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Tag: Sony Pix

  • Sony Pix brings Spectre to Pix Premiere Nights

    Sony Pix brings Spectre to Pix Premiere Nights

    MUMBAI: Sony Pix is all geared up to offer its fans the biggest amazement of the year by partnering for Spectre, the latest James Bond movie, a day before its theatrical release in India exclusively for Pix Premiere Nights. The exclusive screening of the film for Pix Premiere Nights is scheduled on 19 November 2015.

     

    Get set to watch the latest Bond thriller  across the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Chennai. Pix Premiere Nights, the largest integrated on ground brand property in the English movie category is a unique proposition for the viewers to exclusively watch the premiere of the latest Hollywood movies one day before its theatrical release in India. Spectre will be screened in 11 screens across 8 cities.   

      

    Sony Pix has previously hosted Pix Premiere Nights for Robocop (2014), The Hobbit: The battle of the five armies (2014), Amazing Spider Man 2 (2014) and Fantastic Four (2015) among others.

  • BARC week 42: Sony Max is No. 1 Hindi movie channel; Movies Now maintains lead

    BARC week 42: Sony Max is No. 1 Hindi movie channel; Movies Now maintains lead

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) Hindi movies and special events channel Sony Max, which was in the third position last week, has jumped up to the numero uno position in the Hindi movie channels genre in week 42 according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) all India (U+R) data. 

     

    On the other hand, Star Gold, which was the top most channel last week riding on the Bajrangi Bhajaan world television premiere wave, went down to the third position in week 42.

     

    Sony Max grabbed the first position with 475731 (000Sums) in the genre followed by Zee Cinema on the second slot with 401903 (000Sums) and Star Gold on third position with 380275 (000Sums). Movies OK stood in the fourth spot with 226309 (000Sums), whereas &Pictures was in the fifth position with 177187 (000Sums).

     

    In the English movies genre, Movies Now continued to lead the genre with 2700 (000Sums) followed by Sony Pix on the second spot with 1783 (000Sums) and Star Movies on third berth with 1775 (000Sums). Zee Studio  was on fourth spot with 1686 (000Sums), whereas HBO occupied the fifth position with 1612 (000Sums).

  • BARC week 41: ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ propels Star Gold to No 1; Movies Now leads English movie genre

    BARC week 41: ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ propels Star Gold to No 1; Movies Now leads English movie genre

    MUMBAI: Star Gold ascended to the top spot in the Hindi movie channels genre with the premier of the Salman Khan starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan in week 41 according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) all India (U+R) data.

     

    On the other hand, amongst English movie channels, Times Network’s Movies Now continued to lead the chart in week 41.

     

    In the Hindi movie channels genre, Star Gold grabbed the first position with 486374 (000Sums) followed by Zee Cinema in the second slot with 378717 (000Sums) and Sony Max in the third spot with 369954 (000Sums). Movies OK with 190804(000Sums) and &Pictures with 170152 (000Sums) secured fourth and fifth slot respectively.

     

    In the English movie channels genre, Movies Now led the chart and grabbed the first position with 3200 (000Sums) followed by Sony Pix in the second spot, which scored 1893 (000Sums) and Star Movies with 1793 (000Sums) in the third spot.

     

    Zee Studio secured the fourth berth with 1660 (000Sums), where HBO bagged the fifth slot with 1533 (000Sums).

     

    In week 40 (C&S 1lac+), Sony Max led the Hindi movies genre with 199451(000Sums) followed by Zee Cinema in the second slot with 175363 (000Sums), whereas Star Gold was on the third rung with 129877 (000Sums). On the other hand, in the English movies section, Movies Now led the genre with 3083 (000Sums) followed by Sony Pix with 2097 (000Sums) in the second slot and HBO with 1818 (000Sums) in the third place in week 40 (C&S 1lac+).

  • Sony Pix to premiere ‘The Hobbit’ finale

    Sony Pix to premiere ‘The Hobbit’ finale

    MUMBAI: Hollywood movie channel Sony Pix will premiere the mega finale of the epic series The Hobbit. 

     

    The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies, adapted from the 1937 masterpiece novel The Hobbit, will premiere on 24 October at 9 pm. 

     

    The Academy award winning director Peter Jackson, who has acclaimed movies to his credit, such as The Lord of the Rings, created The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies as a sequel to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012 and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013. Together they act as the prequel to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

     

    The movie bagged various nominations in 2014, including an Academy Awards, Screen Actors’ Guild Awards and Critics Choice Awards. Apart from Luke Evans, Richard Armitage and Martin freeman, The Hobbit: Battle of the five armies also stars Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Cate Blanchett as Lady Galadriel.

  • Tonic Media Wins 2015 Social Media Agency of the Year

    Tonic Media Wins 2015 Social Media Agency of the Year

    MUMBAI: Tonic Media, India’s leading independent digital agency, has been named 2015 Social Media Agency of the Year at the Big Bang Awards organised by the Ad Club, Bangalore on Friday, the 25th of September.The agency was nominated across 10 categories with 14 shortlisted entries and bagged 12 awards including five golds, five silvers and one Bronze.

    Over 987 entries were submitted across 58 categories by 72 agencies. Honorees were selected by a jury comprising of 46 Senior Advertising, Marketing, Media, PR and digital professionals from all over India, based on the nominations filed by the respective agencies. The awards re-emphasized the strengths of Tonic Media across social and creative platforms with the agency winning Best Use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn as well as Community Development under separate campaigns.

     

    “We are excited that Tonic has had such a successful year in terms of performance and receiving appreciation for the same.” said Chetan Asher, CEO, Tonic Media. “The awards are a testament to the pace and commitment of the Tonic team. We aim to build the best-in-class services and focus on producing better creativity year on year.”

     

    Tonic received the following titles at The Big Bang Awards:

     

    Winner

     

    ·     Social Media Agency of the Year

     

    Gold

     

    ·     Best Use of Twitter for Aditya Birla Group

    ·     Best Use of LinkedIn for Sony Entertainment Television

    ·     Best Community Development for Sony Mix

    ·     Best Corporate Communications Campaign for Aditya Birla Group

    ·     Best CSR Campaign for Aditya Birla Group

     

     

    Silver

     

    ·     Best Corporate Website of the Year for Little Millennium

    ·     Best Use of Facebook for Sony Entertainment Television

    ·     Best Use of Twitter for Sony Max2

    ·     Best Community Development for Sony PIX

    ·     Best Social Game/App/Contest for Aditya Birla Group

     

     

    Bronze         

     

    ·     Best Use of Facebook for Sony PIX

  • TV channels unleash slew of special programming for Independence Day

    TV channels unleash slew of special programming for Independence Day

    The entire nation will be waiting to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech from the historic Red Fort. The country paralysed by deadlock in the Parliament due to constant protest from opposition, will be desperately listening to the PM’s verses via different news channels, radio and other mediums.

     

    While ‘One Rank One Pension’ is already trending on social media, various gallantry awards are also scheduled to be distributed, this Independence Day.

     

    The Independence Day celebrations will not just be restricted to the political class as numerous channels are set to roll out special programming for their viewers. The programming mix on the occasion of India’s 69th Independence Day across television channels of various genres is as follows: 

     

    English News Channels

     

    ET Now

     

    The ET Now special coverage will have half an hour interview with Godrej Industries chairman Adi Godrej. Sandeep Gurumurthi will interview Godrej at 5.30 pm on 15 August. The channel will also relay Prime Minister’s speech in the morning. Live panel discussion on Modi’s ideas with panelists and big voices from the corporate world will also be in the list of special programming of Independence Day from 12 – 12.30 pm and 9 – 10 pm.

     

    India Today Television

     

    Women are going to be at the forefront of India Today Television’s Independence day programming, with topics like ‘Are women as independent as men?’ ‘Chak De Girls – On the Indian Women’s Hockey Team’ and Rajdeep Sardesai with the ‘Unsung Heroes’.

     

    In addition, the channel will also be airing ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told – 40 Years Of Sholay’, ‘I Am Sania’ – Sania Special Context – Getting The Khel Ratna as well as Sumitra Mahajan’s interview with Karan Thapar.

     

    Times Now

     

    Times Nows’ Independence Day coverage will begin with the live coverage of Modi’s speech followed by a special one hour independence day show of TotaI Recall. Stories and vignettes from across India on how Independence day was celebrated will be aired through the day.

     

    English Entertainment & Movies

     

    AXN India

     

    This Independence Day, Jack Bauer will battle and abolish crime with the iconic television series 24 Live Another Day on 15 – 16 August from 12 – 5 pm on AXN India.

     

    Disney

     

    Disney will be bringing in two beloved characters, Captain Tiao and Nikki (from Best of Luck Nikki) to share the meaning of Independence Day and showcase how will they be spending the day this year.

     

    HBO Defined

     

    HBO Defined gears up to celebrate the I-Day weekend with a line-up of movies, which will be 100 per cent ad-free. Beginning 15 August, 10 am onwards, the channel will showcaseThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Ender’s Game, Noah, I, Frankenstein, Gravity andNow You See Me.

     

    “We invite our audience to celebrate the spirit of freedom with their favorite movies on HBO Premium channel, HBO Defined, this Independence Day by not just offering exceptional titles but also presenting them with a completely memorable uninterrupted viewing experience,” said HBO marketing and business development director Shonali Bedi.

     

    Movies Now

     

    The channel will air a day long salute to the bravery with stories of ordinary people who display extraordinary courage to break free from constraints imposed them. The lineup features tittles like Avatar, Life of Pi, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight Rises.

     

    MN+

     

    MN+ will give viewers an in-depth look into the story that shook the world. The line-up features two back to back movies on whistleblower Julian Assange.

     

    Underground: The Julian Assange Story and Steal Secrets: The story of Wikileaks will feature on MN+ as special programming for Independence Day.

     

    Speaking on the programming, Times Network English Entertainment cluster SVP and head Vivek Srivastava said, “For this Independence Day, our theme is saluting and celebrating bravery and the indomitable human spirit. We have stories of ordinary people who display extraordinary courage to break free from constraints imposed on them. On Movies Now, we are screening ‘Fight for Freedom’ from 9 am onwards.”

     

    “Under classifiled section, we will air the popular film – Underground: The Julian Assange Story followed by We Steal Secrets, the story of Wikileaks on MN+. The story emerges the details how a hacker transformed himself to a world saving whistleblower against the worldwide socio-economic and socio-political injustice. It is about freedom of press, speech and rights. By screening these films, we at MN+ and Movies Now want to celebrate the spirit of humanism and the eternal will of our race to stand upright,” he added.

     

    Sony Pix

     

    Exciting series of Indiana Jones based on adventures and mystery of Dr. Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones, a fictional archaeologist by none other than the legendary George Lucas will be Sony Pix’s offering for Indians on Independence Day.

     

    The programming will start with the search for the Ark of the Covenant in the movie The Raiders of the Lost Ark, which will be aired at 11 am. Indiana Jones will take viewers on his classic trilogy ride with The Last Crusade at 1.30 pm, followed by The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 4.30 pm.

     

    Star Movies Select HD

     

    Star Movies Select HD – the channel, which has committed to showcasing fresh stories every day of the year, will premier Wes Anderson’s cinematic masterpiece, The Grand Budapest Hotel on the occasion of India’s 69th Independence day. The channel will premier the movie at 9 pm on 15 August.

     

    VH1

     

    This 15 August at 9 am and 10 pm, Vh1 will liberate viewers from the shackles of doubt with Vh1 Artist Select: Independence Day Special. Indian artists will reveal what’s playing on their playlist. From knowing that the B.L.O.T boys love hip hop and to knowing what Dualist Inquiry listens to on their playlist, the channel will give viewers complete dope on Indian artists’ favorite tunes.

     

    Hindi Entertainment & Movies

     

    &TV

     

    For Independence Day, &TV will air four special promos through the day. In addition to that, a special end page carrying Independence Day wishes has been created across all promos on air on 15 August. The logo will also carry Independence Day wishes through the day.

     

    Colors

     

    On 15 August at 8:30 pm, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be seen promoting his upcoming film Manjhi on Colors’ show Udaan. He will be seen partaking in the flag-hoisting ceremony and deliver a speech on inspiration and hope leading to freedom.

     

    Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Reloaded at 9 pm will have a special Independence Day show with the contestants showcasing performances themed around independence and freedom. Most contestants have designed their performances around Indian dance forms.

     

    Epic

     

    The Epic Channel is all set to celebrate the spirit of patriotism this Independence Day by airing back-to-back episodes from the recently launched show Stories by Rabindranath Tagore directed by Anurag Basu. The Independence Day special on 15 August will be aired from 12 – 9 pm.

     

    Sony

    Sony Entertainment Television will premiere the blockbuster Piku starring Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan at 8 pm. The movie will be followed by a special episode of the show Crime Patrol.

     

    Sony Max & Max 2

     

    The combination of Sony Max and Max 2 brings to its viewers a formidable line-up of patriotic movies on the occasion of Independence Day. With movies such as Indian, Chak! De India, Purab Aur Paschim and Kranti, viewers will be privy to an entire day of enjoyable movie watching experience.

     

    Max and Max 2 senior executive vice president and business head Neeraj Vyas said, “To commemorate the nation’s independence, we thought of showcasing films on both channels that are evocative of the struggle and triumph of victory in different realms of life and through different eras. With our endeavour to constantly provide our viewers with the best films, we hope to arouse a feeling of patriotism with an engrossing bouquet of films on both channels.”

     

    Note: The channels are listed in Alphabetical order.

  • Sony Pix to premiere ‘Hercules’ on 31 May

    Sony Pix to premiere ‘Hercules’ on 31 May

    MUMBAI: As part of refreshing their content, Sony Pix will be premiering the Hollywood movie Hercules.

     

    Based on Radical Comics’ Hercules by Steve Moore, the film is a revisionist take on the classic myth. The movie will be premiered on 31 May at 1 pm and 9 pm.

     

    The movie revolves around Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) who has become a mercenary due to the sins from his past. Along with five faithful companions, he travels ancient Greece selling his services for gold and using his legendary reputation to intimidate enemies.

     

    However, when the compassionate ruler of Thrace and his daughter seek Hercules’ help to defeat a savage and terrifying warlord, Hercules finds that in order for good to triumph and justice to prevail, he must once again become the hero he was and embrace his own myth.

     

  • Tonic Media looks to boost brands’ growth on social media

    Tonic Media looks to boost brands’ growth on social media

    MUMBAI: Traditional marketing comprised being heard on radio and television and being seen on print and Out of Home (OOH) as part of brand campaigns. However, today a brand campaign is considered incomplete without a presence on social media. After this, sustenance through constant engagement too is key as new brands make inroads. In a scenario of clutter and cutthroat competition, digital agency Tonic Media has been aiding brands to achieve this and more. The portfolio for Tonic is quite diverse ranging from entertainment, FMCG, to quick service restaurants.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Tonic Media founder and CEO Chetan Asher says the agency had a first mover advantage since it launched in India when the digital space had not really grown here. “We did a lot of work outside the country as we have a presence in the Middle East. Trends generally break in the western part of the world first. We picked up those trends and started applying it here,” he informs.

     

    Some of the brands that complete its roster include the Multi Screen Media bouquet of channels including Sony Pix, AXN, Sony Max, Sony Entertainment Television and Sony Mix. It also works with the National Basketball Association (NBA India), eBay India, McDonald’s India and Neutralite amongst others. Tonic also works with various mobile apps and websites.

     

    Elaborating on how the team goes about designing a digital campaign, Asher says that each campaign is different and they closely work with clients as partners. “There is a lot of understanding on how inter departments work. For example, we work very closely with Sony Entertainment Television with their programming and marketing teams. They also bring in their consumer insights and research. We have a common creative pool that then brings together solutions that can be applied,” informs Asher.

     

    Tonic Media prides itself on coming up with a number of firsts like the browser – mobile integrated game for Pix. One could play a game on the browser using their mobile phones. On the ninth anniversary for eBay, it did a live interactive show with Suresh Menon, wherein he donned the hat of a bouncer and in order to get invited to a party, fans had to make him laugh. “He would personally respond to each comment and tweet that came. It was live streamed. We have done a lot of creative work, which is a first of sorts. That differentiates us from the rest,” he states.

     

    Asher is of the opinion that other digital agencies largely execute but they don’t go beyond a strategy or research that is handed over by a client. Tonic Media, on the other hand, has already built capabilities to do research and deep dives a lot into the target audience and then comes up with a robust strategy. “We have also got a lot of main line learnings and applied it to digital as finally it is about communication but the medium might differ,” Asher says.

     

    In the Middle East, Tonic Media has a team of five people while in India, it boasts of 62 employees. At any given point Tonic Media works with close to 20 to 25 brands each year. Industry experts suggest that each digital account win is approximately Rs 1 crore per year. Going by this figure, Tonic Media most likely sees minimum revenue of Rs 20 – 25 crore per year.

     

    Asher credits his young and energetic millennial team at spotting various trends.

     

    According to Asher, Tonic Media witnessed a growth of 100 per cent last year. “With some big brands already on board and our presence in the Middle East, our plan is to grow these aspects. We will also be focusing on local and international acquisitions,” he informs.

  • Bid adieu to 2014 with SuperPIX PIXATHON this New Year’s Eve only on SONY PIX

    Bid adieu to 2014 with SuperPIX PIXATHON this New Year’s Eve only on SONY PIX

    Mumbai:  Movie buffs are in for a pleasant surprise as this New Year’s Eve, Sony PIX is offering a treat for it viewers with an interesting line up of entertaining and engaging movies all day long on Wednesday, December 31st from 9.00 AM onwards. The PIXATHON of the heroic and hilarious movies that will be aired are The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Grown Ups 2, The Smurfs 2, Robocop, After Earth and The Expendables 2, making sure you have the coolest, funniest and blockbuster New Year ever.

     

    A world with Giants and Dwarfs awaits you in the remarkable fantasy ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug airing at 9.00 AM followed by the rib tickling comedy, ‘Grown Ups 2’ where the adults get bullied by youngsters at 12.15 PM. Coming up next is ‘Smurfs 2’ at 2.00 PM where the little blue Smurfs set out for a wild adventure around Paris in search of their kidnapped friend Smurfette.

     

    Make way for the Ultimate Shiny reboot of the classic, undisputed crime eliminator in ‘Robocop’ at 4.30 PM and catch him extinguish felony on the city streets as a crime-fighting cyborg! Experience the beautiful journey of a father- son relationship and their fight for survival in the sci-fi action thriller ‘After Earth’ airing at 7.00 PM.  Coming closer to the year end is the multi starrer with the mammoth ensemble with Twice the action and double the punches at 9.00 PM is ‘The Expendables 2’.

     

    Tune in for an extravagant and compelling parade of this year’s most spectacular hits with six back to back movies only on Sony PIX, Wednesday, December 31st, 9.00 AM onwards!

  • Looking for a digital high

    Looking for a digital high

    MUMBAI: With the number of netizens increasing day by day in the country, for a brand to create conversation with the target audience on the digital platform has become an utmost priority.

     

    And following this mantra are English movie and entertainment channels, who are eagerly trying to tap into the virtual space, where their target audience spends most of the time.

     

    According to Zee Studio and Zee Café content and marketing head Sharlton Menezes social media enables channels to create relationships with their viewers and at the same time raise awareness around their offerings. “It also makes us more accessible to viewers for feedback and queries they may have,” he says.

    Agreeing with the point, Pix VP marketing Neville Bastawalla adds, “Great programming for digital is key which will provide great entertainment, which will in return drive great organic engagement.”

     

    For another prominent player in the fragmented space, HBO,  a major reason for encouraging digital engagement is to have their ‘ear on the ground’, so they get a pulse of what the audience likes, dislikes, expects, accepts and rejects. “The higher the interaction with the audience on a specific film, the greater the probability of this involvement being translated into tune-ins for that film,” feels HBO India South Asia managing director Monica Tata.

     

    English movie channels have a legion of followers on social media. On Facebook for example, Star Movies has 3,877884 likes, Pix has 21,68,570, HBO has 34,17,539, Zee Studio has 14,55,263 while Movies Now has  4,421,487 likes. On twitter, Pix has 49.2 K followers, Movies Now has 133 K, Zee Studio has 63. 4 K , Star Movies has 96.7 K while HBO India has 55.4 K followers.

     

    Social media has been a pivotal stage ahead of movie premieres and campaigns for the channels. For instance, Movies Now’s second season of 100 Mania campaign, starting 7 December, will see viewers stand a chance to win prizes like cars, international holidays, iPhone among others by only giving a missed call on the number flashed during 9 pm movie. The 100 Mania season one witnessed an increase in channel viewership and phenomenal viewer participation. The channel saw 25 per cent increase in the GVTs and close to one million missed calls. In addition to that, over 50,000 fans were added to the Facebook page of the channel and the number of Twitter followers shot up from 31,000 to 100,000 in a period of 100 days, claims the channel.

     
    Similarly, Pix’s recently launched campaign ‘Pix School of Bonding’ initiates a live chat between the face of the campaign, Sania Mirza and the fans.  The channel has a micro property called Notty Pixy, who is a gossip reporter and provides hollywood news first in India on the social media.

     

    HBO, this year, launched a digital campaign #SteelTheDay, for the movie ‘Man of Steel.’  The buzz started with the famous line ‘It’s a bird, it’s a plan…It’s Superman’, with supported creative’s.  Through this campaign, the channel was able to reach three lakh fans generating approximately two lakh interactions on Facebook. On Twitter, within five hours, #SteelTheDay campaign reached 50K accounts generating one lakh plus tweet impressions at an interaction rate of 25 tweets/minute.

     

    Zee Studio, which refreshed the brand this year, had  a digital activation running for 15 days starting 3 October where the channel hosted a ‘See it All’ contest on Twitter for its viewers to tune-in to the 9 pm movie and win goodies through contests.

     

    While some of the online content is managed by the in-house teams of the channels, digital agencies are also hired to take it a notch up. HBO’s social media pages are handled by the digital agency OMLogic, who has been working with them since the past five years. Zee café and Zee Studios digital pages are manned by Interactive Avenues, who have been with the channel for the last two years while Tonic Media handles Pix.

     

    The channels claim strong and continuous posts and interactions help them drive strong engagement rate. Bastawalla claims they currently have a 12 per cent engagement rate on social media versus the nearest rival which has a five per cent engagement rate.  On the other hand, Tata quoting Sprout Social report from 1 January to 21 September 2014 says that HBO has an engagement rate of 100 per cent. She further says, “As per the Klout report, HBO India has the most influential Twitter account among all the competitors.”

     

    According to Maxus managing partner north and east region Navin Khemka, the matrix is changing as brands today are willing to associate with properties which have a high digital success rate. “Even if a channel is not getting the ratings, but has a high digital engagement rate, the brands are willing to ignore the ratings and continue as partners. So the matrix for evaluation from a brands point of view is also changing,” he concludes.