MUMBAI: Former Network18 Group CEO Haresh Chawla will be joining India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA), as India partner.

Chawla will be joining the private equity firm on 1 June. He will be responsible for building and scaling up businesses owned by IVFA across sectors, as well as leading media and entertainment investments at the private equity firm.

IVFA managing partner Vishal Nevatia said, "Haresh brings with him unique experience, having built several world-class brands in the media and entertainment space. He blends professional management with entrepreneurial drive and the combination will be invaluable in helping IVFA scale up and further build our portfolio of businesses."

IVFA controls MBPL, the company which operates FM radio station under the Radio City brand, and Bangalore-based MSO Atria Convergence Technologies. The fund has exited from its two earlier media investments, Shringar Films and DQ Entertainment.

IVFA?s other investments include Meru Cabs, RDC Concrete, InLogistics, Mahindra Hinoday,DM Healthcare and RoboSilicon, amongst others.

On his new role Chawla added, "IVFA is a uniquely positioned firm that not only infuses capital but also the mindset and strategic management thinking, that is required to scale up mid-sized businesses into large professionally-run enterprises. This operating model was particularly appealing to me as a chance to leverage my experience in building up businesses and helping management teams perform to their true potential."

Under Chawla?s leadership, Network18 grew from a single business news channel (CNBC-TV18) and solitary portal (Moneycontrol.com), with revenues of Rs 150 million in 1999, to a diversified media group with revenues in excess of Rs 25 billion in 2011. His previous assignments have all been with start-ups including the HCL Group, where he headed business development for HCL Comnet; ABCL, where he set up the Film Distribution Business, and at the Times of India Group where he launched their music label - Times Music.

MUMBAI: Viacom18 will launch Comedy Central, the sixth channel from the stable, on 23 January.

With the launch of the channel, Viacom18 will mark its presence in another under-served genre ?English comedy. "Given its rich library of world class shows and distinct positioning, we are confident of Comedy Central establishing itself as one of the dominant players in the English entertainment space in Indian television," said Viacom18 group CEO Haresh Chawla.

The channel?s brand philosophy, developed internally, is ?Laugh It Off?. The TG is 15+ SEC, A,B Metros.

Comedy Central expects to be available in 20 million homes, across analogue and digital cable and DTH platforms. On DTH, it will be available on Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV initially, but within two months the aim is to be on all the direct-to-home (DTH) platforms.

Viacom International Media Networks president, CEO Bob Bakish said, ?Comedy Central is one of Viacom?s most distinct and successful franchises globally. We feel that the time is now right for Viacom18 to introduce Comedy Central in India, given the growth curve in the Indian television entertainment market.?

Viacom was planning to get Comedy Central to India for quite a while now. Said Viacom18 Media senior VP, GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia, ?The time is right partly due to the spread of digitisation and also because people at this time are stressed. They are open to comedy and to laughing at themselves. Exposure to international content is growing as people increasingly travel.?

The programming will be a mix of sitcoms, sketch comedy, British comedy, stand ups and gags. Some of the shows the channel will air include Daily Show with John Stewart, South Park, Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, The Office and Seinfeld. Movies will eventually air during the weekends.

Local shows will form part of the content strategy. ?There will be something for everyone. Among other things, we will develop our own talent which we would take overseas to give them a wider platform.?

For the youth, South Park will air a block called Cinderella Hour at midnight. Shows like Fawlty Towers, Allo Allo will air on the weekend where people have more time on their hands. ?Unlike other channels that mainly run marathons to allow viewers to catch up on the weekend, Comedy Central will also have premieres. In terms of the channel?s overall content, around half of it will be fresh,? said Palia.

Comedy Central has no plans to introduce a dubbed language feed as the nuances of comedy are difficult to translate. ?The channel will, however, have subtitles,? said Palia.

The business model for the channel will be led by advertising, followed by subscription. ?Many advertisers today want to own humour as a platform. We will ask advertisers how they want to use us. We will create packages and interaction mechanisms. Our relationship with advertisers will take the form of activities and doing on-ground events with them among other things,? said Palia.

In India, Viacom18 is planning to take the brand beyond the television screens and is planning to have live events and merchandising.

The launch will be backed later by an extensive marketing campaign. ?Besides television, print, outdoor, other touchpoints will be created including gyms, salons, cafes, cinema halls. 500-600 touch points will be there including in places where one might not expect it like hospitals and chemists through things like prescription pads. We have tied up with Religare Wellness,? averred Palia.

New media will be used as a brand extension. ?We will be present on YouTube, Twitter, etc. We will also have a dial in service on the mobile. The success will rest on how much people interact with the channel. It is not about how it fares in eight weeks. This is a long term commitment,? said Palia.

BBH is the creative agency while Vizeum is the media agency for the channel.

?We are confident that Comedy Central will carve out its own space within no time. All Viacom18 channels are doing extremely well,? said Bakish.

Viacom18 already airs Hindi general entertainment channel Colors, youth channel MTV, kids channel Nick, English entertainment channel Vh1 and has recently launched action channel for young audience ? Sonic.

Initially launched in the US in 1991, Comedy Central started global expansion late 2006. At present, Comedy Central has localised channels in Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Israel and Spain.

MUMBAI: The Network18 Group has announced elevation of B Saikumar as its Group CEO. Saikumar, 37, replaces Haresh Chawla who recently quit.

In his new role, Saikumar will be responsible for the strategic and operational management of the Network18 Group. He would have direct responsibility of the Group?s News, Web, Publishing, Factual Entertainment and allied businesses which would include the IBN General News Network, CNBC TV18/ Awaaz Business News Network, Web18, Yellow Pages, Forbes India, AETN18 and the niche magazine stable among others.

Saikumar will also shortly be joining the Boards of Viacom18 and HomeShop18. The current CEOs and Management Teams of Viacom18 and HomeShop18 will continue to report to their respective Boards.

The company said that Network18 founder and editor Raghav Bahl is expected to step up engagement with the management teams of Viacom18 and HomeShop18 and Saikumar will be working closely with him on both of these businesses.

Bahl said, ?Haresh has led Network18 with extraordinary distinction in the first phase of our growth and identity. Now, as we gear up for our most ambitious phase yet, I am convinced that Sai (or ?B Saikumar? as the world knows him, formally) has the inclusive skills and mature leadership that are needed to get us there - he has our best wishes and our wholehearted support.?

Prior to this development, Saikumar was serving as Group COO and was responsible for leading management teams across Group companies apart from being a core member of Network18?s Business Strategy Team. Through his decade long stint, he has been responsible for providing ?operational leadership? and enabling ?stellar organic growth across the Group?s market leading brands?, the company said.

He has also played an integral role in the various inorganic forays of the Group across businesses.

Chawla said, ?I am absolutely delighted to handover the mantle to Sai, who has worked very closely with me for over a decade, as we built the Network18 franchise. He has seen the Network grow from its very early days across various businesses, which has given him a width of experience that is tough to find in the media business. He is an accomplished leader and a true people?s person and I have no doubt that he?ll take the legacy forward to even greater heights. I will always be available to him as a friend and mentor and wish him success.?

Saikumar added, ?It?s an honour to lead this world-beating team at Network18. The next phase of growth promises to be exciting and I look forward to it. Building upon the inspiring legacy left behind by Haresh, we have some very ambitious dreams for the future and we intend to see each one of them fulfilled.?

Saikumar will be reporting into Bahl in this new capacity. Prior to joining the Network18 Group in 2000, Saikumar was with the Times of India Group, where he worked with Times Music and Times FM.

MUMBAI: Close on the heels of the exit of its CEO Rajesh kamat, Colors programming head Ashvini Yardi has decided to move on.

Over the next 2-3 months, she will transition out of her current role at Colors and work on film projects, the first of which will be in association with Viacom18?s Motion Picture Division. 

Yardi said, "It?s been a hard decision for me, emotionally. I?ve had a great time at Colors, creating a destination that?s today visited by millions of people everyday. I have worked with a great team here and am confident that they?ll continue to lead Colors to even greater heights. I am also excited to continuing my association with Viacom18 Motion Pictures, as I set out as an entrepreneur into the films business."

Viacom18 Group CEO Haresh Chawla added, "Ashvini?s contribution to Colors? success has been significant. With her experience and knack for content that connects with the masses, she not only brought ?differentiated? concepts to Colors but also gave the format shows, her distinct touch. We now look forward to working with her on her maiden venture in the Films business."
 

MUMBAI: Amid a toughening economy, Viacom18 has tweaked its growth plans. Pushed back for launch is the Hindi movie channel, for which the company had invested over Rs 2.5 billion in acquiring movie rights.

The channel will now launch next year, perhaps coinciding with an improved ad economy.

Viacom18 is also planning to launch regional entertainment channels next year.

Two smaller launches will take place this year. The company will launch within three months Comedy Central and another channel for young audiences.

Indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that Viacom18 is planning to launch two niche channels.

"Given the changing dynamics of the television business in this market, we have decided to strategically re-prioritise our growth plans and are now planning to launch Comedy Central and a channel for young audiences within the next three months, while deferring the launch of our Hindi movie channel," Viacom18 Group CEO Haresh Chawla said in an official statement.

"We are a young organisation and therefore have the agility to tweak our plans as may be required. Given the direction of growth across our businesses, we intend to launch our Hindi movie channel some time next year, with a model that will cut the lead time to leadership significantly...like we?ve been able to achieve in our other businesses," he further added.

Last month, Viacom18 had appointed Ravish Kumar as head of its proposed Hindi movie channel. Kumar was earlier Star India EVP and general manager for regional channels, handling Star Jalsha and Star Pravah.

Kumar will now explore the regional prospects of Viacom18.

"We have also decided to focus more attention to regional language entertainment and Kumar will be leading our efforts to explore and launch that part of the business in the coming year," Chawla added.

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