ITV

Tag: GECs

  • GECs vow on Bolly-busters to up viewership

    From time immemorial movies have served as an extra value pack to general entertainment channels. While fiction remained the staple diet for the lot, movies dished up the programming lineup, especially on weekends, as an eagerly awaited dessert.

    The design was to attract additional viewership that went beyond the traditional eyeballs (target group), evidently flocking onto the respective channels to prey on their regular dose of fiction.

    While the trend continues even today, freshness and contribution from movies as a genre towards the Hindi GEC is significantly scaling up more effectively. Channels are pursuing hard to pocket big ticket movies and persistently locking in air-time for them within the smallest time-gap from their theatrical release. This means, for some, accessibility on TV could be just four weeks after the theatrical release while for a few the availability would be six-seven months post hitting the plexes.

    Take  for instance the Ranbir Kapoor-Katrina Kaif starrer Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Colors premiered the movie in December 2009, just a month after its theatrical release. The movie garnered a 7.45 TVR (C&S 4+, HSM), contributing 50.2 GRPs to the channel. On the other hand, Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots was on Sony seven months after its release and was a table turner for the channel as it earned 91.8 GRPs (10.88 TVR) to make Sony the third Hindi GEC for that week.

    Says Viacom 18 CCO and head international business Gaurav Gandhi, “Big ticket movies always act as a differentiator to boost channel viewership while helping audiences at that point in time to sample other properties. Thus, it broad bases the typical GEC audience and draws in an entire family viewing.”

    Elaborating further, Star India EVP marketing and communications Anupam Vasudev says, “TV channels now-a-days aim to show movies earlier, shortening the window gap, because of the recency effect on the viewer‘s mind. And because it adds to the content variety, it plays a strategic role in fulfilling consumer requirements.”

    A complete change in the cost recovery model for movies has also accelerated the eagerness of channels to showcase such products within a shorter window span. Besides quoting huge satellite right prices for their movies, producers have found other avenues like home video and DTH to exploit and monetise their products; and the modes are available even if the movies have crashed or performed average at the box-office.

    “Since piracy is always at an all-time high, broadcasters think ‘why wait’ and ‘why not’ make the movies available to the audience as soon as they can!”, Gandhi adds.

    Consider this: average box office  office performers such as All The Best, De Dana Dan and Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge along with the box office disaster Veer managed to do favourably well on television with each grabbing an above 3 TVR.

    All The Best on Zee TV earned a 4.23 TVR during its premiere, fetching 25.2 GRPs for the channel; De Dana Dan on Star Plus got 3.97 TVR and 26.9 GRPs; Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge on Star Plus did 3.32 TVR and fetched 16.6 GRPs while Veer got a 3.55 TVR to earn 23.1 GRPs for the same.

     

    Top Bollywood Movies aired in GEC during 2010 in HSM Mkt
    Rank Channel Programme TVR% GRPs
    1. Sony Entertainment TV 3 Idiots 10.88 91.8
    2. Colors Ajab Prem ki Ghazab kKahani 7.45 50.5
    3. Zee TV All the Best 4.23 25.2
    4. Star Plus De Dana Dan 3.97 26.9
    5. Star Plus Wanted 3.95 27.5
    6. Star Plus Veer 3.55 23.1
    7. Star Plus Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge 3.32 16.6
    8. Star Plus Paa 2.85 19.4
    9. Colors Do Knot Disturb 2.45 13.1
    10. Zee TV Kambakkht Ishq 2.22 11.6
    11. Colors Toh Baat Pakki 2.2 9.4
    12. Sony Entertainment TV Dil Bole Hadippa 2.14 15.5
    13. Star Plus My Name is Khan 2.14 15.5
    14. Colors Kites 2.14 12.4
    15. Colors Whats your Raashee 1.37 10.5
    Source: TAM | TG: CS 4+ yrs | Period: Jan to July 2010

    “TV provides free viewing even to flop films. So people who chose not to pay high ticket prices at multiplexes for such movies will anyway watch the film on TV thereby upping the viewership base,” says a top media planner on conditions of anonymity.

    But does this mean that movie premieres, especially the big tickets, always pull in mass eyeballs? Not really. Industry players believe that the TV viewership success of a movie is the functionality of its content and the rigorous promotion that the channel performs. And therefore, a low marketing push for box office hits like My Name Is Khan (Star Plus) and Wanted (Star Plus) on TV did just average as they drew in 2.14 TVR and 3.95 TVR respectively.

     

     

     

    Top Bollywood Movies aired in GEC during 2010 in All India Market
    Rank Channel Programme TVR% GRPs
    1. Sony Entertainment TV 3 Idiots 8.55 72.1
    2. Colors Ajab Prem ki Ghazab kKahani 5.59 37.6
    3. Zee TV All the Best 3.16 18.9
    4. Star Plus De Dana Dan 2.96 20.0
    5. Star Plus Wanted 3.04 21.2
    6. Star Plus Veer 2.75 17.9
    7. Star Plus Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge 2.5 12.5
    8. Star Plus Paa 2.24 15.2
    9. Colors Do Knot Disturb 1.8 9.6
    10. Zee TV Kambakkht Ishq 1.65 8.6
    11. Colors Toh Baat Pakki 1.63 7.0
    12. Sony Entertainment TV Dil Bole Hadippa 1.68 12.2
    13. Star Plus My Name is Khan 1.74 12.6
    14. Colors Kites 1.61 9.3
    15. Colors Whats your Raashee 1.05 8.0
    Source: TAM | TG: CS 4+ yrs | Period: Jan to July 2010

     

    3 Idiots, on the other hand, went  through an aggressive marketing process. The movie certainly grabbed a historical share of the viewership in the Hindi GEC space but the push also came in from meticulous promotional initiatives. Sony devised strategic promotional activity with the cast of the film and infused it into the programming of the channel which helped in further driving up the viewership.

    Also, interestingly, as part of the promos, Sony offered viewers the chance to enter a competition to win one of the iconic chairs from the movie and the response received was the highest ever from any movie competition on the channel.

    Broadcasters affirm that, even though exorbitantly priced, movies can recover the prices paid by them if the products are promoted rightly so as to grab advertiser’s attention. This is because such premieres not only summon a spike for the channel, but is surely a boon for the advertisers too who associate with them. “When advertisers walk on board as sponsors, the deals include multi-week promotional campaigns on the channel’s other properties – fiction, non-fiction, events – exhibiting a visible sponsor label. Also, due to expanded viewership from such premieres, the advertisers get more exposure,” says Gandhi.

    Adds Filmy business head Rajeev Chakrabarti , ”Big ticket movies premiered on GEC channels are strategic programming spikes around which channels attempt to garner viewer and advertiser’s attention. The networks pay a very heavy price towards acquiring these titles and ultimately, the frequency and viability of such big-ticket ‘premieres’ need to justify the cost-to-reward ratio in line with the business objective.”

    The window-gap between a movie’s theatrical release and TV broadcast has also shortened because the maximum collection that it garners is within the first two-three weeks at the plexes.

    Says a media planner, “Eight years back, about 200-300 prints of a movie were circulated and it took about six months to complete full national coverage. But today with the advent of multiplexes, 500-1000 prints of movies are released and it takes just two-three weeks for theatrical recovery.”

    Talking about placements, Mediaedge:cia India MD T Gangadhar informs that movies are strategically placed for weekend viewing because GECs are frail on fiction during this part of the week.

    Zee TV marketing head Akash Chawla, however, believes that movies must be chosen on novelty factor and should only act as new-audience-attracters rather than GRP boosters.

    “The primary challenge for a Hindi GEC is to maintain consistency and not become dependable on movies. Putting up movies in the programming schedule to just get numbers without encashing them to generate maximum revenues is not part of our strategy,” he says.

     

  • Hindi GECs take a beating from IPL

    The Indian Premier League onslaught is beginning to hurt Hindi general entertainment channels.  With an average TVR of 5 (Tam data for week ended 26 April, All India, C&S 4 +), the heat is now on for the GECs to retain its prime time viewership.

    Star Plus and Sony have lost a chunk of their audiences, while Zee TV has made up with a focus on afternoon programming. NDTV Imagine is looking more battered at this stage while 9X has marched ahead to occupy the third spot.

    Sample this: Kyunki … which was enjoying a TVR of 5.3 in week 15 (week ended 12 April) fell to 4.18 TRP on week ended 26 April (when IPL was on for the whole week).

    Kahani… slipped from 4.36 TVR (week 15) to below 3 in week 17. And when Star Plus launched its high voltage Shah Rukh Khan show Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? on 25 April, it fetched a TVR 4.61 which could, perhaps, have soared higher.

    Star‘s Bidaai, one of the top five shows in the Hindi GEC, has lost considerable TVRs to fall on 4.41 (week 17) from a high of 5.5 (week 15).

    Zee‘s Saath Phere fell from 4.76 (week 15) to 3.96 (week 17) while Kasam Se touched 3.3 (week 17) from 3.92 (week 15).

    Zee TV business head Tarun Mehra says, “All the GECs have lost viewers to the IPL matches. However, all the channels were prepared for a general beating on the score card”.

    Market leader Star Plus with 345 GRPs in week 15, fell to 297 GRPs in week 16. In week 17, Star Plus managed 300 GRPs (even after the launch of Panchvi…).

    Star Plus VP marketing and communication Prem Kamath says, “Definitely IPL has had its effect on GECs. However, the space is very unpredictable. So you might see a different story next week. A week or two‘s data does not give the full picture.”

    Despite IPL matches, Zee TV has grown in terms of GRPs. From 212 GRPs in week 15, it has increased to 218 GRPs (week 16). And in week 17, it finished with a high of 220 GRPs, standing second to Star Plus.

    HSM GRPs
    Channel WK 15 Wk 16 Wk 17
    Star Plus 345 297 300
    Zee TV 212 218 220
    9X 77 72 80
    NDTV Imagine 88 92 79
    Sony Entertainment TV 84 79 68
    Sahara One 68 63 63
    Star One 66 54 60
    DD1 40 34 34
    Star Utsav 36 35 32
    SAB 35 32 31
    Zee Next 10 9 10
    Source: TAM Peoplemeter System TG: CS 4+

    So how has Zee TV managed to weather the storm? Says Mehra, “No doubt IPL has eaten GECs viewers in the prime time slot. But instead of concentrating on the prime time, we are focusing on the afternoon programming and movies.”

    To combat IPL match ratings, Zee TV has pumped up its weekends with a special attention on the afternoon programming. During the week ended 26 April, Zee TV has shown the movie Vivaah which fetched a TVR of 3.29. It has also launched a TV series Vivaah at 7 pm and 11 pm (week days), besides an hour-long episode of Nagiin… and a special episode of Banoo Main Tere Dulhann.

    Zee TV is also planning to strengthen its line up. The channel will launch a new crime series Hadsaa on weekends. Besides it is pumping up the weekends with special events like Zee Cine Awards and Idea Rocks.

    A few rungs down the line, NDTV Imagine (79 GRPs) lost its third spot to 9X with 80 GRPs.

    While sibling channel Max has hogged all the limelight with the telecast of the IPL matches, Sony has plunged from 84 GRPs in week 15 to only 68 GRPs in week 17.

    “We have got affected marginally but as a network we have grown phenomenally,” says Sony Entertainment television creative head Sanjay Upadhyay.

    Sony, in fact, is trying to use the IPL hype to promote its new show launches. Reality shows like Waar Pariwaar, Naye Roop Nayi Zindagi and Yeh Shaam Mastaani were unveiled during the IPL time.

    Explains Upadhyay, “We are building up these shows around IPL. One should also not forget that IPL is a short term event and after it is over we expect our shows to pick up. Apart from that a lot of cross channel promotions are happening on both Max and Sony.”

    Soon after IPL gets over, Sony will place its big ticket reality show Dus Ka Dum with Salman Khan as host at prime time to mop up audiences that have deserted the channel.

    A similar tale follows the other GECs. From 68 GRPs (week 15), Sahara One fell to 63 GRPs (week17) while Star One dipped from 66 GRPs (week 15) to 60 GRPs (week17).

    A micro look into the IPL ratings on weekdays

    The IPL is holding firm in terms of viewership even on weekdays.

    Tam data C&S 4+ shows that matches played from Sunday 20 April to Saturday 26 April have managed an average TVR of 5.

    In fact the match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians which took place on 23 April and went down to the wire nearly touched a TVR of 6.

    The contest between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on 26 April fetched the lowest ratings during the week with a TVR of 3.6.

    Not surprisingly the crucial match between Mumbai and Bangalore on 20 April touched a TVR of 5.9. The match between Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers that took place on Thursday had a TVR of 5.5.

    In Gujarat where IPL has fared the best, the matches averaged a TVR of 7.14 while in Andhra Pradesh where IPL has not done well the matches managed a TVR of 2.77.

    Tam also did an analysis on the visibility that the teams got through their TV promos in the month before the IPL kicked off.

    From 18 March to 17 April the Kolkata Knight Riders had 46 per cent of promo time and got 41 per cent of GRPs. The Mumbai Indians had 33 per cent of promo time but their GRP contribution was only 19 per cent.

    The Decan Chargers, on the other hand, had only 10 per cent of promo time but GRPs delivered were 22 per cent.

    Women continue to be interested in big cricket but their share has come down slightly. During the 2003 World Cup women contributed 41 per cent of viewership. This came down to 38 per cent for last year‘s World Cup. For IPL, women contribute 36 per cent of viewership.

    The audience age profile has been consistent over the years. For the 2003 World Cup, the 35+ age group contributed 39 per cent to viewership. For the IPL it has contributed 38 per cent.

    Growth, however, has come for the 15-24-year-olds. Their share in viewership has grown from 21 per cent for the 2003 World Cup to 27 per cent for the IPL. Observers attribute this to the fast-paced nature of T20.

    Tam data also shows that city loyalty has already set in. During the first match, Kolkata viewers increased their interest in the match right till the end of the contest despite knowing in the early stages that their team was going to win.

    Bangalore, on the other hand, started losing interest as the match proceeded towards the finish line. The other four metros, more or less, maintained the same amount of interest in the match right till the end.

    Tam also explains that matches that feature top quality sides will always draw the most viewership. Fans will watch their side more when they play a top side.

  • Channels line up battle for afternoon viewers

    The Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) space is getting replete with strategies, counter strategies, experiments and innovations.

    While newbie NDTV Imagine has grabbed the number three position withRamayan as its content driver, Zee TV has topped the prime-time slot with shows like Banoo Main Teri Dulhann and Mayka.

    The battle for supremacy in prime time is being fought hard by Star Plus and Zee. The other GECs are also investing heavily to grab viewership in this time band as it attracts a major chunk of the revenues.

    However, the story does not just end at the prime time. Since a major chunk of the total GRPs comes from prime time, every channel wants to leverage it. But the fact remains that a Hindi GEC with the core target of active female viewers has to focus not only on the prime time but also on the afternoon slot, which is the second most sought-after in terms of revenues.

    While at the moment only Star Plus, Zee TV and 9X are the players that have an afternoon slot with fresh programmes, others in the field have either repeats of their prime-time shows or movies. But they are also eyeing this space.

    To understand the dynamics, let’s take a look at the afternoon slots of these channels.

      1:00 pm – 1:30 pm 1:30 pm – 2:00 pm 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm 2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
    Star Kumkum Bhabhi Karam Apna Apna Grahasti
    Zee Saath Saath Rakhi Meri Doli Tere Angana
    –

    Star Plus has its top performing shows which have been traditionally doing well for it. The slot begins with Kumkum at 1 pm followed by Bhabhi andKaram Apna Apna at 1:30 pm and 2:00 pm, respectively. All the three shows have delivered well for the channel. The third show is Grihasthi, which was launched last month, replacing Sarrthi at 2:30.

    Zee presently has Sath Sath at 1 pm, Rakhi at 1:30 pm andMeri Doli Tere Angana at 2 pm.

    STRATEGY

    It was Star who first dominated the afternoon turf with fresh programmes. Zee had, more or less, fixed its eyes on the lucrative prime-time band.

    Until May 2007, afternoons on Zee TV meant a repeat of prime-time shows. But having stabilised the prime-time band, Zee launched the attack to grab the afternoon viewers.

     

    The first to fill this space was Meri Doli Tere Anganaon at 2 pm. This was then followed by the launch ofRakhi at 1:30 pm in August.

    Zee’s strategy was to first hit the slot where Star Plus was relatively weak and from 2 pm to move to the 1 pm band.

    “We have already consolidated the prime time and now our focus is on the afternoon slot,” says Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) president of revenue Joy Chakraborthy.

    This obviously came as a strategy to increase the GRPs for the channel.

    On Star Plus’ front, the “K” shows from Balaji Telefilms have been the ruling ragas on the channel. Interestingly, of the present lot of the K shows, one is on the afternoon band ( Karam Apna Apna) while Kumkumfrom Bag Films has played a long innings and still going strong. All these shows are running for long and have consistently delivered well for the channel.

    The consistency and loyalty of viewers reflect well in the TRPs these shows deliver. How will Zee break the cult?

    “We are gradually building over the slot with shows. Moreover, one should not forget that Star Plus has been running these shows for two to three years and the loyalty has been built already. Gradually, we will also secure the afternoon slot with shows targeted towards women,” says Chakraborthy.

    It seems the hide-and-seek game will persist for some more time.

    FEASIBILITY

    Launching a slot is not an easy job because revenues play an important role. Every slot should be workable.

    With huge monies involved, channels need to be more cautious while launching shows. The afternoon band also is relatively low paying but there is potential to up the rates.

    “The CPRP is also lower and because of which the afternoon inventory is choc-a-block and that makes an investment worth returns,” says Chakraborthy.

    “The female viewership is higher in the afternoon slot because of which there are 65 per cent to 70 per cent of FMCG brands advertising in the afternoon slot,” he adds.

     

    However, the trend remains that the prime time, which constitutes the major chunk of the GRPs, has to be consolidated first and then comes the daily afternoon slot.

    If that is the case, Zee launching an afternoon slot makes sense. But the middle rung channels which are still toddling behind have to still give it a thought.

    “The investments that go into producing the shows are huge but the RoIs have to be equally huge. At this time, we want to establish our prime time. However, afternoon is something that needs to be addressed on our channel and we will focus on it very soon,” says Sahara One programming head Kalyan Sundaram.

    “With this kind of investment, a lot of research needs to be done and everything has to be worked out,” adds Sundaram.

      12:00 pm- 12:30 pm 12:30 pm – 1:00pm 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm 1:30 pm – 2:00 pm
    9x Rasme Rasoi Dahhej Neelajanaa Veeranwali

     

    Industry observers say that only after the prime time is strengthened, the channel should intrude the afternoon slot. Traditionally that has been the case.

    Kumkum was a low-budget show, and later on went on to become the major driver of the channel.

    “I was involved in the mounting process of Kumkum which was the show that gave insight of using afternoon slot for building GRPs,” says Sony Entertainment Television (SET) creative head Sanjay Upadhyay.

    The other channels repeat the shows that are aired in the prime time.

    “Repeats drive the prime-time slot. It is our extended offering to viewers who could not catch the shows at prime time. We don’t want to get scattered everywhere. As the industry says, first strengthen the prime time and then focus on afternoon. By showing repeats, we are trying to build up our prime time and as far as movies are concerned, they have their own strengths,” adds Upadhyay.

    9X, which is a new entrant in the genre, launched its afternoon slot in January 2008 with Rasm-E-Rasoi at 12:00 noon. 12:30 pm has a repeat of a prime-time show Daheej. Then comes Neelanjana at 1 pm and Veeranwaliat 1:30 pm – both of which are fresh shows.

    9X’s afternoon slot begins at 12 noon which is one hour ahead of Star Plus and Zee’s slot.

    “A strong daily afternoon band will only add variety to the offerings of a GEC, which have to be rich and varied because it’s a general entertainment channel. We have two original daily dramas and a cookery show. We wanted to offer our key audiences the best of programming not just in prime time but in the afternoons too,” says INX Media founder-CEO Indrani Mukerjea.

    Star and Zee have fresh programming in the afternon slot, but they have an established prime time. Considering that, isn’t it too early for 9X to launch the afternoon slot with fresh programmes?

    “These programming decisions are in keeping with our business plan, and we have a long-term perspective. We believe that the homemaker female audiences need good, original programming that informs and entertains in the afternoons. Hence, we are offering cookery shows and two original daily dramas for them,” adds Mukerjea.

  • GEC 2 to woo migrating viewers

    The declining importance of the conventional Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) on Indian television has thrown up considerable challenges for all broadcasters.Confronting the gradual fall of this reigning genre as drifting audiences move towards niche specific offerings, most channels are looking to aggregate viewers one way or another. In this attempt, most broadcasters are looking to pull back migrating audiences by dissecting the GEC space into sub-genres and giving rise to the second GEC.

    This phenomenon has given rise to a host of niche entertainment offerings through the support structure of a ‘flanking‘ channel. Here‘s a look at how industry experts perceive this growing trend within the dynamic television space of which GEC occupies 27-28 per cent of the total ad revenue pie.

    The Scrum

    The leading Hindi entertainment player in the country Star Plus was among the first to enter the fray with the launch of sister channel Star One in 2004. Sony was also looking to tread the same path with its acquisition of Sri Adhikari Brothers‘ Sab TV in 2005.

    Action will start again two years later as Zee TV will unveil its sibling Zee Next, while Sahara is also poised to introduce a sister entertainment channel Firangi.

    Sab TV business head Anooj Kapoor admits that a ‘fatigue‘ factor has set in to the GEC space as the main programming formula across frontline GECs is on the Saas-bahu theme.

    Thus, entertainment networks are looking at a second entertainment channel to provide different genres of drama.

    While some players are more willing to play around with new concepts, others prefer to play it safe with serials. Sab TV, for instance, is putting up a varied fare of youth focussed shows. Sahara‘s Firangi is also willing to give International dubbed a shot.

    Star One, on the other hand, is betting on soaps as the main driver. “Soaps will always be the staple of this country and Star One will continue to focus in that direction. While there would be add-ons and new shows, soaps will be the main driver,” says Star India president content and new media Ajay Vidyasagar.

    From a media agency‘s perspective, GECs are adding second channels as an attempt to prevent audience migration. Says Mindshare MD R. Gowthaman, “Audiences are getting segmented into distinct types and channels are catering to their specific needs. Meanwhile, GEC is losing its reach potential and broadcasters are using the route of a flanking channel to avoid losing their share to the competitor.”

    Experimentation platform & Low risk factor

    Rather than a mere add-on to the channel bouquet, the concept of a flanking channel serves a larger purpose of ‘experimentation at a lower risk,‘ which would not otherwise be possible on a flagship GEC. In order to service a segmented audience, the conventional GEC has been forced to slice up and dish out modifications of the same genre.

    Starcom MD India – West and South Manish Porwal said, “The trend over the last three to four years in the GEC space indicates that the genre has been de-growing by 10 per cent, besides GEC programmes are also losing their importance. Networks have sensed the challenge and are creating niche platforms of special sub-genres within GEC to allow for experimentation.”

    According to media planners, this is a cyclic trend seen across mature markets. It allows networks to provide viewers with more choices within a genre.

    The model also allows networks to take risks since the second channel is not a key revenue driver. Agrees Kapoor, “A second entertainment channel provides a platform for innovation and experimentation without the fear of greatly affecting business revenues of the network. It allows you to take risks, which can‘t otherwise be taken on the flagship channel.”

    Hit & miss approach

    In this scramble to appease audiences, channels are attempting to fathom where their viewers are navigating to.

    Star One was conceived as an upscale channel for metro audiences. Now it is attempting to broadbase the channel and is looking to tap the top 20 cities across the country.

    “We do not want to be known as an urban niche channel. Star One is eyeing the Hindi heartland as a differentiated mass entertainment brand,” says Star India VP Prem Kamath.

    Ahead of several entertainment channel launches, Star One is infusing a host of fresh shows to combat the growing number of players entering the game.

    Kamath, however, does not agree that the channel‘s attempt to expand its presence beyond the top metros is a response to mounting competition.

    “The launch of new shows is a natural process to rekindle the content flow. That is what we are doing on Star One,” Kamath says.

    Sony also has repositioned Sab with the march of time. When it acquired Sab, it wanted the ‘male skewed comedy‘ channel to strengthen the network‘s position in the Hindi heartland. It soon dropped the ‘Only smiles, no tears baggage‘ to give way to light humour.

    But sensing opportunity in the youth segment, Sab in 2007 went through a brand surgery and the channel was repositioned as an urban aspirational brand in the 15-35 age bracket.

    ZeeNext will be pursuing still younger audiences (15-25 year olds) and has the tagline ‘Dil Wahi, Dhadkan Nayi‘. While the genre will largely remain the same as Zee TV, the upcoming channel is looking to tap into a more progressive segment of its female dominated audience base with more contemporary themes.

    “We would like to offer our loyal audiences shows that give a younger treatment to the traditional stories. Zee Next will carry the attributes if being young, fresh and contemporary channel,” said Zee TV business head and Zee Group director Punit Goenka.

    Sahara, on the other hand, is looking to adopt a differentiated approach to entertainment with its offering. Firangi business head Rajeev Chakrabarti prefers to label it as a World television channel in Hindi rather than a GEC per se.

    Chakrabarti says that the content would be spread across a variety of genres, one of them being GEC. He, too, agrees with Kapoor‘s stance that fatigue has cast a shadow in the overall GEC space. Firangi‘s attempt, thus, is to go beyond that and expose viewers to contemporary relevant content, he adds.

    However, some media analysts say the drive is not just to get in a flanking channel. Says Lodestar Universal CEO Shashi Sinha, “This trend need not be thought of as a flanking channel concept. Broadcasters are realizing that audiences differ in their mindsets as some groups are more progressive than others.”

    Spot the drifters?

    Although it is difficult to pin point which segment of the audience is abandoning GEC in favour of other channels, it is evident that the ‘youth‘ seem dissatisfied.

    According to Sinha, the youth segment represents a fleeting audience base that are fickle and disillusioned. But the upside to this is that India is increasingly becoming a younger country, posing a massive opportunity for channels.

    The attempt to win over these viewers is steeply rising among all television players even though youth television habits are often categorized as ‘snacking consumption.‘

    During the repositioning this year, Sab came out with the “Buddha Tera Baap” campaign. Kapoor states, “Research suggests that 60 per cent of the population is below 35 years and for the network it made logical business sense to design programming for that age group. Besides, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) already offers full family viewing.”

    It works well as a network offering and as India progresses towards a two TV household it is advantageous to have differentiated entertainment channels for housewives and younger viewers, he adds.

    Challenges Ahead

    With each network looking to consolidate its position in the GEC space and garner the most eyeballs, the space is likely to give way to more clutter.

    However, Sinha believes that there is enough room for more players and foresees no major cannibalization. “In fact, new segments will be created and the GEC market will grow.”

  • Zee TV edges closer to Star Plus

    The Indian Hindi general entertainment space is heating up and could possibly be on the brink of a huge change as Subhash Chandra‘s flagship channel Zee TV inches closer to Star Plus, Rupert Murdoch‘s key revenue driver in Asia.

    The difference in GRPs between the two channels now stands at a mere 48, according to Tam‘s latest data (C&S 4+, HSM, Week 29 – 15 to 21 July).

    With Zee TV at 303.4 GRPs as against Star Plus‘ 351.6 GRPs, this is the closest the channel has come to the leader since it was dethroned more than six years ago. While it may be premature to say that Zee will regain its top status, it is surely threatening to do so.

     

    Top 3 General Entertainment Channels
    GRPs
    Star Plus
    351.6
    Zee TV
    303.4
    Sony Entertainment TV
    137.5
    ( Tam Peoplemeter System, C&S 4+, HSM, Week 29, 15-21 July)

    There has been nothing sudden in Zee TV‘s rise in the reckonings. Rather, it has been a gradual maneuvering of its way up the ladder. In the first week of July, the gap between Star Plus and Zee TV was 60, as Star stood 323.5 and Zee at 263 (Tam C&S 4+, HSM, Week 26, 24 – 30 June).

    Star took over the reigns from Zee in 2000 with its landmark show Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan as host, a monumental year for Murdoch‘s fortunes in the country. Since then, Star has dominated the Hindi GEC terrain.

    Star‘s decline has been due to a confluence of several factors – from a saturation of its top saas-bahu sagas Kyunki… and Kahaani, to niche channels eating into the share of the genre. “Star‘s dipping numbers are due to the gradual decline of its top programmes along with Zee‘s steady growth,” states an industry observer.

    Queried about the threat posed by Zee TV, a senior Star official says, “We would not like to comment on a week‘s ratings. We will only have cause to worry if this trend continues for two to three weeks. At the moment our weekly primetime shows continue to be strong and are at the top of the ratings charts.”

    Zee, of course does not want to jump the gun in uncorking the bubbly just yet. Zee TV business head and Zeel director Punit Goenka tells Indiantelevision.com that the channel‘s gradual climb is what they have been working hard on for some time. Goenka also credits the rise and rise of his channel with the success that its long running musical show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 has been enjoying. Says Goenka, “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge has indeed given us a big boost over the last two and a half months.”

    Adds Zeel CEO Pradeep Guha, “This has been built up over a period of time and has been contributed to by each and every show.”

    A point of note is that even as the competition intensifies between the two top players, a whole bunch of newcomers are warming up in the wings. These include Viacom 18, the Sameer Nair-helmed NDTV Imagine, Indrani Mukherjee‘s 9X and Anuradha Prasad‘s Bag Films, among others. What are the implications that this could have on the television entertainment space?

    According to Starcom MD India – West and South Manish Porwal, “The general entertainment genre itself is ‘de-growing‘. In fact, over the last three to four years the space has lost ten per cent every year. This, coupled with the novelty value of new players will give a double blow to the space.”

    “This phenomena will favour the challenger. It will be a two- horse race for a while,” Porwal opines. The second runner up in the GEC space is Sony which is lagging far behind at a GRP of 135.6.

    However, Mindshare MD R. Gowthaman points to the diminishing dominance of the GEC cluster. “The capability of the GEC space as a whole to deliver reach is on the decline. The price that the space commands is primarily based on its reach. However, we are witnessing a scenario in which the GEC is losing its reach potential, and this is a major concern from a marketer‘s perspective.”

    “While the reality is that Zee is catching up with Star, we will soon see a level playing field. These numbers, are only the initial trends of audience movement towards different genres. Within about four to five months this will gain critical mass and the configuration of television clusters will start changing,” Gowthaman avers.

    Currently, Hindi GEC occupies the lion‘s share of the television pie advertising at 28-30 per cent in HSM markets, says Porwal. But with news channels in particular gaining in importance, followed by movies, the share is only going to tilt further away. It is also important to note that sports, kids and youth channels are gaining significance in the Indian TV space.

    TME president Anupriya Acharya shares her perspective on the “dynamic” quality of the television segment. “We have been closely following the turnaround that Zee TV is witnessing by closing its gap with Star Plus. But at an overall level, it is important to note that other niche channels are also eating away from its pie especially news channels and the growth of the second GECs.”

    That, of course, is a larger issue that the GEC genre as a whole will have to grapple with sooner rather than later. At the moment, all eyes are on whether the challenger will really be able to dislodge the queen bee channel from her thrown.

  • UTV woos ‘Bindass’ youth

    After carving out a separate space for Hungama TV in the kids genre, Zarina Mehta is at work again. Her challenge this time is to hook the youth onto a general entertainment channel.

    Finding a target group that wasn‘t specifically tapped by the other channels was her first task. She commissioned research firm PQR to help her discover what she calls “our zone.”

    Four months on, she has decided to tap the 15-24-year-olds. And within this segment, she has identified college-goers in the age group between 17-21 years as the core constituency of her channel.

    “There is a common characteristic that runs in the blood of this age group. They reflect the brand values of fun, frolic, fearlessness and freedom. They want to do things, are optimistic and find joy in being young,” says Mehta.

    Arriving at Bindass as the name of the channel was a natural extension. “We were clear that the channel would reflect the spirit of the movie Rang De Basanti. Synovate conducted a survey with 1,000 respondents and came up with the name Bindass,” she says.

    As UTV Youth venture COO, Mehta is geared up with a three phase plan and a piggy bank of Rs 1 billion (drawn from Rs 2 billion outlay over three years) devoted to the first year alone. In GENX, the joint venture company that will roll out the channel and other youth-related initiatives, Malaysia-based Astro will be a 50 per cent equity partner.

    “We will have broadcast operations but also have an extended web (communities and entertainment), mobile, gaming, events and retail play,” says Mehta.

    The age group that Mehta is targeting occupies 23 per cent of total TV viewing in India. As they constitute a large part of GEC viewing, her task will be to migrate them to a content format that is unique.

    “We have to discover our prime time. The 9-11 pm band clearly belongs to Star Plus, Zee TV and Sony.”

    Set for launch in June-July, the channel‘s content recipe is still a mystery. But there will be no music, no soap operas and no lifestyle. “There is plenty of opportunity to get this target segment. Since it is very competitive, I can‘t reveal what kind of content we are going to have in the channel,” says Mehta.

    Movies will be an essential ingredient but the channel drivers will still be shows. “We will need to have a library of 50-60 feature films aimed at this segment. The acquisition process is on,” Mehta says.

    Though the channel will also source international content, the focus will be to create “India‘s first local youth entertainment brand.” Mehta hasn‘t frozen on the full content of the channel yet, but animation may be included. “We need to be fearless and experiment. We have to take risks,” she says.

    As part of its approach, UTV seems to be adopting a multiple revenue model that old timer music channels MTV and Channel [V] have tried and tested in the market. MTV VP creative and content Ashish Patel calls this form as ‘multi-platformication’ which includes online, mobile, events, retail and merchandise.

    In order to trap this highly elusive segment of the populace, a diverse offering would be the key. What it also symbolizes is a brand building exercise that connects on multiple levels with the core TG.

    The first phase of rollout will include revenue from web play, mobile games and on-ground events. Having a spread out portfolio in areas of movies, TV content, gaming, animation and airtime sales, UTV will hope to leverage from its existing operations.

    “We have acquired a majority stake in Indiagames and will use this to extend our channel presence in terms of brand and revenues. We will also tie up with mobile operators. And to reinforce the brand, we plan to have three big events in a year,” says Mehta.

    In the second phase, Bindass will foray into the retail segment (probably with an outlet such as a coffee shop or cyber café, a highly frequented venue for youth) and simultaneously roll out merchandising activities. “Retail will be a separate investment outside Rs 1 billion. We will go with a partner for this venture and should have a presence by December. The effort is to have an integrated approach and create a holistic youth brand experience,” says Mehta.

    Though not a direct threat, music channels have been targeting a similar demographic segment. “UTV, however, seems to be having a sharper focus within that TG by eyeing programming at the 17-21-year-olds. But we are essentially music channels and having been in existence for so long, are not really worried,” says Channel [V] head honcho Amar Deb.

    Mehta is looking at a co-existential approach to the genre. “I think both MTV and Channel [V] are great brands. But they are music channels. We don’t have music, we can totally co-exist with these two channels. Even tie up with them perhaps.”

    Bindass, however, will be different from the MTV and Channel [V] brands. “At its core Bindass is Indian, no micro-miniskirts, no fleshy videos, we need to reach deeper into the core needs of the viewer and hopefully become their preferred choice,” avers Mehta.

    What do the general entertainment channels think of the core TG Bindass is targeting? “It is too narrow a segment and there will be hard pressure on scaling up revenues. The space is too niche and in any case all local GECs are tapping it in their 15-34 TG,” says SET India COO NP Singh.

    Surely, Mehta has a tough task cut out for her. Building a youth brand will require all the right ingredients and big money needs to be continuously pumped in. Deriving strong revenues from merchandising to support the youth brand has also failed against a dominant pirated market in India.

    But not many had predicted the success of Hungama TV which was pitched against multinational brands like Cartoon Network and Walt Disney. If Bindass succeeds, it will hit MTV and Channel [V] hard even as they are planning to be more than just music channels.

  • Soaps – the violence within

    Soaps – the violence within

    Violence, subtle and physical, has permeated the soaps of the small screen, according to a recent study.

    In a monitoring study that spanned 30 episodes of various soaps on Star Plus, Sony and Zee in June 2002, the Delhi based Centre for Advocacy and Research found that there is a high presence of physical, verbal and psychological violence on screen. Most of this is directed at women. Marital discord, male female conflicts, male aggression and family honour are the reasons for the high quantity of violent acts on television, notes the study.

    During the seven day study, the CFAR viewers‘ panel also looked at regional language channels like Alpha Bengali, Alpha Gujarati, Asianet and Sun TV. In the monitored sample, the panel noted 10 scenes depicting domestic violence in which women were the victims and men the aggressors. The nature/act of violence was physical or verbal. However, the psychological impact of the violence was to a major extent borne by the female victims, the study avers.

    Whether marital discord, anger and frustration of the man in his professional life, a misunderstanding or the honour of the family, the women were always at the receiving end, notes the study. The relationship between the aggressor and the victim is seen as mostly marital or through marriage, but in a few instances, even a brother was an aggressor.

    The study also finds that women are often shown submitting to maltreatment and lacking the conviction to defend themselves. The ‘family court’, found the study, is a common occurrence. The woman is ‘accused’, judged and convicted by this ‘family court’ which consists of the woman’s in-laws. She has no recourse to any other agent, legal or otherwise.

    Although bigamy is illegal in India, it is often depicted – with the onus on the wives. It is dramatised in a sensational and voyeuristic manner, without any respect for or mention of the law.
    In many instances, male and female characters are forced into marriage against their wishes. This results in domestic violence or extra-marital affairs. As upholders of the family honour, women are always expected to place the family ahead of their personal aspirations, claims the study.

    Most of the viewers CFAR spoke to have said that a serial need not be violent in a bloody or in a destructive way without reason. Conflicts should be depicted in a ‘reasonable’ way and appropriate to the situation and not just to heighten the suspense and hook viewers. Violent situations are usually a way of creating excitement and expectations, viewers said.
    Citing examples, the study mentions Kasauti Zindagi Kay (Star Plus), in which Shivani, just married to Anupam, is slapped by him when she discovers a fraud he had committed. The new bride is shown howling when her brother visits her. The brother takes up the matter with her husband and her in-laws. But Shivani‘s in-laws don‘t intervene. Shivani folds her hands and pleads with her brother to leave.

    The CFAR study raises the point that while the wife is mistreated by her husband, she is made to apologise instead of being consoled or the husband being chastised for his behaviour. Such scenes show women as submissive to any maltreatment and lacking in the ability to stand up for their rights, the study says.
    In another episode of Kasauti Zindagi Kay, Kajol is threatened and emotionally blackmailed by her boyfriend as well as her family. The parents and her elder brother are against her alliance with the boy. When the elder brother catches her red-handed with her boy friend, he pulls her away angrily and takes her to home. She is brought to the ‘family court‘ where the brother screams at her and threatens her with dire consequences unless she behaves properly.

    Citing other similar cases, CFAR raises another issue – The ‘family court‘ is used in many serials like a “court martial”. The ‘accused‘ is judged and convicted by this ‘family court‘ which consists of her in-laws, without recourse to any other agent, legal or otherwise. Should such family courts be held and given the authority to judge an individual who has no one to fall back upon?

    In Sanjjhi (Zee TV), Amar Singh uses physical and verbal means to threaten both his wives and their families when the first one files a suit of bigamy against him while the second testifies against him. He taunts and threatens his first wife, Kanak, by reminding her of her inability to bear a child. CFAR in its study asks whether such violations of the law be depicted in such a dramatic, sensational and voyeuristic manner, without any respect or mention of the law, which clearly prohibits bigamy?
    In Hubahu (Sony TV), Aditi‘s husband roughly pushes her towards the door and asks her to leave the house because he feels that she is not allowing him physical intimacy. The study points out that though the serials did not project a lot of physical violence against women, there are many instances of extreme and repeated mental pressure, threats, screaming and shouting and anger directed towards women. Women were shown constantly under a lot of stress and anxiety, the panel felt.

    Tradition and societal pressures act as an aggressor in their own way, points out the study.

    Anamika in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki is shown to undergo tremendous mental and societal pressure in trying to decide between her role as a wife (which is to protect her husband at any cost) or to side with the truth (and thereby reveal his crime). At no point does any family member counsel her. In Kkusum, Kasauti Zindagi Kay, Tu Kahe Agar, the three leading women are shown to be under constant stress and mental pressure owing to either their husband‘s affair with other women or due to some familial problem. In Bhabhi, Tilak and Pushpa pretend she is his wife. In one scene, he pushes her towards the wall and warns her never to tease him.

    In Kasauti Zindagi Kay, Kamolika is under constant physiological stress because she suspects that her husband, Anurag, is still in love with the girl he wanted to marry in the first place.

    In all these instances and in other serials, the wife is placed under tremendous mental duress and even abuse because marriage is often founded on a misunderstanding or for some reason that is unacceptable to the man. Often her husband is in love with another woman and marries her under pressure from his family. What is supposed to be one of the happiest milestones in a woman‘s life, becomes a source of unhappiness and uncertainty and of future conflicts between the couple from the very first day of their marriage and justifies the husband‘s ill-treatment of the wife, the study notes.

    In Choti Maa..ek anokha bandhan (Zee Tv), Kasauti Zindagi Kay (Star Plus), the boyfriends of the female characters physically, verbally and psychologically carry out violence against them. Koyna in Choti Maa becomes the victim to physical abuse by her boyfriend who takes her to a pimp.

    In another example, an apparently progressive character who takes up cudgels for his sister in law against his own brother is also shown taking recourse in brute force. In Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki (Star Plus), Om uses both verbal and psychological pressure along with his tough body language to force Anamika to reveal the truth about her husband raping a blind girl. She is reduced to hysteria in her pregnant state, and finally, breaks down. When she testifies in court, her husband Devan starts screaming at her. She cries and walks out of the courtroom all by herself. The CFAR study raises the pertinent issue of whether a family member be given the license to continuously pressurise or “torture” a woman on the justification that the ‘truth’ has to be established.

    Impacts –
    Several female viewers interviewed by CFAR observed that many of the so-called safe family serials, which hook the viewers with very identifiable situations and characters, have their share of problems. Not only is the depiction of men and women lopsided or one-dimensional, it is highly exaggerated, unrealistic and inconsistent, the study claims. Besides, some female characters are portrayed in an extremely unconvincing manner, especially when portraying a scheming, unscrupulous and dominating character. Men are portrayed in a highly negative manner too and such negative behaviour is often glorified.

    In many of these serials, extramarital affairs, bigamous relationships are shown as a matter of routine, and in some cases extremely casually. This gives children the impression that these are normal, acceptable or even desirable situations and expected adult behaviour, says the study. Mothers also found adverse impact on children’s lifestyles and their quality of life, and felt that children are getting increasingly prone to aggression. They constantly demand attention, exhibit severe mood swings and in some cases are prone to addictive habits. Finally, they behave in a highly precocious fashion, acting and behaving much older than they actually are, adopting adult postures and mannerisms. In most Indian homes, the mothers are at the receiving end of such behaviour.

    This presumes greater importance because research studies show that most of the children are hooked to adult programming. According to CFAR’s recent five-city study on Media Habits of Children, it was found that 50 per cent of the most favourite serials mentioned by the children in the age group of 6-12 years fell in the category of adult programming. Delhi topped the list of children viewing family drama with Shaktimaan (Doordarshan) the only exception.

    The study says that most soaps are exploiting reality to justify domestic violence – not normally condemned. Therefore, shown as ‘normal‘ within a family. The TV family is thus one in which violence is a day to day occurrence. No effort is made to correct this highly offensive and prejudicial behaviour. This justifies violence in real life and desensitises us to it and a future generation who will tend to believe that such personal liberties and violations are permissible in marriage and personal relationships, the study notes.

    Legal steps are seldom shown, the study notes. “Family courts” are held instead, in which might is the norm. Violations of individuals and their legal rights are openly shown. They allow a whole host of individual violations as if it is acceptable behaviour. People, including children, are shown eavesdropping, violating people’s privacy, inflicting physical and verbal violence, taking recourse to hate-filled speeches etc, as if it is their individual prerogative to abuse as long as the person you are abusing is within the family, the study observed.

    Finally, says the study, it gives men the power to resort to violent means to control their wives and teaches wives to submit to the violence in the larger interests of the family, which is at the core of these serials.

    The one week sample included –

    Serial   Number of episodes
       
    Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki 5
       
    Kasauti Zindagi Kay 4
       
    Bhabhi 3
       
    Kkusum 4
       
    Saanjhi 1
       
    Kitne Kool Hai Hum 1
       
    Choti Maa 4
       
    Tu Kahe Agar 1
       
    Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 4
       
    Kuntee 2
       
    Hubahu 1

  • Star Plus seeks its break; Zee improves: Hindi GEC Q3 Study

    The Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) space is back in the spotlight. Strategies, counter strategies, experiments and innovations enchant the market, though audiences remain cautious while deciding their staple programming diet.

    The ongoing churn owes a lot to the manner in which Subhash Chandra‘s Zee TV made its comeback to the reckoning. Because, this turnaround has forced the channel‘s rivals (both leader Star Plus and trailing number three Sony Entertainment) to re-think their strategies and hence, we have a real humdinger of a ratings battle going on these days. This exciting range of happenings has inspired Indiantelevision.com to examine the GEC arena a bit more closely, as it completes its 2006 calendar year‘s third quarter.

    Relative channel share- All Day, CS4+ HSM

    A first look at the data gives an obvious picture. Star Plus leads the tally, followed by Zee TV, Sony, Star One, Sahara One and Sab TV (Average market share data, All Day, CS4+ HSM, 1 July to 30 September, Tam).

    Star Plus, which maintained an above 50 per cent average when we did an April 2006 (All Day Part) analysis, has recorded an average market share of 46.1 per cent for the three month period (Average market share data, All Day, CS4+ 1 July to 30 September, Tam).

    Though the channel made its best efforts to improve its position through various new launches during this period, the market share score missed the 50 per cent mark in this period. In September, it even dropped below the 45 per cent mark for the first time since the KBC phenomenon rewrote Indian television history. From 45.9 per cent of July, the channel improved its position considerably to 47.8 per cent in the month of August. However, in September, the share recorded a slight drop at 44.9 per cent.

    However, Star One has recorded an improvement during this period, as compared to its April 2006 share. The channel, which struggled during the first half of the year due to affairs such as cable blackout in certain parts of the country, has now recorded an average channel share of 6.4 per cent, while the April score stood at 5.38 per cent. The channel is now banking on properties such as Nach Baliye 2, Paraaya Dhan and Kadvee Khatti Meethi to better its position by the end of 2007.

    “We have launched about three to four shows during this period including Nach Baliye 2, Saathi Re & Paraaya Dhan (Star One) and Antariksh, Karam Apnaa Apnaa and Prithviraj Chauhan (Star Plus) and the effort is to take on any kind of competition in any time band. Star Plus is not going to sit pretty on its relatively strong position. Now, the effort will be to constantly improve the performance. There will be no let off from our side on this front”, says Star India EVP content Deepak Segal.

    During this three month period, the number two channel Zee TV has actually improved its position – from an average market share of 19 per cent in April 2006 to an average of 22.9 per cent for the July to September period, according to Tam. The score reads like this: July 23.4 per cent), August (22.1 per cent) and September (23.3 per cent).

    “The turnaround started with Saath Phere and Kassamh Se and the kind of innovations and experiments we employed in our storylines have really contributed to this good performance. This way, we managed to get the audience flow. We have steadied our soaps. The launch of Betiyann has completed our soap range for the year and now the focus is on various other genres. Hence, we will have now programmes such as the mythology Raavan and reality show Cinestars coming up. So, the strategy will revolve around non-soap genres for the next phase,” says Zee TV programming head Ashwini Yardi.

    Sony‘s position hasn‘t undergone any drastic changes as the channel recorded an average market share of 12.5 per cent for the three month period as compared to its April 2006 score of 12.36 per cent.

    Though flagship channel Sony may be still struggling, but sister channel Sab has been making a slow and steady improvement, on the other hand. The channel which scored an average channel share of 3.04 per cent for April in the All Day Part has improved the score significantly to 4.9 per cent for the June to September period.

    Sahara One, which received an April ‘windfall‘ in terms of cricket telecast rights and scored an average market share of 10 per cent during that period, has now gone down in the chart. The channel has scored an average market share of 5.3 per cent for the July to September period in All Day Part.

    Rating Score Card – Prime Time

    Kyunki Saas Bhi… continues to be Star Plus‘ channel driver programme. The long running soap of Hindi television recorded its best rating of 14.17 TVR on 31 July, 14.31 TVR on 29 August and 13 TVR on 4 September. The channel has a fixed line up of shows occupying all the top four positions including Kyunki… and the shows are Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kasauti Zindagi Kay and Kahiin To Hoga. While in July, the fourth and fifth positions were occupied by Baa Bahoo Aur Baby and Kkavyanjali respectively, in August the positons went to special shows Nach Baliye 2 Muh Dekhai and Shaadi Ke Rang Bhabhi Ke. In September, Prithviraj Chauhan (best TVR 7.38) and Karam Apnaa Apnaa (best: 7.12 TVR) made it to the reckoning.

    Zee TV has three different soaps recording the channel‘s best ratings in the prime time in these three months. In July 2006, Saath Phere recorded the highest 7.32 TVR, while in August it was the Balaji Telefilms soap Kasamh Se (6.16 TVR). The top slot for the month of September escaped both the shows and went to the finals of Saregamapa Lil Champs (6.81 TVR).

    Zee TV‘s good show in the rating chart has a lot to do with the impressive opening week rating its new launches record these days. For example, Banoo Main Teri Dulhann recorded its best launch-month (august) rating of 3.5. TVR. And in September, Dulhann further consolidated its position with a best of the month rating of 4.37 TVR. Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann‘s best of the month (September launch) rating stands at 4.99 TVR.

    For Sony, CID continues to be the channel driver with an average rating of 3.5 TVR for the three month period, according to Tam (HSM CS4+). In September, newly launched reality dance show Jhalakk Dikhla Ja has made its appearance in the top 10 chart for Sony. The show has filled the second slot in Sony‘s line up with its best rating of 2.95 TVR.

    Betiyann Vs Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki + Naach Baliye 2

    The month of September also witnessed an interesting battle between Zee TV and Star Plus in the coveted 10 pm slot. The story was about how Zee TV unpacked its biggest soap launch of the year — Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann and positioned it against Star Plus‘ unchallenged 10 pm property Kahaani…

    Giving the development to a total new twist was Star One‘s strategy to launch Naach Baliye 2 on the same day that Zee scheduled Betiyann‘s launch – on 25 September. Though Naach Baliye was slotted in the 8 pm post and it looked the launch had nothing to do with Zee‘s 10 pm introduction of Betiyann, Star had different plans in mind. Star One telecast a 2.30 hours special episode of Naach Baliye 2 on 25 September in order to let the celeb dance show‘s launch clash with the launch episode of Betiyann. Then on the other side, Star Plus had a spiced up episode of Kahaani…to counter the Zee TV soap.

    Now, let‘s see how all these three programmes finally delivered as per Tam ratings:

    The Star ploy of countering Betiyann with Naach Baliye 2 special episode worked well for the channel. Betiyann‘s launch ratings stood at 2.58 TVR, while Nach Baliye 2 opening episode recorded a rating of 4.86 TVR (CS4+ HSM). However, it looks like the ploy had backfired in Kahaani…‘s case as the soap could gather only 6.14 TVR for the particular day. (Kahaani… normally records a rating of about 8 TVR on an average).

    However, Betiyann recovered from the initial blow quickly and came up with an improved performance during the rest of the week: 3.24 (26 Sept), 4.18 (27 Sept) and 4.99 TVR (28 Sept). And the Betiyann figures also reveal Zee‘s success in giving a jolt to Kahaani… in the initial week itself. The Star Plus soap had recorded an average rating of 8.75 TVR in week 38 (17 Sept to 23 Sept). And in the week that Betiyann got launched, Kahaani..‘s average rating has slipped to 7.25 TVR, as per Tam.

    Post Script:

    So what is waiting the GEC market in coming months? One genre that is expected to make its presence felt during this period is Reality. Two big ticket reality shows, Sony‘s Bigg Brother and Zee TV‘s Cinestars, will be unveiled in November. Star One has just kicked off its Naach Baliye 2 and the show has competition from Sony‘s celeb dance show Jhalak Dikhla Ja. So the space will have not less than four reality shows engaged in an eyeball war with each other in this quarter.

    Strategy-wise, as Yardi has revealed, Zee TV‘s focus will be now on non-soap programmes such as Raavan and Cinestars. Star Plus is looking at the kids genre in a big way and has even accommodated a kids-oriented superhuman show Antariksh in its weekday 8 pm prime time band. The channel has lined up another kids show Lucky for the same slot on Saturdays. As Segal puts it, “We are looking to develop kids also as a key viewer segment of ours. Star has always been popular for its quality kids shows.” Sahara One‘s October-November plans will mainly revolve around the upcoming soap Solhah Singaar‘.

    As the market leader Star Plus is seeking a good break to go back to its old good days of undisputed leadership and Zee TV uncorking fresh concepts to win back its lost glory, the Hindi GEC space is going through one of its best times. Then we have international players such as BBC and Viacom (reportedly in talks with Sahara One for a stake in the channel) and then our own NDTV gearing up their general entertainment channel plans for the Hindi market.

    So the big question remains: Will all these high profile suitors be able to come up with path breaking concepts and innovative positioning strategies to help the market really expand further?

  • Diwali rush for concepts, slots and TRPs

    Indian television‘s Hindi general entertainment space is at its aggressive best.As the market is about to enter its ‘harvest‘ season — with the big stakes game of Diwali placed just a month away — there is a thunderstorm brewing on the programming battlefront.

    Late last month, when Zee TV pointed a finger at Star India, making a serious charge of copyright infringement, the incident had given away the plot of the big fight coming up. Zee Telefilms issued a notice to Star demanding it withdraw all activities around its upcoming soap, tentatively titled Betiyaan, claiming ownership of the concept. Zee said it was in fact gearing up to launch its big ticket soap Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, produced by Creative Eye.

    Star dismissed Zee‘s charges, asserting that the show‘s writer Rekha Modi had registered the titles and the concept with various copyright bodies well before Zee made its own registration.

    According to market sources, the issue finally got resolved through an out-of-court settlement. Zee retained its original title Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann title, whereas Star chose the name Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan.

    Now, compare the storylines, as offered by both the channels:

    Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan is the story of six daughters and one son born into a Zamindar family of Neelkanth Chanda Rana. It is the story of a father who rebukes his daughters because for him they are a burden. They have come into his life only for want of a son. Krishna, the eldest daughter and the protagonist, is based on Lord Krishna‘s character and personifies his depth of wisdom and understanding. A simple, honest and principled girl, she is the balancing factor amongst her sisters. Paraaya Dhan may be considered the story of many a home in India where it is believed that a son will take the family name further and a daughter is Paraya Dhan, states a Star India release.

    According to the Zee official communiqué, Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann is Zee TV‘s steadfast attempt to address the ever-persistent issue of gender discrimination in our country. The show highlights certain myths that exist in our society today. States Zee TV programming head Ashvini Yardi on the Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, “With Ghar Ki Lahsmi… we are trying to highlight the serious issue of gender inequity that is prevalent in our society.”

    And it is again strategies and counter strategies. On 19 September, Zee TV conducted a press conference to announce its plans to launch Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann — set in a Gujarati household — on 25 September. On 18 September, Star made the smart move of talking to the media about its October launch Paraaya Dhan well in advance. Apart from the plot, what was revealed was the time slot of 9 pm, Monday to Thursday. The result: Star could let the market know about the development a day in advance.

    What makes both these Betiyaan shows keenly fought properties? With Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, Zee TV is attacking one of the two most crucial time slots of Star Plus – 10 pm, where the long running soap Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki is playing. Letting the Zee TV do what it had done in the 9 pm – 10 pm slot (with success stories Saath Phere & Kassamh Se) would be suicidal for Star Plus and the channel understands that fact very well.

    “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki is an old show with a dedicated viewership and we are confident of the soap overcoming any new challenge in its way. But we will make efforts to protect the show. I am not hinting that we will be doing stunts to keep the viewer glued. We will be taking liberties that the story line would allow and accordingly, we will be creating twists and turns in the plot to fight competition,” Star India senior creative director Shailja Kejriwal says.

    “The main strength of Ghar Ki Lakshmi… is its content and we have full faith in it. The soap is very important for us. Creative Eye is producing the show; it has been placed in the 10 pm time slot; and more importantly, we believe that the concept is very unique but very relevant. No counter strategy would be able to stop this soap,” retorts Zee TV‘s Yardi. She adds that Zee wouldn‘t be resorting to any exercise such as simultaneous premiere on its network channels to expand the viewership.

    And one show that will be making its best efforts for not getting caught in this exchange of fire would be Sony‘s brand new celebrity dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. Reason: Jhalak.. again has been placed in the crucial slot of 10 pm, Wednesday and Thursday.

    It seems the leading channels are almost done with their key Diwali arrangements. With the introduction of Ghar Ki Lakshmi… in the 10 pm slot, Zee TV has revamped its 10 – 11 pm slot. L‘il Champs will now air Friday-Saturday at 10 pm. Shabaash India has been shiifted to the Monday -Tuesday 10.30 pm slot, while Johny Aala Re will now air on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 pm.

    Star One is meanwhile revamping its prime time band as well, with the entry of Nach Baliye 2 on 25 September (placed in the 8:30 pm slot) and the launch coincides with the Ghar Ki Lakshmi… launch in terms of dates. In October, two other soaps Saathi Re and Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan will mark the launch of new primetime programming band, with Saathi Re airing at 8:30 pm followed by Betiyaan apni yaa…Paraaya Dhan at 9 pm.

    After Jhalak.., Sony‘s Diwali plans would revolve around two upcoming properties: a prime time soap Kaajaal and a reality-based show titled Big Boss. Though the channel is yet to reveal its plans about these two shows, indications are that they will be placed in the 9 to 10 pm slot.

  • Karnataka Opening Up!

    In the last two years, the South Indian television market has witnessed much churn in terms of fresh investments and new initiatives. In all the languages combined, at least 10 new channels were launched during this period. In this two-year period, there has been one market missing all the action – Karnataka.

    However, 2006 holds something different for the Rs 1.5 billion Kannada television market. Zee has made the first move by launching its second South Indian channel Zee Kannada, a pay channel, on 11 May. Not to be left behind, the Hyderabad-headquartered Associated Broadcasting Company Pvt Ltd, which runs Telugu news channel TV9, is targeting a July launch for its Kannada news channel – TV9 Kannada.

    Exploring the news space further in the market will be Kannada Kasturi, promoted by chief minister Kumaraswamy‘s wife Anitha. The news channel is expected to launch by year-end.

    Though the Kannada television market is the third largest player in the regional space (behind Tamil and Telugu), it, surprisingly, didn‘t help much in attracting new investments. While the Rs 1.25 billion Malayalam (Kerala) television space witnessed the launch of about five channels in 2005, Karnataka received just one single player, Udaya 2, a youth-oriented music channel from the Sun Network stable. And it required two outside players – Zee and TV9 – to bring some changes in the pattern.

    “It has something to do with people‘s mindset. It looks like Kannadigas are not very enterprising when it comes to television. They are more involved with the film business. Also it requires a mammoth effort to make your presence felt in the market since you have two established players — ETV and Udaya — to compete with. Then, Hindi also attracts audience here,” points out Shyamsundar, head of the production house Yantra Media.

    Explains ETV chief producer Manvi: “The Kerala market is different from Tamil and Telugu because, here it is not a one-sided competition. Asianet and Surya are going neck and neck, but you have smaller players also making significant contributions. The market attracts fresh investments since it is open to all kinds of experiments and fresh programming strategies. In Kerala, new players are thriving on this confidence. Other regional markets are yet to deliver that confidence.”

    In that case, what is the strategy that Zee has zeroed in on to take on ETV and Udaya in Karnataka? The media behemoth had suffered a setback five years ago when it first entered the South market through Kannada with Kaveri TV through a joint venture with Asianet. Understandably, Zee has done its homework before making the second attempt as an independent venture now.

    The preparations included extensive field research involving about 700,000 households to get its programming mix right. Soaps, films and telefilms will constitute 25 per cent of the channel programming. Gameshows and talk shows will make up another 25 per cent. As for the rest of it, there will be a stress on current affairs programmes, events and film-based shows.

    Zee Kannada‘s positioning is in direct contrast to that of its southern sibling Zee Telugu. The one-year old Telugu channel targets the young upwardly mobile viewer segment, while Zee Kannada is following the traditional strategy of going for the mass audience.

    “Being the second largest player in the regional space, you can afford to experiment a lot in the Telugu space. We had our options to choose our target group (TG) in Telugu. But Kannada is a comparatively a smaller market. Hence, the plan is to follow the traditional strategy,” states head of Zee South Initiatives Ajay Kumar.

    Most importantly, Zee Kannada will be making a conscious attempt to be very close to Kannada culture and retain the local flavour in its programmes. According to market sources, Zee has adopted this strategy from ETV Kannada.

    “ETV‘s programmes are very local oriented and that is the channel‘s USP. Almost 95 per cent of the programmes are done by local producers. Zee Kannada seems to be following the same strategy by signing up a chunk of local producers. At the same time, Udaya follows a different gameplan as it explores the whole of South and Hindi as well (Balaji Productions),” says a source.

    Shedding light on the programming strategies of the leading channels, both Udaya and ETV Kannada have created their own compartments in the space. ETV banks on serials and fiction programmes, while Udaya is known for its films and film based programmes. Udaya has three more channels in Udaya News, Ushe (film and music) and Udaya 2.

    One common strand in any South market is films and this plays a crucial role in Kannada television as well. Acquisition costs for a blockbuster film ranges from Rs 15 million to Rs 20 million.

    Knowing that having strong film content would matter a lot for the channel‘s strategy in the movie-crazy market, Zee Kannada has acquired a combo package of new and old films to create its movie library.

    “Since the TG is the same, Zee Kannada will have a head-on collision with Sun Network‘s Udaya TV and its sister channels. In this context, having strong film content will be crucial,” says a source.

    “Though ETV Kannada acquires many good films every year, Udaya is ahead when comparing the number of films acquired,” adds Shyamsundar.

    Switching to the news space, we have TV9 Kannada and Kannada Kasturi gearing up to explore the relatively virgin land. Finally offering some competition to the lone player in the segment, Udaya News. Kannada Kasturi is still in the process of streamlining its strategies whereas TV9 Kannada is preparing the ground for a July launch.

    Driven by the tagline “Close to your heart”, TV9 Kannada is positioned as a young-at-heart, urban news channel with an international look and feel. TV9 has adopted its Telugu strategy for Kannada as well.

    “We targeted the urban youth and women with TV9 Telugu. We are following a similar strategy for TV9 Kannada also. Within a short duration, TV9 Telugu reached an impressive position in the market, and we are confident of repeating this performance in Kannada as well,” states TV9 chief news coordinator Rajasekhar.

    TV9 Kannada is planning to create a space for itself in the film-crazy, entertainment-oriented market through efficient coverage and innovations. “The idea is to crack the market by providing something fresh. Kannadigas are used to the traditional methods of news delivery and presentation. Our attempt will be to take it to a new level, with a lot of innovations. The plan is to woo the urban crowd by offering them international standards in the local language,” says Rajasekhar.

    Inspired by the entry of new players, the Kannada television market is targeting a 25 per cent expansion this year. Market analysts feel that this would also inspire more local advertisers, including retailers, to try television.

    “The ratio between local advertisers versus national advertisers is as low as 10 per cent versus 90 per cent in Karnataka. The television advertising here totally depends on Mumbai and Bangalore clients. We hope this will change with the entry of players such as Zee and TV9,” says Shyamsundar.

    “The market has the potential to touch even the Rs 2 billion mark in a short time. New players mean competition, but it is surely a good sign for the business,” adds Manvi.