ITV

Tag: indiantelevision.com

  • Lok Sabha Television to air mini-series on endangered wildlife species

    Lok Sabha Television to air mini-series on endangered wildlife species

    NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Television will be airing a special series on wildlife featuring endangered species from 2 October.

     

    The daily half-hour series will be telecast up to 8 October everyday at 9 pm, except on Tuesday when the episode will be aired at 8.30 pm.

     

    The programme has been produced and anchored by Abhilash Khandekar, who also produces the Astitva series on the channel every fortnight.

     

    A different species will be discussed with an expert, and the first programme is about elephants with Vivek Menon.

     

    Experts include Dipankar Ghosh (red panda), Samir Sinha (tiger), Dr Bonal (rhino), A Andheria lion), and Jamsingh of Jaisalmer on bustards.

     

    Khandekar told Indiantelevision.com that the programme will discuss steps being taken to safeguard that particular species and the role that public or private sector can play in this. 

  • Change in investor mindset needed for MSOs to chart growth path

    Change in investor mindset needed for MSOs to chart growth path

    GOA: While the direct-to-home (DTH) sector has managed to attract investment from private investors because of its growth, the cable industry will be able to do so only if multi-system operators (MSOs) add broadband to their services.

     

    This was the general consensus of a session on ‘Investing in Digital assets – Gems and long bets’ at the ongoing Indian Digital Operators Summit (IDOS) 2015 organised by Indiantelevision.com and Media Partners Asia.

     

    HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt Ltd director of analyst telecoms, media and Internet Rajiv Sharma said that DTH had gained as it has shown growth in terms of average revenue per user (ARPU), and innovation.

     

    While the stocks of cable industry initially went down, a reading of the figures of both cable and DTH showed that there was some recovery towards the end of the year. “The MSOs have not matched up to expectations, partly because of MSO-local cable operator problems,” Sharma said.

     

    In the session moderated by Castle Media ED Vynsley Fernandes, Sharma said that broadband can be the catalyst, which can bring in growth but only one or two MSOs have entered the broadband space.

     

    “The scale of growth is directly linked to attracting investments. If LCOs (local cable operators) can show that they own subscribers, they will get investment,” Sharma said. However, he was quick to add that broadband infrastructure and broadband compliant STBs (set top boxes) would help.

     

    Asked about collaborations, Sharma said that the media can learn a lot from telecom where networking and collaborations led to the government thinking in terms of letting them sell or share spectrum. “Telecoms focus on revenues to share, while the cable industry wants finance for set top boxes,” he said.

     

    Replying to a question about the slow growth of broadband in the country, he said, “Anything that is wireline will grow slowly whereas wireless will grow much faster. The consumer is willing to pay but it is for the government to facilitate this.”

     

    Sharma also added that the quality of management, profitability and network will attract investments. He regretted that the cable industry had failed to learn any lessons from the first two phases of the Digital Addressable Systems (DAS).

     

    Concurring with Sharma, MPA executive director Vivek Couto added, “Investors reward growth and DTH did exactly that.” However, he was of the opinion that the last mile operator (LMO) will consolidate under the Headend In The Sky (HITS) platform and that may change the situation. “The results will begin to show in the three to four years,” he said.

     

    Referring to NXT Digital, which was prepared to offer funding, he said that LMOs may now come forward.

     

    Couto added that while organized MSOs were doing well, investment in broadband in the short term would bring in benefits in the long term.

     

    In reply to a question, he said that India was the only country where content generation was growing. “But in all this, the cable industry was feeling lost,” he opined.

     

    Indiantelevision.com founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari had the last word when he said that the mindset of investors had to change as few MSOs in India could today afford the kind of growth their counterparts had shown in foreign countries.

     

    In another session, Maharashtra Cable Operators Foundation president Arvind Prabhoo and Sagar E-Technologies executive director Sudhish Kumar agreed that the cable industry had to organise itself better if it was to attract investments and grow in the digital era.

     

    Prabhoo said he had succeeded to an extent in this by getting the LCOs to be seen as the last mile operator (LMO). In an example of how the LMOs can grow, he said, “30 LMOs in Nagpur have joined together to form an MSME and were not prepared to invest in other LMOs,” he said.

     

    He added that if investors put in money to help create model services, there will be a major change in the next six months or so. “If cable operators offer other services through their STBs, there will be a churn in the industry,” he said.

     

    Kumar, who has a headend in Bangalore, lamented that finance was a major problem. “One STB cost around Rs 1500, but some of the larger MSOs sell boxes for around Rs 1000 and this forced others to sell at lower rates, which in turn results in a loss,” he said.

     

    Emphasising on the fact that MSOs were not concentrating on marketing, he said that if they did, it would help in consolidating the industry.

     

    Citing his own example, he said that he had not lost a single LMO despite having had ups and downs in his company because of the faith reposed in the company.

  • LMO – consumer collaboration is key to successful digitisation: IDOS

    LMO – consumer collaboration is key to successful digitisation: IDOS

    GOA: Collaboration is the only way for the Indian digital industry to go forward – particularly if it involves the last mile operator (LMO) as well as the subscriber. This was the core of the opening of the Indian Digital Operators Summit (IDOS) 2015 organised by Indiantelevision.com along with Media Partners Asia on the theme of ‘Defining the Digital Future.’

     

    Speakers at the summit, which is being held at The Lalit, Goa from 24 – 25 September, stressed that it was time to stop fighting with each other in courts or other forums and to move forward together since digitisation was inevitable.

     

    Speakers in the opening session of IDOS 2015 were clear that though the government was the largest gainer by way of taxes etc, it could not be depended upon and it was for the stakeholders to move forward on their own if the Phase III and IV digitisation deadlines set by the government had to be achieved. 

     

    Describing the scenario as a marathon race, Viacom Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats said it was critical for all stakeholders to collaborate and yet compete at the same time.

     

    The industry also needed to keep in mind the fact that the consumer is running ahead and everything depends and changes according to what he wants.

     

    In order for the market place to evolve, it was imperative that all stakeholders moved forward in a collaborative spirit. The policy makers, unfortunately, are the last in this race as they are slowest. So frustration will set in if everyone looks to the government as the winner.

     

    “Digitisation is being looked at myopically but it is necessary to look at it along with the consumer. Over the Top services will shortly take over in a big way. It is therefore important to realize that while each platform has a different technology, it’s important to keep pace. Players have to be pro-active and customise for all the 1.2 billion viewers,” Vats said. 

     

    Walt Disney India MD Siddharth Roy Kapur said it was important to see how consumers were rapidly moving from just a single screen scenario to usage of multiple platforms. “That is the reason why I prefer to use the expression ‘video content delivery business’ instead of television business. There is a strong need to put consumers at the centre of the whole media business,” he added.

     

    However as a result of multiple screens coming in, the level of attention span per screen has been declining. “Stakeholders have to keep this in view while planning their strategies. Content creation therefore has to change accordingly and companies need to find ways to get the consumer to value the content,” he added.

     

    He also stressed on the need for companies to look at each other as partners and move ahead to derive more value and average revenue per user (ARPU).

     

    Hinduja Group’s Grant Investrade MD Tony D’Silva said his company had carried out various studies before launching their Headend In The Sky (HITS) platform – NXT Digital. “All these studies showed that the last mile operator, who had built this industry with his sweat and blood, had to be taken along, and the consumer was a key stakeholder,” he said.

     

    It was clear that the first beneficiary through taxation, service tax, entertainment duty or licence fee was the government. However, the government has done little to support the industry. On the other hand, the second beneficiary was the broadcaster, which received 75 to 80 per cent of the revenues. “He therefore must play a key role in this journey,” D’Silva said. 

     

    Considering what these stakeholders – government and broadcasters – get, it was necessary that the two help other stakeholders if digitisation had to be achieved. 

     

    Digitisation will also help bring about transparency in a scenario where the LMOs had been declaring just around 15 – 20 per cent of their subscriber numbers.

     

    NXT Digital has been designed in a manner in which the LCO/LMO does not lose proprietorship of their business and did their own broadcasting deals as well as pricing and packaging as per market rates. The HITS platform also enabled LCOs to obtain set top boxes at their own convenience with easy funding and set up local channels in order to compete with other digital platforms like direct-to-home. NXT Digital had worked out a fee of just Rs 50 per subscriber per month and is offering 500 channels.

     

    It also ensured encryption at three stages: in the NXT system, at the LCO level and at the STB-end. GPS had been provided to the STB to ensure any movement was detected. It is therefore clear that the LCO has to be helped if Digital Addressable Systems (DAS) has to succeed. Perhaps the biggest problem was to get the consumer to pay, and the LCO needs to be aided in this task.

     

    In a presentation of the present scenario, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said that it was important for stakeholders to get their act together as digital penetration was only at 50 per cent so far. “It is also necessary to remember that Phase III and Phase IV comprise a large chunk than the first two phases,” he added.

     

    According to Couto, around 70 per cent of the content contribution was coming from players like Viacom, Sony, or Fox. Adding that the low rate of internet connectivity around the country was a major issue, he said, “The Indian pay TV business will remain competitive and reach its peak in the next three years, but research and collaboration is very critical for this.”

     

    Indiantelevision.com founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari said in his opening remarks that in order to meet their targets, stakeholders had to have commitments and take tough decisions. “However, the large number of legal cases and problems of agreements between various stakeholders must make them realise that DAS will not succeed in this manner,” Wanvari emphasised.

     

    At the same time, Wanvari was also of the opinion that LCOs and LMOs had to change and forge partnerships in order to move forward. 

     

    The government on its part must do something about taxation along with opening up for greater foreign direct investment (FDI).

  • Nestle Ad spends in FY-2014 at Rs 445.47 crore

    Nestle Ad spends in FY-2014 at Rs 445.47 crore

    BENGALURU:Last September, Indiantelevision.com had estimated that the marketing spends by one of the biggest spenders on advertisement and sales promotion (ASP) in India, nutrition, health and wellness company Nestle India Limited would be about Rs 450 with a variation of +10 per cent.

    Background: Being a part of a multi-national group, the company is generally quite tight lipped about sharing financials unless it has to legally do so. Details about the company’s advertisement spends are not indicated even in the company’s annual reports – what you have is a combination of the Advertisement and Sales Promotion spends declared as a single entry in the notes forming the part of the company’s annual financials. There is really no way that one could pin an exact number for these spends unless one has an inside track on the company’s marketing budgets. The projections and numbers in this report are pure conjecture based statistical tools used on the historical annual numbers revealed by the company in its annual reports. The author has no knowledge about Nestle’s strategy, past or present.

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    In its FY-2014 annual report for the year ended 31 December, 2015, Nestle has indicated ASP spends at Rs 445.47 crore (4.52 per cent of Total Income from Operations or TIO), or just 1.01 per cent off the Rs 450 crore mark mentioned by us. Please refer to figure 1 below that has been updated until FY-2014.

    CAGR for Nestle’s ASP in absolute rupees in the eleven year period from FY-2004 to FY-2014 has increased slightly to 12.56 per cent as compared to the 12.55 per cent for the ten year period between FY-2004 and FY-2013.

    Indiantelevision.com had also estimated that Nestle would report TIO in the range between Rs 9534.09 crore and Rs 10640 crore for FY-2014. The company has reported TIO of Rs 9854.84 crore, well withinthe range indicated by us, while just missing the Rs 100 billion mark by a small fraction. The company’s TIO CAGR has gone down over the eleven year period starting FY-2004 until FY-2014 to 14.48per centas compared to the CAGR of 16.93 per cent for the ten year period between FY-2004 and FY-2013. Please refer to figure 2 below for actual y-o-y growth in TIO.

     

    In the company’s earnings release for FY-2014, Nestle managing director Etienne Bennet said, “2014 was a challenging year and I am satisfied that in a difficult environment, we have delivered both top and bottomline and our results are broadly in line with the Food and Beverages segment of the FMCG sector. We increased investments behind our brands and maintained healthy profitability despite strong headwinds in milk solids costs that were higher than international markets and were not passed onto the consumer fully. We remain focused on value portfolio management and are continuing to reshape the portfolio and communication to strengthen our leadership as Nutrition, Health and Wellness company.”

    Nestle’sProfit after Tax (PAT) has shown a lower CAGR during the eleven year period from FY-2004 to FY-2014 of 14.5 per cent as compared to a CAGR of 15.54 per cent over the ten year period FY-2004 to FY-2013. Please refer to figure 3 below for PAT performance. PAT for FY-2014 was Rs 1184.69 crore (12 per cent of TIO), sixper cent more than the RS 1117.13 crore (12.3 per cent of TIO) for FY-2013.

    Overall, the company’s PAT, both in terms of absolute rupees and as per centage of TIO shows an upward linear trend for the eleven year period between FY-2004 and FY-2014.

  • India’s youngest CEO Suhas Gopinath’s journey of highs & lows

    India’s youngest CEO Suhas Gopinath’s journey of highs & lows

    MUMBAI: If a 14 year old boy frequently visits an Internet café in India, he is often presumed to be viewing prohibited sites. However, Suhas Gopinath a small boy from Bangalore, made such use of internet café that no mother will stop her child from visiting one anymore! Gopinath taught himself to make websites with the help of books used on the internet to start Global INC.

     

    How He Started:

     

    In the beginning of 2000, usage of internet was very expensive in India and something that Gopinath could not afford out of his pocket money. So he decided to crack a barter deal with the internet cafe owner. “I went to the shop owner and asked offered him my free service. I told him that while he went out for lunch, I would take care of the shop and in return I would use his internet for free. That’s how I started,” Gopinath tells Indiantelevision.com. 

     

    It from that internet cafe that he started his journey.

     

    Parental Pressure:

     

    Indian parents always want their child to finish schooling, then engineering and ultimately land a great job. Gopinath’s family was no different. His parents also wanted him to be an engineer and entrepreneurship was a sin according to them. “Whenever I spoke about entrepreneurship, my mother reacted as if I committed a crime. The life cycle was pre-drawn and entrepreneurship has no room in it. I lied to my mom that I joined NCC classes after school so that I could give myself more time at the internet café. However, after my board exams, my mother was called for a parent teacher meeting where the teacher told her about my poor performance. Defending me, my mom replied saying that it wasn’t my fault but theirs as the NCC classes exhausted me. The stunned teacher was obviously stunned and that’s how my mom came to know about the truth. On our way back, my mother wept and told me that it was okay if I didn’t want to study because my elder brother was in IIM and would take care of me once he settled down. That was the only moment I felt sad as I never wanted to be taken care by anyone,” said Gopinath, who was by then the CEO of his IT Company Global INC.

     

    First Marketing Step:

     

    In the United States, he did his first marketing stint. Out of the yellow pages, Gopinath listed all the automobile companies without a website and mailed them from a fake id called ‘Micheal.’ 

     

    “Please send me your company details and website link, we want to sign a long time deal with your company,” he wrote in the email.

     

    As the companies didn’t have a website, they responded with a PDF. Gopinath replied from the faux id, “If you don’t have a website, you don’t meet the necessary requirement to be our client.”

     

    After a few days, Gopinath mailed them again from his official id offering to build a website for $500 and in case they needed it built in a day’s time, the charge would be $750.

     

    “There were more people opting for the faster option. But I was scared of the entire mischief and thought the FBI would be at my door any moment. So after a while, I confessed and 80 per cent of the people forgave me, while 20 per cent threatened legal action. However, eventually they all realised that a website is an important tool,” says Gopinath.

     

    The last encounter with Indian education system:

     

    Just because his mother wanted, he decided to complete his college. However, due to lack of attendance, his hall ticket was withheld. In the same year, he was invited to represent the World Bank’s ICT Leadership Roundtable, and he thought if he shows the certificate, the HOD would be proud of him and allow him to sit for the examination. The HOD replied, “It doesn’t matter if you work for State Bank or World Bank, I want 75 per cent attendance.”

     

    That reply shattered him. He says, “Education should be a manifestation and not a bookish one always. While it is very important to have an education, we need to change the system and introduce more practicality in it. A kid may not be equally talented in each and every subject.”

     

    Recognition and rewards:

     

    Gopinath taught himself to make websites with the help of books and made his one – www.coolhindustan.com, at the age of 14. With this, he incorporated his company Global INC the same year in 2000. He became CEO of his multinational company at the age of 17. According to the India Book of Records, Gopinath holds the record as “The Youngest CEO.”

     

    • In 2005, Gopinath was the youngest among the 175 recipients of Karnataka”s Rajyotsava Award.

     

    • On 2 December, 2007, The European Parliament and International Association for Human Values conferred “Young Achiever Award” on Gopinath at the European Parliament, Brussels.

     

    • In November 2008, he was invited to represent the World Bank’s ICT Leadership Roundtable for adopting ICT in Africa to increase employability and fostering ICT skills in students from these countries. 

     

    • He was announced as “Young Global Leader” for 2008–2009 by the World Economic Forum, Davos. In that position he would be involved in development programs across the world.  

     

    • He holds a diploma on global leadership and public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard University.

     

    • Most importantly the mother who wanted his brother to look after him is proud of Gopinath and says, “I can’t take care of a maid in my house and he takes care of so many employees in his office,  though I was scared of entrepreneurship in the beginning as no one has ever gone for it from our family I am proud of Suhas and what he is doing” despite his huge wealth and global recognition Suhas Gopinath lives a normal life with his family in Bangalore. 

     

    The excerpts have been taken from his key note in Goafest 2015.

  • Big Magic to experiment with mythological comedy

    Big Magic to experiment with mythological comedy

    MUMBAI: ‘Narayan! Narayan!’ chanted Naarad muni – the wise and mischievous character from Indian mythology. Reliance Broadcast Network’s Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Big Magic is now looking at piggyback-riding on the popular character’s wit and humour by launching a mytho comedy show on him.

     

    “It is very easy to make someone cry but very difficult to make one laugh and that is what Big Magic is all about – making people laugh,” Reliance Broadcast Network (RBN) COO Lavneesh Gupta tells Indiantelevision.com.

     

    In keeping with the strategy followed since its re-launch in 2014, Big Magic’s show will be in line with the channel’s positioning as a humor destination.

     

    The show is expected to launch in the new financial year. Centred around the life of Naarad, the show will tell the story from his point of view, while highlighting the bitter sweet relationship between Vishnu and Naarad. The show will maintain the inherent light–heartedness of Naarad’s character, while giving him his due respect as Dev Rishi – a saint who has been given the status of a God. Vishnu also plays a very important role of a mentor or guru to Naarad. Ensuring a takeaway, the show will highlight a lesson at the end of each story, which will be imparted to Naarad by Vishnu.

     

    Speaking about the pre-release research for the show, Gupta says, “When we launch a show with a new concept, we take into consideration consumer insights. Moreover, our historical comedy Akbar Birbal, which contributes upto 45 per cent of our ratings, is the biggest example of that. Insights have been taken from the testimony of the HSM (Hindi speaking market) specially focusing on the towns of MP, UP and Rajasthan, which are major contributors of HSM. We received positive feedback and our market research indicates that the show will fare well going forward.”

     

    With this show Big Magic expects to enhance its positioning and invade into an unexplored territory. “Naarad would be the first mytho–comical show in India and we would like to reinstate the faith we created with Akbar Birbal. Mythological shows on television today are doing well. However, no one has ventured into the mytho-comedy genre as yet. With Naarad, we are looking at establishing this genre. A lot of research went into zeroing in on the perfect character for this genre and that’s where Naarad came in,” informs Gupta.

     

    The channel is planning a three-pronged marketing strategy to promote the show. Gupta says, “The marketing campaign of Naarad will be based on three pillars: idea, concept and show characters. Plans are to aggressively promote the show across different media with heavy priority on the digital platform. Zeno Group has been given the creative mandate for the show’s ad campaign. Since the digital medium has the power of popularising things in seconds with its viral nature, our focus will be more on digital.”

     

    The channel has also presented Naarad’s concept to potential advertisers and has received a positive response due to the freshness factor.

     

    “We have extended or distribution widely with expansion into LC1. Currently we are also available on DD Direct, which gives us a large and incremental reach beyond the top six GECs,” Gupta informs.

     

    Mythology, as a genre, enhances awareness and the younger generation is oft asked to follow the same. Gupta believes that this is one reason why this segment is working on television. 

     

    Sharing his views on the future of the channel, he adds, “Going forward, we will keep exploring and launching new shows till we reach the peak in our genre. However, we will never shift away from our USP – Chatpata Har Pal. By the end of this financial year, we aim to be the best destination for comedy in the media space.”

  • The Content Hub: Thinking digital

    The Content Hub: Thinking digital

    MUMBAI: Digital has become the core of any strategy today. And highlighting the same were the digital content creators at indiantelevision.com’s ‘The Content Hub,’ where the makers shared their valuable insights on the success stories and how they manage making money in this competitive market.

     

    Sharing their views were Viral Fever and TVF Media Labs founder and CEO Arunabh Kumar, Rajshri Entertainment MD and CEO Rajjat Barjatya, Viacom18 Media – MTV and MTV Indies EVP and business head Aditya Swami, Qyuki Digital Media co-founder and MD Samir Bangara, Zenga Group MD and CTO Shabir Momin, YouTube head of content operations India Satya Raghavan and Multi Screen Media EVP and head – digital business Uday Sodhi.

     

    Moderated by CNBC-TV18 editor, storyboard Anant Rangaswami, the discussion began with Rangaswami raising the point of how each digital creator makes money differently in the business.

     

    According to Sodhi, while ‘digital only’ may not be the viable way of going about it right now, for popular sports it will turn around. “Look at television or any other entertainment, sports is a critical part where money goes from advertisers and from an eyeballs perspective. Why the same pattern is not followed on digital? It will happen, but how it grows and how much money it takes, only time will tell,” opined Sodhi.  

     

    Rangaswami believes it is an interesting curve and content can make money on digital. Agreeing to him, Kumar shared that in the financial year 2012-13, also the first year of TVF online network, its total turnover was equal to one day of shooting cost of an MTV promo and this financial year its total turnover is the cost of one promo of MTV. “The growth has been really phenomenal. Once upon a time, we were doing 10-15 thousand views on YouTube and the brands feature were also very less. That time there was this whole idea that a brand or a client could own a piece of content after giving you money. But cut to now, we have shows on MTV or our channel or AIB and you can see a lot of brands being open to that.”

     

    For Kumar, it is a pretty much age old television model where for example Cadbury takes a lot of money for KBC, because it is watched by a lot of people.

     

    According to Bangara, the big opportunity is the content marketing opportunity. “If advertisers and brands let creators do what they need to without putting restrictions, then it will work much better. Because audiences online are very different than audiences consuming content on the traditional platforms.”

     

    The traditional media players believe that production value equals quality. “In the online space, production value is not directly proportionate to popularity. The concept drives engagement and therefore you don’t need expensive budgets to ride your films on digital platforms,” said Bangara.

     

    Rangaswami further delved to find out whether is it easier to sell branded content on digital than on television? Contradicting his statement, Swamy feels that the future of TV is TV and from a reach and growth perspective, there is huge growth and spread still on television. “On branded content, the way we make this work is that it is the combination of bringing the screens together.  If you go to see TV and digital separately, the challenge will be much harder. But a lot of branded content that we do, we bundle the whole thing. For example, take the premium content like ‘Coke Studio’ series that we produce, we produce it as a broadcaster, give it legs on television and it kind of survives on beyond TV as well.”

     

    Going forward, Rangaswami highlighted the different needs of monetisation of content. Barjatya revealed that Rajshri has 20,000 hours of content that it has aggregated with Mukta Arts. “That brings in the revenue. But we also do a lot of experimentations. We have a channel in the entertainment space, bollywood news space, hollywood news space, television space, channels in kids, food and devotional space. These I think will grow going forward.”

     

    But, according to Barjatya, money still needs to keep coming in and that can come only through blockbuster movies, which the company has acquired over the last couple of years.

     

    According to Raghavan brands are experimenting, content creators are experimenting and the entire ecosystem is experimenting. He pointed out that the difference the industry is noticing in the last few years is that advertisers are ready to put their money on content because they believe that the creator of the content or the participant will be able to create the content and distribute it as well. “Till now what was happening was that they wanted to own the delivery itself which is why a lot of brands created good stuff but later fell off the clip. Now, they are trusting a lot on the creators. That’s where the point of money floating to content creators and to networks is multiplying.”

     

    Further adding to this, Momin felt that success on the digital platforms is not counted only by achieving the million views mark. “People get onto the digital platforms for multiple reasons. A movie production house comes to the digital platform not to make money or for ad sales but they are now looking at increasing their eyeballs reach.” He believes that there are other serious players who are trying to make this as a profession. “Branded content is becoming content and that will always be there because they are the ones who are pumping in a lot of their money but if you look at the industry overall , it is the rate of creating content which is growing,” said Momin. 

  • Why ‘Satyamev Jayate’ chose the Sunday morning slot

    Why ‘Satyamev Jayate’ chose the Sunday morning slot

    MUMBAI: The much popular social awareness show on Star Plus ‘Satyamev Jayate’ (SMJ) not just had the backing of a star presence but also had broadcaster Star’s faith in it.  So much so that Star Plus was willing to give the show a primetime slot.

     

    Speaking at indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub, SMJ director Satyajit Bhatkal revealed the detail about SMJ’s original positioning. “We had the option of choosing any slot. In fact Star wanted us to take primetime on Friday, Saturday or Sunday,” he said.

     

    The idea behind this was to fish when the fish is in the pond, the tactic that fiction shows depend on. But denying this offer, it went ahead with the Sunday morning slot. “We were assured that Sunday morning was a graveyard hour where viewers don’t come,” said Bhatkal.

     

    SMJ wanted a clear space and appointment viewing for itself when a person isn’t surfing between channels. “We wanted the viewers to take the trouble to wake up and sit in front of the TV, preferably with family, with the specific objective of watching SMJ which is also a limited offering,” he added.

     

    He was also aware that their unusual way of pushing the show was a nightmare for both the promotion and sales team but according to Bhatkal, it has succeeded in bringing viewers which is visible both by ratings as well as social media.

     

  • The Content Hub: Segmented channels predict good future for themselves

    The Content Hub: Segmented channels predict good future for themselves

    MUMBAI: The Indian television industry is undergoing a sea change in terms of the content that is being created, both on television and online, long as well as short format. With an increasing need for dynamic creators and scriptwriters, Indiantelevision.com’s first edition of The Content Hub aims to bring together writers, creators, producers, artistes and broadcast executives to discuss with those involved in the content creation process.

     

    Opening the session was Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari, who spoke about how current Indian shows run for more than 1000 episodes while the audience and time spent on digital is shooting up. “We need to create engaging content by rethinking whether we need a time shift, seasonal shows, social programmes or younger producers,” said Wanvari.

     

    The first session dealt with the risk taking broadcasters of the industry in which Madison World chairman Sam Balsara spoke to Epic Television Networks CEO Mahesh Samat and Reliance Broadcast Network Tarun Katial.

     

    Balsara started off the session by asking the two about their attempts to disrupt content in the traditional general entertainment channel (GEC) space. Samat said that over the years, the GECs have seen a very few changes and it is only in the last two or three years, due to some impact of digitisation, there has been a little shift.  He compared the current television industry scenario to the film industry where earlier only one type of movies were produced due to single screens and now due to proliferation of multiplexes there is a variety.

     

    Balsara said that every GEC has the type of content that Epic is trying to segment into its channel. “I am told that people watch shows, not channels?” he questioned. To this Samat took up the example of the US where in the last 25 years all the channels that have come up are segmented. To this, Katial said that the top three GECs could afford to do general content while channels beyond that have to think differently. “Truly there are only three GECs in India- Star Plus, Zee TV and Colors while Sony is largely crime and similar to that is Life OK. Sab is segmented for comedy and so is Big Magic. A lot of our growth has come from geography segmentation,” said Katial.

     

    Balsara pointed out that the time where people in India will pay to watch good content is still very distant, so what will be a viable model? Katial said that he doesn’t feel there is space for niche segmented content because the investment needs to be if not more then as much as what a Hindi GEC can put with also a good amount of distribution cost. “Abroad, large GECs are terrestrial and free to air. Here to create content that needs to fill three hours daily can hamper the economics and to reach 50-60 GRPs you have to play the lowest common denominator game. When you segment and get to 15-20 GRPs, no Madison will pay you the ER,” he pointed out.

     

    Balsara with his years of experience said that ad revenue is limited due to limited viewership because while segmented channels ask for lakhs of rupees, GECs have a CPRP of about Rs 20000 to Rs 25000. “Why would a brand buy something at five times the cost if it is available at one fifth the price?” he questioned.

     

    The way forward according to Katial is actually the viewership but if original content needs to be created then high investment is needed. “Channels such as FoodFood and Discovery have content with limited cost and limited distribution (restricted to urban areas) but for original content the P&L gets to Rs 300 crore,” said Katial. Answering Balsara’s question of high a-la-carte rates of channels, Samat said that a certain amount of reach and GRPs are needed before the channel can be made affordable.

     

    “10 years ago people laughed at DTH and look at how things are now. So subscription isn’t far off. If you make the right content with limited episodes, syndication will get you money,” highlighted Samat. He added that current long format shows don’t allow syndication.

     

    Balsara highlighted the language difference between English and Hindi wherein English papers command high ad revenue while English channels are almost inconsequential. To this Katial said that English papers create influence while English channels sell products. “The English viewer is hooked to other screens but not set for standard TV viewing format,” he stated.

     

    With several growing mediums, Balsara asked if today content is created with only TV in mind to which Samat said, “We are developing content ‘forever’ that can make money even afterwards. More than screens, we should now look at longevity.”

     

    In response to Balsara’s question of adapting several international formats Katial said that there is no shame in legally doing so since it has a success track record. “When you put Rs 1 crore or Rs 2 crore behind such shows, every management wants to see it has worked before and so do advertisers,” he said. Samat said that the option of creating or adapting a format lies totally on the economics of the channel.

  • The Content Hub: Broadcasters are averse to experimenting with content

    The Content Hub: Broadcasters are averse to experimenting with content

    MUMBAI: The first edition of Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub saw a full panel of broadcasters, producers and writers discussing how to change the dynamics of TV content. Moderated by Bodhi Tree Multimedia director Sukesh Motwani, the panel consisted of Doordarshan ADG West Mukesh Sharma, Zee TV business head Pradeep Hejmadi, Cinevistaas producer Siddharth Malhotra, Shashi Sumeet Productions co founder Sumeet H Mittal, Satyamev Jayate director Satyajit Bhatkal, Viacom18 head of content regional network Sanjay Upadhyay and writer Purnendu Shekhar.

     

    Motwani started off by asking whether the only model of monetising was through having daily soaps with the 23 minute per episode limitation? Upadhyay responded to this saying that some efforts have been made to break away tried to break away. “For instance, Viacom18, we have attempted to do this with our regional shows with one hour shows run twice a week,” he said. “What we found with this is that the audience’s addiction level isn’t as good as a daily because they are so used to dailies. At the same time, economics do play a big role.”

     

    Motwani further queried if broadcasters could experiment with hour long episodes during weekdays while restricting certain genres to only weekend? Hejmadi  pointed out that it isn’t easy to do dailies, as people generally think. “There is a need for change, yes. But the manner of migrating the audience is also needed. Some people have tried that but even then there is a thought process that broadcasters don’t encourage innovation,” he said.

     

    On the other hand Malhotra said that when the 9pm-10 pm time band became successful, the economics improved and after that no one even tried to experiment with hour long episodes. Upadhyay clarified that though the broadcaster makes an effort, the pressure on them is heavy. Shekhar lamented that broadcasters are scared of losing loyal audiences by introducing short stories that conclude in four episodes from Monday to Thursday.

     

    In most shows, the characters drive the shows and shows are scripted accordingly. Hejmadi pointed out that it takes to build characters and promote them amongst viewers to develop stickiness, hence having limited episode shows – like say which run from Monday to Friday does not really work, thanks to the attention deficit among Indian veiwers.  even suggested that producers should comHee with their own research insights that they should show broadcasters.

     

    Public broadcaster Doordarshan, on the other hand,  tends to look at art, culture and of course  literature for inspiration. Sharma said that this was mainly due to them having a different mandate. “For us the universe isn’t between 7pm to 11pm. We also do events such as every second Sunday is a ‘mothers’ day’ where we bring mothers and daughters to talk about them and this makes good money. But we don’t interfere with producer whether or not a show makes money.”

     

    As to Motwani’s question of whether there can be different shows for ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’, Upadhyay said, “Honestly, we don’t try hard enough because we don’t have patience. We shift goal posts depending on hits.”

     

    With a few shows having big names backing them such as Saraswatichandra and Everest, he also went on to say, “The noise that comes out of big shows may amortise costs in a shorter time.”

     

    While format shows are slowly losing audiences in India, the TV community needs to look at other metrics than simple TVTs and TRPs,  opined Satyemev Jayate director Bhatkal. “We chose the graveyard slot – Sunday morning  – when no one is really watching television to do the show,”he said. “We wanted to reach those viewers who don’t generally watch television, we wanted to encourage appointment viewing. People who would take the trouble  to switch on their sets at that early hour. And we apparently did, if we look at the buzz that SMJ generated online. And this is what sellers of channels also need to do, show the media buyers and planners the  volumes of social media data. In six episodes, we had billions of impressions and we were trending worldwide,” he said.