ITV

Tag: ZEE Network

  • Zeel launches Anmol; to be available on TV, mobile and WAP

    Zeel launches Anmol; to be available on TV, mobile and WAP

     NEW DELHI: Zee network has launched Zee Anmol, a free-to-air channel, taking the number of Zee channels to 34. The new entrant will be available on both mobile phones and on WAP zeeanmol.tv from 1 September.

    Denying the charges of it being a channel of repeats on lines of Star Utsav, ZEEL chief creative and content officer Bharat Kumar Ranga in a press meet here said that not only will the channel reach those areas which were hitherto covered only by DD and DTH DD Direct Plus, but also be re-packaged to suit the audiences in smaller towns and semi-urban and rural areas.

    He said a series may even be cut from the original number of episodes to lesser episodes if research showed people did not want it to be too long.

    He said that this marked the first phase of the channel, which may have new programming in the second phase expected sometime next year.

    Ranga told indiantelevision.com later that Zee was presently spending around fifty per cent of its normal marketing budget for other channels for this particular channel. Asked to be more specific, he said around 15 per cent of the revenue from Zee Anmol will go into its marketing. But he admitted that this was going to be tough going since the aim was to reach unreached areas and even those where there was no television. He said he was prepared to advertise the channel on all platforms, including Doordarshan if the pubcaster accepted this.

    Four persons who have excelled in different programmes on Zee TV – Kratika Sengar who played Jhansi ki Rani, Sayantani Ghosh who was Naagin, Binny Sharma who won hearts in Dance India Dance, and Jasraj Joshi who won the SA RE GA MA PA 2012 were present at the press meet.

    ZEEL marketing head Akash Chawla said the new channel was more of a video brand than a television brand, and the expectation was to reach places where cable and satellite TV had just begun to make inroads, or where broadband was available. He said the mobile penetration had reached 100 million and was bound to catch on, particularly if the programmes are re-purposed.

    Asked if the ad cap could affect the channel since it was not based on subscriptions, Ranga said even advertisers had products they wanted to reach out to small consumers.

    Ranga said Zee Anmol was the only channel to have up to 39 hours repackaged programming for a week.

    Head content Ajay Bhalwanker said that the research had taken many months because the network wanted to know exactly what the people in small towns wanted. Ranga added that the channel had been astonished to discover that people were aware of serials and names of characters even in places with limited TV viewing.

    In the initial phase, the channel will have series like Maayka, Pavitra Rishta, Dance India Dance, India’s Best Dramebaaz, Chhoti Bahu, Saat Phere, Naagin, Kasamh Se, Sindoor, Jhansi ki Rani, and Shabaash India among others.

    Interestingly the press meet was attended by mediapersons from smaller cities like Ahmedabad and Jaipur who had been brought here to see a preview.

  • Zeel elevates Manoj Padmanabhan to business head – new media

    Zeel elevates Manoj Padmanabhan to business head – new media

    MUMBAI: With the sudden exit of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) digital operations business head Vishal Malhotra, the broadcaster has found a replacement in Manoj Padmanabhan, who was senior vice-president marketing (digital) and sales (new media) for the past year.

     

    Manoj will now be heading all the digital operations under Zee Media including Essel group’s OTT platform Ditto TV.

     

    Padmanabhan’s professional interests include digital marketing, marketing strategy, brand management and product marketing.

     

    Padmanabhan started his career at Sansui India in 1997 as the senior marketing manager where he worked for eight years. He then moved on to Tata Communications as DGM – marketing and head of alliances and partner relation where he spent more than two years, before moving on to work with the Zee Network.

     

    At Zee Network he started his stint in 2007, he worked in the capacity of vice president – marketing (digital) for more than five years.

  • JWT continues to strengthen its planning team with senior hires

    JWT continues to strengthen its planning team with senior hires

    MUMBAI: JWT India announced senior level appointments of Gulshan Singh as vice president and strategic planning director and Jasravee Kaur Chandra as vice president and strategic planning director across its Delhi and Mumbai offices.
    JWT India VP and strategic planning director Gulshan Singh

    A graduate of HEC Paris, Gulshan combines the skill sets of an MBA from a top global business school with over 10 years in building brands in various capacities. Gulshan joins from Lowe Lintas, Bangalore, where he was leading planning for brands such as Tanishq, Titan Sonata, MRF, USL, Apollo Hospitals, 3M and Tata Tea, which won an Effie in 2012.

    His previous work experience includes market research with IMRB and TNS, planning with FCB and a brief stint in consulting – spread across India, the Middle East, and Europe. He has worked across categories such as automotive, consumer electronics, education, energy, FMCG, F&B, financial services, healthcare, logistics and media and entertainment with a wide array of brands including DHL, GM, Indian Oil, ITC Foods, Marico, Nestle, P&G, Voltas, and the Zee Network. He will be working towards creating an ‘Indian consumer-friendly‘ approach to sustainable lifestyles, and is looking forward to exploring this in JWT.

    JWT India VP strategic planning director Jasravee Kaur

    JWT India chief strategy officer Bindu Sethi said, “We have responsibility of some of the most iconic, the biggest and best brands in the country. Our quest is to be thought and idea driven to ensure that our brands lead their markets and categories. Gulshan and Jasravee will add to JWT‘s robust planning talent pool with fresh experiences and perspectives.”

    Jasravee has over 13 years of experience in understanding and building brands. She started her career with ORG-MARG where she was involved in innovative and participatory research (ethnography, critical incident, semiotics etc.) for brands like Knorr, Annapurna, HBO, Lux, Coke and Dove. She transited to strategic planning with stints at Lowe Lintas, Leo Burnett and Rediffusion Y&R. She has strategised for both national and MNC brands such as Lifebuoy, Hamam, FAL, Lacto Calamine and taken up blue sky projects for Uninor, Liril and Lakme.

    Quick-witted and profound, Jasravee has a keen eye for the meeting point ‘betwixt contradictions‘. She loves arriving at paradoxes as well as breaking myths about consumers. Astute and intuitive, Jasravee loves to witness and participate in the inherent drama of diverse subcultures; be it rural households, youth, truckers or the small city migrants. Her exposure to diverse categories has ensured as well as sustained this.

  • Cookie communication causes commotion

    Cookie communication causes commotion

    MUMBAI: & coming soon… A box containing a cookie with these words imprinted on it has been making its way to the offices of trade and print publications, creating a buzz amongst journos. Speculation has been running rife about what this unexpected teaser gift means. Is it from the Star network which is acquiring an expensive cricket property or movie catalogue? Or is it the Zee Network which is launching a new channel? Or is it from Colors which is coming up with a new weekend event or show? Or is it from Sony which has launched another movie in partnership with another Indian studios? The bets are out and nobody knows, but it sure has got scribes’ attention who now have their ears pricked up for even a sliver of information relating to the gift. Hundreds of calls have been made to one of the GECs, but no information has been forthcoming.

     

    Welcome to marketing to trade lesson 1.01. Of course channels and brands have been doing it for years. The Essel group, for instance, in the early nineties had sent out toothpaste tubes to newspaper and magazine offices to impress upon journalists/advertisers/media planners what a lamitube looks like.

     

    Former Star India communications head Yash Khanna points out such “activities” do lead to a lot of excitement. “Gone are the days when one or two channels ruled. If a corporation does this they not only create excitement but they also remind the various members of the ecosystem that hey we are connecting with you and we care enough to share with you something meaningful.”

     

    He states the example of Star Gold and Star Movies. “Before Star Movies was launched, we had sent out a Director’s chair to most advertisers and bean bags before the launch of Star Gold. Such initiatives keep the channel in the recipient’s mind.”

     

    Shola Rajachandran an independent PR consultant who has worked with Star, Zee and Sony in the past goes on to say that today creating buzz before a launch has become a said thing. “Today, before any product is launched, a certain amount is kept aside to create buzz through different initiatives and activations. Earlier, people used to call for press conferences and give out merchandise which is not the case today. The competition has increased tremendously and hence, everyone is trying to outdo each other by coming up with out of the box innovations.”

     

    A communication consultant who has spent over 40 years in the industry, Amitabh Khona, goes on to call them collectors’ items. “I have got watches, wine bottles, cricket balls, trophies etc. Once I got a pillow from CNBC shaped in their logo. It would be wrong to label it as a gimmick because a lot of thought goes into coming up with such innovative ideas that too keeping in mind the whole fraternity.”

     

    “Clearly, the marketing teams have to dig deep into their creative wells,” said a media observer. “And come up with new gimmicks to create the buzz. Which they have done in this cookie’s case. By the way has anyone identified who it is,” he asked us.

     

    We, at indiantelevision.com have kind of guessed, but we have chosen to keep our lips sealed and open them only to munch away at the cookie and wait until the mysterious sender declares what and who is it for.

  • “The appeal for Indian content amongst Britasians in the UK is strong”: Business Head – FTA channels, mainstream sales head at Zee Network UK Archana Kanade

    “The appeal for Indian content amongst Britasians in the UK is strong”: Business Head – FTA channels, mainstream sales head at Zee Network UK Archana Kanade

    Archana Kanade is the young and dynamic head of free to air channels business of Zee UK. Her job: increase the cachet that the two channels she heads – Zing and Lamhe – have with Britasians in the UK. In addition, she has the added responsibility of looking after mainstream advertising sales for the network.

    Under her leadership, Zing has become the most watched Asian lifestyle channel in the UK. She has also been responsible for the launch of ‘Cloud 9‘ – the UK’s first Asian drama shot locally.

    Kanade’s background is from mainstream sales, wherein she pushed Zee TV’s shows and film catalogue to global clients. This apart she has had a three year stint in Mumbai with Applause Entertainment, a former Birla group company, involved in production of TV shows and films.

    She recently spearheaded the luanch of Lamhe in the UK, giving it a snazzy look and feel. Indiantelevision.com spoke to her to get her perspective on the potential for Lamhe and Zing in the UK in a short bite interview.

    Excerpts:

    How large is the market for Indian content in the UK? How big is the TV advertising market in the UK?

    South Asians are the largest ethnic group in the UK, with a population close to three million. The appeal for Indian content amongst this group is strong with a large number of channels catering to them. Zee is the largest and fastest growing network catering to this group and aims to distinguish its offerings and provide the best in the genre for them. The advertising expenditure of the UK market is close to US $7.5 billion.

    How many viewers do you currently cater to? How many of those belong to the South Asian and Indian community?

    Zee’s two free-to-air channels are available across the major platforms – Sky on DTH and Virgin Media on cable as well as on the mobile TV service Yamgo. Zee offers premium South Asian content to the South Asian community. Its shows and movies offer English subtitles, making it accessible to the UK’s mainstream communities too. The appeal of the Indian culture and especially Bollywood is widespread across ethnic boundaries, which extends the reach of Zee’s content.

    Furthermore, many of Zing’s shows are in English and the channel aims to be a platform targeted to the second and third generation British Asians in the UK. It is showcasingCloud 9, which represents a milestone in Asian entertainment as it is the very first daily soap-series to be produced in the UK, specifically catering to the UK Asian audiences. This soap highlights the British Asian lifestyle, drawing on themes relevant to their way of life. In a never-before-seen method, the soap showcases the British Asian community in its true form, taking away stereotype perceptions regarding the UK‘s largest ethnic group – the South Asians.

    How many viewers are you catering to currently?
    The channel is available to DTH provider Sky’s subscriber base of almost 11 million, as well as on the cable service Virgin Media’s M+ Pack.

    Lamhe gives viewers the opportunity to view some of the most popular and award-winning shows in the history of South-Asian entertainment

    How are you promoting Zee Lamhe in the UK?

    The promotional plan of the new channel is designed to target the UK’s South Asian audiences through a complete 360 degree marketing plan across outdoor, print, TV, radio and the digital space. The mediums have been carefully selected to target the key pockets of the South Asian population spread in the UK to reach the almost three million strong South Asian community.

    Since both Lamhe as well as Zing are free to air channels are you planning to take them pay anytime soon?

    Zee operates along two models – its pay products and free-to-air offerings – both with distinct offerings. The premium pay products are Zee TV, Zee Cinema and Zee Punjabi. Lamhe offers a free to air window into the GEC space; it is a platform to celebrate the best in the genre of South-Asian dramas and Bollywood Classics. Zing is the UK’s number 1 Asian Lifestyle channel, delivering the best variety of the glamour of Bollywood – music, movies and news. Both channels offer content not accessible on other channels in the UK, which is why we want maximum viewers to enjoy it for free, with no current plan on making the channels subscription based.

    With the current line-up of shows that you have to offer, are you also looking at including more shows and if so, which ones?

    Lamhe gives viewers the opportunity to view some of the most popular and award-winning shows in the history of South-Asian entertainment, including classics such as:

    • Astitva – a popular series, winning many awards in 2005, focusing on the strength and courage of women’s identity.
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    • Amanat – one of the most popular Hindi television shows of its time that received the highest television ratings among many of 2000’s Hindi language shows in India.
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    • Hasratein – one of the most popular television shows of the 1990s, looking at the bold topic of extra-marital relationships.
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    • Kasamh Se – among the top shows in India in 2008, featuring the trials and tribulations of three sisters.

    The channel will also highlight the magnanimity of Bollywood with classic movies, featuring the best of evergreen stars such as Rishi Kapoor, Dev Anand, Kishore Kumar, plus a Raj Kapoor special season at the weekends. We are delighted to already receive great enthusiasm towards this content, with many requests for other classics that people are eager to watch again. We will be monitoring this in line with the remit of presenting the best of South Asian entertainment.

    We will be monitoring the feedback, researching and accordingly selecting the content that would connect with the audiences for Lamhe

    Since Zing is targeted at the youth and Lamhe is bringing back memories from the times passed, which is the target audience group that you are looking at?

    Lamhe is targeted at an audience that will enjoy the best in the genre of dramas and classic movies. Its content is relevant to both younger and older viewers due to the nature of the topics explored by the selected shows and also the treatment of the programming. The selected shows portray topics that were ahead of their times when they were first aired. They focus on strong storylines and their edit patterns mean they are more real to life, compared to many of today’s shows, which holds for an appeal to an international audience.

    Lamhe also endeavours to bring back memories of the time when Zee TV was the only Asian channel in the UK enthralling viewers and Zee was their home away from home. With Lamhe, we want to gift our viewers an opportunity to experience those beautiful memories once again.

    What kind of content would you like to showcase in the coming months? Any movie rights acquisition going forward?

    Lamhe’s content will be driven by what the viewers want to watch. We will be monitoring the feedback, researching and accordingly selecting the content that would connect with the audiences.

  • Sudipto Chowdhuri to lead ad sales function at India TV

    MUMBAI: India TV has roped in Sudipto Chowdhuri as senior vice president, sales. He will be responsible for leading the advertising revenue function of the business nationally. He will report to India TV MD Ritu Dhawan.

    Chowdhuri‘s last stint was at TV9 Kannada as a national head.
    India TV strategist Paritosh Joshi said, “We are happy to welcome Sudipto and expect that his depth of experience will be catalytic for the strong revenue team. We are confident that this will further accelerate the aggressive growth path Independent News Service is following.”

    With nearly 21 years of experience, Chowdhuri has worked with brands like India Today, Zee Network, INX Network and Star News.

    Chowdhuri said, “I feel proud to be associated with India TV, which is one of the most credible media brands in this country. I am sure it would be quite challenging and equally exciting to do business differently in a fiercely competitive genre like Hindi news.”

  • Zee Cinema takes digital route to promote Agent Vinod premiere

    MUMBAI: Zee Cinema has lined up digital innovations for the premiere of Agent Vinod on 1 September at 8 pm.

    The presenting sponsor of the movie is Brooke Bond Taj Mahal while the channel has roped in Blackberry as the powered by sponsor.

    To engage the online game buffs, a game has been created by the channel. It is currently hosted on Facebook. The game is about playing pranks with one‘s friends and is titled ‘Mere Dost Ki Pungi‘, taking off from the popular song of the film.

    Also, the channel is engaging with the users online by showing ‘behind the scenes‘ footages and also highlighting unknown facts about ‘Agent Vinod‘.

    According to the channel, the masthead of Youtube will be taken over on 1 September with a creative that will enhance the premiere tune-in, have trailers, behind the scene footage, trivia and the option to play an application. There will also be take-overs on portals like Yahoo and MSN. The channel will create a ‘Youtube Mobile Roadblock,‘ wherein anyone accessing any video on youtube using their mobile will be able to catch the ‘Agent Vinod‘ tune in. The premiere of ‘Agent Vinod‘ is being promoted across the DTH players of India – Dish TV and Airtel – along with a “robust” campaign.

    ‘Agent Vinod‘ promos have played in 400 cinema screens across 13 major cities in the Hindi speaking markets during the screening of ‘Ek Tha Tiger‘. Along with the running outdoor campaign, the on-air campaign of ‘Agent Vinod‘ is also being played out across the Zee Network.

    The promos have been customised for each target genre to ensure maximum brand recall. On kids channels, there is an animation promo, where the protagonists and antagonists are shown in an animated avatar. On music channels, the best songs of the movie are used in the background score while showcasing highlights from the film. Meanwhile, on news channels the creative showcases India and Pakistan coming together.

    Zee Cinema has also taken the television airing rights of ‘Barfi‘, ‘Joker‘ and ‘Heroine‘.

  • Divaakar returns to TV9 as ad sales VP

    Divaakar returns to TV9 as ad sales VP

    MUMBAI: S Divaakar is set to start his second stint with the Associated Broadcasting Company Ltd. (ABCL), which operates the TV9 news network. He will serve in the capacity of vice-president ad sales national and will report to ABCL director Clifford Periera.

    Divaakar will be based in Bangalore and will handle ad sales nationally.

    Pereira said, “Divaakar’s appointment is a part of our expansion plans. We are looking at aggressive growth in the near future. This includes new appointemtns and launch of new channels which will be revealed in due course of time.”

    Divaakar had previously worked with ABCL as AGM for four and a half years before joining Public TV nine months back where he was vice-president, sales and marketing.

    He has nearly 19 years of experience in the television industry. He began his career as a sales executive in Udaya TV when the channel was launched in 1994 and has been associated with channels like Gemini TV, Jaya TV, ETC, Zee Network, Sahara One and Filmy since then.

  • Sudipto Chowdhuri joins as SVP — national sales for TV9 Kannada and News9

    Sudipto Chowdhuri joins as SVP — national sales for TV9 Kannada and News9

    BANGALORE:TV9 group has appointed Sudipto Chowdhuri as SVP — national sales and brand positioning for TV9 Kannada and News9.

    Chowdhuri will be reporting to the TV9 Kannada and News9 director Mahendra Mishra.

    In his two decades of experience, Chowdhuri has worked with brands such as Tata Yellow Pages, India Today, Zee Network, 9X and Star News.

    Chowdhuri‘s last assignment was with Star News network based in Mumbai. He has worked across all markets in the country and is equipped with knowledge of corporate and retail advertising in both TV and Print.

    Mishra says, “As TV9 Kannada and News9 continue to grow as South India‘s most powerful media brands, we will look to Sudipto to take these channels to even greater heights.”

  • MRUC appoints Shaswati Saradar as director general

    MRUC appoints Shaswati Saradar as director general

    MUMBAI: Media Research User‘s Council (MRUC) has appointed Shaswati Saradar as its new director general. She took charge on 3 January. 

    Last month MRUC‘s senior management had seen a change, when chief executive officer, Joseph Eapen, quit after an eight-month long stint with the company.

    Previously, Sardar was working with Zee Network as vice president and head of marketing, Europe and Russia. Besides, she has also worked with Maruti Suzuki India as senior manager.