ITV

Tag: Zee TV

  • BARC week 49: Zee TV grabs second position on pay platform

    BARC week 49: Zee TV grabs second position on pay platform

    MUMBAI: Zee TV has grabbed second position on the pay platform in the week 49 of BARC India ratings. The channel was seen in the third position last week. Even in the urban market the channel has jumped from fifth postion to fourth. Star Plus continued to lead in the urban market and pay platform. Sony SAB slipped to third postion from second on pay platform but the channel continued to hold its second position in urban market. 

    Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony SAB, Colors, Sony Entertainment Television, Star Bharat, Dangal, Star Utsav, Colors Rishtey and &TV were the top ten Hindi GEC channels on pay platform.

    Pay platform

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 49
    1 STAR Plus 675934
    2 Zee TV 611545
    3 SONY SAB 600358
    4 Colors 569552
    5 Sony Entertainment Television 435773
    6 STAR Bharat 298690
    7 Dangal 241134
    8 STAR Utsav 214048
    9 Colors Rishtey 175050
    10 &TV 134428
    HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals,

     In week 49 of BARC India ratings, Star Plus, Sony SAB, Colors, Zee TV, Sony Entertainment Television, Dangal, Star Bharat, , Star Utsav,  &TV and Big Magic were seen in first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth positions respectively.

    Urban

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 49
    1 STAR Plus 454393
    2 SONY SAB 411075
    3 Colors 405244
    4 Zee TV 340408
    5 Sony Entertainment Television 326695
    6 Dangal 254302
    7 STAR Bharat 202319
    8 STAR Utsav 124329
    9 &TV 100279
    10 Big Magic 97598
    HSM (Urban) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 

    Dangal, Big Magic, Manoranjan Grand, DD National, DD Arunprabha, DD Bharati, DD Uttar Pradesh, DD Madhya Pradesh and DD Rajasthan were the top nine Hindi GECs on the free platform.

    Free platform

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 49
    1 Dangal 920775
    2 Big Magic 395960
    3 Manoranjan Grand 28487
    4 DD National 20913
    5 DD Arunprabha 1956
    6 DD Bharati 1843
    7 DD Uttar Pradesh 1643
    8 DD Madhya Pradesh 1564
    9 DD Rajasthan 1071
    HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 

    Dangal, Big Magic, Zee TV, Star Plus, Sony SAB, Colors, Sony Entertainment Television, Star Bharat, Star UStav and Colors Rishtey were the top ten Hindi GECs in the rural market. 

    Rural

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 49
    1 Dangal 907606
    2 Big Magic 365890
    3 Zee TV 272054
    4 STAR Plus 223502
    5 SONY SAB 191691
    6 Colors 165990
    7 Sony Entertainment Television 110644
    8 STAR Bharat 96730
    9 STAR Utsav 91228
    10 Colors Rishtey 88920
    HSM (Rural) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals

     

  • Santoor Sandal and Turmeric becomes top brand in BARC week 48 rankings

    Santoor Sandal and Turmeric becomes top brand in BARC week 48 rankings

    MUMBAI: The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has released its data for top advertisers and brands for the period between 23 November and 29 November 2019.

    The data reflects top 10 advertiser and brands across genre on Indian television, including OOH screen, (U+R): 2+, Individuals NCCS All, demonstrating ads that were inserted the most in week 48 of 2019.

    Top Advertisers:

    Minor shuffles were observed in the week 48 rankings of BARC, as compared to the past week. As expected, Hindustan Unilever Ltd remained the top advertiser. It had made 191003 ad insertions on TV. 

    Reckitt Benckiser reclaimed its position on the second spot, after a minor slip in the past week, with 62287 insertions.

    ITC Ltd slipped down a spot to rank third. Its impression count was 61685. Wipro Ltd. climbed up two spots and rank fourth with 44039 insertions. 

    Ponds India found itself on the fifth spot, two ranks down from week 47, with 42943 insertions.

    Other top advertisers in the list were as follows: Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, Brooke Bond Lipton India, Smithkline Beecham, Cadbury India Ltd, and Procter & Gamble respectively.

    Rank

    Advertiser

    Insertions

     

     

     

    Week 48

    		    

    1

    HINDUSTAN LEVER LTD

    191003

    		    

    2

    RECKITT BENCKISER (INDIA) LTD

    62287

    		    

    3

    ITC LTD

    61685

    		    

    4

    WIPRO LTD

    44039

    		    

    5

    PONDS INDIA

    42943

    		    

    6

    GODREJ CONSUMER PRODUCTS LTD

    39458

    		    

    7

    BROOKE BOND LIPTON INDIA LTD

    34798

    		    

    8

    SMITHKLINE BEECHAM

    27864

    		    

    9

    CADBURYS INDIA LTD

    22208

    		    

    10

    PROCTER & GAMBLE

    19906

    		    

    TOP 10 Advertiser *Across Genre : All India (U+R) : 2+ Individuals.

     

    Top Brands: 

    The top brands also witnessed little reshuffles in the BARC week 48 rankings. Lux Toilet Soap was replaced from the top slot by Santoor Sandal and Turmeric, which ranked up two places, with 16803 insertions. Lux Toilet Soap came in second with 16504 insertions.

    Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion slipped down a rank, with 14410 insertions. Trivago maintained its position on fourth rank with 13699 insertions. Dettol Toilet Soaps re-entered the list at fifth spot after a small break with 12629 insertions.

    Other top brands in the list were as follows: Santoor Beauty Soaps, Horlicks, Lizol, Flipkart Video Originals, and Clinic Plus Shampoo, respectively.

    Rank

    Brands

    Insertions

     

     

     

    Week 48

    		    

    1

    SANTOOR SANDAL AND TURMERIC

    16803

    		    

    2

    LUX TOILET SOAP

    16504

    		    

    3

    VASELINE INTENSIVE CARE LOTION

    14410

    		    

    4

    TRIVAGO

    13699

    		    

    5

    DETTOL TOILET SOAPS

    12629

    		    

    6

    SANTOOR BEAUTY SOAPS

    12455

    		    

    7

    HORLICKS

    11166

    		    

    8

    LIZOL

    9966

    		    

    9

    FLIPKART VIDEO ORIGINALS

    9860

    		    

    10

    CLINIC PLUS SHAMPOO

    9184

    		    

    TOP 10 Brands *Across Genre : All India (U+R) : 2+ Individuals.

  • Eight of top ten across genres channels from 4 major networks

    Eight of top ten across genres channels from 4 major networks

    BENGALURU: Week 48 of 2019(Saturday, 23 November 2019 to Friday, 29 November 2019, week or period under review) saw two each channels from four major networks amongst Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms. Star India, Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) had one channel from the Hindi GEC genre and one channel each from three South Indian genre language in BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list for the week under review. Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) had two channels from the Hindi GEC genre during the period.

    Nine of the channels in BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list for week 48 were the same as in week 47 with a slight tweak in the ranks. The Network18/Viacom18 associated ETV Telugu reentered BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list  at the cost of Zeel’s Tamil GEC Zee Tamil during week 48 of 2019. The combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels across genres on all platforms were slightly lower because viewership of the 9 persisting channels declined slightly in week 48 of 2019 as compared to the previous week.

    As has become a norm, Enterr 10 Television’s free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC Dangal headed BARC’s across genres on all platforms weekly list on all platforms in week 48 of 2019, followed by the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV. As mentioned above, the other 8 channels were from 4 major networks.  Six Hindi GEC’s, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kannada and Tamil genres made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms. Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly list if top 10 channels on all platforms across genres were on the pay TV platform while one was FTA.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay channels across genres saw one change – Network18/Viacom18’s Telugu GEC ETV entered the list at the cost of the same network’s kids channel Nick. 

    BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres had three channels from Zeel, two channels each from SPN, Star and Viacom18 and one channel from the Sun Tv Network in week 48 of 2019. There were five channels from the Hindi GEC genre, two channels each from the Tamil  and Telugu genres and one channel from the Kannada, genre in  BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform in week 48 of 2019.

    As has been the case over the past few weeks, the most watched pay channels were not Hindi GEC – they were Tamil and Telugu GECs’ at ranks one and two respectively in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres was the same  in rank and file in week 48 of 2019 as in the previous two weeks. Four channels from Enterr 10 Television, three channels from the B4U Network, two channels from Zeel and one channel from SkyStar made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 48 of 2019. Four of the channels were from the Hindi Movies genre, three were from the Bhojpuri genre, two were Hindi GECs’ and one channel was from the Marathi genre in week 48 of 2019.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Though TV viewership seems to have remained stagnant in week 48 of 2019 as compared to the previous week at 14 billion impressions, OTT viewership seems to have doubled according to BARC data. Please refer to the figure below:


     

  • ZEE5 ups engagement level with gamification feature for fiction TV shows

    ZEE5 ups engagement level with gamification feature for fiction TV shows

    MUMBAI: Gamification is gradually taking up more space in different areas of digital entertainment but it has pertained to largely sports content or non-fiction shows in India. Taking it one step ahead, ZEE5 recently announced the launch of ZEE5 Super Family (ZSF) to provide consumers with a gaming experience for fiction TV shows as well. However, currently, the experience will be limited to Zee TV shows.

    “We believe in the power of gamification as from a consumer perspective it helps drive engagement. And so far on our own platform we have done gamification for non-fiction shows and you would have heard gamification happening across other mediums also for non fictions shows. Zee Super Family League is a very innovative concept,” ZEE5 India head AVOD, SEO, news and stories Yogesh Manwani said.

    “The viewers have a deep relationship with these TV characters and ZSF helps them express this fan love and take it to the next level in a fun and engaging manner. So it’s an attempt for us and we are very proud of the product as it is turning out,” he added.

    ZSF will allow viewers to take a pick of their favourite on-screen characters across TV shows and curate their own Super Family. With roles such as saas, bahu, beta, dost, etc., to fill in, players can place bets on how the chosen characters will act out in the day’s TV episode and stand to win gratifications such as a car, smartphones, gift vouchers and ZEE5 subscriptions in case their predictions come true.

    “We have been doing gamification on the platform for shows like Dadagiri, DID, Movie Masti with Maniesh Paul. Consumers like to engage and interact with these kind of solutions because it also is in a way an extension of the show property. We have seen some great numbers in terms of reach and our page views. Basis that we got encouraged and thought we should amplify our game application and ZSL is an attempt in that direction,” Manwani noted.

    ZSF will include detailed easy-to-understand video tutorials that will assist viewers in playing the game and excel it to earn higher scores. The game also allows viewers to modify their family characters to improve scores and move ahead in the game. ZEE5 will be conducting an intriguing marketing campaign involving artists to encourage viewers participation and gratify first 50 viewers who submit their families with bonus prizes.

    Although the platform has designed the concept and the product keeping only the consumer in mind, the property allows advertisers to come on board also and reach out to their audience.

  • BARC week 47: Few changes in Top 10 channels across genres; entertainment viewership falls

    BARC week 47: Few changes in Top 10 channels across genres; entertainment viewership falls

    BENGALURU: There was not too much change in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s (BARC) weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms for week 47 of 2019 (Saturday, 16 November 2019 to Friday, 22 November 2019, week or period under review) as nine of the channels were same as in week 46. Even the ranks of the first eight channels in week 47 of 2019 were the same as in the previous week. One channel – Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (Zeel) free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC Big Magic exited the list in week 47 of 2019 to be replaced by Zeel’s Tamil GEC Zee Tamil as compared to the previous week.

    Entertainment viewership falls in week 47 of 2019 as compared to the previous week

    Though overall entertainment viewership seemed to have dropped according to BARC’s weekly data for TV+OOH viewership, there was not too much impact on the combined viewership numbers of the Top 10 channels across genres lists on All Platforms, on the Pay TV platform and the FTA platform as is obvious from the charts that follow. TV viewership dropped to 14 billion weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 from 14.4 billion in week 46. An analysis of the rough data furnished by BARC, OTT viewership seems to have fallen by almost 50 percent during the week under review as compared to the previous week. Simple mathematical calculations show that OTT viewership in week 46 was 0.2 billion weekly impressions, which fell to about 0.1 billion weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019.

    Please refer to the figure below for TV and OTT viewership numbers for weeks 46 and 47 of 2019.

    Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms

    Six Hindi GECs, two Tamil channels and one channel each from the Kannada and the Telugu genres made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms for week 47 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were three channels from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel), two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN), Star India and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network and Viacom18.

    One channel – Enterr 10 Television’s Hindi GEC Dangal was FTA, while the other nine channels were Pay TV in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 47 of 2019.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 Pay TV channels

    BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres had three channels from Zeel, two channels each from SPN, Star and Viacom18 and one channel from the Sun Tv Network in week 47 of 2019. There were five channels from the Hindi GEC genre, two channels from the Tamil genre and one channel each from the Kannada, Kids and Telugu genres which made up BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform in week 46 of 2019.

    As mentioned above, the first eight channels were same in rank and file in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 47 of 2019 as compared to week 46. There was one change in the list – Star India’s Tamil GEC Star Vijay (ranked 10 in week 46) exited it in week 47 to be replaced by Zee Tamil at rank 9. Viacom18’s kids channel NICK moved down to rank 10 in week 47 from rank 9 in week 46 of 2019.

    Also, as has been the case over the past few weeks, the most watched pay channels were not Hindi GEC – they were Tamil and Telugu GECs at ranks one and two respectively in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below

    Top 10 Free to Air channels

    The weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres was the same in rank and file in week 47 of 2019 as in the previous week.Four channels from Enterr 10 Television, three channels from the B4U Network, two channels from Zeel and one channel from SkyStar made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 47 of 2019. Four of the channels were from the Hindi movies genre, three were from the Bhojpuri genre, two were Hindi GECs and one channel was from the Marathi genre in week 47 of 2019.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • BARC week 46: 3 Zeel channels among top 10 in across genres once again

    BARC week 46: 3 Zeel channels among top 10 in across genres once again

    BENGALURU: Three channels from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel), two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Star India, and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network and Viacom18 were present in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 46 of 2019. Zeel earlier had three channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 42 of 2019. Zeel’s Kannada GEC Zee Kannada joined the acquired Hindi GEC and free to air (FTA) Big Magic and flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV in week 46 of 2019 (Saturday, 9th November 2019 to Friday, 15th November 2019, week or period under review).Over the past few weeks, only one channel from the Zeel stable was present in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms.

    Seven of the channels were Hindi GECs, and there was one channel each from the Kannada, Tamil and Telugu genres in the list in week 46 of 2019. All the channels (including the non-Hindi ones) in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres were general entertainment channels or GECs. Eight of the channels in the list were pay TV, two, both Hindi GECs, were FTA.

    Two channels – Enterr 10 Television’s free to air (Free or FTA) Hindi GEC Dangal and the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV having been vying for the top slot in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly lists of Top 10 Channels across genres as mentioned by us earlier, Ultimately, Dangal retook the numerouno mantle in BARC’s Across Genres on all platforms weekly list. In general, Dangal has been the most watched channel across genres on all platforms also as mentioned by us earlier.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Channels Across Genres on Pay Platform

    Sun TV has been ruling BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform and it continued its dominance at the pole position in week 46 of 2019. BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres had three channels from Star India, two channels each from SPN, Star, Viacom18 and Zeel and one channel from the Sun Tv Network in week 46 of 2019. There were five channels from the Hindi GEC genre, two channels from the Tamil genre and one channel each from the Kannada, Kids and Telugu genres which made up BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on the Pay Platform in week 46 of 2019.

    One channel, at rank 10, was replaced in BARC’s weekly list of Top Channels Across Genres on Pay Platform in week 46 of 2019. Star Vijay re-entered the list at the cost of SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max. The other nine channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 46 of 2019 were the same as in week 45, with some reshuffling of ranks.

    As has been the case over the past few weeks, the most watched pay channels were not Hindi GEC – they were Tamil and Telugu GECs at ranks one and two respectively in the list.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres

    Four channels from Enterr 10 Television, three channels from the B4U Network, two channels from Zeel and one channel from SkyStar made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 46 of 2019. Four of the channels were from the Hindi Movies genre, three were from the Bhojpuri genre, two were Hindi GECs and one channel was from the Marathi genre in week 46 of 2019. The FTA channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Free channels during week 46 of 2019 were the same as in the previous week with a slight shuffling in ranks.

    Please refer to the figure below:


     

  • The secret sauce behind long-running Hindi GEC shows

    The secret sauce behind long-running Hindi GEC shows

    MUMBAI: India has a history of long-running soap operas right from Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi to latest ones like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma. In the urban market, both the shows continue to remain in the top five programming list of BARC India in primetime slots.

    How is it that these shows are continuing to thrive in the era of seasonal content and high impact limited episode show on OTT platforms?

    The prime reason for their high attraction is the ability to reinvent and stay relevant. A decade ago, when these shows launched, there were no signs of OTT platforms. As the shows progressed, the creators kept changing the plotlines to suit the evolving tastes of the audiences.

    One key reinvention strategy that has kept Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai on top of the ratings charts is its youth appeal. 
    “We wanted to show Kartik and Niara as real couples and be connected to the reality of life. This was the most calculated risk that I took as a maker. We did not want to sugarcoat reality and keep them perfect. They make mistakes and learn from them and that’s what the audiences like. Imperfection is the new mantra that resonates well with them,” explains Director's Kut Production founder Rajan Shahi.

    Zee TV business head Aparna Bhosle explains that long-running shows are the hallmark of a creative team that truly understands their channel’s audience and tells them stories that hold their attention over a sustained period of time. 

    “Having properties on air that people want to keep coming back to is crucial to any broadcaster as it is this viewer behaviour that defines brand loyalty," she says.

    Sony SAB business head Neeraj Vyas points out that character affinity is one of the key reasons for the popularity of Taarak Mehta. "People watch television not because of the shows, but because of the characters. The characters’ action, relatability and empathy are what drive viewership.”

    Long-running shows also increase the  confidence of advertisers in the show. "Advertisers are interested in reaching out to the largest demographics through our platforms and long-running shows with a dedicated viewership serve this purpose most effectively and hence command a premium," says Bhosle.

    Apart from Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Taarak Mehta Kaa Ooltah Chashma, Zee TV's longest-running show Kumkum Bhagya has crossed 1500 episodes. "Kumkum Bhagya is one of our longest-running shows in the current context. Ever since the show launched in 2014, it has consistently found its place amongst the top five fiction shows across GECs week-on-week," says Bhosle.

    Vyas adds that the new TV channel pricing regime on account of the New Tariff Order (NTO)  has made it essential for channels to have marquee shows with a loyal audience base. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to do that today. The earlier shows are still surviving because they were launched when appointment viewing was the norm and OTT did not exist.

    Shahi concurs  with Vyas on OTT posing challenges. But Star India’s OTT platform Hotstar is aiding the growth of Yeh Rishta. “On Hotstar as well as TV, the show is highly rated. Keen audiences can watch the show early in the morning at 7 am on Hotstar while primetime viewers catch up at night with the family on TV,” he explains.

    Another key aspect has been to keep the production team consistent. Shahi says, "Yeh RishtaKya Kehlata Hai is a success for the entire television industry. In this chaotic and unstable market, keeping the team together and getting the show to stay on course for years is an achievement. Our teamhas 90 per cent of the same unit today since the show was launched. My biggest achievement is to have people who would team up for such a long-running show. Over the 11 years, they have been through phases of setbacks and achievements so to keep up the spirit and morale of the team is a challenge."

    With multiple choices available, producers have a hard task to keep shows running. To compete with shows on OTT, TV shows need to understand changing trends and adapt quickly.
    About the future, Bhosle says it’s not about a show being finite or infinite shows that will determine success. “It is a story that touches a chord, a character that grows on you or that palpable chemistry between two endearing characters that make people return to watch more,” she says.
     

  • BARC week 44: Top 10 pay channels lost & FTA channels gained ratings across genres

    BARC week 44: Top 10 pay channels lost & FTA channels gained ratings across genres

    BENGALURU: Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for week 44 of 2019 (Saturday, 26 October 2019 to Friday, 1 November 2019, week or period under consideration) for Top 10 Channels Across Genres revealsthat the combined ratings of Pay TV were lower as compared to the previous week. At the same time, Free to Air of FTA channels gained viewership in week 44 of 2019 as compared to the previous week in terms of combined weekly ratings of the Top 10 channels of each platform. The channels, genres and rankings in the respective weekly lists were not all the same for both weeks – week 44 and week 43 of 2019 in the case of BARC Across Genres on All Platforms and Across Genres on Pay Platform lists.

    Combined weekly impressions of the Top Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 44 of 2019 at 6,824.793 million were 3.1 percent lower than the 7,043.023  million weekly impressions for week 43. Combined weekly impressions of the Top Pay Channels Across Genres in week 44 of 2019 at 6,322.534 million were 1.8 percent lower than the 6,437.237 million weekly impressions in week 43. Combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Free channels in week 44 of 2019 at 2,594.861 million were 4.1 percent higher than the 2,491.909 million weekly impressions in week 43.

    Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms

    The Network18/Viacom18 associated Telugu GEC re-entered ETV Telugu BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 44 of 2019 while Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) Kannada GEC Zee Kannada exited the list. The rest of the channels in the list for week 44 of 2019 were same as in the previous week with a some shuffling in ranks. 

    Six Hindi GECs’, two Telugu channels and one channel each from the Kids and Tamil genres made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms in week 44 of 2019. From the network’s perspective there were three channels from Network18/Viacom18, two channels each from Star India and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and one channel each from Enterr10 Television, The Sun Tv Network and Zeel. Nine of the channels in week 44 were on the pay platform, while one was on the Free platform. 

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 44 of 2019 were the same as in the previous week. The one change was the entry of ETV Telugu and the exit of Zeel’s Telugu GEC Zee Telugu. Five Hindi GECs’, two Telugu and one channel each from the Kannada, the kids and the Tamil genre made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 44 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were three channels from Network18/Viacom18, two channels each from SPN, Star India and Zeel and one channel from the Sun Tv Network. As has become almost a norm, the two most watched pay channels were not Hindi GECs’ – they were Tamil (Sun TV) and Telugu (Star Maa).

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres

    The list of channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres during the week under review was the same as in the previous week (week 43 of 2019) with a slight shuffling in ranks. Four Hindi Movies channels, three Bhojpuri channels, two Hindi GECs’ and one channel from the Marathi genre made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for week 44 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were four channels from Enterr10 Television, three channels from B4U, two channels from Zeel and one channel from Skystar.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • ZEEL MD & CEO Punit Goenka reappointed for five years

    ZEEL MD & CEO Punit Goenka reappointed for five years

    MUMBAI: Even as many have been harping on the debt challenges that Zee TV has been facing and questioning whether the promoter family – including CEO Punit Goenka – will continue at the helm of affairs, here’s news that at least puts paid to some of the doubting Thomases.

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd today issued a notice to the Bombay stock exchange that its board today approved in-principle to reappoint Punit Goenka as its managing director & CEO for the next five years.  His term is slated to expire on 31 December 2019.  This means that PG  – as he is known to his colleagues in the Zeel  – will continue to be the man on top come 1 January 2020.

  • Murdoch survived & thrived, so will Chandra

    Murdoch survived & thrived, so will Chandra

    MUMBAI: There's alarm bells being sounded that Zee TV chairman Subhash Chandra and his dynamic sons Punit and Amit might be losing control of India's cable and satellite TV pioneering venture. Unconfirmed reports have been appearing about certain financial institutions selling promoter shares pledged with them. Are the concerns warranted? No! Absolutely not!

    More often than not, there have been canards floated around by vested interests that someone or the other is wanting out of the arrangement that Chandra’s elder son – Punit Goenka – has hammered out with the instituitions that have lent the family money on promoter shares pledged with them. These have appeared in a specific financial daily and have more often than not proved unfounded.

    Chandra and his family are finding themselves in a spot just like Rupert Murdoch did in the late eighties-early nineties. Murdoch had weighed his firm News Corp with some $7.6 billion in banking and institutional debt to fuel the massive rapid expansion of his media empire globally. He had bet that interest rates would drop; they rose instead. A banking crisis and an advertising market collapse hit global economies, pushing the company to the brink of bankruptcy. To add to his woes, the principal lenders had sold off parcels of debt to others making it a roster of 146 financial firms to which it owed the money and in 10 different currencies.

    The banks were getting a bout of nerves wondering whether they would be repaid ever. But Murdoch came up with an aggressive survival plan along with a Citibanker Anne Lane, who believed in his strategy. He began a roadshow to get the bankers’ approval for News Corp to continue to do business. Murdoch’s  first port of call was in Adelaide where at the Commonwealth Bank, he unabashedly told his other lenders that he would not be able to repay the debt in the form it was structured. The bankers howled and screamed, but Murdoch and Lane stood firm. The Ozzie at times got agitated about the fact that he had to placate his bankers and make them believe that he would come good. Three hours of harddselling and persuasion, and the bankers left without any commitment of extension.

    From there he flew to London and New York where the same pleading, cajoling and convincing continued with his lenders. A small bank in Pittsburgh was threatening to call in its $10 million loan; Murdoch along with Lane flew down to Pittsburgh and convinced its manager not to.

    The road show went on and Murdoch kept missing his repayment deadlines. From November 1990 to February 1991 he continued with his spiel non-stop. Until  he heard that all the banks had agreed to stand by him. They stated that they would freeze the nearly $8 billion in loans for the next three years. 

    The rest of course is history.  That  tough period helped Murdoch toughen himself up even further and he went on to further build his empire which Disney bought for about $72 billion, even as he retained control of the news business.

    There are parallels between Murdoch and Chandra. Both are first generation media entrepreneurs. While the former grew his media and entertainment empire, he failed at almost everything outside it. Ditto with Chandra and family who pledged their equity to fund his infrastructure projects, an area he was not very familiar with. Chandra and family are currently extracting his company from what some may call a finacial quagmire. Murdoch had his moment in the early nineties. Both were partners in the nineties in Zee TV's uplinking company and in cable TV arm Siticable, before deciding to part ways. Murdoch had relatively humble beginnings; he inherited a local publication in Australia; he swelled it to a global empire. Chandra’s origins too  were modest; he used to make massive food grain containers and toothpaste lamitubes. And then came his entertainment and media expansion, followed by a disastrous entry into infrastructure. Both Murdoch and Chandra read their respective markets wrong. Both suffered on account of market changes.

    Then, like Murdoch, Chandra and his sons are battling a crisis. They are facing it with their chins jutting out, that’s the degree of their confdience. And that's the mettle of their entrepreneurship. They have built a media company like no other in India with a clutch of channels and assets like Zee5.  A corporation  which has a reputation globally; one which is truly rooted in India, understands its audiences. but with a worldwide  presence. An organisation which is tightly run by a professional owner – Punit – with his father mentoring him-  and a team of managers cobbled togerther from the top most Indian and global  firms. They have been working on finding ways to reduce their costs: the daily newspaper DNA has shut down its print edition, retaining a digital presence.  Some of their infrastructure initiatives are on the block.

    Will they pull off a rescue of their battleship? Despite the so-called financial crisis, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has been turning out enviable financial results in the last two quarters. Which apparently is not reflected in the share price that has been relatively subdued.

    We, at indiantelevision.com, are betting that the family Chandra will come sailing out of the storm ; they will most likely emerge a little  bruised but not battered. They have five months to find buyers for their pleadged equity shares. Which they will. All they need is time. Just like Murdoch did. If it sounds too simplistic a reasoning; only time will tell us whether it will come true. So keep watching this space.