Media/Entertainment Industry

[phaedrus]

Turner set to launch new English movie channel in Aug

India is one of the fastest growing emerging markets for media conglomerate Turner International, which is getting aggressive in the country’s television and cinema space. India now contributes about 40% to Turner’s revenues from Asia, and the market is expected to increase its revenue kitty by 21% year-on-year.

Turner Entertainment Networks Asia senior vice-president Soumitra Saha said: “Our revenues in Asia have increased four times in the past one year. We believe India would become our top market in Asia, with a growth of 21% every year over the next five years.” The projected growth does not include the entertainment company’s new business ventures in television and movies.

Turner will launch its English movie channel in India in August in collaboration with its sister company Warner Brothers. Talking about the new English movie channel, Mr Saha said: “The new English channel would complement our existing channel HBO. It would be positioned as premium English content channel.” In addition, the company would launch its Hindi general entertainment channel in collaboration with Meditate.

Mr Saha said: “We are looking at making both live action and animation movies in India.” Cartoon Network (a Turner International company) executive director Jiggy George said: “We are not going to compete with mainstream movies for grown-ups. We are primarily looking at complete productions and co-productions targeted at kids. It would be a natural extension of what we have done with our two kids’ channels—Pogo and Cartoon Network India.”

source economictimes.com

[zhiemi]

Shree Ashtavinayak ramps up movie production business

Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, a leading Hindi movie producer and distributor is planning to increase the number of movies produced every year. The company is also planning to invest about Rs 900 crore and foray into making Tamil and Telugu films. The company was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in 2006 and since then, has been producing only two films per year. Before listing, the company used to make one film in two years. However, from this year onwards, the company will release at least five films in a year with at least one regional film. Besides this, Ashtavinayak has already inked 20-22 movie projects which will be released by mid of 2011.

Recently, it had issued foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) worth around Rs 132 crore with an option to raise an additional $5 million and also opened a subsidiary in the UAE. The bonds have a maturity of five years and are due in 2012. The proceeds shall be utilised for the production of films and purchase of IPR of foreign films. The company raised some capital during its IPO in 2006. The company has also been supported by banks like Axis, IDBI, Canara and State Bank of India.

Dhilin H Mehta, managing director, Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, told FE, "Our main revenue comes from movie production business, which contributes about 50-55% to the overall revenue of the company." This year, the company has entered the South Indian film industry and has already produced a small-budget film. In the next two-three years, the company plans to release 4-5 Tamil and Telugu films as Mehta feels 'these are very good markets as far as performance is concerned”.

As far as the company's film distribution business is concerned, Mumbai remains main area of focus. However, the company now plans rapid geographical growth. The total revenue of the company is approximately Rs 98 crore and profit after tax (PAT) is Rs 12.7 crore. Around 50-55% of the revenue is generated through film production, and 40-45% from distribution. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of the company is about 50% both in top line and bottom line.

[phaedrus]

Phoenix Mills, Adlabs in pact for India's largest multiplex

A Phoenix Mills-led consortium has inked a deal with Anil Ambani Group company Adlabs Cinemas for the country's largest multiplex cinema here.

The 1,40,000 sq ft multiplex will have 15 screens and over 4,000 seats. Besides showing the latest releases, it would screen popular sports events and live concerts, a release said here on Friday.

It will house two luxury screens with adjoining Ebony Lounges which would have live band performances round the year, the release said.

The Adlabs multiplex will come up at the Phoenix Market City complex, which is spread over 4.5-million sq ft, in suburban Kurla.

The Rs 1,100-crore Phoenix Market City will house the city's largest hypermarket departmental stores, food courts, entertainment zones and over 400 branded stores.

Phoenix Market City Management Chief Operating Officer Tony Ward, said "the Kurla project is planned to become a complete consumer destination and a must-see for Mumbai populace and tourists. This is going to be a world-class destination with retail spaces, offices, hotel and multiplex."

Adlabs Cinemas' Chief Operating Officer Tushar Dhingra said "we believe that the new Adlabs megaplex will set world benchmarks in terms of design and ambience, technology and overall consumer viewing experience."

Market City Management is developing large Market City complexes, spread over 2-4-million sq ft, in 20 other cities, including Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata, Raipur, Indore and Udaipur.

source economictimes.com

[phaedrus]

Dreamworks approaches Eros for stake sale

Hollywood celebrity director Steven Spielberg, who is reportedly in talks for a two-billion-dollar deal with Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, has also approached a UK-listed bollywood distribution and production firm for a possible stake sale.

In an interview to The Times newspaper published today, Chief executive of Eros International Kishore Lulla revealed that he was recently approached by a banker to know whether he would consider buying a stake in Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks studio.

"Lulla says there are no plans for acquisitions, despite revealing that a banker recently asked if he would consider buying a stake in Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio, currently the subject of talks with Indian billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Group," the newspaper said in an article published in its online edition.

Noting that the plans are for organic growth, the daily said that while Lulla may want to build a studio on the Hollywood model, he is worried about making the investment.
"Getting too involved with Hollywood is risky at the moment," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Lulla has a family fortune worth 206 million pounds.

In 2007, Lulla joined hands with Sony Pictures to co-produce films and the pair have held meetings with artists and writers in an effort to a new superhero.

"They are planning to create a Spider-Man-type character in Hindi and have hired Charles Darby and a top visual effects team. Darby is the renowned matte artist who has worked on dozens of films from Waterworld to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," The Times said.

source business standard

[phaedrus]

Ambani, Spielberg close to Dream deal

In The Works: $1.5-B Deal, 30 Movies In 4 Years

ANIL Ambani-promoted Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE) is in the final stages of negotiations with Hollywood’s iconic director Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks, according to a source close to the development. A deal is expected to be announced within the next one month, and will entail producing 30 movies across a four-year period.
The deal size is expected to be $1.5 billion and RBE will own close to 50% in Dream-Works once the transaction is concluded, the source added. When contacted, a Reliance-ADAG spokesperson offered “no comments” as response. DreamWorks will invest the entire $1.5 billion in film production and it will have equal amounts of debt and equity, i.e. around $750 million each. RBE is the internet, media and entertainment arm of R-ADAG.
A Wall Street Journal story dated June 19, had said R-ADAG could invest between $500 million and $600 million by way of equity. The report also said DreamWorks would raise a debt of $500 million.
The funds infused by R-ADAG is expected to fund the proposed slate of 30 films. The move is also expected to give Steven Spielberg the financial resources to exit from media and entertainment conglomerate Viacom’s Paramount Pictures. Mr Spielberg, who had sold DreamWorks to Paramount Pictures in 2006, has been eager to regain his independence.
The transaction with ADAG will essentially consist of Mr Spielberg quitting Viacom and RBE becoming a major shareholder in DreamWorks. If successfully concluded, a deal will lend enormous credibility to RBE’s plans of becoming one of the largest entertainment players with a worldwide presence.
Deal to boost R-ADAG’S telecom & DTH ventures
THE contractual arrangements between Mr Spielberg and Viacom allow him to quit the Viacom platform in 2008, and to use the name DreamWorks thereafter, according to WSJ.
The deal is also expected to boost R-ADAG’s telecom business in terms of content for its value-added services (VAS) as well as its soon-to-be launched direct-to-home (DTH) venture.
The R-ADAG’s entertainment venture has been on a roll this year. Earlier this month, the group inked a joint venture with Amitabh Bachchan to co-produce a slate of films using the talent of the entire Bachchan family.
In May, the group announced a slew of projects at the Cannes film festival roping in Hollywood stars, including Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey and George Clooney, with an estimated investment of nearly $1 billion.
Recently, RBE, which runs cinemas in India through its Adlabs subsidiary, entered the US market under the brand name ‘BIG’. The company has acquired more than 200 theatres across 28 locations in North America, including New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, San Jose, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Seattle. The group has also bought a US-based theatre management company to operate the US chain and has set up a distribution company to license rights. For Hollywood actors and producers, partnering with an Indian entertainment company would ensure South Asian audiences, apart from having a strong producer and a distributor who is able to explore new markets and concepts.

source economictimes epaper

[phaedrus]

DTH industry in throes of tech war

TECHNOLOGY war, which was associated with the CDMA and GSM based operators, is now set to shake up the direct-to-home(DTH) entertainment industry. With several new players, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and the Videocon Group, set to foray into the DTH space with the latest MPEG-4 technology, existing players such as Dish TV and Tata Sky are of the view that using this advanced technology is a violation of existing guidelines for DTH operations in India.
The existing players also allege that MPEG -4 cannot be introduced in India unless the existing DTH regulations are changed. However this claim is dismissed by top officials of Trai, the regulator for telecom and broadcasting sector. During the latest working group meeting existing DTH players opposed the revision of standards to include MPEG-4 technology. The meeting was called by Ministry of Broadcasting and included representatives of all DTH players besides those from the Bureau of Indian standards, the national certification body.
Both Tata Sky and Dish TV say that revision of norms cannot be done unless the new players offer commercial interoperability with the set top boxes which are under MPEG-2. A top Trai official told ET that the regulator favoured the introduction of the MPEG-4 based DTH services. “No operator must be permitted to stop the march of technology citing excuses such as this technology is not mentioned in the DTH regulations. How can the new player be at fault if their set-top-boxes (STBs) are not interoperable with those of the existing players? The logic of the existing operators does not make any sense – it should be their responsibility to upgrade the STBs of the customers to the superior technology. Market conditions will soon force the incumbents to switch to the MPEG-4 format. Trai has already recommended that the regulations be revised and MPEG-4 be allowed,” the Trai official added.
However a senior Dish TV official said, “The new players cannot launch MPEG-4 set top boxes till the DTH norms are revised by the BIS and I&B ministry revises its guidelines on the sector.” At the same time, existing DTH operators are of the view that MPEG-4 does not guarantee better quality reception or picture for the consumer, but will only help the operator provide a larger number of channels with minimum satellite transponders.

source economictimes epaper

[zhiemi]

Now a social network 'exclusive' for Bollywood

An on-line broadcaster, which brings premier Hindi movies, television programmes, music videos and programmes based on Bollywood to people around the world, has launched their new venture of a social network.

ChannelMine, the newest venture of TinselVision, will offer Bollywood fans full, 360 degrees access to the films, television shows with the facility for the members to upload videos and photos, chat with friends on the network, read blogs about upcoming films and their stars, play Bollywood-themed games.

"This new platform will only extend what TinselVision currently offers fans: 24X7 access to their favourite Bollywood content," TinselVision has said in a statement.

TinselVision has the viewers from 85 countries, including India, and traffic to the site has more than doubled over April, with 535,287 visitors for the May period alone.

ChannelMine, a free online networking service fully integrated with TinselVision, combines the web's latest widgets and gadgets with premium free, interactive content, contests and games for a global community of Bollywood fans and Indian entertainment enthusiasts.

It service will introduce interactive games, trivia and other toys and gadgets, anchored by premium television, film, sports and short-form content viewing and promotions -- all driven by incentivised communities, where innovative contests and rewards programs re-define traffic-building techniques among network offerings.

Viewers can watch programmes via IPTV to PCs, laptops, TVs and mobile devices in India, the US, UK, Canada and globally at their portal at www.tinselvision.com.

TinselVision had partnership with major film studios of Bollywood - Yash Raj Films, Shemaroo Movies and UTV as well as Zee TV, Star TV, Zoom TV, Ultra and B4U Networks.

[phaedrus]

Warner Bros to animate India’s toon world

WARNER Bros is venturing into the animation space in India for the first time with a film which will be directed by Jyotin Goel. Since the film is still in the nascent stage, Warner Bros isn’t revealing much about it. The film is untitled, and any further announcement and publicity for the film will happen only six months later. Apart from financing and producing the venture, Warner Bros India will also globally distribute and market the film.
“We are looking to release the film one year later. The production has already begun in May,” says Jyotin Goel. Mr Goel has produced five Hindi feature films and directed three. He has also been on the executive committees of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association and the Film Makers Combine.
Warner Bros Pictures India country manager Blaise Fernandes said: “It marks our entry into the animation genre in India.” The Hollywood giant’s first foray into Indian film production is Ramesh Sippy’s Chandni Chowk To China, which is being directed by Nikhil Advani and produced by Mukesh Talreja and Rohan Sippy. The film, starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, is slated to release in October this year.
The animation for the film will be handled by Interactive Realities International Private Limited. India’s biggest advantages in the animation industry are its cost effectiveness and good quality. The cost for making a full-length animated film in America is about be $100-175 million while in India it can be made for $15-25 million.

source economictimes epaper

[zhiemi]

Delhiites have highest passion for radio listening, Mumbai is third

Radio Audience Measurement (RAM), a joint venture between Nielsen Media Research and IMRB International along with TAM Media Research, has released a comprehensive study on the radio penetration and viewership pattern of the four metros, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and especially Kolkata as it is the newest addition on the RAM radar.

The penetration of radio is the highest in Delhi of nearly 91%, followed by Bangaluru of about 83%, Mumbai with about 71% and Kolkata about 65%.

The report reveals various facets of the Kolkata market. The study gives a sense of ownership of radio sets amongst audiences, claimed radio usage compared to other media and also reveals a study of household demographics.

Among the FM owners, about 68% owns only radio with FM, 40% owns mobile with FM, 25% two-in-one with FM, 7% owns hi-fi system with FM, and the rest 4% owns walkman or discman with FM. It also shows that 98% of radio owners are FM owners and 89% of the FM owners have access to FM through a portable device.

FM owners profile clearly skewed towards the higher socio economic classes (SEC) and the non-FM are skewed towards lower SEC and these homes comprise more elderly members. On an average, radio listenership is on the peak on Sunday and then gradually the graph goes down through the week and records the lowest on Saturdays. On weekdays, an average listener spends about 105 minutes on the radio, while on weekends, it is about 110 minutes.

Even non-FM owners consume radio either during transit or listen to it on someone else's radio. Therefore, for non-FM owners, most of the consumption happens on weekdays and on an average, a non-FM listener spends 69 minutes on the radio while on weekends, it is about 55 minutes.

As many as 41% of FM owners also listen to music on any other non-radio music device. On the other hand, only 14% of non-FM owners listen to music on any non-radio music device.

RAM will soon extend its services to Hyderabad and Chennai. The overall advertising volume of the radio industry has gone up 30% and many new advertisers are now treating radio as a serious medium rather than just a 'by the way' media platform.

[phaedrus]

for desis in the US who liked the movie



Disney to launch ‘Taare Zameen Par’ DVD in US

WALT Disney Studios has acquired the home-video rights for Taare Zameen Par for the US market, reports Our Bureau from New Delhi. The US entertainment major is looking at a mainstream DVD launch of the movie rather than just concentrating on NRI pockets. As per sources, Disney acquired the rights for an estimated Rs 5 crore. Rather than dubbing the movie in English, Disney would release the movie with English sub-titles. According to Aamir Khan Production (AKPL) and PVR Pictures, this the first time that an American major has picked up home-video rights for an Indian movie for a mainstream launch. When contacted, an AKPL official said: “The film has done well on the overseas box office, especially in the US. Now that Disney is planning a mainstream launch for the movie in the US, we hope it does well in the home-video space too.” He added that the movie was picked up by Disney as it caters to children’s issues.

source economictimes epaper

[zhiemi]

India among top 3 media, entertainment mkts: PWC

India continues to be one of the top three markets for global collaborations in entertainment and media, because of a 'relatively friendly foreign investment regime,' an official of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said.

The country's media and entertainment market is expected to grow 18.5 per cent a year to reach $36 billion by 2012, while the Asian industry will likely grow 8.8 per cent a year over the next five years to $508 billion, PwC estimates.

"There is no question that India is within all the companies that I speak to, it is either number one, two or three that they talk to us about India," Marcel Fenez, Global Managing Partner, Entertainment & Media Practice with PwC said late on Monday.

Other emerging markets set for rapid growth include Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey and Pakistan, he added.

Rapid economic growth and the freeing of entertainment and media markets will fuel expansion in India which we expect will be the fastest-growing territory in Asia Pacific during the next five years, PWC said in a report.

"You do get these big players who will by definition tend to do large deals but you also see a lot of smaller investments and a large number of them that will become increasingly important because those will tend to be emerging media," Fenez said.

Double digit annual growth is projected for every segment except recorded music, professional books and consumer and educational book publishing, according to PwC's Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2008-2012.

[phaedrus]

ESPN bags Olympic games telecast rights

Sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports has bagged the television telecast rights for cable & satellite television, IPTV and Mobile TV platforms for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

ESPN STAR Sports will telecast 200 hours of coverage for the London 2012 Olympic Games and over 60 hours of coverage for the 2010 Winter Games to be held at Vancouver.

In addition, ESPN STAR Sports will also be broadcasting top class Olympic Games programming showcasing golden moments from over 30,000 hours of Olympic Games archives covering the history of the Olympic Games.

However, ESPN Star Sports will be sharing the live coverage of the two Olympic games with the state owned Doordarshan as per the agreement with the International Olympic Committee.

ESPN STAR Sports also holds the telecast rights of all major cricket events to be held by the International Cricket Council over next seven years in addition to recently bagging the telecast rights of the next FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010 along with several other FIFA fixtures.

In a written statement, Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports said, "This is the first time that IOC has awarded the rights to a pay TV platform across this region and it is a testament to our commitment of reaching out to a wide audience base across Asia with the most interesting and compelling programming."

IOC Executive Board Member Richard Carrión said in a statement, "We are delighted to welcome ESPN STAR Sports to the Olympic Movement. Their support will enable us to provide high quality coverage of the Vancouver and London Games to Olympic fans and help to promote Olympic sports across the region."

With 17 networks covering 24 countries, ESPN STAR Sports reaches more than 310 million viewers in Asia.

source business standard

[zhiemi]

Aegis Media draws aggressive growth strategy

Aegis Media Plc, a $3-billion global marketing and media services agency, is drawing up an aggressive growth strategy for its Indian operations. After picking up stakes in the Indian search marketing firm Communicate2, Aegis Media India is planning to acquire stakes in two web-development companies in India. To launch its digital marketing and Out-of-Home (OOH) companies namely Isobar and Posterscope in India, the company is currently in talks with domestic as well as international companies.

After its formal foray into India, Aegis Media is now revamping its brand ‘Carat India’ in a bid to upscale its offerings. On the agency’s acquisition plans, Ashish Bhasin, chairman India & CEO South East Asia, Agies Media Asia Pacific said, "We are looking at strategic alliances with mobile marketing companies in India. Currently, we are evaluating a few of them. Our objective is to set up Isobar, our global digital marketing communications company in India soon.” With the launch of Isobar in India, the agency plans to offer end-to-end communications in the digital space by the end 2008. Incidentally, Bhasin joined Aegis Media India just a month ago. After taking charge of Aegis Media India in June 2008, Bhasin is busy chalking out a major expansion plan for the agency. "I am completely revamping our media brand Carat-to start with. We plan to customise our global tools to suit the Indian environment. Also, we plan to train people to handle these tools in India,” he informed. Recently, Ageis Media India has appointed Karthik Iyer as the managing director of Carat India.

As part of its growth strategy, the agency is planning to expand its operations and add muscle to its manpower in the next few months. Currently, Aegis Media India has presence in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

"We want to bring Posterscope, our OOH company to India with all its tools, international learning’s, expertise and people,” said Bhasin.

For its foray into the OOH media, Aegis Media is planning to invest in building up its local network in India. In the first phase, the agency plans to cover all metros, mini metros, Tier I cities across the country. “As network plays an important role in OOH, we will be covering Tier II cities in the second phase-next year. Under the umbrella brand 'Aegis Media India’ we will have Isobar, Poserscope as independent companies,” said Bhasin. In the Indian advertising arena, Agies Media India today directly competes with Madison Media, MindShare, Starcom MediaVest Group and Lintas Media Services.

[phaedrus]

Govt plans Excellence Centre in Animation

The government is finalising plans to set up a National Centre in Excellence in animation, game and visual effects to meet the shortage of skilled professionals in this growing sector.

According to Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources said the centre could come up in Pune as the Film and TV Institute of India is already there. The centre would be set up through public-private partnership.

Earlier, the Working Group Report of 11th Five-Year Plan had suggested that the government should set up a Centre for Excellence in animation, gaming and special effects to address the problem of manpower shortage in such a high-tech content industry.

With the Indian animation and gaming Industry expected to grow, the I&B ministry has engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to prepare a report on the human resources requirement for this sector. The consultancy is drawing the blueprint of the requirement of skilled manpower by the industry and suggest necessary steps.

Nasscom estimates the manpower shortage is the biggest roadblock in the sector: The animation industry employed around 16,500 professionals in 2006 and the number is expected to go up to 26,000, at a CAGR of 14-15 per cent.

Although the forecast growth is impressive, it falls short of the potential growth that the industry can achieve. The gaming sector too is facing the same problem.

At present, there are nearly 150 gaming firms, employing around 2,500 people. This number is estimated to rise to 13,000 by 2010 (at a CAGR of over 50 per cent).

source business standard

[zhiemi]

Industry-led body should guide TV ratings: Trai.

Ruling out government intervention in the form of regulation, Trai on Thursday said that an industry-led body should be responsible for the operational issues of television rating agencies. The regulator has issued draft recommendations on policy guidelines and operational issues for television rating points (TRPs).

Trai has recommended that the industry initiative — Broadcast Audience Research Council — should be recognized as the institutional framework. Its technical committee can guide and supervise the various processes of rating and while the council should not undertake audience measurement directly, it can resort to an open, transparent bidding process for the various stages involved in the rating process.

Concerned over the alleged monopoly of the TAM Media Research agency over the Rs 8,000 crore television advertising, the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry had sought Trai’s intervention on the system and framework of such agencies. The ministry was keen that the framework should ensure transparency, independence of rating agencies and increased coverage reflecting the plurality of regions and viewership.

At present, two private agencies — TAM Media Research and Audience Measurement and Analytics (aMap) — evaluate TV ratings on a commercial basis. But their operations are limited to cities with a population above one lakh. Within big cities too, their sample size is limited to a total of about 7000 (TAM) and 6000 (aMAP) metered homes. All states except J&K, Bihar, Jharkhand and the northeast states are covered by TAM, while aMap samples cover all states except J&K and northeast but include Jammu and Guwahati. While TAM provides weekly data, aMAP gives daily updates. The regulator has suggested that the council’s board of directors can include two nominees of the I&B ministry besides members from the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata.

It has asked the I&B ministry to draft the key eligibility norms for the selection of rating agencies and their performance obligation norms.

The addresses and location of homes where people-meters are installed should be kept confidential and the council should have a complaints redressal mechanism, the regulator said.

Source: TOI

[Euromast]

Animation ind to grow to Rs 42 bn by FY09

MUMBAI: The Rs 12 bn animation industry in India is set to grow to Rs 42 bn by 2009 with its revenues projected to double up to almost USD 1.5 bn by 2010.

"The Indian animation market is only one per cent of the global market of the USD 1,125 bn but growth is expected to be around 35 per cent in the next few years.

India is fast emerging as a destination for outsourcing assignments from international studios like Walt Disney Pictures and Cartoon Network." Prime Focus, Vice-President, Aijaz Rashid said at 'MAAC SRIJAN 2008,' a seminar for students and professionals seeking a career in the animation industry.

"India will become the global headquarters of animation world.

[phaedrus]

know Aijaz personally. great guy.
took Prime focus from small studio in his garage to having branches around the world, including Soho in London.

[zhiemi]

Adlabs Cinemas launches audience research

Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), Wednesday announced that it has initiated a study on the demographic patterns of the Indian movie-going audience, their cinema habits and exposure to the media.

'The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of ticket sales and number of films made annually. Our initiative will help us gather insights into the thinking of the new-age movie viewer and understand the exposure, experience and efficacy of advertisement of the theatre medium,' Adlabs Cinemas chief operating officer Tushar Dhingra said.

Because of the audience growth, the advertisers were showing keen interest in the medium, he said.

According to Dhingra, the research launched by Adlabs Cinemas would enable advertisers to make more efficient decisions in the area of cinema advertising.

IMRB International has been commissioned to carry out the research.

[phaedrus]

UTV-Disney combine SET to pip BK Modi

New Potential Buyers Enter As Modi’s Deal For 32% Stake In SET Runs Out Of Steam

THERE’S yet another twist in the seemingly endless saga of the minority Indian shareholders of Sony Entertainment Television (SET), now called Multi Screen Media (MSM). The minority shareholders, who hold a 32% stake in MSM, had earlier reached an agreement to sell their stake to billionaire-industrialist BK Modi. However, the future of that agreement is now in some doubt. A person familiar with the matter told ET the exclusivity period for that deal had expired without the transaction taking place.
Instead, other potential buyers have made an appearance. It is learnt that Indian entertainment company UTV, along with Disney, is in discussion with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the majority shareholder, to see if they could buy the 32% stake.
The prospective buyers already have had their first round of discussions with Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and chief executive Michael Lynton in Los Angeles, a person well informed about the issue told ET on condition of anonymity.
It is learnt that UTV-Disney have valued SET at $700 million.
UTV chairman and CEO Ronnie Screwvala, along with Disney representatives, is currently trying to determine the working relationship that the three companies will share, if UTV and Disney jointly buy the 32% owned by the Indian promoters. So long, Sony Pictures Entertainment—which owns 62% (some 6% is held by private equity investors) in the company—has been calling all the shots as far as the management of SET is concerned. The minority shareholders will be made an offer only if all this is sorted out, a UTV-Disney insider said.
The person also informed ET that Sony Pictures and the Indian promoters seem to have disagreements over the proposed deal with Mr BK Modi and hence the transaction seems to have stalled.
The backing of Disney could help UTV raise the money in case the deal is struck. For Disney, the move will give it a much larger play in India with access to both the Sony bouquet as well as the UTV bouquet.
An email questionnaire sent to Sony Pictures Television International senior vicepresident, corporate communications, Ron Sato only garnered a “no comment” response. MSM CEO Kunal Dasgupta also declined to comment on the development.
When contacted, Mr Modi said he did not wish to comment. So did Mr Screwvala: “We do not comment on market speculation.”
The minority shareholders were in advanced negotiation to sell 32% stake to the BK Modi group for about $320-350 million. Mr Modi was looking at buying out the Indian shareholders who have been looking for an exit for several years now. These shareholders include Shemaroo Entertainment MD Raman Maroo, Singapore-based NRI Rakesh Agarwal, World Media Group director Sudesh Iyer, MobiApps Holding’s Jayesh Paresh and actor Jackie Shroff.
Over the last two years, the minority Indian promoters have been struggling to rope in a buyer to ensure their exit. However various proposed deals with several investors had fallen through either on issues of valuation or the lack of an exit option for the new investor.

source economictimes epaper

[zhiemi]

Discovery Network to launch three new channels

Discovery Networks India on Thursday announced an expansion strategy to leverage its global portfolio of channels in 'the highly dynamic Indian media environment.'

The company has applied to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to launch three new and diverse 24-hour channels - 'Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and Discovery HD', according to a release in Chennai.

Pending the ministry's approval and upon launch of the three new channels expected in first quarter of 2009, the company would provide viewers with an increased choice and wider range of compelling distinct and high-quality programming.

Company General Manager Rahul Johri said "we are witnessing television consumption in India shifting towards high-quality, credible and entertaining programmes and an increase in demand for an alternative to soaps, movies and sitcoms. Channels that have a distinct brand proposition would emerge as most-preferred destinations for viewers, advertisers and affiliates alike.

"Our existing channels are beneficiaries of this growing trend. This changing market dynamics, research and viewer feedback suggests that Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and Discovery HD will satisfy the demands and desires of aspirational India and will forther strengthen our portfolio".