MUMBAI: YouTube is working on deals with a few broadcasters including ESPN, ABC, and CBS for providing their TV service online without payment of any cable subscription.
While these three broadcasters seem closest to confirmation, there are reports that other large networks are also expected to soon get in on the action. The launch is expected in six to nine months or early next year.
The online streaming service may choose to give up smaller networks like HGTV, and try to replicate them with similar channels made up of YouTube videos.
A Bloomberg report said YouTube plans to call the service Unplugged and hopes to offer it for under $35 per month. The plan is to include a selection of key channels and to potentially sell small bundles of additional channels as add-ons.
However, YouTube Unplugged is bound to face some stiff competition whenever it eventually launches, with so many other established online TV services. It is learnt that YouTube’s plans might not go off completely without a hitch, as they are certainly not the only players in the space. There is Dish Network, Sony, and Hulu.com that are also offering similar deals for those who do not want to subscribe to cable.
YouTube Red, a subscription service that offers access to original shows, “doesn’t appear to be a hit.” And reports say this is “not surprising, given that many of YouTube’s one billion-plus visitors a month grew up not paying for anything on YouTube.”
It will be interesting to see how well the bigger broadcasters can play with major web streaming services.
MUMBAI: YouTube is working on deals with a few broadcasters including ESPN, ABC, and CBS for providing their TV service online without payment of any cable subscription.
While these three broadcasters seem closest to confirmation, there are reports that other large networks are also expected to soon get in on the action. The launch is expected in six to nine months or early next year.
The online streaming service may choose to give up smaller networks like HGTV, and try to replicate them with similar channels made up of YouTube videos.
A Bloomberg report said YouTube plans to call the service Unplugged and hopes to offer it for under $35 per month. The plan is to include a selection of key channels and to potentially sell small bundles of additional channels as add-ons.
However, YouTube Unplugged is bound to face some stiff competition whenever it eventually launches, with so many other established online TV services. It is learnt that YouTube’s plans might not go off completely without a hitch, as they are certainly not the only players in the space. There is Dish Network, Sony, and Hulu.com that are also offering similar deals for those who do not want to subscribe to cable.
YouTube Red, a subscription service that offers access to original shows, “doesn’t appear to be a hit.” And reports say this is “not surprising, given that many of YouTube’s one billion-plus visitors a month grew up not paying for anything on YouTube.”
It will be interesting to see how well the bigger broadcasters can play with major web streaming services.
MUMBAI: Between his outrageously funny jokes, bang on comic timing and ‘put-you-at-ease’ smiles, comedy king Kapil Sharma has redefined the genre on television. His quick rise to fame flummoxed several in this entertainment industry as it didn’t follow the generic tropes – a strong Bollywood background, political backing or affluent beginning, Sharma had none.
But it is this ‘guy next door’ image that drove his fandom in the country and compelled brands with big marketing budgets to turn and take notice of him back in 2014. The last two years saw Sharma’s career take some topsy-turvy turns – his heights to fame with the his show Comedy Nights With Kapil, the tiff with Colors TV, and his subsequent departure from the channel, his hiatus from the small screen and finally his re-entry through Sony with The Kapil Sharma Show – and yet brand Kapil Sharma is going strong and how!
As per the data audience research organisation Ormax shared with Indiantelevision.com, Sharma tops the non-fiction characters in Ormax Characters India Loves list. Averaging the data for six months between October 2015 to March 2016, Kapil Sharma of Comedy Nights With Kapil has bagged 36 per cent of popularity, beating Salman Khan at second place with 16 per cent, Rannvijay of the Roadies fame at third place with a 4 percent share, Rannvijay ties it with Anoop Soni from Crime Patrol; and Sushant Singh from Savdhaan India at fourth place with 3 per cent. Here percentages denote the popularity share of each person.
“Because of his ‘non starry’ appeal, his fan base is basically a family audience including women above thirty five years of age. Within the Hindi speaking market (HSM) his core strength is mostly in the northern states. What Kapil has achieved with this fan base is quite remarkable. There have been comedy shows before his, but none could become a household name such as he has,” states Ormax Media founder Shailesh Kapoor.
Kapoor also points out that even though the show went off air, Sharma remained the most popular non-fiction character in the category by quite a large margin. His popularity is evident from the anticipation in the nation for his come back to the small screen with his flagship The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony, which he is producing under his banner of K9 Productions.
Kapil Sharma fame isn’t confined to the television industry alone. His fame competes with the likes of Saif Ali Khan and Sonam Kapoor. He is the only television star who has featured in Forbes India’s top 100 Celebrities list in 2015 at rank no 27 when it comes to popularity, beating Saif Ali Khan, Ranveer Singh, Yo Yo Honey Singh, and even Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for that matter. The same list reports his net income as Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million). While that’s a jaw dropping figure for any average entertainer, Sharma has a long way to go to rank high when it comes to net income per year. But no, there is no reason to fret for Kapil fans. Judging by how brands are enamoured with him, it’s only a matter of time before he joins the prestigious Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) club.
“When it comes to brand value, Kapil Sharma is one of the few personalities who came without any established filmy baggage and made it really big. In spite of him taking a short hiatus off screen, there hasn’t been a dent in his brand value,” says multi-platform entertainment management company Exceed CEO Uday Singh. “It is amazing how the hysteria and euphoria around Kapil Sharma remains constant since Comedy Nights With Kapil became a hit. I can’t quantify whether it’s a Rs 100 crore, but the familiarity and the relativity that Kapil Sharma gives off to his audience is what makes him a good choice for brands who want to reach the masses,” Singh explains.
So far every brand that has sought Kapil’s help to boost its brand message has cast him as a middle class or upper middle class man, or a guy next door character rather than the star Kapil Sharma is. In 2014, Sharma starred in a digital campaign for Honda Mobilio in which he played a salesman. With a success story of garnering millions of views, it was a perfect fit. As per media reports Honda India paid him Rs 4.5 crore (Rs 4.5 million) for the deal.
But it was his partnership with online classifieds website OLX India that truly took off his endorsement career. OLX India signed him on for Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) approximately for the campaign. “When the deal between Kapil Sharma and OLX was inked back in 2014, several eyebrows were raised as it was considered too big for a television star like Kapil,” revealed a source who was close to the development. Back then entertainment agencies facilitated the endorsement deals for Kapil Sharma, like most of the celebrities in the industry. Now, Sharma has taken it upon
Like most celebrities, Sharma locks these endorsement deals on a daily rate basis for the number of days he needs to commit to the campaign in a year. Having said that, the norm varies from brand to brand, depending on the nature of the campaign. Being a live performer allows Sharma to be flexible with what he offers to the brands, and his contract may include live engagements and event shows. That naturally adds to the quote he gives the advertiser. As per an industry insider, Sharma demands anything between Rs 3 to 4 crore (Rs 30 to 40 million) from a brand for an endorsement.
On an average, Sharma works on eight to ten different brands at a given time. These have included TVS Tyres, Policy Bazar, Micromax, PaisaBazaar and more. The number is likely to go up once his show goes live again on Sony, on 23 April, provided it makes the mark that it promises to.
“Obviously, if he has to maintain his brand value he needs a show on air. While one or two months haven’t affected the value of brand Kapil Sharma, if he doesn’t have a show for a long time, the audience might move on. Therefore just like a movie star needs to keep coming with movies, a television stars need to have at least one show on air at a time,” Kapoor shares.
Before one-upping his past show with more gripping content remains important for Sharma, brand Kapil Sharma has more pressing matters to handle as The Kapil Sharma Show goes head to head with one of the biggest brands and events in India, the Indian Premier League. Only the coming Thursday’s BARC data will tell us if Sharma has walked out of his show’s premiere with his head held high. His fans – of which there are many – won’t really care. They were the ultimate winners as they got a chance to engage with Kapil and team and roll over with laughter over the weekend .
MUMBAI: Between his outrageously funny jokes, bang on comic timing and ‘put-you-at-ease’ smiles, comedy king Kapil Sharma has redefined the genre on television. His quick rise to fame flummoxed several in this entertainment industry as it didn’t follow the generic tropes – a strong Bollywood background, political backing or affluent beginning, Sharma had none.
But it is this ‘guy next door’ image that drove his fandom in the country and compelled brands with big marketing budgets to turn and take notice of him back in 2014. The last two years saw Sharma’s career take some topsy-turvy turns – his heights to fame with the his show Comedy Nights With Kapil, the tiff with Colors TV, and his subsequent departure from the channel, his hiatus from the small screen and finally his re-entry through Sony with The Kapil Sharma Show – and yet brand Kapil Sharma is going strong and how!
As per the data audience research organisation Ormax shared with Indiantelevision.com, Sharma tops the non-fiction characters in Ormax Characters India Loves list. Averaging the data for six months between October 2015 to March 2016, Kapil Sharma of Comedy Nights With Kapil has bagged 36 per cent of popularity, beating Salman Khan at second place with 16 per cent, Rannvijay of the Roadies fame at third place with a 4 percent share, Rannvijay ties it with Anoop Soni from Crime Patrol; and Sushant Singh from Savdhaan India at fourth place with 3 per cent. Here percentages denote the popularity share of each person.
“Because of his ‘non starry’ appeal, his fan base is basically a family audience including women above thirty five years of age. Within the Hindi speaking market (HSM) his core strength is mostly in the northern states. What Kapil has achieved with this fan base is quite remarkable. There have been comedy shows before his, but none could become a household name such as he has,” states Ormax Media founder Shailesh Kapoor.
Kapoor also points out that even though the show went off air, Sharma remained the most popular non-fiction character in the category by quite a large margin. His popularity is evident from the anticipation in the nation for his come back to the small screen with his flagship The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony, which he is producing under his banner of K9 Productions.
Kapil Sharma fame isn’t confined to the television industry alone. His fame competes with the likes of Saif Ali Khan and Sonam Kapoor. He is the only television star who has featured in Forbes India’s top 100 Celebrities list in 2015 at rank no 27 when it comes to popularity, beating Saif Ali Khan, Ranveer Singh, Yo Yo Honey Singh, and even Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for that matter. The same list reports his net income as Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million). While that’s a jaw dropping figure for any average entertainer, Sharma has a long way to go to rank high when it comes to net income per year. But no, there is no reason to fret for Kapil fans. Judging by how brands are enamoured with him, it’s only a matter of time before he joins the prestigious Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) club.
“When it comes to brand value, Kapil Sharma is one of the few personalities who came without any established filmy baggage and made it really big. In spite of him taking a short hiatus off screen, there hasn’t been a dent in his brand value,” says multi-platform entertainment management company Exceed CEO Uday Singh. “It is amazing how the hysteria and euphoria around Kapil Sharma remains constant since Comedy Nights With Kapil became a hit. I can’t quantify whether it’s a Rs 100 crore, but the familiarity and the relativity that Kapil Sharma gives off to his audience is what makes him a good choice for brands who want to reach the masses,” Singh explains.
So far every brand that has sought Kapil’s help to boost its brand message has cast him as a middle class or upper middle class man, or a guy next door character rather than the star Kapil Sharma is. In 2014, Sharma starred in a digital campaign for Honda Mobilio in which he played a salesman. With a success story of garnering millions of views, it was a perfect fit. As per media reports Honda India paid him Rs 4.5 crore (Rs 4.5 million) for the deal.
But it was his partnership with online classifieds website OLX India that truly took off his endorsement career. OLX India signed him on for Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) approximately for the campaign. “When the deal between Kapil Sharma and OLX was inked back in 2014, several eyebrows were raised as it was considered too big for a television star like Kapil,” revealed a source who was close to the development. Back then entertainment agencies facilitated the endorsement deals for Kapil Sharma, like most of the celebrities in the industry. Now, Sharma has taken it upon
Like most celebrities, Sharma locks these endorsement deals on a daily rate basis for the number of days he needs to commit to the campaign in a year. Having said that, the norm varies from brand to brand, depending on the nature of the campaign. Being a live performer allows Sharma to be flexible with what he offers to the brands, and his contract may include live engagements and event shows. That naturally adds to the quote he gives the advertiser. As per an industry insider, Sharma demands anything between Rs 3 to 4 crore (Rs 30 to 40 million) from a brand for an endorsement.
On an average, Sharma works on eight to ten different brands at a given time. These have included TVS Tyres, Policy Bazar, Micromax, PaisaBazaar and more. The number is likely to go up once his show goes live again on Sony, on 23 April, provided it makes the mark that it promises to.
“Obviously, if he has to maintain his brand value he needs a show on air. While one or two months haven’t affected the value of brand Kapil Sharma, if he doesn’t have a show for a long time, the audience might move on. Therefore just like a movie star needs to keep coming with movies, a television stars need to have at least one show on air at a time,” Kapoor shares.
Before one-upping his past show with more gripping content remains important for Sharma, brand Kapil Sharma has more pressing matters to handle as The Kapil Sharma Show goes head to head with one of the biggest brands and events in India, the Indian Premier League. Only the coming Thursday’s BARC data will tell us if Sharma has walked out of his show’s premiere with his head held high. His fans – of which there are many – won’t really care. They were the ultimate winners as they got a chance to engage with Kapil and team and roll over with laughter over the weekend .
MUMBAI: If sports channels are raising the expectations of viewers, the general entertainment channels cannot be left behind.
Leaving no stone unturned, Sony Pictures Network began a month earlier with its campaign EK India…Happywala (One Happy India), so that the excitement builds even before the ninth edition of Indian Premier League.
The campaign Ek India….Happywala (One Happy India) was launched on 1 March with the IPL anthem.
To the launch the Vivo IPL 2016 anthem video, Sony did a Vox Pop activity featuring kids who were asked to answer a few questions about India. The same set of questions was thrown to adults on social media.
The anthem was launched on social media that trended on twitter across India for five hours. The channel recorded 4,526 tweets, more than 42 million timeline deliveries, and had a reach of more than 5 million and recorded 3 million views anthem video. The anthem video received more than 100,000 likes and 26,131 people had shared it on Facebook.
In order to take the campaign forward towards creating a happier nation, Sony started a user-powered activity where they motivated users to spread happiness with #15days Happywala. The core task is to make a stranger smile every day, thus converting users into happiness ambassadors. The activity kicked-off with a lot of user participation resulting in getting the activity to trend across India for more than 4 hours. The channel achieved 3,672 tweets, more than 28 million timeline deliveries and more 4 million plus reach – and 805 entries for the same.
On 17 March, Sony launched the taxi promo, through which they emphasised on how the assurance of safety and well being can spread happiness among our citizens. The activity focused on driving conversations about spreading positivity.
With this activity, the campaign thought #Ek India Happywala once again got a lot of buzz resulting it to trend for over 5 hours across India. More than 10 million people watched that video on social media platforms.
The next in list was the Newsroom promo, with the launch of the news room video urging users to focus more on the country’s positives than the negatives, Sony Pictures Networks decided to reward users who would help support this cause. This activity turned out to be a huge hit amongst the audience as the broadcaster garnered more than 4000+ entries within a week. The Newsroom promo achieved more than 500,000 views on twitter.
The next initiative of the campaign was to spread happiness in the lives of underprivileged kids. Users have to tell the story of a child who aspires to be a cricketer but doesn’t have the means. Sony offered to help 11 children (scouted by the users) with professional cricket kits and so far, they have received 145 entries since the launch of the activity. With 1, 255 tweets, 13 million timeline deliveries and 2 million of reach, the initiative #HappyXI was trended for four hours across India.
To highlight the current mood of the country, the channel started Happiness meter activity. Happiness Meter is a listening activity that tracks the conversation happening on Twitter to gauge what is the current mood of the people in the country.
The next Old Age Home promo recorded 29 million views on social and 1504 likes on Facebook. On 1 April Best Cricket game was a prank where the audiences tricked into playing the best ever online cricket game & having the best cricket experience they can ever have. Later, they realized that it’s the cricket insect that played them.
The idea is to highlight that the best ever cricket experience can only be lived with vivo IPL. 2,045 tweets, 16 million timelines deliveries and 3 million reach, the prank activity was trending for five hours across India.
MUMBAI: If sports channels are raising the expectations of viewers, the general entertainment channels cannot be left behind.
Leaving no stone unturned, Sony Pictures Network began a month earlier with its campaign EK India…Happywala (One Happy India), so that the excitement builds even before the ninth edition of Indian Premier League.
The campaign Ek India….Happywala (One Happy India) was launched on 1 March with the IPL anthem.
To the launch the Vivo IPL 2016 anthem video, Sony did a Vox Pop activity featuring kids who were asked to answer a few questions about India. The same set of questions was thrown to adults on social media.
The anthem was launched on social media that trended on twitter across India for five hours. The channel recorded 4,526 tweets, more than 42 million timeline deliveries, and had a reach of more than 5 million and recorded 3 million views anthem video. The anthem video received more than 100,000 likes and 26,131 people had shared it on Facebook.
In order to take the campaign forward towards creating a happier nation, Sony started a user-powered activity where they motivated users to spread happiness with #15days Happywala. The core task is to make a stranger smile every day, thus converting users into happiness ambassadors. The activity kicked-off with a lot of user participation resulting in getting the activity to trend across India for more than 4 hours. The channel achieved 3,672 tweets, more than 28 million timeline deliveries and more 4 million plus reach – and 805 entries for the same.
On 17 March, Sony launched the taxi promo, through which they emphasised on how the assurance of safety and well being can spread happiness among our citizens. The activity focused on driving conversations about spreading positivity.
With this activity, the campaign thought #Ek India Happywala once again got a lot of buzz resulting it to trend for over 5 hours across India. More than 10 million people watched that video on social media platforms.
The next in list was the Newsroom promo, with the launch of the news room video urging users to focus more on the country’s positives than the negatives, Sony Pictures Networks decided to reward users who would help support this cause. This activity turned out to be a huge hit amongst the audience as the broadcaster garnered more than 4000+ entries within a week. The Newsroom promo achieved more than 500,000 views on twitter.
The next initiative of the campaign was to spread happiness in the lives of underprivileged kids. Users have to tell the story of a child who aspires to be a cricketer but doesn’t have the means. Sony offered to help 11 children (scouted by the users) with professional cricket kits and so far, they have received 145 entries since the launch of the activity. With 1, 255 tweets, 13 million timeline deliveries and 2 million of reach, the initiative #HappyXI was trended for four hours across India.
To highlight the current mood of the country, the channel started Happiness meter activity. Happiness Meter is a listening activity that tracks the conversation happening on Twitter to gauge what is the current mood of the people in the country.
The next Old Age Home promo recorded 29 million views on social and 1504 likes on Facebook. On 1 April Best Cricket game was a prank where the audiences tricked into playing the best ever online cricket game & having the best cricket experience they can ever have. Later, they realized that it’s the cricket insect that played them.
The idea is to highlight that the best ever cricket experience can only be lived with vivo IPL. 2,045 tweets, 16 million timelines deliveries and 3 million reach, the prank activity was trending for five hours across India.
MUMBAI: Controversy and IPL go hand in hand. While the cricket lovers await the kick off of the million dollar league, water crisis controversy threatens to take the tournament away from Maharashtra. Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants are the Maharashtra based franchises and a total of 20 matches is scheduled to be played in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.
“Water is more important for us than cricket. So, even if the cricket matches are shifted out of Maharashtra, I don’t mind,” Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai.
Several districts of Maharashtra are facing acute water shortage and objections have been raised over the “wastage” of water to maintain cricket grounds across the state. Petitions have been filed against hosting the Indian Premier League in the state at a time when people are finding it tough to arrange water even for their daily needs.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ comments will certainly not sound sweet for cricket lovers of the state,”
“The last moment change can leave a big impact on the tournament, specially from sponsors point of view as it needs some time to create the creatives which in result will generate the eyeballs,” says a sports media planning expert.
MUMBAI: Controversy and IPL go hand in hand. While the cricket lovers await the kick off of the million dollar league, water crisis controversy threatens to take the tournament away from Maharashtra. Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants are the Maharashtra based franchises and a total of 20 matches is scheduled to be played in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.
“Water is more important for us than cricket. So, even if the cricket matches are shifted out of Maharashtra, I don’t mind,” Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai.
Several districts of Maharashtra are facing acute water shortage and objections have been raised over the “wastage” of water to maintain cricket grounds across the state. Petitions have been filed against hosting the Indian Premier League in the state at a time when people are finding it tough to arrange water even for their daily needs.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ comments will certainly not sound sweet for cricket lovers of the state,”
“The last moment change can leave a big impact on the tournament, specially from sponsors point of view as it needs some time to create the creatives which in result will generate the eyeballs,” says a sports media planning expert.
MUMBAI: Flipkart, which claims to be India’s largest e-commerce firm, today went live with its Brand Story Ads on the mobile app with over 50 leading brands on board.
Brands including Yes Bank, L’Oréal, Micromax, Intel, Gillette, Datsun and Sony have already signed up on the platform to launch their ad campaigns.
Flipkart SVP Ravi Garikipati said that with Brand Story Ads, FlipKart is “offering a platform where the brands can target and engage with largest qualified commerce audience in the country at the right time for the right intent. Thus, the propensity to click on the advertisement is only higher and stronger. The magnitude of consumer traffic and intelligent data insights on online shopping behaviour gives Flipkart the edge to provide larger reach, impact and measurability.”
Brand Story Ads is a native, interactive story format with content images and product guides that enables brands to tell their stories in a crisp and impactful manner. In the initial phase, the campaigns will focus on awareness creation with brand story and category pages. This will later be extended to product listings, checkouts and other areas.
Along with the brands that retail on Flipkart (first party brands), this service will also be available to other non-retailing brands (third party brands) in sectors like real estate, FMCG, BFSI, auto, and telecom etc.
With the launch of Brand Story Ads, Flipkart has introduced a new form of advertising that it calls ‘Commerce Advertising’, delivering a holistic view of consumer’s purchase journey post ad interactions and highlights effectiveness of the advertising campaigns. Flipkart promises a universal solution to brands that is based on superior data and buying intent of 50 million+ consumers.
MUMBAI: Flipkart, which claims to be India’s largest e-commerce firm, today went live with its Brand Story Ads on the mobile app with over 50 leading brands on board.
Brands including Yes Bank, L’Oréal, Micromax, Intel, Gillette, Datsun and Sony have already signed up on the platform to launch their ad campaigns.
Flipkart SVP Ravi Garikipati said that with Brand Story Ads, FlipKart is “offering a platform where the brands can target and engage with largest qualified commerce audience in the country at the right time for the right intent. Thus, the propensity to click on the advertisement is only higher and stronger. The magnitude of consumer traffic and intelligent data insights on online shopping behaviour gives Flipkart the edge to provide larger reach, impact and measurability.”
Brand Story Ads is a native, interactive story format with content images and product guides that enables brands to tell their stories in a crisp and impactful manner. In the initial phase, the campaigns will focus on awareness creation with brand story and category pages. This will later be extended to product listings, checkouts and other areas.
Along with the brands that retail on Flipkart (first party brands), this service will also be available to other non-retailing brands (third party brands) in sectors like real estate, FMCG, BFSI, auto, and telecom etc.
With the launch of Brand Story Ads, Flipkart has introduced a new form of advertising that it calls ‘Commerce Advertising’, delivering a holistic view of consumer’s purchase journey post ad interactions and highlights effectiveness of the advertising campaigns. Flipkart promises a universal solution to brands that is based on superior data and buying intent of 50 million+ consumers.
