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Tag: Television

  • Sansad TV’s YouTube channel restored after alleged hacking attempt

    Sansad TV’s YouTube channel restored after alleged hacking attempt

    Mumbai: The YouTube channel of Sansad TV ran into trouble on Tuesday after its telecast was suspended due to an alleged hacking attempt. According to the statement issued by Sansad TV, the YouTube channel got compromised due to ‘unauthorised activities by some scamsters’ on 15 February at 1 am, which also affected its live-streaming.

    Viewers who tried to watch the streaming were greeted with a disclaimer from YouTube stating, “This account has been terminated for violating YouTube’s community guidelines”.

    However, the channel was restored later in the evening. “Sansad TV’s YouTube channel has been restored. You can get back to all your favourite programmes on the channel,” it announced on Twitter.

     

     

    According to a statement issued by Sansad TV earlier in the day, the channel name was also changed to ‘Ethereum’ by the attacker. “SansadTV’s social media team promptly worked on it and got the channel restored by early morning around 3:45 hrs,” it stated.

    Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in), the nodal agency for responding to cyber-security incidents in India had also reported the incident and alerted Sansad TV. Later on YouTube also started fixing the security threats permanently, the channel stated.

     

     

    The channel was launched by prime minister Narendra Modi in September last year after merging Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV, and shows the live streaming of the Parliament sessions.

  • Star Plus brings back ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ after 14 years

    Star Plus brings back ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ after 14 years

    Mumbai: Star Plus has decided to stir nostalgia among its viewers this February. The broadcaster has announced that its popular family saga ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ is set to return to the television screens after close to 14 years.

    The iconic TV show which made actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani a household name for her portray of Tulsi Virani will re-run on Star Plus at 5 pm daily, starting 16 February. It will also be available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster announced on Twitter on Tuesday.

     

     

    Getting all nostalgic, producer Ekta Kapoor took to Instagram to share the old promo of the serial, which features Irani opening the gates of the Virani household to welcome audiences into the world of the show. Reminiscing the earlier days, Kapoor wrote, “Today, as I look back, I recall every memory, every moment that made this show a most loved one! Usi pyaar ke saath judiye is safar se dobaara. Budhvaar se, harr roz, shaam 5 baje, sirf StarPlus par.”

     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
     

    A post shared by Erkrek (@ektarkapoor)

     

    The soap opera aired first aired on Star Plus on 3 July 2000 and ran till 6 November 2008 becoming one of the longest-running TV shows at that time. Set around the day-to-day affairs of the Gujarat-based Virani family, the TV show that aired between 10-11 pm on weekdays struck a chord with the masses.

    During the eight years of telecast, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi became one of the most-watched Hindi GEC shows in India, after Kaun Banega Crorepati. Featuring actors like Ronit Roy, Amar Upadhyay, Hiten Tejwani, Gauri Pradhan Tejwani, it also won the ‘Best Continuing Series’ at the Indian Telly Awards for six consecutive years (2002-2007) 

    The show took a leap in story three times including 20 years leap in February 2002, a three years leap, and again a 20 years leap in June 2006, before finally going off air in 2008.

  • Winners of Indian Telly Awards – Bangla 2021 announced

    Winners of Indian Telly Awards – Bangla 2021 announced

    Mumbai: Started in the year 2000, the Indian Telly Awards, often referred to as the Tellys are presented every year by Indiantelevision.com to recognise the exceptional talent from the Indian Television industry.

    The mega ceremony held in Mumbai is attended by thousands of TV actors, producers, writers and directors to celebrate the best performances both on-screen and behind-the-scenes of television in India every year. Considering the evolving situation of the pandemic, the winners of 2021 were announced virtually during an event on 28 January 2022

    This year, the Indian Telly Awards honoured the regional language television industry, beginning with the City of Joy- West Bengal. Watch the virtual ceremony here.

    Here are the winners:

  • TV ad volume soars in 2021, Oct-Dec records highest quarterly growth since 2019: Barc India

    TV ad volume soars in 2021, Oct-Dec records highest quarterly growth since 2019: Barc India

    Mumbai: The television ad volume recorded significant growth in 2021, beating the previous year’s performance, according to the latest data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc). The total ad volume in October-December 2021 was in fact recorded to be the highest during a quarter since 2019, as per the data.

    Riding high on the festive wave, as many as 2,524 advertisers and 4,104 brands advertised on TV in December 2021, out of which at least 19 per cent were new advertisers and brands. Overall, December 2021 recorded a total of 155 mn seconds of ad Volumes, which was 25 per cent higher than December 2019

    “Post a rollercoaster ride in 2020 on account of the pandemic and lockdown, 2021 was a strong positive year for the broadcast industry. We witnessed increased attention from marketers towards television, across languages, while welcoming new brands to the medium throughout the year,” said Barc India head-client partnership revenue function Aaditya Pathak.

    E-commerce, BFSI, retail, and textile sectors independently registered over 40 per cent growth each when compared to December 2019. Ad volumes for the corporate/brand image category surged by 42 per cent over December 2020, as per the Barc Think Report for the month.

    “Ad volumes for digital native and e-commerce brands indicate that marketers continued to bet on television to establish stronger relationships and effective communication with their consumers. With a total of 155 million seconds of advertising volumes in December 2021, we can say with optimism that the broadcast industry ended 2021 on an encouraging note,” added Pathak.

    According to the data, ad volumes on Hindi language channels continued to grow consistently with 15 per cent and 22 per cent growth over December 2020 and 2019 respectively. While the ad volumes for English language channels recovered with a 15 per cent growth over December 2020

    On the other hand, Bhojpuri language channels witnessed the highest growth of 120 per cent over December 2019 while Punjabi increased by 83 per cent over December 2019. Oriya and Assamese Ad Volumes recorded a 50 per cent growth over December 2019, while the ad volume for Marathi channels grew by 47 per cent as compared to December 2019.

    In a piece of good news for TV, advertisers beyond the Top 50 enhanced their presence on TV with 30 per cent and 26 per cent growth over December 2020 and 2019 respectively, said Barc India.

    Q4 2021 showcased stronger growth than Q4 2020 and Q4 2019

    According to Barc India, Q4 021 recorded 489 mn seconds of Ad Volumes, registering 27 per cent growth over Q42019 and six per cent over Q4 2020. Brands across BFSI, e-commerce, corporate/brand image and personal accessories categories led this growth in Q4 2021 over Q4 2019

    The ad volumes on South language channels i.e. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada – registered 25 per cent growth in Q4 2021 over Q4 2019.

  • Broadcasters cheer, as TRPs for news channels to resume after regulatory reboot

    Broadcasters cheer, as TRPs for news channels to resume after regulatory reboot

    Mumbai: After a year-long wait, the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) on Wednesday finally gave its go-ahead to Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India to immediately resume ratings for TV news channels, giving broadcasters a reason to cheer in the new year.

    As per the order, Barc India will have to release ratings for news and niche genres on a ‘four-week rolling average concept’ with immediate effect. But first, it will be required to share the last three months’ data which is expected to give some direction to news channels, and advertisers who had been taking a shot in the dark.

    “I welcome the government’s decision to finally resume ratings for the news genre,” said TV9 Network CEO Barun Das, terming the monthly ratings as the need of the hour. “I have for long been advocating the need to restore ratings while questioning the suspension decision in the first place. News Broadcasters Federation’s (NBF’s) efforts in this direction have been exemplary.”

    In February 2021, over 50 TV news channels had written to the then I&B minister Prakash Javadekar questioning the decision to single out the news genre for suspension.  “News genre commands 12 per cent of the total viewership and 18 per cent revenue of the industry. So, why is that the rating system which is bad for roughly 12 per cent of the TV industry, good for the rest 88 per cent?” Das had written in a separate letter.

    Also read: “Lakhs of livelihood at stake,” TV9 urges MIB to resume TRPs

    Also read : Over 50 TV news channels write to MIB over suspension of TRPs

    In a bid to restore confidence in Barc ratings, the I&B ministry also assured channels that the TV measurement body has undertaken revision in its processes, protocols, oversight mechanism and initiated changes in the governance structure. “The reconstitution of the Board and the Technical Committee to allow for the induction of Independent Members have also been initiated by Barc.  A permanent Oversight Committee has also been formed. The access protocols for data have been revamped and tightened,” the ministry stated.

    Taking a step further, MIB has also set up a ‘Working Group’ under the chairmanship of the Prasar Bharti CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati for the consideration of leveraging the Return Path Data (RPD) capabilities for the use of TRP services, as recommended by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the TRP Committee Report. The group will submit its report in four months’ time.

    “Happy that exactly a year later, the recommendations of the TRP committee report have been accepted by MIB India. Thankful to fellow members of the committee for the hard work put in. Looking forward to achieving cross-industry consensus on the use of Return Path Data (RPD) for TRPs,” tweeted Prasar Bharati CEO.

    Also read: I&B ministry forms Joint Working Group for audience measurement sampling

    The announcement was also welcomed by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA). In a statement, one of the members of the association, who is CEO of a news channel said, “NBA’s stand is vindicated as ministry stamps the room for improvement, acknowledges the deficiencies, and puts a timeline to ratings’ release and systematic corrections.”

    The news broadcasters also gave a thumbs up to the transition from weekly to monthly ratings. “I’m very much in favour of monthly ratings. I think news channels’ content cannot be moulded on the basis of ratings, like the way GECs content can be moulded,” said a senior representative from a national news channel. “The sole purpose of ratings is to give a measuring base to advertisers, and they take a minimum of two to three months to establish a fair and equitable representation of true trends. So, we don’t need ratings on a weekly basis.”

    According to industry representatives, the new ‘four-week rolling average concept’ will also be better equipped to deal with inconsistencies related to inadequate sample size.

    While the decision to scrap out weekly ratings got a positive response, some industry veterans also suggested that releasing news ratings quarterly or twice in a year would be a better proposition. “The global news industry is transforming itself into a “news product” that people can pay for. Ideally, the news genre should be subscription-oriented, as most newspapers are now these days. Globally too, that’s the trend – shifting to an advertising-driven, pay-TV model,” he said.

    The ministry’s go-ahead comes just weeks ahead of an intense election season in five states, including an electoral battle for India’s most populous state. With news channels, all geared up to grab maximum eyeballs, it will be interesting to see how the latest system of news ratings will change the game, especially with several new channels entering the race. “We will have to see whether the scenario has actually changed over the last year or not. But, hopefully, it will only get better from here,” said a senior representative from a news channel.

    The overhaul in the television rating system in India kickstarted in October 2020 when Mumbai Police claimed in a press briefing that they probed a case of manipulation of TRPs and found some incriminating evidence. The police said the accused were allegedly bribing the households to keep a particular channel running, leading to several arrests, and FIRs against three news channels.

    The controversy had forced Barc India to temporarily suspend the publishing of weekly data for news channels, which remained in limbo for over 1.3 years. “A pause was necessitated to enable the industry and Barc India to work closely to review its already stringent protocols and further augment them,” the then Barc India chairman Punit Goenka had said.

  • #Retrace2021: The emergence of new advertiser categories in sports genre

    #Retrace2021: The emergence of new advertiser categories in sports genre

    Mumbai: As LIVE sports returned to Television in full swing in 2021, several new categories of advertisers also dived in to make the most of the opportunity to establish a connect with consumers. From e-pharma, gaming, cryptocurrency to several new-age brands flocked the TV space with a marketing blitz.

    “There is a deep connection between sports and youth, and the latter is undoubtedly among the first adopters of technology. So, no wonder why a plethora of consumer tech brands are dominating the mass sports broadcasting airspace,” says Wunderman Thompson Delhi senior VP and managing partner Joy Chauhan. “For them, the biggest metric of success is how fast they can scale up their brand and operations. Big sporting brands and Bollywood celebrities are just what the media planning doctor ordered for them.”

    Sample this: According to the latest Barc India report, out of the total 4,624 brands that advertised on TV in October, as many as 1,065 were new ones. While legacy brands such as the durables and automobile brands stayed strong, several new ones made splashes with significant increases in investment in the sports sponsorship space.

    According to Pitch Madison Advertising report published in February early this year, ed-tech firm Byju’s spent Rs 400-500 crore in advertising in 2020 while gaming firm Dream11 spent Rs 350-400 crore and My11Circle spent Rs 150-250 crore. The trend continued this year as millions of people tuned into cricket, football, and other sports events throughout the year.

    Despite the pandemic-led disruptions, the sports scene in 2021 saw some big impact properties reigniting the LIVE sports action on Television. From the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to ICC T20 World Cup, India-New Zealand series, Indian Super League (ISL), and the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) – all boosted the presence of new advertisers powering the revenue growth.

    Online gaming, ed-tech, and crypto brands drive Ad-ex

    The contribution of these companies to the overall adex has also been steadily growing each year with new categories such as online gaming and ed-tech driving the adex in 2021.

    According to DDB Mudra Group country head and managing partner – Integrated Media Rammohan Sundaram, new-age consumer tech companies contribute nearly 50-55 per cent of the adex on sports. “Look at the number of brands and their frequency on TV – PayTM, Cred, Upstox, CoinDCX, Byjus, Unacademy, Upgrad, MPL and others have ensured the growth of TV advertising, sponsorship in sports and celebrity endorsements,” he explains. “This is visible not just on TV but also on digital due to the nature of the business of streaming sporting events on devices. My guess is that around Rs 4500-5000 crore come from new-age companies into sports marketing alone.”

    Industry experts also highlight the advantages that an Indian consumer offers especially in terms of consumer loyalty and long-term affinity. With the youngest population in the world, where 65 per cent of the total 1.3 billion are below the age of 35, India is considered the largest market economy in the world.

    Building Mass Reach

    When such a denominator is at play, how does a consumer-tech company build its momentum? It does that by being omnipresent through reach and high frequency, through a medium that still continues to build new audiences outside of the urban population- and that medium is TV. Experts cite this as one of the prime reasons why big brands in e-commerce and other new categories continue to plough millions of dollars on television.

    Going by the consumption patterns of this young audience, and a definite outcome that makes for a wholesome experience, the Sports genre delivers the highest GRPs (gross rating point measuring impact). Thus, making it worthwhile for these new-age companies to bet on so that the required adoption of their products happens in their desired target sets.

    “At least 60 per cent of Unacademy’s advertising spends is allocated to TV to capture the growing internet populace and make them adopt their offerings early so that they can stay locked in for a longer period of time. Most of the loan-to-value (LTV) for such (EdTech) brands is strong because of the number of years these platforms can lock their consumers with high-quality educational content and experience through their product offerings,” says Sundaram. “So even if they have a very high customer acquisition cost, it really doesn’t matter much because eventually they not only recover but make a lot of profit from one customer, leading to an eventually profitable business simply because of the duration a customer stays attached with the brand.”

    That may not hold true for eCommerce, or Crypto, however, which is a different ball game altogether. So, while there may be different consumer behaviours associated with these new-age brand categories, all of it makes media investments in Sports advertising, parking a sizable chunk of their annual ad budget, worthwhile given the sheer size of the addressable audience that is available for these new-age brands in such a large market economy.

    According to dentsu India chief client officer Narayan Devanathan, brands in these categories are the ones which are flush with funds, and they are looking to generate awareness very quickly, backed by a lot of ad spends—and the properties with the most impact for this task are the sports-related ones. “The emergence of these advertisers is so visible is primarily because they have received a disproportionate share of attention and capital from VC firms in this time period. And they are now spending that capital to garner a disproportionate share of attention from their potential customers,” he opines.

    Turning to Social Media for the boost

    Even as Sports continues to attract eyeballs, the ‘new normal’ and digital advancements coupled with the social media expansion have brought new possibilities for brands to increase their visibility and improve their sponsorship message. And this time, with back-to-back IPL and T20 World Cup leagues aligned with the festive season, the brands went all out investing in the sport on TV and OTT platforms to be where their audiences are.

    E-commerce brands were the biggest spenders during the first leg of IPL 2021 in April-May and an increase in the number of fantasy gaming apps were observed during the league, as per HI-CRICKET, a proprietary IP report by Havas Media Group India.

    Digital stock brokerage Upstox recently beat online investment platform Groww to become the official partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), joining startups such as fantasy sports platform Dream11, e-payments firm Cred and ed-tech startup Unacademy. The latter is also sponsoring the T20 tournament, apart from IPL, and currently working on Olympics and other branded content-led partnerships across different forms of sports, the company disclosed earlier.

    Pro Kabbadi League, which returned after two years on 22 December has online pharmacy platform Netmeds.com and Dream11 as sponsors. Recently e-gaming platform WinZO which aims to build a community of gamers and gaming influencers in Tier 2 to tier 4 cities in India, also secured the principal sponsorships for two major Vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) teams, Bengal Warriors and Gujarat Giants, as well as associate sponsorship for Patna Pirates. Meanwhile, the Indian Super League (ISL) has sponsors including Dream11 and Policybazaar.

    With the year drawing to a close, let’s see how these new-age brands up their game in 2022!

  • Winners of Indian Telly Streaming Awards 2021 announced

    Winners of Indian Telly Streaming Awards 2021 announced

    Mumbai: The last two years have indeed been a hallmark year for the streaming industry with a record number of OTT content being produced across all languages.  Even as the established players bolstered their presence in the market, several new platforms have emerged, creating a host of opportunities for writers, actors, directors to showcase their talent.

    It is this wave of talent that Indiantelevision.com attempted to recognise at the Indian Telly Streaming Awards 2021. The awards are an extension of the first-ever Television Award show – The Indian Telly Awards in India that recognise both on-screen and behind-the-scenes of television in India every year. Considering the evolving situation of the pandemic, the winners of 2021 were announced virtually during an event on Thursday.

    The idea was to honour the best of the streaming industry – business, creative, and talent, and recognise the effort that goes into making premium originals in India. The awards were announced across different categories which included Best Actor, Best Actress, Best animation online first, Best Talk Show, Best Documentary, Best Editor, Best DOP, Best Title Track, Best writer as well as Best Comic.

    The selection was done by an eminent jury which included OML CEO Gunjan Arya, Isspeshal StratCon CEO Ashish Patil, director of photography Dharam Gulati, Dabur head of media Rajiv Dubey, House of Cheer Networks MD Rajiv Nayak, actor Rohit Roy, filmmaker Omung Kumar Bhandula, Ellipsis Entertainment managing partner Tanuj Garg, Jigsaw Pictures founder Rajbish Lal, Contiloe producer Roopali Kadyan, We Log trustee Ravina Raj Kohli, IN10 Media Network VP – Corporate Strategy and development Mansi Darbar, and Milestone Movies director Monisha Singh Katial.

    Here is the list of winners: 

  • What’s behind IN10 Media’s mega plan to rebrand EPIC?

    What’s behind IN10 Media’s mega plan to rebrand EPIC?

    Mumbai: IN10 Media Network’s premier infotainment channel EPIC has unveiled its brand new look on 16 December. In tandem with a futuristic philosophy of ‘Soch Se Aage’, the channel simultaneously revealed a fresh programming line-up that plans to grow beyond the present and forge an inspiring as well as expansive future for infotainment.

    The move seems to have been spurred by the Indian audiences’ growing appetite for all kinds of entertainment, including factual, as a result of being exposed to a wide variety of content in the last couple of years.

    Decoding EPIC’s transformation that was built on the brand’s established USP of ‘India ka Apna Infotainment’, IN10 Media Network MD Aditya Pittie had said, “‘Glocal’ is no longer just a textbook phrase for the future, but the very essence of the modern audience that has explored all that is available from around the world and is hungry for more. It is this ‘more’ that is at the heart of EPIC’s new brand philosophy and will be the cornerstone of showcasing content that is ‘Soch Se Aage’ – beyond the known universe of knowledge, ideas, and stories; into the metaverse of an exciting future that continues to celebrate India.”

    In addition to launching new seasons of popular shows like ‘Raja Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaaniyaan’, ‘Lost Recipes’ and ‘Regiment Diaries’, EPIC new content slate includes ‘Lakshya 1971 – Vayusena Ke Veer Yoddha’, ‘India Post – Dhaage Jo Desh Jode’, ‘Jugaad Mania and’ Homecoming- A Nation’s Fight For Its People’ and digital originals such as ‘EPIC Khoj’, ‘What’s in the Name’ and ‘Short Mid-Wicket Tales’.

    In this exclusive interview with Indiantelevision.com, EPIC AVP – content and strategy Nisha Thakkar talks about the rationale behind the brand revamp and programming for the ‘Soch Se Aage’ philosophy.

    Edited Excerpts:

    On the idea behind the brand revamp, and need for a new philosophy

    EPIC has always been a channel ahead of the time. We were the first India-centric Hindi infotainment channel while everyone else was focusing on international content, and since then have showcased exhilarating stories from the country to the world. With the world changing and content consumption patterns evolving, we too have.

    The new tagline – ‘Soch Se Aage’ – reflects the channel philosophy of driving thought – leadership, inspiration, pride, and a window to the world ‘Beyond Imagination’. The world is changing at a lightning speed and there is an unseen, unknown universe of knowledge, ideas, and stories to showcase our audience through the platform of EPIC.

    Also Read: IN10 Media’s Epic readies for brand makeover starting 16 December

    On how the demand for infotainment has evolved through 2020-21 on TV, and digital? And, how is the channel planning to meet that demand through the content strategy?

    The infotainment genre has remained stable with the launch of a new line-up across the channels however there has been immense growth on digital platforms. Our property – EPIC Digital Originals – launched early this year, has witnessed immense growth on Youtube & Facebook. There has been almost a 30 per cent organic growth in subscribers within one year.

    Today, one wants differentiated content on every genre, and EPIC has been able to deliver more than the expectation of its viewers by offering premium content. We have launched new seasons of our legacy shows – ‘Raja Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan’, ‘Regiment Diaries’ & ‘Lost Recipes’ – as well as a new line-up of compelling shows like ‘India Post – Dhaage Jo Desh Jode’, ‘Jugaad Mania’ among others in the coming months.

    On new shows, especially the latest ‘Lakshya 1971’ which premiered on 16 December.

    The one-hour-long documentary ‘Lakshya 1971: Vayu Sena Ke Veer Yoddha’, highlights the exclusive story of the 1971 aerial war for the first time through the decisive air battles that changed the course of this iconic war.

    Travelling back 50 years to retrieve the breath-taking battle stories, the film will uncover some of the Indian Air Force’s closely guarded secrets and tales of men, machines, and missions. Viewers will get to hear first-hand accounts of the game-changing stories and inspiring heroics by the IAF war legends. Combining archival footage with graphics and recreated scenes will bring the war to life with some of the greatest stories of courage, patriotism, and independence which the world has long forgotten.

    On the challenge of meeting the growing demand for purely India-centric content, especially in terms of finding the right talent.

    Over the years, factual content has evolved and so have the talent working on the same. The genre is no longer restricted to just documentaries or wildlife content, it has broadened its horizons across the spectrum. Broadcast channels, production houses, artists, and other talent working in the genre have been thinking outside the box to create some phenomenal and meaningful work.

    On looking ahead to 2022 and the channel’s plans for content strategy, and overall goal for next year

    EPIC is known for its iconic shows and we will continue to bring those to our viewers. New seasons of legacy shows like ‘Raja Rasoi, Lost Recipes, and Regiment Diaries’ will once again tingle the viewers’ senses and emotions. As mentioned earlier, we plan to introduce new IPs in the new year. To name a few, ‘Jugaad Mania’ will bring alive stories of ordinary people creating extraordinary innovations and ‘Homecoming – A Nation’s Fight for its People’ that will highlight the efforts of the common man and the government as they faced numerous challenges during the Covid-19 lockdown.

    Witnessing great response from the audience, the channel’s digital properties will see the launch of new originals soon.  EPIC has been and will be a one-stop destination of amazing stories from across geographies.

  • Sonic turns 10, celebrates with special campaign ‘Tenniversary’

    Sonic turns 10, celebrates with special campaign ‘Tenniversary’

    Mumbai: Sonic, part of India’s kids entertainment franchise Nickelodeon, is celebrating the completion of its decade-long journey with a special birthday campaign ‘Tenniversary’. The channel was launched on 19 December, 2011.

    The campaign is conceptualised with a focus on partnerships, expansive influencer promotions, and digital engagement through an array of exciting activities to keep children entertained. 

    Sonic has risen through the ranks from the seventh position since its launch a decade ago to the third in 2020-21, and currently at the top in its anniversary week. With viewers spending 119 minutes on an average per week, it currently commands a 13 per cent market share. It plays a significant role in strengthening leadership for the Nickelodeon franchise with a reach of 28.2 million as of November 2021.

    The channel’s first launch was ‘Kung Fu Panda- The Legend of Awesomeness’. Its latest home-grown IP ‘Pinaki & Happy – The Bhoot Bandhus’ contributes 30 per cent of the channel’s ratings, consistently appearing in the category’s top 10 slots since launch. 

    “When we started our journey with Sonic a decade ago, we took a plunge in the highly competitive kids category. From then to now, Sonic has grown leaps and bounds. The success story of Sonic is a result of our kids-first approach in driving innovation with pioneering homegrown content that has made Nickelodeon the leading franchise,” said Viacom18 – head of Hindi mass entertainment & kids TV network Nina Jaipuria. “We are happy to have built a brand that is a destination which kids return to for their daily dose of entertainment. We look forward to the next phase with enthusiasm.”

  • In10 Media’s kids channel Gubbare forays into original content

    In10 Media’s kids channel Gubbare forays into original content

    Mumbai: The In10 Media Network’s kids channel, Gubbare, is all set to intensify the competition in the genre with original content.

    After much anticipation and understanding of the viewer’s television consumption behaviour, Gubbare is gearing up to bring its first-ever magical martial arts superhero – ‘Akki Jaanbaaz’ to life during the festive period. The idea is to create a role model for kids that will be closer to their hearts and have a unique storyline, it said on Monday.

    The show will have classic martial art moves and playful characters that will resonate with every kid across the country. The series revolves around a nine-year-old boy Akki who juggles his normal life along with his superhero persona, thanks to a magical belt while finding a balance between the two. Toonz Animation was roped in as the production house of the show.

    “Since its launch in 2020, Gubbare has kept kids at the core – be it the characters or stories. The launch of the IPs is a significant milestone for us as we move towards garnering a larger share of the viewership pie,” Gubbare AVP – Content & Strategy Brian D’costa. “With local, relevant, and entertaining narratives, we will further strengthen our original programming in multiple languages as we want to connect with kids across regions. Kids today want differentiated content and our new line-up will fulfill that need-gap in the genre.”

    To engage with the audience, the channel also plans to launch a high-intensity marketing plan. From Instagram filters, AR/VR characterisation to a dance challenge, kids will have a chance to win interesting merchandise, it said on Monday.

    In the pipeline are two more original titles, ‘Roro aur Hero – Bhoot mast! Zabardast’ and ‘Akul aur Nakul – The Asuras’. Both the shows, catering to different genres, explore the themes of friendship, family, and good vs evil but marry them with comedy with the help of the lovable characters. “Staying true to the channel’s tagline – Masti Ke Phuwarre – the new IPs will celebrate magic, action, and high-quality animation and extend Gubbare’s library to build affinity with its loyal audience. The efforts are also being made to keep the content relevant globally,” the channel said in a statement.

    The new show ‘Akki Jaanbaaz’ will air at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm on 27 December in Hindi, English, Tamil, and Telugu. It will also be available on the network’s OTT platform EPIC ON.