Week at a glance: JioFiber reverberations; Sunil Lulla’s new venture; IRS 2019 Q2

Jio set-top box, JioFiber’s OTT bundling: Diwali comes early for consumers
Reliance Industry Chairman Mukesh Ambani made a slew of announcements at the group’s 42nd Annual General Meeting earlier this week that are bound to create disruption in the Television, OTT and Cinema space.

How Reliance JioFiber will impact the OTT industry
Disruption was the name of the game in Reliance Industry Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s address at the conglomerate’s 42^nd Annual General Meeting. Of the several significant announcements made by Ambani, there were quite a few that will impact the DTH and cable service providers, the OTT industry as well as the film industry. 

Reliance’s First Day First Show at home causes a stir amongst multiplexes
Expected to be launched in the middle of 2020, the Jio First-Day-First-Show service will enable customers to watch movies in their living rooms the same day these movies are released in theatres.

Zee Media rejigs organisation; segregates channels into three Clusters
In a move to drive growth and increasing operational efficiency and effectiveness, Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL) has effected key changes in its organisational structure. In an internal mail, Punit Goenka, Chairman of the Board, informed that in order to bring effective controls, the Group has segregated the channels into three Clusters – Cluster 1, 2 and 3.

Sunil Lulla launches his new venture The Linus Adventures
Sunil Lulla, who recently stepped down as Group CEO of Balaji Telefilms, has announced his own venture called The Linus Adventures, an in-residence consulting service. On social media he announced that he will be the “Founder & Chief Evangelist of The Linus Adventures which engages with promoters and CXOs in the consumer, digital and content domain to help grow businesses, build brands and enable cultures.”

IRS 2019 Q2: While TR remains steady, AIR sees decline
MRUC (Media Research Users Council) has announced the release of IRS 2019Q2 data. The 2019 Q2 data is a rolling average of the last 2 quarters of IRS 2017 (Q3+Q4) and the first two quarters of IRS 2019 (Q1+Q2). IRS 2019 Q2 fieldwork covers April 2019 through July 2019. The reporting sample size for this data is 3.36 lakh households.

Mass appeal of Sacred Games 2 has become Netflix’s Noah’s ark
Launched on Netflix on August 15, the second season of ‘Sacred Games’ brought an end to over a year-long wait since the first season was launched. As is known, ‘Sacred Games’ was the first Indian Original on Netflix and received immense popularity and critical acclaim. ‘Sacred Games’ was one of the first Indian Originals to feature some big name Bollywood stars like Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Hasbro has become the No.1 toy exporter from India: Claire Gilchrist
Present in India for over 30 years, global play and entertainment company Hasbro is now upping its game in India as it plans to boost the licensing program of its iconic brands such as Nerf, My Little Pony, Transformers, Play-Doh, Monopoly, Power Rangers and Baby Alive.

Long way for paid subscriptions to break through in India: Spotify’s Neha Ahuja
Spotify, which commenced its India operations in February 2019, recently rolled out its national campaign. The multilingual campaign features Anil Kapoor and Ishaan Khattar as a father-son duo and revolves around their fun banter. 

TRAI mulls third-party apps to aid consumers in TV channel selection
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to facilitate functioning of third-party Apps that will aid consumers in easily selecting the TV channels that they want to watch. TRAI has created Channel Selection System API Specifications document, which prescribes common APIs with all Distribution Platform Operators (DPO). TRAI intends to mandate all the DPOs to compulsorily share information with the apps after authenticating the subscriber so that such apps can help in easy selection of the required TV channels. 

Government sends notice to Twitter; attempts to stop spread of fake news
In an attempt to put a curb on propagation of fake news about Kashmir, the Superintendent of Srinagar Police has sent an official letter to Twitter asking it to share Twitter user 'WSK' (@WajSKhan)'s registered email Id, his mobile number, IP address, and any other details.

Republic Media Network expands its global operations, launches in UK
Republic Media Network’s leading news channel R. Bharat can now be seen in the UK through Sky platform from August 15, 2019 and is available at a premium position on channel number 708.  After launch in MENA Region and North America, this is the next overseas expansion of the fastest growing media network in India. Arnab Goswami led Republic Media Network will launch a separate UK beam with locally curated programs and events.

DAN appoints Deven Dharamdasani as CEO, SVG Media; Nitin Sabharwal elevated
Dentsu Aegis Network India has promoted erstwhile COO Deven Dharamdasani to the new role of CEO, SVG Media. The network took the decision following the sad and sudden demise of Anurag Gupta, former CEO - SVG Media, in July this year. Additionally, Nitin Sabharwal, former chief business officer – SVG Columbus, has now been elevated to Chief Operating Officer.

Unique print ads & Unity Bars – how Cadbury made Independence Day special
Unity in India’s diversity was the theme of Cadbury’s Independence Day campaign in print – the Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore editions of Economic Times, to be precise. The brand highlighted “Sweet Things Happen, when we unite” on the occasion of India’s 73^rd Independence Day.

Less bluster, more sublime – Brands’ Independence Day campaigns
As with the Independence Day campaigns over the years, brands have whipped up the patriotic fervor for the India’s 73rd Independence Day as well. This year, instead of a noisy display, brands have adopted a more sublime approach to their campaigns and are focusing on celebrating the country’s diversity.

CMO-CIO Story: A Glimpse into the Future of Marketing and Digital Transformation
A new commodity spawns lucrative, fast-growing, advanced economies. A century ago, the commodity in question was oil. Today, it is DATA.

Accenture Interactive to acquire Leading Design and Innovation Firm, INSITUM
Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire INSITUM, a service design and strategic research firm focused on innovation through a human-centered approach. The acquisition will strengthen Accenture Interactive’s position as a leading Experience Agency in the region by expanding the world-class services of its design and innovation unit, Fjord, in Latin America and beyond.

Y&A Transformation launches full-fledged digital agency, Snippet Digital
Y&A Transformation has announced the launch of Snippet Digital, a full-fledged digital marketing agency founded on the premise that digital is technology first, combined with creativity, media science and brand thinking. The company will operate under the Y&A collective banner, which will soon be launching other specialisations as well. 

ShareChat raises $100mn in Series D Funding
ShareChat, India’s largest regional social media platform, announced this week that it has raised a new round of funding of $100 million in its Series D.