The Government on August 11 has given its approval to Rajat Sharma’s next 24-hour news channel, India TV Wiz. The approval means that Sharma’s Independent News Service (INS) can now launch this premium news channel, which will be in both Hindi and English languages. The channel is expected to launch in six months’ time.
In.com, the online arm of Network 18, has launched a microsite to provide information on swine flu in an attempt to alleviate fears and spread correct and comprehensive awareness about the flu. The microsite also aims to serve as a one-stop source that will provide people with key medical information on swine flu symptoms, prevention and cure, common public doubts, emergency helplines database, tracking of number of cases being detected and treated, and real time news on everything that is being reported on swine flu.
After raising over Rs 2 crore to light up 50 villages in India for TERI’s ‘Lighting a Billion Lives’ project, NDTV and Toyota are ready to roll out the second wave of their ‘Green Campaign’, which includes the 24-hour non-stop television programming ‘Greenathon’.
Good Relations India (GRI), a pan-India strategic corporate communications consultancy, has recently won the PR account mandate for MarketGate, a strategic business and marketing consultancy firm. Consulting on marketing and brand strategies, MarketGate has worked with over 60 clients spread across 24 sectors. MarketGate provides consulting services in the areas of business growth planning, marketing strategy, consumer understanding, brand strategy and management.
‘Sach Ka Samna’, Star Plus’ new show which has received equal amount of flak and support for its probing questions, will now be aired at a later time band of 11 pm, Monday to Friday. In a release issued by Star Plus, the channel said, “Given our commitment towards responsible broadcasting and our unique relationship with Indian families, we have decided to voluntarily and proactively move the telecast time to 11.00 pm.”
Giri Chandrasekar Jadhav, Executive Vice President and General Manager, STAR TV in India, will be returning to Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific as Regional Director on the Unilever business, effective October 14, 2009.
Sunit Tandon, CEO of Lok Sabha TV and a well-known theatre and TV personality, has taken charge as the Director of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has cleared Tandon’s name for the post.
Following a multi-agency pitch, Brand Curry has been assigned the advertising duties for four brands from the Fena Pvt Ltd stable - Fena, Nip, Impact, and Para. Brand Curry has been signed on for a period of two years and will be handling the creative duties as well as the media duties, which it will share with current media agency Allied Media. The account size has been pegged at Rs 15 crore.
Bhaskar Group has brought in Alok Purohit as COO for MPCG (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh). Purohit, who moves from Radio Mirchi where he was Executive VP – Corporate, will be reporting to Sudhir Agarwal, MD, Bhaskar Group. The Group also has three other COOs besides Purohit.
The corporate communications function needs to move from positioning, either in a supporting or strategic role, to one of defining the company. Instead of merely changing internal-external perceptions, corporate communications will have to start impacting the internal reality of a company in terms of behaviours and performance.
Ever so slowly, American studios and networks are grabbing larger swathes of Indian media and entertainment space. While it is still difficult to get a large toehold in the news business due to FDI restrictions and caps, it has been relatively smooth sailing for the big boys to establish a rock solid presence in the entertainment space, analyses veteran journalist Sandeep Bamzai.
Hello FM has entered into a strategic content tie-up with BBC Radio, a move that has been done keeping an eye on the Phase III of FM rollout. Meanwhile, the FM venture of Malar Publications has also been rechristened as Radio Hello. Rajeev Nambiar, CEO, Radio Hello, shares the FM player’s growth plans with exchange4media.com.
Mudra South has been assigned the creative duties of Peter England People (PEP). The brand is an initiative of Madura Garments to offer casual and fun clothing for the entire family under one roof. There was no formal call for a pitch, though Mudra was asked to make a presentation.
“We are always ahead of the game and we have done this to stay there,” stated Piyush Pandey while announcing the elevation of Abhijit Avasthi and Rajiv Rao to National Creative Directors at Ogilvy India, a position hitherto held by Pandey himself. With this, the duo would be responsible for the creative output from Ogilvy for all cities and across disciplines, including Ogilvy brands such as Meridien and David.<br> <a href=http://www.exchange4media.com/peoplemovement/movement_fullstory.asp?section_id=23&news_id=35563&tag=31295&pict=0 target= _blank><font color=red>Flashed Yesterday: </font><b> Abhijit Avasthi & Rajiv Rao take the position of NCDs at Ogilvy India </b></a>
Abhijit Avasthi & Rajiv Rao will jointly take the position of National Creative Directors. This is a move that the Ogilvy India Board has made in order to ensure that the company is “ahead of the game in these changing times”.