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Advertising & Marketing

A Cabinet committee on Wednesday decided to cancel a contract with the Lintas subsidiary, Linterland, for marketing the Kumbh mela. The committee has also reportedly proposed action against the officials involved in awarding the contract to Linterland. The contract had been signed with the agency during the tenure of former MP chief minister Digvijay Singh. Under the contract, the state government was projected to earn around Rs 10 crore through the marketing of the mela, 7 pc of which was to be paid to Linterland. After the BJP came to power in the state, Swadeshi Jagran Manch prevailed upon the government to review the order, stating that the presence of MNCs would vitiate the character of the mela. Source: The Indian Express, Feb.13, 2004

Nimbus has entered into a contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for all in-stadia advertising during the forthcoming India-Pakistan cricket series (three Tests and five One-Day Internationals). In effect, Nimbus Sport (a division of Nimbus Communications) will exclusively market the entire unrestricted quota of in-stadia advertising (40 per cent of in-stadia advertising is reserved for Pakistan companies) during India's Pakistan tour. This is the first India-Pakistan series in Pakistan in 14 years and is expected to start in the second week of March and carry on till late April. The total value of the rights secured by Nimbus is in the region of $3 million. Sunil Manocha, senior vice-president, Nimbus, said, "We are pleased to continue our association with international cricket and forge a new relationship with the PCB. The India Pakistan series attracts interest comparable with the World Cup." Source: agencyfaqs.com, Feb.11, 2004

Come May 1, and the total ban on advertising of cigarettes and tobacco products will come into effect. From the same day smoking in public places and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors would become an offence. The Health Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, said, "We will shortly be notifying the ban on tobacco ads. "The Government had cleared the Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation) Bill 2001 which imposed a total ban on sponsoring of sports and cultural events by cigarette and other tobacco product companies. Officials in the Health Ministry said, "Several tobacco companies have already booked ads for the forthcoming few months. We want to give them time till May 1, to fulfil those obligations." The tobacco industry has been spending over Rs 200-250 crore per annum on advertising of its products, with ITC Ltd and Godfrey Philips India being the major advertisers. The President, Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam, had given his assent to the law banning advertising of tobacco products in May last year. But companies have continued advertising because the fine print stated that the ban would come into effect only after notification. Source: The Hindu Business Line, Feb.7, 2004
T.V. Media

Aaj Tak's latest programming initiative, JBC, featuring Jaaved Jaaferi has topped the TRP charts among all programmes on news channels. Citing TAM ratings for the week ending January 31, 2004, Aaj Tak claims JBC clocked ratings of 0.71. According to a company press release it is "the highest for any news-based programme for the week".
Commenting on the show's performance, G Krishnan, CEO TV Today Network, says, "When we launched JBC, we were quite sure that its uniqueness would be a hit among the viewers. JBC and other Aaj Tak programmes are highly appreciated by the viewers. These innovations are in line with our efforts of providing freshness in programming. We will continue to implement a slew of programming innovations based on in-house researches that would touch the lives of our viewers." Source: agencyfaqs.com, Feb.11, 2004

Satellite TV rights holder to the India-Pakistan cricket series, Dubai-based Ten Sports, has reiterated its stand that it would not allow anything more than highlights to Prasar Bharati. According to Ten Sports vice-president Peter Hutton, who met Prasar Bharati chief executive officer KS Sarma here on Thursday, hour-long highlights would be given to Doordarshan on the match-days. The DD spokesperson, however, insisted that talks on TV rights are still on. According to industry sources, Ten Sports paid $42 million to buy TV rights for five years. Add to that a production cost of around $15 million. Ten Sports is understood to have told the public broadcaster that offering terrestrial rights to DD was not possible. It's tough to go back on the advertising deals that Ten Sports has already struck, Mr Hutton is learnt to have told Mr Sarma. Source: The Financial Express, Feb.13, 2004

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) would issue the final consultation paper on the conditional access system (CAS) within a week, according to TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal. The paper, which would invite comments of all stakeholders, is likely to deal with complex issues such as advertisements in pay channels, legal aspects of banning ads in TV versus the print media, and feasibility of CAS in the given scenario. Government is awaiting TRAI recommendations before taking a view on the new cable TV distribution system. TRAI, which was recently given the additional charge of regulating the broadcasting sector, is consulting legal experts to address complex issues related to the cable TV industry, according to the chairman. "As per law, CAS should have been implemented in all four metros. Otherwise, it's a cognisable offence," Mr Baijal said. Source: The Financial Express, Feb.12, 2004

CNN International has boosted its investment in the network's broadcast and newsgathering operations, with strategic appointments of correspondents around the world and extensive deployment of a new lap-top based 'Digital Newsgathering' (DNG) system exclusively developed for and by CNN, it was announced today by Chris Cramer, managing director of CNN International. The new DNG system which combines new lightweight cameras and advanced satellite and Internet communications technology was pioneered by CNN's New Delhi Bureau and will now be used by all 28 international bureaus. It enables CNN correspondents to harness a fresh and vibrant new way of reporting the news and to be far more proactive in the way they are able to file stories to fulfil the needs of the CNN's television, radio, wireless and internet services and will also enhance their ability to respond quickly to breaking news as it happens. Source: agencyfaqs.com, Feb.4, 2004

Radio Media

Prasar Bharati had to come to the negotiating table with Ten Sports also for radio rights of India-Pakistan cricket series. Ten Sports, which recently acquired the worldwide radio rights, has agreed to sell the exclusive India rights to All India Radio. An AIR team was in Islamabad recently to bid for radio rights, but failed to acquire the same. Although Ten Sports vice-president Peter Hutton refused to give out the figures, sources said AIR had bid $25,000 for the rights in India, against Ten Sports' $150,000 for global radio rights. It is learnt that AIR would pay around the same as its bid amount to Ten Sports. Source: The Financial Express, Feb.13, 2004

Web and New Media

The European Commission revealed yesterday that it was looking at "possible anti-competitive commercial arrangements and conduct" in the sale of sports rights to Internet and mobile phone operators. Sports clips, such as footage of a footballer scoring a goal, have been hailed as one of the applications that could generate real consumer interest in third-generation mobile phones, currently being rolled out in across EU. The technology's commercial attractiveness may also be heightened this year by the summer Olympics in Athens. But the Commission is worried the process may be hampered by practices that may break EU competition law, such as 'bundling" television with new media rights, favouring television coverage over other kinds of coverage, or awarding new media rights on an exclusive basis. Source: Financial Times, Feb.4, 2004

Events & Public Relations

Sumeet Chatterjee, general manager, Enterprise Nexus, has put in his papers, and is slated to join Times Group's entertainment division 360 Degrees as vice-president and operating head. He says, "I seriously felt the need to broaden the boundaries to be a more effective communications person. Event management is yet another tool in the marketing mix, an industry that is growing, and at the end of the day, it deals with brands." For the record, 360 Degrees manages high profile events including the Filmfare Awards, the Femina Miss India Contest and The Economic Times Excellence Awards. He said his mandate was to create a strong brand preference for 360 Degrees among brand managers-given the competition that exists in the marketplace both from organised and unorganised players, grow the non-TOI businesses and to increase profitability of the business. Source: agencyfaqs.com, Feb.13, 2004

Miscellaneous

The world

Walt Disney was yesterday fighting for survival after America's biggest cable television company, Comcast, laid siege with a $66bn (£35bn) bid. The Disney empire has foundered for the past five years leading to persistent speculation that it could be subject to a bid. Even so, yesterday's hostile approach stunned the industry. Together, Comcast and Disney would have higher revenues than Time Warner, the largest media company in the world. Comcast went public with its bid after Disney's chairman and chief executive, Michael Eisner, rejected a behind the scenes approach from the cable company earlier this week. Comcast began life as a small cable company in Mississippi in 1963 and has grown through an insatiable appetite for acquisitions. It has more than 21 million cable and high-speed Internet customers and revenues of more than $18bn. The company described its bid for Disney as "the logical next step". The bid has come at a time when Disney is looking particularly vulnerable. The company's animation division has suffered a string of flops. ABC, the American TV station owned by Disney, is by far the least profitable of the four broadcast networks and the theme parks division has been weak since the terrorist attacks of 2001. Comcast's offer is $5bn higher than Disney's market value. Source: The Guardian, Feb.12, 2004

Compiled by

Saurabh Marya, BA Mass Comm (1st year)

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