BCG released a report titled “Shaping The Industry At A Time Of Disruption – Taking Indian M&E Industry Towards A $100 Billion Aspiration” at the BCG-CII 4th Big Picture Summit on the future of Indian media and entertainment.

The report assesses the progress over the past five years, where it has been growing at a stable 10% Year on Year (YoY) and currently valued at INR 115,500 Crores.

Indian Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry has the potential to reach $100 billion by 2025 (including distribution revenues from broadband) by 2025. This would imply growth to Rs.210-250,000 Crore by 2020. Such robust growth can come only on the back of enabling infrastructure and the support of the government and the industry itself. With a growth potential of 13-16% YOY it has to potential to emerge as one of the largest employment providers, contributing significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“At the core of this optimism is the fact that the underlying Indian consumer trend is positive,” notes Kanchan Samtani, Partner & Director at The Boston Consulting Group. “Unlike mature Western markets, digital media could expand the overall market size by tapping into latent demand and driving new media consumption rather than merely replacing other, more traditional platforms.”

The significance of India's M&E sector cannot be stated enough. It has the world’s third largest television viewership base after the U.S. and China, the world’s second largest print industry in terms of circulation, and produces the highest number of films worldwide (1900+ films per annum). The next decade, however will be the decade of change. We see the interplay of five forces creating a tectonic shift which can potentially catapult the industry into the next orbit of growth. India is gearing for a consumption explosion.

New consumption behaviors will get created with always-on, on-the-go, on-demand and seamless pick-where-you-left models across multiple devices and time frames. The distinction between prime and non-prime time will become redundant due to these changing patterns and behaviors of online consumption.  It will also create fragmented audiences. With the ever-increasing choice of content and the popularity of time-shifted and on-demand viewing, measuring viewer behavior will become increasingly critical as it will facilitate targeted advertising. Further, there is a fast growing need for innovative and newer ad formats for effective monetization.

The Report titled as “Vision 2020 Document on Media & Entertainment Sector” will be discussed threadbare at the 4th edition of the CII Big Picture Summit to be held on 19-20 October 2015 in New Delhi. This annual event pioneered by CII is the platform to address concerns and challenges of the industry among the stakeholders to ferret out newer ideations and suggest measures for creating an eco-system for accelerating the growth of the industry.

At the same time the next decade could also provide India the opportunity to emerge as a global M&E hub. Opportunities, content and players are all becoming universal, and India—backed by a stable macroeconomic outlook, a youthful, English speaking workforce and the government's "Make in India" and "Digital India" blueprints—is strongly positioned to exploit such trends. “To advance industry growth, India needs to establish itself as a global production hub and encourage higher investment in the M&E sector – from global and domestic players” states Neeraj Aggarwal, MD, The Boston Consulting Group - India.

Linear value chains of the past will collapse, accommodating new roles and new players. “This evolving ecosystem will create new winners and these winners will do three things differently,” contends John Rose, Senior Partner at The Boston Consulting Group. “They will think big, leverage multiple monetization models – adding up dimes to create dollars and invest heavily in content – for content will continue to be king.”

The mini-series premieres on 22nd October at 11PM

He held the gun; she called the shots. One of the most infamous love stories in American history that immortalized the criminal duo of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow hits the small screen as HISTORY TV18 presents the India premiere of its hit mini-series – Bonnie & Clyde on 22nd October 2015 at 11PM. The show recounts the fascinating tale of the couple whose crime spree enraptured the American public.

Based on the true story of Clyde Barrow, a charismatic convicted armed robber who sweeps Bonnie Parker, an impressionable, petite, small-town waitress, off her feet, the series showcases their journey and how the two embark on one of the most infamous bank-robbing sprees in history. The star-studded miniseries features Emile Hirsch and Holliday Grainger in the title roles of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, the Depression-era outlaw couple whose criminal exploits earned them lasting fame for the past eight decades.

Rumoured to have a sixth sense which allowed him to see events before they happened, Barrow was always able to stay one step ahead of the law as he and Parker escaped capture time and time again. His one blind spot was Parker, who was intent on becoming famous. She fed on the alluring media attention and pushed Barrow to commit riskier, more dangerous crimes to generate bigger headlines and make them the most famous criminals of the modern era.

Bonnie & Clyde premieres on HISTORY TV18 on 22nd October, every Thursday-Friday at 11 PM.

Foodtainment guaranteed with great conversations, performances and easy to make dishes from 20th October at 8:30pm only on Living Foodz

Get ready to experience fun and food alike in a café, right within the confines of your home. Living Foodz, India’s premiere foodtainment channel brings to you ‘Ranveer’s Cafe’ a unique show, which offers scrumptious international café style food with a twist along with live musical performances by talented guests to add to the foodtainment quotient.

For the first time on Indian television, audiences with experience food-music-conversations, all in one TV show. Chef Ranveer Brar will showcase international café recipes with an Indian twist and beautiful representation while he chats up with different, talented entertainers in each episode. While Chef Ranveer cooks up a dish, these true performers will storm up Ranveer’s cafe with their vibrant energy and talent and at the same time learn a trick or two in cooking by helping the Chef in the kitchen. The performers will mesmerize audiences will original compositions that are exclusive to the show.

Mr. Amit Nair, Business Head Living Foodz says “People across the world bond the most over music and food. Hence we are bringing in a show that marries these two most loved things - Food and Music in a true sense to provide the viewers with thorough food-tainment. The show truly brings out the real essence of our channel philosophy.”

The show will feature celebrity artists like Kumar Sanu, Armaan Malik, Gajendra Verma, Aakriti Kakkar, Nakaash Aziz, Aditi Singh Sharma, Clinton Cejero, Siddharth Mahadevan and many more.

Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar who originally hails from Lucknow and has worked in diverse kitchens from Goa to Boston to Mumbai will be seen cooking international recipes with his own twist to it. Ever thought of making Tacos with Masala Papad, Toastie with Gajar Halwa, Galouti Kebab Quesadillas? No… well watch it happen in Ranveer’s Café.

Get ready for a musical toast with Ranveer’s Café every Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:30 pm from 20th October only on Living Foodz

Dentsu Aegis Network today announces the acquisition of Fountainhead Entertainment Pvt.Ltd (“Fountainhead”), one of India’s leading event and experiential agencies. Fountainhead’s strong expertise and presence within the fastest growing sector of India’s advertising industry adds scale and leadership to Dentsu Aegis Network’s growing presence within this vibrant market.

Established in 1994 and now with more than 205 experiential specialists, Fountainhead is headquartered in Mumbai and has offices in Delhi and Bangalore. Founded by renowned industry figures Chairman Brian Tellis, Managing Director Neale Murray and Director Otis D’Souza and  later joined by Co-Directors, the visionary Pradeep Guha, V G Jairam and Owen Roncon, Fountainhead has grown to become India’s most awarded and respected experiential agency. This acquisition will be one of the largest in India within this sector.

Fountainhead supports its enviable client base of more than 100 on all types of events, digital initiatives, product launches, brand activation and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. The five brands within the growing business are: Fountainhead Events, Oranjuice Entertainment, Fountainhead Activations, Fountainhead Corporate Journeys and Fountainhead Digital. Together, they deliver in excess of 350 events annually.

Post-acquisition, Fountainhead will continue to be led by co-founder and CEO Brian Tellis. The current management team will also continue as is. Brian will report into Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia. It is envisaged that in 2016 the existing experiential offering of psLIVE, with 86 people in India, will be merged with Fountainhead, making the combined agency India’s largest experiential and activation agency business.

Nick Waters, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific said, “Fountainhead’s reputation in the event and activation market, and their extensive experience in both music and sports marketing, complements and strengthens our experiential offering in one of the region’s most exciting markets. This move represents a further step in our continued investment programme in the Indian market. We welcome Brian and the wider team to the network.”

Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia said, “As the fastest growing network in India, we are continuing to expand our portfolio of diverse specialisations available to our growing client base. Fountainhead’s creative quality and reputation in the market make it the perfect addition to Dentsu Aegis Network India. Our unique ‘One P & L’ philosophy will help us bring their expertise to all Dentsu Aegis Network clients. This is another big step forward in helping us achieve our mission of being the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India.”

Brian Tellis, Co-founder and CEO of Fountainhead said, “Our vision is to deliver world class experiences to our stake holders. To set benchmarks in delivery through cutting-edge creativity, innovation, value pricing and practices and processes.  We are thrilled to join Dentsu Aegis Network. The sheer dynamism of the group will open up opportunities for us. Our values are well aligned and the potentially combined entity of Fountainhead and psLIVE will become the most comprehensive experiential offering in India. We are very excited about this opportunity and the growth potential it offers. Fountainhead, a full service experiential agency, will now start to align with an enviable spectrum of brands through the Dentsu Aegis Network.”

Fountainhead will retain its identity and branding, working alongside the other specialist Dentsu Aegis Network brands locally: Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope, Vizeum, Amnet, Dentsu media, Dentsu branded agencies (Dentsu Creative Impact, Dentsu Marcom, Dentsu Communications, Taproot Dentsu, Dentsu Webchutney), WATConsult and Milestone Brandcom.

-The Nation’s No. 1 News Channel is the most loved on Facebook with over 1 Crore Likes

- Aaj Tak Grows from 1 Mln to 10 Mln likes in just around 2 ½ years

The nation’s No. 1 News channel Aaj Tak crosses another milestone by crossing 10 million likes on Facebook.  Aaj Tak is the first news brand in the country to accomplish this feat making  it the most watched, followed, liked, commented and also the most engaging channel across platforms. After dominating TV News, Aaj Tak extends its leadership to the digital and social media space, with the other news brands trailing far behind.

Aaj Tak achieved the first milestone of 1 Million likes on Facebook in April 2013. There has been no stopping since, with the channel growing at a rapid pace to cross the 10 Million Likes milestone in such a short span. The number of followers on the channel’s social media page has been growing at a tremendous pace through the months and years, especially during news heavy periods like the Elections that see increased interest in news.

The Aaj Tak Facebook page has the most active users with an average weekly engagement of around 3.8 Million users as per data over the last 1 week of reaching 1 Crore likes. The fans don’t just stop at liking the page but go on to commenting, interacting and sharing content from the Aaj Tak page.

The channel has been a pioneer to integrate facebook and social media with television programming with regular polls, debates and viewer interactivity. Real time updates on the channel of reactions and comments from Facebook fans during the IPL and World Cup have ensured high engagement. Aaj Tak has also used the platform robustly to connect people directly with celebrities through Facebook chats. High engagement through news videos and a series of far reaching campaigns on Facebook like ‘Dilli Ke Dil Mein Kya hai?’ have also ensured the growing popularity of the channel across all platforms.

The channel’s dominance on social media with this landmark figure clearly establishes that whatever be the medium, if it’s News the nation turns to Aaj Tak.