ITV

Tag: TTN

  • Times TV Network to launch another entertainment channel?

    Times TV Network to launch another entertainment channel?

    MUMBAI: Thanks to the new government, the Times Television Network has reasons to rejoice.

    The network had applied for a number of channel licences to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry which included for both entertainment and news channels.

    “Thanks to the quickness of the current government, we have got the three news licences, which were old applications,” says the network managing director and CEO MK Anand while adding that a number of licences are still pending.

    The three news channel licences are for Times Now 2, Times Now 3 and ET Now 3.

    The network currently has Times Now, ET Now, Zoom TV, Movies Now and Romedy Now channels in its kitty.

    Anand goes on to say that though the new licences have been awarded, the current plan will go on as it is. “These licences don’t impact our current strategy or my plans for the network.”

    After the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) came out with its deaggregation paper, a number of networks have applied for new licences while some have even launched a new set of channels.

    The year also saw the launch of three new Hindi entertainment channels – Zindagi, Sony Pal and Epic. TTN is the only network which doesn’t have a Hindi general entertainment channel to its list.  And with a few entertainment licenses applied by TTN pending with the MIB, one can see possibilities of a new GEC entrant in the market.

     

  • Sunil Lulla goes Grey

    Sunil Lulla goes Grey

    MUMBAI: No we are not talking about his hair; that happened sometime back.  We are talking about him getting back to his original professional calling: advertising. The affable gent whose last posting was that of  BCCL president corporate developement is slated to join Grey India as chairman and MD if sources are to be believed. 

     

    While a report stated that he will be replacing Grey India president & CEO Jishnu Sen, that may prove to be untrue. Sen is likely to continue in his position with Sunil Lulla being brought in as additional top management.

     

    Sen was unavailable for a comment. He joined Grey India in 2007 and was heading the Mumbai office. It was in 2009, he was appointed COO of the entire Grey India operation. And in May 2011, Sen was promoted as president & CEO.

     

    Lulla has spent close to nine years in TTN in various leadership roles. Prior to joining TTN, he was at Sony Entertainment Television as executive VP for three years. And in his early days he was associate account director, HTA (now JWT India).

  • Sunil Lulla quits BCCL

    Sunil Lulla quits BCCL

    MUMBAI: The BCCL corporate development president Sunil Lulla has bid adieu to the company.

     

    “Today is my last day,” he confirmed the development to indiantelevision.com. However, his future plans are still not clear.

     

    The former MD and CEO of Times Television Network (TTN), Lulla, who took over the charge of BCCL a couple of months back when MK Anand was brought in to lead the charge, just got back from his holiday in Norway.

     

    This follows a series of high-profile exits from the company. Times Now, ET Now and Zoom CEO Avinash Kaul and TTN English Entertainment Channels CEO Ajay Trigunayat had moved on in April, this year.

     

    What is notable is that these exits came after Anand took charge in January.

     

    Lulla has spent close to nine years in TTN in various leadership roles. Prior to joining TTN, he was at Sony Entertainment Television as executive VP for three years.

     

    In 2000, he had started indya.com, which was later acquired by News Corp/Star. He is also the man behind the launch of MTV and credited to bring it to number one position in India. Lulla was general manager and country head at MTV India from 1996 to 1999.

     

    In his 25 plus years in the industry, Lulla has worked with media, entertainment, technology and television broadcast. His early years were spent in sales and soon thereafter with JWT in senior positions in India, China and Taiwan. He was member of the team which helped turn around Sa Re Ga Ma (HMV) in India.

     

    Lulla is a member of many industry associations and helps drive policy and agenda setting themes for the advertising, media and entertainment industry.

  • Times TV: Scans Cannes for English flicks

    Times TV: Scans Cannes for English flicks

    With the recent introduction of Romedy Now to its existing portfolio of channels, the Times Television Network (TTN) will be exploring new content opportunities for its channels Movies Now and the newbie at this year’s MIPCOM.

    Set to take place in Cannes’ eponymous Palais des Festivals off the Boulevard de la Croisette between 7 and 10 October 2013, MipCom is expected to be the biggest since several years, and it appears as though the entertainment ecosystem seems to have shrugged off the economic woes that have been making news headlines in several countries worldwide.

    The scale has tilted from being a buyers’ market to a sellers’ market over the last few years stresses Ajay Trigunayat

    For TTN’s English entertainment channels CEO Ajay Trigunayat, this would be his tenth year at Cannes. Having represented Zee from 2002 to 2006 and TTN (Movies Now) from 2010-12, this year, Trigunayat will be scouting for content to be shown on Romedy Now, TTN’s newly launched romance and comedy channel.

    “I’ll be looking for movies and series and if there is something interesting, then I will have a look at that as well,” says Trigunayat, adding, “The scale has tilted from being a buyers’ market to a sellers’ market over the last few years.”

    While a cross-section of genres like romance, comedy, action, thriller and horror would be under his scrutiny, he isn’t too keen on drama movies. “We don’t buy drama because it does not have too much of traction with Indian audiences,” he emphasises. 

    For TTN, MIPCOM is more about meeting people and getting to know them on a personal level. According to Trigunayat, it’s a catalyst for meetings to happen while real deals happen later on.

    He is looking forward to meeting biggies like Fox, Warner Bros, and Regency and see what they have in store for them from this year’s releases. On the subject of budgets, he says a substantial amount of money (higher double digit crores) is kept aside for acquisitions, the discussions for which begin or end as deals at MIPCOM.

    He gives an example of how discussions were initiated with Monarchy, the production side of Regency, last year, and more than 100 titles were bought from them. He points out that his team is sticking to big titles and from major studios worldwide and Latin American films are not part of his slate as their quality and sensibilities don’t appeal to Indian viewers. 

  • Romedy Now’s yellow spreads sunshine

    Romedy Now’s yellow spreads sunshine

    MUMBAI: The latest addition to the existing bouquet of English entertainment channels is Romedy Now; launched by the Times Television Network (TTN) just yesterday.

    Despite being the Times Network’s fourth offering after Times Now, ET Now and Movies Now, Romedy Now is unique in terms of its logo and packaging as well as what it stands for.

    For a channel that summarises ‘love and laughter’, the logo is apt – a deep sunshine yellow; a colour that would appeal to both male and female audiences.

    London-based digital agency Weareseventeen that has done the entire packaging of the new entrant claims a lot of thought went into designing the logo. “The tone we wanted to convey was not specific to any genre, but rather just a positive and upbeat feel,” says creative director Stephen Simmonds. The logotype aims at a balance between sophistication and legibility, with subtle playfulness.

    English Entertainment Channels CEO (TTN) Ajay Trigunayat too is happy with what the agency has created for them. “Our colour signifies cheerfulness. It’s got a lot of joy and happiness in it,” he says. The OSP (on screen presentation) has been created in such a way that every time a viewer tunes in, he/she will be met with depth and sophistication.

    It was around May this year that TTN took its idea to Weareseventeen, leaving it to them to create a package for Romedy Now. In the course of a study the agency undertook, they found that movies with romance and laughter usually have a man and woman meeting and then parting ways due to differences, but ultimately join again. They used this to create the on-air package. “This core theme of 'coming together' would influence our entire on-air system, with tune-in type and backgrounds joining together in every OSP item,” says Weareseventeen strategic director George Alexander.

    The two sides put their heads together to try out new innovative ideas for the OSP. “The extensiveness of the OSP kit is also unique with top line tune-in versioning being built into the package as opposed to versioned after delivery,” adds Simmonds.

    The project was helmed by a core team of six people comprising the creative director, strategic director, design director, senior designer, animator and executive producer. Other members included 2D and 3D animators and producers. Neon TV assisted as the VFX provider for the post-production of the idents while music and sound designing was done by Boys of Toys Audio.
    George Alexander and Stephen Simmonds have applied their creative liberty to Romedy Now

    “We essentially wanted Romedy Now to have its own contemporary take on gloss and glamour, leading the field when it comes to sophisticated and innovative on-air design,” says Alexander, adding that the newbie is ready to experiment with new ways of delivering on-screen information.

    While the channel with its distinctive yellow stands out from its sister channels with their generous splash of red, it remains to be seen whether it will connect with people the way it claims to…