ITV

Tag: hindi gecs

  • GEC, regional channels’ viewership to dip further this year due to IPL, Elections

    GEC, regional channels’ viewership to dip further this year due to IPL, Elections

    MUMBAI: This summer, India is set to witness two major events, the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the much awaited General Elections, clash for votes and viewership. For the broadcast industry, those with general entertainment channels (GECs) are likely to see even further dip in eyeballs because of this.

    With Star India introducing several regional feeds for its first edition of IPL last year, the regional channels also saw a slight change. As per reports, viewership share of regional language telecast was reported to be 23 per cent followed by English with 22 per cent and Hindi dominating with 55 per cent.

    IPL telecast has also shown significant impact on viewing habits for other genres. While mapping viewership of various genres during IPL and non-IPL weeks, it was found that the share of the GEC genre declined marginally in all 3 years under review (2016-18), as viewers tuned in to IPL matches during primetime.

    According to Viacom18 Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network head Nina Elavia Jaipuria, these events, no doubt, work well with audiences but that doesn’t mean that people stop watching GECs. She said, “What happens in any country when there is large mass viewership, there is one television, and the viewership time gets divided. But like I told you that the power of content is so much that there is no viewer who is going to stay without television for two months and without their characters. It’s the eleventh IPL and Hindi GECs have always done well. It is not that people stop watching GECs. So to my mind, there will be some division of time and little more time given to different genres of channels. But people will not stop watching their favourite shows and characters.” She is confident that Viacom18 has a very strong line up and there’s no reason that it will be losing viewership on the channels.

    Zee TV business head Aparna Bhosle claimed that Zee saw growth during IPL last year. She added that when the content offering is strong, viewership invariably grows. Media planners spoke to Indiantelevision.com and said that the loss of viewership will be little more than the previous year. On the contrary, while reports suggested that regional channels are expected to grow double digits, this year regional broadcasters felt that there could be a decrease.

    Fakt Marathi Enterr10 MD Shirish Pattanshetty said that it wouldn’t be the case with Hindi GECs as against regional channels. “Trend shows that regional could see 8 to 12 per cent decline,” he said.

    According to Dishum Broadcasting COO Partha Dey, the viewership on news and sports genre will definitely be high but rooted entertainment and spike programming on regional channels will cushion much of the impact.

    Talking about the growth of viewership on television, the impressions for IPL 2018 witnessed a growth of 41 per cent over the 2016 season and 16 per cent over the 2017 season. Even the average time spent went from 28 minutes in 2016 to 34 minutes in 2018. 

    Stratagem Media founder-director Sundeep Nagpal said that the loss of viewership can be expected to be a little more pronounced this year. Moreover, Carat Media SVP Mayank Bhatnagar explained that IPL viewership has been growing year-on-year. He added, “In 2018, GEC and movies genres’ viewership drop was 3-5 per cent. This year, there are back-to-back cricket events with IPL first and then the World Cup. So it’s imperative to have counter strategies to mitigate the risk.”

    As far as ad rates are concerned Pattanshetty said that overall it is likely to increase due to the mega events and regional especially may see double-digit growth.

    With the new TRAI tariff regime also set, there is likely to be fluctuations in the viewership pattern as well. The industry is giving time for viewership patterns to stabilise and is likely to see it happen before these events take place. 

  • Viacom18 continues period drama experimentation with ‘Jhansi ki Rani’

    Viacom18 continues period drama experimentation with ‘Jhansi ki Rani’

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 is not one to stay down after one fall. Recently, the network released a periodical historical drama Dastaan-E-Mohobbat on Colors but when it failed to grab eyeballs, it has swiftly decided to replace it with another in the same genre – Jhansi Ki Rani produced by Contiloe Pictures.

    Viacom18 Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network head Nina Elavia Jaipuria said, “The show Dastaan-E-Mohobbat didn’t click very well. Since we are in the business of entertainment, there comes a time when viewers embrace us and sometimes they don’t. Therefore, we learnt from our past and moved on to new things because entertainment is all about finding the right viewers and finding the right content for them. So, unfortunately, it didn’t do really well for us and it’s off-air right now.”

    The new tariff regime was also likely to impact broadcasters. Jaipuria said that it puts the control of choice squarely in the hands of the viewer. She added that the second benefit of this regime is that it brings in the much-needed transparency into the system, with under-reporting promising to become a thing of the past. “As business becomes more streamlined and transparent, I feel the process of content creation, curation and distribution will significantly improve. Interestingly, the future for the broadcasters will now undergo a subtle yet tectonic shift – from networks bundling and pushing channels to consumers, it will become consumers pulling in channels that they want to watch. This, I believe, in the mid-long term will lead to content quality dialling up even further,” she added.

    Most broadcasters bundled their long-tail channels with their best ones to increase uptake. While it is likely that these channels will suffer, Jaipuria doesn’t think so. According to her, niche channels will not be affected. “While Nick is number one and Sonic is not, that doesn’t mean Sonic can’t make it. Sonic has Shiva. Kids who love Shiva will anyway watch it. I think it is not about the platform but it is about the loyalty and the shows you have today.”

    Meanwhile, two big national events are coming up – IPL and Elections, which may hamper viewership of Hindi GECs. Jaipuria said, “What happens in any country when there is large mass viewership, there is one television household and the viewership time gets divided. But like I told you that the power of content is so much that there is no viewer who is going to stay without television for 2 months and without their characters. It’s the eleventh IPL and Hindi GECs have always done well. It is not that people stop watching GECs. So to my mind, there will be a little division of time and little more time given to different genres of channels. But people will not stop watching their favourite shows and characters.” She is confident that Viacom18 has a very strong line up and there’s no reason that it will be losing viewership on the channels.

  • Colors Kannada, Asianet, Sarthak TV & Sun TV gain: BARC week 1

    Colors Kannada, Asianet, Sarthak TV & Sun TV gain: BARC week 1

    MUMBAI: Though genre leaders like Star Jalsha, Zee Marathi, Bhojpuri Cinema and ETV Telugu witnessed a fall in ratings, they continued to dominate their respective genres in week 1 according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) all India ratings.

     

    On the other hand, channels like Colors Kannada, Asianet, Sarthak TV and Sun TV saw a rise in ratings and secured leadership position in their respective genres in week 1. 

     

    Bangala GECs

     

    Though the Bangala GEC leader Star Jalsha witnessed a fall in ratings, it grabbed the top position in the genre with 240378 (‘000s) in week 1 as against 265939 (‘000s) in week 52 followed by Zee Bangla in the second place with 153485 (‘000s). Jalsha Movies was perched on the third rung with 65645 (‘000s), while Zee Bangla Cinema grabbed the fourth berth with 31141 (‘000s) and Colors Bangla was fifth with 31118 (‘000s).

     

    Bhojpuri GECs

     

    Bhojpuri Cinema led the Bhojpuri genre with 19073 (‘000s) followed by Big Magic Ganga in the number two position with 17787 (‘000s) and Dabangg on third spot with 9118 (‘000s). Dangal TV with 7801 (‘000s) and ETV Bihar Jharkhand with 4141 (‘000s) grabbed the fourth and fifth slot respectively.

     

    Kannada GECs

     

    Colors Kannada continued to lead the Kannada GECs genre and was in the first position with 276078 (‘000s) followed by Udaya Movies in the second slot with 154322 (‘000s). On the other hand, Uday TV fell to the third spot with 140487 (‘000s). On the other hand, Suvarna stood in the fourth position with 134771 (‘000s) and Zee Kannada was down to the fifth position with 133458 (‘000s).

     

    Malayalam GECs

     

    Witnessing a rise in ratings, Asianet led the genre and came out on top with 378813 (‘000s) in week 1 as against 327333 (‘000s) in last week of 2015 followed by Mazhavil Manorama in the second position with 99669 (‘000s) and Surya TV in the third spot with 74005 (‘000s). Flower TV grabbed the fourth spot with 73816 (‘000s), whereas Asianet Movies stood in the fifth position with 52852 (‘000s).

     

    Marathi GECs

     

    In week 1, Zee Marathi saw a fall in ratings but maintained its top position with 165110 (‘000s). Colors Marathi grabbed the second slot with 93040 (‘000s), while Zee Talkies stood at number three with 66102 (‘000s). Star Pravah garnered the fourth slot with 44311 (‘000s) and Maiboli was at number five with 22545 (‘000s).

     

    Oriya GECs

     

    Sarthak TV saw a rise in ratings and secured the leadership position in the genre with 109578 (‘000s) in week 1 as against 94391 (‘000s) in week 52. Tarang TV followed behind to grab the second spot with 61413 (‘000s), while Colors Oriya came third with 18882 (‘000s). Odisha TV fell to the fourth position with 17010 (‘000s), while Prarthana with 11380 (‘000s) grabbed the fifth berth.

     

    Tamil GECs

     

    Market leader Sun TV led the Tamil regional genre and grabbed pole position with 1046602 (‘000s) followed by KTV with 277982 (‘000s) in the second spot. Star Vijay with 181191 (‘000s) stood in the third position. Polimer grabbed the fourth spot with 96146 (‘000s), whereas J Movie with 72131 (‘000s) grabbed the fifth spot.

     

    Telugu GECs

     

     

    ETV Telugu emerged as the number one channel in Telugu GECs genre with 413525 (‘000s) followed by Maa TV in the second spot with 373558 (‘000s). Zee Telugu captured the third place with 359755 (‘000s), while Gemini TV with 281966 (‘000s) bagged fourth place. Gemini Movies with 187321(‘000s) stood at number five. 

  • Balaji Telefilms’ ‘Naagin’ is No. 1 show on Hindi GECs

    Balaji Telefilms’ ‘Naagin’ is No. 1 show on Hindi GECs

    MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms’ weekend fiction show Naagin overtook the top five programmes of Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) in week 48 according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India data for Hindi speaking Market (HSM) (U+R) : NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 4+ Individuals.

     

    Launched on 1 November on Colors, Naagin has become one of the first weekend shows to have better ratings than weekday shows in the genre, having received the maximum ratings this past week. 

     

    Naagin secured the leadership position on the charts with 19576 (000Sums) followed by Star Plus’ prime time show Saath Nibhaana Saathiya in the second slot with 17293 (000Sums), whereas Zee TV’s Kumkum Bhagya took on the third slot with 13466 (000Sums). Colors’ weekday prime time show Sasural Simar Ka bagged the fourth place with 13466 (000Sums), while Zee Anmol’s Ek Se Bhale Do stood at number five with 12712 (000Sums).

     

    As was earlier reported by Indiantelevision.com, though the concept of Naagin is not new to the audience but the show has been doing exceptionally well for Balaji Telefilms and Colors. The show, which is based on the tale of a snake that changes its form according to will, airs at 8 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

     

    In its first week, Naagin garnered the maximum ratings. In week 44, the show totted 15,676 (000Sums). Naagin witnessed a rise in ratings in its first day telecast in week 45 with 16,741 (000Sums) while on the second day telecast, it got ratings of 12,761 (000Sums).

     

    In week 46, Colors’ weekend show again witnessed a rise and obtained 15,255 (000Sums) on Saturday, while on Sunday the ratings stood at 14,756 (000Sums).

     

    In week 47, Naagin stood at number two among the top five Hindi GECs programs. On Saturday, the show received 17,305 (000Sums), while its ratings stood at 16,126 (000Sums) on Sunday.

  • BARC week 47: Star Plus continues to dominate Hindi GECs; Comedy Central is no.1 in English GECs

    BARC week 47: Star Plus continues to dominate Hindi GECs; Comedy Central is no.1 in English GECs

    MUMBAI: Star Plus continues to lead the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) genre and secured leadership position, while Comedy Central emerged as the number one channel in English GECs in week 47 of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, all India (U+R) data. 

     

    Hindi GECs

     

    Star Plus grabbed the pole position in the genre with a hike in ratings with 813084 (000Sums) in week 47 against 795810 (000Sums) in previous week.  Zee’s Free to Air (FTA) channel Zee Anmol maintained its second position with 754786 (000Sums) followed by Colors in the third spot with 713600 (000Sums) and Zee TV in the fourth position with 632511 (000Sums).

     

    With a rise in ratings, Star India’s FTA channel Star Utsav stood at the fifth spot with 544176 (000Sums) against 518725 (000Sums)  in week 46. Life OK held the sixth position with 457560 (000Sums) followed by Sony Entertainment Television in the seventh position with 396968 (000Sums). Sab TV jumped one step ahead with 372333 (000Sums) and grabbed the eighth spot.

     

    Sony Pal with 315559 (000Sums) and Rishtey with 284013 (000Sums) stood at ninth and tenth slot respectively.

     

    English GECs

     

    In week 47, Comedy Central led the English entertainment genre and garnered the pole position with 177 (000Sums) followed by AXN, which was the leader of English GECs in week 46 on second spot with 143 (000Sums). Zee Café with 117 (000Sums) grabbed the third spot in the genre.

     

    Star World with 71 (000Sums) and Colors Infinity SD with 64 (000Sums) stood at the fourth and fifth position respectively.

  • Hindi GECs gear up for Women’s Day

    Hindi GECs gear up for Women’s Day

    MUMBAI: This Women’s Day, television is pulling out all stops to celebrate womanhood. As a tribute to the fairer sex, Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) will run special tracks on some of their popular female-oriented shows.

    As part of its new series, No More Kamzor, Star Plus will honor women who’ve refused to let society defeat their indomitable spirit, empowering others of their ilk through their stories of triumph.

    None other than Vidya Balan, who is the epitome of the strong, modern woman, will host the show that will also see issue-centric performances by the likes of Lauren Gotleib, Sayantani Ghosh and Shakti Mohan, among others.

    Balan will interact with women who dared to bring about a change while sharing with the audience valuable information (guidelines, laws and help lines) during the course of their stories, the aim being to create awareness and empower women.

    “When Star Plus approached me to be part of this show, I didn't have to think twice because as a woman, this is very close to my heart. It is truly an honor for me to be a part of this event, which will inform, empower and inspire millions of women across our country. What better way than this to celebrate womanhood on Women’s day?” said Balan about her participation in the show.

    Not just Star Plus, its sister channel, Life OK, too, will be airing women fight back specials as part of Women’s Day celebrations with Pratyusha Banerjee as host.

    Not to be left behind in the race to woo women, Zee TV will air Stree Samman special at 7pm. The one-hour show will see Neha Marda aka Urmi of Doli Armaanon Ki taking viewers through a journey where protagonists of Zee TV’s different shows will protest injustice against women, sending out a strong message of naari shakti and women's equality and liberation. Some hard-hitting scenes picturized on Zee TV’s leading ladies will be featured on the show; be it Urmi speaking up against eve teasing, Kamla Bai protesting the demolition of her chawl, Gunjan busting a Bihari gang of thugs or Jodha Bai fighting for justice for the slaves in Emperor Akbar’s harem.

    Coming to Colors, with women-oriented shows like Baalika Vadhu and Uttaran already in its kitty, the channel will showcase how Baalika Vadhu’s main protagonist, Anandi, fights for women’s rights along with her sister-in-law, Sanchi. The duo will be seen helping a woman called Avanti in a small village near Jaitsar, even turning to a women’s rights association for help. In addition, the 8 March episode of Bani-Ishq Da Kalma will feature the mother-son bond where the son, in order to make his mother feel better, will prepare a special breakfast for all the ladies of the house, especially his mother.

    Sphere Origins producer Sunjoy Waddhwa who produces Baalika Vadhu believes that women are more superior species than men. “Women’s day is very important, because when we are talking about Baalika Vadhu, we are per say talking about women. In our show, we have shown women’s journey starting from childhood. I think in our show, women’s day has a very big significance because the topic and the issue which we had taken five years back and what we are showing right now is all related to women. The stories are connected to women and what they have gone through and as Baalika Vadhu, how it affects women.”

    As for Sony Entertainment Television, it will air a women’s day special on its dance reality show, Boogie Woogie Kids Championship, where the small fatakas will dedicate the entire episode to all the women they respect and admire.

    For instance, one of the contestants, Abhishek, will dedicate his performance to his mother and perform a stunning dance on the song O naadan Parindey, followed by him humming a few lines of the song Maa from the movie Taare Zameen Par.

     About a whole lot of brands looking to celebrate women this Women’s Day, one media planner says: “There are brands which are targeting to be present on Women’s Day. It helps them to probably improve their presence and therefore better revenues for channels. I am sure they are looking for opportunities which can be leveraged and made bigger.”

    While another planner says that channels witness a 10-15 per cent hike in their revenues during special occasions like Holi, Women’s Day and Valentine’s Day. “Channels which have a special line-up, earn some extra bucks, but by and large, regular programming does not see a huge shift,” he adds on condition of anonymity.

  • Sahara One TV segment reports Rs 3.41 cr operating profit in Q3-2014

    Sahara One TV segment reports Rs 3.41 cr operating profit in Q3-2014

    BENGALURU: Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited (Sahara One) Television segment reported an operating profit of Rs 3.41 crore in Q3-2014, which was 3.49 per cent more than the Rs 3.30 crore in Q3-2013, but (53.17) lower than the Rs 7.29 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. Over the nine month period ended 31 December 2013, the Television segment reported a (29.95) per cent drop in operating profit to Rs 8.17 crore in the corresponding period of last year. 

     

    Sahara One’s Television segment reported operating revenue of Rs 21.29 crore in Q3-2014 which was (54.02) per cent lower than the Rs 46.30 crore in Q3-2013 and (9.27) per cent less than the Rs 23.46 crore in Q2-2014. Television segment reported YTD operating revenue of Rs 73.02 crore which was (33.5) per cent less than the Rs 109.79 crore in the corresponding nine month period of last fiscal. The segment had operating revenue of Rs 135.05 crore in FY 2013. 

     

    Overall the company reported a loss of Rs (3.37) crore in Q3-2014, with unallocated segment eating away Rs (3.30) crore and its motion picture segment Rs (0.02) crore from the operating profit generated by Sahara One’s Television segment.  

     

    Let us look at the other Q3-2014 figures reported by Sahara One 

     

    Sahara One reported a (-55.20) per cent drop in operating revenue in Q3-2014 to Rs 20.41 crore from Rs 45.57 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year and a (9.69) per cent drop in operating revenue as compared to the Rs 24.76 crore in Q2-2014. Over the nine month period ended 31 December, 2013, Sahara One’s operating revenue fell (34.65) per cent to Rs 70.44 crore from Rs 107.78 crore reported in the corresponding period of last year. In FY 2013, the company reported operating income of Rs 132.28 crore. 

     

    Sahara One’s Total income for Q3-2014 at Rs 22.77 crore was (52.02) per cent lower than the Rs 47.46 crore in Q3-2013 and (8.05) per cent lower than the Rs 24.76 crore in Q2-2014. Sahara One’s YTD Total income fell by (32.8) per cent to Rs 47.46 crore from Rs 116.41 crore in the corresponding nine month period of last year. Its Total income for FY 2013 was Rs 142.58 crore. 

     

    Expense in Q3-2014 at Rs 22.67 crore dropped (49.82) per cent from Rs 45.19 crore in Q3-2013 and was 19.41 per cent more than the Rs 18.99 crore in Q2-2014. Sahara One’s YTD Expense at Rs 75.22 crore was (28.69) per cent lower than the Rs 105.49 crore during the corresponding nine month period of last year. 

     

    The major expense head in the case of Sahara One is Purchase of Content. Sahara One’s Content purchase expense for Q3-2014 was down (28.06) per cent to Rs 29.06 crore from Rs 40.40 crore y-o-y and was 39.76 per cent more than the Rs 17.51 crore in Q2-2014. Over the nine month period ended 31 December, 2013, Sahara One paid Rs 68.29 crore towards Content acquisition, which was (27.15) per cent lower than the Rs 93.74 crore in the corresponding period of last year. In FY 2013, Sahara One paid Rs 120.27 crore towards this expense head.

     

    Increase in Inventory by Rs 11.68 crore in Q3-2014 resulted in lower Total expense to that extent. In Q3-2013, Inventory had dropped by Rs 0.65 crore, which resulted in an increase in Total expense in to that extent during that quarter. In Q2-2014, the company reported Inventory Increase of Rs 3.64 crore. Over a nine month period of the current fiscal, Inventory increased by Rs 8.56 crore as compared to the increase of Rs 0.47 crore during the corresponding period of last year. During FY 2013, Sahara One reported Inventory increase of Rs 4.77 crore. 

     

    As mentioned above, the company reported a loss of Rs (3.37) crore in Q3-2014, as compared to a PAT of Rs 1.45 crore in Q3-2013 and a PAT of Rs 4.10 crore in the immediate preceding quarter. Over the nine month period of the current fiscal, the company reported a (72.41) per cent drop in PAT to Rs 1.92 crore from Rs 7.03 crore reported during the corresponding period of last year. The company reported PAT of Rs 5.29 crore in FY 2013.

     

    Click here for the financials

  • Star Plus to air ‘Ishq Kills’ Sunday primetime

    Star Plus to air ‘Ishq Kills’ Sunday primetime

    MUMBAI: Given the importance of primetime, most Hindi general entertainment channels would steer clear of risqué content in this slot. However, as the leader in the Hindi GEC category, Star Plus continues to be an exception to the rule.

     

    Back in 2010, the channel introduced adult-themed shows such as Maryada – Aakhir Kab Tak and Kaali – Ek Agnipariksha during late primetime. Once again, it is all set to air a new show, Ishq Kills every Sunday at 10:00 pm, starting 16 February.

     

    The one hour show will enact crimes of passion that have taken place in the country. Statistics reveal that most crimes in India are committed either for love or for money, and Ishq Kills will be the first show to highlight those where love is involved.

     

    While the Star spokesperson was unavailable for comment, sources close to the development said the show is based on true events and will wrap up in 26 episodes. Produced by Rowdy Rascals of Savdhaan India fame, Star Plus has roped in film producer-director Vikram Bhatt to host the show.

     

    The show promo doing the rounds of all the Star Network channels has already generated a lot of curiosity. It shows a married man sleeping with his housekeeper and when he professes his love for her, she asks him to “prove it” by “killing memsaab”  

     

    While there is no dearth of crime-based shows on Hindi GECs, going by the promo, the show definitely carries the promise of standing out from the rest. Then again, it is in for some serious competition from Colors’ Comedy Nights with Kapil (CNWK), which has almost become a brand unto itself.  

     

    Will the show work its magic on Star Plus?

     

    Says a media professional who doesn’t wish to be named: “This is the time when the whole family sits and watches either movies or shows which refresh their mind. However, thriller-based shows have never worked for Star after some point of time. Moreover, the series is competing with CNWK which is already a brand now and people block 10:00 pm for it. I think CNWK will eat up all its ratings as the loyal audiences have already been built in this slot.”

     

    According to another media professional, primetime in GECs has grown nearly 20-25 per cent in the past few months which proves there are viewers available as also the potential for growth.

     

    With competitors like Fear Files on Zee TV and Savdhaan India on Life OK, only time will tell who is going to have the last laugh!

  • Man Jit Singh likely to continue as IBF president

    Man Jit Singh likely to continue as IBF president

    MUMBAI: It was in early January of this year, that a major announcement emerged from MultiScreen Media (MSM – Sony Entertainment) wherein NP Singh was announced as CEO of the network, replacing Man Jit Singh. 

     

    The industry hadn’t digested the news when another one broke which stated that  Man Jit Singh was being moved into a global position as president of  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, replacing David Bishop who will depart in March when his contract expires.

     

    What this elevation means is that Man Jit Singh will now be located in Los Angeles (LA). 

     

    So what does it mean for Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) of which he is the president?

     

    Last year in September, the IBF re-elected Singh as its president at its 14th annual general meeting. But with him spending more time in LA, will IBF look for someone else to take his place? 

     

    No, comes the unanimous response from highly placed industry sources. An IBF representative states that:  “Man Jit Singh will continue to preside over the body as the president. For us, things are working smoothly and we don’t expect to see any changes.”

     

    Another source from the industry who is in agreement adds, “There is a board meeting to discuss the issue on 16 of this month but we see status quo being maintained.”

     

    When we called up Man Jit Singh to get his view on the same, he was unreachable. However, sources reveal he will be jetting to and fro between India and the US even now like he used to earlier. “He is used to the travel and has been doing it for ages now, so we don’t think distance is going to change anything.”

  • “My immediate focus is on turning around Sony Ent, our flagship channel”

    “My immediate focus is on turning around Sony Ent, our flagship channel”

    He has been fairly low profile, mild-mannered and soft spoken. But underneath the soft exterior NP Singh is tough as nails and a fiesty fighter just like many from the Sikh community – to which he belongs – are known to be. Recently, Singh was hoicked to the CEO’s position at Multi Screen Media India – Sony Entertainment Television Network India – after running it as COO for nearly a decade. He replaced Man Jit Singh – who has moved on to a global position looking after its home entertainment business.

     

    NP is a long time Sony loyalist as he joined it way back in 1999 as CFO.  He has been given charge at a challenging time when the network’s flagship channel Sony Entertainment is at  a lowly sixth position amongst Hindi GECs, just a tad above Sahara. That’s a far cry from the third or fourth spot it occupied until 2012.

     

    Currently in his mid-50s, has seen the highs and lows of not only the Sony Entertainment Network, but the industry as well. His appointment has put his rivals on alert because it is he who pushed the transformation of Sab into a topnotch Hindi comedy offering, Pix into a channel showcasing Hollywood blockbusters, and successfully launched Mix in a crowded music channel market place. 

     

    In a conversation with Indiantelevision.com’s Seema Singh, NP speaks of his immediate plans and the road ahead.

     

    Excerpts:

     

    15 years in Sony and now becoming the CEO. What is the feeling?

     

    I have enjoyed every day that I have been here. I joined the company in June 1999 as the CFO and then got elevated to the position of chief operating officer and now the chief executive officer. I have seen the entire journey. The company is 18 years old and I have been here for the past 15 years. I have been a part of a lot of success and have also faced multiple challenges. Overall, it has been a fantastic journey. I am happy that I have been given the role to head the company.

     

    What are the challenges that lie ahead for the Network?

     

    The number one priority for me is to turn on the power of the flagship channel, Sony. In the short time, this will be my focus. We have seen success on the flagship channel not too long ago. In 2012, the channel was doing extremely well. Since 2012 end, the channel started seeing a drop in viewership; my objective is to arrest that drop and put the channel on the path of growth.

     

    Every CEO has a dream team. What is yours? Do we see any management changes in the future? Who do we see as the next COO for the Network?

     

    We have a strong management team with very good talent across the company. And we have been proud of the team and I will continue to work with them to achieve the dream that we have collectively for the company.

     

    Changes are a part of life and as we go forward, there may or may not be any changes, but it is too premature to comment on.  

     

    For now there will be no COO for the company. We have a strong management team and I will work directly with them to achieve the objectives set.

     

    Will life change for you after becoming a CEO?

     

    I have been here and have been partnering with Man Jit Singh who was here as CEO earlier. I have been part of all the successes and challenges and am acutely aware of what needs to be done. So it doesn’t have any major impact on my life going forward. Except that I will not have a COO right now and so I will interact with the management team directly. This means I will be spending more time in the office, of which I do not complain.

     

    What are the opportunities you have as a CEO?

     

    There are multiple opportunities. In the near term, my first priority is the turnaround of Sony and within that lies an opportunity for growth in revenue of the company. I see growth opportunities on the distribution side as well. That is something we have to stay focused on and we have to help grow the ARPUs at the subscriber level so that the benefit can flow right through the value chain upward to content owners like us.

     

    I see huge opportunity in the exploitation of digital platforms through mobile phones and tablets. If we can get our content to the audience through this medium, we will see a huge rise in revenue.

     

    I also see an opportunity in the regional market that we will evaluate over a period of time and then make our choices.

     

    Sony launched ‘Sony Mahotsav’ in UP, Punjab and Haryana starting from November 2013. What was the reason for it and how has the response been?

     

    We launched it with the objective to engage with our viewers in these markets. We want to take the brand to these markets and also our artistes from major shows to those cities to make the brand more accessible to them.

     

    The response has been positive and we will continue to build on this initiative going forward as well because we want to engage audiences of smaller towns with the channel. This is one initiative. We are also trying to build that engagement through our content and communication.

     

    Phase I and II of digitisation is complete. Do you see that helping the Network in getting better reach and viewership numbers?

     

    Digitisation will not grow our overall viewership base. It will lead to more transparency from the broadcasters’ perspective. Because digitisation will bring about addressability, there will be more information/ transparency about the viewer or subscriber we have for the network. Having said that phase I and II have been completed, set top boxes (STBs) have been installed in the households, but the real addressability has still not happened.

     

    There is still time for that. The MSOs do not have the database for those STBs. We are supporting them through campaigns running on our network. Hopefully in the next few months, they can get the data from the local cable operator and create a database and then start invoicing the subscribers directly. That will happen in the next few months and then over next two years complete addressability will come in and there will be benefits right from the viewer up to the broadcaster and content creator.

     

    Sony has always believed in experimenting with the content. But the past few years have not done too well for the channel. Is it that the channel is too ahead of time? Why aren’t you able to connect with the audience?

     

    It is a combination of multiple factors. Till 2012, we were clearly the number two ranking channel.  We were also at number one during the nine week period when the ratings did not get reported. But since then we have seen a decline in viewership and there are multiple factors behind it. One of the key factors was the universe update by TAM and the inclusion of LC1 markets in reporting viewership. The LC1 market has a 25 per cent share in the total viewership pie and that impacted our ratings. Secondly, some of our fiction shows also didn’t perform the way we expected them to.

     

    But we are the pioneers in the many new concepts and ideas. Some of them have been way ahead of time, for example the YRF shows that we brought to our viewers. Those were top quality shows that were accepted and appreciated by one set of audience, while not taken well by the other set of audience. But that doesn’t mean we will stop coming up with path breaking ideas. We have not been successful in the recent past, but that will not stop us from continuing to follow that path.

     

    The fiction shows have not done well for the channel. Also the non-fiction slate is developing fatigue. How do you plan to strengthen the programming slate?

     

    We have to continue to innovate. We did that successfully with the last season of Indian Idol in which we introduced kids. Also in Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) we brought several innovations. Though it was well received in the beginning, eventually it settled down at a lower number. But that doesn’t mean there is fatigue with the format of the show. We will do something more when we bring KBC the next time.

     

    We are looking at refreshing our weekend primetimes and that is why we got Boogie Woogie back on TV, which is doing well for the channel. We will be bringing back Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega as well. The first and foremost task is to look at our fiction strategy and revamp that. Our plan is to bring in new shows to weekday primetime and strengthen it. We realise that it is there where we can build loyalties with the viewer. So that is the focus, followed by refreshing the weekend.

     

    Though Sony India is doing well and contributes some 40-50 per cent  to the overall revenue of the Sony Pictures’ media networks business, there is pressure on Sony from investors such as Dan Loeb to make Sony’s entertainment business deliver. Is that putting any pressure on you? How do you plan to cope with that?

     

    MSM is a very strong performer for the entire Sony Corporation. We have performed really well and India has a lot of growth opportunity and we are getting a lot of investment from the parent into the company. Whatever new initiative we come up with, till the time it makes strategic and economic sense we will get investment support from the parent.

     

    You will be reporting into Andy Kaplan, what is it like to work with him? Are there more challenges now?

     

    I have worked with Andy for the past several years and I don’t see any change in the dynamics of our relationship. I look forward to working with him even more closely now.

     

    What do you think is missing in the Sony slate?

     

    There will always be some unfinished agenda at any point in time. But right now we have everything to make the network more successful. There are some new initiatives that we are working on for the future growth of the network, which we will announce in due course of time, but first and foremost objective is the turnaround of our flagship channel.

     

    The network bouquet looks weak without any strong regional offerings. Are you looking at strengthening it by moving south?

     

    We have one channel in West Bengal. So we have one channel as far as the regional space is concerned, but it is a small channel, which has carved a niche for itself. We are looking at some other markets and currently we are evaluating all the options and will make our choice in due course of time.

     

    Unbundling of bouquets is something which Dish TV has recently encouraged by offering IndiaCast channels on an a la carte basis. Then the TRAI may soon come up with its recommendation paper on aggregators. Do you see that affecting the distribution of channels?

     

    We always follow very collaborative process in any negotiation that we do with our partners and like everyone else Dish TV is also a strong partner. We have had strong relations with them in the past and even now.

     

    There has been a lot of conjecture about the TRAI consultation paper on aggregators, but no one knows what will happen. Will cross that bridge when the recommendation comes out.

     

     Are you looking at launching any new channel?

     

    We never do something because other networks are doing it. We always do things that are good for our Network. We will do what makes strategic and economic sense for us. And from that perspective, if we have to launch a new channel we will.

     

    You can watch more of what the Sony Entertainmetnt CEO has to say by clicking here: Executive Dossier with MSM India CEO NP Singh