ITV

Tag: Bollywood

  • Aaj Tak kick-starts on-ground events with ‘Agenda Aaj Tak’

    MUMBAI: Taking a cue from other news channels, Aaj Tak has kick-started on-ground events with ‘Agenda Aaj Tak‘ which is to be held on 6 and 7 December in New Delhi.

    The event will be held annually.

    The Hindi news channel has roped in BRYS Group as the presenting sponsor while Century Plywood has come in as the associate sponsor for its first edition. BRYS Group is into real estate, hospitality, medicare and advertising.

    India Today Group CEO Ashish Bagga told Indiantelevision.com that the cost of the event has been recovered. “Substantial margin is usually enjoyed by such thought leading events. Thus, sponsors are still pouring in.”

    The event will be webcasted live on Aaj Tak‘s website. Aaj Tak and the network channels will be supporting it on air with special programmes like Live cut-ins, curtain raisers, daily half hour specials, quotes through the daily stories and post-event weekend shows.

    The marketing campaign promise of the event is “Hindi Jagat ka Mahamanch”.

    “We are doing aggressive marketing promotions across all mediums such as print, internet, outdoor, TV and radio as we conceive this to become a benchmark property both on air and off air,” Bagga added.

    ‘Agenda Aaj Tak‘ is a summit that will bring 40 renowned personalities from India and abroad to discuss, share their insight and perspective and will try to lay the foundation for India‘s Future.

    The conclave will consist of discussions and Q&A sessions by prominent political leaders, cricketers, Bollywood celebrities, authors and bureaucrats on issues like politics, youth, social media, democracy, development, Bhasha, cross-border terrorism, regionalism, economic reforms, social issues, India-Pakistan relation and popular culture.

    According to Bagga, the overarching theme is to set India‘s Agenda in India‘s own language – Hindi. “Thought leaders from all spheres will be building on this and so will the subsequent On Air programming. Therefore, to take the channel‘s influence beyond the screen and to create mass movements we have embarked on this direction as the most respected and trusted news channel.”

    He said this show is expected to be amongst the most powerful shows on TV ever. “It is first of its kind in India‘s own language – Hindi. Therefore expectations on ratings are high but more importantly the influence will be the driver for such initiatives. The opinions and the stature of speakers will define a new high when it comes to thought leadership. Revenues are anyway very positive on platforms that are opinion leading and present extraordinary positive rub off.”

  • Bollywood releases fail in festive week

    Bollywood releases fail in festive week

    MUMBAI: Chakravyuh, a film made on the Naxal problem by Prakash Jha, could not move the box office or the male audiences despite having a festive release on Dussehra and an extended Eid holiday that followed on the weekend.

    The movie ended its five-day weekend run with Rs 108 million as multiplex audiences could not relate to a theme far away from their world. With a script that offered no scope for romance, music or effective emotions, the film could not find commercial value in the marketplace with a theme that is disturbing many pockets of India which are turning to Maoist philosophy and picking up the guns to protest against class oppression.

    Rush proved a disappointment for Emraan Hashmi fans, evident from the fact that the movie netted an opening weekend of just Rs 25 million. There was nothing to identify with the romantic thrillers that Hashmi is known for.

    Ajab Gazabb Love, though aimed at youth, does not have much to show for its first weekend at the box office as it took home just Rs 47 million.

    Student Of The Year had a smooth first week. With Dussehra holiday working to its advantage, the film collected Rs 465 million in its first week. The collections were steady in the second weekend as the three new releases proved too weak to affect its prospects.

    Shudra The Rising and Janleva 555 were very poor in performance.

    Aiyyaa collected Rs three million in its second week taking its total to Rs 58 milion.

    English Vinglish sustained its momentum and collected 35 million in its third week. The film’s three week tally stood at Rs 339 million.

    OMG Oh My God! continued to hold its own despite many new releases. The film netted Rs 51 million in its fourth week, taking its total collections to Rs 737 million (excluding Eastern circuits).

    Barfi! collected Rs 7.5 million in its sixth week to take its box office collections to Rs 1.08 billion.

  • fashionandyou.com ropes in Nargis Fakhri as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Nargis Fakhri, who debuted in Ranbir Kapoor starrer Rockstar in 2011, has been roped in as the face of online fashion and lifestyle store, fashionandyou.com.

    The announcement was made on the portal and social media page through a teaser campaign. The model turned actor will now feature as brand ambassador for the private sales club which houses fashion and luxury brands across apparel, designer wear, accessories, footwear, watches, jewellery and much more.

    “We are excited to partner with Nargis Fakhri as brand ambassador. She epitomises fashion and style which complements our brand positioning. She is representative of the sophisticated appeal our customers expect from us. We are very excited about the upcoming work that we will create with her as we drive our brand awareness to its next level” said fashionandyou.com marketing director Trivikram Thakore.

    Fakhri said, “I am really pleased to be associated with one of the fastest growing online fashion platforms today. This is my first official association with an e-commerce brand although I have always been shopping online. Fashionandyou.com is one of my favourite websites in India so yeah, I‘m elated to be a part of it!”

  • DDB Mudra creates launch campaign for Yamaha Ray

    MUMBAI: DDB Mudra has conceptualised the latest campaign for Yahama‘s range of scooters for females – Ray. The brand is endorsed by Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone.

    The campaign aims to position Yamaha Ray as “refreshing, uniquely stylish, chic, edgy and futuristic”.

    The insight from the campaign is based on the phrase ‘the first time I did…’. Following the insight, the Ray girl feels somewhat aroused while experiencing a phase of firsts – her first relationship, her first landlady, meeting bad boys for the first time and the first time that she defies her parents to pursue her own dreams. The thrill of doing something for the first time makes her feel insecure, but also drives and excites her. She is just stepping out into the world, spreading her wings and welcomes her new world.

    The campaign tries to communicate that Ray is not simply the first scooter a girl will own but her first riding experience, something that she chooses on her own, not by someone else. It is also a statement that for the first time she is making important decisions in her life and takes the tagline “Hello to a new life….”

  • Bollywood tours in Mumbai in November this year, courtesy MTDC

    Bollywood tours in Mumbai in November this year, courtesy MTDC

    MUMBAI: Giving an opportunity to Bollywood enthusiasts to witness film shoots, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has decided to organise Bollywood tours in Mumbai in November this year.

    MTDC will partner with Goregaon Film City in North Mumbai for a unique concept of Bollywood Tourism. The tours will last an hour each and will be conducted only on Saturdays and Sundays, it is understood.

    The corporation is also in talks with film and television producers to get a celebrity to be a part of the tour that would give tourists the opportunity to interact with the celebrity or have the celebrity himself/herself conduct the tour.

    “There is huge attraction for Bollywood and there is huge scope for tourism. At Goregaon Film City, shootings are simultaneously on at several sets, and people can watch and interact with Bollywood stars there,” observed J K Banthia, chief secretary, Maharashtra. He added that the schedule of the tours and the shootings at Film City would be displayed on the MTDC website for people to book in advance.

    It is said that the first tour is expected to take off in the first weekend of November this year. The pick-up points will be MTDC ‘s office at Prabhadevi, from where a bus will take people to Film City.

    The Corporation is also in talks with Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) Undertaking to decide the fixed tour cost.

  • ‘BCCI rights great opportunity to build Star’s sports biz’ : Star India CEO Uday Shankar

    ‘BCCI rights great opportunity to build Star’s sports biz’ : Star India CEO Uday Shankar

    Just over a year old, UTV Stars is banking on revenue growth from advertising, syndication and distribution to achieve operational break even this fiscal.

     

    The launch of UTV Stars last August has expanded the Bollywood lifestyle TV genre, created by Zoom and E24. The core target audience of the channel is upscale youth in the age group of 15-24 years.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Javed Farooqui, UTV Stars business head Nikhil Gandhi talks about the channel‘s progress, its differentiated content and the challenges in the space.

     

    Excerpts:
     

    Does UTV Stars get a competitive advantage by being the child of Disney-UTV?
    We definitely have an edge as we have got a thriving motion pictures business. This allows us to do that much more compared to our competitors. Our access to the big Bollywood stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor or a Hrithik Roshan is much easier. If you see the kind of news content that we create, we are credible.

     
    Since UTV Stars‘ sister arm also produces movies, doesn‘t that also present a conflict of interest while covering Bollywood news?
    Once you have established yourself as a credible player in the space, I don‘t think any star or film producer would think that there is a conflict of interest. They, in fact, would want to promote their films that much more. Moreover, our editor is Manish Dubey who was with Aaj Tak and has credible bondage with the movie stars. Also, our correspondents as well as special features editors have professional relationships with all the big superstars.

     
    Isn‘t differentiation very thin in this kind of genre?
    When we started, we positioned UTV Stars as the official channel of Bollywood. We were also known as being the intimate insider to Bollywood. We got all the big stars to endorse and that reflected in our launch campaign. We did a big chat show with Priety Zinta. We also did a show called ‘Live My Life‘ which is coming up for its second season after the channel‘s first anniversary on 19 August. Our channel is also available in High Definition, taking the viewing experience to a whole new level.

     
    How is your content mix different from other rival channels?
    On a daily basis, we have three and half hours of original content while the others offer three hours. So we have half-an-hour of additional content. This is largely because we have original long format shows, giving our channel a differentiated value. You won‘t see big ticket reality shows on other channels.

     

    We run Bollywood music and movies but news and shows form a large portion of our prime time content. We play music in non-prime time because the TG loves it and because Bollywood music lends itself well with the channel. 

     

    ‘On a daily basis, we have three and half hours of original content while the rival channels offer three hours. So we are half-an-hour of additional content‘
     

    How would you define your target group?
    We are in the youth space but have a definite skew towards Bollywood. In terms of demographics, our core target group is 15-24 SEC AB. Bollywood stars influence the youth of India a great deal. In that sense, the kind of content that we have created caters to the Indian youth. So even though Bollywood content cuts across age groups, we are going to focus on youth particularly after the kind of success that we have seen online.

     
    Could you elaborate on the online growth?
    We have almost half a million fans on Facebook. We are also the largest content provider for Bollywood content on YouTube and have already got 30 million views. We power the UTV group content engine on YouTube per se including UTV Motion Pictures. We have got 10,000 hours of content that we had shot last year. All this gives us a cutting edge.

     
    What is the break even period that you have set for yourself?
    We are looking at an operational break-even next year (FY‘ 13). With the kind of control that we have on our costs and if the markets start improving, we should be able to reach that milestone.
     

    What impact did ad slowdown have on your revenues?
    We experienced a bit of a volume loss but our big shows also get a premium. The advertising community is also appreciating the kind of content that we have been able to create and they are now talking to us for annual deals going forward.

      
    Who are your big advertisers?
    We have all the top advertisers that occupy the youth space. Like in FMCG, we have Hindustan Unilever, P&G and L‘Oreal. We run about 10 minutes of commercial in one hour of programming, which can go up to 12 minutes. 

     
    What are the major revenue streams for UTV Stars?
    Currently, ad revenues contribute 60-75 per cent of our overall revenues. But we would like to bring this down to 50-55 per cent and with digitisation we are hopeful that this shift will happen. We are also looking at syndication opportunities overseas as well as in India. We are already syndicating in-flight entertainment across big airlines. Our business model includes distribution, syndication, video on demand, ad revenue and on-ground events.

     
    You have been quite aggressive with on-ground properties?
    So far as ground connect goes, we have been able to rope in partners who are in the lifestyle and Bollywood space. So we had partnered People magazine to do the ‘People Best Dressed‘ show; we had also partnered Cosmopolitan to do ‘Free Fearless Awards‘. Besides, we also did ‘F1 After Parties‘ with Arjun Rampal.

     

    However, the biggest property we did was ‘Walk of the Stars‘ at Bandra Bandstand (Mumbai) where we had the biggest stars giving their hand impressions. It‘s like the Hollywood Walk of the Fame. We got the Walk of the Stars branded as UTV Walk of the Stars as a permanent structure and it has also got statues and benches of legendary stars from Raj Kapoor to Shammi Kapoor and now Rajesh Khanna. We are taking it to Delhi next year and it‘s going to be available at Kingdom of Dreams. We tied up with IIFA Awards this year and took this property to Singapore. 

     
    What big shows are on the anvil?
    There is ‘Nirma Lifestyle‘ season 2 that is coming up in the quarter beginning October. We have another show called ‘Gods of Style‘ coming up where we are going to showcase top 10 style icons in Bollywood. We have four more shows in the pipeline about which I can‘t reveal much at this stage.

     

  • Yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna’s death swings audiences away from GECs to news channels

    MUMBAI: Four decades after Rajesh Khanna ruled over Indian hearts with his romantic brand of movies, the forgotten and lonely superstar warmed up Indian audiences again as he breathed his last at his iconic Aashirwad residence on 18 July.

    Hindi news channels, who covered extensively his death and funeral, lured audiences across demographics to remind them of an era that will never come again. Young audiences who had never seen him before glued to the TV to know more about Bollywood‘s first superstar who created history by giving 21 box-office hits in the six-year period between 1969 and 1974.

    Hindi TV news genre nearly doubled their viewership in the week ended 21 July, making it one of those rare occasions when they ate into the audiences of Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) who reign over primetime television in India day in and day out with their popular soaps and non-fiction content.

    The ratings for that week went through a big change. The GRPs (gross rating points) of Hindi news channels rose to 126, from 66 a week earlier. This coincided with the dip in Hindi GEC viewership, trimming by 75 points, according to TAM data (HSM, C&S, 4+) provided by the channels.

    Hindi news channels aired a special string of programmes on Khanna who had a fan following in the ‘70s that has not been matched by any Bollywood superstar ever. The man who swung hearts with movies like Anand, Aradhana, Bawarchi and Amar Prem had an almost secluded life later, after a high-profile marriage with Dimple Kapadia that did not last long. The channels showed his life, his movies, his megalomaniac trait and played his romantic songs to allow audiences to go back to history.

    Several leading shows on Hindi GECs lost audience share. The ‘Khanna‘ week, in fact, saw a drop in overall TV viewing.

    Within the GEC genre, Sony Entertainment Television (Set) returned to the No. 2 position after a gap of two months. Set added six GRPs in a week that saw the other leading channels lose theirs. Set’s fiction property Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, the storyline of which took a five-year leap two weeks ago, saw a rise in ratings after a long time. With an average TVR of 4.2, the show has become the second most watched on the Hindi GECs. Star Plus’ Diya Aur Baati Hum leads with a 5.8 TVR.

    Though continuing to lead the genre, Star Plus shed 21 points to end the week with 254 GRPs. Its leading shows like Sathiya Saath Nibhana, Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behena Hai and Iss Pyaar Ko kyaa Naam Dun fell below the 3 TVR-mark.

    Meanwhile, Zee TV, which was on a ratings upswing due to shows like Fear Files and DID Lil Masters, lost maximum number of GRPs during the week. The channel shed 32 GRPs as its fiction property Pavitra Rishta and flagship dance reality show DID Lil Masters lost viewership.

    Fear Files, which had opened with 3.8 TVR and was registering an average 3.5+ TVR, dropped to 2.6 TVR. Zee TV ended the week with 221 GRPs and at the third spot among the Hindi GECs.

    Colors too saw a loss of 16 GRPs to close the week with 214 GRPs. Its leading show, Balika Vadhu, fell to a TVR of 3.8.

    Like Set, its sister channel Sab also added six points to register 129 GRPs, while Life OK lost 12 GRPs to record 101 GRPs.

    Sahara One with 42 GRPs (last week 39) remained at the bottom of the heap.

  • Wrestler and Bollywood star Dara Singh loses battle against death

    Wrestler and Bollywood star Dara Singh loses battle against death

    MUMBAI: Dara Singh (Raja Azaad Singh), who etched the four letter word ‘MARD‘ on the chest of his son Raju (Amitabh Bachchan) in the Manmohan Desai-directed film Mard, is no more. The Rustam-e-Hind, who never lost a fight in the ring, lost a protracted battle against death this morning.

    He died at his house where he was shifted from the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. The wrestler-turned actor had been undergoing dialysis at the hospital.

    “Angel now gone to shine like a star up above,” the actor‘s son Vindu Dara Singh texted after his father‘s death.

    The wrestler started his film career way back in 1967 with the film Saat Samunder and ended with Jab We Met in 2007.

    Singh has also been the owner of prestigious Dara Film Studio at Mohali, Punjab that he founded in 1978. The studio, operational from 1980, is a self-contained mini-city with every facility within the compound.

    It is a fully a equipped studio with camera, camera equipment, Nagra lights and all type of extra equipment like stands, trolleys, cables for filming movies, serials and pop albums throughout North India.

    Singh is survived by his wife and six children – three sons and three daughters.

  • ‘Our marketing spends will stay flat at Rs 6 bn’ : LG India VP marketing LK Gupta

    ‘Our marketing spends will stay flat at Rs 6 bn’ : LG India VP marketing LK Gupta

     

    A sluggish market and depressed consumer demand is not deterring consumer electronic major LG India to reduce its marketing spend this year. The drive will be to reallocate spends with print seeing a marginal dip. Television will stay flat while digital ad spends will jump 50%.

     

    The South Korean conglomerate will cut back its marketing spend on cricket, from Rs 1 billion in 2011. But it is still bullish on the game and believes addresses a wider consumer base compared to music or Bollywood.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin Pinto, LG India VP marketing LK Gupta talks about the company‘s thrust in pushing new technology products like 3D and the marketing strategy it is following to drive growth in sales.

     

    Excerpts:

    So far year 2012 has been difficult for LG and the consumer electronics sector. What are the reasons behind this slow growth?
    The market is looking sluggish because consumers are feeling less than confident about the situation – the economy, food and fuel inflation, interest rates and rising prices across categories. So, some consumers are postponing purchases of discretionary high-ticket items. We‘ve still had growth in AC and Appliances this summer while the rest of the industry has struggled.

     

    However, even though it has been a year of challenges so far due to difficult macroeconomic environment like inflation, dollar appreciation and constant hike in input prices, the good news for us is that LG has grown by 15 per cent in its core business of Home Entertainment and Home Appliances. There has been a growth of 30 per cent in Home Appliances business and 25 per cent growth in Flat panel business.

    By when do you see the situation turning around and what corrective measures are being taken by LG?
    This is an industry wide situation and a lot of things at a macro level have to improve. So it’s tough to say by when the situation will turn around. We do expect the festival season in the second half to improve the growth somewhat.

    At this point LG is launching flagship products across categories which will help in strengthening our product leadership via strong marketing campaigns. This includes LED, LCD TV, refrigerators, washing machines, Split ACs and microwave ovens.

     

    We are looking at a 25 per cent growth in sales overall this year.

    Could you talk about the impact of rising input costs due to the declining rupee value and how is it affecting the business?
    Input cost is certainly a concern and rupee depreciation is also alarming due to which prices were hiked across all product categories by 15 per cent in the past year and a half. This was not only in television segment but all categories.

    On a more positive note, there is increasing adoption and acceptance of new technologies like HD and 3D by consumers. How is LG tapping into this with new products?
    LG is expanding the 3D market in a big way with Cinema 3D Smart TV range and is now poised to offer the widest range of 3D entertainment products – 3D LED, 3D Ultra Slim LED, 3D Home theater systems and 3D Blu-ray players.

     

    Technology and design are key factors behind LG Home entertainment products. With our 2012 3D Smart TV line-up, we have been able to take a significant step forward, thanks to a series of new and upgraded 3D features led by the Cinema Screen Design.

     

    With the 2012 Olympic Games to be broadcast in 3D and more than 30 English and Hindi 3D movies to hit the Indian Cinema theatres, 3D entertainment is set to explode in India at a steady growth of 500 per cent. We are targeting business worth Rs 10 billion from 3D TVs and aim to consolidate our position in the Flat Panel TV segment with 30 per cent market share.

     

    To ensure the numbers we have an aggressive marketing strategy with a target investment of Rs 1 billion in Flagship product communication. This will be accompanied by experiential marketing campaigns.
    ‘This year we will spend slightly less on print and focus more on digital. Our spend on television will be similar to last year. We always look at efficiency for our marketing spends and digital platform is one where we can see good response. We have increased our digital spends by 50 per cent‘

    LED TVs are growing fast in sales. Is this technology superior to LCD TVs?
    The LED segment is growing at a faster pace with 500 per cent year on year growth (2011 versus 2010). The consumer preference is shifting to LED’s as CCFL and LED price gap is reducing. LED is perceived to be the latest, modern and eco-friendly technology. The LED segment contribution in sales was 35 per cent (in value) in 2011 and is targeting around 60 per cent in 2012.

    Will the slowdown affect your marketing spends?
    Our marketing spends will be Rs 6 billion, the same as last year. We are not reducing spends. We are only re-allocating spends to an extent.

     

    A slowdown scenario indicates that fewer consumers are willing to buy in the current time and many consumers, due to the prevailing market mood, start postponing their discretionary purchases.

     

    In such a situation marketing has to be focussed on converting the customers who are willing to buy. Accordingly, marketing spending will focus in the short term on in-store excellence.

     

    Investments will be geared to give consumers a better in-store experience via display, demonstration and branding visibility for flagship products. At the same time, advertising will be more streamlined to deliver higher efficiency within the same budget. This will impact the media choices in print and TV media. Digital media, which plays a very important role in the consumer decision journey of searching and evaluating products, will be given a bigger share to have an early influence on potential customers.

    In terms of LG’s marketing spend how does it split between TV, print, and radio? Will the slowdown force a change in the platforms that you use?
    This year we will spend slightly less on print and focus more on digital. Our spend on television will be similar to last year. We always look at efficiency for our marketing spends and digital platform is one where we can see good response. We have increased our digital spends by 50 per cent.

    Which medium is more impactful in terms of reach and brand recall?
    All mediums have their own role to play. Some work better to create awareness, while others are important to drive consideration and even comparison with other brands.

    But isn‘t it true that when consumers are hesitant companies need to be more aggressive in marketing? Does LG agree with this?
    Yes! We have an aggressive marketing strategy in our flagship product communication so that we achieve our goals within the set budget.

    A couple of years ago LG aimed to change its brand perception from a mass to an aspirational brand. Did this work?
    We have managed to grab a bigger share in categories across the product portfolio. We are leading the market in side by side refrigerator, Front load washing machines, convection microwaves. Our image is much better compared to five years back. This effort to change and improve brand perception, though, is an on-going process. Our products are more modern and more high-tech, which has helped improve brand perception. We have single-handedly carved out a premium LED 3D segment where we sell the most TVs.

    Have any new campaigns been lined up and could you talk about the thrust?
    We have rolled out two campaigns. The first one is for our flagship product LG Cinema 3D smart TV and second is Eco health campaign for Home Appliances. We have started out Home Appliances Above The Line campaign Eco friendly which showcases eco friendly technology in LG HA products.

     

    Simultaneously we announced a digital interactive campaign on Facebook called My Eco Home which will allow Facebook fans around the world to create and share their own personalised, virtual dream homes. An industry first, LG’s My Eco Home Facebook app reflects the company’s effort to interact with today’s customers in new, innovative ways. We also rolled our new TVC for the latest range of Cinema 3D Smart TV. LG Electronics India is betting big on Flat panel category and you will see a 360 degree campaign across to strengthen this portfolio.

    When LG partnered the ICC and then renewed the deal what were the objectives? To what extent have these objectives been met?
    We have a long association being the Global Partners of ICC, promoting cricket among its billions of passionate followers. We are proud to be associated with this great sport and with ICC. Through the global platform provided by ICC events, we will enhance the joys of cricket with our own innovative programmes and campaigns. Lead 11 is one such initiative to celebrate the national spirit by giving platform to our young future generation to lead the Cricket Stars in ICC World Cup.

    What role has the ICC relationship played in giving you leg up on competition?
    The association has helped us in establishing a strong relationship with the consumers. With our unique consumer engagement programmes, we have actively established the brand as a young, sporty today‘s brand.

    How much of your marketing spend goes towards cricket and has this been rising year on year?
    Last year almost Rs 1 billion of our marketing budget was spent on cricket. This number is lower this year since there is a smaller ICC tournament and also we didn’t participate in IPL broadcast advertising this year.

    Why did you stay away from the IPL? 
    This was a wise decision, given the decline in viewership. We felt that under the circumstances this year, the IPL would not have been cost effective given that rates have increased every year. So, our decision was the right one.
    As a platform how does cricket compare to other avenues like music and Bollywood?
    Certainly cricket is a far bigger platform and it addresses a far bigger consumer base as compared to music or Bollywood.
    Will the monies that cricket gets this year from advertising be affected as it requires high expenditure by companies who are fighting a slowdown?
    Not really! In India cricket fortunes swing with Indian team’s fortune. If the team does well, advertisers will continue to invest behind cricket.
    Apart from cricket, which other sports is LG involved with?
    At present LG is associated with cricket and at the global level with Formula 1. In cricket, we like to develop innovative consumer engagement programmes.
  • ‘No advertiser or competitor can ignore the disruption we have created in the marketplace’ : Channel [V] EVP and GM Prem Kamath

    ‘No advertiser or competitor can ignore the disruption we have created in the marketplace’ : Channel [V] EVP and GM Prem Kamath

    For Channel [V], the radical moment has arrived. The reinvention process it started in 2009 as music channelsfailed to create differentiated content and had to settle for low revenues. Making the shift, the Star group channel has decided to discontinue all the music slots in its programming lineup effective 1 July.

     

    The new avatar will do away with Bollywood music as it searches for youth audiences that are monetisable. The positioning that it will take is a complete youth entertainment channel with 100 per cent content customised for this target segment. 

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Gaurav Laghate, Channel [V] EVP GM Prem Kamath talks about the channel‘s growth plans.

     

    Excerpts:

    Doing away with music is definitely a bold step. But what about the trailers that channel [V] airs?
    Trailers will continue as they are a source of revenue. We sell them as any other spot for promotions. But we won’t be airing any Bollywood music as part of our programming lineup.

    So from where did this idea come from? Do you see a lacuna in youth-targeted programming?
    The “Youth channel” word has become a misnomer in the Indian context with music channels calling themselves as youth channels. Unless you are creating youth content, you cannot be a youth channel.

    Music is as youth as a movie channel or a news channel or a sports channel is for that matter because if you see demographically with over 60 per cent of youth population, all the channels have youth as their main TG.

    So how is Channel [V] differentiated?
    We are very clear that we don’t want to be a commodity channel playing just music. If you see, all the music channels are in the same GRP (gross rating point) bracket and the content is identical.

    On the other hand, we offer 100 per cent customised youth content. And all our shows have worked really well and today ratings wise, we are two-and-a-half times of these channels.

    As you said, all channels have majority of their audience as youth. Why will an advertiser select Channel [V]?
    We are delivering to a youth audience, which is exclusive and substantial in number. This has made Channel [V] a vehicle through which the advertisers can target the said audience.
    ‘There is a risk in adding original content and not having anything to fall back on (like music) in case the shows don’t work‘

    So when did you finalise on shedding the Bollywood music completely?
    When we relaunched in June 2009, the plan was ready then. We were focussed on increasing the original content.

    In 2009, we had 75 per cent music content while 25 per cent was original content. And we gradually and consciously reversed that order. Since the last six months, we have been airing only three hours of music in a day.

    But don’t you think creating original content will increase the operational cost?
    Substantially, but we were clear that youth centric shows per hour cost a lot more than the usual music that runs on these kind of channels. We, therefore, built slot by slot.

    Today, we have 10 hours of original content per week. We have three successful fiction shows and will add on to have weekday primetime from 6-8.30 pm. And on Saturdays and Sundays, we will be airing a one-hour show at the 7 pm slot.

    Isn‘t one of your shows picked up by Star Plus?
    Yes, Gumraah, our weekly show, which we are changing to a daily. It is being aired on Star Plus at 8 pm as a repeat on Saturdays and Sundays. This also shows the strength of our content.

    Once you stop music, how will you fill up the slots?
    We will air all our shows three times a day. It suits our viewers also as India is predominantly a single TV householdand parents are in charge of the remote. So our TG can catch up on the show during the repeats. Also, colleges here operate in morning and afternoon shifts, so having three repeats will help in that case.

    If you see all the music channels, the main TRPs come from the morning band where you also were playing music. Don’t you think that removing music will affect badly on the ratings?
    Our channel is viewed by over 25 million people and we average over 50 GRPs week on week, which is a proof that our viewers are watching shows and not music.

    Moreover, as you pointed out, most of the GRPs on the music channels come from morning bands, which is ad free. So even if it helps in getting the ratings, it may not necessarily be monetisable.

    But these are safe GRPs?
    I agree that there is a risk in adding original content and not having anything to fall back on (like music) in case the shows don’t work. However, we are extremely confident about our content.

    Our break TVR is four times that of other channels. This goes to show the strength of our content – that is sticky and engaging. In case of music, people tend to change the channel the moment ad begins. Even our show to break conversion is as high as 80 per cent.

    But still when you say Channel [V] or MTV, the first image that comes to mind is that of a music channel. The legacy factor is there. Won‘t that get affected?
    Numbers are absolute truth and perception is not. And we have numbers to substantiate.

    How do you see current competition coming from music and youth channels?
    The disruption that we have created is so wide that it can’t be ignored by the advertisers or competitors. The current problem with music channels is that no advertiser is going to pay a premium, unless you have a differentiated offering.

    Having said that, top players will be profitable, albeit small. There will be a time when some of these players will have to relook on their business models.

    Earlier you had said that monetising the music content is difficult. How?
    Exactly. Today the same music is available on not just the music channels but also on multiple platforms like internet, mobiles and tablets. And consumption of music videos is very high on high-end mobiles and tablets.

    Anything that can get monetised on a television channel is loyalty. And that can‘t happen with the same content. That is why we decided to offer customised youth content.

    Everyone is bullish on digital today. What future role Channel [V] will have on the digital front?
    Everyone is trying to figure out the answer to this question. How and up to what extent digital entertainment will affect TV is yet to be seen. Having said that, if you understand your audience well and create content for them, it will work.

    Moreover, digital as a medium changes very fast, which adds further complexities. There are some myths,though, that are busting – like on internet only short form content works. Today, YouTube plays full length feature films and long format is also working well.

    Talking about our website, for now it will be an extension of the channel adding ancillary programming for TV.

    Unlike some of your competitors, you are not much into licensing and merchandising. Why?
    L&M for us is not making bags or T-shirts. It is not a marketing stunt and our belief is that L&M should be strongly differentiated and have big potential. So we have two properties – [V] Spots and IndiaFest.

    We have seen phenomenal success with [V] Spots. Both Saket (New Delhi) and Gurgaon outlets have broken even within a month of launch. We will soon be launching in Pune and by the end of our next fiscal (June 2013), we will have 10 [V] Spots across India. We are looking at Chandigarh and Bengaluru as potential markets.

    IndiaFest is one of its kind youth festival, which we organise in Goa every year. It is also growing year-on-year.