ITV

Tag: Zee Kalinga

  • Tata Sky expands its news channel offerings in Odisha

    Tata Sky expands its news channel offerings in Odisha

    MUMBAI: This election season, Tata Sky – the leading Direct-to-Home service provider announced the addition of three news channels in Odisha – Kanak TV, Zee Kalinga and MBC TV.

    Along with the Dhamal Mix pack at Rs.220/- pm, subscribers also get 2 free regional packs giving them access to over 100 channels including popular Hindi channels such as Colors, Star Plus,Sony and Zee. Tata Sky subscribers can now enjoy the free Odia regional pack that comprises of 10 popular Odia channels providing entertainment, regional and national news.

    Zee Kalinga, a 24×7 news channel will bring in deep election analysis, live discussion programs, current affairs on the table for subscribers. Kanak TV and MBC TV on the other hand will keep the subscribers informed about news not only from the region but also across the country.

    On the latest addition to the Tata Sky family, Mr. VikramMehra, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Sky said, “Expanding our offering with the three news channels is a part of our endeavor to increase our spread of channels across all genres for our Odia subscribers. One of the largest states in the East and an important market for digitization, Odisha has been witnessing positive digital growth over the last few months.”

    Apart from Odia channels, Tata Sky also offers 10 Bengali and 20 Telugu channels. With the addition of the Odia channels, Tata Sky continues to reinforce its focus on the Odisha market, further strengthening its position in the east of India.

     

  • Zee Media launches Zee Kalinga in Odisha

    Zee Media launches Zee Kalinga in Odisha

    MUMBAI:  Zee News Media Corp (ZMCL) continues to expand its presence in the regional news space. As part of its new format of Terrestrial Entertainment Network (TEN), the television news group has launched Odia language Zee Kalinga to tap viewers in the state of Orissa.

     

    Zee Kalinga replaces Telugu language Zee 24 Gantalu which discontinued its operations in November 2013 as Zee News found the Andhra Pradesh market to be a highly competitive market. In January this year, ZMCL decided to move into Odisha with Zee Kalinga. The channel has been in preparation since six months and all it had to do was to apply to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for converting its news licence from one channel to another. The approval from the MIB came through in January this year.

     

    ZMCL has hired around 100 employees for the Odia channel, with Amitava Bhattacharya as EVP, Satya Prakash Nayak as Resident Editor, Arjya Patnaik as Programming Head and Aryabhatta Dash as Marketing Manager. In the TEN format, the programming is equally divided between news and non-news shows.

     

    News will have several bulletins, chat shows and factual entertainment capsules, while non-news will have four fiction shows and two reality shows. “The key differentiator in the content strategy of the channel is to cut across audiences and serve them varied types of content on a platter. Zee Kalinga, through its unforgettable and powerful content, will bring to life a unique philosophy of ‘all in one’ entertainment,” says Bhattacharya.

     

    News is being created in-house while non-news shows have been outsourced to production houses. Half-an-hour bulletins will be spread across the day, while one hour news discussion will be telecast during prime time for five days a week. Special bulletins are also planned on sports, business and other special stories.

     

    Some of the non-news shows are Asha Ra Akash produced by Urmi Communications, Katha Ta Etiki by Shri Ganesh Telefilms, Abhinetri by Vidisha Kraft, Mo Jejemaa by Herald, Maa Raan Micha Kahuni by Asian Shopping Club and Mr. and Miss Kalinga by Prelude Novel Ventures. Three dubbed non-news shows are also to be aired – Bikram Betaal, Ramayana and Buddha.

     

    Zee Kalinga will have its main office at Bhubaneshwar and bureaus in Sambalpore, Behrampore and Balasore. It will cater to cable and satellite homes with people above four years of age falling under socio-economic classification of A, B and C.

     

    A marketing campaign, created by Sanket Communications, has been undertaken to proclaim the tagline ‘Mu Odia, Mo Odisha’. Print ads will begin tomorow in newspapers Samay, Samvad and Samaj while outdoor advertising is planned in Bhubaneshwar and other TAM towns. Sources say the marketing spend is to the tune of Rs 1 crore. BTL activities began last week while radio and outdoor began today. About 37 spots have been bought for outdoor hoardings.

     

    Advertisers are still being sought, some of them being from the retail, education, real estate and government sectors. The channel plans to have just 20 per cent advertisers from Bhubhaneshwar while the rest will be spread from across the country. It is looking to tap into a robust Rs 100 crore advertising market (news and regional entertainment put together).

     

    The channel will be available free-to-air till March after which it will be coverted into a pay TV channel. “We are covered on Ortel, Variety, Manthan and most other local LCOs. On DTH, we are live on Dish TV and Airtel Digital. This will give us 90 per cent plus reach in overall Orissa and 95 per cent in digital,” says Bhattacharya.

     

    As far as the name of the channel is concerned he adds, “Kalinga is its old name so we just felt like keeping it.”

  • ZMCL launches Zee Purvaiya in Bihar, Jharkhand

    ZMCL launches Zee Purvaiya in Bihar, Jharkhand

    MUMBAI: It was in October last year that Zee Media Corporation got the board approval to acquire up to 100 per cent stake in the regional infotainment channel – Maurya TV. Now, with the onset of the New Year, there are few new beginnings – Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL) has rebranded Maurya TV as Zee Purvaiya and launched it on 16 January in Bihar and Jharkhand.

     

     

    As of now, ZMCL has only snared a 37.87 per cent stake in Maurya TV but plans are to hoick that to 100 per cent in a phased manner. Zee Purvaiya operates on the terrestrial entertainment network (TEN) format that the network launched with Zee Marudhara (formerly called Zee Rajasthan Plus) with a balanced telecast of news and infotainment programmes. The big focus being on regional news, viewers will get to watch full-fledged bulletins during morning and evening primetime with a short news capsule being aired every hour.  The other programmes include:  current affairs, fiction, non-fiction and factual.

     

     

    “It will be of relevance to every viewer. The content will be focused towards Bihar and Jharkhand, capturing the culture, language, rituals of the states as well as showcasing the differences in the two states in certain sections,” says ZMCL CEO Alok Agrawal.

     

    Following the footsteps of its parent company that recently came up with a campaign to woo youngsters, even Zee Purvaiya is planning to cater largely to a young audience. Even its channel branding – a bright yellowish-golden logo with the tagline ‘nayi soch nayi umang’ is in keeping with that target audience’s taste.

     

    Led by EVP & business head Amitava Bhattacharya, the channel has a team of 90 professionals, some of whom have been retained from Maurya TV. While Shiv Pujan Jha is the resident editor, Indu Singh is the programming editor, Rakesh Tiwary the marketing head and Harsh Vardhan Dwivedi the sales head.

     

    The main office of the channel is located in Patna, with three bureaus being located in  Ranchi and Dhanbad in Jharkhand and Saharsa in Bihar .

     

    While the management was unwilling to disclose the names of the advertisers on board, apparently discussions are on with about 35 corporate, government and local advertisers. Channel sources say that they are targeting to generate revenues of almost Rs 20 crore per annum.

     

    The promotional campaign that began on 20 January across mediums such as – radio, print and outdoor – has been planned to run throughout February by Kolkata based Genesis Advertising with a spend of  approximately Rs 2 crore being pumped in. 

     

    A canter activity was undertaken in Patna and Ranchi to let audiences know about the channel. Moreover, 50 spots have been taken in the two states for outdoor promotions. For print advertisements, space has been bought in leading papers like Times of India (Bihar – Jharkhand), Hindustan and Prabhat Khabar.

     

    “It’s a channel that’s like a buffet. It will be a one stop place for entertainment, news and factual information as well. Apart from this we are also launching reality shows. We are already reaching about 70 per cent in terms of C&S penetration,” says Bhattacharya.

     

    The idea is to be keep it free-to-air (FTA) for six months, post which it will become a pay channel at approximately Rs 10 per month. As of now, Zee Purvaiya is only available on cable TV. However, discussions with DTH players are in progress. But because of the huge presence of cable TV in the two states, executives are confident that it will reach about 85 per cent of the population. It is being beamed off Insat 4a at 83 degrees east.         

     

    Zee Purvaiya is set to expand ZMCL’s presence in the ubercompetitive regional space. In fact, the network is looking to capture other regions as well. It will soon be launching Zee Kalinga in Odisha, following the winding up of  the now defunct Zee Gantalu.