ITV

Tag: Splitsvilla

  • Raghu-Rajiv and Ravi Luthria team up for new venture ‘Monozygotic’

    Raghu-Rajiv and Ravi Luthria team up for new venture ‘Monozygotic’

    MUMBAI: Days after Rajiv Lakshman quit his as COO of Coloscem, he has announced a new venture with his twin brother Raghu Ram. The duo has come together with Ravi Luthra, a marketing veteran to start a new content and communications hub – Monozygotic. This new startup will mainly focus on content creation across various avenues of media from TV to digital to on-ground.

     

    Speaking about their new venture, Monozygotic co founder and managing zygote Rajiv said, “There has been a tectonic shift in the consumption of media in the past decade and it is critical for any brand manager to not only figure the right media mix but also the right communication for a specific media. This is where Monozygotic steps in with our cumulative experience in building enduring, genre defining brands like Roadies, Splitsvilla and Masterchef India”.

     

    “We have had the opportunity of multifunctional experience in content, both behind the scenes and facing the camera. The experience has helped us not only to understand the business of content but has also to develop a deep insight into audience psyche. I believe Monozygotic will be able to bridge the need gap, catering to audience and advertisers with equal ease. We have been contemplating this venture for a while now. I view Monozygotic as a natural progression in our respective careers”, added Monozygotic co founder and managing zygote Raghu.

     

    While majority of people know them as the face of the cult show Roadies, the dynamic duo Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman, with experience of more than two decades have also been responsible for creating a number of other enduring, genre defining television shows such as Splitsvilla and instrumental in the launch and success of Masterchef India. They have also broken new ground in the digital content space with Roadies Battleground and Jack & Jones Hitched. Ravi Luthra, with 15 years experience, has also made a mark in the industry with companies like Marico Industries, Visa, Star TV, MTV and Sony Entertainment Television among others.

     

     “The twins are masters at content creation and community building. Monozygotic aims to create clutter-breaking content catering to a wide array of audiences and marketers. The duo has a keen understanding of the audience which we plan to leverage with a focus on new media, the future of content consumption.  Unfortunately, a huge gap exists in this space in the connect between brands and consumers. Herein lies a great opportunity to create innovative and customised market driven content that is both sharable and sustainable” said Monozygotic chief executive zygote Ravi Luthria.

     

    Monozygotic has already started working with some established brands on new, exciting projects.

  • Its a full plate for IndiaCast/Viacom18

    Its a full plate for IndiaCast/Viacom18

    CANNES: It’s been a fruitful first day at Mipcom for IndiaCast/Viacom 18 (booth number 10.3, level 1), which met up with nearly 43 buyers from markets including France, Indonesia, Russia, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil and Jordon to name a few.

    The group expects to meet at least 120 companies from across the globe over the next three days of Mipcom.

    IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi says: “We have 15,000 hours of content in our library across the group and we add more than 2,000 hours of fresh programming each year.”

    The biggest draw according to Gandhi is: “Scripts of our famous drama series like Uttaran and Madhubala. That apart, formats like Roadies, Splitsvilla and Crunch aired on MTV are also in demand.”

    IndiaCast/Viacom18 has on offer about 40 shows including Na Ana Iss Des Lado, Ballika Vadhu and Comedy Nights with Kapil as also regional channel content and around 40 Bollywood films.

    “Mipcom is a good place for connecting with potential buyers from many smaller markets that we don’t have offices in or otherwise would never be able to reach out to. The discussions & negotiations begin here. It needs to be naturally followed up for things to materialise,” says Gandhi.

    The group is looking to monetise all its intellectual properties to the hilt. “For example Japan has a huge market for clips and looks for buying clips of many of our shows. East Europe wants drama series dubbed in their language. Africa wants script rights…” informs Gandhi.

    And yes, Colors’ recently launched series 24 is another property the group is betting on. “As regards 24, we are in the final stages of closing the deal with Pakistan,” reveals Gandhi.

    Apart from selling content, the group is also looking at acquiring content for its various channels. “We need to be sensitive towards what we choose. It should connect with our audiences. We are looking at acquiring family drama content and also non-fiction shows,” rounds off Viacom18 executive VP strategy and business development Anuj Poddar.  

  • Splitsvilla 6 enagages its audience with new apps

    Splitsvilla 6 enagages its audience with new apps

    MUMBAI: Love just got difficult to get. With 16 youngsters fighting with each other to not only win a show, but to also (ostensibly) find love, Splitsvilla 6 has got all the right ingredients to make the perfect youth sizzler. The latest season promises to be ‘Hotter than Hell‘ with lots of scintillating moments and breathtaking participants which are definitely pleasing to the eyes. Not to miss, are the trademark back-stabbing, hating and fighting elements adding the required spice to the tale. Splitsvilla Seaason 6 promises to have higher doses of all these and much more to sustain and increase its cult following among the young and restless.

    The tagline very aptly says ‘Hotter than Hell‘ and to make the show as hot as hell, Viacom18 has launched an interesting campaign introducing newer elements, targeting both digital and Out of Home (OOH) media. The show has been created by an in-house creative team, headed by Bhavya Sharma.

    The network has roped in Fiama De Wills, Karbonn Mobiles, Zinga and Kama Sutra as sponsors for this season. Revealing further details, MTV business head Aditya Swamy says: “We have integrated our sponsors in the show. We are giving exclusive coverage to them by having exclusive Fiama and Karbonn tasks. We also have their logo presence during the show.”

    So what‘s new? The sexy siren Sherlyn Chopra will be the all new sizzling co-host. (We thought Nikhil Chinappa was sexy enough: editor chuckles). Also, the popular ‘Break up Diary‘ segment wherein the female contestants narrated their break-up stories to introduce themselves will now also feature the male contestants. Well, ofcourse, what is more interesting than a bunch of ‘hot‘, bare-chested men talk about how they faced and ‘survived‘ heartbreak, right?

    The channel tells us that extensive research has gone into this season to better understand the pulse of the young generation. The research team, headed by Sumeli Chatterjee tried to spot the current trend. “Changes in Splitsvilla 6 have been created based on the opinion from our research group, whom we refer to as trend spotters,” says Swamy.

    After research, it was time for the right kind of promotion and what better way than to target the buzzing college campuses. MTV reached out to around 200 college campuses across India, including Kolkata, Lucknow and Chandigarh, during its pre-launch. They also hired campus ambassadors for ‘word of mouth‘ marketing. “We have promoted the show in a big way, keeping 20-30 per cent of our total advertising budget only for social and digital platforms,” informs Bhattacharya.

    It‘s the digital front where Splitsvilla aims to create the maximum buzz. “MTV Splitsvilla is the ideal product to proliferate on digital media,” says a media observer. “It‘s for young people who zoom in like bees on outlets such as Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and it‘s about relationships. Hence, it‘s good its building up itself on digital media.”

    With a humongous 2.7 million likes and 1.5 million active fans on Facebook, more than 3500 avid Twitter followers, MTVSplitsvilla 6 has managed to carve a decent online following for itself.

    But, apart from the usually explored territories of Facebook and Twitter, Splitsvilla ventures into the space of mobile apps and also includes a fan mobilising concept.

    “We have learnt a lot from MTV Roadies and have applied those lessons to Splitsvilla 6,” says MTV digital head Eklavya Bhattacharya. “What we have done within the digital space has helped us gain a lot of recognition worldwide as one of the best initiatives.”

    What more?! Remember that sweet little angel of a daughter in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? Yes, she is Sana Saeed who was recently seen in Karan Johar‘s college flick Student of the year as a co- lead (read hot bimbo), Splitvilla 6 gets you a web show featuring ‘Sexy Sana‘ who will be analysing (read: Bitching) about all that the contestants did in the televised episode each weekend.

    Swamy adds: “Sexy Sana is an exclusively new property this season, which gives Sana‘s takes and reviews on extended videos, unedited parts and behind the scene clippings of the show.”

    Entering in the app world, the channels has added ‘I Dubba‘, which allows its 50 million viewers to not only tweet to the show on air, but also chat with fellow fans. Another interesting app is ‘Tickr 2 fame‘, which helps viewers to tweet and chat on Facebook, these conversations are shown on the show.

    The additions have helped Splitsvilla connect with its audience. “We have seen a 100 per cent rise in the response from the audience with the addition of new apps. On each show we get 300- 400 people chatting on I Dubba and 1,000 to 2,000 people tweeting on Tickr to Fame,” informs Bhattacharya.

    With five episodes already aired, let‘s wait and watch how impressive these new additions prove to be for brands Splitsvilla.

    Recap of previous seasons of Splitsvilla…

    Splitsvilla Battleground – has been the highlight of all seasons. Being one of the medium to get selected for the show, by performing a task given ‘on the spot‘, this section of Splitsvilla still engages maximum audiences.

    Audiosodes – an application though which one can listen to entire show in the voice of popular video jockey, J. Man.

    Hottie of the Day – get likes and comments on facebook.

    Urban Cupid – text articles about love relationship and break ups on facebook pages.

    Splitsvilla Prediction App – It is a proper live prediction and live betting engine for making virtual money. This is available on Vas platforms and these have been distributed to mobile
    operators across the country.

  • ‘When you are a market leader, it’s necessary to shake things a little’ : Ashish Patil- MTV India GM and senior VP creative and content

    ‘When you are a market leader, it’s necessary to shake things a little’ : Ashish Patil- MTV India GM and senior VP creative and content

    MTV India was primarily known for music, comedy, spoofs and “Fully Faltoo” attitude. The team of Cyrus Oshirdar (creative and content), Cyrus Broucha and Cyrus Sahukar was giving its viewers a “no-tension” dose of comedy and music.

     

     

    In 2007, Viacom and Network18 got together to create a joint venture. What followed was the redrawing of the roadmap for MTV. The positioning changed and music became shorter in line with its new image of being a youth entertainment channel.

     

    The man in charge of this content revamp was Ashish Patil as he churned out shows that would stand the new look – Its My MTV. From Fully Faltoo to Kick Ass and from Bakra to Splitsvilla, MTV has scored points in segmenting, targeting and positioning for the youth.

     

     

    The channel has also extended its wings in the US, New Zealand and Australia.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Gaurav Laghate, MTV India GM and senior VP creative and content Patil says that the game has just started.

     

    Excerpts:

    Is the ongoing producer-plex owner’s tussle affecting MTV as there is no new music release to lap up for content?
    We have in any case reduced our music content as a strategic move. Moreover, whatever music we play is full length, which comes out after 1-2 months of release. So far we have enough of new music to run on the channel.

    Why are you going less on music and more on non-music content?
    We have repositioned ourselves as not just a music but a music-plus-masti (fun) channel. It is a youth adda (hangout) channel now. Last year we were playing approximately 70 per cent music content, which we have reduced to 45 per cent at present. By the end of this year, we will be having only 25 per cent of music content.

    What was the need for this change in identity?
    There was consumer as well as a business need. Research suggested that youth is looking out for much more than just music. Youth has needs ranging from style, fashion, romance, passion, thrill, and much more.

     

    And so far as the business goes, the music pie is limiting. Music as a commodity is playing everywhere; so eyeballs are limiting and revenues have hit a ceiling.

    Even the market leader in the music channel genre had to change?
    You have to grow the product. And it’s necessary to shake things a little or else the leader will also get stagnant. The world has gone too far and to get our core audience’s eyeballs, we have to lead the other mediums as well. Also a lot of emphasis is on packaging, looks and graphics, apart from content.

    So what is the new positioning of MTV?
    We have created a new category for ourselves where we are no longer a niche channel. Nor are we a general entertainment channel. We are laser focused on the needs of the youth and have evolved as a mass youth channel. Many players tried to copy us, but failed as it is a very difficult path to tread.
    ‘Music as a commodity is playing everywhere. So eyeballs are limiting and revenues have hit a ceiling‘

    How will you describe your TG?
    Our core audience is the 18-21-year-olds. Within that demographic, it is the SEC A in the metros particularly Mumbai and Delhi. Our next target extension is viewers among the age group of 15-24 years, SEC AB 1 lakh towns, in the Hindi speaking markets. Beyond that, we look at the 12-35-year-olds (SEC AB, All India 1 Lac+ towns).

     

    This target audience is very fickle and impatient. If they don’t like something, they have multiple options to switch over to. And anything that catches youth eyeballs is competition for me. Be it malls, gizmos, movies, mobiles, ipods, internet, etc.

    So that is why you are making your presence felt on internet and other space?
    The intent is to take MTV to every place where the TG is. Be it web, mobile, on-ground, merchandise. It’s a circle of lead, reflect and affect – one leading to the other. I will follow my viewer everywhere. You see the kind of response we have on the Roadies community on Orkut. It has over 300,000 members now. We have tied up with PVR Cinema, Inox, T.G.I.F., cafes etc for our shows. Roadies merchandise is available in more then 20 categories. We are tapping audiences everywhere by reaching out to them.

    But don’t you think some of the content is not fit for small towns, or non-metros?
    I don’t think that content is not fit for people in the smaller towns. Youth everywhere have same aspirations; the core of youth is the same. So my content is appreciated throughout by my TG – be it metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore or non metros like Gwalior, Indore, Chandigarh etc. Also, some of the content may be more evolved. But in such cases, I do have a simpler version on the same premise for mini metros or small towns. The idea is to have a spectrum of content for different people.

    Is your programming strategy confined to unlicensed thrill, living on edge and speed?
    Not just that. It is, of course, one part of it. But we have other shows like On The Jobs, which talks about alternative careers; ibibo Superstar (the making of stars); Splitsvilla (intense romance); Roadies (which has a cult following now); and who can forget MTV Bakra (known for its wit). Then we have spoof movies, which are well received.

     

    So my aim is to cater to all the needs of my TG. We are now building on our franchise. Earlier I had only Roadies as a fixed offering on Saturdays at 7 pm. Now I have shifted it to Sundays and got the highest opening for Splitsvilla season 2 on Saturdays.
    So you mean you are now getting appointment viewing?
    Absolutely. As I said, earlier we used to launch shows on Saturdays at 7 pm band. I had a great following there, courtesy Roadies. It was a gamble when I shifted it to Sundays, but it did well for us. Now I have viewers for Saturday as well as Sunday. Also, in December, I launched Haven @ 7 on weekdays. So I am taking baby steps to get more viewer attention. I am already getting more viewership than many general entertainment channels (GECs).

    So what are the plans ahead?
    As I said, I am taking baby steps. We have just started. From making just one Roadies two years back, we launched many new shows last year. This year, we will launch even more shows. Recently, with Force India we have launched The Fast and The Gorgeous and are coming up with Pulsar MTV Stunt Mania soon.

    How has the JV between Viacom and Network18 helped in MTV’s growth in India?
    In many ways. It has been a fabulous ride since the JV has been formed. It is in many ways kind of a vitamin supplement. Earlier, it was MTV and Nick supporting each other and suddenly I have the strength of a full network; it’s much more than just financial support.

     

    Also, both (Viacom and Network18), as players, are front-foot batsmen. It has put our transition in the fourth gear. Our efficiency has increased and so has our brand value, distribution, marketing, headcount and infrastructure.

    Have we seen MTV’s revenues grow over the last couple of years?
    We have doubled the revenues during this period. We are expecting a 30 per cent growth this year.

     

    Ad sales accounts for 65 per cent of our revenues, of which 5 per cent comes from international clients. Around 15 per cent comes from affiliates, which is also increasing. 15 per cent comes from Viacom Brand Solutions (client lead stuff, events and advertiser funded programming) like The Fast and The Gorgeorus, Stunt Mania etc. The remaining 5 per cent comes from L&M and movie previews (Ghajini).

     

    Also, we are opening up supplementary revenue streams through mobile, web, and even through ticker. Our ticker has a fan community on social networking sites and advertisers want to be there.