The creative duo of Manish Bhatt and Raghu Bhat are all set for their own creative hot shop. The duo had quit Contract Advertising around October 2009. Industry sources have said that Concept Communications is backing the new venture.
Last week, in an expected yet interesting development, Rajesh Kamat was announced the COO of Viacom18 Group – essentially meaning more than Colors falling on Kamat’s plate and the conversation in many office corridors was that Kamat is the ‘opening flavour of the year’. And in all the conversations I’ve had on this, the discussion comes back to Uday Shankar. For every thought that Shankar is going to face another tough year, there is another one of ‘hats off to the man’. And that is the very thing about being Uday Shankar...
India TV recently completed five years, and the way the channel’s Managing Director Ritu Dhawan sees it, India TV is in its youth now. To signify this on-screen, the channel donned a new look on January 21, 2010. Dhawan explained that the effort this time was to infuse science in the creative process. US-based Cinemagic was appointed to do the job.
Print advertising increased by 3 per cent during 2009, as compared to 2008. Education topped the list of top 10 sectors advertised in print during 2009, with educational institutions category having the highest share of print ad volumes. Tata Motors Ltd was the number one advertiser in print during 2009.
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has informed that well-known journalist Mrinal Pande has been appointed as Chairperson of the Prasar Bharati Board. She replaces Arun Bhatnagar, who had resigned from the office in May 2009. Veteran film makers Shyam Benegal and Muzaffar Ali, and well-known media personality Suman Dubey have also join the Prasar Bharati board as part-time members.
Zee News Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 191 million in Q3 of FY10, as against Rs 151 million in the corresponding period of last fiscal. A 25.6 per cent increase in advertising revenue at Rs 1,402 million and an 18.8 per cent increase in subscription revenues at Rs 280.6 million, led to an increase of 19.3 per cent in Zee News’ total operating revenues, taking it to Rs 1,706 million.
DishTV has reported a loss of Rs 762 million in Q3 FY10, as compared to a loss of Rs 561 million in Q2 of this fiscal. However, revenues of the company increased by 8 per cent to Rs 2,786 million in Q3, as compared to Rs 2,579 in Q2 of this fiscal. Out of its DTH revenues, Rs 2,140 million came from subscriptions.
Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief, Times Now and television anchor, has been conferred with the ‘Assamese of the Year’ Award for 2009 by News Live channel on its second anniversary on January 21, 2010. The Award was given away by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at a function in Guwahati.
Shailesh Velandy, Vice President, Mudra Radar is of the strong opinion that almost all problems are solvable; it’s a question of persistence, patience, self motivation and teamwork, all coming together and making things “happen”. He believes a strong leader is one who communicates, encourages, and leads by example. The GenNext Media Magnate is chosen by a committee comprising the exchange4media editorial team in consultation with Raj Nayak.
The exchange4media Nielsen Media Agency Rankings explores the perception of various media service brands in India. Mindshare tops the list here, followed by Lintas Media Group, Madison Media, Mudra Max and Maxus in that order.
The Advertising Club, Bangalore has called for entries for its annual Big Bang Awards, for the creative and media work done by agencies between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. The awards are being sponsored by The Times of India Group for the third consecutive year.
Advertising Age has launched a weekly international electronic newsletter – Ad Age Global - from January 14, 2010. Published every Thursday, Ad Age Global carries news and information about the latest developments in advertising, media and marketing outside the US.
The Rs 20,000-crore Muthoot Pappachan Group has appointed Mindshare, Chennai as its media AOR following a multi agency pitch, which saw the participation two more agencies besides Mindshare. Contract Chennai handles the creative duties of the Group. The account size is pegged at Rs 10 crore.