Week at a glance: Colors Tamil, Youth Entertainment, Abbys Master Jury…

Navigating the youth entertainment genre – The youth genre on television is a space that has lots of potential, but are the broadcasters doing enough to leverage that potential and build a greater connect with the youth TG? What are the challenges that this genre faces? Where did Channel [v] flounder? What does the road ahead look like? Adgully spoke to a cross-section of leading industry experts to explore these questions and more… 

Colors Tamil, which is launching on February 19, 2018, will be the national media conglomerate’s first foray into the Tamil market. Viacom18 already operates general entertainment channels in 5 regional languages, under the brand name Colors – Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Odia, apart from Hindi and English. At launch Colors Tamil will be available in all leading cable networks catering to an estimated 11 million homes in rest of Tamil Nadu through Tamil Nadu Arasu Corporation, and 3.5 million homes in Greater Chennai through SCV, TCCL among others. Furthermore, the channel will be available on all DTH platforms - Sun Direct, Tata Sky, Airtel, DishTV & Videocon D2h - reaching out to ~5.5 million households. 

Network18’s news channels made a significant mark on the Union Budget Day by together garnering a total of 13.1 per cent of the viewership during Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s speech on February 1, 2018. (Source: BARC | Males 22+ AB | All India | 1st Feb’18 24 Hrs | Market Share out of 169 News Channels). Speaking on the BARC rating, Avinash Kaul, President - Strategy, Product & Alliances - Network18, said, “Network18 has emerged as the most accessible and credible destination for news viewing in the country. With our presence in 27 states and 12 languages, reach of 40 crore every month and most modern digital newsrooms, Network18 continues to set new benchmarks every year.” 

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has been fortifying its presence in the English Entertainment space with a refurbished content line-up for AXN as well as for Sony PIX. The network has also seen great traction for its factual entertainment channel, Sony BBC Earth. In conversation with Adgully, Tushar Shah, Executive Vice – President and Business Head, English Cluster, Sony Pictures Networks India, chalks out Sony’s strategy to further grow its English Cluster in 2018, the strong content line-up for the year ahead, and more. 

Jeet, the new General Entertainment channel from Discovery Communications India (DCIN) which is going on air from February 12, 2018, has already achieved its pre-launch inventory sales target. The channel’s brand-led partnership approach has seen multiple brands from major conglomerates, including Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Marico, Mondelez International, Johnson and Johnson, Yellow Diamond and Quickheal come on board even before the launch. 

Idea Cellular’s latest brand campaign – ‘A video can change your life’ – focuses on the transformative role of Idea 4G via the medium of videos. Conceptualised by BBDO India, the ad campaign went on-air on digital and television on New Year’s eve. In conversation with Adgully, Sunita Bangard, President - Marketing, Idea Cellular, speaks about Idea’s campaign strategy, the go-to-market plans, evolution of India’s telecom sector and much more. 

The highly coveted Abby Awards has for the first time announced the formation of a Master Jury. The Master Jury boasts of 15 illustrious, award winning creative giants who have consented to be the filter for the creative standards of the Creative Abbys. Prasoon Joshi and Agnello Dias are among the Master Jury for the Creative Abbys. 

As DIGIXX Awards 2018 moves ahead to its second edition, to be held at The Leela Ambience on March 9, the first Jury list of eminent industry names has been released. The DIGIXX Awards are judged by an independent panel of highly acclaimed thought leaders in the advertising ecosystem, who create campaigns for the world’s most powerful brands, marketers with direct control over many of the largest advertising budgets and major media company leaders. 

A packed audience witnessed Padmashri Piyush Pandey, Chairman, Ogilvy Group, presenting the International Advertising Association (IAA) Retrospect and Prospect in Mumbai on February 7, 2018. Pandey in his presentation shared some outstanding work that has the depth and potential to be adopted by people in our kind of countries. He also spoke on what the industry needs to incorporate in their value system. 

Wavemaker, GroupM’s new billion-dollar revenue, media, content, and technology agency created from the merger of Maxus and MEC has announced the retention of media duties for Tata Sky. Maxus (now part of Wavemaker) has been the media agency on record ever since the DTH service provider launched its operations in India in 2006. 

Discovery Jeet is set to disrupt the Hindi GEC (General Entertainment Channel) space in India starting February 12, 2018. For the lead up to the channel launch, Broadcasting Network Discovery Communications has roped in Taproot Dentsu, part of Dentsu Aegis Network, to create promos for this new channel’s marquee shows. 

Havas Media, India has bagged the integrated media duties of Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), a leading financial services conglomerate along with business ventures in various other domains. The account size is estimated to be upwards of INR 50 crores and will be handled out of the Bangalore and Cochin office led by Saurabh Jain, Vice President - South, Havas Media India. 

Publicis Communications’ specialised digital agency, Indigo Consulting, has won the digital duties for L’Oreal India’s personal care brand, Garnier India. The agency will look after the digital and social media mandate for the brand. The account will be handled out of the agency’s Mumbai office, and was won after a multi-agency pitch. 

Renault India has seen great traction in the Indian market with its Kwid brand, which has turned out to be a true game-changer and volume driver for the automobile company. Renault has now announced the launch of the new Kwid Super Hero Edition in association with Marvel. Sumit Sawhney, Country CEO and Managing Director, Renault India Operations, speaks about Renault’s India’s plans, the key points of this association with Marvel, and the road ahead. 

Madison Public Relations has just announced the appointment of Madhu Chhibber as its CEO. Madhu will be based in the agency’s Mumbai office. Her last assignment was as CEO, Perfect Relations where she spent almost three years. 

Ad land’s Young Guns - Chanda Sarma: With over eight years of experience in the space of Digital Advertising, Chanda Sarma has worked with over 150 brands and has serviced clients from various sectors, including Automotive, Hospitality, BFSI, Consumer Durables and Fashion. Currently as Group Account Manager at WATConsult, Sarma has the opportunity of working with some of the best brands in India and the horizons have broadened. 

Sony Pictures Network India is in the process of launching a General Entertainment channel in Marathi. The channel will expand the portfolio of Sony Entertainment Channel. According to sources, Ajay Bhalwankar will lead the new GEC. He has been with SPNI (Sony Pictures Network India) for five years. Initially as a programming head for SET from November 2009 to 2011 and then returning to SET as Chief Creative Director in 2014. 

BARC ratings for Week 5 of 2018 (January 27-February 2) [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals] saw another week of strong show by the FTA channels on the viewership front. Zee Anmol, Star Bharat, and Sony Pal led the list, while Colors clawed back to the fourth spot.

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