ITV

Tag: Uttaran

  • Spuul joins hands with IndiaCast

    Spuul joins hands with IndiaCast

    MUMBAI: Spuul, an online streaming service for Indian cinema and television shows has joined hands with IndiaCast, a Viacom18 and TV18 venture, to offer shows from Colors, MTV India and the ETV bouquet of channels to its subscribers.

    The deal allows Spuul to showcase hits like Comedy Nights with Kapil, Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Sanskaar, Bani, Madhubala and Sasural Simar Ka from Colors and Timeout with Imam and Webbed from MTV India.

    Reaffirming Spuul’s brand promise of providing premium entertainment anytime, anywhere, Spuul CEO India Prakash Ramchandani said, “Colors and MTV are leading channels across the general entertainment and youth space in the Indian television market. By bringing shows of Colors, MTV India and ETV channels to our platform, we plan to give our users an instant and continued access to their favourite shows at their convenience. This association with IndiaCast only highlights our proposition of providing entertainment on the go.”

    Spuul users can now have unrestricted access to shows of Colors, MTV India and ETV channel on their PCs, iOS and Android smart phones and tablets.

    IndiaCast Media Distribution group CEO Anuj Gandhi said, “Spuul makes popular Indian entertainment content available on internet-connected devices through its platform. We are pleased to partner with Spuul to offer consumers our premium TV content and movies at their convenience, anytime, anywhere.”

    Spuul has consistently been expanding its content offering by partnering with leading entertainment houses. The platform also has popular shows from Star Plus like Mahabharat, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai among others along with a premium library of movies, evergreen TV shows and the latest blockbusters.

  • Its a full plate for IndiaCast/Viacom18

    Its a full plate for IndiaCast/Viacom18

    CANNES: It’s been a fruitful first day at Mipcom for IndiaCast/Viacom 18 (booth number 10.3, level 1), which met up with nearly 43 buyers from markets including France, Indonesia, Russia, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil and Jordon to name a few.

    The group expects to meet at least 120 companies from across the globe over the next three days of Mipcom.

    IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi says: “We have 15,000 hours of content in our library across the group and we add more than 2,000 hours of fresh programming each year.”

    The biggest draw according to Gandhi is: “Scripts of our famous drama series like Uttaran and Madhubala. That apart, formats like Roadies, Splitsvilla and Crunch aired on MTV are also in demand.”

    IndiaCast/Viacom18 has on offer about 40 shows including Na Ana Iss Des Lado, Ballika Vadhu and Comedy Nights with Kapil as also regional channel content and around 40 Bollywood films.

    “Mipcom is a good place for connecting with potential buyers from many smaller markets that we don’t have offices in or otherwise would never be able to reach out to. The discussions & negotiations begin here. It needs to be naturally followed up for things to materialise,” says Gandhi.

    The group is looking to monetise all its intellectual properties to the hilt. “For example Japan has a huge market for clips and looks for buying clips of many of our shows. East Europe wants drama series dubbed in their language. Africa wants script rights…” informs Gandhi.

    And yes, Colors’ recently launched series 24 is another property the group is betting on. “As regards 24, we are in the final stages of closing the deal with Pakistan,” reveals Gandhi.

    Apart from selling content, the group is also looking at acquiring content for its various channels. “We need to be sensitive towards what we choose. It should connect with our audiences. We are looking at acquiring family drama content and also non-fiction shows,” rounds off Viacom18 executive VP strategy and business development Anuj Poddar.  

  • IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    IIf you thought shows such as Comedy Nights with Kapil, Uttaran or even Jhalak Dikhhla Ja have takers only in India, you couldn’t be more wrong. Indeed, there is a huge demand for these programmes even in faraway markets like Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe to name a few.
    Which is exactly what draws aggregators and distributors such as IndiaCast to MIPCOM, the world’s biggest market for content.

    So what does IndiaCast have on offer this year at MIPCOM? “While we already have a strong syndication portfolio with our dramas. movies  and reality shows from Colors, we will also focus on content from our regional channels, news channels as well as the MTV content, “replies IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi, who will represent the company along with four others at MIPCOM.

    More specifically, IndiaCast/Viacom18’s entire catalogue will be on offer. “We have more than 25 channels in our network and so, our booth will feature content from all of these channels. This will include Ballika Vadhu, Uttaran, Madhubala, Jhalak Dikhhla Ja, Bigg Boss, MTV Roadies and also content from ETV and the news channels,” informs Gandhi.

    We will be looking at a strong syndication portfolio in our dramas and reality, we will also focus on content from regional channels, news channels as well as the MTV portfolio says Gaurav Gandhi

    And what is IndiaCast hoping to achieve at MIPCOM? Says Gandhi: “Indian dramas are finally breaking into mainstream in many markets. We hope to find more buyers who are willing to experiment and try Indian dramas for the mainstream local audiences in the respective markets and we want to target buyers who want to remake our shows  (with script and format rights) in their respective countries .  Latin America and Turkey have been the predominant forces in exporting their drama series sales worldwide. There is an opportunity for us to break into that market in a big way. Having already licensed our content to Africa and Europe (to the mainstream market), I am hoping to tap markets like Latin America this year.”

    Gandhi believes that demand for the programming that IndiaCast is hawking will also be strong in areas where Indian and south Asian diaspora are present in large numbers. This apart, there is another chunk of viewers in several countries which enjoy watching Indian programming dubbed and sub-titled in local languages. “Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa are some of these nations,” he says.”We are looking at new distribution outlets and buyers from there for both our channels and programmes at MipCom this year.”

    Citing a couple of examples of how the event is a platform to help export content and reach out to a larger base, Gandhi says: “It was here that we sold the script of our show Uttaran, for a remake in Africa. While normally Indian channels buy formats/ scripts, we were the first ones to have sold the script to an international player. We recently sold the MTV Roadies format internationally. The discussions for this had started in MIPCOM only.”  

    MIPCOM makes it easier for exhibitors to meet people from different markets and sell content. “If it wasn’t for a market like these where would one find buyers from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Tanzania?” he questions.

    And considering there is a sizeable regional population around the world, the aggregator is concentrating on regional content as well. “We have sold Gujarati content to a local channel in the US and also to west African countries this year. So for our regional content, this year, we will focus on building on that and tapping new markets” says Gandhi.

    The frenzied buying and selling of content apart, several affiliate meetings will keep IndiaCast executives busy at MIPCOM. “This is where we will talk about distribution of our channels; like Colors, MTV India, Rishtey which is our second GEC in the UK, ETV,  and News18 among a host of other channels,” informs Gandhi.   

    IndiaCast will concentrate on all platforms like Cable, DTH, IPTV, terrestrial and all forms, both linear and non-linear (VOD, SVOD, NVOD and PPV). “We are amongst the largest suppliers from India to VOD platforms. Our content is on Netflix, Itunes, YouTube etc. We have a lot of meetings lined up for such platforms as well,” he adds.

    It looks likely to be whistlestop and tiring MipCom for Gandhi and his team. And in all likelihood profitable too. 

  • Colors bets big with 24 premier on 4 Oct

    Colors bets big with 24 premier on 4 Oct

    MUMBAI: It’s raining shows on Colors. The channel has ambitions to retain its audiences and lure new ones with its slew of new show launches which it hopes will send its TVTs on an expansion mode. Just as Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa ended, in came Bigg Boss and, on 4 October, the international thriller 24 is set to premier on the Viacom18 general entertainment channel.

    The weekend slot of Friday and Saturday at 10 pm is what it has been given. This means that Uttaran and Bani will now have just 4 episodes a week and Comedy Nights with Kapil will be cut down to just once a week, that is Sunday, which could be disappointing for comedy lovers who have made it a hit. But Colors’ management says they don’t have a choice. “We have a problem of plenty. So shows need to be dropped to accommodate them,” says Colors CEO Raj Nayak.

    Safari Storme is said to have paid around Rs 16-18 crore to be the presenting sponsor. Next – part of the Videocon group – has been signed on as one of the associate sponsors. As per sources, the show has been created at 20 times the cost of a normal fiction show making it Colors’ biggest fiction property.

    Nayak says that the channel has mastered the art of monetizing big properties. That the show may run into losses is also expected but hopes are that it may just click with the audience. They believe it should get TVTs equivalent to TRPs totting between 2.8 to 3.

    The show has big plans on the digital front. Keeping the peg as ‘Race against time’ which is what 24 is all about, all activities undertaken revolve around it ranging from contests which play on the word ’24’. “The concepts will be time-bound,” says Colors digital head Vivek Srivastava.

    On social media, special behind-the-scenes, exclusive pictures, chats and possibly a hangout with Anil Kapoor are all in the line up to build the buzz around the show. Special emphasis is being given to build characters on social media and digital platforms to get fans to continue to stay connected with them. “We don’t have the luxury of 100 episodes to establish a character here,” says Srivastava.

    Although the views that a show gets through digital is much less compared to television, online activity helps generate conversations. The Colors Facebook page annually gets about 150 million views. However, it is very important since it helps them create brand bearers through normal people. An announcement on the application is expected soon, which Srivastava says is going to be very unusual. On the day of launch, a 15-minute preview is expected to be played before the actual telecast of the first episode.

    Made like a movie and treated like one as well. That’s the channel’s mantra to market this big property. The first phase includes visits to HSM (Hindi Speaking Markets) where Kapoor will interact with lay viewers, media and opinion leaders. Visits to Jaipur, Delhi and Patna have already been wrapped up successfully while more are in the pipeline. Integrations on Bigg Boss and Kapil and a few other fiction shows such as Madhubala are also to be expected in the coming days.

    Someone switching on the radio will soon hear something about 24 every 24 minutes on almost all FM channels including the big boys 98.3FM Mirchi and Red FM 93.5. Trailers have been planned to air on over 60 channels including news, regional and music. Print advertisements are planned to appear near the launch date in all leading editions of newspapers such as Times of India, Dainik Jagran.

    Theatres have already started playing promos during Madras Cafe and Grand Masti and the soon-to-premier Besharam is next in line. “We have something innovative planned in the outdoor space,” says Colors marketing director Rajesh Iyer.

    Speaking about the unusual timing for the show weekend programming (nonfiction) head Manisha Sharma says that it cuts out pressure from Comedy Nights with Kapil since comedy writing is not an easy task. 24 will take one episode’s place for three months after which Kapil will be back to two episodes per week. “The time slot is perfect because people who go to office can come home and watch it,” says Nayak.

    Plans are already afoot for the second season, even though the first season is yet to go on air. Now that’s what we call advance booking!

  • ETV Marathi: Changing the rules of the game : Anuj Poddar EVP Viacom18 and Business Head, Marathi

    ETV Marathi: Changing the rules of the game : Anuj Poddar EVP Viacom18 and Business Head, Marathi

    ETV Marathi has been one of the pioneers in regional entertainment and to our credit, we’ve been visionaries.

    The way I see it there have been three phases of content. The first was the evolution of content. ETV Marathi, when it started out, was not on par with national TV channels but it was locally unique and culturally closer. The next phase was when Star Pravah came into being, and the quality and nature of programming took a leap. The third phase is what ETV Marathi has done since Viacom 18 came into the picture. We’ve taken the current entertainment to its next phase.

    KHMC gets a lot more visibility and helps signify that change at multiple levels such as scale of programming, quality, production values or benchmark impacts the kind of audiences we draw.

    Kon Hoyil Marathi Crorepati (KHMC) was one of the first steps to signify that. The kind of shows we were doing before and after KHMC signify the extent of change in the genre.

    KHMC gets a lot more visibility and helps signify that change at multiple levels such as scale of programming, quality, production values or benchmark impacts the kind of audiences we draw.

    The kind of programming that we have lined up is going to bring in more audiences from outside the genre. These are audiences that were not watching much of our Marathi programming but because of the quality and diversity, they would be looking at it. These are the younger audiences or more contemporary and educated in English or Hindi medium schools and therefore, are not watching regional Marathi entertainment. So it has to be the language and content that has to appeal to them. The content more than the emotional attachment to their language should pull them in.

    ETV Marathi’s legacy is very strong but we were stuck in the past where it pulled in a certain kind of audience. We are now bringing in content that is far more vibrant, younger, contemporary and fresh in order to pull in a whole new segment of audiences to Marathi GEC.

    We had to change our FPC (Fixed Point Chart) but we didn’t have the luxury to create content and wait because it was a running channel. We started replacing shows in a certain priority. We started by replacing some fiction shows. We brought contemporary drama on the channel. We created a completely original show called Vivah Bandhan while another was a remake of the popular show Uttaran called Asawa Sundar Swapnache Bandhan. We thought of taking something that worked nationally and serving it in a regional language with a setting that’s closer home.

    Post that, we worked on the fiction vs. nonfiction mix. Previously, E TV Marathi had nonfiction during a late night time band post 9:30 pm or 10:00 pm, which we pulled to the 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm band. We launched three shows; one was Natya Rang, another was Comedy Expressthat we reworked on and third was another popular ETV Marathi show called Crime Diary that we brought back in a new avatar.

    E TV’s legacy is very strong but we were stuck in the past where it pulled in a certain kind of audience. 

    Traditionally, ETV Marathi was not known for marketing. Now we have changed that and there is cross-channel marketing; outdoor, print, ground activities-pretty much 360 degree. We used KHMC to amplify our marketing because in a GEC space, a channel is never marketed, the show is. We did many on-ground activities for KHMC. We had vans going from city to town and organising a game play on the ‘hot seat’. So people in a small town would gather and get an opportunity to answer five questions and get the feel of it. So we did a lot of these things that may not ultimately give an ROI on a specific show but will help to create a lot of buzz for the channel. KHMC did manage to shake people up as it came as a disrupter.

    Incidentally, KHMC is just about 20 per cent of our ratings while the rest comes from our other shows.

    We’ve not only started doing a lot of marketing but we started just letting people know that ETV Marathi was undergoing a change.

    The consumer would take time to realise a change was happening. After carrying out some changes till March, we launched KHMC in May as our flagship program. That brought us a lot more visibility. What we have noticed is that every new show’s launch has beaten the record of the previous show’s launch. We brought on board better quality and differentiated nonfiction programs this year. The channel now has something for everybody.

    As a channel, for us, it is important to know what is happening in every age group. We track that by age or by SEC. Every single age group is showing growth in reach and time spent on ETV Marathi . We want to make sure that a lot of our old and loyal audiences have reason to stay on the channel as well as the younger audiences come back to the channel because our audiences don’t sit in Mumbai and Pune. So we target the rest of Maharashtra in both ground activities and print.

  • ‘We believe our prime time has more potential’ : Ashvini Yardi – Colors senior VP and head of content and creative

    ‘We believe our prime time has more potential’ : Ashvini Yardi – Colors senior VP and head of content and creative

    Colors is celebrating its first year sitting at the top of the ratings cliff. A late entrant, with 10 Hindi general entertainment channels launched before it, the Viacom18 channel climbed to the No. 1 position in 38 weeks time, enjoying the fastest ride to success with backing coming from “disruptive and differentiated” programming, strong distribution and heavy promotions.

     

    From 81 GRPs (gross rating points) and the No 3 position in first week, Colors crossed the 100 GRP mark in its second week; 200 GRPs in the ninth; and 300 GRPs in the 32nd week.

    Critics have accused the channel of pumping in huge monies behind high-cost shows. That seems to be paying off, at least for now.

    Post a big bang launch with Khatron ke Khiladi, Colors programming team under the stewardship of Ashvini Yardi, former Zee TV creative head, weaved a series of daily and weekly shows that gradually built a loyal viewership base for the channel. Within nine months of launch, shows such as Balika Vadhu, Jai Shri Krishna, Uttaran and Na Aana Is Des Laado, along with non-fictions, are kicking in around 250 GRPs.
     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Gaurav Laghate, Colors senior VP and head of content and creative Ashvini Yardi talks about the strategy behind the programming and the channel’s plans ahead.

     

    Excerpts:

    Colors launched exactly a year back. What have been the important landmarks for you?
    Well, occupying the third spot in the launch week itself, crossing the 100 GRP mark and then to finally becoming the number one channel within a span of eight months has surely been some of the milestones for us. But for me, apart from all these, it was more about meaningful programming.

    We created thought provoking subject-based shows like Balika Vadhu, Uttaran and Na Ana Is Des Laado. And we believe that Colors has raised the bar for quality programming, both in fiction and non-fiction shows.

    But don’t you think it adds on to the audience fatigue?
    Not really. On the contrary, it is good for viewers as every channel tries to come up with something different and better in quality. Overall, it gives the viewers an expanded choice.

    What has been Colors’ strategy behind selecting particular shows?
    We knew that we were the 11th player foraying into the GEC clutter. And therefore, to break into this clutter we wanted to offer something different to viewers. However, that different element was always within the same boundary. You see, every show is different, and yet full of emotions. Look, concept or idea remains the same; what matters is the treatment.

    We also encouraged new talents.

    But on the creative side, how do you decide on the progress of the storyline?
    Generally, while a producer thinks only about the show, the channel has a holistic approach towards it. But at Colors, we strongly believe that for any show, vision has to be one person’s. And in Colors’ case, it is bound to be ours. We look after every show with the perspective of the whole channel.
    ‘Celebrities have fitted in very well for Colors. They, as brands, blended with the channel’s property and also helped as promotional vehicles‘

    In that case, creative differences won’t emerge?
    Well, our creative team sits with producers to discuss and chalk out everything in detail. But we do make our vision for the show very clear.

    And what about deadline pressures? Producers always accuse channels for changing storyline at moment’s notice and that they don’t get enough time.
    For a daily soap, pressure is always there. And that is true for all channels. Even if we have a bank of episodes, there can be last moment changes. Sometimes, on realising that a particular character is getting better response, we decide to increase its length. Or for that matter, if some property is not delivering up to its potential, we may suggest for a change in the storyline or sub plots. The daily soaps are designed in such a way that you can take it to any level. That is the beauty of soaps.

    Precisely, that’s why some shows run for years and viewers don’t enjoy “happy endings”. What about finite shows?
    We have Balaji Telefilms’ Koi Aane Ko Hai, which is a finite show and is seasonal. So it will go off air after completing its first season and will come back again. Also, keeping a bank is possible in finite shows. But a channel has to give a staple diet of fiction, non-fiction and movie content to viewers.

    Is the accusation true that Colors is putting in large monies for big ticket shows and spoiling the market?
    That is not true. Our programming budget is not more than any other top channel. It is a perception play that we have high-cost shows because of the scale and quality we stress upon. On actual basis, the cost is on par with other shows.

    But you roped in stars like Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty for your properties. Don’t they hike your budgets? And how important is the star value for you?
    For Colors, these celebrities have fitted in very well. They, as brands, blended with the channel’s property. Akshay is known for his khiladi image, so he was the best option for Khataron Ke Khiladi.

    Shilpa, on the other hand, had won Big Brother in its original format at that time. So, who better than her to host Big Boss. Moreover, these shows with celebrities also helped as promotional vehicles for the channel.

    Channels are adopting films into soaps. Your Jeevansathi had striking similarities with the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
    Well, people find connect. Jeevansaathi was a love story, and Indian films have tried so many plots based on love stories that there are bound to be similarities. In the beginning, because of the cast and plot of Jeevansaathi, viewers thought it is like the movie. But it changed entirely. Moreover, an idea can come from a film. But daily soaps have much more than a three-hour plot. So there is a lot more to play with.

    But some of the shows are not delivering. Don’t you think you should replace them like you did with four other shows?
    We believe in giving every show a fair chance. If we see any potential, we go ahead with that show. Right now we are concentrating on the shows which are giving average ratings and have the potential.

    The four shows that we have replaced were not getting enough response, so we ended the story logically.
    Now that you have a stable GRP base of 250 from programming and movies, what next?
    Our aim is to continue delivering on viewer’s expectations and to consolidate the primetime. We believe our primetime has more potential than this.
    And what about launching the afternoon band?
    As I said, there is a lot of scope in primetime; therefore, first we are taking care of this band. After that, we will get into the afternoon band. Moreover, our repeats during afternoons are getting us ratings; so we can wait for some more time before launching shows for this band.
    We have also launched the Sunday morning band and are getting good response from it.
    Any big idea behind launching the Sunday morning band?
    It is in sync with our disruptive and differentiated programming. Sunday morning was a major slot in the 90’s. It is still a time when families sit together and watch television, including kids. So we decided to design programmes for this untapped slot.

    Our shows Vikram aur Betaal and Shri Swaminarayan are targeted at family viewing with a focus on kids.

    Also, now we have launched our weekend primetime with India’s Got Talent, Chhote Miyan season 2 and Mahaveer Hanuman. So we are on course with our plans.
    Has the economic slowdown played a dampener on your budget and growth plans?
    Well, we are ahead of our targets and, thus, have not curtailed any of our plans.
    How important is it to be in the top three in the highly competitive Hindi GEC space?
    It is a cycle. It is very important to be in the top league in this game. If you are there, you can attract big chunk of revenues to invest in good shows, which ultimately gives you good ratings.