MATES, Madison World’s entertainment unit, has signed a Rs 100 crore deal with actor John Abraham for exclusive management of his endorsements, appearances, events, licensing, television tie-ups and marketing representation for three years, making it the highest value deal any Bollywood celebrity has entered into with an agency for his/ her representation.
As part of its on-going restructuring process, INX Media Pvt Ltd will now be called 9X Media Pvt Ltd. The company has also unveiled a vibrant new logo to complement the new name. The change of name is in line with the company’s strategy to tap new media initiatives, including licensing and merchandising for 9XM’s popular characters – Bade-Chote and Bheegi Billi.
The Panipat Municipal Corporation has invited sealed tenders offering ad rights on a wide range of outdoor media properties at different locations. The contract shall be awarded for a period of three years and includes media properties such as unipoles, hoardings, mobile vans, kiosks and banners.
Network18 Group and A&E Television Networks (AETN) have formed a joint venture, christened AETN-18 India, to launch History, Bio and other popular AETN channels in the Indian market. The JV between Network18 (51 per cent) and AETN (49 per cent) will be based in Mumbai.
Online gaming portal Zapak.com has joined hands with 6waves, an international publisher and developer of gaming applications on the Facebook platform, wherein Zapak will be the marketing and payment partner for 6waves’ games in India.
Dainik Bhaskar has launched a campaign to carry out social audit of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a Central Government project meant for funding developing urban infrastructure and services in cities. This audit is being conducted in the states where Dainik Bhaskar is available, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat.
After undergoing a layout change in June this year and increasing its rural focus in key markets such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, What’s On India channel now wants to beef up its distribution to 35 million homes from the current 20 million homes.
As per the latest RAM data, Radio Mirchi maintained its leadership position in the Kolkata market in the morning slot between 7 am and 11 am in Week 29. The FM station got a 21.1 per cent market share in Week 29, up from 20.7 per cent market share in Week 28, 20.2 per cent market share in Week 27 and 20.6 per cent market share in Week 26.
MJ Akbar’s newspaper, ‘The Sunday Guardian’, recently completed six months. exchange4media caught up with Akbar to know about how the journey has been for the paper and future plans, which include consolidating further in the Delhi market and entering the digital space.
Working with celebrities today brings a whole new range of challenges. While celebs lend personality and high aspirational value to brands, it is also tied with the rise and fall of the popularity graph of the celebrity himself/ herself. In the second part of this special report, exchange4media finds out how brands steer away from controversial celebs and whether the industry can look beyond movie stars and cricketers as brand endorsers.
Sony Entertainment Channel had played an expensive gamble when it acquired Bollywood blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’ earlier this year. Industry sources had said that the buy was at Rs 35 crore. The gamble appears to have paid off. Not only has the movie rated higher than any programme in the recent past, but has also given a 92 rating points boost to Sony, taking the channel just 20 points behind the No 2 channel Colors.