MUMBAI: Simran Hoon, Viacom18 Media's executive vice president and head of ad sales has stepped down from the post nearly after 13 years of association with the company.
In the past, Hoon was working with Zee Network as SVP. She was senior vice president at Star India and as a group manager at Sony Entertainment Television.
She has also worked in advertising at The Times of India in 1994. She switched from print to television in 1995 when she joined Sony Entertainment Television. This was followed by a stint with Vindia the dot.com bandwagon where she handled sales for the north.
Hoon, a Delhi University graduate, completed her B.A. Economics (H) from Miranda House College and joined The Times School of Marketing for PGDMM in 1992.
MUMBAI: Taking ahead its virtual fireside series with eminent professionals of the media and advertising industry in India, Indiantelevision.com will be hosting Viacom18 network sales head Mahesh Shetty on Thursday, 17 September 2020 at 4:00 pm. The session will be helmed by our founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.
Shetty has been handling the Viacom18’s network sales and is associated with the company for the past year and a half. He comes with over two decades of experience in marketing, sales and general management across media and FMCG sectors. His last stint was at Radio Mirchi where he spent 12 years and played a key role in the expansion of the radio network to 66 stations, and eventually expanding its footprint in the international market. Shetty started his career with PepsiCo to lead the beverage major’s marketing outreach in Maharashtra and Gujarat and over his decade long stint grew within the organisation to become the general manager, national sales – organised trade.
He will be sharing his experiences of sailing through the past few months of nationwide lockdown, managing advertising revenues, and other insights from the world of broadcast, marketing, ad sales and general life.
The virtual chat series had earlier hosted industry veterans such as Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd chief growth officer – advertisement revenue Ashish Sehgal; Sri Adhikari Brothers Group MD Markand Adhikari; Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair; BCCL president – response Partha Sinha; DAN CEO APAC and chairman India Ashish Bhasin; and IPG Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha. During these interactions, these eminent industry leaders have shared their understanding of the television business, advertising industry, content pipeline and strategies that will be leading the new world order in the post-pandemic era.
KOLKATA: Airtel today announced a partnership with VOOT to bring more premium digital content on to its Airtel Xstream platform. Under the partnership, it will allow users to get access to premium VOOT content across multiple screens.
The rich portfolio of VOOT includes movies, originals, new episodes of their shows from Colors, MTV India and other Viacom-18 owned TV channels. This includes shows like Splitsvilla, MTV Roadies, Naagin, Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan, Choti Sarrdaarni, Bahu Begum, Bepannah in Hindi, the upcoming season of Bigg Boss as well as many regional language shows.
Airtel Xstream users can also enjoy a host of English shows like Feet Up with Stars, Work it Up with Sophie, BFF’s with Vogue, VH1 Inside Access with Miss Malini, Urban Wanderers and Trend Setters amongst others. The content from VOOT comes in seven languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Bengali & Marathi.
India, which has the world’s second-highest number of internet users is seeing a massive surge in demand for video content as smartphone penetration deepens. With this partnership, Airtel Xstream has added to its premium content library of over 10,000 movies & shows and hundreds of LIVE TV channels.
Bharti Airtel content business and partnership head Nupur Chaturvedi said, “We are on a mission to deliver best-in-class digital entertainment experience to our users and make Airtel Xstream app the go-to destination for India’s entertainment needs. We are thrilled to partner with VOOT and bring their premium video content to our users.”
Viacom18 digital ventures COO Gourav Rakshit said, “We at VOOT have been keeping the country’s spirits high during these challenging times through various partnerships to bring meaningful and entertaining content for our viewers. Given the exponential demand for content, our collaboration with Airtel Xstream will help us reach and deliver our content experience to a larger audience base. We are elated to partner with a like-minded brand that resonates with our ideologies and is sure to help us make content viewing an enriching and engaging experience for all our viewers.”
MUMBAI: The moment we hear the name Bigg Boss, what comes to our mind is the cacophony of emotions and behaviours ranging from love to jealousy to anger to sorrow to Machiavellianism to kindness. And of course the paternalistic – at times – and strict – at others – face of superstar Salman Khan, who has been the host of the show since we ever can remember.
Viewers are bombarded with a barrage of histrionics by contestants arguing, fighting, caring, romanticising, dancing, and doing a number of other acts – which is what the show has come to be known for. Interestingly, every year one or the other contestant turns into a household name such as Gautam Gulati, Shehnaz Gill, Rohit Shukla, Dolly Bindra, Gauhar Khan, and Hina Khan.
Scene palatne ka waqt aa gaya hai! #BB14, jald hi sirf #Colors par.
Despite Covid2019, the Colors team has put in gargantuan efforts to bring back the show. Bigg Boss 14 promos have been getting impressive air time to whip up interest for the show – slated to air from 3 October at 10:30 pm on weekdays and 9 pm on weekends – from advertisers and viewers.
SHETTY THINKS THAT THERE CANNOT BE A MORE
PERFECT TIME FOR BIG BOSS
“Bigg Boss is a much-needed respite for audiences, it enjoys a very strong and loyal fan base across age groups. There cannot be a more perfect time than now for a show like Bigg Boss as the audience will relate to it more than ever. The country has been through a lockdown and television has been a constant companion during this time. The audience has been eagerly waiting for it, a show that is packed with drama and entertainment and a great differentiator from the regular shows,” says Viacom18 network sales head Mahesh Shetty.
Advertisers & Brand Integrations
Industry estimates are that Bigg Boss earned Rs 180-200 crore in advertising revenues from nine sponsors and about 100 advertisers in 2019. Viacom18 has labelled Bigg Boss 13 as the most successful season that went on for 139 episodes setting new records in both viewership and revenue terms.
2020 ke manoranjan ka scene palatne aa raha hai #BB14, jald hi sirf #Colors par.
This year the channel has already signed fantasy sports brand Mobile Premier League (MPL) as the presenting sponsor while Dabur Dant Rakshak Ayurvedic Paste and Hindustan Unilever's TRESemmé' have been roped in as co-powered by sponsors.
Shetty highlights that due to ease in the restrictions, businesses are going back to normal and as a result, advertising spends are also increasing. According to him, television is doing good in terms of volumes which is a very positive sign. “As we enter the festive season with Bigg Boss, we are sensing a lot of optimism from advertising and viewers,” he adds.
According to industry experts, Viacom’s revenue from the show is likely to get a 15-20 per cent cut compared to last year. Its card rate is between Rs 300,000 and Rs 500,000 for a 10 second spot. And it is not budging on discounts.
Shetty shares, “In a normal scenario, we would have increased the rates by 25-30 per cent from last year but we are neither increasing nor decreasing the prices. As per the BARC data in June, our ad-volumes have also recovered. We initiated discounting in the month of April-May owing to the low demand but starting July, we have let go of discounting and as of this month, we are on zero discounting and the ad volumes are still holding strong.
" Mediacom India south Asia chief growth officer Soumak Banik said that Bigg Boss is a marquee property, hence it will get the required viewership as audiences have not had much fresh content to watch over the past five months. It is not just Bigg Boss Hindi but the Tamil and Telugu versions will do better in terms of viewership and revenue.
He adds: “There is already traction from advertisers for sponsorship on Bigg Boss. Also, I don’t think so impact properties will have 15 to 20 per cent of revenue cut. In fact, I think both viewers and advertisers are open to welcome reality shows on TV. Bigg Boss has already signed two sponsors and the makers are in discussion with other brands. Similar to IPL, Bigg Boss will also have sponsors on board before it begins to telecast.”
In its fourteenth season, it is all set to cover everything from Dussehra, Diwali to Christmas and New Year during its telecast. Viacom18 is currently in talks with several brands for sponsoring other categories and is looking forward to brand integrations.
Shetty points out that it Bigg Boss is a format which suiting all kinds of brands from e-commerce, automobiles, beverages, snack foods, appliances to gaming apps, and payment gateways. It appeals cuts across categories and offers great brand integration solutions across episodes and in between the episodes on the various Colors digital properties.
“There are some sponsors who sign deals for both Bigg Boss and the channel while there are others who are only digital exclusive. Typically, we have separate sponsors for Colors and Voot. Last year, Voot had close to eight to nine sponsors and this year also we are expecting the same or more. On Voot, we also create some very similar shoulder content around Bigg Boss like Bigg Buzz that the brands find attractive.”
The format of Bigg Boss 14 is going to remain the same with a bunch of people stuck inside a house. Shetty reveals that innovations are planned for the new season which will weave in the existing realities of the pandemic into its narrative. All the luxuries that most have been deprived of will be made available to the contestants. There will be small shopping and dining areas, a spa and a health club, and even a movie theatre. Some or all of these will be accessible to the contestants, if they do well on activities and tasks that are set for them. Shetty says the format affords a lot of opportunities brands to become a part of the narrative of Bigg Boss 14.
Expectations are that the current edition will run for 106 episodes, with Shetty declining to talk budgets that are being kept aside for it.
Why Brands Love it
BARC India data reveals that Bigg Boss 13 garnered 213 million viewers and the finale alone witnessed 10.5 million impressions. Over the years, the show has been delivering very strong numbers and has helped brands generate a high top-of-the-mind recall and impact.
Shetty reveals that the response from brands and advertisers has been very encouraging. A lot of brands are now looking at investing in big-ticket properties and Bigg Boss serves as a befitting platform for brand associations and integrations.
Recently, the Indian government banned a set of Chinese apps, possibly one of the major reasons why Vivo backed out as a sponsor. According to Shetty, only due to certain operational issues and government norms certain brands may not be able to come on board.
“We expect most of the brands that have partnered with us and have been associated with us in the previous years to come back and renew their partnerships,” he highlights. “Some of the brands which are keeping a low key because of government rule may not be a part of the mix. Dabur is a case in point of a returning partner. It was a powered by sponsor last year and has come on board this year as well.”
Coinciding with IPL
This is for the first time the IPL is clashing with Bigg Boss and there is a lot of buzz that it is going to impact the viewership. However, Shetty believes that the clash is very minimal.
He mentioned that Bigg Boss starts on 3 October and runs for 106 days whereas IPL starts on 19 September and goes on until 8 November. So, the overlap is only for 37 days out of 106 days. Also, any head-on clashes between Bigg Boss 14 and the IPL this year will be rare, given the former’s telecast time of 10:30 pm and the latter’s at 7:30 pm. “The matches will most likely be over by the time Bigg Boss begins,” says an observer.
The overlap will take place only on the weekends for eight days because Bigg Boss airs at 9 pm on Saturday and Sunday. “So, from a viewer's point of view, there is not much of an overlap. Both the IPL and Bigg Boss are very strong properties and have a very strong following and I am certain people who follow and watch both will continue to do so. From the advertisers' standpoint, they have a scope to invest in two big properties. The IPL ticket size being very high may not be affordable to some of the advertisers but I think there is enough space for both to coexist,” shares Shetty.
KOLKATA:Viacom18 corporate marketing, communications and sustainability head Sonia Huria has ended her 12-years long stint with the organisation. She will join Amazon Prime Video to lead all its communication efforts for India operations.
Huria will be a part of the global communications team – leading PR and Communications for Amazon Prime Video in India. She will be reporting to Amazon Prime Video PR Asia Pacific and Canada PR head Tobias Tringali who is based in Seattle.
Ramping up Amazon Prime Video’s communication outreach, Huria will bring in her extensive experience of the entertainment industry and corporate communication. She will be directly responsible for driving the PR narrative for Amazon Prime Video while also leading communication and reputation management across the media spectrum.
With over 18 years of experience in the entertainment and the consumer space, she led brand and corporate communications for Viacom18 across all its five lines of business – broadcast entertainment, filmed entertainment, digital entertainment, experiential entertainment and consumer products – as well as led one of the industry’s most decorated internal communication functions.
Huria began her journey with Viacom18 in 2008, as part of the team that launched Hindi GEC – COLORS which became the no.1 channel in the category within a span of nine months from launch. Auguring the role of sustainability, Sonia has successfully created a model of multi-partner funded behaviour change communication content at Viacom18. First with the TV series Navrangi Re! which focused on sanitation in peri-urban India to more recently with MTV Nishedh. In addition to managing internal and external communication, Sonia also leads trade marketing and digital media for the organisation – ensuring streamlined messaging across touchpoints.
As an industry thought leader, Huria serves as managing committee member at The Advertising Club. Under her leadership, Viacom18 has won several prestigious awards at PRWeek Asia Awards, South Asia Sabre Awards and Indian PR and Corporate Communications Awards (IPRCCA). She has been featured on Impact Magazine’s Top 50 Women Leaders in Advertising, Media and Marketing for four years in a row.
MUMBAI: Bigg Boss 2020 will be back on Colors and take viewers on an entertaining ride packed with drama, thrill, and excitement. Hosted by Salman Khan, for the new season, COLORS joins hands with India’s largest esports and mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) as the presenting sponsor.
Speaking about the partnership, Viacom18 network sales head Mahesh Shetty shares, “Bigg Boss is the biggest reality show in the entertainment space, and it appeals to demographics across geographies. Given its strong fanbase makes it one of the sought-after marketing platform for sponsors. Over the years, several brands have come forward to explore innovative customizations and partnerships to deliver their business ambitions. Mobile Premier League (MPL) is one of India’s leading esports and mobile gaming platforms that provide unparalleled gaming experience to the users and we are glad to welcome them as the presenting sponsor for the new season of Bigg Boss.”
Mobile Premier League (MPL) growth and marketing VP Abhishek Madhavan said, “Bigg Boss is one of the most-watched reality shows in India and easily the most popular and most talked-about reality TV show across the country. With a superstar like Salman Khan hosting it, every season is eagerly awaited by millions and promises something new. With MPL expanding into areas like entertainment via its live-streaming and a bunch of video-first features, Bigg Boss was the most obvious choice for us to associate with. We eagerly look forward to this season and hope to cement MPL’s position as a household name through the partnership.”
Elaborating on the partnership, Mediacom India & South Asia CEO Navin Khemka said, “We are delighted with this partnership of MPL and Bigg Boss. This is one show that has shown consistent performance over the years. We are confident that we will be able to leverage a strong association with the loyal Bigg Boss audience through some innovative associations that we have in store for our exponentially increasing gaming audience. India loves to play and this time it’s going to be inside the Bigg Boss house with MPL.”
Being the most-awaited and entertaining reality show on Indian Television, the upcoming season of Bigg Boss will enthrall the audience who will once again witness all the high-voltage drama and action unfold on their screens.
KOLKATA: Voot’s Akash Banerji has put down his papers after a five-year stint with the digital arm of Viacom18. He will join Amazon India’s centralized mobile business development unit as marketing head in September end. At Voot, Banerji was serving as a business head for AVoD.
According to sources close to the development, Banerji will work closely with different businesses of Amazon ecosystem as well as the multiple strategic distribution partners (including telcos). In his new role, he will foster synergies with partners and create new product expansion strategies with the aim to drive subscription numbers and revenues.
Banerji joined Voot back in 2015 as vice president and head of marketing and partnerships. He was associated with the launch of the OTT platform which has now become one of the leading players with over 100 million monthly active users.
Being a media and marketing professional, he has worked across leading brands including Star India, Marico. During his stint at Star, he led the successful marketing launch of Hotstar as well as the marketing launch of the new Star Sports network.
We tried reaching out to Banerji, but he was not available at the moment.
KOLKATA: Production houses have been able to resume the shooting schedule for shows since July, four months after the lockdown, but the fate of large scale projects still remains cloudy. Amid the backdrop of this uncertainty, the OTT players are innovating to churn out content.
VOOT Select, the subscription-based premium service of VOOT, that was introduced a few days before the lockdown, has launched a new show – The Gone Game. Interestingly, the show has been shot remotely and entirely in isolation during the lockdown. Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, The Gone Game is a one of a kind and a never-seen-before concept that puts creative freedom in the hands of the cast of the series to innovate while shooting from their homes.
Although some of the projects have been delayed during the lockdown, VOOT Select, Viacom18 Youth, Music, and English Entertainment head Ferzad Palia is confident of its content pipeline thanks to the mix of originals, international content and before TV.
The lockdown has given a huge surge to all streaming services. VOOT Select did not have a chance to compare its traffic to pre-Covid period but shelter-at-home directive has helped it to beat in terms of subscription, watch time.
Palia said the subscribers are consuming all sort of content with its originals like Asur, The Raikar Case, and Illegal creating a good buzz. Talking about the subscribers, Palia mentioned that they are mostly coming from top six metro cities followed by significant inflow from the top 15 cities as well.
While lockdown has created an opportunity for streaming services, it has also impacted the marketing strategy due to the absence of the outdoor medium. Palia said while they have not been able to effectively use the outdoors after the first few days of launch, they have diverted marketing spends towards digital and TV. VOOT Select is evaluating all options around the outdoor medium with lockdown ending in a few parts of the country but currently keeping the focus on digital and television.
During these last four-five months, many of the large OTT platforms have struck deals with movies lined up for theatrical release. Palia said the platform needs to focus on its own product now as it has a strong original slate and international content slate. He mentioned that no opportunity is off the table but timing is important.
“We are very clear that our distribution strategy is not to be necessarily available with every single partner. We are very selective about the partner that we choose and Tata Sky Binge is the first announcement that we have made. There are others in the pipeline. It's important for us to build reach and for that distribution to increase. While the heart of our business is d2c, if there are opportunities which will help consumers access us through partners and that is relevant for them, we will take a call,” Palia commented on distribution strategy.
As several parts of the country are reopening, experts believe there might be a slowdown in the growth of OTTs. But Palia said that subscribers have discovered new content and a new way of consumption. Hence, they are not seeing any slowdown in subscription growth or any reduction in time spend; both are growing day-by-day.
KOLKATA: Voot Select is all set to launch its next big original The Gone Game. As a service that launched just on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, Voot Select has truly unleashed the potential of OTT. Backed with its critically and commercially acclaimed shows like Asur, Marzi, The Raikar Case and Illegal, the next from VOOT Select – made for stories is The Gone Game – a show that breaks the barriers of space and location to deliver on a gripping and compelling story.
Voot Select has noted a stellar growth trajectory and with offerings such as the upcoming season of Bigg Boss being available on the platform before TV, launch of premium content in regional languages and originals like The Gone Game, the platform is all set to further accelerate its growth in the next few months.
Speaking about the journey of Voot, Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gourav Rakshit said: “Voot has had a tremendous growth trajectory since launch. Being the last entrant in the broadcaster backed OTT category, we quickly catapulted to being the second largest AVOD player. We launched Voot Select on the heels of the ongoing pandemic, however the lockdown truly unlocked the value of a premium service and in a very short time frame we have grown to be home to some of the best original and international content.”
“Voot Select has witnessed tremendous growth since the launch in early March of 2020. Being the most recent SVOD entrant in the broadcaster backed OTT category, it's heartening to see how much ground we've been able to cover in such quick time. Beyond subscription numbers we've also grown in reputation to become home to some of the finest original web series in the country. I have no doubt that "The Gone Game” will join the list of celebrated stories from Voot Select," Rakshit added.
Shot entirely in isolation during the lockdown, The Gone Game has been executed through remote direction, ingenious cinematography and limited equipment. Marked by nuanced performances and inimitable viewing experience, the show will build intrigue and unravel a mystery at every step of the way. Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, The Gone Game is a one of a kind and a never-seen-before concept that puts creative freedom in the hands of the cast of the series to innovate while shooting from their homes.
Commenting on the launch of The Gone Game, Voot Select, Viacom18 Youth, Music and English Entertainment head Ferzad Palia said, “Voot Select has had a tremendous first 150 days. Subscriber growth has surpassed all estimates by a long, long way. This spectacular success of the platform comes on the back of Originals, Before TV Content & our International offering. The lockdown has provided a further boost to the rapid rise in subscriber growth. We have innovatively navigated through the challenges of the lockdown and continued to create the best in content and viewing experience for our audience. The Gone Game has a gripping storyline, top drawer cast, and has been shot entirely from home with utmost precision and skill. The thrill and excitement of the show will deliver top-notch entertainment.”
Set in a global pandemic, with a nation in lockdown, the story starts amidst a mysterious disappearance. Sahil Gujral is gone. Did he fall prey to the virus? Or is something more sinister at play? 2020 has changed the world forever, but for the Gujral family, the nightmare has just begun.Backed with a power-packed cast including Sanjay Kapoor, Arjun Mathur, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Rukhsar Rehman, Lubna Salim, Indraneil Sengupta, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and produced by Bodhi Tree Multimedia, The Gone Game will stream on Voot Select from 20 August.
Sukesh Motwani of Bodhi Tree Multimedia said, “It will not be wrong to say that we made it from scratch as we were working with very limited resources and shooting entirely from home. It was challenging but our entire team in association with Voot Select and Nikhil Nagesh Bhat built the concept and storyline of the show creatively without compromising on the output. We were lucky to have a fantastic cast and crew that collectively helped us put a great show together. We are certain that the audience are in for a thrilling ride.”
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MUMBAI: TV viewers have finally been able to see their favourite characters on screen after unlock rules permitted shootings. Among the shows resumed is the popular Naagin on Colors. Viacom18 Hindi mass entertainment chief content officer Manisha Sharma is certain that viewership will gradually pick up owing to the engaging storyline, highpoints, plot twists and intrigue around the characters.
Sharma considers Naagin as the Game of Thrones for India. Each season of Naagin has a standalone narrative with the elements of love and revenge at its core. As per Sharma, over the years, the channel has experimented and innovated a lot with the concept. She terms it as a hero franchise and wishes to build it further.
The show has also stood against the trend of fluctuating ratings and has constantly raked in good numbers ever since its debut on Colors and even fortified the channel’s position on the rating chart, as per Sharma. Colors’ belief in the concept of Naagin has already led the channel to work on season six.
She further adds, “One and a half years ago, the channel was going through a tricky phase but then we launched Naagin, we were able to stabilise our numbers. For us, Naagin is like a fiction equivalent of Bigg Boss which holds everything together.”
The channel shares a longstanding association with Ekta Kapoor, who is the mastermind behind the Naagin franchise. Sharma says, “Ekta is the master of creativity and extremely passionate about Naagin. It is owing to her passion and energy that we have been able to conclude Naagin season four and segue into season five immediately with an interesting new twist. It will highlight the secret of Naagmani and how the tussle for it originally started. We are hoping to get the viewers to tune in back into television.”
Sharma also highlights that owing to the longstanding association with Balaji Telefilms there are no specific budget cuts introduced.
Naagin falls under the genre of fantasy fiction – something not common on Hindi GECs. Naagin transports you to a powerful world with a novel experience.
The other challenge in Naagin for Sharma is adequate planning. As a finite series with recurring seasons, the scripts are locked in advance. “To do that, you need to be clear about the story and a lot of thought needs to be put in while developing the characters as well,” she shares.
The show is heavily dependent on VFX and so making last-minute improvisation is not always possible. While in other parts of the world the whole season is shot first and then aired, in India, channels still have some liberty to shoot it weekly. However, with current guidelines and limited number of people working on a show, the editing process also needs to be planned to meet the deadline. Hence, VFX will bear the burden of bringing good quality in the show.
In a recent interview, Ekta Kapoor had apologised to the cast of Naagin 4 due to the mediocre script. Hence, season five of Naagin will see writers. Sharma adds, “We bring in fresh writers after two seasons as it is more feasible and we get a new perspective. Sometimes we are able to put together a storyline for 10 or 12 episodes and sometimes it even goes up to 100 episodes. While we do have a pool of writers, we stick to a select few with whom our synergies match.”
Sharma notes that the line between primetime and non-primetime has blurred with people spending most of their time at home. While non-primetime shows are doing well, primetime shows have also picked up after initial teething issues.
The channel has made slight changes to the way it understands viewership data. Sharma reveals that the channel now analyses the numbers, studies the overall market and maps even news channels’ performance against GEC performance. However, she thinks it is too soon to predict the change in the viewership pattern as the audiences’ daily routine has changed. For now, the channel is focusing on strengthening timeslots to bring back viewers and give them interesting story hooks to look forward to with the fresh content.
