• UTV Stars and bindass big on digital

    MUMBAI: If one could say that digital and youngsters go hand-in-hand, then it won’t be wrong considering the amount o

  • UTV Stars to launch new show ?Bollynomics? in April

    Submitted by ITV Production on Mar 19
    Indiantelevision.com

    MUMBAI: With a view to bridge the gap between Bollywood and audience and in an attempt to bring them closer, UTV Stars is all set to launch a new show, ?Bollynomics?, on 19 April.

    Each episode of Bollynomics will encapsulate different aspects of this trade such as cover story on the week?s trend, tete-a tete with prominent producers, distributors and studio executives; The Big Picture ? a small chat segment with prominent personalities from the Trade fraternity; Star Equity ? the analysis of a Bollywood personality every week; weekly Trade Report ? a consolidated analysis and report on the happenings of the week gone by; and Bollywood This Week ? Top 10 trade related news of the week.

    Disney UTV executive director- Youth Networks Nikhil Gandhi said, ?UTV Stars launched with the thought of getting Bollywood closer to its fans and we have continued to deliver on this promise ever since. With Bollynomics, audiences will get a chance to know and better understand the business of Bollywood and its movies which forms such an integral part of their everyday lives.?

    The first episode will feature the show host in conversation with Bipasha Basu and Vinod Bhanushali, Rohan Sippy and David Dhawan.

    The show will be hosted by UTV Stars director and editor- content Manish Dubey.

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  • UTV Stars to air season 2 of 'Live My Life' from 21 October

    Submitted by ITV Production on Oct 16
    indiantelevision.com Team

    MUMBAI: Bollywood lifestyle channel UTV Stars will bring the second season of talent hunt show ?Live My Life? from 21 October.

    Live My Life Season 2 will have 10 episodes and will feature some of the biggest celebrities of the industry including Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Arjun Kapoor and Prabhu Deva.

    Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan will kick-start the season 2 of the show. The star will spend one full day with the Kolkata-based youth Jyoti Vishwakarma in line with the show?s philosophy of allowing fans to connect with their favourite stars.

    Disney UTV Executive Director - Youth Channels, Media Networks Nikhil Gandhi said, "The Show gives a fan an opportunity to spend an entire day with his/her favorite Superstar. It has become immensely popular amongst viewers as it is a ?dream-come true? for them. Season 1 of the show received a phenomenal response from audiences nationwide."

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    Live My Life
  • UTV Stars eyes break even in FY'13

    Submitted by ITV Production on Aug 25
    indiantelevision.com Team

    MUMBAI: UTV Stars, the Bollywood lifestyle channel from Disney UTV stable, is looking at operational break-even this fiscal, according to a senior executive.

    The channel, just over a year old, is banking on growth from ad sales, syndication and subscription coupled with strict cost controls to achieve this target.

    "We expect to break even in FY?13," Disney UTV Executive Director, Youth Channels ? Media Networks Nikhil Gandhi tells Indiantelevision during an interview.

    The Walt Disney Company, which owns Disney UTV, follows the financial cycle ended 30 September.

    "The kind of cost control that we have got and hopefully if the markets start looking well, then we should be there," he adds.

    UTV Stars competes with Times Television Network?s Zoom and BAG Films? E 24 in the Bollywood lifestyle space targeted primarily at the youth SEC AB 15-24.

    E24 had informed that it had achieved operational break even in FY?12 posting a cash profit of Rs 13 million.

    According to Gandhi, UTV Stars wants to reduce its dependence on ad revenues going forward. The plan is to grow the distribution and syndication revenue streams among others.

    "Currently, ad sales is at about 60-75 per cent (of our total revenue) but going forward we would like to bring it down to 50-55 per cent. With digitisation, we are hopeful that this will change," Gandhi avers.

    UTV Stars? business model includes advertising, distribution, syndication, video on demand and on-ground events.

    The channel is distributed in countries like Australia, UK, Malaysia, Pakistan and Nepal to tap into the Indian diaspora.

    UTV Stars syndicates in-flight entertainment content to airlines in India as well as abroad, according to Gandhi.

    The channel?s content mix comprises Bollywood news and the entertainment shows in addition to music and movies.

    "We have Bollywood music and movies but our large prime time play comprises news and shows. In the non-prime hours, we play music because the TG loves it and also because Bollywood music lends itself well with the channel," he explains.

    Currently, UTV Stars produces three and half hours of original content every day which includes shows like Live My Life, Up, Close and Personal with PZ, Superstar Santa and Lux The Chosen One.

    Apart from television, the broadcaster has built an online presence. "We have been able to create buzz on the web with half a million fans on Facebook. We are also the largest content provider for Bollywood on YouTube with 30 million views," Gandhi says.

    The entire UTV Group (Disney UTV) content is powered by UTV Stars on YouTube. "We power the UTV group content engine on YouTube per se including UTV Motion Pictures; also we have got 10,000 hours of content that we had shot last year. So I think that gives us an edge," he asserts.

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    UTV Stars
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