ITV

Tag: Samrat Ghosh

  • BIG Ganga launches 5 new shows

    BIG Ganga launches 5 new shows

    NEW DELHI: With the auspicious month of Sawaan, just around the corner, BIG Ganga, leading Bhojpuri GEC channel in the Hindi heartland, is all geared up to entertain its viewers with an engaging Shravan line-up commencing this 6 July. Conceptualised around the theme of Shiv Sawaan Aur Ganga, it will have a bouquet of content offerings that include —Mahadevi, Trikaali, Kanwar Ke Power, Jai Bholenath, Mast Malang Bhole Baba Ke Sang and Sidhe Devghar Se among others. The line-up has been curated with the intent to cater the both, entertainment and devotional quotient while entertaining the ardent Shiv devotees in the Bihar, Jharkhand and UP regions. 

    One of the most interesting offering of the channel, Mahadevi will be telecast from 6 July at 7 pm primetime. The social-mythological show, an enthralling tale of devotion and miracles, revolves around a girl named Sundari, who works at the temple in a tiny village that her family depends on for their livelihood. However, Sundari doesn't believe in the Goddess, much to the dismay and anger of a lot of people, including her family. Sundari's disbelief towards the Goddess goes deep into her past incarnation as Princess Rajeshwari, a great devotee of the Goddess. She will be blessed with supernatural powers that she shall use to protect the villagers from anti-social elements. Another fictional offering, Trikaali is a supernatural soap opera which showcases the journey of a girl named Trikaali, a devotee of Goddess Kali who is blessed with special powers to foresee future. The show stars Gourab Roy Chowdhury and Shruti Das. The concept of the serial is unique as the protagonist can foresee the future events. The show will be telecast in July at 10 pm slot. 

    The channel will also be broadcasting Kanwar Ke Power which is a song-based show comprising of Kanwar songs crooned by deep-rooted singers from the region. It will further have original entries from celebs/independent folk singers from the region who can submit their Shrawan videos songs to the channel to be played. Catering to all age groups, the one-hour after Aarti special will be broadcasted daily from 6 July onwards from Tue – Sun, 7-8 am. Another line-up Jai Bhole Nath, a devotional musical show, will also hook the viewers wherein untold stories of Shiva will be narrated by two anchors playing the role of Shiva and Parvati along with album songs of the celebrities on the show. Spanning 15 episodes, it will be broadcasted from 6 July at Mon – Sat, 4-5 pm. In addition to the above, there will be a Musical Aarti segment, ‘SIDHE DEVGHAR SE’ where viewers can catch-up on live morning Aarti and Sringar from the Devghar temple. Starting from 6 July onwards, the show catering to all age groups will engage the viewers daily for 10 mins at 7 am. 

    Further raising the entertainment quotient up a notch, the lineup includes a weekend musical event Mast Malang Bhole Baba Ke Sang. This time around, it will feature superstars like Manoj Tiwari, Pawan Singh, Khesari, Malini among others who will come in pairs every weekend. Broadcasted every Sunday 8-10 pm, it will be entertaining all age groups daily for 2 hours. 

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) Cluster Head, East- Samrat Ghosh said, "Right from our inception, we've been a viewer-centric channel and see to it that we keep our viewers entertained and their mood elevated especially in these testing times. With a healthy population in the area engaging in a host of devotional activities, we found it best to curate such a thought-driven lineup that helps them overcome this unsettling environment and relax their mind and body. We've timed the show perfectly to their viewing preferences that shall see them start the day with devotional songs that sets the tone for them to have a cheerful day. It's all the more important for us to showcase a high sense of responsibility and display that we do care for our audiences and we're glad to have done so through this lineup." 

    BIG Ganga and ZEE Biskope business head- Amarpreet Singh Saini said, “As a brand that is known for its original content, we have tried our best to entertain the viewers of all age groups with the content they can relate with the most. Since Shrawan is one of the most-celebrated festivals in North India, the onus lies on us to come up with offerings that Shiv devotees can cherish with their families throughout the fasting and worshipping period. The line-up has been carefully curated for the viewers who constantly on the lookout for devotional content to relive the spiritual side while calming their mind and body. Most of these line-ups are very exciting due to its topical nature and will further offer a visual treat to the viewers. We are very positive that the line-up will be well received among our viewers as well as stakeholders alike who are looking to reach out to the audience and keep themselves indulged through such kind of content.”

    BIG Ganga has been enhancing and enriching regional pride through its new offerings. These new and original Bhojpuri shows are sure to entertain audiences with its unique content and placement, thereby making the channel an apt prime time viewing choice for the entire family. With more shows in the pipeline, the channel is all set to redefine entertainment and original content for its regional audience. 

  • Zee Bangla brings back 8 old shows to entertain viewers

    Zee Bangla brings back 8 old shows to entertain viewers

    MUMBAI: Starting 30 March, Zee Bangla is bringing back some of its iconic shows: Ek Akasher Niche, Agnipariksha, Amar Durga, Dweep Jwele Jai, Bhootu, Goyenda Ginni, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, and Mirakkel in order to keep its viewers entertained.

    These shows will give  the viewers daily dose of entertainment while adding a bit of nostalgia to the regular ‘TV Time when people are staying at home and reducing public contact to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd East cluster head Samrat Ghosh said, “Zee Bangla always puts its consumer at the centre of everything and has been successful in delivering the entertainment needs of the wide Bengali diaspora for last 20 years. We heard the consumer voice to bring back some of our milestone shows from 20 years in terms of both fiction and non-fiction. I am very hopeful that the cult shows will surely bring back strong nostalgic values and take viewers back in their good old days and enhance quality family time and help them sail through this difficult phase.”

    The channel has realigned its programming with the relaunch of a series of pathbreaking and iconic shows of yesteryear's, which will present the families with an opportunity to relive memories, subsequently striking a happy conversation among the family members. The same has been envisaged as an extension of their “20 Ke Kurnish” campaign, a yearlong campaign which was launched by Zee Bangla last year to celebrate its glorious journey of 20 years.

    Following is the list of some of the most popular shows, which in themselves are landmark productions that helped recraft the Bangla TV industry. These are the shows that the audiences still crave for.

     

  • Zee Biskope leads in Bhojpuri market for second consecutive week

    Zee Biskope leads in Bhojpuri market for second consecutive week

    MUMBAI: Zee Biskope, a 24-hour dedicated Bhojpuri movie channel primarily for the Bihar, Jharkhand & East UP markets, has ranked as the No. 1 Bhojpuri Channel in the country for the second consecutive week since its launch. The channel has strengthened its position as the market leader in the category with GRP of 148 (BARC; Bihar Jharkhand; U+R; 2+; Wk 04’20). With an impression of 58355 (BARC; Uttar Pradesh; U+R; 2+; Wk 04’20; Impressions’000), Zee Biskope has topped the chart in Uttar Pradesh as well. ZEEL now enjoys about 45 per cent of market share in the Bhojpuri category with Zee Biskope and BIG Ganga taken together.

    ZEE BISKOPE which was launched recently aims to be the ultimate destination of authentic Bhojpuri entertainment. The channel is available on DD Free Dish (channel no 31), Dish TV (channel no 1555), Siti Cable (channel no 214) and Darsh Digital (channel no 189). It’ll soon be available on all other major cable and DTH platforms.

    Speaking on the achievement Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) cluster head Samrat Ghosh said, “Zee Biskope opening as the market leader is a rare feat by any channel in the recent history. The numbers not only strengthened ZEEL’s market share but also went on to prove the power that Bhojpuri category recons at HSM level primarily due to viewership from migrated population. It’s a market with huge potential and with our new offering, we are all set to keep this momentum going while reaching out the best of Bhojpuri entertainment to our audience.”

    Zee Biskope and Big Ganga business head Amarpreet Singh Saini said, “This achievement has been a result of building every element of the brand meticulously. As a first, Zee Biskope has associated with the top three superstars of Bhojiwood – Nirahua, Pawan Singh and Khesari Lal Yadav as brand ambassadors. The channel’s library boasts over 300+ blockbuster titles with the best of latest WTPs lined up every weekend to keep viewers excited throughout. Be it the slot names curated in Bhojpuri style, the brand song exuberating regional essence or the mega launch event in Patna with our brand ambassadors, we have strategically crafted Zee Biskope’s launch with big plans. Adding to the galore, we would soon launch the industry’s first ever digital mascots – Bhaiya ji and Gamcha ji and have digital wall paintings across the region to reach out to the masses. The brand is loaded with ammunitions in its kitty to keep up the leadership.” 

    The brand signifies a space which enables viewers to rejoice their Bhojpuriyat at their unabashed best. Touted as the go-to destination for Bhojpuri movies; Zee Biskope offers a slew of robust content spread across an array of genres highly popular amongst Bhojpuri audience, such as romance, drama, action and comedy. With a strong library, Zee Biskope boasts biggest blockbuster movies of last 5 years and the biggest hits of the top 3 superstars of Bhojiwood – Nirahua, Pawan and Khesari. The channel’s library enjoys movies across eras – region’s legends (Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan), current superstars (Nirahua, Pawan & Khesari) and upcoming favourites (Chintu Pandey and Yash Mishra). With chartbuster movies, exclusive titles, movie-based programming throughout the day the channel is geared up to aggressively deliver its core proposition “Aathon Pahariya Loota Lahariya” (enjoy Bhojpuri entertainment throughout the day).

  • ZEEL unveils marketing, promotion and distribution strategies for Zee Biskope

    ZEEL unveils marketing, promotion and distribution strategies for Zee Biskope

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has a new ambitious member joining it's cluster – the upcoming 24-hour dedicated Bhojpuri movie channel Zee Biskope. The channel will be rolled out on the auspicious day of Sankranti, 14 January 2020.

    ZEEL aims to brand the channel on the popularity of three Bhojpuri stars — Nirahua, Pawan Singh and Khesari Lal Yadav. “These three stars are the glue between the audience and the Bhojpuri film industry and there’s crazy love for a hero in the region,” ZEEL’s business head of Zee Biskope and Ganga Amarpreet Saini said while speaking to Indiantelevision.com.

    He added, “As the face of the brand these three stars are definitely going to generate a lot of connection. We will also be broadcasting movies wherein these heroes are more associated with people, which is the bigger phase of the marketing campaign.”

    Expanding its regional footprint, Zee Biskope is an additional channel in the movie segment, along with the existing general entertainment channel (GEC) — Big Ganga in Bhojpuri market.

    As a part of marketing strategy, the broadcaster will have movie screening of 2019 blockbusters in the largest hall in Patna on 18 January 2020. The event will witness the attendance of these three Khans of Bhojpuri, along with media, distributors and of course audience.

    Meanwhile, the business head of Zee Biskope and Ganga laying out the further marketing plan stated: “The brand will also have two animated mascots called Bhaiyaji and Gamchaji, discussing the new releases, television premieres, and interactions with the audience and stars of the Bhojpuri industry.”

    ZEEL being the largest entertainment network, Saini said, “We will leverage the strength of our network as a primary source of driving awareness about the channel. We also have our established brands in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar and Jharkhand. We will also leverage their strengths to create awareness.”

    He went on to explain that if need be for incremental and additional reach beyond our network, they would consider some non-network channels to promote the movie channel. This option will only be attempted post exhausting our network’s strength.

    The Bhojpuri movie channel will also be promoted on all possible platforms, including digital, television along with on-ground initiatives and activities to create a tangible relationship with viewers.

    Zee Biskope would be a paid channel available on all cable and DTH services at Rs 0.10 per month, Saini said.

    Meanwhile, ZEEL’s cluster business – east Samrat Ghosh said, “Unlike regional markets, Bhojpuri television market is apparently very new and the majority of advertisers would be national players. Local advertisers couldn’t afford national channel because of price sensitivity.”

    Ghosh said that with an increase in viewers’ traction, the eyeballs are gradually shifting to Bhojpuri market wherein local advertisers also see a lot of mileage in advertising their products. He further added that local advertisers are at a negligible level compared to national advertisers.

    Ghosh also said that the channel is on the verge of signing new national advertisers, along with existing associations with different brands.

    With the tag line ‘AathonPahariya Luta Lahariya’ (enjoy Bhojpuri entertainment throughout the day), the channel’s philosophy is to allow viewers to rejoice Bhojpuriyat 24*7 and efforts have been made to enhance and celebrate this Bhojpuriyat in the best possible ways.

    With over 300 plus library strength, the channel will broadcast exclusive world television premiere movies every weekend, however, a week before television there would be a digital premiere of exclusive movies on ZEE5.

    As the broadcaster’s primary focus is to show authentic Bhojpuri movies on the new channel, Zee Biskope and Ganga’s business head said, “Going forward, we would also broadcast larger-than-life south dubbed movies in Bhojpuri language seeing dubbed movies traction in this market.”

    Meanwhile, Saini also said, “The idea to offer a movie channel along with the existing GEC channel in the market is to achieve leadership in the Bhojpuri segment.” ZEEL so far is the only broadcaster to provide both GEC and movie channel in this market.

    The last couple of years’ maximum contribution to the rise of the broadcasting industry has come from regional markets. In this regard, ZEEL’s cluster business head said, “We are keen to explore other markets, but to launch a new regional channel or not that depends on a business opportunity.”

  • Zee Bangla’s Samrat Ghosh on economy slowdown, NTO & consumption trends in Bangla market

    Zee Bangla’s Samrat Ghosh on economy slowdown, NTO & consumption trends in Bangla market

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s regional channel Zee Bangla recently completed 20 years of its journey in the Bangla market. The mantra of consumer-centricity has kept the channel in the leading position in the market. Going farther in its journey, the channel wants to be known as a brand which is relevant, relatable and embedded into Bengali values and culture. While speaking to Indiantelevision.com, ZEEL cluster business head- East Samrat Ghosh spoke on the journey of channel, evolution of content in the Bangla market, consumption trends, impact of economy slowdown and advertisement on the channel.

    He believes that the Bangla TV industry is on a growth path. In the last 20 years, the original hour of content offering has increased by almost 2.5X – 3X. In terms of growth and advertisement on the channel, Ghosh informed that post NTO the subscription revenue has over delivered and there has also been a healthy growth in its top line.

    Approximately 20 per cent of the overall ad revenue on the channel is from local advertisers and the number is expected to increase during the festival season. “There is a purchase cycle which happens during festival season and Durga puja being one of them, we see local advertisers advertising more to get the reach. We are hoping to surpass last year numbers even after the challenging scenario of economy slow down in the market. In our case, we are expecting a healthier growth and better than last year’s number.”

    Ghosh also said that the television is the less impacted medium in the current economy slowdown scenario and Zee Bangla doesn’t see any impact on its ad revenue. Explaining further he said, “It all depends on how you reach out to your consumers. For example, sectors like FMCG, automobiles, consumer durables etc., always requires a platform to reach out to the target audience. Television being the highest penetrated medium in the country, the impact of economy slowdown on television is not that huge compared to the other medium. In Bengal, we are the highest penetrated platform in the market and therefore the dependability of the advertisers on Zee Bangla is quite high.”

    Explaining how the channel will work on viewership, he said, “There are some factors which will attribute for bringing back the reach- one is the brand pull and second is how aggressively we are marketing the product to the consumer. It’s an ongoing journey. Mostly the migration that I have seen in the market post-NTO is around 87 to 88 per cent, so there is a gap of ten to twelve per cent of migration which is yet to happen.”

    Compared to overall TV penetration in the country, Bengal is lower than the national average. TV penetration in all India is 66 per cent and in West Bengal it is 60 per cent. “One out of three TV audience of West Bengal is from AB Segment (AB:CDE – 33:67) and this ratio is way behind national ratio (47:53), especially in the rural market (23:77), opined Ghosh.

    “In other markets, a lot of content is telecast in the morning and afternoon bands and some of them also offer original content in the afternoon. But in Bangla market, primarily with regards to the GECs, there is no offering of original content in the afternoon. Mostly the focus is towards primetime,” said Ghosh.

    Viewers in Bangla market watch 19 hours of TV content in a week. They consume only 53 per cent Bengali content, mostly Bengali GEC content (43 per cent) followed by Hindi movies (16 per cent). 63 per cent of Bengali viewership consumption happens in primetime (16:30 – 24:00). In the morning their preference is news, movies in the noon and GEC in the evening. Most of these viewers (52 per cent) are of 30 years+ and they contribute 57 per cent of time spent.

    For the industry to grow, Ghosh said that there is a need for new actors and writers. “Currently, this seems to be a challenge. However, since last year Zee Bangla has initiated a project under the name ‘Yes Bangla’ to find and nurture new sets of actors and writers. Another challenge is staying relevant to audiences in an environment of growing digital traction. Next challenge is that the total reach of the market is yet to come back vis-a-vis pre-NTO regime.”

    “Through our programmes and campaigns, we have encouraged our viewers to move ahead and chase their goals by unshackling their inner fears and in the journey taking the entire family together. The reflection of the same will be captured in all our future shows as well.  To celebrate these unique 20 years, Zee Bangla is also launching an in-house annualised magazine ‘Sonar Songshar’,” said Ghosh.

    Zee Bangla was launched in September 1999 earlier in the name of Alpha Bangla and over the last 20 years, the channel has offered various fictions, non-fiction shows and premiere blockbuster movies. In 2018, it had refreshed its brand philosophy to ‘Notun Chhonde Likhbo Jibon’ which means ‘Let’s orchestrate life in a new rhythm’.

  • Zee Bangla to refresh channel campaign to dominate Bengali space

    Zee Bangla to refresh channel campaign to dominate Bengali space

    MUMBAI: The regional space in India’s broadcasting industry is blooming. One of the most widely spoken languages in the country, Bengali has seen a surge in viewership off late. The Bangla channel from the Zee slate is all set to change the game.  

    Zee Bangla, that holds 44 per cent market share (WB U+R universe) and more than 50 per cent in the urban space, is all set to launch a refreshed channel campaign. Last year, the channel had 39 per cent market share and now it touches almost 50 per cent. Its latest brand philosophy “Notun Chhondey Likhbo Jibon” (Orchestrating life in a new rhythm) ignites a spark amongst the middle-class Bengali women to draw from their inner strength, tide over internal and external battles and take charge of their future to achieve the extraordinary. The brand promise will inspire the middle-class Bengali women to break the shackles of prejudice and preconceived notions, overcoming their apprehensions and taking their families ahead. 

    The channel soundscape has been expressed through a brand anthem orchestrated by Shantanu Moitra and sung by Shreya Ghoshal. Capturing the current day aspirations and changes in the middle-class Bengali households are two brand films, directed by Dibyendu Bose from Opus Communication and music by Shantanu Moitra. The brand strategy has been co-developed by Publicis with its Kolkata Counterpart – LKSS.

    This new brand identity will be revealed during the telecast of musical reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa which starts from 7 October 2018 at 9.30 pm.

    ZEEL business head for Zee Bangla and Zee Bangla Cinema Samrat Ghosh said that over the last 19 years, Zee Bangla has been successful on the back of good offering and among the 14 prime time slots in the GEC space Zee Bangla holds 11. He said, “We lead the time band from 4.30 to 10 pm with all our fiction and non-fiction shows.”

    Ghosh added that Bengal has home-grown animated content on Sunday from 10-10.30 am Baatul the Great and Nonte Fonte which are known characters from Bengali comic books. “One of our previous offerings was Bhootu, which became extremely popular as fiction series on Zee Bangla. So we have also developed half an hour of cartoon animation around the characters.”

    ZEEL cluster head regional markets Amit Shah said, “Over the last two decades, Zee Bangla has endeavoured to be a catalyst for change for the quintessential Bengali. As we look forward to the next leg of our journey, it is important for us to continuously reflect the aspirations of the evolving viewer and inspire them to be their extraordinary self. With the new campaign, we are aiming to reach out to a wider audience base and the middle-class Bengali woman, who is an epitome of resilience, courage and social change.”

    ZEEL CMO Prathyusha Agarwal said, “Our new brand campaign for Zee Bangla is targeted to resonate with the middle-class Bengali household that revers a woman as the Lakshmi of the family. With our unique brand POV-led content and communication approach, this idea will reflect across all our shows and campaigns celebrating the Lokkhis who take charge of their lives and move their families ahead.”