ITV

Tag: KBC

  • Sony targets Rs 2 bn from KBC

    Sony targets Rs 2 bn from KBC

    MUMBAI: It’s hoping to hit the jackpot itself. Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is looking at more than doubling its advertising revenues from its flagship reality game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), even as it is lengthening the telecast time of each episode and its seasonal run.


    The Hindi general entertainment television channel is expecting to reap an ad revenue of Rs 1.80 to Rs 2 billion from the fifth edition (second on Sony) of the show, according to market estimates.


    This time the show will run for 14 weeks in 1 and a half hour long episodes. In the previous edition, KBC ran for seven weeks in one-hour episodes.


    “Sony is looking at more than doubling its ad revenues as the inventory has gone up. Besides, the channel‘s ratings have improved as well,” said a media analyst.


    The channel is spending an estimated Rs 800-100 million on marketing the game show, which will be hosted by Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan. Last time SET spent Rs 110 million on marketing the show.


    “We had to spend more on marketing the show last time because we had to stress on the fact that KBC was shifting from Star TV to Sony. Also, Bachchan was returning to the show after a gap of six years,” said SET senior vice president and marketing head Danish Khan, while declining to comment on the actual spends this year.


    Placing the show at 8.30 pm every Monday-Friday, Sony is using the flagship show as a gateway to its primetime programming. The channel plans to launch a fiction show at 8 pm in mid-September.


    “We have two fiction shows which are doing well at late primetime. This is a good time band to attract audiences from smaller towns and metros. KBC is going deeper this time,” stated Khan.


    KBC was aired at 9 pm in the previous edition.


    Sony is expanding the role of KBC from just a game show to a “show that reflects the transformation of lives in India”.


    “Our entire marketing premise is built on this. Our five set of TVCs will reflect this message,” Khan commented.


    The themes chosen for the television commercials aim to highlight the country‘s identity: inflation, corruption, old age, relationships and hedonistic.


    The show‘s positioning has been amplified from “Koi bhi sawaal chota nai hota” to ‘Koi bhi insaan chota nahin hota‘.


    “This year‘s thought of ‘Koi Bhi Insaan Chota nahin Hota‘ is rooted in a popular belief of the society that ‘everybody inherently has the capability to achieve something extra-ordinary‘. Hence, all stories stem from the big idea – ‘do not underestimate anybody‘. KBC is not just a game show but it leads to information. It is rooted to India‘s culture that knowledge is power”, averred Khan.


    With a broader positioning, Sony has changed its promotional plans as well with television staying as the frontier medium. “Television and cinema will convey the message of the changing India. Print, radio and outdoor will act as reminders for appointment viewing,” Khan said.


    Conceptualised by Leo Burnett and produced by Chrome Pictures, the campaign has five TVCs, each with a distinct story and character. It reiterates the power that lies with the average middle-class man.


    “The hot seat is a great leveler. It transforms lives. The whole auditioning process is done in such a way that every contestant has a story to tell. Each of the 52 episodes will tell a story of the common Indian,” asserted Khan.


    The reliance on TV has also extended the spots‘ duration to 60-seconds.


    “Since the previous year was a very successful one for KBC, we are hoping that this one does even better. We have received fabulous response from our digital promotions as well. Our main objective was to create the most memorable campaign,” Khan concluded.

  • Sony launches 2nd phase of campaign for KBC

    Sony launches 2nd phase of campaign for KBC

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television (Set) is kicking off the second phase of the marketing campaign for its upcoming show Kaun banega Crorepati (KBC) 2011 on 15 June.

    The channel will launch the campaign first on You Tube, before circulating it elsewhere.

    The second phase will see five short TVCs, conceptualised by Leo Burnett. Shot by Chrome Pictures, the TVCs will be aired on the TV channels from 16 June.
     
    Coming on Indian television for its fifth season, the KBC 2011’s first promotional campaign was launched last month, calling for registration.

    The second phase of KBC campaign will have five films — each with a distinct story and a distinct character, that will engage, entertain and bring alive the core thought of this season – “Koi Bhi Insaan Chota Nahin Hota” (never underestimate anybody).

    This year too, the host of the show, Amitabh Bachchan, will anchor the philosophy of KBC in all the films.

    Set senior VP and marketing head Danish Khan said, “This year the challenge was to take the campaign and the thinking forward and build upon the hugely successful KBC campaign of 2010 – ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chota Nahin Hota’. This year also the campaign retains that distinct KBC flavor, while we take the thought forward. The thought “Koi Bhi Insaan Chota nahin Hota” is rooted in yet another popular belief of our society that ‘everybody inherently has capability to achieve something extra ordinary’. Hence don’t underestimate anybody – a right platform and a good knowledge can transform life – KBC is that platform.”
     
    Khan added that these short films will have presence on TV channels, cinema screens as well as digital screens. “We are taking long spots as each film is of 60-75 seconds and a story in itself,” he said.

    Khan noted that radio and outdoor promotions will be launched later.

    Set said that there was high anticipation from this year’s account as last year’s campaign was a huge success. “It has swept all national and international awards, and walked away with six ABBY’s and four Promaxbda awards,” the company said. 
     
    Leo Burnett Set account business head Anup Vishwanathan said, “Last year’s campaign celebrated ‘knowledge’ and since the thought that ‘koi bhi gyaan vyaarth nahin hota” (no Knowledge ever goes waste) and truly ‘knowledge is the passport to a better life’ is rooted deep in our collective psyche – hence ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chota Nahin Hota’ was relatable to people across and received a lot of appreciation, awards, popularity and ratings. The campaign created a unique grammar for brand KBC – insightful message delivered in a punchy popular entertainment format to be consumed by people from across social spectrum.”
     

  • TV ad revenue poised for healthy growth – MSM president network sales, licensing & telephony Rohit Gupta

    TV ad revenue poised for healthy growth – MSM president network sales, licensing & telephony Rohit Gupta

    2010 has certainly brought the smiles back to the television networks as it has been the best year the industry has seen in the last decade. Ad sales growth rates are expected to be close to 20 per cent, up from the original estimates of 15 per cent made after the first quarter.

    The irony is that as an industry, we need to thank the recent economic slowdown since it changed the way clients looked at their overall media spends. They made huge reductions in budgets and the scenario looked bleak for us all, with no quick recovery in sight.
     
    But for me, the big story of 2010 was the rise of non-fiction. Amidst scepticism, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) returned on the small screen – with the original host (Amitabh Bachchan), a revamped format, and a new channel. The programme‘s consistent deliveries on tough weekdays at the 9 pm slot surprised many cynics who thought Sony was flogging a dead horse.

    Bigg Boss too reached its best-ever performance, across four seasons. But what caught most by surprise was the incredible opening ratings of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa on Sony. Truly, the fiction vs. non-fiction divide is not the way we have known it till 2009. It is far more balanced today.

    In a highly cluttered environment characterised by ever-decreasing loyalty levels, the role of marketing became ever so important. If a new non-fiction show did not generate enough buzz when it launched, it stood very little chance of resurgence. However, for fiction the resurgence could come over weeks, as content evolved. Many fiction shows opened to good numbers but struggled to hold on, while many others showed consistent growth on the back of powerful content.

    Clients wanted more accountability – they needed maximum impact for every rupee spent and television was the only medium which gave them those efficiencies and better ROI as it delivered by far the lowest cost per contact across various media platforms.
    There was accountability for every spot that got aired and suddenly marketing heads and agencies started seeing television in a more positive light. Discussions shifted from a 10-second rate to more value creation. Big money shifts started to happen from other media like print, outdoor and below the line marketing budgets to television as all other media showed negative growth. Television was the only medium with a positive growth during this period. I say this with a lot of conviction as during this period I was in close contact with all the large advertisers. The fact that we close to doubled our IPL revenues in the worst economic scenario goes to show the power of television.

    The continuous growth, the C&S households and the very positive trends in the DTH business will continue to fuel this very aggressive growth in our business and help the profitability of broadcasters, in line with other industry trends. Acquiring content, whether it is sports‘ rights, movie rights, reality shows and even the basic daily fodder of soaps has seen costs reaching alarming levels. This increased profitability will eventually lead to better quality of content reaching out to the millions of viewers.

    Also, the overall increase in households every year will continue to help the industry grow at a dynamic pace for many more years, like it did for us in 2010. What was heartening to see was that overall trading levels across all genres went up substantially during the year with the exception of news.

    We are currently seeing an overall increase in the size of our market, with the Indian economy at its best and GDP growing close to 9 per cent. This has prompted large segments like the FMCG to increase their marketing spends substantially. Increased competition in the telecom industry has spurred a growth of overall spends and has also opened up a huge new category for us in the handset business.

    Other categories like consumer durables and automobiles no longer spend only at festival time, but advertise across the year. One more interesting fact is that despite the large number of channels within each genre, there is still room for growth for everyone. Next year, despite two large sports properties back-to-back (the World Cup and IPL) pulling away over Rs.15 billion from the market, other genres will continue to grow at a healthy rate. This would not have been possible a few years ago.

    A key look at some of the main genres:

    Hindi GECs – This genre will continue to grow and be the main revenue driver for broadcasters. Like last year, we expect trading levels to grow continuously based on the reach it delivers to media. There will be further consolidation here as this is an expensive business and only the fittest companies or those with deep pockets will survive.

    Impact properties will continue to propel the growth in this genre and the industry expects new benchmark rates to be set. We saw this happening on KBC this year and for our network we now have two channels – Sony and Sab- figuring in the top 5 in this genre.

    Sports – Previously major growth in this genre would only be seen when a cricket World Cup happened. This is not the case any longer and it has now become a huge genre with the coming of IPL, four to five India series and some ICC tournaments taking place every year.

    In this segment also rates will continue to grow as cricket continues to deliver on media plans. We are also seeing more brands now using Cricket as their core medium for communications. IPL has expanded the overall advertiser base for cricket as large FMCGs are now taking big positions on the league and are no longer restricted to only brands with a male TG skew.

    Hindi Movies – This has been a rock steady genre for a long time and revenues have been growing at a consistent pace over many years. In 2010, despite a minor drop in overall viewership, the revenues were not impacted. Over 80 per cent of the revenues are still controlled by the top three players -Max, Zee Cinema and Star Gold, despite some new players entering in the last couple of years. Trading levels in this genre have been traditionally low but that has changed and the genre now operates at the same levels as the GECs.

    Regional Channels – This genre has significantly consolidated its position over the last few years and now contributes close to 30 per cent of the overall revenues. Apart from the southern states which were the mainstay for this genre, Bengali and Marathi saw substantially high growth rates last year. In the south, Tamil continues to dominate, with Kannada doing extremely well last year.

    English Language Genre – This genre across the Movie, Entertainment and Infotainment segments has seen a massive growth this year which will not only continue well into the future but also be a key genre to reap the benefits of digitization. An increase in the number of homes with a 2nd television set and greater penetration of DTH in the metro markets will benefit all channels, as there is a substantial growth in the SEC A & B segments of viewers, that most large brands are now targeting. An increased affluent middle class population is a key consumer of this genre. Another big consumer of this segment in the metros is the youth which is also a key segment for most brands.

    Kids‘ Genre : This segment has not witnessed the dynamic growth seen in other segments. The leading players have been losing their audiences to GECs. This has impacted their overall revenues which have only seen a marginal increase this year. The kids‘ channels need to develop compelling content to win back their audiences in order to achieve the high growth rate they have had in the past. Herein lies a great opportunity for them to increase their stake in the pie.

    News Genre : From the quarterly financial results as well as from my personal discussions with media agency heads, it is evident that the news channels have hit troubled waters. I am sure the senior management of these channels must have had numerous brainstorming sessions over the drop in revenues. English news channels seem to be particularly badly hit and are probably heading toward negative growth. However, there is a slight possibility of the Hindi news channels posting a minor positive growth. Personally, as a keen follower of the news, I feel that the channels need to bring back quality news to Indian television and leave the entertainment to the GECs.

    Although 2010 has proved to be a great year for Indian television, one question still remains unanswered: Is television still an undervalued medium? My honest answer to this would be: Yes. Approximately 10 million new households are added each year in India, translating into 45 million new eyeballs. Yet, the cost per contact of television remains lower than other key media.

    Out of the overall 134 million TV homes, 103 million are C&S homes, of which we only get data for a mere 39 million homes. The balance data from 64 million homes remains unaccounted for. This is representative of the huge opportunity cost that we bear and it needs to be addressed immediately, so that television can get its fair due.

    Another cause for concern is the narrow vision of the channels. We tend to concentrate only on our individual businesses, and thus miss the larger picture. The immense potential of this industry continues to go unnoticed

  • 2001-2010: Small screen touched lives in a big way

    The decade seems to have whizzed by. It almost seems like yesterday when the country‘s first television crorepati took home his Rs 1 crore cheque for excelling in KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) from its suave and sophisticated host Amitabh Bachchan.
    But  for television the past 10 years have packed in a lot of punch and gut-wrenching change. I will try and examine what are the 10 major trends that have characterised the past television decade. The list is not comprehensive and I am sure there are many other highlights others may want to add; but this is my effort.

    From competition to super competition: In the past decade, even a back-of-the-envelope calculation tells us that around 300-400 new channels have been launched, in almost every genre: news, religion, regional language, general entertainment channels (GECs), Hindi GECs, specialised city specific channels, youth channels, movie channels, alternate movie channels- you name it and you have it. Others are waiting to be launched: luxury channels, golf channels, cookery channels, and what have you.

    Concurrently, the advertising and subscription costs have not gone up in proportion. So channel managements have to innovate to be profitable, even as the costs have been rising. People retention is a major challenge for almost every player in the television space, because of the paucity of professionals. Because of the competition and the fact that programming executives are risk averse, most of the channels for a large part – have over the past decade – been following a single strategy: if one type of programme works well on a channel or in a network, the others follow and develop a similar one. Net result is that all the television channels almost look the same because of similarity of content. For most of them therefore, there is a battle on the ground level to increase their visibility and this has led to an escalation in distribution costs in terms of carriage and placement.

    The changing face of drama and soaps: At the beginning of the decade, were the saas bahu sagas on Star Plus, which focused on the interaction and travails of women in extended wealthy ethnic families. Shows like Kyuunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kasauti Zindagi Kay, Kahin To Hoga, ran for what seemed like ever and retaining their audiences despite. You had a rare CID, Astitva and Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin which deviated from the beaten path. You also had comedies such as Kichdhi, Baa Bahu aur Baby, Office Office which sparkled and added to the audiences‘ mirth.

    Then with the arrival of Colors the focus shifted to social issue based rural shows – aka as social dramas – like Balika Vadhu, Na Aane is des… Laado and Uttaran. Almost every channel followed with similar shows. While Zee had Agle Janam Mohe…, Imagine TV came up with Devi, among many other programmes of similar ilk.

    Themes such as child marriage, female foeticide, women trafficking, the caste system, feudalism, farmers‘ suicide and superstition formed the thread of many a programme.

    Of course, comedies received a big boost thanks to Sab TV a channel from the Sony Entertainment Network which has a surfeit of comedies, and some comedy shows on Sony.

    The emergence of reality TV: Reality TV roared into the forefront in the past decade. The nation watched inmates in a house being cooped together in a home for around three months and their reactions to each other in that closed environment in Bigg Boss in its seasons. Celebrities and their tolerance to extreme tasks were tested in Khatron Ke Khiladi. Then, youth went around on a predefined route on bikes in MTV‘s Roadies. From the UTV stable emerged a show that shook the nation with its focus on infidelity in the form of Bindass‘ Emotional Atyachaar. Partners were discovered on TV and marriage took place on shows like Rakhi Ka Swaywamvar and Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega. Individuals bared their most hidden secrets to Rajiv Khandelwal in the popular Sach Ka Saamna. Past life regression was explored in Raaz Pichle Janam Ka. Talent hunts such as Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Indian Idol, Nach Baliye, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Dance India Dance added oodles of reality punch to enthrall Indian viewers.

    The debate over regulation: In the midst of all this, both industry and government continued to dither over regulation.

    Time and again, government raised an alarm that content was going out of hand in both the news and general entertainment spaces. News took the route of sensationalising and glorifying almost everything and tabloid television became the norm.

    News excesses became glaringly evident in the case of the coverage of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.The news industry responded by setting up the News Broadcasters‘ Association, the Broadcast Editors‘ Association, a code of ethics and programming, and also set up structures which allowed viewers to resort to a complain mechanism in case they felt that news was going beyond its brief.

    On  the general entertainment side, an attempt is being made to set up a programming code and ways of compliance to it by the Indian Broadcasters‘ Foundation. While there were moves afoot on the content front, the government pussyfooted its way into regulation on the distribution front.

    In the early part of the decade it mandated the spread of set-top boxes and conditional access systems as part of its digitalisation plans, but then it took no decision to further it to another 55 cities or monitor and further its spread in the four metros where it had ordered the cable operators to digitize. It restricted broadcasters from charging more than Rs 5 per channel to subscribers and hence kept the cable TV subscription prices for viewers in check.

    Even as the decade was towards its last leg, there was no clarity on whether selfregulation was what the industry would be governed by or was it co-regulation.

    The emergence of production houses: The demand for content led to the emergence of new production powerhouses. UTV Television, Synergy (now Big Synergy), Sagar Arts, Cinevistaas, Miditech, Creative Eye, Siddhant, DJs, Contiloe, Optymystix and Balaji Telefilms were the leaders at the start of the decade. The end of the decade had seen multinationals and more new Indian production houses adding to that list. Fremantle Media, Endemol, Zodiak (through SOL) belonged to the international list and was behind some of the real big productions. Amongst the newer indigenous ones who had forayed and made their mark included Directors Kut, Sphere Origin, Shakuntalam Telefilms, Walkwater Media, The Right Picture, Wizcraft, Cineyug, Playmate etc.

    At the same time, producers were forced to put their houses in order with the associations striking to raise their wages, limited hours of working, and more structured production cycles.

    The explosion in new talent: Talent costs spiralled out of reach as experienced actors started charging sky-high rates even as film actors, directors, producers hopped on to the television bandwagon. Producing cost-effectively meant that new talents had to be scouted and cast at lower rates. Hence, producers and channels worked closely with casting directors to find new faces, most of whom had next-door looks. Younger people were cast from colleges, from street corners and they went on to become big names.

    Sport as a grand television spectacle: Cheerleaders, belles and whistles, the involvement of filmstars in teams, the decade saw sports becoming a television spectacle like nothing else. Sports – read cricket – television was serious business in the seventies, eighties and even the nineties and meant for serious students of the game. But in an effort to broadbase the sport and make it appealing to women, female commentators were brought in whose clothes made the headlines.

    Then came the IPL 20-20 form of the sport which allowed industrialists and the Bollywood brigade to own teams in a quick-bite format of cricket. Big doses of entertainment were thrown in with lots of pomp, loud music, bands and scantilyclad girls waving from the sidelines, owner-actors and industrialists egging on their teams. And the nation took to it like no other form of entertainment.

    Meeting the needs of region-specific audiences: Thanks to its many languages, India is not an easy market, especially for the media owners. The decade saw a ballooning of regional language television with broadcast networks adding channels with content catering to local audiences of the state. The south has the Sun Network as the leader with languages catering to all the southern language states. Amongst the national players, Zee was a pioneer in this and today runs general entertainment television channels in Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, among others. The other networks are not far behind with Star, Sony, and even Viacom18 moving aggressively into the language space.

    The proliferation of news: News burgeoned through the decade with specialised general news channels, city-specific channels, business news channels and even entertainment news channels being launched. And the spate of news channels was not just in the national language, they proliferated in regional languages too.

    Close to 1,200 hours a  to 1,200 hours a day of news is churned out daily by the news channels. According to an estimate, around 600 channels have been licensed to uplink from India. Of this, a majority of the applications were for channels in the news space. So much has been the rush in the news television space that even a state such as Andhra Pradesh has about 15-16 news channels in Telugu.

    Along with channels news anchors have also emerged as stars of sorts. At times, they give their actor kin a run for celebritydom, having notched up huge fan followings for themselves.

    New distribution platforms: First, there was only Doordarshan. Then came cable TV in the nineties. The first decade of the new millennium has been characterised by the emergence of digital TV, mainly DTH TV homes. Of the 150 odd million TV homes, around 110 million have either a cable TV or DTH connection. Six platforms waging a cutthroat battle have resulted in extremely low subscriber costs with fees being as low as Rs 150. Cable TV has also been forced to keep its prices extremely low because of the competition from DTH. On the horizon are newer modes of broadcasting such as HDTV, IPTV and streaming of content over wireless broadband. Clearly, for customers there is a harvest of plenty in store.

     

  • Synovate, Domor to measure ROI for brands

    Synovate, Domor to measure ROI for brands

    MUMBAI: Market research firm Synovate India and specialist consulting firm Domor Communication Consulting have partnered to initiate a marketing effectiveness study, Consumer Response to Investment in Entertainment Properties (CRIEP).

    CRIEP is aimed at helping brands understand their return on investment (ROI) of using big entertainment properties as a marketing platform.

    Initially, the measurement is being done for Bigg Boss Season 4 (Colors) and KBC Season 4 (Sony Entertainment Television).

    The two companies said in a statement that CRIEP will utilise a large consumer research based approach and measure the impact of large events essentially on the four brand metrics of awareness, disposition, imagery and equity.

    The results would be out in January after the two shows wrap up on air this season.

    The study has an extensive pre and post measurement approach to isolate the effect of each property on the brand equity for brands broadly in the 11 categories of: chocolates, mobile services, mobile handsets, banks, TVs, household appliances, digital cameras, automobiles, motorcycles, insurance and inner wear.

    Synovate India senior project director Sonali Bhatia said, “CRIEP will touch about 6600 respondent across nine towns (including metros and tier 1 towns). It‘s not a pure research product and will build on in-depth understanding of the way Entertainment Properties are used by marketers and consumed by audiences”.

    Domor Communication Consulting founder-director Nitin Jain said, “With the success of Cric – the marketing effectiveness model on cricket, measuring and improving a marketer‘s effectiveness on entertainment properties is a logical step forward. Investments on entertainment properties are already huge and only getting bigger. Further our experience in planning and buying on entertainment properties gives us the added understanding and learning critical to embark on a project like this.”

    CRIEP will attempt to answer the marketers various questions such as how is their brand competing for consumer mind space against all other brands on the same property, across categories. The study also aims to highlight the most recalled elements of the show and what brands were they associated with.

    It will also try to find the difference in the impact of the two entertainment properties and the impacts of geographies/ age/ SEC. CRIEP will also find out whether the visibility of a campaign impact the effect of the properties on the brand metrics.

    Synovate India director Rahul Varma said, “CRIEP will provide cross-category analysis and reveal product categories which are gaining more from such properties. Further diagnostics would help us understand the impact on brand impressions which in turn lead to some level of brand desire in the consumer‘s mind.”

    To measure the impact of presence on these properties on the consumer‘s desire for various brands ‘attitudinal equity (AE)‘ has been integrated in CRIEP Synovate‘s proprietary analysis tool.

     

  • ‘We want to be the No. 1 channel in two years’ : Sony Entertainment Television business head Ajit Thakur

    ‘We want to be the No. 1 channel in two years’ : Sony Entertainment Television business head Ajit Thakur

    Struggling to jump into the top Hindi GEC league, it was a year back when Sony Entertainment Television decided to undergo a complete overhaul. New programmes were introduced and a new association was inked with the biggest film production house, Yash Raj Films, to produce soaps that were different both in narration and production value. While not all could fetch the requisite numbers for Sony, they did help the channel cover quite a distance – from a 80 GRP mark to a peak of 180 GRPs.

     

    Now as Sony enters into its next phase of growth, it is betting big on the decade-old KBC, helmed by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. Sony believes that the property, infused with fresh innovations,will do more than just getting the numbers: it will help the channel change its fortunes.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Anindita Sarkar, Sony Entertainment Television business head Ajit Thakur speaks about the channel‘s programming plans at large.

     

    Excerpts:
     

    How challenging has been the last one year for you at Sony?

    Sony is a great brand but in the last couple of years it had not lived up to its potential. Now as I look back one year from the time I joined, we have achieved a lot and the credit goes to the brand. It has always been so strong that every time we do something that is targeted at our audience right, we always get results.

     
    So what has been the focus for Sony?

    The focus in the last one year has been on three things. The first one of these has been research. Audience taste in this country is shifting every 1-2 years and, therefore, we were very clear that everything that we do has to be supported by rigorous consumer testing and extensive research to enhance our consumer focus. And research is not just to track but also to forecast the future trends.

     

    The second focus for the channel has been to strengthen as pioneers in new programming. We got in a wide variety of shows ranging from the Yash Raj banner which were very diverse in terms of content and production value to something like Crime Patrol. We also made Aahat into a daily and Indian Idol, which had been traditionally a weekend property, was shifted to weekdays to give audiences a new experience. Also, no other channel has a daily thriller like CID.

     

    The third very important and conscious thing that we are concentrating on is to produce content that entertains the entire family – and is not just exclusive to women or men or kids. Also, the content should do more than just entertainment.

     
    But even after so many launches in the past one year, the channel is still perceived to be synonymous with CID while also deriving ratings from Indian Idol. Why so?

    Yes, CID is our flagship property and has been doing very well for us. So, if we have a strong property, why not build on it? We have extended the property to CID gallantry awards and we are thinking of CID comics towards the end of the year.

     

    Meanwhile, the growth has not come just from one property. We are slowly and steadily expanding on our properties. Now we have Indian Idol, then we will have KBC and we will be building one property at a time.

     

    Our other shows – Aahat, Crime Patrol and Boogie Woogie – are also fairing well for the channel. Baat Hamari Pakki Hai is picking up. And if you see, none of our shows is similar to the other. 

     

     
    But you still weak on fiction as compared to the rest of the competitors…

    Look, it has been a very conscious part of our strategy to give audience differentiated content. So, if you see, our programmes are very different from what is happening on all the other four channels. The fact is that from last June to this June we have seen an almost 100 per cent growth. Also, our primetime GRPs have grown from 40-75 GRPs. Meanwhile, in DTH households, we are the number two channel already. And DTH is a controlled environment where everything is in place and it is no more a Bombay-Delhi phenomenon. This shows that our content has future potential.
     

    Does that mean you do not want a successful soap on the channel?

    We do want to do a successful daily soap and build more on fiction but it has to be unifying and should be carrying a message. Also, we will not look at dragging a soap just for the sake of TRPs. We will look at finite properties that will help build the brand Sony and stand for it. We are expected to bring variety and target younger people. India has a lot more people below the age of 35 and Sony has a very high skew towards this audience segment. 

     
    ‘Now that it is time to enter the second phase of our growth, we want to kickstart it with KBC ‘

     
    Then why is it that even after bringing in young and differentiated content with the YRF shows and some other new ones too, it did not do much well for the channel?

    When we launched YRF, Seven and Mahi Way did fairly well. But all of them were not up to the expectations that the market wanted. However, when we went for it we actually knew that the content is ahead of its time in comparison to current television in terms of narrative as well as treatment. So we were the early adopters and the ratings did not come in the first season. But we have learnt that they will work if we be at it for some time and bring back new seasons.

     

    Also, another learning for us is that we shouldn‘t launch multiple properties together. Which is why this time we will bring back the shows one by one so that the audiences grow on them.
     

    When do you plan to bring back the new YRF shows?

    We will be launching two new shows from the YRF stable by the end of this year and the new seasons of two more properties will be launched next year. Apart from these, we will also be launching two other fiction properties by the year-end. 

     

    Why did you decide to bring back KBC despite it being an old property?

    The difference between reality shows and game shows are that reality shows are often very edgy and not suitable for the whole family. And since we are targeting the entire family, we knew it was time to bring back a game show on the channel.

     

    When we did our testing for KBC, everyone said that they would watch the show because it has knowledge, entertainment and Mr Bachchan. So they encapsulated the show for us very well and that has a huge implication for us. We are sure that apart from numbers, the show is going to generate huge eyeballs for the channel.

     

    Also, now that it is time to enter the second phase of our growth, we wanted to kickstart it with KBC. 

     
    What is your scheduling strategy? Which time bands do you concentrate on?

    Because a lot of our focus is on research, our scheduling strategy is pretty much about what is happening in the household. So we start our early primetime with soaps that are for the regular family and then as we go through the day, we move into non-fiction that is Indian Idol. Towards the end of the day, there is Crime Patrol, Aahat and CID as there is more of older audiences and men coming into the channel.

     

    Also, we are trying to keep as much of content on the channel to keep the family together. Earlier, it was just the weekends that would look at keeping everybody together – but now it‘s weekdays too.

     

    And the third thing is that while a lot of the channels are doing afternoons, we have opened up the late primetime at 11 pm as an original time band.

     
    What are your movie plans?

    We are actually looking at doing less and less of movies. About a year back, we were doing 4-5 movies a week. But now we are doing only two movies a week. And within this, we are looking at interesting titles. We have about eight programmes on the channel and we will repeat that during off primetime. We are also looking more at events.  
     

     

    What are the challenges and opportunities for Sony in this cluttered market?

    We want to maintain a steady growth curve upwards. We want to take optimal decisions in terms of investments and programming and don‘t want to take away the positioning of the channel. Our daily worry is what is the next new innovative programming that we need to bring in and what is the next new insight we need to catch from the consumers.

     

    The challenge for us will be to continue retaining our present viewers while getting in new audiences. We will also have to continue to build on our youth base – more from the smaller towns.
     

    So is there a GRP or position you have in mind?
    We want to be the number one channel in two years.
     
  • ‘Once digitalisation happens, let a thousand channels come’ – Sameer Nair

    ‘Once digitalisation happens, let a thousand channels come’ – Sameer Nair

    Concluding our three-part series of interviews looking at the year that was and on into 2008, we turn the spotlight on NDTV Imagine CEO Sameer Nair.  In a candid chat with Indiantelevision.com, the former Star Entertainment India CEO offers his take on the entertainment industry, why he feels the TV industry needs a kick up, the importance of not just ambling along, and the potential that 2008 offers.

    What were the key points of reference which defined 2007? One would be for you personally and also if you could offer a sense of where the industry is in general?
    Well, I left Star TV, in which I was working for about 13 years. But I think 2007 opened on a good note because we did KBC with Shah Rukh Khan and so I thought that was a good swansong of sorts for me. We also got Gajendra Singh from Zee to Star. He was with Zee for I think 16 years and so this was something equally dramatic.

    So those were the last good things to do at Star. On a personal level it was of course moving on and setting up a whole new company, a whole new business and preparing for the launch of a new channel.

    2007 basically marked preparation for 2008?
    Yes! As you can see, it’s been all the pre-production and production. And now we get ready for release. So it’s been a lot of that kind of hard work. It’s been about team building… It’s been about company building. It was about resource building and also financial resource building and putting it all together.
    I think by the time indiantelevision.com puts up this interview we will have over 132 people, which is I think a good collection of people across all disciplines.

    What were the positives that came out of this year?
    One positive of course is there seems to be a lot of interest in all things media, in all things entertainment. So there have obviously been so many more players entering the market, so much more money being put into the market.
    So that’s obviously a good thing, industry per se. I think a lot of people have announced or started new ventures, which shows that there is obviously place for growth and a place for new players to get into.
    There is some level of consolidation, there is some increased activity of international participation in local business. The movie business has gone through the roof.

    But was it a good year for the business?
    2007 was an interesting year because it, in my mind, remains a sort of a question mark. It will get resolved in years to come as to whether it was a good year or not. But right now everything is too close, so I mean this was the year where millions of dollars were pumped into the system. You know prices went through the roof, newer and newer players getting into it, each man with bigger and bigger claims and promises. Nobody talks the normal figures anymore.
    Everything is in a super inflated scenario. It’s like the wire where the string is really stretched. So whether it will be good or bad, it is hard to say now. Currently, everyone is into this valuation zone and everyone seems to be so rich.

    The rollout of digital cable, which was supposed to proceed in a particular manner, did not go the way it ideally should have. Your views on this?
    That is hardly a surprise. There was always this issue about how it would roll out and if it would be mandatory or voluntary. How does it all work? It didn’t really come as a surprise that it didn’t happen in A or B or C manner.

    So effectively nothing of any real note happened?
    No! There was no landmark legislation that occurred, there was no landmark regulation that occurred, there was no landmark activity. I don’t really think that there has been any major change. The world has not undergone a digital revolution, nor a mobile one. On television, some shows are doing better than others. The gap between Star and Zee narrowed, Zee came within a whisker of Star, than it again fell back. Now it is again coming back pretty much as per calculations. But there was nothing outstanding. It was straightforward.

    But for the industry in terms of sports, a lot happened.
    Sports was an interesting thing that happened. That was pretty good if you look at the high priced acquisition of the ICC rights (by ESPN Star for $ 1.1 billion).

    It is not looking so high-priced now because T-20 was not a factor in that purchase and now it’s there as a very high value part of the ICC rights.
    T-20 is the best thing that happened to Indian cricket. It completely re-energised sport and completely reignited interest in it. Now between ICL and IPL, it has really brought the sport back. But the price points, because there is no distribution revenue in this model of note, is not robust at all.

    The lament is that distribution channels are clogged and yet we have all these channels launching? Isn’t that a big contradiction?
    Well distribution and then everything that will happen as a result. Some people look at this business and they say that, ‘Oh so many new players are launching, there is no space.’ On the one hand we talk about how the market is growing, the media sector is growing. The other version is that it is growing but there is no space for new players, which is actually the exact opposite of growth. You know its like saying that the movie industry is growing but let’s any not make any more movies.
    They are completely contradictory terms. So once digitalisation happens, whichever version they choose to refer it by, I’d say let a thousand channels come. Because water finds it own level, and people decide what they want to see, when they want to see, how they want to see and what they want to pay for and it all sorts out in the end.
    But saying let not a thousand channels come, is not progress at all. It does not mark progress for consumers, or for operators. or for anyone as a matter of fact.
    What the TV business needs is one nice kick in the butt, like the telecom business got. This is what will help it really surge forward. So far it has been sort of ambling along.

    Everybody is expecting that Reliance will give that kick. Reliance is launching DTH this year, Bharti is launching.
    This is why 2008 will be a year to write home about. We hope that 2008 will be the year for the industry to really surge forward and make that big leap forward.

    Each year we talk of the big leap forward, but it’s not happened. 2004, 2005, 2006. You know few things occurred here and there, like suddenly in 2006 the cricket purchase was big. But the rest of the industry didn’t keep up. The whole $ 612 million price point (by Nimbus) was based on some assumptions, and those assumptions didn’t really come through.

    The fact is that all of business is predicated over some basic parameters, which is that people will go to movies, people will buy movie tickets. People will pay their cable bills. Advertisers do need to reach to consumers and they will buy advertising. That’s basic, and our problem is that we don’t have this in the TV part of the business. We don’t have this one little basic matter about people will pay their cable bills which will then be passed on. So it leaves a lot of things in the air when you talk about the television business.

    You are talking about pricing, subscription?
    It is already priced. Subscription is priced. But when you try and compare talk time, in the telecom context to TV, that doesn’t really work. Because the input cost on TV for example is not talk, it is real cash. If people play cricket, make movies, shows, that is like a real cost. It is not talk time. So when you say that every home will pay Rs 5 per month for a channel to see movies and serials, at some point the mathematics are not going to add up. So it is just that these things will get sorted out as it goes along. As more players get into it I think that the industry itself will sort it out.

    But there is also the theory that the government will not allow the market to determine costs of TV (and cricket) because other forms of entertainment are becoming too expensive for too many. Multiplexes for example are out of reach for many. So there is only TV. This would mean that tomorrow the IPL will be termed as being of national importance and will become free to view.
    You must note that there is no such thing as a free lunch ever, so somebody has to pay the bill. What’s been happening in the last so many years is that the advertisers have been paying the bill. The advertiser is the ultimate God who is paying for everybody’s lunch.

    Currently there is a combination of private equity money and advertisers who are footing the bill. But eventually, the bill will have to be paid by the consumers, who consume content in whatever manner or the price points will have to come down. So either all the price points return to normalcy by which the market settles and everything will sort, or you will have to pay the bill.
    Anywhere in the world in a mature TV / entertainment business, you have the twin model (advertising / subscription). That’s the way the business works. For us, it’s always been immature, fully lopsided towards the one side. Do you know any other market which boasts of 300-400 channels which are all essentially ad supported because distribution as a model is all over the place.
    You go to any other country where it is supported this way, you will find 5-10-15 channels. So that’s something which has to be sorted. It is not like players have to think that India is unique. And I think this has to happen.

    It is just a functional evaluation. This is what it needs, that leap forward. The input cost is going through the roof, return is coming down, and for the majors it is flattening their margins.
    For others what would the plan be then? So that, I think that has to happen and as they see that as the defining moment. Whether you define a moment or the moment defines you, in any case the industry will have to define the way forward. Whether it is collective or individual, something has to happen.

    That is exactly the contradiction in this. But it needs resolution. Otherwise a lot of these contradictions can co-exist for a long time. Things can go round and round and circle and circle without imploding or exploding.

    Something has to give?
    Over the last 6-8 months, and with the spate of these new announcements, there has been more addition into the TV space. This is obviously going to create an enormous amount of pressure on the current infrastructure. Obviously we are all new, we wish to make a mark for ourselves, so everyone will do things to try and make a good impression. There will be the existing players, who will obviously look to protect their turf.

    But it is at an interesting point because there is pressure on the system. Now this has never happened before, that there have suddenly been so much, forget new channels, so many new platforms that are all coming at the same time. There is this huge interest in the movie business all of a sudden. In the last year and a half all that has happened.

    Screens are opening up…
    Screens are opening up, It’s happening. So, as the pressure increases, obviously people will find newer and newer ways to do things. New minds enter into it, lots of different people, younger people, coming out with even cleverer ideas. It has to go through a change.

    So 2008 has a lot of potential?
    We hope, though these predictions have been made many times in the past and have sorely let you down. But 2008 seems to have a better chance than most years to make a real impact.

  • ‘Challenges of cultural adaptability of international formats in India are tremendous’ : Siddhartha Basu- Synergy Adlabs CMD

    ‘Challenges of cultural adaptability of international formats in India are tremendous’ : Siddhartha Basu- Synergy Adlabs CMD

    Synergy Communications founder Siddhartha Basu shot to fame as the curt quizmaster in BBC’s Mastermind India. But he sure knows a thing or two about drama. And that comes across as no surprise since he has a background in theatre.

    No wonder then that Basu was able to blend drama and quiz in the immensely popular Amitabh Bachchan-hosted show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) that turned around the fortunes of Star Plus.

    Post the acquisition of Synergy by Adlabs, Basu now plans to scale up operations to produce content across various genres. And he is already making inroads into the regional content market.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Arcopol Chaudhuri, Basu speaks about how the Adlabs association has helped and shares his views on the rapidly changing Indian television scenario. He hopes the relationship between content providers and broadcasters will be redefined.

    Excerpts:

    How has the acquisition of stake by Adlabs helped Synergy grow its business?
    With the Adlabs association, we have the resources to specialize in various genres and programmes. We may not have been able to do this as we were a small production house. We were known for large productions, quality of content and conduct. But whatever new challenging projects we took up in the recent past, we did not have the resources. We needed the manpower and the infrastructure to strengthen our hands as content producers to make quality programming across all genres.

    The association with Adlabs, thus, gives us a more sound financial grounding and standing amongst the competition. It empowers us not only to grow creatively, but also as a business.

    Have you expanded your production facilities post the formation of Synergy Adlabs?
    It’s a developing story. We are already functioning through two production offices in Delhi and Mumbai. Adlabs has made substantial investments in high-end infrastructure and equipment, which we are using for Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and our fiction show Jiya Jale.

    Are you looking at producing regional content as well?
    We are looking at a couple of assocations down South. Synergy Adlabs has taken a strategic stake in Chennai-based production house Shri Om Comtech, which will serve as our hub for producing Tamil content, to begin with.

    Which shows are you producing on the regional front?
    Post our association with Shri Om Comtech, we already have two daily shows on air on Kalaignar TV. One is Manjal Mahime at 8:30 pm, while the other one is Akkatangai in the afternoon at 1:30 pm. Both the shows are doing well.

    In the coming days, we are also looking to produce regional content in languages for Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada. But we have done regional content before as well. That was before the Adlabs association. It was a cricket-based quiz show called Howzzat which aired on Tara. But then again, regional content is our secondary market. Hindi GEC programming still remains our primary interest.

    Will Synergy Adlabs make inroads into films and animated content?
    We are currently focused only on television. But we’re going to go deeper into providing dubbing services, creating promos and formats.

    How would you describe the existing equation between content providers and broadcasters?
    Till now, it’s been a very one sided relationship and the plea from broadcasters has been that you operate under slender margin of profits and be happy about it.

    There has been lack of accountability on key creative and programming decisions on many occasions. Often you have proxy producers and creative directors, who are arbitrary and unaccountable and it becomes a ridiculous situation.

    We fortunately have had cordial relationships with broadcasters, but that has been the generic equation between the channel and production house. They retain the IPR and we work on a commissioned basis. We are hoping to see that equation change and settle down into something that benefits both parties.

    With the huge demand for content coming from the existing and upcoming channels, how do you see the relationship evolve between the content providers and the broadcasters?
    I think content producers have a wonderful opportunity now by not only creating content for the new players but also for the existing players. We will now have to generate more, produce better and produce it on better terms. When I say better terms, I don’t just mean better financial terms, but with better control over the content. There is ownership of the formats we as content producers own and create and in our case, we are looking at associations and relationship, not only as a job shop where a network merely uses a content producer on a work-for-hire basis. Hopefully, you should see production houses literally work as producers, maybe get into a revenue sharing arrangement, or establish their presence as a production partner. And that’s the kind of association we are seeking.

    Which broadcasters have you really enjoyed working with?
    We’ve had a good working relationship with almost all broadcasters – Star, Sony and now even Sahara’s Filmy.

    Any shows that you’re doing for Zee?
    No shows for Zee at the moment.

    Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) really took Star Plus up the ratings ladder. Ironically, the channel, it seems needs another KBC to make it regain its lost audience share to Zee.
    I think shows like KBC and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa work as tent poles, since they lift the overall audience share. Indian Idol did something similar for Sony. So there are several non-fiction shows which act like that. But to really lift a channel, you need all kinds of programmes and a variety in programming, which creates a bandwagon effect.

    You have been largely associated with quiz-based shows. Until last year you worked on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, which is a celebrity-dance show. What prompted the foray into this genre?
    We’ve been best recognized for our format shows. But it was always a desire to do a variety of genres. Today, we as a production house are looking to specialize in all genres – of which talent shows are one. We are also handling a couple of fiction projects. The motive will be to associate with every genre thoroughly and professionally. We somehow got linked to the quiz-based shows.
    ‘Till now, it’s been a very one sided relationship between content providers and broadcasters. We are hoping to see that equation change‘

    There were a number of quiz based shows that followed Kaun Banega Crorepati, none of which could replicate it’s success. Why do you think quiz-format shows have dried up now?
    I think it depends upon what the format is. In one sense, for some formats, the audience base is becoming much larger and on the other hand, some shows make it even more fragmented. So certain formats will appeal across segments and communities, like KBC did. That was a sort of tent pole effect it created.

    But as it happens in films and television, there were attempts made to replicate the format in some way or the other and they did not work. Some shows work, some don’t. It’s not necessarily the format that is to be blame. But we hope to tap popular genres for wider appeal. Bollywood Ka Boss is one such show – it’s a film based quiz show and we hope that it will catch up. At the end of the day, a show has to have a specialized audience.
    How much has KBC changed the profile of your company?
    The profile, I believe, changes with every new show that we do. With Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, the question mark transformed into an exclamation mark. A quiz master had now put on his dancing shoes. We are known for our thorough backend technological setup for the execution of television programming, a certain quality of content and class of presentation. That is the benchmark we will take to any genre we work upon.

    We have seen different phases in the Indian television scene. There was the time ofHum Log, Buniyaad and Mahabharat. Then there were the soaps which continue even today. Now reality TV and talent hunts have become popular. How do you view this change?
    I think Indian television is at the cusp of change. We’re still seeing the dominance of ultra-traditional soaps – a dulhan is titled bahu in one and lakshmi or a beti in another soap and there’s the saas that comes along as well (laughs). So we are becoming a nation of weepy family soaps.
    Which direction is Indian television moving in? Any genres of programming that are still missing?
    I don’t think it’s moving in one direction. I think we are still in an adolescent phase. The range within which we have been operating is still very limited. This is something that will now start finding definition. We are still a very amateur television watching community. We’ve been used to Doordarshan, which created a sort of a monoculture. Surprisingly we had a lot of variety then within those one or two channels of the public broadcaster, than we do now.

    The reason why I see the change coming is because broadcasters are actively seeking things that differentiate and mark them out. There are still so many genres that are waiting to be tapped – comedy in the form of sitcoms is something that’s missing.

    Do you see more of localization coming in?
    Definitely. I think Indian television will get intensely local. People with the raw, strong local cultures and flavours will see rapid growth. And these are audiences who are not looking at the Hindi GECs and English channels. Regional channels are more dynamic and they will experience a strong following. The storylines and concepts adopted by the regional channels are often more liberated and open-minded than the ultra-modern, regressive approach adopted by Hindi GEC programmes. Some trends will be borrowed across both genres of channels as a cross fertilization process.

    It is said that interactive TV is the key driver to the future of television programming?
    Interactivity of programming is important and they will drive key shows, but fatigues will set in after a point of time. Audiences will want to participate – maybe vote, for a dancer, a singer they really like. But you cannot build an entire programming strategy around that.

    What kind of associations or affiliations are you looking to build up internationally?
    We are looking to forge associations with various format owners and not merely confine ourselves to one. We have worked in the past with Endemol and even on Bluffmaster, but then how many of our broadcasters are keen on format shows? Very few.

    Why is that?
    Several factors account for it. It’s the cost, the complications, restrictions, adaptability and also the format that must deliver for them. In many ways, the Indian market is responsible for it. Here Thums Up outsells Coke, so you can’t have a McDonalds outsell the existing local delights. You cannot transplant a certain experience already tried in one country and hope that it will work. It’s a cautious decision. India is the only country in the world where Dancing with the Stars is Indianised, indigenised with the rules as well. So the challenges of cultural adaptability in India are tremendous.

    What are your views on the existing audience measurement practices?
    I think our advertisers and broadcasters are too heavily dependant on it. And I don’t think that’s a rational approach and I question it. Look at the number of SMS votes the talent hunt shows receive…they run into several lakhs. And the existing rating system merely confines itself to seven thousand boxes. So it’s far from a perfect system. And in a heterogenous demographic for a country like ours, the measuring system is full of ifs and buts.

    Okay. When are you getting back to hosting a show?
    Me as a host? No. I’ve never really fancied myself much in front of the camera. I’ve always liked to be involved in the conceptualization and execution of programming. I know the kind of effort that goes into it and there is enormous amount of satisfaction in putting a certain piece of communication together.

    How did you narrow down upon Boman Irani as a host for Bollywood Ka Boss?
    Boman is a fantastic host on stage. He’s also a national Bollywood buff. He can sing, joke, dance, do impersonations and can really perform. Having said that, it was the channel (Filmy) which really circled on him and was game for it. And I went along. Even the format of the show was something they were very keen on. The show aims to find the best informed person in the world of Bollywood.

    When is KBC back for its next season?
    Sometime next year. And Shah Rukh Khan’s hosting it. The agenda is different everytime. In KBC 2, it was about conquering the weekends. In KBC 3 it was about strengthening the 9-10 pm slot. You never know what they decide upon this time. Would you believe, once upon a time the Sunday 9-10 am slot was the most sought after slot since it aired Mahabharata!
  • Filmy completes a year

    Filmy completes a year

    Mumbai: Sahara Filmy’s first year birthday bash was marked by the launch of two new properties – its channel anthem and Kaun Banega Champu, a spoof on KBC along with the announcement of the Filmy Person of the Year 2006.

    Filmy launched its channel anthem called ‘Maa Kasam Filmy Hai!’ The song composed by Vishal-Shekhar was penned by Javed Akhtar and sung by Kunal Ganjawala.

    Filmy had launched the Filmy Person of the Year 2006 poll in December 2006. The nominees of this viewer-based poll were Aamir Khan, Himesh Reshammiya, Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan.

    Hrithik Roshan, who starred in Krrish and Dhoom: 2 in 2006, was declared the deserving winner. Speaking about the award, Filmy business head Ashutosh said: “Through this award, we wanted to showcase and recognize the holistic contribution of an individual who has had the maximum impact in 2006.”

  • DirecTV rolls out ‘KBC’ campaign targeted at South Asia

    DirecTV rolls out ‘KBC’ campaign targeted at South Asia

    MUMBAI: DirecTV’s South Asian advertising agency Elephant Advertising, a wholly owned subsidiary of CineMaya Media Group, has unveiled a multi-media KBC advertising campaign across print, television, direct mail and outdoor media to promote the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” on DirecTV’s Star India Plus channel.

    “The magnetic power of Shah Rukh Khan’s smile touches the hearts of a billion plus around the world. It’s no secret Khan’s biggest fan following is the South Asian community,” stated CineMaya Media Group president Nayan Padrai.

    “It’s not everyday you drive down the NJ Turnpike and see a face that you would normally see on the Bollywood silver screen smiling down at you. We hope every Bollywood fan who sees this campaign will feel a little closer to home.”

    Elephant Advertising’s marketing campaign for DirecTV promises not only reach consumers through traditional South Asian media, but also through touch points within their daily lives.