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Tag: Viacom18

  • TAM-BARC India JV: The King is dead, long live the King

    TAM-BARC India JV: The King is dead, long live the King

    MUMBAI: Merely four months after the new television ratings measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India entered the fray, the battle of matrices saw a happy ending today (27 August) as Television Audience Measurement (TAM) gracefully bowed out of the ratings race.

    Seeing more wisdom in forming a joint venture with its now erstwhile competitor BARC India, TAM joined hands with it to form a meter management company.

    Industry Cheers Move

    The move has brought much cheer from the industry as this means a unified single ratings sans any confusion week on week. Moreover, this move will benefit broadcasters and advertisers alike.

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to multiple industry stakeholders to get their first reactions on the coming together of TAM and BARC India. Here’s what they had to say:

         Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhandhsu Vats

         “It’s very good news for the Indian broadcasting industry. With BARC consolidating all the video audience measurement assets, we are happy       that stakeholders will have a greatly improved view on reach and impact. The aggregation of people meters and panel management powered by       BARC’s technology gives us an effective measurement system that expedites the solution on geographical coverage, sample size, and rural-           urban reporting.” 

    ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka  

    “This partnership is a big step forward and in this era of cooperation, we welcome this move forward as a joint industry body. The technology and methodological prowess of BARC, combined with the extra meters and the field force will definitely help the industry progress.”

    R K Swamy Hansa Group chairman Srinivasan K Swamy

    “It’s a good development. It has become a larger sample and a more robust study. The techcom is strong in BARC and I am sure they will seamlessly integrate the inputs from two sources to great advantage.”

    Times Network CEO and MD M K Anand  

    “It’s a great move. The new system has launched quite well. The usual teething troubles are mostly getting addressed. The lingering presence of the erstwhile measurement system as a shadow was confusing. There have been faint mentions of TAM by clients and that chatter needed to end. With this move, the industry is truly and completely on BARC. The additional boxes and some talent from the older system will surely help in getting to maturity quicker. All in all, a great move for the industry and the two players.”

    Madison World and Madison Communications founder, chairman and MD Sam Balsara

    “This is a step in the right direction and achieves multiple objectives at one stroke:

    1.       It eliminates possible confusion in the market because of 2 currencies

    2.       It enables Barc to scale up cost effectively by putting the additional meters to good and effective use

    3.       It enables Barc to have ready access to trained people in the field

    4.       It ensures that a large number of people don’t go out of their jobs

    There are sufficient checks and balances in place to ensure that Barc in course of time will discharge its responsibilities, honourably.”

     Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia chairman Ashish Bhasin

    “I think it’s great that BARC and TAM have joined forces for the meters because definitely we don’t need two currencies for television ratings and BARC is the officially accepted ratings currency for the industry to use. Moreover, it is also good that the TAM meters will get utilised because that will help speed up the process of scaling to the meters required for BARC, so that the entire country can be quickly covered. We now look forward to robust viewership data, covering the entire country, and are particularly looking forward to rural data commencing soonest.”

    To start with, the new JV company will have 34,000 meters covering all of India, and will supply raw data to BARC, which will use its own statistical processes and sampling design. The details of the formation and roll out of this new company will be shared in the coming weeks.

    After an unrivalled run of almost 17 years in the Indian broadcast space, TAM Media Research, which started its function way back in 1998 with the mandate to work neutrally, will now no longer be rolling out television ratings.

    To say “The King is dead, long live the King” would be an apt proclamation to summarise this latest development.

  • Viacom18 wins big at Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards

    Viacom18 wins big at Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards

    Mumbai: In an industry where everyone is scouring for the best of talent and working towards retaining them, Viacom18 has emerged as an inimitable leader by winning the ‘Dream Companies To Work For” Award at the sixth edition of Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards 2015 in Singapore.

     

    Viacom18 also clinched four other wins namely – Award for HR Strategy, Award for Innovative Practices in HR, Award for Talent Management and Award for Excellence in HR through Technology.

     

    Hosted by the Employer Branding Institute, World HRD Congress and Stars of the Industry Group, and endorsed by Asian Confederation of Business, Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards recognises the top organisations, which have achieved excellence in building their brand as an employer of choice. With more than sixty organisations competing against each other for these coveted titles from over sixteen countries, Viacom18’s whopping wins proved reflects the power of their people-first philosophy.

     

    Viacom18 Media HR executive vice president Abhinav Chopra said, “It is heartening to receive recognition for our progressive people practices that enable our employees to deliver exceptional work and contribute more. As we continue on our journey towards strengthening our position as an employer of choice, we are grateful to all our employees for truly making Viacom18 a dream company to work for.”

     

     Viacom18 has always been on the innovative side of creating employee policies – be it offering tattoo allowances to helping people care for their pets through a special pet allowance – the company sure knows how to keep their employees happy. Other benefits include a medical insurance plan, pension plans, wellness initiatives for physical and emotional well being of employees. They also allow employees to enjoy ‘Friday Chills’ – once a month soirees for encouraging interpersonal communication and relationships at the workplace with a bit of fun.

     

    Focus is also laid on learning opportunities through interesting options such as ‘Back To School’ and ‘Young Leaders’ Development programs’.

     

    Recently, Viacom18 launched another innovative initiative titled ‘Internal Career Opportunities’ (ICO), a platform designed to enable the organisation to retain its talent and provide them with opportunities to grow within the organisation.

  • Colors Infinity to go on air from 31 July in SD & HD

    Colors Infinity to go on air from 31 July in SD & HD

    MUMBAI: The new channel from the Viacom18 stable – Colors Infinity is all set to hit the television screens on 31 July, 2015. 

     

    Opening up the doors to international content, the channel’s content is co-curated by Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt.

     

    The channel will showcase a gamut of genres, ranging from drama, superheroes, comedy, fantasy, crime and thrillers to reality television with some of the world’s biggest shows across dancing, cooking, magic, singing and other lifestyle interests.

     

    Colors Infinity will be available across all the major direct-to-home (DTH) and digital cable platforms in standard definition (SD) as well as 1080p high-definition (HD) format with Dolby S5.1 surround sound.

     

    The launch line-up of the channel has international television series like My Kitchen Rules at 8 pm from Monday to Sunday, and back-to-back episodes of a new show like The Flash (season one), The Musketeers (Seasons 1  and 2) Forever (Season 1), The Big C (Seasons 1 to 4), Orange Is The New Black (Seasons 1 to3), Better Call Saul (Season 1) and Fargo (Season 1) everyday at 9 pm. 

  • Viacom18 launches Viacom18 Digital Ventures; appoints Gaurav Gandhi as COO

    Viacom18 launches Viacom18 Digital Ventures; appoints Gaurav Gandhi as COO

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 has launched its new digital business, Viacom18 Digital Ventures bridging traditional broadcasting and digital innovation.

     

    The network has handpicked IndiaCast Media Distribution group COO Gaurav Gandhi as the chief operating officer of the new venture, effective 1 August, 2015.

     

    The decision to start a new line of business comes in light of the organisation’s strategy to develop a convergent digital media platform for evolved consumers and marketers.

     

    Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats said, “Broadcast industry is growing rapidly, and digital content, delivery and access are the new green shoots. We are looking to leverage the interception between a highly digital audience and the current content offerings. Gaurav’s rich experience in media, keen understanding of digital, strong base in distribution and his entrepreneurial instinct have made him our obvious choice.”

     

    Gandhi added, “I am very excited about this opportunity of building out a consumer facing digital business for Viacom 18. With the ever changing media landscape, fast growing high-speed internet access and explosive growth in video consumption across screens, there could not be a better time to move forward in this space. We at Viacom 18 want to be the forefront of this digital convergence with our products & content offerings.”

  • Comedy Central goes HD

    Comedy Central goes HD

    MUMBAI: The English entertainment channel from Viacom18 stable, Comedy Central is going to take a high definition (HD) route. The comedy channel, which so far only had a standard definition (SD) feed, will now be available in HD.

     

    While the HD feed is currently available only on Tata Sky, it will soon be offered on other platforms as well. Comedy Central HD was launched on Tata Sky on 1 July. “Comedy Central is now HD and so all the Tata Sky subscribers can enjoy the channel in HD,” said Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats.

     

    Comedy Central HD on Tata Sky is priced at Rs 20 on a-la-carte. Surprisingly, the SD feed on a-la-carte on the platform is priced the same. Currently, the channel’s SD and HD feed are part of Tata Sky’s ‘Grand Sports Pack’ that is available at Rs 470 per month.

     

    “We have just launched Comedy Central HD, once it is available on all platforms, we will only have the HD feed,” said a source from the network.

     

    No marketing plans have been chalked out to promote the HD version of the channel at least for the next two months.

     

    It can be noted that Viacom18 is all set to launch two new English entertainment channels—Colors Infinity and Colors Infinity HD. The new channels will have shows from across genres including drama, comedy, super heroes, talent, lifestyle, action, mini-series and live events.

     

    With the addition of Comedy Central HD, there are now four HD English entertainment channels. These include: Star World HD, Star World Premiere HD and AXN HD. This number, by the end of the year, after the launch of Colors Infinity HD, FX HD and Zee Café HD, will go up to seven. 

  • Viacom18 bullish on English entertainment; launches Colors Infinity

    Viacom18 bullish on English entertainment; launches Colors Infinity

    MUMBAI: The English general entertainment channel (GEC) bouquet is set to get bigger with the launch of Viacom18’s Colors Infinity. The channel is in keeping with the network’s philosophy of growing and deepening its presence in the genres it is present in. 

     

    The to be launched channel will have both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) feeds. With the addition of the new channel, Viacom18’s English entertainment channel bouquet will now have four offerings namely VH1, Comedy Central, Colors Infinity and Colors Infinity HD. 

     

    Even before its launch Colors Infinity has acquired 2000 hours of original content from across studios, including the likes of NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Century Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, BBC, Endemol Shine and a host of other independent and small studios. “These are all multiyear deals,” said Viacom18 EVP head – English Entertainment Ferzad Palia. 

     

    Additionally, the new English GEC, which has spent close to a year and a half in curating content, will have shows from across genres like drama, comedy, super heroes, talent, lifestyle, action, mini-series and live events. 

     

    The channel, which aims to target approximately 30 million consumers countrywide, at the time of launch, is using a phase wise marketing strategy. The first of this is informing consumers about the channel by using the well entrenched ‘Colors’ brand name. 

     

    “Colors by far is perceived as a successful media brand. It is also known for its disruptive and progressive programming and that is what Colors Infinity is about. The idea behind using the name Colors Infinity is to build a broader base of people,” informed Palia. 

     

    For Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, using the brand Colors is part of the network’s GEC approach. “If you look at our Hindi or regional channels, it is under the ‘Colors’ brand. So from a strategic perspective it fits well. Also Colors is a very urban and inspirational brand. It will have a lot of resonance and appeal with the right set of people that we want to reach out to,” said Vats. 

     

    The channel has roped in director-producer Karan Johar and actor Alia Bhatt as co-curators. The duo has worked closely with the channel on picking shows and giving insights on the programming. “Together the two of them have over 10 million Twitter followers and through them we plan to build relevance with a greater audience. They will be integrally involved with the marketing campaign as well,” said Palia. 

     

    Colors Infinity will not charge premium subscription for the channel and will work on the advertisement and subscription model. “The Indian market has so far not grown enough for channels to make money with just subscription. In the future, may be after cable starts billing and there is addressability, it may start generating revenue,” opined Vats. 

     

    Targeting viewers in the age group of 15 – 50 years, Colors Infinity is looking at a distinctive scheduling strategy. “It will be disruptive and something which has never been done in India before. We are mapping it the way a consumer would want to watch it,” informed Palia, adding that the content will comprise Indian television premieres. 

     

    While the network already has highly targeted channels in VH1, which is a pure music and lifestyle channel and Comedy Central, a comedy channel, both Vats and Palia feel that the viewership will not get cannibalized. “We are not here to eat from a small pie, we are here to grow the pie. In fact with time, we will have more switchers from competition channels than our own cluster,” asserted Palia.

     

    According to Vats, all the channels will co-exist. “Colors Infinity is a GEC, while the others are sharply targeted channels. This is how it is worldwide,” added Vats.  

     

    The growing English entertainment genre 

     

    According to Palia, this is the ‘Golden age of television.’ “The production of TV series in the US and UK was up 400 per cent in the past five years. This can be attributed to the growth of cable, over the top services and the aggressive nature of networks in the US and UK,” he opined. 

     

    Talking from an Indian market perspective, Palia said that English entertainment in India was now becoming main stream. “Close to 250 million Indians now are English literates, whereas 10 years ago, it was close to 25-30 million. It is the second language to most now,” he pointed out. 

     

    English entertainment genre currently reaches to 200 million consumers. “We have added 20 per cent viewers in the genre post DAS and our advertising revenue over the past five years has grown by 60 per cent. Not just this, close to 60 per cent of English entertainment consumption is coming from non-metros,” informed Palia. 

     

    Palia is of the opinion that from an advertiser’s perspective, the genre is lucrative as English entertainment consumers have 35 per cent higher disposable income. 

     

    Addressing the issue of ‘torent’ing, Palia said that the habit has been inculcated by broadcasters themselves. “We have forced consumers to go and download. Research shows that people do not download just because they want to watch content immediately after the US launch. The real reason is that they aren’t getting enough content that they should be. There is plethora of content that is not even brought to the country,” he said.

     

    While the shows are first aired in the US in September and go on till May, Palia points out that in India viewers have to wait for the first episode till May. “There is a huge time gap and through our new offering, we will be taking care of this aspect,” he informed. 

     

    According to Palia, the English entertainment genre has never really invited a much larger base of people who understand the language and are watching the content in their personal space and not on TV. “We want to be that channel, which takes the category to a larger audience. We are not going mass, but since English is now main stream, we are reaching out to a wider base,” concluded Palia.

  • Viacom18 takes ‘digital first’ marketing route for Ajay Devgn’s ‘Drishyam’

    Viacom18 takes ‘digital first’ marketing route for Ajay Devgn’s ‘Drishyam’

    MUMBAI: Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam, which is slated to release this year, has become the talk of the town with its first look trailer launch, which depicts Devgn in the all new avatar of Vijay Salgaonkar.

     

    Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Drishyam has employed innovative marketing strategy and released the trailer on Facebook, which went viral in no time, scoring one million hits in 24 hours. The trend soon caught up on other social media platforms as well.

     

    Viacom18 Motion Pictures vice president marketing Rudrarup Dutta said, “Drishyamis a film, which is high on content and intrigue. We went ‘digital first’ with the trailer as the target was richer engagement with our audiences. We are delighted with the response on all social platforms, where not only did the trailer generate views but also a high no of likes and shares too setting the pace for a unique and innovative campaign that is to follow.”

     

    Effectively using social media as a platform, the Unlock Drishyam App was launched on Facebook, where the gamer must find clues and answers, which eventually led along Vijay’s trail in the film. Unfolding the game’s mystery gave the gamer insights into the trailer much before its launch. In this exclusive tie up with Facebook, winners had the trailer appear automatically on their timelines.

     

    The concept was extended to on-ground promotions at multiplexes, where in association with Mid-Day, Mail Today and I-next (Dainik Jagran), people saw a ‘real news’ front page cover on the newspapers distributed at theaters, brining alive the real and relatable content of the film.

     

    Drishyam is directed by Nishikant Kamat and also stars Tabu essaying the role of a female police officer IG Meera Deshmukh. The movie is set to release on 31 July.

     

  • Viacom18’s live events business sees two-fold increase in a year

    Viacom18’s live events business sees two-fold increase in a year

    MUMBAI: Over the last decade or so Viacom18 has created fresh new ways to connect with its audience and build enduring relationships. The company’s on-ground property Live Viacom18, which has been building innovative IPs, multi-dimensional marketing and engagement platforms, has witnessed tremendous growth ever since it conception in October 2012.

     

    Sharing insights on the business with Indiantelevision.com, Viacom18 Media’s Integrated Network Solutions (INS) senior vice president and business head Jaideep Singh said, “From 2013 to 2014, we’ve doubled our business and this year too we intend to double it. If you look at the whole industry, we are the largest players. What took others five to six years to achieve, we did in a year’s time. Nobody has the ecosystem that we do, and nobody has that kind of IPs that we have. So in a way, we are the leaders in the Rs 400-450 crore market of live events.”

     

    Viacom18 began with 13 IPs and a few events in 2013. It then scaled up to 210 events in 2014 and plans are afoot to expand it to 300 plus events this year.

     

    Singh further informs that the property has been constantly increasing the number of hours of content produced. “The brand, which used to produce 10-15 hours of content when it began in 2013, will produce 50-60+ hours of content this year and that’s huge in the live events industry.”

     

    Live Viacom 18 has properties like Super Sonic, Chuckle Festival, MTV Bollyland, Emerge, MTV Extreme and the awards property, which will be held in the third or fourth quarter this year. Additionally, more than 350 plus artists globally are set to add yet another feather to its success cap.

     

    While Live Viacom 18 is looking to explore with newer formats and enter newer markets, the ultimate aim is to give the audience a better experience, with great artists and bring in the best of the latest technology experience. Singh asserts, “This year we have introduced something new called Spiro, which is an initiative by MTV Indies.”

     

    Live Viacom18, which is a division under Viacom18’s Integrated Network Solutions, currently has presence in about 25 cities and is looking at expanding its footprints to 35 cities this year. When queried as to whether they intended to cater to markets outside India, Singh said, “Given an opportunity, we will explore markets outside India like Middle East Asia and South Asia to begin with.”

     

    Speaking about advertisers’ response to its properties, Singh said, “In the first year, we had about 15 brands on board, then in 2014 we had 40 brands and this year we have 70 plus brands on board. So the response from brands has been overwhelming for us.”

     

    Of the 300 plus events planned this year, Live Viacom 18 has already held 30 events in the first quarter of 2015. What’s more, the team is all prepared to handle the pressure. Asked whether the company was looking at beefing up its team, Singh said, “No we are not beefing up our teams. We have separate teams for our properties and hence there is focus among them and they are all set and excited for the line up of events.”

     

    On the marketing front, Live Viacom 18 will leverage its advantage of being a broadcaster and its digital presence to engage with audiences. Additionally, the traditional forms of media like print, radio and OOH will also be used to gain marketing traction. All in all, the company will roll out a 360 degree integrated marketing campaign, which will be executed across properties.

     

    Apart from this, the company also has an innovation up its sleeve. A tie-up with US-based technology company Mixify will help Viacom18 bring in artists to perform on video without them being present physically. With this technology not only will they increase their fan base but also create a lot more engagement in multiple cities at the same time.

     

    Highlighting three key trends that the industry was moving towards, Singh said, “The first one is towards more and more live entertainment events with newer formats. Secondly, there’s been an increase in consumer spends and thirdly consuming merchandise.”

     

    Singh informed that currently LIVE Viacom18 is not active in the merchandising front, but it is an avenue that the company will explore going forward.

  • MSM bags six Gold trophies at PromaxBDA India Awards 2015

    MSM bags six Gold trophies at PromaxBDA India Awards 2015

    MUMBAI: The second day of PromaxBDA ended with the PromaxBDA India Awards 2015 in Westin Garden City on 13 May, 2015. Shining bright was Multi-Screen Media (MSM), which managed to tot the maximum number of Gold awards for their creative showcase.

     

    UTV Entertainment Television’s Disney Channel brand campaign won Gold in Most Outstanding Station Image Campaign category while MSM’s Max 2 Brand Campaign  #JabDekhoTabNaya won the Silver in the category.

     

    MSM’s Sony Entertainment Television also won Golds galore. The first one was for Encounter_Dhobi Ghat in the Best Drama Promo category, whereas Sony bagged the second Gold for Itna Na Karo Mujhse Pyar in the Best Drama Campaign category. KBC – Neighbours also picked up a Gold in the Best Reality Promo.

     

    Times Network won a Gold for its Social Network campaign in the Best Movie Promo category. Star India also bagged a Gold for their 1st Champion – Indian Super League in the Best Sports Promo category. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited bagged a Gold for Saregama Pa Lill Champs launch in the Best Children’s Programme Category.

     

    NGC Network India’s Brain Games – 9.02 Campaign won Gold in the Most Outstanding Programme Image Campaign. Viacom18 Media’s MTV bagged Gold for Indiepedia – Hipster in the Best Interstitial category.

     

    Click here to view the detailed winners list

  • Viacom18 completes ETV Kannada re-branding under Colors umbrella

    Viacom18 completes ETV Kannada re-branding under Colors umbrella

    MUMBAI: The Colors family of channels is growing rapidly. After re-branding ETV Marathi, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and ETV Odiya recently, Viacom 18 has now re-branded ETV Kannada as Colors Kannada. With this, Viacom 18 completes the re-branding of Prism TV’s five ETV regional general entertainmentchannels under the Colors brand name.

     

    The 14-year-old ETV Kannada will be re-branded as Colors Kannada on 26 April, 2015 and will reflect the distinctive culture and traditions of Karnataka through its differentiated content.

     

    The channel takes its legacy forward with the new brand philosophy – ‘OndeSambandha, Ade Anubandha.’ The channel is set to offer high octane entertainment through the week, which will culminate into a celebratory gala on 26 April marking the metamorphosis of this journey.

     

    Viacom18 EVP and project head – Colors Kannada, Colors Bangla and Colors Odiya Ravish Kumar said, “These are exciting times for Kannada television – as we enter this new phase of growth, consumer delight shall continue to be the key driver for Colors Kannada. We hope to up the ante and continue the surprise viewers in the future too.”

     

    Colors Kannada business head Parameshwar Gundkal added, “We have excelled in providing innovative and engaging content that has delighted viewers and set new standards for both the market and for us to surpass. We further hope to make Colors Kannada the one stop for Kannada entertainment.”

     

    As part of the pre-launch campaign, all the artists associated with the channel will come together to unveil the Colors Kannada logo. Mega episodes of the following shows will be aired through the week before launch day:

     

    22 April – Lakshmi Baramma, 7:30-8:30 pm 

    23 April – Agnisakshi, 8 – 9 pm

    24 April- Akka, 8:30-9:30 pm

    25 April- A special slot Dancing Talkies, Maja Talkies, 8 – 9 pm

    25 April- Dancing Star, 9-10:30 pm

    26 April- Ugramm– movie premiere, 2 pm

    26 April- rebranding event, 6 pm