Date-wise News

Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd has put Zee Next, its second Hindi general entertainment channel, on suspension mode. “Zee Next was incurring some losses and we have now put the channel on suspension mode. No additional investments will be made in the channel,” said Subhash Chandra, Chairman, ZEEL, while speaking to analysts after the announcement of the company’s annual and quarterly results on April 22, 2009.

Dipali Banka Apr 22, 2009 6:38 PM

The opening numbers of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 2 at the all India level do not throw any different trends from what was seen in the six metro markets that were released earlier this week. IPL 2 has opened to lower numbers than Season 1. The digital households have shown higher ratings than the analog homes. A market break-up shows that many markets have not responded to IPL’s opening matches.

Noor Fathima Warsia Apr 22, 2009 8:46 AM

Known more as a tourist destination and its beaches, Goa has been able to withstand the current economic slowdown well. The print market in the state is served by five Marathi newspapers and four English papers. Now there is a new addition with the launch of Marathi daily Lokmat on April 21, 2009.

e4m Desk Apr 22, 2009 8:32 AM

Media owners had a significant set of advice coming their way on the last day of the Festival of Media 2009. The Media Agency Reprise session of the day saw Mediaedge:cia CEO Charles Courtier and MediaCom CEO Stephen Allan speak on what their expectations were from media owners to attain solutions for advertisers.

Noor Fathima Warsia Apr 22, 2009 8:18 AM

Maarten L Albarda, Director, Media & Communication Innovation, The Coca Cola Company, took on the Herculean task of explaining the way in which The Coca Cola Company viewed Integrated Marketing Communication and how it helped in building brand portfolios. Albarda condensed a two-day workshop in a 15 minute presentation and also took time out to take the audience through some of his ‘pet peeves’.

Noor Fathima Warsia Apr 22, 2009 8:17 AM

True to its name, the Festival of Media 2009 focussed completely on the media services side of the advertising business. The last session of the two-day conference, however, was ‘The Creativity Debate’, where Chuck Porter, Co-Chairman, Crispin Porter + Boguksy, spoke on using imagination instead of money. He said the recession was not about writers or art directors, but it could be areas like IT and finance that would give the breakthrough creative idea.

Noor Fathima Warsia Apr 22, 2009 8:16 AM

When an advertiser speaks, everyone listens, and that was precisely the case on the final day of the Festival of Media 2009. In a session on Marketers’ Response, Bernhard Glock, VP, Global Media & Communications, P&G, spoke to the audience on the various Cs that should be addressed for a stronger future for the media industry.

Noor Fathima Warsia Apr 22, 2009 8:16 AM

Intelligence agency stenography is a very dangerous game to play, particularly if you are in the media business, more so in print. Veteran journalist Sandeep Bamzai cites two separate news articles – Salman Khan’s alleged telephonic conversations with an underworld gangster (in 2005) and arrest of a Pak Lashkar operative (in 2009) – that had appeared in Hindustan Times, to highlight this point.

Sandeep Bamzai Apr 22, 2009 8:15 AM

Sourabh Mishra has put in his papers as Chief Strategy Officer at TBWA\India. April 29 is believed to be his last day with the agency. Shiv Sethuraman, CEO, TBWA\India, has confirmed the move. Industry sources have informed that Mishra is joining Saatchi & Saatchi as National Planning Head.

Tasneem Limbdiwala Apr 22, 2009 8:14 AM

The latest data from TAM Media Research has marked another happy score for Colors as the channel maintains its numero uno position in the second consecutive week. While Colors has 285 GRPs, Star Plus is at 274 GRPs. Not very far behind is Zee TV with 232 GRPs.

Noor Fathima Warsia Apr 22, 2009 8:13 AM

The Festival of Media Awards 2009 had some good news for India when Madison Media won an award for the ‘Condom’ campaign for BBC World Service Trust in the Best Communications Strategy. The Festival ended on a bright note, too, when at the closing award ceremony, MediaCom India’s work on the ‘India Shaves’ campaign for Gillette Mach3 launch won The People’s Award.

Noor Fathima Warsia Apr 22, 2009 8:12 AM

It’s very difficult to create and maintain loyalty as loyalty in our target audience is a very different construct. There is absolutely no reason for them to come back to Fastrack tomorrow if they have bought a watch today, and if something else has caught their fancy. There is so much of pressure on that pocket money – be it tech product or fashion accessory – as the market is flooded with those. Unless each brand is reinventing product or communication constantly, there is no reason for youth to come back to the brand. So, the challenge is much higher as compared to the older age groups.

e4m Desk Apr 22, 2009 12:00 AM