ITV

Tag: Sun TV Network

  • Samaya TV appoints Fourth Dimension to handle its national media ad sales operations

    Samaya TV appoints Fourth Dimension to handle its national media ad sales operations

    MUMBAI: Samaya TV was launched on 20 June 2010  and the positioning line for the channel is Naija Suddigaagi which stands for real and true news. Within a year of launch Samaya TV reached a wider viewer-ship making it the second most viewed newschannel in Karnataka after TV9.

     

    Currently the channel is also available online through live stream and can be viewed by Kanada Diasporas across theglobe. It’s a free to Air Channel and is available across most of the DTH network and cable network across India.

     

    Samaya TV has appointed Fourth Dimension as their national media sales partner , this collaboration will enable them to reach out to advertisers across India through the strong sales network which has been built by Fourth Dimension over last 3 years of Operations in India.

     

    Fourth Dimension Media Solutions CEO Shankar B adds, “We are confident about this development and hope this benefits advertisers/clients who have a big appetite for Karnataka as a region”

     

    Fourth Dimension currently also handles Puthiya Thalamurai the no.1 Tamil News Channel apart from the fastest growing GEC in the state “Puthuyugham” and the only English Radio Station – Chennai Live 104.8FM.

     

    Samaya TV business head G V Krishnamurthy adds “ Fourth Dimension has been a successful media outsourcing firm which helped channels like Puthiya Thalamurai build major market share in Tamil Nadu among advertisers and I am sure they will bring in the same expertise to fuel ourgrowth too…”

     

    G V Krishnamurthy (fondly known as GVK) was previously with Sun TV Network handling Gemini TV and group channels portfolio, he was solely responsible for their business revenue growth in the Telugu Space. He also brings with him over 20 years of experience in sales and marketing operations entailing business development, programming and brand management in the media industry

  • Dubbed ‘Fear Factor’ will sell: SJ Clement

    Dubbed ‘Fear Factor’ will sell: SJ Clement

    MUMBAI: The land which sleeps, eats and breathes action has another reason to jump with joy.

     

    Sun Network has decided to treat its viewers to high octane visuals in the form of the popular Hindi show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi.

     

    The show will be dubbed in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam; the one hour episodes will be aired on its general entertainment channels (GECs). Dhil Dhil Dhil- Fear Factor will air on Sundays at 12 pm on Sun TV starting 29 June, Fear factor: Sahasa Veerulu- Veelu Denikaina Ready will be telecast on Gemini TV, Monday to Thursday at 9:30 pm from 23 June and Sahasigam- Fear Factor can be caught on Surya TV, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm.

     

    Sun TV Network programming head for GEC channels SJ Clement says that the network is confident on garnering audiences from the show. “Immaterial of being dubbed content, it is the gut-wrenching action/adventure that the viewer wants and through the show we are giving them that entertainment,” he says dismissing any concerns related to the content being dubbed.

     

    The only channel excluded from the dubbed version is the Kannada channel, Udaya TV. As a rule in the state, no dubbed content can be aired on any channel.

     

    Agreeing on it, says DDB MudraMax AVP and head of south Anil Sathiraju, “Just as how dubbed south Indian movies work well on Hindi channels, the same can be said about the reverse. People have accepted dubbed content because of the novelty factor in it. Advertisers will also be keen on the show.”

     

    Seasons 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be shown continuously till the entire stock is exhausted. Season 3 has been excluded since it had Priyanka Chopra as host and to keep the continuity of Akshay Kumar as anchor the decision was taken. However, it will slowly move on to the season 5 which had Rohit Shetty as the host.

     

    “However, the effect Akshay and Rohit will have on the audiences will surely vary as Rohit is more popular down south,” adds Sathiraju.

     

    The network however is not looking at recreating the show for the southern market anytime soon. The reason behind so is the high budget that needs to be pumped into creating one. Says Clement, “It is an expensive show. If this works, we shall certainly go in for producing the show in the respective languages.”

     

    A cross channel promotional activity is planned along with radio spots and selected outdoor campaign. Digital activity through Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Google+ is also in the pipeline.

     

    Talks are currently on with sponsors and advertisers for the adventure show.

  • Sun TV FY-2014 PAT up 5.4 per cent: Board recommends final dividend of 45 per cent

    Sun TV FY-2014 PAT up 5.4 per cent: Board recommends final dividend of 45 per cent

    BENGALURU: Sun TV Network Limited (Sun TV) has declared a repeat of sunny results once again for FY-2014. The company’s consolidated PAT at Rs 748.01 crore (33.64 per cent of income from operations or revenue) was up 5.42 per cent as compared to the Rs 709.56 crore (36.9 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    The company’s consolidated income from operations (revenue) at Rs 2223.62 crore was 15.63 per cent more than the Rs 1923 crore in FY-2013.

     

    The company’s income from operations figures include income of Rs 105.53 crore (4.72 per cent of revenue) and costs of Rs 142.06 crore (6.39 per cent of revenue) from its IPL franchisee cricket team Sun Risers Hyderabad in FY-2014.The company has paid Rs 85.5 crore (3.85 per cent of revenue) IPL franchisee fees that Sun TV has paid for its IPL in FY-2014.

     

    The company’s press release says that its subscription revenues have maintained a robust y-o-y and q-o-q growth of 25 per cent and that its radio broadcasting operations have maintained a y-o-y growth of 18 per cent and have reported 18 per cent PAT margins.

     

    Sun TV Network Ltd has informed BSE that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 23 May 2014, inter alia, have recommended a final dividend of Rs 2.25 per share (45 per cent). This is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 2.25 per share (45 per cent), Rs 2.50 per share (50 per cent) and Rs 2.50 per share (50 per cent) declared at the board meeting held on 2 August 2013, 8 November 2013 and 7 February 2014 respectively.  This takes the total dividend payout by the company to 190 per cent per equity share of Rs 5 in FY-2014.

     

     

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Sun TV for FY-2014 and Q4-2014

     

    Consolidated Numbers

     

    Consolidated Total Expense in FY-2014 at Rs 1192.19 crore (53.61 per cent of revenue) was 24.76 per cent more than the Rs 955.59 crore (49.69 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    The company’s consolidated cost of revenue (COR) in FY-2014 at Rs 215.81 crore (9.71 per cent of revenue) was 17.01 per cent more than the Rs 184.43 crore in FY-2013.

     

    Sun TV’s consolidated depreciation and amortisation (DAA) in FY-2014 at Rs 478.28 crore (21.51 per cent of revenue) was 8.27 per cent more than the Rs 441.73 crore (22.97 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    Consolidated other expenditure at Rs 194.06 crore (8.71 per cent of revenue) was 49.21 per cent more than the Rs 130.06 crore (6.76 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    The company had other income on a consolidated basis in FY-2014 at Rs 86.61 crore which was 19.94 per cent more than the Rs 72.21 crore in FY-2013.

     

    Standalone numbers

     

    During the last quarter (Q3-2014) Sun TV had passed the Rs 500 crore per quarter mark for the first time by clocking standalone revenue of Rs 503.84 crore. In Q4-2014, the company has improved upon this by another 2.33 per cent to register standalone revenue of Rs 520.18 crore, the figure betters the year ago quarter Q4-2013 revenue of Rs 472.67 crore by 10.05 per cent.

     

    Standalone income from operations for FY-2014 at Rs 2096.78 crore was 15.36 per cent more than the Rs 1817.62 crore in FY-2013.

     

    Standalone PAT for the FY-2014 at Rs 716.96 crore (34.19 per cent of revenue) was 4.92 per cent more than the Rs 683.34 crore (37.60 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013.

     

    Standalone PAT for Q4-2014 at Rs 197.57 crore (38.98 per cent of revenue) was 6.34 per cent more than the Rs 185.79 crore (36.55 per cent of revenue) in the immediate trailing quarter and 11.31 per cent more than the Rs 177.50 crore (37.55 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014.

     

    The company’s standalone cost of revenue (COR) in FY-2014 at Rs 185.14 crore (8.83 per cent of revenue) was 19.32 per cent more than the Rs 155.16 crore (8.54 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013. Standalone COR in Q4-2014 at Rs 43.51 crore (8.36 per cent of revenue) was (-18.95) per cent lower than the Rs 53.68 crore (8.54 per cent of revenue) in Q3-2014 and (-8.34) per cent lower than the Rs 47.47 crore in Q4-2013.

     

     

    Sun TV’s standalone depreciation and amortisation (DAA)  in FY-2014 at Rs 453.34 crore (21.62 per cent of revenue) was 9.72 per cent more than the Rs 413.18 crore (22.73 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013. Q4-2014 DAA at Rs 112.33 crore (21.59 per cent of revenue) was 5.91 per cent more than the Rs 106.06 crore (20.86 per cent of revenue) in Q3-2014 and 10.46 per cent more than the Rs 101.69 crore (21.51 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2013.

     

     

    Standalone other expenditure (OE) in FY-2014 at Rs 170.68 crore (8.14 per cent of revenue) was 57.37 per cent more than the Rs 108.46 crore (5.97 per cent of revenue) in FY-2013. OE in Q4-2014 at Rs 26.01 crore (5 per cent of revenue) was (-23.99) per cent lower than the Rs 32.44 crore (6.73 per cent of revenue) in Q3-2014 and (-19.17) per cent lower than the Rs 32.18 crore (6.18 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014.

     

    The company had other standalone income of Rs 72.91 crore in FY-2014 which was 19.94 per cent more than the Rs 72.21 crore in FY-2013. Standalone other income in Q4-2014 at Rs 13.17 crore was (-11.31) per cent lower than the Rs 14.85 crore in Q3-2014 and (-39.11) per cent lower than the Rs 21.63 crore in Q4-2013.

     

    Sun TV is one of the largest television broadcasters in India that operates satellite television channels across four languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and has the largest private FM radio network in India under brand 93.5 Red FM. As mentioned above, it also owns the IPL franchisee Sun Risers Hyderabad.

  • Digital media eats into traditional media spend

    Digital media eats into traditional media spend

    MUMBAI: India’s low ad-spend-to-GDP ratio makes it one of the most promising ad markets globally, says IIFL’s Institutional Equities. In  a Media sector report titled “India: Ad-vert > Ad-word – Digital yet to come of age,” IIFL states that digital media is eating ad space with the other traditional forms of media like the print and television media and has been the fastest growing advertising media. This trend is likely to continue as the Internet user base expands at a brisk pace.

     

    India’s digital ad market grew at 43% CAGR over the past decade to ~Rs25bn, far in excess of the overall ad-spend growth of 13% during this period. Digital now accounts for 7% of the total ad spend, compared with 1% in CY03. A multi-fold rise in the Internet user base over CY03-13 (from 5m to 169m) and increasing acceptance of the digital platform among advertisers drove this growth. The supernormal growth in Internet penetration is likely to continue, driven by the Internet on mobile, the report states.

     

    However, India still is behind developed markets in terms of mobile technology and internet connectivity, hence there is no immediate threat to Print and Television advertising from the digital media ad spends, the report adds.

     

    Emergence of digital would materially harm the print industry in the medium to long term. English print is at a higher risk compared with regional print. Moreover, given the limited reach of the Internet, certain India-specific factors would help print to face competition from digital media. Ad spend on Indian print is expected to continue to increase in the medium term.

     

    “However, a larger audience base and diversified viewer profile make television advertising indispensable. Additionally television is a better-suited medium for certain types of ads such as new product launches or brand building. Hence, the impact of the Internet on television would be lower as compared with print. An analysis of ad spends for the past ten years reveals that print ad spend is more sensitive to economic growth. These factors make television ad spend more resilient,” says Bijal Shah and Jaykumar Doshi of IIFL Institutional Equities, authors of the report.

     

    Print media ad spends growth decelerated sharply from 16% CAGR during CY03-07 to a meagre 4.5% CAGR in the past three years. The slowdown in English was more pronounced than in vernacular languages. Vernacular papers benefited from continued strength in smaller towns and villages. A drop in ad spend from large national categories such as BFSI, telecom, and consumer durables, partly explains the weaker growth for print. Additionally, education and real estate, the two big categories, witnessed a sharp deceleration. Local advertisers maintained their higher spends, riding on the buoyancy in consumption.

     

    FMCG, Consumer durables and Auto constitutes to 65% of overall ad spends on television. Both FMCG and Auto ad spends have shown signs of slowing down, where as the Consumer durable companies are witnessing sluggishness in sales volumes, impacting the Television ad spend going forward and we can witness marginal growth in this segment. However Mobile handsets and e-commerce ad spends have supplemented in the overall as spends on television and have emerged as new categories. The television ad spend growth is expected to soften to high single digits.

     

    A sustained 6%+ GDP growth could accelerate ad-spend growth to 15%+, compared with 9% CAGR over CY10-13, as per IIFL’s Institutional Equities research report on media industry. The report further states that in medium term, TV and print should dominate ad budgets whereas digital would play a complementary role. Digital advertising is gaining traction, but limited reach and minimal fresh and vernacular content are limitations.

     

    Following the general elections, government ad spend, a key tailwind for print media in FY14, would taper. Thus, print media ad-spend growth could remain lacklustre in FY15 unless GDP growth picks up.

     

    Some key highlights from the report are:

    · India’s low ad-spend-to-GDP ratio and rising consumerism make it one of the most promising ad markets

    · A sustained 6%+ GDP growth could accelerate ad-spend growth to 15%+ compared with 9% Cagr over CY10-13.

    · Given its miniscule reach and slow Internet speed in India, digital is unlikely to emerge as a key advertising vehicle in the short-to-medium term

    · However driven by rising Internet penetration digital ad spends will continue to grow by 2-3 times the total ad spends  

    · TV would continue to be the mainstay for advertisers, given limited fresh content and absence of certain key target audience group such adult females on digital

    · Television ad spend is double that of digital in the US

     

    Few stocks recommended in the media industry:

     

    Zee Entertainment

    Zee Entertainment (Zee) is the best play on structural improvement in India’s pay television market and resilient consumption. Zee’s distribution joint venture with Star network, coupled with digitisation, would help secure its rightful share of subscription revenue. Furthermore, a diversified bouquet of channels and improving network market share would translate into above-industry ad-revenue growth. Meanwhile, Zee is investing in new channels and markets, which we believe lays the foundation for long-term growth.

    Call: ADD

     

    SUN TV Network

    Sun TV Network (Sun) is a strong player in the Rs36bn southern ad market with a leadership position in three of the four markets. Its diversified revenue stream and bouquet of channels, large movie library, and low-cost operations are advantages that are difficult to replicate. Subscription revenue is growing at a brisk pace and the momentum is likely to sustain. We expect ad revenue growth to resume following a drop for two consecutive quarters. At PER of 16x FY16ii, Sun is trading at ~15% its median multiple and at 33% discount to Zee. We believe the risk-reward is favourable.

    Call: ADD

     

    DB Corp

    DB Corp, through its flagship brands Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, and Divya Marathi, enjoys a well-entrenched franchise in several print media markets. Over the past two decades, it has evolved from a single-city newspaper to a strong player in several regional markets. DB Corp delivered double-digit ad-revenue growth even during periods of subdued ad spend. It has built a strong readership base and it is poised for gains in revenue market share. Healthy ad-revenue growth along with margin expansion would drive 20% EPS CAGR over FY14-16ii. At 16.4x FY15ii, scope for re-rating is limited; we expect returns in line with earnings growth.

    Call: BUY

     

    Jagran Prakashan

    Jagran Prakashan (Jagran), publisher of Dainik Jagran, India’s most read Hindi daily, enjoys a strong brand franchise in the key Hindi markets of Uttar Pradesh (UP), and Bihar and Jharkhand (BJH). Competitive intensity is on the rise in UP and BJH, which together contribute ~75% to Jagran’s ad revenue. DB Corp’s entry in Bihar and Hindustan’s readership gains in UP as per IRS 2013 are medium-term risks. In the interim, lower losses at subsidiaries would help margins. At 12.3x FY15ii P/E, Jagran is valued attractively and it is trading at ~35% discount to its three-year median multiple despite 17% EPS CAGR FY14ii-16ii.

    Call: ADD

     

    HT Media

    HT Media is one of the largest print media players in India with a well-entrenched franchise in the English and Hindi markets. We believe the long investment phase in new businesses is nearing an end. Two key properties, HT Mumbai and Hindustan UP, are at inflection points and should boost ad-revenue growth in a weak environment. Losses in digital would continue but will likely remain stable. At PER of 9.8x/7.9X FY15ii/FY16ii, valuations are compelling, given upside risks to our forecast of 20% EPS CAGR.

    Call: BUY

    Disclaimer: The views expressed in the research report accurately reflect such research analyst’s personal views about the subject securities and companies; and that no part of his or her compensation was, is, or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendation or views contained in the research report.`

  • Sun TV Network signs ‘pay per view’ deal with iTunes and YouTube

    Sun TV Network signs ‘pay per view’ deal with iTunes and YouTube

    MUMBAI: In a major initiative, the south Indian broadcasting giant Sun TV has signed a mega deal with YouTube and iTunes to monetise its vast content libraries. The group’s proprietary content will be available to people across the globe on a ‘pay per view’ basis.

     

    “Sun TV has a wide ranging repertoire of content, with its channels offering almost every genre of entertainment with the exception of sports and business news,” Sun TV group CFO SL Narayanan told indiantelevision.com. He also added that a total of more than 25,000 hours of content would be available for viewing on both the platforms.

     

    In a growing internet world, Sun TV is looking at creating a mark for itself through its variety of programming.

     

    “This initiative positions Sun TV very well and much ahead of the shifts anticipated in buyer behavior with regard to consumption of entertainment services. More and more people are accessing content through mobile devices while on the move and over the internet. We believe that the revenues from these new formats could accelerate rapidly once smart phone penetration picks up in India,” says Narayanan.

     

    Apart from these two distribution platforms, Sun TV has also inked a deal with Mumbai based Purple IFE to license its popular Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu programmes as in-flight entertainment on leading airlines such as Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Air India, Etihad, Jet Airways, Oman Air, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Gulf Air and Qatar Airways.

     

    The broadcaster says these airlines carry a lot of south Indians who would consume its content.

     

    According to industry sources, the network would be looking at making approximately Rs 15 to Rs 20 crore through both the deals depending upon the kind of content that it offers to viewers  and its currency.

     

    “What’s called as catch up TV – which is episodes being uploaded as soon as they go on air – has good revenue generating potential as compared to catalogue content which adds to the volumes,” says a media observer. “Many of the TV shows are available on torrent sites online at no cost, which viewers download and watch. Sun TV can optimise its revenues on Youtube if it can attract viewers to its legitimate content – and away from these torrent sites.”

  • Sun TV Network app now on Nokia Asha touch and Windows phones

    Sun TV Network app now on Nokia Asha touch and Windows phones

    CHENNAI: Nokia has partnered with Sun Group recently on the availability of Sun TV Network app on its Nokia Asha touch and Nokia Windows Phonesrange. The app provides schedule of the programs for various TV channels and Video of the TV serials available in these channels. Additionally, the app caters to all the four south Indian languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.

    The Sun TV app can be accessed by Nokia’s Windows Phone users as well as Nokia’s Asha range users and the videos can be accessed from the devices using 3G or WiFi connections.The application will continue to have newer features including live TV as and when the service is made available by Sun TV.

    Commenting on the launch of Sun TV network app on Nokia Asha and Windows phones rangeMr. Viral Oza – Marketing Director, Nokia India said “Today mobile devices are beyond voice for consumers as they are increasingly using their handset as an entertainment hub. We are very excited to partner with Sun TV Network that is India’s largest media conglomerate and we look forward to provide improved user experience to our consumers with the availability of this app”

    From Windows 8 phones perspective, Sun TV app can be accessed by Nokia Lumia 520, Nokia Lumia 620, Nokia Lumia 720, Nokia Lumia 820, Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 925, Lumia 625and the more recently launched Lumia 1020. Even consumers using Windows 7.5 phones such as Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia 710, Nokia 610, Nokia Lumia510 and Nokia Lumia 900 can access the app. The Sun TV apps also supports all Asha full touch devices including, Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 306, Nokia Asha 308, Nokia Asha 309, Nokia Asha 311.

    Reiterating the new offering, Mr. Kannan, Chief Technology Officer, Sun TV said “The Sun TV Network app is an important milestone for the company. With more and more consumers looking at their mobile devices for entertainment, we are happy to offer services that will help them stay connected to their favourite show on their favourite channel on-the-go. We are confident that through our partnership with Nokia, we will also be able to strengthen our bond with their large consumer-base.”

  • GroupM ESP executes sponsorship deals worth $15 million for IPL 6

    MUMBAI: GroupM ESP, the entertainment and sports practice of media agency GroupM Media India, has said it has enabled and activated on-ground sponsorship deals worth $ 15 mn between various IPL teams and sponsors for IPL season 6.

    GroupM ESP has been an active intermediary and enabler, for clients and their brands and team owners and their franchises seeking to leverage the IPL on-ground sponsorship platform, by providing end-to-end IPL related solutions.

    Group ESP Head of Sports and Live practice Vinit Karnik says “We‘ve been part of IPL since its inception and we strongly believe that IPL is India‘s biggest and the most powerful marketing platform for brands to leverage the combined appeal of cricket and entertainment.”

    “The total value of all the on-ground deals enabled and activated by GroupM ESP in IPL 6 is estimated at US $ 15 mn,” reveals Karnik.

    The sports marketing agency worked closely with Sun TV Network‘s IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad. It enabled the new franchise to get off to strong start with 10 on-ground official partners/sponsors including Make My Trip, 7UP, Garnier, Kingfisher, Livein Jeans, Manyavar, Sheltrex, and RN Sports.

    Apart from Sunrisers Hyderabad, other high profile deals managed by GroupM ESP include Bajaj Allianz and Mumbai Indians, Flying Machine and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

    The agency had also advised Vodafone on renewing its on-ground sponsorship deal with IPL for another five years backed by a comprehensive valuation exercise based on proprietary data and insights.

  • Telugu television rewrites script in 2010 – Sun TV Network SVP, business head- Telugu cluster Sanjay Reddy

    Telugu television rewrites script in 2010 – Sun TV Network SVP, business head- Telugu cluster Sanjay Reddy

    It could be over two decades now that cable TV brought changes to our living room. Looking back in the year 2010 in Andhra Pradesh Television, the changes have been more real and how. One can clearly attribute the C&S penetration to have fuelled a number of changes in the overall consumption pattern of television. The C&S market saw a steady growth in the past one year. Out of the total of 19.9 million households, C&S households stood at 11.3 million and with a 95 per cent penetration.  

      TV viewing Individuals(Millions) CS individuals (Millions)
      2009 2010 2009 2010
    Hyderabad 6.6 6.9 6.4 6.7
    Rest of AP 9.3 9.9 8.9 9.5

    Echoing the pan India trend, the DTH market in Andhra Pradesh has also seen a slow penetration. But as per the trends, the growth in the past year has been encouraging.

      2009 (Mn) 2010(Mn)
    Hyderabad 0.3 0.5
    Rest of AP 0.2 0.5

    Until 2008, there were only a few Telugu news channels in the state such as TV9, ETV2, NTV and TV5, alongside the entertainment ones, like Doordarshan’s Saptagiri, ETV, Gemini TV, Teja TV, Maa TV and Zee Telugu. In 2009, the simultaneous holding of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections marked a surge in news channels as film star Chiranjeevi announced his entry into active politics. These included Sakshi TV, HMTV, HYTV, Maha TV, Studio-N, Zee 24 Gantalu and ABN Andhra Jyothy.

    With the launch of Raj TV, the state now has 15 news channels compared with nine general entertainment channels. This year also saw the opening of two other news channels – Janta TV & Channel 4. It’s intriguing to see this rush to start news channels in an already cluttered space. It can be seen that there was neither clear economics nor appealing newsworthiness in the launch.

    The GEC space also saw a shakeout with Asianet Sitara near close down after the initial euphoria. MAA TV’s ambitious launch of news channel also was ephemeral. The start of 2010 also was abuzz with recession and in the guise channels slashed salaries of middle and top executives, while revenue showing northward trend had it’s effect on the talent movement.

    Matter-of-Fiction

    The best kept secret in television is out. The year 2010 saw many a script rewritten in Telugu television – be it fiction, reality, or movies. The race for number one slot in GEC heated up. Gemini TV remained the undisputed leader followed by ETV, and then MAA TV and ZEE TV taking the place in rounds over the past 52 weeks. What’s to be taken note here is Gemini Movies, the only 24 hour Telugu movie channel, cemented its position as a clear number 2 in the channel rating list.

    Telugu audience has seen a transformation in terms of when faced with a choice between convention and crudity on television, but for a change in the year 2010 the audiences opted for family fun. It‘s not only because 90 per cent of AP’s TV households have one TV and TV-watching is still a collective experience. When faced with the option of watching a story and watching an done to death dance/item number, the audience choice was clear: they would rather be engaged than amused. So it comes as no surprise that fiction ruled the roost with serials like Mogilirekulu of Gemini consistently delivering numbers, proving to be APs no 1 fiction at 8:30 p.m.

    Aata of Zee TV showed crudity, and this came under scanner with women activists crying hoarse because of the content and young dancing with almost little or no drape and suggestive moves, thus showing what the audience prefer. And the second half started to witness a decline in the viewership in the same genre.

      Serials Reality/ Non
      Oct-Dec(09) Oct-Dec(10) Oct-Dec(09) Oct-Dec(10)
    Gemini TV 295 380 70 58
    Maa Telugu 52 25 120 80
    Zee Telugu 45 100 150 54
    Eenadu TV 140 175 85 70

    From a audience perspective, AP market became a copycat market as the non-fiction/reality show of the north were audaciously duplicated with shows like Genius on MAA TV being a pale copy of multitude of reality shows from UTV & MTV, Adrustham on MAA was a near copy of Deal No Deal, a format owned by Endemol which was later pulled off air after being served a notice from Copyright holder Endemol.
    The second half also saw a resurgence of a new format in the name of family show & game show. ETV launched “Genes” and Zee TV “Bathuku Jatka Bandi” with Sumalatha. The chat show format got a much needed impetus with Jayaprada joining the bandwagon with “Jayapradam” on MAA TV.

    Fiction gained the foothold through the year with socially relevant topic and better technical value in production. “Sundarakanda” on Gemini TV is a case in point where daughter married to NRI and the subsequent fallout in the marriage came to the fore; hence a case where media is called upon increasingly to educate, not merely excite.

    From a content perspective also, it was the younger clique on television while keeping in sync with the social moorings

    Year 2010 also saw Tollywood stars going beyond shaking their legs on TV reality shows to promote their films. To create a win-win situation for both channels and production houses, there is an exploration of synergies between movies and popular soaps/shows. Some of the prominent faces on television in the year 2010 were Nagababu in “Aparanji”, Vani Vishwnath in “Samudram” on Gemini TV, Jagapathy Babu in “Raju Rani Jagapahty” on ETV, Jayapradha in “Jayapradham” on MAA TV, Saikumar on WOW on ETV. This for sure is bridging the gap between television and Tollywood.

    Marketing & Advertising

    The relationship between sales growth, ad spend-sales ratio and market share is complex. Having said that, television is still the lord of the world and a powerful medium. In Andhra Pradesh, TV and print spends in the year 2010 have been huge.

    Year 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011
    Revenue in Crores in TV 340 460 528 601 725

    Before I sum up let us take a look at how TV network shares moved in the last one year.

    Network wise GRP Trends, CS 4+ All SEC

      2009(Oct-Dec) 2010(Oct-Dec) Change in %
    Sun Network 1144 1388 21.3
    Etv Network 456 420 -7.90
    Maa Network 447 384 -14.1
    Zee Network 410 380 -7.32

    Network wise Absolute Channel share %, CS 4+ All SEC

      2009(Oct-Dec) 2010(Oct-Dec) 2010(Jan-Dec)
    Sun Network 27.2 32.1 18
    Etv Network 10.6 9.7 -8.50
    Maa Network 10.9 8.9 -18.35
    Zee Network 9.8 8.8 -10.20