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Tag: Star India

  • BARC week 30: Dangal pips pay channels to head all platforms across genres list

    BARC week 30: Dangal pips pay channels to head all platforms across genres list

    BENGALURU: Enterr 10 Television’s free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC headed Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s (BARC) list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 30 of 2019 (Saturday, 20 July 2019 to Friday, 26 July 2019, week under review).  As a matter of fact, Dangal was the only FTA channel in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres, a list which quite obviously was a skewed image starting rank 2 onward of BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres for the first nine ranks. BARC also lists out the top 11 free channels across genres every week. This report covers the former two lists.

    Top 10 channels on all platforms and Top 11 pay channels across genres

    Six Hindi GECs, two Tamil GECs and one channel each from the Hindi movies and Telugu genres comprise BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms. There were three channels each from the Star India Network and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN), and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, Sun TV Network, Network18-Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) in BARC’s across genres on all platforms for week 30 of 2019.

    In comparison, there were five Hindi GECs, two channels each from the Tamil and Telugu genres and one channel each from the Hindi movies and Kannada genres in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were three channels each from Star India and SPN, two channels each from Zeel and Netwrok18-Viacom18 and one channel from the Sun TV Network.

    As mentioned above, Dangal headed BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres in week 30 of 2019. The channel climbed up one place to first rank with 866.547 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 from second rank and 781.501 million weekly impressions in week 29. Dangal retained first spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 with 665.082 million weekly impressions as compared to 589.591 million weekly impressions in week 29. Dangal was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking market HSM (U+R) as well as in HSM (R) and was ranked sixth in HSM (U). Dangal also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 8 free Hindi GECs during the week under review.

    Slipping to second rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and retaining first rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 was the Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV with 852.575 million weekly impressions as compared to 863.550 million weekly impressions in week 29 in both the across genres lists. Sun TV also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

    Climbing up to third place in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to second spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels was Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa in week 30 of 2019 with 789.084 million weekly impressions as compared to 683.816 million weekly impressions in week 29 in both the across genres lists. Star Maa was ranked fifth and fourth in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres respectively in week 29. Star Maa also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana market.

    Dropping a place to fourth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to third spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels was Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus.  The channel garnered 775.771 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 708.740 million weekly impressions in week 29. Star Plus scored 773.598 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to 708.740 million weekly impressions. Star Plus was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) market list, fourth in the HSM (R) list and was ranked first in the HSM (U) list in week 30 of 2019. Further, Star Plus headed BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi pay GECs during the week under review.

    Also dropping a place to fifth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and falling a place to fourth spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV. Zee TV scored 728.652 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres in week 30 of 2019 as compared to fourth rank and 693.440 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Zee TV had 726.127 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to third rank and 691.204 million weekly impressions in week 29.  Zee TV was ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U). Zee TV was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    SPN’s Hindi GEC Sony Sab climbed a place to sixth rank from seventh rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to fifth place from sixth spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres. Sony Sab garnered 581.451 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres during the period under review as compared to 551.715 million weekly impressions in week 29. Sony Sab had 577.502 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to 547.408 million weekly impressions in week 29. Sony Sab was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R), second in HSM (U) sixth in HSM (R). Sony Sab was ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    Star India’s flagship Tamil GEC Star Vijay also climbed a place to seventh rank from eighth rank in and BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and from seventh to sixth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019. The channel garnered 554.680 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres as compared to 531.446 million weekly impressions in the previous week. In BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay channels across genres, Star Vijay scored 554.672 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 531.446 million weekly impressions in week 29. Star Vijay was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

    Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors dropped to eight place from sixth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and from fifth to seventh rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019. Colors garnered 552.502 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres as compared to 563.058 million weekly impressions in week 29. In BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019, Colors scored 550.042 million weekly impressions as compared to 558.873 million weekly impressions in week 29.  Colors was ranked fifth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM(U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U). Colors was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television or SET climbed a rank to ninth place from tenth place in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to eighth rank from ninth spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019.  SET scored 532.703 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres as compared to 504.481 million weekly impressions in week 29. In BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019, SET scored 531.357 million weekly impressions as compared to 502.417 million weekly impressions in week 29. SET was ranked sixth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R), seventh in HSM (R) and fourth in HSM (U). SET was placed fifth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    SPN’s Hindi movies channel Sony Max dropped a place to tenth rank from ninth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to ninth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 from eighth spot  in week 29. Sony Max scored 501.292 million weekly impressions during the period under review as compared to 504.481 million weekly impressions in week 29 in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres. Sony Max garnered 499.359 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to 519.990 million weekly impressions in week 29. Sony Max was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi movies channels in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) and second in HSM (R). Sony Max was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 pay Hindi movies channels in week 30 of 2019.

    Entering BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres at rank 10 was Zeel’s flagship Kannada GEC Zee Kannada with 467.511 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019. Zee Kannada was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Kannada channels in the Karnataka market.

    The Network18-Viacom18 related Telugu GEC ETV Telugu also entered BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres at rank 11 with 450.861 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019. ETV Telugu was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana market.

  • Dish TV pays Star India Rs 55 crore in line with TDSAT order

    Dish TV pays Star India Rs 55 crore in line with TDSAT order

    MUMBAI: Leading direct-to-home (DTH) operator Dish TV paid Star India Rs 55 crore adhering to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) order dated 23 July. The tribunal, in its 29 July order, also noted that Star India has admitted and acknowledged the payment.

    TDSAT had earlier directed Dish TV to pay Rs 55 crore to the broadcaster by 27 July in order to avoid disconnection of signals. Star India issued a disconnection notice against Dish TV on 3 July and also filed a recovery petition in the TDSAT.

    "We had clearly indicated in the last order that further protection to be given to the petitioner against the notice of disconnection will depend upon its commitment to take care of the current outstanding dues of every succeeding month," TDSAT said in its latest order.

    Learned senior counsel for Dish TV also submitted that the company is ready to undertake payment of current invoices as per the agreement. It has also been recorded that the invoices for the month of June has already been raised and is payable by 10 August.

    “Petitioner should pay against that invoices within time. In a similar fashion, the current dues of every succeeding month shall be paid by the petitioner by the due date if it wants to have the interim protection during the pendency of this petition,” the order read.

    While Dish TV wanted to clear the remaining dues of Rs 195 crore in not two but minimum five instalments of Rs 40 crore each, Star India strongly protested against this offer. TDSAT is also of the view that admitted dues should not remain unpaid for such a long time because it is likely to affect the business of the respondent. The tribunal expects the petitioner to clear the outstanding arrears as noted above in approximately equal instalments by the end of this October.

    “By the next date petitioner must show its bonafide by paying Rs 65 crore by end of August towards the liquidation of said arrears.  This is in addition to the payment for the current dues. If the petitioner fulfils this condition and makes the payment within time, the impugned notice shall not be given effect to till the next date,” the order stated. 

    TDSAT posted the matter under the same head to 4 October.

  • Star India ropes in Marico’s Anuradha Aggarwal to head English and kids genres

    Star India ropes in Marico’s Anuradha Aggarwal to head English and kids genres

    MUMBAI: As per media reports, former Marico CMO Anuradha Aggarwal will be joining Star India to head the English and kids channels for the broadcaster. It is going to be her first stint in the broadcast industry.

    Aggarwal, who had left Marico in October last year, comes with almost two decades of experience in marketing in the FMCG category. She has earlier worked with brands like Mondelez and Vodafone India. She had started her career with HUL and had spent initial 12 years of her professional life in the company. She was the category marketing manager for hair care when she had resigned from there.

    Aggarwal holds a PGDBM degree in Marketing Management from IIM Bangalore and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics Honours from Lady Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University.

  • Star India launches Disney kids pack for its young viewers

    Star India launches Disney kids pack for its young viewers

    Mumbai: Star India has launched a new campaign to announce their Disney Kids Pack, following the success of the Star Value Pack. The kids pack includes four television channels – Disney Channel, Hungama, Marvel HQ and Disney Junior. These channels will be distributed by Star India. The campaign brings to light a very strong insight on the television viewing habits of families in India and highlights the need for kids to watch content that is tailor-made for them.

    The 35 seconder film starts off with a mother questioning her 6-year old daughter about her missing science book and the girl immediately reacts like a stereotype antagonist from a soap opera; indicating her television consumption is restricted to adult series.

    The film gives a sneak peek into the lives of millions of families in modern day India; where kids are consuming adult targeted content. Most parents are unaware of the implications of this and kids make do with the content that their parents choose for them. This TVC delivers a hard-hitting message that focuses on repercussions of having kids watch adult content; in a very light-hearted, funny and entertaining manner. It addresses the need for parents to be responsible and make the right entertainment choice for their kids. It also reflects on the importance of retaining their childhood and innocence by having them watch age-appropriate content that is specially curated for them by the Disney Kids Network.

    The Kids Network brings together a wide array of global and homegrown storytelling in a manner that is relevant to kids. Reaching out to an age-group of 2-14, the four channels cater to age-specific entertainment needs of kids across various languages.

    “With the success of the Star Value pack, we are delighted to offer a special Disney kids pack for our younger audiences. The kids’ network has consistently been offering stories and characters that the kids love and parents trust. With the growing need to address their entertainment requirements in an environment that is considered safe, we hope our audiences continue to choose us as their preferred partner and with this pack, bring the magic of Disney into the lives of their kids,” said a spokesperson from Star India.

    The campaign is conceptualized by the in-house creative team. The TVC was launched across the Disney India social media platforms and has been garnering a phenomenal response across audiences. The sentiments have been largely positive with audiences acknowledging the relevance of the message in their lives.

    Star India has priced the Disney Kids Pack at INR 10 and the channels are also available on à la carte basis.

  • Star India’s Preeti Puri Sharma steps down as vice president PR

    Star India’s Preeti Puri Sharma steps down as vice president PR

    MUMBAI: Star India’s Preeti Puri Sharma has put in her papers, Indiantelevision.com has learnt. Friday will be her last day at the company, wrapping up a six-year association.

    At Star India, Sharma was responsible for the development and delivery of strategic communication plans, managing the external voice of the company with the media and driving publicity to support the organisation’s products and services across lines of businesses.

    During her stint at Star India, Sharma played a key role in the successful launches of channels as well as Hotstar, the company’s streaming service, across digital and traditional media.

    Sharma has over 18 years of experience giving her in-depth insight into the process of brand building and positioning. She has worked with media and entertainment conglomerates in various capacities. In her earlier stint at Reliance BIG Pictures (2008 – 2010), she set up the corporate communications and public relations division, led the communications strategy for the roll-out of the company’s partnership with leading Hollywood studios and film production houses and also drove PR for more than a dozen Indian movies. 

    She had a similar role and responsibility at UTV Software Communications (2006 – 2008), where she set up the corporate communications and PR division and spearheaded five business verticals – motion pictures, gaming, interactive, broadcast and TV content production. She also successfully handled the listing of UTV’s motion picture business at the London Stock Exchange.

    Sharma has spent over seven years in PR agencies, managing more than 100 brands from manufacturing to consumer products to services.

    In her last agency role as a senior account director at Edelman India, she handled the complete mandate for TATA Consumer Products.

  • Star India extends partner health insurance cover, parental leave benefits to LGBT+ employees

    Star India extends partner health insurance cover, parental leave benefits to LGBT+ employees

    MUMBAI: Celebrating diversity and inclusion is at the core of Star India’s vision, mission and values. The company’s on-going focus on creating a truly inclusive culture where all individuals can bring their authentic selves to work reaches an important milestone this July.

    Effective July 1, Star India will extend health insurance cover to the partners of LGBT+ employees. All existing employee benefits around Maternity and Paternity, IVF, Surrogacy and Adoption is applicable to the LGBT+ employees. 

    Amita Maheshwari, Head of Human Resources, APAC, DTCI, The Walt Disney Company, said, “At Star, we believe that our people are happiest when they can bring their authentic self to work. Since our inception, diversity and inclusion have been our biggest strengths. It helps us build enduring characters, rich stories and imagine more possibilities… We respect each individual’s diverse perspectives to foster a truly inclusive culture.”

    Star India has always been progressively cutting-edge and ahead of the curve on its employee benefits. Star was one of the first organizations to offer ‘6+6 months’ maternity leave program, 4 weeks of paternity leave, and a flexible leave policy that allows its employees to take as many days of paid leave as they need – recognizing the individual’s desire for flexibility.

  • Star Sports Marathi to launch on 15 July

    Star Sports Marathi to launch on 15 July

    MUMBAI: Star India will be launching its next sports regional offering in the form of Star Sports Marathi. The sports channel is set to launch on 15 July.

    Viewers who wish to opt for the channel can get it for Rs 19.

    A tweet shared by the company's official handle said: "Star Sports 1 Marathi will launch on July 15. Please contact your service provider regarding its availability." 

    A while ago, Star Sports received clearances from the ministry to launch its regional sports channels. 

    Soon after it renamed Star Movies Kids and Star Movies Kids HD as Star Sports 1 Bangla and Star Sports 1 Marathi. Star Sports 1 Bangla was launched on 5 March with an a-la-carte price of Rs 19.

    Going regional has been a strategy that Star India has adopted, especially for its sports channels. Now it has a total of six regional channels including Tamil, 

  • Star India’s Gayatri Yadav steps down as president & head – consumer strategy and innovation

    Star India’s Gayatri Yadav steps down as president & head – consumer strategy and innovation

    MUMBAI: Gayatri Yadav, one of Star India’s most important executives, has decided to move on. Indiantelevision.com, through multiple sources, has learnt that September will be Gayatri’s last month with the organisation post which she is likely to pursue her entrepreneurial venture.

    “Yes. This is to confirm Gayatri, who has had a long and fruitful association with Star India, is moving on. We wish her all the best in her new venture,” a Disney spokesperson told Indiantelevision.com

    As president and head consumer strategy and innovation, Gayatri’s mandate was to drive future growth on the back of brand and marketing strategy and big data and analytics.

    Having joined the Star network in 2011 as marketing head, Gayatri has been the force behind some of Star’s most crucial and memorable campaigns and shows like the launch of Satyamev Jayate, the refresh and expansion of Star Sports, marketing launch of its streaming service Hotstar and crafting the Nayi Soch brand plan on Star Plus.

    More recently, under her leadership, Star India was first off the blocks among all major broadcasters to unleash a nation-wide marketing blitzkrieg to announce new channel pricing and packs under TRAI’s new tariff regime.

    Gayatri has over 20 years of experience in marketing across consumer products and media. She started her career at Procter and Gamble in brand management working across categories and brands and later joined General Mills where as chief marketing officer she was responsible for launching Pillsbury and mounting a strong and distinguished portfolio of brands creating various categories in the then budding packaged foods market.

  • India’s sports broadcasting ecosystem threatened by ‘motivated’ PILs

    India’s sports broadcasting ecosystem threatened by ‘motivated’ PILs

    MUMBAI: On 10 May 2019, the Delhi High Court issued a notice in a petition challenging Section 3 (1) of the Sports Broadcasting Signal (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007, which restricts the retransmission of live broadcasting signals of sporting events of national importance by Prasar Bharati only on its terrestrial and DTH (DD Free Dish) networks.

    The petitioner Vaibhav Jain had sought that the DD signals should also be carried on digital platforms so that viewers can access the ongoing cricket World Cup matches shown on Doordarshan channels on a free-to-air basis. Despite the petitioner’s lawyer insisting that some order be passed for the upcoming World Cup, the Court denied relief and listed the matter for 22 July, a week after the World Cup concludes.

    A similar petition has also been filed by one Ramesh Kumar in the Punjab & Haryana High Court. According to the PIL, the petitioner is a driver by profession and neither has access to cable and DTH networks nor owns a TV, and hence is unable to exercise his right to access sporting events of national importance on a free-to-air basis.

    Those following the matter closely believe some vested interest groups are misusing the PILs to circumvent the orders of the Supreme Court to amend the Sports Act, which is not only against the interest of India's sports broadcasters but also detrimental to building a self-sustainable sports ecosystem in the country.

    The Delhi HC PIL is the first challenge made to Section 3 (1) after the judgment passed in August 2017 by the SC which affirmed the Delhi High Court judgment and held that the live feed received by the public broadcaster from content right owners or holder is only for the purpose of retransmission on its own terrestrial and DTH networks and not to private cable operators.

    The top court had clarified that sharing of signal with Doordarshan was to provide sporting content access to consumers who did not have it and not those who have already subscribed to private cable networks.

    A similar interpretation of Section 3 (1) was offered by an earlier judgment of the SC in 2016, holding that Prasar Bharati was supposed to telecast sporting events for the benefit of general masses, who otherwise do not receive signals of private channel due to geographical remoteness or are lacking the financial capacity to pay for these channels.

    However, Section 8 of the Cable Television Networks Act makes it mandatory for all cable operators to carry two Doordarshan channels. This meant cable operators got access to the broadcast of sporting events through two avenues: through the channels of Star or Sony, or other sports broadcasters, for which they have to pay subscription fees, and via the channels of Doordarshan, which are free.

    In the recent consultation by MIB for extending mandatory sharing to private platforms, many sports federations including the AIFF (football), AITA (lawn tennis) among others argued that public interest is better served in ensuring that funds for sports development are generated by sale of media rights and extending mandatory sharing across all platforms will sound a death knell to sports funding.

    For instance, the Indian Olympic Association’s feedback on the proposed amendment read, “It dents the commercial model of sports broadcast as buying of exclusive rights of sporting event, especially the Olympics Games and delivering it in world-class quality incurs very high investment for the private broadcasters in India. Competitive bidding of broadcast rights is imperative to up-keep the Olympic movement’s efforts to support sports and athletes. Besides, the niche sports that do not yield space in television broadcast unlike the popular sports of football, cricket, kabaddi, etc use new technologies and internet. Olympic Channel is also promoting the popularity of various sports through its network, which could be affected by the new amendment.”

    Legal experts are of the view that in light of the Supreme Court judgment, as long as Section 3 (1) of the Sports Act stands in its present form, no court is likely to grant any interim relief permitting retransmission on private networks and digital platform. 

    An industry insider, who wished to remain anonymous, indicated that sports content gives immense bargaining power to sports broadcasters and therefore, challenge to Section 3 (1) becomes important so as to restore the balance in favour of cable operators.

    The outcome of challenge raised before the Delhi and Punjab High Courts will determine whether sports rights continue to remain viable considering that a successful challenge before the Courts would result in retransmission of sporting events by private cable and DTH operators along with the same being available for online streaming on a free-to-air basis.

  • ICC World Cup 2019, India vs West Indies: TV listing, live streaming, date, time

    ICC World Cup 2019, India vs West Indies: TV listing, live streaming, date, time

    MUMBAI: India take on the mercurial West Indies side in Match 34 of the 2019 ICC World Cup. The Men in Blue are flying in the tournament with four wins and a draw in their five matches. West Indies have been inconsistent in the tournament with 4 defeats, one win, and a draw. India are overwhelming favourites to win the contest. West Indies will aim to put up a solid show against what many call is the best team in the tournament.

    Where will the 2019 ICC World Cup match between India vs West Indies take place?

    The India vs West Indies 2019 ICC World Cup match will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester

    What time will the ICC World Cup 2019 match between  India vs West Indies commence?

    The ICC World Cup 2019 match between India and West Indies starts at 3 pm IST on 27 June (Thursday).

    Which TV channels will broadcast the India vs West Indies match?

    You can watch the India vs West Indies contest live on the Star Sports network

    How can I live stream the  India vs West Indies match?

    You can live stream the India vs West Indies match on Star India’s streaming service Hotstar.