MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl is restructuring his media and entertainment companies under three operational heads as he gears up for expansion after getting Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to indirectly invest in it.

Forming IndiaCast, a distribution company that houses content syndication as well, Bahl has got individual heads to shepherd the entertainment, news and distribution businesses that are entering a new growth phase.

Bahl‘s broad plan could be to bring the ETV regional entertainment channels under Viacom18 operational management while its news entities will be under TV18, a source familiar with the development says.

It is not clear yet if this operational structure will be allowed to transition into an equity arrangement. For this to happen, media conglomerate Viacom will have to agree to invest and induct the ETV entertainment channels into the joint venture company, Viacom18, where it holds 50 per cent stake.

"Nothing has been finalised yet. Viacom, no doubt, will be happy to have the regional GECs under Viacom18. A lot will also depend on how RIL wants the structure to evolve. But there are other issues as well," the source says.

As part of the plan to fortify its regional presence, TV18 acquired partial ownership in the broadcasting assets of Eenadu after valuing it at Rs 21 billion. With the purchase, the company has got 100 per cent stake in 5 regional news channels of ETV (where RIL has 100% interest), 50 per cent stake in 5 regional GEC channels excluding Telugu (where RIL has 100% interest) and 24.5 per cent stake in ETV Telugu channels (where RIL has 49% interest). The news channels include ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar, and ETV Urdu. The regional GECs are ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and ETV Oriya.

The restructuring exercise comes in the wake of these developments and the exit of Haresh Chawla who functioned as Network18 and Viacom18 Group CEO.

"The role of Chawla was too unwieldy as he had full control of all the group companies . After his exit, a restructuring was needed keeping in mind the growth plans," the source explains.

Network18 Group has a combined turnover of Rs 19.52 billion that includes 50 per cent of Viacom18 (Colors, MTV, etc), the news channels under TV18 (CNBC TV18, CNN IBN, IBN7, etc), the web properties and HomeShop18. As the company gears up to launch a Hindi movie channel (put on hold) and regional-language channels, a breakup in roles is the need of the hour.

"It wasn‘t practical for Chawla to oversee the whole of Bahl‘s empire. His operational role at Viacom18 at times was uncalled for and led to a quiet unrest," says a senior executive who has left the company on condition of anonymity.

Bahl Wednesday announced the hiring of Sudhanshu Vats, a senior executive at HUL, as the group CEO of Viacom18 Media. Under
 him will fall Colors, Comedy Central, MTV, Nick, Sonic, Vh1 and Viacom18 Motion Pictures. He has already recruited Anuj Gandhi, an industry veteran, to spearhead IndiaCast‘s growth.

Bahl‘s new structure will mean that the non-ad sales business falls under the care of Gandhi while Vats gets to groom the entertainment networks and Sai Kumar to directly nurse the news and web businesses while continuing his role as Network18 and TV18 Group CEO.

"Earlier, everybody was reporting to Chawla. Now the reality is that each of these lines of businesses need individual management and are too expanded to be operationally under one CEO," the source says.

Take IndiaCast, for example. The new distribution company, under which also resides the syndication business, is already having a turnover of Rs 4.30 billion. Bahl‘s ambition is to scale this up to the size of the biggies, particularly in a digital environment where there is going to be exponential growth in subscription revenues. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) reported domestic subscription of Rs 9.22 billion in FY‘12 and Rs 1.32 billion through other sales and services (syndication sales, playout & transmission services and facility usage income).

Bahl has given IndiaCast a wider playground, bringing under its umbrella content asset monetisation across geographies, platforms and mediums. The other channel distribution companies do not have such a broad canvass and content syndication falls outside their functional zones.

"Bahl believes that IndiaCast has enough leg room to grow and become a Rs 10 billion company over the next few years after digitisation of cable TV spreads," a media analyst at a broking firm says.

Vats will also have his plate full as the group expands its regional footprint and comes out with a Hindi movie channel and other entertainment products that are sure to launch in a digitised environment.

Kumar will have a tough task cut out for him as he tries to beat slow revenue growth for news channels. The web properties will 

also have to be guided to a scale that will make it comfortable for Bahl to tap the American market for raising capital through a public float.

After being rescued from a debt overhang by RIL, Bahl is laying out the new leadership structure that will provide fertile ground for new growth.

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MUMBAI: Colors has brought back its homegrown mythological series ?Jai Shri Krishna? as a re-run property. 

The show will air on Sunday mornings at 10.30, replacing Bournvita Quiz Contest which went off air on 29 April. On the following week, the channel aired a movie in that slot.

Jai Shri Krishna, produced by Sagar Films, aired on Colors from July 2008 until September 2009. It was a remake of Ramanand Sagar?s successful show ?Shri Krishna? and was handled by the younger generation of Sagars.

On Sundays at 12 noon, Colors runs a one-hour wellness show, ?All Is Well with Dr. Ahluwalia?. 

MUMBAI: Colors has split its programming unit into two separate teams to bring more focus on content for weekdays and weekends.

Manisha Sharma, who joins from tomorrow, will handle weekend programming with a team size of 10. Prashaant Bhatt, who was earlier in charge of fiction programming, will get the weekdays to nurse.

Colors? programming structure earlier evolved under a fiction and a non-fiction head without a programming head, after Ashvini Yardi quit to pursue film projects as an entrepreneur.

The need to change, effective 1 May, comes under the wake of a forward programming strategy that will include fiction content on weekends with a different kind of appeal. The series that Colors airs on weekdays and runs fresh on the channel on weekends as specials will continue to be looked after by Bhatt.

Effective 1 May, the realignment is aimed at strengthening content for the entire week as the channel strives to improve its ratings so that it climbs in the GEC ratings ladder. For the week ended ended 21 April, Colors ranked fourth, behind Zee TV, Sony and market leader Star Plus, according to TAM data.

Both Bhatt and Sharma will report to Colors CEO Raj Nayak.

Says Nayak, "Given Sharma?s vast experience and thorough knowledge of the industry, I am sure she will bring in the edge and experience in taking weekend programming to a new level. With this dynamic combination Bhatt managing the weekday programming and Sharma taking charge of weekends, we are hoping to make sure that Colors is a strong player throughout the week and, through this realignment equal focus will be laid on both ? weekday and weekend."

Colors hopes to gain from Sharma?s experience with Sony TV where she was non-fiction head. She was also responsible for developing shows like Comedy Circus, CID and Crime Patrol. Sony leads the weekends because of Crime Petrol and CID which figure in the top 10 show list.

Mumbai: Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel from the Viacom18 stable, is launching a wellness show on 29 April. Titled ?All is Well with Dr. Ahluwalia?, the show will be aired every Sunday at 12 noon

The show is the Indian adaptation of the international format - Dr. OZ. This is one-of-its-kind show in India and will simplify the medical jargons and terminology for the masses and give its audiences the medical expertise. It will drive awareness and also educate the audiences towards managing health at home and leading a better lifestyle.

Colors had bought the rights of the show from Sony Pictures Television (SPT) in November last year.

Produced by Miditech, the show will run for an hour. In the show, Dr. Sonu Ahluwalia, will demystify everything related to health and medicine, giving simple solutions and answers to all health and lifestyle related issues in common man?s terms. The interactive show will make health regime a fun experience through games, quizzes, power workouts and dance.

Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, "With All Is Well, we are excited to explore wellness as a concept that brings to our audiences edutainment weekly in a show that is both educative and entertaining. It takes a Sundays - 12 noon slot, a time when the entire family gets together, thereby building our weekend viewing. The show is also in line with the Colors philosophy of providing the viewers with variety of programming. With All Is well, we hope to bring in more awareness on health issues and take up the cause of reaching the message to a large audience."

Miditech co founder Niret Alva added, "It?s great to bring an interactive show that highlights health and medicine in a simpler and entertaining format to the Indian audience. Dr. Sonu is the perfect fit to take on as the host; he is witty and connects well with the audience. His experience and insights into the profession has worked towards making this show engaging and informative."

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