ITV

Tag: Vivek Srivastava

  • Romedy Now to premiere ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ with its US telecast

    Romedy Now to premiere ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ with its US telecast

    MUMBAI: The 13th season of the Emmy Award winning ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ will air for the first time in India on the unique destination of love and laughter, Romedy Now!

     

    “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” will premiere in India today, along with its US telecast. The super successful series will air every Monday to Friday at 6 pm on Romedy Now. The series was licensed to Romedy Now by Warner Bros. International Television Distribution.

     

    With an engaging personality and unique take on everyday life, Ellen sets the tone for a relaxed and candid environment that puts her guests at ease and allows them to engage in entertaining and thoughtful discussions on topical subjects.

     

    Speaking about the show, Vivek Srivastava, Sr. Vice President & Head, English Entertainment Cluster, Times Network said, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show is one of the most popular shows featuring the world famous celebrities from different walks of life & we are extremely glad to launch it concurrent to its US telecast.”

     

    Ellen’s show has seen the most renowned celebrities in the past from U.S. President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama to Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga, George Clooney, Madonna, Clint Eastwood, Reese Witherspoon, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Drew Barrymore, to name a few.

     

    Entering its 13th season, ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ continues to be the destination for laughter and fun, highlighting Ellen’s one-of-a-kind observational humor, warmth and insight, and featuring the biggest stars from television, film, music and more. This year, ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ will feature personalities including Hillary Clinton, Caitlyn Jenner, Malala Yousafzai, Pink, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Noah Ritter, Jimmy Fallon and many more.

     

    Embraced by audiences and critics alike, the global entertainer, Ellen has won 55 Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards, including nine for Outstanding Talk Show and four for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

  • Romedy Now to premiere ‘Jane The Virgin’ TV series

    Romedy Now to premiere ‘Jane The Virgin’ TV series

    MUMBAI: Times Network’s English general entertainment channel Romedy Now will be premiering the American romantic comedy-drama television series Jane the Virgin in India.

     

    Times Network senior vice president and head of English Entertainment cluster Vivek Srivastava said, “I am happy that our endeavor to bring in the latest and best in English TV series is being successful for the viewing delight of our audiences. Romedy Now will be premiering this hit and award winning CBS show on 5 August, 2015. It is an ongoing series in the US. This will be an India TV premiere. Jane the Virgin is a 1 hour comedy-drama format.”

     

    Jane the Virgin debuted in the US on 13 October, 2014. The series is created by Jennie Snyder Urman and is a loose adaptation of the Venezuelan telenovela series created by Perla Farias, originally known as Juana La Virgen. In this TV series, Gina Rodriguez stars in the title role of Jane Villanueva, a religious young working Latina virgin woman, who becomes pregnant after being artificially inseminated by mistake by her gynecologist, an event that sends shockwaves through the lives of Jane and everyone around her. 

     

    Set in the Alpha-World city of Miami, located on the Atlantic coast of beautiful Southeastern Florida, the series details the surprising and unforeseen events that take place in the life of Jane Villanueva, whose family tradition and a vow to save her virginity until her marriage to a detective are shattered when the doctor mistakenly inseminates her artificially during a checkup. To make matters worse, the biological donor is a married man, a former playboy and cancer survivor who is not only the new owner of the hotel where Jane works, but was also her former teenage crush.

     

    Jane the Virgin has received critical acclaim since its premiere. Rodriguez won the award for the Best Actress in a Television series – Musical or Comedy, at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards honoring the best in American film and television industry produced during 2014 on 11 January, 2015, while the show was nominated for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and was also nominated for the Critics’ Choice Award. The series has won the People’s Choice Award for the Favorite new TV comedy.

  • Five reasons to watch MN+ in July

    Five reasons to watch MN+ in July

    MUMBAI: MN+ celebrates July with five themes – Centre Stage, Opening night, Hollywood select, Great Adaptations and the Academy club. Through all these five categories, MN+ is offering its viewers the critically acclaimed popular movies of English cinema.  Movies like, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It will be shown on Sunday, 12 July, at 9 pm at the Centre Stage slot of MN+.

     

    Times Network senior vice president and head English Entertainment Cluster Vivek Srivastava said, “MN+ has been hand-crafted for not just discerning movie lovers, but for cineastes as well. MN+ will showcase movies that are universally celebrated and debated. Keeping to this promise the other highlights for the month are, Gran Torino, About Schmidt, The Shawshank Redemption, Poltergeist , Ghostbusters, Fight Club, Poseidon, Woman in Black, The Golden Compass, Don’t  Say a  Word, Deamcatcher, Payback, Runaway Jury, The  Big Lebowski and a host of other popular films.”

     

    Gran Torino is a2008 American drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who starred in the film too will be shown on Sunday, 19th July, at 9PM at the Opening Night slot.

     

    Srivastava further added, “Our viewers are a focused lot who, by virtue of their intelligence and sensitivity, have the time and ability to appreciate only the best that life has to offer — they seek to fill moments of leisure with the greatest value. MN+ is for those premium audiences that have the temperament to be choosy about what life has to offer and have evolved to value only the best, and so are our movie offerings.”

     

    The American film critic, Emanuel Levy, stated that, “Alexander Payne’s poignant series-comedy ‘About Schmidt’ is a sharply observed character study, featuring Jack Nicholson in a towering performance as an ordinary American embarking late in life on a journey of self-discovery”. Watch these movies under the Academy Club in this July in MN+.

     

    Moreover, under the Hollywood Select category there are movies like Rush, Scent of A Woman, The Departed, Les Misérables, screened everyday at 9pm at MN+. In the month of July view these movies and more, in MN+, the gold class of movie viewing experience.

  • Times Network launches English movie channel MN+

    Times Network launches English movie channel MN+

    MUMBAI: The recently rebranded Times Network is all set to strengthen its English movie bouquet. The network, in a bid to attract the niche English movie fans has announced the launch of a new English movie channel, MN+. The channel will be available from 1 July 2015.

     

    Times Network senior vice president and head English entertainment Cluster Vivek Srivastava said, “We are delighted to launch MN+ today. The channel has been hand-crafted for not just the informed, intelligent and discerning movie lovers, but indeed for the cineastes as well. MN+ is an all new English channel experience that will showcase must-watch movies in HD – movies that are universally celebrated and debated. It will offer an experience that will make every moment valuable for the viewer, and thereby give them the Gold Class Experience of Hollywood.”

     

    The new channel will sell slots at a premier rate, having limited advertisements. “We will try to restrict it to six minutes so that our viewers have a classic movie watching experience,” added Srivastava.

     

    The MN+ library comprises over 1500 movies across genres that are universally celebrated and are discussed extensively in social gatherings of people who have an opinion. The channel will not only showcase great titles, but will also package them in interesting on-air properties like Center Stage, Great Adaptations, Opening Night and Hollywood Select, among others. All the special packaging will observe higher ad rate compared to regular programming.

     

    Sharing more information on the core target of the channel, Srivastava said, “MN+ is for those premium audiences that have the temperament to be choosy about what life has to offer and have evolved to value only the best. Our target audience member is a focused individual who, by virtue of his intelligence and sensitivity, has time and ability to appreciate only the best that life has to offer. A person who seeks to fill moments of his leisure time with the greatest value.”

     

    “The MN+ extension of the Movies Now English movies offering comes at a time when viewers across our markets have responded extremely positively to the Movies Now brand.  The rapidly growing reach and ratings of Movies Now over the past year bears testimony to this,” Srivastava asserted.

     

    Famous Innovation orchestrated the creatives while the Network’s internal team has done the packaging.

     

    Speaking about advertiser endorsement, he said, “Not just viewer delight, we are also pleased and humbled by the strong and enthusiastic response from advertisers and marketers. Over the past year almost all the major brands have been present on Movies Now and we are increasing that count every day.”

     

    Srivastava is confident that MN+ will add immensely to viewer and advertiser numbers and delight. “India is on a high aspirational curve and TV audiences across markets are familiar with the best of international world-class entertainment. The implementation of DAS in phase III and IV markets will push the envelope for world class content even further, and I am confident our English cluster entertainment offerings will be in the forefront of the growth curve.”

     

    The Network will mark the launch with aggressive marketing across all mediums. Considering the rapid emergence of digital, 25 per cent of the marketing budget will be spent on digital media platforms.

  • Times Network backs ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ premiere with heavy promotions

    Times Network backs ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ premiere with heavy promotions

    MUMBAI: Martin Scorsese directed Hollywood blockbuster The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio is set to make its debut on Indian television screens on 26 April, 2015.

     

    Times Network’s Movies Now and Movies Now+ will showcase the movie at 1 pm with a repeat at 9 pm.

     

    Times Network is backing the television premiere with a vigorous marketing campaign, which has been orchestrated by Famous Innovations.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Movies Now marketing head Anup Vishwanathan says, “The movie depicts life beyond limitation; the entire flare of the movie is the want of having more and not satisfied. With the campaign, we tried to connect to those people who want to live larger than life. As it is an English movie, the major geographic target was the English speaking audience in metros and Tier 1 cities.”

     

    English entertainment has always garnered huge engagement on the social media platforms. When queried as to whether special attention was paid to promote the movie premiere on social media, Vishwanathan informs, “It was a 360 degree campaign and we paid equal attention to each and every platform and tried to extract the best of them. When it comes to social media, we tried to make it as interactive as possible with various contests and engagement exercises.”

     

    Times Network has also seen a positive response from advertisers for The Wolf of Wall Street premiere. “Advertisers’ reaction so far has been highly positive. We have sold our inventory at a premium price because when you have content like this, advertisers don’t mind buying slots at a higher rate. When it comes to Hollywood movies, we are the leader and by premiering a movie of such magnitude we will go one step further,” adds Vishwanathan.

     

    Movies Now has roped in Provogue Deos as presenting sponsor, while Binani and Skoda are the associate partners. Frooti and Microsoft Lumia 640 XL are the beverage and mobile partner respectively, while Arrow joined in as co-presenter for the movie premiere. 

     

    Times Network business head, English entertainment cluster Vivek Srivastava is of the opinion that The Wolf of Wall Street is one of those special new-age classics that carry on the lineage of cult movies. “It shocked audiences worldwide with its intensity and we are all set to re-create that magic on the television screen,” he adds.

     

    The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the life of Jordan Belfort – a young stockbroker who makes a fortune with his intellect, guile and street-smartness. Belfort, played by DiCaprio, takes the shortcut up the corporate ladder and lives his life like a dream – a dream of flamboyance, oomph and lots of money, which actually becomes his sweet reality. The movie is one of the raciest gripping tales of today, with the suspense of the FBI chasing Belfort to take down his empire of excess.

  • Movies Now, Romedy Now on growth trajectory; ups ad rates

    Movies Now, Romedy Now on growth trajectory; ups ad rates

    MUMBAI: The English movie and general entertainment channels’ genre is a fragmented space, where ranks keep changing every now and then. In order to maintain their position well above competition, channels adopt various strategies. Two such channels from the Times Television Network (TTN) are Movies Now and Romedy Now. While last year, the channels dipped to the number four position in the genre, the two have recently tasted some success.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Times Television Network senior vice president and English Entertainment cluster head Vivek Srivastava says that both the channels have been at the number one position during the last 18 to 20 weeks. “Smart acquisitions, smart scheduling and smart segmenting has been our success mantra,” claims Srivastava.

     

    When queried on how the channel increased its market share, Srivastava says that they first identified the weakness, which were poor distribution and lack of exclusive content. 

     

    “Firstly, the channels had not been distributed optimally. We plugged the leak by going city to city and getting the channels distributed on platforms targeting one cable operator after another. Secondly, on the content front, Movies Now lacked premieres. To cope with this, we signed strong output deals with studios like NBC and Sony,” informs Srivastava.

     

    The Bones series, Harry Potter series and the Battleship are some franchises that has worked well for Movies Now. The channel now aims to have one big movie premiere in a month. While Movies Now currently has 20 per cent market share, Romedy Now stands at 28 per cent, informs Srivastava.

     

    Romedy Now showcases English shows as well as movies. “It’s been one and a half years since Romedy Now was launched and the channel has been number one in the genre. We realised there is space for segmentation and the channel is a segmentation success,” opines Srivastava.

     

    The channel has seen tremendous repeat value from the popular series F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and the movie P.S. – I Love You. “Instead of simply deciding to put up a show on the channel, we follow mood segmentation where content that fits the happy and romance sphere is aired. The channel sees a good response during the 7.30 – 9 pm slot during weekdays,” says Srivastava.

     

    However, while on the one hand, the network has decided to discontinue the Romedy Now HD channel as it did not perform as per expectations, on the other it has pinned high hopes on its new baby Movies Now+, which is the HD version of the channel. Srivastava informs that the channel is available on all HD platforms and has certain content lineup that is different from the SD feed. TTN will simulcast The Wolf Of Wall Street on Movies Now and Movies Now+ soon.

     

    To cope with viewership fluctuations during the upcoming Indian Premiere League (IPL), the network will premiere a big ticket movie right in the middle of the IPL timetable. It will be simulcast on the two movie channels. Apparently the channels see a viewers dip by 15 to 20 per cent during IPL.

     

    Realising that the channels have regained their lost market share, TTN has also decided to hike its advertising rates.

     

    The network will be leveraging the muscle provided by its mother company – The Times Group – that has newspapers, radio, OOH, broadcast network and Internet companies under its umbrella, to help build its marketing campaign this year.

     

    The English movie viewership for the channels mainly comes from the eight metros and is also seeing a strong viewership pattern from one million plus towns. Moreover, the 1 pm afternoon slot is the second most important slot for the channel after the primetime. It is 15 to 24 year olds who mainly contribute towards the 1 pm slot.

     

    Outlining the challenges ahead for the channel, Srivastava lists three major factors. “First is the completion of digitisation and how it shapes up. This would ensure that the channel gets its required reach. Secondly, packaging of the content is a major challenge and we will be addressing that issue in the coming months. Finally, measurability is a key challenge. In the existing scenario, we feel that we are not represented as we should have been. We are hoping BARC should give us the depth that is needed,” he says.

  • The movers and shakers of 2014

    The movers and shakers of 2014

    To achieve something, one needs to let go of something, 2014 saw many stalwarts of the media and entertainment sector taking that leap.

    From being bitten by the entrepreneur bug to grabbing on to better opportunities, the industry saw a number of movements. Some of these created a stir while others went down as “regular” developments. Nonetheless, Indiantelevision.com lists down some of the major movers and shakers of the years…

     

    Ajay Bhalwankar: He is a man who can be credited to providing valuable programming inputs across content on various channels. The year 2014 was like a shuffling battle for Bhalwankar. After spending almost 19 years with Zee Entertainment Group, with his last stint as programming head at Zee TV for six years, he joined Sony Entertainment Television (SET) on 7 April, 2014 as chief creative officer. Now in SET, he provides creative leadership and direction for the channel, and leads the programming and OAP (on-air-promotions) teams. Spanning various roles of creating, writing, programming, producing and directing entertainment content, he is an industry veteran with over 20 years of experience.

    Ajay Trigunayat: TTN English entertainment channels, Romedy Now and Movies Now CEO Ajay Trigunayat quit the network this year. With M K Anand taking over as TTN CEO and business functions being centralised, Trigunayat moved out. Before joining TTN, he was in the Middle East in an entrepreneurial capacity, and had been the business head of the Zee English Channels bouquet, and put in stints at Lintas, Contract and Rediffusion and at Pepsi in a sales role.

    Ajit Thakur: In a shocking development, the man credited for Life OK’s success story, Ajit Thakur decided to call it quits from the network. It was in July this year that he was given an additional charge of managing the network’s youth entertainment channel, Channel V. Currently he is serving his notice period and his last day in the organisation will be February, 2015.

    Abhijit Avasthi: An engineer by education, Abhijit Avasthi was the right-hand man of India’s ad guru Piyush Pandey. After spending more than 10 years at Ogilvy, he finally decided to hang his boots to pursue what he loves the most.

    However, according to reports, Avasthi is likely to set up his own creative agency, a move that he has been contemplating for a while.

    Alok Agarwal: Zee Media CEO Alok Agarwal ended his one and a half years stint at the network to take charge as Network18 group COO.

     

    Bharat Ranga: Since 1998, he had been an invaluable member of the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) family. After a 16-year stint with the network, he bid adieu in the month of October to explore new avenues. While at Zeel, he moved across functions and domains seamlessly, from sales to business head to being the international business head and then, the chief content and creative head for the organisation, he has been instrumental in making Zee’s content an unforgettable one for the audiences. His last project – Zindagi is getting critical acclaim from the masses.

    Dilip Venkatraman and Savvy Venkatraman: ITV Network, which owns and operates news channels NewsX and India News, appointed former CNN IBN and IBN7 CEO Dilip Venkatraman as group COO of strategy and business development. Meanwhile, Savvy joined the network as group chief marketing officer.

     

    KV Sridhar: After 17 long years Leo Burnett India chief creative officer, Pops, moved on to join SapientNitro, an interactive marketing, creative design and technology services agency. The movement did create a stir in the industry with many questions being raised on who can fill his shoes. Rajdeepak Das joined the agency as chief creative officer, soon afterwards.

    MK Anand: The former Disney UTV Media Networks MD MK Anand took over as the new MD and CEO of Times Television Network (TTN), stepping into Sunil Lulla’s shoes.  Anand had previously worked at The Times of India group for nearly 19 years, beginning first with the print business for 14 years and later on with the television business at Zoom from 2004 to 2009. He was the managing director for Disney UTV Media Networks till December 2013. The move saw functions like HR, finance, distribution being centralised and direct reportage to Anand.   

    N P Singh: The industry was treated with a good surprise at the beginning of 2014, when in a major development Multi Screen Media (MSM) promoted its COO N P Singh as the new CEO. He replaced Man Jit Singh who was designated as non-executive chairman and moved to Los Angeles (LA).

     

    Namit Sharma: From a creative background to a broadcast space, it was a challenge for former Wizcraft head for television business Namit Sharma. It was in early February when the news of former programming head Ajay Bhalwankar quitting and Sharma stepping into his shoes came to light. From directing fiction shows at Cinevistaas to film production and script writing at Yash Raj and handling events and non-fiction properties at Wizcraft International Entertainment, Sharma has done it all. As the programming head of the channel, he has brought some best creative ideas to the table.

    Nagesh Chhabria: IndusInd Media Communications Limited (IMCL) CEO Nagesh Chhabria too was seen hanging his boot this year. Chhabria later bought 50 per cent stake in Mumbai-based Bhawani Rajesh Cable & Digitech Services through his company Bhima Riddhi Digital Services (BRDS). He also signed an agreement with Atlas Consolidated LLC – a joint venture between Greenwich Equity Partners and Jagran Infra-Projects led by Sanjiv Mohan Gupta – to create a national MSO with about $200 million being pumped into it.

    Prem Kamath: The industry was shaken after former Channel V head and Star Pravah general manager decided to quit from Star for better opportunities at A+E Networks as deputy managing director, Asia Pacific. Associated with Star Network since 2007, Kamath had been heading Channel V for more than four years. Seeing his capability, he was given an additional responsibility at Star Network to head Star Pravah in 2013.

    Pradeep Hejmadi: With more than 18 years of well-rounded experience in the Indian media industry spanning media sales, media planning and buying, consumer research, business planning and product development, he is the man with multi-dimensional understanding of the media business. Former TAM Media Research senior vice-president Pradeep Hejmadi quit the organisation to join Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) as business head in the month of June. At TAM, he was responsible for revenue generation, client management, new business development and new product development and changed the working dynamics of the TV industry.

    Pratap Bose: Omnicom-owned DDB Mudra witnessed a sudden churn at the top, early this year when DDB Mudra Group COO Pratap Bose resigned from the agency after a six-year stint.

    The exit, who was looking to take over the top job, came after group chief executive officer and managing director Madhukar Kamath was given a four-year extension.

    Raghav Bahl: Network18 founder and chairman Raghav Bahl, sold his baby to RIL chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani for a whopping Rs 4000 crore. What followed this was an upheaval of sorts, as one by one, the main pillars of the company began to fall. As soon as the meeting concluded between Bahl and the management of Network18, departures began which included group CEO B Sai Kumar, COO Ajay Chacko, CNN-IBN deputy editor Sagarika Ghose, IBN Network editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Network18 Media CEO Sanjay Dua, Network18 digital CEO Durga Raghunath, Network 18 CFO RDS Binni Bawa and deputy foreign affairs editor Suhasini Haidar.

    Rajdeep Sardesai: It was in July this year that after nine long years, the face of IBN18 and editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai decided to move on from the network. He later on joined the India Today group as consulting editor. Further, penning his expertise of writing, in November he launched his book – ‘2014: The Election That Changed India’. The book tracks the story of the 16th Lok Sabha elections with a media insider’s view. It was in the same month when deputy editor at CNN-IBN Sagarika Ghose too bid adieu to the Network18 group and joined Times of India as consulting editor. 

    Rajesh Iyer: Associated with the channel since its inception, Colors marketing head Rajesh Iyer has been one of the many behind the success of popular shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi, India’s Got Talent, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Bigg Boss. Iyer quit Colors in March to join Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) as its business head, new initiatives, Hindi broadcast. With more than 13 years of experience in marketing and business segment, he aims to create some thrilling benchmarks in the industry.

    Ravi Mansukhani: The year 2014 saw the ending of the seven year innings from IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd. (IMCL) managing director Ravi Mansukhani, who decided to step down from his position. It was said that Mansukhani had expressed the desire to relinquish his services, which was accepted by the board of directors in the board meeting held on 31 January. His next move is yet unknown.

    Sameer Nair: He has donned numerous hats. From selling space in Yellow pages to being a member of a political party, Sameer Nair has had a volatile career. It was in July this year when the former Star India CEO joined Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms as Group CEO.

     

    S N Sharma: In what can be described as the biggest setback was the resignation of DEN Networks CEO SN Sharma, who was one of the founding members of the multi system operator. Sharma’s vision of growth through consolidation and digitisation had laid the foundation for the company. He has also spearheaded DEN’s rapid growth with his visionary leadership and unparalleled execution abilities. He has also been the driving force behind taking the company into the digital era.

    Suhasni Haider: In a major development, CNN-IBN deputy foreign affairs editor and prime time anchor Suhasini Haidar bid adieu to the organisation in May this year. To focus on long-format journalism, she joined The Hindu as its diplomatic editor. 

     

    Sunil Lulla: A 30-year media and communication veteran, Sunil Lulla made headlines in July when he decided to move on from Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. After almost 10 years with BCCL, Lulla, joined WPP-owned Grey Group as chairman and MD for Grey Group India.
    His joining the advertising industry was homecoming as he had started his career in one.
    However, his appointment led to Grey Group India president and CEO Jishnu Sen moving on from the network.

    Tony D’silva: With Ravi Mansukhani stepping down, IMCL saw a new MD and CEO in Tony D’silva, who was earlier the president of Hinduja Ventures Limited (HVL) and was overlooking its upcoming Headend InThe Sky (HITS) project. D’silva was given additional responsibilities as Group CEO-Media of HVL, and MD and CEO of IMCL.  

    TS Panesar: Star India EVP for distribution TS Panesar, who was entrusted with the responsibility of handling distribution for national DTH and digital addressable systems (DAS) earlier in 2014 when the JV between Star and Zee- MediaPro was broken, quit.  He later joined MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom as head-video business.  

    Vikram Mehra: After spending close to 10 long years at one of the leading DTH companies in India, Vikram Mehra, the chief commercial officer of Tata Sky moved on to Saregama, this year. While at Tata Sky, he was responsible for subscription revenue management, churn management, brand marketing, new product development, consumer analytics, interactive service operations, consumer research and PR, he is handling the digital platform for Saregama.

    Vikram Sakhuja: It was in October that GroupM announced the appointment of Lindsay Pattison as global CEO of Maxus, the post held by Vikram Sakhuja. Till date his next move in the group hasn’t been decided, but he is expected to take up a global role at parent firm GroupM.

     

    Vivek Srivastava: It came as a surprise when the news of former Colors commercial and digital head Vivek Srivastava quitting, shot the mailers. His extensive background in research, awareness of new media and over a decade in the broadcast industry contributed to maintaining the robust presence of all Colors brands in the digital space and managing the overall costs for the brand.  He headed to Times Television Network (TTN) in the month of October as senior vice-president and head of the English Entertainment Cluster, which includes premium channels like Movies Now and Romedy Now.

    (The names are in alphabetical order)

     

  • Anup Vishwanathan joins TTN as marketing head English Entertainment cluster

    Anup Vishwanathan joins TTN as marketing head English Entertainment cluster

    MUMBAI:  As the Times Television Network (TTN) strengthens its senior management team, it has announced the appointment of Anup Vishwanathan as the marketing head of the English Entertainment cluster which includes channels such as Movies Now and Romedy Now.

     

    Speaking on his new role Vishwanathan said he was really happy to be an integral part of the TTN team. “I have had some wonderful clients and colleagues who have enriched me with knowledge and experience with every interaction I have had with them. That’s going to stand in good stead for me. And finally, I have managed to sync my work and my passion- which has always been movies,” he added.

     

    He will join TTN from 24 November 2014. Based in Mumbai, he will work closely with the business and leadership teams at TTN and will report directly to TTN senior vice-president and head of English Entertainment cluster Vivek Srivastava.

     

    Srivastava commented, “Anup’s expertise in working with a cross section of brands, along with his deep understanding of media businesses will add great value to our business. I would like to welcome him on-board and I look forward to having a wonderful working experience.”

     

    Vishwanathan moves to TTN after a stint at Leo Burnett which started in 2006. He has worked on brands like HDFC Life, Tata Capital, McDonalds, Sony Entertainment Television, Sony Pix, AXN. At Sony Entertainment Television, he has worked on the reality show Kaun Banega Crorepati. He is also the winner recipient of Leo Burnett Global Star Reacher award.

     

  • Colors elevates Manisha Sharma; Prashant Bhatt to move out

    Colors elevates Manisha Sharma; Prashant Bhatt to move out

    MUMBAI: The Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC), Colors, has been witnessing many exists lately.

     

    Late last month, came the news of the channel’s commercial and digital head Vivek Srivastava quitting and moving to Times Television Network to head the English Entertainment channels.

     

    Now, highly reliable sources within the industry have confirmed to indiantelevision.com that Prashant Bhatt, who heads the weekday programming head, has been asked to put down his papers. Meanwhile, the current non-fiction head Manisha Sharma has been awarded extra responsibilities of the entire programming department of the channel.

     

    In the year 2012, Colors had split its programming unit into two separate teams to bring more focus on content for weekdays and weekends.

     

    The official spokespersons of the channel were unavailable for comment.

     

    With inputs from tellychakkar.com

  • TTN ropes in Vivek Srivastava to head English Entertainment cluster

    TTN ropes in Vivek Srivastava to head English Entertainment cluster

    MUMBAI: Times Television Network (TTN) has got on-board Colors commercial and digital head Vivek Srivastava to fill in the place left vacant since April this year when Ajay Trigunayat moved on from the network.

     

    In his new role, Srivastava will be senior VP and heading the English Entertainment Cluster (Movies Now and Romedy Now). He will take charge from today (1 October 2014) and report to TTN MD and CEO MK Anand.

     

    Srivastava had put down his papers two months back at Colors, confirms sources close to the development.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, Anand said: “Vivek’s experience in the broadcast sector combined with our aggressive approach to drive growth for the network will add great value to our business. The experience and calibre he brings to the table, we believe, will set new benchmarks for our channels.”

     

    Commenting on his new role, Srivastava said: “I look forward to being a part of such a dynamic and motivated environment at the TTN. I’ll be working closely with the team at TTN to drive high viewership performance across the English Entertainment Cluster. I look forward to an enriching experience.”

     

    He had been with Colors since its inception in January 2008. He started as a research head for the channel and was later part of its international team before taking up the mantle of digital strategy.

     

    Moreover, last year, he was given additional responsibility of Colors’ commercial business. Prior to that, he was with TAM Media Research, where he last served as director of the S Group. He has also worked with IMRB International.