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  • Gaurav Dhawan is Times Network’s new CRO

    Gaurav Dhawan is Times Network’s new CRO

    Mumbai : Times Network has promoted Gaurav Dhawan as its chief revenue officer. Gaurav will be in charge of the network’s broadcast ad revenue operations as well as the monetisation strategy for the network’s bouquet of channels covering Hindi and English news, entertainment, and branded content.

    Times Network managing director & CEO MK Anand said, “Given Gaurav’s successful background leading go-to-market teams and his relentless focus that drives sustained growth, the decision to move him into the Chief Revenue Officer role was clear. He’s already proven to be a strong leader and I’m confident he will continue to drive our strong revenue growth strategy.”

    Dhawan is a Times Network stalwart who has played a pivotal role in shaping the brand’s market leadership and has been passionately involved in scaling revenue and new opportunities throughout his tenure with the network.

    Talking about his new role, Dhawan said, “I’m excited and honoured to helm this mandate. I have been associated with Times Network for over 17 years and it is heartening to see the Network’s commendable growth over the years, demonstrating market dominance in its respective genres. This is an exciting phase as we continue to build new opportunities for our Hindi news brands and optimize emerging revenue streams and strategic partnerships to propel the network’s growth.”

    Gaurav has over 26 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry, and has a proven track record of driving businesses to profitability, impacting solutions, and innovating to deliver aggressive revenue expectations and sustained growth for businesses in television, print, and web.

  • GUEST COLUMN: OTT serves the nation while the internet counsels it

    GUEST COLUMN: OTT serves the nation while the internet counsels it

    Mumbai: The Covid-19 pandemic has upturned all walks of life. People’s lives have switched to a virtual setup and personal choices have moved from interacting with people to purchasing products, availing services, and even spending leisure time to a click or a swipe! The significance of this transition, however, has established itself as a big opportunity for the Internet. While the exponential growth of the Internet is undeniable, three sectors, in particular, continue to witness mammoth amounts of data traffic – collaborative communication tools, gaming, and OTT.

    A weekend without binge-watching or watch-parties today is more like a restaurant that’s taken your favorite food off the menu! Hence OTT is far from experiencing a post-Covid slackening. In fact, with such a large user base and the confidence, the content creators found in releasing content on OTT ever-growing platforms, OTT & VOD traffic rose by 139 per cent from January to August.

    March 2021 culminated with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) marking 825.30 million internet users in the country. Amongst these, active ad-support and paid streaming users accounted for 325 million. A phenomenal breakthrough was observed in rural India, and numbers as high as 65 per cent of India’s total OTT consumption were reported by the Broadband India Forum. At an all-time high, the OTT industry is only set to boom, and as reports by RBSA Advisors suggest, the OTT market is set to grow to $ four billion by 2025 and $12.5 billion by 2030. From 20 minutes to 50 minutes and one-hour average time spent on OTT platforms, from two OTT platforms to 40+ platforms, the OTT revolution in India has come a long way.

    One facet of this revolution that took the center stage included OTT platforms launching themselves into the hyper-competitive environment by catering to local tastes and preferences that enabled them to reach a wider audience in less than no time. As part of their content variety offerings and in an endeavor to bridge the gap beyond the urban setups, OTT platforms across the diverse geography of India, launched regional content in India. This led to one impressive surge in regional content viewership, and industry analysts suggest that 40 per cent of the total viewership in India now comprises regional content consumers. Additionally, this regional content also witnessed a surge overseas particularly in countries like the USA, UK, Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.

    Observing this stark rise and the massive demand from the Indian market, international players like Netflix, Disney, and Amazon got into an arms race by launching regional and India-centric content in addition to international content. This availability of content in both original and dubbed languages further boosted the momentum of OTT making it one of the hottest segments across the Indian subcontinent.

    However, while the demand is only set to grow, matching the growth of the sector at the same pace requires a stable, reliable, secured digital infrastructure making it more critical than it was ever expected to be thereby giving interconnection center stage.

    Internet exchanges have established their importance in the OTT world primarily on three grounds. Firstly, internet exchange points reside within data centers that offer world-class facilities and the ability to shoulder critical and customised digital infrastructures. Secondly, interconnectivity creates an ecosystem with widespread points of presence all converging at a single place while also providing peering, DirectCloud, and other similar services. This enables the reduction of latency, the ability to bypass as high as 90 per cent of the internet traffic, the scaling down of costs associated with bandwidth and transmission. Additionally, in an environment placing an urgency on security, internet exchange points provide network services that enhance data security.

    If you considered key runners in an OTT-hiccup race, latency would bring home a medal. While the live video experiences can be killed by high latency, even constant buffering in recorded content can lead consumers far from service. In fact, studies suggest that a two-second delay while loading a website can result in a 100 per cent bounce rate.  This emphasises the importance of keeping content as close to the user as possible. To quantify it, live streaming in HD/4K should ideally be less than 1,200 km away from the user. While it is easier for broadcast networks to circumvent congestion and avoid latency, the challenge lies in finding long-term, reliable, and cost-effective solutions. An Internet Exchange Point allows networks of all segments to exchange traffic while keeping local traffic local. This enables OTT providers to reach the Internet’s ‘long tail’—ISPs who distribute content to regional users. Keeping traffic local reduces the distance data must travel which in turn reduces latency thereby improving content performance and user experience. Interconnection services can give OTT players the secure and resilient digital infrastructure they require while also giving them the ability to upgrade a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) port to a 100GE port.

    Digital entertainment is an ever-evolving medium and that the need for seamless and secure internet access will continue to soar high. It also brings in higher possibilities of network collisions and contentions. This can lead to a downstream or a slowdown of a platform’s functioning. That again finds answers in an Internet Exchange built to deal with peak internet traffic with also the ability to manage outages making it an indispensable solution even in the face of a major crises situation.

    India is the second-largest country in terms of internet users and is the fastest-growing OTT market globally and is predicted to become the sixth-largest by 2024. Reports by RBSA indicate that the industry has the potential to grow into a $15 bn industry over the next decade. This can also be accredited to OTT players partnering with telecom companies like Airtel, Jio, and VI, the entry of global players like Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ Hotstar through customised content and major investments, and the growth of home-grown booming OTT platforms. This aggressive pace of growth has further fueled the demand of the data-hungry nation which has trends across the industry as proof.

    This emphasises the need for a secure, scalable, and compliant infrastructure to support this demand now more than ever. It is only in the presence of an innovative and unfailingly reliable internet infrastructure that the OTT industry in the country will be able to meet the needs of the nation it has held firm to until now.

    (Sudhir Kunder is the country director of DE-CIX India. The views expressed in the column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • Screenwriters Association announces nominees for Web Series category of SWA Awards 2020

    Screenwriters Association announces nominees for Web Series category of SWA Awards 2020

    MUMBAI: Screenwriters Association (SWA), the Indian guild of screenwriters and lyricists has announced the 13 nominees for the original series category of SWA Awards 2020. These series were nominated over three sub-categories: best original series – original comedy, best original series – original drama and best original series – adaptation.

    Nominees for Best Series – Original Drama are:

    1.            Richie Mehta and Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh for Delhi Crime

    2.            Suman Kumar, Sumit Arora, Raj and DK for The Family Man

    3.            Abhishek Yadav, Saurabh Khanna and Sandeep Jain for Kota Factory

    4.            Abhishek Sengupta, Biswa Kalyan Rath and Hussain Haidry for Lakhon Mein Ek Season 2

    5.            Alankrita Shrivastav, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti for Made in Heaven

    Nominees for Best Series – Original Comedy are:

    1.            Maitreyee Upadhyay, Nayana Shyam and Preksha Khanna for Adulting Season 2

    2.            Devika Bhagat and Ishita Moitra for Four More Shots Please!

    3.            Ashish Manchanda, Chirag Ratna Singh and Shreyasi Sharma for Girls’ Hostel

    4.            Akarsh Khurana and Sumeet Vyas for Tripling Season 2

    5.            Ajaydeep Singh and Manish Kumar for Virgin Bhasskar

    Nominees for Series – Adaptation are:

    1.            Asad Hussain (Dialogue), Deepa Mehta, Patrick Graham, Suhani Kanwar and Urmi Juvekar for Leila

    2.            Dhruv Narang, Nihit Bhave, Pooja Tolani, Varun Grover for Sacred Games Season 2

    3.            Marston Bloom, Sumit Arora, Tanuja Chaturvedi (Hindi dialogue) for Selection Day

     SWA general secretary Sunil Salgia said, “It’s a new world, a combination of TV and Film. It gives scope for the writer to explore the world around the characters a bit more, to explore the minds of the characters, to weave a web of new ideas, and this is where a writer can be innovative and experimental. The writers have shown promise in this genre and I foresee a tough competition amongst them on this platform.”

    The 13 nominees were selected from 43 entries received by the SWA Awards committee from Hindi language web series released in 2019. Three jury panels, each comprising three eminent screenwriters, assessed entries in their respective sub-category. The final winners will be announced in an online awards ceremony on 27 September 2020.

    Please read more coverage on SWA  

    SWA Web Awards spokesperson and screenwriter  Manisha Korde said, “Writing for web-series is complicated owing to its unique structure; which is like man-animal hybrids of Greek mythology. Web series need intensity of the cinemas, expanse of the TV shows and brisk span attention to ads. This youngest medium, barely a few years old, poses greater challenges than its seniors. It's a tough field out there. All the nominations are equally good and it will be interesting to see who wins the first SWA screenwriting award for web!”

    SWA is holding the first ever SWA Awards on the occasion of its diamond jubilee year in 2020. Since they are judged by knowledgeable screenwriters and lyricists, these awards promise to become the most coveted validation for writers in India, much like the awards of other prestigious international writers’ guilds and literary organisations.

    The nominees spoke to SWA, reacting to the announcement:

    Nominees for Best Series – Original Drama

    Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh: This is my first every nomination and I can’t imagine it being more befitting than this. To be valued by the members of SWA is a prize in itself. I thank each one of you for finding my work worthy of being shortlisted in this category.

    Raj & DK: So excited to be nominated for the SWA awards! It's a great initiative by the association to introduce the awards this year. This is a shot in the arm for original content creators and lends authenticity to the writing awards. Really looking forward!

    Suman Kumar: Thank you SWA for nominating The Family Man in the first ever SWA Awards. It feels great that my writer colleagues recognise our work. Big thanks to all the fans of the Family Man.

    Sumit Arora: I am extremely happy to know that I have been nominated for the first ever SWA awards. There has been some excellent work in the web space off late and it’s a privilege to be nominated amongst all these brilliant minds who have created that work.

    Abhishek Yadav: Really glad that SWA has taken the initiative to organise awards entirely focused on the craft of screenwriting. It’s also special because Kota Factory has been shortlisted as one of the five nominees. Really thankful to the jury, SWA, team Kota Factory and the audience. Cheers!

    Sandeep Jain: When I received the email regarding nomination for SWA Awards 2020, I was working on something and suddenly for a moment everything stopped and I felt extremely grateful. I still remember the day when I got my SWA card to register my first short film script. And now I’m very happy to receive a nomination from the same body. I feel this is a great initiative because this is the most respected body for us writers and acknowledgement from them means a lot to us.

    Abhishek Sengupta: To be nominated by a jury comprised of stalwarts who have mastered the craft of writing, is an honour that can be rarely matched. I would like to thank SWA for this honour and commend them on the first screenwriting awards to recognise the importance of the art of writing.

    Biswa Kalyan Rath: Very excited about finally having an SWA awards. It has been long overdue and writers deserve much more. Hoping that this will have a great impact on the community as a whole.

    Hussain Haidry: I am glad to know that SWA has initiated these awards, and it is quite assuring that it will have as objective as possible an approach in appreciating people working for Indian cinema. I am honoured to know that I am nominated in the first ever SWA awards, that too as a screenwriter.

    Alankrita Shrivastav: I am honoured and incredibly thrilled that we have been nominated for the first ever SWA Awards for writing Made in Heaven. It is a very special show and working on it has been the most collaborative and fulfilling experience. And to now be recognised by one’s fellow writers feels wonderful. I hope that in the years to come, this culture of encouraging and appreciating our contemporaries continues.

    Nominees for Best Series – Original Comedy

    Maitreyee Upadhyay: Entering the Screenwriters Association is like Aladdin entering the cave of wonders. It is daunting. The walls of SWA are filled with names that make me shake in my tiny shoes. And instantly I feel like an impostor, a street-rat, like Aladdin. To think that our words have been nominated for an award by this building, well, it’s like the word goddess is asking me to keep meeting the blank page.

    Nayana Shyam: I’m so grateful and honoured to have been nominated for this award. It means so much more to me because of how special this show is to me and my fellow writers.

    Preksha Khanna: SWA Awards will help give due recognition to one of the most important, and often side-lined parts of the entertainment industry – the writers. I am deeply honoured to be nominated in the first edition of the SWA awards and hope that this tradition continues in the years to come.

    Devika Bhagat: These awards mean so much more as they are judged by our peers – fellow screenwriters. Peer recognition is something I strive for. Writing Four More Shots Please! was an amazing and creatively fulfilling experience. Getting this nomination and sharing it with my co-writer and friend, Ishita Moitra, is the icing on the cake. I hope to continue to do good writing in the future and live up to the expectations of my peers.

    Ishita Moitra: To be acknowledged for your work by your own peers is possibly the highest accolade of all. SWA has always been a beacon of hope and strength for us screenwriters. The Association stands for justice, impartiality, equality, free and fair liberal thought. So, when they choose to celebrate and honour excellence in screenwriting, it sure means something.

    Ashish Manchanda: Existence is painful, the world is going downhill and the society will blow up in its own face one day. Content is a better escape from all that than drugs and alcohol. Good content helps one feel belonged and relate with and find solace in other people's problems and at times forget about their problems. And to craft good content it takes dedicated creators who painstakingly go through endless loops of creation and destruction. Kudos to team SWA for recognising and rewarding such talent in the creative team. Thank you for including team Girls' Hostel.

    Chirag Ratna Singh: I am very grateful, flattered and honestly a little surprised to be nominated for the first ever SWA awards! Considering the competition, it is indeed a great honour to be recognised by people who genuinely understand and appreciate the craft of writing. Here's hoping this tradition continues. Thank you!

    Akarsh Khurana: Being nominated by your own peers and the fraternity you belong to is the best feeling ever. I’m so glad that SWA has taken this initiative. Particularly now that we are valuing content more, and writers are coming back to the fore. Also, being nominated for Tripling is just the icing on the cake. I loved writing both seasons of this with my friend and co-writer, Sumeet Vyas. It gave us a chance to be personal, and funny, and most importantly, free to create.

    Ajaydeep Singh: SWA Awards will not only uplift the morale of our writers but also, I am sure this award will be one of the most prestigious ones in the forthcoming years. We were in need of an honest and unbiased jury and SWA has stepped in at the right time. I am deeply honored and thankful to the jury for nominating my show Virgin Bhasskar.

    Manish Kumar: It's my immense pleasure to be nominated and that too for my first show. The power of words is often felt than seen. This award just reassures me that people truly appreciate the beauty of imagination. This is my first project, my first labour of love and to see it nominated, has filled my heart to its brim and my cup runneth over. I hope in future many more are inspired by this honour and we build a tribe that is creative, impactful and authentic.

    Nominees for Best  Series – Adaptation

    Asad Hussain: There are days when writing is like a river in full flow. And then there are days when it feels like a burden, a rock that refuses to budge. It is discipline and rigour as well as inspiration and intuition. All these shades of emotion are familiar to writers, which is why it feels truly special to be nominated for this honour by a group of fellow writers. Thank you for considering my work for this award, and for providing recognition for the role of writers in the industry.

    Patrick Graham: I've been a proud SWA member since 2011 and I'm really thrilled that such an awesome organisation has begun their own awards function. Writing is the foundation to any good series or film and it's important that writers receive the recognition, credit and fees that they deserve for their work – SWAs fight for these things tirelessly. I'm very grateful to receive this nomination and I'm excited to see how the quality of writing within our industry is getting stronger with every passing year.

    Suhani Kanwar: Never before has there been such an urgent hunt for stories and content in the industry. Never before have we screenwriters had so many formats or platforms to choose from. But with all this opportunity, there’s also a pressing need for us writers to really think about what we want to say, why we are saying it, whose stories we want to tell, and how to tell them well. An awards event like the first ever SWA Awards, focused purely on celebrating good writing, is welcome, perfectly timed, and something I’ll look forward to not just this year but every year from here on.

    Urmi Juvekar: I am absolutely delighted with this nomination. There is no better encouragement for a writer than being appreciated by one’s fellow writers.

    Dhruv Narang: SWA Awards are a great initiative, filling a big vacuum for authentic, craft-oriented honours. It is very humbling to be nominated by an organisation so sincerely committed to advancing the cause of screenwriting.

    Nihit Bhave: I’m honoured and excited about being nominated for the first ever SWA Awards. It’s just the kind of boost a writer needs, especially during lockdown when we’re all struggling to create. I would also like to applaud SWA for their initiative towards recognising writing talent and putting their members front and centre. The association has, for long, protected and nurtured us and this is another great way of putting their might behind writers.

    Pooja Tolani: The SWA Awards is great news and a long time coming. It will be a great boost and encouragement for screenwriters to have their craft acknowledged by peers and seniors who know first-hand, just how much goes into writing. Also, we as an industry do need to acknowledge more (and more often), the invisible craft of screenwriting and its fundamental relevance in the filmmaking process – and the awards are a big step in that direction. I’m thrilled to be nominated for the first edition.

    Varun Grover: I am thrilled to be nominated for the first ever SWA Awards in two categories. It's an award for the community by the peers and that makes it extra special. I had decided not to attend any regular film awards because of the way they treat writers and technicians – and it's a great step forward that SWA decided to start awards where writers are in the front and center.

    Marston Bloom: It is always humbling to be acknowledged by one’s peers and that feeling is more pronounced when it comes from a community of writers like the SWA with such a vivid tradition of storytelling excellence. Thanks to the reach of OTT platforms the whole world can now see the incredible quality and ambition of Indian screenwriting and I’m delighted that Selection Day played a small part in this moment.

    Tanuja Chaturvedi: What truly makes this honour so unique is your work is appreciated, evaluated and valued by your peers and betters. To get this nomination, the first time SWA is instituting these awards, is the cherry on my cake. My congratulations to my fellow nominees!

  • Spuul adds blockbuster titles from Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films

    Spuul adds blockbuster titles from Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films

    MUMBAI: Spuul has tied up with Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films for its premium subscribers in India. Movies like 3 Idiots, Munna Bhai film series will be added to the catalogue of the online streaming service. 

    The movies will be available across devices like web, iOS, Android, Smart TV, Airplay and Apple TV on iOS and Chromecast on Android.

    With these additions viewers will also get access to classics such as Khamosh, Parinda, 1942: A Love Story, Kareeb, Mission Kashmir, Parineeta and Eklavya – The Royal Guard.

    Speaking about the partnership, Spuul Global CEO Subin Subaiah said, “As one of the leading providers of Bollywood content to viewers across India, we are constantly investing in growing our library by adding new, popular and blockbuster titles to our catalogue. The addition of movies from esteemed production house such as Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films to our catalogue is yet another step towards providing our 12 million viewers with fresh and diverse films.”

     

  • Spuul adds blockbuster titles from Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films

    Spuul adds blockbuster titles from Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films

    MUMBAI: Spuul has tied up with Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films for its premium subscribers in India. Movies like 3 Idiots, Munna Bhai film series will be added to the catalogue of the online streaming service. 

    The movies will be available across devices like web, iOS, Android, Smart TV, Airplay and Apple TV on iOS and Chromecast on Android.

    With these additions viewers will also get access to classics such as Khamosh, Parinda, 1942: A Love Story, Kareeb, Mission Kashmir, Parineeta and Eklavya – The Royal Guard.

    Speaking about the partnership, Spuul Global CEO Subin Subaiah said, “As one of the leading providers of Bollywood content to viewers across India, we are constantly investing in growing our library by adding new, popular and blockbuster titles to our catalogue. The addition of movies from esteemed production house such as Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films to our catalogue is yet another step towards providing our 12 million viewers with fresh and diverse films.”

     

  • Times of India releases major upgrades to its Android and iOS apps

    Times of India releases major upgrades to its Android and iOS apps

    MUMBAI: Timesofindia.com, India’s go-to destination for news across web, mobile and social platforms, releases version 3.0 of their iPhone and Android app.

     
    The latest apps boast of a sleeker design, enhanced user experience and a host of new features. While the iOS app for iPhone & iPod touch gets an entirely new user friendly design, day/night themes, adjustable font size and the ability to zoom in to photos, the new Android app has a contemporary card layout, an expandable widget with choice of section and refresh rate, an additional color theme and the ability to effortlessly switch between Portrait and Landscape modes.

     
    Speaking on the occasion, Puneet Gupt, Business Head, Times of India digital, says – “We have evolved the apps into an entirely new experience based on feedback from millions of our users. Along with the depth and breadth of Times of India’s news coverage, these apps now come packed with a stronger feature set to ensure that staying up-to-date is now an even more pleasant and enriching experience.Version 3.0 apps are our best apps for iOS and Android till date.”
     

    Other improvements to the apps include visibly faster response, an entire new line of push notifications, complete Election coverage and better handling of memory and space used by the applications.

     

    Version 3.0 apps can be used on iOS 6 and above for Apple users and Android 2.3 and above for the Android platform.

     

    To Download the new TOI V 3.0 app for  iPhone / iPad touch & Android : visit http://toi.in/mapps

  • Times Internet launches gocricket.com

    Times Internet launches gocricket.com

    MUMBAI: Times Internet recently launched a cricket portal – www.gocricket.com – a cricket news destination with original, editorial content, deeply integrated video features, and a rich, cross-platform experience. 

     

    Cricket fans will be able to watch Pepsi Indian Premier League 2014 anytime, anywhere on gocricket’s multiple digital platforms. Gocricket launches live on web, iPhone, Android, iPad, and WAP, readily enabled for featured phones and low bandwidth users as well. And when Pepsi IPL begins, the website will also feature a video scorecard, with real time video clips integrated into the scorecard. 

     

    “We are also proud to announce that one of India’s most successful captains, Sourav Ganguly, will exclusively share his critical insights into the game on our platform.” said gocricket.com business head Ruchir Khanna in a statement. “Gocricket will be the most comprehensive web and mobile cricket destination, offering a multimedia experience.”

     

    Sourav Ganguly on his part added: “I am extremely happy to be associated with go cricket.com and be involved as a guest editor. We will bring cricket news to you like never before. Stay with us.”  

     

    Along with rich photos and videos, gocricket will also feature writing from around the world, connecting cricket fans with experts and writers. It will distinguish with cricket records and trivia, making it simple and easy for the fans. In one sentence, gocricket aims to be consumers’ first stop for all cricket content needs.

     

  • Creative Abby Awards expands branded content & entertainment vertical

    Creative Abby Awards expands branded content & entertainment vertical

    MUMBAI: This year the Abby Award has added new verticals as well as sub-categories to become truly the complete Communications Award that it has always wanted to be.

     

    Last year Abby Awards added Branded Content and Entertainment as a new vertical with 8 sub-categories. This category attracts those projects which involve natural integration into original content by a brand. Typically here entrants can show how a brand has independently or in association with a content producer or broadcaster/publisher has created or co-created entertaining and engaging content for their audience. This can cover original content or programming for a brand by natural integration of a brand into existing formats by partnering with a publisher or media partner.

     

    Branded content integration goes beyond television and includes web, radio, print, music, user generated video, social, blogs, experiential events etc.

     

    This year more sub-categories have been added to bring this vertical on par with international festivals.

     

    Who can enter?

     

    Creative agencies who may have partnered with content producers or publishers, media agencies ,content producers who have produced the content, broadcasters who may have pioneered the concept, publishers who have worked closely with creative or media companies or even clients who may have led the initiative.

     

    What kind of work can be entered?

     

    The intelligent extension of a brand’s theme or position into the content, projects that enhance a brand’s position by integrating with content in different media or events, use of innovation in the integration.

     

    What is the material to be entered?

     

    A presentation board which is at the end of Entry Form and a 2 min audio visual that explains and gives excerpts of the entry has to be entered on DVD along with a presentation board for evaluation by the jury.

  • National Film Awards ceremony to be simulcast on TV, radio, web

    National Film Awards ceremony to be simulcast on TV, radio, web

    NEW DELHI: The 59th National Film Awards ceremony and presentation of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award to thespian Soumitra Chatterjee will have a live simulcast on television, radio, and the internet this time.

    The awards will be presented by Vice President Hamid Ansari at the award ceremony, which will be held at Vigyan Bhavan. It will be telecast live on the national network at DD One, the international channel DD India, and on DD News from 5 pm. There will be a repeat telecast on 4 May on DD Bharati from 8 pm.

    In addition, the ceremony will be broadcast from 5.25 pm onwards on All India Radio‘s Rajdhani channel in Delhi; FM Rainbow in Delhi, Hyderabad and Jalandhar; Radio Kashmir; AIR stations in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Kolkata; and FM Gold in Kolkata.

    Live webcast will be shown on www.dff.nic.in with a link from mib.nic.in.

    The National Film Awards are traditionally given away by the President and this is one of the few times since the awards were introduced that they are being given away by the Vice President as President Pratibha Devisingh Patil is on a trip to Seychelles and South Africa.

  • Nielsen to kick-off online campaign ratings service on 15 August

    Nielsen to kick-off online campaign ratings service on 15 August

    MUMBAI: The Nielsen Company, well-known for its television ratings services, is launching a new service to help online advertisers achieve better visibility over their Internet-based promotional campaigns.


    The Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings service will be rolled out on 15 August.


    The new ratings service will look beyond traditional online tools such as click-through and impressions and will focus on measuring the efficacy of a campaign with gross rating points, which combine the reach of an ad and the frequency with which users see it.


    With the new system in place, advertisers will be able to measure the combined reach of their TV, Web and mobile marketing initiatives.


    The company said that the new system will facilitate greater accuracy than traditional online metrics that are often manipulated with.


    With over 160 million U.S. users, Facebook has become an online advertising behemoth. The social network‘s ad revenues will continue its upward movement, if the company can demonstrate its ability to match with other advertising media.