India Today Television, a part of the India Today Group, saw a steady jump of 123% in its viewership in the last quarter that had mega events such as the general election and the cricket world cup.

Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson of India Today Group, credits the growth to the investment the channel made in on-ground reporting and sports programming.

In an interview to BestMediaInfo.com, she said the channel has solely relied on ‘journalistic integrity’ and has stayed away from using tactics such as landing page and dual feed, which some of the competing news networks are using.

“Multiple news channels have resorted to employing tactics such as dual feeds and landing pages to artificially boost their viewership numbers, rather than making an honest effort and focusing on their quality of news first,” Purie said.

“We have always stood for good content rather than cheap tricks, or in this case expensive tricks, and it has taken time but in the long run and when it counts, good content will always triumph,” she added.

Talking about the digital transformation of the TV-led network, Purie said the group has several firsts to itself when it comes to digital publishing.

Chennai: StarHub Entertainment has added Tamil Entertainment Channel Kalaignar TV for showcasing in Singapore. It will be available from 31st July 2019, for Indian Entertainment Pass customers at no additional cost.With this new addition, StarHub will house 22 top-tiered Indian channels offering the best selection of Indian Entertainment in Singapore.

After the recent revamp of its content line-up, Kalaignar TV will feature 70% fresh and original productions. Boasting a movie library of 700 titles from classic hits to the latest blockbusters, the channel offers a wide variety of entertainment ranging from reality dance shows, talk shows and drama serials, to cater to the different demands of their global audience.

“We are always in search of programmes that would strike a resonance with our customers. Kalaignar TV has enjoyed a successful run worldwide and we are confident our customers will enjoy the repertoire of content in store for them,” said StarHub Vice President, Home Product Yann Courquex.

“Moving ahead, what we plan to do is clear-cut and simple, to always put our customers first and continue delivering the best entertainment experience through freshly acquired and top-notch programing, with no increase in prices.”

“The launch of Kalaignar TV on StarHub will enhance our global footprint and help us reach the global Tamil community through our qualitative programme and content. This is indeed an exciting moment for us and we look forward to continuing this partnership for many years to come,” said StarHub Group CFO S. Karthikeyan.

In an interview with BestMediaInfo.com, the CEO, Broadcast, Network18, says the recent growth shown by the network’s channels hasn't come on the back of landing page but on high quality of content. He called out BARC for being inconsistent and selective on the landing page usage policy.

 

In the last one year, Network18 channels have gradually strengthened their positions across categories. The network spent a lot of effort to build in synergy and fine-tune programming to ensure it stays ahead in coverage of the recently concluded mega events such as the Cricket World Cup and general elections.

The network claims to be number one in terms of reach with a total share of more than 10% despite being a pay network. From an EBITDA loss last year, Q1FY20 has seen a major leap in profitability to Rs 20 crore,  a growth of 29%, and touching 54 crore viewers in Q1 as against 67 crore in the last fiscal.

"The growth didn't come overnight. It's the result of the effort that started with the rebranding of our channels. That's why despite challenges such as NTO, we bounced back in a few weeks," said Avinash Kaul, CEO, Broadcast, Network18.

In Q1, ad revenue from Hindi news nearly doubled because of improved performance of the channel and a 48% YoY improvement in subscription revenue, led by implementation of the new tariff order.

He said the future for Network18 lies in synergy with digital and offering a single-window solution to advertisers.

Mumbai: With an aim to leverage each other’s strengths in the OTT domain, ZEE5 and ALTBalaji have collaborated to co-create original content which will only be available on both platforms.

The content sharing arrangement,  includes co-creation of 60+ Original content series (in Hindi) which will be available exclusively to SVOD subscribers of both platforms. This association is a collaborative process of co-understanding consumer insights and co-marketing to serve the viewer better and resulting in improved monetisation for both.

ZEE5 and ALTBalaji have established their content strength globally, and the synergy will result in two of the largest homegrown video streaming platforms coming together to expand their subscription base and grow the binge-watching culture globally.

Mr. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL said, “I truly cherish the bond between Balaji and ZEE, which has been nurtured and built over the last two decades. Together, we have created some path breaking content masterpieces which have truly entertained our esteemed audiences. I am most certain that this association will enable both the brands to re-create the magic, this time in the digital space.”

As per the association, ALTBalaji will maintain an exclusive partnership with ZEE5, in order to enhance its offering to the market, with a focused and strategic approach.

Commenting on this development Shobha Kapoor, Managing Director, Balaji Telefilms said, “This collaboration strengthens the 25 yearold fruitful relationship between Zee Group and Balaji Telefilms, from Television content, to Movie Monetisation and now to Digital Video Streaming. It plays to each partner’s individual strength and the consumer is the ultimate winner. This partnership will result in Balaji Telefilms being profitable as an entity, thereby giving us an opportunity to scale up our business ambitions, creating value for all our stakeholders.”

MUMBAI: In the week 29 of BARC India ratings, Sony Sab became the second leading channel in urban HSM of Hindi GECs. The channel was seen at 4th position of the pay platform. Last week the channel was at third position in urban HSM. 

Dangal continues to lead the rural HSM and was number one channel on the free platform of Hindi GECs. The channel was followed by Big Magic, DD National, DD Bharati, DD Arunprabha, DD Uttar Pradesh, DD Rajasthan and DD Madhya Pradesh on the pay table of BARC India ratings.

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

MUMBAI: BARC India announced that the India vs New Zealand semi final in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 garnered 221 million viewers and 51 million impressions.

Recently BARC India tweeted, “An exhilarating Semi-Final between India & New Zealand had the fans on the edge of their seats. Here's how it fared on Television #BARCInsight @ICC @cricketworldcup @imVkohli”

According to the BARC India data, 43 per cent of world cup viewers tuned into the semi final between India and New Zealand. 

The channel has garnered 65061 weekly impressions (000) in week 29.

MUMBAI: In regional GECs, B4U Bhojpuri jumped to the leading position in week 29 of BARC India ratings. The channel has jumped from third position last week to first position in week 29. Last week Bhojpuri cinema was at first position, this week the channel has moved to second position. 

MUMBAI: ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka has defended the strategy to convert free to air (FTA) channels Zee Anmol and Zee Anmol Cinema to pay and pull them out from DD Free Dish platform notwithstanding the dent in the ad revenue in Q1 FY20.

In the Q1 earnings call with analysts, Goenka said that the decision to convert these two channels to pay has affected ad revenue growth by 5-6%. He also said that the ad revenue growth would have been in the 10% range had the company continued with the FTA strategy.

“The total amount of revenue lost on account of FTA channels, the significant piece of the growth comes from there. I am not saying that that’s the only cause, but if I was to just compare, if FTA had remained as it is in our portfolio, this growth would have been more towards the 10% range. Therefore, the attribution is higher there,” Goenka stated.

He, however, stated that the strategy is right as the company has seen a spurt in its subscription revenue. He also stated that the growth in subscription revenue has more than made up for the loss on account of the shift to pay model.

“Advertising revenue is cyclical in nature, whereas subscription revenue is far more secure. And therefore, we have made that conscious decision rightly. It is just that it has happened — the timing of which may not be the best for us to have recovered part of the growth from the big, okay, but that’s part of life. So I’m pretty confident it should come back,” he noted.

MUMBAI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed direct to home (DTH) operator Dish TV to pay Rs 55 crore to broadcaster Star India by 27th July in order to avoid disconnection of signals.

Star India had issued a disconnection notice against Dish TV on 3rd July. The broadcaster also filed a recovery petition in the TDSAT. The notice discloses a brief history of financial arrangements between the parties which led to a settlement MOU dated 12th December 2018.

Dish TV filed a petition in TDSAT against the disconnection notice. In its order on the Dish TV petition, the tribunal asked Star India not to give effect to its disconnection notice if the DTH operator pays Rs 55 crore and produces proof of it by the next date of hearing, which is fixed at 29th July.

“Having heard learned counsel for the parties, we are of the view that if the petitioner pays Rs. 55 crore to the respondent by 27th July 2019 and produces proof of such payment by the next date, without prejudice to the claims of the parties, impugned notice shall not be given effect to until the next date. As it is, we have been given to understand that the notice shall take effect on 29.7.2019,” TDSAT said in its order.

Star India supplied a chart supplied to the TDSAT explaining Dish TV’s liabilities. Against a liability of Rs. 554 crore (Approx), Dish TV has paid Rs. 553 crore (approx.) leaving a balance outstanding of Rs. 83,70,895 on 22nd July in respect of billing till January 2019.

The tribunal noted that for the month of February to May 2019, the DTH operator has been billed for a further amount of Rs. 284 crore (approx.) which includes the balance outstanding of Rs. 83,70,895.

Star India contended that it has not included the interest component. Dish TV has proposed to liquidate the arrears by disclosing in paragraph 11 of the petition that it shall pay Rs. 55 crore by or before 31st July and shall also pay Rs 100 crore in the month of August 2019 and the same amount of Rs. 100 crore in the month of September 2019.