Tag: TV

&TV opens new timeslot with daily soap Waaris starting 16 May

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) Hindi GEC &TV will start airing a new daily soap Waaris starting 16 May at the 700pm and will run Monday to Friday. With this, &TV has opened up its 700pm slot as primetime as against its previous primetime slot of 730pm. Waaris replaces the rerun of Begusarai. The show is presented by Patanjali Kesh Kanti and powered by Lemce Socks. Waaris is produced by Ashvini Yardi’s Vini Yard Films.

Talking about the show, &TV business head Rajesh Iyer said, “With Waaris, we are now opening up a new time slot and further increasing our original programming hours. The concept of Waaris reflects certain social stigmas that are yet plaguing our society and we believe that a differentiated concept like this will certainly be able to find the share of heart amongst the audiences.”

Vini Yard Films’ Yardi said, “Waaris deals with the cultural issue of the girl child in our country. The story deals with a strong mother who guards a fierce secret to protect her child and the well-being of the community they belong to. Set in the heartland of Punjab, Waaris touches your heart immediately through its rich story- telling and its stark characters.”

Waaris is the story of a child Manpreet, who thoughtlessly obeys everything that his mother says without any questions asked. But his mother Amba had lied…Maa ne jhooth bola tha… and this lie is what sets the momentum of the show. While Manpreet is a girl in reality, her identity has been kept under the wraps and she is known as Amba’s son to the entire village. So starts the journey of Manpreet and the age old feud between the two warring landowners – the Pawanias and the Bajwas in proving their supremacy. The show brings together an ensemble cast that includes Aarti Singh as Amba Pawania – Manpreet’s mother, Iqbal Khan as Charan Pawania – Manpreet’s father, Akshay Dogra as Charan’s younger brother Jagan Pawania, Mukesh Khanna as Lalaji Bajwa, Sidhant Suryavanshi as Harjeet Bajwa and the little Sania Tauqeer as Manpreet Pawania.

May 12, 2016
&TV opens new timeslot with daily soap Waaris starting 16 May

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) Hindi GEC &TV will start airing a new daily soap Waaris starting 16 May at the 700pm and will run Monday to Friday. With this, &TV has opened up its 700pm slot as primetime as against its previous primetime slot of 730pm. Waaris replaces the rerun of Begusarai. The show is presented by Patanjali Kesh Kanti and powered by Lemce Socks. Waaris is produced by Ashvini Yardi’s Vini Yard Films.

Talking about the show, &TV business head Rajesh Iyer said, “With Waaris, we are now opening up a new time slot and further increasing our original programming hours. The concept of Waaris reflects certain social stigmas that are yet plaguing our society and we believe that a differentiated concept like this will certainly be able to find the share of heart amongst the audiences.”

Vini Yard Films’ Yardi said, “Waaris deals with the cultural issue of the girl child in our country. The story deals with a strong mother who guards a fierce secret to protect her child and the well-being of the community they belong to. Set in the heartland of Punjab, Waaris touches your heart immediately through its rich story- telling and its stark characters.”

Waaris is the story of a child Manpreet, who thoughtlessly obeys everything that his mother says without any questions asked. But his mother Amba had lied…Maa ne jhooth bola tha… and this lie is what sets the momentum of the show. While Manpreet is a girl in reality, her identity has been kept under the wraps and she is known as Amba’s son to the entire village. So starts the journey of Manpreet and the age old feud between the two warring landowners – the Pawanias and the Bajwas in proving their supremacy. The show brings together an ensemble cast that includes Aarti Singh as Amba Pawania – Manpreet’s mother, Iqbal Khan as Charan Pawania – Manpreet’s father, Akshay Dogra as Charan’s younger brother Jagan Pawania, Mukesh Khanna as Lalaji Bajwa, Sidhant Suryavanshi as Harjeet Bajwa and the little Sania Tauqeer as Manpreet Pawania.

May 12, 2016
Times Network launches campaign to promote its HD feed

MUMBAI: Speaking of the digital era, the number of LCD television sets sold each year has only been growing. For 2015, an Ernst & Young study had projected that 12 million television LCD and LED sets would be sold in India, reinforcing the point on the CRT to LCD/LED conversion. But this same conversion is not reflected when it comes to consumers going from SD to HD feed, especially in the case of English Entertainment television channels. The issue, Times Network English Entertainment Cluster senior VP and head Vivek Srivastava feels, is not in affordability but in awareness.

“HD channels’ have shown 93 per cent increase in viewership over the last year and doubled their advertisement revenues. But the one thing that remains a hiccup in the segment is the adoption rate of HD feed. It is estimated that 12 million HD enabled TV sets are sold every year but there are only 6 million HD subscribers. That means there are another 6 million who have the equipment but not the content pipeline. There is immense growth potential. So both for us, we as a network and for the industry, there is a need to educate consumers on the perks of HD quality video. This campaign will benefit not only our own English cluster, but the entire industry,” explains Srivastava.

Times Network has initiated steps to educate its consumers with a 360 degree ad campaign that the network will launch starting today – 2 May. Given the fact that its core English Entertainment channels are mostly in HD, it makes sense for Times Network to propagate the cause for HD conversion in the country. The campaign aims to push the HD subscription for its three HD English entertainment channels — MN +, Movies Now and Romedy Now HD. “Across the globe the main drivers for HD viewership have been sports and movies. In India, while the sports genre has seen that positive change, movie entertainment channels are lagging behind. Being a major player in the English entertainment space with a huge movie library, it was in our interest to push this cause,” says Srivastava.

Created and conceptualised in-house in three months, a TVC that is a fun-take on how Hollywood is viewed in India, features actor Purab Kohli enjoying a home theatre experience at home in all its glory. The punch line — ‘Raise your standards to High Definition’ — comes when the audience is made aware that all this luxury comes to a nought if the picture quality is not in high definition, thereby urging movie lovers to go HD. The campaign intends to play with the urban movie buffs minds that swear by their Hollywood movies and prefer a quality experience even at home.

“For the last three or four years, most of the HD TV commercials have spoken about the best quality and sound making one believe that all one needs to do to experience that is to buy the TV. But in reality that’s just the first step; and getting the content pipeline by switching to HD feed is what completes the process,” said Srivastava as he reveals the idea behind the ad.

The campaign will be heavily promoted across networks, with heavy emphasis on television and a strong digital backing. The campaign will also see some presence on print. “With reach being the primary objective, we are trying to expand the number of eyeballs as much as possible, especially amongst the television audience. The campaign kicks off on our network and will be gradually carried across all channels on other networks as well. We will not necessarily promote it on English entertainment channels alone. Out of the 650 million (65 crore) television watchers, around 30 percent watch English content, so obviously there is an increased need to reach out to a cross section of audiences to propagate the message better. We will have a presence on Hindi GECs, movie channels, news channels. Even music channels are a part of our media plan mix.” The ‘across channels’ promotion will be carried in parts, while the campaign will be kept alive within the network.

While Srivastava agrees that the Times Network channels primary viewership comes from the metros, this particular campaign is targeted pan India. “The metros have some awareness about the HD feed, but it is the tier II and tier III cities that we really need to touch base with,” he further reveals.

Given the ‘all in’ nature of the campaign, Srivastava also reveals that the network is spending slightly higher than the marketing budget for a regular mainline premiere on Movies Now.

May 2, 2016
Times Network launches campaign to promote its HD feed

MUMBAI: Speaking of the digital era, the number of LCD television sets sold each year has only been growing. For 2015, an Ernst & Young study had projected that 12 million television LCD and LED sets would be sold in India, reinforcing the point on the CRT to LCD/LED conversion. But this same conversion is not reflected when it comes to consumers going from SD to HD feed, especially in the case of English Entertainment television channels. The issue, Times Network English Entertainment Cluster senior VP and head Vivek Srivastava feels, is not in affordability but in awareness.

“HD channels’ have shown 93 per cent increase in viewership over the last year and doubled their advertisement revenues. But the one thing that remains a hiccup in the segment is the adoption rate of HD feed. It is estimated that 12 million HD enabled TV sets are sold every year but there are only 6 million HD subscribers. That means there are another 6 million who have the equipment but not the content pipeline. There is immense growth potential. So both for us, we as a network and for the industry, there is a need to educate consumers on the perks of HD quality video. This campaign will benefit not only our own English cluster, but the entire industry,” explains Srivastava.

Times Network has initiated steps to educate its consumers with a 360 degree ad campaign that the network will launch starting today – 2 May. Given the fact that its core English Entertainment channels are mostly in HD, it makes sense for Times Network to propagate the cause for HD conversion in the country. The campaign aims to push the HD subscription for its three HD English entertainment channels — MN +, Movies Now and Romedy Now HD. “Across the globe the main drivers for HD viewership have been sports and movies. In India, while the sports genre has seen that positive change, movie entertainment channels are lagging behind. Being a major player in the English entertainment space with a huge movie library, it was in our interest to push this cause,” says Srivastava.

Created and conceptualised in-house in three months, a TVC that is a fun-take on how Hollywood is viewed in India, features actor Purab Kohli enjoying a home theatre experience at home in all its glory. The punch line — ‘Raise your standards to High Definition’ — comes when the audience is made aware that all this luxury comes to a nought if the picture quality is not in high definition, thereby urging movie lovers to go HD. The campaign intends to play with the urban movie buffs minds that swear by their Hollywood movies and prefer a quality experience even at home.

“For the last three or four years, most of the HD TV commercials have spoken about the best quality and sound making one believe that all one needs to do to experience that is to buy the TV. But in reality that’s just the first step; and getting the content pipeline by switching to HD feed is what completes the process,” said Srivastava as he reveals the idea behind the ad.

The campaign will be heavily promoted across networks, with heavy emphasis on television and a strong digital backing. The campaign will also see some presence on print. “With reach being the primary objective, we are trying to expand the number of eyeballs as much as possible, especially amongst the television audience. The campaign kicks off on our network and will be gradually carried across all channels on other networks as well. We will not necessarily promote it on English entertainment channels alone. Out of the 650 million (65 crore) television watchers, around 30 percent watch English content, so obviously there is an increased need to reach out to a cross section of audiences to propagate the message better. We will have a presence on Hindi GECs, movie channels, news channels. Even music channels are a part of our media plan mix.” The ‘across channels’ promotion will be carried in parts, while the campaign will be kept alive within the network.

While Srivastava agrees that the Times Network channels primary viewership comes from the metros, this particular campaign is targeted pan India. “The metros have some awareness about the HD feed, but it is the tier II and tier III cities that we really need to touch base with,” he further reveals.

Given the ‘all in’ nature of the campaign, Srivastava also reveals that the network is spending slightly higher than the marketing budget for a regular mainline premiere on Movies Now.

May 2, 2016
36% youth watch shows on TV,18% watch shows online: MTV study

MUMBAI: Today’s generation is considered to be full of zest, zing and vim. The youth have their own unique odds which would be irritating to older people but which generation has not manifested such behaviors in the past? The young on-the-go audience is constantly connected to each other and has easy access to the world with information at its finger-tips. This generation’s interests are not one, but many wherein it seamlessly transcends online and offline versions of self. This generation doesn’t believe in discriminating through race, religion, or gender. It firmly believes that with these values, it will be able to build a better India in the future. The youth is dynamic, but not impulsive; is complex, but not chaotic, reveals MTV Youth Marketing Forum.

MTV is back with the 10th edition of its research titled ‘The Many Me Project’ stressing on what content is consumed and what is published. The survey covered 11,000 young people in the age group of 13 to 25 across 50 plus cities and has reached out to NCCS A, B and C across the age bracket of 13-25 years to increase the robustness of the research. For the 6 month long interactive survey, the qualitative part of the study was conducted in association with Third Eye Research whereas the quantitative segments were handled by Juxt Smart Mandate.

The investigation was done by undertaking key initiatives the like selfie project, digital shadowing and by studying peerscope and ethnographies of the youth. The data discloses youth to be multi-dimensional, open minded, brave, witty, inspired, mindful, fun, a sum of many me’s.

“We have not tortured data”, says Viacom18 head of youth and English entertainment Ferzad Palia in jest. “This data is an eye-opener for all of us. This young generation is not the era of ‘jugaadus’, but they are smart-thinkers and are not looking for shortcuts. The youth wants to strategically work smart and hard. Through this data many important insights will be presenting at the forum which are sure to change the way marketers view the youth of India today”, he further adds.

A question always arises that where does the youth consume new content from? The youth are discerning about content but not about where they watch it. The study reveals that TV still remains a go to for Indian youth and they’ll not go anywhere other than TV to consume good content. Each device has its benefits and disadvantages and the sources for discovery and consumption may differ. 36 per cent of the youth watch shows only on TV, while 18 per cent watch shows only online. The study shows that young audiences first discover a new show on TV and then watch it online.

The study shows how the role of technology has changed for multi-taskers with 32 per cent people having the opinion that they have more choices now as compared to 16 per cent in 2014.

Speaking about the MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2016, Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats says, “As a content powerhouse, it is mandatory for us to understand the pulse of our audience. Hence, MTV’s constant endeavor to understand its primary target audience – the youth, what they are up to and how they feel about various aspects of life – is extremely crucial. For the last 10 years, MTV has been working incessantly to understand every nuance of each interaction young people have amongst themselves and their media consumption habits. It is these patterns of consumption and interaction which then form the basis of everything we do at MTV. The headline study for this year – ‘MTV Many Me Project’ – has thrown up some fascinating insights into the lives and minds of this absolutely dynamic demographic. I am positive that every single person who has been a part of the MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2016 will now be able to decode the ever-changing youth of India much better!”

Youth also considers entertainment as enrichment and resonatee that good content always has that hangover effect wherein it urges them to think, share, create and comment. Entertainment and content are not about just filling gaps of time between doing other things, reveals the data. On the one hand, 50 per cent of the young people in the age group of 13 to 17 years and 63 per cent between 18 to 25 years think that they learn a lot about coping with tricky situations through the characters and storylines of their favourite shows.

The report also reveals how 81 per cent of the youth aspire for eventually becoming self-employed, while 17 per cent of them think of working for a stable organization. The new high is becoming self-employed rather than just doing a job.

“The MTV Youth Marketing Forum is our flagship insights series and the idea was to make it as experiential for the attendees as possible. So we thought why not we actually create a teenager’s room? And what better way for you (the audience) to do it than being a part of it? So you are the prop and he (the teenager) is the protagonist. Every element in the room reflects his passion – stuff that he listens to, stuff he plays with, brands he flaunts, etc. It’s not 3D but a 4D stage because you can actually see a live protagonist, a specific boy, who was recruited (we actually did screenings and auditions) only for this activity”, adds Viacom 18 youth cluster head marketing, media and insights Sumeli Chatterjee

“No other brand does this kind of a research like us. We want to stay ahead of the curve. These insights will be shared across and will help advertisers. 2016 was a more pronounced year than 2014 and had many complexities than we ever thought”, she further adds.

Palia voices that the study will help the channel and its business partners in building a strong connect with the young audience.

Click here to view the complete report:

May 2, 2016
36% youth watch shows on TV,18% watch shows online: MTV study

MUMBAI: Today’s generation is considered to be full of zest, zing and vim. The youth have their own unique odds which would be irritating to older people but which generation has not manifested such behaviors in the past? The young on-the-go audience is constantly connected to each other and has easy access to the world with information at its finger-tips. This generation’s interests are not one, but many wherein it seamlessly transcends online and offline versions of self. This generation doesn’t believe in discriminating through race, religion, or gender. It firmly believes that with these values, it will be able to build a better India in the future. The youth is dynamic, but not impulsive; is complex, but not chaotic, reveals MTV Youth Marketing Forum.

MTV is back with the 10th edition of its research titled ‘The Many Me Project’ stressing on what content is consumed and what is published. The survey covered 11,000 young people in the age group of 13 to 25 across 50 plus cities and has reached out to NCCS A, B and C across the age bracket of 13-25 years to increase the robustness of the research. For the 6 month long interactive survey, the qualitative part of the study was conducted in association with Third Eye Research whereas the quantitative segments were handled by Juxt Smart Mandate.

The investigation was done by undertaking key initiatives the like selfie project, digital shadowing and by studying peerscope and ethnographies of the youth. The data discloses youth to be multi-dimensional, open minded, brave, witty, inspired, mindful, fun, a sum of many me’s.

“We have not tortured data”, says Viacom18 head of youth and English entertainment Ferzad Palia in jest. “This data is an eye-opener for all of us. This young generation is not the era of ‘jugaadus’, but they are smart-thinkers and are not looking for shortcuts. The youth wants to strategically work smart and hard. Through this data many important insights will be presenting at the forum which are sure to change the way marketers view the youth of India today”, he further adds.

A question always arises that where does the youth consume new content from? The youth are discerning about content but not about where they watch it. The study reveals that TV still remains a go to for Indian youth and they’ll not go anywhere other than TV to consume good content. Each device has its benefits and disadvantages and the sources for discovery and consumption may differ. 36 per cent of the youth watch shows only on TV, while 18 per cent watch shows only online. The study shows that young audiences first discover a new show on TV and then watch it online.

The study shows how the role of technology has changed for multi-taskers with 32 per cent people having the opinion that they have more choices now as compared to 16 per cent in 2014.

Speaking about the MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2016, Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats says, “As a content powerhouse, it is mandatory for us to understand the pulse of our audience. Hence, MTV’s constant endeavor to understand its primary target audience – the youth, what they are up to and how they feel about various aspects of life – is extremely crucial. For the last 10 years, MTV has been working incessantly to understand every nuance of each interaction young people have amongst themselves and their media consumption habits. It is these patterns of consumption and interaction which then form the basis of everything we do at MTV. The headline study for this year – ‘MTV Many Me Project’ – has thrown up some fascinating insights into the lives and minds of this absolutely dynamic demographic. I am positive that every single person who has been a part of the MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2016 will now be able to decode the ever-changing youth of India much better!”

Youth also considers entertainment as enrichment and resonatee that good content always has that hangover effect wherein it urges them to think, share, create and comment. Entertainment and content are not about just filling gaps of time between doing other things, reveals the data. On the one hand, 50 per cent of the young people in the age group of 13 to 17 years and 63 per cent between 18 to 25 years think that they learn a lot about coping with tricky situations through the characters and storylines of their favourite shows.

The report also reveals how 81 per cent of the youth aspire for eventually becoming self-employed, while 17 per cent of them think of working for a stable organization. The new high is becoming self-employed rather than just doing a job.

“The MTV Youth Marketing Forum is our flagship insights series and the idea was to make it as experiential for the attendees as possible. So we thought why not we actually create a teenager’s room? And what better way for you (the audience) to do it than being a part of it? So you are the prop and he (the teenager) is the protagonist. Every element in the room reflects his passion – stuff that he listens to, stuff he plays with, brands he flaunts, etc. It’s not 3D but a 4D stage because you can actually see a live protagonist, a specific boy, who was recruited (we actually did screenings and auditions) only for this activity”, adds Viacom 18 youth cluster head marketing, media and insights Sumeli Chatterjee

“No other brand does this kind of a research like us. We want to stay ahead of the curve. These insights will be shared across and will help advertisers. 2016 was a more pronounced year than 2014 and had many complexities than we ever thought”, she further adds.

Palia voices that the study will help the channel and its business partners in building a strong connect with the young audience.

Click here to view the complete report:

May 2, 2016
APOS 2016: Decoding APAC’s digital video and TV future

BALI: The stage is set for a crackling APOS 2016 in Bali. The annual do organized by Vivek Couto’s Media Partners Asia got off to a flying start this evening with the opening and welcome reception hosted by Disney.

It was held on the lawns of the Ayana Resort in the Jimbaran district of Bali. The mood was perfect: the skies perfectly clear and the breeze gentle, unlike one of the years earlier when rain disrupted the proceedings. The beer, fruit juices and cocktails flowed freely as Asia Pacific’s TV and digital industry professionals hobnobbed with each other.

The attendance was stellar: distribution executives, owners & promoters, CEOs, APAC heads, from the broadcast, cable, satellite sides of the business were all there. HBO Asia head Jonathan Spinks, the new Netflix vice president business development Asia Tony Zameczkwoski, Vice’s iconoclast co-founder & CEO Shane Smith, Walt Disney Co SEVP and chief strategy officer Kevin Mayer, Fox Networks Group Asia President Zubin Gandevia, SES Asia senior VP commercial Deepak Mathur, TV5 Asia director Alexandre Muller, were among the familiar faces from the APAC region. and elsewhere.

Among the Indian big names who showed up included: Zee Entertainment international head Amit Goenka was seen with his international team of Rajeev Kheror and Mukund Cairae. Videocon d2h deputy CEO Rohit Jain, COO Himanshu Patil were seen chatting with partners. Indiacast’s Anuj Gandhi was seen hobnobbing with executives from the region. Times Network was represented by international business head Naveen Chandra. For some the festivities continued late into the night as they headed to various restaurants and warungs across Bali for some of the delicious Balinese food.

APOS 2016 is markedly different this time because of the focus on different countries. Australia, China, India, Korea and Japan have special sessions that will look at unraveling the opportunity in each of these markets.

Global media leaders have sessions on their own. Whether it is Shine Endemol’s Sophie Turner Laing, or Netflix’s Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Kevin Mayer or A&E Networks EVP & CFO David Granville-Smith or Kudelski Group chairman & CEO Andre Kudelski or Viacom International Media Networks President & CEO Bob Bakish, or Emerald Media CEO Paul Aiello – they have all turned up to attend, hear, network and speak. One noteworthy absence is Dreamworks’ Jeffery Katzenberg who has not been able to make it for personal reasons.

Of course, as most of MPA’s gigs are vaunt to be, APOS 2016 has oodles of investment banks, private equity firm executives all lined up to give their perspective on video distribution opportunities in the Asia Pacific market and in which territories and businesses they are willing to invest in. Among the notable names here: Evolution Media Capital’s founder & co managing partner Rick Hess, CAA head of global client strategy Brian Weinstein, CMC Capital Partners chairman & founding partner Li Ruigang and MD Alex Chen, Providence Equity Partners Head of Asia Bis Subramanian, and senior advisor Tony Ball, Jungle Ventures managing partner David Gowdey, Paul Aiello, iflix group advisor David Goldstein, and Raine Ventures managing partner Godron Rubenstein.

Several operational heads from the US, Europe and Asia who have their teeth in the business are also speaking. Among these: Discovery Networks Asia Pacific president & CEO Arthur Bastings, PCCW Media group MD Janice Lee, A+E Networks president international & digital media Sean Cohan, Optus CEO Allen Lew, Cartoon Network president & general manager Christina Miller, Taiwan Broadband executive vice-chairman Thomas EE, CJ E&M media content business president DJ Lee,

Additionally, the two days of the conference are peppered with digital video discussions considering that OTT and digital VOD services are exploding in the region, including in India.

The India session looks appealing especially considering the rollout of digitization in India cable and satellite TV. Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta, Reliance Industries’ independent director o the board Adil Zainulbhai, Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal and Viacom18 Media Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats slated to give their perspectives.

Indiantelevision.com will be reporting from Bali to give you updates that are relevant to the Indian distribution ecosystem – right from cable TV to DTH to OTT platforms to content creation. So stay tuned

April 26, 2016
APOS 2016: Decoding APAC’s digital video and TV future

BALI: The stage is set for a crackling APOS 2016 in Bali. The annual do organized by Vivek Couto’s Media Partners Asia got off to a flying start this evening with the opening and welcome reception hosted by Disney.

It was held on the lawns of the Ayana Resort in the Jimbaran district of Bali. The mood was perfect: the skies perfectly clear and the breeze gentle, unlike one of the years earlier when rain disrupted the proceedings. The beer, fruit juices and cocktails flowed freely as Asia Pacific’s TV and digital industry professionals hobnobbed with each other.

The attendance was stellar: distribution executives, owners & promoters, CEOs, APAC heads, from the broadcast, cable, satellite sides of the business were all there. HBO Asia head Jonathan Spinks, the new Netflix vice president business development Asia Tony Zameczkwoski, Vice’s iconoclast co-founder & CEO Shane Smith, Walt Disney Co SEVP and chief strategy officer Kevin Mayer, Fox Networks Group Asia President Zubin Gandevia, SES Asia senior VP commercial Deepak Mathur, TV5 Asia director Alexandre Muller, were among the familiar faces from the APAC region. and elsewhere.

Among the Indian big names who showed up included: Zee Entertainment international head Amit Goenka was seen with his international team of Rajeev Kheror and Mukund Cairae. Videocon d2h deputy CEO Rohit Jain, COO Himanshu Patil were seen chatting with partners. Indiacast’s Anuj Gandhi was seen hobnobbing with executives from the region. Times Network was represented by international business head Naveen Chandra. For some the festivities continued late into the night as they headed to various restaurants and warungs across Bali for some of the delicious Balinese food.

APOS 2016 is markedly different this time because of the focus on different countries. Australia, China, India, Korea and Japan have special sessions that will look at unraveling the opportunity in each of these markets.

Global media leaders have sessions on their own. Whether it is Shine Endemol’s Sophie Turner Laing, or Netflix’s Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Kevin Mayer or A&E Networks EVP & CFO David Granville-Smith or Kudelski Group chairman & CEO Andre Kudelski or Viacom International Media Networks President & CEO Bob Bakish, or Emerald Media CEO Paul Aiello – they have all turned up to attend, hear, network and speak. One noteworthy absence is Dreamworks’ Jeffery Katzenberg who has not been able to make it for personal reasons.

Of course, as most of MPA’s gigs are vaunt to be, APOS 2016 has oodles of investment banks, private equity firm executives all lined up to give their perspective on video distribution opportunities in the Asia Pacific market and in which territories and businesses they are willing to invest in. Among the notable names here: Evolution Media Capital’s founder & co managing partner Rick Hess, CAA head of global client strategy Brian Weinstein, CMC Capital Partners chairman & founding partner Li Ruigang and MD Alex Chen, Providence Equity Partners Head of Asia Bis Subramanian, and senior advisor Tony Ball, Jungle Ventures managing partner David Gowdey, Paul Aiello, iflix group advisor David Goldstein, and Raine Ventures managing partner Godron Rubenstein.

Several operational heads from the US, Europe and Asia who have their teeth in the business are also speaking. Among these: Discovery Networks Asia Pacific president & CEO Arthur Bastings, PCCW Media group MD Janice Lee, A+E Networks president international & digital media Sean Cohan, Optus CEO Allen Lew, Cartoon Network president & general manager Christina Miller, Taiwan Broadband executive vice-chairman Thomas EE, CJ E&M media content business president DJ Lee,

Additionally, the two days of the conference are peppered with digital video discussions considering that OTT and digital VOD services are exploding in the region, including in India.

The India session looks appealing especially considering the rollout of digitization in India cable and satellite TV. Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta, Reliance Industries’ independent director o the board Adil Zainulbhai, Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal and Viacom18 Media Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats slated to give their perspectives.

Indiantelevision.com will be reporting from Bali to give you updates that are relevant to the Indian distribution ecosystem – right from cable TV to DTH to OTT platforms to content creation. So stay tuned

April 26, 2016
Hathway launches new music and movie channels

MUMBAI: Hathway has launched a series of four new channels in the music & movie genres as they set on an ambitious roadmap to create a robust bouquet of channels which will offer Hathway subscribers, the best of entertainment package exclusively.

The four new channels- Djay, Lamhe, Home Theatre and Marathi Talkies have been designed and packaged in a new vibrant, dynamic and cutting-edge look providing a sophisticated, satellite-like experience to Hathway subscribers, thus, offering them wide array of content with a fresh appeal.

In the present day & age where consumer demands are growing and content is becoming accessible across multiple platforms, several broadcasters have been launching channels in different genres to cater to varied audiences and increasing reach. It is very rare for a TV platform, especially, a digital Cable platform to come out with contemporary channels which offer the best, customised content in a way which appeals to mass segments of consumers. Hathway is one of the only large MSOs that consist of a series of in-house channels, both pan-India as well as regionally. The launch of these 4 new channels adds to the strong existing line-up and with its distinctive approach& innovation in design, content & technology, Hathway is changing the way cable channels are perceived by giving it a contemporary, modern look which can match & compete with any of the satellite channels.

DJAY-Music Redefined and Lamhe-Music Forever are the music channels from the Hathway stable which will bring the best of new and old melodies to music-lovers. While DJAY is Infinite, Young & Energetic bringing latest Bollywood tracks from the 2000 era which will appeal to the Gen-X,LAMHE brings back the old melodious flavour in a new-age persona by reliving the golden era of 50’s to 80’s.Moving on from the music genre, the 2 new movies channels- HOME THEATRE-Entertainment Recharged & MARATHI TALKIES-Cinema Aaplapacks the best blockbusters from Hindi & Marathi cinema, respectively. With its slick and youthful packaging, HOME THEATRE will provide the best &latest moviesfrom multiple genres like action, romance, thriller, comedy, family etc. The new entrant, MARATHI TALKIESinspired by the warm, rustic, earthy yet colourful Marathi flavour will offer the best of old & new Marathi movies.

Commenting on the launch of the new channels, Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director & CEO Jagdish Kumar said, “As we move ahead to build the Hathway brand and achieve our business objectives, we have set another big milestone to launch a dedicated bouquet of channels which will redefine the way consumers look at Digital Cable channels. These 4 new channels are a start to our endeavor of creating a strong bouquet in multiple genres which will add a new dimension to Hathway and offer varied content to our loyal subscribers.”

With the digitization era moving ahead towards its sunset and fast-changing trends, consumers are looking at new avenues to consume entertainment content. Some of the best international channels in the entertainment, movies, kids, sports and other domains are built on insights of how a consumer associates with the channels as a personal tool for entertainment, in terms of its style, quality and efficacy of content. Hathways’ new channels have been designed on this very insight that content packaged in the right way and with technology upgrade is the new mantra to bringing consumers closer to entertainment. To build hype and buzz about the channels, Hathway has launched teasers campaigns both offline and online and will be doing a series of marketing activities in the coming days across Print, TV (internal and cross), Digital, PR and OOH to create consumer and trade awareness.

Hathway Cable & Datacom Video business president T.S. Panesar said, “With DJAY, LAMHE, HOME THEATRE, MARATHI TALKIES, we have started on an aggressive journey to create a potent line-up which will match the best of satellite channels and offer similar experience to our consumers. We are changing the face of cable channels in India by investing in content, technology, design, aesthetics, packagingwhich is young & dynamic and appeals to younger audiences. These channels will add a new dimension to our business, giving us an edge over competition and help us grow to the next level. Very soon, we will reposition & rebrand the entire existing stable of channels to have a strong family. ”

From today, 25th April, DJAY, LAMHE and HOME THEATRE will be available across the country for Hathway subscribers while MARATHI TALKIES can be enjoyed only by audiences in Maharashtra. The channels will be available on FTA basis for now and part of the BST and Prime packs. The company is also working aggressively to build strong revenue from advertising sales and subscription in days to come.

April 25, 2016
Hathway launches new music and movie channels

MUMBAI: Hathway has launched a series of four new channels in the music & movie genres as they set on an ambitious roadmap to create a robust bouquet of channels which will offer Hathway subscribers, the best of entertainment package exclusively.

The four new channels- Djay, Lamhe, Home Theatre and Marathi Talkies have been designed and packaged in a new vibrant, dynamic and cutting-edge look providing a sophisticated, satellite-like experience to Hathway subscribers, thus, offering them wide array of content with a fresh appeal.

In the present day & age where consumer demands are growing and content is becoming accessible across multiple platforms, several broadcasters have been launching channels in different genres to cater to varied audiences and increasing reach. It is very rare for a TV platform, especially, a digital Cable platform to come out with contemporary channels which offer the best, customised content in a way which appeals to mass segments of consumers. Hathway is one of the only large MSOs that consist of a series of in-house channels, both pan-India as well as regionally. The launch of these 4 new channels adds to the strong existing line-up and with its distinctive approach& innovation in design, content & technology, Hathway is changing the way cable channels are perceived by giving it a contemporary, modern look which can match & compete with any of the satellite channels.

DJAY-Music Redefined and Lamhe-Music Forever are the music channels from the Hathway stable which will bring the best of new and old melodies to music-lovers. While DJAY is Infinite, Young & Energetic bringing latest Bollywood tracks from the 2000 era which will appeal to the Gen-X,LAMHE brings back the old melodious flavour in a new-age persona by reliving the golden era of 50’s to 80’s.Moving on from the music genre, the 2 new movies channels- HOME THEATRE-Entertainment Recharged & MARATHI TALKIES-Cinema Aaplapacks the best blockbusters from Hindi & Marathi cinema, respectively. With its slick and youthful packaging, HOME THEATRE will provide the best &latest moviesfrom multiple genres like action, romance, thriller, comedy, family etc. The new entrant, MARATHI TALKIESinspired by the warm, rustic, earthy yet colourful Marathi flavour will offer the best of old & new Marathi movies.

Commenting on the launch of the new channels, Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director & CEO Jagdish Kumar said, “As we move ahead to build the Hathway brand and achieve our business objectives, we have set another big milestone to launch a dedicated bouquet of channels which will redefine the way consumers look at Digital Cable channels. These 4 new channels are a start to our endeavor of creating a strong bouquet in multiple genres which will add a new dimension to Hathway and offer varied content to our loyal subscribers.”

With the digitization era moving ahead towards its sunset and fast-changing trends, consumers are looking at new avenues to consume entertainment content. Some of the best international channels in the entertainment, movies, kids, sports and other domains are built on insights of how a consumer associates with the channels as a personal tool for entertainment, in terms of its style, quality and efficacy of content. Hathways’ new channels have been designed on this very insight that content packaged in the right way and with technology upgrade is the new mantra to bringing consumers closer to entertainment. To build hype and buzz about the channels, Hathway has launched teasers campaigns both offline and online and will be doing a series of marketing activities in the coming days across Print, TV (internal and cross), Digital, PR and OOH to create consumer and trade awareness.

Hathway Cable & Datacom Video business president T.S. Panesar said, “With DJAY, LAMHE, HOME THEATRE, MARATHI TALKIES, we have started on an aggressive journey to create a potent line-up which will match the best of satellite channels and offer similar experience to our consumers. We are changing the face of cable channels in India by investing in content, technology, design, aesthetics, packagingwhich is young & dynamic and appeals to younger audiences. These channels will add a new dimension to our business, giving us an edge over competition and help us grow to the next level. Very soon, we will reposition & rebrand the entire existing stable of channels to have a strong family. ”

From today, 25th April, DJAY, LAMHE and HOME THEATRE will be available across the country for Hathway subscribers while MARATHI TALKIES can be enjoyed only by audiences in Maharashtra. The channels will be available on FTA basis for now and part of the BST and Prime packs. The company is also working aggressively to build strong revenue from advertising sales and subscription in days to come.

April 25, 2016