Tata Sky Ltd., the JV between the Tata Group and STAR, recently introduced 15 Sun channels, Kalaignar TV, NDTV Good Times, UTV Bindass, Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus taking its product offering to 140 channels and interactive services. Tata Sky has also launched ActveTM Cooking, the first-of-its-kind interactive service that allows viewers to get recipes when they want, at the press of a button.
To cater to its rapidly expanding customer base in south India, the company has introduced new channel packages starting at Rs 200 per month, designed especially for customers in the region, said Vikram Kaushik, managing director and CEO, Tata Sky Ltd
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Indian Idol contest sparks violence, 30 injured
India's version of "American Idol" sparked violence on Friday when police clashed with supporters of the winner, leaving at least 30 people injured. Officials said the army had been called in to maintain calm.
Prashant Tamang, an ethnic Nepali youth from the eastern state of West Bengal, beat Amit Paul from Meghalaya state, inflaming regional rivalries after a closely contested final round on Sunday.
The animosities subsided after the two contestants appealed for peace, but a radio station stoked further trouble by making inflammatory remarks about Tamang this week, angering ethnic Nepalese.
On Friday, thousands marched in West Bengal's Siliguri town to protest the remarks. The procession later turned violent, forcing police to fire tear gas shells and use batons.
"The situation is tense. We have placed the entire region under heavy security cover," Ravinder Jit Singh Nalwa, a senior police officer, said.
"Indian Idol" is among a slew of singing contests on Indian television judged by audience vote. The voting is heavily parochial with contestants drawing maximum votes from their native state.
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Petition in HC against Eklavya's entry to Oscars
Eklavya — The Royal Guard, which was on its way as an official Indian entry to the Oscars is now courting trouble. Bhavna Talvar and WSG Films have filed a writ in the Bombay HC against the Film Federation of India and the selectors for choosing on September 24, the Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt starrer as India's official entry for the Academy Awards. The petition is expected to come up in court on Saturday.
Talvar on Thursday even shot off a legal notice to Supran Sen, secretary of the federation through her lawyers — Amit and Vineet Naik. The notice said that WSG Films are producers of the film Dharm, starring Pankaj Kapoor, Supriya Pathak and directed by Bhavna Talwar.
"The film is a story of a staunch Hindu pandit who lives in Benaras as per the scriptures of the Vedas. He adopts a little child and this child helps him get in touch with the reality of his way of life. The Film conveys that Dharm as a word does not actually mean 'religion' but the 10 fold paths that you take to salvation. The film preaches that Hinduism is not a religion; it is a way of life."
What the notice said essentially was that the film Dharm received critical acclaim and was selected as the closing film of the Tous les Cinemas Du Monde at the prestigious Cannes film festival, Cancun 2007, and Palm Springs 2008, among others and that Talvar is the "first Indian woman director to be officially selected at Cannes."
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Nickelodeon is No 3 among children’s channels
Television channel Nickelodeon reached the number three position amongst children’s channels last week with its television rating point (TRP) growing at 104 per cent during the year.
The channel, also known as Nick, is now planning to increase its reach through 360 degree marketing before the coming holiday season, said Ms Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Vice-President and General Manager Nickelodeon.
“We are also considering expanding our merchandise categories to include toys, activity books and stationary,” she added.
The channel share, according to Ms Jaipuria, has grown from 9 per cent of the segment in January to 18 per cent in August. Nick’s distribution reach has also gone up to 20 per cent. “Our loyal audience base was very small. The challenge was to get children to staple our channel,” said Ms Jaipuria.
Reaching out
The channel launched a 360 degree marketing strategy reaching out to children wherever they were—through school contact programmes, at cinema halls during launches of blockbusters such as Spiderman, at malls, in Diamond comics, radio and even on general entertainment channels.
It also advertises during popular shows such as Saregamapa on Zee, Boogie Woogie on Sony and during the television premier of the movie Krish.
Direct contact
It plans to keep its direct contact with viewers active through contests and other ground events.
“We have also recently introduced Nick Home Cinemas, with movies both from our library and acquired titles from Sony and Ultra,” said Ms Jaipuria.
Distinguishing itself from other channels by keeping humour at the heart of things, Nick has also added on advertisers during the year, taking the number from 17 at the beginning of the year to 50 at present.
The channel is also targeting smaller towns.
In spite of its ‘dubbed’ content, Nick enjoys the highest (34 per cent) audience share in the children’s entertainment category in Uttar Pradesh.
“For kids content has universal appeal. Take our driver shows, SpongeBob is American, Ninja is Japanese,” said Ms Jaipuria.
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Sony Pictures to distribute Fifa supported 'More Than Just A Game'
Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has acquired the international distribution rights to the feature length FIFA-supported docu-drama More Than Just A Game, from Distant Horizon.
The docu-drama stars Presley Chweneyagae (Tsotsi) and tells the dramatic and little-known story of organized football played among prisoners on Robben Island in South Africa where Nobel Peace Prize Winner Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. The announcement was made today by SPTI president Michael Grindon, and Distant Horizon CEO Anant Singh.
Told through the stories of five former prisoners, More Than Just A Game follows the story of how political activists who were unjustly imprisoned on Robben Island in the 1960s rise above their incarceration by creating a football league, the Makana Football Association (Makana FA), and find an outlet for their passion and commitment to discipline through football.
This deal comes on the heels of Sony Corporation's global partnership deal with FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) that went into effect in January of this year.
As a FIFA Partner, the highest level of sponsorship status which is accorded to only six companies, Sony will be the official Digital Life sponsor of over 40 FIFA events, including the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010 and the FIFA World Cup in 2014 due to be held in South America.
Grindon stated, "This is truly an inspirational story and we are pleased to be working with Distant Horizon to bring this amazing tale of hope to audiences around the world. We are also pleased to continue our association with FIFA, as they recently announced their support for the film and it is a timely acquisition for SPTI in light of the fact that the next FIFA World Cup is being held in South Africa."
Producer Singh added, "We at Distant Horizon are thrilled to be working with Sony Pictures Television International on the international distribution of More Than Just A Game. The film has relevance not only to people in South Africa, but to people around the world. When considering this project, I felt that there was potential for this film because it is a story about human beings trying to succeed against all odds and to survive using football as their inspiration, which in everybody else's terms, was very simple. More Than Just A Game is a tribute to the people on Robben Island who fought for the privilege to play football."
"The Makana FA and Robben Island have great symbolic significance in FIFA's fight to eradicate racism and all forms of discrimination from football and society as a whole. We are very proud that, thanks to our Partner Sony, its subsidiary Sony Pictures Television International and producer Anant Singh have teamed up to distribute this unique docu-drama More than Just a Game around the world. The film shows just how football can help to build a better future," commented FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter.
The movie's worldwide premiere is scheduled around the Preliminary Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup taking place in Durban, South Africa on 24 November 2007. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be held in South Africa from 10 June through 11 July.
More Than Just A Game is a Distant Horizon production in association with Telkom Media and Distant Horizon, with script development supported by the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa (NFVF). It is executive produced by Sudhir Pragjee and Sanjeev Singh and produced by Anant Singh and Helena Spring with Chuck Korr, Lord Ted Rowlands, Dave Crowe and Hannelie Bekker co-producing. The screenplay is by Tom Eaton and it is directed by Junaid Ahmed.
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Zee Cafe launches 11 fresh shows currently on air in US
The Zee Group's English general entertainment channel Zee Cafe today claimed to have become the first channel in the country to run popular sitcoms simultaneously with their launch in the US.
The channel today announced the launch of 11 new programmes in different genres commencing between today and early next year, which are being launched around the same time as their showing in the US, where they have been or are being produced.
Zee Cafe business head Neil Chakravarti said that the new programmes had been decided after six months of intensive research among Indian viewers who said they learnt a lot about new shows from the internet or sites like YouTube, and could not wait to see them several months or years later.
Chakravarti told a press meet here that Zee had therefore worked out deals with its studio partners in the US to get these programmes for showing within days or hours of their first showing. He admitted that this meant paying 75 to 200 per cent more than the normal payment, but said it was worth the effort.
He said there were only two general entertainment English language channels in the country, the other being Star World, and claimed that Zee Cafe was different in that it only picked programmes that would appeal to Indians.
At least four of the shows on the channel - Aliens in America, The Big Bang Theory, Unhitched, and the on-going Notes from the Underbelly - star south Asians, Neil revealed.
He said the Survivor series was probably the world's first reality show on television when it first commenced in the last decade. The 15th season Survivor: China begins in Shanghai and is the story of castaways attending a Buddhist ceremony. Having commenced in the US on 20 September, it will come on Zee Cafe early next month.
The Big Bang Theory and Unhitched are comedies, Aliens in America is a drama-based sitcom, The Sarah Connor Chronicles beginning early next year is a re-invention of the Terminator series, while Pushing Daisies, Back to You and Journeyman are romantic dramas. The others are Gossip Girl, Army Wives and Travel Girls.
Chakravarti later told Indiantelevision.com that the channel had experimented with some English shows made in India, but felt that Indian audiences were not yet ready for English fiction.
Denying that the channel showed content meant only for adult audiences, he claimed that 60 per cent of the cable and satellite homes in the country were seeing Zee Cafe, and said there were attempts to give greater publicity to these progrrammes on all the 27 Zee channels. He said that the channel was interactive in that viewers could write back on the zeecafe.tv website.
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Star One to launch musical quiz show 'Bol Baby Bol'
It's the season of music based format shows on Hindi entertainment channels. Star One is set to launch a musical reality show titled Bol Baby Bol.
"Star One is launching a nonfiction musical quiz show Bol Baby Bol soon. The time slot is yet to be fixed. The auditions are starting from tomorrow in Mumbai," an industry source reveals.
"Bol Baby Bol will be very much like Kaun Banega Crorepati but here the person who sits on the hot seat will have to complete the missing lyrics of the given song. The show will be anchored by singer Adnan Sami," adds the source.
When contacted however, Star India VP marketing and communication Prem Kamath declined to comment.
The source explains that after choosing from a variety of genres, period, singer and music director the contestant of the nonfiction show will be asked to complete the lyrics of the song which will be played. As in KBC, the level of difficulty of the questions will be raised with each correct answer. A contestant can win prize money of up to Rs 250,000 every week.
As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Star One will soon unveil a host of new shows to its programming line up as part of a content refurbishing process. Star One will launch at least 12-14 new programmes within the next four months.
The bank of new properties will kickstart with a fiction programme that launches next week.
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Shemaroo releases 'Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi' on home video
Shemaroo Entertainment released the home video of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi the popular TV show from 1980s.
Shemaroo has colour corrected the images, improved the picture quality and audio by restoring it for more clarity. The original master of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, which was in 'Low Band U-Matic' format, is now digitally restored and upgraded which enhances the visual appeal of the serial for viewers.
Shemaroo Entertainment VP Hiren Gada shares his thoughts, "It is a great pleasure to have the Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi team with us for the launch of its home video. This reunion is certainly a triumph for all of us, where we are taken to a state of nostalgia. We are breathing life into something which is more than two decades old, yet which is the top most recall among audiences."
The VCDs and DVDs of this serial would be available at all the leading stores across the country. Season onewhich has episodes till 24 has been released in four separate volumes.
The DVDs are priced at Rs 149 and the VCDs are priced at Rs 99.
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Dishtv offers Sun channels to counter TataSky in southern language space
DTH player dishtv, which pioneered the platform in India, has made the entire Sun bouquet of 15 channels available to its subscribers, in the wake of TataSky doing the same two days ago.
Company officials had in August told indiantelevision.com that dishtv had already signed an agreement with Sun for carrying their channels, but would wait for the Sun DTH platform to start operation and go on air simultaneously, as that had been the tacit understanding between the two companies.
However, dishtv had also then said that if TataSky went ahead with their airing of Sun channels before Kalanithi Maran's Sun DTH operations start, they would break with that agreement and start carrying the Sun channels.
"This is precisely what has happened, as TataSky started carrying the Sun channels two days ago, so we informed Sun and with their consent, have started carrying the Sun bouquet from yesterday," a dishtv official said on condition of anonymity.
The addition of Sun channels takes up dishtv's offering to 180 channels in 12 languages across the country.
With the addition of Sun channels, the dishtv south Indian language line-up will now have 17 Tamil, 12 Telugu, 12 Malayalam and 10 Kannada channels, including channels from other southern broadcasters.
The new channels are an interesting mix of genres across general entrainment, news and music, movie and kids, in short, catering to the entertainment needs of the entire family.
In the present day scenario of emerging India, almost 10-20 per cent of the young population is dislocated from their home states for better opportunities, the company statement added.
The inclusion of new channels will also satisfy the needs of the southern language populace residing outside their home state, dishtv officials say.
Commenting on the occasion, Arun Kapoor, CEO, dishtv said, "Dishtv believes in offering variety to its subscribers. From the very beginning, we have aimed to cater to the language specific needs of the regional belt spread across the length and breadth of the country."
Kapoor adds that it has been dishtv's constant endeavour to incorporate tastes and preferences of our subscribers in the offerings.
"Dishtv enjoys strong support from Southern viewers and is completely in tune with their entertainment preference," he says.
By this move, dishtv now has the complete southern bouquet of channels which can cater to and will be of interest for all southern language speaking audiences.
The Sun channels will be available under four different packages, namely Dish Freedom- 100 channels @ Rs. 150, Dish Freedom plus-105 channels @ Rs. 200, Dish Welcome-130 channels @ Rs. 300 and Dish Maxi-159 channels @ 350.
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Eros International to release 'No Smoking' globally
Eros International will release the film No Smoking in cinemas worldwide on 26 October 2007.
No Smoking is directed by Anurag Kashyap and is produced by Eros International with Kumar Mangat and Vishal Bharadwaj.
Starring John Abraham in lead role with Ayesha Takia and Paresh Rawal, 'No Smoking' is the story of K (John Abraham) who is addicted to smoking and refuses to do anything about it. But when K's wife, Anjali (Ayesha Takia), walks out on him, he decides to go meet Baba Bengali, Sealdahwaale (Paresh Rawal), who runs 'Prayogshala', a centre for rehabilitation from all sorts of addictions and afflictions. And when K goes to meet Baba Bengali, Sealdahwaale; he walks into an agreement he can't walk out of.
Proud and desperate, K pushes the buttons, throws caution to the wind and challenges Baba's diktats. What follows is a breathless, smoky game of one-upmanship between the self-assumed all-knowing gatekeeper of the netherworld and a frantic, unsuspecting man. Finally, K realises that he can't escape Baba no matter what he tries. Until of course the contract is complete.
Eros will be releasing the music of No Smoking on Eros cassettes and CDs on 26 September 2007.
Buoyed by T-20 success, ADAG group to promote other sports
Buoyed by India's success in the ongoing Twenty20 cricket World Cup, the event's main sponsor Reliance Communication has decided to promote other sports apart from cricket.
"We are considering promotion and sponsorship of other sports which include beach-volleyball, hockey and some adventure sports," Reliance Communication president branding and marketing Sanjay Behl told PTI over phone.
The recent win of Indian Hockey team in the Asia Cup where they routed Korea 7-2 might have generated corporate world's interest in sponsoring hockey.
"Sports like beach-volleyball and adventure sports are something new to India and therefore need promotion to become popular here," company officials said.
"The success of the Indian cricket team, which have reached first ever Twenty20 final is a very good thing. The ADAG group is also thinking of sponsoring future cricket tournaments like one day series with Australia and is also looking forward to sponsor the 2011 World Cup to be played in the sub-continent," Behl added.
"Our association with the game goes a long way with Reliance World Cup in 1987 in which Indian team had reached semi-finals. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is our brand ambassador, who has now become captain of Indian one-day side also," he said.
"We are also sponsoring Saurashtra and Kutch cricket associations," he added.
Apart from Reliance Communication, other ADAG group companies like Reliance Capital will also sponsor and promote various sporting events, Behl added.
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Kolkata policeman Prashant Tamang is 'Indian Idol 3'
In a grand musical extravaganza, Prashant Tamang from Darjeeling was last night crowned Indian Idol 3 after a count of an estimated 70 million votes received through SMS or mobiles.
Tamang, who is of Nepali origin, is a constable with the Kolkata police.
The grand finale last night saw actor John Abraham name Prashant out of the two finalists, the other being Amit Paul of Shillong, a great favourite in Delhi and the metros.
In addition to a recording contract with Sony BMG, Prashant was awarded a contract worth Rs 10 million with Sony Entertainment Television. Both Prashant and Amit were also awarded one Maruti SX4 and one Sony Ericsson Mobile Phone.
Fireworks lit up the sky as the winner was named after the slip containing his name was taken out by Abraham. In a recent episode of Indian Idol, Abraham had announced his preference for Prashant.
After the announcement, Prashant took the blessings of the judges and then gallantly walked to the front of the stage with Amit, both holding the Sony Trophy presented to the winner. As in the two earlier segments, the finale of the Indian Idol was an all-male affair. Interestingly, Amit had been eliminated in the earlier rounds but was chosen by the judges to be brought back into the competition.
All the judges – lyricist Javed Akhtar, music director Anu Malik, and singers Udit Narayan and Alisha Chinai – were also present on the grand stage at the National Small Industries Corporation Exhibition Ground in Okhla in south Delhi. Others present were the parents of the two finalists, and the presenters Mini Mathur and Hussain.
Both the finalists, Prashant and Amit, also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandi during two days they were in the capital preparing for the finale. Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that she's proud of the youngsters and they are idols in their own way.
All those who had qualified as the thirteen shortlisted after the piano round presented musical items, including the title song which they have rendered for the John Abraham-Bipasha Basu starrer ‘Goal’.
Others who performed at the finale included Indipop singer Mika and playback singer Sukhwinder Singh, apart from Malik, Alisha, and Udit. Two former winners of Indian Idol, Abhijeet Sawant and Sandeep Acharya also performed. The huge audience was in raptures and stood in their seats as Sukhwinder sang Chak De India.
A special item was the presentation of some of Anu’s best songs by the two finalists, with Anu himself overseeing the music accompaniment. Anu was also a judge in the first two segments of Indian Idol.
Earlier, in interviews to indiantelevision.com, the judges had said the aim of Indian Idol 3 had been to find just one voice who would be ‘Bharat ki shaan’ (Pride of India) and would be proficient in modern, classical, semi-classical, pop and also in dancing. Indian Idol 3 was produced for Sony Entertainment TV by the Delhi-based Miditech headed by Niret and Nikhil J Alva.
The third series commenced as a Friday-Saturday show, starting with 24 contestants and gradually coming down to 13, and then two in the finals to select the lone winner. However, the channel attempted to capitalize on the popularity by extending it to other days of the week towards the beginning and then the end.
The preliminaries were held in 12 cities. The cities are Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Srinagar, Nagpur, Vadodra, Bhopal, Kampur, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Meanwhile, in recent interviews, the finalists said they feel that a major benefit of the music competition, even if they are not selected, would be the new confidence they have gained to face the future.
Launched in Britain as Pop Idol, the Idol series had already traversed to 28 countries in 40 channels all over the world. Sony was bound by the rules set by Pop Idol, but made a change with the introduction of a fourth celebrity judge. However, Shola Rajachandran who heads Media Communications at Sony told indiantelevision.com that this had been done keeping in mind the theme of the week. For example, it was Ila Arun for the week when folk songs were sung, Anil Kapoor when patriotism was the theme, and Sonu Nigam when modern film songs were sung.
Though Prashant is the lone winner, some of the others have already been recorded songs for Bollywood, and Alisha Chinai is recording an album with Meiyang Chang from Dhanbad who is a dentist of Chinese origin and was eliminated towards the end. Alisha had protested and left the show, but had been convinced by Chang to return. (Chang brought a special painting as a gift for Alisha to the finale.)
Sony sources said the top eight or nine participants in each of the first two editions had already been either lapped up by the film industry or achieved success in stage performances in India and overseas. For example, she said Prajakta who had been a finalist in the last edition had already recorded in 17 languages.
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Sony Pictures, Eros enter film partnership
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Eros International will co-invest in a slate of Hindi films to be released in India and around the world.
Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, Sony and Eros will jointly develop, produce and acquire multiple films for the new Hindi film slate. Sony Pictures is expected to distribute some of the titles in the US, and Eros will use its established infrastructure to distribute the films in other international territories. The two companies will work jointly in India.
Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Michael Lynton said, "This deal continues Sony Pictures dedication to the region as we embrace and support local talent and invest in films made specifically for audiences in India and the Indian diaspora.
"As a global company, we are committed to international cinema in India and around the world – we want to satisfy the demand in local markets for high quality original stories told in their original languages. We have a strong track record of film and television production and distribution in India and we're proud Eros International, the leading player within the Indian entertainment arena, will be working with us to find unique and inventive films for Indian audiences and fans of Indian cinema everywhere."
Lulla says, "I am delighted to establish this important relationship between Eros and Sony Pictures, a prominent Hollywood studio with a global brand and reputation of the highest quality. I am excited by the potential benefits to both parties from working together and pleased that Sony chose Eros as its Indian partner.
"Since our London listing last year, Eros has successfully carried out the first phase of consolidation of the fragmented Indian entertainment sector. We continue to strive to make a humble contribution in shaping the future of Indian entertainment in the years to come," he said.
The deal marks the latest step in Sony Pictures’ longstanding commitment to local language film production around the world. In April, Sony Pictures launched its International Motion Picture Production group, under the direction of Gareth Wigan and Deborah Schindler, in recognition of the evolution and significance of the world market for motion pictures.
The new co-financing arrangement also continues the longstanding collaboration between Eros and Sony Pictures. Sony Pictures owns a majority stake in Sony Entertainment Television channel (SET) in India and Eros has an option to own 24 per cent of the television channels B4U Network. The Set channel and B4U Network created a joint venture company in the UK, named BEN-Set Limited, in September 1999, through which SET and B4U jointly market and sell their television channels to DTH subscribers in the UK. Set also licenses films from Eros.
Over the past year Eros has secured more than 50 projects through a combination of content production, co-production, output deals and talent agreements.
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Sony Pictures, Eros enter film partnership
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Eros International will co-invest in a slate of Hindi films to be released in India and around the world.
Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, Sony and Eros will jointly develop, produce and acquire multiple films for the new Hindi film slate. Sony Pictures is expected to distribute some of the titles in the US, and Eros will use its established infrastructure to distribute the films in other international territories. The two companies will work jointly in India.
Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Michael Lynton said, "This deal continues Sony Pictures dedication to the region as we embrace and support local talent and invest in films made specifically for audiences in India and the Indian diaspora.
"As a global company, we are committed to international cinema in India and around the world – we want to satisfy the demand in local markets for high quality original stories told in their original languages. We have a strong track record of film and television production and distribution in India and we're proud Eros International, the leading player within the Indian entertainment arena, will be working with us to find unique and inventive films for Indian audiences and fans of Indian cinema everywhere."
Lulla says, "I am delighted to establish this important relationship between Eros and Sony Pictures, a prominent Hollywood studio with a global brand and reputation of the highest quality. I am excited by the potential benefits to both parties from working together and pleased that Sony chose Eros as its Indian partner.
"Since our London listing last year, Eros has successfully carried out the first phase of consolidation of the fragmented Indian entertainment sector. We continue to strive to make a humble contribution in shaping the future of Indian entertainment in the years to come," he said.
The deal marks the latest step in Sony Pictures’ longstanding commitment to local language film production around the world. In April, Sony Pictures launched its International Motion Picture Production group, under the direction of Gareth Wigan and Deborah Schindler, in recognition of the evolution and significance of the world market for motion pictures.
The new co-financing arrangement also continues the longstanding collaboration between Eros and Sony Pictures. Sony Pictures owns a majority stake in Sony Entertainment Television channel (SET) in India and Eros has an option to own 24 per cent of the television channels B4U Network. The Set channel and B4U Network created a joint venture company in the UK, named BEN-Set Limited, in September 1999, through which SET and B4U jointly market and sell their television channels to DTH subscribers in the UK. Set also licenses films from Eros.
Over the past year Eros has secured more than 50 projects through a combination of content production, co-production, output deals and talent agreements.
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Vodafone to bid fond farewell to animated boy-girl characters
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With the spotlight on Vodafone at the moment, the brand is playing its cards carefully in the Indian subcontinent. The brand started off with a simple introduction message: ‘Hutch is Now Vodafone’; knowing the repercussions of sudden shifts, it plans on continuing with this campaign for a while. The iconic pug has also been continued, and it is possible that the ‘Hutch boy’ could also be recalled, but not immediately.
The animated boy-girl duo (a Hutch hallmark), currently being used as mascots to ‘introduce’ Vodafone to consumers, will be dropped in subsequent campaigns. Rajiv Rao, executive creative director, O&M, says, “These two characters so essentially represent the old brand ‘Hutch’ that they will have to be dropped eventually.” They are likely to be replaced by a cooler, suave boy-girl couple (also animated) who will become the face of Vodafone in India.
Vodafone’s global corporate thought, ‘Make the Most of Now’, will be imported into India soon. O&M India will come up with a corporate campaign based on this thought. However, the idea used will be completely Indian, and not an adaptation of a foreign creative. Hutch’s tagline, ‘Wherever You Go, Our Network Follows’, will also be retained by Vodafone, but only for those commercials that are based around the network premise.
‘Make the Most of Now’ essentially encourages people to take time out of their busy lives and enjoy each moment of each day. This thought was arrived at after extensive research by Vodafone to gain in-depth understanding of customer perceptions and behaviour. The study – conducted in more than 13 countries – reveals that time is key to making the most of life.
Harit Nagpal, director, marketing and new services, Vodafone Essar, says, “Humans today are constantly multitasking and trying to be in 10 places at the same time.” So clearly, Vodafone’s take is that its technologically advanced products and services help people achieve this by breaking down geographical and time barriers. Essentially, the corporate campaign will revolve around the concept of managing one’s time better and, thereby, managing one’s life better.
Nagpal further adds that as humans, we all have said at some point, ‘I wish I had more time’, which will form the insight for Vodafone’s communication in India.
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Brand Yuvraj in new celestial orbit
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Yuvraj Singh’s teammates call him Yuvi as the letter ‘V’ stands tall in his unfinished nickname. The question is whether it’s V for vendetta or victory. Going by the Punjab southpaw’s belligerent form in the Twenty20 World Cup matches, it’s a bit of both, skyrocketing Brand Yuvraj to a new celestial orbit. With nine brands in his kitty and slightly over a crore per brand riding on him on an average, Yuvi’s hunger is telling.
On September 19, when India took on England at Kingsmead, Yuvraj reduced to pulp fast bowler Stuart Broad with six sixes in an over, a feat YouTube has been showing to over half a million viewers for three days now. A day later, he called his sixes “heavenly justice”.
He was referring to a similar feat by England’s Dimitri Mascarenhas in the NatWest Series tie at the Oval two weeks back, when Mascarenhas hit Yuvraj for five sixes in his over. At Kingsmead, Yuvi took a long sharp look at Mascarenhas at mid-wicket in Broad’s over and hoisted the ball over him in the fifth delivery – sheer vendetta.
It is this fury that’s fuelling such form, many a times pitchforking Yuvraj as the architect of India’s victories in the tournament, and eventually helping the country reach Monday’s final against Pakistan. And advertisers seem to be lapping up his spirit too. For Hero Honda, Yuvraj represents the key values of youthfulness, dynamism, trust and durability. “He also signifies a new India – confident, fearless and ready to take on the world.
His performance has vindicated our faith in cricket,” says Anil Dua, senior vice-president of Hero Honda, the motorbike brand Yuvraj has been endorsing for the last six years. “Brand Yuvraj is all about passionate determination. His performance stems from somewhere deep.
A nagging angst, like he has been denied something and now he will show the world what it means to take him on. He is in control. You can see the power in his eyes. He represents the new India. The caged tiger is breaking free,” says Josy Paul, national creative director, JWT India.
Yuvraj works hard at his game and his management agency reciprocates that by targeting the right ads that go with his swashbuckling psyche. “It’s not about quantity. The quality of ads are important too and we choose brands which are representative of his character,” claims Vinita Bangad of Percept Talent Management.
A quick look at the brands Yuvraj endorses – Pepsi, Microsoft, Hero Honda, Trent, SBI Cards, Seagram, Marico, Reebok and Donear Suitings – shows his association largely with leadership brands. “On an average, his brand loyalty spans three to four years,” says Ms Bangad.
A quick glance at the numbers show that India’s Twenty20 vice-captain, Yuvraj Singh, is giving captain MS Dhoni a good run for his money when it comes to endorsements. While Yuvraj makes Rs 10 crore by endorsing nine brands over 40 days a year at 4.5 days per brand, Dhoni bags Rs 8 crore by endorsing 12 brands over 75 days in the same timeframe, at about 9.5 days to a brand, points out sources.
The vice-captain works less, earns more out of the ads by clearly focusing on image or identity-driven brands that complement his attitude. By the way, both are 26-year-olds.
Critics have always nailed Yuvraj for his inconsistencies – just 30 fifties and seven hundreds in 183 ODIs. Also, his recurring back strain has put him out of action on several occasions.
But the Twenty20 World Cup seems just the right platform for Yuvi’s twin Vs to come together. Victory with a Vengeance – that’s the mantra if India were to overcome arch-foes Pakistan tonight.
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Google programme enlists mini sites as selling tool for advertisers
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Google is seizing on the popularity of widgets—small online tools that function like mini websites—for a latest push into advertising.
The online giant is launching a Gadget Ads programme that will provide tools for advertisers to run widget ads in Google’s AdSense network.
Marketers can use the space within these display ads on Google’s network to show videos, offer chats with celebrities, play host to games or other activities. If consumers like the widget ad, they can save it on their desktops or on their profile pages on sites like Facebook and MySpace.
The new widget ads represent a more aggressive push by Google to attract big brand advertisers who like flashy ads rather than the simple text ads commonly run in Google’s ad network.
One big advantage of the technology is that the consumer does not have to click through to a website. A weather widget, for example, would constantly update the weather report in a particular area. Similarly, marketers could feature content to attract consumers while constantly updating their messages.
More than 48% of Internet users in the United States—over 87 million people—now use widgets, according to comScore, the online measurement company. Some of the most popular widgets on Facebook, for example, are the “Top Friends” tool, which allows people to go to their best friends’ profiles with a single click, and iLike, which lets users add music to their profiles.
“Consumers are pulling in content from multiple sources” said Christian Oestlien, a business product manager at Google who is overseeing the new ad programme. “It is what we are calling the componentisation of the web. The web is sort of breaking apart into smaller pieces.” Many widgets have been built by media outlets, like Lucky Magazine’s shopping widget, which features fashion and beauty products. And some companies like Slide are developing networks of widgets made by individuals that advertisers can place ads within.
But consumer brands like Sierra Mist and Honda Civic have also been creating their own widgets as a way of providing content or tools to potential customers. Google is hoping marketers will pay to place these widgets throughout its AdSense network.
Advertisers bid for keywords to place their widget ads in Google’s network in the same way they do other Google ads. Since many users will interact with the ads within the ad units and not click through, Google has developed a new interaction measure to document the interest in the ads.
tested its Gadget Ads programme this summer with a group of 50 marketers. To encourage more advertisers to make such ads, Google is offering to host videos for the ads in YouTube’s servers—a cost-saving for advertising agencies. And Google provides tools for updating the ads, even if marketers do not bid for ads in Google’s network. Marketers pay Google only for the ads that run in its networks and not for any downloading or saving of those ads that consumers may choose to do.
“We’re not trying to monetise every single event in a creative,” Oestlien said, adding that they wanted advertisers “to make rich creative ads that are really useful to the end user.”
Google’s tools are convenient for ad agencies because they make it easy to create a widget quickly, said Dimitry Ioffe, chief executive of Media Banners, a division of the Visionaire Group, a digital agency based in California. Ioffe ran a widget ad for Paramount Vantage’s movie A Mighty Heart this summer in Google’s new programme.
Ioffe said that Google’s tools will help marketers to cut expenses.
Instead of paying news sites to run videos from a movie’s premiere, studios can make it easy for consumers to post the videos on their own sites or social network profiles, providing free advertising. “Widgets are a dream for marketers,” Ioffe said. “They allow brand extensions off individual sites and allow them to live as long as consumers want them to live.”
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Google unveils Gadget Ads & AdSense for Mobile
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Google Inc. has introduced two new ways for advertisers to communicate with users through Google Gadget Ads and AdSense for Mobile.
Google Gadget Ads is an interactive ad format that is currently in an expanded beta with a select group of AdWords advertisers worldwide, while AdSense for Mobile unlocks the potential of the mobile advertising market by enhancing the mobile experience with relevant ads that will help people find what they're looking for quickly when they are searching or browsing content on their mobile phones.
"We are delighted with the response of Indian advertisers and publishers, who are using Google AdWords and AdSense as central tools for their business to generate revenue," said Google India managing director Shailesh Rao. "The launch of Gadget Ads and AdSense for Mobile will provide them with even more exciting formats and targeted technology to enhance their monetization potential."
AdSense for Mobile will be available in the following 13 countries in the coming weeks: US, England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Russia, Netherlands, Australia, India, China, and Japan, states an official release.
Gadget ads - non-traditional ad units with interactive, rich media capabilities - not only enable advertisers to target audiences in a flexible and timely manner via regular updates within the ad unit, but also allow users to engage with ad content in a way static ads haven't facilitated in the past.
Gadget ads can incorporate real-time data feeds, images and video in a single creative unit and can be developed using Flash, HTML or a combination of both. Designed to act more like content than a typical ad, they run on the Google content network, competing alongside text, image and video ads for placement. They support both cost-per-click and cost-per-impression pricing models, and offer a variety of contextual, site, geographic and demographic targeting options to ensure the ads reach relevant users with precision and scale.
Gadget ads are also built on an open platform, allowing anybody from individual advertisers to agencies to set up and run ads on the Google content network, the world's largest global online ad network. Plus, gadget ads will not command any serving or hosting costs.
Feedback from preliminary beta participants, including brand advertisers such as Pepsi-Cola North America's Sierra Mist, Intel, Honda, Six Flags and Paramount Vantage, has been positive. Advertisers are enthusiastic about this fresh marketing solution that empowers them to interact with targeted users through dynamic and engaging content.
Pepsi-Cola North America director, interactive marketing John Vail said, "Google Gadget Ads allowed us to reach the right audience at the right time, with an interactive message that brought our light-hearted Sierra Mist campaign, 'Squeeze More out of Summer,' to life."
Intel global marketing manager Stephanie Dillard said, "Google Gadget Ads provided a unique and efficient means to further promote our Centrino Duo campaign. Our goal was to enhance visibility and engagement with the consumer while taking in key learnings of Google's evolutionary advertising offerings. We look forward to utilizing the interactive gadget ad format with our new 'Chips' campaign that shifts focus back on the processor."
Says Google vice president product management Susan Wojcicki, "Google Gadget Ads are built on an open platform that enables distribution across the Google content network and can be shared on iGoogle and other personalized web pages at no additional cost to advertisers."
Meanwhile, AdSense for Mobile, is a program that contextually targets ads to mobile website content. AdSense for Mobile also allows AdSense publishing partners the ability to earn revenue from their mobile websites through the targeted placement of mobile text ads. With this program, advertisers can connect with the growing number of mobile publishers, ultimately providing users with an enhanced mobile experience that helps them find what they are looking for more quickly and efficiently on the go.
AdSense for Mobile is intended for AdSense partners who have created websites specifically for mobile browsers, and who want to monetize their mobile content via contextual advertising. Like Google's other AdSense products, mobile text ads run on an auction model. The system automatically reviews the content of publishers' mobile websites and delivers text ads that are relevant to the websites' audience and content. Publishers earn money whenever mobile users click on the ads.
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Eros International, Sony Pictures plan to co-invest in Hindi films
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Eros International and Sony Pictures Entertainment on Wednesday entered into a non-exclusive agreement to co-invest in a slate of Hindi films to be released in India and around the world.
Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, jointly announced by Kishore Lulla, chairman and chief executive officer of Eros International, and Michael Lynton, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Pictures, both companies will jointly develop, produce and acquire multiple films for the new Hindi film slate.
Sony Pictures is expected to distribute some of the titles in the US, and Eros will use its established infrastructure to distribute the films in other international territories. The two companies will work jointly in India.
“This deal continues Sony Pictures’ dedication to the region as we embrace and support local talent and invest in films made specifically for audiences in India and the Indian diaspora,” said Lynton.
“As a global company, we are committed to international cinema in India and around the world. We want to satisfy the demand in local markets for high quality original stories told in their languages.”
The deal marks the latest step in Sony Pictures’ interests in local language film production around the world.
In April, Sony Pictures had launched its International Motion Picture Production group, under the direction of Gareth Wigan and Deborah Schindler, in recognition of the evolution and significance of the world market for motion pictures.
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Tata Sky enters kitchens too
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Ahmedabad, Sept. 19 After launching a campaign in 2,500 schools across India to woo children to its interactive educational programmes, DTH operator Tata Sky has launched an interactive cooking programme nationally.
Home-makers, particularly housewives, can now press a button on their Tata Sky remote control to find out the latest on the DTH menu. The service provider will dish out four how-to-cook recipes every day on demand.
The recipes will include snacks and continental dishes, Mr Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, told Business Line.
With the recent inclusion of channels such as Mee Marathi, UTV’s Bindas and NDTV’s Good Times, the total number of channels beamed by Tata Sky has reached 140, he added.
For cricket lovers, the DTH provider has roped in cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Using a Tata Sky connection, the fans can now interact with Dhoni and get his autographed bat.
Eyeing interactive advertising as a new source of revenue, Tata Sky is making its platform available to insurance companies, mutual funds, car-makers and mobile phone service providers.
The customer would only have to press the active button to know the details of the offers being made by these companies. “Marketers targeting attention-span of people beyond the 30-second commercial can make their advertising content available through information brochures on our platform,” Mr Mehta said.
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Hutch makes way for Vodafone in India; runs roadblock on Star Network
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Following Vodafone's acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May this year, the renamed entity Vodafone Essar will finally be visible as the company will unveil its brand identity in India on 21 September.
With this, the bright pink Hutch logo, will be transitioned to Vodafone across the country. The brand change over the next few weeks will be unveiled nationally through a high profile campaign spanning all media including outdoor, print and an aggressive push on television.
Vodafone Essar managing director Asim Ghosh said, "We've had a great innings as Hutch in India and today marks a new beginning for us. Not as a departure from the fundamentals that created Hutch, but an acceleration into the future with Vodafone's global expertise."
The company has tied up with Star India to run a complete roadblock of its fresh campaign on the entire network by unveiling the 24-hour nationwide rebranding campaign.
Vodafone will use all of the commercial airtime across all 13 channels in five languages (Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and English) from 9 pm on 20 September to 9 pm on September 21. This exercise will include TV commercials, transition bumpers and contest spots to promote the Vodafone Essar brand. Commercial spots have also been purchased on Sony.
Vodafone Essar marketing and new business director Harit Nagpal says the telecom player has inked deals with all television broadcasters for the launch campaign.
The Zee Network was also in talks with Vodafone but declined to accept the roadblock. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd president and revenue head Joy Chakraborthy opines, "This strategy of a roadblock goes against our principles as it is not fair to our other clients. We don't like to be seen as opportunists."
Yet media specialists advocate the roadblock approach for Vodafone's launch campaign. Maxus MD Ajit Varghese says, "Conventionally awareness for a new brand takes some time to build. However, Vodafone wanted to achieve this task at the shortest possible time. Maxus and Star Network worked closely to address this challenge and came up with the idea wherein during the day of the launch a complete roadblock on the Star Network channels was conceptualized.
"Considering that the Star Network is the lead network in India, this was the most apt platform for Vodafone launch. This strategy helps not only in achieving build rapid brand awareness but also breaks the clutter during such an important launch in the most happening category - telecom. This is a first of its kind mega media initiative in India by any brand."
Nagpal added, "This transition is probably the largest brand change ever undertaken in this country and arguably as big as any in the world. It is even larger than our own previous brand transitions as it touches over 35 million customers, across 400,000 shops and thousands of our own and our business associates' employees."
While the campaign is heavy on television, it will also include all other media vehicles. The print campaign kicks off on 21 September, a day after the television splash.
Market reports have put the marketing spends for the monster campaign to be in the region of Rs 3 billion. Nagpal, however, dismisses these numbers as highly exaggerated."The marketing spends for our launch campaign is only a mere fraction of that number," he points out.
The Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an increasingly connected world - enriching customers' lives, helping individuals, businesses and communities be more connected by delivering their total communication needs.
Vodafone's logo is a representation of that belief - The start of a new conversation, a trigger, a catalyst, a mark of true pioneering.
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Sony to showcase week long special of 'Indian Idol 3'
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In an attempt to build up the intensity as Indian Idol 3 approaches its finale, Sony Entertainment Television will showcase some excerpts of the journey of the two finalists before the final gala round.
The week long journey begins on 17 September at 9 pm and will culminate on 23 September. The half hour episodes will have excerpts from the musical journey of the two contenders Amit Paul and Prashant Tamang.
The episode on 17 September and 18 September will follow the journey of Tamang and Paul from their respective cities.
The episode on 19 September will show the recent experiences of both the contestants when they visited their hometowns.
On 20 September, the show will salute Udit Narayan, Anu Malik, Javed Akhtar and Alisha Shenoy, the judges of the show. On 21 September Sony will telecast the last public performance by both the finalists in Kolkata.
The final performance of the two contestants which will decide their fate on the show will be shown on 22 September. This will be followed by a sneak preview to the second season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa which will replace Indian Idol 3 on 28 September.
The grand finale crowning the winner of the third season will be held in Delhi and will be aired live on 23 September from 9 pm to 12 pm.
Hutchison-Essar to be rebranded Vodafone
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The much-awaited brand transition for Hutchison-Essar, India’s fourth-largest mobile service provider, is expected to be kicked off in the next three or four days.
And contrary to expectations, the new name will not be a hybrid but just Vodafone, reflecting the majority ownership of the world’s largest telecom company.
Vodafone’s worldwide CEO Arun Sarin will be visiting India to launch the transition from the deep pink logo to Vodafone’s trademark deep red speech mark in the 16 circles in which the service provider operates. The speech mark logo was introduced only in 1998.
Vodafone acquired 67 per cent in the company from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa some months ago for an enterprise value of $12 billion. The campaign, which is expected to be in the form of a simple announcement, especially print, has been undertaken by Ogilvy & Mather, the agency that worked on the popular Hutchison-Essar campaign with a pug dog.
As part of a Rs 300-crore advertising blitz, Vodafone has booked virtually all the ad slots on Star TV for September 20. Star sells 10 minutes of commercial time per hour.
There has also been some bulk booking on other channels like Sony TV. Vodafone will spend Rs 8.5 crore across Star channels and around Rs 5 crore on Sony Entertainment Television on the first day.
This apart, it has signed a bulk deal for nearly Rs 30 crore with Star for two months, according to media buying sources.
Star executives confirmed the bulk bookings, about which Sony declined to comment. When contacted, Asim Ghosh, MD of Vodafone-Essar, merely said: “We will comment at the appropriate time.”
However, sources close to the Ruias, which own 33 per cent in the company, confirmed the development and said that the roll-out would take place in a few days. However, the date of September 20 had not been finalised, they added.
Hutchison-Essar itself went through a major brand transition a few years ago from its popular Orange brand to Hutch which was supported by an advertising blitz.
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Cricinfo.com Taps AdMob as Mobile Ads Provider
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Cricinfo.com, the world’s largest cricket content source, has selected mobile advertising network AdMob to monetize its mobile Internet traffic. AdMob will deliver ads globally for Cricinfo, while allowing advertisers to reach users in local markets using sophisticated targeting. This marks one of the first global and local mobile advertising partnerships.
Key markets for Cricinfo include India, North America, the UK, Australia and other cricket playing nations. “Cricket is a sport that lends itself perfectly to mobile coverage,” said Anil Nair, Head, Wireless Media, Cricinfo. “The length of time over which the game is played means many consumers cannot watch broadcasts of entire matches and want anytime, anywhere access to the latest news and results.”
AdMob will serve ads on Cricinfo pages, connecting its advertiser base of hundreds of brands to the Cricinfo demographic. In August, AdMob served over 350 million ads in India alone across its network of over 2,000 mobile Web publishers. AdMob serves both global and market-specific advertisers, offering industry-leading ad targeting.
Cricinfo launched ads with AdMob just in time for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, which is expected to draw millions of fans searching for information via their mobile devices from around the world. Mobile Web users visit Cricinfo for up-to-date match scores, schedules, results and more.
“The challenge is reaching our five core geographic markets of India, North America, the UK, Australia and South Africa with a relevant and effective advertising campaign that truly reaches cricket fans,” Nair said. “The AdMob Marketplace has proven to be effective at filling ad inventory with quality advertisers worldwide and we are excited to be working with them.”
Acquired by ESPN in June of this year, Cricinfo reaches seven million cricket fans each month, with a core male audience 18 and older, and is the world’s leading resource for cricket entertainment and information. With the majority of the sport’s fans residing in India, North America, the UK, Australia and South Africa, the Web site sought the services of AdMob to target specific geographic markets more effectively.
“Cricinfo has a worldwide following of users who are passionate, and hungry for score updates, match reports, and all the other buzz that will swirl around events like the Twenty20 Tourney,” said Niren Hiro, Vice President, Business Development, of AdMob. “This is a great example of how the global strength and reach of our network can be used by an international brand like Cricinfo to monetize its audience locally.”
About Cricinfo
Cricinfo is a wholly owned subsidiary of ESPN Inc., the world’s leading multimedia sports entertainment company. Ranked number one in all of its major markets, Cricinfo now reaches more than seven million users every month. The site was founded in 1993, and its continuing success is built on the combination of live ball-by-ball coverage of all Test and one-day international matches, news and features written by some of the world’s best cricket writers, and in-depth statistics on every one of the 3,000 international and 45,000 first-class cricketers to have played the game. The site’s reach, authority and brand recognition are unrivalled in the online cricket world. And Cricinfo now reaches beyond the Internet — so that fans can get Cricinfo content on mobile applications and at some of the world’s leading Internet portals. Cricinfo Mobile is one of the leading providers of mobile applications and services, including SMS, MMS and audio services in key cricket markets across the globe.
To learn more about Cricinfo, visit http://wap.cricinfo.com from your mobile or log on to www.cricinfo.com.
For questions about Cricinfo, please contact:
Premdeep Gangadharan / Head of Marketing
premdeep.gangadharan@cricinfo.com
About AdMob
AdMob is the world’s largest mobile advertising marketplace, having served more than 7 billion advertisements since launching in December 2005, and currently serving more than 1.5 billion ads monthly. AdMob allows advertisers to reach their customers on the mobile Web and publishers to increase the value of their mobile sites. AdMob offers both advertisers and publishers the ability to target and personalize advertising to their customers in 160 countries. AdMob customers include Coca-Cola, Electronic Arts, Starbucks, MSN, Paramount Pictures, Reuters, MTV and many more. AdMob serves ads for over 2,000 mobile Web sites, including ESPN, CBS, Weather Underground, Maxim and Peperonity.
Shemaroo brings Bollywood movies on mobile phones
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Home video rental major Shemaroo Entertainment is converting full-length films into 15-minute movies that one can see with ease and without fatigue on one’s mobile.
Shemaroo Entertainment VP Hiren Gada said the project was still on an experimental stage, and had been launched on BPL Mobile's Mobile TV Service. Shemaroo is also in talks with other operators in India and Overseas to launch these movies on their networks.
He clarified that these 15-minute movies on mobile phones are not teasers or highlights — they are short version of the entire film - entertainment that can be enjoyed when one is stuck in bumper to bumper traffic or taking the train back home.
Gada said, 'We thought that it would be fun to have the essence of the story and movie re-edited into a linear format. The skill is in picking the right scenes'.
While the 15-minute mobile movie is for people on the move, the effort is to connect today's generation to these classics through a medium and format that they use everyday. However, Shemaroo now plans to go by audience reactions and feedback on various aspects. Shemaroo flirted with this thought of presenting linear content like themes, songs or 'the best of' scenes on mobiles as a first step to stepping onto the mobile platform with its huge video content library.
Gada said “These movies are like 'snacking-in-between' meals, where one can take a break and catch glimpses of movies”.
Zee's DMCL launches 'Page 3' website; expands web presence
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Zee network's Digital Media Convergence Limited (DMCL) is expanding its presence on the web through a slate of portals exploring genres like social networking, entertainment, sports, parties and service outsourcing.
It created the Essel Group's Indian Cricket League (ICL) website, which is functioning as DMCL's sports portal and now it has officially launched a page 3 format website titled Page3flicks.com.
Targeted at an elite audience (SEC A+, male and female) in the age group of 15-30+ years, Page3flicks.com will run on an advertiser-driven model. It has already roped in lifestyle brands like Bacardi, Sangini, Golds' Gym to advertise on the site.
"Currently we are testing the waters for a niche offering like this. Depending on the response received, we plan to upload premium content for subscribers, which will then provide an alternate revenue stream," says Satyabrata Das who heads the Isee project. Isee is DMCL's flagship platform to take the Zee library's content on mobile and the web.
"The site has been in the beta phase for over four months. Our in-house team is promoting the site through viral marketing. From internal reports, we have observed that users are spending an average of 12-15 minutes on the site, browsing through various sections," he said.
Apart from outdoor promotions, Page3flicks.com is currently being promoted on Zee Cafe, Zee Studio and Zee Music through endorsements by anchors on these channels, says DAs
DMCL has put in place a team of freelance photographers who will supply content for the site. Rajeev Walia is the design head, while Neville Darukhanawala is responsible for the overall content for the site. Former NDTV entertainment correspondent S Ramachandran has been roped in to play a role at an advisory level.
Das said that new elements and contests like 'Celebrity of the Month', 'Best party of the month' would be introduced in the coming months. "These contests will culminate with the 'Page3 Awards', which we are planning to host in December. We are currently putting in place a jury and categories for the same," he said.
Speaking about the content on the site, DAs said, "Page3flicks will have photographs from the most happening parties in town. Our focus will be on uploading pictures from parties as early as 20 minutes from the time that they get over."
Elaborating further, he said, "In the last few years, there has been a rapid growth in the number of lounge bars, discotheques and party culture in metros. It is turning out to be huge industry and Page3flicks.com will bank on images from the resulting party circuit."
BigAdda.com offers users a South Africa trip
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Reliance ADAG's social networking platform BigAdda.com is trying to attract users by giving them a chance to win a trip to South Africa for the 'Twenty20 cricket world cup'.
One has to log on to BigAdda.com and post slogans on 'Cheer for India in South Africa' on 'The 20/20 cricket adda'.
The winners of this contest will win a four days and three nights stay in South Africa. The winners also get the opportunity to cheer for the Indian cricket team live in South Africa accompanied by three friends, all sponsored by BigAdda.
BigAdda COO Siddhartha Roy said, "Cricket and bollywood are two things that bind the people in this country together. Indians' sheer love for cricket has inspired us to give the youth an opportunity to cheer for the Indian cricket team, live in South Africa."
Boogie Woogie’ to go international
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The show ‘Boggie Woogie’ (Sony) was one of the first dance shows to hit the television screens. The presence of judge and host Javed Jaffrey and the sweet and sour interaction between hosts and producers Naved Jaffrey and Ravi Behl have only added to the entertainment value of the talent show.
Now, there are plans to launch the show internationally as well. “Yes, there are plans to take ‘Boogie Woogie’ abroad. By God’s grace, the show is doing very well here,” says Javed.
Javed further reasons, “If we can ape other shows or even start Indian versions of international series by taking their franchise, why can’t we take our shows to an international level?”
Apart from the show, Javed is busy with his movies, the latest one being ‘Dhamaal’ where he shares screen space with Sanjay Dutt.
“It’s sheer modesty on Sanju’s part to share equal screen space with other actors. He has no complexes. Not all actors are open to this,” says Javed who feels his dancing skills and comic flair are God’s gifts.
“I had it in my genes as well, though I had to work a lot on my comic timing. Watching my dad (veteran comedian Jagdeep) in his movies was another learning influence,” says Javed.
Speaking on his brother, Javed says, “Naved is totally involved with ‘Boogie Woogie’. He is more of a party person. I spend my free time at home with my kids. But Naved is young, single and ready to mingle,” laughs Javed.
Incidentally, ‘Boogie Woogie’ has been on air for almost 10 years.
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Radio Mirchi to air special series for Literacy Day
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Radio Mirchi will air special series, Do padhai likhai, Stop fight ladai on the occasion of World Literacy Day on 8 September.
Radio Mirchi RJs will descend on the streets with two books of Hindi and English for do line to dhang se translate karke dikaho, where the RJs will test the learning of the Mumbaikars.
The show Hello Mumbai will feature on-air howlers experiences of Bollywood actors, while Bumper 2 Bumper will have a spot poll on "Who do people think among the stars would be the most padha likha?" The poll will be based on listeners' perception on how well they know the stars over the years.
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SRK to release 2K prints of Om Shanti Om
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The Don would rather discuss Red Chillies Productions’ new movie Om Shanti Om (OSO), slated to release this Diwali. After inking the alleged highest deal for a Hindi movie at around Rs 75 crore (inclusive of worldwide rights, but excluding music and satellite rights), OSO is set for another record, the highest number of prints any Indian movie has ever released.
SRK will release 2,000 prints of the movie. “Yes, that is the attempt,” says SRK. That would make the 800-plus prints of Rajinikanth’s superhit Sivaji The Boss look commonplace. “A chunk of these (prints) will be digital installations. There is definitely a huge market out there. And post the success of Chak De, the interest level is even higher. Germany for one, even sent down a huge contingent of scribes while we were shooting and Poland, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia all non-traditional markets too have seen a demand for more prints,” says SRK.
SRK, as reported by ET in July, was said to have sold the entire rights of OSO excepting music to Eros International for Rs 75 crore while the music is said to have sold to T-Series for Rs 8-9 core. While refusing to confirm the deal size, SRK, however, clarifies that the satellite rights are not part of the deal with Eros.
Keeping with his commitment to Star TV and his long-term relationship with the channel, the satellite rights in all likelihood will to go to Star. But the competition among channels in buying rights of a big movie, especially an SRK-starrer, is intense.
While the usual practice is to buy the rights for a decade, SRK sold his Main Hoon Naa to Star for a five-year period. And OSO rights could be even shorter. “I believe in underselling my film. So less money for less time which means that in the case of OSO, it would be sold for a period of 3-5 years at the most, not longer,” says Mr Khan.
According to industry insiders, the prices for satellite rights for big films swing wildly between Rs 8 crore to Rs 20 crore, with the outer figure being quoted for an SRK movie. Insiders in the TV industry, however, say the outer figure is ridiculous.
Any movie, big or small gets its maximum TRP in its first airing and even with a movie like OSO, they estimate that with advertisers the maximum moolah any channel can rake in during this first airing is Rs 4-5 crore. So even over five years, it does not make sense to pay anything more than Rs 10 crore as the maximum for a movie, they point out.
Eros International, meanwhile, says its investment is safe. This in spite the fact that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya is releasing on the same day, November 9. “For one, we are securing our content pipeline, secondly, the distribution business is very sophisticated and we feel that the market can take two films,” says Eros COO Jyoti Deshpande.
She, however, concedes that if both were Eros films, then she would not have had them clashing at the box office. Ms Deshpande’s confidence also comes from the international market power that SRK holds. “He has markets which no other star has, from Poland to Australia to Germany of course,” says Ms Deshpande who says the split for the release will be 70:30 domestic to international.
While refusing to give the exact money he has sold OSO for, Khan says it is an expensive film. In Khan’s lexicon, anything which is Rs 12 crore is cheap, anything between Rs 20-26 is medium and anything above Rs 27 is expensive.
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Mobile boom helps India reach internet goal before time
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India has surpassed its internet subscriber target of 40 million, more than three years ahead of time. Department of Telecommunication (DoT) had set a goal of 40 million internet subscribers through ‘various technologies’ by 2010 which has been met in 2007.
However, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not happy, saying that internet on mobile is not a pure play, feature rich service and thus those who access the internet on mobile phones cannot be counted among the subscribers.
As of March 31, 2007, India had about 9.2 million internet subscribers on personal computers (PCs) and 31.3 million subscribers on mobile phones (both GSM/CDMA). The DoT had set a 40 million subscribers target in its broadband policy of 2004. DoT is now planning to set a new target.
However, when it comes to broadband, India is far behind the DoT's target of 20 million broadband subscribers by 2010. The broadband target for 2007 was 9 million subscribers. But the government is still not able to fulfill the 3 million broadband subscribers target for 2005, even in 2007. As of March 31, 2007 India had about 2.3 million broadband users.
ISPs are rubbishing the achievement of internet subscriber target, saying that internet access on mobile is not a feature rich application and thus cannot be counted. "Internet on mobile is not used for downloading purpose. You cannot use full features of internet on mobile phone. It does not even promote IT literacy. So the comparisons between both (PC access and mobile phone internet access) don’t exist," says an Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) official.
ISPAI is also unhappy with the new internet service guidelines and alleges cartel among government, regulator and cellcos. "There seems to be a cartel to circumvent the pureplay ISPs. If this attitude of the government continues towards pureplay ISPs, most of them will have to surrender their licences or get acquired," says ISPAI.
The ISPs are also incensed over the new guidelines for providing Internet Protocol TV (IPTV). "Putting a limit of Rs 100 crore on net worth to provide IPTV services is in favour of the large telcos and is anti-ISPs. We all know that not many ISPs will meet this criteria," says ISPAI president Rajesh Charia.
ISPs observe that India will not be able to achieve the broadband target for 2010 if the government continues with discriminatory guidelines.
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Eros acquires distribution rights for five films
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Eros International is set to release five films by December and has acquired the international distribution rights for the same.
It has acquired international distribution rights of Darling, which will release on 7 September. A romantic thriller from Ram Gopal Varma, it stars Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol and Isha Koppikar in lead roles.
The company has also acquired the global distribution rights of Nanhe Jaisalmer starring Bobby Deol which releases globally on 14 September. This is the second film to be released as part of the five-year output deal with K Sera Sera that was announced in September last year.
After releasing two comedies Partner and Heyy Babyy, Eros will be releasing another comedy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa on 12 October in the overseas market. Directed by Priyadarshan it stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja, Ameesha Patel and Paresh Rawal.
The company has also acquired the international distribution rights of Salman Khan's next release God Tussi Great Ho and Sanjay Dutt starrer Mehbooba. Both films will be tentatively released by the end of December.
Eros International India president Sunil Lulla said, "Eros has an exciting line-up of releases planned for the rest of the year."
Earlier, Eros announced a collaboration with White Feather Films Ltd for the acquisition of global film distribution rights. The deal includes approximately 15 films to be acquired by Eros over a five-year period, some of which will come from White Feather’s art-house division.
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Delhi to host 'Indian Idol 3' grand finale on 23 Sept.
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The finals of the third edition of Indian Idol will take place in Delhi on 23 September as a two-hour musical extravaganza.
After the elimination of Ankita Mishra last week, the three contestants in the fray are Amit Paul from Shillong, Prashant Tamang from Darjeeling and Emon Chatterjee from Kolkata.
Soon after the elimination of one more contestant, the reality TV show from Sony will see its two finalists go on a nationwide promotional-cum-concert tour, before coming to Delhi.
The winner will be trained by Sony BMG for one year before recording the first album to bring perfection to his voice. In addition to a recording contract with Sony BMG, the winner will be awarded a contract worth Rs 10 million with Sony Entertainment Television.
The third edition was different in terms of the number of Indian cities it had covered – 12 - apart from two foreign destinations during the audition stages.
The auditions rounds were held in Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Srinagar, Nagpur, Vadodra, Bhopal, Kampur, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
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Zapak to open 250 gaming cafes by March-end
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Reliance ADA group's Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd (ZDEL) plans to launch 250 gaming cafes in India by March-end and a payment card in the next two weeks, a top company official said on Wednesday.
ZDEL's Chief Operating Officer, Mr Rohit Sharma said here that it would launch ten cafes in top cities of the country over the next two weeks. "We are creating high-end gaming cafes with best of ambience and best of bandwidth," he said.
"Our vision is to open 3,000 gaming cafes with 50,000 gaming seats in India in the next two-three years." Mr Sharma said ZDEL would launch within two weeks Zapak card, a gaming cash card available for purchase, noting that in the gaming value chain, pay ment mechanism and access are critical, besides content.
ZDEL's first year revenues were driven by advertising on the portal. "When we launch MMOG (massive multiplayer online game) products, revenues would start coming", he said.
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India's first Web 2.0 matrimonial website
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SimplyMarry.com has launched India's first Web 2.0 enabled "metro-monial" portal that allows users to register and update their profile in real-time, providing instant activation of user profiles which are searchable as soon as they register.
Users also get an instant confirmatory SMS and email on registering, a press release said.
Web 2.0 technology allows the users to save their edits as frequently as they want. The user just fills in a single-page form that provides details about them and their ideal soul-mate, simultaneously displaying a profile completion bar, indicating how much information critical to the profile, has been provided.
Users can also update and check how their profile looks to others in real time, with a "How do I Look" Tab on the site. A new match alert algorithm alerts them on a regular basis with suitable matches to their profiles.
SimplyMarry.com is the fastest growing metro-centric matrimonial website in the country with over 80 per cent of the profiles being created by the youth of India's major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Pune. A door-step service of subscription collection is also offered.
It has also launched the "MarryZine" - an e-magazine on matrimony and related matters that provides a perfect solution for grooming a person before marriage by focusing on the latest marriage trends, health and fitness, relationship issues, lifestyle guide and even assistance in deciding upon honeymoon destinations.
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After Pepsi ad, Shahrukh and John team up again
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After giving us a hilarious Pepsi ad, the newly discovered combo of SRK and John will be seen on the silver screen for yet another acclaimed director – Rajkumar Hirani’s next film. And believe it or not there is more to the already great combination. The film is based on the famous book “Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT” by Chetan Bhagat.
Three hostelmates - Alok, Hari and Ryan get off to a bad start in IIT - they screw up the first class quiz. And while they try to make amends, things only get worse. It takes them a while to realize: If you try and screw with the IIT system, it comes back to double screw you. Before they know it, they are at the lowest echelons of IIT society. They have a five-point-something GPA out of ten, ranking near the end of their class. This GPA is a tattoo that will remain with them, and come in the way of anything else that matters - their friendship, their future, their love life. While the world expects IITians to conquer the world, these guys are struggling to survive. Will they make it? Do underperformers have a right to live? Can they show that they are not just a five-point-somebody but a five-point-someone?’
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