ITV

Tag: Zee TV

  • Zee inks deal with Media Overseas for launch in Indian Ocean Islands and Africa

    Zee inks deal with Media Overseas for launch in Indian Ocean Islands and Africa

    MUMBAI: Zee Network has tied up with Media Overseas, subsidiary of Canal+ Group, for the launch on their multi channel satellite pay-television platform, for three of its channels Zee TV, Zee Cinema and Zee Muzic.

    The service will be available on three Media Overseas platforms including, Canal Sat Reunion in Reunion Island, Canal Sat Maurice in Mauritius and Canal Sat Horizons in more than 20 countries in Africa such as Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, Mauritiana, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, informs an official release.

    The service was launched commercially on 14 December for Indian Ocean Islands including Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mayotte and Camoros and shall be available from 15 January 2007 onwards for French speaking countries in rest of Africa. The cinema and TV channels shall be available with sub titles in French.

    The Zee channels will be uplinked on NSS7 and Eutelsat W2 from the playout centre of Canal in France.

    International Business CEO Dheeraj Kapuria said, “We take great pleasure in announcing the tie up with Media Overseas for the launch of three Zee channels with French sub titles for Zee TV and Zee Cinema. French is the main language in many countries in this region and by bringing Zee channels with French sub title, not only our proximity with the viewer is closer than ever, but also opens a new market for us.”

    “Based on extensive research and feedback, we decided to launch this service for the segment which has great fondness for the content from Indian sub continent but a gap exists due to language barrier.”

    “After Multichoice, with whom we already have a tie up, Canal Sat is the next major pay television platform in the region and through this tie up Zee has widened its reach, its products in Africa and enforces its position as market leader.”

    In continuation of offering services bringing closer to viewer through specific feeds for each region and sub title or dubbing in local language, this is yet another expansion of Zee’s reach in International market. Zee has in the past one year launched its sub titled or dubbed services in Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Middle East and announced plans for entry into China, adds the release.

  • ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ producer Gajendra Singh quits Zee TV

    ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ producer Gajendra Singh quits Zee TV

    MUMBAI: Zee TV’s star producer (Antakshari, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa) Gajendra Singh has put in his papers, after a long stint at Subhash Chandra’s flagship channel.

    Singh is charting out on his own and with plans to set up his own production boutique.
    Singh’s association with the channel will, however, remain as he will continue to do commissioned shows for Zee TV. Confirming the development, Zee TV business head Punit Goenka said, “Gajendra will be starting his own production house. However, he will continue to be associated with Zee TV doing projects for us.”

    Earlier this year, rumours were rife in the industry that Singh was likely to join rival networks (notably Star).

    Singh has been the creative mind behind the concept of reality shows like CloseUp Antakshri, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and the recent chart topper Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil’ Champs. Over his years at the channel he had taken the programme to the UK, USA, Middle East, Europe, all the while improving the format.

  • TV measurement service aMap announces all India coverage with 6,000 Peoplemeters

    TV measurement service aMap announces all India coverage with 6,000 Peoplemeters

    MUMBAI: Two years after launching its television ratings service in the country, Audience Measurement and Analytics (AMA) has announced that aMap, which provides data on overnight viewing, has installed 6,000 meters in India.

    In addition to the 28 markets already being measured, aMap is now present in three more markets Jammu, Guwahati and Bihar and Jharkhand.

    aMap CEO Tapan Pal says, “Currently, ten (broadcast) clients buy our product. We have also launched a fastrack service for our clients. This reports on viewership patterns during a significant event. For instance around 27 million people across India watched the Semi-Finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.

    “While these numbers are lesser than what the India matches got, they are considerably higher than the number of people that previously saw neutral matches. I would say that while our price might be higher than the competition (Tam) it is a question of the value one offers. One can slice and dice information in many ways. For instance one can check out what students watch and if o0ne wants to slice further one can see what an a student who speaks English watches versus what a student who speaks Marathi watches. We thus go beyond basic demographics

    “Also our service allows broadcasters and advertisers to constantly stay in touch with the consumer. The resistance from certain quarters to another ratings product will I am sure come down. Already there are another 50 channels who are keen on using us.”

    Pal notes that often there are differences in the ratings that aMap throws up versus what Tam shows. For instance the time spent on the niche channels like HBO, Star Movies is higher in aMap’s analysis than what Tam data shows.

    One show that delivered hugely divergent ratings on aMap and Tam was the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs finale live event which aired on 28 October. Tam data indicates that L’il Champs delivered for Subhash Chandra’s flagship channel Zee TV a whopping 11.1 TVR, rocketing it to the top of the charts for that week. On the other hand, the aMap rating for the show was just 4.7 without the ad break and 4.1 with the ad break included. The data was generated for C&S 4+ for north, west and east. “We are confident about our numbers,” asserts Pal.

    Confident he may be, but such disparities only make the already increasingly complicated job of media consumption analysis that much more difficult.

    aMap director Francis Howard said, “We are committed to the Industry in continuing with the most robust and sophisticated system that addresses the needs of the changing mediascape. We are now present all over India. Introduction of the three new markets of Jammu, Guwahati and Bihar and Jharkhand will give path-breaking insights into hitherto unreported markets. aMap ensures that it is large enough to capture the smallest nuances of the market.”

    “We proceeded in a deliberate manner in adding peoplemeters given the fact that the distribution landscape is changing. Ideally one would want 20,000 meters in three years. We also have plans in radio which we hope to surprise the industry with,” he asserts.

    Of course there is the question of how agencies related to WPP, which co-owns AGB Nielsen Media Research, the parent company of Tam Media, will respond to aMap’s product. aMap MD Raviratan Arora says that while it faces an uphill task in this area, he is confident that firms will accept a product that offers more targeted results. The idea that a monopoly is good in the ratings services industry is a fallacy, Arora argues. After all innovation will not happen unless there is competition, he points out.

    He still has to convince the industry on that score though.

  • Zee Music to launch a new programme ‘B News’

    Zee Music to launch a new programme ‘B News’

    NEW DELHI : Zee Music today announced the launch of its brand new programme on Bollywood, B News, which promises to get the ‘under belly of Bollywood” for the viewers for the first time. B News, is all about the glamour, the scandals, the fights, the love stories, the make ups, the break ups, the tensions, the laughter, the tears and the fears, that makes every celebrity in the world of glitz and glamour, the ‘different’ people that they are! People who are not like the rest of us . People who do not talk the normal talk, or walk the normal walk, like other ordinary citizens,” an official of Zee TV said.

    B News promise also to be a “show that will perhaps open the doors to the paparazzi”. It will “capture the uncaptured moments of Bollywood”, Irshwin Balvani, Business Head of Zee Music said.

    However, it will be a largely diluted version of what the paparazzi does the world around. On asked how close to the under belly of Bollywood the channel would get, and if they are planning the sort of kiss-‘n-tell work that has become a hazard to celebrities, Balvani retracted and said that “we would leave their private lives to themselves”. Paparazzi can do two kinds of work, he averred: one that harms the celebrities and the other that brings out the humans in them, “the same way they are much normal people as we are”, Balvani held.

    Asked how they will be different from other channels and newspapers that also cover Bollywood, Balvani said that they would have a lot of features unlike in the other media, where they only serve news. Gossip? Yes, gossip too, Balvani said, saucy, but not raunchy; “gossip that is fact-based, not something cooked up by someone”. If that seems anachronistic, so be it. Will that satiate the kind of appetite that B News is trying to whip up? The assembled media persons remained sceptical and B News did not have too many clear cut answers, and did not divulge any of the specific programmes that the new programme will host.

    “We are launching the programme from December 1 and shooting has started two months ago,” Balvani revealed. The show will be co-hosted by Zee Music’s old hand Vikas Bhalla and “sultry, sexy, saucy” Nethra Raghuraman, both of who were present at the press meet. What was the criterion for the choice of hosts? Balvani said that Bhalla had been with Zee Music for the past one and half years. “In choosing the female partner for Vikas, we gave primacy to a person who could speak.

    “Nethra has been a model but more importantly, she has done a few films and knows how Bollywood functions and will be able to articulate well.” It seems that Zee Music is keeping its programming aspect on B News guarded. But given the fact – which Balvani admitted to – that Indian sensibilities did not allow much raunchy programming, not even too much of real-life scandal, there could more hype than substance in the new programme.

  • Zee TV enters new genre with ‘Ravan’ on Saturdays at 9

    Zee TV enters new genre with ‘Ravan’ on Saturdays at 9

    MUMBAI: In the peaceful abode of so called ‘Lanka’, Zee TV unveiled its latest mythological drama Ravan. From comedy to reality, the network aims to strengthen its hold in the general entertainment space with the addition of yet another genre, mythology. Ravan will kick off on 18 November at 9 pm to beef up the prime time weekend slot.

    Unlike the customary tales of Hindu mythology, this show hopes to delve into the life of the evil one ‘Ravan’. Little is known of Ravan as a great scholar, a devotee of Lord Shiva and that he was the grandson of Lord Brahma. Backed by research, the drama will follow the events and characters that drove Ravan to emerge as the malevolent King.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com at the launch, Zee TV Sr. VP marketing Tarun Mehra said that this will add to the existing line up which will make for ‘Super Saturdays’ which kicks off with Nerolac Impressions Jama De followed by Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hain, the yet to be launched Ravan and Idea Zee Cine Stars Ki Khoj.

    Expectedly, Zee will push their new property to the hilt. “We will advertise heavily on the channel itself, along with using outdoor in 10 to 12 cities, while radio promotions will also be included on Big FM and Radio Mirchi,” Mehra says.

    The costs for opulent sets of the show have been pegged at Rs 10 million and it is estimated that about Rs 1.5 million to 1.6 million is spent on every episode of the show. In total, 52 episodes are being shot.

    Explaining why the channel has decided to go the ‘mytho’ way, Mehra says, “There seems to be a rejuvenation of mythology as has been seen in the latest animated movies Hanuman and Krishna. Zee TV has always been known to do things differently and so we hope to lure viewers from grandparents to kids to view the story from Ravan’s perspective.”

    Zee TV business head Punit Goenka said, “Ravan is the latest addition to our diverse programming consisting of dramas, comedies, reality shows and movies. This show reveals the lesser known facts about the life of Ravan; his journey from Mahamanav to Mahadanav. The script of this mythological drama has been written with authentic references and research. With Ravan Zee TV presents viewers with a mythological show that is different from the present generation of serials.”

    Given, that the story narrates the life of one who is widely accepted as ‘evil’, the untold story of the Ravan may get viewers to sample the show. Even though the channel says research forms the backbone for the drama, whether it can find its hold in the given slot is yet to be seen.

  • Star revenues to grow 15 % this fiscal: MPA

    Star revenues to grow 15 % this fiscal: MPA

    MUMBAI: The Star Group is expected to post a 15 per cent year on year revenue growth at $624 million for FY June 2007 with operating profit margins at 24.3 per cent or $151 million, according estimates by Hong Kong-based research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).

    Star’s September quarter was relatively soft (historically soft for the broadcaster in Asia) with revenue up a modest 6 per cent Y/Y to $140 million (MPA estimate) and operating income up 8 per cent to $13 million.

    While subscription revenue grew by 6 per cent Y/Y, programming costs declined over the quarter. “This leverage, however, was offset by lower ad revenue at flagship STAR Plus in India, where the decrease in advertising reflected last year’s high base comparison when revenue grew 22 per cent Y/Y due to the successful broadcast of Kaun Banega Crorepati 2,” the MPA report said. Despite maintaining leadership position, Star’s ratings have softened with Zee TV posing a strong threat.

    Tata Sky, News Corp.’s 20:80 direct-to-home (DTH) joint venture with the Tatas, has acquired around 180,000 subscribers till October-end, after having launched its services in August. The company says it is on track to add a net one million subscribers per annum.

    “The early results have been encouraging,” the report quoted News Corp chief operating officer and president Peter Chernin as having said. “Any additions are sort of immediate additional subsribers for channels and the good news is that they are at least 100 per cent reporting, which is a nice positive phenomenon in India.”

    News Corp, parent company of Star, had a sluggish September quarter with operating income at $851 million, down 6 per cent Y/Y, with a strong performance at its cable network and newspaper businesses offset by softness at its TV, movie and digital satellite units. It saw also higher than expected costs at the company’s online properties. The company reported earnings of $0.27 per share, benefiting from a $261 million gain after the sale of Sky Brasil and $136 million from the sale of its 19.9 per cent stake in Chinese commercial broadcaster Phoenix Satellite TV, in which News Corp still holds a 17.6 per cent interest.

    The company, however, expects a strong full year in FY 07 with robust growth forecast for Star Group and aggressiv expansion of MySpace into multiple Asian markets, the MPA report said.

  • ‘L’il Champs’ finale rockets Zee to top of ratings charts

    ‘L’il Champs’ finale rockets Zee to top of ratings charts

    MUMBAI: The tykes really did a number for Zee TV with their chart-busting ratings performance. The Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs finale live event on 28 October fetched Subhash Chandra’s flagship channel a whopping 11.1 TVR, rocketing it to the top of the charts.

    What was quite remarkable about the numbers, which is for the HSM 4+ TG, is that this is the average TVR the show generated over the full three-and-a-half hours it was on air and it was still well ahead of the perennial number one – Star Plus’ half-hour queen of soaps Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi – which registered a 10.3 TVR. The peak rating L’il Champs achieved was at 10 pm – of 15.4.

    The performance of L’il Champs gave Zee TV a reach of 30 per cent taking the channel to 350 GRPs, while Star Plus and Sony had 454 and 151 GRPs respectively.

    An elated Punit Goenka business head Zee TV remarked, “We are thrilled with the ratings of the finale. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs has been a very successful series since its inception. We have been overwhelmed by the response the show has garnered over the past few weeks. It provides an impetus to strive harder and clearly boosts the morale of the team. We will continue to put in our best efforts into making other shows such a grand success. As the average break TVR was 8.4, the show garnered high visibility for our partners as well.”

    Title sponsor Hero Honda would certainly be pleased by that bit of news of course.

    Expectedly, the highest ratings came in from the home cities of the three finalists.
    * Kolkata – Rating 15.8 and reach 39 per cent.
    * Mumbai – Rating 13.9 and reach 29.6 per cent.
    * Delhi – Rating 11.4 and reach 29 per cent.

    The Sa Re Ga Ma Pa story seems to be just getting better for Zee, much like American Idol has been for Chandra’s one time partner and now bitter rival in India Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Network.

  • Zee Tele Q2 revenues up 38% at Rs 4.6 billion; Net Rs 333 million

    Zee Tele Q2 revenues up 38% at Rs 4.6 billion; Net Rs 333 million

    MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra’s Zee Telefilms Limited today reported second quarter consolidated revenues of Rs 4.64 billion representing a 38.1 per cent growth over the corresponding period in the previous fiscal where it stood at Rs 3.36 billion.

    Consolidated operating profit stood at Rs 338 million, after expensing of initial investments in new activities viz. Zee Telugu, Zee Smile, Zee Sports and others, amounting to Rs 832 million (17.9 per cent of consolidated revenues).

    As a result, consolidated operating profits of continuing businesses were Rs 1,171 million, higher by 28.4 per cent over to the corresponding quarter last year.
    Profit before tax for the second quarter of fiscal 2007 was Rs 409 million while net profit was Rs 333 million, down 21.6 per cent from the Rs 425 million recorded last year.
    The results announced are after consolidating the financials of ETC Networks Limited (ETC) for the second quarter of FY2007.

    2Q FY2007 – Highlights
    Advertisement revenue Rs 2,107 million – up 42.6%
    Subscription revenue Rs 1,930 million – up 10.6%
    Zee TV now leader in 9-10 pm & in 6-8:30 pm time band
    Siticable acquires 250,000 last mile cable connections
    DishTV enhances content offering, Star bouquet available from August
    DishTV subscriber base now 1.5 million

    Said Chandra, “Zee’s second quarter results prove the continued strength of our content business and a growing presence across new genres. Not only are we growing our content business, we have been very successful in integrating it with new platforms like DTH, with significant growth potential. The performance reflects our success in delivering superior content to viewers and stronger relationship with our consumers.”

    Chandra added, “We are also happy about some recent developments relating to our business. There is continued monitoring of High Court for implementation of CAS in the notified areas of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata by December 31, 2006. This will additionally help in bringing about addressability on cable. On DTH, DishTV further enhanced its offering from August when the Star bouquet was also made available to subscribers and now DishTV has the most comprehensive content on any pay television service, whether cable or satellite. All these have extremely positive and long term impact on our business.”

    Commenting on the restructuring exercise, Chandra continued, “The restructuring exercise is underway and is expected to be completed by January 2007. There has been some delay from our earlier expectation of November 2006, due purely to a number of adjournments of court hearings. When completed, the restructuring would result in four listed companies ready to exploit the vast emerging opportunities in each line of business. The next several years would provide tremendous growth opportunities for all these four businesses.”

    Punit Goenka, whole time director and responsible for content creation, commented, “Zee TV continued to increase its viewership share from 25% in 1Q FY2007 to 28% during 2Q FY2007, along with a significant growth in time spent. During the quarter, average gross ratings points (GRPs) of Zee TV remained at 240 levels, while recording peak GRPs of 270 in week 36. The growth momentum has been led by widespread success of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs, Saat Phere and Kasamh Se, while our new launches Dulhan and Betiyan have been very well received. Betiyan touched a TVR of 5 in its first week. Zee TV now has five programmes in the Top 20 and 12 programmes in the Top 50. It has leadership in the 9 pm to 10 pm time band, and between 6 pm to 8:30 pm on weekdays.”

    “Zee Cinema continues to be the No. 1 movie channel, and increasingly is becoming a reach channel for the advertisers. Zee Marathi has improved its viewership by 16 per cent during 2Q FY2007. Zee Bangla has improved its viewership by 60 per cent and has gained leadership position in the 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm time band. Zee Sports continues to build on the back of Cricket Tri-Series in Malaysia between India, Australia and West Indies. We will continue to reinforce our competitive advantage and deliver more value to viewers and shareholders.” Goenka added.

    Elaborating on the performance, CEO Pradeep Guha said, “We are pleased with the strong operating results, content business delivered in the second quarter. We once again outperformed the market with unmatched connection with our audience and remain focused on building on our progress. Looking ahead, we are confident that continued execution of our content strategy would result in a revenue growth faster than that of industry.”

  • Zee to launch English news channel targeting Gulf

    Zee to launch English news channel targeting Gulf

    NEW DELHI: Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra today announced his group’s entry into the English news channel space.

    Zee will be launching an English news channel for the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and the channel will be headquartered in Dubai, Chandra said, at a media briefing in New Delhi.

    “The news channel for the GCC countries should be on air in the first quarter of 2007, Chandra said.

    The Gulf foray with a news channel follows Zee Telefilms’ forays into Russia, China and Indonesia in recent times.

    Chandra also admitted that work is continuing on a global news channel that will present to international audiences the Asian/Indian perspective.

    “The same way CNN and BBC present the American and British perspective, it’s my dream to have an English news channel to present the Asian and Indian perspective,” he added, reminding all that he had announced the initiative two years ago.

    In Indonesia, the Zee channel’s content is sourced from the flagship channel Zee TV library and localised with Bahasa Indonesia dubbing and Bahasa Melayu subtitling, to reflect the different language, lifestyle and viewing habits of audiences in the three countries Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

  • Sony set to launch ‘Bigg Boss’ on 3 November

    Sony set to launch ‘Bigg Boss’ on 3 November

    MUMBAI: Sony is ready to roll on its its big ticket property for the latter of half of 2006 – Bigg Boss, the Indianised version of the international format Big Brother.

    Can a show that has a highly voyeuristic core with a lot of negative machinations at play work in the Indian context? Most certainly, asserts Sony chief creative director Sandiip Sikcand. The reality show will have all the elements and more that make saas-bahu weepies such a rage in India, avers Sikcand, giving his reasoning on why he expects the concept to replicate the success it has enjoyed in territories like the UK.

    Bigg Boss launches Friday, 3 November, with the unveiling of the 13 celebrity participants. It will have a 12-week run, with telecast running from Monday through to Friday.

    On Fridays, Bigg Boss will run the elimination episode, where as the Monday to Thursday episodes will be packed with the regular drama and reality content. Significantly, Sony has opted for the 10 pm slot (Monday to Thursday) at a time when an interesting fight is going on between Star Plus and Zee TV in that time band. Bigg Boss will be confronting Star Plus’ Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, which airs from Monday to Thursday and Zee TV’s newly launched show Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann.

    The Friday episodes are slotted for 9 pm. On Friday, Bigg Boss will be attacking Star Plus’ Baa, Baho and Baby and Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs’.

    Bigg Boss, the real life soap will have 13 celebrities confined inside a specially designed house where every single point in the house is within view of a video camera. The housemates will be watched by 28 cameras.

    They will not be permitted any contact with the outside world: no TV, radio, telephone, internet, not even writing materials. The public is invited to vote to evict one of the contestants. The last remaining is the winner who bags Rs 500000/-. The ‘Bigg Boss’, an omnipresent voice will be watching all the moves of the housemates. And the popular ‘Circuit’ of Munnabhai MBBS – Arshad Warsi – will be anchoring the show.

    The repeat telecast will be aired in the afternoons. Bigg Boss is regarded as Sony’s next big offering after Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi and Indian Idol. Set India COO NP Singh believes that Bigg Boss, the format show that has successfully attracted millions of viewers over multiple seasons in some of the countries will change television viewing in India too.

    The channel is also planning a multiple season run for Bigg Boss. This time, they have roped in celebrities primarily because curiosity and obsession about the stars have exploded in the country, explains Sikcand.

    The channel has already started marketing this property through a 360 degree campaign. This would be the first time that the channel will be creating mobisodes for the format show. The users can access 30-second to 90-second clips, but Singh refused to divulge as to which telecom operator, the channel had inked a deal with.

    Internet will be yet another medium through which the channel will exhibit its property. A mircosite will be created, through which the streaming of the show will be offered and the mobile episodes will also be accessed, informs Singh.

    It remains to be seen if Bigg Boss brings in the big audiences that will help propel Sony back into the ratings reckoning.