ITV

Tag: Star India

  • Star ropes in Amitabh Bachchan as host for ‘Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi’

    Star ropes in Amitabh Bachchan as host for ‘Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi’

    MUMBAI: The “Nau Baj Gaye Kya?” question way back in the year 2000 is imprinted in the minds of one and all. That was when megastar Amitabh Bachchan came on the small screen for the first time to host Kaun Banega Crorepati for Star Plus. The show re-wrote Indian television history. Now, after a span of almost 15 years, Star India and Bachchan have come together again.

     

    Come October and the channel is once again looking at changing the grammar of creativity and entertain and inspire a nation with Bachchan in a never-been-seen avatar. This time round, Bachchan will be seen hosting a new show on Star Plus called Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi, which is an adaptation of the British series Tonight’s The Night, which is aired on BBC One. The show will also be made available on hotstar.

     

    BBC One’s Tonight’s The Night is a series combining show-stopping acts from world-class artists with once-in-a-lifetime performances that make people’s dreams come true. The BBC One show is hosted by actor and singer John Barrowman.

     

    Star India CEO Said Uday Shankar said, “Our vision has been to inspire a billion imaginations and we have aimed to do that with every content offering we bring forth as a network. With Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi, we have once again collaborated with the biggest superstar of the country Amitabh Bachchan for a unique project on Indian television that will not only entertain but also inspire individuals and leave them with a reason to smile.”

     

    Bachchan added, “Having started my television journey with Star India, I was always looking to associate with Star Plus again. However, I was keen that we come together for a befitting show that carries forward the legacy. When I heard about Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi, I instantly connected with it. I genuinely believe that media is a powerful vehicle to inspire change but we have to achieve this in an entertaining manner. What I love about this show is that it is a thoroughly entertaining show, but has its heart in the right place. I am really looking forward to it.”

     

    The first promo of the show featuring Bachchan is out on hotstar, where he can be seen in an elevator clapping his way to happiness and dancing to the tunes of peppy beats in Macarena like dance steps.

     

    Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi has brought on Maruti Suzuki as the presenting sponsor, whereas Cadburys Dairy Milk is the powered by sponsor.

     

  • BECIL to audit Mumbai’s Home Systems, Star directed not to disconnect signals: TDSAT

    BECIL to audit Mumbai’s Home Systems, Star directed not to disconnect signals: TDSAT

    NEW DELHI: The Broadcasting Engineering Consultants (India) Ltd (BECIL) has been directed to examine the headend of Mumbai’s Home Systems Pvt Ltd following a petition filed by it against Star India.

     

    Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava said BECIL will find out whether the Conditional Access System (CAS) and the Subscribers Management System (SMS) at the petitioner’s headend are properly integrated on the date of the audit.

     

    It would also examine, on the basis of the historical data available in the system, whether the systems were properly integrated during the period April 2014 to November 2014, when the commercial audit was made by Star.

     

    It will be open to the Star to submit to BECIL the report of its audit and the data collected from the Home System in course of the audit. Home Systems will bear the cost of the audit.

     

    It is expected that the BECIL will submit its report to the Tribunal within four weeks and so the case has been listed for 6 November.

     

    The petition had been filed by Home Systems against a disconnection notice issued by Star India based on non-payment of dues. The dues are under two heads – one relates to the licence fee and the other relates to the demand made by Star on the basis of a commercial audit of the petitioner’s headend. The licence fee dues as shown in the notice amount to Rs 56 lakh.

     

    After the notice Home Systems paid a sum of Rs 27,37,690 and according to it, the licence fee dues upto 31 August amounts to Rs 26,74,536, apart from the fee for September. 

     

    According to Star, in course of audit it was found that at the petitioner’s headend the CAS and the SMS were not properly integrated and hence, the data generated by SNS was incorrect. Home Systems disputed this.

  • Star India ropes in AIB for news comedy series

    Star India ropes in AIB for news comedy series

    MUMBAI: Star India has roped in India’s premier comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB) for new news comedy series called On Air with AIB.

     

    The show will go on air in October and have 10 English and 10 Hindi episodes. It will first release on Star’s OTT platform Hotstar, followed by weekend airing on Star World and Star Plus.

     

    All four members of AIB – Gursimran Khamba, Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya synchronously said, “We have no idea why anyone in their right minds would ask us to inflict our views on unsuspecting audiences. Also, we live in such a perfect country where everything is amazing and where the maddening, infuriating and often silly state of affairs is not a comedic goldmine, so why would you have us do news comedy? But we’re doing this because we want to see what it’s like to be on a show that requires us to put on pants.”

     

    Taking a cue from insult comedy, which AIB is infamous for, Star India CEO Uday Shankar added, “I am told that based on extensive, exhaustive research, AIB are considered mildly entertaining and we should give them a show on our network. I have complete faith that we will regret this in the months to come.”       

     

    Star India digital head Ajit Mohan said, “We are sort of excited to bring AIB’s brand of mature humor to our platform. This may be the start of a new era of quality content in India, I am told. Janta hamein maaf karein.” 

     

    On Air with AIB will be a weekly series with English and Hindi episodes dropping simultaneously on Hotstar on Thursdays and on Star World and Star Plus on Sundays.

  • Star eyes $500 million revenue from entertainment & sports by 2018: John Nallen

    Star eyes $500 million revenue from entertainment & sports by 2018: John Nallen

    MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is relying heavily on its subsidiary Star to lead its international growth.

     

    Explaining how Star’s growing entertainment ad revenues makes it a key player in the company’s plans to focus internationally, 21st Century Fox chief financial officer (CFO) John Nallen said, “One of the top priorities, uniquely for us is international. We’ve got a particular focus on growth outside the US. We continue to harness the assets we have in Star, FIC (Fox International Channels) and in Sky but we continue to be opportunistic to the extent we can outside the US.”

     

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, this falls in line with a recent Morgan Stanley report that valued Star TV at $11.2 billion, where $300 million is the network’s gross revenue from entertainment business as of June 2015.

     

    Given the growth rate, Nallen anticipates that number to reach $500 million by 2018. “We feel confident about the $500 million target for 2018,” he said.

     

    It may be recalled that earlier this year, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch had said that Star India is likely to earn operating income of $1 billion by 2020.

     

    The growth, according to him, is coming from two factors – entertainment and sports. “The first is the continued growth of the entertainment business, which is the hallmark of the Star business. We get 23-24 per cent market share every night. It’s a market that is growing. In the last six months TV ad market grew 21 per cent, we over-indexed because of our strength,” said Nallen.

     

    While entertainment continues to be a source of revenue for Star, its sports section is doing equally well. Seeing the prospects the company had earlier made its biggest sports investment by launching six sports channels with Star, which paid off for the network as “an enormous viewing success.”

     

    Nallen, who was speaking on the company’s business strategy for the next couple of years, at an industry summit, also pointed out on the company’s strong focus on expanding its international reach and growth through Star TV. “Top opportunity continues to be international, led by Star, which clearly is going to lead a lot of our international growth,” he said.

     

    Calling its Indian subsidiary – Star India, an undervalued asset, Nallen pointed out the growth statistic predicted from Star, which rides on the network’s continued success rate in the entertainment section, unlike the parent company’s recent experience of the same in the US.

     

    “Our ad growth in the US is coming from news and sports, and not from entertainment. If you take our total revenue, roughly 30 per cent of it comes from advertising. Two thirds of that advertising total comes from news, sports and international. The place that we are focusing on and the place people feel more vulnerable is entertainment advertising in the US. That’s the rest of the one third left,” Nallen said.

     

    Additionally, Nallen also clarified that Fox has no plans of further incremental investment in Star this year. “Not much more investment (in Star). This year we grew the investment because we extended one of the sports franchises that we started, the local Kabaddi sport that has turned into a phenomenon in India. There is not a massive new incremental investment that we need for Star,” Nallen informed.

  • Hotstar unveils original talk show with Malishka as host

    Hotstar unveils original talk show with Malishka as host

    MUMBAI: Star India’s OTT platform Hotstar, which tasted success on two of its original shows for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 – One Tip One Hand and Juicy Half Volley, is now planning to launch another original show.

     

    RJ Malishka has been roped in to host a 60-minute Hotstar original talk show called M Bole Toh.

     

    Kickstarting the series with actors Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan, the show will offer quirky conversations between the three on topics ranging from relationships to marriage to what being ‘good friends’ in the industry means. Ranaut and Khan will be seen in the upcoming film Katti Batti.

     

    During the show, Malishka will chat with stars who will share funny behind-the-scene anecdotes and pranks as well as offer insights into their personal lives. The host will also nudge the guests into spilling their hidden secrets through gripping, fun conversations and games with healthy dollops of madness.

     

    M Bole Toh will cater to the ever-growing demands of Bollywood fans, which are always keen on knowing more about stars.

  • ‘What’s Wrogn With Virat?’ asks exclusive video on hotstar!

    ‘What’s Wrogn With Virat?’ asks exclusive video on hotstar!

    MUMBAI: Using exclusive content to drive interest, engagement and conversations amongst the digitally active, premium young audiences on mobile, India’s largest digital content platform, hotstar, has now added an exclusive video with Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli and cricket lovers.

     

    The video is now live and available exclusively to the users of hotstar, which has raced to over 25 million downloads within just over 7 months of its launch.

     

    Cheekily entitled What’s Wrogn With Virat?, the video offers several never-seen-before, humorous and heartwarming takes on India’s batting sensation and heartthrob of the nation, Virat Kohli.  It begins with  young cricket fans sharing their opinions on a variety of topics like what they feel is wrong with Virat, their take on his aggressive play on the field, Virat as a captain, who between Dhoni and Virat is the better captain, the position Virat should bat on, the strategy the Indian team should adopt, and more. Even as the youngsters freely speak their minds, they are blissfully unaware that Virat himself is watching them from the adjacent room, and reacting to each comment as only he can. Emotions hit the roof when, to the surprise and shock of the young cricket fans, Virat suddenly appears in front of them while they are in mid-sentence!

     

    The youngsters’ candid opinions and Virat’s reactions to them, and then the speakers’ own reactions when Virat walks on to the set, are what the video builds up to. The best part, of course, is the answer to the question in everyone’s mind: How will Virat react to their feedback, and how he will interact with them.

     

    To know, watch  What’s Wrogn With Virat, live now, exclusively on hotstar, the fastest grown digital content platform with a truly rich and compelling content library of over 50,000 hours from sports, TV shows,  movies, events and more in seven languages

     

    hotstar is the destination of choice for marketers and brand custodians seeking to reach its large and premium, digitally enabled and active young audiences across India. Film producers are increasingly looking at hotstar as a preferred choice for digital-first promotional content premieres for the young, upwardly mobile and discerning audiences of hotstar.

     

  • FX launches TV show ‘The Affair: A concoction of emotions’ on 4 September

    FX launches TV show ‘The Affair: A concoction of emotions’ on 4 September

    MUMBAI: FX is the only exclusive destination in India that brings to its viewers a gamut of genres with the latest of the cult and award winning shows. This year, keeping true to its word, the channel is all set to captivate its viewers with the #AllNewFX. The channel offers a fresh, cutting edge look and will now showcase over 50 of the most edgy, new and acclaimed shows across genres.

     

    The Affair (Season 1) is just one of the many shows in the brilliant line-up that FX has in store for all their viewers. The show has garnered much appreciation and won more than just viewers’ hearts. An IMDB rating of 8, 95% positive response on Rotten Tomatoes, Winner of 2 golden globe awards – Best Actress and Best Television series and Nominated for Emmy, 2015 – Best Actress (Ruth Wilson) are just a few things the show has to boast about.

     

    It depicts an emotional journey of a marriage and an extramarital relationship and a struggle to strike a balance between life and life’s responsibilities, emotions, expectations, memories and more. Between realm and dreams, what’s right and what’s not- join us to view the journey of a couple, Alison and Noah, who is striving to make things work and make ends meet while they are caught up in a roller coaster of their sentiments.

     

    The show stars Dominic West in the role of Noah Solloway – A writer and a schoolteacher; Ruth Wilson in the award winning role of Alison Lockhart – A waitress at a local diner. The story progresses to show how the two give in to an extra-marital distraction battle their moral dualities and stand at the brink of losing everything they have.

     

    Not only that, FX is all set to make the weekends even more exciting by bringing the latest seasons of new and exciting shows, right after the international telecast. Season 2 of Affair has already made it to the list and is set to air after an ecstatic season 1.

     

    Catch the captivating romantic drama of the two couples living on the edge every Mon- Fri, 10pm only on FX!

  • TDSAT adjourns Star India-Chennai LCO case following stay by Madras HC

    TDSAT adjourns Star India-Chennai LCO case following stay by Madras HC

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has been spared the onus of explaining denial of digital addressable system (DAS) licence to the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd (TACTV) following a Madras High Court order.

     

    The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) has adjourned sine die the hearing of the LCO Thamizhaga vs Star India case in which the Arasu question had arisen.

     

    The order by TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and BB Srivastava came on being informed by the Government counsel that a single judge of the High Court had on 28 August stayed the proceedings pending before the Tribunal.

     

    The Tribunal however gave liberty to the parties to bring to its notice any further development in the matter.

     

    On 14 August, TDSAT had asked the I&B Ministry to file an affidavit in a matter where the root issue was about the denial of DAS licence to TACTV. It also directed the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) to get impleaded in the case.

     

    At that time, TDSAT also said Star India, a respondent in the case filed by cable operator Thamizhaga Cable TV Communication, New Delhi, was free to negotiate with Arasu and other multi-system operators (MSOs) for areas in Chennai for DAS and outside Chennai for analogue transmission.

     

    At the same time, it said that there would be no disconnection of signals until the next date.

     

    However, the Tribunal had held that Arasu (TACTV) was guilty of transmitting television signals in Chennai – which had adopted DAS in the first phase – in analogue mode, and at the same time guilty of using Star signals in the metropolis without any authorization inter-connect agreement with Star India.

     

    The Tribunal was told by TACTV that it had applied for a DAS licence as far back as July 2012 but the government had failed to take a decision despite an order of the Madras High Court of December 2013 asking the Centre to take a decision on the application of TACTV for grant of its license “in the soonest possible time.”

     

    Noting that there is no compliance with the direction of the Court even after more than a year and half, the Tribunal had felt it was imperative to know the stand of the Government for a proper adjudication of the matter. 

     

    The Tribunal had not accepted the argument by TACTV in the last hearing that it had negotiated with Star India for the entire state since the Letter of Intent (LoI) was only for the rest of Tamil Nadu barring Chennai.

  • Star India to launch FX HD in mid September; spruce up content line-up

    Star India to launch FX HD in mid September; spruce up content line-up

    MUMBAI: As competition heats up in the English Entertainment space with the launch of Colors Infinity and Colors Infinity HD along with the recent revamp of Comedy Central, existing players are now upping their game with compelling content and HD launches.

     
    In a bid to stay ahead in the game, Star India’s English entertainment channel FX is all set to change the way Indian viewers consume content. The channel, which is undergoing a brand refresh by adding new content, will also be launching its high definition (HD) version, FX HD within the next two weeks.

     

    This year, the channel is all set to captivate viewers with the #AllNewFX by showcasing over 50 of the most edgy, new and acclaimed shows across genres.

     

    Speaking about FX, Star India English cluster business head Kevin Vaz said, “English speaking people in India are increasing at a substantial rate and therefore more and more channels are coming in. FX will be for audiences who are following English entertainment since a long time. We now have Star World, which is for family viewing, Star World Premiere – the ad free channel – will cater to premium category and with FX, we want to reach out to the top brass.”

     

    The network pulled Fox Crime off air recently. Vaz cites lack of content and not poor response as the reason for taking the channel down. “We didn’t want to mix it with other content, hence when we saw there were not enough offerings, we decided to pull the curtains down on it,” informed Vaz.

     

    Piracy often eats up a major pie of English entertainment viewership as consumers are accustomed to downloading pirated content and watching marathon episodes on their desktops and laptops. Vaz is of the opinion that accessibility can change that behaviour. “The world is now connected unlike ever before. People talk to friends in the US and want to see content with them and talk the same trend. That was not happening earlier so people resorted to downloading. Now shows will be available at the same time as the US, so I don’t see that factor being a huge obstacle,” he adds.

     

    Post the KBC and Kyunki era, Indian viewers want to consume content everyday and are not used to the concept of waiting for a week, which is a challenge, as per Vaz. Shows in the US are aired once a week and at times while there is Christmas or any other occasional break, they are not even aired every week. “People in India don’t expect something like this. There 22 episodes are run over 32 weeks,” he says.

     

    Keeping Indian viewers at par with the world on English entertainment, FX is all set to make weekends more exciting with day and date shows on the soon to be launched HD version. This will enable viewers to watch the latest episodes of shows like Homeland (Season 5),Affair (Season 2), Empire (Season 2) and Doctor Who (Season 9) right after the international telecast.

     

    What’s more, the action doesn’t stop there. Psychological thrillers like Luther and Bosch, reality comedy like Last Comic Standing and Last Man on Earth will all be showcased in the month of September on FX.

     

    Weekends have also been spruced up with FX Top Rated – where viewers can watch the highest rated and loved shows back to back. With 80 per cent premieres and only shows that pass the 7+ rating on Imdb, FX Top Rated is slated to bring curated quality content across the year.

     

    The all new look and packaging of the channel is specially designed to bring out its strong brand promise of ‘Edge of Entertainment,’ which aptly resonates not just the channel philosophy but also that of curated content.

     

    Content price is constantly escalating and India is yet to figure out which revenue model will work and which won’t. “I think we need to have all the options available for consumers at this stage,” said Vaz.

     

    The English entertainment space on Indian television is definitely getting a facelift at a brisk pace with channels putting their best foot forward as far as programming goes.

  • Star Jalsha strengthens non-fiction offering with 3 new shows

    Star Jalsha strengthens non-fiction offering with 3 new shows

    MUMBAI: Bengali general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Star India stable, Star Jalsha is increasing its original content offering in the non-fiction space. The channel will soon be launching an array of non-fiction shows catering to its Sunday audience. The shows are: Ebar Jalsha Rannaghore, Amra Na Ora and another as yet untitled show.

     

    Ebar Jalsha Rannaghore is a 60 minutes format for the festive season. It will showcase recipes and fashion trends, where designers and stylists will give makeovers to actors starring in Jalsha shows as well as comprise unplugged solo performances by top singers of Bengal. There will be special episodes with celebrities from tinsel town providing entertainment to viewers.

     

    Star Jalsha’s Amra Na Ora is a game show based on UK’s Push the Button. The show will be produced by FremantleMedia. The channel will also launch another big ticket non-fiction show, this quarter, the name for which is yet to be decided.

     

    The three new shows are in addition to the non-fiction programmes launched by the channel in May, this year. The three shows were: Ebar Jalsha Rannaghare, a cookery show; Bhyabachaka, a celebrity game show and I Laugh U 3, a laughter and entertainment programme.

     

    A Star India spokesperson said, “It has been our constant endeavour to provide wholesome and differentiated entertainment for the entire family. We were always dominating the fiction space and now with the new non-fiction shows we have just made our offering even more varied and entertaining. The results are encouraging to say the least.”

     

    “The successful non-fiction shows along with the extended fiction have made Jalsha a new destination for viewers on Sundays. Our recent success in non-fiction has made us even more committed to it and we have decided to come up with an array of new non-fictions that I am sure will go on to create new benchmarks in BGE,” the spokesperson added.