ITV

Tag: Viacom18

  • Viacom18 encourages fresh minds to reshape the box

    Viacom18 encourages fresh minds to reshape the box

    MUMBAI: In an industry that constantly makes talent additions, Viacom18 transcends beyond convention, encouraging new recruits as vehicles of change. One of India’s fastest growing media and entertainment networks, the organization returns to campuses across the country with the third edition of its Future Leadership Program. The rigorous one-year programs for Graduate Trainees (UnLife) and Creative Trainees (What’s Your Story) are aimed at bringing in fresh thought into Viacom18 and nurturing leaders of the future.

     

    The program targets fresh graduate and post graduate top talent from premier institutions across India. The development journey spans 11 months with multiple interventions – including campus-to-corporate connect programs, highly sought-after courses offered by premier academic institutions, relevant functional and behavioral skill building workshops, work place projects high on innovation, etc., comprising on-the-job learning, and supported by coaching, and classroom training.

     

    About the Future Leadership Program, Head – Human Resources & Executive Vice President, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Abhinav Chopra, said, “In my experience here at Viacom18, infusing fresh energy and thought brought in by young talent yields innovation. Through our Future Leadership Program, every individual stands to gain an edge in their careers while contributing to organizational growth as they prepare to develop into future leaders of Viacom18.”

     

    Beginning January 12th 2015, the team began a seven-city tour and will visit prominent graduate educational institutions such as St. Stephens, St. Xavier’s, Christ College and post graduate creative educational institutions such as MCRC Jamia, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Jadavpur University in search of the nation’s brightest minds to train future leaders in creative and functional roles in the media and entertainment sector. Starting with Indore, the team will also tour Kolkata, Mangalore, Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. Candidates will undergo a rigorous 8-stage selection process that includes aptitude tests, group discussions, value and competency based assessments, and personal interviews, to realize an exciting and enriching career at Viacom18.

  • In October, ASCI upholds complaints against 105 out of 146 ads

    In October, ASCI upholds complaints against 105 out of 146 ads

    MUMBAI: In October, Advertising Standards Council of India’s (ASCI) Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 105 out of 146 advertisements. Out of the 105 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 44 belonged to personal and healthcare category, followed by the education category with 43 advertisements.

     

    Some of the health care products or services advertisements also contravened provisions of the Drug & Magic Remedies Act and Chapter 1.1 and III.4 of the ASCI Code. Complaints were upheld against Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s advertisement of Fair & Lovely which claims that the product marketed in India gives better results than other fairness creams marketed in Dubai, Singapore and Japan stating a comparison versus “some of the world’s best products.” The advertisement is misleading by exaggeration and implication that the advertised product is unbeatable with all the products in those countries. Also the advertisement is likely to be misleading by ambiguity as the comparison is only for instant whitening effect of the advertiser’s product.

     

    Similarly, the advertisement of Wockhardt Hospitals claims, “Best in Healthcare” and “Best in Bariatric Surgery.” The advertisement is misleading as the Registration Certificate of the doctor shows his registration only as MBBS and not a specialist (MS). Also, the advertisement is in breach of Code of Medical Ethics as the advertisement mentions the name of Dr. Bhandari promoting the Hospital which is in violation of the Medical Council of India (MCI) Code of Ethics Regulations 2002 Clause 6.1.

     

    Also, the advertisement of Dabur Range of Product claims “Do you have the energy of Shilajit Gold?” & “Shila X Oil – Full of energy”, were not substantiated. Also, when read in conjunction with the visual in the advertisement and specific to the advertisement claim, “Shila X Oil – Full of energy”,   the advertisement is in breach of the law as it violated The Drugs & Magic Remedies Act.

     

    In the education category, CCC found that advertisements violated ASCI Guidelines for Advertising of Educational Institutions and upheld complaints against the advertisement by AKS University that claims it is the best university. The claim was not qualified with appropriate disclaimers and many others.

     

    In the e-commerce category, complaints were upheld against the advertisement of Flipkart.com that claimed to offer ‘Flat 90 per cent’ off which was misleading as the TVC did not mention that the offer is on limited stock. Similarly, Jasper Infotech’s Snapdeal.com advertisement a boy is telling the audience that my girlfriend’s sister is very cute. When we go outside she always comes with us, absolutely free. Just like Snapdeal Diwali bumper sale in which a product is absolutely free with another. The TVC makes a derogatory reference to women and refers to women as a commodity.

     

    The others against whom complaints were upheld included the advertisement claims that Hindustan Hindi Daily is the number one newspaper of Jharkhand. The claim contravened the ASCI Guidelines on Supers; the advertisement of Tata Docomo Photon Max Wi-Fi claims, “Consistent high speeds” which was not substantiated with test reports from independent third party. Also, the Advertiser did not provide substantiation of actual speed achieved in real conditions and in several locations within the cities quoted in the advertisement; Viacom 18 Media (Sonic Power Rangers) advertisement shows teenagers in uniform climbing the walls of their education institution and doing somersaults while entering the class. As the advertisement shows dangerous acts which are likely to encourage minors to emulate them in a manner which could cause harm or injury, the complaint was upheld under Chapter III 2b) of the ASCI Code.

     

    Click here to read the full report

  • Viacom18 sweeps 2014 PROMAXBDA Asia awards with 17 wins

    Viacom18 sweeps 2014 PROMAXBDA Asia awards with 17 wins

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. today announced its sweeping victory at the recently concluded 2014 PromaxBDA Asia Awards, on 4 December in Singapore, taking home 14 awards.

     

    The PromaxBDA Awards recognize excellence in on-air promotion, branding and advertising on programming, channel or brand. Awards were open to satellite, cable, broadcast, television, radio station and associated new media, their agencies and production houses.

     

    2014 PromaxBDA Asia Award Categories Won

     

    GOLD

    ·         Best Children’s Promo – Nick Dekho Dekho Tum Song Promo

    ·         Best Children’s Campaign – Nick Class Mein Blast

    ·         Best Script – Comedy Central Tees “Territories”

    ·         Funniest Spot – MTV Soap-Box Spot

    ·         Something for Nothing – Indie Talkies Promo

    ·         Most Innovative Use of Digital – Anger Management – Destructomatic App

    ·         App-Titude Award – MTV Count Your Drinks App

    ·         Best Print Campaign – MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2014

     

    SILVER

    ·         Best Comedy Promo – Weekend Stache “P.T.”

    ·         Best Integrated Marketing Campaign – MTV Sent The Youth In India To Polling Booths (MTV  Rock The Vote – RTV)

    ·         Funniest Spot – The Dot is Sexy – Rock the Vote

    ·         Something For Nothing – Webbed Season 2 Teaser

    ·         App-Titude Award – MTV Indies App and Website

    ·         Best On-Air Ident – MTV Channel Ident

  • We will be a significant contributor to network’s revenue in 3 years: Saugato Bhowmik

    We will be a significant contributor to network’s revenue in 3 years: Saugato Bhowmik

    MUMBAI: For a child, there are no limits to imagination. Their favourite animated characters live with them beyond the television screens or books. And following this insight, Viacom18 is strengthening its consumer products segment with two new flagship partnerships with FCBM and Rainbow International apart from its already popular merchandise. As part of these partnerships, Viacom18 consumer products has acquired the master licensing rights in India for FC Barcelona and Italian fashion brand Winx Club. 

    Says Viacom18 Media consumer products senior VP Saugato Bhowmik, “It is an exciting period for us as we are expanding our brand portfolio and all these acquisitions are in line with our growth strategy.” The network had recently inked an exclusive deal with animation and gaming firm DQ Entertainment to get the rights as a master franchise to launch the Jungle Book merchandise in India.

    The deal enables the business to design, produce and market the iconic FC Barcelona in India. Apart from this, aiming at young girls, the merchandise for Winx Club will include toys and a contemporary apparel line. Products of both will be available offline and online in the next three to four months.

    Engulfing the whole ecosystem, the consumer products segment of the network aims to contribute in double digits to the Nick’s overall revenue in India in the next three years. “Currently, I would say we are doing well and in the next couple of years we want to get in revenues in double digits by leveraging on opportunities available to us. We want to contribute significantly to network’s revenue,” says Bhowmik.

    Working with the best in the particular field of products, says Bhowmik is what has led the company to reach higher goals. “We work with over 15 licensees for different brands and have over 2000 SKUs and for each we have brought on board the best in the category. For instance, we have chosen Ballarpur Industries to present us in paper stationery partner because they are the best in that field. Similarly, we have Simba Toys, Funskool, TI Cycles etc.”

    To market the existing and upcoming merchandise, the team will leverage on the network’s offerings, both channels and digital platforms as well as create unique on-ground activities. “We will take a fashion route for Winx Club wherein you will see a fashion show which might be aired on television as well.  The blueprint is almost in place but we will create innovative methods to keep the buzz regarding our products,” he says while adding that products will be available in retails shops as well as e-commerce platforms.

    As for the future plans, the segment wants to focus on strengthening its retail space as well as market the products as it feels that it has a strong product line in the market. “We aim to double our business by next year,” he concludes.

  • Comedy Central to resume transmission, this evening

    Comedy Central to resume transmission, this evening

    MUMBAI: Comedy Central, the English general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Viacom18 Group, which was asked by the Delhi Court  to go off air for six days, beginning from  26 November 2014, for airing objectionable content, has found  reprieve from the Supreme Court. The court has stayed the previous order of the high court, which means the channel can be telecast again this evening.

     

    Welcoming the court’s decision, Viacom18 Media group general Counsel Sujeet Jain says, “The Hon. Supreme Court today stayed the order on the suspension of the channel, Comedy Central. We are happy to announce that the channel will resume broadcast this evening.”

     

    The previous order had come in wake of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) finding two of the channels shows, Popcorn and Stand Up Club which were telecast in 2012 having objectionable content. The shows “were not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and children as the same depicted women as a commodity of sex and appeared to deprave, corrupt and injure the public morality and morals,” it was observed.

     

    The apex court, while staying that decision has also issued a notice to the Centre on a petition by Viacom 18, challenging provisions of the law that allow the MIB to take action against TV channels. 

    A channel spokesperson previously said in a statement that it was evaluating all the options available to them during which it approached the SC. It argued that the decision would cause “irreparable loss and damage” to the channel and claimed transmission was its fundamental right.

     

    The High Court had also fined the channel Rs 20,000 which was imposed by the centre.
     

  • Comedy Central to go off air for Six days

    Comedy Central to go off air for Six days

    MUMBAI: Beginning tonight, 12 am onwards, audiences of Viacom18 owned Comedy Central will not be able to view the channel, which is set to go off air for six days  as a penalty given by Delhi High court for airing objectionable content.

    The order comes after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) found two of its TV programmes objectionable. The court observed that the show Stand Up Club telecast on 26 May 2012 at 20:52 hours on the channel “was not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and children as the same depicted women as a commodity of sex and appeared to deprave, corrupt and injure the public morality and morals.”

    The channels spokesperson said in a statement, “The matter is subjudice. Having said that, we are evaluating all available options to us.”

    With regards to the other show named Popcorn which was telecast on 4 July 2012 at 7:57 hours, was also found to be “vulgar, obscene, offending good taste and not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and children.”

    The channel on the other hand then submitted a reply blaming the telecast as an ‘operational mishap and unintentional error’ and apologized and assured that the creative, content and programming teams had been sensitized to the programme code. The Inter Ministerial Council which was set up to look at the violations of the programme code had asked the channel to go off air for 10 days.

    Comedy Central then was of the opinion that the ban was long and therefore the broadcaster blocked out the channel for only four days. Viacom18 had then placed an appeal in the court which has now been dismissed.

    The court also observed that the channel by committing a second violation (Popcorn) was clearly indicative of not  having paid heed to the warning given to it for the first violation, even if unintentional and took the matter of self regulation very lightly. “We may also add that the effect of punishment of prohibition of transmission for 10 days has already been diluted by the same being split into four plus six days. We therefore do not find any merit in this appeal and dismiss the same with costs of Rs 20,000 payable to the respondent within four weeks of today. Though the appellant has already given a statement as recorded in the order dated 28 May 2013 that in the event of dismissal of the appeal it would undergo the penalty imposed of prohibition for the balance period of six days, we clarify that the said penalty would come into force w.e.f. 00:01 hours of 26 November 2014,” the court observed in its concluding remarks.

     

  • Pressure of work before HC leads to adjournment of ad cap hearing to 21 January

    Pressure of work before HC leads to adjournment of ad cap hearing to 21 January

    NEW DELHI: The ad cap case has been adjourned yet again – this time to 21 January – in view of a large number of pending cases before the High Court.

     
    During the last hearing on 25 September, News Broadcasters Association counsel Nisha Bhambani had sought adjournment in view of the senior counsel S Ganesh not being in Delhi.

     
    Earlier on 15 July, the Court had adjourned the case as the final hearing of the bunch of petitions challenging the ad cap sort to be imposed by TRAI as the authority had not finalised its rejoinder.

     
    The case had been previously heard in the High Court on 17 December last year and 13 March this year.

     
    While TRAI had earlier given an assurance that it would not take any action against any channel pending the petition, the Court had at the regulator’s instance directed that all channels keep a record of the advertisements run by them.

     
    The NBA had challenged the ad cap rule, contending that TRAI does not have jurisdiction to regulate commercial airtime on television channels.

     
    Apart from the NBA, the petition have been filed by Sarthak Entertainment, Pioneer Channel Factory, E24 Glamoru, Sun TV Network, TV Vision, B4U Broadband, 9X Media, Kalaignar, Celebrities Management, Eanadu Television and Raj Television.

     
    The news and regional broadcasters fear that the capping of commercial airtime will curtail their ad revenues. They also argue that the ad cap must be brought only after the benefits of cable TV digitisation start kicking in.

     
    Earlier this year, the Court also granted interim relief to Hyderabad-based MAA Television Network against the ad cap regulation. However, the court had also observed that the cap on advertisements is a ‘reasonable exercise’.

     
    Four major broadcast networks—Star India, Zee Entertainment, Multi Screen Media and TV18 Group—are following the regulations.

     

  • Dolby Institute’s sound designing techniques to help broadcasters

    Dolby Institute’s sound designing techniques to help broadcasters

    MUMBAI: A movie experience is usually about compelling video effects that has the power to blow one’s mind away. But have you ever paid attention to the sound of an aeroplane crashing into a building or a fast moving car bashing against another one. The effort that a sound designer puts into layering sounds and making it sound real is hardly ever recognised.

    In order to create more awareness about sound designing, two renowned sound designers from the US are undertaking a unique teaching model along with Dolby Laboratories. The Dolby Institute, created over a year ago, is a non physical place that aims to reach out to producers and writers both professional and budding. As part of this training, Dolby Institute director Glenn Kiser and supervising sound editor Steven Cahill are traveling to various countries.

    Currently amazed with the Indian culture as they tour film schools and broadcasters, the duo are trying to spread the word about the opportunities sound designing can provide to film and TV. In its India leg, they are meeting students at FTII and Whistling Woods as well as providing insights to broadcasters such as Star India, Viacom18, Epic TV, Zee Network etc. “We are presenting case studies where sound was used creatively to enhance quality. The idea is to bring rich experience from outside to India,” says Kiser.

    While students get an introduction into the sector, broadcasters will learn the aesthetics and nuances of the technique. This apart, the Dolby Institute has tied up with the Sundance Film Festival to provide aid to low budget movie producers who have the idea but not the technique to execute it.

    According to them, VFX has made its mark as to how fulfilling it is for storytelling and the institute’s hope is to get sound designing to the same level. However, while sound has been created in 3D for nearly five decades, it is actually picture that has taken time to change from SD to HD.

    It was in the 1990s when sound became an important aspect of storytelling but in India it is only now that some directors have started giving it a thought. “Between Indian personality driven stories and music being so overly thought of before, the chances are that they would be less apt of sound driving at the moment,” says Cahill.

    The four day workshop will demonstrate how to use sound as a budget saving device as well as script writing and directing with sound in mind. “The entire sound budget of a film could be less than five VFX shots,” says Cahill adding that it constituted just 1 per cent of the budget of blockbuster Avatar.

    In the American television scenario, a lot of film directors shifted to TV in the 1990s, primarily due to HBO, bringing along with them their teams and sophistication. “The technology and aesthetics of a film director made an immersive experience on both broadcast as well as OTT,” says Kiser naming NCIS, True Detective, House of Cards, 24 and Game of Thrones as examples of fantastic sound designing.

    Action, thriller and horror lend themselves as most apt for good sound designing. Kiser adds that it is also possible to alter sounds so that the viewer can experience it from the character’s point of view. With lesser processes and people, sound can have the same narrative impact as visuals, he says. This was adapted by Pixar in its animated movies where they built a whole realistic audio world that could be experienced with closed eyes.

    However, the challenge that sound designers face is about being the last in the chain of processes. “The best ones were where the scriptwriter and sound designer would collaborate to imagine the sound while the script was made,” says Kiser. Usually, sound is added once the entire film is cut so the options are limited. He adds that scenes have to be thought of by the director and executed by the sound designer.

    Nowadays, too little time is allotted for post production, so this crucial part gets pushed to the end. “If you don’t give sound its full due, it’s only 50 per cent good because you aren’t giving it even 50 per cent of the time or talent,” says Cahill.

    The duo seem to be elated with the response they have been receiving from India and will be looking forward to return and check some of the students’ projects to provide tips and criticism.

     

  • TDSAT to hear IBF case on tariff on 12 December

    TDSAT to hear IBF case on tariff on 12 December

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has adjourned to 12 December the petition by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Viacom 18 and MSM India challenging the tariff order amendment of 16 July that was passed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

     

    Chairman Aftab Alam and member Kuldip Singh adjourned the matter as TRAI has still not filed its reply on the matter.

     

    Earlier when the case had come up in August, TDSAT had adjourned the hearing in view of Star India’s case challenging the TRAI order dated 18 July in the Delhi High Court.

     
    The Federation of Hotel and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) had then asked for a refund from broadcasters for deals signed before the order came into existence. However the IBF counsel stated that the order only talks of deals taking place in the new regime and the deals for which the FHRAI was asking for refunds were done in advance.

     
    Considering the Delhi HC order and also IBF’s proposition that in a 2012 judgment, the TDSAT had itself said that when an arrangement is ongoing between parties and a tariff order is issued, it is not applicable with retrospective effect, unless mentioned in the order.

     
    The court had in the earlier hearing also asked both parties to ensure all their pleadings were in place by 28 October so that a final verdict could be given on 18 November, which now has been postponed to 12 December.

     

  • “I am a firm believer of strengthening what we have already started”: Sudhanshu Vats

    “I am a firm believer of strengthening what we have already started”: Sudhanshu Vats

    Over the past seven years, Viacom18 has grown to be one of the bigger conglomerates in India. The JV which started off as a partnership between Viacom International and Network18’s subsidiary TV18 and is now a JV between Viacom and Reliance Industries which has taken over Network18 has grown out of just a broadcasting business into a film and live events business.

     

    At the helm of it is Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats who joined the company nearly three years ago after a double decade long stint at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Energetic and dynamic, Vats has a belief of uniting the entire Viacom18 channels and departments into ‘one Viacom18’.

     

    Spending much of his career at HUL, Vats still thinks from a consumer perspective. Speak to him now of content and he will first think of what the consumer is doing. On the occasion of the completion of seven years of the company, he speaks to indiantelevision.com’s Meghna Sharma and Vishaka Chakrapani about the growth of the company and where it is headed.

     

    Tell us about the seven year journey.

     

    When Viacom18 was formed seven years ago, there were only three channels MTV, Vh1 and Nick, and now we have 10 channels. That is an expansion in our broadcast business. We have also entered the film entertainment business through Viacom18 Motion Pictures in 2011. About a year and half ago, we got into experiential/live entertainment business. So now we have broadcast, films and live entertainment under our wings. We began our journey at about Rs 100 crore. In the last seven years we have grown 20 times. 

     

    A significant milestone is that we have turned PAT profitable in FY-14. That was our first year of PAT profitability at Viacom18. It’s important to not only grow exponentially but also profitably. Profitable growth is sustainable and gives you fuel for investment.

     

    What’s your growth strategy?

     

    I am a strong advocate of sharper segmentation. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced. Let us start from a consumer point of view. What is happening in India is that the country is urbanising at a very fast pace, income levels are growing, people are becoming more aware. Urbanisation is happening more rapidly than we see because it goes beyond the tangible phenomenon of growth in cities / urban habitats, attitudinally India is urbanising at a rapid pace. 

     

    Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji’s campaign is all about tapping in to the mindset of urban Indian youth who may not stay in urban India but has a mindset of aspiration, opportunity, development, fair play, which is universal. From the point of view of content, we see that when we move from rural to urban we move from a “We to I” mindset and develop a stronger individual identity. So we want to customise content for every Indian. In the utopian sense 1.2 billion people want 1.2 billion packages. Are there screens available to consume content? Yes 900 million. Is there capacity to carry content? Yes, with the digitisation of cable network and planned growth in broadband and 3G/4G we are building sufficient capacity in the content pipes. With consumer desiring more and more content it can’t be the same/similar content being churned out. So sharper segmentation is needed.

     

    In each of the genres we exist, we will segment further and deepen our presence. We will continue to look at adjacent genres. We have Colors and Rishtey in Hindi GEC. Post legal and regulatory clearances, we will have a strong presence of Viacom18 in regional GEC genre as well.

     

    Within Colors, a few years ago we didn’t have comedy sub-genre and we now have Comedy Nights with Kapil – and that’s a hit. We are also looking at other sub-genres. It’s about providing a spectrum of options to viewers within the channel.

     

    Was moving into movies an alternative to launching a movie channel?

     

    When we look at movies, we look at whether there is a consumer case, and also a commercial case. Movies have about a 13-14 per cent viewership according to TAM. So there is a consumer case. However a movie channel isn’t differentiated enough. We aren’t so sure if there is a commercial case for us, given the rising acquisition rights for films.

     

    What about a sports channel?

     

    Sports is a genre that we aren’t looking at in the short- to medium-term. If you look at the consumer case again people are watching a lot of cricket. But even in that, it’s a 0-1 situation. When India is playing international cricket or it is a short form game, viewership is huge but the moment India isn’t playing, or it is test cricket, viewership drops. At the same time viewership for domestic cricket is very poor. For other games, viewership will take time to develop. 

     

    It is a genre which has promise in the future. But it is a long gestation game. It needs deep investment and commitment.

     

    Leagues are increasing in number. Where do you see them going?

     

    Leagues are an interesting development where players are finding a sweet spot between sports and entertainment. Is it a promising place in the future? Perhaps yes. All this depends on the journey of the company. For Viacom18, I think there is enough and more to be done in deepening our current genres or entering identified adjacent genres. Our focus should be to strengthen the same. Having said that, we will continue to evaluate all opportunities from time to time. 

     

    How is the business of Live Viacom18 doing? A few months ago it was bringing in 2 per cent of your revenue. What is it now?

     

    This year we should be at about 4 per cent of our total revenue.  Live entertainment is the place where we start getting straight into the wallet of the consumer. It broadens our revenue streams – first is advertising, second is subscription and third is direct share of the wallet. In urban India, this phenomenon will grow rapidly. Particularly in certain genres like music, there is nothing to beat live entertainment. Other forms of entertainment are passive. So if you see in EDM or Bollywood dance music, we have two properties – Vh1Supersonic and MTV Bollyland. I am equally keen on the kids genre. The entire piece on experiential entertainment is a good space. We want to surely reach 10 per cent in future.

     

    Are you expanding the number of events that you have?

     

    Last year Vh1Supersonic was a standalone property. This year we are doing arcades and mini events in big towns- Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi with three artists. We have taken Vh1 Supersonic gigs to 50+ clubs and hundreds of colleges. With MTV Bollyland, we went deeper to mini-metros and towns with 1 million + populations – in fact it’s going to be 12 towns this year. We are also taking the IP outside India with the first event soon to be held in Dubai.

     

    Will there be any more additions to the list?

     

    I am a firm believer of deepening and strengthening what we have already started. For Colors, we will evaluate as we move forward, because we do a lot of non-fiction shows and the genre lends itself very well to live events.

     

    How has your ad inventory grown due to the 12 minute ad cap rule?

     

    A 12-minute ad cap for pay TV is a step in the right direction – it improves viewer experience. The viewer wants quality content and while he or she may want to watch some advertising, the problem lies in the fact, that there are cases when advertising outweighs the content duration. In future good content will command a premium on the 12-minute ad inventory. In India ad rates are under-indexed, possibly amongst the cheapest in the world, so there is a lot of room for growth. Colors, MTV, Nick, Vh1 and Comedy Central have successfully improved ERs. Across our genres our attempt will be to get good content that leads to higher viewership and better rates.

     

    What is the network’s take on geo targeting?

     

    The pilot has been conducted in the kids’ cluster. It’s a clear win-win situation for both broadcaster and advertiser, therefore it gives us confidence to scale it up across genres. While the FMCG sector will derive a lot of value, other sectors also stand to benefit from this. In addition geo-targeting will help us tap newer clients and local advertisers in future.

     

    What is the state of carriage fees? Has it come down or is it still on an upward swing?

     

    Overall carriage has come down in the past two years. The broad understanding was that with digitisation there would be no carriage at all. So it hasn’t come down as much as we would have liked it to. This is due to the lack of addressability of the consumer/viewer. No wonder then, that carriage, rather than continually coming down, has begun to rise again in recent months. As we move forward, MSOs would need to drive revenues and collections from the subscribers, thereby reducing /eliminating dependence on carriage.

     

    What about the unequal advertising/subscription skew in India?

     

    Worldwide ad subscription revenue tends to be almost equal. Like many things in India, change for the better is slow but gaining momentum.

     

     What best practices does Viacom18 need to grow?

     

    The next growth phase requires that we build capacity in talent, systems and processes and invest behind key strategic opportunities. Capacity building especially in processes and systems is an ongoing journey. We have begun to lay greater emphasis on analytics, automation and processes such as ERP. They are being implemented at Viacom18. We have focused leading brands in each genre and this is unique to us. Finding the right balance between independence and interdependence is important, hence we are driving synergy as we grow. We are building greater interdependence – in our processes and in our culture.

     

    We are hiring from colleges, as well as carrying out lateral hires. We constantly evaluate how best do we provide our people with new and exciting opportunities within the organisation. Finally, we also have a structured end-to-end approach to offer to our clients through our Viacom18 Integrated Network Solutions team. We offer a full bouquet of services to advertisers, who can partner with us on live events, broadcast, film integration – the entire spectrum of consumer connect.