Former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta, who has been arrested in the TRP scam, has, in his bail application, reportedly claimed that he could not have manipulated the rating system because he was not the "whole and sole of the BARC.

Submitting his bail application on December 30, his lawyer Kamlesh Ghumre argued that Dasgupta was CEO of the Broadcast Audience Research Council but there was a board of directors and a disciplinary committee above him.

He was not the "whole and sole of the BARC," the lawyer said, adding that he could not have manipulated the rating system.

Tamil general entertainment channel Colors Tamil is set to launch two interesting shows to strengthen its offering across both fiction and non-fiction content.

‘Sillunu Oru Kaadhal’, a Monday-Saturday fiction drama show, and ‘Bhajan Samraat’, a unique bhajan singing daily show, will premiere on January 4 at 9:30 pm and January 10, 2021 at 8 am.

Set amid a bustling city life, Sillunu Oru Kaadhal is a story narrated through the eyes of two key protagonists, Surya Kumar, an honest IPS officer and Kayalvizhi, a fun-loving young girl.

Sillunu Oru Kaadhal shows a new dimension in a modern relationship after Surya Kumar and Kayalvizhi tie the knot only to enter an unexpected turbulent marriage.

In its new brand film, youth brand MTV from Viacom18 gears up for the much-awaited new year but with a message, ‘Saal khatam hua hai, khatra nahi, continue staying safe!’.

Not only did the pandemic grip the world and a ‘masked’ reality took over us, it ushered in the phenomena of a ‘new normal’ that is here to stay in the near future. As this year bids adieu, we must remember that there’s no way safety can be compromised in 2021.

Showcasing a girl’s routine on the first day of 2021, the brand film kickstarts with her being resolute to work out and keep up with her healthy lifestyle. However, as soon as she is ready to step out for a brunch, she finds herself unable to move outdoors, and keeps getting directed back to the living room. Despite her repeated efforts to step out, she finds herself stuck indoors, much to her dismay. Her house help waves her a goodbye from the same door and leaves the house but she can’t. Perplexed to the core, she tries to figure out what the house help do differently, to finally realise that the latter was wearing a mask. On picking up and wearing her own mask, she eventually manages to step out successfully.

Hindi news channel News18 India from the Network18 Group is all geared up to mark the year-end with its special programming line-up ‘2021 Shubh Mangal Sawdhaan’. It will be telecast from 5 pm on December 31.

As we are bidding adieu to an unprecedented year that taught us to live a new normal, the channel has curated a special programming to bring cheer and optimism to its viewers as they enter the New Year.

Slated for New Year’s Eve, the programming will comprise shows such as ‘2020 ki Sabse Badi Mehfil’ and ‘Lapete Mein Netaji,’ accompanied by a sensational performance by Haryanvi singer-dancer, Sapna Chaudhary, and stand-up comedy by KK Naikar.

Adding a musical touch to the evening, the show 2020 ki Sabse Badi Mehfil will bring together renowned singers on one platform who will perform ‘2020 v/s 2021 Jawabi Qawwali’ along with all the heroes of 2020 such as Sonu Sood and Ravi Kishan to name a few. News18 India will also be hosting the grandest edition of ‘Lapete Mein Netaji’ with seven poets to bring fresh perspective on political climate of the country through sharp sarcasm and humour as they face off against the leaders from all the major political parties. The programming will feature astrologer Sanjay Jumani who will share their unique perspectives on the coming year, new beginnings, and hopes.

Mumbai: Arnab Goswami, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Republic Media Network reached out to his friends and colleagues in his organisation in an effort to pep their moral by terming the year 2020 as Remarkable Year and assured that the upcoming year 2021 will be an year of expansion starting with entry into Bengali News space, despite all odds forced against the organisation.

In his internal mail conveying his New Year wishes to all his, Arnab shared a look back on the year 2020 by listing various achievements stating that the network has achieved what no TV network has done before by becoming the first-ever network to be Number 1 in India in both Hindi and English with exponential growth in digital news space. He claimed that the popularity and the love from the viewers has reached an all-time high due to the coverage of big stories from Shaheen Bagh to Palghar to the Sushant Singh Rajput case that made millions of new viewers join Republic in mass campaigns for justice and truth.

Mumbai: On January 1st, 1971 Jaya Bachchan as Guddi charmed audiences as the star-struck and spunky schoolgirl whose love for film star, Dharmendra, knew no bounds. On its 50th anniversary, Sony MAX2 brings the evergreen magic of the movie to audiences with a special telecast on 1st January, 2021, at 10.30 pm.

The movie perfectly blends Gulzar’s mesmerising writing with Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s splendid direction, uniting some of the finest actors in India such as A.K. Hangal, Asrani and Keshto Mukherjee alongside Jaya Bachchan in a career-defining role making Guddi one of the finest movies ever made. Alongside Dharmendra, the film also sees Rajesh Khanna, Naveen Nischol, Asrani, Amitabh Bachchan, Om Prakash and Pran who appeared as themselves in the movie.

Following a young girl’s infatuation with a movie star, the movie took audiences on a unique journey behind the glamour of the film industry. That quaint magic can now be relived with the special telecast on Sony MAX2.

Year 2020 has been a difficult year for businesses across world, and broadcast industry is no different. While television witnessed an unprecedented spike in viewership this year, advertising could not enjoy the same momentum.

The festive season though brought some cheers as the industry recorded its highest-ever advertising volume on television since Week 16 of 2015. As per BARC, 38.7 million seconds is the highest ever ad volume witnessed on television in Week 43. Advertising had saw a drop of 26% in the April- June period as compared to Q1 2020.

As per the TAM AdEx- TV Year Rounder Report 2020, the average ad volume rose by 39% in the fourth quarter of the year 2020 compared to the average ad volume of the first three quarters. However, compared to year 2019, ad volumes saw a marginal rise of 0.8% this year.

Pankaj Krishna – Founder & CEO, Chrome Data Analytics & Media

2020 brought itself with many surprises, mixed emotions, instabilities, and a lot of good learnings with the need to relook at everything we’ve done up till now. It’s once in every 100 years that the planet goes through these upheaval changes whether good or bad, right or wrong, tormenting or blissful we have to live through these defies, adapt and move on.

Some of my major learnings from the year 2020 which are going to be my core focus for the year 2021 are:

MUMBAI: It’s been two decades since I have been listening, participating and speaking about the great inflection point in digital in India. Every five years with some growth in consumer usage of the internet, adoption of platforms and growing online shopping, the claim used to only add fuel. Further to tons of VC money going into start-ups, every third person used to say “Digital Inflection Point” has truly arrived in India.

So, I am kind of tired of this whole story, but wait… 2020 has been that year when the digital inflection point truly arrived. I say it with total conviction, data points and authority as a media agency head, based on what I am seeing on the ground and how clients have responded to the turning landscape and massive consumer behavior changes happening around us.

VCs invest in ideas for the future and 90 per cent of them fail but the ones that stick, address the growing need when the inflection point arrives, solving a problem and making the business viable because the business has a purpose. Purpose of disseminating information or spreading joy through entertainment or enabling healthcare in remote places or bringing education to people’s homes or even making financial transactions simpler.

MUMBAI: Balalji Telefilms is all set to take over content studio Ding Infinity. Over the weekend, the company informed the Bombay stock exchange of its intentions. Ding is a production house promoted by long time Balali Telelfilms creative professional Tanveer Bookwala, who was once CCO at Balaji Motion Pictures.

The Ekta Kapoor spearheaded firm will be picking up a minimum of 55 per cent equity in Ding, which was promoted in November 2020, at a price less than Rs 5 crore. The deal is planned to be a cash for shares deal, with Balaji acquiring a controlling majority stake.

The purpose of the acquisition:   to produce 100 per cent premium original cut through the clutter content. Ding was set up by Tanveer to produce premium shows and films at competitive budgets giving directors and creators a free hand to produce a variety of genres keeping its founder’s vision for the company in mind.