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Tag: Karan Bajaj

  • Not relying on movies to garner Jeet’s viewership: Karan Bajaj

    Not relying on movies to garner Jeet’s viewership: Karan Bajaj

    MUMBAI: After entertaining the Indian audience for over 20 years with world-class documentaries on food, science, survival and more, Discovery Communications India (DCIN) is all set to entertain Indians with its general entertainment channel (GEC) Jeet. Slated to launch on 12 February 2018, Jeet’s differentiated content philosophy has enabled the channel to get various brands on board as advertisers and achieve its pre-launch inventory sales targets. The channel has sold out its entire Q1 inventory for advertisers.

    Brands such as Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Marico, Mondelez International, Johnson and Johnson, Yellow Diamond and Quickheal have come on board.

    DCIN, which will launch the channel with distribution to more than 100 million households in the country, has already signed Netflix as the exclusive global OTT platform. The shows on Jeet will be available on Netflix one month after the first airing.

    Jeet is aiming to break the clutter in the Hindi GEC arena riding on purpose-driven entertainment content. The channel will launch with five hours of programming band daily out of which three hours will be bespoke, ground-up original programming built on the thesis of underdog winning.  With an aim to be India’s first national GEC, Discovery Jeet will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The channel does not intend to add more regional languages anytime soon.

    Discovery Communications India senior VP and GM (South Asia) Karan Bajaj said that although the channel would initially have only two hours of original weekend programming, the network would look at increasing or decreasing the library depending on the audience reception.

    At a press briefing in DCIN’s offices in Mumbai yesterday, Bajaj mentioned that the channel did not plan on premiering movies as they didn’t feel the need to bank on films to get viewership. The team is optimistic about its strong line-up of shows.

    The network has been doing a test run for Jeet from 1 February on DTH platform Tata Sky. The channel is available for viewers on channel number 155.

    The uplinking of the channel is done from Singapore. All the content feed is sent there before the show is finally telecasted across India.

    Discovery Jeet will be made available for viewers in Standard and High Definition feed. During the launch, almost 120 million households will be able to see Discovery Jeet as a part of their Discovery Communication network pack on DTH platforms.

    Bajaj emphasised that there would be more content and less ads in Q1 in order to build a following for the content before deciding to increase the ad inventory.

    DCIN’s business model has changed from foreign content to now local mass targeted content. The network that aired international documentaries and shows on Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, TLC, etc will now focus majorly on Indian originated content for the masses.

    The channel has taken a very unique marketing approach in order to promote the shows. The marketing for all show on the channel will be very regional and will vary geographically. For instance, a show that is based in Punjab will be majorly advertised in the region as opposed to another show on the channel where the story is based on Tamilians.

    With Discovery Kids all set to air Little Singham starting March and Jeet in its last leg of launch, Bajaj is highly optimistic about both the channels. He believes that Discovery Kids and Discovery Jeet will become prime properties of the network that will drive maximum viewership and ratings for the network.

    Also Read :

    Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

    Discovery India ties-up with Reliance Animation to produce kids IP

    Discovery Jeet signs content deal with Netflix

    Discovery launching Hindi GEC in Q4, re-brands ID as Discovery Jeet

  • Jeet draws first blood in GEC showdown

    Jeet draws first blood in GEC showdown

    MUMBAI: After entertaining the Indian audience for more than 20 years with world-class documentaries on food, science, survival and more, Discovery Communications India (DCIN) is all set to entertain Indians with its general entertainment channel (GEC) Jeet. Slated to launch on 12 February 2018, the channel is already earning rave reviews for its content. The channel, which will launch with distribution to more than 100 million households in India, has already signed Netflix as the exclusive global OTT platform and has added another feather to its cap a week prior to its launch. The company has announced unprecedented consumer engagement for the entertainment domain with content trailers of Jeet achieving record high completion rate of 65 per cent on YouTube and 40 per cent on Facebook, more than double the industry benchmark of 30 per cent completion rate on YouTube and 20 per cent on Facebook.

    According to DCIN’s release, Jeet’s content-led trailers have cumulatively delivered more than 300 million impressions, more than 100 million views in just over of 2 weeks on YouTube and Facebook. The two trailers of 21 Sarfarosh and Swami Ramdev Ek Sangharsh have crossed 50 million views on YouTube and Facebook.

    This week, Discovery JEET will release another 100 plus pieces of digital content with an aim to further intensify its reach on digital and give consumers a glimpse of the range of content on offer.

    Jeet’s differentiated content philosophy has found many natural partners and helped achieve pre-launch inventory sales targets. The channel’s brand-led partnership approach has seen multiple brands from major conglomerates, including Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Marico, Mondelez International, Johnson and Johnson, Yellow Diamond and Quickheal come on board even before the launch.

    “We started speaking about entertaining and inspiring content in all our sales pitches a while ago, but the moment we started showcasing rushes of our shows to advertisers, the response started to change dramatically as they were able to experience Discovery Jeet’s line-up of dramatic, compelling stories of real, relatable characters presented in a cinematic, larger than life format,” said DCIN senior VP and GM (South Asia) Karan Bajaj.  “We are enthused with the response that Jeet has been able to garner from the consumers, the advertising community as well as the affiliate partners. We will be dialing up an aggressive marketing campaign even further as we get closer to the launch of the channel.”

    Jeet is aiming to break the clutter in the Hindi GEC arena riding on purpose-driven entertainment content. The channel will launch with five hours of programming band daily out of which three hours will be bespoke, ground-up original programming built on the thesis of the underdog winning.  Jeet will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

    Also Read:

    Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

    Discovery India ties-up with Reliance Animation to produce kids IP

  • Discovery India ties-up with Reliance Animation to produce kids IP

    Discovery India ties-up with Reliance Animation to produce kids IP

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications India has commissioned Reliance Animation to produce a new disruptive Indian original content series Little Singham, an animation series inspired by the movie Singham. Targeted at kids in the age-group 4-8 years old, Little Singham will make its debut on television in April 2018 on the completely revamped Discovery Kids channel.

    Little Singham will be aired in four languages– English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. This is the biggest investment made by Discovery Communications India till date in the kid’s original content segment in India. The official release, however, did not mention the numbers.

    Discovery Communications India SVP and GM-South Asia Karan Bajaj said, “The scale of investment and the efforts behind Little Singham is symbolic of our intent to be the leader in the kids’ genre in India. The Little Singham IP, undoubtedly our biggest bet till date in the kids’ segment in India, has been shortlisted on the basis of positive feedback in the consumer research. We are confident that along with a world-class animation partner like Reliance Animation we will be able to produce masala faceted series rooted in action, adventure and comedy that will attract the attention of kids in India. In addition, concerted efforts are underway to milk the full business potential of the IP in the most impactful manner.”

    Reliance Entertainment COO Shibasish Sarkar said, “Little Singham will set a completely new benchmark for animation in India.  Reliance Animation, led by COO Tejonidhi Bhandare, has currently engaged as many as 250 animation artists on this project and our expectation is that this number will grow further as we get closer to the launch. We are confident about the commitment and approach of our partners, Discovery Communications, and together we will not leave any stone unturned to make this IP successful.”

    Also Read:

    Discovery Jeet signs content deal with Netflix

    Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

  • Discovery bags nine sponsors for Battle Ops

    Discovery bags nine sponsors for Battle Ops

    MUMBAI: Battle Ops, Discovery Communications India’s (DCIN) integrated television and digital offering, has received a resounding response from the advertiser community. The show, which will premiere on Discovery Channel and Veer on 26th January, has already sold out with nine sponsors on board.

    Mahindra KUV and Thums Up have come on board as the co-presenting sponsors of Battle Ops while the series is co-powered by Swiggy, Suzuki Intruder, Parle G and Gillette. Idea, LIC of India and K P Foodshave come on board as the associate sponsors.

    Discovery Communications India SVP and GM- South Asia Karan Bajaj said, “In response to the exploding multi-screen viewership in India, we wanted to break the linear and digital silos that currently exist in the market and offer a seamless consumer experience, a first-of-a-kind approach adopted by a broadcaster in India. We are delighted that this unique offering has been able to draw unprecedented advertiser interest. We will only accelerate from here on.”

    He added, “Discovery is the undisputed leader in the infotainment category on television and our clutter-breaking digital-first content proposition on digital is designed to help us achieve our ambition of being the number 1 mobile content brand in the country.”

    The scale of advertiser interest stands testimony to DCIN’s new strategy of aggregating television and digital audiences with an aim to multiply advertiser value. The company spotted a big market opportunity with no major at-scale digital/mobile-first channels and announced its plans to launch four direct-to-consumer, social and mobile-first channels.  

    Discovery Communications India VP-head of advertising sales Vikram Tanna said, “The military genre has always been a favourite with advertisers. The aggregation of premium audiences with the unique television plus digital offering makes our product highly differentiated and robust.  In today’s multi-screen environment, reach multiplication across screens, with a strong and focused content ecosystem makes the combination of Discovery channel and Veer by Discovery, truly, a game changer.”

  • Dsport acquires India rights of tri-nation tournament in SL

    Dsport acquires India rights of tri-nation tournament in SL

    MUMBAI: Discovery’s sports channel Dsport has acquired the exclusive India broadcast rights of Nidahas Trophy 2018, a tri-nation international T20 tournament involving India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The transaction was facilitated by Lagardère Sports, the global marketing consultant of Sri Lanka Cricket for Nidahas Trophy.

    The Nidahas Trophy 2018, played in celebration of Sri Lanka’s 70th year of independence, will follow a round robin format with all the three teams playing each other twice, and the top two progressing to the final to be played on 18 March 2018. All the matches will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

    “We are delighted to partner with the Sri Lankan Cricket board and showcase this important tourney to the cricket aficionados in India,” said Discovery Communications India senior vice president and general manager South Asia Karan Bajaj. “Nidahas Trophy 2018 will also mark the first time when the Men in Blue will feature live on Dsport. This will give a further fillip to the channel and bolster our efforts to showcase world class sporting events to our fans in the country.”

    Sri Lanka Cricket Board president Thilanga Sumathipala said, “Dsport is fast emerging as an important destination for premium sports in India. We are happy that cricket fans in India will join in and celebrate Sri Lanka’s 70th independence anniversary via Dsport. We look forward to a closely contested tournament.”

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    Also Read:

    Dsport acquires broadcast rights of New Japan Pro-Wrestling

    DSport sends notice to Impress Matra for protecting its BPL T20 broadcast interest

  • Discovery Jeet signs content deal with Netflix

    Discovery Jeet signs content deal with Netflix

    MUMBAI: The upcoming bull in the competitive general entertainment channel (GEC) space, Discovery Jeet, has already signed up with Netflix as its exclusive global OTT platform, even before the channel has launched. The deal will ensure that Jeet’s marquee content will be available to audiences in more than 190 countries worldwide. 

    Netflix viewers can binge-watch all Discovery Jeet shows after they have aired. Discovery Communications India SVP and GM Karan Bajaj revealed that the major idea behind the tie up was the similarity in philosophy regarding differentiated content. The other reason was Netflix’s global reach, which would be ideal for Jeet’s content to reach the vast diaspora. It also adds more screen on which the network’s content will be viewed. 

    Discovery’s partnership with Netflix comes almost a month after the broadcaster announced the launch of four niche digital channels (in partnership with video streaming platforms YouTube, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Play).

    Bajaj considers Discovery as a strong leader in the digital infotainment space and wants to develop very passionate niche communities.

    In an earlier interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Bajaj said that the channel’s focus is on ‘perception selling’. With premium and purposeful content, Jeet will scrape a good chunk of the creamy layer. He said, “The context of the show where you advertise is at times strikingly in contrast to what the brand stands for. So, to get scale, advertisers have no other option.” However, he says that Jeet will allow brands to flourish by not only providing them with scale but also premium content that matches the brand philosophy. Thus, the channel’s target is to net this top layer of India’s TV consumers.

    At present, Discovery operates 12 factual entertainment channels in India, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery HD World, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Kids and sports channel Dsport.

    Starting 12 February 2018, the channel will launch with five hours of programming band daily, out of which three hours will be ground-up original programming built on the thesis of the underdog emerging as the winner, available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages.

    Discovery plans to focus on mass and premium audiences in India. As part of the plan, Jeet, and kids channel Discovery Kids will target the mass audience, while to tap the premium audience segment, which is shifting towards digital platforms for content consumption, the network is planning to launch multiple theme-based digital channels.  

    Discovery Communications India VP head of mass entertainment-South Asia Sameer Rao said, “Discovery Jeet’s differentiation comes from our lineup of dramatic, compelling stories of real, relatable characters presented in a cinematic, larger than life format. It is a representation of a strong emotion of ‘hai mumkin’ which is palpable in tier II and III towns across the country.”

    While Discovery has completed two decades of operations in India, its focus was on factual entertainment only. However, under the new leadership, the company has decided to significantly scale up the investment as it has set an ambitious target of making India one of the top three fastest growing markets with entry into new genres.

    Discovery Jeet’s marketing campaign will focus on key tentpole properties Swami Ramdev: Ek Sangharsh, 21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897 and Mere Papa Hero Hiralal capturing the insurmountable odds that the protagonists had to overcome in their lives to achieve success.

    Also Read:

    Video consumption by premium audience on digital exploding: Karan Bajaj

    Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

    Discovery launching Hindi GEC in Q4, re-brands ID as Discovery Jeet

  • Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

    Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

    MUMBAI: Discovery Networks is all set to dive into the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) category. Putting rest to speculation, Discovery Jeet, the network’s maiden GEC, will launch on 12 February 2018.

    After dominating the infotainment genre on television for the longest time, Discovery Communications is shedding its cocoon to woo viewers with 1000 hours of original fictional content a year. This is in stark contrast to just seven hours of non-fiction that Discovery India gets.

    Discovery has done its homework well to come up with its own GEC channel. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Discovery Communications India SVP and GM Karan Bajaj said, “The only way to aggregate scale on TV is daily viewership. Everything on Jeet is being mounted as a soap opera.” For the first year, there will be three to four hours of shows to tap this daily-viewing audience and two hours of weekend content for tier 2 and 3 cities.

    Bajaj identified the 250 million TV households in India as a pyramid. The top 15 million (which he expects to double to 30 million in five years) have fixed broadband and premium DTH. The next 120 million have cable TV and mobile phones. The last 120 million is split into 20 million with Free Dish and the rest without any TV access. The middle will grow at 10 per cent while the bottom of the pyramid will be exposed to personal TVs for the first time.

    Rather than mimic the tried-and-tested models of the competition, Bajaj has decided to focus on ‘perception selling’. With its premium and purposeful content, he said that Jeet will scrape a good chunk of the premium layer. With his strong background in consumer companies such as Kraft, P&G and BCG, he is also giving advertisers a proposition they cannot refuse. He says, “The context of the show where you advertise is at times strikingly in contrast to what the brand stands for. So, to get scale, advertisers have no other option.” He gives the instance of a progressive brand such as Ariel, which he handled during his stint at P&G, where the target audience could be reached only through a regressive soap opera.

    However, he says that Jeet will allow brands to flourish by not only providing them with scale but also premium content that matches the brand philosophy. Thus, the channel’s target is to net this creamy layer of India’s TV consumers.

    For Jeet, Distribution is an important pre-launch target. The channel will be available on subscription-based pay TV, which is a part of the network’s premium revenue strategy. “We are very singular in our offering so you must have Discovery in your bouquet. It is not a replaceable GEC.”

    Even before the launch, the channel had been inundated with requests for international syndication. “The interest in our content is high and these independent affiliate networks have sampled our other content,” Bajaj explained. Christopher McGrath is in charge of global content syndication.

    Discovery Communications currently has 12 channels and Discovery Jeet is replacing Investigation Discovery channel. Vijay Rajput is the distribution head.

    Since the channel has decided to bite the bullet, it will be pinning its hopes to snag a place in the coveted GEC market.

    The shows 

    Swami Ramdev: The Untold Story, an Ajay Devgn Films production, has been one of the most talked about shows in the lead up to the launch. The dramatised version of real events will unfold in a daily format of 23 minutes. Another show is Saragarhi, which is a finite series by Contiloe production house, will highlight the plight of 21 Sikh soldiers. Both these shows will have an 85-episode run. Shooting for the first wave of shows for three to four months has already been completed; the channel is onto the next wave.

    A supernatural TV series produced by Lotus Talkies Productions has found its way on Jeet as Anjaan, which will be a 45-minute weekend show. Another show is Hero Hiralal that revolves around an auto-rickshaw driver and his seven-year-old daughter who requires a heart transplant. This show is being edited in-house. Both these are infinite. The weekends will primarily feature non-fiction comedy shows.

    Also Read:

    Discovery launching Hindi GEC in Q4, re-brands ID as Discovery Jeet

    Discovery Communications launches ID, TLC HD and Animal Planet HD World

    Discovery Communications acquires majority share in FoodFood

    Video consumption by premium audience on digital exploding: Karan Bajaj

    Discovery to launch digital channels, ties up with telcos

  • Video consumption by premium audience on digital exploding: Karan Bajaj

    Video consumption by premium audience on digital exploding: Karan Bajaj

    Mumbai: Karan Bajaj, head of India/South Asia at Discovery Communications India, comes across as a curious mind. In an exclusive conversation with Indiantelevision.com, he spoke on a range of topics-from Discovery’s latest digital ventures to the network’s foray into the general entertainment space with the much-awaited Jeet.

    In the course of our conversation, Bajaj revealed that TV viewership would grow at a 10 per cent rate in the coming five years. Despite a difficult year for television, he believes that the launch of a GEC like Jeet, which has a differentiated proposition, will give Discovery the benefits of growth.

    Here are the excerpts:

    How do you see the TV market in India shaping up?

    I follow my own thesis and don’t just imitate the market. There are about 250 million households, which can be ranked in a pyramid. The top 15 million households have fixed broadband at home and premium DTH connection, the next 120 million predominantly have cable television connection and mobile phones for their individual snacking consumption. Out of the last 120 million households, 20 million have Free Dish and the remaining 100 million do not have access to television.

    While projecting for the next five years, the top layer will grow aggressively from 15 million to 30 million and will move towards the digital space. So, here, television viewership will decline and digital viewership will grow exponentially. In the next 100 million households, television viewership will continue to grow at about 10 per cent rate because the bottom 120 million will enter the space and will aspire to get a cable connection. So, a big chunk at the bottom will be rising to the middle of the pyramid as the middle starts to migrate to the top. My thesis says that in the coming five years, television viewership will grow 10 per cent because of those 120 million households, bottom line people will get TVs at home and Free Dish will grow exponentially. And, this made us launch Jeet, a mass entertainment channel, specifically targetted at the tier 2 and tier 3 audience.

    What is your thesis to move to digital space?

    My current business is queued towards the top 30 million households, which is migrating to digital. This is the premium category where TV viewership might be going down by 15-20 per cent but their video viewership on digital might be exploding. Again, when we look at TV viewership pie in India, the current arc of English factual and lifestyle content is about 1 per cent of TV viewership in India but on digital, it is about 15 per cent. Things like auto, food, tech, lifestyle, outdoor, military, female comedians or activist comedy are consumed 10 times more significantly on digital.

    Now, if I project out for the next five years, I see two successful models that are emerging in digital. One is the aggregator whose role is that it becomes the single point of contact for a wide variety of content, from movies to entertainment to sports etc. There can be maximum three or four aggregators who can make money in the coming ten years but not all the 20-25 aggregators available for consumers. So I decided not to compete in that space. The other space that I find interesting and exciting is the passionate community space. For instance, on YouTube, a Gujarati comedy show emerges as a fast-growing channel in the last six months.

    We are starting our own food vertical with Scripps Network Interactive. I get very excited on seeing the niche digital and the passionate community in India for food is a $120 million market with no market leader. We are not launching an OTT channel, but a brand.

    What makes a digital community strong?

    A digital community is made passionate and strong when there is extremely frequent engagement such as by uploading one video per day because that builds loyalty. Refresh rate has to be high on digital and the quality of content should be delightful content. But if the creator is investing in creating high quality content every day, how he will make money? Brand integration is the way to look forward but it’s tedious. So, here Discovery comes with an advantage. Discovery has 6000 hours of original high quality global content library to edit, curate and create. So, my cost of production is nothing, all I need to put is the cost in editing. Here, I am able to create a very passionate community with my global library.

    On top of that, we are producing tent pole content which is amortised across both digital and linear in different formats. For smartphones, the format will be of 7-10 minutes. On Discovery channel, it would be between 30 to 60 minutes. Though we aren’t paying much for 80 per cent of the content volume, we are paying highly for the remaining 20 per cent. It is an attractive financial model and dramatically expands the reach of Discovery Network.

    What are the passionate communities you are planning to build on digital?

    I am looking to create rabid passionate community on digital including YouTube, Facebook, Jio TV, Airtel and Vodafone. First, we are launching Veer, which is a military passionate brand and Rise an activist female comedy show, both launching on 26 January 2018. Then we are coming up with auto and food with Scripps in March. These are massive scale shows with Veer having 1000 videos a year (average 3 per day) – one from our library and remaining from our tent-pole content. In three to five years, when we will have six to eight such verticals, four of them will become significant like the top military community, auto community, food community, activist comedy community. We are entering in a space where nobody has entered yet. We enjoy the advantage of having fresh global content library while other creators have to get into production first and then distribution later.

    What is Veer all about? How does the content for Veer deal digitally?

    Veer is a military passionate online brand by Discovery. In our global library, there are 1000 hours of global content in Hindi language dubbed, which we will be putting out as two-three videos a day. We have best hero content while shooting in top commando schools in India. We have top quality Breaking Point that went crazy on digital. Now, we are planning Breaking Point next year in land and under water (part 2) of 45 hours of content. Military content has a passionate community with 12-18 million unduplicated people in India who watched it on digital.

    Did demonetisation affect the business of Discovery Networks? What were the after-effects?

    The initial six months of demonetisation and GST we were prepping. We did not launch any show between January and June, but after July, we launched Queens of Comedy on TLC and Breaking Point on Discovery and we were not left with space for sponsors to come in. Breaking Point was a six-hour show and Queens of Comedy was four hours. In 2018, we are creating 45 hours of content for both the shows.

    How much scale and reach did you get from military content?

    We have military at scale. Every month we will be having new military series coming and multiple platforms to launch. Digital has tripled our reach. Historically, the reach of Discovery is 60 million (unduplicated) per week but now it has set a benchmark of 145 million based on our projections. TLC has an unduplicated reach of 35 million but now we are projecting that the channels we are launching across platforms will expand our reach to 105 million.

    Do you have an in-house studio to churn out the content or you will outsource it?

    Veer and Rise, are structured differently. For Veer, we have our in-house team for editing, cutting and clipping the global content for all the videos at scale. The hero content we are outsourcing from different production houses who are specialists in making military content. We have low to medium cost weekly formats, one is Military Lessons in Life done by a General father and son, and other is Military News.

    For Rise, we will outsource the high quality content like Queens of Comedy, Kings vs. Queens and for hygiene content, we have tied up with a bunch of local creators for exclusivity and we will own the IP rights of all.

    Tell us about your revenue model for digital ventures?

    The military content attracts a powerful set of male advertisers. Our revenue model is built on linear commercial time, TV and digital brand integration, YouTube digital revenue which is the icing on the cake, international syndication revenue and licensing of the content on other digital platforms. The content will appear differently on YouTube and other digital platforms. The arc of the whole story will be portrayed in five to nine minutes packs for various digital formats. We are doing offline and online marketing campaign for Veer and Rise.

    What is your thesis for constructing Jeet?

    We have learnt from our past attempts that the only way to scale in GEC is through daily viewership. Everything on Jeet is being mounted as a soap opera. We are constructing three to four hours of daily content and two hours of weekend content for the tier-2 and tier 3-town family audience. Overall, in the first year, we are coming up with 1000 hours of original content for a year. We have constructed it as four hours of weekdays content and two hours of weekend content. The core prime time bands will have Swami Ramdev: The Untold Story and Saragarhi. Then, we have shows like Anjaan and Hero Hiralal that are constructed like GECs but their quality is premium as compared to other GECs.

    I have realised that in this genre, you need to have IPs, which people refuse. In 120 million households where Jeet will be visible we need ratings or else we won’t have a compelling proposition. The idea is that we are reaching a sophisticated consumer with affinity content not measurable by ratings. When you have that kind of content, ratings sky rocket.

    What is so unique about your 1000 hours content?

    It is premium. Swami Ramdev: The Untold Story is a dramatised version of real events and is a finite series of 23 minutes every day. Saragarhi is a story of 21 Sikh soldiers, a finite series produced by Contiloe production house. These both series will restrict to 85 episodes. Anjaan and Hero Hiralal are infinite series. The former is a supernatural TV series produced by Lotus Talkies Productions, the production company of Sony TV’s Crime Patrol. It’s a 45 minutes weekday show. Whereas, Hero Hiralal is a conceptual series that revolves around an auto-rickshaw driver and his seven-year-old daughter who needs a heart transplant. The show is been edited by the in-house team of Discovery Communications. For weekends, we have non-fiction comedy shows.

    Will Jeet attract advertisers?

    Jeet will scrape a good chunk of the premium layer. I don’t want to replicate the competition’s model, rather I wanted to focus on perception selling. I am confident about the scalability of brands and advertisers. The context of the show where you advertise is at times strikingly in contrast to what the brand stands for. So to get scale advertisers have no other option. Typically, if you are a progressive brand, like Ariel that I handled, you end up advertising in a very regressive soap opera as that’s the only way to get scale. Jeet will allow brands to flourish by not only providing them with scale but also premium content that matches the brand philosophy and enough to attract a premium audience.

    How will Jeet be packaged to consumers? Will it be an FTA?

    Discovery Communication currently has 12 channels and Discovery Jeet is replacing Investigation Discovery channel. Jeet will be available on subscription-based pay TV. We have a very robust affiliate business. For syndicating, we are very singular in our offerings. Jeet is a singular proposition and not like any other GEC, which is replaceable. We have a strong launch plan in which distribution is very important for us. Vijay Rajput is the distribution head of all channels of Discovery Communications India.

    The interest in this sort of content is super high and soon we will be announcing our digital partnership. I am swamped by the international syndication request before launch. They are independent affiliate networks who have sampled the content through some other form.

    Who is supervising the functions of Jeet?

    Discovery Communications vice-president real world products south Asia Sameer Rao is leading Jeet. The middle-east team of Discovery has made a significant offer of syndicating the content globally. Christopher McGrath will be taking care of content syndication globally in Discovery Communication. We have a strong management and sales team in the leadership of Vikram Tanna and Rajput.

    Also Read:

    Discovery to launch digital channels, ties up with telcos

    Discovery launching Hindi GEC in Q4, re-brands ID as Discovery Jeet

    Discovery India hires Geetanjali Bhattacharji 

  • Discovery to launch digital channels, ties up with telcos

    Discovery to launch digital channels, ties up with telcos

    Mumbai: Discovery Communications India (DCIN) is planning to disrupt the digital space with the launch of bespoke direct-to-consumer and mobile-first channels in February 2018. The new mobile-first channels will focus on four core-interest areas—military, girlist, automotive and food. The first two channels to launch will be Veer by Discovery and Rise by TLC in the first quarter of 2018. These will be followed by specialist automotive and food-focussed mobile-first channels later in the year.

    With an unrivalled content library across these areas, DCIN is uniquely positioned to launch and further develop these special-interest verticals across various social and mobile platforms while also nurturing and nourishing these audience communities with meaningful content. The initiative leverages on the unprecedented growth of passionate online communities that is driving a sizeable 15 per cent of digital video consumption in India in the lifestyle/factual genre.

    Zulfia Waris, VP, premium and digital networks, Discovery Communications India, said, “The clutter-breaking digital-first content proposition of Veer and Rise is designed to help us achieve our ambition of being the number one mobile content brand in the country. These will be independent digital channels and not catch-up TV—from the best in military to girl power to automobiles and world food, our aim is to create and nurture passionate interest-based communities with edgy world-class content that resonates.”

    DCIN has identified a big market opportunity in this space in India, which has no major at scale digital/mobile-first channels and all OTT services mostly offer long-form linear content on digital even though the consumption trends indicate that 76 per cent of all online videos watched are short-form (less than 10 minutes long). In the first year, Veer by Discovery and Rise by TLC will offer consumers more than 100 hours of original content in India.

    DCIN has partnered YouTube, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Play to optimise the launch of these channels and maximise its reach across social and mobile platforms.

    Karan Bajaj, senior VP and GM, Discovery Communications India, said, “We are thrilled to take Discovery digital in India and accelerate engagement with the growing base of young consumers who are increasingly snacking short-form content. These passionate communities form an integral part of the consumption pattern across digital media and we see this trend accentuating further in future. Our digital channels will help us ramp up reach across linear and digital platforms by almost three times making it an irresistible proposition for the advertisers who will now have the option to reach out to premium consumers across our linear network and presence across the most popular social and mobile platforms.”

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  • Discovery India hires Geetanjali Bhattacharji

    Discovery India hires Geetanjali Bhattacharji

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications India has appointed Geetanjali Bhattacharji, the erstwhile CEO of Spatial Access, as the head of brand partnerships and content integration, based out of Mumbai.

    In her new role, Bhattacharji, working in close association with advertising sales and business head of regional clusters Vikram Tanna, will focus on creating engaging content partnerships with brands by drawing synergies between brand purpose and Discovery’s exciting content line-up across its portfolio of channels, including the upcoming Discovery Jeet.

    Discovery Communications India South Asia senior VP and general manager Karan Bajaj said, “It is an opportune time to have a content and media optimiser like Geetanjali on board. Discovery Jeet’s content is under development, besides we have been working to make the brand proposition of each of our marquee channels more focussed towards specific target audiences. Geetanjali’s skills and understanding of this space will help deliver impactful, purpose-driven partnerships to Discovery’s valued brand partners in their quest to reach diverse and evolving audience communities.”

    A marketing veteran with more than 20 years of work experience, she has advised brands on unbundling creativity, optimising content production, partnerships, media-investments and all marketing spend.

    Speaking, Bhattacharji said, “Given the fragmentation of consumers, Jeet fills a clear gap in the Hindi GEC space: providing relevant content choices to male millennials and Tier II and III families who aspire to be a part of the change around them but are missing out on the action. It’s time for brands to align to the purpose of the content they support and I am looking forward to establishing Jeet as the channel that delivers an elevated purpose for mass storytelling on television.”