ITV

Tag: Shantonu Aditya

  • Manhattan Digital appoints Manish Srivastava as biz head-Digital

    MUMBAI: Manhattan Digital, the digital arm of Manhattan Communications India, has appointed Manish Srivastava as business head – Digital.

    Manish has over 10 years of work experience and is a veteran of the Digital industry . He has worked with companies such as Newswire18 , Bharat Matrimony.com and Sulekha.com In his last assignment , he was the Zonal Head West – Ad Sales for Sulekha.com.

    Manhattan Communications co-promoter and director Shantonu Aditya said , “Our digital business is growing rapidly and Manish is the right person to drive the ambitious plans that we have set for ourselves . In a short span of less than 18 months, we have grown to become a one stop shop for all Digital services .With an Ad network ( Ethniconline network ) with over 1500 publishers , Video network – VuDo , Search, Social Media and ORM services and with offices in New York, London and Toronto and clients across the globe, we are very excited about the future.”

    Srivastava said, “I look forward to driving the business to much higher levels from the present.”

  • UTVi, Dell to celebrate Indian spirit of entrepreneurship

    UTVi, Dell to celebrate Indian spirit of entrepreneurship

    MUMBAI: UTVi, the English business news channel, and technology brand Dell have joined hands to commemorate the “Indian spirit of entrepreneurship.”

    Titled “Take Your Own Path”, the alliance will urge business owners to share their story to success.

    UTVi, which started the initiative, said that it is directed towards the entrepreneurial owners of India’s small and medium businesses (SMBs) and future leaders from various business schools across the country.

    UTV News Ltd CEO Shantonu Aditya said, “With this powerful partnership, we look forward to bringing out many stories of inspiration, belief and business acumen that hold the key to India’s entrepreneurial tomorrow”

    The alliance is powered by Young Indians (Yi), a part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). They will be facilitating UTVi and Dell India to create a platform to engage young Indians and help them shape the Indian entrepreneurial future.

    “India has a terrific entrepreneurial spirit– the successful big and small Indian entrepreneurs have made India the success it is. After our ‘Take Your Own Path’ campaign, we are seeking out more Indian entrepreneurial heroes with the Dell Small Business Excellence Awards. Dell and UTV – both first generation start-ups – have a special affinity for entrepreneurs, and we are delighted that UTVi has joined us in this search for excellence in small and medium businesses across India”, said Dell India GM – SMB Ravi Bharadwaj.

    The initiative will be held in three phases. Phase one will comprise a joint initiative between Dell India and UTVi as a special 6-part series. The episodes will showcase the stories of individuals who have made it to the top.

    Phase two will communicate with the entrepreneurial community at large to participate in the Dell Small Business Excellence Awards and share their own entrepreneurial journeys, business stories and innovative uses of technology with UTVi Business News. The top ten finalists from the entries will be featured as a part of special series on UTVi. The national winner will receive $25,000 from Dell technology and services, a best-practice sharing session with Michael Dell and Dell experts and an opportunity to be a part of the UTVi series on air.

    These winners will also get the chance to compete for the global award worth $50,000 in Dell solutions. Yi will be supporting this communication by its contribution to the evaluation process.

    Phase three will run parallel with phase two; UTVi and Dell will launch a nationwide business plan competition across Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Budding entrepreneurs and post graduates can present their ideas and business plans to a joint jury in each city. The evaluation of ideas and process formulation will be done jointly by Dell India, UTVi Business News and CII Yi.

    Added UTVi COO Sumit Gupta, “With a three stage campaign flow and a multi media engagement, we approach segments like young students and budding entrepreneurs across industry verticals. We hope to involve these inspiring individuals with the channel and to set the stage for many more stories to follow.”

  • UTVi to do specials on ‘Vote for Growth’

    UTVi to do specials on ‘Vote for Growth’

    MUMBAI: UTVi is set to air special programmes from 13-16 February under the umbrella brand ‘Vote for Growth’. These programmes will examine the growth of the economy and the industry during the last five years of the UPA rule.

    The programmes will also look ahead and set the agenda for elections and the new government that will take charge after the elections. The last interim budget by the UPA government will be announced this month, which will chart the future course of the economy and prepare the ground for the new government.

    The shows being planned are – The Great UPA Update, Eye On The Week, Speak Up Special, Young In India and Reading Between The Lines. These shows will feature minds from politics, government and the industry sharing their ideas for India.

    UTVi Business News CEO Shantonu Aditya said, “The ‘Vote for Growth’ programmes touch on the most important and interesting aspects that the vote on account will impact.”

  • UTVi is ‘Business News Channel to Watch Out For’ at NT Awards

    UTVi is ‘Business News Channel to Watch Out For’ at NT Awards

    MUMBAI: UTVi, the latest entrant in the English business news space from the UTV group, was conferred the ‘Movico Technology Award for Business News Channel To Watch Out for in the Coming Year’ at Indiantelevision.com’s News Television (NT) Awards held in Delhi on 9 August.

    UTVi boasts of achievements like exclusive interviews of finance minister P Chidambaram, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, home minister Shivraj Patil as well as international thought leaders like Adrian Mowat and commodities guru Jim Rogers amongst others. All of this within a few months of its launch.

    Speaking on the success of the channel, CEO Shantonu Aditya said, “UTVi’s explosive growth in such a short span of time is a result of its insightful, intelligent and inspiring content which is backed by the best in class research support and an appeal that is designed to meet the business acumen of the progressive India.”

    “The ever-growing base of unique viewers who don’t tune in to any of the much older competing brands and the fast adoption from the SEC A 6-metro segments have added to our confidence,” says Sumit Gupta, COO, UTVi.

  • ‘Strategic investor will take stake in the broadcasting entity’ : Shantanu Aditya – UTV Global Broadcasting executive director and V&S Boardcasting CEO

    ‘Strategic investor will take stake in the broadcasting entity’ : Shantanu Aditya – UTV Global Broadcasting executive director and V&S Boardcasting CEO

    UTV is lining up nine channels and is planning to bet Rs 6 billion in it. The company is in talks with strategic investors to support its broadcasting venture which will be under the umbrella of UTV Global Broadcasting.

    The aim is to try and carve out a place in the youth and niche segments. The three TV verticals UTV wants to operate on are Genx Entertainment which will roll out the four youth-centric Bindass channels, UTV News for the business news channel, and V&S Broadcasting for movie and Hindi speciality channels.

    The company expects the Hindi movie channel to drive this bouquet of pay channels along with Bindass.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das and Renelle Snelleksz, UTV Global Broadcasting executive director and V&S Broadcasting CEO Shantonu Aditya chalks out the road ahead for UTV's plans in the broadcast space.

    Excerpts:

    How is UTV arranging funds for the slew of nine channels it plans to launch?
    The total investment requirement for these nine channels is Rs 6 billion. While UTV will be investing Rs 1.5 billion as part of its contribution, the balance will be raised by a combination of equity at a premium and any other suitable instrument.

    Is UTV in talks to rope in strategic or financial investors?
    We are in advanced talks to get a strategic investor who will hold minority stake and come in at a premium.

    Will the strategic investor take stake in UTV Software Communications, which is the listed entity, or in the broadcasting arm?
    It will be in the broadcasting entity and not in UTV Software Communications. The broadcasting initiatives are under UTV Global Broadcasting. It has three wholly owned subsidiary companies – Genx Entertainment, V&S Broadcasting and UTV News Ltd. I wouldn't be in a position to comment on exactly where the investor is going to take a stake.

    Does UTV Software Communications have a stake in UTV Global Broadcasting?
    UTV Global Broadcasting is privately held. But this equity ownership arrangement could change after the investor is roped in.

    UTV had earlier announced that Genx, which would launch the Bindass channels, would be a joint venture with Astro as an equal partner. So is it that the three subsidiaries would be having different partners and still you would have an investor in the parent company?
    It is premature to discuss this at this stage.

    Is there a possibility of Astro picking up stake in UTV Global Broadcasting?
    As I said earlier, we can't comment on this at all.

    Will UTV News Ltd. have a separate structure as news channels uplinking from India come under a 26 per cent cap on foreign investment?
    We will abide by the current guidelines on investment in news channels.

    Speculation is that a group of Indian investors are going to invest in the news channel?
    We are speaking to a number of interested investors. It will be premature to mention any specific names at this stage.

    Will you be launching Bindass it in the first week of September?
    We will be progressively rolling out all the nine channels by mid-2008. Bindass, the youth Hindi general entertainment channel, will be up soon. This will be followed by Bindass Movies.

    Will they be pay channels?
    All our channels will be pay from the first day of launch. The first two channels are priced together at Rs 20 in non-Cas (conditional access system) and Rs 10 in Cas markets.
    'If you have a good acquisition and syndication strategy, you can build a successful Hindi movie channel'

    What are the other two channels to be launched by Genx under the Bindass brand?
    They will be in the regional space. Most probably they will be Tamil and Telugu language channels. But we are currently conducting research to support this.

    What are the four channels being launched by V&S Broadcasting?
    We will be launching a Hindi movie channel which will drive our distribution bouquet along with Bindass. We will have a world movie channel and there will be two Hindi speciality channels. We are also launching an English business news channel as we feel there is a considerable gap between viewer expectations and what they get right now.
    What are the scheduled dates for these channel launches?
    We are launching the World movie channel in November. The two Hindi speciality channels should be up in January and February. The business channel is targetted for a January launch and we should be ready with the Hindi movie channel in February.

    UTV had tied up with Palador Pictures for the world cinema venture with Olive as the brand. But with the split and Palador getting back all the titles, isn't it a setback for UTV?
    We have already acquired 150 titles and are looking at 300 at the time of launch. We will be screening the best of contemporary cinema and see a big opportunity in this. There are award winning titles and there are also good films from Bosnia, Iran and Argentina.

    Will high-priced DVDs be an important source of revenue and support system for this kind of cinema which will in any case attract niche audiences?
    We will have DVDs and theatrical release. We haven't decided whether we should go in for a high pricing or a volume strategy. But the channel has to drive by itself.

    How will you make a mark in the Hindi movie channel space when the existing players are entrenched, many more are on eve of launch, and acquisition costs are high?
    We are looking to launch with a bank of 300 titles, of which 50 films have already been acquired. The dynamics of the business is also changing. I see a syndication model coming into place and a lot of sharing of titles across channels. You may not see clean straight exclusive deals over a longer period as in the past. There will be a variety in the way you purchase movie rights.

    If you have a good acquisition and syndication strategy, you can build a successful model. Movie channels are platform agnostic and audiences are loyal to titles.
    While several broadcasters are eyeing the GEC space, why is it that UTV decided to foray into the niche genres of special interest channels?
    We have consciously decided to stay away from launching a general entertainment channel primarily because there has been a drop in viewership of 30 per cent in the Hindi GEC space in the age bracket of 15 – 35 years. The market needs segment-dedicated channels – and that is the domain we are entering into.

    Distribution of the new channels is a critical area. Have you set aside huge carriage costs?
    Carriage charges are a challenge. However, we have signed contracts with almost all the multi-system operators (MSOs) for our first set of channels.

    Have you stitched deals also with the direct-to-home (DTH) operators?
    I can't comment at this stage.

    Given the current media boom that the industry is witnessing, how are going to attract and retain talent?
    We have already recruited around 170 people for our broadcasting business. We are drawing in talent through a combination of compensation and stock options. Retention is a big part of our strategy.
  • SaharaOne initiates prime time revamp; 8 shows on the anvil

    SaharaOne initiates prime time revamp; 8 shows on the anvil

    MUMBAI: SaharaOne Television is about to make a big splash in the Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) space by introducing not less than eight new programmes. The channel, having set an ambitious 2006-end target of achieving the third position in the market, hopes a near complete revamp of the sensitive 8 pm to 11 pm prime time band would drive the turnaround.

    “By the end of 2006, we want to become the third most successful general entertainment channel in the Hindi space. We will be unleashing a series of programming activities in the coming weeks. Two new soaps Kuch Apne Kuch Paraye and Solhah Singaarr will start the proceedings and four more soaps will be launched in the prime time band. The picture will be complete with the introduction of two big ticket format shows,” Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited CEO Shantonu Aditya tells indiantelevision.com.

    The channel’s most successful soap Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki will however escape the revamp exercise. Another prime time soap Hare Kkaanch Ki Choodiyan is giving way for Solhah Singaarr. SaharaOne is yet to decide the slot for Kuch Apne Kuch Paraye, according to Aditya.

    Speaking on the reality shows in the pipeline, Aditya said the channel was yet to finalise certain details and would be sharing information on the initiatives at a later period. However he hinted that one of the reality shows planned would be celebrity-based.

    “We had been planning to launch a celeb-based reality dance show Superstars. But, looking at the way the existing celeb dance shows are faring in the rating charts, we have decided to take a re-look at Superstars,” Aditya says.

    When the sliding market share of SahraOne (based on July to September CS4+ HSM Tam ratings) is brought to his attention, Aditya counters by saying that the channel has already been showing signs of a good comeback.

    “Last week, we have improved our GRPs to 87 from 60 of the previous week. The reach has been improved to 51 per cent. Our belief is that the latest programming efforts, backed by the strong movie properties we have, will strengthen the channel’s position tremendously,” he says.

  • Filmy launches its gaming property ‘Filmy Stock Exchange’

    Filmy launches its gaming property ‘Filmy Stock Exchange’

    MUMBAI: For those who love to play the stock exchanges and are fascinated by Bollywood, Sahara’s Hindi movie channel Filmy has launched Filmy Stock Exchange.

    Beginning 1 October, this game will be played through the internet and mobile and it will give Bollywood fans across India an opportunity to “own” their favourite stars by trading for them. It could be anybody from Sharukh Khan to Aishwarya Rai.

    Actor Arshad Warsi is the brand ambassador for this new show. “The idea of FSE is fascinating. The younger audience will be able to connect with it very well. There can’t be a more engaging way of learning the workings of the stock exchange. It’s simple and fun to play.”

    Registered users will initially get 1000 Filmy Rs (FRs) to create their portfolio of stars. The stock prices of each star will change every hour on the basis of their box office performance, trading trends, industry news and gossip. And in the process players can redeem their filmy Rs for big, exciting prizes.

    Talking about the game, Sahara One Media And Entertainment Limited CEO Shantonu Aditya says, “In today’s media scenario, interactivity and convergence are key to a brand’s growth. FSE is a cutting-edge initiative to take the channel’s brand proposition forward.”

    “It’s a one stop destination for all film buffs if one plays intelligently. And moreover there are prizes every week. We are in the process of tying up with brands for the prizes,” adds Aditya.

    The publicity campaign for the show will begin soon with 30 or 60 second teasers. It will also give the viewers an insight into how to play the game. Once FSE kicks off the channel is planning collaborations with radio stations and trade magazines.

    Filmy business head Ashutosh says, “This is an absolutely new concept. In a way it will be a parameter for the players to check out where their icons stand. It’s just not an engaging property for our viewers, it’s a good brand for our advertisers to associate with. It’s a multimedia property in the true sense of the term.”

    “The response from the film fraternity has also been exciting. There will be 30 stars at the end of every month. And by the end of each month, around three stars will go out and more will be added on the show,” added Shailesh Kapoor, head of marketing and content.

  • Filmy launches its gaming property ‘Filmy Stock Exchange’

    MUMBAI: For those who love to play the stock exchanges and are fascinated by Bollywood, Sahara’s Hindi movie channel Filmy has launched Filmy Stock Exchange.

    Beginning 1 October, this game will be played through the internet and mobile and it will give Bollywood fans across India an opportunity to “own” their favourite stars by trading for them. It could be anybody from Sharukh Khan to Aishwarya Rai.

    Actor Arshad Warsi is the brand ambassador for this new show. “The idea of FSE is fascinating. The younger audience will be able to connect with it very well. There can’t be a more engaging way of learning the workings of the stock exchange. It’s simple and fun to play.”

    Registered users will initially get 1000 Filmy Rs (FRs) to create their portfolio of stars. The stock prices of each star will change every hour on the basis of their box office performance, trading trends, industry news and gossip. And in the process players can redeem their filmy Rs for big, exciting prizes.

    Talking about the game, Sahara One Media And Entertainment Limited CEO Shantonu Aditya says, “In today’s media scenario, interactivity and convergence are key to a brand’s growth. FSE is a cutting-edge initiative to take the channel’s brand proposition forward.”

    “It’s a one stop destination for all film buffs if one plays intelligently. And moreover there are prizes every week. We are in the process of tying up with brands for the prizes,” adds Aditya.

    The publicity campaign for the show will begin soon with 30 or 60 second teasers. It will also give the viewers an insight into how to play the game. Once FSE kicks off the channel is planning collaborations with radio stations and trade magazines.

    Filmy business head Ashutosh says, “This is an absolutely new concept. In a way it will be a parameter for the players to check out where their icons stand. It’s just not an engaging property for our viewers, it’s a good brand for our advertisers to associate with. It’s a multimedia property in the true sense of the term.”

    “The response from the film fraternity has also been exciting. There will be 30 stars at the end of every month. And by the end of each month, around three stars will go out and more will be added on the show,” added Shailesh Kapoor, head of marketing and content.
     

  • Sahara One COO Bose quits; CEO Aditya to take control

    Sahara One COO Bose quits; CEO Aditya to take control

    MUMBAI: Sahara One Television chief operating officer Purnendu Bose has resigned from the post. With Bose moving out, the hunt for the post has begun.

    Meanwhile, Sahara One CEO Shantonu Aditya will assume the charges, until a successor. Bose was reporting into Aditya.

    “I will be directly overseeing Sahara One till such time as a suitable replacement is found. We have interviewed a few people and a decision to the effect will be announced in due course,” Aditya tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Prior to joining Sahara One, Bose was associated with the kids’ channel Hungama TV as the COO. He earlier was associated with Star TV vice president special projects and was also actively associated with the launch of Radio City and Star News.