Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) has been gearing up for the broadcast of Europe’s biggest football tournament, UEFA Euro 2020, which was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Starting from June 11, 2021, the tournament will be aired live on Sony TEN 2 and Sony TEN 3 (in Hindi) in India. 

The official broadcaster has already launched the teaser campaign with its #MeriDoosriCountry films to bring fans closer to their teams leading to UEFA Euro 2020. The network has launched four films for its teaser campaign that were conceptualized and created-in house by SPSN’s marketing team. Neville Bastawalla, Head – Marketing & On-Air Promotions, Sports Channels, Sony Pictures Networks India Private Ltd., lets us in on the details.

MUMBAI: It won’t be a stretch to describe The Q India channel as a jack of all trades. A Hindi GEC at its core, it also offers digital programming from social media stars and leading digital video creators. On the back of this, it has become one of India's fastest growing youth entertainment brands reaching 4.4 Gross Rating Points (GRP) according to  Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data for February 2021.

Now, the Q has landed a spot on DD Free Dish and will be available as an FTA channel from 15 April. The channel is targeting one of Asia’s largest markets and its burgeoning young audience with an exciting new proposition – serving digital first content to TV audiences.

The Q has been around since 2017, when it launched on DTH major Tata Sky. It was only at the close of 2019 that founder & MD Sunder Aaron decided to place the channel on a satellite transmitter and get the BARC numbers running. But as with everything else, their plans for 2020 hit a roadblock with the outbreak of Covid. As people were sitting at home, the advertising market dried up, he shared. Advertisers were somewhat hesitant to bet on the new channel.

ABP Network has announced promotions within its ‘Sales Leadership Team’, imparting additional responsibilities to its leaders in order to keep up with the ever-evolving dynamics of the market and foster innovation within the organisation.

Amitosh Pal has been elevated to National Sales Head, ABP Ananda. Along with driving sales for the Bengali channel, he will continue to assume the role of Regional Director, East Zone. Parul Kamra has been elevated to National Sales Head, ABP Ganga. From here, she will continue to assume the role of Regional Director, North Zone, while driving sales for ABP Ganga. Rakesh Kumar has been elevated to National Sales Head, Government. In his new role, he will be responsible for all government-related business across Broadcast and Digital. Amit Kumar Singh, who handles Digital Sales, Government, will directly report to him.

Launched in 2017, Sony Pictures Network India’s Sony YAY, a kids' channel, will soon be celebrating its fourth anniversary. On the occasion, the channel is set to launch an animated version of the network's popular show 'Taaark Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma' on Sony YAY as 'Taarak Mehta Ka Chhota Chashma'.

One of the longest-running shows on Indian television, Taaark Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma crossed the 3000 episode mark in October last year. Its animated version is slated to launch on April 19, 2021.

Leadership, according to him is clear, transparent and consistent communication, and these are the three pillars that kept the boat afloat at Times Network as the entire industry struggled through the initial days of the Covid-19 outbreak. MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network, won the CEO of the Year award at the recently held enba 2020.

In a candid chat with exchange4media, Anand opens up about the importance of objective news reporting, the BARC controversy, ratings, viewership and more.  

The education sector witnessed a significant growth in advertising volume on TV and digital while print and radio witnessed de-growth, according to the latest TAM AdEx report. The sector’s ad volume grew on television by 23% during Jan- March 21(data considered till March 26, 2021) compared to the same period the previous year, as per the report on the education sector across media. 

On digital, the sector witnessed the highest growth of 91%  in ad insertions during Jan-Mar’21 compared to Jan-Mar’20. While significant degrowth was seen on Radio medium of 38% during the same period; whereas on print, indexed growth in ad space declined by 10%.

KOLKATA: As the country slowly descends into the second wave of the pandemic, a sudden sense of bleakness is on the rise among the populace. More and more people are trying to stay at home because of partial lockdowns, night curfews. Against this gloomy backdrop, the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) is a cause for cheer. With just one day left, the tournament is exciting brand marketers as well.

For IPL 2021, official broadcaster Star Sports has already onboarded 18 sponsors and 100 plus advertisers. According to media reports, the network has hiked ad rates for both TV and OTT this year looking at a cool Rs 3,200 crore in revenue. While the IPL has always been considered an expensive property, industry heads from advertising agencies and brands believe it should be looked at from a value proposition rather than a cost point of view.

Strengthening the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, media conglomerate Network18, Federal Bank and actor and activist Sonu Sood have come together to launch a nationwide vaccination awareness campaign  'Sanjeevani – A shot of life'.

Launched on the occasion of World Health Day (April 7), the campaign aims to raise awareness among all Indians on the importance of vaccination. Appointed as the campaign ambassador, Sood officially launched the campaign at an event at Attari border, Amritsar, where he, earlier in the day, took his first vaccine shot.

The campaign is supported by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science and Tech, Earth Sciences., Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Health, Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Ayog, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Punjab Health Minister, and Rakesh Asthana, DG, BSF.

iTV Network has appointed Deepak Arora as CEO, Northern Region. In the new role, his responsibilities will include providing leadership and strategic direction to create new revenue generation opportunities in the Northern Region for iTV Network. 

In his new role, Arora will be heading India News Haryana, India News Punjab, Andy and Aaj Samaaj.

Varun Kohli, CEO, iTV Network, said, “We are delighted to have Deepak on board. He is a seasoned professional who will bring his rich experience and expertise in growing iTV Network and taking it to the next level. His understanding of the market will be of immense value to our network.”

London-headquartered ShortsTV is bullish on the Indian market. From being present only on one platform, Shorts TV has expanded its library and enriched its content library for the Indian market. Recently, ShortsTV launched on Airtel Xstream. Soon, it will have its own SVOD service.

ShortsTV Chief Executive Carter Pilcher, who is a voting member of both the BAFTA and the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), feels that the Indian content has an enormous potential globally. He also said that the next tidal wave of content is coming out of India.