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Advertising & Marketing

Following a three-way pitch involving club agencies Leo Burnett India, Lowe and O&M, two-wheeler giant Bajaj Auto has appointed Burnett to handle the advertising for its soon-to-be-launched 100-cc motorcycle, code named Super 100. KV Sridhar, national creative director, Leo Burnett India, confirmed the news. The Super 100 - which was unveiled at the 7th Auto Expo 2004, held in New Delhi last month - is scheduled for launch sometime in April. According to industry sources, the Super 100 is one of Bajaj Auto's most ambitious brand launches this year, and going by the buzz in the market, the company has earmarked an advertising budget of Rs 25-30 crore for the brand in the first year alone. "All I can say at this stage is that it will be a sensational launch which will excite the bottom segment of the motorcycle market," Sridhar says. The Super 100 win offsets the double disappointments that the agency had to put up with when it first lost the Caliber account (Burnett had launched the brand, it may be recalled), and then the pitch for the '612 World Bike' (which was subsequently launched as Bajaj Wind) to Lowe.

"We went to them with one strong idea which was based on a good insight," Sridhar recalls. "We believed in the power of that idea, which is why we kept going back to them with the same idea. I think the idea grew on the client, and because they also liked our conviction, they bought it." Source: agencyfaqs.com, Feb.18, 2004

T.V. Media

After the resignation of the former BBC director general Greg Dyke and chairman Gavyn Davies following the Hutton Report, now the acting DG Mark Byford is leading a review of the editorial lessons to be learned for the broadcaster. Byford has formed a small review group to assist him in this task over the next three months. The team will be chaired by Ronald Neil, the former director of BBC News and Current Affairs who worked for the BBC for over 30 years. The aim of the review is to examine the editorial issues for the BBC raised by the Hutton report. The committee will identify the lessons to learn and make appropriate recommendations including necessary revisions to the Producers' Guidelines and to the handling of complaints. The review team will support Mark Byford in the work and the Acting DG hopes to take forward the recommendations to the BBC's Board of Governors in June. Source: Indiantelevision.com, Feb.20, 2004

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today said that new channels may be launched but the price cannot be out of sync with the prices of similar channels that were existing on or before 26 December, the cut off date for freezing of cable prices. It also indicated that there is no ceiling on cable operators or service providers but any decrease or increase in number of channels should be calculated on a pro rata basis and that the price freeze order is effective in CAS and non-CAS areas. After announcement of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Tariff Order 2004 a number of questions had been raised in regard to the underlying import of the provisions of the order by the industry. TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal said that the clarifications issued by the regulator is more aimed at bringing about a semblance of orderliness in an unorganised industry. On the pricing of new channels, if launched now, Baijal said, "the basic aim is to see that the consumer does not get affected by industry's own games. If new channels are to be launched, then the industry needs to absorb a major portion of the cost." Similar calculations would have to be done if the consumer base is sought to be increased by the broadcaster for increased subscription revenue. The latest Trai directive has completely taken the wind out of the Cable fraternity's sails. It remains to be seen how they respond to this setback. Source: Indiantelevision.com, Feb.19, 2004

STAR News, 24-hour Hindi news channel, has appointed Uday Shankar as editor and director of news. Shankar, who moves in from his previous assignment as news director with TV Today Television Network, has tremendous experience and an unmatched track record in the field of TV journalism. "STAR News continues to attract the best talent there is in the media industry and we are happy to welcome Uday Shankar to our team," said Ravina Raj Kohli, president, STAR News. "As editor and director of news, Uday's responsibilities will include managing the channel's editorial content with a special focus on the immediate challenge of covering the elections with "Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri." Source: Agencyfaqs.com, Feb.17, 2004

MTV India is contemplating the launch of a music channel for the south. The channel plans to cater to all the languages of the south - Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada. In addition to this development, sibling kids channel, Nickelodeon, would soon go Hindi. From four hours of Hindi-dubbed programmes now, about half of the channels programming will be in Hindi soon. In fact, the management is considering the option of dual feed, a Hindi feed and an English, for the south Indian markets. Source: The Hindu Business Line, Feb.14, 2004

Print Media

The World

City broker Collins Stewart dropped out of the race for the Telegraph newspaper group because it was not prepared to "overpay" for the titles. The company decided not to proceed with a second bid - after indicating interest last week - because investment bank Lazard wanted to keep bidding above the level it was willing to pay. Lazard is believed to have asked bidders, who also include Express owner Richard Desmond and the Daily Mail & General Trust, to raise their offers above £600m. Most offers made last week for the Telegraph titles, which account for about half the revenues of parent group Hollinger International, were in the range of £450m to £550m. Trade buyers like Mr Desmond and DMGT are likely to pay more for the papers, as they view them as strategic, must-have buys and not merely money-making opportunities. Collins Stewart's bid envisaged an "accelerated IPO" that would have seen the Telegraph floated on the stock exchange. Private equity group Candover - which has been linked with former Telegraph managing director Jeremy Deedes and present City editor Neil Collins - is understood to remain in the hunt for the Telegraph. Other private equity buyers thought to be considering their options include 3i - which is advised by former Mirror boss David Montgomery - and Apax partners, where former Telegraph executive Stephen Grabiner is a partner. DMGT's bid has been backed by private equity group Cinven and the Telegraph's former owners, the Berry family. Hollinger International has instructed Lazard to press ahead with the auction, even though the company's controlling shareholder, Lord Black, has already announced the sale of his stake to the Barclay brothers, owners of the Scotsman. A court case in Delaware beginning today is likely to determine whether Lord Black or the company board - whose relations have deteriorated into open hostility - has the authority to sell the company. If Hollinger International loses the case, its attempt to auction off the Telegraph and other assets - such as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post - would effectively be thwarted. Source: The Guardian, Feb.18, 2004

Miscellaneous

Global information firm Reuters has announced the launch of the company's data operations centre in India. The centre, which will be functioning out of Bangalore, will handle critical operations to support the worldwide data operations of Reuters, according to Reuters South Asia human resource manager Anand Sudhakar Khare. He said that the company was planning to hire 350 professionals in the city during 2004, later scaling up the strength to 600 by the end of 2005. Reuters is planning to shift around 150 jobs from its New York and UK operations to support Bangalore centre operations, while the remaining staff would be hired, for round the clock operations during five days a week, he said. Bangalore centre will save the company nearly 60 per cent on cost of operations, compared to work done out of New York and Europe centres, said Reuters global head of data operations, Justin Abel. He said, "The savings will depend on the kind of work being done out of Bangalore. The Bangalore centre will not be a revenue generation operation. It will not handle back office operations, but front office, critical operations for the company, such as information processing for our information analysts abroad." Reuters employs nearly 3,400 people, including editorial staff, across three similar centres in Sydney, Singapore and Tokyo. Source: The Financial Express, Feb.14, 2004

According to a recent study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, India's entertainment industry - that includes radio, television and films - is projected to grow to a whopping Rs 285 billion by 2005. Reports suggest, Europe's largest media conglomerate, $20 billion Bertelsmann AG, is looking at setting up a subsidiary in India and pick up equity stakes in Indian media companies. While TV software production houses are high on Bertelsmann's hit list, the publishing sector also seems to be a soft target. Gunter Thielen, chairman and chief executive, Bertelsmann AG, told journalists at a news conference yesterday, "We are looking at business opportunities in all these areas as the environment for investment is very positive." The company also seems keen to expand its business process outsourcing unit in the country for the organisation's internal needs. About nine months back it had tied up with the Bhatia family-controlled Bird Group to set up a BPO unit here. Source: Agencyfaqs.com, Feb.18, 2004

Compiled by

Saurabh Marya, BA Mass Comm (1st year)

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