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Tag: Zing

  • Zing to launch a new gamified chat show ‘Zing Game On’ on 25 January

    Zing to launch a new gamified chat show ‘Zing Game On’ on 25 January

    MUMBAI: A quirky blend of music, cricket and masti, Zing is geared to launch a first of its kind gamified chat show ‘Zing Game On’. Hosted by loved actor-anchor Karan Wahi, the show will witness cricketers in a never seen avatar engaged in candid and entertaining conversations.

    Presented by Haldiram’s and co-powered by Fogg & Yamaha FZ-FSI, Zing Game On promises to showcase the unplugged side of cricketers for the first time on television wrapped in the world of music, cricket and entertainment on one platform. Starting from 25th January 2020, Zing Game On will be aired every Saturday and Sunday at 7 pm on Zing and will also stream on Zee5.

    Music cluster deputy business head Pankaj Balhara said, “After successful creation of IP’s like Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Aye Zindagi & Expedition, we want to continue creating compelling and differentiated IP’s and Zing Game On is the newest addition to the list. It was very challenging for us to crack a format which would be different from other chat shows. We wanted to bring alive the other side of cricketers through music & games which would be engaging for the audience to watch as well.  Hence even the choice of host was critical. Karan Wahi has not just played cricket but shared a great rapport with a lot of cricketers which was very critical to do justice to the format of the show. The whole package is aimed to keep the cricket fans and music lovers hooked on to their television screens as they watch them let loose on the show!

    With an eclectic mix of 14 cricketers from men’s & women’s Indian cricket team covering the legends, current stars & upcoming talent, Zing Game On is definitely going to unveil a lot of fun yet personal moments of these cricketers. From Shikhar Dhawan with his flute, Suresh Raina impressing everyone with a Saxophone, Jemimah breaking the stage with her performance with the band, Shreyas Iyer mesmerising everyone with his magic tricks & a rap, this show promises to reveal their never seen musical side as well!

    With a concept so unique, Zing has also devised a very new age marketing mix for the launch of Zing Game On. The plan involves a robust 360 degree campaign #GameFaceOn which brings out the concept of the unseen side of cricketers playing on a new pitch through music and games. Apart from an extensive network promo plan, trade marketing, outdoor, the campaign has a digital focus to grab the attention of the youth on their second screens. Zing is strategically launching on TikTok which is the fastest emerging entertainment platform that will be the house to exclusive content and funny behind the scene moments from Zing Game On post the on-air launch. To keep the social media topical, content is created around the ongoing cricket series to amplify the same. Even with the Press meet, not going the usual route, Zing partnered with a gaming arcade to make the interaction of Karan Wahi and media a lot of fun with competitions between the two and Karan challenging the press to bring their Game Face On!

    Summing up, expect some unknown revelations, fun banters and witness these cricketers playing games which will be beyond cricket. The opening batsman for the first episode is none other than the ‘Gabbar’ Shikhar Dhawan. The other cricketers who will be seen on the show are Yuvraj Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harmanpreet Kaur, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Krunal Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav, Nitish Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Kuldeep Yadav and Deepak Chahar. With a host like Karan Wahi, the show promises to pack a punch as the cricketers unravel their other side and relive the memories from their growing up years.

  • BARC week 30: Movie channels dominate free channels lists across genres

    BARC week 30: Movie channels dominate free channels lists across genres

    BENGALURU: TRAI’s new tariff order (NTO) seems to have changed viewership patterns if one were to go as per Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data. Of course, BARC has started slicing and dicing the data more and more specifically and hence enabling an improved scenario of viewership patterns in the country. But, NTO resulted in the major networks converting some of their free to air (FTA) channels to pay TV, hence enabling channels that remained FTA viewership to leapfrog. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the change in its competitions’ platforms to pay TV is Enterr 10 TV’s Hindi GEC Dangal. Dangal has often been the leader in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms as also in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in the combined rural and urban Hindi speaking markets or HSM (U+R) as also in the rural Hindi speaking market or HSM (R). At the same time, Dangal has also been amongst BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in the urban Hindi speaking market or HSM (U). Another channel that has reaped viewership benefits has been Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) FTA Hindi GEC Big Magic.

    Since week 27 of 2019, BARC has started reporting breakup of free and pay channels in the case of some markets, including the top 10 or 11 channels across genres. BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres contains channels only from the region above the five South Indian states and the union territory of Puducherry – the Hindi speaking markets. BARC defines HSM as all India without the states in which the four South Indian languages – Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu are spoken. Ten of 11 channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across channels are mostly either Hindi or Bhojpuri, the one exception being Marathi. Six of the 11 channels among the top 11 FTA channels across genres are movies channels – equally divided between Hindi movies and Bhojpuri movies. Often the number of Bhojpuri channels equals Hindi channels.

    Let us look at BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres for week 30 of 2019

    BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres  for week 30 of 2019 (Saturday, 20 July 2019 to Friday, 26 July 2019) had two Hindi GECs, three Hindi movies channels, four Bhojpuri channels including three Bhojpuri movie channels, and one channel each from the Marathi and music genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were four channels from Enterr 10 TV, three channels each from B4U Media and Zeel, and one channel from Skystar Entertainment Private Ltd (Skystar).

    All the 11 channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres were same as in week 29, but with a small tweak in ranks. As a matter of fact, the names and ranks of the first four channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 were the same as in week 29.

    As mentioned above, Dangal headed BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres in week 30 of 2019. The channel climbed up one place to first rank with 866.547 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 from second rank and 781.501 million weekly impressions in week 29. Dangal retained first rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 with 665.082 million weekly impressions as compared to 589.591 million weekly impressions in week 29. Dangal was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking market HSM (U+R) as well as in HSM (R) and was ranked sixth in HSM (U). Dangal also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 8 free Hindi GECs during the week under review.

    At second rank in week 30 was Big Magic with 405.141 million weekly impressions as compared to 358.730 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres. Big Magic was ranked seventh in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) on all platforms. Big Magic was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (R) and was ranked eighth in HSM (U). It was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 8 free Hindi GECs during the week under review.

    At third rank in week 30 of 2019 was B4U Media’s Hindi movies channel B4U Kadak with 325.020 million weekly impressions as compared to 347.028 million weekly impressions in the previous week. B4U Kadak was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi movies channels on all platforms in HSM (U+R) and was ranked first in HSM (R). B4U Kadak was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 free Hindi movies channels.

    At fourth rank was Enterr 10 TV’s Marathi channel Fakt Marathi with 162.021 million weekly impressions as compared to 184.384 million weekly impressions in week 29. Fakt Marathi was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Marathi channels in the Maharashtra and Goa market.

    B4U Media’s Bhojpuri channel B4U Bhojpuri climbed up a place to fifth rank in week 30 of 2019 with 157.775 million weekly impressions as compared to sixth rank and 154.732 million weekly impressions in the previous week. B4U Bhojpuri was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Bhojpuri channels in the Bihar and Jharkhand market. This indicates that the channel has viewers outside the Bihar and Jharkhand markets also.

    Enterr 10 TV’s Bhojpuri channel Bhojpuri Cinema dropped a place to sixth rank in week 30 of 2019 with 157.352 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth rank and 160.117 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Bhojpuri Cinema topped BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Bhojpuri channels in the Bihar and Jharkhand market.

    Another B4U Media Hindi movies channel, B4U Movies also climbed up a place to rank seven in week 30 of 2019 with 150.461 million weekly impressions as compared to eighth rank and 130.537 million weekly impressions in week 29. B4U Movies was ranked fifth in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi movies channels in HSM (U+R) and was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 free Hindi movies channels.

    Zeel’s Bhojpuri channel Big Ganga dropped a place to eighth rank in week 30 of 2019 with 138.778 million weekly impressions as compared to seventh rank and 151.977 million weekly impressions in week 29. Big Ganga was ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Bhojpuri channels in the Bihar and Jharkhand market.

    Skystar’s Hindi movies channel Skystar Movies retained its previous week’s ninth rank in week 30 of 2019 with 120.616 million weekly impressions as compared to 124.183 million weekly impressions in week 29. Skystar Movies was ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 free Hindi movies channels.

    Zeel’s Music channel Zing climbed a rank to tenth place in week 30 of 2019 with 102.370 million weekly impressions as compared to eleventh rank and 100.580 million weekly impressions in week 29.

    Dropping a place to eleventh rank in week 30 of 2019 was Enterr 10 TV’s Hindi movies channel Enterr 10 with 102.280 million weekly impressions as compared to tenth rank and 102.757 million weekly impressions in week 29.

    Enterr 10 was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 free Hindi movies channels.

  • BARC week 29: Sun TV back on top as ICC Cricket World Cup tourney ends

    BARC week 29: Sun TV back on top as ICC Cricket World Cup tourney ends

    BENGALURU: The Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV was back on top as the most watched channel across genres on all platforms in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly lists of top channels in week 29 of 2019. (Saturday 13 July 2019 to Friday 19 July 2019, week under review). With India out of the premier cricket tourney after the surprise loss to New Zealand, interest in the final match between England and New Zealand seemed to have waned in India, despite the nail-biting photo-finish. Star Sports 1 Hindi, the occupant of numero uno rank in the previous weeks’ lists failed to find a place in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres, or the top 11 Pay channels across genres – Sun TV headed both the lists. Further, DD Sports which also aired the tournament exited BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Free channels across genres during the week under review.

    For week 29 of 2019, BARC has posted the following across genres lists: Top 10 channels across genres across platforms; Top 11 Pay channels across genres; and Top 11 Free channels across genres. For week 28, the ratings agency had posted only the top 10 channels list for across platforms, pay channels and Free channels across genres.

    BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms

    Six Hindi GECs, two Tamil channels and one channel each from the Telugu and Hindi movies comprised BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 29 of 2019. From the network’s perspective, there were three channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Star India and one channel each from Enterr 10 TV, Sun TV Network, Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel)

    As mentioned above, Sun TV headed BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels with 863.550 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to second rank and 843.786 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    At second rank was Enterr 10 TV’s FTA Hindi GEC Dangal with 781.501 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to 762.595 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Moving up a place to third rank in week 29 of 2019 was Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus with 708.740 million weekly impressions as compared to fourth rank and 694.567 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    Moving up two places to fourth rank was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV with 693.440 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to sixth rank and 676.868 million weekly impressions in week 28. Retaining its previous week’s rank five was Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa in week 29 of 2019 with 683.816 million weekly impressions as compared to 689.795 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    Climbing up three places to sixth rank was Viacom18’s  flagship Hindi GEC Colors with 563.058 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to ninth rank and 526.158 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    Climbing up a place to seventh rank in week 29 of 2019 was SPN’s Hindi GEC Sony Sab with 551.715 million weekly impressions as compared to eighth rank and 530.349 million weekly impressions in week 28. Dropping a rank to eighth place in week 29 of 2019 was Star India’s flagship Tamil GEC Star Vijay with 531.446 million weekly impressions as compared to seventh rank and 545.135 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    SPN’s Hindi movies channel Sony Max climbed a place to ninth rank in week 29 of 2019 with 522.040 million weekly impressions as compared to tenth rank and 496.497 million weekly impressions in week 28. SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) re-entered BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres in week 29 of 2019 with 504.481 million weekly impressions.

    BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres

    Four Star India channels, three channels from SPN, two channels from Zeel and one channel each from Sun TV Network and Viacom18 made up BARC’s weekly list if top 11 pay channels across genres in week 29 of 2019. Five Hindi GECs, three Hindi movies channels, two Tamil channels and one Telugu channel comprised BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 29 of 2019.

    As mentioned above, here also, Sun TV headed BARC’s weekly list with 863.550 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to second rank and 843.786 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Star Plus also climbed a place to second rank in week 29 of 2019 with 705.707 million weekly impressions as compared to third rank and 690.613 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    Climbing up two places to third rank was Zee TV with 691.204 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth rank and 674.518 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Retaining to fourth rank in week 29 of 2019 was Star Maa with 683.816 million weekly impressions as compared to 689.795 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    Colors climbed up three places to fifth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 29 of 2019 with 558.873 million weekly impressions as compared to eighth rank and 522.718 million weekly impressions in week 28. Sony Sab climbed up a place to sixth rank in week 29 of 2019 with 547.408 million weekly impressions as compared to seventh rank and 526.128 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    Star Vijay dropped a place to seventh rank with 531.446 million weekly impressions as compared to sixth rank and 545.135 million weekly impressions in week 28. Sony Max was on eight rank in week 29 of 2019 with 519.990 million weekly impressions as compared to ninth rank and 495.560 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    SET climbed up a place to ninth rank in week 29 of 2019 with 502.417 million weekly impressions as compared to tenth rank and 487.728 million weekly impressions in week 28. Zeel’s Hindi Movies channel Zee Cinema and Star India’s Hindi Movies channel entered BARC’s weekly list if top 11 pay channels in week 29 of 2019 at tenth rank with 497.790 million weekly impressions and at eleventh rank with 460.007 million weekly impressions respectively.

    BARC’s weekly list of top 11 Free channels across genres

    Four channels from Enterr 10 Television, three channels each from B4U Media and Zeel and one channel from Skystar comprised BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres in week 29 of 2019. Four Hindi Movies channels, two Bhojpuri channels two Hindi GECs and one channel each from the Bhojpuri, Marathi and Music genres comprised BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres during the week under review.

    Dangal retained its previous week’s first rank in week 29 of 2019 with 589.951 million weekly impressions as compared to 593.000 million weekly impressions in week 28. Zeel’s Hindi GEC Big Magic also retained its previous week’s second rank with 358.730 million impressions as compared to 395.972 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    B4U Media’s Hindi Movies channel B4U Kadak also retained its previous week’s third rank with 347.208 million weekly impressions as compared to 307.206 million weekly impressions in week 28. Enterr 10 TV’s Marathi channel Fakt Marathi climbed up a place to fourth rank in week 29 of 2019 with 184.384 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth rank and 197.780 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    Enterr 10 TV’s Bhojpuri movies channel Bhojpuri Cinema climbed up a place to fifth rank in week 29 of 2019  with 160.117 million weekly impressions as compared to sixth rank and 172.979 million weekly impressions in week 28. B4U Media’s Bhojpuri Movies channel B4U Bhojpuri climbed three places in week 29 of 2019 with 154.732 million weekly impressions  to sixth rank as compared to ninth rank and 154.067 million weekly impressions in week 28.

    Zeel’s Bhojpuri channel Big Ganga also climbed a place to seventh rank in week 29 of 2019 with 154.732 million weekly impressions as compared to  eighth rank and 154.924 million weekly impressions in week 28. B4U Media’s Hindi Movies channel dropped a place to eight rank in week 29 of 2019 with 130.537 million weekly impressions as compared to seventh rank and 164.568 million weekly impressions in week 28

    Skystar’s Hindi Movies channel Skystar Movies entered BARC’s weekly list if top 11 free channels across genre in week 29 of 2019 at ninth rank with 124.183 million weekly impressions. Enterr 10 TV’s Hindi Movies channel Enterr 10 also entered BARC’s across genres free channels list in week 29 of 2019 with 102.757 million weekly impressions. Zeel’s music channel Zing dropped a place to eleventh rank in week 29 of 2019 with 100.580 million weekly impressions as compared to tenth rank and 107.974 million weekly impressions in week 28.

  • Merged Dish TV reports maiden numbers for fiscal 2018

    Merged Dish TV reports maiden numbers for fiscal 2018

    BENGALURU: The merged entity comprising of two Indian DTH players – Dish TV India Ltd reported its maiden fourth quarter and fiscal numbers for the periods ending 31 March 2018 (Q4 2018, quarter under review, FY 2018 year or fiscal under review). The two entities of the new behemoth Dish TV India Ltd were – Dish TV India Ltd and Videocon d2h Ltd before the merger. Dish TV and Videocon d2h had reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 82.12 crore and Rs 30.44 crore respectively for fiscal 2017. Individual revenues in fiscal 2017 were Rs 3,014.38 crore and Rs 3,071.73 crore for Dish TV and Videocon dh2 respectively. On 22 March 2018, Videocon d2h had merged with and into Dish TV India Ltd with the appointed date of the merger being 1 October 2017, or for the latter half of financial year 2018. The post merger consolidated operating revenue of Dish TV post merger for FY 2018 was Rs 4.634.16 crore and consolidated net loss was Rs 84.50 crore. Subscription revenue was Rs 4,216.7 crore. Consolidated total comprehensive loss (TCL) for FY 2018 was Rs 81.33 crore.

    Dish TV’s fiscal 2018 numbers are not comparable with FY 2017 in the form presented by the company for FY 2018. Financials of Dish TV India Ltd for the quarter ended 31 March 2018 thus represent three months’ financial performance each of Dish TV India Ltd and Videocon d2h Ltd. Similarly, financials of Dish TV India Ltd for the year ended 31 March 2018 represent 12 months’ financial performance of Dish TV India Ltd and six months financial performance of Videocon d2h Ltd. Both companies had reported separate financials for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3-2018, immediate trailing quarter, previous quarter).

    Subscriber numbers

    The merged company – Dish TV India Ltd had a subscriber base of 2.3 crore with a market share of about 37 per cent at the end of Q4 2018. This makes it the largest private DTH player in the country. ARPU (average revenue per user) of the merged entity for Q4 2018 was Rs 201. For Q3 2018, individually Dish TV had reported ARPU of Rs 144, while Videocon d2h had individually reported ARPU of Rs 208.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by the merged Dish TV

    Simple consolidated EBIDTA for fiscal 2018 was Rs 1316.02 crore (28.4 per cent of operating revenue). Total expenditure for FY 2018 was Rs 4,786.23 crore. Employee benefit expense during the year under review was Rs 209.61 crore. Operational cost in fiscal 2018 was Rs 2,476.60 crore. Finance costs were Rs 396.37 crore. Other expenses were Rs 620.82 crore.

    Dish TV’s numbers for the fourth quarter

    Since the Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger happened in the third quarter of fiscal 2018, a year on year (y-o-y) comparison would not be an apples-to-apples comparison. We have compared how it fared in the fourth and third quarters (quarter over quarter or q-o-q) of 2018.

    The merged Dish TV India Ltd consolidated revenue from operations reduced 5.1 q-o-q in the quarter under review to Rs 1,532.37 crore from Rs 1,614.33 crore in Q3-2018. Consolidated total revenue reduced 5.7 per cent q-o-q to Rs 1,545.11 crore from Rs 1,638.50 crore.

    The merged entity reported consolidated PAT of Rs 118.21 crore (7.7 per cent of operating revenue) as compared to a loss of Rs 118.21 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q3 2018. Consolidated simple EBITDA in Q4 2018 was 19.5 per cent lower q-o-q at Rs 400.65 crore (26.2 per cent of operating revenue) as compared to Rs 497.84 crore (30.8 per cent of operating revenue). Adjusted consolidated EBITDA (Dish TV claims that a onetime merger expense of Rs 60 crore was accounted for in Q4 2018) was 7.5 per cent lower q-o-q in Q4 2018 at Rs 460.65 crore (30.1 per cent of operating revenue) as compared to Rs 497.84 crore). Consolidated TCI in Q4 2018 was Rs 119.86 crore as compared to a consolidated TCL (total comprehensive loss) of Rs 166.31 crore in the previous quarter.

    The merged Dish TV’s consolidated total expenditure was almost the same at Rs 1,611.80 crore in Q4 2018 as compared to Rs 1,612.36 crore in Q3 2018. Operational cost in Q4 2018 increased 2.2 per cent q-o-q to Rs 866.36 crore from Rs 847.74 crore. Employee benefit expense during the quarter under review reduced 0.7 per cent to Rs 66.856 crore from Rs 67.30 crore in Q3 2018. Finance cost in Q4 2018 reduced 7.3 per cent q-o-q to Rs 132.94 crore from Rs 143.38 crore. Other expenses in Q4 2018 reduced 1.5 per cent q-o-q to Rs 195.97 crore from Rs 198.92 crore.

    Company speak

    In Dish TV’s earnings release, the company’s CMD Jawahar Goel said, “There is significant growth potential both in the short and the long term when it comes to acquiring new subscribers. While in the short term, digitisation will continue to feed subscriber additions, government schemes focused on bridging the urban/rural divide, increasing farm incomes and electricity connection to rural households will create demand for new televisions and pay-tv connections in the years to come.”

    On the merged Dish TV, Goel said, “It’s time to now put all thoughts to action and deliver what is expected from two leading platforms when they come together. I am happy to share that merger integration across functions has been successfully completed and new roles, responsibilities and key deliverables have been well received by our team.”

    “I see a new sense of passion and urgency all around in the company and believe that we have everything we need to surge ahead,” added Goel.

    Three well recognised and powerful brands- Dish TV, d2h and Zing are now being marketed under the Dish TV India Ltd umbrella. Dish TV group CEO Anil Dua said, “Revenue would be further fortified through Value Added Services, some of which have already been cross rolled-out on all three brands. With demonetization, poor rural demand and merger related distractions behind us, we are confident of a sharp turnaround in our operating and financial performance in this fiscal.”

    Also Read :

    Videocon d2h, Dish TV merger comes to fruition

    Dish TV-Videocon d2h to bank on economies of scale

    Videocon d2h delists from NASDAQ, merger with Dish TV likely on 22 March

  • Music channels bet on shows to boost viewership

    Music channels bet on shows to boost viewership

    MUMBAI: Seems like music channels are playing second fiddle to online music platforms when it comes to playing tracks. In an attempt to grab more eyeballs, pure-play music channels on television are moving away from the music content and focusing more on the youth-centric shows.

    A study done by video intelligence platform Vidooly Media Tech said that Indian users largely consume music content on YouTube. In the music segment, Hindi and electronic music were the two most popular genres among YouTube users and the music videos generated over 3 billion views.

    Observing the trend in the television space, the channels that kick-started their existence as a pure-play music channels are now experimenting with reality shows or shifting their focus to youth-centric content. Several music channels have changed their programming line-up in a bid to put their finger on the viewer’s pulse.

    Launched in 1996, MTV rolled out its first reality show in 2003 – Roadies. After that, there was no turning back as the channel cut down music content in favour of youth-based shows. Roadies has completed 15 seasons while Splitsvilla is on its 10th. The list goes on with Dropout, Girls on Top, Kaisi Ye Yaariyan, India’s Next Top Model, Love School etc. Bigg Boss 11 is the latest addition which will be its first time on the music channel.

    One can ask the question – what happens to the music content ratio? It might have decreased because of the captive audience in India, or it might be a deliberate strategy to move towards youth-centric shows or because of the report by Vidooly that said about the music content consumed more over YouTube.

    Adding more to the context, Channel V launched in 1994 and during its heydays, the channel launched several iconic campaigns. Later, In search of greener pastures, Channel V became youth focussed. Attempts were made to rebrand Channel V as a reality show channel, moving away from its music-only programming. The plans, however, did not come to fruition as the channel shifted its focus away from music and it lost much of its popularity and TRPs. Therefore, viewership dropped drastically. In 2016, this mistake was corrected: it went back to playing music videos on loop. Nevertheless, it was too late for Channel V to regain popularity, and Star India decided to shut down operations.

    There comes another channel called Zing, formerly known as Zee Muzic and Music Asia, which is an India-based music television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, which broadcasts in Hindi and other regional languages. It also features humour, animation, spoofs and celebrity lifestyle in addition to music. Shows like Pyaar Tune Kya Kia, Aye Zindagi and Love Diaries are among the shows added to the list with an intention to grab the eyeballs of the viewers.

    The Times Group’s Indian glamour and entertainment television channel—Zoom which started out as a music, Bollywood and serial channel, pulled serials quite quickly off the air, within months it was a music + Bollywood news channel.  The OTT platform Viu is now experimenting with the OTT-to-TV format. It has tied up with lifestyle channel Zoom to broadcast its shows, Spotlight and Gehraiyaan to bring in larger audiences. 

    Breaking away from the mould, Sony Mix still stays pure to music. MTV Beats is one that shows celebrity-curated theme-based music shows like Fit Stop with Sunny Leone and House Party with rapper Badshah. Mastiii has shows that are related to music too.

    Also, Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ 9XM has the popular The Bakwaas Show where film stars come to promote their films. Do Pal Ka Interval is a humorous take on the upcoming Bollywood movies based on their trailer and story.

    Although the music content on music channels is steadily diminishing, the jury is still out on whether consumption of music will become an online phenomenon. Only time will tell if the move to reality shows will pay dividends in the long run for the channels.

  • Reinstating optimism in youth, Zing to launch ‘Aye Zindagi’

    Reinstating optimism in youth, Zing to launch ‘Aye Zindagi’

    MUMBAI: Not often is life kind enough to let you move past errors and start afresh but when it does, we must make the best of it. Chronicling many such stories of human experiences, Zing presents a new fiction show. Titled Aye Zindagi, the channel has roped Rithwik Dhanjani as the host.

    Keeping up with its brand promise of #thatsmything, the channel will bring thrilling stories of Indian hinterlands on the TV sets from 26 January at 7 pm.

    “Youth is the most exciting and at the same time the most alarming stage of growing up. Struggling through peer pressure, parental control and mixed emotions, little chance do they get to introspect and think through life choices. And these at times lead to bad judgement. But there is always hope at the end of the tunnel and Aye Zindagi instills that hope. Our endeavor is to tell life altering stories of youngsters who didn’t budge to the wrong and took a second chance at life,” said Zing business head Vishnu Shankar.

    Aye Zindagi explores the heart felt, humane and very relatable stories of youngsters dealing with various situations and how they come out of them victorious. It explores volatile emotions as youth treads forbidden path, taking up tricky and dangerous challenges but the show reinstates optimism as it shows the youth ultimately choosing the right path winning over trial and tribulations of Zindagi.

    Dhanjani added, “When I heard the concept of the show, what intrigued me were the realness of the stories. Aye Zindagi touches upon stories that do touch our lives. And there is no preaching in the show. There is no sending a message, not asking people to follow what’s right and wrong. It’s just reflection of life stories which appealed to me. It’s also first of a kind show for me different from the romantic shows I have done. Here, I am personally involved in all the stories. There are episodes where I am interacting with the characters of the story which is new.”

  • Reinstating optimism in youth, Zing to launch ‘Aye Zindagi’

    Reinstating optimism in youth, Zing to launch ‘Aye Zindagi’

    MUMBAI: Not often is life kind enough to let you move past errors and start afresh but when it does, we must make the best of it. Chronicling many such stories of human experiences, Zing presents a new fiction show. Titled Aye Zindagi, the channel has roped Rithwik Dhanjani as the host.

    Keeping up with its brand promise of #thatsmything, the channel will bring thrilling stories of Indian hinterlands on the TV sets from 26 January at 7 pm.

    “Youth is the most exciting and at the same time the most alarming stage of growing up. Struggling through peer pressure, parental control and mixed emotions, little chance do they get to introspect and think through life choices. And these at times lead to bad judgement. But there is always hope at the end of the tunnel and Aye Zindagi instills that hope. Our endeavor is to tell life altering stories of youngsters who didn’t budge to the wrong and took a second chance at life,” said Zing business head Vishnu Shankar.

    Aye Zindagi explores the heart felt, humane and very relatable stories of youngsters dealing with various situations and how they come out of them victorious. It explores volatile emotions as youth treads forbidden path, taking up tricky and dangerous challenges but the show reinstates optimism as it shows the youth ultimately choosing the right path winning over trial and tribulations of Zindagi.

    Dhanjani added, “When I heard the concept of the show, what intrigued me were the realness of the stories. Aye Zindagi touches upon stories that do touch our lives. And there is no preaching in the show. There is no sending a message, not asking people to follow what’s right and wrong. It’s just reflection of life stories which appealed to me. It’s also first of a kind show for me different from the romantic shows I have done. Here, I am personally involved in all the stories. There are episodes where I am interacting with the characters of the story which is new.”

  • DishTV adds 32 educational channels to its bouquet

    DishTV adds 32 educational channels to its bouquet

    MUMBAI: Providing better quality entertainment to its subscribers and offering value for their money is DishTV. The DTH brand has taken its total count to more than 585 channels and services. It has reportedly added 32 new educational channels launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

    The content of the 32 channels is unique in order to provide maximum information through the visual medium. The educational channels are available from channel number 2001 to 2032 on DishTV and Zing.

    DishTV CEO Arun Kumar Kapoor said, “We support the Government’s initiative of driving education through TV sets, and are delighted that these educational channels from the Ministry of Human Resource Development are available to all DishTV subscribers. We feel proud and contented at the same time as we are reaching a new milestone of having more than 585 channels and services on our platform.”

    With the focus on using space technology to expand reach, these channels will offer high quality educational content to all subscribers designed by central universities such as Jamia Millia Islamia, Punjabi University, IGNOU, Kashmir University and other leading educational institutions.

    The service will also offer telecast of live classroom lectures from top-notch institutions including the prestigious IITs.

  • DishTV adds 32 educational channels to its bouquet

    DishTV adds 32 educational channels to its bouquet

    MUMBAI: Providing better quality entertainment to its subscribers and offering value for their money is DishTV. The DTH brand has taken its total count to more than 585 channels and services. It has reportedly added 32 new educational channels launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

    The content of the 32 channels is unique in order to provide maximum information through the visual medium. The educational channels are available from channel number 2001 to 2032 on DishTV and Zing.

    DishTV CEO Arun Kumar Kapoor said, “We support the Government’s initiative of driving education through TV sets, and are delighted that these educational channels from the Ministry of Human Resource Development are available to all DishTV subscribers. We feel proud and contented at the same time as we are reaching a new milestone of having more than 585 channels and services on our platform.”

    With the focus on using space technology to expand reach, these channels will offer high quality educational content to all subscribers designed by central universities such as Jamia Millia Islamia, Punjabi University, IGNOU, Kashmir University and other leading educational institutions.

    The service will also offer telecast of live classroom lectures from top-notch institutions including the prestigious IITs.