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  • upGrad partners with SET for ‘Shark Tank India’

    upGrad partners with SET for ‘Shark Tank India’

    Mumbai: Higher edtech platform upGrad on Monday announced its partnership with Sony Entertainment Television (SET) as the presenting sponsor for the first edition of “Shark Tank India” and as the co-presenting sponsor of the show on the streaming platform, SonyLIV. 

    According to a statement, this association aligns with upGrad’s vision of powering career success for the workforce as their trusted ‘life-long learning partner,’ and will also further the brand’s deep India penetration goal.

    “We are thrilled to come on board for the first-ever season of ‘Shark Tank India’ that will celebrate young entrepreneurs from across ‘Bharat’ and their zeal of creating business opportunities and employment within the country,” stated upGrad India CEO Arjun Mohan. “With this strategic partnership we are not only looking forward to coming closer to millions of individuals, but also to building an inclusive ecosystem of talent that is best placed to contribute meaningfully towards India’s growth.”

    “Shark Tank” provides a platform for business ideas and prototypes as well as active businesses to get propelled into reality by experienced investors and business experts. The international format is popular among young and aspiring entrepreneurs as well as working professionals who are also the brand’s core target audience.

    “India is rapidly turning into a digital-first economy, and the entertainment preferences of its consumers are evolving daily. Keeping this at the forefront, we have partnered with upGrad for the first-ever edition of ‘Shark Tank India’ on SonyLIV,” said SonyLIV’s head of ad sales revenue Ranjana Mangla. “With this high-quality business-oriented show, we endeavor to boost India’s growth trajectory. SonyLIV’s diverse content library will help the brand connect with the right audience. Onboarding upGrad will help us tap new audience segments and heighten our innovations for the show.”

  • Supreme TV to telecast LPL in Sri Lanka

    Supreme TV to telecast LPL in Sri Lanka

    Mumbai: Sri Lankan TV channel Supreme TV has acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in Sri Lanka, from the IPG Group, the official franchise and broadcast holder. According to a statement, Sony will continue to be the official broadcaster of the league in India.

    The multi-year agreement, positioned as one of the biggest broadcast deals so far in Sri Lanka will help LPL penetrate deep into every nook and corner of the country and Supreme TV is committed to play an integral part in the television and digital transmission of the LPL starting from the second season, said the statement.

    “Supreme TV has become a household name and it is the fastest growing Sinhala Language channel in Sri Lanka with special focus on sports and entertainment,” said Supreme TV chairman RM Manivannan. “At a time when our nation is going through a challenging period due to the Covid-19 pandemic, LPL comes as a breath of fresh air to infuse positivity and regain its character as a sport loving nation. LPL brings to the island the revolutionary concept of franchise T20 cricket which features international cricketers of repute pitched along with our own leading cricketers, not to mention the budding ones who greatly learn from this exposure. One of my biggest hopes is  that young and upcoming cricketing talent that our country has always been blessed with, uses this opportunity to harness their talent and soon start to compete for selection in the national side.”

    “LPL is a great opportunity given to Sri Lankans to see many cricketing stars in action, whilst passionately supporting their preferred team all in our turf. Supreme TV considers it a great privilege to take this rare entertainment to all Sri Lankans – the urban elite, as well as to every village, with their strong island wide coverage for a continuous period of almost a month. For a cricket loving nation, which is slowly disengaging from the pandemic at this moment, opportunity to enjoy the high quality second season from home is probably the best year end gift,” he added.

    The inaugural edition of the LPL which was played in a bio-secure bubble at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota from 26 November till 16 December, 2020, reached a cumulative audience of 557 million people through TV, digital-social space, and traditional media outlets. Sponsors enjoyed a media evaluation (visibility) of $54.5 million and title sponsor My11Circle enjoyed a ROI of 9.85 times. Winner of the first edition of LPL, Jaffna Kings tops the valuation chart with $3.98 million, followed by Galle Gladiators ($3.82 million), Dambulla Vikings – now Dambulla Giants, ($3.54 million), Colombo Kings ($3.44 million), and Kandy Tuskers ($3.19 million).

    “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome on board Supreme TV as our broadcast partner of the prestigious Lanka Premier League and I can confidently say that this association is a great testament to the brand LPL,” said Dubai-based IPG Group’s founder and CEO Anil Mohan. “In the first edition, from Sri Lanka alone we garnered a total viewership of 1.9 million which is quite significant. Our first season was big success and with the addition of Supreme TV, we will only grow bigger.”

    As per the statement, the LPL matches which were telecast live by Sky Sports, Sony Sports Network, Geo, PTV, and Willow TV, ITN in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UK, US, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand saw 155 million people tuning in to catch live action. On social media, it achieved a reach of 218 million and LPL found 133,478 mentions as the League came alive with each and every match with some scintillating performances on the ground.

  • RS Sodhi conferred ‘Business Leader of the Year’ at the 8th IAA Leadership Awards

    RS Sodhi conferred ‘Business Leader of the Year’ at the 8th IAA Leadership Awards

    Mumbai: The  India chapter of the International Advertising Association’s (IAA) has announced the winners for the eighth edition of the Leadership Awards here on Friday evening. 

    Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (Amul) managing director Dr RS Sodhi bagged the top honours for Business Leader of the Year. Sony Pictures Network India CEO NP Singh was conferred with the Media Person of the Year award. Veteran film actor Anil Kapoor walked home with the Brand Endorser for the Year award, while Wion’s executive editor Palki Sharma Upadhyay was awarded TV Anchor of the Year.

    “I have learned a lot from people right from my retailer to the people sitting here because we interact with the best in the advertising and marketing industry,” said Dr Sodhi, in his acceptance speech. “I would like to tell you one thing that in today’s time the advertising and marketing field has garnered a lot of importance. There are so many retailers coming into the market. The pressure is growing. In order to prove yourself, you have to be creative, and when you bring that creativity in the local language, you will be closer to earth and you will be relevant in the industry.”

    The IAA Leadership Awards, which honour individuals in the fields of marketing, advertising and media every year, were presented by the Maharashtra governor and chief guest at the function Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and IAA India chapter president Megha Tata, among others. 

    Zee was the presenting partner, Good News Today (GNT) powered by partner & Viacom18 the associate partner for the event.

    “While we were planning the awards for 2021 we wanted to highlight leaders that have established new age businesses. For one thing this year has taught us is to be agile,” said IAA president Megha Tata.  

    “We have seen time and again that change or unexpected situations often lead to some brands or organizations and people succeeding while some may collapse. The difference between the two begins right at the top with the leader. And while I can describe our leaders tonight in many ways, I would just like to say that these unprecedented times call for unprecedented leadership and our leaders today definitely delivered on that,” she added.

    IAA India inducted Raj Nayak into the IAA Hall of Fame for investing a lifetime in the MarCom industry and for his sterling role in directing the India chapter of IAA towards its ongoing role in being the voice of sustainability.

    Other prominent recipients at the awards were Bobby Pawar (Creative Agency Leader of the Year), Nandini Dias (Media Agency Leader of the Year), and Raj Kamal Jha (Editor of the Year).

    “True leadership is often about perspective, inner perspective. And for men and women with vision it is not always about different things, but sometimes it’s about the same things differently,” said IAA Leadership Awards co-chair Nandini Dias, articulating her thoughts on the definition of leadership. “That’s when one understands what leadership is actually made of. Leadership is not a talent, art form or science. It is simply about taking the first step in spaces where there are no written rules. So you make your rules because you make your own limits.”

  • DTH operators write to TRAI over broadcasters offering pay channels on DD Free Dish

    DTH operators write to TRAI over broadcasters offering pay channels on DD Free Dish

    Mumbai: Direct-to-home (DTH) service providers including Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV have written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) asking the telecom regulator to address the issue of broadcasters making their pay channels available on Prasar Bharati’s FTA platform DD Free Dish.

    According to the DTH players, this goes against the current tariff regime which mandates the designation of channels as either pay or FTA and prohibits their bundling together. Tata Sky and DTH players want that such designation remains constant across distribution platforms, a matter they had requested the TRAI to look into earlier as well, but to no avail.

    It is being alleged that despite the above mandates and guidelines, broadcasters such as Zee, Sony, Star, Viacom18 and others continue to exploit loopholes to make their second-tier channels like Zee Anmol, Sony Pal, Star Utsav and Colors Rishtey available for free on DD Free Dish in order to increase their reach beyond the pay universe and get more advertising dollars. However, the same channels are present on private distribution platforms as pay channels, in accordance with their MRP filing with TRAI.

    DTH operators say that the practice is highly discriminatory as not only are the private DPOs paying the broadcasters to distribute these channels, but also charging subscribers for the same. On the other hand, DD Free Dish receives a license fee for making them freely available to viewers.  

    Reviving their demand, the DTH players have requested the TRAI to level the playing field for the public service broadcaster and themselves in this regard.

    Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal says that he is not against these channels being free nor is he asking the broadcasters to pull them off DD Free Dish, but asking for a level-playing field and parity. “We are just demanding that if these channels are available as free on DD Free Dish, it should also be the case on my platform. There are about 20 FTA channels on DD Free Dish that are being offered to my viewers at a price anywhere between ten paise – three rupees, which is highly discriminatory,” he says.

    Responding to the TRAI’s contention of DD Free Dish not being covered under NTO, he says that the regulator misses the point here. “This is not about DD Free Dish, but the channels,” states Nagpal.

    A senior official from a leading cable operator remarks, “I am not sure but the broadcasters may be taking advantage of a legal loophole where TRAI cannot regulate DD Free Dish which comes under Prasar Bharati. A channel that is allotted a slot on DD Free Dish may immediately gain 50 GRPs while FTA channels not on the free DTH players are struggling at seven GRPs. That’s the advantage of DD Free Dish.  Broadcasters slowly want to move pay-TV subscribers away from the value chain. In urban markets, they are going direct-to-customer by distributing their channels on their OTT platforms and in rural markets, they are opting for DD Free Dish. This practice boosts both advertising and subscription revenues for broadcasters.”

    Calling the unfair practice a “double whammy” for DPOs, he reveals that TV broadcasters are ready to pay Rs 8-16 crore in advance to be allotted a slot on DD Free Dish. “They are paying an enormous carriage fee and not charging a subscription fee for their pay channels on DD Free Dish whereas on cable and DTH operators they are paying much lower carriage fees and are charging a subscription fee. It’s a complete double negative.”

    It is important to note here that as per the new tariff order, 1.0 carriage fees on DTH and cable operators are capped at four lakh per month. According to TRAI performance indicator report Jan-March, DTH subscribers declined by 1.4 million at the end of March. 

    The unnatural growth in the number of pay channels on DD Free Dish has unbalanced the equation for cable and DTH operators. “Reports say that 40-50 per cent of the urban markets are already on OTT platforms. The rural market is still growing where broadcasters are trying to cut out ‘middle men’ like cable and DTH operators. This will slowly lead to the decline of the industry in five to ten years,” he reckons.

    Like Nagpal, he also demands that either the broadcasters should pull their pay channels from DD Free Dish or they should make those channels FTA for all DPOs. If there is parity on all platforms, no one will complain. 

  • Siddhesh Maldikar joins Zee TV as director of marketing

    Siddhesh Maldikar joins Zee TV as director of marketing

    Mumbai: Siddhesh Maldikar has joined Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd-owned Hindi GEC Zee TV as director of marketing.

    In his most recent role, Maldikar was associated with Sony Pictures Networks India, where he worked as senior manager of marketing.

    “New Beginnings as I start my journey with Zee TV as Director – Marketing,” Maldikar wrote in a LinkedIn post, announcing his move.

    An alumnus of N L Dalmia Institute of Management, Maldikar is a marketing professional with experience in FMCG and media & broadcasting.

    Prior to Sony, he worked with Hindustan Unilever Ltd as a senior brand executive, Magnum Ice Creams. While at HUL, Maldikar helmed the launch of Magnum in India in five cities which includes a test launch in Chennai in 2013. He also had a stint at Temptation Foods Ltd.

  • Over 48 million viewers tuned into SPSN to watch UEFA EURO 2020

    Over 48 million viewers tuned into SPSN to watch UEFA EURO 2020

    New Delhi: The UEFA EURO 2020 continues to captivate sports fans across the country. The sporting extravaganza has been watched by as many as 48 million viewers on its official broadcaster Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the network announced on Friday.

    The viewership figures are for the network’s entire coverage of the first 36 matches of the tournament from 11 to 25 June.

    According to the data (Source: TG: CS 2+, All India U+R) shared by the network, Portugal vs Germany on 19 June (Saturday) was the most watched match of the week in the tournament with ten million viewers. The defending champion Portugal led by Cristiano Ronaldo was defeated by 4-2 in the match in the group stage despite the ace player’s goal and an assist. This group was also touted by fans as ‘Group of death’ with current world champion France in it.

    The second most watched match this week was Italy vs Wales on 20 June (Sunday) which clocked 8.1 million viewers. Italy completed their Group A fixtures defeating Wales by 1-0, continuing its winning streak in the tournament.

    The regional feed of the network was also watched by fans with equal enthusiasm. The Hindi feed for Live matches was been watched by 14 million viewers across the country (TG: CS 2+, All India U+R). While the Malayalam and Bengali feed on SONY SIX channels were watched by seven million viewers across Kerala and West Bengal (TG: CS 2+, Kerala and WB U+R).

    The UEFA EURO 2020 is being telecast by SPSN in six languages across India: English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The tournament is LIVE on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3, Sony Six and Sony Ten 4 channels and is also being livestreamed on SonyLIV.

     

  • NTO 2.0 verdict: Who wins what?

    KOLKATA: One of the major issues that has dominated the pay TV ecosystem in India is in constant conflict between stakeholders and the sector regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).  With the Bombay high court pronouncing its verdict on the amended new tariff order matter, one of the long-fought battles between the two may have come to an end. It upheld the constitutional validity of Trai’s NTO 2.0 but set aside the second clause of twin pricing conditions. The court’s decision is receiving mixed reviews from senior industry executives.

    On Wednesday, the division bench of Justices Amjad Sayyed and Anuja Prabhudessai passed judgement on several petitions filed by broadcasters and industry bodies like the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). The bench stated that the challenge to the constitutional validity of the 2020 rules and regulations of Trai does not hold any water. At the same time, it termed one of the twin conditions arbitrary according to which the maximum retail price of an a-la-carte channel could not be more than one third of the maximum rate of a channel in the bouquet.

    “We welcome this verdict of the honourable Bombay high court on amendment in tariff regulation. The full implementation of the amendment will bring more transparency in industry and give more choices and power to the customer. We are hopeful that this will get implemented soon. It is good for all stakeholders in the industry value chain,” GTPL Hathway cable TV head & chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj said.

    Others in the business are not so sure because they believe it will definitely lead to a decline in subscription revenues. Considerably, major broadcasters have not already witnessed a fall in subscription revenue after partial implementation of NTO 2.0.  But they fear that after this verdict, there will be a faster movement towards a-la-carte from bouquets thus leading to lower ARPUs.

    One of the senior executives with a leading broadcaster said squashing the second twin condition can be looked at as a big win for broadcasters. This clause had the potential to effectively hamper broadcasters from packaging their channels as they had to bundle similarly priced offerings together as part of the bouquet. 

    However, the grounds that it has been struck down on are not very solid, another senior executive added. This battle was unnecessary and a fight for power, he noted, especially given the cost. Moreover, very few broadcasters were looking at pushing high pricing for channels anyway. Even these broadcasters also cannot go for high pricing now due to changed market dynamics in the last one year due to pandemic. As Trai still has substantive grounds to reclaim whatever has been lost, they might look at rechallenging it, the executive noted.

    “We believe there is a high likelihood of this being contested in the supreme court by Trai as the entire reasoning of getting the NTO 2.0 was to cap discount and move to selective viewing which the NTO 1.0 did not fulfil,” Elara Capital VP research analyst (media) Karan Taurani said in a note.

    “We continue to believe that the negative impact of NTO 2.0 is highest for Star whose bouquet prices have a higher discount factor and lowest for Sun TV whose discounting of bouquet vs ala carte is already at very low levels, which will lead to continued outperformance for Sun TV on subs revenue front despite NTO 2.0. On the other hand, this order is low to moderately negative for Zee,” stated Taurani.

    Back in 2018, Madras high court had also set aside the capping of discounts to 15 per cent mentioned in the Tariff Order and Interconnection Regulations of 2017. However, the battle reached the supreme court where the regulator won the case. Within a year of implementation of the regulation, the authority brought changes which irked broadcasters starting the second battle. Now are we in for the third?

  • SPNI acquires broadcast rights for 2021 MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE

    New Delhi: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive television & digital rights for the 29th season of Japan Professional Football League – MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE, till December 2021.

    The broadcast territories will include India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The matches will be aired LIVE on SONY TEN 2 channels in India and livestreamed on SonyLIV, SPN’s OTT streaming platform.

    Football is the second most popular sport in Japan and that can be witnessed through the lens of the Japan Professional Football Association who manages their professional football league – MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE. The 29th season began in the month of February with 20 clubs participating in the league.

    The league has made improvement in competitiveness through events such as the Fuji Xerox Super Cup and YBC Levain Cup which helped the country in nurturing great football talents like Shinji Kagawa, Takumi Minamino, Yuto Nagatomo and many more. These players can now be seen playing for some of the biggest teams across Europe.

    MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE is the top division of MEIJI YASUDA J. LEAGUE and also one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. The league has been home to some of the most exciting players from across Europe such as Diego Forlan, Lukas Podolski, Hulk, Jorginho and Andreas Iniesta among others, said the network in a statement on Thursday.

  • TV show Shree Ganesh returns to Doordarshan after 19 years

    New Delhi: Mythological shows gained immense popularity among television viewers during the pandemic. After Ramayan’s dream run in 2020, another mythological show – Shree Ganesh is all set to return to the small screen this summer. 

    The show produced by Zuby Kochhar and directed by Dheeraj Kumar was first launched on Sony in 2002. Starting 21 June, viewers will be able to watch the reruns of the show on Doordarshan. 

    “The show gained a peak rating of 3.4 and maintained an average of 2.5 ratings in its original telecast on Sony on Sunday morning slot,” recalled the director of the show, Dheeraj Kumar. “People did not miss a single episode because of thorough research and great content and making. We are glad that viewers will get to see the show again on Doordarshan national network.” 

    JageshMukati played the lead role of Ganesh, Vishal Lalwani as child Ganesh, Sunil Sharma as Shiva, and Priyanka as Parvati in the show. Created by Creative Eye Ltd, the show is a Namah Shivay venture. It will also be re-telecast daily from Tuesday to Saturday at 9 am on Doordarshan.

    In 2020, Ramayan went on to shatter all records when it came to the TRP game and led to a golden, albeit brief, dream run for the state-run Doordarshan channel on which it aired. It managed to beat the worldwide popular series Game Of Thrones to become the most-watched TV show. According to reports, 7.7 crore viewers watched Ramayan, breaking the record of GOT which had 1.9 crore people watching the show together in 2019.

  • SPN’s Go-Beyond podcast endeavours to inspire and entertain

    New Delhi: After becoming one of the first major broadcast companies to enter the audio streaming business, Sony Pictures Networks India continues to bring insightful stories of experienced minds from across different walks of life through its podcast service.

    Launched in SPN’s 25th anniversary month, the ‘Go-Beyond’ podcast has featured eleven eminent guests from different walks of life so far. These guests included renowned names such as chef Amrita Raichand, actor and comedian Ash Chandler, former Australian Cricketer Jason Gillespie, environmentalist Bittu Sahgal, author Samit Basu, and historian Vikram Sampath, amongst others.

    The guest line-up ahead is just as exciting and varied, said the company on Thursday. The podcast features well-known personalities with remarkable journeys and stories across sports, literature, business, entertainment, history, and the culinary arts. According to the company, the Go-Beyond podcast is not just a value add to SPN’s diverse content bouquet, but also enables the brand to foray into a segment that is surging in India with more people opting for digital audio streaming.

    Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), managing director and chief executive officer, NP Singh said, “As the digital audio craze continues to explode, ‘The Go-Beyond Podcast’ creates deeper engagement with audiences by bringing to the fore real-life stories and insights of achievers who braved small or big limitations to resonate with success. SPN has a pioneering history of creating compelling content across formats and platforms, and the Go-Beyond Podcast is our endeavour to both inspire and entertain a global listener base.”