ITV

Tag: Sony YAY

  • DishTV adds two channels, takes total count to 620

    MUMBAI: While continuing the legacy to provide the best entertainment platform to its subscribers, Dish TV, Asia’s largest DTH brand has extended its collection by adding 2 new channels to its portfolio. With accumulation of “Mirror Now and Multiplex”. DishTV takes the total count of its channels and services to more than 620. 

    Being a trusted brand since five years now, DishTV keeps the entertainment quotient higher. With the addition of these channels they gauge to multiple genres namely; Mirror now for news, and Multiplex for Bollywood lovers. Details of the channels as follows:

    public://dish_3.jpg

    Commenting on these additions DishTV India group CEO Anil Dua said, “We at DishTV have been at the forefront in enhancing TV viewing experience and exploring opportunities to bring wholesome entertainment to the audience. With a sharp focus on content, the move aims at connecting strongly to provide the best of entertainment to our subscribers. Addition of these two channels will not only strengthen our presence but will also diversify our offerings.”

    Further, keeping up the idea of providing the best of entertainment in industry DishTV recently added Arnab Goswami’s news channel “Republic TV” on their platform. Also, enhancing the kid’s genre, the largest DTH operator added “Sony YAY” to its platform last month. Both the channels will be available on LCN number 771 and 989 respectively.

  • Sony presenting YAY! time for mothers & kids at Lakme Salons till 21 May

    MUMBAI: Sony YAY!, the newest kids’ channel from Sony Pictures Networks India, has been creating a buzz ever since its launch. And now, Sony YAY! is all set to bring YAY! into mothers’ lives as well. In the rigmarole of taking care of each and every need of their kids and family, mothers often forget to pamper themselves. So, this Mother’s Day, Sony YAY!, along with Lakme Salons, is going the extra mile to make the day all about pampering mothers and making them feel special.

    Sony YAY! has partnered with Lakme Salons for a special offering of pampering packages for mother-child duos, who will be selected through an on-air contest, throughout the week following Mother’s Day. Commenting on the association, Sony YAY! business head Leena Lele Dutta said, “A mother’s love is so selfless that we do not think there is a need of a particular day to celebrate motherhood, each day should be a celebration. However, this is a small gesture from us to make the occasion extra special for the mothers. And what better way than to encourage our young viewers to take that one little step to make their mothers feel loved and cherished. We are delighted to partner with Lakme and make their salons the YAY! destination for mothers as well as kids.”

    Sony YAY! is running a campaign on-air, inviting their young viewers to upload a picture of their ‘YAY! Moment’ with their mothers using #JustKidding. Five best entries and their mothers will be rewarded free pampering vouchers at Lakme Salon. Additionally, other participants will be offered discount coupons. This contest will run till 21 May.

  • 2-14 age-group is highly under-indexed, avers Sony Yay! business head Leena Lele Dutta

    Leena Lele Dutta had been hired in 2007 to establish the content distribution and licensing division of Sony Pictures Television in India in 2007 and expand the footprint thereafter into the south Asian markets. It’s been more than nine years Dutta has been a part of growing Sony family.  Currently, Dutta is heading the Sony Pictures Network India’s CEO N P Singh’s brainchild new kids channel — Sony Yay! In conversation with Indiantelevision.com’s Sonam Saini, Dutta shared her experience of shifting from B2B to B2C.

    Excerpts:

    You have been with Sony Pictures Television for over nine years. How has been the shift from content distribution arm to heading a kids channel? What are the challenges you are facing?

    My earlier role with SPE back in 2007 was to set up the content distribution arm for India and that included licensing of various Hollywood movies the studio produced and acquire across its four main studios. Not only the movie piece but also the television shows which are actually produced there and syndicated here in the network.

    The first year was invested in establishing the content arm and figuring out the role because, prior to that, I was a hardcore ad sales person. This is was the new channel but, in seven years, the market has also evolved.

    Being the country manager, I was responsible for monetisation of the existing content, and here it is the other way round. Here, it is the health of the overall business, here it is more of a B2C business. Here your clients are 2-14-year-old kids who are there across the length and breadth of the country. A kids channel was the missing link in the network.

    It is a mindset evolution. What made is easier is the transition within the Sony family. The kids channel, NP’s (N.P Singh) brainchild, wanted to get somebody on board, and here I am.

    Where did you see scope for a kids channel?

    A lot of scope existed in the space. With our four desi shows, we are very confident of making a mark. More similar shows are coming in October, and being the only channel that caters 100 per cent desi content, we will definitely have a well-known presence by the end of first year for Sony Yay!.

    We also want Sony Yay!, as the brand name stands for happiness, to spread happiness and contentment among the kids.

    The same thing will reflect in our marketing strategies. We will have lots of mall activities, theme park activities which resonate with Yay! We will also have CSR activity which will give Yay! moments to kids. These measures will co-exist with our content offering.  We would be pursuing school contract programme after summer breaks.

    How big is the kids genre in India market?

    The category is the third largest after Hindi general entertainment channels and Hindi movies channels. Accordig to the new BARC system, the 2-14 age group (*) is phenomenally huge. The biggest challenge this category has right now is that it’s highly under-indexed. 

    A lot of advertisers are looking to invest in the kids category — to focus on the 2-14 age-group. However, they are completely discounting the parents who are watching the content as well. In the coming months, we hope to engage with parents more in consuming our channel and not only expand the category. We also have significant play in the area where it is seen more seriously than just a kids channel.

    What will Sony Yay!’s strategy going forward?

    The strategy is very clear, we wanted to be the most preferred brand among the kids. We want people to know what Sony Yay! stands for.  Our partnership with Tiger Shroff has worked tremendously well. We have got a huge response from the kids and their mothers. The launch campaign has been talked about.

    Our colleagues in the industry have observed quite a movement in this category. Whatever we are doing including our content and marketing initiatives, we are here for the long haul. From day one, a lot of investment and efforts have been put into the new channel to make a mark and shake the category.

    At the press conference, you had mentioned that the IPs remain with the channel. Is there a chance that you might sell/licence rights to OTT players?

    Those are the primary revenue models we will consider. We will also consider the licensing and merchandising model as well. That’s the benefit of owning the IPs, and not sharing. There is a strategy of monetisation going ahead with the characters, but we are not going to roll it out in the immediate future.

    What are challenges you faced while distributing the channel?

    Luckily, our distribution team has been phenomenal as we stand today we are present in almost 90 per cent of all digital homes. We have been fairly well distributed — in fact, some major MSOs are willing to carry us in top five of the kids genre, which helped boost our ranking.

     

    (* Sony has helped rectify the BARC India category figures to GRP 582)  

     

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  • Four original, Indian, animated shows to start with: ‘Local’ to be Sony Yay! USP

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Network India is getting bigger and better with time. In just four months, the network has reached up to nine new channels.

    Started with acquiring ZEEL’s Ten Sports bouquet, the network launched music channel Sony Rox HD, Sony BBC Earth, Sony BBC Earth HD, and now the kids channel — Sony Yay!

    With the launch of Sony Yay!, the network has added 29th channel to its growing family. The channel, which will go live on 18 April, will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages across direct-to-home (DTH) and digital cable platforms.

    Promising to be the ‘Destination for Unlimited Happiness’ for kids, the channel has roped in the young cinestar, Tiger Shroff, who has become a phenomenon with kids across the country, as its brand ambassador.

    Targeted towards bringing more happiness to kids between 2 and 14 years of age, Sony Yay! will go live with four original, locally produced, animated shows, a first for any channel in this genre.

    Sony Pictures Networks (SPNI) CEO NP Singh said, “It goes without saying that the Indian television industry is at the interesting crossroads, with the kids genre being a frontrunner in demanding innovation and freshness. Our kids channel, Sony YAY! with its original programming will excite and engage the young audience and leave a lasting impact on their hearts and minds. With the launch of Sony Yay!, the network now offers tailor-made propositions for every member of the family.”

    Broadcasters have been on the continuous lookout to have more channels and programmes for kids in their portfolio. As per the FICCI KPMG report of 2017, there are 15 kids channel which are run by four major broadcasters, that is Disney (Disney, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Hungama), Viacom 18 ( Nickelodeon, Sonic, Teen Nick, Nick Jr), Turner ( Cartoon Network, Pogo, Toonami) and Sun TV (Chutti TV, Kochu TV, Chintu TV, Kushi TV).

    As per BARC data, Nick has been the leader of the genre followed by Pogo TV, Disney, Hungama and Cartoon Network. “Its a highly competitive genre, and, to begin with, being in top five will be the target of this year, and, by next year, the target will be: to be in the top three,” Singh said.

    Talking about the original content, Sony Yay business head Leena Lele Dutta informed, “We are launching the channel with the four original shows. We are looking at 80 per cent of slots to be filled with local shows.”

    The channel is promoting 7am to 10am time band. “Each show is of 22 minutes in which two stories will be shown of 11 mins each. We will have shows play out differently in the morning, a variety of stories at 1pm, and it will be different for the 4pm slot, as well. By the end of the year, we will have 52 episodes of 104 stories each. In October, we will have two more show launches.”

    Dutta further added, “We have done our research before launching the channel. We found that there is dearth of differentiated local content, and our aim is to reach out to the kids, and give them what is missing from their staple diet.”

    Cosmos Maya, Toonz Animation, Frisbee Animation and Softtools are the studios working on these shows.

    A first-of-its-kind musical comedy titled Guru Aur Bhole Mon – Fri at 10am, Sab Jholmaal Hai – A world full of pets that’s nothing short of mischief, mayhem, madness, Mon – Fri at 9am, a classic tale of venturesome friendship Prince Jai Aur Dumdaar Viru Mon – Fri at 11am and a unique laugh-out-loud Ghost Comedy Paap-O-Meter Sat – Sun at 12pm will form the key programming mix of the channel at the time of launch.

    The shows promise to bring unlimited laughter and uninterrupted volumes of fun into the lives of our young generation. Each show explores a different genre in comedy and guarantees uniqueness in terms of its characterisation and narrative, giving the little ones an experience they have not witnessed so far on their television screens.

  • Sony YAY! signs Tiger Shroff as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: Sony YAY!, the soon-to-be-launched kids’ entertainment channel from Sony Pictures Network, has roped in the country’s newest heartthrob Tiger Shroff as the brand ambassador and face of the channel.

    This would be the debut television association of the young star whose popularity amongst children is today unbounded.

    Confirming the news, SPN Kids Genre business head Leena Lele Dutta says, “We are excited to have Tiger Shroff as Sony YAY!’s brand ambassador. Kids, across the country, relate to him and consider Tiger as their icon. Given his affinity with kids, we could not have found a better representative for our channel”.

    www.indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that the network is gearing up to launch another channel, Sony kids channel, in April.

    This upcoming channel will be the second kids channel from the SPNI stable. At present, Sony runs Animax, which was launched on 5 July 2004. “The kids channel will be organic, local and everything will be produced in India,” SPNI CEO N P Singh said in an interview. Dutta was already associated with Sony Pictures Television for a long time.

    Apart from Dutta, the network appointed Sujoy RoyBardhan as the AVP and marketing head for the channel. Prior to joining SPNI, RoyBardhan was working with Viacom18 as the director – marketing.

    Also Read

    Sony YAY! kids channel to be lead by Leena Lele Dutta

    Sony Pictures Network builds team for kids channel, appoints two execs

    Sony BBC Earth to air 19 hrs of content every week, local programming on the cards

    Sony to add 10 channels in 2017

     

  • Sony YAY! kids channel to be lead by Leena Lele Dutta

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has announced Leena Lele Dutta as Business Head for their upcoming channel in the kids’ entertainment space. As reported by www.indiantelevision.com a week ago, With over two decades of experience in the media and entertainment industry, Leena will be spearheading the new channel and will be responsible for developing content and driving the channel’s reach and connect with its relevant target audience.

    The new kids channel from SPN will be called, Sony YAY!

    Leena brings a deep understanding of the entertainment industry with her experience across different portfolios. Prior to joining SPN, she was the Executive Director – Distribution at Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and was responsible for structuring and developing the contentdistribution and licensing division of SPT in India and South Asia.

    Leena has also worked with Ten Sports India Ltd, Channel 9 (Nine Broadcasting Media) and MTVIndia amongst other reputed companies, besides having worked in Sales with SPN (then SET India) from 1995-1999.

    Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) CEO NP Singh said, “The Kids genre is a new territory for us and has immense potential to grow. With an impressive track record and in-depth understanding of the entertainment industry, we are confident that Leena will play a pivotal role in establishing the business. Under her able leadership, we intend to solidify a significant presence as an outstanding brand in the kids’ entertainment space”.

    SPN Kids Genre business head Leena Lele Dutta said, “There is a lot to explore in the kids’ entertainment genre. We wish to create a brand that caters to the entertainment needs of Indian kids at the same time giving them experiences that leave lasting impressions on them. We also want to give parents, especially working mothers like me, the confidence to let kids consume our differentiated content in an environment that elevates their happiness.”

    “YAY! being the quintessential expression of joy and euphoria, has always been synonymous with happiness and excitement; Thus, the name, Sony YAY!”