ITV

Category: Movie Channels

  • Cramped space, slow growth dog English movie channels

    There is no shake-up at the top in the English movie channel space but a grim battle is being waged at the lower level as the new entrants plot their growth path with stronger content and distribution.

    The segment leaders, Star Movies and HBO, have marginally lost their channel share in the midst of this competition, but they are way ahead to even feel challenged. Star Movies‘ share has dropped to 38 per cent for the first six months of the period ending June as against 42 per cent a year ago, while HBO has shed three per cent to stand at 31 per cent.

    Three-year-old Pix too has fallen 1 per cent to rest on a channel share of 11 per cent, according to Tam data (Tam data, c&s15+ SEC A,B) for the six-month period. However, Zee Studio, fourth in line, has trekked upwards from 7 per cent to 9 per cent.

    The only ranking change during this period has been the upsurge of WB, Turner and Warner‘s six-month-old channel in India, that has overtaken UTV World Cinema, which is also a new player in the field. While UTV World Cinema has a channel share of 4.8 per cent, WB is a hair‘s length ahead at 4.9 per cent.

    The first half of the year has seen the genre stickiness inch marginally up to 10 minutes, a one pointer climb from the year-ago period.

    According to industry experts, it‘s current films that gives English movie channels the ratings and pulls in advertisers. Tam data shows that for the six months while Star Movies and HBO had most of the top 10 titles, Pix‘s Slumdog Millionaire peaked at a rating of 0.33 TVR.

    So, as maintaining consistent brand loyalty becomes a challenge, top and long existing players are fine tuning their strategies to attract more audiences.

    Star Movies‘ focus this year has rested on enhancing its title choices for specific slots. It has also looked at giving viewers more opportunities to sample content that they can connect with. The aim is to make its flagship property, Friday Night Premiere, stronger.

    Says Star Movies VP programming Jyotsna Vriyalaya, “Having brand loyalty in a genre that is so title driven will be a very big challenge. Viewers often sample the top two to three channels before settling on their favourite movie.”

    HBO has concentrated on blockbusters and expansion of its theme variety such as the Hollywood Premier League, while continuing with original programming like True Blood. In an effort to go beyond just titles to build brand saliency, HBO is looking at new show formats.
    Says HBO South Asia country manager Shruti Bajpai, “The key to developing brand loyalty revolves around selection of titles, how well content is packaged, experimenting in terms of show formats, channel‘s on-air look and communication.”

    Pix business head Sunder Aaron notes that while the category is title driven, brand loyalty also develops among viewers of movie channels. “It‘s all about context. When a viewer identifies strongly with the movies shown on a particular channel, considering channel‘s presentation is comfortable and the promos and breaks unobtrusive, it provides a favourable viewing environment and eventually leads to a viewing habit.”

    Earlier, Pix was seen as a channel showcasing classic films. However, this year the channel has aggressively acquired titles from a number of distributors. The biggest was Slumdog Millionaire. With this acquisition, Aaron expects that there will be drastic change in how viewers perceive the channel over the next couple of years.

    Says Aaron, “Pix‘s marketing helps to feature these newer titles in a bigger and better way than in the past. While we are flattered that channels are emulating or copying some of our on air strategies, we will continue to evolve the look and feel of the channel as well. This should help us continue to make up ground on HBO and Star Movies.”

    Also, in a bid to introduce more variety, the channel airs soccer action from the FA Cup. “We‘ve introduced cinema-oriented series to India that have perfectly fitted into the Pix persona, with shows like Hollywood One on One, and Inside the Actors Studio,” adds Aaron.

    Zee Studio faces the same challenge as Pix in terms of getting premieres. But channel business head Sujay Kutty says that there are a number of independent distributors who have first-run gems in their packages. He also claims that he has 18 premieres lined up for the year.

    The channel has moved its primetime to 9 pm. April also saw the introduction of Sunday Noonatics, a slot for light entertaining flicks keeping the relaxed Sunday mood in mind.

    Blocks or no blocks?

    Well, apart from right title selection, placement and variety, the genre has also brought in the block-building strategy to attract target audiences. But with the introduction of blocks, the long-age debate also stands tall – do blocks work?

    Aaron says that while the channel holds festival bands, it does not pay off to have too many blocks. “When you commit to certain types of programming for a slot, you are essentially creating a programming ‘strait jacket‘ whose proposition is not always easy to meet with the films in your library,” he says.

    Lodestar Universal COO Nandini Dias notes that one can schedule content in a manner to appeal to different age groups without necessarily assigning labels. “Having blocks can get you sponsorship revenue, but you also risk alienating the rest of the audience if you are not careful.”

    Offering a counterpoint, Bajpai says that it entirely depends on how a particular channel identifies its audience and devises its strategy. “HBO seeks its audience across segments and hence, to connect at a base-level, we do TG-specific programming blocks where we offer something for everyone out of our whole gamut of shows. With a relatively larger base of audience, for HBO this sort of programming format has worked well.”

    For UTV World Movies business head Sameer Ganapathy, blocks ascertain that genre and star themes are presented to viewers in an approachable manner. “Having said that, we do not believe in too many programming blocks as that really limits the scheduling and hinders variety.”

    UTV World Movies also aims to be present in all verticals of the business with the channel being the driver. So it has started releasing films into cinemas, like Waltz With Bashir.

    “This brings a huge amount of saliency to the brand. We have the home video association with Shemaroo. We are currently the only channel in the genre that is truly 360° in nature,” Ganapathy avers.

    True, English movie channels are construing and establishing various strategies to come to the fore. But the one element that could still cause disharmony in crafting better reach and contact is lack of strategic ‘distribution‘.

    According to Turner International India VP, deputy GM Monica Tata, apart from content what also helped Warner cut through the heap is distribution.

    She says, “In just over a quarter, the channel is available in 13 million c&s homes, including digital and DTH platforms such as Dish TV, Sun Direct and Big TV.”

    Last year, MGM signed a deal with Star Den to get it distributed across cable and satellite and has also signed up over 500 cable systems.

    According to MGM Networks president Bruce Tuchman, “We also debuted on Bharti Airtel in DTH. We have built a very wide and growing subscription base, as well as increasing our DTH presence.”

    Tuchman feels that apart from creating reach, distribution will also facilitate attracting revenues in India. “What is being seen now in India is an inflection point where targeted, niche product that super-serves specific audiences will have an incredible opportunity to build fans, loyalty and subscription revenue. We‘ve seen this elsewhere around the world, and we believe this is the direction that India is headed in.”

    What will, however, intensify competition amongst players is digitisation.
    Dias opines, “At this moment, in an analogue era, some of the movie channels are at an advantage due to better placement. However, once digitisation spreads, all English movie channels will be one behind the other. A level playing field will therefore intensify competition. It will come down to who has the better titles at key timeslots.”

    Though the genre viewership is still skewed towards the metros, channels are also eyeing smaller towns to gain audiences. For example, Zee Studio has held on-ground initiatives in towns such as Pune and Ahmedabad.

    Lintas Media Group Planning Sciences director Atrayee Chakraborty notes that in the distant future, viewership would come from the smaller towns and cities. However, in the short run, the movie channels need to concentrate on the metros as much still remains untapped here.

    Revenue to slow down

    The size of the English movie channel genre is estimated to grow to Rs 2.2 billion this fiscal.

    Stung by economic slowdown, the industry expects the segment to see single digit growth in ad revenues this year. Says Chakraborty, “This genre would suffer relatively more as premium brands, durables and finance sectors, which largely advertise in these channels, have cut their advertising budgets.”

    Ratings and perception play a role in media-buying decisions for this genre. Offering further insight, Chakraborthy explains that while the TG is upmarket and skewed towards the metros, it also looks at channel affinity within specific segments in the TG for budget allocation. “HBO, for example, is more preferred by brands targeting younger, upmarket males. Star Movies, in contrast, attracts a wider audience base.”

    Bajpai is bullish on the genre‘s growth, “While there has been an air of caution in general across industries, it is also a fact that during a downturn advertisers tend to turn towards a strong product that is consistent, dependable and has a steady consumer base.”

  • English movie channels will have to battle for reach

    The fight for audience attention in the English movie genre is getting fierce as fresh competition arrived with the launch in February of World Movies from UTV. Market leaders Star Movies and HBO built their strategy on blockbuster content during the first half of the year. Pix carried out localisation initiatives while Zee Studio added more titles to provide “refreshing” content.

    Industry trackers say the genre, pegged at Rs 1.7 billion last year, is expected to grow by 15 per cent this year. New channels will expand the market even as Star Movies and HBO continue to dominate the genre.

    Tam data (C&S15+ six Metros) shows that while Star Movies has a viewership share of 36 per cent during the period 1 January to 30 June 2008, HBO is nipping at its heels with a 33 per cent share.

    The gap was wider for the same period last year. While Star Movies pocketed a 43 per cent share, HBO’s stood at 29 per cent.

    Pix’s share, on the other hand, has stayed steady at 17 per cent while Zee Studio has a share of seven per cent this year. World Movies which launched in February, has a six per cent share.

    Star Movies has 12 films in the top 20 ranking, while HBO has eight of its films in the list. The titles are a mix of action and martial arts films that are easy to relate with like Commando, Rob B Hood, Superman Returns and Enter The Dragon.

    Says Star India VP marketing and communications Prem Kamath, “The highlights of Star Movies’ performance included The X Men trilogy festival. We continued to bring in big properties like Oscars and blockbusters like Last King of Scotland, Night at the Museum, Little Miss Sunshine. The channel also focussed on consolidating its existing brands Friday Night Premiere and Movie of the Month to consistently build big properties and provide a better viewing experience.”

    Star Movies has also added variety to its content. A case in point: VIP Access, which features forthcoming theatrical releases. There are a few other things planned in this area, adds Kamath.

    And what of arch rival HBO? The channel’s mantra of ‘Big, New, Most’ has helped it gain ground. The programming has been a mix of blockbusters like Superman Returns, critically acclaimed films like Munich and original shows like Entourage, the third season of which has just kicked off.

    HBO South Asia country manager Shruti Bajpai says, “What is also important is our focus on entertaining themes. These are conceptualised for the channel every month. They attack different TGs and advertisers.” Some examples of these are HBO Animation Fest, Mad About Diamonds, Fast Cars and Gorgeous Babes, HBO Earth Day.

    Also playing a role are tentpole events. “We did a ‘Hollywood’s Best’ initiative which featured Oscar nominated/winning movies. We also had ‘HBO is Summer’ during May and June, which featured Summer of 60 Nights. Here, a blockbuster movie was shown every night. There are also mini-stunts under this umbrella like ‘Entrapment’, ‘Martial Arts Specialists ‘Codename: SuperKids’ etc. All these have resounded with our target audience,” says Bajpai.

    As part of its expansion strategy, HBO bought out the stakes of the partners in the joint venture in Asia except Paramount. And to have access to the big studios, it continued to maintain exclusive licensing arrangements with Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and Paramount/ Dreamworks.

    Pix’s boat rocked steady in the ratings game, holding third spot in the English movie genre space. During the year, Pix carried out its local initiative Gateway in association with Ashok Amritraj. This has helped boost the profile and reach of the channel.

    Says Pix business head Sunder Aaron, “We delivered on our promise of being a Hollywood film channel that would localise in some ways. The winner Bejoy Nambiar heads to Los Angeles. He goes through a two-month boot camp under the tutelage of Ashok Amritraj. After that he goes into a project which is already under production.”

    Pix’s content strategy is to stick to its basic tenet of telling great stories. Pix also has slots for different genres like thrillers and dramas.

    Aaron says the late night slot is gaining viewership. Even the Sunday afternoon slot has grown. “Going forward, Pix will focus on strengthening the afternoon band,” Aaron adds.

    The year also saw the launch of World Movies in February. Armed with 650 movies, UTV Entertainment Television COO Dilshad Master says the initial response has been good. “Our research at the time of launch showed that language would not be a barrier for our audience. This has proven to be the case. We have also chosen films correctly. They need to have global appeal and also be contemporary in nature.”

    Targeting Sec A, one of the key slots for the channel is Platinum Collection. The segment focuses on high profile award winning films from around the world, boasting of titles like The Counterfeiters from Austria (the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film this year), Twilight Samurai from Japan, Zelary from Czech Republic, and Hidden Blade from Japan. It has also got thematic slots for comedies, thrillers, etc.

    The channel will also create a Friday Premiere slot later this month.

    To add variety, World Movies covered the Cannes film festival in-depth with the initiative ‘Cannes Calling.’ It is now looking at doing something around the upcoming Toronto Film Festival. “We will launch our home video division in the coming months. We will also focus on the strategy of releasing films into cinema halls. Having said that, the core of our business will be the television channel,” adds Master. 

    One of the challenges for this genre is to build reach. While distribution in the metros is in place, there is an audience in the smaller cities that is not being tapped sufficiently enough because of availability issues of the channel. “The reach and relevance of English movie channels has to increase,” notes Aaron.

    As the market evolves one can only expect increased competition and fragmentation. Says Kamath, “Each player will not only try to stay ahead of the game, but also maintain an effective cost structure. However the game will always remain to be driven by the titles shown on the channels.”

    Mindshare’s Amin Lakhani agrees with the fact that a lot depends on titles. “Star Movies has held fort while HBO has picked up the pace this year. Both these channels do good stuff around their films. Zee Studio has tried a lot of things like refreshing their line up with more titles. However they have struggled as far as numbers delivery is concerned. The world cinema genre will grow steadily. It is bringing a new experience to the viewers. However it is mainly the elite who will tune in to this due to the subtitles,” opines Lakhani.

    Channels with compelling and consistently ‘winning’ content will continue to flourish while the others will just about manage to survive at the periphery.

    Says Bajpai, “A larger Indian audience than ever before is viewing Hollywood movies and the appetite for such content seems to be increasing. Breaking through the clutter and being able to hold on to the attention of the audience, which is usually short due to the ample choices available, will be a rising phenomena in this category.”

    Rank Channel Film Rating
    1 Star Movies Commando 0.37
    2 Star Movies Rob B Hood 0.29
    3 HBO Enter The Dragon 0.28
    4 Star Movies The Breed 0.27
    5 HBO Mr. Bean’s Holiday 0.27
    6 Star Movies Predator 0.26
    7 Star Movies Night At The Museum 0.26
    8 Star Movies Tremors 0.25
    9 Star Movies Rang De Basanti 0.25
    10 HBO Superman Returns 0.25
    11 Star Movies Winners and Sinners 0.24
    12 Star Movies Pirates of the Carribean 0.24
    13 Star Movies The Mummy Returns 0.24
    14 HBO The Mummy 0.24
    15 HBO Ghost Rider 0.24
    16 HBO Son Of The Mask 0.24
    17 Star Movies Spy Kids 0.22
    18 Star Movies Tom Yum Goong 0.22
    19 HBO King Kong 0.22
    20 HBO The Mask 0.22
    Source: Tam c&s 15+ Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad

  • Hindi movie channels battle for kids eyeballs

    Hindi movie channels are finding a new way to get into the viewing of kids. They are creating specific slots that will air movies for the 4-14-year-olds, a move that will put them up against the kids channels.

    Filmy, the movie channel from Sahara‘s stable, has launched a dedicated slot for kids. Zee Cinema has followed suit with Dopahar Zee Cinema Par.

    In April, Filmy created the ‘Junior Filmy‘ Sunday block from 10 am to 2 pm to fill it with two back-to-back movies. This came on the back of an experiment carried out in July last year with the screening of The Jungle Book Series in the same time band.

    “We tasted success for two months. Our next logical step was to create a dedicated kids slot on the movie channel that generally doesn‘t segment audiences according to age groups,” says Filmy business head Shailesh Kapoor.

    A month later, it was Zee Cinema which branded a special kids daily slot from 19 May. The Dopahar Zee Cinema Par slot at 12:30 pm has Darsheel Safary of Taare Zameen Par fame as the brand ambassador.

    Star Gold has also hopped on the bandwagon, starting a three-week long festival Baccha Party from 7 April. The dedicated kids slot has screenings of such movies like The Mummy Returns, Bhago Bhoot, Karamati Coat, Prahlad, Penguins Ki Prem Kahani and Haatim.

    In the month of June, Star Gold will also be airing kids movies on Sundays in the morning time band Weekend Matinee. The films include Antariksh, Jurrasic Park, Chain Kulli Ki Main Kulli and Krishna- Aayo Natkhat Nandalal.

    Kids are an interesting segment to tap, says Kapoor. “Kids form potential viewership of our channel. Puting up a kids slot, with special children films on it, is a conscious attempt to increase the viewership and provide variety.”

    Creating characters to promote the slot

    Filmy and Zee Cinema are running the extra mile to promote the slot.

    Filmy, for instance, has introduced Five Juniors as presenters – Pink Rose, Miss B, Gadbad Gobbar, Jaggu Jasoos and Mr Octopus. These juniors pop up from time to time, offering children a different viewing experience throughout the movie.

    “The Five Juniors are animated characters, graphics and pop ups which keep occurring during the movies. This is specially customised to keep the kid viewers invovle in the film in an engaging manner. Apart from this, a contest question is asked during every break of the movie,” says Kapoor.

    As part of the engagement game, Zee Cinema has introduced Din Mein Taare contest. Kids have to count the stars which appear on the screen while the movie is shown. Five winners from across the country will get a chance to meet Darsheel safary, after the kids carnival is over.

    “Meeting Darsheel is a big thing for kids. Darsheel is a kid next door and yet a hero for them. Therefore we have roped him as ambassador for this slot. The idea is to keep the viewer engaged in conversation with the channel using these contests as interactive tools,” says Zee Cinema deputy vice president marketing Akash Chawla.

    New brands walk in

    Advertisers are flocking in great numbers. And new categories like real estate brands are extending their support. Increasing influence of kids in the buying decisions has, perhaps, contributed to this new enthusiasm from advertisers.

    “Apart from the traditional kids‘ brands like Parle and Britannia, we have also got FMCG and real estate brands which are putting in money for the kids slot,” says Kapoor.

    Lifebuoy is the presenting partner of Zee Cinema‘s Dopahar Zee Cinema Par slot. Whirlpool is also one of the sponsors.

    Another innovative advertising trend in this season of vacation is that kids channels are advertising in these movie channels to expand their visibility. Nick, for instance, is advertising on Filmy during the Junior Filmy slot.

    ACQUISITION

    Banking high on the kids slot, Filmy has acquired a lot of the titles from Walt Disney and Sony pictures. The entire series of Karate Kids, Air Bud Series, Spy mate and Duke are being dubbed into Hindi and telecast.

    With limited movies in the market and increasing demand, the acquisition prices have also gone high. Taking the syndication route is becoming a popular practice. Filmy has inked barter deal with Pogo for Chhota Chetan and Abra Ka Dabra.

    “Programming cost has definitely gone up. When you are pumping in so much of money, there should be equal returns. Syndication and barter has emerged as new business models which we still need to get further pushed,” says Kapoor.

    Filmy is looking at creating Junior Filmy as a permanent slot. “We are targetting kids between 12-14 years. We are giving them enough time to sample the channel and get habituated. Four years from now, they can form the core TG of our channel. So we are looking at long term benefits,” elaborates Kapoor.

    Zee Cinema, however, is using the kids slot as a summer two-month push to attract them during vacation time.

    For a channel that is sitting on a huge library, Zee Cinema has made no new purchases. It is utilising the films that it already has in its library – Fun2sh, Pyaare Mohan, Ishq, Tarzan The Wonder Car and Makdee. Apart from these, the channel shows Englsih films like George of the Jungle and Return to the 36th chamber of Chaolin which are dubbed in Hindi.

    “Our library is big enough and the titles that we have chosen have consistently done well for the channel. So we decided to put them all together in a slot and run a festival,” points out Chawla.

    On the other hand Filmy has long term plans and wants to establish the slot as a complete kids destination.

    “We are looking at it for long term. We still need to give this slot at least 5-6 months to consolidate. In the meantime, we are promoting it on-air and will go on-ground slowly. We want to establish this slot,” says Kapoor.

  • Syndication: The new script for movie channels

    A new volley of Hindi movie channels are expected to hit the market soon. With UTV, Reliance and NDTV readying for launch, the movie acquisition landscape is seeing a significant change.

    Costs, for sure, are ballooning. Libraries are also just not available for the new entrants.

    The industry, though, seems to have found an answer: syndicate titles. The trend which was started by Sahara when it lent a pack of big titles to Star, seems to have caught on.

    BANKING ON SYNDICATION

    Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India has syndicated 70 titles to INX Media, the Peter-Indrani Mukerjea venture, for over Rs 400 million. These include recent titles like Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Jaan-e-man, Cheeni Kum, Omkara, Eklavya, Parineeta, Partner, Namaste London, Golmaal, Baghban, Waqt, Kaho Na Pyar Hai, Viraasat, Aashiq Banaya Aapne, and others. There are also classics such as Guide, Deewar, Jewel Thief, and Satte pe Satta, among numerous others.

    For 9X, the Hindi general entertainment channel from the INX Media stable, this was an important part of the overall programming strategy. Movies have primarily driven the ratings of the channel.

    The film purchase story doesn‘t end there. Star India and Filmy have inked barter deals for titles like Rang De Basanti and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd in exchange for titles like Guru. Of these, Guru and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd were released in 2007.

    Filmy has syndicated few titles like Abra Ka Dabra and Chhota Chetan to Pogo. Even Star has given away children‘s films to kids‘ channels while receiving Gadar – Ek Prem Katha from Zee.

    Ready to jump on to this new bandwagon, broadcasters are going heavy with syndicating titles. It is a new business model that seems to be evolving and is expected to take good shape in 2008.

    TERMS

    Their could be various factors determining a syndication deal. A title is given away either for a certain period of time or for limited airings. Sometimes it could be a combination of both. For instance, SET India has syndicated titles to 9X for one airing followed by a repeat.

    “Titles are cautiously picked up suiting the programming requirements of a channel,” says SET India head of telephony and licencing Kaushal Modi.

    For example, channel X is running a thematic festival at a particular slot and wants few titles. It will buy those titles from Channel Y for a particular period of time.

    Star Gold is airing Gadar – Ek Prem Katha, which it has bought from Zee, and Guru, which it has bought from Filmy, in the 20-day film festival which will roll out on 18 February.

    Titles are also picked up, depending on how well it delivered on ratings during previous airings.

    REASONS

    With an ever-increasing number of channels and a limited number of big-ticket films available for sale, there seems to be a crunch in the availability of films because of which prices increase.

    Are broadcasters ready to pay so much?

    Modi says, “If the deal is such that it will give a good recovery, then why not buy an over-priced product.”

    Thus, it is a clear case of demand and supply. The workable model is to sell the movies to multiple broadcasters.

    The Indian Film Company (IFC) sold out Jab We Met to four broadcasters at a reported price of around Rs 220 million.

    Of the lot, Zee was the first to air it. This will gradually be followed by 9X, Sony and UTV‘s upcoming Hindi movie channel which is slated for launch on 24 February.

    IFC‘s CEO Sandeep Bhargawa says, “As a producer/distributor, my motive is to exploit my product on as many platforms as possible in a limited time.”

    Contradicting this, NDTV Imagine‘s EVP of business operations and ancillary revenues Gaurav Gandhi says, “The movie loses its freshness due to frequent airings which affects the channel. People may not come to watch the movie again and again if it is aired within a gap of 15 days.”

    “A Hollywood model works better wherein the perpetual rights remain with the producers and the movie keeps rotating among channels year after year or a stipulated period of time,” adds Gandhi.

    Thus, syndicating a title works when there is a hiatus between the first and second channel‘s airings.

    Title syndication becomes necessary when it comes to enriching the repertoire.

    Filmy business head Shailesh Kapoor says, “The idea is to create as many windows and get maximum viewers, as we did by selling children‘s films to Pogo.”

    Adds an industry obserever, “Big-ticket films cost a lot of money for a broadcaster. Syndication can also be a feasible model to recover that cost.”

    WHAT REMAINS EXCLUSIVE?

    Amidst all the barters and syndications, one thing which channels still want to bank on are exclusivity.

    SET India has retained all the Yashraj titles from being syndicated to 9X. These titles are with SET till 2012.

    Star India SVP Sameer Rao says, “The deal has to be commercially workable. At the end of the day, movie channels rely on a differentiating factor which is exclusive titles. I would not be different anymore if I give my strong titles to several other channels.”

    If exclusivity matters, then how will a new channel start? New movie channels have to start up with a sustainable library. They may not have good big-ticket films to start with.

    Commenting on this, Gandhi says, “Upcoming channels have to work very hard to get the library. That is when syndication happens. However, a channel with exclusive titles will enjoy an upper hand. A premium title will fetch premium results.”

    But how far will the syndication model succeed? Says Gandhi, “This will be clear once the channels are operational. But one factor which has given it a shape is the fight for big-ticket titles which will always remain.”

  • English movie channels bank on digitalisation for growth

    English movie channels have seen an almost flat ad revenue growth in 2007. The challenge has also been to innovate programming slots even as viewers have spent less time on these channels. The bright spot, though, is the signs of maturity that the genre is showing. New players like Anil Ambani’s Reliance and NDTV Imagine are also eyeing this space.

    Star Movies is the clear leader in the segment with a share of 47 per cent, according to Tam data (C&S 15+) for 2007. HBO follows with a share of 30 per cent. After that come Pix and Zee Studio with shares of 13 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

    More interesting, though, is the time spent on English movie channels. Data shows that time spent has fallen with HBO showing the worst dip. Its share has gone down from 4.68 to 3.05 minutes each week. Star Movie’s share has also dropped from 5.9 minutes each week to 4.91 minutes.

    Players attribute the fall partly on the distribution scenario as more channels have jostled for space on clogged cable networks. This has meant higher carriage or placement fees. Then, of course, there is competition from other genres.

    In terms of the top films of the year, HBO’s King Kong with a rating of 0.75 topped the list. Star Movies’ The Mythhad a rating of 0.47. HBO’s Hindi dubbed King Kong took the third spot.

    Facing an intensely competitive environment, it is crucial for players to understand their audiences better. The aim in some cases is to boost the non-primetime area and look at areas like presentation. Differentiation through innovation is also important.

    Keeping all this in mind, Star Movies undertook various initiatives. It revamped the late night movies to cater to the male audience. It also focussed on the Sunday afternoon slot. Films that air are chosen so that the audience enjoys a relaxed weekend. Star VP marketing and communications Prem Kamath adds that the channel also re-looked the evening slots.

    “The aim has been to bring in more family movies. In addition to that we also constantly feature film festivals like our X Men Trilogy during the year end, the Star Wars marathon, 15 nights of Bond to name a few.”

    Kamath attributes the channel’s leadership to the focus on striving for variety without compromising on quality of offerings. So you have a serious film like Crash and blockbusters like Pirates of the Caribbean 2, X Men 3.

    And what of HBO? The channel’s tagline for the year was Big! New! Most! HBO South Asia country head Shruti Bajpai expresses satisfaction in terms of how the plans were achieved. For this channel too it is a combination of raters like Mission Impossible 3, The Da Vinci Code, Batman Beginsand King Kong and critically acclaimed, path breaking movies like Brokeback Mountain and Syriana.

    A lot of focus went into seeing that different viewer segments were tuning in at different slots. So Midday Matinee every weekday at noon was introduced. Wicked Hour which is every weeknight after the 9 pm movie was also launched. “In addition, HBO also caters to the youth with Whazzup every weeknight at 7 pm, a special family treat for the whole family in Family Sunday, an action packed entertainment package for the guys in “It’s a Guy Thing”.

    HBO also revamped its on air look. The aim was to make the channel brighter and racier. Bajpai goes on to explain that there are new features like an On-air EPG of sorts, which offers the viewers a sneak peek of the upcoming titles in the next few days and a Countdown clock indicating the time left to watch the next film. Bajpai attributes the dip for the genre in part to the fact that more channels are entering other genres.

    “According to me there are only two real players in this genre (Star Movies and HBO) and there will always be a toss up of who is number one and who’s not. This is all a part of the game and we welcome it as it helps us stay on our toes. Ultimately the viewer benefits the most as he/she gets to see the best from the best,” she concludes.

    Still with more players coming in, there are signs that the genre is starting to mature. The feeling in the industry is that English movie viewing for non-blockbuster content is now starting to grow. A case in point is Pix. It launched in April 2006. The channel’s business head Sunder Aaron says that the aim last year has been to get films that push its tagline of telling good stories. For the channel it does not matter when a film is made. The aim was also to differentiate itself through local content. Therefore in association with noted Hollywood producer Ashok Amritraj it started an initiative called Gateway. This gives an aspiring filmmaker the chance to make a movie with Amritraj.

    The shows go on air next month. Aaron notes that the response has been better than the channel expected. “We have had one thousand entries to the competition, and you would be impressed by the quality and variety. We had a similar response to the Pix Short Film Festival. We have got a couple of other initiatives and programmes in development, so we are eager to continue with our strategy at this point, particularly because the Pix viewers are responding well.”

    The channel has more local ideas on the table which it will roll out later this year, he adds.

    Zee Studio did two major innovations last year. One has been subtitling which even some rivals concede was a good move. That is because it builds more comfort with viewers. The other has been to show foreign films. This has been an area that has been ignored for a while by the English film channels. Zee Studio did, among other things, a festival with Palador. Films like the Mike Leigh classic Secrets and Lies as well as Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai aired.

    Ad Revenue stagnates in 2007:

    Data available withIndiantelevision.com shows that ad revenue plateaued for this genre last year. Star Movies made around Rs 770 million compared with Rs 740 million in 2006 and Rs 671 million in 2005.

    HBO followed a similar revenue trend. The channel is estimated to have made around Rs 560 million last year. This was a slight increase over the Rs 557 million made in 2006.

    Like Star Movies, 2006 was a better year for HBO on the ad revenue growth front as it only made Rs 436 million in 2005.

    For Zee Studio ad revenue was Rs 238 million in 2007.

    Pix, on the other hand, made around Rs 60 million in 2007.

    Mediaedge:cia’s Manas Mishra notes that besides Star Movies and HBO, the other two players are starting to find their own level. Since Pix caters to an evolved movie viewer aged 25+ it makes sense for certain brands to consider it. He also opines that Zee Studio has managed to get viewers from outside the core English movie viewing demographic on account of the subtitling. As a result, it can become more diverse in its offerings with foreign language fare.

    Digitisation to boost subscription earnings:

    The key for these players is the spread of digitisation this year. With Bharti and Reliance launching direct-to-home (DTH) platforms this year, English movie channels are expected to get a boost in terms of subscription revenue. A channel like HBO, after all, is purely subscription driven abroad. The hope is that the dependence on ad revenue which is anyway small will decline.

    New players eye the space:

    Digitisation means place for new channels One of them will come from Reliance. UTV and NDTV Imagine are also entering. The focus for the last two is world cinema. NDTV will be doing a World cinema initiative called NDTV Lumiere. This will span not just the launch of a channel but also release films into theatres, home video as well as provide space for on-ground activation. The aim is to bring in a culture of world cinema.

    Just how important subscription revenue will be can be gauged from the fact that NDTV Imagine CEO Sameer Nair says that the focus of NDTV Lumiere is entirely digital and it is not a question of counting TRPs to appease media buying agencies.

    Aaron seconds this view. With the economy growing so rapidly, and the number of cable and digital television (DTH, IPTV, digital cable etc.) households increasing as well, the pie will undoubtedly continue to grow, he says.

    By how much is the question. Positioning will also be key for new entrants. It is not just a case of buying titles and putting them on air; understanding, addressing and attracting English viewership is also important.

    There is also the issue of digital cable penetration. If it spreads across the country, then many channels can come in. In case that doesn’t happen, then carriage fees will stay a big obstacle.

    Pricing issues on addressable platforms also have to be sorted out. Bajpai says that even DTH is still in an “everything for everybody” format and “one pricing system for all channels” kind of model. “Once these things change, the benefit will start becoming more apparent. Broadcasting business, after all, needs to be viable,” she adds.

  • Max leads Hindi movie channels; Zee Cinema speeds up

    It has been a busy six months for Hindi movie channels. While Max has tried to latch on to its gains from the ICC World Cup with big ticket film purchases, Zee Cinema and Star Gold have tailored their strategies to fit in with the market reality and focussed on smart purchases.

    With the help of Tam data (HSM C&S 4+), Indiantelevision.com takes a look over the performance of the Hindi movie channels across a six-month period.

    As the movie channel genre gears up to witness fierce competition, the past six months (January to June 2007) has seen a tussle between Zee Cinema and Max for the leadership spot. While Zee Cinema started ahead, it was dethroned by Max in March. Star Gold comes in at the third spot, but lagging far behind are Filmy and B4U Movies.

    The shuffle in the top slot, in fact, took place in March with Max seeing a swell in viewership because of the ICC World Cup. As the channel dished out live cricket content from the West Indies, it hogged a channel share of 49 per cent, majestically up by 17 per cent.

    Zee Cinema, on the other hand, slipped to the second position with the share dropping from 33 per cent in February to 26.

    Star Gold also couldn’t survive the cricket wave and slipped from a 24 per cent share in February to 17 per cent in March.

    However, in the months that followed, Zee Cinema got back in the game inching closer to the leader with a share of 32, as Max stands at 34 in June.

    Channel Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07 Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07
    MAX
    32
    32
    49
    40
    37
    34
    Zee Cinema
    34
    33
    26
    29
    31
    32
    Star Gold
    24
    24
    17
    22
    23
    25
    Filmy
    8
    9
    6
    8
    8
    7
    B4U Movies
    2
    2
    1
    1
    1
    1
    Relative shares C&S 4+ TAM

    As expected, the ICC Cricket World Cup did help Max cannibalize shares from other channels in the genre. But as India exited, so did some viewers but still it was attractive enough for Max to garner a channel share of 40 in April.

    Max business head Sneha Rajani is happy with the outcome that cricket delivered for the channel. She said, “Although the ICC Cricket World Cup was the last cricket property on the channel, it did well for us despite India’s exit.”

    Zee Cinema inched up to a share of 29 per cent in April while Star Gold gained five per cent.

    Post World Cup, Max’s task was to hang on to the lead even as it transitioned from a hybrid to a pure movie channel. The culmination of the cricket phase was immediately followed by the Amitabh Bachchan Film Festival, titled Ab Tak Bachchan, in late April. The channel also extended its primetime by bringing it forward to 8 pm from its earlier positioning at 9 pm.

    It was as if a war was on between Amitabh Bachchan Vs. Amitabh Bachchan on the two competing channels. Zee Cinema launched a Big B festival titled Shanivaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath.

    In May, Max continued to lead over Zee Cinema but dropped its share to 37. Zee Cinema stabilised in the two months with a score of 31 and 32.

    The gap has, in fact, narrowed in June with Max slipping to a share of 34.

    Sharing insight into how the channel hopes to regain its lead, Zee Cinema deputy business head Mohan Gopinath said, “We have almost reached Max with the help of film festivals. In fact we are planning several more in the coming months. The whole idea of festivals is to let the viewers know about the movies they missed out.”

    In a highly title driven TV movie market, Max is looking to maintain its current postion by betting big on blockbusters. The channel has reportedly spent over Rs 2 billion to acquire a mix of big, medium and small movies from big banners like Eros International, Yashraj Films Dharma Productions and Mukta Arts, among others.

    Max kicked off the promotional activity for these films with ‘Saal ke Sabse Bade Blockbuster’ and will be screeningNamastey London, Cheeni Kum, Gandhi My Father, Eklavyaand many more.

    The channel shelled out close to Rs 650 million for 16 films from the Eros stable alone. Rajani opines, “We have not even shown half of the Eros movies that we acquired, but I am confident that all of them will do well for the channel.”

    As far as big titles are concerned, Max has only recently started showcasing this blockbuster library with Kaabul Express, Lagey Raho Mumnnabhai and Kabhi Alvida Ne Kehna.

    Zee Cinema has not done major buys this year. The channel, instead, believes innovative programming is the route to achieve the lead.

    “We have done a few buys but all depends on how innovatively you promote and screen them,” said Gopinath.

    Top Ten movies from January – June 2007
    Tam (HSM C&S 4+ TAM)

    Speaking of titles, Zee Cinema hogged the top ten charts across the six month period with six of its films featuring in the list. Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Ghar Ho To Aisa and Phir Heraa Pheri were aired in May and June.

    Though Star Gold has been strolling along in the third position in terms of shares, it garnered the maximum eyeballs when it showcased Krrish, topping the six month top ten movie charts with a whopping 4.1 TVR. Star Gold’s telecast of Chup Chup Kealso featured in the charts.

    From the Max stable, old timers Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaengeyand Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham came in to the top 10 charts delivering a TVR of 1.97 and 2.23 respectively.

    How does the fight for winning the ratings battle shape up?

    “You can’t escape from the fact that every movie channel is very title driven. There will be weeks when competition increases and the competitor may show stronger titles. Zee Cinema had good weeks in the past and I am sure they will have a couple of good weeks ahead, but we will remain on the top,” said a confident Rajani.

    Not perturbed by the jolt Zee Cinema received during the two cricket dominated months, Gopinath said, “People in India are very sentimental about cricket, therefore it is bound to benefit the channel. However, we are back and hope to take the leadership spot.”

    Zee Cinema has branded different time slots to generate appointment viewership. The channel recently introduced ‘Bhakti ki Shakti’, a Sunday morning slot for mythological movies, which according to the channel is doing well.

     

    Apart from the two movies in the top 10, Star Gold has managed to perform consistently except in April but has always stayed in the third spot.

    When most movie channels are banking on the weekends, Star Gold has introduced a Monday prime time band for screening its library of comedy flicks. These include Bheja Fry, Darwaza Band Rakho and Ek Chalis ki Last Local with more to follow.

    Additionally, Star Gold is running a Bond festival for the first time called ‘Main hoon Bond’ by dubbing these films in Hindi.

    Filmy is still struggling to achieve a share in the double digit. The channel from the Sahara stable has crossed the experimentation phase and is now is ready to offer films with a blend of other programs in comedy and reality format. It has introduced the Rajnikant film festival and has its fingers crossed for the upcoming reality show Bathroom Singer.

    Speaking of the channel’s differentiated strategy, Filmy business head Shailesh Kapoor said, “We are still new as compared to other channels. Even then we have proved ourselves. In terms of acquisitions, distribution and revenues we have grown. Now the real phase starts when we slowly unveil comedy and reality shows on our channel.”

    The channel saw a fall in shares to six in the month of March. Senior executives have blamed it on distribution which they claim to have corrected now.

    Completely isolated from all the action in the movie space is B4U Movies which has not managed to surpass a share of two over the six-month duration.

    What’s interesting, heightened activity is expected to take place in the coming months with Hindi movie channels from the Reliance Group, Viacom 18 and UTV slated for launch.

    Will there be a scarcity of content causing a threat to existing players?

    Rajani says, “There will certainly be a crunch of movies. I think there are very little movies available in the market for purchase for the next two years. Almost every major title has been tied up with some or other channel but I am sure the channels that are coming up must have planned something for themselves. There is certainly a dire need of more content. But we are not at all threatened.”

    Gopinath adds, “There is enough space available and I don’t think it will lead to any scarcity of content.”

    “Bollywood has a mass appeal. That means more viewership and advertisers. GRPs of movie channels are increasing by 20 to 25 per cent every year and that gives a lot of scope for an advertiser,” avers Kapoor.

  • Zoom adds movies to prime time slot

    Zoom adds movies to prime time slot

    MUMBAI: Zoom, the Times Group’s glamour and lifestyle Hindi entertainment channel, has crafted a movie band called Zoom Theatres. The movie band between 9 p.m to 12 midnight will showcase hits from Bollywood everyday.

    Although the channel began airing movies from last month, it was in the afternoon band and was called Do Se Paanch. The channel has now rescheduled its programmes in the evening time slot.It has also repackaged this slot and called it Zoom Theatres.In the 7 to 9 pm slot in the evening, the channel will air its premier shows and the post 9 pm slot will have the channel air movies like Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein & Joggers Park to Shabd & Chameli. Earlier this slot featured repeats of the premier shows.

    With its latest feature the channel promises to bring the latest in Bollywood from romantic comedies, crossover movies to art films.

  • Filmy completes a year

    Filmy completes a year

    Mumbai: Sahara Filmy’s first year birthday bash was marked by the launch of two new properties – its channel anthem and Kaun Banega Champu, a spoof on KBC along with the announcement of the Filmy Person of the Year 2006.

    Filmy launched its channel anthem called ‘Maa Kasam Filmy Hai!’ The song composed by Vishal-Shekhar was penned by Javed Akhtar and sung by Kunal Ganjawala.

    Filmy had launched the Filmy Person of the Year 2006 poll in December 2006. The nominees of this viewer-based poll were Aamir Khan, Himesh Reshammiya, Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan.

    Hrithik Roshan, who starred in Krrish and Dhoom: 2 in 2006, was declared the deserving winner. Speaking about the award, Filmy business head Ashutosh said: “Through this award, we wanted to showcase and recognize the holistic contribution of an individual who has had the maximum impact in 2006.”

  • Filmy ‘Mission Corporate’ promises jobs to viewers

    Filmy ‘Mission Corporate’ promises jobs to viewers

    MUMBAI: Watch a movie and land yourself a job, says Sahara Filmy.Literally.The latest initiative from Sahara Filmy, ‘Mission Corporate’, allows one lucky person to become a part of the channel. Filmy has put a range of jobs on offer for candidates from sales to marketing and content to operations department at the channel.

    So what does one have to do to land a job? Simply watch the channel and the movie ‘Corporate’ on 25 February.

    The contest requires the candidate to put in his/her resume along with a brief write up on why they want to join the Filmy team. The last date of receiving the entries is 12 February . The channel will conduct telephonic interviews as part of the initial elimination process. The final 8 will be interviewed by a panel of judges comprising of eminent personality of the advertising and media industry.

    The interviews of final 8 will be shot and capsuled as a 1-hour programme that will be aired prior to the movie. In the breaks of the movie the profiles of the candidates will be aired. The winner will be announced at the end of the movie.

    Says Filmy marketing and content head Shailesh Kapoor, “Filmy always believes in delivering the best to its viewers. Through the concept of ‘Mission Corporate’ we will not only be encouraging viewers to watch the channel but will also give them a platform to be a part of the Filmy family and are expecting to receive good response”.

  • Eros Intnl acquires global distribution rights for 3D film

    Eros Intnl acquires global distribution rights for 3D film

    MUMBAI: Eros International has acquired the global distribution rights to India’s first full-length 3D animation film, Friends Forever.

    Friends Forever is the first Indian film to blend animated characters with real life actors and revolves around the cartoon character Zampano, a red and blue haired, pint sized character with magical powers, and his journey with a little girl throughout her childhood.

    Commenting on this Eros International CEO and Chairman Kishore Lulla said, “In the digital era, animation will most definitely be a growing trend. It is refreshing to see an animated film being produced solely in India and drawing on the creativity that popularizes Indian animation films. Friends Forever is a film for the whole family which will capture the imagination of all the young children in India.”

    Produced by Celluloid Dreams Pvt Ltd and directed by Soumitra Ranade, the film stars Ashmit Patel and Hrishithaa Bhatt. Eros International will release Friends Forever worldwide in cinemas this April.