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Tag: Viacom18

  • Navin Shenoy to head sports marketing at Viacom18

    Navin Shenoy to head sports marketing at Viacom18

    Mumbai: Viacom18 has named Navin Shenoy as SVP marketing – sports ahead of the launch of its sports channel Sports18 SD and HD on 15 April. He has been associated with Viacom18 since September 2017. 

    Viacom18 to launch two sports channels starting 15 April

    Shenoy has two decades of experience across FMCG, telecom, media and advertising industries. He was previously the head of marketing for Viacom18 youth, music and English cluster including the brands MTV, MTV Beats, VH1, Comedy Central, and Colors Infinity.

    Prior to joining Viacom18, Shenoy has had stints at Airtel, Unilever, Tata Docomo, and MullenLowe Lintas Group.

  • Viacom18 to launch two sports channels on 15 April

    Viacom18 to launch two sports channels on 15 April

    Viacom18 will be launching its two English sports channels Sports18 1 SD and Sports18 1 HD on 15 April, said the company’s distribution arm IndiaCast in a public notice recently.

    The SD and HD channels will be available at a reasonable price. 

    The company has reduced the price of its sports channel from Rs 12 to Rs 8. The charges will be applicable excluding taxes, levies and cess.

    According to the media reports, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had granted fresh licenses to Viacom18 and Star India in June 2021. Four licenses were granted to both networks separately. Viacom18 is launching its new sports channel with these licenses.

    The launch of these two sports channels is backed up by Reliance as its own stake in Viacom18. 

    In addition, a one-month promotional offer for distribution platform operators (DPOs) is available where both the sports channels will not be charged any costs. The scheme will commence on 15 April and will expire on 14 May.

    Moreover, Viacom18 also has acquired media rights to properties like La Liga, FIFA World Cup, Serie A, NBA, Ligue1, and Abu Dhabi T10 series. 

    The new sports channels of the network will be competing with both Star sports and Sony Sports.

  • Pernod Ricard, Viacom18 & Wavemaker’s Holi campaign garners eight million views

    Pernod Ricard, Viacom18 & Wavemaker’s Holi campaign garners eight million views

    Mumbai: Viacom18 has partnered with Pernod Ricard – Seagram’s Imperial Blue packaged drinking water and Wavemaker India for its latest campaign for Holi.  The campaign has already clocked eight million views and counting on digital, the media company said.

    Conceptualised and executive by Viacom18 with Wavemaker India, the campaign is being extensively marketed across platforms including Colors, Colors Marathi, on their OTT platform Voot and on the network’s social media handles.

    The campaign films cater to Hindi and Marathi-speaking markets. It features national celebrities Rubina Dilaik, Karan Kundra, Umar Riaz, Nishant Bhat, and Marathi stars Jay Dhudhane, Meenal Shah, Vikas Patil and Vishal Nikam.

    “Given the brand identity of our marquee platform, celebrating the festival of Colors is a natural fit for us,” said Viacom18 head – branded content Vivek Mohan Sharma. “Seagram’s Imperial Blue is an iconic brand with some memorable campaigns and taking forward the nature of playfulness we take a dig at celebrating holi with friends. With the roster of popular television celebs that we have, and the way we have captured the spirit of this festival, we are sure this campaign will strike a chord with our viewers and the brand’s target audience.”

    “Holi is a great moment of conviviality, wherein friends and family come together, and we wanted to capture this and create a campaign that embodies the spirit of Holi,” said Pernod Ricard India GM – marketing Iswindar Singh. “This collaboration with Viacom18 captures the mood of the occasion in the light humour space that we have always operated in, while keeping the ethos of our brand alive. Combined with the 360-degree network amplification and Viacom18 stars, we hope to recreate the magic of our iconic campaigns with this campaign”

    “The whole idea and execution of the video was a beautiful amalgamation that resonates with the brand messaging of humour and partners ideology of ‘Celebrating relationship with Colors’,” said Wavemaker India chief client officer Karthik Nagarajan. “It has been a great collaboration by Wavemaker India in bringing this initiative to life . With the platform reach- the spread across TV, OTT and Social, I am certain the campaign videos will connect, create an instant impact and bring cheer to our audience”.

     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
     

    A post shared by ColorsTV (@colorstv)

     

  • Nickelodeon to launch latest edition of ‘Together For Good’ campaign

    Nickelodeon to launch latest edition of ‘Together For Good’ campaign

    Mumbai: Kids channel Nickelodeon is set to launch the next edition of its global campaign ‘Together For Good.’ The core thought of the initiative is to tell kids to shed their stress, take a break and do what makes their heart and mind happy, said the channel.

    The initiative will also be associated with the Early Childhood Association of India (ECA) and its subsidiary for primary education – APER, a non-profit body that works towards childhood advocacy.

    The campaign will be amplified through partnerships, social media and engagement with mommy bloggers and advocacy groups. Some eminent and expert partners like Lil Yogi’s, Synchrony India and Artsphere will engage with kids all through the duration of the initiative with tools on what kids should do when they are feeling stressed using alternative methods like art, yoga, and visual therapies. Nickelodeon is also hosting a Facebook Live on 20 March called “Nurturing Young Minds” with these experts.

    “At Nickelodeon, we always put kids first and understand the constant and infinite pressures they are faced with, especially in these challenging times,” said Viacom18 head Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network Nina Elavia Jaipuria. “We have always believed in leveraging our influence and reach for the betterment and well-being of our young viewers. Our latest edition of ‘Together For Good’ addresses a concern that is extremely important and requires attention. We are certain that our initiative will strike a chord with kids and their parents and are hopeful that the solutions and messages we seek to deliver will help children unwind, relax and be happy.”

  • Creating content for ‘FullyFaltoo’ is creatively liberating: Anshul Ailawadi

    Creating content for ‘FullyFaltoo’ is creatively liberating: Anshul Ailawadi

    Mumbai: Viacom18’s youth, music and English entertainment (YME) cluster which operates the channels MTV, MTV Beats, Comedy Central, Colors Infinity and Vh1, has added two more brands to its roster including short video destination and NFT marketplace ‘FullyFaltoo’ and its music division ‘KaanPhod.’

    The cluster garnered 9.8 billion impressions across its TV and social media platforms and its sports content clocked a watch time of 80 million viewing minutes in 2021. The 2021-22 season of La Liga garnered a cumulative reach of 14 million which is more than the reach of UEFA Champions League. NBA, broadcast on MTV and Vh1, saw almost 50 per cent of its audiences coming from rural markets. Viacom18 is planning to launch a full-fledged sports channel that brings to question whether sports content will remain on MTV.

    The YME network is bringing a fresh season of “MTV Roadies” this time held in South Africa and the second season of its music reality show “MTV Hustle.” Comedy Central has added seven new English shows that have never been viewed in India to its programming. The cluster also announced the launch of a new IP called “The Inventor’s Challenge” on the English entertainment channel Colors Infinity. The production of the show is underway.

    Spearheading the expansion of the cluster brands on digital and its fresh content slate is Viacom18 head – YME cluster Anshul Ailawadi. He spoke to IndianTelevision.com on his outlook on sports, English entertainment, NFT, and entering the music IP business.

    On relaunching the FullyFaltoo brand

    FullyFaltoo is one of our very own brands that we’re reviving. The thing about MTV is that people are used to seeing a certain kind of content and perspective on MTV. We may or may not always do that with FullyFaltoo. It is creatively liberating to have a different platform. You have some recall but not too much baggage. The team can push the envelope in a way that they might not have necessarily been able to do for MTV. That’s because you’re creating on a clean slate.

    For young people, narratives can vary and you can tell a story in 30 seconds, three minutes, or eight minutes. Fully Faltoo is our attempt at that. It is basically digital-only fun content. The content will be available across all video platforms whether it is YouTube, Facebook, or our own OTT Voot and Jio. We have over a dozen shows in the pipeline and in the coming months, you’ll see us drop at least three to four episodes per week on FullyFaltoo.

    The team behind FullyFaltoo is a mix of people who’ve been working for the cluster for some time now and some new folks who’ve joined. We have a programming team for channels, a creative team that works on promos and short-form etc, and a content team. These teams are working together to create the output.

    On the learnings from FullyFaltooNFT drop

    Our first drop with 3000+ pieces was sold out in 36 hours. The onboarding process was fairly simple. Our partner GuardianLink built the entire tech stack and managed the payments. We only allowed settlement in fiat currencies and didn’t accept crypto otherwise the pricing would have been very different.

    No one has seen how the NFT space will grow so I wouldn’t dismiss its revenue potential. I think that can change very quickly. If I told you ten years ago that someone would make a living out of creating videos, you’d be sceptical. 

    From a brand engagement perspective, we can do something special only for those fans who own our NFTs. An experience that money can’t buy. That would add value to our own properties whether it is “Roadies” or “Splitsvilla.”

    We’re planning our next drop-in for three to four months only because there’s so much for us to learn as well. The learnings from the first drop were interesting. It will help us innovate further. The timeline for the next drop can change by the way.

    On launching music division KaanPhod

    The brief to the team is any music that you think should be heard. There are no limitations in terms of genre. The first season of “Open Mic” will feature ten artists, ten music videos and 25 songs. It’s an interesting mix of Bollywood-style music, folk music, hip-hop etc.

    We’re tying up with certain partners to monetise the IP who will aid our conversations with streaming platforms. The IPs will also be monetised on social platforms such as YouTube and Facebook as well as our TV channels. We keep getting brands on MTV Beats but with our original IP we’ll try getting a brand to sponsor the music video opening up another avenue for monetisation. 

    On the insight driving youth, music and English entertainment cluster

    We conducted a lot of research post-pandemic which showed that people are looking forward to escaping into a new reality. This insight might mean different things to different people; however, our interpretation was that people wanted to experience a better version of the world that they currently reside in. Going forward, the revamp of our shows such as “Roadies,” “MTV Hustle” and the positioning of our brand will be aligned with this insight so that the viewers’ escapist tendencies are satisfied. 

    On reinvigorating the English entertainment genre

    The NTO impacted the distribution landscape for the English entertainment genre. In India, there is an opportunity for people who want to consume English content on TV. It is a medium that has very different friction because you have the opportunity to curate content. That’s a huge need gap and I think brands like Colors Infinity and Comedy Central are helping drive the curation story. I do think there should be more original English content on TV. The combination of Indian English content on OTT platforms and on English channels is a very robust conversation.

    On creating original shows for English entertainment

    In the past, we’ve done shows like “The Stage” and “Bffs” with Vogue, but “The Inventor Challenge” is a unique initiative in the English entertainment space.  We have just launched the call for entries and the production of the show is underway so I can’t share more about that right now. It has been a really steep learning curve for us and a lot depends on the kind of inventors we are able to get on board. The team is working day and night to ensure the show is a success.

    “The Inventor’s Challenge” is based on an international IP called “Everyday Edisons” that we’re adapting for Indian audiences. It is a little bit different. The show is about the journey of a young inventor who conceptualises an idea and takes it to prototype.

    On whether sports content will find a permanent home at MTV

    In some form, sports and sports-related content will be available on MTV. Though, we have to be careful about one thing. For us, properties that we picked up on MTV were strategically scheduled for the morning or late evening because our free commercial time (FCT) is very critical for us. MTV is not becoming a sports-only channel since our network will also launch a dedicated sports offering.

    It is interesting that 50 per cent of audiences for the NBA came from rural markets giving it a chance to be sampled by so many more homes. Emerging sports may be interesting to audiences in tiers 2, 3 provided that you do two things. One is making them less intimidating and the second is localising the language format. That means creating clarity on what the sport is, its rules, and sparking general interest. The second thing that we did was telecast NBA on MTV in Hindi which is something that nobody else has done.

    This period will be an inflection point for non-cricket sports across the length and breadth of India. It’s already happening and you’ll see that kids’ interest in sports like football is growing at a much faster clip than maybe even cricket. When you look at conventional ratings, you’ll see that in terms of absolute ratings there is a difference between cricket and emerging sports but in terms of growth, the latter is growing much faster.

  • Viacom18’s YME cluster launches new business division ‘KaanPhod’

    Viacom18’s YME cluster launches new business division ‘KaanPhod’

    Mumbai: Viacom18 youth, music and English entertainment cluster has created a brand-new business division called KaanPhod to provide emerging musical artists an opportunity to showcase their talent. The cluster comprises brands such as MTV, MTV Beats, Comedy Central, Colors Infinity, and Vh1.

    KaanPhod will co-create original music IPs with emerging artists and distribute them across platforms. The division is set to launch a show “Mic Test” that will introduce ten promising new artists and their original tracks which will also be made available for viewers on television (MTV, MTV Beats, Vh1), social and streaming platforms.

    The brand has also launched its maiden short-form video offering called Fully Faltoo, with over a dozen web shows and snackable content. This year the cluster is returning with the new season of MTV Roadies which is shot in South Africa with new host Sonu Sood. It is also returning with the second season of the rap reality show “MTV Hustle.” English entertainment channel Colors Infinity has announced a new show called “The Inventor’s Challenge” which highlights the journey of an idea from paper to a working prototype of the product created by amateur inventors.

    The clusters brands garnered 9.8 billion impressions on content across TV, social media and the networks streaming/OTT platform Voot in the past year. The business unit was also able to draw viewers during non-prime time through its sports content.

    The YME unit recently launched the Fully Faltoo NFT platform that saw more than 3000 digital collectibles sold out within a couple of hours. The marketplace offers a range of diverse digital collectibles from its iconic brands like MTV, Vh1 and Comedy Central.

    “Viacom18 YME is the only brand in its category that brings to the youth uniquely entertaining ‘escape clusters’. With fiction, non-fiction, sports, short-format and snackable content, and a foray in the metaverse, the brand has its finger on the pulse. The YME division will reinvent, reimagine and risk as it pivots across platforms in a way that is daring and contemporary, just like the audience it caters to,” said the statement.

    “The last two years have been unprecedented for young South Asians,” said Viacom18 head – youth, music and English entertainment Anshul Ailawadi. “They’ve emerged stronger after grappling with a once-in-a-generation black swan event. This is the right time for the youth, music and English entertainment (YME) cluster to pivot. In the coming fiscal we will scale up and revamp each and every legacy property from Roadies to Hustle to Splitsvilla and launch newer formats. We will double down on our growing digital presence and launch a multiplatform short video offering ‘Fully Faltoo’ along with ‘KaanPhod’ – a platform to discover and mount emerging musical talent and original songs. The success of our maiden NFT offering will be followed up with more Web 3.0-focused initiatives. We’ve also worked on a new slate of international English content for Colors Infinity and Comedy Central. The team is geared up for an action-packed year like never before.”

  • Radha Ramamurthy bids adieu to Viacom18 to pursue new role

    Radha Ramamurthy bids adieu to Viacom18 to pursue new role

    Mumbai: Radha Ramamurthy who was head of marketing and digital content at Viacom18 has moved on from the company to pursue a new opportunity. Ramamurthy was associated with the company for four years.

    Ramamurthy handled the marketing for Colors Tamil and content ideation and marketing for Voot Regionals. She has 14 years of experience under her belt in conceptualising and executing televised shows and events, driving branding activities and marketing campaigns for diversified industries including media, FMCG and retail. 

    Prior to Viacom18, she had stints with Vikatan, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, The Coca Cola Company and RPG Enterprises.

  • Debkumar Dasgupta joins Merzigo Asia as VP & business head of content

    Debkumar Dasgupta joins Merzigo Asia as VP & business head of content

    Mumbai: Debkumar Dasgupta has joined Turkey-based Merzigo as vice president and business head – content for Asia. He was previously with media distribution company IndiaCast as media syndication head for the Middle East and Africa.

    Merzigo provides a range of services including digital curation, directly for broadcasters, distributors and producers including Fox, The Walt Disney Company and KanalD.

    In his new role, Dasgupta will be responsible for the syndication of Turkish drama series in the Asia region focusing on India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia. He will be leading the content planning, governance, acquisition and delivery operations of the company in the region. 

    Over a career spanning 35 years, Dasgupta’s longest stint was at Viacom18 Media and IndiaCast Media Distribution where he worked for 24 years. He initially managed the domestic distribution of the TV channel Colors and was later appointed to manage the Asia Pacific channel distribution and global content sales and syndication. Later, he was elevated to manage the channel business including subscription, ad sales, syndication in the Middle East and Africa. 

  • 3,000 Fully Faltoo NFTs sold out within 48 hrs of launch: Viacom18

    3,000 Fully Faltoo NFTs sold out within 48 hrs of launch: Viacom18

    Mumbai: The maiden NFT drop of 3013 tokens, consisting of 3000 loot and 13 rare tokens from Fully Faltoo collection curated by Viacom18’s youth, music and English entertainment cluster, was an instant success amongst the cluster’s superfans and NFT collectors, globally.

    The range of 3000 NFTs from the loot category, priced at $10 for each token, was sold out in less than 48 hours of its launch. Precisely, 40 per cent of the loot was sold in the first 30 minutes and 80 per cent within 24 hours, announced the media company on Wednesday. 

    The loot category consisted of collectibles inspired by ‘Bakra urf GOAT’ also known as the only legendary ‘OG POI – Prankster of India,’ ‘Rangu The Champ’ – a more passionate character who gave up on his old and boring lifestyle to find out a whole new spark in himself by lighting up his inner dopamine receptors – playback singing, ‘Winging it aka Wing it like Wingnesh’ – a charming guy amongst the ladies who is a  pretty fly for an NFT guy and ‘Many Me’ is You – the wearer of many hats who pulls ’em off with a whole lot of sass.

    While the loot is completely sold out, the rare category on FullyFaltooNFT.com which consists of 13 static and animated NFTs is currently open for bidding that ends on 21 February.

    Fully Faltoo continues to stay invested in the NFT ecosystem and will explore the utility value of these NFTs giving the cluster an opportunity to deepen engagement with its superfans and collectors.

  • Viacom18 and Mondelez India come together to celebrate Valentine’s Day

    Viacom18 and Mondelez India come together to celebrate Valentine’s Day

    Mumbai: Viacom18 in association with Mondelez India is all set to release a light-hearted celebratory song ‘Single Single’ this Valentine’s Day. The song, created as a brand solution content for Cadbury 5 Star, will debut exclusively on Viacom18’s social media handles.

    ‘Single Single’ is a song that encapsulates Cadbury 5 Stars’ laissez-faire positioning to ‘Do Nothing.’ Written and sung by Nikita Gandhi, the song stars celebrity influencer Anushka Sen. As part of this brand collaboration, Viacom18 has also planned an extensive marketing blitz driving instream inventory and interstitial ads across its social media handles.

    This campaign was conceptualised by Mondelez India and Wavemaker India in partnership with Viacom18.

    Viacom18 branded content-head Vivek Mohan Sharma said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Cadburys 5 Star and celebrate the festival of love with the country. ‘Single Single’ is a jovial song intended to uplift the mood and normalize singlehood this Valentine’s Day. Through Nikhita Gandhi’s voice and Anushka’s grace, we have created a harmonious symphony that is sure to bring smiles.’

    Mondelez India spokesperson said that the association brings yet another rendition of our mantra to take a break and ‘Do Nothing’ even when the world pushes you to participate in the merriment of love this Valentine’s Day. “Being at the center of today’s youth culture, the song ‘Single Single’ aids in molding our brand message the way they’d like to express and communicate to the rest of the world aka celebrate singlehood. Our strategic collaboration with Viacom18 will ensure unmatched entertainment across social media handles and spread cheer in India,” stated the spokesperson.