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Tag: Viacom18

  • Colors bolsters programming lineup with two new shows

    Colors bolsters programming lineup with two new shows

    Mumbai: Colors and Balaji Telefilms have joined hands for the sixth edition of the fantasy fiction show “Naagin” that will premiere on 12 February starting at 8 p.m every Saturday and Sunday. The channel has also announced a new fiction property called “Parineetii” set for the 14 February premiere and will air from Monday to Friday at 10 p.m.

    “I am excited to continue my long-standing relationship with Colors and strengthen it further with the launch of two new shows,” said producer Ekta Kapoor. “We began the journey of ‘Naagin’ more than six years ago and have come a long way to bring the epic story of our serpent queen in five enthralling seasons and I am elated to announce the next one. With an incredibly captivating theme, this season is going to be grander than ever. Along with Naagin, we are also launching ‘Parineetii,’ a show that depicts a beautiful yet complex hue of friendship.”

    “At Colors, it is our deep-rooted commitment to introduce variety entertainment through stories that connect with the audience,” said Viacom18 head Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network Nina Elavia Jaipuria. “After adding an exhilarating romantic thriller ‘Fanaa- Ishq Mein Marjawaan’ to our fiction line-up, we are delighted to announce the new season of our most coveted fantasy fiction franchise ‘Naagin’ and a brand-new drama ‘Parineetii.’ With these unique new concepts, we continue with our promise to provide unlimited entertainment and hope that the viewers will connect with our stories and characters.”

    The new season of “Naagin” will feature an ensemble cast including Tejasswi Prakash, Simba Nagpal, Sudhaa Chandran, Mahekk Chahal, Urvashi Dholakia and Manit Joura. 

    “After witnessing an action-packed start to the year, we are set to raise the momentum with two new shows – ‘Naagin 6’ and ‘Parineetii’,” said Viacom18 chief content officer Hindi mass entertainment Manisha Sharma. “We are delighted to strengthen our long-standing relationship with Balaji Telefilms with these two shows helmed by none other than Ekta Kapoor.”

  • Uday Shankar, James Murdoch to acquire 40% stake in Viacom18: Reports

    Uday Shankar, James Murdoch to acquire 40% stake in Viacom18: Reports

    Mumbai: Lupa India, the investment company set up by former Star & Disney India chairman Uday Shankar and his boss from Star James Murdoch, is under negotiations for picking up a 40 per cent stake in Viacom 18, say media reports.

    Viacom 18, which runs television and digital entertainment channels, is currently a joint venture by Reliance Industries Ltd’s TV 18 (51 per cent) and Viacom CBS (49 per cent). With this deal, the latter is expected to turn into a minority player with 10 per cent stake, while RIL will retain its share.

    Lupa India is reportedly investing Rs 12,000 crore in Viacom18, the reports said. Most of the investment is said to be through the primary infusion of funds that will be used to build the company’s sports and entertainment verticals across both the broadcasting and digital businesses.

    According to reports, Uday Shankar will play a key role in the operations of Viacom 18 as the media conglomerate looks to enter the big league of sports business. He was instrumental in establishing Star as a formidable player in sports broadcasting. As the then CEO, he usurped the IPL rights from Sony in 2017 by paying double the amount (Rs 16,347 crore) for half the number of years. Star had also paid Rs 11,880 crore to win the bid for ICC tournaments for a period of eight years.

    With mounting consolidation in the media broadcasting sector, the focus of the industry has shifted to sports, especially cricket, and digital as a whole. While Viacom18’s sports portfolio today includes NBA (National Basketball Association), FIFA World Cup 2022, Italy’s popular football league Serie A, the Spanish football league LaLiga, ATP Masters (tennis) and Abu Dhabi T10 (cricket), winning the rights to the most popular cricketing event, the IPL rights, seems crucial for the broadcaster to be able to take on the Disney-Star and Zee-Sony juggernaut.

    In a bid to further build its sports vertical, in September, Viacom 18 appointed former Star Sports EVP Anil Jayraj as CEO-sports. The other two key appointments made in December were that of Siddharth Sharma (former Star Sports SVP) as EVP – sports and Mallika Petkar (former Disney+ Hotstar – head of SMB growth strategy) as SVP- sports.  

    Two major cricket broadcasting rights including the five-year broadcasting and digital rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the eight-year contract for broadcasting and digital rights for various World Cup championships held by the International Cricket Council (ICC) will be auctioned this year.

  • Indiacast partners with ABS Broadcast to launch Viacom18 channels on Sky Glass

    Indiacast partners with ABS Broadcast to launch Viacom18 channels on Sky Glass

    Mumbai: IndiaCast Media Distribution has partnered with ABS Broadcast to launch Viacom18’s marquee channels – Colors and Colors Rishtey on the streaming TV platform Sky Glass. Launched in October last year, the custom-designed 4K TV doesn’t require a satellite dish or box for it to work.

    Viewers in the UK can now watch shows such as “Bigg Boss,” “The Big Picture,” “Dance Deewane” and others on the Sky Glass platform with more content added every day.

    “We wanted to expand onto Sky Glass, and choosing ABS Broadcast to deliver proved to be a decision which has more than paid off,” said IndiaCast Media Distribution executive vice president and head international business Govind Shahi. Indiacast is a multi-platform content asset monetisation entity jointly owned by TV18 and Viacom18. “It’s important that our channels are accessible across as many platforms as possible, and I am pleased to say that Colors and Colors Rishtey are now available on Sky Glass for our UK audiences.”

    ABS Broadcast managing director Sass Jahani said, “I am very proud of the teams at ABS, Viacom18 and IndiaCast for getting this service launched with such a fast turnaround, whilst also dealing with the many hurdles along the way.”

    The addition of Viacom18 channels has set ABS Broadcast as the provider with most launches on Sky Glass.

  • Colors announces new talent show ‘Hunarbaaz: Desh Ki Shaan’

    Colors announces new talent show ‘Hunarbaaz: Desh Ki Shaan’

    Mumbai: Colors has announced the launch of its new talent show “Hunarbaaz – Desh Ki Shaan” which will give people a platform to showcase their extraordinary skills. 

    Produced by Frames Production and hosted by Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa, the show will premiere on 22 January, airing every Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m. Bollywood celebs Mithun Chakraborty, Karan Johar and Parineeti Chopra will be seen on the judge’s panel.

    “At Colors, it has always been our endeavour to bring to our viewers innovative and diverse indigenous content across fiction and non-fiction shows,” said Viacom18 head of Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network Nina Elavia Jaipuria. “We are delighted to start the new year with a bang by adding a new homegrown talent show ‘Hunarbaaz- Desh Ki Shaan’ to our various offerings. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to a great and exciting year ahead with some extraordinary shows in the pipeline.”

    “The most unique factor of the show is that it puts power in the hands of the live audience to decide the fate of the Hunarbaaz. We have a distinctive panel of judges including Mithun Chakraborty, Karan Johar and Parineeti Chopra who will mentor and guide the contestants in their journey. We have seen some incredible talent in the auditions phase, and we are looking forward to a great season,” added Viacom18 CCO Hindi mass entertainment Manisha Sharma.

    The channel has devised a robust marketing and digital outreach plan for the show. On the digital front, the campaign will be driven through fan and influencer engagement activities such as the ‘Hunar Hour’ that will give daily shoutouts to talented people. Top influencers will create videos showcasing their skills and also encourage the audience to upload similar content that will be further amplified via platforms including Takatak, Moj, Josh and Instagram, said the statement.

    On the launch day, the Colors TV social media handles will ring in a 24-hour long celebration showcasing different types of ‘hunar’ every hour on the page, finally leading the audience to the show, it added.

    Additionally, a 10-day campaign has been planned to promote the spectrum of talent through promos playing out across Hindi news, Hindi films, Hindi music, kids and regional genres. Launch day print ads are planned across key markets targeting top publications through a combination of large format as well as premium position ads. 

  • Viacom18 to launch its first NFT marketplace Fully Faltoo

    Viacom18 to launch its first NFT marketplace Fully Faltoo

    Mumbai: Viacom18’s youth, music and English entertainment (YME) cluster is all geared up to set its foot in the rapidly growing digital space of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with the announcement of Fullyfaltoonft.com. The NFT marketplace, set up by GuardianLink.io – a pioneer and innovator of NFT Technologies, will go live globally on 14 February.

    NFT, essentially blockchain-certified digital art, has been gaining popularity among brands, artists, and celebrities both in India and globally. Viacom18’s Fully Faltoo NFTs will offer  ‘fully valuable’ digital art conceptualised and created by the team that brings to life brands like MTV, Vh1 and Comedy Central in India.

    This initiative will also mark the extension of the Fully Faltoo franchise that went on from being a show on MTV and a brand solutions studio, to now an NFT marketplace, that will launch its diverse range of digital collectibles. Giving fans the opportunity to claim ownership over edgy and unique digital art pieces, the exclusive collectibles will also have creations inspired from iconic pop culture properties like “Roadies” and “Bakra,” that will be up for auction across the globe, said the statement.

    Speaking on the introduction of Viacom18’s maiden NFT offering, Vicaom18 head for YME Anshul Ailawadi said, “The global media and entertainment industry has recognised the power of NFTs. As one of the world’s largest media markets, India is uniquely positioned to be at the focal point of this Web3 revolution.”

    “The brands that make our YME portfolio – MTV, MTV Beats, Vh1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity, have always stayed ahead of the curve when it comes to emerging trends and pop culture. Our entry in the NFT space with Fully Faltoo is another step in the same direction. We look forward to building FullyFaltoonft.com as the go-to destination for must-have digital art,” he added.

    With industry-standard security layers enabled, the NFTs can be bought at a set auction price. Users will have to register on the platform to be able to make a purchase through the use of a custodian wallet. The security layers set up by GuardianLink.io are to ensure the security of minting, transferring and storing NFTs. 

    “As a technology framework ecosystem, Guardian has always been on the forefront of the race to build and operate some of the largest marketplaces and most advanced creative NFTs in the space,” remarked GuardianLink.io co-founder and CEO Ramkumar Subramaniam. “With its foundation in creative media, Guardian has led the race in terms of designing high impact creative NFTs protected by our Anti.RIP technology and legitimacy protocol.”

    The cluster will roll out an elaborate integrated marketing plan that will leverage Viacom18’s presence on digital and linear TV to create awareness about FullyFaltooNFT.com. The Fully Faltoo campaign will also aim at educating consumers about non-fungible tokens and digital collectibles while attracting them to bid on the platform.

  • Network18’s revenue up by 16.5% YoY at Rs 1657 cr in Q3 FY22

    Network18’s revenue up by 16.5% YoY at Rs 1657 cr in Q3 FY22

    Mumbai: Network18 Media and Investments on Tuesday announced the third-quarter results for FY 2022. The media company reported its highest ever EBITDA at Rs 373 crore with margins of 22.5 per cent. It reported the highest ever quarterly revenue of Rs 1657 crore up by 16.5 per cent year-on-year.

    Network18’s entertainment business margin was at 21.4 per cent and revenue was up by 16 per cent year-on-year. Its TV news business saw a sharp improvement in margin to 27.2 per cent and revenue was up by 13 per cent year-on-year.

    The company’s digital news revenue grew by 41 per cent year-on-year and margins were at 21.2 per cent. Its profit before tax rose by 31 per cent YoY to Rs 337 crore driven by growth in revenue, controlled operational expenditure and lower finance costs.

    “TV industry saw record high advertising volumes in the third quarter driven by strong consumer demand, increased spending by existing brands for a higher share of voice and new advertisers using the medium to widen their reach,” said the company in a statement.

    “domestic subscription revenue for the quarter was flattish YoY while international subscription revenue saw a decline. The implementation timeline of NTO 2.0 regulation was postponed during the quarter by the regulator to 1 April ’22 even as the litigation regarding its validity continued in the Supreme Court of India,” it further added.

    The company’s entertainment business portfolio under Viacom18 is expanding into sports broadcasting by acquiring rights to NBA, footballing events such as FIFA World Cup 2022, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Cinch Premiership, and other sporting events like ATP Masters Tennis, Abu Dhabi T10, World Boxing Championship and Road Safety World Cricket Series.

    Viacom18’s OTT platform Voot reported strong growth in its paid subscriber base during the quarter driven by the new season of Bigg Boss. The show garnered 15 billion+ minutes of watch time (AVOD+SVOD) with a daily TSV of 64 minutes during the quarter.

    The company noted its share of the entertainment network in the non-news genre was 11 per cent with Colors being the second best channel in the pay Hindi GEC genre.

    “We are building a strong and sustainable media franchise which not only delivers quality content to Indian audiences but also value to the shareholders,” said Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai. “Over the last few years, we have taken several significant steps which have helped us achieve the turn around on the profitability front and it is really encouraging to see the business now consistently deliver healthy margins, especially the digital news business which has been growing in a profitable manner. As we have seen over the last several years, content consumption is an integral part of consumers’ lives and there is a willingness to spend more time and money, provided they get access to quality content at an affordable price. Also, consumers are increasingly becoming platform-agnostic, with both TV and Digital growing simultaneously. Our endeavor is to cater to all consumers looking for news and entertainment content in their local languages, movies and leading sports events, on platforms of their choice.”

  • Voot inks three-year digital exclusive content partnership with Ullu

    Voot inks three-year digital exclusive content partnership with Ullu

    Mumbai: Viacom18 and Voot have announced a content partnership with on-demand streaming platform Ullu. As part of the partnership, Voot will showcase 100 titles from the Ullu library starting from 14 January.

    As a part of the three-year digital exclusive deal, Voot will get access to popular original shows from the Ullu library across thriller, crime, horror, and comedy genres in different languages. These shows are headlined by popular faces such as Rakesh Bapat, Hina Khan, Sharib Hashmi, Rohit Roy, Sharad Malhotra, Anupriya Goenka, Iqbal Khan, Tanushree Dutta, Ashmit Patel, Hiten Tejwani, Minissha Lamba, Rashmi Desai, Devoleena Bhattacharjee, among others

    Voot titles such as “Tandoor,” “Assi Nabbe Pure Sau,” “Panchali,” “Cyanide,” “26th January” will be available on Ullu’s platform from 14 January and other titles like “Peshawar,” “Paper,” “The Bull of Dalal Street,” “Tadap,” and “Pratiksha” will be available from 21 January 2022 onwards.  

    “Our partnership with Ullu will help us to widen our content library and meet the ever-growing demands of our viewers,” said Viacom18 Digital Ventures head – AVOD (Voot) Chanpreet Arora. “This partnership gives us access to quality content across genres and languages and is a step forward in cementing Voot’s leadership in the AVOD ecosystem.”

    “It has always been our intent to make our content widely accessible and available. Our partnership with Voot provides us an excellent opportunity to do so,” Ullu’s CEO and founder Vibhu Agarwal. “Most of our Ullu Originals have a binge factor and it matches the consumption pattern of binge-watching on Voot. We are sure that Voot viewers will certainly benefit from this association as it offers them content that is fresh and exciting.”

    The shows will be available in multiple languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, English amongst others. 

  • NTO 2.0: Indiacast publishes new RIO effective from 1 April

    NTO 2.0: Indiacast publishes new RIO effective from 1 April

    Mumbai: Indiacast, the distribution company jointly owned by TV18 and Viacom18, has published its new reference interconnect offer (RIO) in compliance with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) new tariff order (NTO) 2.0 effective from 1 April.

    The revised RIO contains the a-la-carte and bouquet prices of 59 channels owned and operated by Network18, TV18, and Viacom18. The RIO contains the MRP of the new sports channels launched by Viacom18 tentatively named Sports18 and Sports18 HD and priced at Rs 12.

    As per clause 23 (a) of the RIO, “The availability of Sports18 and Sports18 HD channels (Sports18 channels), as well as bouquets comprising of Sports18 channels, are dependent on introduction of Sports18 channels.”

    “In case TV18 decides not to introduce and/or there are any changes in the introduction date of Sports18 channels, then intimation of the same will be sent by TV18 to affiliate in writing,” it added.

    “In case of any change in introduction date of Sports18 channels, then the availability of Sports18 channels as well as bouquets comprising of Sports18 channels shall be effective the last intimated date of introduction of Sports18 channels.”

    “Further, until the introduction of Sports18 channels, the validity of the remainder provisions of this agreement shall not be affected and any stipulations so far as they are related to Sports18 channels will come into force only from the date of introduction of the Sports18 channels.”  

    Viacom18 channels, including their flagship GECs – Colors (Rs 21), Colors HD (Rs 23); their regional language channels – Colors Kannada (Rs 21), Colors Kannada HD (Rs 23), and Colors Marathi HD (Rs 17) will not be included in any bouquet. As per NTO 2.0, Trai mandated that a channels’ MRP must not exceed Rs 12 for it to be included in any bouquet. The broadcaster has also intimated affiliates its free-to-air channel Colors Cineplex Bollywood will be converted into a pay channel effective from 1 April and will be priced at Rs 0.10.

  • Voot Select enters Karnataka with its first Kannada original

    Voot Select enters Karnataka with its first Kannada original

    Mumbai: Video-on-demand service Voot Select is all set to enter the Kannada market with its maiden Kannada language series ‘Humble Politiciann Nograj’ releasing exclusively on the platform on 6 January 2022.

    Produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Firstaction Studios and Danish Sait, ‘Humble Politiciann Nograj’ is written and directed by Saad Khan. Sait will be seen in the title role. The 10 episodic original is a satirical comedy based on the popular and critically acclaimed Kannada film with the same name.

    The character Nograj enjoys a strong following in the Kannada market owing to its journey from being a voice on the radio to making it to the silver screen. By introducing it to the digital ecosystem Voot Select aims to ride on Nograj’s fandom to broaden its base and win over viewers from the region. 

    To ensure the widespread promotion of its first Kannada original Voot Select will leverage Viacom18’s television network presence with special integrations on Colors Kannada’s ‘Nannamma Superstar’ and on Colors Kannada Cinema’s Talk Show. In addition to local activations in the Karnataka market that will target consumers the series will also be promoted through social media activation and a robust influencer marketing programme.

    Viacom 18 head – SVOD & international business Ferzad Palia said, “At Voot Select, we have been constantly growing our content offering. The release of our first Kannada original reinforces our commitment to cater to audiences across the country and serve them entertainment in a language of their choice. ‘Humble Politiciann Nograj’ is the first in a robust list of regional originals that will drop over 2022. Over the next 12 months, we will significantly dial-up our regional language roster, while we continue to strengthen our Hindi, international, sports & kids offering.”

    ‘Humble Politiciann Nograj’ is filled with unexpected twists and turns to depict the corrupt and chauvinistic Nograj’s journey from being an MLA to vying for the most prestigious post in Karnataka, that of the chief minister. Ace comedian Danish Sait will be seen as Nograj, a conceited and self-serving civil servant. The funny political potboiler will also star Prakash Belawadi, Vinay Chendoor, and Disha Madan in pivotal roles.

    “The art of taking something serious and turning it around with a dash of humour is a difficult thing to do. We approached writing the script keeping in mind that if our jokes are funny on paper, it would mostly translate to the visuals as well. The different shades of ‘Humble Politiciann Nograj’ as a zany character shine through his eccentricity. Danish is a thinking actor and embodies Nograj with ease and comic finesse. Also, the genre of our show touches on political satire, and since all our characters are fictitiously funny, we are confident that it will leave our audiences entertained,” stated director Saad Khan.

  • Debkumar Dasgupta moves on from IndiaCast

    Debkumar Dasgupta moves on from IndiaCast

    Mumbai: IndiaCast Media Syndication head (Middle East-Africa) Debkumar Dasgupta has moved on from the group after a long stint of over two decades. He will be in the company till 31 December.

    Dasgupta was currently posted in Dubai as senior VP and business head- syndication, Middle East and Africa of IndiaCast- the international and digital distribution arm of Viacom18 and TV18.

    He joined the group 24 years ago, and initially managed the domestic distribution of the channel. But his role expanded post the launch of Colors, when he was appointed to manage the Asia Pacific channel distribution and global content sales and syndication. The syndication business recorded significant growth during the subsequent decade. Later on, he was elevated to manage the channel business including subscription, ad sales, syndication in the Middle East-Africa.