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Tag: Viacom18

  • Black magic, evil forces and unnerving eeriness – COLORS’ new supernatural drama ‘Tantra’ explores the untamed world of the unknown

    Black magic, evil forces and unnerving eeriness – COLORS’ new supernatural drama ‘Tantra’ explores the untamed world of the unknown

    Mumbai: A beautiful house nestled in a beautiful environment houses a beautiful family. But does beauty dwell in everything that looks beautiful? Delving into the realms of the unknown is COLORS’ latest supernatural offering, Tantrawhich explores the world of black magic and its evil effects. The show is an intriguing tale of incantation, mysticism and supernatural elements wrapped in a family drama.

    ‘Tantra’tells the tale of a family who has fallen prey to the clutches of incantation. The Khanna’s are an affluent family who move into their dream home but become unfortunate victims of the gruesome practice of Tantra. The antagonist is the House itself whose eerie effects makes the place unliveable and a nightmare for its inhabitants.

    Actor Sargun Kaur essays the female protagonist Niyati Khanna, while actor Gautam Vig plays her love interest, Akshat. The supernatural thriller marks the comeback of celebrated television actors Manish Goel and Juhi Parmarwho will be seen as Prithvi and Sumati Khanna. Producedby Swastik Productions, Tantra will premiere on 3rdDecember 2018 and will air every Monday to Friday at 11:00 p.m.

    Speaking about this thrilling genre said, Nina Elavia Jaipuria – Head, Hindi and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, "At COLORS we have always provided varied and diverse content choices and experiences to our viewers.  Our intriguing and captivating sagas continue to engage audiences and create benchmarks in storytelling and scale.  With Tantra, we continue to explore another interesting and intriguing genre that is sure to provide viewers with an edge of the seat experience.”

    Speaking about the concept of the show,Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18 said,“The Indian audiences have always been fascinated by supernatural stories. These stories take us back to our childhood, a time when it was easy to believe in the fairy-tales and mystical stories. Whether it’s the costumes, the VFX, the props or the sets, the viewers have always devoured the mysterious world of uncanny tales. The antagonist in our show is a House that has a will of its own. Will Niyati be able to save her family from the clutches of the evil forces entrenched in this House? 'Tantra' will explore this and much more for the viewers.”

    Mr. Siddharth Kumar Tewary of Swastik Productions, the Writer, Producer and Creator of Tantra, "Tantra, the story of a house that has undergone black magic, is a progressive show that truly shows that doing black magic isn’t good and the consequences can be dire. The intricacies in the relationships which each of the family members share with each other as well as the dynamics of a family also plays a crucial role in the story. Tantra is Swastiks’s first foothold into the supernatural genre in which we are bringing to our viewers a house that shall truly ‘live’, a family that shall fight the darkness which comes with black magic and a story that shall grip the viewers through VFX, sets, props etc which has never been seen before in the world of supernatural on Indian Television.”

    Sargun Kaur who plays Niyati Khanna, said, “Niyati’ is a practical young woman who does not believe in superstitions. She must come to terms that her family is inflicted by the evils of tantra and is the only person who can truly save her family from its wrath. I am extremely excited to work with COLORS for the first time and I hope to receive a positive response from audience.”

    Gautam Vig who plays Akshat,said, “Akshat plays Niyati’s love interest. He is undyingly devoted to his lady love. While Niyati’s family relies on her to safeguard their lives, it is Akshat who is Niyati’s pillar of strength. It is my first show with COLORS’ and the concept is pathbreaking, I am sure it will entertain the audience and keep them glued to the television”. 

    Juhi Parmar, who plays Sumati Khanna, said, “I am happy to be back with COLORS and Swastik Productions once again. It is like coming back home for me. But this role is completely different from my last stint. My character Sumati is a god loving woman and a hands-on mother. I am looking forward to this show because of its unique concept and eagerly awaiting audience feedback on the same”.

    Manish Goel, who plays the family patriarch Prithvi Khanna said, “This is my first show with COLORS and I am looking forward to this union. My role as Prithvi Khanna is an atheist but I am a firm believer of god in real life. The show has been conceptualized well and has some beautiful characterisations. I hope the audience appreciates our efforts and make this show a thumping success.”

    Tantra is an esoteric practice and the Khanna’s must band together to fight this evil when they come face to face with the reality of Tantra. This unnerving tale is sure to have the audience by the edge of their seats.

  • Network18 hands Avinash Kaul, Rahul Kansal additional portfolios

    Network18 hands Avinash Kaul, Rahul Kansal additional portfolios

    MUMBAI: Close on the heel of a senior executive from Network18 group announcing his departure and internal synergies being brought about in the company for better cohesion and functioning, the organisation has handed some other top execs newer responsibilities.

    Reliance Industries Ltd-controlled Network18 COO Avinash Kaul  has been handed the sales responsibilities for the group with all national sales heads reporting into him. Kaul will continue to be the MD of A+E at TV18, the television arm of Network18 that controls the largest number of TV news channels in India.

    Brand wiz Rahul Kansal , who cut his teeth at the Times of India group and joined Network18 earlier this year as group brand advisor, has been given interim charge of the overall marketing for network. Day-to-day activities will be taken care of by respective TV channels.

    Two recent departures from the group and a joint venture included that of Forbes India CEO and Network 18 President (Revenue) Joy Chakraborthy  and Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak . Nayak will stay on till early 2019 with the company that’s a joint venture with American media giant Viacom.  

    Apart from Kaul and Kansal getting additional responsibilities, Network18 president of special projects Priyanka Kaul will take over the charge of broadcast Focus and branded content and is shortly expected to revamp the Focus division.

    The two Kauls and Kansal will continue to report to Network18 and TV18 MD Rahul Joshi.

    Network18 Media and Investments Ltd is a media and entertainment company with interests in television, internet, filmed entertainment, digital business, magazines, mobile content and allied businesses. The company manages various digital businesses, including portals such as moneycontrol.com, ibnlive.com, burrp.com, in.com and firstpost.com.

    It also operates digital commerce properties like HomeShop18 and bookmyshow.com. In addition, Network18 is a leading player in the publishing space having under its wing titles such as Forbes India, Overdrive, Better Interiors and Better Photography.

    Through its subsidiary TV18 Broadcast Limited, the group operates news channels such as CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC Bajar, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, CNN-News18, IBN7, ETV channels and News18 Lokmat (a Marathi regional news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group).

    TV18 also operates a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of popular entertainment channels like Colors, Colors HD, Colors Infinity, Rishtey, MTV India, MTV Indies, Comedy Central, Vh1, Nick, Sonic, Nick Jr, Teen Nick and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the group's filmed entertainment business. TV18 operates a factual entertainment channel History TV18 and FYI TV18 through a joint venture with A+E Networks.

  • COLORS launches an epic tale of good vs. evil – ‘Vish Ya Amrit: Sitaara’

    COLORS launches an epic tale of good vs. evil – ‘Vish Ya Amrit: Sitaara’

    MUMBAI: COLORS, India’s leading premium Hindi entertainment channel is strengthening its leadership in the fantasy and supernatural genre with the launch of ‘Vish Ya Amrit: Sitaara’ – a stunning recreation of the Vishakanya folklore that existed from the time of Chandragupta Maurya. Produced by Rashmi Sharma Telefilms, the show will premiere on 3rd December 2018, Monday – Friday 10:30 pm only on COLORS.

    Historically speaking, the cloak of mystery concealed the identity of Vishkanyas for too long. But folklores surrounding their existence have always fascinated viewers across age groups. COLORS’ newest offering, Vish Ya Amrit: Sitaara will see a beautiful portrayal of this concept that was once considered extremely powerful to combat enemies or take revenge. The show boasts of a stellar star cast, with Adaa Khan playing the title role of Sitaara, Shilpa Saklani (Vrinda)Sandeep Baswana (Kuldip Shekavat) and Shakti Anand (King Shivdaan Singh) amongst others.

    Centuries ago Indian rulers trained girls to become assassins, first making them immune to poison and then – by slowly introducing poison into their systems – turning them venomous. Hence the term ‘vishkanya’. Known for their beauty, vishkanyas used seduction to escape dangerous situations and bring empires to their knees. Vish Ya Amrit: Sitaara is set in Vikralgadh village in Rajasthan and traces the journey of Sitaara, who is oblivious to her own identity. Abandoned in her infancy by her mother, she is brought up by her father Kuldip Shekavat who is a loyal palace manager to King Shivdaan Singh. Falling in love with the pretty Vrinda marks the beginning of Kuldip and the king’s downfall. The story takes a sharp turn when Sitaara embarks on a journey that forces her to choose between good and bad. Sitaara is a girl of high integrity is willing to stand by her convictions at all times, and against all people, even when it means standing up against people who might have cared for her.

    Speaking about the launch, Nina Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV network Viacom18, said – "COLORS has always created visually extravagant and immersive experiences for our viewers. With Vish Ya Amrit – Sitaara  we continue to push the boundary with unique storytelling and scale that is sure create another category milestone.”

    Resonating similar sentiments, Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, said: “Sitaara as a show has been conceived keeping in mind the new wave of concepts that come with a little element of thrill and keeps viewers on the edge of the seats. Our lead protagonist is torn between the love for her mother who is evil personified and her own value system which prevents her from doing anything but good. The viewers will love to see this tussle between sin and virtue and see her choose the path of righteousness going against the wishes of her mother.”

    Producer Rashmi Sharma said: “In mythology, vishkanyas had the power to destroy empires. With Vish Ya Amrit: Sitaara, a girl who doesn’t know her roots is compelled to choose between her real identity and the one she grew up with. She is an honest rendition of a woman with good upbringing. We’re sure that the audience will enjoy this journey.”

    Adaa Khan said: “I’m thrilled at the opportunity and in love with my character. Her uniqueness will make her stand apart.  I’m thankful to COLORS and Rashmi Sharma for believing in me and giving me a chance to awe my fans and viewers with another beautiful narrative.”

    COLORS’ has won the hearts of the viewers with its innovative storytelling in the fantasy-folklore genre. The channel is confident that this exotic concept will win the hearts of the audience once again as it presents it anew through Vish Ya Amrit: Sitaara

    Will Sitaara’s hidden past reveal an unsteady future? Will she prove to be a femme fatale or the savior of her province?

  • Viacom18 confirms the departure of Raj Nayak

    Viacom18 confirms the departure of Raj Nayak

    MUMBAI: In an official statement released to the media, Viacom18 confirmed the departure of Raj Nayak, the media network’s Chief Operating Officer. Raj Nayak had joined Viacom18 in 2011 as CEO, COLORS and was elevated to COO – Viacom18 in May 2017, following which middle of this year, his role was expanded to lead the revenue portfolio for the network’s broadcast business. 

    Speaking about Raj Nayak’s departure, Sudhanshu Vats – Group CEO and MD Designate, Viacom18 said, “Raj is one of the most admired leaders in the media and entertainment industry.While on one hand, it is our loss to see a committed and capable leader leave, on the other, it is reassuring to know that he will always keep Viacom18’s flag flying high. On a personal level, I would like to thank Raj for partnering me as Viacom18 scaled newer heights. On behalf of everyone at Viacom18, I’d like to wish Raj all the very best for his future endeavours.”

    Speaking about his journey at Viacom18, Raj Nayak said, “The last seven and a half years at Viacom18 have been most exciting, challenging and rewarding. I have a wonderful team and they helped propel the company to new heights. The Viacom18 leadership has always been supportive and for that, I will always be grateful. These are exciting times for the media industry, the pace of change is remarkable, and I feel energised about the opportunity to do something new in this new landscape.”

    Raj Nayak will be serving at Viacom18 till February, 2019.

  • Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak quits

    Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak quits

    MUMBAI: Viacom18's Bigg Boss has quit, according to media reports. We are talking about Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak, who gave Star Plus and Zee TV a run for their money when he took over the channel's charge as CEO, before he was elevated to his current role.

    Nayak has worked with the organisation for almost seven-and-a-half years. He joined the organisation in 2011 as CEO of Colors and was responsible to look after Viacom18’s flagship general entertainment channel. Last year in May, he was elevated to the network's COO role.

    Prior to joining Colors, he had founded media sales and marketing company Aidem. Before that, he was working with NDTV Media Ltd as CEO and headed it for over a period of seven years.

    In 1993, Nayak started his career with Star India and rose to the role of EVP sales and marketing. He was responsible for strategy, packaging and marketing for all Star channels and the revenue for the group.

  • Broadcasters see regional adex space growing

    Broadcasters see regional adex space growing

    MUMBAI: Now that the Hindi fervour has died down, broadcasters and advertisers have latched on to the regional segment. It's no wonder that the adex in the space is expected to grow as well.

    According to the global ad growth forecast of GroupM, India’s adex is expected to grow at 14.2 per cent compared to the global growth average of 3.9 per cent in 2019 and is likely to change. Indian adex has grown by 13.2 per cent in 2018 as per estimates by the media agency network. Moreover, according to the KPMG report 2018, regional and Hindi GECs continued to be the leading genres in terms of advertisement expenditure in FY18. However, the adex on Hindi GECs declined by 9 per cent in FY18 as compared to an increase of 5.4 per cent in adex on regional channels, outlining the overall growth of the regional market in India.

    Throwing light on the Tamil and Marathi genre, they saw a marginal decline of 2 per cent and 9 per cent respectively while other major regional languages such as Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Malayalam and Oriya, saw a growth in their contribution to the overall adex in FY18. This indicates that other regional languages are picking up quick.

    In Februrary 2018, Viacom18 entered the Tamil GEC market with the launch of Colors Tamil, with an availability across 11 million households in Tamil Nadu and 22 hours of weekly original content at launch.  

    Commenting on the same, Viacom18 head regional entertainment Ravish Kumar said that part of it could possibly be caused by the FTA channels which have come up in Hindi. The viewership has moved to them and that has led to margin dilution as opposed to margin accretion. “On the regional space, you must have seen a lot of consolidation on the top end so where the strong are getting stronger and the weak are getting weaker, more margins are analysed which normally means that the ability to command high rates are high.” He added that it is backed up with a lot of investment in formats like reality, movie premiers or events which typically tend to command higher rates.

    He further added that the growth in regional space is in double digits. Commenting on the decline in Tamil and Marathi, Kumar said that the ratings of regional channels have only increased steadily over the years and short term ups and downs are expected.

    The other factors that would aid adex growth are big ticket events such as several state elections, government advertising and cricketing events. FMCG continues to contribute 51 per cent to the total television spends followed by telecom 12 per cent and auto 8 per cent that helped reach a growth of Rs 820 crore in television adex in 2017. Hindi GECs, including FTA, contributed 28 per cent of overall television adex and Hindi is by far the largest contributor to television adex.

    As per the report, Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand said, “2018 will be a good year for adex overall. The economy has more or less come to terms with the earlier disruptions. We don’t expect any major new policy changes since it’s an election-eve year. And not to forget, the 2017 base is a depressed one. So growth will be decent.”

    Speaking about the Bengali cluster, Zee Bangla had recently refreshed its channel’s campaign by observing a wide surge in the viewership off late. Meanwhile, in an interview with Indiantelevision.com, ZEEL business head for Zee Bangla and Zee Bangla Cinema Samrat Ghosh said that in terms of ad space, it has observed a good amount of contribution to the national players as well as the local players and it sees a lot of opportunity in West Bengal in the GEC space in terms of viewership. “As I have already said that the Bengal TV viewership is growing at a CAGR of 5 per cent whereas the ad expenditure is growing at 13 per cent.”

    Adding more relevance to Ghosh’s point, ZEEL cluster head regional markets Amit Shah said that the total Bengali TV ad market is pegged at Rs 1000 crore with 90 per cent of the spends going towards Bengal GECs. “National advertisers are seeing a lot of merit in choosing Bengal for their incremental purpose where the national brand is concerned. Now, most companies divide the country into zones. According to that division, East zone in most cases is growing faster than the rest of the country which itself means that there is some good momentum in the market.”

    Whereas, in terms of Kerala market ZEEL CMO Prathyusha Agarwal said that South GECs is a larger universe with larger audience. “It actually contributes 33 per cent viewership of the network and 23 per cent of the adex share. Hence, there is scope to grow there. The total adex in the Kerala market is estimated to be Rs 650-700 crore.”

    As per the reports, with increasing focus on quality content in the regional markets, the production costs also saw an increase in FY’18. The production cost of a single original episode in the southern languages ranged between Rs 1.75-2 lakh and the acquisition price for a single ready dubbed Hindi series episode was between Rs 35,000-50,000 per episode. The proportion of local advertisers in regional channels ranges from 40-60 per cent, with the remaining being national advertisers, and this mix is skewed in favour of local advertisers for regional GECs outside the top three to four.

    Star India south business MD K Madhavan said, “The content costs saw an increase in FY18 on account of significant improvements in the quality and production value of regional content. For non-fiction properties like Big Boss Tamil, the content costs were significantly higher, an indicator of the quality that audiences are now expecting.”

    It remains to be seen what does the year 2019 have to say to the broadcasters about adex in the near future.

  • Celebrating 100 years of Bengali cinema, Viacom18 and Film Heritage Foundation bring the 4th Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop to Kolkata

    Celebrating 100 years of Bengali cinema, Viacom18 and Film Heritage Foundation bring the 4th Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop to Kolkata

    Kolkata: In line with the centenary celebration of the Bengali Film Industry, and with a purpose to encourage and give an impetus to film preservation and restoration, the 4th edition of Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India (FPRWI) 2018 was today inaugurated at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan. Supported by Viacom18, this initiative of Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) and International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) is being held in association with the Kolkata International Film Festival. The workshop will be held from 15th to 22nd, November 2018 at ICCR Kolkata. 

    With this edition of the workshop, a program to restore 100 Bengali films such as Tapan Sinha’s Kabuliwala, P.C. Barua’s Devdas and Ajoy Kar’s Saat Paake Bandha, amongst others will be initiated. Eminent actor Shri Soumitra Chatterjee, who was the Chief Guest, inaugurated the workshop in the presence of Shri Aroop Biswas, Hon’ble Minister, Public Works Dept., Sports & Youth Dept. and Chairman, West Bengal Film Academy; Shri Indranil Sen, Hon’ble Minister of State, Information and Culture Dept. & Tourism Dept., Govt. of West Bengal; and esteemed members of the film fraternity such as Smt. Madhabi Mukherjee, Shri. Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Shri Goutam Ghose, Shri Prosenjit Chatterjee, Smt. Rituparna Sengupta, and Shri. Jawahar Sircar. Also present at the inauguration were Sudhandhu Vats, Group CEO and Managing Director Designate, Viacom18 and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Founder & Director of Film Heritage Foundation and David Walsh, Training and Outreach Coordinator, FIAF.

    Speaking at the occasion, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD Designate, Viacom18, said, “At Viacom18 we believe in the power of synergies and the way our association has shaped up over the past three years is an apt example of harnessing the ability of the collective for the greater good. With collaboration of Government bodies, film fraternity, the international community of film restoration experts and cinema enthusiasts, we have been able to create an ecosystem that understands the importance of cinema as a cultural relic and is equipped to preserve and archive it, for future generations. With the past three editions of the workshop in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai, we are proud to now have created a pool of about 200 individuals who are aware and equipped to preserve films across India.”

    The week-long intensive program will train a total of 58 students from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India in preservation and restoration techniques for celluloid film and photographic material like posters, lobby cards, song booklets and photographs. FPRWI covers every aspect of film preservation making it one of the most comprehensive workshops for preservation and restoration across the world. Global experts like David Walsh – FIAF, Camille Blot-Wellens – FIAF, Kieron Webb – British Film Institute, Marianna de Sanctis  –  L’Immagine Ritrovata, Dawn Jaros – Academy of Motion Picture, Dana Hemmenway – Centre for Creative Photography, among others, are a part of the esteemed faculty. The 4th edition of the workshop introduces a new format allowing students to select a specialization of their interest. The program will also have practical sessions for scanning archival films with the latest and world class ARRISCAN XT scanner.

    Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Founder & Director, Film Heritage Foundation, further added, “Film preservation is a highly specialized field that requires trained archivists. The goal of these annual intensive workshops has been to create awareness about the urgent need to save our film heritage as well as to create a resource of trained archivists who can take this forward. After the success of the first three editions, we are thankful to the Government of West Bengal for their support towards bringing FPRWI to the Kolkata and we are encouraged by their decision to make the preservation of their film heritage a priority.”

    On inaugurating the 4th Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2018, legendary actor and Chairman of KIFF, Prosenjit Chatterjee said, “Saving and showcasing Bengali cinema is of utmost importance and we are glad that such concerted efforts are being made to ensure that our cinematic heritage is being preserved. I am grateful to Viacom18 and the Film Heritage Foundation for bringing the FPRWI workshop to Kolkata.” 

    At the opening ceremony of the workshop, Veteran actor Shri Soumitra Chatterjee said, “Bengali cinema has got international accolades to India and we are in dire of need of saving this heritage. Works of these legendary actors, directors, musicians and cinematographers need to be saved and hence, I am glad that we are today taking an initiative that will inspire the youth to preserve Bengali cinema.”

    FPRWI 2018 is supported by globally renowned industry bodies like The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, The Academy of Motion Picture, Arts & Sciences, L’Immagine Ritrovata, Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, British Film Institute, The Criterion Collection, the Irish Film Institute, the Austrian Film Museum, Eye Film museum, Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives), the Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive, Centre for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, ARRI and Media Inventions.  Previous editions of the workshops have been conducted in Mumbai in 2015, Pune in 2016 and in Chennai in 2017.

  • Excitement Tenfold as Nickelodeon India Brings a Week of fun to celebrate children’s day

    Excitement Tenfold as Nickelodeon India Brings a Week of fun to celebrate children’s day

    MUMBAI: The memories that we make as children always set path for the adult in us.  Nickelodeon, India’s leading kids’ entertainment franchise by Viacom18 is all set to host a week long carnival to celebrate Children’s Day with interactive activities and games. The week long activities will see the channel entertain the little munchkins and remind us, never to forget the child within.

    Nickelodeon will kick start the activities with a makeover of the entire channel with Children’s week bugs, Astons, Bumpers and Idents. The excitement increased with the premier of Gattu Battu’s first TV movie and a majestic short movie based on Lord Shiva. An additional treat will be the daily blocks of Motu and Patlu, giving children a chance to discuss on social media by running a contest of which movie of their most loved character Motu Patlu will be played on children’s day. That is not all, kids will also be treated to a splendid surprise with the new children week special – Slime Jump Game! The game brought upon laughter and moments to always remember as the kids selected their favourite toon to get slimed upon.

    If that is all happening on-air, Nickelodeon isn’t far behind in engaging with kids from schools and NGO’s on this special day. The channel has always encouraged its viewers to have fun while bringing out the child within you. Nicktoons like Shiva, Rudra and Dora engaged with kids of Podar International School and Angel Express, NGO for interactive activities and games.

  • Nick Wali Diwali this year is a Noise-free Diwali

    Nick Wali Diwali this year is a Noise-free Diwali

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon, India’s leading kids’ entertainment franchise by Viacom18, is churning a new wave of change this Diwali by encouraging kids and adults to have a noise-free Diwali. With this initiative, this year Nickelodeon hopes to spread awareness about importance of noise-free Diwali and also reaches out to some of the most severely affected groups by the noise pollution caused during the festival.

    One such group being affected the most owing to the noise of firecrackers is Mumbai Traffic Police. While we know the harmful effects of bursting crackers on our environment, seldom we think about the consequences of our act on traffic police-men who are on-duty during the festival. They not only affected by the air but also are affected by noise pollution generated by the fire crackers in the midst of an already high decibel noise of traffic. This Diwali, Nicktoon Shiva as a gesture of respect and gratitude to the department, gave away several sweet boxes to these traffic policemen.

    Also affected are our little pooches who are highly sensitive to noise and face the brunt of noisy fire crackers! Several such munchkins, who we call family, get lost every year trying to escape from the loud noises of firecrackers and lose a home! To create awareness about the severe effects of noise pollution, Nickelodeon sends out Earmuffs to leading for their pets to not just protect them from the noise pollution, but to stir a conversation and create awareness on the same.

  • Viacom18 announces new appointments to boost regional cluster

    Viacom18 announces new appointments to boost regional cluster

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 has announced a series of senior level hires for its regional TV cluster, bolstering its creative and content capabilities ahead of its plans to fortify its position across markets.

    Viacom18 head regional TV network Ravish Kumar said, “Regional is a big growth driver for Viacom18 as a network. The challenge, as well as the opportunity, lies in the diversity that regional as a space demands. While the different businesses of the organisation synergise to produce great content, each region and role require talented and committed people who understand the nuances typical to their regions. Each of the leaders, who have joined our regional entertainment space, is a stalwart in his/her space and role. I am excited that together, we can further strengthen our offering to our discerning viewers.”

    Deepak Rajyadhakshya has been appointed as Colors Marathi head. He has more than 18 years of experience in broadcast and entertainment, ranging across creative and business roles. He joined Viacom18 from the Zee Network where he headed the business for Zee Marathi before moving internally to spearhead the mainline Hindi GEC Zee TV. In his current capacity he will report to Viacom18 business head Marathi entertainment Nikhil Sane.

    Colors Tamil has two pivotal roles filled up with the inclusion of Raj Kannan as head, programming and Radha Ramamurthy as head, ideation. Kannan is an eloquent writer and speaker with 27 years of media experience in multi-channel content strategizing and content creation. Prior to joining Viacom18, he was working with the Vikatan Media Group as its brands and themes editor-in-chief where he played a distinctive part in handling the entire gamut of business in print and visual mediums. 

    Ramamurthy has 11 years of professional expertise in ideating and executing televised shows and events, brand building, marketing strategy and communications across diversified industries – Media, FMCG and Retail. She helps businesses connect with clients and consumers in novel and productive ways by bringing about mutually profitable interactions between these intersectional groups. Prior to joining Viacom18 she was working with Vikatan Media Group as their head of events and brand connect. She has also worked with Zee Tamil, Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd and Spencer’s Retail in the past. At Viacom18 both will be reporting to Colors Tamil business head Anup Chandrasekharan.

    For Colors Bangla, the network has appointed Aratrika Bhaumik as head, ideation. With 13 years of experience, Bhaumik has worked for more than a decade at Star India at the national as well as regional bases. 

    Also, Jayanta Bhattacharya has come onboard as head, OAP for Colors Bangla. With 16 years of experience, Bhattacharya moves in from Zee Bangla where he oversaw promo ideation. At Colors Bangla, Bhaumik and Bhattacharya will be in charge of scaling up the channel’s offerings under the guidance of Colors Bangla and Colors Odia head creative and content Suvonkar Banerjee.

    Previously working as the marketing head at the ABP group, Biswarup Das has joined Viacom18 as head marketing for Colors Bangla and Colors Odia. With 17 years of work experience under his belt, Das will spearhead the brand marketing and strategy for the channels and will work towards enhancing the strategic brand framework, brand architecture, and experience in the field. He will report to Viacom18 Bangla and Odia entertainment business head Rahul Chakravarti.

    In the Kannada Entertainment space, Abhaya Simha has been appointed as head –digital for Kannada Entertainment. Simha is a film director and a screenwriter. An alumnus of FTII – Pune, Abhaya’s debut venture, He has also worked with Star Suvarna and Prajavani and is a visiting faculty at many prestigious colleges across South India. At Viacom18, he will be responsible for incubating original concepts and shows in the Kannada language for VOOT. In his current capacity he will report to Viacom18 Kannada entertainment business head Parameshwar Bhat.

    For the cluster’s Gujarati space, Darshil Bhatt has joined as the programming head for Gujarati entertainment. Bhatt has 11 years of experience in the media industry. In his last stint with 94.3 MY FM as programming head he was responsible for leading and managing music, content, client solutions, brand marketing, programming, digital and production for 3 major stations. At Viacom18 he will be responsible for increasing the visibility and perception of the Gujarati entertainment vertical of the network. He will report to Kumar.