Tag: GEC

Asianet launches Kannada news channel ‘Suvarna News’

BANGALORE: Asianet Communications Ltd (ACL) today launched Suvarna News, a 24-hour Kannada news channel.

ACL is planning to launch its Telugu general entertainment channel (GEC) Sitara Television in April while the Marathi and Tamil GECs will be up within six months, says Suvarna COO K Sanjay Prabhu.

With the launch of Suvarna News, Asianet Television Network (ATN) will have five operational channels – three Malayalam and two Kannada. Asianet also has two radio channels that were launched a couple of months ago.

Suvarna News is the third Kannada news channel to be launched in the state, the other two being the Sun group’s Udaya Verthegalu and TV9 Karnataka. “In Karnataka, people just love to watch the news – be it local, national or international,” says Prabhu.

ACL expects to garner ad revenues of Rs 300 million each from Suvarna’s GEC and the news channel in the next fiscal. Pundits predict the size of the Kannada television ad market to reach Rs 2 billion in FY’09. Hence, the Suvarna bouquet has ambitious plans of garnering 30 per cent of the market.

Prabhu revealed that around Rs 1.1 billion have been invested in the two Kannada channels so far. He is confident that the Suvrana GEC operations will turn profitable in the next fiscal, and those of Suvarna News a year after.

Among the major advertisers already on board on Suvarna News are HUL and the Confident group. The latter is the title sponsor of Suvarna GEC’s popular five-day-a-week talent hunt show Confident Star Singer. “We have a package deal with the Confident group,” said Prabhu, who admits that there could be a number of cross deals of a similar nature with other advertisers.

ATN is having talks with P&G, reveal company sources.

Following the launch of the news channel, the news portion on the GEC has undergone changes. Earlier, Suvarana used to broadcast four news bulletins and five minutes of news shorts every hour. This has been brought down to just two news bulletins per day.

Suvarna News will focus in the 15-45 age group in Karnataka. The channel has nine full-fledged bureaus with studios in the state and another bureau in Delhi. It also has 30 stringers for news and content gathering.

The channel has four DSNG (Digital Satellite News Gathering) and three MB vans. News will also be obtained through ANI and Reuters. “A policy decision has to be taken as yet whether we will go in for syndication with other news channels in other states, or whether we should have our setup,” says Suvarana News editor Shiddarth Bhatt who worked with the Indian Express group on its political desk for 17 years before joining the GEC Suvarana as its news editor about a year ago.

“Some news channels depend on airing crime, sleaze and cinema to get the eyeballs. Our focus will be on politics and corruption. It will be investigative journalism that will help unearth scams and other political wrongdoings,” informs Bhatt.

March 28, 2008

‘We see GEC as a long-term game. We are playing a Test match and not a T20’ : Indrani Mukerjea – INX Media Pvt Ltd founder-CEO

From starting as a human resource (HR) consulting firm in 1996 to entering the fast-growing broadcasting space, INX Media has travelled a long way.

INX’s music channel 9XM has notched the top position in its genre while the general entertainment channel (GEC) 9X is making slow but steady strides.

Next in the roll-out pipeline is NewsX. Despite controversies dogging the news channel venture with the exit of Vir Sanghvi and his senior editorial team, plans are being put in place to launch the channel in March. Regional channels are also part of INX’s growth agenda.

In an interview with Indiantelevision.com , Mukerjea talks about her company’s growth plans.

Excerpts:

INX was a recruitment search consultancy company that you ran successfully for years. What pulled you to the broadcasting space?
Despite being a human resource consulting firm, INX has been very inclined towards media placements. In the last 10 years, a majority of our placements have been in this sector. Besides, Peter (Mukerjea – husband, chief strategy officer INX Media and former Star India CEO) has 14 years of experience in the television industry.

But isn’t the mainstream broadcasting space too cluttered?
More and more channels are launching and doing fairly well. There is clearly a new emerging audience. You have seen how our music channel 9XM has grown ever since its launch. What is happening is that the gap between the number one and number two channels is decreasing. We are even seeing it in the GEC (general entertainment channel) space. The viewer base is also expanding; more and more TV sets are being bought. Moreover, viewership is getting fragmented; different viewers are liking different genres of entertainment.

Though 9XM has shown rapid growth in the ratings game, it is a channel that runs songs without breaks. What does the revenue front look like?
I think viewers like to watch full songs. That is why we are getting good ratings. When it comes to revenue, there are Coca-Cola and Vodafone who have joined 9XM as platinum partners. Also, though we have not put in so much of commercials, we still follow the pattern of 12-minute break. We use this duration to show our channel promos. As more ads come in, the same space will be used.

Isn’t the growth of 9X, your flagship Hindi general entertainment channel, on the slower side?
If you notice, we started with only two hours of prime-time programming and have added another half an hour in the last fortnight. Only by the end of June, we will be completing our four hours of prime-time programming. And that is the strategic decision we took very consciously.

We see GEC as a long-term game. We are playing a Test match and not a T20. We want to build this block by block. The critical part is to stay there. It is very important to sustain. So, we have a five-year plan in the horizon to which we are sticking, and this is what I believe is going to make us sustain.

So you are thinking of breaking even after five years?
No no, breakeven will be before that. We are talking about long-term plans with short-term goals. And we are executing all our plans; you’ll see it in the coming three months.

‘We’re well funded. So it’s easy for us to make long-term plans‘

But there are other channels like NDTV Imagine that have shown faster growth in a short term?
We have been funded very well, and that’s why it is very easy for us to plan ahead. When you are backed by strong financers, you can make long-term plans. We don’t have to run and do full-time programming.

Your programme ‘Mission Ustaad’ failed commercially?
We did Mission Ustaad as part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR). We were very clear from day one. The priority was also to establish the brand first. Now people know that there is a brand called 9X. You go to any part of the country, and people know about 9X.

Aren’t you pumping in a huge amount of money for distribution and promotion?
Absolutely! For us, 9X is an institution and not just a channel. It’s very important to establish a brand, and once that is done, it becomes important to keep the hammer ready. This is what happens when any new channel comes into play: first, it establishes the brand; then it waits for the right moment to strike “big”.

Also, whoever goes up quickly has a tendency to go down as well. So we are patient. Our investors are long-term players. It’s not that if we pull out a programme, things will crash. We have not launched a channel based on one programme.

And now, as we’ve established ourselves, I think we need at least another five months to bring in full programming. Strategically, it’s like a baby in my mind: a baby takes shape in nine months and we feed it when it’s born.

On the ratings front, only one show has TRP of over one. Besides, isn’t it true that the channel’s GRPs are mainly being driven by movies?
No, the report which we’ve got from Tam shows that 32 per cent of our GRPs are from movies while 54 per cent are from serials and 14 per cent from other shows. At the end of the day, when you are planning a channel, you have to think about overall GRPs, and we have taken a conscious decision not to bombard viewers. Now we have Chak De Bacche, Yeh Hai Jalwa and other programmes lined up. We are also having some serials which we will announce in due course.

As a syndication deal, have you paid Sony Rs 400 million for 60 movies?
That’s absolutely wrong information. The actual amount is not even half of it.

What do you think about syndication of movies as a business model?
It is a very good decision because at the end of the day the viewer is entertained and we, as a result, stand to gain. For example, with Jab We Met, we got fabulous advertisers, ratings. If I am calling it a family channel, I will have to provide content for the entire family.

Mythologies seem to be coming back on Indian television. Is Ekta Kapoor doing Mahabharata for you?
No, Ekta is not doing Mahabharata for us. I have also heard it, but Ekta and I have not spoken about making Mahabharata.

But what do you have to say about the invasion of mythos?
Mythological content has always been a part of Indian television. Be it Sai Baba, Sri Ganesh, Jai Maa Durga, Jai Hanuman – they have always been there. But it’s important for a channel not to overuse such content. You have to have a combination of movies, serials, soaps, fantasy, reality, etc. A good mix is essential.

When are you launching NewsX?
Our test signals are already on, and we have roped in Karan Thapar’s firm Infotainment Television (ITV) as editorial advisor to the channel while Arup Ghosh is our newsroom head. We will hopefully launch the news channel sometime in March; I can’t specify the date, but it will be in March.

What content will the channel focus on?
It will be analytical, in-depth news.

How will it be different?
You have to watch it to notice the difference. Our main studio is in Delhi; our Mumbai studio is under construction and is almost done.

Are we going to see more channel launches from INX Media in 2008?
The first priority is to complete the schedule and get NewsX up and running. We will also be launching regional channels.

March 2, 2008

‘Working on an umbrella brand strategy is a good way to build a presence in the entertainment space’

You will start your television business with film channels. With more movie channels coming in what affect will this have on rights prices?
We are working on our plans. We are building our teams. We will launch two channels next year. What the genres are I cannot comment on. You however have to run channels across all genres to be taken seriously in the broadcasting space.

In terms of more film channels coming in the price of content will rise. We are also seeing the evolution of different business models where content is not sold outright. It is syndicated to multiple players. I believe that movie channels will have to differentiate themselves and become genre specific. New models of presentation will have to emerge. The challenge for the players is that to achieve this, a library is needed.

Do you see a shakeout in the Hindi GEC space?
Three years back when there were 100 channels people said the same thing. Today there are 300 channels. Tomorrow there will be 1000 channels. We are moving to a situation where you will have thousands of channels when IPTV, DTH come into their own. When we move to a digital world niche channels become more viable. The long tail becomes viable. Today it is difficult to have more than 30 channels in an analogue model.

The other area is your TV content production business. How is activity at Synergy Communications being scaled up?
As the TV space explodes the demand for quality content is growing,. Synergy will be one of the beneficiaries of this change. They face choices in terms of how they grow the business. We have an arms length relationship with them. It is not a captive production house.

‘We are moving to a situation where you will have thousands of channels when IPTV, DTH come into their own’

_____****_____

In terms of the push towards complete digitisation the belief is that when companies like Reliance, Bharti enter DTH it will be the next inflection point for DTH growth as well as for the cable industry to push for complete digitisation. Your views?
I hope that this happens. DTH is a huge opportunity as there is a need for addressability. Corporatisation will help improve the quality of service. While the penetration of existing players might not be great the industry is poised for a rapid change. You have to provide a differentiated service level to the consumer. You also have to provide services in the smaller towns which are neglected. Content offerings need to be differentiated which is not happening. There is scope to create exclusive, niche channels and service like e-commerce. We will push quality of service.

At this point in time shoddy service is being provided in most parts of the country. The DTH industry has grown but if you expect it to touch 10 million in a day that will not happen. There are issues to be dealt with. But the consumer wants a change. We will differentiate as far as the last mile is concerned.

What are the key changes that you expect to see happen in terms of how films are being made and consumed? Is the solo, independent producer a thing of the past?
India makes 1,000 movies a year. The studio model has emerged but there will be scope for the solo producers to also work. In the US film corporates have helped grown the independent studios. The value of the content is being discovered now. But quality consciousness is important. If you are a small player niches need to be created. The issue is to find talent. This will be the biggest challenge in 2008. Talent needs to be broad based.

On the social networking front how did the concept of Bigadda come about? What is its USP vis-a-vis sites like Orkut and Facebook?
I believe that social networking platforms are for real. A new set of technologies have merged to connect people. It is becoming the centre of their social graph. We are in the very early stages of this phenomenon. It will take off with the evolution of broadband. When we talk of social networking sites there are two aspects. One is social networks while the other is social media. Social networking sites focus on connectivity and communication. Social media sites look at user generated, user rated content.

The user becomes a creator or a filter or a participant of content. Bigadda looks at both aspects. We believe that there is a huge space for an Indian platform. We launched it three months back and are satisfied with the response. We already have a million users. We get a million page views a day. We add 12-15,000 users a day. In 2008 competition will emerge but we are confident of the innovations that we will be doing. Social networking will also depend on what is done in the mobile space.

As per research, what extent is gaming competing with film and television for the Indian youth’s time?
Zapak is not competing with traditional forms of entertainment. It is creating a new form of entertainment. Like any iconic brand, it is creating its own language, vocabulary and loyal set of consumers. Zapak has four million registered users. On Comscore it is the number one gaming site. Next year we will bring in MMOGs. We believe that India is ready and as broadband takes off value creation will happen. It is not that Indians are watching less films. It is just that Zapak is creating its own set of loyal consumers.

When you talk about entertainment you can’t get away from cricket which is why Reliance is bidding for an IPL team. How useful do you see this as a brand building excercise?
I cannot comment on IPL.

December 30, 2007

‘We want to become the GEC for young India’ : Zarina Metha – Bindass CEO

She waits with baited breath, jittery to unlock her next treasure. Bindass CEO Zarina Mehta is bubbling with energy as she talks about her second baby Bindass. This time round, Mehta is casting her magic wand over the Indian youth segment, but with a mammoth approach as she navigates across multiple media platforms to capture her target audience. Some question whether she will rewrite the Hungama TV story and the impact it had on the Indian kid’s space. However, in this case she looking to unveil a quartette of four Bindass television channels by April 2008.

With the backing of Malaysia based media company Astro, she seems geared up to take on competition with other broadcasters also foraying into the youth general entertainment segment. As this television space is heating up, Mehta is leaving no stone unturned to capture what she calls the “sweet spot.” In an exclusive t?te-?-t?te with Indiantelevision.com’s Renelle Snelleksz, Zarina Mehta exudes the excitement and the anxiety before she breathes life into her next creation.

Excerpts:

Why have you decided to change your TG positioning by extending the demographic beyond the 15-24 year olds even before launching Bindass?
When we initally conceived the channnel, we were looking at the 15 – 24 year olds, but further research urged us to redefine our target audience as 15-34 year olds. The median age for India has dropped by two years to 24 years since the 2001 census.

But how do you manage to make one brand appeal to this wide audience? It is all about targeting what we call our “sweet spot” or the 17 -21 year olds. We realized that if we target our sweet spot, then we will automatically attract the larger segment of 15 – 34. This is because the 15 year olds long to belong, while the 34 year olds just do not want to grow up. This ‘down aging’ phenomena is a sensational find because if I get my 17 – 21 year olds correct (which I pray I do, she laughs), then I will capture this larger segment as well.

What opportunities does this segment offer?
Between the 15 – 34 age group we have got 379 million Indians (All India) and in the C&S homes 95 million Indians. But who is currently engaging this audience? Star One did it in its old avatar, Sab is making a good attempt, there are also one off shows from GECs and some niche channels. But there is definitely a gap.

The 15 -34 year olds comprise 42 per cent of all TV viewing. This is a fantastic opportunity for us. The viewership patterns from 2005 till now are also changing, which shows the decline of the GECs as viewers are moving away from their traditional consumption and trying new things. There is thus a gap in the general entertainment space on television and we want to cater to this segment. We want to become the GEC for young India.

The concept behind Bindass has largely been supported by research. Are there any significant findings that have helped give shape to your upcoming channel?
We did three and a half months of solid research, we have a proprietary name test which we had done for Hungama TV, Ceria and for Bindass. Secondly, we did an ethnographic qualitative study, followed by a quantitative study based on attitudes conducted by Synovate across six Indian cities and 2500 samples. Our research is invaluable and the key finding stated that our sweet spot (core TG 17- 21 year olds) have a ‘duality’ but are very comfortable with having a traditional heart with a cool exterior. This forms the core brand value of Bindass.

The ‘Bindass’ name is imbued with certain brand properties that resonate with factors like chilled out, edgy, sexy and young. But as the creators of brand Bindass these values were not sufficient to create a 360 degree long term brand. So we added values that will further energize the brand and came up with the following propositions. If you are not “yo dude” and you are not “saas bahu” then you are Bindass. We are the reality of young India that consists of the four F’s – Fun, Frank, Fearless and Freedom.

Our logo has been designed by BDA and is exactly what we represent, completely Indian with a cool exterior, that is what we believe will work.

On the programming front, what’s your strategy?
The channel will have no music, no soaps, no gadget shows, no lifestyle shows and no VJ’s. So what are we left with? It is going to have a lot of comedy. We will have action thrillers, Hollywood blockbusters and the best of local and International shows, accompanied by late night horror, International movies and extreme sports.

Our daily driver primetime shows include a stand up comedy Lagegi that is shot 24 to 48 hours prior to telecast from Monday to Thursday. We will have seven BIA’s – Bindass Intellegent Agents from the top cities giving us reports on what is happening across India. Then there is Shakira, a dark angel fighting for justice, every man’s fantasy, while another daily comedy is Sun Yaar Chill Maar. We also have a street magician show by Ugesh Sarcar.

Our programming is tailored to fit our research findings which show that the 15 -24 age group watches two and half hours of TV a week and movie channels are consumed for six hours a week by this TG.

In the highly cluttered TV environment, have you identified what your primetime is going to be?
Our primetime is definitely going to be the normal primetime 7.30 – 11.30 pm. But what is interesting is that this audience will be consuming TV across the day, so we will be discovering new primetimes. There will probably be the regular primetime and two other primetimes, which we have also identified and we are pushing your programmes at that time as well. This will be a learning curve for us.

But won’t this interfere with GEC primetime, especially in the reality of a single TV household?
Yes, we will, thus, be discovering our own primetime. Is our TG going to be able to snatch the remote or not? We believe that within this primetime they will snatch the remote. But basically there are two time slots within primetime that we are gunning for. Apart from that, we do believe there will emerge other primetimes which will be a morning and afternoon one. We are looking to garner ratings right through the day.

‘We will be discovering our own primetime, but there are two slots within 7.30 – 11.30 pm that we are gunning for‘

You are also looking to have a strong movie line up on Bindass?
We have top of the line Hollywood blockbusters that we will dub, along with Japanese and Chinese films as well. It is important that the movie is ‘bindass.’ Even if I know a movie will rate well but if it does not qualify as a bindass film, then I won’t put it on the channel.

We are not going to have Hindi movies on our channel, for the same reason that we are not having music, because it is ‘undifferentiated viewing.’ The way Hindi movies are bought in bulk, you are not allowed to pick and choose, thus you cannot build your brand, but in case of international films you can do this.

Will this mean that you will not have any films from the UTV stable?
We may have them eventually, but only if it’s a Bindass movie. It also depends on whether we can afford it. At the moment, I am only looking at international movies from Asia and the West.

What is your movie strategy for the channel?
Primetime movies will be for the weekends, but we will also showcase two movies a day largely off primetime.

What about animated content on the channel?
I personally love animation but unfortunately in India animation is perceived as being for kids. I can’t afford to have that on Bindass when we launch. Maybe after the brand has settled and people have realized that it’s a 15+ brand, then I can put it on. But this will definitely not happen in the first year.

Are all the Bindass shows produced in-house?
Two have been produced in house i.e. Shakira and Sun Yaar Chill Maar but Lagegi has been done by the production house Encompass. However, all the concept ideas have come from us.

How many locally produced shows will be on the channel?
At the moment we have three shows. But we will have six original hours of content per day which includes a mix of locally produced shows, dubbed acquired content and movies.

Will the mix be largely skewed towards local content? What is the proportion of local versus acquired content?
We will just have to wait and watch although I believe local content is very vital. Our primetime will be completely local. But we have also learnt from our experience with the kid’s channel Hungama TV that acquired content can also do very well.

Local programming will consist of 45 per cent and acquired 55 per cent. But we have to first see what works and then decide eventually.

What are the plans to introduce other Bindass channels in India?
By April 2008 we will have four channels which will be variations of Bindass. We are currently exploring what those will be and are even exploring whether it will be a regional channel or maybe even another genre within this youth audience space. We have, however, decided to launch a movie channel called Bindass Movies by early October. We have acquired a huge library consisting of about 150 movies to start with.

‘By April 2008 we will have 4 channels which will be variations of Bindass‘

Will this new channel also have only international movies dubbed in Hindi or are you also looking to infuse some Bollywood content?
Not when we launch, but eventually we may consider infusing some Hindi movies into the channel. What was an eye opener for us was that our analysis of over a year’s ratings indicated that a dubbed Hollywood movie gets three times the ratings of the non-dubbed version of the same movie, while a Bollywood film gets only double of that. So as a cost benefit analysis, this is the way to go.

Will this also be a pay channel like Bindass?
Yes, I only believe in the pay channel model. All our channels will be pay from day one.

What will Bindass across the mobile and online platform be like?
For our mobile platform we have tied up with all the telecom operators in India and our own short code is 5995 to showcase both Bindass and acquired content. There are two kinds of content we are working on. One is popular content which accounts for 95 per cent of revenues. The other five per cent is high-end content which people rarely use but is the future. Popular content consists of wallpapers, ring tones, gaming and contests. We are going to prepare ourselves for what we believe is going to come on mobile, the high technology stuff which includes mobisodes, television clippings, online chat and blogs for which we are talking to people.

All this is an opportunity to get the content of my brand across all touch points. We don’t see it as competition to TV, we see online and mobile as fantastic opportunities to communicate with our audience. So by taking our content across platforms we will kick off with Lagegi.com an online comedy portal having Lagegi content and other content including user generated content and clips not aired on the show. We will also have Bindass.com which will showcase the brand and the shows.

Are the retail and merchandising plans for Bindass already underway?
I am going to start focusing on our retail ventures post the launch of the channel. I have given myself 12 months before I launch two cafés in Mumbai and Delhi. These will be brand extensions of Bindass to create a touch and feel of our brand. We are still in the process of conducting research to arrive at the right representations of the brand. But we have zeroed in on gaming consoles, web zones and merchandising counters that will be a part of the ambience along with some other big ideas. These café’s will be unique to an entertainment brand.

With the first two café’s, I would like to see how these concepts click with our TG and then we will roll out completely. I don’t want to push it.

Are you considering roping in a partner for this initiative? The investments for this are outside the Rs two billion that was declared earlier. So what are the investments for this?
No, not at the moment I am not considering a partner. Maybe I will kick off on my own and get a partner later.

Yes, the investments are outside the JV and are very high. The investments from the JV alone are Rs 2.7 billion which will be largely dedicated to the four channels.

What is the marketing push that you have planned to get Bindass off the ground?
For the media plan, we will start with a big push for Lagegi on TV and with the website in August. This will be followed by Space Yatra which is a contest that will kick off in September giving seven Bindass people across the country the opportunity to go into space.

With several players now eyeing the youth demographic, how do you see the television space shaping up this year?
We love competition, without competition we are dead. I am so happy that many people have announced their plans to enter this space. You don’t want to be alone, you want competition to grow the space, to come up with better ideas, you keep going one up and the space grows. I know this sector is going to hot up, in fact it already has. In the Rs 65 billion market there is Rs 18 billion targeting our “sweet spot” – the college going kids. The opportunity is huge as 72 per cent of India is below the age of 34 years.

What about your plans to take a prototype of the channel overseas (Southeast Asia) like you did with Hungama TV in Malaysia?
Absolutely, but first it is important to make the mother brand successful at home and then duplicate it. We are looking to extend the brand not only to Southeast Asia but also to take it to the Middle East and East Asia by late 2008 or early 2009.

July 22, 2007

Zee launches Marathi news channel

NEW DELHI: Zee News Ltd. has launched its Marathi news channel Zee 24 Taas as part of a “region-specific strategy.” This is the country’s first 24-hour news channel in Marathi.

Says Zee News Ltd managing director Laxmi Narain Goel, “The news businesses of Zee group have had a history of ‘firsts’. Zee News is the first 24-hour Hindi news channel, Zee Business is the first 24 hour Hindi business channel, and now Zee 24 Taas continues the tradition by becoming the first 24 hour Marathi news channel.”

Adds Zee News chief executive officer Harish Doraiswamy, “The launch followed careful thinking and a whole slew of researches in the market. Obviously, our understanding of Marathi viewer preferences through our experience of Zee Marathi helped us a great deal. I am sure the channel’s content and its presentation will appeal to the discerning Marathi audience.”

Zee Network chairman Subhash Chandra had announced the launch of Zee’s Marathi news channel at the Zee Gaurav Awards on 5 February. The channel is already a strong player in the GEC with Zee Marathi.

Zee News Ltd. is building a cluster of news, current affairs and regional channels. The company’s offerings include Zee News, Zee Business, Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Punjabi, Zee Gujarati, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada, 24 Ghanta and now, Zee 24 Taas. It also provides news and entertainment content to Zee in USA, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific, the company said in a statement.

February 10, 2007

Kids TV channels expect rapid expansion in 2007

MUMBAI: Building on the momentum provided in 2006, the kids genre is expected to scoot at an even faster clip this year.

Backed with experience in the market, these kids entertainers are speaking a ‘lingo’ that is reaching out to Indian kids. The world of opportunity that this genre has opened its doors to in the last two years, seems to have laid the foundation for a level playing ground. The kids channels market is estimated to be in the region of Rs 1.2 – 1.3 billion and is poised to see 20 – 25 per cent growth year on year.

An analysis of Tam’s six month kid’s score card (TG: CS 4-14 Years, Market: All India) provided exclusively to Indiantelevision.com, highlights key developments that the space has experienced. With the entire kid’s landscape changing, the consolidation of Disney with Hungama TV altered the dynamics, so much that the Turner duo (Cartoon Network and Pogo) were hit hard in the months of October and November 2006, clocking a combined market share of 39 per cent as opposed to Disney’s 52 per cent (Disney Channel 15 per cent, Toon Disney 16 per cent & Hungama TV 21 per cent).

GENRE / CHANNEL	15JULY-15 AUG	15 AUG-15 SEP	15 SEP – 15 OCT	15OCT-15NOV	15NOV-15DEC	15DEC-30DEC	01JAN – 13JAN 07
TG: CS 4-14 Yrs Mkt: All India
Cartoon Network	25	24	24	23	24	26	28
Disney Channel	11	10	10	15	15	14	14
Toon Disney	18	18	20	16	14	15	13
HungamaTV	17	18	18	21	19	17	15
Nickelodeon	5	7	7	9	10	9	7
Pogo	23	22	20	16	17	19	23

TAM peoplemeter system: Month on Month Genre – wise Relative Channel Shares (%)

Although the ratings from July onwards point to a close battle between the two major players, it seems Hungama TV did the trick that fuelled such a massive jump. Speaking to this website, Hungama TV VP programming and production Aparna Bhosle explains that the upward inclination in ratings was actually kicked off with the seven month Oral B John Aur Kaun on-ground activity. “This was a sure reach builder for us and coupled with word of mouth it managed to get many kid’s to come onto the channel and even sample our other shows.”

Walt Disney Television International (India) executive director production and programming Nachiket Pantvaidya points to a significant finding which sees older children being drawn away from GEC’s, sports etc. and back to kids channels, a challenge that all these broadcasters are working in collaboration towards. “The period that followed from June and July saw a rapid shift in axis towards a transformation of kids viewing habits. Primarily, two factors brought about this change, mainly older children moving to live action programming and secondly, the growing attraction among the 4-9 year age group towards anime.”

Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. VP – advertising sales and networks, India & South Asia Monica Tata attributes the ratings dip in the months of October – November saying, “it is a known fact that the viewing intensity for kids channels peaks in summers and dips during other months.”

But come January 2007 and Tam’s data unlocks revelations that have left all broadcasters (not just kid’s broadcasters) baffled! The expansion of Tam’s peoplemeters, coupled with Cas implementation and DTH seems to have thunder struck the newer players in the kid’s market and elevated Turner to the leadership position. As Tata aptly states, “The combined channel shares of Cartoon Network and Pogo in 2007 equal, if not exceed, the combined channel shares of all the other five kids channels put together.”

While others may counter the argument by saying that with over ten years lead time Cartoon Network has obviously penetrated deeper into the Indian hinterland. But then what accounts for Pogo’s re-entry into the 2007 game, when it is also as old as its other counterparts?

But the dark horse in the game, which is steadily galloping its way upwards, is Nick, Viacom’s till recently “orphaned” child (at least in India). Nick India VP and GM Nina Jaipuria says, “The challenge for 2007 is to consolidate and drive reach for the channel in India.” The data points to an alarming jump, where the channel has doubled its market share from 5 per cent in July-August to 10 per cent November-December 2006. Coinicidently, NDTV Media was roped in during the same period and has not wasted any time in ramping up activity for Nick.

What’s strange is that for a player that touched Indian soil in 2000 and has been a forerunner in the International space for over two decades, it is only recently eyeing the advantages that the kid’s market in India has to offer. Nevertheless, it’s not too late and the channel boasts of being the stickiest channel in the latter half of 2006.

The changing media scenario shaping the consumption patterns of viewers has got media owners biting their nails in anticipation for the next roll out of Tam figures. What seems to indicate a far more accurate measure of channel reach – except for the Turner pair, the others say that they will not totally consider the recent three week Tam findings as it will require a period of about three months to completely settle down and stabilize.

Come what may the kid’s market is looking promising and according to Pantvaidya the market has grown from 10 to 25 per cent in two years and estimates that 2006-2009 will prove to be the years of expansion in the kid’s space and of course growth in the ad pie. Disney is of course clear on its ‘localization’ strategy that lends itself to animation, live action and on-ground events as being the way forward.

With a specific agenda on the cards for each channel, will 2007 witness a bunch of kid’s quarreling in the sand? Bhosle thinks otherwise, “It’s rather myopic for players to compete within this small space; the huge fight will be to continue getting kids from other channels onto the kid’s channels.”

“We believe that healthy competition will help the genre grow and channels will deliver quality entertainment to their audience. It’s the kind of content that makes all the difference and develops loyalty to a channel. A lot more original content in terms of movies and series is planned for the year. We will also provide a platform for content that other people make, through acquisitions. Besides quality programming, we will also try to build up on the events of 2006,” avers Tata.

The playing field is ready, it is now left to see whether the kid’s market in India will mature to the extent that more than just two players are in the game, but rather multiple teams each delivering their expertise to keep kids glued!

February 7, 2007

RATINGS: Narrowing divide in the English news space

MUMBAI: If the last six months’ TAM ratings in the English news space could tell a story this is what they would reveal:

What started as a one horse market with NDTV 24×7 garnering the lion’s share of the pie saw two new entrants with CNN IBN and Times Now. Headlines Today, the English news channel from the TV Today Network continued to be in the shadows of Aaj Tak.

But has the market dynamics changed with Cas in place? Certainly a better picture so far as the niche channels are concerned has appeared post Cas. NDTV 24×7, CNN IBN and Headlines Today have gone pay while Times Now has chosen to stay free-to-air (FTA) at least for the time being.

CNN IBN, which started on a high note and even managed to equal market share with NDTV 24×7 (See table 15 Nov- 15 Dec) has stabilized at the end of one year and occupies the third position with a 20 per cent relative channel share (TG:CS AB 15+ years- 1 January to 13 January/ Market :HSM ). CNN IBN director marketing Dilip Venkatraman would only say that as far as CNN IBN was concerned, despite the numbers, he was confident that the “content quotient” of their channel was bound to bring in viewership. Also the “stickiness of viewership with the channel” is higher, he asserts.

GENRE / CHANNEL	15 JULY – 15 AUG	15 AUG – 15 SEP	15 SEP – 15 OCT	15OCT-15NOV	15NOV-15DEC	15DEC-30DEC	01JAN – 13JAN 07
ENG NEWS – TG: CS AB 15 Years + Market: HSM
BBC World	0	0	0	0	0	9	5
CNN	8	0	0	0	0	0	5
CNN IBN	23	30	30	27	33	18	20
Headlines Today	15	10	10	9	11	9	15
NDTV 24×7	38	40	40	36	33	36	30
Times Now	15	20	20	27	22	27	25

(Courtesy: TAM Peoplemeter System)

Mindshare managing director Gautaman Raghotama believes that the increase in news channel shares is not so much a reflection of eating into each other’s share but eating into the channel shares of GEC. Mindshare is also the media agency for CNN IBN.

Says Raghotama, “There is a definite movement of viewership from general entertainment channels to niche channels and especially news channels. The news genre is increasingly becoming a space for ‘infotainemt’. Look at how the Shilpa Shetty controversy was played out across news channels. It was as good as watching Celebrity Big Brother on a news channel.”

“Another problem with the English news space is that at present there are no clear differentiatiors. So while the audience is slowly building a loyalty to certain news channels, the tendency is also to watch news on one channel and then breeze through the others for a different point of view.”

“With Times Now and Headlines Today there is a connectivity concern.”

Despite that concern, it is these two channels that one must watch out for in 2007. Times Now weathered a stormy year, to stabilize at the number two spot with a channel share of 25 per cent (See Table 01 January-13 January 2007). The channel achieved better clarity on its personality as a general news channel by slimming down the business band segment and focusing on what it called the ‘Big Story’ in the day, mentioned Times Now CEO Sunil Lulla in an interview to Indiantelevision earlier in the week. Times Now also led the pack in the TAM Elite Panel ratings.

It is the minnow of the pack Headlines Today, however, that has switched gears into the fast mode with some good programming. TV Today CEO G Krishnan says, “Unlike General Entertainment Channels that get viewership spikes on tent pole programming – News Channels get a spike during big stories. Headlines Today has been able to effectively look at innovative wrap around content around big stories whether it is cricket, the Shilpa Shetty controversy or Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding to engage the viewers. In addition, shows like Entertainment Quarter, Sports Quarter are doing well for us. This week the time spent and the reach of the channel has increased by 50 per cent. We are definitely on the growth path and it’s heartening to note that more viewers are consuming our content for a longer duration.”

Assuming that there is a potential clutter in this space would it be easier for network channels to woo the advertiser? Says Krishnan, “Headlines Today as a product caters to the metro-urbanite. Thus an advertiser is able to reach out to the younger metro audiences. From a sales strategy – we are able to optimize revenues by looking at a network approach. Now with the increase in viewership – we are also working on a stand alone strategy to maximize on the revenue opportunity.”

What is noteworthy is that the market share for these channels is now more evenly divided. But does a 4-player market spell a cannibalization of the market share?

“I don’t think there is a clutter in the news space with four channels in the fray. But is there space for a fifth channel? I would assume not. I don’t know if they will be able to garner channel share but what is certain is that the existing players will definitely find it tough,” says Gautaman.

Madison Media Group CEO Punita Arumugam looks at the scenario optimistically as far as the ad pie is concerned?

“Yes, the ER and growth rate will get affected but the genre itself will grow. Take a look at what’s happened in the kid’s channels market or the Hindi movies market. The market also grew as the players increased.”

It’s anybody’s story so far as English news goes and each one of them must be looking at increasing channel share. But isn’t the English news channel market a niche within a niche segment.

Counters Arumugam, “As far as the viewers are concerned what would happen is that as more and more choices are available within a particular genre, fragmentation is inevitable. But personally I don’t think this will affect any of the channels adversely.”

“If you consider the profile of new advertisers that is already happening as the market sees an explosion. The FMCG sector is looking at this genre more aggressively. Also a healthy competition between the four channels would see advertising rates become more competitive.”

Gautaman agrees that FMCG players are moving out of the GEC bracket and looking at niche channels.”The English news channels targeted at the affluent, metro consumers will certainly benefit from this shift. Local operators and retail clients will also look at this genre closely. Besides much of this money will have to come from GEC’s and other media options. There will be a rearrangement of revenue to various genres,” he says.

Krishnan surely speaks for all channels when he says, “The operating principle for all advertisers is – “Have viewership – Will advertise”. He further adds, “With Headlines Today being on a growth path in terms of viewership, advertisers wanting to reach out out to the younger affluent metro audiences will look at Headlines Today as an ideal platform.”

February 6, 2007

‘A very good year for TV news business, with a huge upside for the industry’

The year 2007 has been very, very good so far as business is concerned. We had all approached the year with certain things that we needed to do, and my organisation had decided to move to areas that go beyond news. So we went on a funding road show in March-April this year, collected the money we needed to for funding the verticals we wanted to develop and we have done so, getting into various aspects of media activity.

In fact, if you look at NDTV Network story, in a sense this was the real media story of the country this year, with the six verticals that I run now, consequent to raising of the funding. One is NDTV Imagine, the GEC from our company, which we expect to launch from end-January 2008. And entertainment has endless possibilities, music, films, and so many other aspects.

Then we have launched NDTV Lifestyle this year. This is our response to the economic changes and the increase in the size of the middle class and their spending habits, which are fast changing.

Under the NDTV Networks umbrella we now have news, entertainment, lifestyle, technology solutions, setting up new projects
_____****_____

Today, you can walk into a mall in Saket (in the southern parts of New Delhi) and you can find Armani and other foreign and expensive brands. This was not the case even a year earlier. And there are people going to these places and buying these things. So we had targeted this niche audience, which believes in wellness and fitness and good living, health and happiness and so forth.

The other business is NDTV Convergence, which is a leading Web 2.0 company with interests in developing exclusive content for cross media platforms such as the Internet, mobile phones and IPTV.

We operate India’s no 1 television news website www.ndtv.com along with other leading verticals, namely, NDTV Profit, NDTV Jobs, NDTV Travels, NDTV Gadgets, NDTV Shopping and NDTV Commodities. Convergence is really a hot property, and we have developed a very good management team, which is by the way true for all our verticals.

There is also another emerging trend, which is an MPO, a media processes outsourcing company. There are so many media companies that need to go digital, or have meta-tagging, or run specialised closed-captions, catering to audio-challenged and visually challenged persons. These companies need various solutions, so we have developed that vertical in a JV with Genpact and called the company N-gEN.

We said that the industry will bring its own code, and fortunately, the government accepted that
_____****_____

We already had NDTV Labs, which deals with broadcast technology for ourselves, both software and hardware. We have been getting awards for these activities from Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and other agencies. We have people with 18 years of expertise in that field and so we decided that apart from producing these solutions for NDTV, this can become an independent business.

Then there is NDTV Emerging Markets which will set up new projects, like we have done in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Middle East.

So under the NDTV Networks umbrella we now have news, entertainment, lifestyle, technology solutions, setting up new projects. For me these are highly satisfactory developments. Broadly speaking, we have done everything that could be done in the realm of media, and I think many of us (other companies as well) have done likewise, which makes 2007 a very good business year.

But yes, there have been a few contentious issues as well, like regulation, of which there are two broad aspects: the news content code and the Broadcast Regulation Bill.

So far as the content code is concerned, let me try to be as objective as is possible. The government set up a committee to look at all components of the content code, and the committee including educationists, activists, watchdog kind of people, the media itself, the government officials and so on.

But the when the code came out, it was simply not acceptable to us. For one thing, the committee had had just a single representative from the media, from the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. One must understand that the code was meant to regulate the news industry and it made no sense having just one person representing it. We were completely dominated by the ministerial majority. So we rejected it outright, because any code brought about by the government was not acceptable to us. We said that the industry will bring its own code, and fortunately, the government accepted that.

January 5, 2007

Indian television advertising is very much underpriced’ : Joy Chakraborthy – Zee Network executive VP Network Sales

Joy Chakraborthy took charge of Zee Network as ad sales head in early 2005, at a time when Zee TV was going through a crucial phase. Chairman Subhash Chandra was strategising a turnaround for the flagship channel and a number of big ticket shows were being readied, with the expectations of re-writing Zee TV's fortunes in the Hindi GEC arena.

As Network sales head, Chakraborthy's first challenge was to project Zee in a new light. "Zee had a perception problem in the market and a section of the trade had written it off. We wanted to create a new impression and build on that," Chakraborthy says."There couldn't have been a better time for me to head the network's sales team," he gushes.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com's Bijoy A K, Chakraborthy elaborates on the strategies that worked for Zee, future plans and on the industry scenario.
Excerpts:

You have completed a year as the sales head of Zee network. Please elaborate on the key industry learnings you could gather during this period?
A crucial lesson we have learnt is on the significance of soaps in the GEC prime time game. We have learnt that GEC is all about soaps, but different from Saas-Bahu sagas. People buy a channel for consistency and not for spikes only. In the industry, on an average, 70 per cent revenue is tied up on a long-term basis and only soaps can fulfill that promise. Innovative programming is fine, but they should be scheduled and timed very effectively. When you innovate, it should not be just a programming decision but a collective decision including sales, marketing and programming.

Everybody had written Zee off. But we could pull off a turnaround — what seemed impossible until some time back – through team work, discipline, passion, accurate timing and by keeping the faith intact. As expected, the trade has responded to this change very positively, and now we enjoy the backing of the entire market. This is because of the strong relationships we had built during this period. What I am driving at is the fact that, relationships play a key role in this industry. This period also showed us who are our real friends and who are opportunists. Also, it has been a learning for me that both, people and organizations are important, and one cannot exist without the other.

How is the industry evolving? Give us a low down in the recent developments and the trends?
Indian television advertising is very much underpriced and we have decided to bring this issue into focus, under the banner of the Indian Broadcast Foundation (IBF). In a couple of months, we are planning to come out with certain guidelines on pricing, which would hold a lot of significance for the industry. Our main concern is the underpricing of television. It is a powerful medium and it should get its due, especially at a time when the costs of programming and marketing have skyrocketed. All network sales heads are now represented in IBF and we are united on this cause.

The present scenario is very confusing. Television is booming, but clients are very tentative to take a call on TV as compared to the print as television research is more confusing and dynamic and changes everyday. I think an increase of 15 per cent to 20 per cent in rate is due immediately. It should also be noted that cricket of late has not affected GEC/Hindi movies viewership, which are the primary revenue drivers in C&S. The Hindi movie genre is still very much underpriced and same is the case with regional channels.

I keep hearing that the English entertainment space is shrinking, but I don't agree with this as this is the genre with least wastage and where even an advertiser is a viewer.

Does GEC still hold an edge over other genres when it comes to delivery and demand? Or has there been a change in the pattern?
GEC will always hold the edge as maximum revenue comes to this genre. For any client, the reach build up and in some cases, frequency by smart scheduling comes from GEC. According to me, the genre pecking order would remain as: GEC, Hindi Movies, Regional, News, Sports – in that order.

In the last two years, unique content channels have seen so much of a price cut that the FCT has increased drastically and revenue in the genre has hardly moved. I sometimes wonder how they are still surviving in business.

Regional television space holds a lot of potential though it faces tough competition from print. The key segments driving growth in regional are: Retail, education and real estate, in addition to general categories like FMCG, telecom services, consumer durables etc.

Zee has already started working on all these segments. We have started roping in retail clients and our next focus is on the real estate and education. Though there is a slow transition of main print category advertisers to television, the good news is that these clients have realised the power of television.

Did the recent stock exchange fluctuations impact sales?
The fluctuations haven't affected us at all. Actually, Zee recorded better sales during this period of May-June. June-July usually has a lean period tag attached to it, but this year, it was different. This is one change in the normal pattern. These days, there is nothing called lean or peak period. This is due to the boom in categories such as telecom, services, finance and the perennial FMCG.

Today, advertisers are not limiting themselves to a particular genre due to media fragmentation. Most clients are there in almost all the channels/genres. Earlier, there used to be a particular set of advertisers for particular genres, such as premium products for English entertainment channels. These days, even FMCG brands are keen on English channels. It is a trend of aspirational marketing.

'With the good performance, our viewer base has also expanded and this, in turn, helps us to better our performance on a consistent basis'

The last one year saw Zee TV pulling off a turnaround in Hindi GEC, by reaching the second position. Could you briefly outline what happened during this eventful phase?
During this period, the sales team was able to initiate a lot of changes successfully. To start with, we decided to remove the paid bonus system and agreed to reduction of ad sales inventory. This helped to change the general perception that, Zee has unlimited inventory. Then, we made it a point to keep away from attempting any innovation in terms of sales. This is because, the delivery of innovations take too much of time for the value we generate. Also, I have observed that in spite of doing innovations, the clients/agencies are always unhappy with the implementations, however good you might do. So why do innovations?

We also focused on doing more client/agency meetings and met people at all levels. The Zee Network had a perception problem in the market, and the sales team has positively addressed this. I felt a lot of our positives were not known to the market. We had been very firm in our decisions and we always made it a point to abide by our well-defined sales policy. I have ensured all commitments/deliverables are in writing and not verbal, as this avoids conflict when people change at channel/agency side. When it comes to deals, the attempt has been to create win-win situations. We reduced our FCT to an effective level to create demand and initiated a very transparent sales policy.

We also introduced the Matrix system, which played a key role in bettering the network performance. We appointed individual sales heads, responsible for strategy, revenues and targets of their channels. We have senior people as branch heads in the business deployed in key markets such as Delhi, Kolkata and the South whose roles are more tactical and they ensure revenue spread across all channels and have their branch targets. Both sales heads and branch heads work very closely with themselves and with me.

For me, Zee has turned out to be a great place to work. It is a place with total freedom and great empowerment. I would say internal stability in Zee is very high. All decisions are discussed and not pushed down your throat. We have the best bunch of professionals, both at senior and junior level.

Please comment on your face-off with Star. Star recently initiated its counter strategy to block your surge in the 9-10 pm time band. What impact has it made on your game plan?
You feel happy when the leader reacts. Zee has pioneered the strategy of launching soaps with innovative media breaks. Seeing Star also doing the same for their show has been an ego booster for us. Coming to the second part of your question, it felt even better when the leader's tactics didn't affect our numbers and the market demand.

With the good performance, our viewer base has also expanded and this, in turn, now helps us to better our performance on a consistent basis. Earlier, when we launched a show, rating in the range of 1 TVR to 2 TVR was considered as satisfactory or good. Now, our new launches pick up very fast and the shows even record an opening rating of 2+ TVR on an average basis. This has inspired us to fight Star in its own bastion – the 10 – 11 pm band – with non-soaps such as Johny Aala Re and Sabash India.

So what is the next big idea? What will be Zee's next focus?
We have now settled ourself comfortably in the 6 pm – 8 pm and the 9 – 10 time bands. You will be seeing some more launches in the months to come which will strengthen our FPC even further. The programming, marketing and sales wings are now working on the strategies to strengthen the 8-9 pm band.

What is the strategy you follow to sell Day Parts?
We have made lot of efforts to increase the demand for the Non Prime Time (NPT) band. Each sales package has got a mix of PT and NPT. We ideally would love to sell at 30:70 for PT/NPT. We have also been selling early NPT and late night slots for religious/tele shopping properties. As a result of focusing on NPT, our inventory FCT consumption has doubled in NPT.

Which are the client segments that top your delivery list these days?
Still FMCG is number one, though there has been a major upswing in Telecom/Services/Auto/ to name a few. The concern has been the consumer durable category with a few big players not clear about their plans. Additionally, SMS has emerged as a key revenue driver for us for our interactive shows.

Speaking about the network performance, what is the scorecard?
Zee TV is on top followed by Zee Cinema. Zee TV was underpriced when I took over, and now we are steadily moving in the right direction of rate. We activated rate corrections twice for the network during the six months and now, as the festival season is coming, you can expect another correction soon. For some channels, it will be across all day parts and for some it will be programme based.

Revenue wise, maximum share comes from Zee TV followed by Zee Cinema, Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee English cluster, Zee Music and Zee Smile. The beginning of the year has been very good and I am sure we will touch a new high this fiscal.

Now let us take it one at a time. To start with, please comment on the performance of Zee Cinema. What is the plan for this year?
As a sales person, I can't ask for a better channel than Zee cinema which has been consistently delivering for years in the face of stiff competition. My colleagues in programming and marketing have given us a product which is a must have in all media plans, specially if it is targeting the "cow" belt (Hindi heartland). Since the last two years, the Amitabh movie band Shaniwaar ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath has been our key driver. This year, we have introduced a youth block – Klub. We have our own share of blockbusters for the year also.

Zee Smile has been keeping a low profile these days. Is the channel in an orphaned state, or is there a plan on the anvil?
You will soon know our plan for Smile. But for sales, Smile has been a great help to get incremental revenues. The channel is very well distributed in non traditional markets and hence, you will find lots of brands advertising on Smile.

Speaking about regional channels, you are in charge of sales of two key players Zee Bangla and Zee Marathi. How did these two channels fare in the last one year period?
This year, we have practically re-launched Zee Bangla with a slew of new programmes and this will boost its sales potential. We are again going to do sales initiated programmes like Durga Pooja and Jatra.

Zee Marathi has now become the clear number one. We are there in almost all plans. We have also set up a separate sales team to develop retail and non traditional advertisers like educational institutes, real estate, local jewelers, classified etc and the results are showing.

Comment on the delivery of your event properties.
During the last one year, there has been an extra thrust on good events, and the efforts have paid off very well, I would say. We have converted the Saregama finals as an on-ground event and the attempt has met with great success. This had inspired us to take the Saregama Ek Mein Aur Ek Tum finals to Dubai. Apart from winning a global appeal, going to international venues helps sales also. Zee Cine Awards, Mauritius and even the Zee F- Awards, have done very well for us.

We have Zee Astitva Award, Zee Marathi Awards, Zee Gaurav Puraskaar, Zee Amader Gaurav, Zee Songeet Puroshkaar to name a few, lined up in the next few months across various channels.

Have you retained Amap's service as an alternative rating agency to Tam?
Yes. We need to have two meters because the industry needs competition in this realm also. It is always good for the trade. It brings out the best of everyone. According to me, each of them can coexist, triggering healthy competition. I am not making a judgment here, but for the betterment of industry, we need two parallel rating systems. The earlier we acknowledge this, the better it would be for all of us.

July 11, 2006

Plus is all India ‘star’ in GECs, while Sun shines brightest among regional channels: IRS 2006

MUMBAI: While in the regional space, Star Plus has managed to rise up on the charts more than any other Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) in the last five years; the story is no different as far as the Top 10 television channels in the country are concerned.

Since 2000, Star’s flagship channel has managed to topple DD2/Metro, Sony, Zee TV and Zee Cinema to claim the second position with a viewership share of nine per cent in 2006. DD1 (National Network) has maintained its top position over the years.

DD1’s viewership in the Top 10 TV channels in the All India market in 2006 is 27.4 per cent as compared to its share of 43.2 per cent in 2000 according to the findings of IRS Round I done by Hansa Research and Media Research Users Council (MRUC). Going by these numbers, DD1 viewership on an all India basis has dropped by almost half in the last five years.

DD2/Metro, which was second in line in 2000 with a share of 11 per cent has completely gone off the Top 10 television channels list in 2006.

Sony Entertainment Television, on the other hand, which was the number three channel in 2000 with a viewership share of 9.4 per cent, has fallen to the seventh position in 2006 and currently has a share of 4.6 per cent. Rival channel Zee TV saw an even steeper fall over the years, but all the same has maintained its place in the Top 10 television channels list. From its third position in 2000 with a share of 9.2 per cent, Zee TV lost 5.6 per cent share to other channels and fell straight to the tenth position this year with a share of 3.6 per cent.

The reason for the drop in Sony and Zee’s channel shares, which were the third and fourth best viewed channels after the national channels in 2000, could be because of the change in the program genre of these channels. Both channels focused more on music shows and game shows to garner viewership, reasons Hansa Research marketing and client servicing India head V Sudarshan.

Going by the data thrown up, the fact remains that viewers are still hooked to the soaps and serials, which is clearly indicated by Star Plus viewership numbers, predominantly garnered by the ‘K’ serials. However, now both Sony and Zee have a robust line up of dramas like Thodi Khushi Thode Gham, Aisa Desh Hai Mera, Saath Phere and Jabb Love Hua in the primetime. Hence it remains to be seen whether the channels’ popularity soars on the charts riding on these shows. Zee TV’s Saath Phere, for one, has been consistently delivering for the channel in terms of ratings.

While three channels from the Top 10 All India list have disappeared from the charts in 2006, three other channels have made their entry. DD2/Metro (second position), Star Sports (seventh position) and DD10 Marathi (eighth position), which were on the charts in 2000 seem to have made way for DD News (third position), Aaj Tak (fourth position) and Sun TV (fifth position) in 2006.

One of the interesting trend that is seen in the current Top 10 and the Top 10 five years back is that in 2000, no news channel made its way to the Top 10 list. Whereas in 2006, DD News and Aaj Tak have been featured.

“This explains a very big phenomenon, that there are possibilities that these news channels are now eating into the share of the print medium, and it could be that people are now preferring to tune rather than turn, for their news requirement. Viewers are interested in current news, and not yesterday’s news and this also reiterates the fact, why magazine readership has come down so dramatically over the period,” said Sudarshan.

One channel that has maintained a consistent performance on the charts since 2000 is Zee Cinema. In term of viewership share, the channel has dropped only marginally from 6 per cent in 2000 to 5.3 per cent in 2006 and is now placed in the sixth position as opposed to its fifth position in 2000.

Among the regional channels, apart from Sun TV, that have made a mark in the Top 10 channels in the All India market in 2006, are ETV (4.4 per cent) and Gemini TV (4.1 per cent) in the eighth and ninth position respectively.

April 19, 2006