Regional
Regional channels line up special Diwali shows
The festive mood has caught up with the regional channels of the country. The five day long Diwali festival is being imitated on the TV screens to keep the audience engaged and in the feel of festive fervour.
Star Vijay, the Tamil general entertainment channel (GEC) and ETV Marathi, the Marathi GEC have created snippets of their TV celebrities wishing viewers a happy Diwali that will be aired throughout the Diwali week. Suvarna TV will also have clips wishing viewers.
Primetime shows will have Diwali themes incorporated in them. ETV Marathi is keeping the show stories for the week on a light note with no negativity in it. A special show has been introduced at 6:30 pm with film starts Swapnil Joshi and Sai Tamhankar for six days themed around Diwali. Promoting their upcoming show Pyaar Wali Love Story, the duo will be speaking to industry couples about their love stories.
The day will begin for Star Vijay viewers with their TV anchors celebrating the festival with fun filled activities with a special song. Naan Sigappu Manitha and Maan Karate will be premiering on the channel. At 6:30pm, the show Mom’s Diwali will see actors Priyamani and Vijaylakshmi take part along with their mother.
Suvarna is banking on movie premieres to create impact. Every Sunday of October, the channel has been showcasing various impact properties to maximise Diwali viewership. Big Magic Ganga has launched a series of special shows on the sentiment of ‘devotion’. Its popular shows Big Memsaheb, Big Bahuriya and Police Files have special versions on 23 October.
Advertisers will be keen to tap into this mood with TV being the best audience reaching platform. ETV Marathi has seen a host of new advertisers such as Everest Masala, Ferrero ocher, Berger Paints, Domino’s Pizza, GS Tea, Xrbia and Voylla at a 45 per cent hike than the normal ad rates. Other channels are also glad with the lineup of advertisers that they have got.
The Marathi GEC has created a ‘Shubh Deepawali’ logo that will stay full time. Big Magic Ganga did a customised logo from September itself for Dassera and Diwali titled ‘Big Magic Ganga Maha Parv’. Star Vijay and Suvarna TV have also changed the look of the channel for Diwali week.
Kerala: Deepak CR has switched channels and pace. The broadcast-industry hand has joined Big TV 24×7 as chief manager, media solutions, betting on sharper monetisation as regional television and digital video chase the next ad dollar.
The move caps a steady climb across ad sales, digital strategy and distribution. Deepak CR brings experience spanning OTT, product analytics and management, UX, web development and hosting, digital marketing, and television and digital ad sales, a toolkit built for a market where content is plentiful but revenue is fought for.
He arrives from Bharat Media & Entertainment Group, where as senior manager, business development he worked the ad market and client pipeline. Before that, at Reporter Broadcasting Company, he handled media solutions and ad sales, from client onboarding and pitch proposals to payment cycles and yield management, helping the channel hold share in a crowded territory.
The longest stint came at Flowers TV, nearly seven years in digital ad sales and time sales. There he chased new business, worked with agencies, built cross-platform media plans and ran display and video campaigns through Google Ad Manager. He also developed working knowledge of web hosting, SEO and digital marketing, increasingly useful as broadcasters blur into digital publishers.
Earlier, at WebMobi Network Solutions, he sold content delivery network services, managing client relationships and hunting fresh revenue in the streaming ecosystem.
The timing is telling. As broadcasters juggle linear TV, streaming and hybrid ad models, media solutions roles are becoming commercial nerve centres. Big TV 24×7 is signalling it wants a bigger slice of that pie.
New chair, same game. Find the clients, grow the yields and keep the ads flowing. In a market that never sits still, neither does Deepak CR.
