Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal, Guru Aur Bhole, Kicko & Super Speedo and Paap-O-Meter are the four existi

 

MUMBAI: Sony Yay is focussing its energy in consolidating programming and content within four characters in its shows Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal, Guru Aur Bhole, Kicko & Super Speedo and Paap-O-Meter. The channel, which owns 100 per cent of IPs of the characters, revealed that it will not be launching any new shows or characters rather it would build on the existing shows and characters.

In a fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com co-founder, CEO, editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, Sony Yay business head Leena Lele Dutta said that the channel came up with six shows along the way and two of them didn’t do well. So the channel is focusing on consolidating the programming and content within four characters. It will root for Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal to lead the pack.

“From the programming standpoint, we were very clear from the beginning that we are not going to get into dubbing of international content. So we started working a year in advance on the creation of our characters. We were very clear that we will own 100 per cent of the IPs of the characters because of the monetisation value 10-15 years down the line. With those tent-poles in mind, we develop and drive our content strategy of being completely original, extremely indigenous in term of the languages that we would dub the channel and go into the masses,” said Dutta.

In a conversation with Wanvari, Dutta also spoke on the challenges and advantages of being a late entrant in the segment.

She said, “We may be the last entrant but we look at it as turning it around into an opportunity. There are channels that have been launched 12 years before or seven years before but we look at the gestation between the last-launched and us and we identified the need gaps which we thought could be the core of our channel. We use those gaps as the opportunity to stream the DNA of our brand. We have been fortunate that kids have accepted us in such a short time. The acceptance of our brand and characters is overwhelming.”

She further said, “There have been many characters that have been entrenched in kids' minds and that was the biggest challenge – how do we displace those characters from their mind and make space for our own. Another challenge was – how do we do something really distractive to get ourselves noticed. We look at the challenges and turned that into an opportunity.”

On challenges, she explained, “There was a point in time where the distribution landscape was completely different. Seeding the channel was extremely critical to gain the reach; acceptance and sampling were the challenges. Another challenge that we went through in a most structured manner was the rebranding of Animax from Sony’s table. So it was easier to rebrand a channel as against launching a brand new channel which did not have any distribution footprint available in the market.”

Lele claims.

MUMBAI: Discovery Communications India has moved Delhi High Court against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) consultation paper ‘Tariff related issues for Broadcasting and Cable services’. The Delhi HC has listed the matter for hearing on 19th September.

Terming it illegal and lacking in objectivity, transparency, and fairness of approach, the broadcaster wants the consultation paper to be quashed.

The petition dated 28th August states that the regulator is reviewing the New Tariff Order (NTO) in order to bring down channel prices. It has contended that the NTO has been implemented just seven months ago and needs time to settle down.

It also argued that the consultation paper fails to conform to the fundamental tenets of transparency and objectivity by proceeding with a pre-determined notion that channel broadcasters have distorted the broadcasting market and consumer choice through perverse pricing and deep discounting and have therefore called for suggestions on the ways and means to remedy the situation.

The petition also alleged that the regulator has already made up its mind to align individual channel prices with bouquet prices and therefore the entire consultation exercise.

It also noted that TRAI’s assumption that the unreasonable amounts of discounts offered by broadcasters’ results in illusionary perverse pricing affecting consumer choice is without any basis and not based on any study.

The petition also states that the regulations allow distribution platform operators (DPOs) to discontinue any channel having less than 5 percent of the average viewership of the DPO. This amounts to a restriction of carriage rights of niche channels having limited viewership, it argues.

Discovery Communications owns and operates channels like Discovery Channel, Discovery Science, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet and TLC 0.75% market share across its genres.

Through the consultation paper, the regulator has asked stakeholders to provide their responses on the 27 questions covering different aspects related to the NTO. Written comments on the Consultation Paper are invited from the stakeholders by 16th September. Counter comments, if any, may be submitted by 30th September.

MUMBAI: After the success of Cakewalk, the author turned director Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s second feature A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh ‘Season’s Greetings’ will premiere on ZEE5 post-Diwali.

The 47-minute Hindi feature marks the comeback of Bollywood star Celina Jaitly Haag post marriage and motherhood. The film also stars theatre thespian Lillette Dubey and debutant Azhar Khan in the lead. This film also marks the debut of Bollywood’s first transgender actor Shree Ghatak in a pivotal role.

The film has become India’s first-ever feature to collaborate with United Nations Free and Equal. The film deals with Article 377 and the LGBTQIA community. “Since Rituda was very vocal about the cause, this comes up as a vital issue in the film. It’s weaved in subtly and that’s probably the beauty of the tale,” says director Ram Kamal. The film has two songs in the Maithili language composed by Rabindranath Tagore and has been shot in beautiful locales in Kolkata by cinematographer Pravatendu Mondal.
 

ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar said, “We are extremely happy to have author turned filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s Hindi feature film A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh: Season’s Greetings premiering exclusively on ZEE5, soon. We are happy to announce the first look on the 56th birth anniversary of Rituparno Ghosh and hope every cine lover will appreciate the film. Season’s Greetings deals with human emotions, interwoven with many contemporary social aspects which one needs to address and has powerful performances by Celina Jaitly Haag and Lillette Dubey.”

Produced by Aritra Das and Shailendra Kumar under the banner of Assorted Motion Pictures and SS1 Entertainment respectively, the film also marks the debut of Jaan Kumar Sanu, son of Bollywood playback singer Kumar Sanu and also features Sayani Palit. The film has music by Shailendra Sayanti.

Set in Kolkata, the film revolves around a mother and daughter relationship. The first look of the film was revealed by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan on 56th birth anniversary of late Rituparno Ghosh on 31st August.

In a special video message to director Ram Kamal Mukherjee, he expressed, “Ram Kamal worked as a journalist for more than 20 years and has written five books which fetched him many accolades. Now, Season’s Greetings is his second Hindi film and I wish him and the entire team all the best for this wonderful tribute to Rituparno Ghosh, one of Bengal’s most celebrated filmmakers.”

Producer and music director Shailendra Kumar feels that this unique step will help the film in reaching out to larger number of people. “Being a Kishore Kumar fan, I grew up watching Amit ji films. I know almost all his blockbuster songs by heart. When Ram Kamal da mentioned that Amitji would unveil the poster of our film, I just couldn’t believe. In fact, for a while I thought he was pulling a prank on me,” says Shailendra Kumar from SS1 Entertainment.

MUMBAI: In an abrupt move, Anil Ambani-promoted Business Broadcast News Private Limited (BBNPL) has suspended transmission of its English business news channel BTVI with effect from 31st August.

In a statement, the company further stated that it will communicate further steps in the coming days to ensure a smooth transition of operations.

“This is to inform you that Business Television India (BTVI) will be suspending transmission on broadcast platforms w.e.f midnight Saturday, 31st August 2019. We sincerely thank everyone for all the hard work that has gone into building our television channel over the past three years,” BTVI said in a statement posted on its Twitter account.

“Over the next few days, we will communicate the future steps towards ensuring a smooth transition of our operations,” it further stated.

Reliance Business Broadcast News Holdings Ltd (RBBNHL) is primarily held by ADA (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani) Group with the majority of shareholding with group companies of ADA group. BBNPL is a 100% subsidiary of RBBNHL.

RBBNHL’s operating revenue in FY18 stood at Rs 11.49 crore as against Rs 9.05 crore in FY17. Net loss was Rs 148.18 crore compared to Rs 127.36 crore. EBITDA loss was Rs 1.12 crore compared to Rs 90 lakh.

BTVI is the only free to air (FTA) English business news channel in the country. It had gone FTA in the new tariff regime of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Earlier, the channel was designated as a pay channel with an MRP of Rs 3.

Apart from cable and DTH platforms, the channel is also available on over the top (OTT) platform like Hotstar, JioTV, and YuppTV. Its live stream is also available on Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Securities, and IIFL apps.

In the last few months, the channel has been closing the gap with ET Now, which is the second most-watched channel in the genre. BTVI is the third most-watched channel in the genre while CNBC-TV18 is the topmost viewed channel.

MUMBAI: In accordance with the new regulatory framework, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has empanelled nine agencies to carry out audit of Digital Addressable Systems (DAS).

These auditors include 1) CA Anil Kumar Jain, Borkar & Muzumdar; 2) Peeyush Vaish, Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP; 3) Rahul Shah, Associate Partner, Ernst & Young LLP; 4) Jitendra Kumar Sarawgi, Managing Partner, J.K. Sarawgi & Company; 5) Jeenendra Bhandari, Partner, MGB & Co LLP; 6) Koushik Balasubramanian, Senior Director, Protiviti India Member; 7) Laxmikant Saini, Partner, S. M Saini & Associates; 8) Gaurav Mittal, Partner, S.K. Mittal & Co., Chartered Accountants; and 9) Vishwanath Kumar Seshadari, Director, Xestion Advisor.

In March, the TRAI had issued a tender document inviting expression of interest for empanelment of auditors to carry out an audit of DAS of the distribution platform operators (DPOs). The regulator has invited proposals from eligible audit firms/ companies/ Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)/ Partnership firms.

The period of empanelment will be valid for two years from the date of empanelment of the concerned firm.

The empanelled firm will have to submit the quarterly report to TRAI about the details of audits carried out by them during the quarter within 21 days from the end of the respective quarter, along with a copy of the reports, as per the format prescribed by TRAI.

In case the firm observes any major discrepancy in the system of the distributor during audit, the same shall be reported to TRAI immediately. According to TRAI, the interconnection regulations provide that the authority may empanel auditors for the purpose of such audit.

Scope of audit

The scope of work of the audit agency will include the audit of the addressable system of the distributor to verify whether the addressable system being used by the distributor of television channels meets the requirements specified in the Schedule III of Interconnection Regulations, 2017.

The agency will also have to audit of the subscriber management system, conditional access system and other related systems of a distributor of the addressable system, once in a year, to verify that the monthly subscription reports made available by the distributor to the broadcasters are complete, true and correct, as per Regulation 15 of Interconnection Regulations, 2017.

The audit will also include ascertaining whether the distributor has established and is maintaining necessary systems, processes & records in line with the regulatory framework encompassing Interconnection Regulations, 2017, QoS Regulations, 2017 and Tariff Order, 2017.

This includes but is not limited to maintenance of the website for publishing of RIO by the distributor, web-based grievance redressal mechanism for addressing the complaints of LCOs, an indication of Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of channels on Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), offering Basic Service Tier package etc.

MUMBAI: Integrated telecommunications services Bharti Airtel has launched its converged digital entertainment play Airtel Xstream. Over the coming months, Airtel plans to roll out a range of exciting solutions to cater to the entertainment needs of every customer segment of India that is getting transformed through rapid adoption of high-speed data services.

Airtel Xstream brings one of the widest entertainment catalogues – hundreds of satellite TV channels, tens of thousands of movies and shows in English, Hindi and multiple Indian languages, millions of songs, plus access to all the popular OTT entertainment apps on one platform. It enables customers to access all this content across the screen of their choice – TV, PC, and Smartphone with a unified User Interface.

Airtel Xstream devices will come with capabilities beyond world-class entertainment and will be the IoT gateway for enabling a range of solutions for connected homes. Airtel Thanks customers will enjoy exclusive benefits on Airtel Xstream, including free access to premium content from Airtel’s content catalogue plus offers on a range of other services.
 

Bharti Airtel Chief Product Officer Adarsh Nair said, “Airtel is on an exciting mission to provide a broad array of digital services and platforms that can form the foundation for a rising India. As part of our digital entertainment play, our vision is to truly massify digital entertainment and make it accessible to more and more customers through innovative platforms.

“Today, we are announcing India’s first converged entertainment platform Airtel Xstream that brings together your favorite content including Live TV, video, music, news, and sports across an OTT smart stick, internet-enabled set top box, and handheld devices. Digital India is transforming the way content is being consumed over internet-connected devices. Airtel Xstream will cater to the needs of a new generation of consumers who are looking for seamless and converged entertainment across multiple screens at home and on the go.”

With the launch of Airtel Xstream, Airtel has become the first company in India to enable a seamless digital entertainment experience, with a unified user interface across all screens. Airtel has rolled out a new range of Airtel Xstream connected devices that will make any TV a smart TV and will be available to customers starting today. Airtel Xstream devices offer blazing-fast performance and slick viewing experience through solid product engineering, deep design excellence coupled with strong device specifications.

MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019.

Under the draft regulation, the authority has included Digital Rights Management (DRM) specifications in Schedule III. It noted that Schedule III of the Interconnection Regulations 2017 does not provide for the requirements/specifications of DRM based systems.

The authority during its consultations on audit manual received the feedback that owing to its benefits the IPTV based distribution platform operators (DPOs) are switching to DRM technology. It is necessary that the Audit regime covers the DRM based networks and provides for enabling provisions for such operators.

The TRAI noted that DRM is a systematic approach to copyright protection for digital media. The purpose of DRM is to prevent unauthorised redistribution of digital media and restrict the ways consumers can copy content they’ve purchased.

DRM products were developed in response to the rapid increase in online piracy of commercially marketed material, which proliferated through the widespread use of peer-to-peer file exchange programs.

Typically, DRM is implemented by embedding code that prevents copying, specifies a time period in which the content can be accessed or limits the number of devices the media can be installed on.

DRM technology focuses on making it impossible to steal content in the first place, a more efficient approach to the problem than the hit-and-miss strategies aimed at apprehending online poachers after the fact.

A consultation paper on “Interconnection framework for Broadcasting TV Services distributed through Addressable Systems” was issued by TRAI on 4th May 2016. This consultation process resulted in the notification of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (1 of 2017) dated the 3rd March 2017 [herein after referred to as Interconnection Regulations 2017].

During the consultation undertaken to prepare the Audit Manual certain comments and observations reflect some issues in the Schedule III of the Interconnection Regulations 2017.

Music has long been at the heart of entertainment for most users and for many, it is an integral part of our daily lives. Peppy music makes our commute interesting and podcasts turn traffic jams into learning sessions. When we spotted the ‘Made By’ campaign by JioSaavn, we realised that the way we consume music has changed completely, thanks to algorithm-driven playlists on music apps. We tried to understand the nuances of algorithmic music grouping and the way apps push a Sunidhi Chauhan track after a listener had tuned into Neha Kakkar playlist.

aj Nayak, the former COO of Viacom 18, has launched a new company called House Of Cheer. The firm will carry the tagline - Create, Curate and Consult.

 Nayak made the announcement on Twitter on Monday. 

 Since his exit from Viacom 18 in February  2019, there have been speculations about his next move.

 Known for his creative and business acumen, Nayak steered Viacom 18’s flagship brand Colors to the leadership position as its CEO for over 7 years.

 During this period, he is known to have heralded some of the biggest shows on Indian TV.

 Prior to his stint with Viacom 18, Nayak was instrumental  in the launch of NDTV channels and was also  the founding member of the Star TV Group in India where he spent 10 years.

Sullurpet: Qube Cinema is proud to unveil EPIQ, its Premium Large Format screen with an immersive experience that is the first of its kind in India. The first EPIQ screen, the largest in South Asia, will be launched on August 29, 2019 at the V EPIQ Theatre at Sullurpet, Andhra Pradesh, with a special media presentation in anticipation of the release of the blockbuster Saaho.

Speaking on the partnership, Qube Cinema’s CEO, Harsh Rohatgi says, “As a premium large format of exceptional quality, EPIQ will have the power to inspire a revival in how people engage with movies, drawing them back to the theatre for an incredible experience that simply cannot be replicated at home. We are in discussions with exhibitors across the country to add new Qube EPIQ screens and hope to announce several upcoming sites before the end of this year.”

EPIQ brings back the grandeur of the big screen with a wall-to-wall 100-foot wide flat screen, plush ambience and stadium seating with every seat optimized for the best viewing experience. The state-of-the-art technologies that makes EPIQ amongst the best in the business include 4K RGB laser projection, Dolby Atmos Immersive Audio, a 1:1.9 screen aspect ratio that is optimised for both scope and flat movies with razor sharp images, higher brightness, increased contrast and a wider colour gamut. All standard DCI DCPs can be played on an EPIQ screen, and Qube will create specially mastered DCPs for select movies as well. The first EPIQ screen to be launched, V EPIQ is located in Sullurpet and will serve the population centres of Sullurpet, Sriharikota and Sri City. This 3-screen theatre is owned by V Celluloid.