After several months of postponement of sporting events worldwide, the upcoming 20-20 League will bring an ounce of refreshment and normalcy during these tiring times. ABP News from ABP Network has launched a special programming initiative ‘Wah Cricket’ for the hard-core cricket fans of the country. 

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After M.S. Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket, fans all across the world have been awaiting his appearance. To augment this excitement and optimism among the masses, ABP News has brought a line-up of shows, which will be telecast on an everyday basis.

For the second consecutive year, Viacom18’s flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Colors will be seen furthering its brand footprint through the biggest cricketing phenomena of the year by partnering with one of the best performing teams, Mumbai Indians.

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Colors will strengthen its association as the ‘Principal Sponsor’ for the Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians will don the Colors’ logo on the back of their jersey during the much awaited 2020 season.

Speaking about this association, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, said, "Mumbai Indians as a team is much loved across the nation and we are delighted to be associated with them. In India, cricket has the power to bring families together, something that is also Colors’ core philosophy. Through our content, we always aim to bring alive interesting storylines while ensuring a cohesive viewing experience. The synergy between the two brands and the unbeatable combination of cricket and entertainment makes our association with Mumbai Indians a perfect proposition.”

India loves cricket and entertainment and the two television properties that serve the great Indian appetite for these two segments are Bigg Boss and IPL.

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Both the properties have become calendar events for the audience as well as the advertisers. IPL (telecast on Star India channels) usually happens between April-May during summers and Bigg Boss (on Colors) takes up the September-December period. This time, the Covid-19 situation has led to a clash of the two properties.  

Despite the clash, industry leaders suggest only a small impact on both properties. According to Mahesh Shetty, Head, Network Sales, Viacom18, it is not much of a clash. “From a viewership point of view, Bigg Boss is a 106-day property and IPL starts from September 19 and ends on November 8. If you see the clash is only for 37 days and in those 37 days, Bigg Boss starts at 10:30 pm whereas IPL starts at 7:30 pm. The match is over by 10:30 pm. There is no real clash,” he said.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) expanded its regional presence in the beginning of the year with the launch of Zee Biskope, a movie channel for Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh markets. 

The network claimed that in the first week after its launch in January 2020, Zee Biskope was a leading channel with 145 GRPs. With the coronavius pandemic and eventually the lockdown that started in March, the channel has gone through the grinds of the market and evolved with a strong foothold and a sustained leadership. It has witnessed a huge growth in viewership, CS 2+ 140 GRPs vs bhojpuri cinema 134 GRPs (Wk 16-23). 

Talking about Zee Biskope's journey, Samrat Ghosh, Cluster Business Head, East, ZEEL said, “We launched the channel in January, and post March, lockdown happened. Despite that, the journey so far for Zee Biskope has been really fantastic. Soon after the launch, we became the market leader. The viewership of the channel has been encouraging as we garnered ratings that were the highest that the market has seen. After two-three months of launch, we hit the pandemic situation which impacted the entire industry. Now, when businesses are coming back to normal, we too have bounced back. From the brand perspective, we always have the core of everything that we think consumers will consider watching. This helped us bounce back faster than other competitor channels.”

MUMBAI: The Indian communication OTT ecosystem can breathe easier now. After slapping oodles of regulation on the TV sector, as voiced regularly by the television broadcasting community, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)  has recommended that no controls need to be imposed on  OTT services such as voice over internet telephony, SMS, video calling, and instant messaging services.

On three counts, the TRAI has agreed to wait for it to evolve and consensus on regulations at the ITU level to emerge before imposing any further controls on OTTs:

. Market forces may be allowed to respond to the situation without prescribing any regulatory intervention. However, developments shall be monitored and intervention as felt necessary shall be done at appropriate time.

The TRAI further said in a report released today that the increase in usage of OTT, traffic of telecom service providers has also grown. “Various studies on appropriate business models are already under consideration in various jurisdictions and it is emerging. Therefore, any regulatory prescription in haste may leave adverse impact on industry as a whole.”

KOLKATA: Disney+Hotstar has bolstered its sponsorship portfolio for IPL 2020 with 13 sponsors. The brands which have onboarded for the largest cricket showbiz span across categories.

The start-up unicorn Dream11 is the co-presenting sponsor and Boost is co-powered by sponsor. The 11 associate sponsors include Acko, Maruti Suzuki, KhataBook, Flipkart, Swiggy, Ace23, HDFC Bank, Great Learning, MX Player, Kingfisher Calendar and AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India).

“Dream11 IPL 2020 will be a major catalyst for viewers and fans, who are longing to see their favourite stars back on the field. We have created avenues for interactive advertising innovations which enable brands to engage with their audience more effectively," Star and Disney India ad sales president Nitin Bawankule said.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has announced its entry into the regional music space with the launch of its Marathi music channel Zee Vajwa. The channel will have a programming line-up that will include 3000+ music playlists. It will boast of the best library in the category in partnership with Zee Music and Zee Studios.

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Apart from music, the channel will have short-form content to engage consumers, along with long-format scripted shows, said Pankaj Balhara, Dy. Business Head, Music Cluster, Zeel. One of the key differentiators would be experiential music slots with several other category firsts, such as a comedy show.

Celebrating the success stories of India’s most innovative SMEs and start-ups, ET Now hosted the 8the season of Leaders of Tomorrow eAwards on Sunday, September 13, 2020. This season was driven by theme ‘Small to Scalable’, built upon its pedigree to focus on empowering upcoming businesses with the most relevant information and access to the biggest experts.

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The virtual eAward grand platform hosted across Times Network news channels witnessed a special address by Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, followed by an exclusive interview with V. Vaidyanathan, MD & CEO, IDFC FIRST Bank. Recognising and rewarding the most promising entrepreneurs pan India, Leaders of Tomorrow culminated in a thrilling finale wherein the best SMEs of the year battled it out before a highly-distinguished jury of industry luminaries. The eminent jury, consisted of some of India Inc’s most respected business leaders including Anupam Pahuja, MD, PayPal India, Rohit Kapoor, CEO, OYO India & South Asia, Pramod Menon, Group CFO, RPG Group, PC Musthafa, Co-Founder & CEO, iD Fresh Food, Avani Davda, Former CEO and MD, Nature’s Basket,  Bhavik Rathod, Founder & CEO, Kyt, Ritu Mehrotra, Country Manager, India, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Booking.com, Ameve Sharma, Founder, Kapiva, Sreyas Srinivasan, Founder & CEO, Paytm Insider.

At a time traditional industries are still struggling to find their feet and hit their pre-Covid numbers in terms of advertising, online and fantasy gaming are going to lead TV advertising in the upcoming season that would see big ticket properties such as the Indian Premier League (IPL), Bigg Boss and Kaun Banega Crorepati.

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The online gaming platform is likely to revive the adex for the remaining part of year, which is down by almost 50% because of Covid.

Going by the trends and the recent Madison-report that says that adex in H2 2020 should grow by 60-72% compared to H1 ’20 and grow by 6-13% of H2 ’19, Vinit Godara, Co-Founder and CEO, MyTeam11, strongly feels online gaming platforms will have a strong role to play in this growth.

New Delhi: BBC Studios has signed a deal for an Indian adaptation of the hit drama series ‘One of Us’.

The thriller is set to be adapted as a Hotstar Telugu special by BBC Studios India. One of Us centers on the mysterious murders of childhood sweethearts Adam Elliot and Grace Douglas, who are found dead in their home soon after their honeymoon.

Sameer Gogate, Business Head of production for India at BBC Studios, said: “Hotstar is known for its focus on premium dramas and we are delighted to work with them again to deliver another high-end thriller. The great thing about adaptations is their world-wide appeal that transverse everything from cultures, to boundaries, and languages—and yet stay true to the essence of the story. We are very proud to be able to present One of Us to the Telugu audience. This marks our debut into the regional scripted market and what better way to launch than with this premium drama as a Hotstar Telugu special.”