MUMBAI: It’s a tough game for international OTT players to beat Hotstar in India. A study conducted by SEMrush found Hotstar crossed the mark of 35 million searches during April 2018 having a difference of over 30 million searches with Netflix. It revealed the dominance of Hotstar on all other online TV and entertainment platforms.

Hotstar with its range of content in every domain including cinema, sports, English TV series, regional shows, serials has number of options to lure viewers. The OTT platform has outrun its global peers and domestic competitors in the Indian market including Netflix, Eros Now, YuppTV, BoxTV, and others.  The search volume trends for Hotstar showed that the platform gained maximum popularity in the months of June and September 2017, and broke records in April 2018.

The study also revealed Game of Thrones(GoT) as the TV series with the highest search volume in India marking over 600,000 searches during the year 2017-18. Hotstar having the rights of this over popular show could have acquired high number of viewers. GoT became the TV series with most searches in India since the telecast of its 7th series in August 2017.

MUMBAI: WhatsApp has rejected the Indian goverment's demand for a solution to track the origin of messages on its platform, saying building traceability will undermine end-to-end encryption and affect privacy protection for users.

Earlier this week, Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, during his meeting with the WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels, had suggested that the social media company find the source of “fake” news and WhatsApp forwards. He said that the government has asked WhatsApp to set up a local corporate entity and find a technology solution to trace the origin of fake messages circulated through its platform as well as appoint a grievance officer.

Prasad acknowledged the role played by the Facebook-owned company in India's digital story, but was stern that WhatsApp could face abetment charges if it did not take action to tackle the issue of fake news being circulated on its platform.

WhatsApp is under scrutiny in India after the circulation of fake news and rumours on its platform were blamed for several incidents of mob violence and lynchings. The company has since announced several measures – such as introducing a ‘forwarded’ label for messages as well as a limit on how many people a message can be shared with at once.

What makes the rumours problem worse on WhatsApp is its sheer scale in India. The Facebook-owned messaging app is the most popular choice for users in India with the over 200 million active users in the market. The company had also revealed that India is the one market where forwarding messages is very popular. It recently announced an update to limit WhatsApp forwards to just five chats in India. In global markets, it is testing a limit of 20 chats for forwards.

MUMBAI: The challenger Indian menstrual hygiene brand Niine Sanitary Napkins has unveiled a new video campaign this Raksha Bandhan holiday, encouraging brothers to give the gift of menstrual health, hygiene and dignity to their sisters.

Niine Sanitary Napkins launched in India this year with a mission to provide wide access to a high quality, appropriately priced sanitary product to menstruating girls and women across rural and urban India, including in hard to reach areas and communities such as tribal. The video campaign released by Niine Sanitary Napkins is the latest initiative by the Niine Movement, an ambitious five-year plan aimed at raising awareness on the importance of menstrual hygiene and tackling the taboos associated with menstruation.

In the spirit of the festival, Niine Movement’s new film has been produced by the creative agency Anomalous, with the brief being to encourage siblings to talk freely about periods and break the stigma that surrounds it. 

Speaking about the concept of the film, creative director Ankita Gupta said: “Raksha Bandhan is a festival that celebrates the love and devotion of a brother and his sister. With the right balance of emotions, the film brings to light that a brother’s role as his sister’s protector should not end at just shielding her from getting in trouble with their parents or the real life bad guys, but by also providing her with the basic necessities to live a healthy and dignified life. We hope this film will enable siblings to talk freely about periods and break the stigma that surrounds it." 

Using the hashtag #SurakshaBandhan, the film tells boys and men to think about giving their sisters a present that matters more than money or other traditional gifts, and give the gift of good health, hygiene and dignity with a Niine.

Niine Movement founder Amar Tulsiyan says, “From no girl child missing school because of a lack of sanitary napkin access to no infections because of poor menstrual hygiene, increasing awareness of sanitary napkins will only have positive effects for women and girls. The only way we can do this is through talking to men and boys too and letting them know that by helping your daughters and sisters access sanitary napkins, you are protecting them. We need to bridge the gap and encourage both men and women to not just talk about menstrual hygiene but also encourage women to use sanitary napkins.”

Despite menstruation being an experience lived by as many as 355 million girls and women in India, approximately only 18 per cent of them currently use sanitary napkins with approximately 82 per cent of women often reverting to unhygienic and unsafe alternatives such as old cloths, rags, hay and even ash. The reasons behind this staggering statistic include decades of archaic attitudes and stigma surrounding menstruation, the lack of choice and accessibility for safe and affordable sanitary products and the limited awareness of the importance of proper menstrual hygiene management; even amongst the 18 per cent, some are still unaware of maintaining proper genital hygiene and the correct usage of the product, often overusing sanitary napkins.

With more than 90 per cent of India not having an adequate waste disposal system, a major deterrent for girls and women not to use sanitary napkins is the lack of disposal facilities. Niine will be the first brand in India to provide free disposal bags along with its product.

You either get it right, or you don’t. And if you’re Ajay Bhalwankar, you tend to get it right more often than not. Or at least that’s what his past record suggests. “Let’s not talk about my past,” he quips. But his past is not just important but also relevant in the context of his current job – business head Sony Marathi. Bhalwankar’s past was perhaps a determining factor in his boss and Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India topper NP Singh handing him the daunting task of spearheading Sony Marathi as the latest entrant in the regional general entertainment television sweepstakes.

In a sense, it is impossible to delink Bhalwankar’s past from his present for two reasons. He built the Zeel juggernaut in this sphere; a consistent domination of the likes is virtually unmatched across regions. Bhalwankar and his band of merry programmers helped craft a brand that commands over 60 per cent of the viewership today. Much of what he accomplished with Zee Marathi has shaped popular culture for the genre and set a benchmark.

Yet, it is this standard Bhalwankar no longer strives to match or raise. In his second coming, the bearded executive intends to break stereotypes through clever and disruptive programming. His 10-year self-imposed exile from Marathi television was a catalyst in Bhalwankar propagating the idea of launching a GEC to his bosses. “Marathi television was at the same place I had left it at,” he says. The opportunity and potential to push the envelope in the Rs 1000 crore market in terms of the content play excited SPN, ultimately leading to the birth of its newest entity.

Marathi television is solely driven and dependent on content. Hence, taking a bet on a new channel involved identifying consumption patterns and preferences purely from a storytelling perspective. Bhalwankar seems convinced that there exists a definite mismatch between the content on offer and consumer expectations. He believes there is a gap between what society is and what television is currently portraying society as. Addressing that gap is Sony Marathi's raison d'etre.

The resurgence of Marathi cinema as a force to be reckoned with appears to have played its part too. Bhalwankar, who leads a team of around 26 people at Sony Marathi, is now bidding to deliver unique yet mass content (that works commercially too) for the audience.

The former journalist, however, has his task cut out as he attempts to shake up the business with sensibilities that he believes are in sync with the present. Fresh on the back of the channel launch on 19 August, we caught up with Bhalwankar at SPN's Malad headquarters to decode his process and philosophy as he mounts an audacious challenge to the existing Marathi GEC order.

What was the rationale behind launching the channel and why were you picked for the job? Can you give us a sense of what the conversation behind closed doors was like?

We at SPN were looking at launching a Marathi channel for some time and I part of my responsibilities (SET chief creative director) I was looking at what we should be doing as a network. And this came naturally to me. This space has great potential with maximum number of television households in the entire country. 23.7 million households have a television in the state. So, cable and satellite have grown vastly in the state. Secondly, the number of channels are very few. There are just three GECs here. So there is a huge amount of scope - three-player market, which is dominated by one player. So it's almost like a single player market. Thirdly, we have always stood for progressive, sophisticated and contemporary content. That’s something that wasn’t happening on Marathi television. So it was the right time for us to make this move.

Why was I picked for it? My boss should be answering this. I have been involved with the Marathi genre right since its inception. Also, this was an idea propagated by me as part of my network portfolio responsibility.

How has the landscape changed since your last tryst with Marathi television?

I was away from Marathi television for 10 years. Despite that, it feels like I'm starting from the same point again. While films have witnessed a renaissance, television somewhere has been time warped. The faces have changed, artists have changed, but the content hasn't. And that’s where I saw an opportunity. Hence there is a certain degree of freshness to the content on Sony Marathi.  We are creating content that is contemporary.

Content on Marathi television isn't escapist. It's rooted and relatable. Is it possible to redefine the nature of storytelling in such a scenario?

Our competitors are doing a good job. However, the content is stereotypical. Look at the themes that are being treated in Marathi cinema, that hasn’t happened on television. Breaking stereotypes is our objective. That's what we stand for. Our shows will deal with newer themes. Our female protagonists will be strong. We will go beyond the spectrum of Marathi content that is being dished out to audiences currently. We are exploring spaces that haven’t been explored so far.

Why should we watch Sony Marathi? What makes you different?

Weaving unbreakable bonds is what we stand for. Breaking stereotypes will be our differentiation. And I'm happy consumers have welcomed our content thought. We are focussed on creating a clear-cut brand proposition instead of indulging in a TRP slugfest. A brand proposition that reflects positivity, togetherness and inspiration. We want to highlight today’s time instead of an age-old world. We are about today and tomorrow.

What can you tell us from the early feedback? Is any particular show working?

Early feedback is more on the channel than a particular show. They are talking about the colours, freshness, themes – this is what is being picked up by our consumers. As a channel proposition, people are excited about it. That’s the large picture.

Ultimately, running a channel is about business goals and milestones. You know the challenges on offer. What would you say is a realistic target?

If we manage to create a distinct identity and brand for ourselves in one year, I think that would define success for us. The brand imagery will matter more than anything else to us. Numbers and money follow with a clear-cut audience set. 

When you started out on your Marathi television journey, you didn't have reference points. Today you seem to influenced by the content on Marathi cinema. Are you limiting yourself in any way?

The creative aspects of television and films are absolutely different. If you see any of my shows, they have no influence of films. But it is a good reference point for us to understand how audiences are receiving that content and the kind of hunger they are showing. Film content on TV has never worked, even internationally. What is comforting for us is that this new-age content has been commercially successful for the film industry. Films and TV are two different worlds and I have realised that in my long career. I have dabbled in film production as well, successfully. Both worlds are different.

You've found yourself in this place before. What's at stake for you?

This is the first step that we are taking in the Marathi GEC world. Creating a remarkable brand and an impact on minds of people is what's at stake for me. That is the critical part. Culturally enriching the audience is something that has always been my endeavour. If that happens, I'll be very glad.

As someone who has a deep understanding of content creation in this domain, what is your vision for this genre?

I have largely been independent in terms of thought process. If people start following our ideas and I start seeing copies of our shows, I will be happy.

You have nine fiction and two non-fiction shows on air. Why didn't you introduce them in phases?

Nine to two isn't the real ratio. It is 20 hours to four hours. That's a very healthy ratio. People come together bit by bit. I don’t expect them to watch Sony Marathi from the first day. I have to invite them on each and every second of the day. Beyond this, there will also be films and events. I want to bring in people in every way possible. We don't want to take the audience for granted. Audiences will come by their own choice. I’m just widening their options.

How are you acquiring movie content? How big is your movie library?

Nearly 100-125 Marathi films get made every year. Not many people are buying them. There was enough inventory available in the industry. We have around 100 films in our library. Currently, we have a film every day on the channel and on Sunday we'll have the bigger ones of course. Library content will go up in the afternoons, late afternoons.

What do films and events bring to the table?

Films and events bring in people other than those who regularly consume GEC content. These are the additional people that come and if they find your shows interesting, they end up converting into your loyal audience.

What about dubbed content?

We won’t have a lot of dubbed content except the few experiments we have been doing with Hollywood films. It is predominantly going to be original content.

MUMBAI: The popularity of digital content has got traditional media scrambling to understand and shift to newer mediums. Leading production house Eros International’s digital arm is gradually emerging as the driving factor for the company’s growth given its Q1 result while its theatrical business revenue declined. Eros Now has not only seen a huge subscriber jump but also largely contributed to the record revenue digital and ancillary business. After gaining momentum in India, the company is seeing an influx of B2C subscribers from international markets boosting the platform’s overall growth.

“International is starting to track in line, we just started with some independent state campaigns in the US and the UK over summer. So we are going to start seeing a lot more action from international,” Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla said in an earnings call. Along with international, India’s B2C conversions are happening earlier than expected since B2B2C was targetted first.

Eros Now stands with 10.1 million paying subscribers as of 30 June. Initially, it did not opt for advertising so that people get accustomed to subscription. However, the company is also very confident about reaching its target of 16 million subscribers by the end of FY 2019.

It is now looking at nonintrusive brand integration. Lulla said that though it has not integrated with any brand yet, the initial conversations with several brands are on. “We'd probably see something being rolled out within the next quarter and hopefully we will start seeing a bit more revenue recognition from that post one quarter,” she said.

To scale up the digital business, the company is looking at a robust library including movies and originals. The target is to premiere minimum one to two movies in each week of a month leading to a total of 50 to 100 movies a year. In terms of originals, it is looking at 18 to 20 flagship originals, which is minimum one a month, and then two in some months. Other than flagship shows, the platform will have ‘normal originals’ also.

While the number of originals will be increased, the cost will be adjusted from the allocated $250 million capex. The content production powerhouse is looking at a mix between the movie and digital content production. Since Eros Now is helping margins to build the scales may be tiled in favour of more original shows.

“[For] the big tenfold movies, the cost has doubled and the box office of those movies are going down and thereby the other movies, the good script and the star cast, which are not being paid more are performing well and hence you have seen increase in the margins for those movies and less capex. That’s the reason [for] the less capex for those movies. Between that Rs 250 million allocated, we could allocate the capex for the originals,” Eros international executive chairman and CEO Kishore Lulla explained the strategy.

Eros International is looking at spending $750 million for all its businesses in the next three years. Though the amount may seem huge but cash flow from the studio business, Eros Now, gives the company the confidence that it won’t enter negative cash flow in the average of three years.

MUMBAI: Krishnarao S Buddha, who is also known as Krishna Rao in the industry has been elevated to the position of senior category head of marketing at Parle Products.

In his previous role, he was the category head at Parle Products. 

At the company, Buddha heads the entire portfolio of snacks, confectionery, cakes, rusks and biscuits products. 

He joined Parle back in 2001 as a product manager where he spearheaded the launch of Kaccha Mango Bite candy, Parle Kreams among others.

With over 23 years of experience in brand management, Buddha has developed a passion for turning around ailing brands and creating new and profitable brands.

An MBA in marketing from the Institute of Management and Research, Buddha began his career at Maxwell Apparels (a VIP group company) followed by Uncle Chipps and Excelcia Foods (Nestle-Dabur venture) besides Gold Cross (OTC Pharma company) in various capacities in brand management.

Parle Products, the company that owns the famous biscuit brand Parle G was founded in 1929 in British India by the Chauhan family living in Vile Parle. The company has a diverse  portfolio  that includes Parle biscuits, Marie, KrackJack, Monaco, Hide & Seek, Poppins, Kismi, Mango Bite, LondonDerry, Milano among others. 

The biscuits and confectionery maker is aiming to double its turnover and cross Rs 20,000 crore in the next five years. The company also expects the staples and snacks segments to be its growth drivers in the coming years.

MUMBAI: In a little over two years of launch, Arré has created multiple fiction and reality show franchises and properties such as the hugely popular A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend, Official Chukyagiri, Official CEOgiri, The Real High, I Don’t Watch TV, The Adventures of Abbaas Mastan, Arré Ho Ja Re-gender, This Week in Food, The Farm Life, which have won accolades globally at festivals such as the Webbys, LA Web Fest and the South Florida Web Festival.

Furthering its original content play, Arré will now see the launch of some very large-scale shows and films in partnership with OTT platforms and broadcast television, across languages and genres, in addition to its repertoire on its own platform. The Studio is putting together a team comprising of domestic and international talent to help build creative scale and collaborate with the best across the world. 

Veteran film-maker and ad-man Harsh Dave has joined Arré for its Studio venture as Executive Producer. Harsh will strengthen Arré Studio’s development and execution capabilities in the original content space.

Harsh has been a production veteran and has a wide body of work across television, feature film production and advertising, spanning over two decades. He has produced popular television showssuch as Uttaran, Tumhari Disha and Rakhi and has been involved inthe line production of international feature films such as The Other End of the Line, Basmati Blues, and The Man Who Knew Infinity. Harsh’s advertising work includes producing commercials for a variety of global companies such as P&G, Unilever, PepsiCo, Renault, Hero, Samsung, and Diageo. 

The original content market in India is expected to be a multi-billion-dollar opportunity. Indian and international OTT platforms have acknowledged original programming as the driving force for growth of subscribers and viewers. Broadcast television too, is looking for new idioms in entertainment programming. Arré is aiming to be a significant player in this space.

Sanjay Ray Chaudhuri, Co-Founder and Creative Head, Arré, said, “We’re hugely excited about our Studio projects, which I believe could be breaking new ground in the original content space in India. We’re looking to put together a varied and exceptional talent pool for the venture, and I’m delighted to have Harsh join our team.”

Ajay Chacko, Co-Founder and CEO, Arré, said, “Harsh brings with him tremendous amounts of experience and creative energy. His repertoire is fairly diverse and spans interesting work across TV, Bollywood, Hollywood and advertising. With him on board Arré Studio, we hope to double our efforts to bring high-quality entertainment to Indian and international audiences.”

Harsh Dave said, “Arré has been quite cutting edge with respect to its originals slate on its platform and I’m excited about the next slate of projects which are bigger and better. We aim to become the country’s foremost studio in quality original programming and I’m delighted to be part of this journey.”

MUMBAI: The Advertising Club today announced the nominees for Sector Awards of Marquees 2018.

Marquees, the foremost of all awards organized by The Advertising Club, celebrates excellence in marketing. Marquees 2018 is presented by Zee and powered by Colors and Republic TV. 

Brands from twelve different sectors ranging from Auto (both 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers), Durables, Life Insurance, Banking, E-commerce, Handsets, FMCG (Foods, beverages, household and personal care) and Telecom Service Providers will compete for Marquees 2018, an award that recognises creativity and effectiveness in marketing.

The list of nominees for Marquees 2018 are as follows:

A three-step evaluation process of shortlisting, assimilation and selection basis product performance, presence and reach, promotions and the performance of the brand make the winner of each category a true ‘Marquee’. Each of the nominees are trailblazers in their respective sectors and have made an indelible mark on industry.  

Apart from these twelve categories, there are also five special awards to be given out to brands which have gone beyond the call of duty. Efforts by some of these brands have benefited the sector as a whole, while some others have created a whole new sector. This year’s special awards are being awarded under – Breathing new life into a category; Creating a global impact; Re-imagining for the better; Carving out a niche and Digital media property of the year.

The winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony at the St. Regis, Mumbai on August 29, 2018.

MUMBAI: The very first Seoul Webfest held on the 16th -18th August of this year, saw the showcasing of over 200 web series from across the world and the Malayalam web series Utsaha Ithihasam produced by Studio Mojo has won big at the Fest. Seoul Webfest is the first such web series festival in South Korea and North East Asia.

Currently running on Zee 5, Utsaha Ithihasam, bagged the award for the ‘Best Dramedy (comedy drama), at the fest. Directed by the award-winning filmmaker Krishand, the series won many more nominations in the best actor, best actress, best art director, and supporting actor and actress categories.

Based on a brief period in the life of two youngsters, the series was a crowd favourite amongst the international audience, present at the fest. The concept of the series revolves around existential nihilism, political incorrectness & relationship dynamics.

An elated director Krishand of Utsaha Ithihasam shares his feelings, “The recognition of Utsaha Ithihasam amidst all the web series from across the globe as the best comedy drama is in fact a great honour for us. It would have been impossible without Studio Mojo to make these episodes possible at this scale. “

The cast line up saw some upcoming names such as Rahul Rajagopal (lead male) and Pooja Eaju (lead female). Some other fresh faces who won some nominations include, Shyamin Giressh (supporting male) and Shweta Netam Khare (supporting female).

The series was produced by the leading regional video entertainment network, Studio Mojo, founded by the former CEO of iStream.com. “We are delighted that Utsaha Ithihasam, our first web series in Malayalam has won it big at the Seoul Webfest. We are planning to do couple of new projects with Krishand including a full length bi-lingual feature film in Tamil and Malayalam," says Radhakrishnan Ramachandran, Founder & CEO of Studio Mojo.

With a winning round of applause and a promise to return with newer ventures, Utsaha Ithihasam, has been etched into the memories of the attendees of the first Seoul Webfest.

MUMBAI: Mandom Group’s grooming brand in Asia – Gatsby has associated with White Rivers Media for the third time in row.

As part of the mandate, White Rivers Media, the digital agency, will continue to manage their digital and social media presence across India.

Gatsby India’s branding ideas have successfully managed to resonate with their target audience. Since the first year of the brand's association with White Rivers Media, this digital agency has studied their target audience well and accommodated these insights into content. Engaging content on the page is exclusively targeted towards young urban men, which has resulted in an impressive engagement rate.

To put their best foot forward in the future, this collaboration aspires to explore different permutation and combinations of engaging content, media spends, ad models to optimise their reach. The agency also plans to strike conversations in the community and sense the sentiment for various messages. These insights will help them to enhance brand management, evolve in their own space and stay ahead of their competition.

White Rivers Digital Media chief executive officer and founder Shrenik Gandhi says, “We have been working closely with team Gatsby since past 2 years and I am looking forward to a great next year with the brand. While a good portion of our time this year shall be invested in building the brand in the 'traditional digital' manner, special efforts are being taken to capture the new age digital audience via innovative and category first digital activations. I take this opportunity to thank team Gatsby India on the continued trust they have on us.”

Gardenia Cosmocare (exclusive agent for Gatsby n India) director Puneet Motiani adds, “A good sense of product market as well as a keen ear to the ground greatly assists in selecting the right target audience and engaging them in a fun and constructive manner allowing for meaningful brand interactions which in turn results in positive and improved consumer experiences.”

For the past ten years, male grooming products have cut out a strong niche for themselves in the global market. In addition to the initial connection of beard to masculinity, being well-groomed is now an essential part of a young man's routine. To buy these grooming products or gain more information about them, they turn to the web world. Hence, accurate branding of these grooming products in the digital space is extremely important.

MUMBAI: Digital and marketing agency, Grapes Digital, has bagged the entire portfolio of integrated marketing communication for Logitech, India.

The strategic partnership will see Grapes Digital, playing a pivotal role in conceptualising multi-dimensional communication strategies, digital, creative, media buying along with brand management for Logitech.

The mandate was awarded to them after a multi-agency pitch.

Grapes Digital founder Himanshu Arya says, “We are truly honoured to have Logitech, India onboard. By pushing the barriers of innovation, our focus has always been on exceeding our client’s expectation. We are hopeful that with our core pillars, content, media and digital, we will be able to create a comprehensive digital package and drive growth for Logitech, India across new-age channels.”

The agency offers varied digital service like digital strategy and planning, digital content, creative - user experience, design and content, website/app design and development, social media marketing, search engine optimisation, experiential technology marketing, digital media - planning and buying, performance media - planning and buying and influencer marketing.

MUMBAI: Adding to the OTT-telecom deal list is the partnership between global Netflix and Airtel in India. Airtel subscribers of select postpaid and V-Fiber Home Broadband plans will be able to enjoy free streaming of Netflix for three months. After the free subscription period of three months, they will be able to pay for the platform using Airtel postpaid or home broadband bill.

“Partnerships are at the core of Airtel’s DNA and we are delighted to expand our strategic relationship with Netflix. Affordable high speed data services and growing smart devices have created a massive opportunity, perhaps one of the biggest in the world, for the uptake of content – both local and global. We look forward to working closely with Netflix to leverage this huge potential and continue delighting customers with some amazing offerings,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said.

Customers on eligible Airtel plans will be able to avail the opportunity through the Airtel TV app and the My Airtel app. Even customers not on plans eligible for this offer will be able to sign up or upgrade to claim this and pay for Netflix using their Airtel bill. It has also partnered to promote Netflix content through a dedicated row on the Airtel TV app.

“We are delighted to expand our partnership with Airtel and combine the latest technologies and the best of entertainment. Be it Sacred Games, Ghoul or Stranger Things, more and more fans are watching on mobile so we’re bringing together Netflix’s award-winning TV shows and movies with Airtel’s amazing mobile and broadband networks. Airtel customers will enjoy the simplicity of one monthly bill for their Netflix subscription and Airtel postpaid/home broadband bill,” Netflix business development global head Bill Holmes said.

Airtel, which is gradually losing ground to Jio is trying to get back in the race with several content deals. Recently, it struck an exclusive deal with ZEEL under which a select premium content from ZEE5 library will be available for Airtel consumers exclusively. The telco platform has an existing deal with Amazon Prime also. All these deals may bring more users to the network owing to the digital content portfolio. Meanwhile, Netflix is also trying to gain a stronger foothold in the Indian OTT market through new Indian originals and partnerships.

MUMBAI: Viu India, a leading OTT platform, is set to entertain Viuers with the launch of its recent most music-filled comedy series ‘Banned’. Produced by ‘Bodhi Tree’, the series will take audiences on the rollercoaster journey of four ‘Punjabi jatts’ who get stuck in a political conundrum for an antisocial act in their music video; putting the spotlight on freedom of speech.

The series includes songs by the talented singers from the Bollywood industry, Shashwat Singh and Vivek Hariharan. The star cast includes Paresh Pahuja, Sheetal Thakur, Sahil Anand, Deepak Kalra, Vivek Mushran among others.

Commenting on the launch, Bimal Unnikrishnan, Head Content - Viu India said, “Our original series Banned focuses on freedom of speech. We pick subjects which focus on the topics that are interesting to millennials today and bring them to life with storylines that are engaging and fresh.”

Embark on this journey of ‘Banned’ every Friday, only on Viu.

MUMBAI: Breakfast cereals brand NESPLUS, from the house of Nestlé India has announced the launch of its first ever TVC, bringing their ‘Kadak campaign’ to life.

The campaign focuses on how a ‘Kadak’ breakfast combined with a mother’s love is the driving force to wake us up every morning. The commercial also highlights the tasty and healthy aspect of the product with a focus on how NESPLUS breakfast cereals remain crunchy even in warm milk until the last bite.

The ad revolves around the morning routine of mothers with their children showcasing how they get them ready for school every day. The mothers are shown serving NESPLUS breakfast cereals to their children.

Nestlé breakfast cereals business executive officer Aparna Chopra says, “We are extremely excited to launch our first ever TVC. The ad campaign captures how NESPLUS, coupled with mothers’ love will prove to be the ‘Kadak’ dose of wholesome ingredients that every household requires in the morning. With the perfect taste combined with loads of health, we are certain that NESPLUS is certainly leading its way to become the ‘Kadak Naashta’ of Indian families. 

The pan-India campaign entails a heavy focus on nationally covering not only key metro towns, but also larger regional clusters with regional TV.

NESPLUS was recently launched in India in July 2018 through the first of its kind digital-first approach on Amazon’s Prime Day. This was the first ever FMCG launch on Amazon Prime which resulted in over a million interactions with the brand within the first week of activation even prior to the launch. A record sale of one unit of NESPLUS every three seconds post launch was registered for NESPLUS breakfast cereals.

MUMBAI: Discovery Communications India, country’s leading infotainment player, has intensified focus on India centric programming in the lead-up to the festive season.  The network, which is devoted to creating highest quality purposeful entertainment, will showcase an unprecedented 8 India centric shows over the next 4 months on Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC. The India specials will be in addition to the premiere of staggering 20 + global IPs on the 3 network channels.

“We are excited with the growth that we have been able to garner this year. All our core channels – Discovery, Animal Planet and TLC –  are now undisputed leaders in their respective genres while Discovery Kids has emerged as the fastest growing channel in the kids genre. Our aim is to further build on it and accelerate the growth over the next 4 months,” said, Karan Bajaj, General Manager, Discovery Communications India. “It is a conscious strategy to increase India centric pipeline with original production or programming acquisitions.  With the unmatched line-up of Indian and Global IPs till the end of the year, we are confident to deepen our local connection while further extending the lead over competition for all of our network channels.”

This year Discovery has already showcased a line-up of impactful India led programming including Breaking Point: The Indian Submarines, Breaking Point: Air Force Academy. Over the next 3 months, Discovery channel will showcase 5 new India centric shows including Women Fighter Pilots (Premiers August 24),  a new Military tentpole High Altitude Warfare School (October), India’s Citizen Squad (November) and Moon Bound (November) – a special about Team Indus’s attempt as a part of Google Lunar XPrize and a special documentary on Sunny Leone’s life Mostly Sunny (December).  TLC, which has shown huge resurgence since January 2018, will showcase an Indian original production which has shaken the digital space with its promise of a TLC travel scholarship - The Calling (October). Animal Planet, India’s leading wildlife channel, is currently showcasing an anthology of shows ‘The Red List: Save The Wild’ which focuses on the trials and tribulations of endangered species in India and across the world. The channel will showcase Mission Big Cat – an anthology focused on Big Cats including Lions, Leopards and Tigers in the month of October celebrating World Animal Day.

Discovery India is working overtime to reduce the time-gap between global and Indian premiers. On the anvil is a mouthwatering palate of global premiers on Discovery Channel including Shark Week, Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge S3, American Chopper and Running Wild With Bear Grylls Season 4 featuring celebrities such as tennis legend Roger Federer, Scott Eastwood, Don Cheadle, Lena Headey, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Uzo Aduba. TLC’s is getting revamped with the introduction of Scripps led content including blockbuster IPs like Chopped, Cup Cake Wars, Extreme Homes, Bizarre Foods, Extreme Chefs and Giada in Italy and global tentpoles like American Beauty Star.

Animal Planet as a part of new brand philosophy ‘Humans Like Us’ will sharpen focus on stories linked to animal conservation as it aims to awaken viewers to the need for animal welfare and conservation.  The channel has lined-up number of global IPs for Indian audiences. The family of Steve Irwin, the much-loved wildlife expert who created a distinctive new style of wildlife documentary, returns to Animal Planet with - The Irwins-   a special show focused on Steve Irwin’s zoo in Australia.

Discovery Network is the undisputed leader in the infotainment category with 48% share. Discovery channel with 24%* share in the leading channel followed by Animal Planet which is at no 2 position with 16%* share.   Infact, 7 out of the top 10 shows* in infotainment genre are from Discovery. TLC is now ranked no 1 in the lifestyle category with 33% share*.  TLC has grown share by 7% over last year when it was placed at the second spot with 30% share. Infact, 7 out of top 10 shows in the Lifestyle Genre are from TLC. Discovery Kids has leap-frogged to 4th position from 9th position in the beginning of the year. The ratings of Discovery Kids have grown by 426% since the start of the year.

MUMBAI: Fujifilm India has announced a strategic partnership for its Instax range of instant cameras with Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma.

A sweeping promotional campaign for Instax will be rolled out across social media platforms with Anushka’s participation for four months starting from August 2018 till November 2018.

The Instax has been a global hit in more than 100 countries, with over 30 million units sold. Its quirky design and retro look has helped the brand carve a winning niche for itself. This year holds of great importance to Fujifilm as Instax celebrates its 20th anniversary. The company aims to further explode Instax's awareness through its strategic collaboration with one of the most followed Indian personalities. Sharma is one of the most powerful personalities in the country today and she is known for her inherent charm and novelty. She perfectly complements the brand attributes of Fujifilm Instax.

Fujifilm India managing director Haruto Iwata says, “We are very excited and optimistic to embark on this digital partnership with Anushka Sharma. She is an iconic symbol of the Indian entertainment industry and popularly known amongst the youth for her uniqueness and charm which perfectly blends with our brand. She embodies what Fujifilm INSTAX is all about – young, fun and ‘kawaii’ (cute in Japanese). Instax is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and we will be rolling out many more surprises for our customers in the coming months.’’

“For me, photography is all about self-expression and preserving memories and what can be better than a camera that comes from Fujifilm which has an extensive and profound expertise in photography nurtured over the last 80 years. Instax captures the magic of the moment and seals it in a picture instantly and serve as reminders of those beautiful memories forever,” Sharma comments.

Fujifilm India head of image capturing SM Ramprasad adds, “Anushka Sharma is undeniably one of the most gifted and accomplished women of her generation and a role model to young women. The association with Anushka is in line with our aim to bring in a youthful vibrancy by spreading the joy of printed pictures.”

Within these four months, Fujifilm will roll out a special contest. The winners from the challenge will get an instax camera along with Anushka’s instant pictures, duly signed by her.

MUMBAI: This September, BBC News kicks off several months of special Indian coverage, asking whether India can become the next global superpower, and putting forward its own solutions to the country’s building fake news crisis.   

A special week of coverage opens a season which will culminate in November with a series of events on fake news and global media literacy, linking young Indians with audiences around the world to share ideas and explore solutions for the future. 

BBC News will host a global event on 12th November where teenagers from Delhi, London and Nairobi will be brought together in a live broadcast. It will include a showcase of BBC outreach projects in Indian schools, building on the BBC School Report in the UK and helping young people identify the challenges of sharing news on chat apps. Then on 14th and 15th November, a Hackathon event in Delhi will link India’s top computer science students with tech companies to explore how technology can help stop people inadvertently sharing fake stories.

In addition, BBC News has pledged to carry out daily fact checks during India’s general election next year and BBC Reality Check, a service dedicated to verifying news, will look at the big claims and stories at the heart of the campaign.

It is the latest step in an unprecedented expansion of BBC News in India as part of the World 2020 project. This significant investment has included launching news services in four Indian languages - Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu – and an expanded news bureau in Delhi with two new TV studios. The bureau is now the BBC’s largest outside the UK, becoming a video, TV and digital content production hub for the whole of South Asia.

Drawing on the BBC’s extensive news and programme-making teams in India and the UK, the Fast Forward India season in September will provide thought-provoking insight and analysis on India’s economic growth to audiences around the world. From car manufacturing to fashion, BBC journalists will tell the story of the country’s extraordinary development, the technological innovations taking place and how they are helping to modernise the country. The month-long season includes the live filming of two BBC World News programmes in New Delhi, the highly respected current affairs programme Global Questions, presented by Zeinab Badawi, and the BBC’s flagship technology programme Click, presented by Spencer Kelly.

BBC World Service English will also record a special live edition of its new podcast Kalki Presents: My Indian Life, in Mumbai on September 11th. Presented by Bollywood actor Kalki Koechlin and aimed specifically at young adults in India, the podcast is about being young and Indian in the 21st century. And the following week, BBC News Marathi plans to launch BBC Vishwa as part of an innovative BBC partnership with the Jio TV app.

Jamie Angus, Director of BBC World Service Group, says: “The BBC’s historic investment in journalism in India means we are better placed than ever to tell India’s story to the world, and for Indian audiences to hear how the world sees India’s continuing growth and development.

“The provision of trusted and high-quality news in English and multiple Indian languages is at the heart of BBC World Service’s mission; we want to work in partnership with local organisations and India’s young people to find the best solutions to the challenges of fake news. Our editorial season this autumn will raise up some of India’s great success stories, while helping to find solutions to the problems of global media literacy which are as relevant here as they are around the world.”

MUMBAI: India’s sport of Kabaddi has grown leaps and bounds with the growth of India’s flagship kabaddi league, VIVO Pro Kabaddi. Encouraging the growth of the sport amongst the younger generation, Star Sports announces the second season of KBD Juniors. Season 2 will be hosted across the 12 Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season VI cities. The tournament will have 24 schools per city, and 3,500 students between the age group of 11 to 12 years battle it out to make it to the grand finale.

Kabaddi requires nimble footwork of a boxer, the strength of a wrestler, tactical acuity of a chess player, agility and reflexes of a gymnast and endurance of a runner. Keeping this spirit of Kabaddi alive amongst the younger generation, KBD Juniors Season 2, will be bigger and better as the invitation to participate in the tournament was shared with multiple schools and 288 schools will participate this season, an advancement from the 96 schools that participated in season 1.

Building on the success of Season 1, that registered an impressive cumulative reach of 156.4 million viewers over the season, and had South Point World School from Sonipat win the title, Season 2 is now back to crown new glory. To ensure maximum participation from schools across the 12 cities, the invitational tournament has been designed as city qualifiers, city finals and national finals.

The city qualifiers, scheduled to be hosted between end of August and early September, as the run up to Season VI of VIVO Pro Kabaddi. 24 schools are divided into 8 groups of 3 teams who will play against each other. From each group, the team finishing first will then make it to the round of city finals, which will take place during the home leg of each city as part of Season VI of VIVO Pro Kabaddi and then the National finals.

The city qualifiers began today in Hyderabad, where the new participating schools include, Scholars International School, Oxford Grammar School, Nampally Vyayamshala High School, Lotus School, Manikonda, among others. Hyderabad Public School, Gitanjali Senior School and VV Govt school had participated in KBD Juniors Season 1 and P. Obul Reddy Public School won the city finals.

KBD Juniors targeted at young students will offer the benefits of an incredible sport to youngsters across these cities and will help grow the popularity for India's indigenous sport. To prepare the schools for the tournament, Star Sports along with Mashal Sports Pvt. Ltd., the league organisers also provide initial training to the PE teachers in each school via an introductory kit along with coach meet and greets.

The season 2 of KBD Juniors will be broadcast on Star Sports and Hotstar during Season VI of VIVO Pro Kabaddi. The broadcast schedule for the matches will be released at a later date.

MUMBAI: Berkshire Hathaway is in talks to invest about Rs 2,000-2,500 crore in Paytm parent One97 Communications, in what could be the first direct investment in India, according to an Economic Times report.

Berkshire, the conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett, is said to pick up a 3-4 per cent stake in Paytm's parent and the deal is being done through a primary subscription of shares, the paper said citing people familiar with the matter.

The Noida-based company said last month that it conducted 5 billion transactions worth $50 billion in gross transaction value (GTV) on an annualised basis based on its performance in June. It saw total income increase by 38 per cent to Rs 828 crore with losses of Rs 899.6 crore in the year ended March 2017, according to the Registrar of Companies (RoC) filings.

If the transaction goes through, it will give Paytm more firepower to strengthen its market leadership against Flipkart-owned Phonepe and Google’s Tez besides potential competition from Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Reliance Jio.

One of Berkshire’s key fund managers, Todd Combs, who is also seen as a potential chief investment officer at the company, is leading the transaction, as per the reports.

Through One97 Communications, the company owns 49 per cent in Paytm Payments Bank with the remaining stake held by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma in his personal capacity as per regulations.

Berkshire’s investment could be clinched in the coming weeks, valuing Paytm at over $10 billion, the report stated.

Japan’s SoftBank and China’s Alibaba Group are among the major backers of Paytm.

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has completed the sale of its fibre assets worth Rs 3000 crore to Reliance Jio Infocomm on Monday. After the completion of the fibre monetisation transaction, 178,000 kilometres of fibre stand transferred to Reliance Jio, RCom said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

RCom had last week completed the sale of its media convergence nodes and related infrastructure assets worth Rs 2,000 crore to Reliance Jio. The company said 248 MCNs covering about 5 million square feet of area used for hosting the telecom infrastructure were transferred to Reliance Jio.

In December 2017, as part of its debt resolution plan, RCom had struck a Rs 25,000-crore deal with the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio for the sale of its assets mortgaged with different banks, to avoid insolvency proceedings. RCom’s assets are expected to contribute significantly to the large-scale roll out of wireless and fiber-to-home and enterprise services by Reliance Jio.

The debt-laden company expects to raise about Rs 18,000 crore by selling the wireless assets to Jio and real estate assets to Canada’s Brookfield. The company also said that it would sell an additional 65 MHz spectrum in the 800 MHz band to Jio for Rs 3,500-3,700 crore. Last year, the company shut down its wireless services.