ITV

Tag: UTV

  • ‘We want to be strategically well entrenched in the Bollywood market’ : Siddharth Roy – UTV Motion Pictures CEO

    ‘We want to be strategically well entrenched in the Bollywood market’ : Siddharth Roy – UTV Motion Pictures CEO

     

    UTV Motion Pictures Plc (UMP Plc) has emerged as one of the top film production companies, challenging established players in scale and box office hits across different genres and budgets. The roster includes Jodhaa Akbar, Race, Fashion and Mumbai Meri Jaan.

    Listed in Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, UMP has set its eyes on good scripts, filmmakers, and talent while scaling up. Taking a cautious approach on film acquisitions, the company’s focus has been to set up a good team and produce movies on their own.

    UMP has also attempted to line up an international IPR basket with movies like The Namesake and The Happening. The adventure has been mixed so far and 2009 could see a retrenchment of such plans, though a $2 million project is being produced singularly by UTV for the first time in the US.

    Riding with a series of hits, UMP targets a revenue of Rs 3-3.5 billion this fiscal. The company has also inked syndication deals with Zee and Colors to maximise revenue opportunities while retaining the first airings for UTV’s Hindi movie channel.

    Finding the turf too competitive and price-driven at this stage, UTV has exited the home video business. The company inked a deal with Moser Baer, licensing for five years the home video rights for 25 movies produced till June 2009.

    With Walt Disney an equity partner, UTV has grabbed the distribution rights of Disney’s Hollywood content for the Indian market. This has not halted UTV from entering into a string of relationships with Hollywood majors including Fox.

    In an interview with Sibabrata Das, UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur talks about the challenges that film producers face with pressure on star costs and RoI (return on investments) and how the company has grown into a powerhouse in such a short span of time.

    Excerpts:

    UTV has cut costs in its broadcasting operations due to economic slowdown. Will the motion pictures business see a similar scale back plan?
    We will maintain the same pace as we did in 2008. There is no scale back plan. We released 10 movies in 2008. For 2009, we have 15-18 movies in the release pipeline.

    The capital employed in the movie business till the first half of Fy’09 is Rs 7.26 billion. Will the deployment see the same pace?
    Yes, we will maintain that pace – or even deploy more capital. We could see some rationalisation in star prices and production costs. We have started talking to talent and they are being receptive. We are also trying to generate more efficiencies in the production process and in the print and publicity expenditure.

    The Namesake and The Happening has been UTV’s efforts to build an international IPR basket. Will 2009 see a retrenchment in these plans as we don’t hear of any movie with Will Smith or others kicking off in the year?
    We are making a $2 million film called Ex Terminators. This is the first time that UTV will be producing on its own a film in the US. We realise that holding an IPR for Hollywood movies has great value as the DVD market is very strong in the US. The threatical exploitation is, in any case, a perishable commodity. But we want to be strategically well entrenched in the Bollywood market. We will be involved in international projects on an opportunistic basis. We are still in talks with Will Smith and are trying to find the right script and movie to make with him.

    In a bid to scale up, several Indian film studios have burnt their fingers by acquiring movies at high cost. Has UTV consciously decided to stay out of such acquisitions?
    A few months ago, acquisition costs had really shot up, making it difficult to recover money from some projects. But studios have their own strategies as they are in different stages of life cycle. Our focus, though, has been to put in place a production and development team. We have also cemented a strong relationship with talent.

    Acquisition prices will see a change as we are entering a period of economic slowdown. Though we acquired two movies (Race and Kismat Konnection) out of the 10 that we released in 2008, it is not part of our overall business plan. Our strategy is to produce our own movies. We are not looking at acquisition to scale up.

    Do you see pressure on revenues this fiscal because of recession?
    We expect our turnover to grow to Rs 3-3.5 billion this fiscal. And in FY’10 we hope to notch up Rs 4-5 billion. This will not include the revenues from The Namesake and The Happening.

    ‘We could see some rationalisation in star prices and production costs. We have started talking to talent and they are being receptive‘

    How much did two of your biggest hits – Jodhaa Akbar and Race – contribute to the kitty?
    They accounted for 30 per cent of our total revenues in 2008. But we also had hits in Fashion, Welcome, Aamir, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and The Happening.

    Our business model is to produce a few big budget movies while lining up mid-range and small films. We do not want to put all our eggs into one basket. We make movies in different genres, with different makers, and in different budgets. We are developing various labels to address different segments. The common thrust across all the segments is to have quality that is really consistent.

    Will the RoI improve in the coming years?
    The RoI for studios is dicey. While for single producers it is good, for distributors it is difficult. For us, it falls in the 10-15 per cent range. It should stay similar in FY’09. Cost structures (star cost) make any change in RoI difficult.

    UTV Motion Pictures did a deal with Disney to distribute their Hollywood content in India. How big a revenue opportunity will this throw up?
    India is a small market for Hollywood content. We will be paid a commission by Disney for disitributing the movies. We want to maintain the revenue opportunities with more prints and language dubs.

    Walt Disney has done a co-production with Yash Raj Films. But despite having a stake, why haven’t they gone ahead with a joint Bollywood movie project with UTV?
    We are talking to them on various scripts.

    Why did UTV decide to exit the home video business?
    We want to focus in the content creation and aggregation business. We will be in the theatrical distribution business because we want to have a presence in the last mile to the exhibition theatre. There is tremendous competition in the home video segment and based on commercial and strategic considerations, we decided to license our home video rights to Moser Baer for the next five years. Moser Baer will have the rights to all our movies that are released till June 2009.

    We will handle the home video business in overseas markets and have offices in US, UK and Dubai.

    Will we see a more aggressive regional movie lineup from UTV in 2009?
    Mainstream film producers getting into regional cinema will happen, but it will not be their main activity. Regional language films are heavily dependent on theatrical revenues. Satellite TV and home video rights, in fact, are sold together and form a minor portion of the revenue mix. Though the launch of regional channels has led to a rise in revenues from TV rights, it is still not large enough for us to justify making more movies in this space.
    ‘For us, the RoI falls in the 10-15 per cent range. Cost structures (star cost) make any change in RoI difficult‘

    Do Bollywood films make a more strong multiple revenue stream?
    Theatrical accounts for 55-60 per cent of the total revenue kitty while satellite rights make up 15 per cent and home video 5-7 per cent. Music and overseas rights contribute 10 per cent each. Going forward, home video and music will increase while satellite rights will fall as broadcasters come to terms with the slowdown in the economy.
    Will UTV continue to do syndication deals?
    We have done syndication deals with Zee and Colors. We will continue with the syndication model as we have our own Hindi movie channel. Unless, of course, we get a very good pricing for a 3-year or 5-year deal.
    Will UTV’s big drive in 2009 be scaling up?
    Our focus in 2008 was to get the team in place and work with right scripts and talent while scaling up. We will continue to build on that in 2009. We will explore all revenue opportunities including new ones like pay-per-view (PPV) on DTH. We offered Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye to DTH operators on PPV mode within a short time of theatrical release. This is a massive opportuinity in future and we intend to properly monetise the satellite market in a big way.
    UTV has invested in gaming companies. How are you exploiting the new media opportunities?
    We have mobile gaming for all our movies. For developing console gaming, it would require a long lead time and we do not have the product yet for it.
  • ‘Going global is a key part of our TV content scale up plan’ : Ajit Thakur – UTV Television COO

    ‘Going global is a key part of our TV content scale up plan’ : Ajit Thakur – UTV Television COO

    With industry pundits expecting the television content industry to explode from Rs 14 billion to Rs 30 billion over the next two years, UTV Software Communications is laying the foundation to ride on this boom.

    Having slipped in the television content production business over the years, UTV’s revival strategy includes holding IPR rights for some of the content that it creates, working out a genre-specific approach, and striking partnerships with other production houses.

    The Ronnie Screwvala promoted company, which has set the pace for the Bollywood industry, is readying to develop formats and content that can travel across the globe.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das & Anindita Sarkar, UTV Television COO Ajit Thakur explains how the company plans to scale up its content business.

    Excerpts:

    Why is it that UTV’s television content production business slipped over the years?
    A few years back, production houses started emerging as specialist content providers. While Hats Off Productions mastered comedies, Fire Works started working on thrillers and Synergy specialised in format shows.

    UTV did not take steps in this direction. We didn’t have a genre-specific approach, but continued to do a number of things. Also, good talent was lacking in the industry.

    Is UTV going to focus on specific genres as part of its revival strategy?
    Our key focus now is to specialise in different genres and develop formats for which we can hold the IPR. We have identified a need gap in reality formats and have gone into it. We are also looking at formats and content that can travel in the global marketplace. We are clear that we want to hold the rights to some of our content. That is what keeps international content companies like Endemol and FremantleMedia in strong financial health; about 70 per cent of their turnover comes from 3-4 big shows.

    Which is why you are interested in creating a property like Gandhi?
    Exactly. If you do not hold the IPR to the big properties that you create, you will never be able to cushion yourself from the cyclic downturns that every creative content company goes through. The current structure of the broadcasting business is such that there is no value model for the production houses. We are out to change that. As part of that ambition, we are producing Gandhi for India as well as the world.

    How much will the fund requirement be for this project and are you planning to strike a deal with an international broadcaster ahead of production as a de-risk strategy?
    We will have to get there, no matter what it takes. We are creating an internal research team and will have a panel of Indian and international historians. Most of the creative team will not be from the television but the film industry. We will have writers from Bollywood and the West. Since we are sure that the content will travel, we are producing it in Hindi as well as in the English language. We are in talks with US and UK broadcasters.

    Will you hold the IPR for the Indian market as well?
    We will hold the global rights while selling the Hindi version of the drama series to an Indian broadcaster. Once we have a definite fix on the story board and zero in on the cast, we will know about the costs. We haven’t worked out the budget yet but are prepared to spend on the project. It is easy to go to the Middle East and South East Asian markets. We want our content to travel to the US, UK and European markets.
    ‘If content firms do not hold the IPR, they will never be able to cushion themselves from cyclic downturns‘

    How will the basic revenue flow from the content supply to local broadcasters be taken care of?
    There is a business opportunity in soaps, reality, mythology and fantasy content. For starters, we have hit on the reality genre. We have set up the team for it and have produced EK Se Badhkar Ek for Zee TV. We will be replacing it with another reality show for the same channel. We will have Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina, a weekly dance reality show which has six leading cricketers as participants, on Colors. The game show, Cash Cab, has been developed by us on a licensed format, originally produced by Lion Television for ITV. Bindaas will be airing it from 15 September.

    We see the reality genre having the potential to travel to overseas markets as well. Our aim is to produce six reality shows by the end of this fiscal.

    Our next look will be in fiction and we will take a genre-specific approach. In fact, every six months we will get into a new genre and consolidate in that space.

    What are the genres that carry an opportunity for UTV and could be tapped?
    We are definitely not looking at the saas-bahu genre as the audience for this segment is steadily diminishing. There are thriller, comedy, fantasy and mythology genres. There is enough scope for period dramas too.

    UTV has got into co-production partnerships with different local production houses. Isn’t this the beginning of a new trend, much like what has happened in the movie business?
    Our aim is to be among the top two TV content producers in the Indian market. One way of getting there is by creating partnerships with other production houses who have a distinct content flavour. We have equal joint ventures with three players and are looking at other proposals. We have JVs with Smriti Irani Television Ltd (SITL), Windmill Entertainment with Shekhar Suman, and another with Rajesh Beri. On the Gandhi project, we are doing it with SITL.

    Going global, of course, is a key part of the scale up plan. We have another big project coming up which we feel we can take to the global arena.

    Hasn’t UTV recently started getting into TV content production in the southern languages?
    We were earlier doing only airtime sales for the Sun TV network. But recently we have got into production as well and are doing a show for Sun TV (Tamil) and Gemini (Telugu). It is not a big revenue earner for us, but is more of strategic value. Since we were doing airtime sales, it was a logical step for us to integrate it with our creative resources. Once we have 5-6 shows on Sun, it can be a big step for us.

    In a unique deal, UTV paid a minimum guarantee to NDTV Imagine for Ramayan and syndicated it to the Sun TV network of channels. Will we see more such deals?
    We are close to signing up with a broadcaster for another mythology and syndicating that content down south.

  • Dubbing to ride on ‘Firangi’ content

    West is best,” said Edward Said. It seems Indian broadcasters have taken a cue from Said and are ready to experiment heavily with international content in 2008.

    Sahara One Media and Entertainment Ltd, for instance, is taking the bold step of launching an entertainment channel that will fill entirely with dubbed international content. Its logic: “40 per cent of the TV viewing population continuously watch dubbed content”.

    Firangi is set to launch on 25 February, importing content from across the world -Germany, France, Spain, Argentina, Mexico and Israel.

    Firangi is not alone in this experimentation. UTV has also put a high dose of dubbed content on its youth-centric Hindi entertainment channel Bindass.

    Says Bindass GM acqusition Manasi Sapre, “Dubbed entertainment has emerged as a strong alternative to live action productions in the past few years. It allows audience to sample international content of great quality in language they understand and enjoy.”

    Sapre has research to back this up. A recent research “Understanding the Psyche of Hindi Serial Viewers,” done by Starcom India and Hansa Research, reveals that 2/5th of viewers of Star Plus and Zee TV find Hindi soaps repetitive and boring.

    What‘s more, 64 per cent of TV viewing audience prefer dubbed content as it provides a diverse palette of soaps and dramas.

    A whopping 69 per cent think that dubbed shows are very entertaining, while 70 per cent think that it is an opportunity to watch more actors. And 72 per cent watch it because it teaches a lot about the cultures of other countries.

    Though Indians still lap up localised content, some observers believe that a viewership is surfacing for pure global content dubbed in Hindi.

    Another reason for the mushrooming of international dubbed content in the TV space is its easy and low-cost model as compared to full-fledged production of shows.

    Sugar Mediaz director Darrpan Mehta, who himself is a voiceover and dubbing artist, says, “It is a wonderful low-cost model. For example, acquiring a show from various parts of the world and putting it up as a dubbed content is very cheap vis-?-vis producing the entire show. Production of a show costs lakhs, but a 30-minute dubbed content will cost around Rs 50,000.”

    Sample this: UTV‘s Bindass has four original shows – Hassley India, Shakira, Sun Yaar Chill Maar and Third Degree, while it has around six international contents which include The Benny Hill Show, Japanese Pro Wrestling Show, Gotcha, Motorrad Cops, Whacked Out Sports and Challenges of Fire.

    Even flanking Hindi GECs Zee Next and Sab TV have a portion, however small, of international dubbed content.

    Zee Next has two dubbed shows Fresh Prince of Bel-air and Different Strokes while Sab TV has a slot called International Chaska that features its internationally acquired shows dubbed in Hindi. The channel is currently showing America‘s Funniest Home Videos and will be airing Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover, Lost and Alias in Hindi.

    With new channel launches and more such channels in the wings, there is a huge dearth and a consequent need of good content which can work in India. With the floodgates opening for the dubbing industry, there is a rush for these post-production houses, dubbing artists and script-writers.

    Market:

    Though the dubbing industry is still at its nascent stage, it is a growing market.

    Says Sapre, “For television, the dubbing content market is pecked at Rs 150 to 200 million. But it is growing, considering the tremendous potential of this form of entertainment.”

    Over the last 5 years, the dubbed content market has grown 10 to 15 per cent per annum, and is expected to grow further. Entertainment (TV and film) has reached new territories and all this has been due to dubbing. For example, without being dubbed in Bhojpuri, Spiderman would have never reached that part of India.”

    Outside of the US, India is one of the largest markets Disney has invested in for local production. In addition, Disney Channel and Jetix have over 6,000 episodes of dubbed content (three languages included). Disney Channel India has close to 25 per cent local content on-air today.

    Disney-ABC International Television works closely with Indian broadcasters to provide dubbed content in local languages that appeal to local audiences.

    Firangi has inked deals with major content providers like Mexico-based Tellewise, Germany-based Seven One and France-based Marathon. Other providers include Dou Media and Telemundo, which is a US company that will offer content in Spanish. In addition, the channel has tied up with Brazil-based Globosat for Pages of Life and America.

    For the dubbing and the post-production work, the channel has roped in Mumbai-based Clastem Productions.

    UTV‘s dubbing department has long-term exclusive associations with channels like Hungama, National Geographic Channel, History Channel, Bindass, Bindass Movies, Nick and Disney. It does more than 1,000 hours of dubbing every year.

    Content

    A general perception percolating through the popular psyche is that dubbed content is nothing but “Angrezi Hindi” or “Anglicized Hindi.” Viewers identify dubbed content only with the tele-brands that sell peculiar products in a peculiar language.

    Says Mehta, “We are on the way to becoming a mega industry. It is a dichotomy actually; it is a booming period for volumes, but there is no focus yet on quality. If I see from an entrepreneur‘s point of view, it is a big business opportunity for a huge market coming up.”

    Agrees Sapre: “Dubbed content is no longer looked down upon. It is important not to just translate but to localise fully, using the nuances of the local language and get the soul of the content correct. Not only viewers but also international licencors are extremely happy with the treatment we have accorded to their classic shows and blockbusters on Bindass.”

    Adds Mehta: “Earlier, there used to be a verbatim translation, which really took its toll on the quality of the content. But now it is transcreated so as to do justice to the ethos of the language, culture and sensibility.”

    Cost-cutting from TV production houses is a big obstacle. Says Mehta, “Since the production houses which do dubbing always go for cost cutting, they do not place high value on a premium artist. As a whole, they compromise on the voice quality.

    A lead dubbing artist in a full-length film can earn anywhere between Rs 30-35,000 to Rs 3,00,000, depending on the amount of work he gets to do. For animated series on kids‘ channels, a character gets around Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per episode.

    “Even for a theatrical release, the dubbing production houses use a premium voice but for the home video and satellite screening, a low-cost dubbing artist is used to cut costs.
    All the films are re-dubbed for TV release and the home video release.”

     

     

    Does dubbed content work only for thrill and action genre shows?

    Says Clapstem Productions promoter Girish Malik, who is also a creative consultant of Firangi: “Not really. It used to be. Actually nobody has tried drama. Shows of countries which have the same sensibility like ours have not been dubbed in India. Firangi will bring diverse stories from different countries like Israel, Latin America, Germany and Argentina to India.”

    He believes Firangi‘s model will succeed. “It is Indian mentality to be curious to know what is happening outside one‘s house. This very interest will drive viewers to see Firangi‘s dubbed content. On the subconscious level, it is a voyeuristic pleasure that many Indians have.”

    But what about the “sex and nudity” scenes immensely found in international content?

    Defends Firangi business head Rajeev Chakrabarti: “We are completely aware of the sensibility and ethos of India. We at Firangi do not just translate and lip-sync for the characters. With the exception of shooting, we do the entire post-production work, which involves scrutinising sex and nudity.”

    Licencing

    Dubbing artists in India believe that though dubbed content is cheap in India, the scene will change once broadcasters give them licencing rights.

    “If an artist lends his voice for any show in India, the broadcaster can use the voice for infinite number of times. But it is not so in countries abroad. Even India Copy Right Act 1952 guarantees copy right to any individual voice artist. Voice artists do not get any royalty in India unlike other countries,” says Mehta.

    It is only in the advertising industry that voice artists get royalty each time the voice is used. Dubbing artists are paid a flat fee and get no access to royalty.

  • ‘Convert pirate users into paying consumers & gaming industry will be worth Rs 3 billion’ : Vishal Gondal – Indiagames founder

    ‘Convert pirate users into paying consumers & gaming industry will be worth Rs 3 billion’ : Vishal Gondal – Indiagames founder

     Gaming firm Indiagames is on the move. It recently came back into the online gaming space with its Games on Demand concept. UTV also took a majority stake in the company. Indiantelevision.com's Ashwin Pinto caught up with Indiagames founder Vishal Gondal to find out how the company has evolved and the plans ahead.

    Excerpts:

    How has your business model evolved over the years?
    We started off as an online games company. We did free flash games where money came from advertising. However, we found that it was not scalable and limited. So we took a call to move out of online gaming and into the services business.

    Then we saw the opportunities in mobile gaming and so we became a developer and then a publisher of mobile games. Last year we returned to online gaming with a new strategy games on demand. We have a subscription based gaming service. Users can play unlimited games for a flat fee.

    Right now we are at a time when gaming is starting to take off in India. How do you see the gaming space faring vis-a-vis traditional entertainment like TV, films?
    Globally gaming is bigger than film. In the US, it is bigger than Hollywood. The same thing will happen in India eventually. In every mature market where it has spread it has done that – like Korea, China. India has a lot of young people who do not watch 'Saas Bahu soaps.

    They are not as much into current television, which is dominated by the housewives. I am not saying that this segment is bad. However going forward more people will get into interactive entertainment. Gaming is part of this, along with activities like Second Life. More and more people will take to the virtual world.

    What would you say is the main challenge gaming faces
    in India?
    The problem in India is not that people don't game. The problem is that people buy pirated games. Nobody was paying for legal games. Indiagames is trying to build an eco system where price points are such that the consumer does not want to pirate anymore.

    If we are able to convert the pirate users into paying consumers, that alone will make the gaming industry worth Rs 3 billion.
    'We are about to launch a Godzilla game; we are about to release a cricket Twenty20 game'

    What kind of price points are you looking at?
    To give you an example; for the games on demand service we offer unlimited games for Rs 200. Today when you pay Rs 150 for cable TV, do you want to buy pirated tapes of TV content? Our logic is the same. When consumers can get all games for Rs 200 why would you buy pirated games for Rs 100?

    Who are your partners for games on demand?
    We have partnered with pretty much all the major gaming publishers in the world for content. So we have distribution deals with firms like Popcap, Atari, Activision, Codemaster Playfirst. We also have a tie up with MTNL, Sify, among other platforms. We also work with Qualcomm, Microsoft to make sure that our games are cutting edge.

    UTV recently bought a majority stake in Indiagames.
    What synergies do you see here?
    UTV is an integrated entertainment firm. If you see what Ronnie is doing, he is building a business that encompasses the entire gamut of entertainment from TV, to films, to online entertainment. So the UTV deal allows us to be a part of the bigger picture. Bindass is UTV's effort tap into the youth. The youth want gaming and so we will work with Bindass to see how we can integrate gaming with their offerings.

    UTV also has a stake in Ignition, which is a console game publisher. Between Ignition and us we have capabilities across all platforms. We will be looking at how we can exploit IP into the console space and vice versa. UTV will also create IP in the form of movies and TV shows. So we can adapt some of these into games, which we then market.

    Are we going to see more tie ups like this as traditional entertainment firms seek to broaden their horizons?
    The Indian film and media industry are getting more professional. They are also converging a lot. Previously, the film industry was a different silo, the broadcasting sector was a different silo the net industry was a different silo.

    However Fox buying MySpace triggered off a chain of events where media firms want to have their share of the pie in every segment to boost customer interaction. So if customers are increasing their time spent on the internet, mobile then for traditional media firms who are in TV or print it is a natural progression for them to look at exploiting the other screens too.

    You will see more corporate deals. Traditional media firms realise that it is difficult to build a new media business from scratch. It is better to buy such businesses from market leaders in their respective fields. Adobe and Cisco also have a stake in Indiagames.

    What targets have been set by Indiagames in terms of market share?
    It is too early to talk about revenue targets. On the market share front on the mobile side we enjoy upwards of 50-60 per cent share. On the online front we are the only firm to offer games on demand service. The other players are trying to sell MMOPGs which is a niche segment. It is early to say if there is competition online as the market is new.

    What have been some of your biggest properties so far
    and what have you learnt from their success?
    We have worked on properties like Bruce Lee, Jurassic Park, Rush Hour 3. In India, we also distribute content from the likes of Electronic Arts, Fifa, Batman, Transformers.

    It is important to work on the right kind of property. You cannot take any movie or any story or any character and convert it into a game. The brand has to lend itself to gaming. In the past games have come out of family drama. However cricket, action, sports games work better than love stories.

    Which are your five big markets globally and how many
    partners do you have?
    We have 150 partners globally, Our key markets are the US, Australia, Japan, Europe and India. We have offices in London, Los Angeles, Beijing, Mumbai. These are the core hubs where we do business from. We recently set up an office in Madrid, Spain to cover Southern Europe.
    What would you say is the main difference between
    developing games for the internet and for the mobile?
    The screen size is the first major difference. Attention spans differ. For the mobile you design a game for someone on the move. His time with a game is limited. He/she also has limited access to 10 different keys. Online people tend to spend more time on a game. The control is wider.
     
    When you work with a firm like NBC how much of a
    collaborative process is it?
    It is very collaborative. We have to work with the production team, share creative ideas with them. We have to get approval for game concepts. We work together to exploit the complete commercial value of the property.
     
    Could you shed light on the relationship between gaming and social networking?
    Gaming was the first social network. If you look at xBox Live you see gamers wanting to connect with other gamers. This is how social networking was born. After that social networking was adapted to other common interests. We have had social networking since the first multi player games came up.
     
    Where does Indiagames get creative ideas for new games from?
    We have a team that brainstorms on creative ideas. We have to see whether properties are relevant in different markets. You do not want to have a situation where a property is only well known in one market. So we have to do research to find out whether people in the US, Australia, Europe, India know about the property. If it is less or more in one country then what is the extent? Our business is about taking calculated bets.
     
    From a client viewpoint what does Indiagames bring to the table vis-a-vis the competition?
    People know that India is good for technical execution. India has been looked at as an outsourcing base. We have changed this perception. We were the first firm to start licensing games from India. Nobody in the world thought that Indian firms could go the publishing route. Our first success was Spiderman which we worked on with Marvel. We proved that we could not only produce quality stuff in India but that we could market the same globally.
     
    Going forward are you looking to sign long term deals with entertainment conglomerates like NBC Universal for games or will it still be on a project to project basis?
    It is better to work on a project to project basis as all projects that they do may not be relevant for us and vice versa. I don't know if this will change in the future but as of now we work on a case by case basis.
     
    What are the major projects Indiagames is now working on?
    We are about to launch a Godzilla game. We are about to release a cricket Twenty20 game.
     
    Do you think that game developers in India have an advantage in terms of being able to learn from the experience of mature markets like Korea?
    There is always an advantage in being able to learn from different markets. At the same time each market has its own nuances and challenges. It is important not to just blindly follow what a country like Korea is doing as there are cultural issues and local intelligence.

    Indian preferences for games tend to lean more towards the West than the East. Indians play games like Counter Strike, Fifa, need For Speed. China and Korea on the other hand have a lot of massive multiplayer online gaming.
    How important is organising on ground events for you?
    Very! We have been doing the Cybergame championships for sometime now. We are working with the CII and the government to see if T-Sports and gaming can be recognised professionally as a sport. It should be given equal status as any other sport. We have the Indian national champions who will be going to Seattle to compete in the Cybergame Championships. We also organised an India versus Pakistan event where Kapil Dev was the chief guest. They played various games like Counter Strike.
     
    Finally where do you see Indiagames five years from now?
    Right now we are leading in the mobile space. Five years from now I see Indiagames leading in all gaming spaces.

  • UTV plans business news channel

    MUMBAI: UTV is planning to launch a business news channel, industry sources say. The company has already announced its broadcast initiatives which will kick off with its youth centric Hindi GEC Bindass.

    UTV is in talks with a couple of international broadcasters and financial investors for the business news channel venture, say sources.

    Many foreign broadcasters are eyeing India as an important destination in their expansion plan. Disney’s 24-hour news channel ABC News Now has expressed plans to enter India.

    UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala was not available for comment.

    UTV has already announced plans to launch a slew of eight to 10 channels, including in the niche and variety special genre. Bindass is a 50:50 joint venture with Malaysia-based Astro.

  • UTV woos ‘Bindass’ youth

    After carving out a separate space for Hungama TV in the kids genre, Zarina Mehta is at work again. Her challenge this time is to hook the youth onto a general entertainment channel.

    Finding a target group that wasn‘t specifically tapped by the other channels was her first task. She commissioned research firm PQR to help her discover what she calls “our zone.”

    Four months on, she has decided to tap the 15-24-year-olds. And within this segment, she has identified college-goers in the age group between 17-21 years as the core constituency of her channel.

    “There is a common characteristic that runs in the blood of this age group. They reflect the brand values of fun, frolic, fearlessness and freedom. They want to do things, are optimistic and find joy in being young,” says Mehta.

    Arriving at Bindass as the name of the channel was a natural extension. “We were clear that the channel would reflect the spirit of the movie Rang De Basanti. Synovate conducted a survey with 1,000 respondents and came up with the name Bindass,” she says.

    As UTV Youth venture COO, Mehta is geared up with a three phase plan and a piggy bank of Rs 1 billion (drawn from Rs 2 billion outlay over three years) devoted to the first year alone. In GENX, the joint venture company that will roll out the channel and other youth-related initiatives, Malaysia-based Astro will be a 50 per cent equity partner.

    “We will have broadcast operations but also have an extended web (communities and entertainment), mobile, gaming, events and retail play,” says Mehta.

    The age group that Mehta is targeting occupies 23 per cent of total TV viewing in India. As they constitute a large part of GEC viewing, her task will be to migrate them to a content format that is unique.

    “We have to discover our prime time. The 9-11 pm band clearly belongs to Star Plus, Zee TV and Sony.”

    Set for launch in June-July, the channel‘s content recipe is still a mystery. But there will be no music, no soap operas and no lifestyle. “There is plenty of opportunity to get this target segment. Since it is very competitive, I can‘t reveal what kind of content we are going to have in the channel,” says Mehta.

    Movies will be an essential ingredient but the channel drivers will still be shows. “We will need to have a library of 50-60 feature films aimed at this segment. The acquisition process is on,” Mehta says.

    Though the channel will also source international content, the focus will be to create “India‘s first local youth entertainment brand.” Mehta hasn‘t frozen on the full content of the channel yet, but animation may be included. “We need to be fearless and experiment. We have to take risks,” she says.

    As part of its approach, UTV seems to be adopting a multiple revenue model that old timer music channels MTV and Channel [V] have tried and tested in the market. MTV VP creative and content Ashish Patel calls this form as ‘multi-platformication’ which includes online, mobile, events, retail and merchandise.

    In order to trap this highly elusive segment of the populace, a diverse offering would be the key. What it also symbolizes is a brand building exercise that connects on multiple levels with the core TG.

    The first phase of rollout will include revenue from web play, mobile games and on-ground events. Having a spread out portfolio in areas of movies, TV content, gaming, animation and airtime sales, UTV will hope to leverage from its existing operations.

    “We have acquired a majority stake in Indiagames and will use this to extend our channel presence in terms of brand and revenues. We will also tie up with mobile operators. And to reinforce the brand, we plan to have three big events in a year,” says Mehta.

    In the second phase, Bindass will foray into the retail segment (probably with an outlet such as a coffee shop or cyber café, a highly frequented venue for youth) and simultaneously roll out merchandising activities. “Retail will be a separate investment outside Rs 1 billion. We will go with a partner for this venture and should have a presence by December. The effort is to have an integrated approach and create a holistic youth brand experience,” says Mehta.

    Though not a direct threat, music channels have been targeting a similar demographic segment. “UTV, however, seems to be having a sharper focus within that TG by eyeing programming at the 17-21-year-olds. But we are essentially music channels and having been in existence for so long, are not really worried,” says Channel [V] head honcho Amar Deb.

    Mehta is looking at a co-existential approach to the genre. “I think both MTV and Channel [V] are great brands. But they are music channels. We don’t have music, we can totally co-exist with these two channels. Even tie up with them perhaps.”

    Bindass, however, will be different from the MTV and Channel [V] brands. “At its core Bindass is Indian, no micro-miniskirts, no fleshy videos, we need to reach deeper into the core needs of the viewer and hopefully become their preferred choice,” avers Mehta.

    What do the general entertainment channels think of the core TG Bindass is targeting? “It is too narrow a segment and there will be hard pressure on scaling up revenues. The space is too niche and in any case all local GECs are tapping it in their 15-34 TG,” says SET India COO NP Singh.

    Surely, Mehta has a tough task cut out for her. Building a youth brand will require all the right ingredients and big money needs to be continuously pumped in. Deriving strong revenues from merchandising to support the youth brand has also failed against a dominant pirated market in India.

    But not many had predicted the success of Hungama TV which was pitched against multinational brands like Cartoon Network and Walt Disney. If Bindass succeeds, it will hit MTV and Channel [V] hard even as they are planning to be more than just music channels.

  • Star to form JV with Balaji for Telugu channel

    Star to form JV with Balaji for Telugu channel

    MUMBAI: Television content production house Balaji Telefilms Ltd. will get into broadcasting through a joint venture with Star Group. The two companies will be launching a Telugu channel with Star as a majority partner.

    “We will be partnering with Balaji for the Telugu channel. We will have majority stake in the joint venture,” Star India advertising, sales and distribution president Paritosh Joshi tells Indiantelevision.com.

    For the Bengali general entertainment channel, Star will continue its joint venture arrangement with the Ananda Bazar Group (ABP) but the corporate structure has not been frozen yet. In Media Content & Communications Services India Pvt. Ltd (MCCS), the company which owns and operates Bengali news channel Star Ananda, Star has a 26 per cent stake while ABP holds the balance 74 per cent.

    A separate joint venture for the Bengali general entertainment channel is being considered. Star has the flexibility of holding a higher stake in the JV while in news uplinking regulation restricts it to have a maximum 26 per cent stake.

    “The shareholders have been under discussion but nothing has been finalised as yet regarding the corporate structure for the Bengali general entertainment channel,” says Joshi.

    A two-hour entertainment band in the afternoons on Star Ananda is likely to be introduced in June. “The process has got slightly delayed but we are aiming to come up with the two-hour band in June. We will monitor its success and a full fledged Bengali entertainment channel could come up towards the end of the calendar year,” says Joshi.

    The Telugu channel is expected to be launched in August-September. “We have started work on the content strategy and are in the process of formalising the joint venture for the Telugu channel,” says Joshi.

    Balaji has the option of partnering with Star in the southern-language channels. This formed part of the agreement when Star acquired a stake in Balaji Telefilms. But it excludes Vijay TV as Star bought out UTV’s stake in the Tamil channel before the deal with Balaji was struck.

    Balaji has had to weigh several factors like its existing business with Sun TV Ltd. where it gets healthy revenues. In the last two quarters ended 31 December 2006, Balaji had revenues of Rs 158 million from the Sun network channels.

  • Hungama TV announces the winning pair of ‘OralB John Aur Kaun’

    Hungama TV announces the winning pair of ‘OralB John Aur Kaun’

    MUMBAI: Hungama TV has announced the boy-girl pair to win the talent hunt show Oral B John Aur Kaun. Aashan Virmani from Delhi and Rishi Dalmia from Hyderabad will get to star alongside John Abraham in the upcoming UTV produced feature film Goal.

    In addition to being featured in the Vivek Agnihotri directed film, the winners have also won a scholarship of Rs 5,00,000 and a three year contract with UTV to manage their film career. The lucky duo will soon fly to London for their shoot, states an official release.

    The kids were judged on their acting and dancing skills over three rounds by television stars Poonam Goel and Shraddha Nigam. In the quarter finals 40 kids (eight from each city) were reduced to 20 with an equal number of boys and girls. The final eight kids were selected in the semi finals that competed in the finals. The semi finals and the finals were judged by film director Vivek Agnihotri apart from the two judges, while John Abraham motivated the kids at the finals. In a multi-city audition, the show evaluated 5,000 kids across Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

    The show auditioning Hungama TV vice president programming Aparna Bhosle said, “Through John Aur Kaun, children from all over the country got an opportunity to display their talent; 40 short listed children from the thousands that applied came to Mumbai for the competition, they made new friends and more importantly had a lot of fun through the entire process.

    John Abraham says, “It feels great to be associated with Hungama TV, India’s first homegrown kids channel! The brand values of Hungama – mad fun and continuous innovation, appeal to me tremendously and I am looking forward to spending time interacting with kids. ‘John Aur Kaun?’ has given talented kids across the country an opportunity to shine and I am very glad to be involved in this effort. “

    On the occasion Aashana Virmani said, “I am very happy, I love John. He told me I look very beautiful and if I was 16 years older I could overtake the actress today”

    While Rishi Dalmia said, “I feel on the top of the world for winning this competition amongst thousands of kids. But at the same time I have to shoulder the responsibility of acting with some of the greatest stars like John and Bipasha, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani. I am excited to start shooting for the film as the movie is on football and that’s my favorite sport too.”

     

  • UTV targets June launch of youth channel with Astro

    UTV targets June launch of youth channel with Astro

    MUMBAI: UTV Software Communications’ joint venture with Astro of Malaysia is fast taking shape. The youth-centric channel, aimed at the age-group of 17-25 years, is set for launch by June.

    “We are working on the content research. We plan to launch the channel by June,” says UTV Communications COO Ronald D’Mello.

    UTV will be investing Rs 1 billion in its 50:50 venture with Astro in broadcasting.

    “We will be expanding to a 360 degree entertainment venture including a TV channel as the anchor, to be flanked by activities on the internet, new media, ground events, merchandising and licensing,” says D’Mello.

    UTV will be releasing DVDs of Don and Khosla Ka Ghosla this quarter. Namesake will have an international and national release in the third week of March.

    UTV has posted a consolidated revenue of Rs 704 million, which includes capital gains of Rs 263 million from the sale of United Home Entertainment Ltd (Hungama TV), for the third quarter ended 31 December 2006.

    Net profit stood at Rs 283 million while EBITDA was at Rs 303 million for the period. The company has consolidated the financials of UESL, UTV-US, UTV-UK and UTV-Mauritius.
    UTV also announced an interim dividend of 25 per cent.

    Commenting on the results UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala said, “The quarter has been a very eventful one; while the Hungama TV deal with The Walt Disney Company was consummated during the quarter, the Company also decided to make investments in two gaming companies – Ignition Entertainment and Indiagames Ltd in console and mobile space respectively. With these proposed investments UTV has acquired worldwide capabilities of content creation and distribution across all gaming platforms.”

    UTV has entered into exclusive sales and marketing tie up with Radaan Media, the largest TV production house in South India. “This will result in significant growth in Television businesses in the months to come. In addition to this and as a step towards entering the South Indian film production space, UTV has tied up with Radaan for co-production of all South Indian films,” Screwvala added.

    UTV is acquiring a 70 per cent stake in Ignition Entertainment Ltd (UK based company with interests in console game development, publishing and distribution across the globe) as well as a controlling stake in IndiaGames (gaming company in India, with interests in mobile and online gaming) for a total consideration of Rs 1.28 billion.

    UTV has inducted Walt Disney International president Andy Bird and Pantaloon’s Kishore Biyani as non executive directors.

  • Hungama TV to announce winning pair for ‘Oral-B John Aur Kaun’ on 13 January

    Hungama TV to announce winning pair for ‘Oral-B John Aur Kaun’ on 13 January

    MUMBAI: Hungama TV is all set to announce the two lucky kids selected from the talent hunt-cum-reality show Oral-B John Aur Kaun, who will star alongside their hero John Abraham in a UTV produced film titled Goal, on 13 January at 1.30 pm.

    Along with this, the kids will also win a one year modeling contract from Oral B, Rs. 5,00,000 and a three year contract with UTV to manage their film career, informs an official release.

    The grand finale of Oral-B John Aur Kaun will see Bollywood hunk John Abraham and director of the movie Goal Vivek Agnihotri sweat it out in selecting the boy-girl pair of rising stars for the film.