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  • ‘The ad market will grow by 13-15% this year’ : Lodestar Universal CEO Shashi Sinha

    ‘The ad market will grow by 13-15% this year’ : Lodestar Universal CEO Shashi Sinha

    Cricket is expected to earn an advertising revenue of Rs 18 billion from its television telecast this year, up from Rs 15 billion in 2010, as it showcases the World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in back-to-back events.

    The World Cup will be bigger for ESPN Star Sports than it was for Sony in 2007. Digging into the game are a lot more advertisers, offering the telecast rights owner a wider plate to bargain from. The telecom and auto categories, which are the two big cricket spenders, have also grown.

    Ad monies will not shift dramatically from other genres to the World Cup. There is no real worry for the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) as the ad market is expected to grow between 13-15 per cent. Cricket will get its share of ad revenue growth, but it will not substitute the Hindi GECs.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin Pinto, Lodestar Universal CEO Shashi Sinha talks about the advertising opportunities cricket throws up and the impact it could have on the other genres of television content.

    Excerpts:

    The cricket genre is expected to get a big boost with the World Cup and the IPL happening in the same year. Will we see a big ad shift to cricket this year?
    Our estimate is that this year cricket will earn Rs 17-18 billion from television telecast. The World Cup and the IPL will each get around Rs 6-7 billion.

    How much will ESPN Star Sports make from the World Cup?
    Eighty per cent of the figure I earlier mentioned will go to them. The balance will be shared between Doordarshan and news channels.

    The World Cup this year will be far bigger than in 2007. There is an 80 -100 per cent increase in rates compared to what was paid in 2007.

    The logic is that today there are more advertisers. In 2007, there were three telecom companies; today, there are 15. There were five auto companies then; today there are 15. Reach has also gone up. There are at least 60 per cent more TV homes today compared to 2007. I expect ESPN Star Sports to make at least double of what Sony managed to garner in 2007.

    Cricket is pre-sold. Eighty per cent of the ad inventory has been pre-sold for this World Cup, which is what also happened in 2007. It is the client and agency‘s gamble on the property when it is pre-sold.

    Was there hesitation on the part of advertisers after the disaster of 2007?
    It is a question of demand and supply. Also, the issue of India going out after two games does not arise this time (Last time in seven days India was out and people lost interest in the remaining games). Now the schedule has been done smartly. If India goes out, it will be in the third week of March. You are not just sustaining India but also the other teams around India. People, for instance, will follow Australia in anticipation of India meeting them later on, though they are not in our group. Advertisers see a great opportunity in the World Cup. They look at what the scene is today.

    The advantage of the World Cup is that there is more inventory for clients to get on-board. It is not like the 20:20 format; there are more secondages here.

    When people talk about how so much inventory will be sold, they have to keep in mind the fact that the advertising landscape has changed. Advertising was a Rs 160 billion business industry in 2007. Today, it is sized at Rs 280-290 billion. The male dominated categories have grown faster than the female categories. The telecom and auto categories, which are the two big cricket spenders, have also grown.

    Is there any performance guarantee in deals done with ESS?
    There isn‘t any in cricket. It is easy to say that there should be. If supply outstrips demand, then a broadcaster will ensure that there is performance guarantee. If 10 companies are waiting to take sponsorship, why would there be a performance guarantee? Some Indian advertisers don‘t understand that the dynamics of advertising has changed. It is about the supply and demand ratio.

    Are we going to see ad monies shifting from other genres to the World Cup?
    I don‘t think that the shift will be dramatic. There will be a temporary blip, but overall the ad market will grow by 13-15 per cent this year. That makes a big difference. If it was static, I would worry. Around Rs 35 billion will be added this year. It is not like it is not growing like the US – or is shrinking. Cricket is getting its share of ad revenue growth; it is not that it is substituting the Hindi GECs.
    ‘Our estimate is that this year cricket will earn Rs 17-18 billion from television telecast. The World Cup and the IPL will each get around Rs 6-7 billion‘

    How will news channels fare during the World Cup?
    They have built specials around it. CNN-IBN, for instance, is doing programming that is different.

    The news channels will make some money, but the genre is a small part of the overall television advertising expenditure; they earn Rs 8 billion of ad revenue in combine. They will gain but in the larger scheme of things, the gain will be small.

    News channels will make around 10 per cent of what the live World Cup broadcast earns. It is a complementary activity for some clients; others take it as it is less expensive.

    Hindi GECs say that they will hold on due to the women audience. What do you see happening?
    There will be a problem as 75-80 per cent of the Indian homes are single TV. But it depends on who controls the remote. If it is the woman, then the Hindi GECs will be watched. If it is the man, then cricket will gain.

    From an ad revenue perspective, due to competitive pressures people are advertising more; there are more companies coming in. There is no problem in the larger scheme of things. If this was 2009 or five years back, I would have spoken differently.

    How does the World Cup compare to the IPL?
    They are different properties and they do not happen simultaneously. I don‘t know why people compare them. If extra money is coming into cricket advertising, then how are they competing?

    Both properties have relative strengths. If a company is in one property, then its rival will be in the other. IPL gives sustained viewership. In the World Cup, you have to factor in the non India viewership. If India wins, the hype will be much bigger and there will be more eyeballs.

    What difference will there be between India and non India games?
    There will be a dramatic difference. When India plays, there will be an expectation of a national rating of six to seven. If the hype is generated to ensure that non India games deliver a rating of two, then we will be alright. It should not be that non India games give a rating of just 0.5 or 1.

    How do you see this event faring vis-?-vis 2003 and 2007?
    2003 was very good as India reached the final and the tournament was held in South Africa; the telecast timings were very good. 2007 was a disaster and we went out in the first round after two games. This time India would have to be unlucky not to reach the quarter-finals. We play six to seven matches.

    The problem is that with the World cup taking place in India, the hopes are higher. In South Africa, the ratings built up slowly and picked up when India played Pakistan and England. With the event being in India, there is more hype. You are seeing different commercials being created. The bad news is that India has to perform. That is the issue.

    How important will the audience delivery of World Cup be for the ODI format?
    I feel that ODIs are here to stay. People earlier said that Tests would disappear. But it remains healthy, if you look at the India versus South Africa ratings. All depends on the contest and the performance of the teams. In 2009 when Australia came here, people wondered what would happen. Each game was thrilling.

    Your client Amul has sponsored the Holland team. Could you talk more about this?
    It was a bit of a punt taken, but at this point of time the sponsorship is paying off. Holland is a milk producing country. And this is a low cost sponsorship that has been done.

    What kind of activation is being done by companies?
    The ICC should be better organised from an activation standpoint. A key component of activation is tickets. Castrol and other companies are running competitions where people can get tickets. Then you go to the stadium and make a noise, generate excitement.

    The fact, though, is that there are not enough tickets available. I have sat in meetings where ICC sponsors have jumped around and said that tickets are not available. Activation is a weak area in this World Cup.

    Sony is using Dhoni in a campaign while Coca-Cola is doing gully cricket. Can this be construed as ambush marketing?
    No! Coca-Cola did the initiative in the past also and it is for the IPL. Ambush marketing is when you are doing activities in a stadium. While Reliance is an ICC sponsor, if a competitor does something in the stadium that is ambush marketing. It is very direct. These examples that you have given do not constitute ambush marketing.

    There was ambush marketing done in the past. Now the rules are very tight and corporates realise that it is not worth the risk. Big corporates are careful about their reputations. For brands that want recall, it boils down to how good the commercial is. Does it have a good story to tell? That is what consumers will react to rather than anything else.

    Didn‘t LG make a mistake by not taking on-air sponsorship for the World Cup?
    I am sure that LG would have thought about it. Being an on-ground sponsor, the first right of refusal for on-air would have been theirs. As sport gets more official, ambush marketing is getting difficult. LG would have realised that if they did not take the on-air sponsorship, there would be five other television manufacturers waiting.

    In terms of ROI, how is cricket faring?
    Cricket gives instant reach, eyeballs and passion. The disadvantage is that the entry cost is high. With cricket you do activities in a four-to-six-week period. If you want to do activities for a sustained period, then you have to look elsewhere. Cricket is too expensive to use across the year.

    Has there been a fatigue in cricket viewership?
    In India, there is no sport apart from cricket. In the US, you have four games competing; there is an audience for all of them. Here there is a lack of sporting content. The Indian cricket team cannot play for more than 150 days.

    Are advertisers looking at other sports?
    As sports develop, advertisers will come; they chase eyeballs. In the 15-18 demographics, EPL has become big in Mumbai and Delhi. Clients are looking at it. Tennis and F1 may be very niche, but for certain clients associating with them makes a lot of sense. I expect football to become big here – as it has globally.

  • Cricket to earn Rs 18 bn TV ad revenue in 2011

    Cricket to earn Rs 18 bn TV ad revenue in 2011

    MUMBAI: Cricket is expected to earn an advertising revenue of Rs 18 billion from its television telecast this year, up from Rs 15 billion in 2010, as it showcases the World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in back-to-back events.

    “Our estimate is that this year cricket will earn Rs 17-18 billion. The World Cup and IPL will each get around Rs 6-7 billion,” says Lodestar Universal CEO Shashi Sinha.

    The World Cup will be bigger for ESPN than it was for Sony in 2007. “Cricket is pre-sold. 80 per cent of the inventory has been pre sold for this World Cup which is what also happened in 2007. It is the client and agency’s gamble on the property when it is pre-sold. There is an 80 -100 per cent increase in rates compared to what was paid in 2007,” Sinha says.

    Digging into the game are a lot more advertisers, offering the telecast rights owner a wider plate to bargain from.

    “In 2007, there were three telecom companies. Today there are 15. There were five auto companies then. Today there are many more. The reach has also gone up. There are at least 60 per cent more TV homes today compared to 2007. I expect ESPN Star Sports to make at least double of what Sony managed to earn in 2007,” says Sinha.

    For Sinha, comparing the World Cup to the IPL is not a sane thing to do. “They are different properties and they do not happen simultaneously. If extra money is coming into cricket advertising, then why are they competing? The decision to advertise or not depends on the audience being targeted and the requirement. Both properties have relative strengths,” says Sinha.

    News channels also stand to gain from the World Cup but this will be small compared to the larger scheme of things. “News channels will make around 10 per cent of what the live World Cup broadcaster earns. It is a complementary activity for some clients. Others take it as it is less expensive,” explains Sinha.

  • A case for disruptive innovations

    A case for disruptive innovations

    MUMBAI: Disruptive innovations like the Indian Premier League (IPL) can break through a cluttered market, several experts said.

    Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore noted that the IPL was about challenging the norm. “Viewership has leapt sixfold and the reach has gone beyond traditional cricket lovers. From a business perspective, it was about creating a platform to reach out to a passionate public. The IPL was packaged to catch the people’s attention,” he said.

    Particpating in a panel discussion at The Mindshare Brand Equity Compass, LinkedIn India country manager Hari V Krishnan noted that Linkedin created a disruptive innovation in the talent economy. The traditional ways of employment did not give transparency. “We extract insight from data. We are not just about helping somebody find a job but also helping them become more productive in their jobs,” he elaborated.

    Disruptive innovations can be fought by rival companies by moving into another arena to strike. This is what Cirque Du Soleil did in the circus arena. Microsoft joint MD Hemant Sachdev said that innovation is what makes a company tick as it impacts the consumer experience. “Going forward, the Natural User Interface will be important like Xbox. It is a community that is real and experiential. Telecom is another example of disruptive innovation which gives real value not just to businesses but also to consumers.”

    Leaders must provide fertile ground for innovations to grow. Companies, in the process, must be more open to failures and take the risk of adopting disruptive trends so that they break patterns. The interesting thing is that while 95 per cent of ideas fail, innovation is still the only way to succeed.

  • Muthoot Group is Delhi Daredevils team sponsor

    Muthoot Group is Delhi Daredevils team sponsor

    MUMBAI: The Muthoot Group has come on board as the main team Sponsor of the Delhi Daredevils Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise.

    A number of joint initiatives are being planned by Muthoot Group and The Delhi Daredevils and promotions around Delhi and the country will see an explosion of energy and ideas to drum up support for the Daredevils.

    Delhi Daredevils COO Amrit Mathur said, “We are indeed delighted that the Muthoot Group is coming on board as the Main Team sponsor of the Delhi Daredevils. We have had a great association with The Muthoot Group and we believe that this to be an ideal long-term partner for Delhi Daredevils.”

    The fourth edition of the IPL is due to start on 8 April 2011.

    Muthoot Group director Alexander George Muthoot said, “IPL is by far the biggest sporting spectacle in India and has got bigger and better each year. Last year, The Muthoot Group was associated with Delhi Daredevils and we are happy to continue this partnership for the coming years too. For us at The Muthoot Group we look at this association with Delhi Daredevils to grow from strength to strength.”

    The Muthoot Group is a diversified conglomerate. The Group has grown from being a financial service provider to commanding a presence in multiple verticals like financial services, media and housing & infrastructure.

    Creatigies Communications founder, MD Navroze D. Dhondy said, “Having a partnership blossom is something which makes us all at Creatigies very proud. Last year Muthoot sampled the IPL and the Daredevils, and this time went for the main-course. Muthoot has valued the relationship with Daredevils and invested in the association to ensure greater value to both sides.”

    Creatigies Communications, synonymous with breakthroughs in sports management and pioneers in creating partnerships for events and properties such as the Wisden Awards, Predikta , Superskills, were instrumental in creating this partnership.

     

  • Kings XI Punjab renews sponsorship deal with four

    Kings XI Punjab renews sponsorship deal with four

    IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab has renewed sponsorship deals with Emirates, Reebok, USL and Wrigley ahead of the fourth season.

    Emirates, the Dubai-based global airline, continues to be the team’s Title sponsor while Reebok is the Official Apparel Partner, USL is Official Games for Challenge Partner and Wrigley is the Official Chewing Gum.

    The promoters of Kings XI Punjab said, “We are thrilled to have Emirates, Reebok, USL and Wrigley with us yet again for the upcoming season of IPL season IV. We are invigorated and look forward to a fruitful association as our sponsors have reaffirmed that they share the same passion towards cricket and our values. We as a team are eagerly waiting for the tournament to begin and assure an electrifying cricketing experience to our fans in India and overseas.”

    Emirates Airline VP – India and Nepal Orhan Abbas said, “We have been very proud of our association with the IPL over the past two seasons. The tournament has grown bigger and better and the standard of the teams has also improved in that time. The Kings XI Punjab team looks very well balanced this season and we are looking forward to a great tournament.”

    Reebok will be launching a fresh line up of merchandise soon. A Reebok India spokesperson said, “We are happy to be associated with Kings XI Punjab for the IPL Season 4. We believe the team is going strong and we wish them the best for the upcoming tournament. The apparel being designed especially for the team will be at the forefront of apparel technology and will be made available in a fresh new design for the fans as well.”

     

  • Hyundai to spend Rs 2 bn over 5 years on cricket ads

    Hyundai to spend Rs 2 bn over 5 years on cricket ads

    NEW DELHI: Hyundai expects to spend around Rs 2 billion over the next five years on promoting cricket, which works out to around 25 to 30 per cent of its total ad spend.

    Hyundai Motor India general manager for advertising G Sanjay told indiantelevision.com that around 70 per cent of this would go into television and rest into print, online and other advertising. He also said his company promoted only cricket among sports as Indians were passionate about this game.

    Sanjay said Hyundai had worked out several ways to market the ICC Cricket World Cup including merchandising and free offers. People taking test drives on the Hyundai i10 would be eligible to two tickets, and those buying a car will get the tickets and other merchandise including a cricket set and T-shirts. There will also be lucky draw for those purchasing tickets.

    Speaking on the sidelines of a meet where Hyundai announced its tie-up with ICC Cricket World Cup as the official car partner for five years till 2015, he said one decked-up car in the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai will go around the city from 10 to 16 February with two white cricket balls on top to promote the Cup. These balls will then be flown to Dhaka prior to the opening match. Each car has been specially painted with all the National colours of the participating teams and emblem of the Cup.

    He said the special Hyundai ICC Cricket anthem rendered by Shaan on the theme ‘We’re Game’ and released today will be part of the television advertising.

    He said in reply to a question that ten brands were involved in the ground advertising. These included Hyundai, LG, Hero Honda, Reliance, Pepsi, Castrol, Reebok, Yahoo and Moneygram. The two on air sponsors were Nokia and Sony with six associate sponsors that included LG and Hero Honda.

    He said Hyundai had still not decided its programme with regard to the Indian Premier League. The ICC was an India-led phenomenon while IPL was more domestic.

    He said Hyundai preferred to promote its products through business and news channels rather than general entertainment channels.

    Addressing the press meet earlier, Marketing and Sales Director Arvind Saksena said the amount to be spent on cricket year to year could vary and would be decided at the time of the event.

    This also depended on the format – one-dayers, T-20 etc. Women’s World Cup, and the number of teams playing each year.

    Hyundai will also set up Hyundai Fan Parks with large TV sets where customers could gather to see the matches, enjoy refreshments and win tickets.

    The press meet was also addressed by Hyundai MD and CEO H W Park, and International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

  • News channels heading for showdown with ICC on news access guidelines

    News channels heading for showdown with ICC on news access guidelines

    NEW DELHI: Although the News Broadcasters Association is expected to take a final stand on the issue of telecast of news clips of the ICC Cricket World Cup, most news channel heads said the news access guidelines were unfair since 5.5 minutes of fresh footage per day was too short for an event of this nature.

    Although none of the channel heads wanted to be named as they said this could compromise the stand of the NBA, it is learnt that the Association may meet as early as tomorrow to take a decision on the issue.

    One Hindi news channel head said some kind of compromise would have to be worked out, adding that perhaps permitting up to three minutes of fresh footage every two hours would be fairer.

    Another Hindi news channel head said the present guidelines were very unfair and viewer demand would force the channels to telecast news of longer duration and thus force them to pay penalty to the International Cricket Council.

    The head of a group with multi-lingual news channels said this appeared to becoming a habit year after year either with the World Cup or with the Indian Premier League, that news channels were forced to fight for footage that they could show to their viewers.

    He said that while there were complaints by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry as well as viewers that news channels were repetitive, it was unfortunate that no one chipped in to help the news channels in situations such as these.

    Indiantelevision.com was the first to report the ICC‘s guidelines to news channels on coverage of the cricket World Cup.
          
    According to an estimate, the penalty may go up to over Rs 200 million if the news channels numbering around 50 fail to follow the Access Guidelines of the 43-day ICC World Cup.

    IDI, the commercial arm of International Cricket Council (ICC), will charge $1,800 (Rs 83,000) for every extra minute a news channel airs its coverage of the World Cup over the permitted time-frame. ICC will charge $800 for up to 60 seconds of overuse for fresh footage, while the rates for an overuse of archival footage of the previous World Cups are $1,000 for up to 60 seconds.

    The recently issued ICC‘s media advisory stipulates only 5.5 minutes of fresh footage and six minutes of archival footage to be used by a news channel each day of the Cup.

    In comparison, the IPL has permitted seven minutes of footage by a news channel in a day.

    Interestingly, the ICC Guidelines will only be applicable to around 50 news channels which are members of the NBA, although there are around 240 news channels beaming in the country.

    A similar situation had arisen at the time of the IPL last year, with news channels threatening to boycott the games. However, a solution was found almost on the eve of the series.

  • Reebok to spend 60% of marketing budget during World Cup and IPL

    Reebok to spend 60% of marketing budget during World Cup and IPL

    NEW DELHI: Around 60 per cent of Reebok‘s entire advertising and marketing budget will be spent in the months of February, March and April on promoting the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup and then the Indian Premier League (IPL).

    Revealing this, Reebok India Managing Director Subhinder Singh Prem told indiantelevision.com that 80 per cent of Reebok’s entire budget for advertising and marketing is spent on cricket alone.

    While declining to reveal the ad budget, Prem said the advertising for the World Cup will begin on television channels along with the start of the tournament. However, the print and online publicity would begin within a week.

    He said the attempt would be to advertise in all the countries where matches are being played, but the major share was bound to be in India.

    Speaking on the sidelines of a press meet to announce the launch of special sports equipment for the World Cup as well as merchandise linked to the Cup, he said he expected the sales of Reebok ReeZig shoes and ZigTech cricket bats to rise two-fold during the three months beginning this month. The Cricket World Cup was also unveiled at the event.

    Claiming that Reebok was the largest cricket equipment seller in India, Prem said ‘sport is in our heart.’

    Referring to the ReeZig shoes which had special rubber which made them comfortable and less tiring for those who had to walk or run a lot as cricketers had to do, he said this brand had been launching simultaneously globally. The bigger and better bats had been designed according to ICC specifications and had a soft rubber handle which made it easier to hold it and a wider wooden blade. He also presented the Zigtech Trainers.

    He said the shoes had been priced between Rs 8000 and Rs 10,000. The merchandise included T-shirts which had the flags of different participating countries, souvenirs like mini cricket sets, and mini bats. He said that the aim would be to engage the consumers through online and television advertising to make it interesting.

    The event, “Witness the Cricket Stalwarts compete on ground”, had captain M S Dhoni and players Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla and Gautam Gambhir indulge in practice session at the press meet at a specially built area which comprised a basketball court, an area for dribbling the ball and push-ups, and a monkey bar, rechristened as the Zig Bar. In the short practice session enacted in the presence of the media, Dhoni emerged as the Zig Energy Star with Gambhir as the runner-up.

    The ZigTech technology reduces the weight of the bat, making it light weight and easy to handle. The new Zigtech bats also have thicker edges, extra rubber, and extra curved blade with a flattened back and a swelling at the sweet spot. Compared to a conventional bat, the all new Reebok Zigtech bat is sure to power up athletes on the field who will shower boundaries with panache.

    Reebok has also outfitted all the cricketers with the all new “Zig-Sonic” equipped with the ZigTech technology which reduces wear and tear in key leg muscles by up to 20 per cent allowing the athletes to train harder and longer. The New Zig Sonic which is high on style and technology has been introduced as the official trainer for ICC World Cup 2011. This official trainer will also be made available in Reebok stores and www.shop4reebok.com for fans to buy as they cheer for India.

    The all new range of cricket shoes for “on- field” use has been designed and engineered after in-depth research of the varied playing patterns and foot movements. For the first time, a global product has been developed and customized keeping in mind an Indian athlete’s requirements.

    During the development phase, players Like Dhoni, Yuvraj and Harbhajan consistently gave their feedback which was incorporated in the final product. Arguably the best cricket shoe available, Prem said this shoe is powered by the DMX technology in the bottom and Play Dry technology in the upper. These features combined with the futuristic materials used create the perfect fit for cricket athletes.

    “Our extensive R & D has ensured that we provide our athletes with the most futuristic arsenal of equipment and the best technologies to re-energize and re-charge them before the World Cup. This world cup will witness the launch of some of the most revolutionary products ever designed like the Zigtech bats and Zig trainers which will change the game for ever” Prem said.

    Reebok director sales and marketing Sajid Shamim said,” Reebok is rooted in the ideology of sport and we have supported the game of cricket since the inception of Reebok in India. Reebok continues to power up top athletes and emerging talent throughout the world and equip them with the best to help them outperform both on and off the field. Our line of products for the World Cup – Zigtech bats, Zigtech Training Footwear, Customized Cricket footwear is innovative and performance driven. We are also fuelling the passion in our fans through exclusive fan gear and merchandize. The coming days will see the launch of an all new Zigtech TVC featuring MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh as part of Reebok’s World Cup Marketing Campaign.“

  • LG to spend Rs 800 mn during World Cup and IPL

    LG to spend Rs 800 mn during World Cup and IPL

    MUMBAI: LG, an ICC partner, plans to spend Rs 700-800 million in marketing over the next three months coinciding with the cricket World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL).

    The marketing activities for the World Cup will kick off in a few days time, LG chief marketing officer LK Gupta said.

    The Lead XI initiative, which LG had carried out at other ICC events, will be expanded to include 1000 kids from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The kids will walk onto the field with their respective teams at the start of their matches at the World Cup and sing the National Anthem.

    “Since the World Cup is taking place in the subcontinent, we are giving a chance to more children to be part of this programme. Earlier 50 children had to be flown. Among other things, we will have a school contact programme. It will also be using radio to spread awareness. Leaflets will be distributed at its stores and other retail outlets.”

    LG will also be launching a range of mobile phones and refrigerators to coincide withe World Cup. It will have promotions for the mobile phones including match tickets.

  • ‘Max is an extremely successful channel’ : Max Sr EVP and business head Sneha Rajani

    ‘Max is an extremely successful channel’ : Max Sr EVP and business head Sneha Rajani

    Multi Screen Media‘s hybrid channel Max has completed 11 years and today is a prime asset of the company.

     

    While it telecasts the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL), in the movie space it is in close fight with Zee Cinema for the top spot.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Gaurav Laghate, Max Sr EVP and business head Sneha Rajani talks about how Max has successfully run its movie and cricket businesses separately and profitably.

     

     

    Excerpts:

    Max has been both, praised and criticised, for changes in cricket programming. Your comments…
    What we did with cricket was pioneering. We changed the way cricket was viewed and consumed in this country. Till then it was like a match being aired and a little bit of analysis thrown. What we wanted to do, and which is where we revolutionised cricket viewing, was that we wanted to increase the base.

    Cricket was predominantly male viewing till we came into the market. We knew that in order to increase the base, it couldn‘t be just confined to the men. We had to make it all inclusive.

    So we took some seriously bold steps like introducing a woman anchor way back in 2002 (Ruby Bhatia) and Extraa Innings.

     

    In the 2003 World Cup, we had three women instead of one – and purists went ballistic. The ratings increased five times, women audience grew 200 per cent and Extraa Innings touched a 19 TVR.

    Another milestone was duplicating the success of Extraa Innings with movies – Extra Shots. Mandira Bedi became the first movie jockey.

     

    From 2008 we are having IPL. There has been no dull moment since then – we are made for each other.

    What about movies?
    Blockbuster movie acquisition is something Max has been associated with always. Out of the 10-12 big films every year, Max has easily over half of them. Be it Lagaan, Devdaas, Om Shanti Om or 3 Idiots – you will always see the best and biggest movies on Max.

    3 Idiots is, perhaps, the biggest coup that Sony has pulled off. Look at the ratings of the first three airings.

    With so much controversies and bad publicity going around IPL, will it have any adverse impact on your revenue targets?
    I won‘t comment on numbers but any publicity is good publicity…it helps you look positively. And at the end of the day, the IPL is a league that the audience wants to watch. The thought and vision is so strong that the IPL will continue to be the biggest entertainment spectacle.

    Max being a hybrid channel, the cost of investment is much higher compared to a pure play movie channel…
    Yes, but we look at the two as completely separate businesses. And both are doing fairly well independently.

    And yes, as for cricket, the rights have been acquired for 10 years. We are well aware of the costs. But as far as movie acquisition is concerned, we know the prices have gone up tremendously, which is why we have been extremely careful about how many movies we have picked up this year and at what price.

    But you have acquired very few movies this year?
    Let me put it this way… We have not acquired as many films as we normally do simply because we did not want to pay unrealistically high. Acquisition has to make business sense.
    ‘We have not acquired as many films as we normally do, simply because we did not want to pay unrealistically high. Acquisition has to make business sense‘

    As Colors is buying movies aggressively for its upcoming movie channel, what will be your plan of action?
    Not just Colors, Star has also picked up a lot of them. Colors is in a different life cycle; they are in a launch phase. We are nowhere in the launch phase, we have a very solid library. We have acquired enough number of premieres.

    So what are the parameters that you look for while acquiring the movies?
    We have a budget and a set of parameters. Our recent acquisitions are Robot, Crook, Raktacharitra, We Are Family and Hisss.

    When you are airing movies, you do not have scope for creative programming. How is your channel different from the other movie channels?
    The scope is very limited simply because we run movies back to back; there is very little space available for us to do anything else. But in the next quarter, we are trying to bring in at least a couple of innovations.

    So far we have Extraa Shots – which has a different look to it every month. We shoot with TV stars; we have picture-in-picture type shots etc. It has been refreshed continuously over time.

    But how will you differentiate between your channel, and say, Zee Cinema and Star Gold if everyone is playing the same movies?
    You are talking about the syndication model. But there are very few movies that have been shared between the broadcasters like Jab We Met airing on 10 different channels.

    I can say 99 per cent of our library is exclusive, and so is Zee‘s and Star‘s. There are very few – around 50 films that are shared in the market.

    So you don‘t believe in the syndication model?
    We as broadcasters are extremely and completely against the syndication model. If you talk to other broadcasters, I think they will also share the same views.

    I think it is not right for the broadcasters and for the movie itself. I think producers also should not encourage this as it completely devalues the product.

    But many channels have formed business models on syndication. Like Colors acquired first airing, Imagine TV got second airings…
    The response to that is the pricing is wrong. It does not mean that you change the model and introduce a model that completely kills your product and the brand of the channel.

    We had to acquire some movies on syndication as they were not available otherwise. But going forward, we have not acquired any film that is on syndication. It is outright acquisition model that we are following.

    Which movies you had to take on syndication?
    Om Shanti Om, Chandni Chowk to China, Bhootnath, Jab We Met and a few others. But after that, we haven‘t. Like 3 Idiots – which we acquired exclusively.
    The window between theatrical release and TV premiere has shortened. But a movie channel gets the movie after it airs on the general entertainment channel. Is there a return on investment?
    If not, why will Colors launch a movie channel? And let me tell you, I can‘t talk about the other movie channels, but Max is a very successful channel. Not just from the ratings point of few, but as a business it is extremely successful.

    And as you rightly said, the big premiere happens on a general entertainment channel simply because the effective rates on a GEC are far higher than a movie channel. But there is a model there which works, and that‘s why everyone is doing it.

    In other words, we recover what we invest.

    But Zee Cinema is not investing heavily on acquisitions and rates higher than Max. So is it not a more effective business channel?
    They do buy, maybe not as much as Star or Sony or Colors, but it is because their business model is different.
     

    And talking about Sony, even before we launched Max, our brand promise was that we are known for our blockbusters. Our strategies

    are different. I wouldn‘t say theirs is more effective or ours is.

    And if you see the last five years, Max has been leading more than them. Obviously our strategy is also working.

    Also don‘t forget that Zee Cinema has got a first mover advantage. It‘s a far older channel. People are used to it and in the Hindi heartland they have a huge following.