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Tag: Channel V

  • Channel V gets bigger, better, post refresh

    Channel V gets bigger, better, post refresh

    MUMBAI: “As politically incorrect as it sounds, may we just say we’re kicked,” says Channel V EVP and general manager Prem Kamath

     

    In an interview with indiantelevision.com, Kamath expresses happiness at the way things have shaped up for the channel after its two big refreshes.

     

    The first happened in July 2012, when Channel V repositioned itself as a youth general entertainment channel with a focus on reality.

     

    The second, on 25 November, 2013, when it came up with a cool new logo, a tagline ‘Correct Hai’ and four new shows i.e. Paanch: Don’t Get Mad Get Even, It’s Complicated, Confessions of an Indian Teenager (finite) and Sadaa Haq (daily).

     

    “The response has been huge, both in terms of viewership and what we have managed to achieve in the market. Specifically in terms of numbers, after the last refresh, we have seen 52 per cent growth, that too within three weeks of it, which is unprecedented within the category in my mind,” he says.

     

    Channel V is now a good 40-50 per cent bigger than its nearest competitor, courtesy breakout hits like Sadaa Haq and Paanch. Within a week of launching these shows, the channel witnessed 14.3 TVM vis-a-vis Bindaas’s 11.1 TVM and MTV’s 8.5 TVM, going by TAM week 48 ratings. It recorded a 42 per cent growth in just one week.

     

    With increased ratings came advertisers. “Yes, more than the sheer number of advertisers, I think, for channels like us, where revenues are directly linked to ratings as we have a lot of clients on CPRP deals, a jump in ratings almost immediately results in an upswing in monetization as well,” says Kamath.

     

    This included advertisers targeting a slightly older age group. “So, even advertisers targeting a slightly older age group started coming on board in a significant departure from earlier times,” he says.

     

    Unlike other TV channels which divide content into weekdays and weekends with weekdays focussing on dailies and weekends on one or two episodes, Channel V took a very different approach and started doing bi-weeklies.

     

    “We understood clearly that given the nature of the audience and their viewing habits, this group of viewers tends to be fickle and gets bored rather quickly. It is not interested in watching the same story drawn out over a period of one year or two and a half years which is what dailies typically do,” Kamath goes on to explain.

     

    So, three of the four new shows were bi-weeklies, running for two episodes a week and for a finite period. From the beginning, they were conceptualized as shows with 52 episodes that would run for 26 weeks, period. The entire script too was fleshed out before taking the first shot.

     

    “This innovation and scheduling has worked tremendously for us. Paanch has been a breakout hit. Sadaa Haq has been a daily format, but again within the daily format, we were clear that it is a one-year story line and it begins and concludes within a year and within a year, you will see Sadaa Haq being replaced as well,” he says.

     

    In week 2-5, Channel V reported an average 12,640 TVTs compared to Bindaas’s 8,946 TVTs and MTV’s 6,367 TVTs. In week 6 of TAM ratings, Channel V scored 2,691 TVTs, whereas Bindaas got 1,321 TVTs and MTV stood at 1,216 TVTs. “It’s been Channel V vs. Channel V, what with MTV and Bindaas less than half the break TVT ratings,” says Kamath.

     

    What’s more, Channel V was in the lead with audiences in the age group of 15 to 34 years in week 8 of TAM ratings (Channel V 17,738 TVTs; Bindaas 13,535 TVTs; MTV 10,194 TVTs and 9XM 8,657 TVTs).

     

    According to Kamath, bi-weeklies have multiple advantages. “They let us tap into producers who would have otherwise not come on television. Because it is finite project, people are willing to come on-board because it does not take up their entire lives, which a daily tends to do,” he says, adding the ability to experiment with more concepts and genres as another advantage.

     

    “Paanch is a taut revenge thriller which we won’t be able to pull off on a daily basis and continuously. It has multiple advantages and lets us tap into newer concepts and newer genres as well as newer talent, which is why it is working well for us.”

     

    Bi-weeklies have worked so well for the channel that ironically, the feedback has been to make them dailies. “Unfortunately, we can’t,” asserts Kamath. “The nature of the show is such that it is not possible for us to produce this quality of content, with this quality of writing and this pace of narration if it becomes a daily. And then, there will always be a compromise we will have to make.”

     

    Road ahead

    Once Confessions of the Indian Teenager ends, it will be replaced with another bi-weekly drama. In April, the channel plans to launch two more shows, but Kamath refused to divulge details.

     

    “It is a little early to talk about these shows, but within a couple of weeks’ time, we will be in a position to talk about them. But around the first or second week of April, you will see two new shows being launched,” he says.

     

    Going forward, the channel is planning on creating something called E-IndiaFest, reason being IndiaFest zonals usually start around November and conclude by Jan or Feb leaving nothing on the plate between February and November.

     

    “There is a set of things we are planning which people can compete in but can do online. Because we have so far been operating on formats which are essentially dailies, the season break never tends to happen. These are continuous shows that are run aground once ratings stop. But it is something that we now have the option of doing. So with Paanch for example, we are already beginning to script the second season,” he explains.

     

    There are plans to air the second season of the show, a year later or maybe earlier, depending on how it is scheduled.

     

    “For us, it is the process of continuously adding programming. At present, the channel produces four slots a day and plans to add more in the coming months. Towards the end of May, you might see us opening a fifth slot. Getting it into the next fiscal, the plan is to add more slots to it,” he reveals.

     

    “We are clear that the direction we are going in is fairly stronger and the kind of traction we have got is huge. But we also know that probably in order for us to really break out in the larger leagues and for us to become a full-fledged GEC in our own right, we will need much higher levels of the show programming. That is the process we have consciously undertaken, one step at a time. So, even when we re-launched three years back, we started with one show a week and the channel has slowly built up from there to the point that it is today,” Kamath signs off.

  • TV turning bold?

    TV turning bold?

    MUMBAI: Two years ago, the television premiere of Ekta Kapoor’s The Dirty Picture became a magnet for controversy, when at the nth hour the Information & Broadcasting Ministry banned Sony Entertainment Television from airing the film before 11pm, citing its adult content and sexual innuendo as reason.

    While the movie did eventually premiere on SET at 8pm, it was only after four months, and with as many as 56 cuts advised by the Censor Board for Film Certification (CBFC).

    In sharp contrast, the world television premiere of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela on the same channel in February was a bit of a pushover.

    No reservations were raised by the government and the movie was aired during primetime and without any cuts. What’s more, the film garnered 8,900 TVTs and helped SET make it to the top four channels after struggling at the bottom for 20 weeks.

    One can see a similar trend with some of the current TV shows. Remember Ekta Kapoor’s show Bade Achche Lagte Hain? An intimate scene between the serial’s lead actors Sakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor was aired.

    So, is Indian television becoming bold or has the audience come of age to accept more and more of such content. We spoke to a cross-section of industry to find out.

    “It is not really so much about TV getting bolder as much as acceptance for this kind of content. The audience is becoming a lot more mature to accept it. It is not something you can say is limited only to GECs; it is across the board. It is largely media-driven than anything else. The awareness has gone up and there is so much international content that we are consuming that it doesn’t seem so odd,” said Lodestar UM vice-president Deepak Netram.

    “We consume the same kind of content in so many different places that it is really not alarming. At the same time, there is some amount of dissonance in the conservative mindset, which has always been there. I don’t think there is a dramatic shift; it is something that has been happening gradually over a period of time.”

    Unlike Netram, Sony Max EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas said he wouldn’t have gone ahead and aired the whole movie without cuts the way SET did. “A Ram-Leela kind of movie cannot be watched when you are with your family. When it comes to Max, I will ensure that I cut at least 10 minutes of the movie,” he said.

    Star India’s attitude has been completely different to that of SET. An upcoming episode of the celebrity chat show Koffee with Karan featuring Freida Pinto and Nargis Fakhri turned out so steamy that Star World decided to serve the ‘adults only’ brew at11pm instead of the usual 9pm slot.

    “Staying within the IBF guidelines, we didn’t want to air the episode before 11 pm. The alternative would have been to edit out a lot of the conversation, which we chose not to do. The episode is worth staying up late for,” said Star India content head, English GECs Rasika Tyagi.

    At the same time, Star Plus, another channel within the Star Network, remains unapologetic about airing an adult-themed show Ishq Kills every Sunday at 10pm. Interestingly, the very same channel telecast adult-themed shows such as Maryada – Aakhir Kab Tak and Kaali – Ek Agnipariksha during late primetime back in 2010.

    Meanwhile, a channel like Channel V, a lot of whose content tends to be edgy, maintains a fairly high standard of self regulation of censorship.

    “A lot of the content that we do tends to be edgy. If you look at Heroes or Gumraah, they are fairly edgy subjects. But a lot depends on how you actually create them and also on how you plan and execute. While Heroes by the nature of the subject is quite edgy, we feel it is a topic which needs to be discussed and spoken about. And the way we treat it does not really sensationalize it and does not make it difficult to watch with the family. Therefore, that is really the yardstick that we apply. The topics and subjects might be edgy, but we definitely don’t want to make them sensational,” said Channel V (designation) Channel V general manager and EVP Prem Kamath.

    “Everyone runs their own code of self regulation mechanisms and it depends on what the internal mechanism is allowing them to do. There is an overall body – the BCCCI, which puts down guidelines. If you speak about Channel V or even the Star network channels, we hold a fairly high standard of self regulation of censorship.”

    According to Kamath, there is a strong social responsibility. “If it’s a family viewing channel, there is a certain kind of content you can put out during the regular hours, and if we feel any content is pushing the envelope of boldness and is not suitable for general viewing, we push it to a time slot which is probably late night. Or a lot of times, we don’t air it at all. So, I don’t think there is one brush that paints all the channels, it’s different for different channels,” he said.

  • Channel V celebrates the real Heroes

    Channel V celebrates the real Heroes

    MUMBAI: Come February 23rd and new heroes will be born. Channel V, the country’s number one youth GEC, is coming up with a new show that shares stories of sexual assault and in the process instills fear in the accused and the feeling of strength in the victims. Simply called Heroes, the new show produced by Endemol India, not only makes the youth aware of the hazards in the society but also shows means and methods to bolster themselves and combat such situations.

     

    Heroes is a re-enacted drama series based on the incidents of sexual assault which happens in various places such as hospitals, offices, schools and colleges and happens to people of different social strata, different gender and different age. The show will contain narration by the victims and the actual incidents faced by them will be recreated in the same episode.

     

    Each 60-minute story will bring one sexual assault story to light from the point of view of the victims. From the time when they were being harassed to that threshold moment when they could not take it anymore and fought back. These stories will celebrate the fearlessness of the people fighting against the many social institutions trying to bring them down. Finally what will emerge are the real Heroes of our society, of our country.

     

    Says Prem Kamath, EVP & GM-Channel V, “The new motto of our channel has been ‘V Correct Hai’ and what can be more correct than a show like Heroes. Sexual assault happens in our society every day in some form and a show like this will make people more cautious and also empower them against all the forces at play. The show reiterates our belief in the philosophy that the abuse will stop when the silence does.

     

    On creating a format that deals with real life issues such as sexual harassment, Deepak Dhar, Director and CEO, Endemol India says, “We are determined to create a show for the audiences and get them to take notice of this unspoken yet massive plague like issue which women in India face on a daily basis. The format competently tackles the behavior and addresses the education barrier which is lacking. ‘HEROES’ is also an ode to the women whom have shown the courage to walk out of such thorny affairs with their head held high.”

     

    Starting 23rd Feb, 2014 watch Heroes, every Sunday at 7pm only on Channel V.

  • ‘Roadies XI’ is back with a bang

    ‘Roadies XI’ is back with a bang

    MUMBAI: The mother of all reality shows – MTV Hero Roadies – is back with Season XI which promises to be one heck of a roller coaster ride.

     

    With the tagline ‘Ride for Respect’, the new season is slated to hit TV screens on Saturday, 25 January at 7pm. The adventure will see seven boys and seven girls bike riding from desert to desert, starting with Sun City Jodhpur and culminating in the Rann of Kutch. Leading the pack will be the winner of season I of MTV Roadies, Rannvijay Singh and MTV Roadies producer, Raghu Ram.

     

    Hero continues to be the title sponsor for the show. Whereas, the channel has roped in nine associate sponsors on-board including brands like CEAT, Mountain Dew, Spraymintt mouth freshener, Karbonn tablets among others.

     

    Significantly, the new edition of MTV Roadies is all about performance sans the vote outs and group politics. So, all 14 contestants will have to prove their mettle through challenging tasks and only their track record through the show journey will get them closer to winning the title.

     

    “Every year, we try to conceptualise the theme of the show around a trending youth sentiment. It is not just about the show, audiences connect with the Roadies’ spirit of never backing down, perseverance and standing tall against all odds. We are pushing the envelope further this year by making the central theme all about the Roadies’ spirit and confidence,” says MTV India head marketing and insights Sumeli Chatterji. “So, while competition will be more intense and tasks will be more challenging; there will be no vote outs and no group politics. Every candidate will have an equal chance to show his or her mettle and win.”

     

    The reason for going ahead with the no vote-out format, producer and judge Raghu Ram says that it is just to be fair. “In the past, many have complained that deserving contestants are voted out. While for me vote out is an interesting situation, we have been blamed for encouraging politics and thus we have done away with the vote out system altogether.”

     

    But it doesn’t mean there won’t be any eliminations – a lot of other things will be introduced to make the show interesting and unpredictable.

     

    Says MTV India EVP and business head Aditya Swamy: “This year on Roadies, we have seven boys and seven girls and they will have an absolutely equal chance in the Ride for Respect. Fresh twists in the format have made Roadies India’s longest-running reality show and this year’s format breaker ensures survival only of the fittest.”

     

    Raghu, who usually gives goosebumps to the contestants with his stringent remarks, thinks that the reason behind the year after year success of the game is the love of the audience and the sheer belief that the show is a life changer for many. He remarks: “The show has made adventure and bikes a household name in India. The ten years have seen over five million hopefuls, grueling auditions, tough tasks and deserving winners. The new edition is all geared up to introduce an absolutely new avatar to everyone. What I can promise you is a triple dose of thrill, action and a lot more drama.”

     

    However, when quizzed about the flak the show has got in the past for the use of abusive language, Raghu shots back and says: “I think much has been spoken about the language and it is time people should get over it. Language is not a problem because it is a reality show. Still, this year I have tried to make sure that there is no abusive language used from my end and the focus transforms to that instead of the other things in the show.” 

     

    Apart from auditions in Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and Pune, this year, the channel also tapped Hyderabad and Kolkata. Also, an all-India audition was conducted online.

     

    Marketing and promotion

     

    This year, the strategy is not only about driving reach across the target audience but also engaging with consumers across various touch points.

     

    A college connect program targeted at over 200 colleges sees Raghu and Rannvijay visiting the colleges and integrating with college festivals and college bike rallies across cities. “Our attempt is to integrate Roadies with city-specific events like Marathon in Pune, partnerships with malls, hangouts and clubs,” says Chatterji.

     

    The channel is reaching out to over 150 power towns across UP and Gujarat through several BTL activations.

     

    Roadies is active on social media as well with nearly 20 million visitors on its micro-site and around 7.8 million fans on Facebook. According to Chatterji, the last season clocked 65 million views online and was the most subscribed YouTube channel for a TV show.

     

    Season XI will be consumed by fans through TV episodes, web episodes, on-ground events and Roadies’ branded merchandise including sunglasses, shoes and bags.

     

    Besides, the brain behind the show, Raghu, has penned a memoir of his over-a-decade-long journey titled Rearview: My Roadies Journey, which explores the bright and not-so-bright side of this ride. Launched in Bangalore recently, the autobiography is available at Crosswords bookstores.

     

    Verdict

     

    All said, with so many youth-oriented shows from the same channel, what makes Roadies the brand it is? “This is a journey where the underdog can emerge a winner if he survives the game. This series generates intense emotions, not only from the participants and judges but also from the audience. The eliminations, tasks, contestants are always a topic of debate. You can love it, or hate it… but the youth can never ignore Roadies. This drives the social buzz and fan following,” says Chatterji.

     

    However, a media planner says: “There are a lot of youth reality shows on Indian television today. No doubt, Roadies has gained popularity over the years but people now want to see some fresh shows. Though, it’s a good property for advertisers to invest in as the show has a brand value. Having said that, it’s not really going to grab enough eyeballs as the choice of the youngsters has evolved and they would like to watch something new rather than run-of-the-mill stuff.”

     

    However, Raghu thinks that the TG identifies with the format. “The show is very young at heart. It explores human emotions very interestingly. It is not about the tasks, not about the vote-outs, but about facing circumstances and adapting to different dynamics.”

     

    Roadies will be competing with shows like Emotional Atyachar: Love, Shaq aur Dhoka on Bindaas and the repeat telecast of Dil Dosti Dance (D3) on Channel V. Media analysts think that the show doesn’t really have a competition as nothing close to the similar format will be on air on the rival channels.

  • Bindass climbs the rating ladder with content that connects

    Bindass climbs the rating ladder with content that connects

    MUMBAI: It seems content and digitisation has helped Bindass in a big way. The channel climbed the TV ratings ladder in week 46 of TAM TV ratings with 20,533 GVTs, leaving its rivals MTV and Channel [V] far behind with 14,160 and 16,576 GVTs respectively.

     

    “Both our content as well as digitisation has helped our channel to a great extent. It has helped us reach out to our core TG which is the youth,” says Disney executive director content media networks Indrajit Ray.

     

    Digitisation, according to Ray, has led to democratisation of channels. “Earlier there was limited penetration of channels and thus only the popular channels with better resources could reach every household. Digitisation has helped us to increase our reach,” he says.

     

    According to the ratings provided by Bindass, the top five shows for the week in the youth space were: Yeh Hai Aashiqui (1,852 TVTs), Channel [V] Gumraah Season 3 (1,056 TVTs), Emotional Atyachaar on Bindass (882 TVTs), MTV Webbed (628 TVTs) and [V] Crazy Stupid Love (208 TVTs).

     

    The channel has been working towards improving its GVTs for a long time now. “It is not a week’s work, but a long process. The ratings are not a result of one single promotional activity,” remarks Ray, attributing the growth in ratings to Yeh Hai Aashiqui. He also informs that the channel’s team has formulated an aggressive plan to offer more. “Currently, we have two hours of original content, we plan to increase this,” he adds.

     

    The growing number of GVTs is an indication for the channel that brand Bindass is being accepted among newer audiences. “We believe this was largely on account of its popular mass narrative based on youth themes,” remarks Ray, who also thinks that the channel has been able to strike a chord with its audience because the content reflects the thought of today’s youth in the best way. “Our content is a reflection of what the youth feels today. Relationships, which are the most important part of any youngster’s life has been underserved,” adds Ray, emphasising that Bindaas is a platform for many youngsters to raise their concerns on issues that interests them.

     

    Talking about the reach, Ray says, “We have a fair equitable reach in the Hindi speaking market. We are strong in the north and now have also become popular in west and central India. Our core TG is between 15-24 years, but we do not restrict our programming to this age group. Our shows also cater to older people.”

     

    Bindass, for Ray, is a channel that brings to the fore issues that are brushed under the carpet. “We do not sensationalise but reflect the truth,” he says with hope that the channel will continue to be on the growth trajectory.

  • ATA to be telecast on Star World and Channel V

    ATA to be telecast on Star World and Channel V

    MUMBAI: The eighteenth Asian Television Awards (ATA) that will be held on 5 December in Singapore will be telecast on Fox’s Asian channels Star World and Channel V. The awards ceremony will air across five feeds between the two channels and will reach audiences in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.

     

    ATA this year has attracted nearly 1250 entries from 14 countries across Asia-Pacific. 189 channels from 98 broadcasters, as well as 65 independent production companies, will compete in 38 categories under the three groups of ‘programming’, performance’, and ‘technical & creative’. The top four categories are ‘terrestrial channel of the year’, ‘cable and satellite channel of the year’, ‘terrestrial broadcaster of the year’ and ‘cable and satellite channel of the year’.

     

    This year, 22 Indian programmes have been selected for it with a majority from the TV18 group and the NDTV group.

     

    This will be ATA’s first ever regional broadcast on Fox’s International Channels. It will also be telecast on Singapore’s terrestrial broadcaster MediaCorp TV.

  • ‘We are building India’s first Youth GEC, slot by slot’ : Channel [V] and Star Pravah EVP & GM PREM KAMATH

    ‘We are building India’s first Youth GEC, slot by slot’ : Channel [V] and Star Pravah EVP & GM PREM KAMATH

    From an international music channel in its early days to a Bollywood music driven one to a youth oriented entertainment offering. That’s the path that the Star Network owned Channel [V] has taken. Its last overhaul in July 2012 has reaped rich dividends with shows such as Gumrah and The Buddy Project generating loyal viewership apart from pocketing awards. The prestigious Indian Telly Awards, 2013 recognised the shows by bestowing the Best youth non-fiction and the best youth fiction show awards respectively.

    The man who has been piloting the Channel [V] ship through this latest journey is Captain (pun intended) Prem Kamath. A former advertising executive with stints in Enterprise Nexus and Chaitra Leo Burnett, Kamath spent a short period as marketing head of Star India before being assigned the task of heading Channel [V] and giving it direction in 2009. His successful reengineering of the channel last year led to him being given additional charge of Marathi channel Star Pravah.

    Last week he announced that he was rejigging Channel [V] once again with a new logo, new packaging and a slate of new shows.

    Indiantelevision.com’s Disha Shah caught up with Kamath for a tete a tete to understand from the man himself what is it that is working with Channel [V], where does he see it going and, finally, sundry industry issues.

    Excerpts:

    Please define the Channel [V] viewer in terms of demographics and pyschographics?

    In terms of demographics, I think the way TAM is structured, we define it as 15-24 ABC, but I don’t think that is necessarily a homogenous group. So, internally, we operate through a psychographic definition of youth. And for us, we define youth as a period between childhood and the time you gain economic independence. It means you are no longer a child and you have not started earning on your own and that life stage is what we define as ‘Youth Life stage’. Because we believe that life stage brings in a whole set of unique issues, attitudes and experiences that are common for those between 15 and 24 years of age. And this is that mindset we really try to talk to.

     What is the differentiator for the channel?

    The biggest differentiator for us is that we are far more rooted and far better connected to the youth than most other channels. We have a far deeper understanding of the youth and a finger on the pulse of the audience and that’s fairly evident from the fact that whatever the kind of programming we do, other channels start picking up two to three years down the line. We did Gumrah 3 three years back, and now you find Bindaas doing a show which is very similar, you find MTV Webbed doing something very similar, which are all slices of what we did. We do believe that our understanding of what the audience wants and how the audience behaves is far sharper and deeper than most of the people out there. I don’t mean just television brands, but brands in general and I think it’s that strength we try to leverage while creating programming and content. That’s really what is behind our success more than anything else.

    What have been the channel’s achievements over the past years?

    I came on-board in February 2009 and we did our first re-launch in August 2009, where we introduced a host of new shows and started reducing the amount of music. In those days, we used to get 8 or 9 GRPs and we were ninth or tenth on the list of youth music channels. And today, we are a 45 to 50 GRPs channel so it’s a five to six fold growth in terms of market share and revenue also. So, in terms of our run, the last four years have been extremely good. We have charted a new direction for the channel. For the channel, it was an experiment that we undertook at that point of time, but it is something that has paid off extremely well for us. We are at a stage today, where we are clear we have a foundation to build India’s first truly large mass youth general entertainment channel. And that is what we are building slot by slot.

    What circumstance forced Channel [V] rethink its raison de’etre?

    We were playing music videos at that point of time and there was a time, when people used to tune into television to find out what’s new in music. And I think that time changed several years back with the advent of the Internet, where people had multiple means of consuming music.

    The relevance of television for accessing music has gone down dramatically. I don’t think anyone tunes into television to find out what’s new in music.

    So, that was the first point where we said that if we want to be a youth channel, we have to widen our scope beyond just music, and that is where we started our journey. The second aspect is music is a commodity. It is the same content that all the 18 other music channels of the market have access to and there is no such differentiation. And thirdly, music cannot create appointment viewing, which is very critical if the channel has to monetize its audience through an advertiser.  

    All of these pointed us in that direction that if we have to become a relevant youth’s channel, we have to go beyond music into creating our own proprietary shows.

    What was the feedback that you got from viewers after the change from music to reality shows?

    The first feedback we got was a lot of hate mails from old channel viewers saying: Why are you stopping music? Why are you abandoning music and why is Channel [V] selling out music etc. But I think the kind of response we have got from our new viewers has been phenomenal. So the five-fold growth in the market share does not happen unless there is an old host of people embracing you for the new direction. And it’s a change that had to be made and we have moved forward. Now the real job for us is to build on this, consolidate on the good and solid start that we have had and go towards building something substantially larger.

    What have you learnt about your audience? Considering you have been at the helm for about four years now?

    One of the big things that we have learnt is how quickly the audience changes. How quickly the tastes change. And that is in sharp contrast to how shows run on GECs. That is something we have learnt along the way as well. We always had programs that did well for us. With the current run of shows, we have extended it to more than we should have. So the replacements that we are doing right now, in retrospect, we should have done four to six months ago. So that is something we have learnt and it has reflected in our demonstrating that we are now going with finite series. So we have series that will end in six months. We are forcing ourselves to end them after six months and we will put something new even if these shows are successful. So, all our programs are designed that way. That’s been one of the biggest learning. The other learning is connected to what I believe makes us strong, which is that we need to have a very sharp understanding of our TG. Unless we dig really deep to get a sense of the audience, we will never be able to create something which is relevant to them.

    The youth is a fickle audience with a short attention span. How do you keep them engaged?

    One of the things that reflect in our content is that these are all finite shows. They are two days a week, not even daily, and they last only six months. This allows us a story pace which is faster, lets us do things a lot more unpredictable where we don’t have to drag storylines and don’t have to just fill in six days a week. That lets us keep shows tighter, crisper, more unpredictable and therefore, more dramatic. The other aspect we engage youth through is social media. We keep them engaged through a lot of contests, questions and a whole set of engagement activities. This has been one of the areas that have worked well for us. This is revenue where we keep things fresh by doing different things on a daily basis.


    We also believe that a large part of the country is youth that is either not watching television or is watching whatever is there on television for want of a better option. And that’s the gap that we are trying to service…

    What shows are working on the channel?

    Gumrah – End of Innocence has been the big show for us. Dil Dosti Dance (D3) has always been the highest rated show since we have launched. Apart from that, Buddy Project has also been decent for us. Therefore, these are the shows that will continue, along with the four new shows that we are launching. At present, the channel is getting around 10 to 12,000 TVTs on a weekly basis.

    How many hours of fresh programming do you air currently?

    We currently run about 10-hours of programming a week, apart from the movie content that we do.

    What role does research play to help you stay connected with the audiences?

    Like I said, our entire body of work is based on fairly extensive and on-going research. All the shows come forth from specific consumer insights. And they start with the brief that is based on the consumer insights and shows are developed in and around them. So we engage with our consumers on a continuous and on-going basis.

    What future do you foresee for the channel in a digitized India? Do you expect a second and third youth channel being launched under the Channel [V] brand?

    I think as we go more and more into digitization, it will be critical for the channels to differentiate themselves sharply. The only channels that will survive are the ones that have a very sharp differentiation and those that can very well service whichever segment that they define their audience is. And that is what we are clearly doing.

    We are very clear that we are a youth channel; we believe that there is a great potential and great market for youth-centric content. We also believe that a large part of the country is youth that is either not watching television or is watching whatever is there on television for want of a better option. And that’s the gap that we are trying to service. Sometimes, digitization is great for channels like us, which are highly differentiated and it will only drive more and more demand for us.

    As far as the second part of your question, I think it’s too early for that. We are still laying the foundation of something that can be significantly larger than what it is. Overall in the market, there are youth who contribute about 3,000 GRPs if I use the old metrics. And even a ten per cent share out of that is a 300 GRP channel, so I think from 50, we still have a long way to go before we have maximized the potential of the channel that we have right now.

    Who do you feel is your competitor?

    I don’t think there is anyone who is doing what we are doing today. Both Bindaas and MTV or any of the others have 75 per cent of their content as music. We are cast in the mould of a general entertainment channel because we are running our own shows and our FPCs are in that fashion. There is no other entertainment channel which airs 24 hours youth entertainment shows. In that sense, we are fairly unique. But I do believe that sooner or later, there will be more players who will start doing exactly what we are doing.

     Is creative talent which understands youth programming as an issue today?

    No. It is a challenge. Most of the talents that are in the market today are geared towards creating content for GECs because that has been the lion’s share of entertainment so far. We are trying to source new people, we are getting people who write teen fiction to start writing for television; a couple of our writers are first-time writers on a couple of shows, who are writing for television for the first time but who have been bestselling authors. Some of the shows that are pitched to us have not come from production houses but have come from creative directors. So, we are improvising on the content eco-system as well, because there isn’t much talent available to cater to youth entertainment specifically.

    Are there enough production houses which understand youth content?  Are there any name you’d like to mention?

    Yes, it’s just the same. For example, we were doing Buddy Project with Sunshine Productions – Seema and Sudhir Sharma and two of our bi-weeklies have been done by them. So, Sunshine Productions is the one who we work with closely. Balaji Productions didGumraah for us, so our new show Teen Confessions is done by them.  So, there are some people like these we have worked in the past who we were very happy with and are doing more shows with. There are some producers who are established in the industry. So, we work with different people and we develop a certain sense of comfort. Moreover, we are constantly on the lookout and the quest for newer people and producers who will come into this world.

    Have you managed to get higher rates with the reduction in the air-time?

    Yes, we have absolutely. So this is not being just with the reduction in the air time, this is been the on-going process ever since we have re-launched, and our performance has been in an up spring. Like I said, our market share has gone up five times in the last four years; this rate increase has been on-going process since then. On a periodic basis with all our clients we revise our rates.


    Most of the talents that are in the market today are geared towards creating content for GECs, so we are improvising on the content eco-system as well, because there isn’t much talent available to cater to youth entertainment specifically…

    Are you encouraging branded entertainment and advertisement programming integration? How?

    On both we have a simple premise. We are very happy to do branded entertainment, as long as the entertainment quotient of it is not lost out. As much the brand part of it, the entertainment part of it also matters a lot to us. As long as it is entertaining for the viewers, is the concept both of us the client and us believe will be really entertaining we are very happy to explore it. The issue with the branded entertainment in the country today is that most people want to make it an advertorial. And that is something which is not okay with us because primarily our responsibility is to entertain our viewers. And we believe that if the viewers are not entertained even the brands purpose is not solved.

    Moreover, we do immense amount of integration for almost all of our shows. We have integrations; we give almost all our shows sponsors mileage within the show. We believe that this is very valid and very relevant way of building our brand for the clients and this is something we do on our on-going business.

    How strong is the distribution of the channel? How many homes do you reach?

    In a week we reach out to 1.2 crore people in our age group (youth), so that will be around five crores in a month.

    What has the impact of digitisation phase I and phase II been on Channel [V]?

    For us it has been good. Overall there is a rationalising of general television numbers, but I believe that digitisation gives us the opportunity to reach far more homes than before. The inherent advantage that in the cable system provider legacy brands goes away a bit and it gives an equal opportunity for people to sample and stand out like us. So I think it was a very positive outcome.

    How do you see the aggregators scenario evolving? Will they disappear or stay? 

    On the cable side, it is very difficult to put a prediction on that right now. Obviously there is a role for everybody to be playing and I believe that in a longer term people who innovate and add significant value to consumer’s life will have a clear module. And about broadcasters, as long as their shows are relevant and as long as shows are entertaining. Eventually people are consuming content whether it’s on television or across mediums, and as producers of content as long as that content is relevant and entertaining, they will have a very robust module.

  • Channel [V] refreshes itself; new shows, new packaging

    Channel [V] refreshes itself; new shows, new packaging

    MUMBAI: When things are going well, change to take them to another level, is a leitmotif that many an innovator follows. The Star India network owned Channel [V] seems to be going the same route. In July 2012, it revamped itself as a youth general entertainment channel with a focus on reality. That worked reasonably well for it. 17 months later it is all ready for another rejig: there’s a new cool logo with the tagline “Correct Hai”, new packaging and even a new programming line up.

    Channel [V] has undergone many a revamp over the past few years, probably such is the requirement of the audience which is its core viewer – the youth. The purpose of the current reinvention: engage even better with them.

    The logo has the same [V] brand but on a band-aid like patch being peeled off with “All New” above it. The tag line is even more interesting: one of the ‘Rs’ in the Correct is reversed while the Hai is in the Hindi script. Obviously, the idea is to speak the language of the youth and there is a hint of irreverence in its approach even while keeping middle class sensibilities in mind.

    Says Channel [V] EVP & general manager Prem Kamath: “The baseline reflects us – what we call the brand character. It also states, ‘Politically incorrect and emotionally correct. The new shows that we have created reflect the baseline and have been developed around the same theme.”

    Slated to air from 25 November, the four new shows Kamath is referring to will have limited runs and straddle the programming genres of comedy, drama, thriller and reality.

    Sadda Haq produced by Yash Patnaik’s Beyond Dreams is slated to air six days a week at 6.30 pm and is the story of Sanyukta Agrawal, a young Delhi girl who challenges the patriarchal world and breaks the stereotypes!

    Sudhir and Seema Sharma’s Sunshine Productions is the producer of Paanch: Don’t Get Mad Get Even and It’s Complicated. The first is the story 18-year-old Roshni, a shy girl who enters a college in Mumbai to ‘right some wrongs’ and airs Wednesday and Thursday from 6 to 6.30 pm while the second is about three young couples who deal with their relationship problems and will air on Friday-Saturday at the same time slot.

    Confessions of an Indian Teenager, from the Balaji Telefilms stable, features the young Vaibhav Sharma who shares the day to day concerns of the youth – once again from 6 to 6.30 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.

    The new shows are slated to replace Crazy Super Ishq and Suvreen Guggal – Topper of the year – both of which had quite some traction with Channel [V] viewers but had probably reached their end of life.

    Prem Kamath is taking Channel [V] to another youth GEC level.

    “We firmly believe that both variety and periodic change are very essential if you have to stay connected to the youngsters,” explains Kamath. “The change in logo and introduction of new programmes are reflective of that. Over the years, we have realised that youngsters need variety, refreshment and change. The need for it is significantly higher for a youth-centric channel than for regular GECs or other channels.”

    Kamath says there is a great deal of emphasis in Channel [V] to get the right shows, right stories in; it’s not just about coming up with new packaging alone. “Even before the first shot, we had the complete story penned down,” he points out. “Nobody watches your channel just because of packaging and its graphics. People watch a channel when it has a lot of content and variety. It adds freshness and newness to the channel.”

    “We are talking to young audiences and we are creating a youth general entertainment channel. We firmly believe that there is a huge market for youth centric shows and that most of the GECs lack variety. We are trying to create a viable option,” he adds.

    Estimates are that around Rs 5 crore has been kept aside to communicate the all new Channel [V] to viewers. Television, some outdoors, some print and a heck of a lot of online activity is being brought into play. It’s official facebook page has been buzzing with teaser activity since earlier this month. Promos of the new shows and teasers around the revamp, have been keeping the comments and likes coming. With 3.1 million likes, that’s a large audience that’s been engaged. Then probing social issues have been raised which have got this community interacting.

    Questions like:
    * Young children made to do hard labour for long hours. Kya yeh Correct Hai ?
    * Some people marry and get to know their partners. Or some want to know their partners and then marry. Hence they “LIVE IN CorrectHai?
    * Katrina Hindi bole toh cool. Main Hindi bolu to uncool. Kya yeh CorrectHai?

    Divya Radhakrishnan feels that the channel has taken the right move.

    Eight films of 15 seconds each have been created and “we will be uploading them only after launching the new look on 25 November. We believe that once people see the brand films, they should switch on to Channel V and see a completely refreshed channel,” reveals Kamath.

    He points out that online promotions are a big part of the marketing campaign. “The idea is to get as many video views of the promos as we can. Once the viewers sample the change being offered, they will understand that it is very different from the kind of shows they have been watching. We are hoping some of our videos to go viral as well. Our objective is to try and introduce the maximum number of people to the new offerings through the audio-visual medium.”

    Many a brand has hopped on board as advertisers on Channel [V] since the relaunch last year: Pepsi, Coco-Cola, Airtel, Nokia, Blackberry, Deodorants, two-wheelers and among others.

    Media veterans are already offering kudos to Kamath and his team on the new look. Says Helios Media’s boss Divya Radhakrishnan: “Every channel has to re-establish itself to look vibrant and young. For a youth channel, it needs to be done more often and they have done the right thing. You need to keep re-orienting yourself time and again so that the viewers don’t get bored.”

    Now it’s over to the fickle and rapidly evolving youth to prove her right.

  • Center Fresh presents Gum charades

    Center Fresh presents Gum charades

    MUMBAI: Center Fresh, with its ‘Zubaan Pe Rakhe Lagaam’ proposition, has recently launched a digital campaign called ‘Gum Charades’.

     

    Ogilvy & Mather handles the brand. The agency’s NCD Abhijit Avasthi said, “Center Fresh is a youth driven brand and is in the process of establishing itself in the digital sphere. Through Gum Charades, Center Fresh is revamping a popular game and adding a digital twist to it. We hope this game will be a hit among 15 to 24 year olds.”

     

    To translate the real experience of playing dumb charades to the digital medium a microsite has been created: www.centerfresh.in/gumcharades. To popularise the concept of Gum charades and drive traffic to the micro site, the brand has tied up with TV channels like 9XM, Channel V, M tunes and Zoom for content integration and will also be airing radio spots on popular radio stations in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Perfetti Van Melle India category head – gums Mandar Keskar, said, “Most digital initiatives today are adapted from television campaigns. With the growing relevance of digital as a medium especially amongst youth (our core TG), we realised that it’s important to customise brand content for this medium rather than adapt it. Gum Charades, is one such initiative in this direction. As far as the concept is concerned, it’s rare to find a popular game with a natural brand fit; we have been quite lucky in this aspect.”

     

    “We wanted an idea which was platform agnostic for Center fresh,” said Maxus Delhi general manager V Narayanan. “The concept of Gum Charades resonates seamlessly with the brand proposition, which consumers are willing to share across their social networks for its unique entertainment quotient.” The media agency is behind this idea.

    Apart from the microsite, the game can also be played on Facebook where an app has been created and on mobile platforms like Rocketalk and Vuclip.

  • “We believe in tickling the viewer’s funny bone” : Viacom18 Media Sr VP & GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia

    “We believe in tickling the viewer’s funny bone” : Viacom18 Media Sr VP & GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia

    Between starting out with Vh1 in early 2005 and taking over its reins in 2010, he has played a large part in finding a place for it in a Bollywood dominated entertainment space. Most of its older cousins could not withstand the sledgehammer like onslaught of Bollywood. MTV and Channel [V] began as international music offerings then transformed into Bollywood music clones and finally morphed into youth oriented channels. But Vh1 has stood tall, boldly delivering International music and content, targeting the upscale youth, under Viacom18 Media Sr vice-president & general manager English entertainment Ferzad Palia’s stewardship.

    Palia loves the medium and has taken on another challenge: that of making Indian TV viewers tune into and laugh to Comedy Central which offers international comedy of every kind, whether stand up or the slapstick. Indian TV viewers have been relatively indifferent to jokes as they have only entertained a single comedy channel – that also in Hindi, Sab and part of the Sony stable. The task for Palia therefore is double hard, first to introduce them to laughter and then to make them to love it and guffaw to it too. But he is quite up to the task as he discloses to Indiantelevision.com’s Sidharth Iyer in this tete a tete.

    Excerpts:

    Despite stiff competition from the likes of Star World and Zee Café, you seem to be enjoying quite a presence in the English GEC space. Please tell us how?

    When we thought of launching the channel, we looked at the English general entertainment space and found there were mainly three peers who’ve been around for the last 12-15 years: Star World, Zee Café and Sony AXN. So it was quite a daunting task to even want to make an entry.

    It was really important at that point in time to have a clearly differentiated product unlike the rest, coupled with the insight that comedy is one of the best performing genres in the category and the fact that India needs some serious laughter. So Comedy Central was apt to compete in the English GEC space – a product the consumer knew is a one-stop shop for laughs.

    We did the right thing by identifying the gap and making the most of the opportunity by serving a differentiated product; creating a genre within a genre.

    The launch was crucial with the kind of buzz we created even before coming in. People came to know we were debuting in India; word-of-mouth did the trick for us clearly. Our test signal was a huge talking point among bloggers, and got social media in a tizzy.

    There has been no looking back since. We don’t see ourselves as just another TV channel but as one of Viacom 18’s brands, which the company is heavily invested in.
    We believe in striking the right chord with our audiences; tickling their funny bone so to say. We’ve done things differently, even marketing. For example, we did menu cards which had NOW on top and NEVER at the bottom. That won us accolades, and we were able to break the clutter very quickly, getting us the right kind of audience that has stuck with us since.

    Down the road, we’ve benefited considerably in getting on board over 150 advertisers across the spectrum. We’ve won loads of awards in India, Asia and more recently, at ProMax World, which is where the cr?me de la cr?me of the television industry converges every year. We’ve managed to bag 13 awards there. So everything’s fallen in place, and we couldn’t have asked for more in the 15-18 months of our existence. We continue to experiment with our local programming but are yet to find that one thing that we would be proud to put on the channel to be honest.

    We’re aware English comedy is very difficult. So, we’re still in the process of getting that right.

    About our on-ground activities, we do believe in the power of engaging directly with our audiences. So whatever you’ve seen in terms of such activities is really just the tip of the iceberg and there’s a lot more in store. So wait and watch…

    Over the past year, we’ve completely rebooted our digital presence, addressing each of our brands with consumer properties we’ve been building both online and in the form of applications.

    Similarly, the consumer property for Comedy Central has been under development for more than six months now and should be ready for launch by early October. It’s going to be very interesting with various elements to it we would be unveiling.

    It would be a good mix of the current bouquet of shows on air and since we’re more genre-driven than show-driven, we would have different strategies for different mediums. We would also be launching a Comedy Central app soon and so, these are interesting times…

    Are there any new age marketing gimmicks you’ve deployed?

    With each show we try to promote, we attempt to go that extra mile.

    For instance, the way we shot an Indian promo for our show Anger Management even though we had a big name in Charlie Sheen…

    We use different strategies for different shows: for some, we go with regular above-the-line media whereas for others, we go the full hog on digital to have a fairly digital kind of promotion.

    Going back to Anger Management, there was a lot of above-the-line media used, and you will soon get to see some more innovations on the show in the coming weeks.
    You will get to see some more path-breaking marketing once we start airing the third season of Suits.

    We have a newly incorporated digital team, which is dedicated to engaging our audiences on social media as we are extremely focused as a network.

    Our presence on digital is only swelling with 1.6 million likes on Facebook and just over 19,500 followers on our Twitter handle. We are making the right noises and reaping rewards on social media. 

    In sum, it’s dynamic stuff like creating special ice cream in collaboration with Baskin Robbins or tying up with small donuts chains. We believe when you’re catering to a select audience, you’ve got to give that something extra where marketing is concerned.

    We’re very savvy and adapt to changing trends and going forward, we plan to have newer innovations, like combining TV and digital to create further traction among our fan base.

    Speaking of licensing and merchandising tie-ups, we’ve come out with a line of South Park tee-shirts that are available for purchase online and have been hurriedly flying off the shelves. We’re already on this route and many such tie-ups are on the cards.

    What is your content strategy for Comedy Central? Do you plan on encouraging co-viewing?

    Like any other English entertainment channel, there are different shows that cater to the needs of different sets of audiences. For instance, a show like Mash, a yesteryear classic, will most likely be watched by the father of the household, possibly along with his wife and kid whereas Suits will be viewed by the youngsters above 25 years of age. There’s a bit of synergistic viewing there as well but we don’t define a strategy like we want the entire family to watch. Reason being we would become extremely limited in what we put out so we have different kinds of content for different sets of audiences across the country at different times of the day.

    But yes, we would like to believe that there’s a lot of family viewing happening for quite a few of our shows though the person influencing the family to watch together may be different in each case.


    Given the environment we are in, everyone wants a laugh and de-stress, so the idea is to not inculcate comedy as a habit but to look at it as a state of mind or as an escape route for some people. So basically you can’t create a habit such as comedy…

    What kind of advertisers do you have on board? Do you see any emerging spenders in this space?

    For a fairly young channel, we have advertisers from all major sectors including manufacturers (handsets, chewing gum and paint), banks, FMCGs and so on.

    So there is no one category driving our ad sales. The good part is we’re getting great traction among advertisers. I mean right from day one of our launch, we had Volkswagen on board, which not many channels can boast of on the first day.

    While we’re blessed with a varied set of advertisers from day one, we would still love to have many more spenders on board as it’s a tough market to operate in. Thankfully, things are looking up for us and being a differentiated product is an added bonus as people value us for it. We’re pleased to see the same treatment being meted out to VH1 which is again the only English music and entertainment channel in the country.

    How are you faring in terms of numbers?

    For English language channels, we feel the sample size is not adequate, so we don’t talk numbers. To check the affinity of the brand and to get an unbiased view on how the channel is faring – the buzz on social media should be taken into consideration, where everyone has a voice and everyone has an opinion. And you can see the results live in front of your eyes; you don’t have to wait for a period of one week or four weeks.

    We Indians don’t really know how to laugh. What are you doing to inculcate comedy as a habit with the Indian TV viewer? 

    Given the environment we are in, everyone wants a laugh and de-stress, so the idea is to not inculcate comedy as a habit but to look at it as a state of mind or as an escape route for some people. So basically you can’t create a habit such as comedy… We just expose them to things and they prefer to take a liking to it by creating a 24 hour platform to experience the best comedy from across the world.

    What are the offline activities that CC is currently carrying out? And what can we expect in the coming few months from CC?

    We are piloting a few things but it’s too early to talk about them but we won’t put out anything that isn’t the best quality as it will be residing in the same house as some of the best content in the world. So quality is the key and also the attempt is to create an ecosystem for indigenous English comedy which would be over the long term.

    We are also doing on-ground activities like Comedy Central Chuckle Fest – where we flew down some of the world’s best stand-up comedians. So we will engage with people and make them laugh at multiple touch points. And wait there’s more rather than just making them laugh we would like to put a smile on their faces.

    The new shows that are scheduled to air are Suits season 3 starting 7 October and we would be airing that as its going through a mid season break and telecast the first 10 episodes from October to December and the rest of the episodes running into January. We took this call as there is huge demand for it and people don’t want to wait for the season to end and 10 is a sizable number to play out at one go. And then we have Anger Management season 2 starring Charlie Sheen also airing in October. So the year will surely end well for us…

    What are your thoughts on the 10+2 ad cap? Does it encourage you to create more engaging content? Has digitisation helped?

    There are a few ways to look at this. One way being the likely impact of the 12 minute ruling on each individual business, but at the core of it is the fact that better channels will win. It’s that simple.

    And that is where I believe our strategy of being a differentiated player will pay off, while we are competing in the English entertainment space, we don’t see this having a great impact.

    In fact, we see it as a boon for our set of brands, because at the end of the day, we have invested in our brands for a reason and the time to reap the benefits of that will come in situations such as 10+2.

    From the consumer perspective, it’s a great thing, because they will be able to watch more content and less commercials. The good part is that we have always been cautious about this and maintained reasonable advertising stickiness in the one and a half years.

    Time will tell how it pans out for broadcasters, as some will benefit and some will be adversely affected. And I think it is also a great thing for the advertisers as their communication will get consumed in an uncluttered environment.
    So I think it’s a win-win situation for all.

    It’s been a good year for the broadcasting industry at large with digitisation coming into effect. As the consumer can experience a better quality of viewing and is not necessarily paying more, it may increase in the years to come, but currently, he/she is not paying more and getting a far better quality of service.

    The broadcaster too is benefitting financially if it wants to know its reach in terms of the households unlike in the analog era. You also have the option of watching only your favourite channels and getting them as a bunch together. Be it English entertainment, Hindi entertainment or News, unlike the analogue era where the more you paid, the higher frequency you were put onto.