ITV

Tag: TOI

  • Pranav Bakshi gets promoted to pilot Network18’s Connected growth engine

    Pranav Bakshi gets promoted to pilot Network18’s Connected growth engine

    MUMBAI: Network18’s digital dynamo Pranav Bakshi has just bagged a bold new title — chief growth officer, Network18 Connected — as he takes charge of accelerating content, audience, and revenue across connected TV, social platforms, and strategic partnerships.

    But this isn’t just a new nameplate on the desk. With his finger on the pulse of where audiences are headed (and not where they’ve lingered), Bakshi is gearing up to rewire how content is created, consumed and commercialised across the media conglomerate’s vast portfolio.

    “This role is about leading the charge, not catching up,” said Bakshi. “It’s about scaling platforms, monetising content smartly, and building future-proof digital ecosystems.”

    Having previously helmed digital video strategy for over 45 Network18 brands — from CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18 to Firstpost, Moneycontrol and History TV18 — Bakshi’s remit covered everything from CTV to creators, from off-platform growth to platform partnerships.

    Before his Network18 innings, Bakshi brought the firepower at Times network, heading digital video, strategy, partnerships, and social media for a bouquet of brands with a collective follower base of 60 million. He’s also worn hats at NDTV, TOI, Taj Hotels and even Maersk, with a track record of marrying content with commerce and strategy with scale.

    With his elevation, expect Bakshi to keep the content taps flowing — but this time, through smarter pipes, faster funnels, and next-gen platforms. The build, as he says, continues.

  • Bharat 24 announces senior-level appointments in key function of the sales & marketing team

    Bharat 24 announces senior-level appointments in key function of the sales & marketing team

    Mumbai: Soon-to-be launched national hindi news channel, Bharat 24, has kept the industry buzzing with a slew of new appointments. Recently, the channel has announced senior-level appointments in key functions of sales and marketing ahead of its launch.

    Bhim Shankar Negi has joined Bharat 24 as vice president (North and East). With over 16 years of media sales experience, Negi is known for increasing revenue with his solution-based approach, especially with selling events, IP’s and customized brand solutions for his clients. In his previous role, he has worked with leading media networks like Zee Media, Network18, NDTV and The Times of India.

    Speaking on his appointment, Negi said, “It is a privilege to have been entrusted with this new responsibility. While Bharat 24 is the first-to-introduce augmented reality in its studios, we are confident of offering a wide range of customized media solutions to fraternity”.

    Partha Sarthi Kuila is appointed as vice president for the west and south region. He will be based out of the Mumbai Office. In his illustrious career spanning over two decades, Partha has been responsible for driving ad sales revenue from the west & south markets where he has worked with Zee Media, Sab TV, Network18, 9X Media, Star India and Red FM.

    Speaking about his new role, Sarthi Kuila said, “I am extremely delighted to join the team at Bharat 24. My experience and learnings will help me charter into newer arenas to tap into the full potential of the channel.”

    The channel also announced the appointment of Nishant Mishra as vice president of marketing. He will be responsible for the brand’s launch and other marketing activities in his national role.

    Nishant has been instrumental in creating successful brand strategy, curating IP’s and customized brand solutions for the leading media brands he has worked with in his career spreading over 15 years like TV Today, TV 18, Zee and iTV Network. Before joining Bharat 24, he was associated with India Ahead News as DGM, Marketing & Branded Content.

    On these new appointments, Bharat 24 chief business officer and strategic advisor to the board Manoj Jagyasi commented, “Bhim, Partha and Nishant bring a wealth of experience & strategic thinking which should bolster our growth plans for Bharat 24. Cashing in on all the excitement for Bharat 24 in the market, I am pleased to inform you that we are already in advanced stages towards signing a few large advertisers”.

  • FIFS onboards Joy Bhattacharjya as director-general

    FIFS onboards Joy Bhattacharjya as director-general

    Mumbai: Self-regulatory industry body for fantasy sports, the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) on Friday announced the appointment of Joy Bhattacharjya as its director-general. In this role,  Bhattacharjya will oversee the functioning of the body and work with policymakers and industry stakeholders alike.  

    The organisation said that he is a well-known figure in the sports & media entertainment industry of the country and can be rightly hailed as the ‘Godfather of Fantasy Sports in India.’ From designing India’s first ever fantasy sports game – the Super Selector for ESPN Star Sports, to coming onboard FIFS – it is a perfect synergy, said FIFS.   

    He also runs the Prime Volleyball League and is a cricket analyst with Cricbuzz. As Fifa U-17 World Cup 2017 project director he delivered the most attended and successful junior tournament in the history of FIFA.  

    In his earlier roles he has held the position of Kolkata Knight Riders team director and History & National Geographic as head of programming – South Asia. He was also the first Indian head of production at ESPN Star Sports. He is an avid writer, having written for the likes of TOI, India Today, BBC, The Telegraph and the Hindustan Times, has a regular quiz column with the Hindu Business Line and also writes on sport for the Economic Times.  

    FIFS chairman Bimal Julka said, “Happy to have Joy Bhattacharjya join FIFS as the director-general. FIFS will benefit from his sports expertise and knowledge of fantasy sports.”  

    Bhattacharjya added, “I am elated to be a part of the next stage of development of Fantasy Sports in the country. It’s a homecoming for me in a way, from launching the Super Selector in 2000, to now leading FIFS – India’s only SRO for Fantasy Sports. I look forward to working with the FIFS members and the stakeholders at large and help FIFS identify the landscape and potential for India to be the global leader in the fantasy sports sector.”

  • Goafest Diaries: Sony pictures wins ‘Broadcaster of the Year’, Mindshare bags ‘Tech agency of the Year’ awards

    Goafest Diaries: Sony pictures wins ‘Broadcaster of the Year’, Mindshare bags ‘Tech agency of the Year’ awards

    Mumbai:  Ending an eventful day two of Goafest 2022 on a high note, Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) grabbed the ‘Broadcaster of the Year Abby’. Mindshare was named as the ‘Tech agency of the year’ while, FCB Group India bagged ‘Specialist PR agency of the year.’ In the mobile category, Cheil India won the ‘Mobile specialist of the year.’ Famous Innovations bagged the Grand Prix in the direct category and in addition to winning the ‘Design specialist agency of the year.’

    A total of 32 Broadcaster ABBYs, 19 Design & Design Craft ABBY’s, 40 Digital & Digital Craft ABBYs, 31 Direct ABBYs, 7 Mobile ABBYs, and 32 Public Relations, 16 Technology ABBYs, were awarded on Thursday night at the event held at Grand Hyatt, Goa.

    Heres a look below at each category:

    BROADCASTER ABBY Awards – 2022

    Zee Kannada grabbed a gold in the ‘Best launch of a TV Channel’ sub category, while TV18 broadcast picked up two of the coveted metal for ‘Best launch of a TV program’ using multi-media and ‘Best original music score for a TV Program’ sub categorys- the latter for its Byju’s Young Genius -A News18 Initiative.

    Sony Pictures Network India won two golds for Uefa Champions League Sona Mana Hai Campaign 2019 and Love For Cricket campaigns in the ‘Best TV sports channel program promo.’

    Three Silver metals were picked up by Sony Pictures Network India, while Arha Media & Broadcasting, Zee Kannada picked up two each, and TV18 Broadcast, Disney Broadcasting bagged a silver each.

    DESIGN CRAFT ABBY Awards – 2022

    The category did not see any gold winner. Famous Innovations won three silver, while TLG India media picked up one silver.

    DIGITAL ABBY Award – 2022 category

    In the DIGITAL ABBY Award – 2022 category, Famous Innovations grabbed the only gold in the Social Media – Social Media (Co-Creation / Crowdsourcing / Response etc.) sub category for campaign titled #LonelyNoMore for the brand Burger King.

    In the same sub category, one silver each was picked up by Cheil India and Fulcro, while in the Digital Technology -(Installations) sub category Tribes Communications and Mindshare won a Silver each.

    In the search sub category GREY Group won a silver metal. The ‘Best in Creator Partnerships’1 sub category saw agencies SoCheers, TLG India, Motivator and Kinnect Media pick up a Silver metal each.

    The ‘Best in Moment Marketing’ sub category saw Schbang and Famous Innovations win a silver each, while Kinnect Media won the metal for the ‘Best in Platform Innovation.’

    TECHNOLOGY ABBY Awards – 2022

    The category saw two gold winners- Sangbad Pratidin and Cheil India. Sangbad Pratidin won this in the sub category ‘Best Use Of Technology  For Community Management/Building’ and Cheil India Private Limited won it for ‘Best Creative Use Of Tech  Innovation.’ The silver in the category registered seven winners- Cheil India Private Limited, Idealake Information Technologies, Mindshare, Tribes Communications, Sangbad Pratidin, Interactive Avenues – A  Reprise Network Company and Mindshare.

    PUBLIC RELATIONS ABBY Awards – 2022

    The PR category had four gold and eleven silver awards. Interestingly, all gold awards were picked by FCB Group India for their campaigns for Political Shakti + The  Times Of India, Mumbai Police.

    In the same category, FCB Group India also won two silver. Tribes communication, GREY Group and Cheil India Private Limited too picked two silver awards each and the rest of the three silver awards were won by ^atom network, The Glitch and TLG India Private Limited.  

    MOBILE ABBY Awards – 2022

    In the mobile category there were two golds won by Cheil India Private Limited and FCB Group India. The category also had two silver awards and both were bagged by Cheil India.

    DIRECT ABBY Awards – 2022    

    Famous Innovations bagged the Grand Prix in this category. The direct category had three gold and 10 silver awards. Two among the three golds were bagged by FCB Group India and Famous Innovations earned the third gold award in the category. In the same category, FCB Group India bagged three silver. Cheil India Private Limited and Famous Innovations also won two silver each in the direct category, TLG India Private Limited bagged one silver and Mindshare also got one silver.  

    DIGITAL CRAFT ABBY Awards – 2022

    In the digital craft category, there were two silver won by BC Web Wise for their Safer Internet Day campaign and Cheil India Private Limited for their Samsung Goodvibes campaign.  

    DESIGN ABBY Awards – 2022

    In the design category, there was only one silver which was bagged by TLG India Private Limited for their Amazon Story Boxes campaign for Amazon Seller.

    Here’s the entire list of winners on Day two of the adfest:

    DAY 2 Broadcaster ABBY Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 Design CRAFT ABBY Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 Design ABBY Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 DIGITAL CRAFT Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 DIGITAL ABBY Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 DIRECT ABBY Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 MOBILE ABBY Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 PR ABBY Awards – 2022

    DAY 2 TECHNOLOGY ABBY Awards – 2022

  • Bombay Begums: NCPCR asks Netflix to snip ‘objectionable’ scenes

    Bombay Begums: NCPCR asks Netflix to snip ‘objectionable’ scenes

    NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has issued an order asking Netflix to immediately remove specific scenes involving minors which are cited to be objectionable from the Bombay Begums series and asked it to stop streaming the series until then, the Times of India has reported.

    It has also sought an action taken report within the next three days.

    According to the report, the child rights body has also directed Mumbai police commissioner to take action with regards to the content in the series cited in the order and report back within a week. NCPCR has also given Netflix time till 18 March to reply.

    The order was passed following a meeting of Netflix officials with NCPCR to discuss the issues pertaining to representing and portrayal of children in the series Bombay Begums.

    “After detailed deliberations, the commission is of the view that these particular scenes are in violation of relevant sections of JJ Act, 2015, POCSO Act 2012 and IPC, 1860 as minor children were used in these scenes. Therefore, Netflix is directed to immediately remove these scenes from the series and meanwhile till the time they come to any decision in this regard, they shall stop the streaming of this series on their platform,” Kanoongo asserts in the order, according to the TOI report.

    As reported earlier, the NCPCR had issued a notice to OTT platform Netflix to stop streaming Bombay Begums. According to the notice, the commission received complaints from two Twitter handles regarding the Netflix original. The objections have been raised in regards to a scene where a 13-year-old girl is seen “snorting cocaine” at a party, as well as another plot point dealing with school girls sending nude selfies to members of the opposite sex.

    NCPCR had stated that the series with this type of content will pollute young minds and may result in abuse and exploitation of children at the hands of perpetrators and offenders and it does not allow representing, portraying, glorifying children in India in such manner on any platform including streaming services.

    Bombay Begums, written and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, started streaming on 8 March and revolves around five women whose lives are interconnected.

    The action comes days after Netflix’s arch rival Amazon Prime Video issued an apology for its series Tandav in the wake of widespread furore over the depiction of Hindu deities.

    Meanwhile, the government has also notified new rules to better monitor and regulate the content on new age entertainment platforms consisting of a three-tier redressal mechanism. 

  • SonyLIV onboards four sponsors for India-Australia series

    SonyLIV onboards four sponsors for India-Australia series

    KOLKATA: Since its rebranding, the India tour of Australia is the first major sporting event to be aired on SonyLIV. While the digital arm of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) created quite a buzz on the back of its original content, it’s continuing to promote all its tentpole properties aggressively. Following the same route of marketing for Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, SonyLIV has chosen The Times of India (TOI) front page for advertising the India-Australia series.

    The ad published on TOI mentions four sponsors – WinZo and McDowell’s No1 as co-powered sponsors, IIFL Finance and MUTUAL FUNDS Sahi Hai as segment partners. It also promotes upcoming shows like Sandwiched Forever, Gullak 2, College Romance Season 2, Girls hostel 2.0, along with other promotional content. Along with print, SonyLIV is actively pushing the sports event on its social media handles as well.

    The two-month long India tour of Australia comprising a three-match ODI series, followed by a three-match T20 series and a four-match Test series has started streaming on 27 November. This is India’s first international tour after nine months post the global Covid2019 pandemic lockdown; India last played New Zealand in February 2020. However, it will be available for premium subscribers only.

  • SonyLIV goes big to retain buzz around Scam 1992

    SonyLIV goes big to retain buzz around Scam 1992

    KOLKATA: Amongst the homegrown OTT players, SonyLIV was late to enter the original content space. After its recent rebranding, the OTT platform has made a splash, especially with the launch of Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta story. Following its success, the platform is leaving no stone unturned to retain the buzz around the show.

    On Saturday, SonyLIV published a four-page advertorial in The Times of India. The separate sheet of the feature contains interviews with actors, the production house, the director, and a review of the show along with the promotion of other original content on the platform. It further included original headlines from newspapers around the scam and photographs of Sucheta Dalal, Harshad Mehta and his lawyers.

    The content was exclusively created and served as a teaser for the audiences to watch the show on SonyLiv.

    While it is not the first time when an OTT player is promoting a new show, but it is one of the rare occasions, when any OTT player has taken the content route in the print media to promote a show.

    Use images of news papers attached 

    The 10-part series began streaming on SonyLIV, from 9 October. It is one of the highest-rated shows on IMDB in India (9.6) and has bagged a place among the top 50 television shows globally. With phenomenal ratings and record-breaking performance, the show has made it to the list of the top five OTT shows for the last week of October, according to a streaming tracker by Ormax Media. Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story was the second on the list with 6.6 million views.

    The show has received a remarkable response from audiences for gripping performances from Pratik Gandhi and Shreya Dhanwanthary, stellar direction by Hansal Mehta, and an exceptional script written by Sumit Purohit, Saurav Dey, Vaibhav Vishal and Karan Vyas. 

  • Byju’s launches #KeepLearning with TOI to empower parents, students, & teachers

    Byju’s launches #KeepLearning with TOI to empower parents, students, & teachers

    NEW DELHI: Times of India in association with BYJU’S has launched #KeepLearning campaign. The initiative intends to empower students, parents and educators with information and the best practices of online learning.

    With a key focus towards offering innovative, engaging and informative content for young students, the campaign platform will also offer guidance via discussions and one-on-one chats for parents and educators.

    The campaign will further delve into various topics, pertaining to education, curated by luminaries and stalwarts from the education sector including Artsphere & Soulsphere founder & director Anubha Doshi, Nehru World School director Arunabh Singh, Ophthalmologist Navin Sakhuja, Max Super Specialty Hospital  director and head Sameer Malhotra, Springdays School & Fountainhead Leaders co-founder Ramya Rajendiran among others.

    Some of the key topics include, new education policy, curriculum during Covid2019 and beyond, Blackboard to a digital screen, screen time – how much is too much, and many more.

    #KeepLearning is a holistic one stop platform solving all thee-learning pain-points faced by teachers, parents and students in today’s time. The platform includes: – 

    ·         Content on Online Education: Almost all topics related to online learning are covered through variety of articles, listicles and videos on the website

    ·         Discussion with Subject Matter Experts: There will be series of Webinars and Panel Discussions with subject matter experts on various topics throughout the 2 months duration of the initiative

    ·         One-on-One Connect with Experts: Registered users will also be able to connect one on one with key experts from multiple domains like Education System, Lifestyle Coaching, Child Psychology, Ophthalmology, Career Counselling etc. to answer their questions/queries

    ·         Discussion Forums: Registered users will also be able to participate in discussion forums on various topics and get perspective of top experts and other participants

    The campaign is also engaging with prominent celebrities and experts. The list includes known influencers like Rajiv Makhani, Anaita Shroff, Katerina Folkman, Momcom India and many others.

    TOI director brand Sanjeev Bhargava said, “The pandemic has brought about several drastic changes in the way we live our lives. One of the sectors that have seen sizeable change is the education sector, which has swiftly transitioned and adopted a digital approach. As a media platform, we have consistently been drivers of effective change in society, building and supporting movements; with this legacy, we bring an endeavour to empower parents and educators while providing them with the best guidance and knowledge in association with Byju’s. Bridging the gap between the knowledge of how to leverage the various digital learning tools that have been developed for us, #KeepLearning will help children, parents and educators alike.”

    TOI director response Sudha Natrajan has also shared a similar take on the initiative. She said, “Covid-19’s prevailing impact has forced people to live life indoors. The education sector has also moved from blackboards to digital screens, affecting the life of the students and forcing them to adapt to the digital way of learning. With TOI’s and Byju’s – #KeepLearning initiative, we aim to edify the parents and educators about how they can adapt to these changes and alsohelp students adapt to the changing times for a better future. By using different approaches and digital tools we intend to create a bridge between the parents and teachers to drive them towards a better future for the students.”

    Byju’s COO Mrinal Mohit said, “Learning and education are an important part of our lives. With the advancement of technologies and availability of several tools, it is necessary to expand the scope of learning at every stage and educate ourselves on how we can harness the presented opportunity. With the #KeepLearning campaign, in association with TOI, BYJU’S hopes to enlighten students, parents and educators about the ‘how-to’ of e-learning and bring about a change in the education sector.”

    Launched today, the campaign will garner a national presence via the media house’s extensive reach, further amplified digitally as well as with social media. Parents and children can visit the campaign microsite https://timeskeeplearning.com/ for a deep-dive into the world of e-learning.

  • TOI innovates, brings out double newspaper during the weekend

    TOI innovates, brings out double newspaper during the weekend

    NEW DELHI: On 19 September, the newspaper readers were in for a surprise as there was not one but two Times of India newspapers at the doorsteps of the readers.

    Initially, the consumers were confused, but later they realised that the publisher did it intentionally to seek their attention and create a richer reading experience.

    “In our constant endeavour to give you more we’re doubling your delight quotient today. We bring you not one but two front pages” read the announcement.

    Commenting on the two newspapers on a single day, TOI president response Partha Sinha said, “The Times Group had been a pioneer when it comes to innovation. This is in line with the tradition. Our research showed that people are spending more time on the newspaper during this period and they need more reading material. We also figured out that there’s a queue of sorts in the morning and people want to share the paper especially on holidays etc. This created a great reading as well as sharing experience.

    Read more news on The Times of India

    A close up of a newspaper Description automatically generated 

    Times Group believes that this festival, people may not have enough opportunities to go out of their homes. So the home needs to made more interesting and there needs to bigger engagements from newspapers. “This is one of the many interesting ideas we have in store this festive season. This is the beginning of things to come. We have a lot planned for our readers and advertising partners – from exciting promotions, incentives to initiatives that can make a change in society. There’s lot more action coming your way” added Sinha.

    The initiative met with some resounding feedback ranging from positive sentiment to some tongue-in-cheek comments. A resident of Bengaluru, Shabari, says that for once she and her husband could read the newspaper at the same time without fighting about who gets which paper first. “With two papers and two sections of everything, it was such a peaceful morning. My Saturday began really well. Maybe I should consider ordering two newspapers every day.” she concluded. 

    In a survey across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru the initiative has been appreciated up by over 75 per cent of the readers. 

  • Gulzar pens a beautiful ode to #NewspaperMornings depicting TOI reader’s intimate relationship with the newspaper

    Gulzar pens a beautiful ode to #NewspaperMornings depicting TOI reader’s intimate relationship with the newspaper

    The pandemic has brought in massive changes in the way we live. Social distancing, work-from-home, online schooling, virtual events etc. are all visible changes that are affecting our everyday lives. The world is grappling with uncertainty, and it is more important now than ever to be equipped with accurate information to fight off the rumors and fear. Newspapers have always enabled trustworthy and insightful journalism that prints the truth without fear or favor.  As we yearn for normalcy in the new-normal, The Times of India, India’s largest English newspaper, launched a beautiful ode to #NewspaperMornings that highlights the power of the printed word and its intimate relationship with its readers in shaping their mornings.

    The poetry #NewspaperMornings is penned by and narrated by poet, and lyricist Gulzar Saa’b and weaves in the close relationship a reader shares with his/her newspapers. Sometimes a companion with the morning chai, sometimes feeding our thirst for intense debate and sometimes newspaper is a discovery of new and unknown. The pleasure of reading a newspaper is in the intensity of the words that are printed, not its decibel. Newspapers don’t just bring us news and views every morning, they empower us to create our own opinions. TOI’s campaign #NewspaperMornings showcases this personal relationship that a newspaper has with it’s reader as the reader holds it, folds the pages and immerses oneself in the platter of news. The core messaging of the campaign ‘some relationships never change’ builds on the legacy of brand TOI, its commitment to bring fact-checked news to the readers and authenticity of the role of newspaper in life of its readers.

    Speaking about the campaign Sanjeev Bhargava, Director, Brand TOI said, “Across the world, newspapers are the most trusted source of news, and our readers already know that.  Reading a newspaper is not merely flipping through pages. We all have our unique way of reading our newspapers – some sit on a table, some lounge on floor, some start from front page, some go reverse and so on. The charm of reading a newspaper is an intimate and uninterrupted immersion into news, that is both relaxing and intense depending on the pace of its reader. The poetry narrates this experience from the eyes of the reader. During uncertainty, access to accurate information is critical. And, we stay committed to our readers to bring them unbiased and authentic news to ensure our relationship with our readers strengthen further.”

    #NewspaperMornings is a multi-platform campaign and will engage into a dialogue with TOI’s readers. The film featuring Gulzar Saab’s poem is available on TOI’s digital and social media handles. The campaign will be further amplified across television, OTT and digital platforms.