ITV

Tag: SABurbia

  • “Sab will be among the Top Three Hindi GECs”

    “Sab will be among the Top Three Hindi GECs”

    From being a copywriter, director to business head, the soft-spoken Anooj Kapoor has worn various hats. But what makes him different from others is the way he manages the work-life balance. He proudly claims that in his more than 20 years of career there has rarely been a day when he has been in office later than 6 pm. Even today, he leaves office at six in the evening and on weekends he switches off from work, unless required. Someone who believes in working hard hasn’t forgotten to live to the fullest too…

    Indiantelevision.com’s Meghna Sharma spoke to the executive EVP and business head of Sab Anooj Kapoor about the channel’s current plans,the reason for there being no other channel like Sab and the channel’s future plan. Excerpts:

     
    The channel underwent a revamp recently, was it really needed? 

    Nothing we do here is what everybody else does, starting from our programming which is totally differentiated from the rest in the GEC space. So, this revamp is not because others have done it too. All we have done is revamped the packaging of the channel. The last revamp was done almost six years ago, and we thought we have had a wonderful growth in the past five years. So we wanted the packaging to be more colourful. We have retained the old colours and added more colours to our package to convey freshness, more audience on the channel as well as more people sitting together to watch our shows. It can convey a lot of things, but essentially, we wanted a fresh look.

     

    You said you are adding more people who are watching your channel. So through the revamp and apps are you targeting youth now? 

    Asli maaza sab ke saath aata hai… has stood true for us. The entire family comes together and watches TV. We have a mix of audience, from males, females to kids. We also have a healthy mix of Sec A, B and C. So we are not trying to broad base our TG, it is already 4+.

    However, we cannot deny that new things always appeals to people. In the age-group of 4-14, we are the number one channel. In the last TAM rating, we were ahead of Star Plus. In the higher age-group, 15-24, we are fairly strong but we realised there is a need to engage audience on fresher platforms – facebook, comics, SABurbia and other apps. And the age-group after that, we keep appealing through our ads where the whole family comes together.

     

    Our other initiative ‘Sab ki Saafari’, is also first of its kind. The idea was to get people from smaller towns meet their favourite characters or watch a shoot. Through this initiative we get our loyal audiences to meet their favourite characters and also show them what goes on behind the camera. We have another loyalty program called SABprise wherein the more you watch the channel the more you get rewarded for it. We feel that today it has to be a two-way communication. If they have given us so much and helped us grow 600 per cent in five years then we should also give them something in return.

     

    With the awards season on, when can we get to see Sab ke anokhe awards? 

    We are coming back with Sab ke anokhe awards in August. The first round did well for us as we got a rating of 2.8 which I’m not going to compare with other award shows, but for a channel like ours which has a limited reach it is a very healthy rating. It was purely because of the uniqueness of the show. We came up with categories which went beyond the clichéd categories. This time we are going to add even more categories and try to be as anokha as possible. We will be sticking to our strategy of being different and innovative.

     

    What kind of weekend programming does the channel currently have? Any plans to introduce new shows?

    Currently, we have two silent comedies on Saturday – Guttur Gu and Malegoan ka Chintu. Guttur Gu has been recognised as the longest running silent show in the world by the Limca Books of Records, and then we have Waah Waah Kya Baat Hai which consistently rates among the top five shows in the non-fictional category on the weekend. So, we have fresh weekend programming. We might add new programs in the future wherein we will look at reality or mix of unique concepts like silent comedy but nothing is crystallised yet.

    “We touched our highest rating of 159 in February this year and now with digitisation when we are far better placed”

     
    SAB is the only comedy-centric Hindi GEC, wherein other networks have second GEC channels, why do you think there aren’t many players in this genre? 

    We are the number one comedy channel in the world. We are the only channel in the world which does daily comedy shows. If you will look at channels like Zee Café or Star World, the sitcoms they have are weekly and have seasons. We have Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah which has done 1200 episodes now, Lapataganj in its first avatar had done 850 episodes and FIR will be touching 1000 soon (in September). So while we have been able to be innovative, we have also done successful programming. All this while we know that there is a limited pool of comedy actors, writer, directors and producers.

    Also, before SAB, comedy wasn’t seen as an important genre by GECs. We have been able to reign in that limited talent and try to cultivate a few more. With the limited pool I don’t think there is enough talent for more than one channel to survive. And secondly, we have a DNA which has gotten us consistent success. There is no doubt that other channels have dabbled into comedy especially after seeing SAB’s success, but all the top three or four GECs have not been able to succeed. And, therefore they are apprehensive.

     
    Do you work with a certain set of production houses or open to others as well?
     
    We have always encouraged new producers, but at the same time we have certain set of producers that have consistently worked for us. We also have people who have never done comedy before and doing it successfully for us. For instance, Malegaon ka Chintu is produced by Deepti Bhatnagar Production which hasn’t done comedy in the past, Gutur Gu is done by Fireworks who have in the past done CID and Aahat. And of course, we have Asit Modi, JD Majathia, Vipul Shah and Ashwini Dheer. So, we have been able to mix both.

     
    You are also available in the US, UK and Europe, what has been the response there? 

    We are extremely popular abroad. In the UK we are the fastest growing channel.

    It is a fact that we have created almost 7,000 hours of original programming and when we compare data with other channels dedicated to comedy we are miles ahead of them. From the 70s, since DD started, no channel has claimed or can claim to be the number one channel based out of India but we can!

     
    It’s going to be a year now since digitisation took place. How has it helped the channel? 

    We have a business model which by definition doesn’t afford us very high rates and because we also have to keep our profits in mind, we couldn’t place ourselves where top three or four GECs could. This meant, we could not be well placed in the analog. However, with digitisation, we now fall in the GEC cluster. Now our sampling will soar up. We also strongly feel that our trial retention rate is high.

     
    Currently, which are the weak slots that you would like to strengthen?

    The difference between manufacturing and television is – that in manufacturing you can perfect a formula whereas in our industry, the same raw material will go to the same factory but the end product sometime works and sometime fails.

     
    Lastly, when do you see Sab among the top three? 

    We are well on our way. We have never stopped growing. We touched our highest rating of 159 in February, this year and now with digitisation when we are far better placed, I hope we will one day be among the top three.

  • ‘We can monetise more in a digitised environment’ : Business Head of Sab Anooj Kapoor

    ‘We can monetise more in a digitised environment’ : Business Head of Sab Anooj Kapoor

    A product manager at Colgate Palmolive, a copywriter at JWT, an ad producer, a sitcom writer and director, and finally a television channel head. Anooj Kapoor has successfully worn different hats in his career spread over two decades. And why not? He follows what is dear to his heart, so much so that he quit Colgate to join JWT at half the salary that he used to earn at the FMCG major. Reason: he could pursue his creative instincts.

     

    His urge to write and direct ads made him launch his own production house called Creative Compass in 1999, which he ran successfully for three years.

     

    Kapoor joined UTV to head its comedy cell in 2004 and made shows like Sharaarat for Star Plus. He went on to write many shows for Indian television. In 2007, he moved to Sab and what followed was a change in positioning to a family entertainment channel. Since then, Sab has shown remarkable growth. 

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Prachi Srivastava, the business head of Sab talks about the channel‘s growth and how it can benefit from digitisation.

     

    Excerpts:

    How has Sab performed after the first phase of digitisation?

    Sab has grown from 130 GRPs pre-digitisation to around the 150 GRP mark on a consistent basis. Two factors have contributed to this growth. The shows that we had launched in the digitisation phase have been received well, be it Balveer, Jennie Juju or Waah Waah Kya Baat Hai. We had set a target of 151 GRPs for March 2014 which we have achieved in January. So we are more than a year ahead in achieving our targets.

     

    Apart from content, what has also worked for us is the fact that we are now placed in the Hindi GEC cluster on the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) in Mumbai and Delhi market because of which the sampling of the channel has gone up. With increased sampling, the time spent on the channel has also increased and, therefore, the growth in viewership.

    Do you see any change in viewership patterns?

    There is no such change. Our channel is for the entire family and is fairly divided between Males, Females and Kids. The representation of viewership has remained unaltered. It’s just that more families have sampled the channel; the composition remains the same.

    The 6-8 pm slot is generally for youth TV viewers. Are you looking at cracking this time slot?

    Our focus remains the family, and not just youth. Previously, we were a youth entertainment channel with shows like Left Right Left and Love Story. At that time we could collect only 20-22 GRPs. So we realised that the youth positioning is not really helping us. We, thus, changed the positioning to a family-led comedy channel.

    There was a time when Hindi GECs were having original programming on the afternoon slot. Do you have any plans to revive this slot?

    Despite our budgetary limits, we have extended our prime time programming to seven days now. We don’t have the bandwidth or interest to revive the afternoon slot as our primary TG is family and not just the female audience. Our channel has a male skew and 51 per cent of this segment constitute our audience profile.
    ‘Comedy is a very nascent genre but is bound to grow. If there are five channels that are showing the same kind of shows and there is just one channel which is showing comedy, it is obvious that people will watch us‘

    Max has a vast library. Do you plan to air movies from their library?

    Over the last four years, we have been able to build the slot of classic titles on our channel because these are the films that people are not able to watch on regular basis and there is a definite audience that we have managed to create over the last four years. They don’t get to see those titles on any other Hindi GEC. So we get undiluted audience coming to watch the classic films.

    Which are the weak slots that you would like to strengthen?

    We recently launched two shows, Hum Aapke Hain in Laws (HAHIL) and Tota Aur Maina at the 10-11 pm slot. Tota Aur Maina, which airs at 10.30 pm, is struggling a bit. We would like to strengthen that slot.

    Are there any new shows that you are planning to launch?

    We have nothing pre-IPL. We have just launched Safar Filmy Comedy Ka, which is a tribute to 100 years of cinema in India.

    How do you plan to expand geographically?

    We don’t make shows for a particular market. However, characterisation can be from a certain state. For example, HAHIL and Tota Aur Maina are both based in UP.

    Was 2012 a forgettable year for Hindi GECs as few of the new shows worked with audiences?

    The industry is indulging and over-indulging in permutations and combinations of the Saas-Bahu formula. Either the people have run out of formulas or the audience has run out of patience. The year 2012 was no different. They have the same Saas-Bahu drama and the same reality shows.

    The digital media has been growing in leaps and bounds. Any plans there?

    We are launching an app- Sab Ke Comics for iOS and Android with over a 100 Comic Strips of six shows to entertain fans on the go (on smartphones and Tablets) with short jokes from Sab shows and characters. This app is an adaptation of the successful print ads in comic strip formats in leading newspapers. These are for shows like Jeannie aur Juju, Chidiya Ghar, FIR, Lapataganj, R.K. Laxman and Golmaal.

     

    We have also launched Sab’s popular characters: Gadha, Gopi, Mama, and Gulgule as 3D animated talking character which repeats whatever the user speaks. The characters also react to gestures like tickling and punches.

     

    There is also an augmented reality app where one can scan images on a Sab TV Dairy or Calendar and see the character coming to life in a video format. Besides, one can also have their pictures clicked with popular Sab characters.

     

    We recently launched SABurbia which has been extended to apps. Here players can visit and interact with different show worlds and characters in a quest to help the Sab characters and become the mayor of SABurbia.

    Will Sab be able to monetise more in the digitised environment?

    Yes, the point is that we have moved into the EPG and we are in the vicinity of the other Hindi GECs, which was not the case earlier. Earlier, it was difficult for consumers to come across our channel on a consistent basis in various areas. Now the availability of Sab will be easier and, hence, there will be more trial and sampling for the channel. We believe that once the sampling increases, the retention of the audience will also increase. If there is more retention, there is more ratings. This increases the monetization scope.

    What is the future of comedy as a genre on Indian television?

    It is a very nascent genre but is bound to grow. If there are five channels that are showing the same kind of shows and there is just one channel which is showing comedy, it is obvious that people will watch us.