ITV

Tag: Zee Punjabi

  • Cellcast to simulcast Bid2Win on Sony, Sahara, Zee Punjabi and Zoom

    Cellcast to simulcast Bid2Win on Sony, Sahara, Zee Punjabi and Zoom

    MUMBAI: An attempt is being made to push the television programming envelope. Even if it is coming in the form of simple game show.

    Come this Sunday, viewers of Sony, Zee Punjabi and Zoom TV will all tune into a single programme at 12 midnight: Bid2Win.

    Before that viewers of SaharaOne will have already sampled the show at 11:30 pm. Based on the reverse auction principle it will run 365 days of the year, and will offer participants, who bid the lowest, prizes ranging from notebook computers to fridges to microwaves to LCD TVs to iPODs to home theater systems, to digital cameras to camcorders.

    Produced by Sparkle Works for UK company Cellcast Interactive, Bid2Win will be hosted by Veer Das, Taraana, and Yudi. Says Cellcast Interactive India CEO Pankaj Thakar: “It’s a compelling interactive format for a mass audience. In a reverse auction, instead of prices going up and up and out of reach, prices stay so low that everyone can participate with confidence. It is a show with high production values and high energy anchors offering high aspirational products at extremely low price.”

    Adds vice president business development Rajeev Dhal: “We plan to simulcast the show on many other channels as the days goes by. This is probably amongst the first major initiatives to push an audience particpatory show.”

    Basically, the three hosts will offer the products on screen and whip up a frenzy among viewers as they either shoot their bids via SMS or IVR. The bids will pop up on screen via graphical interfaces. The lowest bid will stand to win; duplication of a price point by two or more viewers will immediately lead to the bid becoming redundant, reveals Dhal. The auction will continue till the next day with the winner being announced in the following programme. Each SMS has been priced at a premium level of Rs 10 in its tie up with Airtel. Other sign ins with mobile telcos such as Hutch and Idea are likely to follow.

    The half hour show has Prabhu Azgaonkar as the online editor with Asim being the director of photography and Shikha Azgaonkar,the scriptwriter.A four camera set up is being used to bring out the show daily and and an entire operation has been set up to manage the backend for the SMS management and to decide the winner.

    Cellcast Interactive India has bought the telecast slots from the four broadcasters and will not be selling any sponsorships or airtime around the show. Around 10 promos a day are planned to pull in the audience, apart from a SMS push from Airtel.

    Bid2Win is an evolution of a highly successful format pioneered by Cellcast. Reverse auctions first gained popularity on the Internet, and Cellcast developed the concept as a live SMS-driven interactive television show with Star TV in India in autumn of 2004.

    The resulting show received over 6.7 million bids, becoming the world’s largest interactive reverse auction, says a corporate release. In December 2004 a similar format was launched with Lebanese partner Future TV, and proved so popular across the Middle East and North Africa that the show was extended beyond the Ramadan holiday, it adds.

    Will Bid2Win find takers? Will audiences pick up their phones and shoot across SMS and calls? Home shopping companies have been running a successful business by telecasting programming blocks on TV hawking everything from weight loss tools to exercise machines for some years now. Cellcast will probably have to do a lot more to push the concept at viewers; reverse auctions or forward auctions are unfamiliar concepts for the general viewers – a small section of which has been buying goodies shopping at home through television. Additionally, care will have to be taken to ensure that the prizes/bid items are alluring enough.

    If Thakar manages to pull off his plan of roadblocking Bid2Win across 15 channels all over the country, and pushes the telecast time aggressively enough, he might end up making it a success.

  • Zee Telefilms creates 3 new business entities; to list them

    Zee Telefilms creates 3 new business entities; to list them

    MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra promoted Zee Telefilms board today approved splitting of its broadcasting business into three entities — news operations, broadcast and content creation, and Siti Cable, which will also include the initiatives on the CAS front.

    After the restructuring, which is expected to be completed within six to eight months, the new entities involved in cable business, and news operations, would be listed on the stock exchange.
    It also announced an ‘in principle’ approval of a proposal to demerge the consumer services business for Dish TV. The board of directors has approved the restructuring proposal related to the de-merger of news and cable business while directing the management to evaluate the direct consumer services business (Dish TV related) and the assess the effect of de-merging it.

    According to Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra, the company had a complex structure, which needed to be simplified as required by the regulatory environment and market needs.

    * ZTL holds 33 per cent in Zee News Limited, while promoters of Zee hold the balance. Zee News Ltd delivers news uplinked fto the satellite for Zee News, Zee Business and News content of regional channels.
    He added, “Due to regulatory restrictions, the business of Dish TV was structured in a very fractured manner and hence was difficult for ZTL shareholders to understand.

    “At the same time, the structure was also tax inefficient. The management of the businesses under the same board was not focused and thus unable to capture the growth opportunities in the market as different skill sets are required for distribution to trade, which in this case is cable business.”

    He continues that the regulation in the news and news related broadcast content is different from regulation in entertainment and other content.

    Due to technological advancements and changes, the media businesses have to be prepared for a forthcoming digital age, the company said.

    “We feel confident that these measures of restructuring these businesses subject to necessary approval would result in streamlining operations and better exploitation of opportunities in each area to build long term shareholder value. It would also clear the ground for acquisitions and strategic or financial partners in the demerged businesses, apart from unlocking shareholders value,” Chandra says.

    Queried as to whether he saw the demerged cable business (Siti Cable) and the direct consumer services business (Dish TV) as being the most likely to invite international interest for strategic and financial partnerships, Chandra replied in the affirmative.
    Restructuring of consumer business for Dish TV
    The direct consumer business is marked by division of activities between the DTH license holder ASC Enterprises Limited (ASCEL) and the subsidiaries of Siti Cable.

    * Percentage holding to be decided by the board after valuation by independent valuers.
    As per the proposal, the direct consumer related business of ZTL would be de-merged into ASCEL, with the shareholders of ZTL receiving shares in ASCEL in proportion.

    This has been done due to lack of clarity in structure, inefficiencies in tax and diffuse strategic focus.

    The proposal has met with in principle approval of the Zee board. The board has authorised management to evaluate the proposal and its effect and present to board for final approval.

    The scheme of arrangement would require approval of the stock exchange, shareholders and creditors of Zee and from Bombay High Court.

    Restructuring of news business; regional channels included

    # ZTL shareholders would get 137 shares of Zee News Ltd for 100 shares in ZTL. ZTL foreign shareholders will get upto a maximum of 26 per cent. Any additional shares accruing would be converted into Preference Shares. Currently the FII holding is 31 per cent, hence everyone will get equity shares. The equity shares held by foreign promoters would be shifted to India as domestic holdings.
    In compliance with the news uplinking guidelines with effect from October 2005, newsgathering activities of ZTL were transferred to Zee News Limited, while downlinking and commercial exploitation of all news-bearing channels was retained under ZTL.

    “Despite a compliant corporate structure for news bearing channels (particularly regional channels), we have felt it important to bridge the divide and bring all the operational activities together, to create strategic focus, remove tax efficiencies and unlock shareholders value,” Chandra said.

    Under the scheme of arrangement, the news-related business (Zee News, Zee Business, Zee Bangla, Zee Punjabi, Zee Marathi, Zee Telegu and shortly to be launched Zee Kannada will be subsumed into Zee News Limited (ZNL).

    The company will in due course be suitably changing the name of Zee News Ltd.

    As the result of preparation of news business the shareholders of Zee Telefilms will get proportionate shareholding in ZNL. As per the formula that has been worked out 137 ZNL shares will fetch 100 shares in ZTL.

    In case the allotment works out to more than 26 per cent (which is the permissible limit of foreign investment in news ventures in India), the FIIs would be allotted preferentail shares of equivalent value on a proportionate basis.

    Zee News Limited would be listed on all stock exchanges where ZTL is listed.

    Restructuring of cable business

    Siti Cable has been hived off into a separate entity, Chandra pointed out, as the cable assets were under-utiliseted, despite large and well-positioned investments in the cable business.

    To properly address the emerging business opportunities in digitisation of cable and convergence, there also are large funding requirements. And the regulatory requirement applicable to cable distribution is very different to broadcasting.

    Combined with the fact that the competitive environment of distribution business is also different, the Zee board felt that an invigorated corporate and governance set up was essential to aggressively address the emerging opportunities.

    * Shares held by foreign promoters will be shifted in India as domestic holding to bring down the overall foreign holding to about 35 per cent. Cable business is allowed foreign holding upto 49 per cent.

    As per the scheme of arrangement, the cable business of Siti Cable, a 100 per cent subsidiary of ZTL, and the cable related business of ZTL would be de-merged into Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL), a new company incorporated for the purpose.

    The shareholders of ZTL would receive shares in WWIL in proportion, as consideration.

    WWIL would in turn issue preference shares to the shareholders of ZTL.

    Meanwhile, the Zee scrip moved in a narrow band today. While opening at the BSE on 238.90, the scrip touched a high of 243.35 and a low of 236.10 before closing the day at 239.55. The stock is expected to react tomorrow as the restructuring of Zee’s businesses was announced in the evening, after the bourses had closed.

    MY Khan joins Zee board

    Dr MY Khan, chairman of Banking and Advisory Council, YES Bank Ltd, has joined Zee as a director on the board of the company. Dr Khan has previously served as chairman of J & K Bank. He is also a director on the Board of Bharat Hotels, as well as an advisor for Berenson & Company, New York.