBN & IBN7) will henceforth oversee CNN-IBN and IBN7 and possible local channels in the near future.

    This significant change is indication that the group has done away with regional head portfolios and placing four professionals of the company in charge of coordinating the sales activities of various products with each of them reporting into Kamath who is answerable to Sai Kumar.

    Reinstated what SaiKumar has said, Kamath adds that through this streamlined process, the clients will be offered an integrated marketing communication via the multi-media platform.

    Dua points out that the new structure will ‘help further in creation and optimizing’ of the brand clout of the TV18 Network. Though the Hindi news channel space is cluttered, for Dua IBN7 is bringing in more brands on board that have a national profile instead of mere regional appeal.

    The restructuring drive is also aimed at future plans of the TV18 Group, which includes expanding further into the web space through acquisitions and making forays into markets and language that have not been tapped by the company.

    As Sai Kumar points out, the group is poised to leap into the next level of growth as newer operations near profitability levels.