ITV

Tag: Tamil

  • No changes in Bengali, Bhojpuri, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil markets in BARC data week 42

    No changes in Bengali, Bhojpuri, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil markets in BARC data week 42

    MUMBAI: No changes were observed in the Bengali, Bhojpuri, Kannada, Marathi and Tamil markets in BARC data week 42. Mazhavil Manorama climbed to the second position from fourth position as compared to the last week in the Malayalam segment. Moreover, in the Telugu space, Zee Telugu and ETV Telugu interchanged their third and fourth positions.

    Bangla

    No changes were observed in this space. Zee Bangla, Star Jalsha, Jasha Movies, Colors Bangla and Sony Aath continued to be on the first, second, third, fourth and fifth positions respectively with 327197 impressions '000s, 288997 impressions '000s, 63477 impressions '000s, 62105 impressions '000s and 55104 impressions '000s.

    Bhojpuri

    This week, no changes were in this sector too. Big Ganga, Bhojpuri Cinema, Bhojpuri Dhamaka Dishum, Housefull Action and Oscar Movies Bhojpuri retained their first, second, third, fourth and fifth positions with 60594 impressions '000s, 54137 impressions '000s, 16174 impressions '000s, 6034 impressions '000s and 4591 impressions '000s respectively.

    Kannada

    No changes were observed in this segment. Colors Kannada and Zee Kannada continued to be at first and second positions with 443615 impressions '000s and 411711 impressions '000s respectively. Udaya TV, Udaya Movies and Star Suvarna also retained their third, fourth and fifth positions with 254080 impressions '000s, 211542 impressions '000s and 157136 impressions '000s respectively.

    Malayalam

    Asianet, the Malayalam general entertainment channel from Star TV retained its first position this week as well with 306584 impressions '000s. Mazhavil Manorama climbed to the second position from fourth position as compared to the last week with 109101 impressions '000s. Surya TV, Flowers TV and Asianet Movies stood at third, fourth and fifth positions respectively with 98928 impressions '000s, 90778 impressions '000s and 65889 impressions '000s.

    Marathi

    No changes were observed in the Marathi market. Zee Marathi, Star Pravah, Colors Marathi, Zee Talkies and Zee Yuva retained their first, second, third, fourth and fifth positions respectively with 336449 impressions '000s, 143735 impressions '000s, 133325 impressions '000s, 96659 impressions '000s and 54648 impressions '000s.

    Tamil

    Sun TV retained its first position with 1045876 impressions '000s. Zee Tamil, Star Vijay, KTV and Sun Life also continued to be at second, third, fourth and fifth positions with 542190 impressions '000s, 524513 impressions '000s, 313189 impressions '000s and 86600 impressions '000s respectively.

    Telugu

    Star Maa and Gemini TV held on to first and second positions respectively with 777657 impressions '000s and 506944 impressions '000s. Zee Telugu and ETV Telugu interchanged their third and fourth positions respectively with 455374 impressions '000s and 447884 impressions '000s. Gemini Movies retained its fifth position with 213101 impressions '000s.

  • Living Foodz sees 25% growth in advertiser response

    Living Foodz sees 25% growth in advertiser response

    MUMBAI: After Aparna Bhosle’s elevation in the Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) from the premium English cluster head to now being the business head of Zee TV’s Hindi GEC channel, Shaurya Mehta along with handling the lifestyle genre, Living Foodz (LF), is also given the additional responsibility of donning the hat of the premium English cluster– Zee Cafe, &flix and &prive.

    Talking about the lifestyle channel that launched in 2015, LF COO Shaurya Mehta said that since the start, the channel’s only focus was to offer original content to the Indian audiences and being true to its factor, it has been the cornerstone to its success.

    Despite the disruptive elements that the lifestyle genre witnessed in the form of demonetisation and GST, it didn’t affect LF which took two years to break even. “We broke even a while back. It took less than two years to break even,” he said. According to him, the genre within these 2-3 years has grown 10-15 per cent y-o-y and the channel claims to have grown in excess to the growth of the overall space.

    Not only this, as far as advertisers’ response on the channel is concerned, it claims to have witnessed a healthy growth rate in excess of 25 per cent y-o-y. Also, whether or not the ad rates of the genre increased, Mehta said that the channel has already increased its ad rates. “The ad rates have already increased and over these past three years, we have consistently seen our ERs growing. LF is more on the premium side now from a viewer and advertisers perspective and we enjoy a much healthy ERs than our competition.”

    When it comes to adex that declined in FY18, according to the KPMG report 2018, the lifestyle genre observed 1.3 per cent adex in FY17 and 1.2 per cent in FY18. “We at LF have seen great growth within these 2-3 years. The genre stayed a little stagnant from the ad sales perspective and going forward this would improve and there will be relatively steadier phase over the coming years.”

    Considering the BARC data, LF has been ruling the charts. Mehta said that the channel continues to lead the market share in terms of viewership with a healthy margin in a genre which is already cluttered. “With the channels that have been around for almost a decade especially some leaders in the market like Discovery and others and to go up against them and draw us a span of viewership shares is quite a big thing.”

    The network has plans to launch 6-8 shows this month and many more in the coming month with a mix of both original and acquired shows. The channel garners most of the viewership during the daytime, between 1-7 pm depending on the shows that could vary. Several shows were launched on 3 October, slotted for the typical prime time of 9 pm.   

    LF provides just local content for the viewers buy other players offer a mix of syndicated and local content. Mehta said, “We have seen much of our competitors also adopting our strategy where instead of airing syndicated content, they are also airing a mix of original shows. So as the overall content strategy, competition will have a mix of both syndicated and original content and in case of LF, original shows remain our main pillar.”

    He added that as per the consumers’ choices, there is an appetite for syndicated content as well. There is a room for both local and syndicated content where there are people in the market who want to consume the content from all around the world.

    Mehta said that considering the infotainment and lifestyle genres together, lifestyle has seen growth from the perspective of the accretion value of the viewers that is known in India. According to him the outlook remains positive and the viewership base will continue to grow. “We have seen digital as a medium growing tremendously in this genre and competing with TV viewership. So from that perspective as well, LF has a strong strategy for our digital footprint also playing an important role for growth in the group and LF as a brand. We have been investing our digital platform as well since last year and we continue to do so. We bring the shows that are available on TV and we also do some originals to publish on our livingfoodz.com. We do realise that in order to build the story over the next 5 years, our digital footprint will also play an important role,” he said.

    A Tamil feed was also to be added this year for which he said, “The Tamil feed is still in progress. We want to ensure when we are completely ready to announce. We are looking at all the possibilities.”

  • Raj TV aims to climb ratings chart with 5 new primetime shows

    Raj TV aims to climb ratings chart with 5 new primetime shows

    MUMBAI: Tamil general entertainment channel (GEC) Raj TV has given the channel a makeover by introducing five new shows in its primetime starting today, 28 May.

    The five new fiction shows will air between 7 pm to 9.30 pm starting with Kadal Kadanthu Udhyogam followed by Gangadharanai Kanoam at 7.30 pm, Kannamma and Hello Shyamala at 8 pm and 8.30 pm respectively and Nalam Nalam Ariya Aaval at 9 pm.

    All the shows are women-centric and relay how the empowered protagonists put up a brave face and bounce back in their lives.

    Very soon, the channel will add two more shows with ‘extensively rich’ production values. These two, however, will be periodical and fantasy genres and the launch will coincide with the channel’s 25th anniversary celebration.

    The channel aims to climb the ranks of the ratings chart with the slew of new launches and the refreshed show concepts. It has a tough competitor in Sun TV which not only dominates the Tamil speaking genre but even leads ratings in some sections on a national level.

    A 360-degree marketing campaign has also been assigned to each of the shows for the Tamil audience.

    Kadal  Kadanthu Udhyogam : The story revolves around an extended family comprising of an aged couple that wants its USA settled son’s family to get back to India and live with him and his daughter’s family. The constant efforts made by the other members of the family and the emotions of love, longing, anger and frustration makes the story interesting.

    Gangadharanai Kanoam: Kasthuri, a young widow raises her child Aswini as well educated girl, by crossing many financial struggles, Gangadharan who is also a widower enters as a tenant in Kasthuri’s house, along with his daughter Kavitha. As days pass by, the attitude of both the daughters change and they get greedy about money which makes them feel their respective parents a burden to them. At this juncture something unexpected happens leaving everyone in a state of shock and that is the twist in the story and has to be watched on screen.

    Kannamma : The protagonist is a beautiful and intelligent girl is a school dropout due to her poor family situation.  Kannamma is made to work in a fashion garment store where she shines and earns everyone’s appreciation. Kannamma gets caught in a delicate situation and in a very crucial and unexpected circumstance in the life of Karthik her boss, she marries him to save his respect and the prestige of his family. However Karthik acts reluctant about this marriage and disrespects his wife. The struggles Kannnamma faces, to convince her husband, forms the rest of the story.

    Hello Shyamala : The story revolves around a family with four daughters, out of which the first daughter gets married and expecting her first child. The real drama begins when her mother realises she is pregnant too. This situation disturbs the rhythm of the family and the way the other members of the family handle the situation is the story.

    Nalam Nalam Ariya Aaval : Childhood friends Paari and Sandhya are very close even after getting married and having their own families. In a turn of events, Paari happens to witness a murder and in an attempt to rescue her Sandhya gets trapped by the murderers and is used as a bait to trace Paari. How the childhood friends free themselves from this.

  • Hotstar launches AdServe to empower advertisers

    Hotstar launches AdServe to empower advertisers

    MUMBAI: Hotstar, the video streaming platform from Star India, has launched Hotstar AdServe – a self-service ad tool aimed at empowering advertisers. With the introduction of this service, small and medium advertisers with smaller budgets will now be able to effectively use the power of premium content like live sports to reach their target audiences and followers.

    The tool, currently in beta, is potentially one of the first in the world that allows advertisers to associate with a big sporting event. The tool also offers regional players an opportunity to scout for new markets nationally at affordable prices.

    Advertisers on Hotstar can leverage this transformation, as buying options on Hotstar AdServe allow them to target their communication by language and team. These options effectively marry the massive scale and depth of cricket viewership with highly relevant targeting.

    The beta version of the service will allow advertisers to place in-stream video ads for Vivo IPL 2018. The service will be expanded to include entertainment programming over the next few weeks.

    The comprehensive rights for Vivo IPL for the next five years were won by Star in the last quarter of 2017. The tournament, starting 7 April, will be available in six Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali, thereby taking cricket deeper into a wider array of languages and markets.

    Also read:

    Star to air IPL on 10 channels, in 6 languages; live on Hotstar

    Hotstar Trends 2017: Women, small town, cross-language consumption rises

    OTT players up the ante with niche content

    Star unveils Re.Imagine Awards for IPL ad campaigns

  • Discovery Kids begins Tamil, Telugu feeds

    Discovery Kids begins Tamil, Telugu feeds

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids has announced that it is targeting to expand its reach in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with the launch of Tamil and Telugu language feeds. The Tamil feed has already been introduced starting 24 March while the Telugu language feed will be launched from 1 April.

    The launch of these new feeds will help Discovery Kids in further consolidating its position in the kids’ genre. Discovery Kids, after the launch of Bandbudh aur Budbak in February 2018, has created a stir in the kids’ genre by garnering close to 200 per cent increase in TV ratings, 160 per cent + increment in TSV (time spent per viewer) and more than 30 per cent increase in reach.

    Discovery Kids, Discovery Communications India head Uttam Singh said, “The launch of Tamil and Telugu language feeds will provide a huge fillip to our efforts in increasing the reach of Discovery Kids in the strategically important markets. The love and affection that Discovery Kids is getting are truly humbling. We are further intensifying our efforts to reach the top of the kids’ genre.”

    The channel will also mark April fool’s day, 1 April, as the birthday of Bandbudh Aur Budbak. The channel will launch new episodes of the show so that kids can have a blast with their favorite characters after the end of their examination period.

    Also Read :

    Catch the Superr Heropanti of bandbudh aur budbak only on Discovery Kids

    Discovery Kids announces second series of ‘Sheikh Chilli and Friendz’

  • Will increase ads after sampling phase of Colors Tamil: Ravish Kumar

    Will increase ads after sampling phase of Colors Tamil: Ravish Kumar

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 has forayed into yet another regional language with the launch of Colors Tamil on 19 February 2018. Within 10 days, the network claims to have garnered positive response from the viewers on social media, advertisers and the agencies.

    Viacom18 head-regional entertainment Ravish Kumar, in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, says that among Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Odia, Kannada GEC market has more than 30 per cent share of the market share.

    Viacom18 already has five general entertainment channels in regional languages under the name Colors, Tamil is the another language that the network is betting on with crossed fingers. The region has a strong TV broadcast market, one of the biggest in the country.

    Edited excerpts:

    How has the response been to Colors Tamil?

    While it’s early in the day to comment on the feedback, the response from the viewers on social media, advertisers, agencies and the industry per se has been very positive and encouraging. People are appreciating the strong connect, the fabulous production values, the choice of stories and the manner of storytelling. Viewers have gone overboard, online, advising Arya on his endeavor to choose his soulmate. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

    Are you looking at a phased launch of new shows?

    We have launched three and a half hours of weekday programming and two hours of weekend programming and we intend to increase those hours basis viewer reaction.

    What has been the advertisers’ response post the channel launch?

    We have Nippon Paints and India Gate Basmati Rice on Arya’s show (Enga Veetu Mapilla). Nippon Paints has come onboard as channel partners as well. Plenty of advertisers, both national and retail, have shown interest in partnering with us. Currently, we want to optimise the sampling of the channel amongst the viewers and hence are onboarding advertisers in a phased manner. Once we move past the initial launch phase, you will see a lot more ads on the channel.

    Is Colors Tamil a part of the base pack of all the DTH operators?

    Colors Tamil is free for an introductory period. The channel is widely distributed across key players both on DTH platforms as well as cable operators.

    How different is your content compared to the other players in the market?

    It’s different on two levels – both at the conceptual and the production levels. We are not only doing shows which are engaging and socially relevant but also bringing cinematic value on television through Alexa camera, top quality sound, enhanced production value and real locations resulting in an unprecedented never-seen-before look and feel.

    Of all your regional channels, which language has the highest viewership? 

    We are a strong No. 1 player in the Kannada GEC market and have more than 30 per cent share of the market pie. The huge surge of advertisers and love from the viewers prompted us to launch a second GEC – Colors SUPER, which is one of the fastest growing and already counted in the top tier channels.

    How big is the overall regional GEC market according to you? 

    The overall regional GEC ad market is at Rs 6100 crore currently.

    According to BARC data, the viewership of Marathi GECs witnessed a spurt in the latter half of 2017. Do you think this phenomenon reflects the larger trend of viewers shifting to regional GECs?

    India is an ‘and’ market. What we are seeing is an increase in the overall television viewership and this growth is reflected in the increasing affinity to local / regional content. The regional channels have been producing a lot of quality content and hence are attracting a good number of new viewers. Colors Marathi, for instance, introduced quite a few good concepts last year like Ghadge & Suun, Sur nava dhyaas nava, Tumcha saathi kaypan, Radha Prem Rangi Rangli etc. which saw a jump in viewership for us.

    What genre of programming is liked by the Tamil audience?

    The Tamil viewers are progressive. They look forward to content that resonate with their culture and ethos. They look forward to quality content, something that reflects their strong connect with their land as well as allows them to expand their horizons.

    What do you make of Hindi shows being dubbed in regional languages and vice-versa?

    In our experience, good content always cuts across markets and languages. If the story has local connect or viewers identify with the content, dubbing does work. Viewers are waiting to discover good content. Great stories will work anywhere in the world. Our endeavor is to provide the viewers larger than life content, whether its originally produced or dubbed. Dubbed South Indian movies work big on our Hindi movie channels. Likewise even good Hindi shows dubbed in South Indian languages have great potential to resonate with the viewers. Our ambition is to make a show in Tamil that will go global.

    Is the dubbing and subtitling cost significant? 

    In order to do quality work, you have to pay a premium. As I’ve said before, some stories are universal and can connect with viewers across languages. The advantage of having a network play is that, based on regional synergies, we can cross-pollinate content. And of-course, the dubbing quality has to be in sync with the premium production quality that we offer.

    Also read:

    Viacom18 rolls up its sleeves for Tamil market share

    Viacom18 widens regional reach, to launch Colors Tamil in Q4

  • Viacom18 rolls up its sleeves for Tamil market share

    Viacom18 rolls up its sleeves for Tamil market share

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 has set for itself the task of taking a big bite out of the Tamil general entertainment channel (GEC) market, a stronghold of long-reigning Sun Network. The network is all set to launch its channel Colors Tamil into a large and important entertainment market of India. 

    Scheduled to go on air on 19 February 2018 in Tamil Nadu, the channel will be the conglomerate’s first foray into the state. Viacom18 already operates general entertainment channels in five regional languages, under the brand name Colors Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Odia.

    Despite big players emptying their coffers in the Southern Indian market, the region has been strongly captivated by the Sun Network.

    Speaking at the launch, Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats says, “After spreading our wings across seven languages, India’s flagship general entertainment brand – Colors is entering the lucrative, fast growing and discerning Tamil entertainment market in line with our stated strategy to drive regional growth aggressively. Our proven ability to break the clutter and disrupt the status quo will help us tell endearing stories to over 20 million TV households in the state and a large global audience in the coming months and years.”

    Tamil Nadu is the country’s sixth most populous state as per census 2011 and is among the bigger television content consuming markets, with a per capita daily viewership of 3 hours which is more than that of the Hindi speaking markets which is 2.5 hours. With an estimated base of 1150 advertisers, Tamil Nadu is among the more lucrative broadcast entertainment markets in India. 

    In order to cater to the market, Viacom18 head of regional entertainment Ravish Kumar reveals the company’s biggest drive is to deliver new and never before seen content to the Tamil audience. “We have invested big in conceptualising programs that are inspiring, innovative, experimental and technically sound. With 22 hours of original content at launch, we are more than confident of Colors Tamil becoming a blockbuster hit here,” he says. 

    With a robust content strategy developed after thoroughly studying the consumer patterns of the region, Colors Tamil offers several original shows in both the fiction and the non-fiction categories. Foraying into a market with existing predominant players, the channel aims at bringing together a range of shows spanning a diverse variety of entertainment genres catering to all demographics.

    Colors Tamil business head Anup Chandrasekharan adds,“Idhu Namma Oru Coloru… the Colors of our land. Our tagline encapsulates our vision of Colors Tamil. It is a platform that aims to entertain, enrich and engage individuals across the length and breadth of the state. Our study of the existing broadcast entertainment market suggests that there is a need gap between what the audience wants to watch and the kind of content that is available to them. Therefore, our focus is on content that is differentiated, thought provoking and socially conscious. Colors Tamil is a promise of optimism, celebration and hope.”

    The channel will offer a range of fiction and non-fiction programs spanning from family drama, reality TV, comedy to fantasy to name a few. The four original shows of the channel will set new standards in the industry with its distinct content and sound technology. The network will also remake the famous show Naaagin from the Hindi GEC Colors for the new Colors Tamil. Naagin has been a huge hit property of the network.

    At launch, Colors Tamil will be available in all leading cable networks catering to an estimated 3.5 million homes in Greater Chennai through SCV, TCCL among others and 11 million homes in the rest of Tamil Nadu through Tamil Nadu Arasu Corporation. 

    Furthermore, the channel will be available on all DTH platforms including Sun Direct, Tata Sky, Airtel, Dish TV & Videocon d2h reaching out to 5.5 million households. Additionally, the entire content library of Colors Tamil will also be available digitally on the network’s OTT platform – Voot.

    As part of its fiction lineup, the channel has curated three striking shows that portray strong women protagonists breaking the shackles of the society. Shot in native locations of Tamil Nadu with top-notch equipment, the shows are set to offer a movie-like experience to the viewers. 

    Offering a refreshing break from the common soap operas, Velunachi is an inspirational story of young girl who transforms herself into a strong woman carrying her father’s lineage in Silambattam. 

    Sivagami show is a transforming tale of courage of a young woman tackling conflicts in society to bring up her daughter as a successful IPS officer. The story is set in rural Tamil Nadu with nativity and rustic aims to create a positive change in mindset among people. 

    Another show, Perazhagi, is an uplifting drama that breaks the stereotype around skin colour featuring a small girl who fights against all odds to become a celebrity.

    Created as the flagship show of Colors Tamil, the reality show Enge Veetu Maapilai will feature the hunt for the ideal match for brand ambassador & Kollywood superstar Arya. Spanning over 40 episodes, the show will telecast the search for the heartthrob’s perfect match. 

    Catering to the young ones, Colors Super Kids is a one of a kind talent show for children, offering them an equal and well-deserved platform to showcase their talents without the concept of competing against each other.

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    Also Read:

    Viacom18 widens regional reach, to launch Colors Tamil in Q4

    TV18 to increase Viacom18 stake to 51%

    Viacom reports lower revenue for Q1 2018

  • ‘Porus’ launched as ‘Digvijaya’ in Sri Lanka

    ‘Porus’ launched as ‘Digvijaya’ in Sri Lanka

    MUMBAI: Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s  gambit to own the IP for the historical drama  Porus which is currently airing on Sony appears to be paying dividends. The show has, according to sources, successfully travelled to Sri Lanka. The buyer for the 260-episode series is Maharaja Television (MTV). Swastik Productions, the production house driving the show, also owns the intellectual property (IP) rights for the series.

    A source close to the development said that Porus has been renamed as Digvijaya in the Sinhala-dubbed version and has been launched on channel Sirasa TV in January 2018. The show was launched with a big screen premiere with industry leaders and advertisers, two days prior to its first telecast on the channel. Through the channel’s online platform, Digvijaya would be also reaching out to the Sinhalese diaspora worldwide. According to another source, Maharaja TV has paid USD 5000 to Swastik Productions for an hour-long episode of Porus.

    Swastik Productions founder Rahul Kumar Tewary confirmed the development. “The content has been dubbed in Tamil and Sinhalese for broadcast in Sri Lanka,” he said. 

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, a source revealed that the Tamil version of the show is not yet launched and it will take three to four months for the Tamil dub to go on air. The prime time for Sri Lanka’s market is 7-11 pm. Presently, the channel has only Sinhalese dubbed content telecast during the weekend at 8-9 pm time slots. The broadcaster is combining two episodes thereby giving the show a one-hour slot.

    In its 10-year existence, Swastik has produced over fifteen television shows, which include Mahabharat, Razia Sultan, Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Mata Ki Chowki, Amber Dhara and Begusarai. It recently launched a light-hearted emotional drama on Sony Sab, Shankar Jay Kishan.

    The production house is free to sub-license Porus to a digital or international player, to air the episodes after three hours of original airing on Sony.  Will such deals be viable for Indian producers who have been used to grabbing up front commissioning fees rather than owning the IP in exchange for lower budgets? The jury is out, but observers say it will vary from deal to deal. Broadcasters, sources say are open to discussions about sharing or assigning rights  to producers if they are willing to bear the risk with them, by picking up a part of the production tab. Historically broadcasters have been bearing all the cost.

    The 30-minute show airs  at 8.30 pm from Monday to Friday on Sony, depicts the untold story of the greatest conqueror of the world, Alexander and the most spirited defender of India, Porus. Set in 350 BC, the story traces its roots to a time when India was at its glorious best and Porus resisted the first attack on Indian soil by the Macedonian legend. The chronological narrative will trace the journey from birth to the epic battle between these two warriors born on the same day but raised with completely different upbringings.

    Also Read :

    ‘Porus’ will alter the economics of the ecosystem, says SET’s Danish Khan

    Thai broadcaster Workpoint acquires TV rights for Porus

  • BARC segments viewership data for South regional news from GECs

    BARC segments viewership data for South regional news from GECs

    BENGALURU: Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has started putting out viewership data for news channels in the four Southern languages of India – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, besides data for the other channels starting from week 1 of 2018 (Saturday, 30 December 2017 to Friday 5 June 2018) in the public domain. This was long due, considering the fact that some of the channels, more so the top five channels of each language, have higher viewership than the combined all India viewership of the top five English news channels, notwithstanding the differing demographics. The regional space has a large number of channels catering to various tastes in the local lingo that include GEC, news, sports, kids, etc. With so much of clutter, advertisers can now make an enlightened decision about where to air their message in a particular regional news market.

    Earlier, BARC used to furnish data for all the regional channel genres under one head – top five channels for the regional language. There are more than five news channels each for all the four Southern languages. Many of the channels are parts of larger national level media networks/groups/publications. The demographics for Southern news channels are the urban and rural areas in the prime territory/ies for that language and cover all individuals of 2+ age. In the case of Hindi news channels, where BRAC provides data segregated into (Urban + Rural); (Rural) and (urban), the demographics are all 15+ individuals in the respective Hindi Speaking Market or HSM.  In the case of English news, BARC provides data for All India (U+R) Males 22+ individuals.

    So which are the news channels that have made it to the top five in each of languages in week 1 of 2018?

    Tamil News

    Let’s start with the Tamil language – The area covered is urban and rural Tamil Nadu/Pondicherry. In week 1 of 2017, Polimer News was ranked first in the Tamil news genre with 37.359 million weekly impressions, followed by Puthiya Thalaimurai with 35.691 million weekly impressions at second place. Thanthi TV was ranked third with 32.647 million weekly impressions followed by News 7 Tamil at fourth place with 22.454 million weekly impressions. At fifth place was the Sun Network’s Sun News with 18.836 million weekly impressions.

    Telugu News

    The area covered by BARC data is the urban and rural regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

    TV9 Telugu headed the Telugu news genre with 52.188 million weekly impressions, followed by NTV Telugu with 41.893 million weekly impressions at second rank. TV 5 News was ranked third in week 1 of 2018 with 35.934 million weekly impressions, followed by ABN Andhra Jyothi at fourth place with 34.642 million weekly impressions. Completing the quintet was V6 News with 30.557 million weekly impressions.

    Kannada News

    The area covered is Karnataka.

    TV9 Kannada headed the top five Kannada news channels list in week 1 of 2017 with 63.623 million weekly impressions. Public TV was ranked second with 43.828 million weekly impressions. Suvarna News 24×7 was ranked third with 22.286 million impressions followed by News 18 Kannada with 16.477 million weekly impressions. At fifth place was BTV News with 11.799 million weekly impressions.

    Malayalam News

    The market is the Kerala market.

    Asianet News was ranked one in week 1 of 2018 with 31.953 tmillion weekly impressions. Malayalam Manorama’s news channel – Manorama News was ranked second with 15.861 million weekly impressions followed by Mathrubhumi News with 11.515 million weekly impressions at third place. At fourth and fifth places were News 18 Kerala and Media One TV with 6.181 million weekly impressions and 4.249 million weekly impressions.

    Also Read:  Zee Anmol leads Hindi GEC (U+R) in BARC week 1 2018

    Four Star India channels among top 10 channels across genres

    Republic TV, Aaj Tak continue to lead genres as news viewership falls

  • Hotstar’s Tamil original starts today

    MUMBAI: India’s leading digital streaming platform, Hotstar, has announced its new original series in Tamil, in association with celebrated film director, Balaji Mohan, titled “As I’m Suffering from Kadhal.” It will stream on Hotstar on 16 June, with all 10 episodes releasing simultaneously. Apart from Tamil, the series will also be available in Telugu, with English subtitles available for both languages.

    The 10-part series revolves around the lives of three young couples, a young divorced man and his 8-year old daughter. Through its various characters, the show charts the entire arc of optimism one experiences in love, and its transitions from giddy excitement to utter frustration, with large doses of insight and humour.

    This is a familiar theme for director Balaji Mohan, whose past work also explores different facets of the theme of love. His last project, Maari, featuring Dhanush and Kaajal Aggarwal was one of the biggest hits of 2015, with fans eagerly awaiting its sequel, Maari 2.

    ‘Falling in love is the easy part. It’s staying in love that’s tougher. And the endless optimism of human beings to try it over and over again, despite mixed results, is quite fascinating for me. It’s a subject I’ve explored in different ways, and this time, with a series. Urban audiences across the country would resonate with a theme like this, and I wanted this show to be able to reach all of them. Hotstar, with its massive reach, is the ideal medium to do so,’ shares Balaji Mohan.

    ‘Throughout our conversations with our viewers from the state, especially the younger users, one thing that comes out is that there is huge appetite for stories that are authentic and contemporary. This show is an effort to address that appetite. We believe that we have a unique proposition for our audiences in Tamil Nadu: with shows like this, with a large roster of Tamil movies, with TV shows and with sports coverage in Tamil, we now have a very distinctive offering for our millions of loyal users in the state’, shares Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan.