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UTV, India's leading, integrated Media & Entertainment Company and Astro Measat, the Malaysia based media company announces the launch of Brand Bindass, India's first local 360* entertainment brand for young India.

Brand Bindass is a celebration of being young in India and is all about being Fun, Frank, Fearless and valuing Freedom in all its forms. It is India's first 360 degree entertainment venture across television channels, mobile channel, web, gaming, merchandising, retail & nation wide ground events.

The initial rollout will be with the launch of Bindass -, a Hindi General Entertainment Channel for Young India. Programming of Bindass - will reflect the brand values with focus on genres like Action, Comedy and Thriller. To highlight our key driver shows-'Shakira', a thriller series introducing India's first female action-hero. Shakira is a form of 'Shakti' and an embodiment of justice. The show is a celebration of today's empowered woman and is a primetime show. 'Lagegi', the driver show of the channel is India's first ever stand-up comedy act performed before a live audience. The show will be shot 48 hours before telecast and is a take on current issues affecting young India. 'Sun Yaar Chill Maar', a comedy show on the life of 5 friends in college. It is a laugh riot that strikes an instant chord with anyone who has ever attended college, is in college or will attend college. To add to the spice, the programming is peppered with extreme sports, action, edge-of-the-seat thrillers, horror shows, spoofs, street magic, slapstick comedy and over 100 international movies.

Brand Bindass will also be present in the virtual world with 'www.bindass.com', a platform for our online users to connect with our brand, its values as well as our on-air shows; 'www.lagegi.com', India's first comedy portal, created for the driver show, Lagegi. This website will eventually be a stand-alone online comedy destination for young India.

For Bindass on mobile, Bindass has tied up with leading mobile operators for its own short code, 59995 to provide original show driven content, Bindass comedy, street magic, sitcoms, standup comedy and thrillers on mobile. Other mobile features will also include Bindass-Buddy on cell phone, signature ring tones, downloads and auctions reflecting the true spirit of the brand. UTV's alliance with Indiagames, India's #1 mobile and online gaming company, will power the youth with some of the world's best games

In its second phase, Bindass will foray into the retail segment with its own Bindass cafs. The dcor, music, food and ambience of the cafe will reflect the brand values of Bindass. Bindass will also simultaneously roll out into the merchandising domain, extending its interface with young India. It will also include the launch of multiple channels across languages in India and Southeast Asia. Scheduled for launch in mid 2007, Brand Bindass has an outlay of Rs.270 crores.

Note to the Editor

UTV Software Communications Ltd. is India's foremost Media & Entertainment Company with leadership position in 4 Verticals that includes Motion Pictures, Broadcasting, TV Content and New Media (i.e. Animation and Gaming). Listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange. The Walt Disney Company holds a strategic stake in UTV who has subsidiaries for its businesses across India, the UK and USA.

UTV Motion Pictures pioneered the Studio Model in India with operations encompassing Production, Marketing, Distribution and International Co-Productions. Strategic relationships with 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and Sony Pictures along with Will Smith's Overbrook have positioned UTV as the only South Asian Company in the International Movie Space. Recent releases include Mira Nair's "The Namesake" and under-Production M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening". Its Indian slate includes the BAFTA nominated Rang De Basanti with a slate of over 12 movies on the floor, along with its International Co-Productions makes it the largest Movie Studio in South Asia.

In New Media, UTV has one of the largest 3D Animated facilities located in Mumbai and after it acquiring controlling stakes in two Gaming Companies i.e. India Games (India's largest Mobile Gaming company) and Ignition UK (Console Gaming) along with it having under Production three of the largest Animation movies to come out of India in the next 2 years, it has carved a space as the premier New Media Company in South Asia.

In Television Content, a business with which UTV was founded, the company produces and markets over 20hrs of Television programmes a week in multiple languages.
UTV Broadcasting Ltd (UBL) will be launching a bouquet of channels that it will also distribute. This includes India's first Entertainment Brand for Young India and related channels called "Bindass", a World Cinema Channel entitled "Olive TV" and a slue of other Channels to be announced soon. After the roaring success of its Kids Channel – Hungama Tv to the Number 1 position in 18 months. More information on the group is available at www.utvnet.com

Vikram Acharya aka Sameer of Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki is grinning from ear to ear. The suave actor has been roped in to play the lead role in the new show Shakira on Bindaas channel.

Vikram sounded upbeat about his character. "I'm portraying the positive character of Sanjay Gujral, who's a dashing media tycoon. The character has been etched on the lines of business tycoon Vijay Mallya. I've just completed the first schedule of shooting."

Shakira is an action packed tale of a girl called Shakira who turns into a super woman overnight. Her conscious mind is not aware of it. "I'll be the love interest of Shakira (played by Sonia Singh). My character will slowly change things in her life. I think I'm very lucky to bag such a meaty role."

So, how difficult is it to portray two different characters on-screen? "Sameer in Woh…is a spoil brat whereas Sanjay is aggressive but is well aware of his responsibilities," reveals Vikram.

Further elaborating on the track changes in Woh Rehne Wali, Vikram says, "After Aamir Ali's exit from the show, my responsibility has increased twofold. The up and downs in Sameer's life will bring in a lot of surprises for the viewers. Also, Sameer will soon turn positive to add in spice."

Here's wishing our bindaas Vikram all the best!

She waits with baited breath, jittery to unlock her next treasure. Bindass CEO Zarina Mehta is bubbling with energy as she talks about her second baby Bindass. This time round, Mehta is casting her magic wand over the Indian youth segment, but with a mammoth approach as she navigates across multiple media platforms to capture her target audience. Some question whether she will rewrite the Hungama TV story and the impact it had on the Indian kid's space. However, in this case she looking to unveil a quartette of four Bindass television channels by April 2008.

With the backing of Malaysia based media company Astro, she seems geared up to take on competition with other broadcasters also foraying into the youth general entertainment segment. As this television space is heating up, Mehta is leaving no stone unturned to capture what she calls the "sweet spot." In an exclusive tte--tte with Indiantelevision.com's Renelle Snelleksz, Zarina Mehta exudes the excitement and the anxiety before she breathes life into her next creation.

Excerpts:

Why have you decided to change your TG positioning by extending the demographic beyond the 15-24 year olds even before launching Bindass?
When we initally conceived the channnel, we were looking at the 15 - 24 year olds, but further research urged us to redefine our target audience as 15-34 year olds. The median age for India has dropped by two years to 24 years since the 2001 census.

But how do you manage to make one brand appeal to this wide audience? It is all about targeting what we call our "sweet spot" or the 17 -21 year olds. We realized that if we target our sweet spot, then we will automatically attract the larger segment of 15 - 34. This is because the 15 year olds long to belong, while the 34 year olds just do not want to grow up. This 'down aging' phenomena is a sensational find because if I get my 17 - 21 year olds correct (which I pray I do, she laughs), then I will capture this larger segment as well.

What opportunities does this segment offer?
Between the 15 - 34 age group we have got 379 million Indians (All India) and in the C&S homes 95 million Indians. But who is currently engaging this audience? Star One did it in its old avatar, Sab is making a good attempt, there are also one off shows from GECs and some niche channels. But there is definitely a gap.

The 15 -34 year olds comprise 42 per cent of all TV viewing. This is a fantastic opportunity for us. The viewership patterns from 2005 till now are also changing, which shows the decline of the GECs as viewers are moving away from their traditional consumption and trying new things. There is thus a gap in the general entertainment space on television and we want to cater to this segment. We want to become the GEC for young India.

The concept behind Bindass has largely been supported by research. Are there any significant findings that have helped give shape to your upcoming channel?
We did three and a half months of solid research, we have a proprietary name test which we had done for Hungama TV, Ceria and for Bindass. Secondly, we did an ethnographic qualitative study, followed by a quantitative study based on attitudes conducted by Synovate across six Indian cities and 2500 samples. Our research is invaluable and the key finding stated that our sweet spot (core TG 17- 21 year olds) have a 'duality' but are very comfortable with having a traditional heart with a cool exterior. This forms the core brand value of Bindass.

The 'Bindass' name is imbued with certain brand properties that resonate with factors like chilled out, edgy, sexy and young. But as the creators of brand Bindass these values were not sufficient to create a 360 degree long term brand. So we added values that will further energize the brand and came up with the following propositions. If you are not "yo dude" and you are not "saas bahu" then you are Bindass. We are the reality of young India that consists of the four F's - Fun, Frank, Fearless and Freedom.

Our logo has been designed by BDA and is exactly what we represent, completely Indian with a cool exterior, that is what we believe will work.

On the programming front, what's your strategy?
The channel will have no music, no soaps, no gadget shows, no lifestyle shows and no VJ's. So what are we left with? It is going to have a lot of comedy. We will have action thrillers, Hollywood blockbusters and the best of local and International shows, accompanied by late night horror, International movies and extreme sports.

Our daily driver primetime shows include a stand up comedy Lagegi that is shot 24 to 48 hours prior to telecast from Monday to Thursday. We will have seven BIA's - Bindass Intellegent Agents from the top cities giving us reports on what is happening across India. Then there is Shakira, a dark angel fighting for justice, every man's fantasy, while another daily comedy is Sun Yaar Chill Maar. We also have a street magician show by Ugesh Sarcar.

Our programming is tailored to fit our research findings which show that the 15 -24 age group watches two and half hours of TV a week and movie channels are consumed for six hours a week by this TG.

In the highly cluttered TV environment, have you identified what your primetime is going to be?
Our primetime is definitely going to be the normal primetime 7.30 - 11.30 pm. But what is interesting is that this audience will be consuming TV across the day, so we will be discovering new primetimes. There will probably be the regular primetime and two other primetimes, which we have also identified and we are pushing your programmes at that time as well. This will be a learning curve for us.

But won't this interfere with GEC primetime, especially in the reality of a single TV household?
Yes, we will, thus, be discovering our own primetime. Is our TG going to be able to snatch the remote or not? We believe that within this primetime they will snatch the remote. But basically there are two time slots within primetime that we are gunning for. Apart from that, we do believe there will emerge other primetimes which will be a morning and afternoon one. We are looking to garner ratings right through the day.

You are also looking to have a strong movie line up on Bindass?
We have top of the line Hollywood blockbusters that we will dub, along with Japanese and Chinese films as well. It is important that the movie is 'bindass.' Even if I know a movie will rate well but if it does not qualify as a bindass film, then I won't put it on the channel.

We are not going to have Hindi movies on our channel, for the same reason that we are not having music, because it is 'undifferentiated viewing.' The way Hindi movies are bought in bulk, you are not allowed to pick and choose, thus you cannot build your brand, but in case of international films you can do this.

Will this mean that you will not have any films from the UTV stable?
We may have them eventually, but only if it's a Bindass movie. It also depends on whether we can afford it. At the moment, I am only looking at international movies from Asia and the West.

What is your movie strategy for the channel?
Primetime movies will be for the weekends, but we will also showcase two movies a day largely off primetime.

What about animated content on the channel?
I personally love animation but unfortunately in India animation is perceived as being for kids. I can't afford to have that on Bindass when we launch. Maybe after the brand has settled and people have realized that it's a 15+ brand, then I can put it on. But this will definitely not happen in the first year.

Are all the Bindass shows produced in-house?
Two have been produced in house i.e. Shakira and Sun Yaar Chill Maar but Lagegi has been done by the production house Encompass. However, all the concept ideas have come from us.

How many locally produced shows will be on the channel?
At the moment we have three shows. But we will have six original hours of content per day which includes a mix of locally produced shows, dubbed acquired content and movies.

Will the mix be largely skewed towards local content? What is the proportion of local versus acquired content?
We will just have to wait and watch although I believe local content is very vital. Our primetime will be completely local. But we have also learnt from our experience with the kid's channel Hungama TV that acquired content can also do very well.

Local programming will consist of 45 per cent and acquired 55 per cent. But we have to first see what works and then decide eventually.

All this is an opportunity to get the content of my brand across all touch points. We don't see it as competition to TV, we see online and mobile as fantastic opportunities to communicate with our audience. So by taking our content across platforms we will kick off with Lagegi.com an online comedy portal having Lagegi content and other content including user generated content and clips not aired on the show. We will also have Bindass.com which will showcase the brand and the shows.

With the first two caf's, I would like to see how these concepts click with our TG and then we will roll out completely. I don't want to push it.

Yes, the investments are outside the JV and are very high. The investments from the JV alone are Rs 2.7 billion which will be largely dedicated to the four channels.

Indiantelevision.com Team

(04 October 2007 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI: UTV's Bindass channel is banking on its 'Bingo Bindass Go To Space Contest' for 360 degree marketing and new media strategy.

The channel is trying to establish touch-points with its target group through the contest, on-ground promotions across seven cities and 200 colleges, apart from unveiling specialized mobile content.

To promote the space contest, Bindass has scheduled a number of ground events. These include, a biker in a space-suit moving around the 6 cities (excepting Mumbai), and touching 7-8 locations there followed by a pub-crawl in 3 cities viz. Mumbai, Delhi and Pune over the coming weeks.

Also, college contact programmes in 200 colleges across the 7 cities have been planned to promote the contest. The channel has also tied up with PVR chain of theatres for in-multiplex promotion of the space contest.

Further, IMI Mobile has been roped in as partners for technical integration and handling the backend for SMS on 59995 while On Mobile Asia Pacific will provide the same for IVR services on 5059995.

Apart from regular Bollywood ring-tones and CRBT's and wallpapers, content available short codes 59995 on SMS and 5059995 on IVR include characters from Bindass TV shows and will present themselves with a dose of humour.

Thus there are a games, ring tones, alarms, dedications, wallpapers, themes based on Shakira which the channel positions as India's first female action hero. Apart from this, there are chotesodes of hosts Mantra and Anirudh from the show Lagegi on mobile, who are also the hosts for the IVR services

PRESS RELEASE

The Marketing and New Media strategy for launching Bindass adopts a 360* approach and is designed to touch the TG at various points. It includes a first of its kind national contest, ground events across 7 cities and 200 colleges and specialized mobile content.

The national hunt Bingo Bindass Go to Space Contest, sponsored by ITC's Bingo the launch vehicle for Bindass will give a young Indian to be India's first space tourist on board RocketPlane XP, based in Oklahoma Space City. The search for the lucky winner will begin on September 24 when Bindass starts airing the questions, which take the contestants one-step closer to space.

Contestants have to register their particulars, viz. Name, Age, Sex, Email, Phone and City through SMS or on www.bindass.com. 6 questions will be aired beginning Sept 24 on the TV channel Bindass and also on www.bindass.com Further, contestants can send an SMS 'BS' to 59995 or dial 5059995 on their landlines to get access to the questions. Every week there would be 1 question and contestants have to get one of the 6 questions right to be eligible for the auditions which will be held in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow. The time and exact venue for the auditions will be informed to the short-listed candidates.

To promote Bingo Bindass Go to Space Contest a number of ground events have been scheduled. These include, a biker in a space-suit moving around the 6 cities (excepting Mumbai), touching 7-8 locations there, pub-crawl in 3 cities viz. Mumbai, Delhi and Pune over the coming weeks where men from space visit the city and men from mars reach out to women. Also, college contact programmes in 200 colleges across the 7 cities have been planned to promote the contest. It's also tied up with PVR chain of theatres for in multiplex promotion of the space contest.

Bindass is the first GEC to launch its content on mobile TV. Partnerships with Airtel, Hutch, BSNL, IDEA, BPL, Aircel, Spice Telecom and MTNL enable us to bring repurposed content, aggregated content and content exclusively created catering to the requirements of the TG, to Bindass subscribers. Further, IMI Mobile are the partners for technical integration and handling the backend for SMS on 59995 and On Mobile Asia Pacific for technical integration and backend support for IVR services on 5059995.

Apart from regular Bollywood ring-tones and CRBT's and wallpapers, key differentiated content is available on short codes 59995 on SMS and 5059995 on IVR. Characters from Bindass TV shows figure prominently on mobile. Thus, Shakira, India's first female action hero, has her own game, ring tones, alarms, dedications, wallpapers, themes etc. on mobile. There are Chotesodes of Mantra and Anirudh from Lagegi on mobile. They are also the hosts of IVR services. Humour is a key factor for mobile content. Even astrological service on IVR comes with a dose of humour. Also, some very exclusive applications are in the process of development.