Anil Ambani's TV entry strategy

Billionaire Anil Ambani, known for his naked aggression and love for scale, has made a quiet entry into the television broadcasting space. He has partnered with US media conglomerate CBS to set up a joint venture company, Big CBS Networks, that would initially roll out three English entertainment channels.

Ambani will fight in a genre that earns an annual ad revenue of just Rs 900 million. “It is too small a market. Even if Big CBS does take away market share, the revenue potential is too small to make a big impact in the industry. It is not like the Colors story where the size of the Hindi GEC (general entertainment channel) pie is large and it can disturb the marketplace,” says Multi Screen Media president network sales, licensing telephony Rohit Gupta.

Ambani, however, believes he can shake-up the English general entertainment genre with the CBS brand, content and pack of segmented channels. Big CBS Prime will compete with Star World, AXN and Zee Café, while Big CBS Spark and Love will build their own genres in the youth and women target segments.

“The market gets created. For the last few years, the need gap has dramatically changed with the spread of digitisation and the expansion of the English-speaking population. The entry strategy is appropriate as we feel there is an opportunity that better be tapped into now. This is only the first chapter and the others will unfold as we go along,” says Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) chief executive officer Tarun Katial. Ambani's big list will include GECs and movies in Hindi and the regional space. He has, in fact, applied to the government for approval to over 20 channels. For starters, however, the plan seems to occupy the upscale English space as there is a need gap and then expand footprint in all genres as a scale-up structure.

In the English genre space, Prime is being positioned as a contemporary channel that will air all the new shows from CBS and have localised adaptations of larger formats. “This is the first time an American network is getting into India. We will run the shows that are almost the same-day broadcast of the US, giving us a cutting edge against competition. Prime will be a GEC, with a leaning towards males. More than anything else, we are looking at category creation. We will promote this content and spread awareness,” says Katial. Prime’s positioning will put it up instantly against Star World while AXN with its male-skewed and action shows has a distinct identity. “Zee Café will have to beef up its content. Star World is a strong channel and AXN will be somewhat protected by its distinct male positioning. There will, of course, be some canibalisation but the genre is expected to grow. The space wasn’t seeing anything exciting happening in terms of launch and push,” says a media analyst.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) chief revenue officer and head niche channels Joy Chakraborthy believes the challenge for the existing players is to hold on to their market share. “The genre is too niche for the new channels to have an impact in terms of growing ad revenue. The CPRP is very high and the GRPs is very low. This genre has to find ways to compete better with other genres like English news and infotainment for ad revenue,” he says. Big CBS Spark will target the English youth with series and reality content that is edgy. Hindi youth channels like Bindass and MTV have banked on reality shows, but the English segment is untapped. “The youth channels in India have no soaps that can hold appeal to this target segment. Spark is expected to tap this upwardly mobile English youth. The aim is to create this genre and drive with it. CBS Love will also have a similar role to play,” says a media observer.

Star World senior VP Jyotsna Viriyala expects the new channel launches to grow the genre. “New entrants helped English movies as a category. English GEC has seen no action for a long time in terms of players coming in. Most of the action has been in the English movie space. My feeling is that Big CBS' youth channel will compete in the youth space with the likes of Bindass and MTV for ad revenue, though they are in Hindi,” she says. Gupta believes Big CBS will have a tough task to achieve profitability as distribution expenses are going to surpass ad revenues. “There are huge entry barriers for such niche channels because of distribution. Segmenting of the audience by launching new channels is anyway difficult. In a niche genre that very few people of the television viewing universe watch, it is even harder,” he says.

Katial feels Big CBS is uniquely placed in terms of profitability. “Our situation is different from the others as we already have a distribution reach of 11 million households through Big TV (DTH) and Digicable (Reliance acquired this pan-India cable network). We have an integrated ad sales team and a strong content pipeline. It is the getting together of two strong companies,” he says.

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Rajini's role in Mahaan

Mahaan, which is being aired on Vijay TV from Monday through Friday at 6:30 pm, features stories of divine personalities such as Guru Raghavendra, Ramana Maharishi, Rama Krishna Paramahamsar, Vallalar and so on. This is a unique concept that goes with tag line 'Punitharkal ana Manitharkalin Kathai'.

Dinesh G will play Guru Ragavendra in the forthcoming episode. He has completed Visual Communication at the Loyola College and is excited to don the role essayed by Rajinikanth. Film personality Ragavendra Lawrence will also appear in an important role in this serial.

This periodic Drama is produced by Venkatesh Babu of Global Villagers and directed by Tamizh Dasan of Golden Amber Production.

Actor wanted for Vijay TV serial

Karunaa Creation - Production House

Category: Artists / Performers

Age Group: 28-35 years

Gender: Male

Preferred location of candidate: Chennai

We are looking for male artiste for a vijay tv serial. It is a brother character for the heroine. Only chennai based males should apply.

Apply here

Soaked in bhakti

Soaked in bhakti

Legend, fiction and fact combine in ‘Aadhi Parasakthi,' the new serial going on air from today on Vijay TV, Fridays, 12 noon. Soaked in bhakti, as the title suggests, the mega is about the various forms of Sakthi and the story behind each. The viewers will be taken on a tour of the abodes of Sakthi, such as Samayapuram, Tirukkadaiyur, Tiruvaanaikkaval, Tiruvachur, Tiruverkadu, Koothanur, Mangadu, Peria Palayam and so on. Totally 108 temples will be featured, one in each episode. The first is the story of Samayapuram Mariamman.

Aadhi Parasakthi is directed by R. Gopinath, and has eminent personalities like K.R. Vijaya, Praveena, O.A.K. Sundar, Anand, Mohan Vaidhya, Dr. Sharmila, Rajasekar, Meera Krishnan, Sanjay playing the lead roles.

“Aadhi Parasakthi” from 24 September

“Aadhi Parasakthi” from 24 September

Following the mythological series like  Swami Iyappan, Saibaba, Devi Darisanam, Mahan Vijay TV will unveil  its next mythological

series titled “Aadhi Parasakthi” beginning this September 24, 2010 Friday’s at 12 noon. ‘Aadhi Parasakthi’ the series would bring out the various avatars of Goddess Amman, the beliefs and the miracles across the 108 temples in fiction format.

The series would travel across prominent Amman abodes like Samayapuram, Thiruverkaadu, Maangadu, Periya Palayam, Kanchipuram, Thirukkadaiyur, Koothanur, Thiruvaanaikkaaval, Bannari, Thiruvakkarai to name a few.

The first episode will feature the divine abode of Arulmighu Mariamman, Samayapuram in Trichy District. The episode would showcase the origin, the history, the miracles and the beliefs associated to this deity.

Similarly every week a particular holy abode of goddess Amman would be presented to enthrall the audience. This mythological fiction series has been shot in various locations of Tamilnadu with authentic information collected.  Aadhi Parasakthi

is directed by R. Gopinath, and has eminent personalities like  K.R. Vijaya, Praveena, O.A.K. Sundar, Anand, Mohan Vaidhya, Dr. Sharmila, Rajasekar,Meera Krishnan, Sanjay playing the lead roles.

Do tune in to Adhiparashakthi on Vijay TV from 24th September, 2010 onwards every Friday at 1200 noon.

Superstar blesses 'Mahaan' actor

Superstar blesses 'Mahaan' actor

Vijay TV is running series on ‘Mahaan’ which is about the saints of the country. The stories of Ramana Maharishi, Rama Krishna Paramahamsar and Vallalar were told so far and now the story of Guru Ragavendra has got the maximum popularity in the series.

Directed by Thamizh Dasan the Guru Ragavendra has very apt actors for the characters and that is one of the reasons for huge popularity. The main role of Guru Ragavendra is played by Dinesh G, who is the product of Loyola-Visual communication and fits the role in perfect.

The young actor met the super star who himself is a big devotee of Sri Raghavendra and got his blessings. It may be remembered that Sri Raghavendra is the mahaan worshipped by Rajinikanth and he made it a point to live the life of the saint in his 100th film ‘Sri Raghavendirar’.

Vijay TV re-focuses on fiction and mythos

    
Star’s Tamil GEC offering Vijay TV has fine tuned its programming mix and begun refocusing on the fiction space by bringing in a medley of drama, thrillers and mythological series in a bid to build primetime viewership during the 6.30 to 9 pm time band. The channel is targeting women and family audiences in the Tamil space.

The weekday primetime now consists of 5 fiction shows that occupy the 6.30-9 pm block on prime time, thus creating a healthy mix of fiction and nonfiction shows. Says Vijay TV General Manager K Sriram, “We have done a lot of ground work in understanding the psychographic profiles of women across Tamil Nadu, conducted focus group studies and have discussed numerable storylines before launching the fiction shows. It is very encouraging to note that the band is gaining momentum and we hope to keep building on the same."
   
“Fiction is the bread and butter of any GEC,” explains Sriram. “We have had good support from both the local and the national advertisers. Generally the local advertisers seize the opportunity first and get onto a show and the national advertisers follow,” he adds. Among the first few changes in Vijay TV’s fiction kitty is Maharani, a soap which captures the life of two orphans who were best of friends who turn to be the worst of enemies. Next, the channel launched a mythological series based on Lord Mruga - Yam Irukka Bayam Yean, (Where I am, there is no fear) for the 7-8 pm band on weekdays.

Vijay TV came up with its third fiction series in Mahan, (Greats) for the 6.30 p slot, a series based on saints. Mahan is a serial that talks about the birth, the calling, the sacrifices, the miracles, and the saintly life led by the saint. Vijay TV had planned about 60 episodes on Sri Guru Ragavendrar for Mahan, but looking at the popularity of the show, may extend it to about 90 episodes, reveals Sriram. The Tamil dubbed version of Sai Baba had been quite popular, and Vijay TV is planning about 40 episodes initially of a new Tamil production, Mahan. Based on the audience and advertisers response, the channel may increase the number of episodes. “I think we will limit the number of episodes to 90 for any saint,” adds Sriram.

The strengthening of the fiction band was completed with the launch of Meera and Yen Peyar Meenatchi (My name is Meecatchi) last week in the 8-9 pm band, thereby creating a mix of genres like mythology, super natural thriller and intense family drama. Earlier, Vijay TV had built its fiction space by bringing in leading film celebrities like Kushboo in Marumagal (Daughter-in-law), shot a soap Chamba extensively in Rajasthan and brought in innovative storylines in Kavyanjali and Nee Naan Aval (You, me and the other girl).

It ran nonfiction shows such as Kalakapovathu Vaaru, (roughly translated as Laughter Challenge) Super Singer, Jodi for the 9-10 pm time band. It’s been running the Airtel Super Singer for about three years now. Post 10 pm, the channel now targets male audiences with an investigative journalism show on current affairs, Nandanthadu-enna (What Happened) For the weekends, the channel is targeting the entire family with a mixture of non-fiction and format shows.

It is targeting the slightly older woman audiences with a cookery show at the 6-6.30 pm time band. Apart from this Vijay TV says that it is constantly exploring newer time bands in the afternoon and late prime for positing fiction shows. Adiparashakthi the miracles of Goddess Amman captured as a one-hour series on Fridays started from September 24 in the afternoon band.

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Vijay TV shifts focus to create a healthy primetime mix

Vijay TV the Tamil general entertainment channel of the STAR Network has carved a niche for itself by providing quality content to the family audience in the state of tamilnadu. Vijay TV had pioneered the fiction space by bringing in leading film celebrities like Kushboo in Marumagal , grand production values in chamba , shot extensively in Rajasthan and innovative storylines in kavyanjali and nee naan aval there by redefining the Fiction game in the Tamil general entertainment space.

Post this the focus shifted towards strengthening the nonfiction shows; kalakapovathu yaaru was the first successful format show down south and bigger shows followed; such as Super singer, Jodi ; From there on there was no looking back as Vijay TV continued its dominace in the Non fiction space and was setting benchmarks for others to follow .

Vijay TV now shifts its focus back to fiction by coming out with innovative storylines to build the prime time viewership.

The first show to be launched was Maharani which captures the life of 2 orphans who were best of friends who turn to be the worst of enemies. The show has been consistently delivering good numbers and has set the ball rolling for the others to follow. Post Maharani Vijay TV saw the launch of Yam irukka Bayam yean, the spiritual thriller that has been captivating audiences. Having stabilized the 7-8pm weekday prime time Vijay TV came up with its 3rd fiction series in Mahan, the journey of saints that have walked the face of the earth. Mahan is a mythological serial that talks about the birth, the calling, the sacrifices, the miracles, and the sainthood life undergone by the saint. The series would briefly cover the lives and miracles of Mahan's like Guru Sri Ragavendrar to begin with and then move on to the others. Mahan @ 6.30pm is the follow up to the successful mythological series saibaba which has a very good run.

The strengthening of the fiction band was completed with the launch Meera and Yen peyar Meenatchi last week in the 8-9pm band thereby by creating a good mix of genres like mythology, super natural thriller and intense family drama. The weekday primetime now consist of 5 fiction shows that occupy the 6.30-9pm block on prime time thus creating a healthy mix of fiction and nonfiction shows. Apart from this Vijay TV is constantly exploring newer time bands in the afternoon and late prime for positing fiction shows. Adiparashakthi the miracles of Goddess Amman captured as a one hour series on Friday's starting from September 24th in the afternoon band.

Vijay has always moved the fiction storylines outside painted and well decored houses to Schools , Villages , Offices , Overseas and thus was born many interesting and unique Stories which no one has ever dared to venture into.

Mr. K. Sriram- General Manager, Vijay TV: "We have done a lot of ground work in understanding the psychographic profiles of women across tamilnadu, conducted focus group studies and have discussed numerable storylines before launching the fiction shows and it is very encouraging to note that the band is gaining momentum and we hope to keep building on the same. Apart from this we also have an array of stories banked and have lined up some of the best film technicians to take the fiction programming forward there by reiterating Vijay TV's brand positioning of quality content for wholesome family entertainment."

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EERAM on 24 Sept, 2010

One of the most popular films of the year 2009, Eeram, will be aired on Vijay TV on September 24th, at 7 pm. The film has Nanda, Aadhi and Sindhu Menon in the lead roles. Eeram, which was directed by Arivazhagan and produced by Shankar’s S Pictures, is a horror-thriller that has captivated movie buffs with its powerful storyline and cinematography. It may be recalled that the director of Eeram is Arivazhagan.

Apart from televising the film, the crew of the film would share their experiences working in Eeram as well as the technical details.

Sivakarthikeyan Marriage Photos