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Tag: Viacom18

  • Broadcasters kick off Diwali celebrations, announce special programming

    Broadcasters kick off Diwali celebrations, announce special programming

    Mumbai: This Diwali festival, broadcasters have announced a strong line-up of shows to win a significant share of TV viewing that will take place over the four-day long weekend starting from 4 November. Ranging from marquee reality shows to blockbuster films, TV channels have left no stone unturned to attract eyeballs.

    General entertainment shows

    Star India network will air beloved programs such as “Dance+” season six on Star Plus, “Bigg Boss Diwali special” on Star Maa and Star Vijay, mythological series “Jai Kanhaiya Lal Ki” on Star Bharat, “Me Honar Superstar Jallosh Dancecha” on Star Pravah and “Comedy Stars” on Asianet.

    Zee Tamil will air a one-and-a-half-hour special of “Olimayamana Ethirkalam” on 4 November at 7 a.m. This will be followed by “Diwali Special Pattimandram” at 9 a.m. This will be followed by a special two-hour episode of “Survivor- Naanga Vera Maathiri” at 10:30 a.m and special program “Mega Thala Diwali”  at 4 p.m.

    Viacom18’s regional entertainment channels will entertain viewers with Diwali specials that celebrate the themes of the festival. Colors Bangla will air “Sangeet Er Muhajuddho” where the theme for this weekend will be a piano special. It will also air episodes of the fiction series “Mon Mane Na.”

    Colors Tamil will present fiction shows like “Amman 2,” “Abhi Tailor,” “Sillunu Oru Kaadhal” and the channel’s acclaimed shows “Enga Veetu Meenakshi” and “Idhayathai Thirudathey 2.” On the non-fiction front, there will be engrossing performances on its show “Dance vs Dance” season two and a special music show “Voice of Legends.”

    Colors Marathi channel will air special episodes of “Bigg Boss Marathi” and air special episodes of its fiction shows “Jeev Maza Guntala” and “Raja Ranichi Ga Jodi.”

    Zee Café, &Flix and &PrivéHD will air some of the most beloved Korean dramas on TV including titles such as “Boys Over Flowers,” “Descendants Of The Sun,” and “Bread, Love And Dreams” on the weekends.

    Movies

    On Star India network’s movie channels blockbusters like “The Big Bull,” “Mimi,” “Hungama 2,” and “Bhuj: The Pride of India” will air on Star Gold. Hollywood hits such as “Disney’s Frozen 2,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “The Empty Man,” and “A Welcome Home Christmas” will be telecasted on Star Movies.

    &pictures will showcase the premiere of Rana Dagubatti’s “Haathi Mere Saathi” on 7 November.

    Zee Tamil will air the Dhanush starrer “Karnan” on 4 November at 12:30 p.m and the world TV premiere of “Dikkiloona” at 6 p.m.

    Tamil movie channel Zee Thirai has lined up the crime thriller “Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban” on 3 November at 7 p.m and “Ka/Pe Ranasingam” on 4 November at 7 p.m.

    Colors Tamil has announced a line-up of films that will be telecast every day starting from 1 November at 1:30 p.m. These include “Uththaravu Maharaja,” “Meendum Oru Mariyadhai,” “Chasing,” “Magamuni,” and “Devadas Brothers.”

    Times Network’s English movie channels including Movies Now, MN+, MNX and Romedy Now have also announced a power packed movie line-up for Diwali. Some of the movies that will be featured include “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Spiderman: Far From Home,” “Zombieland: Double Tap,” “Rain Man,” “Raging Bull,” “Irma La Douce,” and “Fly Me To The Moon.”

    Kids’ entertainment shows

    POGO will premiere their new show “Krishna Aur Kans” and air special episodes of “Smashing Simmba” “Titoo” and “Shaktimaan.” Cartoon Network aired “The Tom and Jerry Show” Dusshra special on 18 October and will be airing fresh episodes of the program during the festival weekend.

  • Voot Kids to stream ‘Pokémon’ anime franchise content in India

    Voot Kids to stream ‘Pokémon’ anime franchise content in India

    Mumbai: Voot Kids has announced that it will be streaming the popular anime franchise “Pokémon” in India. The kids’ content platform will stream 21 films and over 10,000 minutes of “Pokémon” anime series episodic content.

    “This endeavor of ours has received significant impetus through last year with the kid’s fun learn category witnessing exponential demand growth,” said Viacom18 head – SVOD (Voot Select, Voot Kids) and international business Ferzad Palia. “The addition of the vast Pokémon slate to our content repertoire will allow us to further widen our audience base and continue to be category leaders.”

    The 21 ‘Pokémon’ films will premiere for the first time in India only on Voot Kids. The platform has launched a content initiative called ‘Chuno Voot Kids. Chuno Pokemon’ to market its association with the anime series.  

    “With the consumer at the heart for every initiative on the platform, this was the perfect opportunity to build on the fandom Pokémon holds in India, propelled by kids and those who are kids at heart,” said Voot Kids head of content Ashutosh Parekh. “Undeniably, this evergreen anime franchise with multiple extensions has evolved to be very relevant to today’s digital natives, with superlative story arcs and well-etched characters that unify action – adventure with humour.”

    The Pokémon franchise has expanded to the video gaming category, with its recently released Pokémon Unite, a Moba game playable across Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS platforms.

    “With support from our partners at Voot kids, we have finally been able to release the 1-21 films in India, we are thrilled to finally share with our fans in India the fun and excitement of the Pokémon movies,” said The Pokémon Company corporate officer Susumu Fukunaga. “Voot kids and TPC are preparing other fun offerings. We hope more fans in India can be part of this experience.”

    Dream Theatre is the master licensing agency for Pokémon in India and South Asia. “We are very excited to have partnered with Voot Kids and bring such a wide offering spanning movies and seasons to Pokémon fans in India,” said Dream Theatre founder and chief executive officer Jiggy George.
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  • NTO 2.0: MSOs asks Trai to reject new RIOs published by broadcasters

    NTO 2.0: MSOs asks Trai to reject new RIOs published by broadcasters

    Mumbai: The Tamil Nadu Digital Cable TV Operators Association has  sent a legal notice to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) asking it to reject the new reference interconnection offers (RIO) published by broadcasters. The Association has also sought Trai’s intervention in asking broadcasters to reduce channel prices as it “will cause irreparable loss to the entire industry”.

    Major broadcasters including Disney Star India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, Sony Pictures Networks India, and TV18 Broadcast Ltd, had published their new RIOs over the weekend starting from 15 October (Dussehra) with the new a-la-carte pay channel and bouquet pricing that adheres to Trai’s new tariff order (NTO) 2.0.

    The broadcasters had hiked the prices of their driver channels and pulled them from all their bouquets as Trai’s NTO 2.0 provisions mandated an MRP cap of Rs 12 for any pay channel to be included in a bouquet. The broadcasters are currently battling the Trai order in the Supreme Court stating that some of its provisions are arbitrary and outside the purview of the regulator. The final hearing is on 30 November.

    In its notice to Trai, the Association has stated that “major broadcasters have issued their RIOs where it can be calculated that majorly subscribed channels by the consumers will be inflated by 100 per cent to 200 per cent.”

    It added, “It is pertinent to mention here that during the situation when over-the-top service providers are trying to make their services more affordable to increase their subscriber base, the service providers of this industry will have to increase their rates substantially which will certainly cause loss of subscriber base of the local cable operators (LCOs) and multi-system operators (MSO).”

    These “excessive prices” will undoubtedly hurt the subscriber base of cable operators whose subscribers come from the rural areas of the country where income levels are comparatively lower. The MSO mentioned that any regulation/direction/order implemented by Trai should lead to the growth and development of service providers and consumers.

    “It is the contention of the Tamil Nadu Digital Cable TV Operators Association that the RIO published by Disney Star India has an illegal clause that requires MSOs to “continue the channels on the old LCNs and they cannot change it”. If new RIO is being asked to be implemented, then all its terms are liable to be renegotiated and the broadcaster cannot favourably keep the clauses of the old RIOs,” it said.

  • Colors doubles down on weekend programming with ‘The Big Picture’

    Colors doubles down on weekend programming with ‘The Big Picture’

    Mumbai: With few days left for the launch of its new show, ‘The Big Picture’, Colors TV is gearing up to cement its position as one of the most preferred weekend destination for TV viewers. The new launch builds on the success of its previous unscripted shows – ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’, ‘Dance Deewane’ and ‘Bigg Boss’.

    All set to launch this Saturday, 16 October, ‘The Big Picture’ will also mark the Television debut of Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who will host the quiz show based on general knowledge and visual memory. According to the channel, the new show will air between 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekends followed by ‘Bigg Boss 15’ hosted by Salman Khan. With these two big entertainers, the channel hopes to see record viewership on the weekends.

    According to Viacom18 – head of Hindi and Kids TV network Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Colors TV currently occupies 24 per cent market share in terms of viewership on weekends. “The pandemic has led to a trend where families are coming together to watch on TV. So, we are doubling down on the weekends with two big properties,” said Jaipuria. “There was a clear white space that we wanted to address for our viewers. Audiences have missed theatres for 18 months, so we brought Ranveer Singh, one of the most versatile actors in Bollywood, to drawing rooms.”

    The 26-episode show will air over 13 weeks and feature multiple contestants vying to win the grand prize of Rs five crore. The show format is owned by ITV Studios Global Entertainment B.V and is produced by Banijay Asia and SKTV. “Everybody has been bogged down by the pandemic. So, when there was a programming opportunity at Colors, we took the show to them because the format encouraged audiences to play along,” said Banijay Asia – founder and chief executive officer Deepak Dhar. “And, there was a tremendous response for the digital auditions of the show that began in July.”

    Viacom18 believes in a TV+ strategy and ‘The Big Picture’ format definitely has an interactive element, where viewers can ‘Play Along’ via the OTT app Voot. Apart from fixed commercial time (FCT) inventory, the channel is keen to take away a bigger share of the advertising wallet as the festive season spends grow bigger.

    “It’s a win for advertisers because they won’t just engage with the audience via regular inventory on the channel but have the opportunity to customise and communicate their brand messaging and reach their customers in a clutter-breaking manner,” said Jaipuria ahead of the show’s launch. The show’s sponsors include BYJU’S, Bikaji, LIC, and Haier refrigerator.

    The channel has cleverly incentivised audiences to engage with the show by adding monetary rewards for viewers. For example, there is an element called ‘India wale lifeline’, where a contestant may choose to ask a friend for help with a question. The show has made it such that the person who helps with the correct answer will also share in the prize money. “If I win Rs 100 by getting the correct answer, the person who helped me will get Rs 25” explained Jaipuria.

    The channel has gone live with a multi-media campaign on 8 October across TV, digital, print, and a high decibel OOH campaign covering billboards, bus shelters, auto-rickshaws, and kiosks across cities like Bombay and Delhi and states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.

    “We have the largest reach on TV with 121 viewers and a solid fanbase of 110 million on digital,” said Jaipuria. The show will be also promoted across Jio platforms which has a reach of 300 million. Viacom18 has also engaged with fans by sending them a personalised invitation from Ranveer Singh to catch the show premiere.

  • Colors to launch ‘The Big Picture’ on 16 October

    Colors to launch ‘The Big Picture’ on 16 October

    Mumbai: Hindi general entertainment channel Colors is all set to launch its quiz show ‘The Big Picture’ on 16 October starting at 8:00 p.m every Saturday – Sunday. The show will telecast on Colors and stream simultaneously on the OTT platforms Voot and Jio TV.

    Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh will make his television debut as the host of the show, which will be co-presented by ed-tech brand BYJU’S, with Bikaji, LIC, and Haier Refrigerator as ‘associate’ sponsors.

    “We have been earnestly preparing for this show for a long time, and I can’t wait for the audience to play along and be a part of this unique proposition,” said Singh. “The format of the show will allow me to closely interact with the audience which makes it even more special.”

    A next-generation quiz show, it’s based on knowledge and visual memory, allowing the contestants to answer 12 visual-based questions and stand a chance to win the jackpot of five crores. Additionally, the viewers can also participate and win money with the Weekend and Weekday play-along on Voot app.

    “Whether it is introducing home-grown properties or adapting international formats, we push the envelope of innovation to give the best of fiction and non-fiction shows to our viewers,” said Viacom18, head of Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network, Nina Elavia Jaipuria. “We are excited to kick off the festive season on a high note with the launch of two big properties – ‘Bigg Boss’ and ‘The Big Picture’ to keep the momentum going.”

    “People today consume and reciprocate well to any visual-based content and the concept of ‘The Big Picture’ is based on this insight,” said Viacom18, chief content officer – Hindi mass entertainment, Manisha Sharma. “It is a new-age, contemporary, and never seen format that will give the audience, playing from the studio and from the comforts of their home, an opportunity to answer questions based on pictures and walk away with the prize money.”

    Based on the international format owned by ITV Studios Global Entertainment B.V, ‘The Big Picture’ will be aired in India in association with Banijay Asia and SKTV. “Our collaboration with COLORS for the internationally acclaimed title ‘The Big Picture’ brings forward an intriguing format molded as per the Indian mindset and milieu,” said Banijay Asia, chief executive officer, Deepak Dhar.

    COLORS has devised a 360-degree multiscreen, multicity, high investment campaign spreading across the length and breadth of the country to build visibility and awareness of the show. A high-frequency promo campaign will run across the network and non-network channels, Local Cable channels, and major DTH service operators, along with ads in key HSM publications and an extensive out-of-home campaign on billboards, bus shelters, radio cabs, railway and metro stations, auto rikshaws and tempos.

    “The show is all set to nurture millions of dreams across the country and as brand partners, we hope to celebrate the spirit of Indians and also inspire a love for learning,” said BYJU’s, marketing head, Atit Mehta.

    On the digital front, the network will launch innovative campaigns like ‘The Big Picture Ki Paathshala’ and ‘#TaqdeerKiTareekh’ on the OTT platforms, social media, Voot, and Jio TV. In the launch week, the audience will also get a personalised invite to watch the show from Ranveer Singh using AI technology.

    As a part of the influencer outreach, Colors has roped in notable social media personalities and artists to bring alive the concept of ‘The Big Picture’ by posing against popular monuments and iconic locations across various cities, as well as to optimise its impact and reach.

  • Viacom18 eyes a bumper festive season, with new show ‘The Big Picture’ set for launch

    Viacom18 eyes a bumper festive season, with new show ‘The Big Picture’ set for launch

    Mumbai: Viacom18’s portfolio of entertainment channels is targeting double digital growth this festive season. According to Viacom18, head – network sales, Mahesh Shetty, the broadcaster expects to beat 2019 festive revenues with two marquee properties to capitalise on.

    2020 was an outlier for the media industry because of the impact that Covid-19 had on the industry. Advertising spends that are closely correlated to the GDP and the business economy was depressed for several quarters. “The way the industry bounced back after the second wave was phenomenal. The last quarter results of most companies have been good and that has had a positive impact on ad spends. As we enter the festive period it is just getting better. Most broadcasters are dealing with a problem of plenty i.e., we’re full up on inventory,” remarked Shetty.

    The volume of advertisers is yet to recover to the 2019 levels but the values have significantly increased over the past two years. The recovery of ad rates has been driven by the strong demand that the media industry is seeing during the festive period. This is having a positive impact on pricing, observed Shetty.

    The broadcaster has invested in big-ticket properties to take advantage of the traction from advertisers. This year its mainline Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors will telecast two marquee shows during the festive season namely – ‘Bigg Boss 15’ and ‘The Big Picture’.

    “Bigg Boss 15 has signed 18 brands and 75 per cent inventory filled at the time of launch” noted Shetty. “We’ve already signed six brands for ‘The Big Picture’ whose launch is two weeks down the line and are confident that this number will go up.”

    Hosted by actor Ranveer Singh, the quiz show is all set to hit the airwaves on 16 October and will be aired on weekends at 8 p.m.

     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
     

    A post shared by ColorsTV (@colorstv)

     

    The network has roped TRESemme, Lotus White Glow, Dabur Red Toothpaste, Knorr, Jeevansaathi.com, JK Smart Tyre, Hershey’s Kisses, Garnier Men, Wow Skin Science, Spotify, Moj App, Fogg Deodorant, and Haier Washing Machine for ‘Bigg Boss 15’ on TV and additional five exclusive sponsors on their OTT platform Voot.

    For ‘The Big Picture’ the sponsors include BYJU’S, Bikaji, LIC, and Haier Refrigerator on TV and two exclusive sponsors for Voot.

    New category advertisers who have become active post-Covid-19 are driving ad volumes and spends, according to Shetty. These advertisers have changed the advertiser mix for entertainment channels and have significantly grown in terms of contribution.

    “Looking at a three-year horizon (2019-2021), FMCG which used to contribute 72 per cent to the total ad revenue pie for mainstream entertainment channels, has come down slightly to 70 per cent. Categories like telecom, handsets, apparel have also dropped from about two per cent to one per cent,” said Shetty.

    The e-commerce marketplaces which used to be two per cent have grown to four per cent. The contribution of social media apps and OTT platforms which used to be around one to three per cent has jumped to six per cent. “Ed-tech which is a new category that has emerged post-pandemic and now contributes about one per cent to revenues. E-wallets also contribute one per cent. The entire contribution for internet brands which used to be around 12 per cent has now grown to 18 per cent. That’s where the advertising mix has seen a change,” he added.

    New categories like e-commerce, fintech, crypto, and ed-tech are investing heavily on TV to change consumer behaviour and drive adoption of their brands. The festive period is the best time to drive preference for their brands when the consumer is usually in a buying mindset and wants to engage with brands.

    Apart from GEC, the network’s portfolio of movies, music, youth, and regional channels are also performing well, shared Shetty.

    The movie genre is seeing advertising traction with inventories filling up. Restrictions on cinema exhibition halls have been relaxed in several states including Maharashtra and producers have announced the release slate for the next six months. “This will also add to the bank of our movie channels,” he added.

    Similarly, the broadcaster has made critical investments in its regional portfolio of channels that will drive growth during the festive period. Apart from Kannada, Tamil, and Bangla channels, the kid’s genre has been going steady and youth and music channels under MTV brand have attracted interest by offering bespoke solutions to advertisers.

    The broadcaster is also poised to ride the enthusiasm for fresh sports content with its upcoming Abu Dhabi T10 that will telecast on its movie channel COLORS Cineplex towards the third week of November.

  • Viacom18 appoints Jyoti Deshpande as CEO

    Viacom18 appoints Jyoti Deshpande as CEO

    Mumbai: Viacom18 on Thursday appointed Jyoti Deshpande as chief executive officer with immediate effect. She serves on the boards of Network18 and investee companies Balaji Telefilms and Saavn Media.

    In her new assignment, Deshpande will help bring synergies across all of Reliance’s media interests and investments and further equip the company to drive significant growth opportunities as the industry embraces digital transformation, said the statement.

    “Viacom18 is poised to grow as a truly integrated media company across broadcast, OTT and content studio business spanning general entertainment, movies and sports across languages,” said Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai. “Given Jyoti’s rich experience in the media sector around content, distribution and monetisation across traditional and emerging platforms, we believe she is best placed to lead the company and its operations.” 

    Deshpande brings over 27 years of experience in the media and entertainment business. Prior to this, she joined Reliance Industries in 2018 as president – media platform and content, after having successfully built a leading media company and pioneered its early disruptive entry into the OTT space. As a business leader in Reliance, Deshpande in the last three years, has leveraged her industry relationships to establish Jio Studios as a key player in the media value chain.

  • MTV launches ‘Memory Karaoke’ to help people with Alzheimer’s

    MTV launches ‘Memory Karaoke’ to help people with Alzheimer’s

    Mumbai: MTV in collaboration with Ogilvy has launched ‘Memory Karaoke’ – an initiative to help those living with early Alzheimer’s cope with memory loss. 

    Emphasising how forgetting isn’t funny, ‘Memory Karaoke’ will feature four foot-tapping songs based on commonly forgotten information by those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. With these songs meant to be practiced daily along with caregivers, MTV hopes to ease their suffering and raise awareness about the progressive disease that presently has no cure, said the channel in a statement.

    “Music is nothing less than manna for one and all. MTV Memory Karaoke elevates this very role of music to a higher plane by making a small yet significant difference to the lives of those affected by Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. We at MTV are humbled by the opportunity to be a part of this initiative,” said Viacom18 head of youth music and English entertainmentAnshul Ailawadi.

    The sing-along songs will hold important details about the person suffering from Alzheimer’s such as their home address, name, and meals. His or her family and caregivers can also have access to them. The hummable lyrics appearing on the screen like in karaoke will enable the person to remember the information enjoyably and musically over time.

    The songs have been written by Ogilvy and composed by Komorebi, an alternative electronic act from New Delhi, and the musical baby of Tarana Marwah – an Indian composer, singer-producer, and instrumentalist who has also lent her voice for the tracks on ‘Memory Karaoke.’ Further, to uplift moods and maintain humour MTV has collaborated with a young comedian on the initiative.

    “Music is a therapeutic tool for the mind, body and soul. Memory Karaoke will be an enjoyable, assistive aid for those with early Alzheimer’s to retain, reminisce and recall,” stated ARDSI  secretary-general and integrative therapist and dementia care specialist Vidya Shenoy.

    In an attempt to create a deeper impact, remove social stigma and reach out to a wider population, MTV has also joined forces with Alzheimer’s & Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI) as knowledge partners for this initiative. ARDSI, an NGO affiliated with Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) is active pan India, and is recognised for providing specialised care services for those living with Alzheimer’s. MTV has also onboarded doctors for the initiative. The channel will leverage its widespread presence to initiate and empower professionals, students, and caregivers in Alzheimer’s month.

    “Growing up, we have all experienced how retaining new information would become easier whenever it was set to a tune. With the same being true for those with early Alzheimer’s, we wanted to create a platform where tracks could be customised by the family member by entering important information of the affected member as lyrics,” said Ogilvy Mumbai’s group creative director Akshay Seth and senior creative director Chinmay Raut. “Memory Karaoke offers personalised songs that can be practiced daily, resulting in better retention and recall over time. The mission is to introduce an enjoyable, daily ritual that takes away the frustration and helps the caregiver and the person with early Alzheimer’s to eventually sing in a manner comfortable to them.”

     The custom-made karaoke will be available on www.mtvmemorykaraoke.com.  

  • Rajaraman Sundaram appointed as business head of Colors Tamil

    Rajaraman Sundaram appointed as business head of Colors Tamil

    Mumbai: Viacom18 has announced the appointment of Rajaraman Sundaram as Colors Tamil business head.

    In his new role, Rajaraman will be responsible for scaling up the overall business strategy and invigorating the operations of the channel. He will be reporting to Viacom18 head of regional entertainment (Bangla, Odia, Tamil and Gujarati clusters) Rajesh Iyer.

    “Since launch of Colors Tamil, the channel has been on an exceptional journey – being the youngest challenger brand in a region that is known to be India’s most rewarding regional broadcast market,” said Rajesh Iyer. “Having built a distinct identity for ourselves, we now look forward to kickstart the next phase of our growth. Raja, with his extensive experience across the entire value chain of broadcast entertainment, is aptly suited to lead Colors Tamil into its next phase.”

    Rajaraman comes with over two decades of industry experience in broadcast media bringing a wealth of experience, insight and gravitas. A seasoned leader, he has held various roles including as Asianet Star Communications business head of Malayalam cluster, and as Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd COO. He has also had astute credentials of leading teams at NDTV Imagine, Star India and Vijay Television.

    “I am elated to join the leadership team at Colors Tamil,” said Rajaraman Sundaram. “Colors Tamil has been a pioneer in bringing breakthrough content that continues to engage and entertain Tamil viewers across the globe and I’m looking forward to strengthening the channel’s overall value proposition and drive it to greater heights.”

  • Colors set to bring ‘Bigg Boss 15’ on 2 October

    Colors set to bring ‘Bigg Boss 15’ on 2 October

    Mumbai: Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel by Viacom18, has announced the return of  “Bigg Boss” for its 15th season starting on 2 October at 9:30 p.m.

    The show has introduced fresh elements and concepts to increase the excitement for the new season and will see the return of Salman Khan as its host. This includes a new jungle-themed “Bigg Boss” house and an animated mascot who will enthrall the digital audience. “Like the past successful seasons, the new season of the show will be even more exciting, as the contestants get ready for a wild ride in the jungle with VishwasunTREE accompanying them in their journey,” said Khan on the new season.

    “We, at Colors, always believe in delivering innovative, engaging, and diverse content to our viewers with our variety of fiction and non-fiction shows,” said Viacom18 head – Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network Nina Elavia Jaipuria. “In the past few months, we have entertained our audiences with some of our biggest shows like Dance Deewane, Khatron Ke Khiladi and announced our first quiz show – The Big Picture. The momentum will continue in the festive season with the launch of our marquee show Bigg Boss, a show that the nation adores and eagerly looks forward to every year.”

    The channel has planned a robust marketing and digital plan to promote the season. As a part of the marketing campaign on TV, a high-octane promo plan will be carried out across network channels along with innovative print ads in top publications. The digital audience will experience some of the iconic moments from the previous season through memes and reels.

    “With each season of Bigg Boss, we introduce fresh elements and concepts to enhance the excitement and engagement around the show,” said Viacom18 chief content officer of Hindi mass entertainment Manisha Sharma. “This season, we have given a whole new spin to the theme of the show by putting the contestants in a jungle wherein they will be riddled with new challenges and intense moments right from the beginning.”

    “For the first time, the Bigg Boss house will be a jungle wherein the inmates must survive with bare minimum amenities,” said Endemol Shine India chief executive officer Abhishek Rege. “The entire season has been very creatively conceptualised including the design of the jungle that will add a lot of grandeur to the house.”

    Produced by Endemol Shine India, the show has roped in ‘presents’ sponsor TRESemme, ‘powered by’ sponsor Knorr and Dabur Dantrakshak and ‘beauty’ partner Lotus White Glow.

    “We are thrilled to be partnering with Bigg Boss yet again for season 15 as co-sponsors,” said Unilever vice president Harman Dhillon. “TRESemmé promotes the values of independence, self-reliance, and most importantly, the confidence you need to step up and meet the next challenge.”