82% Indians say IPL not a drag: Ipsos Survey.

MUMBAI: —Ipsos IPL survey shows that 82% Indians polled view the IPL as an extravaganza for cricket buffs and are fine with the tournament stretching to 7 weeks, given our high interest in the game; 12% respondents however find the duration of the tournament too long leaving little time for other things; though 7% respondents desisted from voicing their opinion.

“Weariness from watching too much IPL is unthinkable for a cricket crazy nation like ours. IPL does hijack complete attention of cricket enthusiasts,” said Amit Adarkar, Managing Director - India, Ipsos.

Given the popularity of the IPL, we’d asked respondents to name star batsman of the IPL who would notch up the highest runs. 46% named Virat Kohli and other batsmen chosen were: MS Dhoni (21%); Chris Gayle (9%); Rohit Sharma (7%); AB De Villiers (6%); Suresh Raina (5%); Brendon McCullum (2%); David Miller (2%); Steven Smith (1%) and Glen Maxwell (1%).

Interestingly, the Orange Cap Holders, batsmen with highest run tally in pecking order so far are: Virat Kohli (RCB), DA Warner (SH), AB de Villiers (RCB), RG Sharma (MI), AM Rahane (RPS), G Gambhir (KKR), S Dhawan (SH), M Vijay (KXIP), Q de Kock (DD) and SK Raina (GL).

We’d also asked respondents to name bowlers who would take most wickets. Star bowlers chosen were: Ravichandran Ashvin (21%), Sunil Narine (19%), Zaheer Khan (14%), Umesh Yadav (12%), Mitchell Johnson (9%), Lasith Malinga (8%), Dale Steyn (6%), Jasprit Burmah (5%); Mitchell Star (4%) and Tim Southee (3%) .

In IPL 9, Purple Cap Holders (bowlers bagging maximum wickets) are: YS Chahal (RCB), B Kumar (SH), MJ McClenaghan (MI), Mustafizur Rahman (SH), SR Watson (RCB), AD Russel (KKR), Sandeep Sharma (KXIP), JJ Burmah (MI), DJ Bravo (GL) and DS Kulkarni (GL).

“A lot of dark horses have created new benchmarks in their career in this season of the IPL,” said Adarkar.

Virat Kohli, skipper Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has kept the momentum going and has notched up the highest run tally in the IPL Season 9 and had recently displayed a scintillating performance at the ICC T20 World Cup as well. Comparing Kohli with Tendulkar has been rife for some time; we asked respondents if Virat Kohli was a legend in making a la Sachin Tendulkar? 51% respondents agreed that Kohli is a legend in making and inching towards being next Tendulkar; 28% however felt that Kohli was a legend in making but far from being the next Tendulkar; 11% felt that Kohli still has to play some more good cricket to either be a legend league or be the next Tendulkar. 10% had no views.

With all the hoopla around the IPL, our survey asked which team would lift the trophy. Overall we got, divided views: 26% voted for Mumbai Indian (MI); 23% for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR); 20% chose the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB); 14% voted for the Delhi DareDevils (DD); 6% for Sunrisers Hyderabad; (SH) 4% for Kings Eleven Punjab (KXIP); 4% for Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) and 3% for Gujarat Lions (GL).

Adarkar is all praise for Gujarat Lions: “Debutants have notched up highest points when we look at the matches-won-tally (this is likely to change as more matches are played). Underdogs have zipped past the rest.”

Point wise pecking order, till now was: Gujarat Lions is leading and at the top, followed by RCB, SH, KKR, MI, DD, RPS and KXIP.

Interestingly, our survey shows allegiance by most cities for their state team, barring a few exceptions: Delhiites feel DD will bag the coveted IPL Trophy (56%); Mumbaikars say MI (75%); Chennai chooses MI (44%) and DD (21%); Kolkata sure about KKR (80%); Ahmedabad torn between KKR (48%) and RCB (38%); Bangalore for RCB (58%); Hyderabad for SH (40%) and RCB (26%); Lucknow fan following is split between RCB (30%), KKR (29%) and MI (21%).

“This season we have seen the two debutante teams of Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants. It will be interesting to see whether defending champions Mumbai Indians lift the trophy or will it be the Gujarat Lions, Delhi Devils or Kolkata Knight Riders. Still a lot more action on the anvil; and frenzy among fans will only increase as the final matches draw close,” adds Adarkar

How Media quotes Makarand Wadekar 3

Centre may declare Sahyadri a red zone

The decision may adversely affect development projects.

Mamta Chitnis Sen  Mumbai | 23rd Aug 2014

he Central government may declare the Sahyadri hills a "red zone" where construction activities are banned, say officials in Maharashtra's environment department. If implemented, this could affect the future of over 36 townships that are coming up in western Maharashtra. "The Sahyadris are ecologically sensitive. After the landslide in Malin, which led to the death of 160 people, the Ministry of Environment may declare the entire area as a no-development zone. The declaration may come after October," said the Mantralaya official. "As of now, over 700 builders, big and small, are involved in different construction projects in the belt. After the Malin tragedy, those promoting the concept of second country homes are desperately trying to dispose of these plots," he said. The source added that if the area is declared a "red zone", builders and developers will face huge losses. Credit policy analyst Makarand Wadekar agrees that in case the Sahyadri belt is declared a red zone, builders who have invested heavily in the construction of new projects will suffer and the value of the land will go down. "I believe that most plots that are located in the Sahyadris, especially within a 100 kilometre radius of Mumbai (stretching from Panvel to the outskirts of Pune), are being developed violating all ecological norms. Huge amounts are being invested to cut the mountains but no attempt is being made to rehabilitate the ecosystem. The builder lobby purchases land along these hills either from local villagers, through questionable means or encroaches upon the forestland. Usually, these lands are acquired for throwaway prices like Rs 10 lakh per acre and sold off at escalated costs. After digging deep at 10 metres in these areas, you tend to hit water which rusts the steel plinths that are made to stand in this soil. This causes the houses to fall after a few years. With trees being uprooted, the soil, which becomes loose tends to flow downhill causing landslides," he said. Ashutosh Limaye, head, Research & Real Estate Intelligence Survey, Jones Lang LaSalle India, points out that once the area is declared a red zone, not only will there be restriction on development in various gradations but the projects currently under construction will also suffer. "I believe that in critical areas, development would come to a stop. While in partially critical areas, it would continue. A majority of projects are being promoted as second homes in these hills and we have seen that their appreciation value tends to go down irrespective of the fact whether it is a no-development zone or not. Most buyers enjoy the property initially but tend to neglect it over the years. Also builders, once they hand over these projects to their owners, back out completely from the maintenance of these projects, causing the selling rates to plummet," he says.

http://www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/centre-may-declare-sahyadri-a-red-zone

Interview in Media 2

Bihari Babus want Mumbai to start Bhojpuri film awards

Mamta Chitnis Sen  MUMBAI | 12th Jun 2011

Bhojpuri heroine Monalisa is a Maharashtrian. he Bihari bureaucrat lobby in Maharashtra wants the state government to come up with awards recognising Bhojpuri cinema. These bureaucrats feel that the awards will not only commemorate the 50th year of Bhojpuri cinema in 2011, but will also help Bhojpuri films attain national status. If the proposal gets cleared, the maiden awards ceremony will be held in November at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex, at a stone's throw from Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's bungalow Matoshree. "Top female actors in Bhojpuri cinema such as Monalisa and Bhagyashree are Maharashtrians. Even Marathi film producers are raking in crores by producing Bhojpuri films," said a bureaucrat on the condition of anonymity. He added that the Bhojpuri film industry is the second largest in Mumbai and it is time it got national recognition: "Mumbai is an obvious choice for such awards as Bhojpuri films are shot and produced in the city. Single-screen theatres that do not show Marathi films will screen Bhojpuri films because they are super hits and money-spinners." The bureaucrat however, dismissed the speculation that the attempt was a political move by the Congress government to control the North Indian vote bank in Maharashtra. Ravi Shankar Srivastav, the chairman of Bihar Foundation, said that they have been urging Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to hold an award ceremony in Patna, but that they would not mind if any such ceremony is hosted in Mumbai. The foundation, which is patronised by Nitish Kumar, is controlled by bureaucrats from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. "We thought of the Bandra Kurla Complex as the venue is centrally located and closer to Dharavi, where the Bihari population resides in large numbers," said Srivastav, who is a bureaucrat himself. Makarand Wadekar, principal consultant of television programming company In Search, said that the popularity of Bhojpuri cinema has increased so much that the Adhikari brothers-owned SAB TV has requested the state government to give subsidy to Bhojpuri films made in Maharashtra. "SAB TV plans to produce and direct Bhojpuri films and talks are currently being held with the state government to construct infrastructure for the same," he said. "The audience for Bhojpuri cinema cuts across all classes. These films have a huge fan following among Biharis — not just among labourers but also the educated and the elite abroad. With UP elections around the corner the Congress will use this opportunity to derive maximum political mileage. The Maharashtra government is taking a lot of interest to capture the North Indian vote bank," Wadekar said. On 6 June, the film magazine Cine Bhojpuri hosted its maiden awards ceremony at Mumbai's Rang Sharda auditorium. Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam, who was the chief guest, is said to be planning to come up with his own award ceremony to keep North Indians in Mumbai happy. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena spokesperson Shirish Parkar said, "We don't mind any number of Bhojpuri awards being hosted in Mumbai but will not like subsidies to be given to Bhojpuri films in Maharashtra." http://www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/bihari-babus-want-mumbai-to-start-bhojpuri-film-awards

Makarand Wadekar interview in Media - 1

Fear of increased taxes made markets crash

Mamta Chitnis Sen  MUMBAI | 2nd Mar 2013

ixed reactions are pouring in from the business fraternity over the Budget and more importantly the one and a half hour stock market crash that followed. Rakesh Samatha, an investor from Dalal Streetsays, "The market started functioning irrationally after the Foreign Investment Institutions (FII) saw that instead of making more profits they're forced to pay more taxes. This shows that in spite of the BSE having many ndian investors, the market clearly depends on foreign investors. It's high time that Chidambaram identifies small investors to avoid such situations," he says. Debashish Basu, editor of Moneycontrol.in, says, "One of the reasons the markets reacted was because there is a lot of disbelief about the way the FM has projected the figures and growth. Then there was confusion about the Mauritius tax angles, which was not that important, but enough to create chaos for one-and-half hour in the market," he also added that this shows that the upward movement of the market has been broken. On a different note, Robin Banerjee, deputy managing director, Bilcare, said that the budget was a good one, keeping in mind the coalition politics involved. He believed the market crash was only a short time phenomenon and will not have future impact. "India has preferential treatise with various countries, like Mauritius. When investors from this country buy shares in the stock market, there is a preferential tax treatment. In fact, it pertains to Capital Gains tax, which is eligible on shares sold, when the original investment arises from Mauritius. However, in the Budget proposal, it was proposed that the government will not only obtain certifications from the country of origin but would also require 'some other proof' to satisfy the genuineness of the origin of the money. This is known as the 'residency test' and is where the problem lies," he analysed, adding that investors thought that through the new proposal of verification of tax residency, additional taxes could be levied when shares will be bought and sold in future, as the government may disallow the Mauritian status of certain investments. He added that, when the government clarified this issue, the markets bounced back. Credit policy analyst Makarand Wadekar also says that the stock markets mainly run on foreign investors, who for now believe that it is not a favourable time to invest in India and do not have faith in the government's long term policies. http://www.sunday-guardian.com/business/fear-of-increased-taxes-made-markets-crash

What Media project Makarand Wadekar

 CHILDREN OF THE IDIOT BOX

Following was article published in CoverT in 01 Jan 2009 Magazine.
Even if you read last two para you will understand more about me or my profession. Look forward to hear your comments
Regards





CHILDREN OF THE IDIOT BOX

By Mamta Sen

Maharashtra Labour Minister Nawab Malik has created a stir in the entertainment industry by sending notices to all television producers through the labour commissioner about the safety norms for child artistes working on the sets and the long hours they put in. Most television channels declined to comment on the notice, with some claiming that they had not even received it. But measures are being put in place to ensure that the child actors do not disclose information about their work conditions and schedules.

Television channel Colors which is airing at least four serials with children in the lead — Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Jai Sri Krishna and Chhote Miyan — was not particularly forthcoming on this. Programming head Ashvini Yardi pointed out that these serials try to focus on social issues that have never before been dealt with on Indian television. “Our single biggest priority is to offer programming that will help break through the clutter and this is why you will see us deliver a strong proposition of differentiation and distinctive content,” she said.

The channel has ensured that children acting in its serials do not interact with the media. This has reportedly been incorporated in formal agreements, according to a family friend of Balika Vadhu’s lead character Avika Gor who plays the role of Anandi.

Eleven-year-old Avika is today the most sought after face on Indian television. She has won an award for Best Female Child Artiste, as well as for Best Female Newcomer, Best Female Artiste, and Best Fresh Face, outdoing senior actresses. Rumours are, Avika, who is earning lakhs of rupees, has stopped going to school. Numerous calls to her father Sameer by this correspondent went unanswered. Avika has also started modelling and recently walked the ramp for an imitation jewellery designer at a five-star hotel. She is also making her debut in a movie Paathshala with actor Shahid Kapoor. It also stars her “rival”, ten-year-old Swini Khara.

Swini had made audiences sit up with her crisp performance in Balki’s Cheeni Kum starring Amitabh Bachchan, where she played the role a terminally ill patient. She began her career as a three-year-old modelling for Ajanta toothpaste and hit the big screen with Kalpana Lajmi’s Chingari and Hari Puttar. Her forthcoming films include Paathshala [with Avika] and Kaalo, as well as a voice over in Nikhil Advani’s Ab Delhi Door Nahin. Swini, who was nominated for Best Child Artiste [female] along with Avika for her role in Baa Bahoo aur Baby on Star Plus, confesses that though she does get tired, it is the sheer enjoyment of acting that keeps her going. Her mother Shilpa though believes work schedules often differ with each production house. “Swini generally does shooting after school, but we prefer commercials to films or serials since they wrap up pretty fast. We often tend to bunk school for commercials since they usually take up an entire day,” the mother said, adding that children too should be compensated since school is kind of “work” for them. “Juggling school and shootings together often takes a toll, but Swini carries her school books to the film sets and studies between shots,” said Shilpa, refusing to answer how much her daughter is paid for her long hours of work. She admitted, however, that the competition was getting extremely stiff.

Casting director Mona Irani, who has been working with child actors for the last 16 years, said, “Earlier there used to be a mere ten kids auditioning for one role. Now around 150-200 kids land up, out of which only one will probably be selected.” She said that this increase in numbers has become noticeable over the past five years. “There is a lot of talent, it is just a question of getting the right break,” she said. Mona was of the view that more than producers, parents need to be pulled up by the Government for pushing their children to the brink.

“Parents themselves give permission for their kids to shoot for 14 hours at a stretch. The notice should have been sent to them instead. Most parents want their kids to be mini-stars. Once the child gets a taste of fame they stop him or her from going to school. Quick money and instant recognition is what drives parents to push their children to such limits. They are trying to live their dreams through the child,” said Mona, adding that the remuneration ranges between Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh a day.

Money, and not safety, is of utmost importance, according to several coordinators in the entertainment industry. A modelling coordinator confided that film sets were often not safe for child actors. “You often have men, specially technicians, landing up drunk on the sets and I have seen kids left alone by parents to fend for themselves, with no separate rooms for them to relax. So yes, they are vulnerable and it is almost as if we are waiting for a disaster to happen,” he said.

Hansika Motwani, a former child artiste who made her debut opposite Himesh Reshammiya in Aap Kaa Surroor: The Real Luv Story last year, is a case in point. “Her mother used to call the shots. The child at eleven years was even made to act as a rape victim in a movie called Jaago based on a real life incident. This movie catapulted her to the status of the highest paid child actor then. Though the girl is only 18 years old today, she looks over 30 and has hardly made an impact as a heroine,” insiders point out.

“The child should be given an opportunity to decide,” according to theatre artiste Debashish Chanda whose two daughters Swarna and Prothoma have been acting in serials since three years old. While Swarna [9] has acted in Neelanjana on 9X, Prothoma [6] is busy doing commercials. “Work only depends on the number of scenes per day and yes, though juggling school and shooting is tiresome, one cannot help it,” Debashish said. He admitted to being disappointed if his children failed the auditions, adding, “Favouritism is rampant here as well; which is why I have registered my kids in the Cine Artiste Association as members to protect them from being taken for a ride.”

Swarna, of course, did not know what the fuss was all about. “Sometimes I do get tired but it’s okay. In school I am the only one who is famous and I love it when everyone notices me,” she said with a big smile [¼]

REALITY BITES FILM STARS

The small screen has always been regarded as the last hope for resurrecting one’s acting career. Amitabh Bachchan gave a shot to his career with Kaun Banega Crorepati?, a lead that several actors followed. TRP ratings for Salman Khan’s Dus Ka Dum, Shah Rukh Khan’s Kya Aap Panchvi Pass Se Tez Hai? and Akshay Kumar’s Fear Factor remained low and dissuaded others from anchoring similar shows. Instead, film personalities decided to play the role of celebrity judges in several song and dance reality shows, rather than actually acting in teleserials as was the case over a decade ago. Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge, Star Voice of India, Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dhikhhla Jaa are some of the more popular shows where celebrities take on the role of strict judges, often relaxing sufficiently to sing or dance with the contestants.

To spice up their shows, the channels are wooing film personalities who are in great demand. Nach Baliye 4 has Farah Khan, Arjun Rampal and Karisma Kapoor as its judges, while the relatively new dance show, Dancing Queen has Hema Malini and Jeetendra.

Rajesh Kamat, chief executive officer of Colors, says that proper weekend programming along with a good choice of celebrities as anchors is the formula for a successful show. However, as sources pointed out, for many of the film personalities the show becomes an opportunity to project their ongoing films. For instance, Deepika Padukone has paired up with MTV Roadies with the return benefit of publicising her new movie Chandni Chowk to China. “I too have been an avid watcher of the show and I think it is a complete blast,” she said when asked about this.

Makarand Wadekar, principal consultant for In Search which tracks TRP points, said that several reality shows were running on advertising revenue and a celebrity was taken on as a judge simply to raise the ratings. “But if the script and idea of a particular show are clear and bold enough to pass on the real message then celebrities are not used for the show,” he said giving the example of Sony TV where the song-based shows enjoy the highest TRP ratings currently.

As for reality channels, two will be launched by CNBC-TV 18 and Turner International on 1 January 2009. The total investment for these over the next three years is expected to be US $39 billion of which $12 billion has already been invested in India. Sports 18 of CNBC will also start operating with an adventure reality show called Volvo Ocean Rally.

http://insearchindia.blogspot.in/2009/06/children-of-idiot-box.html?m=1

SPN acquires exclusive broadcast and digital rights for 2016 Copa America Centenario in India

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive broadcast and digital rights to telecast the 2016 edition of Copa America Centenario in India and the Indian sub-continent (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). This year’s tournament being held in the United States of America from June 3 to June 26 will be telecast live and exclusive on Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD channels.

As part of the rights package, the network will air all 32 matches of the tournament played across 10 venues in the United States. In addition to the live coverage, Sony ESPN channels will also broadcast the highlights of matches during the tournament. On the digital front, consumers will be able to livestream all the matches on Sony LIV.

The Copa América Centenario is a historical once-in-a-lifetime event celebrating 100 years of the Copa América and is a special edition between the usual four-year cycles of the Copa América tournaments. For the first time since its inception, the tournament will be held outside of South America and feature the top star players from North, South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean like Lionel Messi (Argentina), Luis Suarez (Uruguay) Javier Hernandez (Mexico) and James Rodriguez (Colombia) to name a few.

The Copa América Centenario is anticipated to make history with some of the biggest encounters in football. Top international teams like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Columbia, and more will face off each other on the field, all playing for the coveted trophy specially designed for the tournament.

Sony sports cluster executive VP and business head Prasana Krishnan said, “This summer promises sports history in the making with the Copa América Centenario, a once in a lifetime event which sports fans will not want to miss. The acquisition of the exclusive broadcast and digital rights to telecast the 2016 edition of Copa América Centenario in India and the Indian Sub-Continent re-validates the SONY Sports cluster’s leadership in being the destination for football fans.”

“Copa América Centenario, South America's most prestigious international competition, alongside UEFA EURO 2016, Europe’s biggest tournament on our network will undoubtedly capture the interest of every football fan. During the event, viewers will see the currently ranked top ten International teams with some of the world’s greatest football players in an amazing line-up of matches from both Copa America Centenario and UEFA EURO 2016 on the Sony sports cluster”, he added.

Customarily contested by the 10 CONMEBOL (the South American football confederation) nations and two outside invitees, the 2016 Copa América will have 10 South American national teams joined by six 

Marriott India partners Rising Pune Supergiants for IPL Season 2016

MUMBAI: The digital campaign #MarriottForRPSG, conceptualized in partnership with MindShift Interactive amplifies the Rising Pune Supergiants and Marriott India association for IPL 2016.

With the #MarriottForRPSG campaign, the agency wanted to highlight the association of Marriott India as the official hospitality partner of Rising Pune Supergiants. The campaign began with over 40 Marriott India properties - Marriott, JW Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn by Marriott and Renaissance. They came together for a holistic campaign to cheer for the first season of the Rising Pune Supergiants. The month long campaign focused on the common ground between cricket and Marriott - passion. Building on that idea, the campaign started off with profiling the team members - MS Dhoni, Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Peterson, Faf Du Plessis amongst others whilst highlighting JW Marriott Pune being the official hosts to the team throughout the series.

An flash mob conducted by the JW Marriott Pune staff was created and captured through a video that received high outreach digital platforms. Keeping the insight behind video content being a key to leveraging engagements, a fair share of videos were created around the associates of Marriott and the teams. A cricket playoff between key players from RPS and students from the Mahindra Pride School, a cause dear to Marriott India was conducted capturing the true essence of two worlds colliding, shared through all the Marriott properties across India. The entire campaign was aptly led by content focusing on the cricket fever through the hashtag #CricketOnMyMind, in the form of rich media such as GIFs and videos presenting the subtle ways cricket  is seen .

The month long campaign had an overall outreach of 60,00,000 organically, owing an outreach of over 5,00,000 on Facebook and more than 55,00,000 on Twitter. Instagram was leveraged as a secondary platform for properties that were present too.

MindShift Interactive CEO  Zafar Rais commented, “This was an exciting opportunity for MindShift to partner with not just a few Marriott India properties but with each and every one of them to leverage their association with Rising Pune Super Giants, making it the first of its kind. Leveraging the association on social media was the apt route to take given the level of engagement IPL receives digitally.”

MSM Media Distribution is now Sony Pictures Networks Distribution India.

MUMBAI: MSM Media Distribution (MSMMD), the distribution arm and wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) today has announced a change in its name and will now be called Sony Pictures Networks Distribution India Pvt. Ltd. The name change reflects SPN’s broader vision and is part of the alignment process to its parent company Sony Pictures Networks India. 

The new name is effective immediately. The change in the distribution subsidiary’s name does not affect or impact its business with customers and stakeholders in any way.

With its core focus on distributing a wide array of world class television channels, spanning across different genres and languages through multiple content delivery platforms, Sony Pictures Networks Distribution Pvt. Ltd reaches out to over 120 million households in over 9000 towns in India. The company also distributes the TV Today Network channels India Today, Aaj Tak and Tez.

As a company that encourages growth, rewards excellence and celebrates the success of its employees, Sony Pictures Networks Distribution India Pvt. Ltd was adjudged as one of India’s Top 50 Best Companies to Work for in 2015, in a survey conducted by the Great Place To Work Institute.

Sony Pix to air 'Paddington' movie on 29 May.

MUMBAI: How adorable will it be to spot a cuddly suited booted Teddy Bear, alighting a train and strutting his luggage finding his new abode. It’s a childhood fantasy that we must have all had at some stage and to see its depiction on the big screen is an absolute visual treat. 

Sony Pix, staying true to its brand persona will make sure you Stay Amazed with the story of the endearing bear from the Peruvian rainforest Paddington, a name that fate chose for him at Paddington Station where his life was going to change forever. Watch this adorable bear’s tryst in the urban jungle far far away from his comfortable life in the rainforest on 29 May at 1 pm and 9 pm.

Paddington is a family movie that will work its way into your hearts and minds with love from both children and adults alike world over.This charmingly delightful affairgot a rotten tomatoes positive rating of 98% and a rating of 7.2 on IMDB and is going down as one of the best family films.Paddington is truly hilarious and heartwarming with a story that is so rich and compelling that it just grabs everyone by the heart with its charm and humour.

A deadly earthquake destroys the Peruvian rainforest and a young bear (Ben Whishaw), makes his way to London in search of a new home. The bear, dubbed Paddington reaches the london train station and finds shelter with Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins). Although Paddington’s amazement at urban life soon endears him to the Browns, someone else finds her eye on him: the sadist Taxidermist, Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman), who kills and stuffs exotic animals to house in the Natural History Museum. She becomes aware of Paddington and sets out to hunt him down.Through his journey, Paddington must not only find himself a humble abode in London, but also escape Millicent’s vicious plan to stuff him.

Based on Paddington Bear created by Michael Bond, the charmingly funny and shamelessly punny, Paddington is directed by Paul King, written by King and Hamish McColl, and produced by David Heyman. Ben Whishaw is the voice behind Paddington and will be seen along with co-stars Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters and Nicole Kidman.Paddington has become the highest-ever grossing non-Hollywood family film after banking $200million at the box office in its release year.

Hansa Research releases IPLomania – a syndicated 9 season study on team loyalties.

MUMBAI: IPLomania reveals interesting correlations between team loyalties and its impact on the recall value of the sponsoring brands. The study which started in 2008 (IPL – Season 1), completes 9 years, covering 11550 F2F CAPI Interviews, panning 10 towns covering SEC ABC, hard-core IPL viewers, of age group 12+, this season, threw up some interesting data.

•Not all cities are ardent supporters of their respective teams

•Team’s Performance plays a significant (if not crucial role) in enhancing loyalty

•Marque players are a vital cog in any team’s fan following

There are exceptions though.

Transient Loyalties

For every fanatical supporter of CSK, there is a very fickle supporter of DD. But, even this might change in the next season. KXIP realized that when they found tremendous support in the latter stages of 2014, while they were consistently dominant, only for the support to fizzle out in the next edition when they bombed. So can DD count on an increased fan base during IPL-10?

Amongst the latest entrants, GL are increasing the fan base with their performances, while RPS is struggling even with MS Dhoni at the helm. 

Top Performers

CSK and MI have emerged as the most consistent in garnering loyalties, and not just from their respective cities, so has KKR and RCB. 

Masterstroke

CSK, MI, KKR and RCB have more or less kept a consistent pool of players, giving their supporters ample time to identify themselves with the team. With a consistent core, their performances have been consistent and that has led to a consistent, loyal fan base. 

In teams that are yet to settle their squad, marquee players play an important role in establishing a connection with the audience. Fans of SRH swear by their captain David Warner, whereas Glenn Maxwell rouses the fervour for fans of KXIP. 

Lead Sponsor Mentions

IPLomania reveals a stark difference in the manner in which these sponsor brands are recalled by the audiences. Let us take an example of the ‘lead’ sponsors (whose logo appears on the jersey chest for each team). 

8%  of audience mentions the ‘lead’ sponsor on a average for any team 

27% of audience mentions ‘lead’ sponsor when it comes to the top 2 teams CSK and KKR 

2% of audience mentions ‘lead’ sponsor in case of KXIP and DD

In fact the brand recall for the CSK sponsor was as high as 42%.

Team Loyalty and brand recall

Team loyalty also plays a huge role on the recall value for a brand. Teams that have managed to consistently garner a loyal fan base, also manage to repay their sponsors in terms of a better brand recall.

Bringing it all together

With a captive audience the IPL provides a tremendous opportunity for brands to be associated with the franchise, and more importantly recalled by their audience. The formula is to be consistent whether it comes to the squad or performance and strategic – like having a marquee player and giving him time to build a loyalty fan following. 

Sony SAB launches 'Dr. Bhanumati On Duty', an off-beat hospital comedy.

MUMBAI: Sony Sab is all set to launch a new hospital based comedy series called Dr. Bhanumati On Duty. Set in rural Rajasthan, the show will focus on Dr. Bhanumati Bhinn a no-nonsense Rajasthani army doctor who is known for her unique style in curing her patients. 

With actress Kavita Kaushik in the lead as Dr Bhanumati Bhinn, the show will also feature Gopi Bhalla as Lovely Singh Dhingra who is her assistant-cum-sidekick. 

Dr. Bhanumati On Duty is set to hit the tube on Tuesday, 7 June onwards, Monday to Friday at 10:30 hours on Sony SAB.

The plot will chronicle the escapades of Dr. Bhanumati, her two orderlies and the patients. The vibrant Bhanumati will try to solve the problems of her patients, using her trademark catchphrase ‘Samjyo Kai’ while she treats them. The conventional army life full of vigor and discipline has influenced her strongly and she solves her patients’ medical problems in her signature ‘stunt and blunt’ style which she considers as alternative therapy. This beauty on duty believes that medicines are not the only way to cure patients!

When on duty, Bhanumati will be joined by her loyal orderly Lovely Singh and Doodhnath (Ketan Singh), who help her solve weird cases with a tinge of humour. Lovely Singh who is a loyal follower of Bhanumati’s techniques will be seen following her around causing her a major discomfort. While she tries her best to keep him away from her patients, her attempts seem to be futile which add on to the comic quotient of the show. To add to her daily dilemma, her other assistant Doodhnath is another odd character.. In fact Lovely and Doodhnath are always arguing with each other over every issue and all this banter irks Bhanumati.

The show will also see intermittent entries of other administrators like the ward boy and other junior doctors which in entirety make Dr Bhanumati Bhinn’s in-house army in her hospital.

SAB TV senior EVP & business head Anooj Kapoor said, “With Dr Bhanumati On Duty, we take a step ahead in the hospital comedy space on the channel. The concept of the show is very unconventional yet entertaining. The disciple and routine of army life has influenced Dr Bhanumati strongly and she solves her patients’ medical problems with alternative and unique kind of therapies which automatically evoke humour. We have worked with Kavita Kaushik before and we are confident that with her in the lead, the show will be well received by our viewers.”

Sony's four new shows from different genres.

MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television has always given some of best and memorable shows to Indian television. In a bid to grab eyeballs, Sony Entertainment Television has been gearing up to regale its audience with a fresh line up of the shows over the last few months. As of now channel has launch plans for a further mix that consists of a reality show and three soaps that cover romance, a thriller and a comedy show. The channel launched the much awaited show with Kapil Sharma - The Kapil Sharma Show a couple of weeks ago.

Here’s what’s new on the Sony Entertainment Slate.

After producing reality shows like Indian Idol,Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa and Khatro Ke Khiladi and Boogie Woogie, Sony Entertainment Television is all set to bring another reality show Super Dancer for Indian audiences. Produced by Frames Production, Super Dancer will be a kids dance reality show.

Since February this year, the channel has been continuously bringing in fresh content. With the launch of two new shows - Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi and EK Duje Ke Vasteon 29 February, the channel has been curating an array of new shows.

Adding to that array, Sony Entertainment Television will be launching two more new shows. One of the most famous names in television industry, Kavita Barjataya will be producing her first show with Sony - Ek Rishta Saajhedaari Ka, a love story. The leads are played by Kinshuk Vadiya of the Shakalaka Boom Boom fame and Shivya Pathania.  Vaidya returns to the small screen after a decade

Another fiction show on Sony Entertainment Television will be Cinevistaas’ psychological thriller Behaad. Jennifer Winget and Kushal Tandon are playing the leads in the show. According to the sources the show will be a weekend property.

Apart from this the channel is also exploring a new show in the comedy genre with Shashi Sumeet production’s Mere Bhai Ki Dulhaniya.

News Headline Brands ride the social media wave during IPL 9.

MUMBAI: Come a new Indian Premiere League season and every sponsor and brand associate is ready to go all guns blazing and make the best out of every penny they have invested in this magnum opus of a cricketing tournament.

According to reports, somewhere between Rs 1000 crore to Rs 1,200 crore is being spent on advertising and sponsorship this IPL season. With over 80 sponsors riding on, there is no doubt that the campaign space surrounding IPL 9 is nothing short of war zone. To cut above the noise, brands are looking to digital media to allow them to be innovative with their brand communication. Having a branding presence on the jersey or standing out with on ground sponsorship is no longer enough to feel reassured at your marketing efforts, unless it is packaged effectively with online engagement with IPL fans, because 70 per cent fans bring their mobile devices to share in stadia experiences and 46 percent mobile internet users search for sporting events and news (Source: ESP Properties- SportzPower Report 2016).

Therefore social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are playing a major role in leveraging the brand's online presence this IPL season. At the same time, thanks to IPL, the over conversations and user engagements on these social media platforms have also increased manifold.

“After a successful partnership at the previous IPL edition where more than 29 million (2.9 crore) people engaged on Facebook, for the first time this season IPL, fans can support their favourite teams by adding exclusive frames - something that fans have already done more that 7.5 million (75 lakh) times so far. People will also have an opportunity to express their support through exciting features like dedicated prompts featuring an all new custom icon to let their friends know they're watching the game. With Facebook Live fans are able to get closer to the action than ever before and on match days fans can watch videos and see images directly from the stadium and relive key moments from the IPL Facebook page and Instagram accounts,” shared Facebook India sports -- strategic partner development head Asha Thacker.

Twitter is the other social media giant that is driving the brands’ digital presence this IPL. YouTube, on the other hand, redefines the experience of watching and enjoying IPL through live chat making it more social and further integrating it with Google+.

To keep their fans engaged popular cricket stars such as Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Sigh are also actively present on social media, driving the fanfare. As per data collected from Instagram, Top Players on Instagram were Virat Kolhi with 3 million impressions (30 lakh), followed by AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh with 1 million (10 lakh) impression each. When it came to Facebook, the most popular player is Virat Kolhi, with Yuvraj Singh on the second spot and Rohit Sharma as third.

Unlike last few seasons of IPL, it isn’t the title sponsor that is making the most impressions on social media during IPL season 9 till now, but Vodafone, which is stealing the online show with its aggressive digital marketing. According to Maxus’ MESH data, Vodafone continues to be at the number one spot with its new ‘Super Dad’ spot that promotes SuperNet. It was the most talked about ad in between 30th April and 6 May with a clear lead from the rest of the contenders when it comes to driving online presence. Its hashtags #hakkeBakke and #besuper hashtag got attention on Twitter, too.

The brand has also launched the SuperFan contest which it is promoting through a dedicated microsite. Using Facebook to its advantage, Vodafone has launched several Facebook only content on its pages, where winners of the contest can share their ‘Superfan Life’ photos and videos.

Title sponsor Vivo has its own innovative way to grab the attention of the netizens. Riding on the popular culture of betting and predictions amongst cricket fans, the Chinese technology giant has started an interactive website VIVO Power Play that allows users to predict winners of every match. The brand is heavily promoting its ‘gaming’ platform through Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.

Moreover the brand’s recently launched campaign Ek India Happywalla also garnered huge traction through social media making it the second most talked about campaign between April 30 and 6 May.

Apart from VIVO, several other mobile manufacturers are also using the IPL fanfare to their advantage to gain visibility in the market. A good example is Chinese manufacturer Oppo that has done an excellent job in marketing its new product, with the #OppoCameraPhone becoming the third most talked about campaign on the social media.

United Breweries’ flagship alco beverage brand Kingfisher has also ensured a strong presence this IPL season by signing deals with multiple teams.
In the two and a half weeks since the beginning of the season, Kingfisher has already integrated the use of Boomerang & MSQRD apps. Users have created their own content through these apps as responses to calls-to-action from the brand, which were then amplified through brand social handles. The annual brand cricket TVC, which has taken on an iconic status thanks to the Oo La La La Le O jingle, is pushed out to a focused target group through precise targeting and planning, making sure the #UnitedByGoodTimes message reaches a relevant audience.

“Our association with Facebook is deeper and wider than ever before. Newer younger consumers are looking for compelling narratives, smarter technology and disruptive messaging. Not only are they digitally enabled, they are also mobile first. Kingfisher and Facebook have come together to address precisely this consumer behaviour over the biggest and most loved sporting event in India, cricket. Kingfisher fans can look forward to ‘'Money can’t buy’' experiences on Facebook,” shared United Breweries, SVP Marketing, Samar Singh Sheikhawat.

Not just the eCommerce and digitally inclined brands like Kingfisher which focus on youth, but several FMCG brands like associate sponsor of Rising Pune Supergiants, Cargill Foods India, has joined the digital marketing bandwagon this season with their association with the sporting league.

“We have initiated several promotions on digital platforms to engage with our consumers and with the trade community. The Gemini Facebook page has a lot of content on the IPL season. We have also done activation for Cargill employees, wherein players’ cut-outs are placed at multiple locations in our offices. People can click pictures and share the same on their social network by tagging the Gemini page and stand a chance to win prizes. Apart from this, we are also running a recipe contest on our Facebook and YouTube pages. The winning entry will get a chance to make the Pune team members taste their recipe,” said Cargill Foods India CMO Neelima Burra.

Brand IPL has itself maintained a strong presence on social networks this season. Between April 7 to April 20, Facebook witnessed 8 million (80 lakh) Profile Frames being used as this is also the first time this season IPL Fans can support their favourite teams by adding exclusive frames. Moreover 14.2 million (1.42 crore) people generated 111 million (11.1 crore) interactions around the Indian Premier League.

Shashank Manohar quits BCCI.

MUMBAI: Board of Control for Cricket in India president Shashank Manohar has stepped down from his responsibility, reports read. Manohar had taken over the president ship in October 2015 after the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya.

It is claimed that the decision has been taken by Manhoar with response to the Lodha Committee recommendations as he is also bidding to win the ICC chairman's election. According to the norms, no official can hold two posts at the same time in two governing bodies.

A report also suggests that officials from the BCCI are unhappy about the fact that Manohar had decided to quit as the Indian cricket board president. 

Sony Pal replaces Zee TV at 3rd spot; Kapil Sharma's show enters top five programmes.

MUMBAI: In Week 17 of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) All India data, Star Plus regained its leadership position across Hindi general entertainment channels(GEC) while free to air (FTA) channel Sony Pal replaced Zee TV at third slot. On the other hand, Sony’s The Kapil Sharma Show made its entry in top five programmes of Hindi GEC.

Star Plus garnered the leadership position  with 692202 Impressions (000’s) and pushed down Colors to second slot with 679642 Impressions (000’s). 

Sony Pal climbed up and replaced Zee TV at third spot with 548932 Impressions (000’s) while Zee TV secured fourth spot in the list with 533468 Impressions (000’s) followed by Star Utsav on fifth spot with 482952 Impressions (000s) and Life OK stood at number six with 478240 Impressions (000s). 

Zee Anmol bagged the seventh  position with 474113 Impressions’ (000s) followed by Rishtey at number eight with 411338 Impressions (000s). 

SPN’s Hindi GEC channels Sab TV and Sony Entertainment Television, both witnessed a hike in ratings this week. Sab TV grabbed the ninth  with 359899 Impressions (000s) whereas Sony TV stood at tenth with 347921 Impressions (000s) against 278738 Impressions (000s) in previous week.

The Kapil Sharma Show made its entry in top five programmes of Hindi GEC, while Colors’ Naagin continued to lead the list followed by Star Plus’ Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, Kumkum Bhagya on Zee TV and Saath Nibhana Saathiya on fourth spot. 

FY-16: Games, Music dampen Mobile's drop in Sony revenue; reports profit.

BENGALURU:  Sony Corporation (Sony) reported 1.3 percent drop in sales for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16, current year). Sony’s revenue for the current year was ¥8,105.7 billion, for the previous year it was ¥8,215.9 billion. Sony attributes the decrease to a decline of 20 percent in sales of its Mobile Communications (MC) segment which was offset by a 11.8 percent increase in sales of its Games and Network Services (G&NS) segment, and a 10.4 percent in sales from its Music segment. The increase in sales from Sony’s G&NS segment reflects an increase in sales of its PlayStation 4 (PS4).

Sony’s reported net income attributable to stockholders at ¥147.8 billion for the current year as compared to a loss of ¥126 billion yen in the previous year.

Of special significance from the India perspective was the increase in Media Networks sales which was primarily due to higher advertising revenues in India and the United Kingdom. The Media Networks is a category in Sony’s Pictures segment.

Mobile Communications

MC segment reported 20 percent drop in sales in FY-16 to ¥1,127.5 billion from ¥1,410.2 billion in the previous year. The segment reported a lower operating loss of ¥61.4 billion as compared to an operating loss ¥217.6 billion in the previous year. The company says that this was because of a strategic decision not to pursue scale in order to improve profitability.

Game & Network Services

G&NS segment reported an increase of 11.8 percent in sales to ¥1,551.9 billion in the current year as compared to ¥1,388 billion in the previous year. The above mentioned gains from PS4 were offset by a decline in PS3 hardware and software sales. Operating income in FY-16 increased 84.4 percent in the current year to ¥88.7 billion from ¥48.1 billion in the previous year. Sony attributes the increase to increase in PS4 software sales and PS4 hardware cost reductions as well as the absence of write down of ¥11.2 billion in the current year of PS Vita and PS TV components that was recorded in FY-15.

Imaging Products & Solutions (IP&S)

IP&S segment reported a 1.7 percent decline in sales in FY-16 to ¥712.2 billion as compared to ¥723.9 billion in the previous year. Sony says that sales of video cameras and digital cameras were lower due to the contraction of the market. This segment reported a 72.1 increase in operating profit in FY-16 at ¥72.1 billion from ¥41.8 billion in the previous year. The increase was due to improvement in product mix of digital cameras and price reductions.

Home Entertainment & Sound (HE&S)

HE&S segment reported a 6.4 percent decline in sales in FY-16 to ¥1,159 billion from ¥1,238.1 billion in FY-15. Sony says that this was due to a decline in unit sales of LCD televisions and a decline in home audio and video unit sales, reflecting a contraction of the market. Television sales declined 4.5 percent in FY-16 to ¥797.8 billion as compared to last year.

The segment’s operating income increased to ¥50.6 billion in the current year from ¥24.1 in FY-15, primarily due to cost reductions and increase in product mix.

Devices

Devices segment revenue in FY-16 was flat (increased by 0.9 percent) to ¥735.8 billion from ¥927.1 billion in FY-15. The segment reported an operating loss of ¥28.6 billion in the current year as compared to an operating profit of ¥89 billon in FY-15.

Pictures

Pictures segment sales increased 6.8 percent to ¥938.1 billion in FY-16 from ¥878.7 billion in the previous year. Sony’s Pictures segment is primarily comprises of Motion Pictures, Televisions Productions and Media Networks categories. The impact of forex rates and lower sales in Motion Pictures was offset by higher sales in Televisions Productions and Media Networks. The increase in Media Networks was primarily due to higher advertising revenues in India and the United Kingdom. The increase in Television Productions sales was primarily due to higher subscription video-on-demand (VOD) revenues from Breaking Bad, The Blacklist and Better call Saul.

Operating income for the segment declined 51.9 percent in the current year to ¥38.5 billion from ¥58.5 billion in FY-15.

Music

Sony’s Music segment comprises of Recorded Music, Music Publishing and Visual Media and Platform categories. The segment reported a 10.4 percent increase in sales to ¥617.6 billion in FY-16 from ¥559.2 billion in FY-15. Sony says that the increase was primarily due to the depreciation of the yen versus the US dollar. There was a significant increase in Visual Media and Platform sales reflecting the continued strong performance of a game application for mobile devices. In Recorded Music digital streaming revenues significantly increased, partially offset by a worldwide decline in physical and digital download sales. The current year includes the record breaking sales of Adele’s new album 25. Other best-selling titles include One Direction’s Made in the A.M., David Bowie’s Black Star and Meghan Trainor’s Title.

The segment’s operating income increased 44.1 percent in FY-16 to ¥87.3 billion from ¥60.6 billion in the previous year.

Besides the above, Sony has two other segments – Financial Services and All Other services. Numbers of these segments have not been mentioned in this report.

Virat Kohali in news

BCCI recommends Indian Test captain Virat Kohli's name for Khel Ratna Award.

Baaghi exceeds expectations; Jungle Book continues strong.

MUMBAI: Baaghi, a romance- action film and only the second film for Tiger Shroff, has with an opening response, exceeding all expectations. The film went on to cross the Rs 12 crore mark on its opening, on Friday. For a change, many single screens displayed House Full boards. The film held on very well on Saturday and excelled on Sunday to end its opening weekend with an impressive tally of Rs 38.7 crore.

Short Cut Safari, a film aimed at children remained poor. It was too amateurish even for kids.

Nil Battey Sannata could not cash in on its tax exemption in Delhi and UP and managed to put together only Rs 2.75 crore in its first week.

Laal Rang, despite rising familiarity of the moviegoer with Randeep Hooda, failed to draw viewers. The film could manage just about Rs 1.7 crore in its first week.

Santa Banta Pvt Ltd, a pathetic attempt at comedy, fared very poor. The film collected Rs 70 lakh in its first week.

Fan dropped drastically in its second week collecting just Rs 11.1 crore. The theme and the pace of the film did not quite go down well with the audience. The two week total for the film is Rs 82.6 crore.

Jungle Book continued with its triumphant march. The film collected an impressive Rs 30.7 crore from all versions in its third week to take its tally to Rs 151.5 crore.

Ki & Ka added Rs 50 lakh in its fourth week to take its four week tally to Rs 51.15 crore.

Political, bureaucratic wrangles likely road-blocks for the new I&B secretary

NEW DELHI: The biggest challenges for the bureaucrats in the country can be summed up in just a few words: being unprepared, and forced to make compromises.

Thus, a person taking charge as the head of the bureaucracy in any ministry has to put aside his or her own personal views and get down to translating the decisions of the government and the minister/ministers into action, apart from the fact that he or she may be completely new to the field. And this task becomes even more onerous when there are deadlines to be met in short periods of time.

Ajay Mittal is taking over the reins of the administrative machinery in the Information and Broadcasting ministry from Sunil Arora who had barely eight months to grapple with problems. Arora joined the Ministry on 31 August last year just as the ministry was making preparations for the Digital Addressable System Phase III and was in the midst of the Phase III auctions of FM radio.

Mittal, is a senior Indian administrative service (IAS) officer of the 1982 batch from the Himachal Pradesh cadre. Born on 24 February 1958, Mittal is a law graduate and also has a Masters degree in rural development. His first posting was as principal secretary to the then chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and in the information and public relations wing in the state. Mittal was empanelled as secretary in December last year when he was additional chief secretary at Transport, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Shimla.

Now, Mittal has to deal with not only the onerous task of overseeing the implementation of the last phase in DAS which will cover all remaining urban and all rural areas of the country by December-end, but bringing the government out of the morass of legal cases which stayed the implementation of DAS Phase III in many states and have now been transferred to the Delhi high court.

DAS Phase III

Even though the deadlines for the last two phases of DAS were changed, the stakeholders were clearly unprepared as they all claimed shortage of compatible set top boxes – a claim which even the ministry could not deny. Expectedly, several high courts stayed implementation for varying periods  

And although the ministry has succeeded in getting all the cases transferred to the Delhi high court, the fact remains that the ministry had itself admitted in a letter to its counsel in Chandigarh that it understood the stay to be pan-India, until the Supreme Court said nothing in the directive of the Bombay high court implied this.

With the shortage of compatible set top boxes and little headway despite the incentives offered under the Make in India scheme, the ministry has to find ways to encourage indigenous production. Even at present, a large number of LCOs work with poor quality STBs made in China or other countries.

Added to that is the fact that a large number of broadcasters, multi system operators, and local cable operators have still to work out their agreements – an issue further complicated by the directives of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal which wants the tariffs to looked at anew.

 

In fact, many MSOs or LCOs have also not been able to get the Consumer Application Forms from their clients despite major publicity by the broadcasters.

It is also a fact that analogue transmission continues in many parts of cities and towns that have gone digital and the government has failed to get the stay of DAS in Chennai vacated.

The Home ministry had many months earlier made it clear that it was prepared to do away with security clearance for Indian-owned multi-system operators, the I and B Ministry has not yet got the go-ahead, with the result that MSOs are only getting provisional licences and the number of those with ten-year permanent licences remains at 231. The new secretary will have to push the Home ministry if he wants DAS to succeed.

TRAI

Although these are issues that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is dealing with, all decisions relating to the broadcasting sector can only be effective if there is proper coordination between the regulator and the ministry. This effectively means there has to be a quick response to any issues that either of the two raises to the other, if deadlines have to be met.

Other issues pending before TRAI relating to broadcasting include the need to reconsider the foreign direct investment norms for media, shortage of spectrum, a growing demand by states seeking permissions to start their own television channels despite the TRAI having opined against it twice since 2008, and the imperative to work on the tariff issues for commercial and non-commercial set-ups following directives of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

Although broadcasting duties were handed over to TRAI just over a decade earlier, it is also clear that the ministry will have to consider whether there is need to form a broadcasting-specific body since TRAI is primarily a body set up for the telecom sector. If the Government decides to continue with TRAI handling both portfolios, the regulator will be under pressure from the I and B Ministry to strengthen its broadcasting team and also ensure greater coordination among officers in both broadcasting and telecom.    

With convergence of technologies becoming a reality, and with issues of spectrum already bringing telecom and broadcasting together, the National Democratic Alliance Government has again begun to talk about convergence and this is bound to gather pace over the next two years.

Spectrum

The Defence Ministry has in principle agreed to hand over some spectrum and swap some other spectrum, and TRAI has also worked on the process of auctioning the available spectrum and given out reserve prices, the whole process is caught up in bureaucratic wrangles as it involves the Telecom ministry. If the I and B ministry wants to continue with its policy of ensuring there are no caps on the number of television, FM radio channels, or direct-to-home (DTH) Headed in the sky (HITS) platforms in the country, the issue of spectrum will need early solution.

FM Radio Auctions

When the last secretary Sunil Arora took over, the government was in the midst of the first stage of auctions of the FM Radio e-auction which only covered cities which already have FM but there were some vacancies. Learning from the experiences where there were no bids in 13 of the 69 cities, the government has now decided to revise the guidelines for the e-auction. The new secretary may have to find ways of either lowering the reserve price for those cities or finding other incentives before the next stage of e-auction.

The fact that the cumulative winnings from the channels auctioned so far has exceeded the reserve price by more 100 per cent is undoubtedly a matter of great satisfaction, but some cities failing to attract bidders is an irritant.

Ad Cap

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 was clear that the advertising cap should be twelve minutes an hour, but television channels went to court because many – particularly the news channels most of which are free to air – said they had no other source of income unlike the pay channels. But the ministry is already doing a rethink as admitted by the ministry as well as the News Broadcasters Association.

This rethink is probably because the I and B minister had said early this last year that he was opposed to ad caps on the print or electronic media, and because the free-to-air channels (most of which are news channels) have already expressed their opposition to this. TRAI had failed to get permission to take action against television channels violating its diktat of a total of 12 minutes of commercial and promotional advertisements every hour, though all broadcasters were asked to keep records of this by the Delhi High Court.

Spread of FM Radio vs DRM

The Digital Radio Mondiale Consortium feels that All India Radio has done the most in terms of digitization of radio. AIR has in fact spent crores of rupees on the digitized Digital Radio Mondiale. But Prasar Bharati feels that Frequency Modulation which is an analogue technology should be promoted until the nation is ready for digital radio sets.

The ministry can resolve this issue only if it can ensure adequate manufacture at affordable process of DRM sets under the Make in India programme. Until then, this continues to be a thorn in the already dicey relations between the public service broadcaster and the ministry. The fact remains that there are just one or two manufacturers of DRM sets and these have also been successfully demonstrated in moving cars, but they remain unaffordable.

Community Radio

More than a decade has elapsed since the introduction of community radio, but the number of operational stations is still very low. To boost this sector, the government introduced a new scheme last year for funding community radio and has also been giving away awards, but bureaucratic wrangles continue to hold up the smooth implementation of this scheme.

Prasar Bharati and the Ministry

On paper, the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act 1990 is clear that the pubcaster is autonomous. However, in reality this appears to the contrary.

On the one hand, a group of ministers had decided as a measure to help the pubcaster that persons employed as on 5 October 2007 will get the salary and pension from government funds. For employees who joined after that date, Prasar Bharati was left to fend for itself.

In any case, Prasar Bharati is listed as an autonomous company under the ministry.

This means – and it appears so even from the manner in which questions relating to the pubcaster are answered in parliament – that there is dispute on what real autonomy is. Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar – a former bureaucrat himself – feels the government does not give him full freedom and there is interference at every level and has said so either in speeches or in articles by him or others in the pubcaster.

Journalists on the parliamentary beat are often flabbergasted by the fact that when it suits the government, a reply will say that the pubcaster is an autonomous body, and yet there has been the intervention of the government even in appointments in Prasar Bharati.

While there is generally full autonomy as far as content goes, there are allegedly checks and balances placed by the government in administrative matters.

In a new development that has in principle been accepted by the government, Prasar Bharati, which has been losing revenue and viewership, has decided to auction prime time slots – perhaps inspired by the success of the e-auctions of slots on the country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform DD Freedish, or the FM auctions.

Freedish

Even though the auctions have been extremely successful and the pubcaster not only got two or three times the reserve price per slot, but even managed to get at least two pay channels to come as FTA, it has still not been able to switch over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 to enable it to increase the number to 112 as promised over the last three to four years.

Foreign Direct Investment

The TRAI had given its recommendations for an increased FDI in many sectors of the media in a report in July 2013. Although there was some change by the government earlier this year, it has still not implemented the FDI report of TRAI in full.

Security Clearance

While the Home ministry has decided it is doing away with security clearance for MSOs, it has not taken a decision as far television channels are concerned. And while the issue relating to foreign ownership can be understood, the denial of security clearance to Sun TV and its affiliated MSOs continues to flummox everyone in the media. It is generally felt that an accused is not guilty till proved, but the Home ministry – and the I and B ministry – appear to have decided that the Maran brothers should be denied security clearance despite the fact that the cases against them have no relation to the security of the country, and are in fact an incursion n the freedom of the media. Even the Supreme Court while permitting Sun group companies to take part in the FM auction said so.

Paid News

It is now almost five years since the issue of paid news became the talk of the town. The Press Council of India set up a committee which even gave recommendations, and a Parliamentary Panel and the Election Commission also wanted some steps to be taken to stop this. But there has been no tangible action so far.

Film Industry

The film industry has been raising similar issues year after year. As far as taxation issues were concerned, it was hoped that the Goods and Services Tax when implemented will help. But the way the matter is stuck in parliament forces the industry to just wait and watch.

Entertainment tax is another issue on which there has been no unanimity and states have different taxes. A proposal about a decade earlier for bringing cinema into the Concurrent List of the Constitution might have solved the problem, but most states opposed the idea. Perhaps the only positive move has been that service tax or cess on entertainment tax has been done away with.

In a country producing around one thousand feature films every year apart from the large number of films from overseas, the country still suffers from an acute shortage of theatres, with the number less than 11,000. With the high rates of ticketing charged by the multiplexes, the average cinegoer is denied of the pleasure of seeing a film in a cinema hall.

All attempts to curb video piracy appear to have failed because the film industry and the government have failed to work together to curb the menace, which means huge losses for the makers of bold films unless there are big stars to lure the audiences.

The Film Museum has been in the planning and making for more than a decade, but it does not appear that the Museum planned for 2013 to coincide with a centenary of cinema will seek the light of day for at least a couple of more years.

The Centre of Excellence in Animation and Visual Effects

For almost ten years, minister after minister has promised to set up a Centre of Excellence in Animation and Visual Effects, and Hyderabad and Bangalore have even claimed that they have the right ambience for such a centre.

But indications are coming that it will be established in the Film City in Goregaon in Mumbai, a decision that may not be digestible to studios of animation and VFX in cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Clearly, the new secretary has a difficult task ahead, moving on a road that is not without political or bureaucratic potholes that can hold up even his best intentions.