GECs
Big Magic to fortify programming with four new show launches
MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network’s Hindi entertainment channel Big Magic is looking at fortifying its programming line-up with a slew of new show launches during the festive season.
After launching three new shows namely Chutki Baja Ke, Fakebook with Kavita and Comedy Ka Rocket over the last one month, Big Magic is gearing up to take its entertainment quotient a notch higher by unveiling four more shows in the coming weeks.
The first show, which is slated to go on air from 26 October will be an adaptation of the American game show Family Feud. Called Family Fortunes (as the British version is titled), the show will be aired from Monday – Thursday at 8:30 pm and is being produced by SOL. The channel has roped in Mantra as the host of Family Fortunes.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the same, Big Magic creative director Bimal Unnikrishnan said, “Family Feud is the most loved and watched game show across the world, which has also been commissioned in over 65 other countries. As content will be tweaked and adapted for the Indian audience but the basic format of the show will remain the same. One of the reasons why we roped in Mantra is because he’s extremely talented, funny and presentable as a host.”
Family Fortunes (65 episodes) will run for 16 weeks on Big Magic. Currently, the channel is filming all the episodes and has readied a bank of the first 10 episodes. The game show gives participants an opportunity to win prizes by answering simple questions that have passed a generic survey. If their answers match with the top answers of the survey, they win points, which get translated into prizes.
Coming on board as the official radio partner, 92.7 Big FM will be promoting the show through Family Fortune hour every Monday – Friday at 7 pm across all its 45 stations pan India. The radio station will also give its listeners an opportunity to get a direct entry to the game show.
Big Magic’s second new show is a comedy titled Ji Sirji, which will go on air from 11 November and will be aired on Wednesday and Thursday at 10 pm.
Unnikrishnan said, “Ji Sirji is a satirical and humour show based on bad bosses, which will showcase the relationship between bosses and their subordinates.”
The third show is titled Bollywood Frydays and is based on social commentary on Bollywood. Come November, the show will be aired on Fridays. However, the exact date of launch has not yet been decided.
The fourth show is titled Lete Hai Khabar Khabron Ki and will go on air soon. The bi-weekly show, which will be hosted by actor Varun Badola, is a commentary on the latest happenings on the news platform across the country.
“The bi-weekly show will be based on the news scene in the country. We are planning to launch the series in the coming few weeks,” Unnikrishnan added.
Big Magic plans to launch these shows as finite series, which will have multiple seasons.
Speaking on the channel’s programming strategy, Unnikrishnan said, “We are a comedy channel and we will keep experimenting with new comedy shows with a different approach. Our programming strategy is to present unique comedy content for urban families. We realise that it is a great format that engages as well as provides a play along feature to the audience.”
“We are very optimistic about our content offering because I don’t think anybody else is providing the kind of content that we are planning to launch. It’s is really something that we are hoping will work,” he added.
RBNL recently adopted a unique strategy to launch integrated shows on its television (Big Magic) and radio (Big FM) platforms. The first two integrated shows launched were Fakebook with Kavita and Comedy Ka Rocket.
Speaking on promoting the content across radio, Unnikrishnan said, “Promoting content is another part of our strategy. We are promoting a lot of content on topicality and as a part of our strategy, we are using a 360 degree approach to promote our content across our radio platforms as well.”
MARKETING & PROMOTIONAL PLANS
Big Magic has identified the digital medium as the core platform to promote all its upcoming shows.
Discussing the channel’s marketing initiative, RBNL network chief marketing officer Manoj Lalwani said, “Digital media is the leading platform for promotions. For digital, we have a series of videos on Facebook, which will be pushing to our fan base. Other than that, we are running promotions on our own platforms including Big Magic.”
Unnikrishnan added, “For almost every show, we will be carrying out 360 degree promotional campaigns across all platforms. We have our own radio partner in Big FM, so all the content will be available on radio as well.”
The channel also plans to conduct crowd sourcing activities online and inviting participating. “We will be rolling out multiple contests and promotion activities online for our shows,” he informed.
Big Magic has received a positive response from advertisers. “There are brands, which are really impressed and are ready to work closely with us. The content will go across our radio stations apart from television and digital platforms and these are new opportunities that an advertiser can avail of. We are in the process of sealing a few deals,” informed Lalwani.
Grey Worldwide is the creative agency for the channel, whereas Resultrix Media Pvt. Ltd has been roped in as the digital agency.
GECs
ZEEL overhauls sales structure to chase growth across TV and digital platforms
New structure sharpens digital push as viewing habits fragment fast
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is reshuffling its sales playbook as it looks to keep pace with a fast-changing media landscape, where audiences are scattered, screens are multiplying and advertisers are following the data.
According to media reports, the rejig is anchored in the company’s push to build a more integrated, data-led monetisation engine, one that can straddle both traditional television and fast-growing digital platforms with equal ease.
At the heart of the move is a reworked sales architecture designed to deliver cross-platform solutions. With connected TV gaining ground and digital consumption surging, ZEEL is aligning its teams to move quicker, think broader and sell smarter.
The restructuring is being led by chief operating officer, advertisement revenue, Sandeep Mehrotra, at a time when the company says it is seeing tremendous growth. The idea is simple: match the right talent to the right opportunity in a market that is anything but static.
As part of the overhaul, several long-serving executives have been elevated to chief sales officer roles across regions and content clusters. Sanjoy Chatterjee will head the east market, while Gunjarav Nayak takes charge of the west along with high-margin verticals such as hmg, brand works, intellectual properties and digital sales. Rajnish Gupta will oversee bengaluru and chennai markets alongside the kannada and tamil clusters.
In other key moves, Divjyot Dhanda will lead hyderabad and kochi markets and manage zee tv, zee keralam and the telugu cluster. Roshan Vasu Kotian will supervise a diverse portfolio including Zee Marathi, &tv, Zee Punjabi, Zee Anmol, Big Magic and Zee Biskope.
The company is also strengthening its bench, appointing national sales heads across retail, regional clusters, digital and brand solutions. Ankur Kapila’s appointment to lead digital sales signals a sharper push into a segment that continues to outpace traditional formats.
Behind the scenes, dedicated strategy and operations roles have been carved out for both linear and digital businesses. Nitin Shetty, Rajkiran Shrivastav and Priya Nambiar will take on key responsibilities to ensure the new structure runs with precision.
The broader aim is clear. ZEEL wants a bigger slice of advertising budgets that are steadily drifting towards digital and connected TV ecosystems. By integrating its offerings, the company hopes to deepen client relationships while unlocking new revenue streams.
The new structure takes effect immediately, with Mehrotra continuing to report to chief executive officer Punit Goenka and steer the company’s advertising revenue strategy. Senior executive Laxmi Shetty will support the transition, with her revised role expected to be announced soon.
In a market where content is everywhere but attention is scarce, ZEEL’s latest move is less about rearranging the org chart and more about staying in the game.
