Tag: TVC

  • Best Deal TV seeks out women entrepreneurs with #WeRespect campaign

    Best Deal TV seeks out women entrepreneurs with #WeRespect campaign

    MUMBAI: Known for its celebrity brand endorsements, Best Deal TV was recently lauded for going ‘people first’ with its notable campaign on women empowerment. Best Deal TV now seeks out women entrepreneurs with the #WeRespect campaign Devised to shout out its new policy that offers women consumers to exclusively become its Direct Channel Agents (DCA), the campaign has already garnered a positive response.
    A DCA’s role is simple. “Their job is to book orders for us from our mobile app or paper catalogue. For every successful order best deal pays a commission to the agent. We will also handle the advertising training for the fulfilment of the order,” informs Best Deal TV, CEO Raj Kundra.
    Elaborating on the concept, Kundra says, “The idea was to empower women who were keen to create an income working from home or as a second job for further financial stability.” Given that the channel’s 70 per cent target group are women, the campaign can also surge up the viewership, Kundra feels.

    When asked how being a DCA for the channel would empower women, Kundra explains that the system works on simple commission basis.  “We pay very good commissions on each successful order and a DCA can build her army of sales personnel under her wing, making a commission even on their sales. The idea is with minimum headache to give maximum benefits to the DCA agents to become financially independent selling our exclusive and innovative products,” he adds.
    Having his wife and company shareholder, actress turned entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty Kundra as the face of the campaign also benefits greatly, Kundra admits. “Home shopping as a business runs on trust and credibility so having Someone like Shilpa and Akshay as faces and co-owners in the company makes a huge difference. Cricket and Bollywood are two things that help sell everything in India, and if used properly can be a winning combination, which is the founding thought behind our channel,” says Kundra.
    So far, Best Deal TV has released a TVC starring Shilpa Shetty Kundra titled ‘Women Empowerment’ which has garnered many queries. “The ad was made in house and conceptualised by our channel’s head Manish Dubey and executed by Nazar Abbas.,” Kundra says.

    Further explaining the channel’s marketing strategy, Kundra shares, “We have also done some targeted SMS blasts to our TG and we are using celebrity social media handles to get the message out there. We have allocated a sizeable budget to advertise in the market and create this model.”
    Besides OOH advertising, the channel is also looking at ground activation. “We will look at on ground activation. We have recently ties up with sheroes.in, India’s first female placement agency and have received many leads from them. We do talks at colleges on female empowerment NGO’s,” Kundra elaborates.
    It is interesting to note that while the campaign addresses women, the DCA offer is not restricted to the fairer sex alone. “We are not restricted to just women agents and the idea is to create a battalion of over 10,000 DCA’s across the country. Even if each books one order a day that’s 10,000 orders. My dependency on carriage of my channel is reduced,” Says Kundra further shedding light on his marketing strategy with this new initiative.

    Founded by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and Raj Kundra, Best Deal TV is an Indian celebrity driven 24/7 Home shopping channel that specialises in the sale of consumer products via innovative and immersive on and off screen experiences. The home shopping channel has multiple platform presence via TV, mobile, online and retail.

  • ‘On Air With AIB’ will set a new template in India: Ajit Mohan

    ‘On Air With AIB’ will set a new template in India: Ajit Mohan

    MUMBAI: While satire has been a large part of the Irish and British culture, closer home, the nation woke up to it with websites likes Faking News and The UnReal Times. On the video content front, mainstream mockery and ridicule touched newer heights when hearty laughs were laughed as the comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB) roasted actors Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh… well… at least until they were forcibly stifled when some inconsequential people took offence and created a hullabaloo.

    Notwithstanding that, taking a cue from AIB’s popularity and its posse’s talent in satirical entertainment, Star India was quick to recognise the potential and tap into the new space by roping them in for a new satirical news show called On Air with AIB. The first episode (Hindi and English version) was unveiled on Hotstar today (29 October).

    Star India digital head Ajit Mohan is of the opinion that On Air with AIB will set a new template in India.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Mohan said, “AIB over the years has established themselves as one of the best in what they do and it’s great to have them on board. We wanted to offer our huge youth following a series of satire news. At the same time, we also felt there can be no better option than AIB and that’s how On Air with AIB came in picture.”

    On Air with AIB will have both Hindi and English versions. While the English version will be aired on Star World, Star Plus will share the Hindi feed. “We will premiere both English and Hindi firstly on Hotstar every Thursday. Then two days later on Sunday, the shows will be aired on the two respective channels,” informed Mohan.

    The English version is curated by Ashish Shakya and Rohan Joshi, while Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba will be orchestrating the Hindi narrative.

    In the first Hindi episode of On Air With AIB, which is titled Zaban Sambhal Ke, Khamba and Bhat wonder about why we should be good. We all hate corruption, yet whistleblowers get the raw end of the stick for calling evil out – every single time. The episode will also see Abhish Mathew talking to the Limca Book world record holder Dr K Padmarajan for losing the most elections! On the other hand, the first English episode of 25 minutes duration is titled Why Be Good? and will see Joshi and Shakya ponder over the same issue.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Shakya said, “The two series will have two different blends, in how they are written and presented. Despite the topic being the same, there are enough differences in the presentation for viewers to find both versions equally interesting. Hence a person who has seen the Hindi feed can also tune in to watch the English one and vice-versa.”

    Since television is a community viewing medium in India, it comes with numerous guidelines and restrictions that content creators need to follow – something, which the internet based maestros AIB are hardly accustomed to. They are renowned for a blend of comedy, which complies to no rules or regulations. 

    When quizzed on how they are planning to adapt with the restricted medium, Shakya replied, “The general perception is that we know only one form of comedy, which is not true. Whenever we interacted with Star, we interacted with Ajit or Uday Shankar and we always found them very likeminded, which made it very comfortable for us. On Air With AIB we will talk about important issues with a blend of satire and use our creativity to explore new dimensions. The constraints of television media will not impact the presentation at all.”

    Speaking about the target audience for the show, Mohan said, “Every technology takes time to evolve and video streaming requires a certain level of bandwidth, which at this stage is mostly available in urban regions. So currently, we are targeting urban India.”

    From OOH to TVC to digital, Star India is backing the initiative with a 360 degree marketing and is leaving no stones unturned to generate awareness about their new offering. The collaboration had a role to play in the marketing too as all the television commercials were executed by AIB’s new ad wing Vigyapanti. Other marketing initiatives were taken care of by Star India and its partners.

    Hotstar follows a advertising led revenue model where all its content is available for free. Despite the venture’s aggressive foray into original content, it is not looking to impose a subscription based model anytime soon. “We are very happy with the position that we are in at this moment. Advertisers have been reacting well to our innovations and we are not looking to change our revenue model. We have a strong portfolio with content spread across different genres and languages,” informed Mohan.

    AskMe Bazaar has been roped in as the presenting sponsor of the show, which is co-powered by Tata Motors and Idea.

  • ColorPlus launches maiden TVC

    ColorPlus launches maiden TVC

    MUMBAI: Casual clothing brand ColorPlus has launched its maiden television commercial.

    Conceptualised by Alok Nanda and Company, the TVCs will highlight the brand’s core parameters – color, comfort and craftsmanship in every Color Plus garment. While the first TVC communicates about ‘Comfort’ through best quality fabrics, the second TVC focuses on ‘Craftsmanship’ showcasing the brand’s eye for detail. The third TVC is about ‘Color’, that brings out the wide range of colour palette the brand works with.

    Speaking on the launch of the company’s first ever television commercial, ColorPlus brand director Hetal Kotak said, “Standing true to our commitment of being ‘Crafted for Comfort’, the brand has come a long way from its inception in 1993 by offering the Indian male with an array of options with refreshing colours. We are confident that we will continue to offer the best smart casual wardrobe solutions for the Indian man in the country going forward.”

    The TVCs will be visible across select genre that attract male audiences namely cricket, news, movies & English entertainment. Select regional language channels have been picked to reach audiences in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Punjab.

  • Catch Garam Masala launches new TVC featuring Vidya Balan

    Catch Garam Masala launches new TVC featuring Vidya Balan

    MUMBAI: Catch Salt and Spices has launched a new TVC for its offering Catch Garam Masala featuring Vidya Balan.

     

    The communication of new TVC has been developed around the core product attribute of taste, freshness and quality. The new communication tagline – ‘Khaney pe 100 per cent attention, Catch Garam masale se’ has been built on the already established positioning of ‘100 per cent Indian women ka match sirf Catch.’

     

    The new TVC illustrates that if you want the family to enjoy ‘Roz Ka Khana,’ it should be made with Catch Garam Masala. The TVC addresses the day to day concern faced by women when family members are not interested in the routine food as it is not exciting enough. The new Catch TVC is clutter breaking in its category focusing, on ‘how to make everyday food, happening.’

     

    The TVC has been created by Everest Brand Solution and directed by filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar of Apocalypso Productions. On the other hand, the still shoot has been done by Dabboo Ratnani.

     

    DS Spiceco associate business head OP Khanduja said, “Brand Catch has always served its customers with outstanding quality and range of products that enables them to connect with the brand. The new TVC relates to the day to day scenario of an Indian household and is conceptualised in a way so that a common man is able to relate to it. Catch has recently shifted its ATL strategy from umbrella branding to being product focused. This new TVC for Catch Garam Masala is second in its series after success of Catch Subzi Masala TVC. A series of more products focused Television commercials are in the pipeline.”

     

    Everest Brand Solutions group chief creative officer Rahul Jauhari added, “Our consistent efforts over the past few years have been to elevate Catch Spices from a being a Spice brand to a partner and solution provider in the housewife’s life. So once again, in this campaign, we picked on a real issue that exists in numerous homes and linked it to the superiority of our spices.”

  • psLIVE allies Parivar with ‘All Is Well’ for effective marketing

    psLIVE allies Parivar with ‘All Is Well’ for effective marketing

    MUMBAI: Experiential marketing division from Dentsu Aegis Network, psLIVE has facilitated a marketing tie-up of the tea brand Parivar with Umesh Shukla’s latest movie – All Is Well

     

    With Bollywood emerging as a marketing tool that can be strategically used by brands to talk to consumers, psLIVE assisted Sapat International to associate its tea brand Parivar with the movie as the positioning of both the brand and the film exhibit an extremely seamless fit.

     

    The promos from the All Is Well stable clearly suggest that the movie directly targets family consumption – a coherent purpose that Parivar also desires to achieve.

     

    As part of the tie-up, Sapat International created a co-branded television commercial with All Is Well in an attempt to capitalise on this psLIVE-helmed partnership.

     

    Sapat International group managing director Nikhil Joshi said, “It was an extremely important opportunity that was brought to us at the right time. The way it was presented to us by psLIVE, we knew instantly that the integration cannot be missed. The TVC gave us a chance to amplify the association and market Parivar on a massive scale.”

     

    To leverage the integration amongst maximum audience, the brand too is promoting the movie through the co-branded TVC in addition to a print campaign and ‘on-pack’ packaging.

     

    psLIVE vice president Sidharth Ghosh added, “All Is Well seemed to be a perfect fit for the tea brand ‘Parivar’ as both seamlessly blend with each other. This association will increase the brand recall. At psLive, we are extremely delighted having initiated this integration.”

     

    The movie stars Rishi Kapoor, Supriya Pathak, Abhishek Bachchan and Asin in lead roles.

  • NDTV’s Indianroots.com adopts new marketing mantra to target tier II & III cities

    NDTV’s Indianroots.com adopts new marketing mantra to target tier II & III cities

    MUMBAI: At a time when every e-retail venture is shouting from rooftops about multiple discounts, exclusive offers and cashbacks, NDTV Ethnic Retail’s venture Indianroots.com has come up with a TVC showcasing their style and range.

     

    In a bid to target consumers in Tier II and III cities, the e-retail venture, which offers a range of Indian ethnic wear along with antique showpieces, has rolled out a nationwide campaign called ‘Inherently Indian,’ which will have presence on TV, outdoor and digital.

     

    The ‘Inherently Indian’ TVC, which was launched on 15 August, 2015 has already started appearing across NDTV channels and will also have presence on digital platforms. The brand strategy was conceptualised and created by Brandmovers India.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, NDTV Ethnic Retail CEO Rahul Narvekar says, “We are currently mulling on whether we should put the TVC on other channels too. The ad brief had two major parts. Firstly, we wanted to depict our Indianess and the wide range of products.  And secondly we wanted to break the clutter. That’s the reason why we have not mentioned anything about discounts and pricing anywhere in the ad.”  

     

    Narvekar is happy with the response that the Soumik Sen directed TVC has garnered so far. “We have been trending on Facebook. We got calls from veteran Bollywood stars and other dignitaries praising the TVC and hence I am very delighted with the response.”

     

    Indianroots has recently raised additional funding for its expansion plans. “We want to be market leader when it comes to ethnic wear. In the last financial year, we garnered top line sale of Rs 61 crore and this year we want to grow further.”

     

    Narvekar added, “The new TVC will help establish our positioning around the idea of “Inherently Indian” in a visual manner and will beautifully blend fashion and story-telling, while highlighting typical quirks of our country. IndianRoots is a firm believer in Make In India and our TVC conveys the uniqueness and immense potential in this message. With this commercial, we aim to capture the attention and increase the recall value of Indianroots within the Tier II and III customer base of our country.”

     

    NDTV Ethnic Retail marketing head Paroma Sen said, “Indianroots has come a long way in the last two years, building up a strong foundation and business within and outside India. Coming in before the kickoff of India’s festive season this year, the TVC explores the moods and sentiments that every Indian will identify with. This TVC will help Indianroots build awareness in growing markets, and help us connect with our customers at a very human and emotional level.”

     

    Brandmovers India co-founder & managing director Suvajyoti Ghosh added, “Agencies, in general, do not rope in Bollywood directors to direct a TV spot, but in this case, we wanted Soumik’s unique story-telling vision to come through and create great cinematic quality. To keep it real, we avoided casting the typical model figure, and instead chose to portray the real, modern woman, with a distinct candour.”

     

    “The TVC is marked by a languorous verse narrative in Hindi written in-house and is centred around the concept of identity and beauty and how little Indian things are embraced everyday through the attires worn by women,” added Ghosh.

     

    Sen said, “Indian fashion is evolving and Indianroots is one of the harbinger of this revolution in Indian wear. The portal has always reinforced the notion that Indian fashion can also be stylish and modern hence, we wanted to create a commercial that talked about modern women embracing ethnicity. The modern Indian woman is someone who embraces her traditional roots with elan, and wears it every day. Capturing this on film implied making tradition chic and urbane, and bringing out her inner beauty. This was challenging, but it was a fun, monsoon shoot.”

     

  • Gaana.com unveils new campaign with ‘Dil ka Gaana’

    Gaana.com unveils new campaign with ‘Dil ka Gaana’

    MUMBAI:  “If music be the food of love, play on!” With these opening words of Twelfth Night, Shakespeare captured an essential bond between two things which human can never do without. The co-relation between music and love has long been established and Gaana.com has decided to re-establish the truth further.

     

    After the success of its first musical campaign ‘Bas Bajna Chahiye Gaana’, Gaana.com has released a new musical advertising campaign ‘Dil Ka Gaana’ that captures and follows a love story between two characters – Ayaan and Rhea.

     

    Using a series of episodes capturing a musical journey of these two young protagonists, Ayaan Khanna and Rhea Bajaj, Gaana will weave a romantic tale.

     

    The campaign showcases India’s first musical episodic series capturing a modern day love story of two strangers coming together because of music.

     

    The music for the campaign has been composed by Amit Trivedi and sung by Ash King and Neeti Mohan.

     

    Produced by Gaana productions, the trailer of the short film hit television screens on 21 June 2015.

     

    Times Internet VP, marketing Pratik Mazumder said, “We all know music connects people. Sometimes a moment of musical magic connects deeper and creates lifelong bonds. Gaana.com with its wide array of music content helps create moments of such magic.”

  • Tourism Ministry launches new ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ TVCs starring Aamir Khan

    Tourism Ministry launches new ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ TVCs starring Aamir Khan

    NEW DELHI: A new series of television commercials (TVCs) on the theme of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ with actor Aamir Khan were launched here by the Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma.

     

    A brochure titled “India – the Land of Yoga” was also launched at the function organized in New Delhi.

     

    The four films made on the theme of “Atithi Devo Bhava” spread awareness about ways to extend hospitality to tourists visiting India by adopting an honest and helpful attitude, as well as maintaining cleanliness and hygiene. 

     

    Khan is the brand ambassador for these films, which have been directed by adman Prasoon Joshi. 

     

    Joshi said, “‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ is the core of our culture and we must promote is as our USP for the purpose of tourism.” 

     

    The four films launched today will be telecast on various television channels to spread the message across the country. The films also aim to educating people about the importance of tourism and touristic values. 

     

    While launching the brochure “India- the Land of Yoga”, Dr Sharma said that the celebration of International Yoga Day is a matter of pride for India and many countries of the world are supporting us in this endeavour. The brochure on Yoga includes details of Yoga destinations, which will help to promote Yoga as a tourism product.

     

    Dr Sharma thanked Khan and Joshi for making these films and helping in boosting the image of tourism in India. He said that security, hospitality and cleanliness are the main strengths of tourism in India and the Ministry is working on a mission mode to achieve these objectives. 

     

    The Minister also said that the Indian Government has launched a Helpline 1363 or 1800-111-363 to help the foreign tourists and guide them on their arrival in India. The helpline will be available in 12 foreign languages within a month to facilitate the foreign tourists. Currently, the Helpline is available in Hindi and English. 

     

    The Minister also announced the setting up of a National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board to boost medical tourism in India. “The Board will help to bring together and showcase on an international platform the various streams of medicine available in India including Ayurveda, Yoga, naturopathy, Unani and low cost allopathic treatments,” Dr Sharma added.

     

    In another important step to promote tourism, Dr Sharma announced four new theme based circuits under the Swadesh Darshan scheme that will be developed in the next year. These four circuits are Wildlife Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Desert Circuit and Ramayana Circuit. These four circuits will be in addition to the five circuits already being developed by the Ministry of Tourism.

  • Star launches emotional TVC to rejuvenate hockey

    Star launches emotional TVC to rejuvenate hockey

    MUMBAI: India’s national sports hockey is losing its relevance in the country in terms of viewership, ground interaction and brand endorsements despite registering strong performances in recent times. In order to rejuvenate the below par statistics, Star Sports, which will be telecasting Hockey World League matches, has launched a TVC in association with Opticus to secure emotional connect with the Indian audience.

     

    The league will be telecast from 20 June to 5 July.

     

    The 45-second ad opens with the Indian hockey team along with coach Paul Van Ass fielding questions at a press conference before leaving for Belgium. Highlighting the lack of interest, only a handful of journalists have turned up and most of the seats are empty. The question-answer round starts with a journalist skeptically asking what is the future of Indian hockey. Led by Captain Sardar Singh and coach Paul Van Ass, the players list out the present set of achievements by the team. 

     

    “The world knows about it but India doesn’t,” Van Ass says, referring to the lack of awareness in the country about their national team’s successes.

     

    Another journalist asks if Pakistan will be at the semi-finals in Belgium. In response Singh reminds the assembled media that they had defeated Pakistan to win Gold at the Asian Games, pointing out that that victory made India the first team to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. 

     

    “Par kya fayda (but what’s the point),” Akashdeep Singh asks before team-mate Gurbaj Singh adds, “India ke dil mein qualify nahin kar paye (we couldn’t win India’s heart).”

     

    The film ends with Sardar Singh saying the team will now head to Belgium and play for the nation, #DeshKeLiye, as they always have. 

     

    Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com the director of the TVC Sanjay Shetty says, “The brief and the list of the players was given by Star and we drew the concept on the basis of their brief. The main motto was to keep it simple and leave a mark on viewers’ mind.”

     

    It was a single camera setup and was shot at Dhyan Chand National Stadium. “We wanted it to look like an actual press conference and covey the message that while Indian Hockey is garnering recognition globally on the basis of their performance India is oblivious about it,” he adds.

     

    Hockey registered an abysmally low cumulative reach in 2013 with only 53 million. The figures saw some respite in 2014 as it ascended to 107 million. Now it remains to be seen if the national sport of the country manages to improve the figures and Star manages to spell success with the TVC.

     

     

    Credits

    Production House: Opticus Inc 

    Producer: Varun Shetty  

    Director: Sanjay Shetty

    DOP: Demant Vyas

    Editor: Vishal Kharat

    SVP-Marketing head: Shubhranshu Singh

    AVP-Marketing: Jarmanjeet Singh Randhawa

    Concept and Story: Vikas dubey

    AVP-On Air Promotions: Vaibhav Chib 

    In-house team: Prashant Pawar and Saikat Sengupta

  • Zee Classic ushers in phase two of revamp with new positioning, campaign

    Zee Classic ushers in phase two of revamp with new positioning, campaign

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s (Zeel) Hindi movie channel Zee Classic, which changed its look in June last year, is now gearing up for the second phase of revamp. 

     

    The channel, which is known for playing timeless ever green movies, has launched a new TVC reinstating its brand positioning of ‘Woh Zamana Kare Deewana’ in order to connect better with its target audience.

     

    Aiming to reach out to an audience with the same brand ethos, the new brand film will be showcased during the telecast of Zee Classic’s celebrated showcase – RD Night – The Concert on 26 April at 1 pm. The messaging through the TVC will take viewers back to the all-time classic eras of Indian cinema truly brought alive after all these years by the channel.

     

    RD Night – The Concert, will see renowned artists from the music fraternity come together to commemorate the unconventional legend and celebrate the life’s work of a man who irrevocably changed the world of music with his chart topping compositions – RD Burman.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Zee Entertainment Enterprises deputy business head, Hindi movie channels, Ruchir Tiwari says, “In phase two of our revamp, we have to come up with the positioning and will take it ahead with our multi-media marketing campaign. These great movies that we showcase on our channel are unmatched and very different and through this campaign, we are pushing the boundaries.”

     

    The channel took six months to design the campaign. Designed and developed by Whyness and produced by Abstract Films, the two films are directed by Pariskhit Vaidya.  

     

    The TVCs encapsulate the ethos of bringing alive an era of films that not only enchanted but were also revered by the audiences. Rehashing the cult classic path-breaking films such as Padosan and Sholay, the brand films reconstruct the scenes merged with contemporary situations and characters. 

     

    Tiwari believes that Zee Classic has now been accepted by the audience and has a loyal base, which was one of the reasons behind unveiling this campaign. “To up the ante, with the New Year and also with new dynamics coming, you know that you have to broad base and get in newer audiences. Our another main objective is to increase the awareness of the channel.”

     

    On the marketing front, the films will travel across network and on non-network channels too. 

     

    Future roadmap 

     

    In order to have a better connect with the existing audiences and attract newer ones, Zee Classic is also looking at original programming in terms of getting new weekly shows on-board in the next quarter. “The work is still in progress,” Tiwari informs.

     

    On the movie library front, the channel has been adding fresh movies to its kitty like Ganga Jamuna, which is slated to premier on 3 May. “We are also working to get two Gulzar movies namely Parichayand Khushboo,” he says. 

     

    According to Tiwari, the first two months of 2015 have been successful months for the channel. “From the last two months, the channel’s viewership is steady and has grown. Every second week, we had a very good viewership score card,” he adds.

     

    When queried as to how the network divides its strong movie library on its channels like Zee Cinema, &Pictures and Zee TV, Tiwari says that the network has a very focused and sharp approach with different teams handling different movie channels. “Classic and Zee Cinema are very focused in terms of their mindset and approach and the common usage is very few,” laughs Tiwari. 

     

    He further opines, “Consumers don’t really give us the feedback that movie is aired on various channels. They are very clear that which movie comes on which channel. In fact the recall on all our three channels has been positive in terms of what kind of content they expect and recall.”

     

    Moreover, Tiwari reveals that the network is aiming to expand its HD portfolio by bringing in exclusive movies only for HD. “We have already taken the first step by airing Haider on Zee Cinema HD,” he adds.

     

    Tiwari says that the on-going Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament has not impacted Zee Classic’s viewership. “IPL is not a new event and over the years, we have our own learnings on how to approach a big event. I think it gives an opportunity where much more people sample the event and then come back to the movies as the second destination. Movie channels had witnessed a growth during last year’s IPL and this year too, we are confident that we will either sustain or grow from our numbers last year.”

     

    Zeel has its learnings on what kind of movies work during this period and what works post cricket. “It is about buying the right movie at the right time,” says Tiwari.

     

    With satellite rights of as many as 200 films still lying unsold over the last three years, the dream run had faced a few hurdles. However, now with TV channels pulling up their socks on film acquisitions with renewed vigour, Tiwari believes that the television movie market has seen a self correction, which was the need of an hour. “The satellite rights prices had gone through the roof and it was high time that it got corrected. The industry is also now rallying around it and understanding the perspective in terms of why it is not viable to pay those high prices. With the industry working around the module, everything will fall into place.”

     

    When queried as to whether Zeel will continue to acquire blockbuster movies for a huge sum, Tiwari says that it depended on the function of the market. “We will buy whatever will make sense in terms of viability and ROI. It is about buying a right movie at the right time.”

     

    With Star India launching Hotstar and movies being premiered first on digital and then on TV, Tiwari reveals that Zee too has been following the model with its VOD platform, Ditto TV. “All the mediums can co-exist, whether it is a mobile TV viewer, a user wanting high definition experience via a home theatre or the satellite market, which reaches out to a large majority of the population,” Tiwari concludes.