MUMBAI: As part of its attempt to offer differentiated content, Viacom18-owned kids channel Nick has bought the telecast rights for 3D animated TV show Motu Patlu based on the popular characters from Lotpot comics, Motu & Patlu.

Produced by Maya Digital Studios, the 3D animated show will premier 16 October on Nick and will air daily at 6:30 pm.

Inspired from the characters of Lot Pot Comics, Motu Patlu is a lively comic caper that is sure to engage kids as well as the entire family. Set in the beautiful city of Furfuri Nagariya, Motu and Patlu are as similar as chalk and cheese, always on an adventurous expedition and having an uncanny ability to get into tricky situations.

Maya Digital Studios chairman and MD Ketan Mehta said, "At Maya, we want to bring the best of Indian content with world class animation & believe that since animated content is the first interface of a child with entertainment content it is very important to have an Indian cultural connection with it. We are extremely happy that Nickelodeon as a channel has a similar strategy and with this show we will together create new qualitative benchmarks for kids‘ entertainment in India."

Apart from the fact that Motu Patlu boasts of state-of-the-art 3D animation, another highlight of the show is the title song which brings together the musical triumvirate of Gulzar - who is writing a kids song after many years, Sandesh Shandilya - who has composed music for the entire series including the theme song that is sung by renowned singer Sukhwinder Singh.

Commenting on the launch of the new show, Sonic and Nickelodeon India Executive Vice President & Business Head Nina Elavia Jaipuria, , says, "Kids are the most dynamic consumers to please and we have to keep evolving and innovating to keep them engaged. We promise kids that with Motu Patlu we will give them a show that hasn‘t ever been seen in the kid‘s category as yet. Motu Patlu is a path-breaking and contemporary show that will go multi-platform to connect with kids all across the country. We will make sure that the kids have a rollicking time with our crazy duo."

The channel will bring Motu Patlu to the audience through a 360-degree marketing campaign consisting of multiple touch points covering ATL and BTL media vehicles. Mass media such as a cross channel television plan, print, outdoor and radio will be used.

In addition, Motu Patlu will also be brought to the kids through numerous BTL activities consisting of van activations in smaller towns, mall activations and engagement in retail chains such as Pantaloons and Time zone. Innovative Motu Patlu meals will be available across Bombay Blues outlets in Mumbai. Motu Patlu will also be promoted through hobby workshops with Hobby Ideas.

In order to connect with the tech-savvy kids of today, Nickelodeon will invest in building digital assets for Motu Patlu. Kids can interact on the digital and mobile platform through numerous Motu Patlu games, contests, downloads and a lot more on the dedicated micro site motupatlu.in. Social media like Facebook and Twitter will also be used to keep the engagement going.

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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