ITV

Tag: Viacom18

  • Viacom18 to release Kahaani on 9 March, Kolkata premiere a day before

    Viacom18 to release Kahaani on 9 March, Kolkata premiere a day before

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 will be releasing the Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani on 9 March.

    Reports in trade papers had said that director Sujoy Ghosh, who had wanted to host a premiere of the film in Kolkata because the film has a Kolkata connection, was aggrieved that it could not be held on 8 March.

    The reason that was attributed was that some prominent Bengali directors and actors whom Ghosh wanted to invite for the premiere would be away for an award ceremony in Bangkok. Slamming such reports, Ghosh quipped,” There is no truth in the news. I will indeed hold the premiere of my film in Kolkata only and on the appointed day and time.”

    Kahaani is the story of Vidya Bagchi who arrives in Kolkata from London to find her missing husband Arnab. Seven months pregnant and alone in a festive city, she begins a relentless search for her husband. With nothing to rely on except fragments from her memories about him, all clues seem to reach a dead end when everyone tries to convince Vidya that her husband does not exist.

    She slowly realises that nothing is what it seems. In a city soaked in lies, Vidya is determined to unravel the truth about her husband – for herself and her unborn child – even at the cost of her own life. The rest forms the crux of the film.

  • The Devil Inside to release on 2 March

    The Devil Inside to release on 2 March

    MUMBAI: After the box office success of Paranormal Activity, one of the scariest movie franchises of all time, Paramount Pictures and Viacom18 are releasing The Devil Inside.

    The film will open on 2 March all over India.

    A documentary-style footage film, The Devil Inside is a tale of a woman who gets involved in a series of exorcisms during her quest to determine what happened to her mother, a woman who murdered three people as a result of being possessed by a demon.

    The story follows Isabella Rossi and documentarian Michael who travel from America to a psychiatric hospital in Rome to visit Isabella‘s deranged mother (Suzan Crowley) who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism years ago. This is followed by an investigation on the mystery surrounding Isabella‘s mother with chilling repercussions.

    Directed by William Brent Bell, The Devil Inside stars Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth and Suzan Crowley.

  • TV 18’s national news ops break even in Q3

    TV 18’s national news ops break even in Q3

    MUMBAI: The national news business of TV18 Broadcast has attained break-even status while losses continue to kick in from regional news operations.

    TV18‘s general news operations on a combined level, however, posted an operating loss of Rs 16 million for the fiscal third quarter, reversing from a profit of Rs 71 million in the earlier year. The loss in the second quarter of this fiscal was lower at Rs 7 million.

    Operating profit from the business news segment has narrowed to Rs 108 million for the three months ended December 2011, from Rs 225 million a year ago.

    TV18‘s operating loss from combined news operations was Rs 162 million, reversing from a profit of Rs 296 million in the earlier-year quarter. Revenue grew to Rs 1.67 billion compared to Rs 1.53 billion a year ago.

    In the general news segment, revenue rose to Rs 773 million, from Rs 744 million in the third quarter of the previous fiscal. For business news, revenue stood at Rs 876 million, up 11 per cent.

    Revenue from infotainment channel History 18, which was launched in the third quarter of this fiscal, stood flat at Rs 22 million. The channel posted a loss of Rs 253 million.

    Digital business continued to be in the red with the loss widening almost 51 per cent to Rs 322 million. Revenue rose 10 per cent to Rs 584 million.

    Web18 recorded revenues of Rs 263 million, a growth of 21 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year on a proforma basis. Newswire18 delivered revenues of Rs 108 million for the quarter, and HomeShop18 Rs 213 million, a growth of 28 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year.

    On a consolidated basis, TV18 Broadcast posted a net loss of Rs 535 million for the fiscal third quarter , mainly due to new channel launches.

    The company‘s consolidated net profit in the same quarter of the earlier year stood at Rs 198 million.

    Revenue increased to Rs 3.43 billion, up from Rs 2.36 billion a year ago.

    TV18‘s consolidated numbers include 100 per cent standalone and AETN18, 50 per cent share of Viacom18 and 50 per cent share of IBN Lokmat.

    The company‘s shares closed at Rs 31.30, down 2.03 per cent on the BSE.

  • Mid Day becomes broadsheet for Colors’ Ring Ka King

    Mid Day becomes broadsheet for Colors’ Ring Ka King

    MUMBAI: Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel from the Viacom18 stable, is leaving no stone unturned to market its soon-to-be-launched sports entertainment reality show, Ring Ka King – Wrestling Ka Mahayuddh.

    The print campaign revolves around the theme ‘Size Does Matter‘ with Mid Day highlighting the “larger than life” characteristics of the wrestlers. On 25 January, readers will see the publication in a “broadsheet avatar” to bring forth the idea that the wrestlers are so large that they would not fit in the tabloid‘s normal format.

    MiD Day Infomedia MD and CEO Manajit Ghoshal said, “This broadsheet innovation employed by us is a powerful and stimulating manner of advertising. It introduces a surprise element, which helps in better absorption and recall of the communication. The broad sheet innovation issue also ensures and nice and fresh break for our readers. It has been our continuous endeavour to create path-breaking strategic solutions for each of our clients to reach their target audience. This innovation has been one more step in that direction, as it strengthens our repute to innovate and advertise in the market.”

    Colors head – marketing Rajesh Iyer added, “The Ring Ka King thriller campaign is the physical representation of the excitement that the show embodies. We wanted to bring the action of the ring alive throughout our communication. To bring out the adrenaline pumped exuberance of the show into our promotional activities we collaborated with our creative partners to come up with a campaign which could do full justice to the thought. All our promotions for Ring Ka King, be it the print innovation with Mid Day or disruptive campaign across outdoor, radio and TV, is high on volume and scale.”

    The outdoor campaign, through a mix of billboards and other mediums, aims to showcase the scale and impact of Ring Ka King in 70 trade markets. Audiences will witness billboards being stretched or ripped apart by the wrestlers so that the magnitude of the show can be highlighted, the channel said.

    The overall theme for the television, radio and cinema campaigns is ‘Disruption‘. Ads and promos running across media will focus on wrestlers interrupting regular content to talk about the show.

    Colors has partnered with Radio City to take Ring Ka King on air and engage with listeners. Two special characters will be created on-air that will talk about the show.

    The channel is also associating with Agneepath to promote Ring Ka King through cinema. Additionally, the digital campaign involves creation of special applications on social media platforms like Facebook to interact with audiences and build connect with wrestling.

    The show premieres on 28 January at 8 pm.

  • Chaalis Chaurasi nets Rs 13.5 mn at BO

    Chaalis Chaurasi nets Rs 13.5 mn at BO

    MUMBAI: Chaalis Chaurasi has done fair business at single screens and collected Rs 13.5 million over the opening weekend.

    Ghost has netted Rs 14 million during its first weekend while Sadda Adda‘s collections remained poor.

    Players, the first of the three-film structural deal project between Viacom18 and Wave, has proved a debacle all around. Though Rs 360 million had been paid till the film’s delivery by Wave, the cut off recovery target was set at Rs 260 million with the balance amount to be treated as advance. Wave is said to have recovered about Rs 90 million by selling circuits excluding Delhi-UP, Punjab and Bombay.

    The heist film has been able to collect a mere Rs 216 million in its first week. As things stand after the film’s poor show, Viacom 18 is reported to have offered Vidhya Balan starrer Kahani to Wave for nil consideration as compensation.

    Don 2 has added Rs 50.5 million in its third week to take its total to Rs 1.08 billion.

    Ladies Vs Rikcy Bahl‘s collections at the end of five week reached Rs 342 million.

    The Dirty Picture collected Rs 50 million in its sixth week to take its total to Rs 830 million.

  • Colors dominates most effective launch campaigns list in 2011: Ormax

    Colors dominates most effective launch campaigns list in 2011: Ormax

    MUMBAI: Viacom18’s flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors has delivered the best fiction launch campaigns in 2011 across Hindi GECs, while Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) on Sony Entertainment Television (Set) was the top non-fiction launch campaign of the year, reveals a study from media research and consulting firm Ormax Media.

    In the fiction shows ranking, Colors controls the top three positions and a total of four spots in the top 10 list. As per the study, Phulwa, Mukti Bandhan and Sasural Simar Ka were the top three campaigns, while Parichay was on number six.

    Set’s Parvarish was on number four, while Kuch To Log Kahenge was at number seven.

    Interestingly, genre leader Star Plus’ only one fiction show – Diya Aur Baati Hum – figured in the list at fifth place. The last three spots were captured by Zee TV’s Hitler Didi (No. 8), Life OK’s Mahadev (No. 9) and Imagine TV’s Dharam Patni (No. 10).

    In the non-fiction list, Set has three shows in the top 10, including KBC at the top spot. Bigg Boss Season 5 (Colors) is a close competitor to KBC, in terms of their launch impact.

    Set’s X-Factor India was at number five while Maa Exchange was at ninth place.

    Colors, Imagine TV and Star Plus shared two shows each while Life Ok’s Sach Ka Saama also featured on the list.

    The ranking of the best launches of fiction and non-fiction Hindi GEC shows has been derived from Ormax Media’s awareness tracking tool Showbuzz, which measures the awareness levels of new shows across various Hindi GEC channels. This ranking is a measure of the effectiveness of the campaign, irrespective of how the content fared thereafter.

     

    Top 10 non-fiction show campaigns:

    Rank
    Program
    Channel
    1
    		 Kaun Banega Crorepati Sony
    2
    		 Bigg Boss Colors
    3
    		 Zor Ka Jhatka Imagine TV
    4
    		 Sach Ka Saamna Life OK
    5
    		 X-Factor India Sony
    6
    		 Khatron Ke Khiladi Colors
    7
    		 Ratan Ka Rishta Imagine TV
    8
    		 Just Dance Star Plus
    9
    		 Maa Exchange Sony
    10
    		 Wife Bina Life Star Plus
     
  • Blood Money release postponed to 13 April

    Blood Money release postponed to 13 April

    MUMBAI: Producers Vishesh Films and Viacom18 have postponed the release of their Kunal Khemu, Amrita Puri-starrer, Blood Money.

    Earlier scheduled for release on March 23, the movie will now release on 13 April.

    The producers had to delay the film taking into consideration the severe competition their film would have faced had it released along with Priyadarshan’s Tezz and Saif Ali Khan’s Agent Vinod.

    The film is the journey of a man who seeks external wealth. Through the process of life, he comes out a richer man from the inside.

    Meanwhile, Vishesh Films and Fox Star Studio’s next action thriller, Jannnat 2, will release on 11 May.

  • Colors rises to No. 2 again with Golden Petal awards

    Colors rises to No. 2 again with Golden Petal awards

    MUMBAI: Viacom18’s flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors has made it to the second position again after a hiatus of four weeks. And helping the channel regain its ranking is the first Golden Petal Awards.

    As per TAM data for the week ended 31 December (C&S, 4+, HSM), Colors has added 38 GRPs (gross rating points) to its kitty to register 256 GRPs (last week 218). The telecast of Colors Golden Petal Awards (CGPA) on 25 December at 8 pm fetched a TVR of 4.98.

    As per data provided by Colors, the show had 20.5 per cent reach and 48.6 minutes of time spent per viewer (TSV). Interestingly, CGPA is the highest rated TV awards show as on rival channels Zee Rishtay Awards (Zee TV) and Star Parivaar Awards (Star Plus) could manage a TVR of 4.71 and 4.0 respectively.

    In week 53, the leading GEC Star Plus garnered 325 GRPs, maintaining its numero uno position. However, it lost some of its sheen as compared to the previous week (344 GRPs). Telecast of Big Star Entertainment Awards on 31 December at 10 pm recorded 4.63 TVR for the channel. It also aired Master Chef India Grand Finale on 31 December
    at 9 pm that clocked 2.1 TVR.

    Sony Entertainment Television (Set) saw a marginal rise of five GRPs. It ended the week with 240 GRPs, but slipped to No. 3.

    Zee TV, meanwhile, saw a 14 GRP loss in the week and closed its tally with 194 GRPs. Last week the channel was the biggest gainer because of the telecast of its flagship award show, Zee Rishtay Awards.

    Sab maintained its position and ended the week with 113 GRPs (last week 122) while the newly launched GEC from Star India bouquet, Life OK, slipped to 74 GRPs (last week 87 GRP) in its second week run.

    Imagine TV saw a marginal rise in GRPs. It recorded 72 GRPs (last week 67). The channel aired the grand finale of its dance show, Nachle Ve with Saroj Khan, on 31 December at 10 pm which fetched 1.0 TVR.

    Sahara One with 35 GRPs (last week 39 GRPs) was on the last step of the GEC ladder.

  • Nick partners Big Bazar for Spongebob SquarePants merchandise

    Nick partners Big Bazar for Spongebob SquarePants merchandise

    MUMBAI: Viacom18‘s kids entertainment channel Nick and Future Group‘s retail chain Big Bazar have collaborated to launch the Spongebob SquarePants – Back to School range of products for children.

    The range was launched by Mandira Bedi. The collection is available across 156 Big Bazar outlets in the country.

    The range includes colour pencils, crayons, erasers, sharpeners, sketch pens, pencil pouches, oil pastels, compass boxes, coin bank and combi packs. The product range, priced between Rs 25 – 149, is designed keeping in mind the latest trends and styles that are popular amongst kids.

    Nick India has licensed the category to B Vishal Corporation to distribute the products across all Big Bazaar stores. The new range is being promoted through various media including Facebook and the Nick India website.

    Viacom18 Media senior VP consumer products Sandeep Dahiya said, “We are excited to be associated with India‘s biggest retail chain, Big Bazaar, for ‘SpongeBob SquarePants‘ Back to School Range. SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the most loved Nicktoons across the globe and this new range is sure to excite millions of his young fans in the Indian market.”

    Big Bazaar – Future Group joint CEO Sanjeev Agarwal added, “Backed by strong network of 156 Big Bazaar in more than 90 cities, easy accessibility at the right price and smart below the line set up, we are confident that ‘SpongeBob SquarePants – Back to School‘ range will become a nationwide trend.”

    Apart from this range of products, the association shall also include efforts like on-ground activities, digital activations, in-store promotion with high impact point of sale material based on the lines of play, fun, frolic and buying.

  • IBN18 Q4 standalone net loss at Rs 110 mn, rev up 25%

    IBN18 Q4 standalone net loss at Rs 110 mn, rev up 25%

    MUMBAI: IBN18 Broadcast has reported a standalone net loss of Rs 110 million for the quarter ended 31 March, from a net loss of Rs 220 million it had posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

    The standalone results constitute the financials of English and Hindi news channels CNN-IBN and IBN7.

    Total income of the company during the quarter under review surged to Rs 690 million, up 25.45 per cent from the earlier year.

    Expenses rose to Rs 690 million, as against Rs 620 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal and Rs 640 million in the trailing quarter.

    IBN18 managed to be Ebitda positive, as compared to an operating loss of Rs 60 million in the year-ago period. In the trailing quarter, the Ebitda profit was at Rs 80 million.

    For the full fiscal ended 31 March, the company’s net loss has come down to Rs 490 million, from Rs 820 million in FY’10.

    Total income from news operations increased 16.19 per cent to Rs 2.44 billion, from Rs 2.10 billion a year ago, while expenses also surged to Rs 2.50 billion (from Rs 2.22 billion).

    Ebitda loss for the fiscal narrowed to Rs 50 million, from Rs 120 million a year ago.

    On a consolidated basis, IBN18’s net loss for the fourth-quarter stood at Rs 130 million, down from Rs 220 in year ago quarter. Total income was at Rs 2.06 billion, while expenditure stood at Rs 1.98 billion for the quarter. Operating profit was at Rs 80 million.

    For the full fiscal, the company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 170 million, significantly lower than a net loss of Rs 1.10 billion in previous fiscal. Total revenue jumped to Rs 8.04 billion, while expenses were at Rs 7.57 billion. Operating profit was at Rs 480 million, as against loss of Rs 290 million.

    The consolidated results include financials of Viacom18 and IBN Lokmat. The company consolidated the financials of The Indian Film Company into Viacom18 from the third quarter of the fiscal.

    IBN18 shares closed Monday at Rs 88.45 on the BSE, down 0.39 per cent down the previous close.