ITV

Tag: Localisation

  • Localisation of content is key to tasting success in kids entertainment: MIPJUNIOR

    Localisation of content is key to tasting success in kids entertainment: MIPJUNIOR

    CANNES: The animation industry globally is going through a renaissance period, wherein we get to see many success stories from not just the larger well known studios like Walt Disney, DHX Media and DreamWorks Animation, but also smaller mushrooming studios who believe in creating content that is true to the roots of the country of their origin, but still hold great promise in the global front.

     

    In a session at MIPJUNIOR 2015, this was precisely what was closely looked at. Titled – ‘How to make it in the global market, the session saw a mix of content creators who are involved in not only creating original content but also taking the IP ahead into various other touch points and giving their IPs a 360 degree presence.

     

    The most pertinent question today is: How do you evolve from a local independent producer into a highly-influential studio developing global-appeal animation brands across multiple platforms This aspirational and practical workshop attempted in providing actionable takeaways for some of the successful producers.

     

    Moderating the panel was Christophe Erbes, a consultant for kids media. He was accompanied by panelists Henry Becket from Ideas at Work, a studio outfit of UK, with Victor Migel from Anima Kichent and Nazli Guney Uysal from Dusyeri Animation Studio.

     

    Becket had a few interesting stats to share to kick off proceedings, when he stated that 1 of 100 concepts actually make it to the pilot stage, 1 of those then go onto become a series and further on 1 of those 100 series gets a multi-season deal and 1 of the popular children’s property then gains the status of a brand.

     

    Uysal, on the other hand, shared the journey of her studio, which in the last seven years has grown to become a 90 man strong team providing 360 degree solutions for not just their own properties but for their clients as well.

     

    ”We began with the idea of creating original content to fill the void, which was present in the Turkish broadcast space and that is precisely what we achieved through our stories and characters,” Uysal said. On the question of overcoming resistance from kids’ broadcasters for local content, she added, ”We did face a tough time initially, but when the public broadcaster was looking to promote locally created content, we grabbed the opportunity with both hands and what followed is other kids broadcasters lining up to license our content for their channels.” 

     

    This is precisely what the Indian kids entertainment space needs to take inspiration from as currently with a publishing house, licensing arm and two animation studios, Dusyeri Animation Studio is enjoying revenue flows to the tune of a few million dollars annually.

  • Disney focusing on four lines of business in India around five brands: Andy Birdrd

    Disney focusing on four lines of business in India around five brands: Andy Birdrd

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company, which gobbled up UTV Software Communications last year, is building four specific lines of business in India centring around five brands.

    Television, Film, Digital Media and Consumer Products will be the four verticals Disney will focus on. "We have five franchises – Disney, UTV, Marvel, Bindass and the newly acquired Star Wars – to play around in India. The acquisition of UTV has given us 250 million new consumers in this market that we couldn‘t reach before," said Disney International MD Andy Bird.

    Consumers already have a strong relationship with two of those five brands, and seek them in at least three of those core businesses.

    Delivering the keynote address at Ficci Frames 2013, Bird said that with the acquisition of UTV and the creation of the new Walt Disney Company India, Disney became India’s leading film studio and TV producer. "We are now one of India’s leading broadcasters, reaching more than 100 million viewers every week across the country. The UTV deal also positioned us as a significant player in the digital media space, thanks to Indiagames, the number one mobile gaming company in this market. And, just as importantly, the deal gave us the brilliance and vision of Ronnie Screwvala – the man behind UTV’s incredible rise – to build The Walt Disney Company in India.”

    What was the thinking behind buying UTV? “When we made the decision to buy UTV, we did it with two considerations in mind – the first was to create a diverse company in India; but also importantly it was to acquire the talents of Ronnie Screwvala to run the new company. As many of you know, Ronnie is a rare breed of entrepreneurs who has successfully built UTV and embraced Indian and Western cultures. I am so proud to count Ronnie as one of my friends and to have him lead the Walt Disney Company in India with his magnificent creative management team,” Bird said.

    He also spoke about Disney in India being different from what it is elsewhere. “The Walt Disney Company India will be unlike any other Indian media company: none will have the breadth of brands and franchises that TWDC India will have. No other Indian media company will have the breadth of businesses we will have and no other Indian media company will connect with generations of consumers like The Walt Disney Company India will do.

    “In India, we have built a creative prowess, second only to that found in the U.S. We have creative teams here in India who produce a slate of diverse films, produce a spectrum of original TV programming across our networks, build mobile games and applications and create style guides for our consumer products business. We are building a company that is far greater in scope than just one business, or being defined as being just in distribution and marketing. We are building the Indian Walt Disney Company.”

    Bird is excited about working with Indian talent, in-front and behind the camera, to create local franchises and look to export this talent to markets outside of India – offering opportunites for talent in Hollywood movies. “The Disney-UTV team is already working with their colleagues at Disney, Pixar, Marvel and now Lucas to innovate and produce even better product for here in India. Our Interactive team is working very closely with our Japan team – where we do the most amount of innovation in interactive and mobile outside the US – to really take this space in India to the next level and be ready for the Broadband wave that India will no doubt see."

    The aim at the end of the day is to build a content, creative, brand and franchise company in India. “ Of course, I have not touched on our Live Entertainment business as that is a work in process..so watch this space,” Bird added.

    He also spoke about the rapid rise of new technology and the fact that India’s more recent focus on this sector means that the country is capable of the kind of instantaneous shifts and opportunities in the media and entertainment space that simply are not possible in countries like the U.S. that will literally have to rip out existing infrastructure in order to replace it with the new technology that will drive the future. “ That’s an expensive proposition and one that will slow critical change in some of those more established markets – while India has the chance to define itself with the latest technology and innovation unencumbered by the remains of technology that defined the last century.”

    Differences in Markets: Disney recognises that there are different markets around the globe and it is no longer “domestic” versus “international”.

    “We recognize that each market we enter essentially needs its own “Disney” company – with strategies and products and messages that are compatible with the culture and relevant to local consumers. And we see tremendous opportunity in rapidly emerging markets like China, Russia, Latin America, South Korea – and, of course, India – so connecting with consumers in these regions is a key strategic priority for Disney, and will be integral to our future growth," Bird said.

    That’s why Disney‘s strategy for each region reflects local market realities and opportunities. "Our approach here in India is focused on media and entertainment – because that’s where we see the greatest potential for Disney, not only because the industry here is poised for a huge leap forward, but because of the rapidly rising middle class of consumers and their traditional focus on the family," Bird noted.

    “This is radically different than our strategy in China, for example, which is much more restrictive on the content imported into the country. In China, we’re focused on building our presence and our brand by telling Disney stories through theme parks and a strong retail effort. Likewise, our China strategy is quite different from our approach in Latin America, where we’re transitioning Disney from a high-end, rather elite brand, into the broader mass market.

    “The Disney brand will remain strong and clear and everything we do anywhere in the world will reflect the brand values consumers know and trust – but each market will dictate how consumers access and interact with that brand. At the Walt Disney Company, we believe that in stories we find the imagination needed to envision a better tomorrow, and the inspiration to make that vision come true. This belief guides how we act as a company, and how we connect kids, families, and friends first with each other, and then with the causes they care most passionately about,” Bird stated.

    Meanwhile, Disney Media Networks co-chair and Disney-ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney spoke about the importance of understanding audiences and what they aspire for. That is why Disney is in the field everyday listening to kids, parents in terms of who they are what they do and what they aspire for. Then Disney builds stories around this. This is the strategy that Disney decided to do back in 1996 when Sweeney joined the company. "At that time there was confusion about the brand identity of Disney Channel. By doing research which focused on the quality of conversation with kids and parents rather than on the quantity Disney channel was able to become a powerhouse," she said.

    Sweeney also noted that to make great content at times one has to make unexpected choices. She gave the example of ’Hannah Montana’ where Miley Cyrus, an unknown, was cast as the channel spotted her potential. “We decided to take the riskier road and that led to greater reward," she said.

    Speaking on localisation, Sweeney said Disney started doing local shows in India in 2011. "We have five local shows in production," she added. "We also have a further four pilots in the pipeline. We celebrate cultural events like Diwali and Holi.”

    Sweeney said that it is important to strike a balance between adapting foreign formats and creating truly original content. She also touched on technology saying that one can make feature film content on a television budget. "One could do things that a few years ago were considered unthinkable. The drama ‘Lost’, for instance, used CGI," she averred.

  • English GECs: Localisation and variety the road ahead

    For the English general entertainment genre, 2007 was the year when they looked at increasing variety in their offerings and breaking out of a mould.

    The aim was also to increase relevance in some cases through local shows. Besides, the channels brought in the latest shows at the same time as their US premieres.

    Tam data for C&S 15+ shows that among the three channels – AXN, Star World and Zee Café – AXN‘s channel share has been well over 50 per cent. In August, it touched a peak of 66 per cent. Zee Café has managed to close the gap on Star World to an extent. In March, Star World‘s channel share was 34 per cent versus 24 per cent for Zee Café. In April, the gap came down, and for the month May Zee café overtook Star World. Its share was 21 per cent versus 15 per cent for Star World.

    Since then while Star World has been ahead, the gap was close. This was until September. After that, the gap widened again. In December, while Star World has a share of 29 per cent Zee Café has a share of 13 per cent.

    In terms of the top 20 shows, AXN has got 16 in that list. The top entry interestingly enough is a film Spiderman 2. Other shows that made it include Guinness World Records, Ripley‘s Believe it or Not and David Blaine.

    Still, it is not as though all was smooth for the leader. In January, AXN was banned for a month by the I&B Ministry for what it termed as “objectionable content.” The ministry had taken issue with the channel repeatedly telecasting such programmes such as World‘s Sexiest Commercials. The ministry found these programmes to be against good taste or decency that could adversely affect public morality.

    AXN India business head Sunder Aaron puts on a brave face, saying that no corrective measures were really required as all programming conforms to Indian norms and guidelines for content. “As with any new season, we had new television series and programmes which we refreshed the channel‘s schedule with,” says Aaron.

    In terms of the highlights of 2007, Aaron notes that there was a strong mix of local and international fare. “We had the gorgeous Sameera Reddy host the second AXN Action Awards. This is an on-air award show that felicitates the action heroes from Bollywood.

    “We also satiated the viewers‘ needs with the premiere of the internationally acclaimed series –Damages and new seasons for the loyal fans of CSI: Miami, Alias and CSI: NY.”

    AXN also strengthened its focus on the reality genre. The highlight here was the second season of The Amazing Race Asia. To break out of the mould, the channel aimed to showcase diverse content within the reality genre. So the likes of Top Chef, Top Design and So You Think You Can Dance were featured.

    To hook viewers to its fare, two timeslots were created. “The Reality Stash” slot showcases reality content from 9 – 10 pm. This is followed by “Elite Weekdays,” showcasing international drama series at 11 pm.

    Aaron adds that the non-primetime band has grown in importance for the channel. “Our scheduling of programmes across non-primetime is also well-thought-out, keeping in mind the viewing pattern of our target audience.”

    He offers the example of “Elite Weekends” which is the non-primetime slot on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 pm. The aim is to allow the dedicated fan base to sit back and enjoy catching up on their favourite international series which they have missed out over the week. “We have, therefore, ensured they get to watch all the series back to back and have clearly positioned the band as – ‘Catch all the week‘s action on AXN Elite Weekends‘.”

    As always localisation plays a key role for the channel. Besides the earlier mentioned The Amazing Race Asia initiative, the channel also finished the shoot Magic Asia. This showcased two street magicians Chris Korn and JB Benn. Aaron notes that the show actually touches a chord with the real spirit of Mumbai and is slated to go on air in March this year. One show done at a pan-Asian level was the boxing show The Contender Asia. The show produced by the czar of reality television Mark Burnett emulates the original concept with Muay Thai fighters.

    Over the years, localisation has been playing a huge role in positive brand-building as it showcases the channel‘s endeavour to identify and fulfill the viewers‘ needs. The main value is in sustaining a loyal fan base besides helping manage and create an ideal mix of original and acquired content that facilitates long-term brand-building.

    Aaron attributes AXN being ahead constantly to firstly having a clear brand positioning. “I think that we follow the very basic principle of being absolutely clear of our target audiences‘ needs and showcasing the kind of content that they wish to see. We have also been dynamic enough to not get stuck in a mould and constantly showcase fresh and innovative programming. This prompted our move to broadbase our reality offerings. We have also been the only international channel to create so many original productions.”

    For Zee Café, the strategy has been different in that it decided not to focus much on local shows. In the past, it had done shows like Bombay Talking but the channel‘s business head Neil Chakravarti feels that Indian audiences are not ready for Indian fiction. The focus rested on showcasing the latest from the US. Since September, it started to bring in shows from the US at the same time as their premiere there.

    The aim was also to pick and choose shows that Indians would find the most relevant. Therefore, four of the shows including The Big Bang Theory and Aliens in America have South Asian characters. The new programming strategy had been decided after six months of intensive research among Indian viewers who said they learnt a lot about new shows from the internet or sites like YouTube. They did not want to wait several months or years later to watch them.

    Star World‘s focus, meanwhile, rested partly on the tried and tested shows like Desperate Housewives, Heroes and Ugly Betty. Complementing this were special events like Miss World and the Grammy Awards.

    Star World tried to break out of the mould as well. To identify the need of the market it revamped its schedules. For instance, it created an afternoon slot for youth/women with shows like Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, etc. The block is called essential afternoons. Star VP content and communication Prem Kamath says, “We‘ve seen a change in the genre preference for English entertainment wherein comedy is the flavour of the season.”

    “We have strengthened our late prime slot with male skewed programming starting 11 pm. We believe that the day prime/early prime bands are equally important, there is a definite audience in these bands and our endeavour is to bring in quality programming to build these slots. For example we have a line-up of the best of comedy shows during weekday evenings,” adds Kamath.

    When asked as to whether Star World took any preventive measure to ensure that it did not suffer a similar fate like AXN, he maintains that Star World has a social responsibility and has stringent internal censorship guidelines prior to broadcast.

    In terms of local initiatives, Star World has the property Koffee With Karan. The channel is exploring other local concepts.
    Kamath says that on the advertising front, clients belonging to different categories like telecom, computers, mobile phones, electronics, financial, automobile, net portals are with it.

    “English entertainment is evolving in India and more new audiences are tuning in to the genre. Clients find English entertainment a very important differentiator in the content arena and a strong association for their brands with evolved audiences. We have new launches every month and give a variety of programming mix to our viewers and advertisers that give a light viewing environment,” avers Kamath.

    At the same time, he concedes that it is really challenging to retain clients amidst a bouquet of channels in the English genre per se at the time of evaluating a media plan.

    Star World offers customised packages to advertisers in partnership with their media agencies based on their brand brief. Packages consist of the shows that are associated with advertisers for sponsorships and a mix of other programmes that have synergies with the brand environment and commercial creatives. All sponsored programmes consist of sponsors commercials to derive strong brand connect with the association. RODP and ROS also form a certain component in the overall package.

    From general to more specific entertainment:

    As digitisation grows, more players are looking to enter this space. Last year, this genre got a new entrant in BBC Entertainment. As of now though the channel is only available on Tata Sky. The channel brings shows from the UK such as Spooks. The British sensibility is the starting point for this channel in terms of its USP. The programming strategy is such that there are horizontal and vertical strips.

    In the evening, it is more family oriented. There are shows like the comedy My Family, My Life In Film so that viewership is widespread across the family. Later on, it gets more specific with shows like Waking the Dead which the channel says is a more realistic version of CSI. Murder mysteries are solved using the latest forensics technology and old-fashioned police methods.

    At the same time, English entertainment will move from general to more specific. For instance, later this year, AXN is expected to launch another channel called AXN Beyond. The focus is on science fiction and the supernatural.

    US media conglomerate NBC Universal, through its tie-up with NDTV, will launch two channels Sci Fi and Universal. The former specialises in science fiction, fantasy, horror and paranormal programming; the latter has movies and TV series in the thriller, drama, horror, crime and investigation genres.

    More specific entertainment could come from E! which might launch in India this year. This channel focuses on Hollywood extensively through news and specials around the industry. The challenge for it is to find a distribution partner.

    Viacom has a JV with TV18. If digitisation moves at the expected speed, one could see the likes of the male channel Spike TV entering the country. Comedy Central might also figure in the scheme of things. So expect a lot of activity in this space.

  • Innovative content & localisation a must to catch the ‘tough crowd’

    Innovative content & localisation a must to catch the ‘tough crowd’

    MUMBAI: Kids have been gaining the mind space of more and more broadcasters across the globe. And why not? These tech babies who are the fastest to adopt any new technology are also contributing to core family decisions and have a large chunk of spending power at their disposal.

    In such a scenario, kids broadcasters have to be that much more vigilant to cater to their needs unremittingly. At the second day of the Promax&BDA conference, kids programming took center stage.

    While Nickelodeon UK vice president and creative director Peter Drake spoke on how to cater to the “Tough Crowd” i.e. the kids; whereas Walt Disney Television International (India) director programming Nachiket Pantvaidya touched upon the issue of how to localize international brands.

    “Kids have changed the way they consume media. More and more kids now feel the need to be in control with all the gadgets that they are exposed to. Moreover, with parents being busy in their work, the need for a digital nanny has also become prevalent now. In such a scenario, we, as broadcasters have to make viewers see us as more than just a TV channel,” Drake said.

    He spoke about an interactive show – Me:TV! on Nickelodeon UK, wherein kids who have a webcam can host the show from their homes. “The aim was to utilise new technology to deepen the kids’ experience of our brand. User generated content can be tapped to a great extent in the near future,” Drake said.

    Another point which came out was that there was a need for broadcasters to develop evolving communication so that it can work on all delivery platforms rather than just television, which in turn would throw up new revenue opportunities too.

    “In the end, it’s still about having great content but it’s just about how you present it that matter the most,” Drake concluded.

    Disney’s Pantvaidya, on the other hand, dwelled on the various reasons why an international brand should localize itself to suit local sensibilities. “Localisation is cost effective and at the same time it is essential for building cultural relevance. As far as what needs to be localized in a channel to create relevance, it would be language, local faces, formats, narrative content and graphics,” he said.