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Tag: SPN

  • SonyLiv partners Pocket Aces, brings Filter Copy & Gobble originals

    MUMBAI: Underlining its commitment to provide the best entertainment experience, SonyLiv, the digital video entertainment platform of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), has announced a strategic partnership with Pocket Aces. With this partnership, latest content including iconic short videos from the Pocket Aces channel FilterCopy and food videos from its channel Gobble will now be available as a part of SonyLiv’s extensive content catalogue.

    The partnership will augment SonyLiv’s repertoire of entertainment offerings and allow Pocket Aces the opportunity to distribute its content to SPN’s audiences, which are different from the audience on its own social channels, thus also benefiting the advertisers and brands that partner with them for snackable content.

    Says SonyLiv EVP and head – digital business Uday Sodhi: “Our partnership with Pocket Aces aims at bolstering our already extensive content library with even more high-quality entertainment. The association will help us in meeting the growing demand for short-form video content in India and further consolidate our position as the country’s premium digital entertainment destination. We are confident our viewers will enjoy this high-quality addition to our content offerings as well as greater viewing flexibility and convenience that the partnership enables.”

    Pocket Aces co-founder Aditi Shrivastava: “We are excited to partner with SPN’s digital platform – SonyLiv and reach a completely new set of audiences through them. We reach over 25 million people on a weekly basis through our own pages and have been working with large brand partners to create some very successful content. Having our content distributed across various OTT platforms will benefit our brand partners and build a rich IP library. We will add to it this year with four web series and over 500 videos. We are glad to have several avenues to distribute this content.”

  • Making music holistic to nurture nexgen talent, says Sony’s Neeraj Vyas

    MUMBAI: To Go-Beyond simply being ‘curators of good music’, Sony MIX and Sony ROX HD have committed to raising the bar, by not just curating good music but also facilitating the creation of great music. The music cluster of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) is all set to launch ‘Indian Music Lab | Artist of the month,’ that will provide a platform for the next-gen singers to showcase their versatile talent. The property will kick start on World Music Day – 21 June 2017 and shall be promoting twelve emerging singers over the course of one year on both the channels.

    Comments SPN senior EVP & business head Neeraj Vyas: “Sony MIX & Sony ROX HD are among the preferred music channels in the country. Music has always occupied a central place in the hearts of Indians, but a lot of talent in this field is hidden and unexplored. In collaboration with Indian Music Lab, we are expanding our vision of making our music cluster, a holistic platform to nurture next-gen talent and original music content. We feel privileged to launch this new initiative and promote India’s rich music culture.”

    In collaboration with Indian Music Lab – a new music initiative, this pioneering offering by SPN provides a platform and an opportunity for upcoming singers to train under experienced artistes and shape their ambitions into reality. To give a head start to emerging talent from the country, Sony MIX and Sony ROX HD will showcase one singer-artist every month with two of their original compositions airing on both the channels.

    The first artiste to showcase his talent is Shikhar Kumar with two original compositions ‘Ibaadat’ and ‘Mannat ka Dhaaga’. Other artists to be featured are: Sachin Dave, Hansadhuti Kundu, Ashwani Bisoya, Nimit Luharuka, Aashima Mahajan, Alan, Kevin, Prashant, Neha Chauhan, Anurag Puranik and Manveer Sood.

    This journey undertaken by Sony MIX and ROX HD offers a delightful showcase of fresh singing talent to its musically inclined viewer base. Going beyond the talent show routine, ‘Indian Music Lab | Artist of the month’ will become an ongoing platform for good singers to get recognition at a national level.

  • SonyLiv campaign urges cricket fans to spread cheer

    MUMBAI: It’s time to take out the recliners and stock the refrigerators, as Indian fans get ready to celebrate yet another long and intense season of their favourite sport, cricket.  As team India readies for a face-off against the West Indies, the Sri Lankans and the South Africans over the next few months, cricket fans are in for a huge treat of nonstop cricketing action.They will now witness their favourite team battle it out on Sony Pictures Networks India’s (SPN) digital platform – SonyLiv; the online destination which cricket lovers can log onto for catching most of the Indian cricketing action this year.

    With an aim to dominate online sports viewership, SonyLiv brings its sports campaign out to bat. ‘Jahaan Fan Dikhe Bol Do, celebrates the inherent diversity of Indian cricket fans and implores them to spread the word about Indian cricket arriving in a grand way on SonyLiv.

    SonyLiv EVP and head – digital business Uday Sodhi said, “By making India’s international cricket tour available to SonyLiv audience we intend to reinforce our credentials as the online destination for fans to enjoy an ultimate cricketing experience. ‘Jahaan Fan Dikhe Bol Do’ fuels the passion that rages within each fan while celebrating this sport. The campaign urges cricket fans to spread the cheer and unite in the rallying cry of superior sporting action.”

    Publicis Communications COO Paritosh Srivastava said: “Indian cricket being available on SonyLiv is a huge opportunity for us to leverage to attract fans to our platform.The tougher part of this campaign was to come up with an idea on cricket that is fresh and unseen. We believe that ‘Jahaan Fan Dikhe Bol Do’ captures the true spirit of the Indian fan and does justice to the fervour of cricket is on our country.

  • SonyLiv leverages Clevertap to gain greater understanding, segment, engage & track users

    MUMBAI: Analytics and engagement technology provider CleverTap has announced that Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPN) has selected the company’s platform for real-time behavioral data and user insights for its SonyLIV video on demand (VOD) service. A pioneer of over-the-top (OTT), SPN will leverage CleverTap to gain greater understanding of their users while improving their ability to segment, engage and track them throughout the user lifecycle.

    CleverTap, with offices in San Francisco, New York, LA, Mumbai and Bangalore, provides a comprehensive behavioral analytics and user engagement suite that enables brands to identify, target, measure and monetise users across mobile and web. SonyLIV provides multi-screen engagement to users on all devices.

    CleverTap’s unique combination of analytics and engagement tools is achieving rapid adoption around the world for its ability to offer developers and marketers like SonyLIV a powerful solution for designing and implementing timely, personalized and impactful growth strategies. The platform’s capabilities for real-time analytics and segmentation along with multi-channel messaging, A/B testing and personalization support the application of data-based insights to drive stronger and more valuable long-term customer relationships.

    “The proliferation of mobile and web apps in the digital world leads to confusion, and it’s getting increasingly difficult for developers to rise above the noise. A few years ago, just building an app was enough to capture user attention. Now it’s only the first step,” said CleverTap CEO Sunil Thomas. “Today, developers need in-depth understanding of their users along with relevant and actionable insights to even begin achieving their business objectives. In other words, the better you understand your customer, the better you can serve them.”

    “Having analytics and engagement within the same platform is critical to our customer acquisition and retention strategy,” stated SonyLIV EVP and Head of Digital Business Uday Sodhi. “CleverTap’s advanced segmentation engine allows us to track, analyze and target the right customers in real-time and send timely, contextual messages using their powerful Live User Segments feature. The platform’s powerful campaign management tool has also enabled us to lift engagement, and its robust technology offers us complete confidence that CleverTap can scale with us as we achieve exponential user growth.”

    CleverTap is able to support such massive use cases because of the technology innovations and engineering enhancements that go into the platform everyday. It’s scalable, secure architecture quickly processes millions of data points in a fraction of a second and gives businesses access to real-time user insights that help influence their app engagement strategy.

  • SPN India to feature in SPE growth in 2018

    BENGALURU: Sony Corp (Sony) had an investors’ day on 23 May 2017 pertaining to the results for its financial year ended 31 March 2017 (FY-17). It its investor presentation, the company has forecast 12.7 percent growth in revenue of its Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) group to $9,346 million for fiscal 2018 from $8,292 million in FY-17.

    Sony’s Pictures segment is comprised of the Motion Pictures, Television Productions, and Media Networks categories.

    SPE’s Media Networks growth driven by GSN and India, somewhat offset by TEN Sports, will be among the largest factors that will impact performance positively for fiscal 2018. The company forecasts 28 percent growth in operating income to $359 million in FY-18 from $280 million in fiscal 2017 for SPE. Sony Pictures Network India (SPN India) is a part of SPE.

    Sony has planned strategies for growth of its SPE group in fiscal 2018. These include implementing turnaround for its Motion Pictures segment. Sony Corp reported a steep drop in operating income for fiscal 017, which it says was mainly due to the US$962 million (¥112.1 billion yen) impairment charge of goodwill recorded in the Motion Pictures segment.

    For SPE’s Television Production segment, Sony plans to maintain and strengthen relationships with top content producers and major networks, while for SPE’s Media Networks segment Sony plans to generate stable profit through recurring revenue business model.

    In FY-17, Sales for the SPE decreased 3.7 percent (a 5 percent increase on a U.S. dollar basis) primarily due to the impact of the appreciation of the yen against the U.S. dollar. The increase in sales on a US dollar basis was primarily due to higher sales for Television Productions and Media Networks. Sales for Television Productions increased primarily due to higher subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) licensing revenues. The increase in sales for Media Networks was due to higher advertising and subscription revenues mainly in India, Latin America and the US says the company.

    The company has also announced Anthony Vinciquerra as chairman and CEO of SPE effective 1 June 2017.

  • Sony only media & broadcast co. among Aon’s best employers’ list in India, employee engagement up at 81%

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks (SPN), India’s leading media conglomerate has been selected to join the elite list of Aon Best Employers India in the 2017 edition. SPN is the only media and broadcast network to be featured amongst this year’s top 19 companies across various industries. The Best Employers Study by Aon is one of the most prominent annual workplace studies covering over 800,000 employees across 6,400 global organisations.

    Sony Pictures Networks (SPN), India’s leading media conglomerate has been selected to join the elite list of Aon Best Employers India in the 2017 edition. SPN is the only media and broadcast network to be featured amongst this year’s top 19 companies across various industries.

    The Best Employers Study by Aon is one of the most prominent annual workplace studies covering over 800,000 employees across 6,400 global organizations. This study aims to get insights into companies that are creating real competitive advantage via their people practices, explores what makes a workplace of choice and identifies the best employers across regions.

    Based on the principles of measuring the people environment through the lens of ‘Intent-Design-Experience’, The Best Employer Study measures and recognizes employer excellence to learn and share best practices across companies and industries.

    Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) is honoured to receive this recognition and feature in this year’s list of Best Employers. The award was presented by Sandeep Chaudhary, CEO, Aon India to Smriti Krishna Singh, CHRO, SPN.

    The evaluation process involved rigorous assessment of each participant organization on critical aspects of organizational health and an independent selection by a very distinguished jury, comprising of eminent industry stalwarts like Ms. Chanda Kocchar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank Ltd, Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan, Professor IIM-Bangalore, Mr. Leo Puri, MD, UTI Asset Management Company, Dr. Omkar Goswami, Founder & Chairman, CERG Advisory and Mr. Sanjiv Mehta, CEO & MD, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

    At SPN, employee engagement stacks up at 81%, placing SPN in the top quartile of companies in India. The company places significant emphasis on values and culture and fosters an environment of transparency and empowerment. Incentivizing innovation, fostering high potential talent through focused development programs and driving a culture of creativity are some noteworthy initiatives that SPN implements to engage, motivate and retain its employees.

    NP Singh, CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN): “This recognition of our unique workplace and exceptional people practices is a matter of immense pride for all of us. This win is also a testament to the confidence our employees have in the organization. The experience we deliver, the strength and equity of our brand and the primary reason for our current and future success is because of our people. I am confident that with such an engaged team, there is no limit to what we can achieve together.”

    Smriti K. Singh, CHRO, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN): “We are in the business of entertainment and our people play a critical role in delivering value to viewers, advertisers and distributors. The engagement of our people has a direct correlation to their passion, innovation and creativity and that in turn has a direct impact on our business. Our people give us our competitive advantage and our talent practices and culture are geared towards maintaining and growing this advantage giving us the best team in the industry. We will continue in our efforts to create fulfilling career experiences for our employees that place them at the very heart of our business.”

  • Sony & WWE to host Superstars ‘The New Day’ from 10 May, Kingston & Big E on Extraaa Innings

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) and WWE are hosting the WWE Tag Team, ‘The New Day’ in India this week, to meet WWE’s incredible Indian fans and take part in an exclusive local sport event.

    The WWE Superstars, Kofi Kingston and Big E, will be in Mumbai from Wednesday, May 10 to Friday, May 12. As part of the three-day tour, the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of all time will appear on Extraaa Innings T20, bringing together the best of sports and entertainment culture. In addition, fans across the city will get a chance to meet and greet their heroes.

    Rajesh Kaul, President, Sports and Distribution, Sony Pictures Networks India: “We are excited to host the WWE Superstars, Kofi Kingston & Big E of The New Day in India. SPN’s partnership with WWE will give our viewers the opportunity to see The

    New Day on SPN’s flagship show. Our aim at the sports cluster of SPN is to present the appeal of WWE to a broader fan base. WWE continues to enthral viewers with its characters, storylines and its marquee events, and we are giving our viewers a first-hand experience of WWE with The New Day’s visit to India.”

    Sheetesh Srivastava, Vice President & General Manager, WWE India: “Indians are passionate about great sports and entertainment, from the thrilling, non-stop action of the Indian Premier League, to the dramatic storytelling and elaborate productions of Bollywood movies. We are sure that The New Day will experience the essence of Indian culture during this visit.

    Ed Wells, Executive Vice President, WWE International: WWE offers a unique combination of thrilling live action and physical stunts, woven into incredible dramatic storylines and performed by larger-than-life characters like WWE Superstars Kofi Kingston and Big E. WWE fans in India experience the unique combination of sports and entertainment, enjoying the very best of both worlds.”

    The New Day comprises WWE Superstars Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods, and the trio now performs as part of the SmackDown® brand. Fans can tune in to SmackDown locally every Wednesday at 5:30 AM on Ten 2, with additional airings later in the day at 5:00 PM on Ten 1 channel.

    The New Day are two-time WWE Tag Team Champions, with their second reign being the longest for any tag team champions in WWE history at 483 days.

  • ‘Refreshed’ Sony Mix aims to bring in more fluidity and minimalism, says Vyas

    MUMBAI: Sony MIX, the dedicated Hindi music and entertainment channel from Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), has unveiled its renewed brand look, including a modernised and simplified design, marking six glorious years of operations in India. The new look reflects the channel’s timeless vision of being the most music-centered destination on Indian television. The new channel elements were rolled out on 1 May, 2017.

    The fresh play out strategy reinforces the channel’s promise of more variety for everybody in a household and more music than any other music channel. As part of the refreshed look, viewers will now enjoy an enhanced visual experience of music in full screen for daypart ‘Raina Beeti Jaye’ and contemporary music. The audience can also look forward to the return of The Jam Room, MIX Solos and Raina Beeti Jaye- Jashn in the coming weeks.

    Sony MIX boasts of the largest library in Hindi music genre with content from the top 8 music labels as it successfully caters to young audiences as well as those who are young at heart. The channel’s focus on music from across eras is reinforced with its unique three focused day parts – with music from the DDLJ era to music for the 15-21 year old age group in the evenings, to retaining the timeless classics from retro eras in the night.

    Sony Pictures Networks India Sr EVP & Business Head, Hindi Music Cluster and Hindi Movies Cluster- Neeraj Vyas said: “Over the last six years, Sony MIX has been one of the leaders in India’s music and entertainment industry. Through its pioneering informative and mood-based programming, the music channel has set itself up as a destination dedicated to music in India. Our refreshed look, retains the brand colours that represent ‘Sapt Sur’, with a contemporary touch to stay attuned to the present times. The fresh packaging aims to bring in more fluidity and minimalism to enhance our viewer’s visual experience.”

    Over its glorious six-year journey, Sony MIX has maintained an undeterred focus on content by producing a wide variety of packaged show offerings; right from user generated content to people profiles and factoids executed in the most unmistakably musical fashion.

  • 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!”

  • Smart STB: Videocon d2h partners SonyLiv

    MUMBAI: Videocon d2h, one of the fastest growing DTH service provider in India, has signed a deal with SonyLIV for its HD Smart Connect Set Top Box. This partnership will enable Videocon d2h’s HD Smart Connect Set Top Box customers to access a seamless broad selection of content available on SonyLIV app.

    SonyLIV, which is the first premium Video On Demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN), will enrich Videocon d2h’s customers with an array of movies, strong line-up of events across all sports, shows, music, TV Shows and much more.

    SonyLIV can be accessed through all Web Apps button on Videocon d2h’s HD Smart Connect Set Top Box. The Smart Connect Set Top Box works on connectivity management platform to deliver a variety of connected services that leaves the customer with wide choice for entertainment.

    HD SMART Set top Box (Connected Set top box) converts any existing TV into a Smart TV besides showing you 650 Channels & services in High Definition and Standard Definition. The DTH service allows one to watch their favourite channels in SD and HD, the Connected set top box allows one to browse content from applications residing on STB. These Applications will enhance the pleasure of accessing content on a bigger screen thus making it a family event rather than solo watching on a smaller screen. HD Smart Set Top Box will work as a tool for personalization, engagement and new customer experiences and with internet connectivity, one can convert one’s TV into a smart TV using it.

    Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot said, “This collaboration would strengthen the entertainment apps available on our HD Smart Connect and provide our customers with a large range of entertainment.’’

    Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera said, “Our partnership with Sony LIV is yet another step towards creating the highest-quality consumer experience. Innovative products like HD Smart Connect and rich entertainment content available delights next generation users. Our focused approach strives for delivering exceptional content and customer delight.’’

    Sony Pictures Networks India EVP and Head – Digital Business Uday Sodhi said, “Through this synergistic association, we will be entertaining and engaging the audience with the rich content portfolio that SonyLIV showcases. The partnership allows us to deliver a superior entertainment experience to Indian audiences across genres and multiple screens, and live up to our brand promise of ‘We LIV to Entertain’.”