ITV

Tag: Viacom 18

  • Colors Marathi is back with all new episodes of its top-rated shows

    Colors Marathi is back with all new episodes of its top-rated shows

    MUMBAI: With a promise to connect with its viewers with culturally rooted content, COLORS Marathi, is all set to return with fresh offerings for its viewers starting mid July with new episodes of its existing shows and a brand new ethos. Continuing to provide viewers with wholesome entertainment in the comfort of their homes, Colors Marathi launches a new brand promise Navi Umed, Navi Bharari which means The wings of new hope aptly summarizing the channel’s promise of enriching the lives of its audience with meaningful entertainment in a brand new avatar. The new tagline also promises to empower and provide new hope and positivity to its viewers during these challenging times.

    With this brand new ethos, COLORS Marathi has launched an impactful integrated marketing campaign capturing the need for a fresh start amidst the unprecedented situation, while riding on the colors of love, faith, bond and friendship. The campaign aims at touching souls with shows that have ruled the hearts of its viewers for years and with brand new content which will be launched in the coming months. The campaign is currently live on-air on COLORS Marathi and its digital platforms as well. 

    On returning with fresh content in a new avatar, Viacom18 Marathi Entertainment business head Nikhil Sane said, “COLORS Marathi has always focused on narrating stories in a relatable manner along with a cultural essence. In these extraordinary times, the channel has stayed true to its promise of not only keeping its viewers engaged and entertained at all times, but also strengthening its bond. With our new tagline Navi Umed Navi Bharari we are not only determined to stay connected with our audiences, but also bring to their screens their favorite shows that they have missed over the past few months. We are also working on a line-up of new shows that we will launch very soon. We are certain that together these initiatives will strengthen our relationship even more.”

    Starting mid-July, the channel will present to its viewers fresh episodes of its existing shows Raja Ranichi Ga Jodi, Balumamachya Navana Changbhala, Jeev Zala YedaPisa, Swamini, Sukhachya Sarini Hye Maan Baware, among others. COLORS Marathi’s unwavering commitment to provide compelling stories will further strengthen with future line-up of shows in the coming months such as Sundara Manamadhye Bharli, Sakhhe Shejari and JayJay Swami Samartha.

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  • Colors bets on nostalgia for successful ‘Mahabharat’ run

    Colors bets on nostalgia for successful ‘Mahabharat’ run

    MUMBAI: Mythological shows have come to the rescue of GECs struggling with a dearth in original content caused by the ongoing lockdown restrictions. And it has been a gala time for epic shows like Mahabharat. After a successful run on DD Bharati, the 1980’s epic by BR Chopra Mahabharat has made its way to Colors from 4 May.

    Viacom18 Hindi mass entertainment chief content officer Manisha Sharma says that during this pandemic, when people are seeking relief and hope, the epics are proving to be a perfect reminder of the golden times and a guiding light for how we wish to lead life from here on. The combination of purpose, nostalgia and the great narrative keeps bringing people back to watch these shows and take away something meaningful from it every time. Despite being produced almost three decades ago, the shows are backed by a strong storyline and impressive character outlines that make for a great entertainment proposition, regardless of the generation gap.

    Is it a good business call to air the show right after its conclusion on DD? Sharma says that demographically the audience of Colors is different. “For the ones who have not seen the show or the episodes before, it’s like watching a new show or catching up on the missed episodes. Secondly, it is also liked by viewers who have watched the show before and want to relive the charm as it evokes a sense of nostalgia. Both these sets of viewers cut across NCCS, age, gender, and geography,” she says.

    While DD aired the show at 9 pm, Colors chose to go with the 7 pm timeslot. The reason? Some of its best properties such as Balika Vadhu have performed well in the 6-8 pm slot.

    Sharma says: “Keeping the viewer's interest in mind and without disturbing the FPC, we decided to air Mahabharat in the 7-9 pm slot.

    With regard to the reach, there are a considerable number of consumers in the GEC universe who have not watched Mahabharat. That leaves us with enough scope to gain eyeballs.”

    Sharma further highlights that mythological shows such as Mahabharat help to bolster television audiences and attract advertisers. Time spent on such shows has consistently been increasing and brands that are relevant in today’s context should use it as an opportunity to create awareness and salience. She says that products with huge demand and ample supply, such as FMCG and retailers, are the revenue generators and contributing largely to the ad inventory.

    Digitalkites SVP Amit Lall says that mythological shows have been resonating with audiences for ages. It is only the distribution that has become robust now. “DD connects strongly with people from rural or tier II and III cities. On the satellite TV side, channels like Colors top your mind. Advertisers choose these channels because they have rural and urban audiences. Though 70 per cent of rural India viewers are DD-oriented, the other 30 per cent from these satellite channels play a big role. So, Colors is trying to capitalise that section of the society.”

    For promoting the show, Sharma says they have been closely mapping consumer sentiments and media consumption habits to ensure effective and collaborative engagement. “Looking at the audience’s strong penchant for mythological shows, we have gone all out on digital and TV to promote the show. We are also doing programmatic buying on digital and tapping the platforms to target viewers,” she adds.

    According to Lall, channels need to cater to their loyal audiences’ taste or else they may shift to other channels.  Sharma says: “We are closely monitoring the trends and looking at offering an ideal balance of the kind of content, thus staying true to our DNA of offering the best variety content for our loyal viewers.”

    Colors has also acquired the rights to air it in the Middle East. Colors ME has been telecasting Mahabharat from 6 May in a two-hour slot from 8-10 pm along with English subtitles. Back in India, Mahabharat will be aired only on Colors and won’t be seen on any other regional channels.

    The channel also holds some strong mythological and historical properties such as Karamphal Data Shani and Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat. The channel is monitoring viewership trends and may take a call for an appropriate time to re-run these.

  • ‘Kodeeswari’ doubled primetime slot viewership: Viacom18’s Ravish Kumar

    ‘Kodeeswari’ doubled primetime slot viewership: Viacom18’s Ravish Kumar

    MUMBAI: The Tamil adaptation of Kaun Banega Crorepati saw an interesting tweak – all the participants and the host are women. Launched on 23 December 2019, Kodeeswari brought out and continues to bring heart-wrenching stories of women contestant and aims to encourage and motivate them to fulfil their dreams.

    The channel says that its focus was on education and enlightenment rather than making money in this instance. Apart from grabbing eyeballs, the show also succeeded in strengthening the channel's relation with brands not on the facts of ratings but on the concept of spreading the message and inspiring viewers.

    Viacom 18 regional entertainment cluster head Ravish Kumar, in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, explained the thought behind the tweaked concept of Kodeeswari, association with brands, viewership growth, marketing strategy, show’s performance on digital platform, and Colors Tamil’s roadmap in 2020.

    Edited excepts:

    What was the thought behind coming up with the all-women season of Koodeswari?

    Women give up their dreams for their loved ones, family or children and they live their dreams through them. We wanted to do a show as a tribute to women’s unconditional love and selfless sacrifices that they make every day. We didn’t want to come up with a quiz show with a celebrity host and Rs 1 crore as prize money. We wanted to do a show that would make some difference, inspires, motivates and creates a movement. We wanted to give the opportunity to the dreams that have been buried all these years. ‘Heart that beats for others should not skip a beat for itself’ that was our guiding principle behind the show that’s why we made it an all-women show. Despite Kodeeswari being all-women show, it is the family that has supported them to make their dreams come true. With the line ‘Choti si Asha’ we wanted to understand where did that go and why and we want to bring it back in women’s lives with the show.

    What is the marketing strategy for the show? How are you ensuring the reach of the show in remote areas to give more powers to women?

    It’s a function of where we do the audition and how do you get the word out. We were extensive in our audition and tried to cover every district in Tamil Nadu. Next time we will go even deeper. Every single person who has been on the show has a fabulous story. There was a contestant name Sushmita who was partially blind and I am happy to share that she is cured now. There are other people who have overcome the difficulties at multiple levels. Each story in many ways is very inspirational, turns society on its head and makes a positive difference to them; it’s an encouragement to others.

    With this format are you specifically trying to reach out to female audiences?

    The target audience is the family, we put it in the primetime slot from 8 to 9.30 pm and the viewership is across the board, it’s not just men or women, people are watching it together and the show is all about that.

    How is the show helping brands and advertisers?

    We have been very lucky to get a lot of sponsors even before the show began. The relation with brands got stronger as they realise it’s not about the ratings but about spreading the message, creating a movement and inspiring many others. I think it’s the message that will continue even if the show has gone off air. Brands are very proud and privileged to be part of Kodeeswari and we are equally proud and privileged to partner with them. We thank them for their support; trust in our vision and for standing by us. It’s going to work well for the brands which are associated with us as well as the channel. But the bigger side of this is, the show is very positive for the society which is what television is about, it is the opportunity to educate, entertain and enlighten. With Kodeeswari we are doing all this.

    Has the show also added in the viewership or subscription numbers?

    The channel has seen a growth in the slot in which the show is aired as well as in the overall channel.  The slot viewership has doubled and channel’s ratings is up almost 20 per cent. But more intangible is the conversations that we are having about the show and the difference it continues to make. More and more people are watching and we will continue to grow until the last episode. Subscription numbers are known once in a month and we are yet to get that after the launch of the show. Definitely there might be some growth but it's too early to say anything.

    How does format like Kodeeswari help a regional channel?

    We are a new channel and it’s an investment for us and the dividend will only come down the road as we continue to do more of such shows which truly make a difference and help us connect with our viewers. We did not do this show with an intention to make money; we did it to make a difference as we hold ourselves to socially responsible programming. That is what we try to achieve with Kodeeswari and other shows on Colors Tamil.

    How is the show doing on the digital platform?

    On digital, we continue to push the show in terms of anyone coming online and visiting our site. We have play along offered on VOOT. We also do extra footage that we air on the channel which helps to capture the journey of people even after they won money and went out of the show. We do a lot of extra content and give them the opportunity to engage. We look forward to user-generated content that we can share with others. It’s working on the multiple levels and the engagement will be growing over time.  It continues to grow every single day on digital and it’s my second-most visited show on the channel and will quickly become the first.

    Did you revise the ad rates for the show?

    Ad rates were not revised for the show; we are happy to be giving an opportunity to the people to partner with us for the show.

    Will the channel be coming up with a similar format in season 2 of Kodeeswari?

    We look forward to bringing a strong season 2 as well and like I said it’s a conversation that started and we will continue to keep having conversations through this or other shows both in fiction and non-fiction and basically every touchpoint that we have with Tamil viewers and viewers across all our markets.

    What is the roadmap for Colors Tamil in 2020?

    We entered the market in 2017, we made a meaningful mark already. We want to build on the momentum, i.e., to be differentiated and carry a message more than just pure entertainment.

  • Viacom18 launches behaviour change campaign – MTV Nishedh

    Viacom18 launches behaviour change campaign – MTV Nishedh

    MUMBAI:  In a bid to break societal norms and address the most taboo subjects for youth, The MTV Staying Alive Foundation in partnership with Viacom18, has now come up with a new campaign in January 2020. The project called “MTV Nishedh”, will majorly focus on fostering behaviours and healthier attitude changes and eradicating the social stigma revolving around several health related issues including tuberculosis, HIV and Aids, contraceptive care, sexual reproductive health and wellbeing.

    The campaign in its 13-episode fictional series sheds light on the  trials and tribulations faced by the younger generation in  India. They have used the themes like ambition, love, family, and health to deliver a powerful story. The series also aims to inform and educate its audience, and to talking and seeking out more information about important and often neglected and overlooked issues.

    MTV Nishedh, produced by Mumbai-based production company Victor Tango, will premiere on MTV India starting 25 January 2020 every Saturday and Sunday At 8 pm and on COLORS Rishtey starting 1 February, every Saturday and Sunday at 10.30 pm. MTV Nishedh will also be available anytime on VOOT.

    Through funded partnerships with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and The Centre for Social and Behaviour Change, Ashoka University along with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this ground-breaking campaign weaves in messaging around sexual reproductive health and wellbeing, contraceptive care and options, consent, preventing teenage pregnancy and reducing stigma around abortion, into its world, characters, and stories. An educational grant from Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. has enabled the campaign to integrate messaging around the realities of TB in India – which has the world’s highest burden of this airborne disease – so young people can better understand the signs and symptoms of the disease and help reduce the the stigma that is too often associated with it. With UNICEF India, MTV Nishedh will also raise awareness around the importance of nutrition for adolescent girls, with a focus on anemia.  

    The campaign website (mtvnishedh.com) will feature informative digital content. It will be home to an exclusive short-form video relating to the drama series, blogs and articles about the health issues and social the campaign is tackling, and an interactive clinic finder to help its audience access clinics and services near them.

    MTV Nishedh has been adapted from The MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s multi-award-winning campaign ‘MTV Shuga’ has had a proven impact on health and behaviour change in Africa. Based on the same model, MTV Nishedh’s360 campaign uses storytelling to raise awareness and reduce stigma around key issues. In addition to the TV drama the campaign features a robust digital content strategy, a 15-part radio drama and peer to peer education.

    Viacom18 CEO and MD Sudhanshu Vats said, “I’ve always believed that doing good is good for business. We have, since inception, created content on social causes and built a successful broadcast business around it – from Balika Vadhu to Shakti to Laado – we have covered a gamut of socially sensitive issues through our TV content. Furthermore, through our youth brand MTV, we continue to create multimedia campaigns, over and above our TV shows, that highlight various social themes. We have explored issues as diverse as women’s empowerment to sanitation through our films like Queen and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. This business philosophy of doing good was underscored last year when BMGF worked with us to bring forth a behaviour change content series called Navrangi Re! on the issue of Fecal Sludge Management. The sheer number of social organisations and like-minded corporate who are partnering us to launch MTV Nishedh bears testimony to its scale.”

    Executive Director of The MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Executive Producer of MTV Nishedh Georgia Arnold said, “MTV Nishedh marks an exciting point in The MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s journey. Bringing the highly successful MTV Shuga model to India facilitates young Indians to take up more space on issues affecting their everyday lives. The power of MTV Nishedh is in its reflection of real life – we engage young people in all stages of its development to ensure the stories are relatable, entertaining, and highly engaging. Crucially, all of our content drives the audience to health services where they can receive valuable help. We believe MTV Nishedh has the potential to be a genuinely relevant cultural asset, as well as a successful public health campaign.”

    Known for her amazing work in Hindi cinema and work towards social issues, award winning actor Bhumi Pednekar has lent her support to the MTV Nishedh initiative. Speaking on the same Bhumi said, “I strongly believe that young people in India are going through a tremendous change be it political or social. At a time like this, it is important that they are aware of their sexual rights as well as other issues like TB and nutrition that impacts their health. MTV Nishedh is a great platform that lends voice to these issues and I am happy to partner with the campaign that creates further awareness.”

    Executive Director of children’s investment fund foundation Hisham Mundol  said, “The power of MTV is that it is a brand that young people love.  We are proud and excited to support introducing MTV Nishedh to India because we believe it can inspire and empower an entire generation to take control of their health and wellbeing”

    Johnson & Johnson Private Ltd managing director of Janssen India Sarthak Ranade said, “It’s time to make more people aware of TB, remove the stigma associated with the disease, and help those in need of treatment access the best possible care. At Johnson & Johnson, we have been working closely with the Government of India, NGOs and other local partners to combat TB and DR-TB at all levels. Building on this commitment, our company is incredibly proud to support the MTV Nishedh campaign to empower youth to advocate for a TB-free India.”

    Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) deputy director Archna Vyas said, "India’s youth population is the engine of economic and social progress. When youth have access to tools and information that enable them to make decisions about their health — which includes understanding of reproductive health issues, adequate nutrition and combating infectious diseases — we set them up for productive futures. Our investments in MTV Shuga demonstrated shifts in beliefs, attitudes and health seeking behaviours. We are confident that MTV Nishedh will break stereotypes, address myths and misconceptions associated with health, to secure the future wellbeing of our Indian youth."

    Ashoka University center for social and behavior change (CSBC) associate director  evidence and learning Purnima Mehrotra said, “The Centre for Social and Behaviour Change at Ashoka University has invested in the digital campaign of MTV Nishedh to encourage uptake of modern contraception among young people in India. Digital as a medium, allows the user to decide what they see, and where, as well as encourages a more reflective and thoughtful viewing experience. It creates spaces for viewers to talk candidly, especially about more sensitive issues like sex and contraception. It also provides an opportunity to connect our audience to their peers. We are excited to be a part of MTV Nishedh and hope to leverage the characters and storylines from the TV show to engage and interact more closely with our target audience, amplify the messaging and create an online space for communities of young people to come together. As an academic institution our commitment is to learn from our projects through independent evaluation of our work.”

    UNICEF India representative Dr Yasmin Haque said, “Stories that touch hearts have the power to influence behaviours. UNICEF is happy to support MTV Nishedh through its innovative TV series to focus attention on issues like adolescent anemia.  We are confident that the show will go a long way to improve awareness among young people on the importance of their own nutrition.”

    “Well, more than a conscious strategy, I think it is an ingrained thought process at Viacom18. Allow me to explain in some more detail. Our mission is to connect every story to its audience and every audience to its story. And over the last 12 years, we have created stories that resonate with our audience across platforms. Interestingly, some of our biggest successes have been stories that speak of societal issues or regressive societal norms – be it Balika Vadhu, Its Not That Simple, Angels of Rock, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha…the list goes on. Projects like Navrangi Re! and MTV Nishedh are natural extensions of this philosophy of using content to amplify social change. What encourages me is how more partners are recognizing the relevance of this approach and reaching out to us to use entertainment to bring forth such stories of social impact,"  Viacom18 corporate marketing, communications and sustainability head Sonia  Huria said.

  • Colors to premiere new show ‘Vidya’ on Sept 9

    Colors to premiere new show ‘Vidya’ on Sept 9

    MUMBAI: Viacom 18's Hindi GEC Colors is all set to premiere a new show ‘Vidya’ from September 9, Monday to Friday at 7 pm. The show is produced by Mahesh Pandey and Meera Deosthale, Namish Taneja and Waqar Sheikh will be seen in the lead role.

    A for Apil, B for Baal, C for Cau! Though it sounds strange and amusing, this is what Vidya will teach in her ‘Englisss’ class.Contrary to her name, Vidya is an illiterate army widow who gets a compensatory government job as an English teacher. But while it is an unfamiliar language to her, she gathers all the courage and strength to teach English, incorrectly at first but gradually learns and overshadows her weakness. COLORS new social drama offering Vidya will not only take the viewers back to school but also generate spurts of laughter through Vidya’s linguistic quirks and innocence.

    Set against Devgarh, a small village in Uttar Pradesh, the show brings to fore Vidya’s apprehensions and struggles as she steps into the role of a school teacher to financially support her family after her husband’s demise. In the process, she has an encounter with the Pradhan of the village (played by Waqar Sheikh) who poses as a big hindrance in her outing. As she goes along in her journey, Vidya discovers many loopholes in her school and the overarching education system. There is only one person, district magistrate Vivek Vardhan Singh (played by Namish Taneja), who recognizes Vidya’s efforts and acts as her support. Ultimately, she not only ends up winning over her personal struggles but also pins down the people plaguing the education system. As life throws curveballs at her, Vidya keeps overcoming them with her spirit and wit while entertaining the audience along the way.

    Viacom18 Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV network Head Nina Jaipuria said, “COLORS has been a pioneer in presenting strong and socially relevant concepts that have changed the entertainment landscape of our country. Along with unique storylines, we have successfully created characters which have left an everlasting mark on the minds of the Indian audience. With Vidya, our attempt is to give viewers, yet another relatable character, who will entertain them with her interesting nuances and idiosyncrasies. Vidya’s journey from being an innocent uneducated widow to a resilient woman will add the right amount of freshness and fun to our existing fiction lineup.”

    Viacom18 Hindi Mass Entertainment Chief Content Officer Manisha Sharma said, “We live in a society wherein people are quick to pass judgments about each other basis their language skills. But there are very few who try to correct them or motivate them to learn better. Vidya is a quirky take on many such moments that we experience in our life through the perspective of an illiterate teacher with the same name. She faces criticism and disparagement, but she tides over them and turns her weakness into her strength to become an English teacher.”

    Producer Mahesh Pandey, said, “I hail from a small town in UP and have witnessed how education is still a major concern in these villages. A lot has been spoken of when it comes to our education system, but it’s us who have failed to address these challenges and help spread awareness about illiteracy. Therefore, to bring to light a topic of great importance, Vidya was conceptualized. A strong lady, conscious about her challenges but has the determination to overcome them, she will not only self- educate herself but will also fight the people who are corrupting the system and at the same time, change it.”

  • MTV aims for 5 bn watch minutes in second half of 2019

    MTV aims for 5 bn watch minutes in second half of 2019

    MUMBAI: Viacom18’s youth channel MTV witnessed 700 million views and 3.67 billion minutes viewership in H1 2019, on TV and VOOT respectively. With that achievement in mind, the channel is expecting 5 billion watch minutes on the channel in H2 CY 2019. Viacom 18 head-youth, music and English entertainment Ferzad Palia spoke to Indiantelevision.com on growth drivers for H1, strategy to achieve 5 billion in H2, plans for stronger H2 2019 and impact of NTO on the channel.

    “The first half of 2019 has been positive for us. We have seen a good growth in terms of consumption of the content that we create both on TV and VOOT. People are engaged, more people are watching us than ever before and they are watching us for a considerable amount of time as well,” he said.

    Speaking on the growth drivers for H1, Palia said, “We experimented with long format and different kinds of content and all these have given us good results. Roadies and Love School’s seasons have done well. We are now launching three more shows, with which we expect to take it a notch higher.”

    The channel has announced three shows for the quarter – MTV Hustle, Spitsvilla season 12 and Ace of Space Season 2.

    Revealing plans for H2 2019, Palia said, “These three are the shows that we have announced. MTV Hustle is a brand new show with new format that hasn’t been done before. It is a very strong platform for budding talent in the rap and hip hop space because till now there has been no big platform for this genre. There is a lot of talent which is there in the country that doesn’t get a mass platform. So, we are expecting this show to be a big growth driver for the channel in H2.”

    Talking about Splitsvilla, Palia said, “Spitsvilla is a unique concept which we have seen growing every season and now in its 12th season we are keeping the format fresh and evolving it as per viewers' choice that is working well for us. We are quite certain that this season will be different from the rest of the seasons.”

    He further said that by October the channel will be coming up with more new shows.

    In H1 2019 the channel witnessed 3.67 billion minutes of viewership and in H2 it is aiming for 5 billion. Palia shared his plan on achieving the number. He said, “Lot of properties are returning and those properties have significant attraction. Then we have new shows in October and November, so we are strengthening our lineup. In the first half itself we have done close to 4 billion minutes. I see the second half to reach at least 5 billion.”

    Palia also shared his views on the impact of NTO on the youth channel. He said, “When the NTO was announced it was expected that the reach for our channel would come down a bit. But we see ourselves in a unique position for two reasons. One is that our content is very different and we are the only guys who are making this kind of content. We are the only content creator making original youth-specific content. Second reason is that the channel has lot of loyal audiences.”

    He also added, “Another reason why it didn’t impact us much is that MTV has been there for many years and now it is not just a TV channel and has been consumed on digital too so our base number has also grown. I think we are in quite a strong position.”

    Answering the query about difficulties faced in selling the inventory due to economic slow down, Palia said, “The ad market is a bit muted but not only specifically for us but across the board. Things are happening back to back in the economy. NTO happened and the advertisers were waiting for that to settled down. We expect a very strong bump-up starting September.”

    He also commented on the landing page debate, “Without getting to any side of the debate we have seen no impact of landing pages on our channel.”

  • Market-leading ThinkAnalytics is the only content discovery vendor with capability to scale to over 100 million users in the cloud

    Market-leading ThinkAnalytics is the only content discovery vendor with capability to scale to over 100 million users in the cloud

    MUMBAI: ThinkAnalytics™ today announced that its cloud-based personalized content discovery platform is the first in the industry to scale to over 100 million monthly active users in the cloud.

    ThinkAnalytics’ customers rely on this ability to deal with massive scale to power personalized user experiences as they undergo rapid growth in both audience numbers and the number of hours each user spends viewing content.

    Four of the firm’s OTT customers – BBC, DAZN, Tata Sky and Viacom 18 – now have a combined user base that exceeds 100 million monthly active users. Plus Viacom18 has attracted more than 50 million monthly users to its Voot platform and is targeting 100 million by the end of March 2020.

    Using the Amazon Web Services cloud platform, ThinkAnalytics’ content discovery platform both auto-scales to meet peak demand and deliver a consistently high-quality personalized viewing experience that boosts engagement, and scales down during quieter periods to reduce costs.  Combining full redundancy in geographically distributed data centres and a self-healing capability that automatically replaces any failed instances, the ThinkAnalytics platform provides industry-leading performance, scalability and reliability.

    One global streaming customer recently scaled to run at over a million requests per minute without a glitch, with no manual intervention required. The ThinkAnalytics platform auto-scaled from the minimum configuration to peak demand, all fully automated.

    Peter Docherty, ThinkAnalytics CTO, said, “Scalability, which has always been at the heart of our technology, is critical as established brands look to scale their D2C services quickly across multiple markets, while established providers in countries such as India are breaking new barriers with ever growing numbers of active OTT users. For these providers, a cloud-based content discovery platform that can reliably auto-scale to support many millions of viewers is a priority, offering the peace of mind that comes with a reliable, high-quality experience – even at peak periods. With our platform, customers get the world-leading personalization capabilities they need to engage their audiences and showcase the breadth and depth of content available, combined with the tools and insight needed to attract and retain viewers. ”

    The ThinkAnalytics portfolio gives customers a holistic view of their business with full viewer lifecycle management, helping them to better address KPIs such as boosting loyalty, ARPU and customer experience, and developing new revenue streams.

    As well as personalized content discovery powered by AI and machine learning, solutions include: ThinkInsight, the TV industry’s first viewer and video insight platform; the ThinkEditorial campaign tool, and the ThinkComposer dynamic UX engine that provides the ability to personalise the viewer experience.

  • Peppa Pig bowls India over with nationwide ICC Cricket World Cup promotion #PeppaPlaysCricket

    Peppa Pig bowls India over with nationwide ICC Cricket World Cup promotion #PeppaPlaysCricket

    MUMBAI: Peppa Pig is joining families across India this summer to celebrate the Cricket World Cup with a two-month long campaign namely #PeppaPlaysCricket. The campaign spans over retail, broadcast and promotional activities in association with Viacom18 Consumer Products, Voot Kids, Nick Jr, Hamleys, Penguin Random House, leading child rights NGO Save the Children and the UK Government.

    The promotion aims to get children interested in the sport to unlock the potential of young cricketers across the country. Celebrations were kick-started with retail promotions at Hamleys toy stores across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Pune, which featured Peppa Pig in cricket-themed artwork displayed throughout the store on POS. It also saw an exclusive gift with purchase offer giving 12 lucky kids the chance to appear in a cricket-themed video shoot with Peppa and George, and social media promotions attracting shoppers into the stores. Exclusive Peppa Pig merchandise, licensed by Viacom18 Consumer Products, is now available at Hamleys Stores across these cities which includes plush toys, activity sets, and much more.

    To amplify the promotion, broadcast partner Nick Jr is creating a special cricket-themed video featuring Soha Ali Khan, granddaughter of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and daughter of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, former Captains of the Indian Cricket Team, who appears alongside Peppa and George to offer kids some fun tips and advice on sportsmanship and teamwork.

    eOne is also building on its global charity partnership with Save the Children and invited children from team India North, who represented India at the inaugural Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019- the first Cricket World Cup for street-connected children which took place at Lord’s London, to be a part of the campaign

    “Peppa Pig has been receiving a phenomenal response from children in India. With the ongoing World Cup, when the entire country is on an uproar, our aim is to engage with children through the sport and celebrate touch points such as teamwork, friendship, sportsmanship, and trust – bringing out the brand values of Peppa Pig as well. We are excited to see how Peppa connects with families through cricket. With promising collaborations with various stakeholders including the UK Government, Save the Children, Penguin Random House, Viacom18 Consumer Products, and various key influencers, we very much look forward to creating unforgettable memories for families in the region,” said EOne SVP international marketing | family & brands Sarah Dempsey.

    “Peppa Pig’s widespread popularity, especially amongst the kids has made it a household name in India. Over the years, we have built on its powerful fandom, ranging from a wide range of consumer products, to curating special content for Voot Kids that has made it one of the strongest characters of the Nickelodeon ecosystem. Riding on the cricket fever, we aim to bring Peppa Pig in India through these esteemed associations that will further strengthen its presence across platforms, catering to a wide variety of audience. We are looking forward to witness this unique combination of Peppa Pig and cricket and take the level of entertainment a notch higher,” Viacom 18 business head – consumer products Sachin Puntambekar.

    Speaking about the partnership, Save the Children head of campaigns Pragya Vats said, “This is a one of its kind partnership, a creative effort to promote the essence of sports among children while spotlighting issues faced by those who live on the margins. During the course of Street Child Cricket World Cup, we identified great interest and potential for the game among children to not just play but to voice their concerns. Together, through the association, we would like to promote the spirit of the game and ensure that every last child gets the right start.”

    Additionally, the UK government is endorsing this campaign through ‘Creativity is Great’, where through their social media will promote #LetsGoPlayCricket.

    The campaign will culminate with a grand finale event at Oberoi Mall in Mumbai on the 7 July 2019 where kids and their families will get a chance to indulge in some fun in Peppa Pig themed activities including a meet and greet with Peppa and George, and a storytelling session on the book Peppa Plays Cricket by Penguin Random House. This finale event will be graced by Indian Cricketer and Captain of Indian Women’s Cricket Team, Mithali Raj along with Team India North, where they will be seen interacting with Peppa, George and all the kids present.

  • OTT platforms need more passion projects, experimental content, original voices

    OTT platforms need more passion projects, experimental content, original voices

    MUMBAI: 2018 saw various OTT players in India gain massive popularity. There are more than 30 sites serving hours and hours of original as well as syndicated content, in various languages, genres, and tastes. During the third edition of Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub, sponsored by MX Player, representatives from some of the top OTT platforms in the country the need of good and meaningful content and the kind of programs that can work in this dynamic world.

    Part of the panel were Addatimes Pvt Ltd managing director Rajiv Mehra, The Viral Fever (TVF) global head of business and content Rahul Sarangi, Viacom 18 EVP and head content Monika Shergill, MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar and One Digital Entertainment COO and co-founder Gurpreet Singh. The panel was moderated by industry veteran and Hungama Digital Media Entertainment executive producer Sanjeev Lamba.

    The panel unanimously agreed on the fact that the greatest need of time is to procure and create high-quality original content that resonates with the audience. They stated that all the logistics; be it production or budgets, come only after people who can create and write quality content.

    Shergill said, “The competition to find good creators and partners to tell great stories is actually, by far, the single biggest challenge that we face because I feel that as a market, we kind of missed out on the golden age of content creation. While the world was producing a lot of mature content, we were leaning towards only soap opera kind of stories.”

    Sarangi chipped in with some fine examples of the work that TVF has created, “To see what kind of content people watch, we pulled out a few episodes of ‘Yeh Meri Family’ from YouTube and then put it on Netflix. The show became the second-most trending content in India and has a completion rate of 70 per cent. Because the writing was so strong, people came and watched it again and again. Similarly, with ‘Pitchers’, it wasn’t a grand show shot on high production budgets like ‘Sacred Games’. But it became the highest rated show on IMDB, just because of good writing.”

    He added, “I think the biggest thing we need to do right now is to invest in good writers. Also, we need to give them the time and pay them well. Groom the talent! Writers are going to be the prime thing that we need.”

    Moderating the panel, Lamba put another pertinent question forward asking what sort of content OTT platforms are willing to back. To this, the panel hailed the need of bringing original voices to the paradigm that are not just fresh but can also add on to the type of content that is already working on the web.

    Talwar mentioned that being the newest kid on the block, MX Player is currently trying to understand what the viewing pattern of the audience is. He said, “We have licenced quite a lot of content from people who have a high experience in actually creating successful web series, including TVF, Pocket Aces, and ALTBalaji. We have put this content online and now we are using a lot of data to understand what actually works in the space.”

    He continued, “Essentially, we are looking for content that is going to appeal to 18-30-old males, largely from North India. But it is genre-agnostic because I believe, people today watch everything. We are looking out for authentic stories from heartland India as they work well with the metro audience as well.”

    Mehra also agreed that the audience today loves watching all sort of content, be it long form or short form. He mentioned the need to experiment with the duration of the content and tell stories that the audience can connect to.

    While Shergill vouched for the need for passion projects and experimental content, Sarangi shared that they are looking for stories that touch the hearts of people. He stated that TVF will not indulge in violence or sexually explicit content, at least for a few more years.

    The panel also discussed the much-debated topic of IP rights. Shergill noted, “IP is something that is very important because this content is meant for posterity. You are believing in someone’s idea and paying to the last stream. So, the skin of the game for any platform is to have IP rights with them. But having said that, I also feel that when we know what kind of content creators we are speaking about, then there may be certain different models to work. But when you are working with teams of creators, and backing their idea, IP is the only asset you are creating and you should have the right to it.”

    Sarangi mentioned that as a company they do not sell their IP rights despite having worked with several OTT platforms. He said, “The reason behind this is that it is not only about production cost. It is also because of the time and effort put in by the creative team. We thereby do mostly an output kind of a deal or a licencing avenue. Also, we can do this at this point in time because we can guarantee a hit rate.”

    However, Singh shared a different angle and said, “IP has become a very crude word. Most people don’t even know what the value of an IP is. People are just fighting for it right now but they don’t even know what they are going to do of it after two or three years. So, I think if you are being compensated for the value, you must sell the rights to the platform.”

  • Voot taps Marathi film industry talent for ‘The Sawaikar Case’

    Voot taps Marathi film industry talent for ‘The Sawaikar Case’

    MUMBAI: Viacom 18’s digital venture Voot is upping its original content game significantly since last August. Now, the over-the-top (OTT) platform is all set to launch its new original The Sawaikar Case, a thrilling family drama.

    The Sawaikar Case will see renowned Marathi actor Atul Kulkarni’s debut on Voot who has acted across multi-lingual films. Other than Kulkarni, the new series will also feature Ashwini Bhave, Parul Gulati, Neil Bhoopalam and Lalit Prabhakar.

    Directed by the celebrated Marathi director Aditya Sarpotdar, famous for his latest hit Mauli starring Ritiesh Deshmukh, the show will start rolling by the end of February this year.  Set in Goa, The Sawaikar Case promises to be the next binge-watch and hook-worthy series.

    Last August Voot announced 17 new originals as well as expansion into UK market. Recently in an interview with Indiantelevision.com, Viacom18 digital ventures marketing and partnerships head Akash Banerji said it would double down efforts for blockbuster content this year.