English Entertainment
English movie channels line up movies despite lower advertising
MUMBAI: Taking advantage of people’s presence at home during Diwali and most likely in front of the TV screens, English movie channels have strengthened their programming lineup.
Times Network has curated a month long content for each of its English movies channels except MNX. MNX will feature a Harry Potter movie marathon from 16–23 October at 9pm.
Movies Now has lined up explosive blockbusters from 2 October 2017, every weekday at 11pm including The Pacifier, National Treasure: Book Of Secrets, Race To Witch Mountain, Rush Hour 2, 10,000 BC.
In communication with Indiantelevision.com Havas Media Group-India MD Mohit Joshi said, “The viewership of English Movies platform is stable as of now. However, the revenues have got impacted because of the downward trend in advertising spends. As the viewership and penetration of OTT platforms mature, content will drive revenues and whoever has better content will be the winner.”
Joshi pointed out that this year there is no festive rate increment in English movies genre and neither for other genres.
Romedy Now has a special line-up for the festival of Diwali called ‘Diwali Delights’. It began on 2 October and will go on till the end of the month, everyday at 9 pm. Movies lined up include Serendipity, 2 Weeks Notice, Runaway Bride, A Lot Like Love, Pitch Perfect, 10 Things I Hate About You, It’s Complicated, French Kiss, When In Rome and Pretty Woman.
Sony PIX brings Hollywood blockbusters via ‘PIX Amazing Aces’ Festival for a full month leading up to Diwali. Movies include The Mummy series, Fast and Furious series and Jurassic Park series.
AXN, home to iconic shows and characters, brings a special line-up for Diwali week. This Diwali, binge-watch seasons of America’s Next Top Model S22, the Amazing Race S26, American Ninja Warrior S6, Survivor S32 and Fear Factor S5. These thrilling shows are sure to give you a mind rush to keep your Diwali week an ultimate celebration.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
