Tag: Star Plus

Zee leads pack of musical sagas; Sony overtakes Star

“The adoption of multiple frequencies will mark the next inflation point in radio” : Naveen Chandra- Radio Mirchi SVP & National sales head Naveen Chandra

Adieu, eventful ’07!

Man, it’s been an eventful year if you have been faithfully stuck to the couch lapping up everything offered on the tube.

So much happened on the telly, and yet, so little was achieved. There was an average of a new soap every fortnight, an average of a talent hunt every month, and enough of cricket and cinema buzz to get those sticky eyeballs. But if cinema left a Chak De India or a Taare Zameen Par for audiences to ruminate on, TV this year left no equivalent imprint.

Not many shows experimented, preferring the formula to being the first in
the fray. So, Star One’s Laughter Challenge spawned a sequel and rival
channels floated their me-too shows. Gajendra Singh carried his music
talent format to Star Plus, and had to compete with his own Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenges on Zee for the ratings. Indian Idol had a tired season three,
and Zee’s extended family of Betiyaan and Bahuraniyan, despite a
‘different’ beginning, dissolved into modified versions of Ekta Kapoor’s
popular soaps elswhere. If anyone, it was Shah Rukh Khan who emerged as the surprise winner of the lot. No one expected Khan to be a patch on the Big B when it came to hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati, but Khan emerged with a style and spontaneity of his own that became endearing as the show progressed through the weeks. When the season ended, one was almost sorry to see him off.

Well, not everyone stuck to the formula. Smriti Iraani, the actor, turned
producer with Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasman and later Virrudh. Interestingly, although neither show was meant to be a TRP hogger, both had a hard hitting plot, strong performances and made a subtle statement on society. Anurag Basu’s Love Story and Four, both on Sab, too were intended similarly, but somehow missed the mark. Unfortunately, all the experimentation seemed to miss the comedy genre entirely, with Star One finally relying on last year’s Sarabhai vs Sarabhai to bring on the smiles at primetime.

All the laughter was restricted to stand-up gags offered by Raju Shrivastav (who must have been TV’s top grosser this year) and others of his ilk who appeared with alarming regularity on mainstream channels as well as news channels. Sab’s desperate effort to bring on the laughter each night failed for the umpteenth time, but it keeps trying. News channels, meanwhile, found this year that the best bet to fill up programming is to run repeats of talent hunts and behind-the-scenes goings-on at these shows. Under the garb of ‘entertainment news,’ hours of Hindi news channels continued to be chock full of idols, voices of India and the chhote ustaads all through the day.

Even as long running soaps continued to run – Saarthi, Kumkum, Kyunki…,
Kahaani…are examples – a milestone of sorts was reached when the ‘bahu’ of Indian TV (Smriti Iraani for the uninitiated) crossed over into enemy territory as Vrinda on Zee’s Teen Bahuraniyan. Not just that, she came armed with a tulsi plant and a similar agenda – of saving the daughters of
the family and salvaging the family’s reputation. Ekta’s long shadow on television programming refuses to fade.

But the year clearly belonged to the genre of the music talent hunt. If you
had half a voice and wanted to be discovered, TV was waiting for you.
Whether you knew the lyrics (Bol Baby Bol), were a kid that could sing (Lil
Champs, Chhote Ustaad) or were an amateur singer (Indian Idol, Voice of India, Bathroom Singer…) TV was waiting with auditions in remote towns to find you. Of course, even if you were a wellknown composer or playback singer, or even a TV actor with pretensions to singing, but had never had your share of the limelight, you stood an excellent chance of turning into a mini celeb yourself. Ask Vishal – Shekhar, Abhijeet, Ismail Durbar, Alisha, Shiamak Davar and the rest who never had it so good as this year.

But if anything marred the happiness of the couch potato, it was the unending film promotions that invaded everything on TV – the talent hunts, the soaps and the news and music channels. The marketing of Om Shanti Om and Saawariya on TV reached a screeching crescendo in November, till
viewers’ ears ached from listening to ‘Dard e Disco’ and watching Ranbir Kapoor drop his towel for the umpteenth time.

Also irritating was the omnipresence of judge/mentors like Javed Akhtar and Mahesh Bhatt, who judged shows, voiced their opinions on every subject and were probably present at every award show that was aired on TV.

But couch potato’s vote of the year goes to Rakhi Sawant, who has
established herself as the queen bee of Indian TV, by hook or by crook. With her antics, her tears and tantrums and her comments, the ‘item girl’ showed us that it was easy to get into primetime, if you knew how to tease the camera and tempt the channels. Lage raho, Rakhi!

January 4, 2008
Zee TV edges closer to Star Plus

The Indian Hindi general entertainment space is heating up and could possibly be on the brink of a huge change as Subhash Chandra‘s flagship channel Zee TV inches closer to Star Plus, Rupert Murdoch‘s key revenue driver in Asia.

The difference in GRPs between the two channels now stands at a mere 48, according to Tam‘s latest data (C&S 4+, HSM, Week 29 – 15 to 21 July).

With Zee TV at 303.4 GRPs as against Star Plus‘ 351.6 GRPs, this is the closest the channel has come to the leader since it was dethroned more than six years ago. While it may be premature to say that Zee will regain its top status, it is surely threatening to do so.

Top 3 General Entertainment Channels

GRPs

Star Plus
351.6

Zee TV
303.4

Sony Entertainment TV
137.5

( Tam Peoplemeter System, C&S 4+, HSM, Week 29, 15-21 July)

There has been nothing sudden in Zee TV‘s rise in the reckonings. Rather, it has been a gradual maneuvering of its way up the ladder. In the first week of July, the gap between Star Plus and Zee TV was 60, as Star stood 323.5 and Zee at 263 (Tam C&S 4+, HSM, Week 26, 24 – 30 June).

Star took over the reigns from Zee in 2000 with its landmark show Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan as host, a monumental year for Murdoch‘s fortunes in the country. Since then, Star has dominated the Hindi GEC terrain.

Star‘s decline has been due to a confluence of several factors – from a saturation of its top saas-bahu sagas Kyunki… and Kahaani, to niche channels eating into the share of the genre. “Star‘s dipping numbers are due to the gradual decline of its top programmes along with Zee‘s steady growth,” states an industry observer.

Queried about the threat posed by Zee TV, a senior Star official says, “We would not like to comment on a week‘s ratings. We will only have cause to worry if this trend continues for two to three weeks. At the moment our weekly primetime shows continue to be strong and are at the top of the ratings charts.”

Zee, of course does not want to jump the gun in uncorking the bubbly just yet. Zee TV business head and Zeel director Punit Goenka tells Indiantelevision.com that the channel‘s gradual climb is what they have been working hard on for some time. Goenka also credits the rise and rise of his channel with the success that its long running musical show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 has been enjoying. Says Goenka, “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge has indeed given us a big boost over the last two and a half months.”

Adds Zeel CEO Pradeep Guha, “This has been built up over a period of time and has been contributed to by each and every show.”

A point of note is that even as the competition intensifies between the two top players, a whole bunch of newcomers are warming up in the wings. These include Viacom 18, the Sameer Nair-helmed NDTV Imagine, Indrani Mukherjee‘s 9X and Anuradha Prasad‘s Bag Films, among others. What are the implications that this could have on the television entertainment space?

According to Starcom MD India – West and South Manish Porwal, “The general entertainment genre itself is ‘de-growing‘. In fact, over the last three to four years the space has lost ten per cent every year. This, coupled with the novelty value of new players will give a double blow to the space.”

“This phenomena will favour the challenger. It will be a two- horse race for a while,” Porwal opines. The second runner up in the GEC space is Sony which is lagging far behind at a GRP of 135.6.

However, Mindshare MD R. Gowthaman points to the diminishing dominance of the GEC cluster. “The capability of the GEC space as a whole to deliver reach is on the decline. The price that the space commands is primarily based on its reach. However, we are witnessing a scenario in which the GEC is losing its reach potential, and this is a major concern from a marketer‘s perspective.”

“While the reality is that Zee is catching up with Star, we will soon see a level playing field. These numbers, are only the initial trends of audience movement towards different genres. Within about four to five months this will gain critical mass and the configuration of television clusters will start changing,” Gowthaman avers.

Currently, Hindi GEC occupies the lion‘s share of the television pie advertising at 28-30 per cent in HSM markets, says Porwal. But with news channels in particular gaining in importance, followed by movies, the share is only going to tilt further away. It is also important to note that sports, kids and youth channels are gaining significance in the Indian TV space.

TME president Anupriya Acharya shares her perspective on the “dynamic” quality of the television segment. “We have been closely following the turnaround that Zee TV is witnessing by closing its gap with Star Plus. But at an overall level, it is important to note that other niche channels are also eating away from its pie especially news channels and the growth of the second GECs.”

That, of course, is a larger issue that the GEC genre as a whole will have to grapple with sooner rather than later. At the moment, all eyes are on whether the challenger will really be able to dislodge the queen bee channel from her thrown.

July 28, 2007

Weekend primetime viewing is bracing up for some nail biting competition across the top general entertainment channels, each sprucing up its reality offerings to capture audiences. This wave of reality formats emerged across the horizon in the month of May, each following the reality curve and heading towards climax as they collectively approach their final weeks.

The broadcasters – Star Plus, Zee TV and Sony – are gearing up to back each of their weekend ‘eye pullers’ with full gusto! An analysis of Tam’s revelations bring to light how each of these shows have shaped up since launch, followed by how they stack up against each other in their fight to reach the top.

The Evolution:

In this race for TRP’s, Zee TV has consistently been ahead of the game with its music talent hunt Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. In its opening weeks the broadcaster was wrestling with Sony’sIndian Idol that launched at the same time. But not for long, as Zee suddenly snatched a huge chunk of eyeballs with a whooping TVR of 5.5 on 18 May (Tam C&S 4+, HSM) and has practically hogged the limelight since then. Coincidently, this was the same day that Star Plus kicked off its version of the musical talent hunt Star Voice of India, which received a cold shoulder from viewers with a TVR 2.9 inspite of having grabbed the former producer, host and judges from Zee’s earlier edition of the musical format.

Grappling with this situation, Zee seems to have aggressively upped its efforts stating that this edition of the landmark property would prove to be a “Sangeet Ka Pratham Vishwayudh,” as though the broadcaster were making a point! So far, Star has only beatenSa Re Ga Ma Pa on one occasion with a rating of 4.3 (Tam 8 – 9 June, C&S 4+, HSM) while Zee lagged at 4.1.

Date	Day	Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge	Indian Idol 3	Star Voice Of India
4 May	Fri	3.5	3.66	NA
5 May	Sat	3.47	3.67	NA
11 May	Fri	3.84	3.16	NA
12 May	Sat	3.46	4.01	NA
18 May	Fri	5.5	3.58	2.88
19 May	Sat	5.05	3.7	2.45
25 May	Fri	4.74	2.75	3.56
26 May	Sat	4.07	2.61	2.57
1 June	Fri	4.09	3.14	3.16
2 June	Sat	3.79	3.42	2.89
4 June	Mon	NA	2.68	NA
5 June	Tue	NA	2.81	NA
6 June	Wed	NA	2.91	NA
7 June	Thu	NA	3.27	NA
8 June	Fri	4.38	3.46	4.46
9 June	Sat	3.86	4.03	4.13
15 June	Fri	4.89	3.26	4.62
16 June	Sat	4.33	2.96	3.01
22 June	Fri	4.34	3.6	3.68
23 June	Sat	3.65	2.95	3.61
29 June	Fri	3.46	2.67	2.06
30 June	Sat	4.63	3.42	2.92
(Tam Peoplemeter System: TVR, C&S 4+, HSM)

More recently, the tables seem to have turned on Star as Indian Idol, which was earlier trailing behind Voice of India, has suddenly propelled into the second spot after Zee, for two weeks running. Sony’s Idol clocked a rating of 2.67 and 3.42, shoving Star to 2.06 and 2.92 on 29 and 30 June respectively (C&S 4+ HSM).

This is particularly significant as Zee’sSa Re Ga Ma Pa andIndian Idol have already entered the final stages rounding off the shortlisted contestants, a phase that garners large audiences. Star Voice of India will arrive at this juncture next week. Therefore, one can expect heavy duty action between the three players.

The Experts:

Skirmishing for the spotlight, programming tweaks and surprises will be the order of the day. The experts that tug the reigns of success for these shows have their own gyan to share……

Zee TV senior vice president programming Ashvini Yardi confesses, “My biggest fear was that this being the second edition of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, it would not fare as well as the first. But it turns out that this year the response in terms of ratings has been far better. It is an established brand with the best singers and mentors on board and this year were have consciously made it bigger and more glamorous.”

Talking of talent – other players also vouch for the superiority of their talent, so who decides? A confident Yardi replies, “Let the ratings speak for themselves.”

With Zee holding centre stage andIndian Idol putting up a challenge to Star Voice of India, the space is getting more intense. Star India VP marketing Prem Kamath attributes the slip in ratings to its delay in the peaking cycle because it was launched after its two competitors. “This is a natural swing of ratings that are witnessed on a weekly basis. Besides, Voice of India will only step into its final stages of voting in the coming week. It is then that we will see the show peak to reach its crescendo.”

He adds that with crucial Indian cricket matches coinciding “the share will go from the leaders.” But will this rating dip indicate a trend? “Well, we will just have to wait and watch,” opines Kamath.

Betting big on Idol is Sony EVP and business head Albert Almeda who says a “snowball effect” has emerged out of the evolution of the show across the four stages including the auditions, the theatre round, the piano round and now culminating with a gala final phase. “Over time, the viewers have grown in their emotional involvement with the show and its characters. We are bound to see a huge spike in the ratings as the contestants are backed by audiences in their transformation from uncut individuals to professional artists.

“As the pressure mounts in the fourth and final stage of the show spanning over 12 weeks, we expect to see our ratings to be in excess of four,” adds Almeida.

With no less fervor, both Zee and Star will up the volume of their activities around the show. Zee has seen benefits of roping in celebrities for cross promotional activities and will continue to invest heavily on that strategy. They recently brought Sunny Deol onto the show to promote his latest film Apne.

Kamath counters, “A marketing outburst of both on and off air activities will be unleashed during the voting rounds, while twists and turns embedded in the programming will be seen. This will result in a natural fillip in the ratings.”

But Zee has bigger aspirations, Yardi has raised the bar for the challenge expecting it to touch the No 1 slot across all GECs. “Just as the finale of Lil’ Champs pushed the property into the No 1 position across all general entertainment channels, so also do we expect the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge to achieve the same,” she affirms.

The Bigger Picture:

With a bird’s eye view of the Indian television landscape, the scenario of the top three players from January to June 2007 depicts the gradual decline of a leader and the emergence of a strong challenger. Star Plus has been showing a consistent downward trend with the relative channel share touching 36 per cent in June from its position at the beginning of the year at 44 per cent.

Meanwhile, Zee TV has creeped up the ladder to occupy a share of 26 per cent from its position at 22 per cent in January. Although taking baby steps, Sony has also upped its standards from 12 to 14 per cent during the six month duration.

What’s more, Zee TV is claiming to be far closer to Star than ever before. The recent weekly GRP figures from Tam show Star at 323.5 and Zee at 263 narrowing the gap between the two to 60 (Week 26, 24 – 30 June).

Yardi points out the significance, “This is the first time in seven years that the gap between us and Star has been narrowed to 60. On two occasions earlier the difference has been 90 but this is the closest it has ever been.”

The last week of June has actually seen the leader (Star Plus) forfeit 35.7 GRP’s and Zee TV gain 19.6 GRP’s.

July 7, 2007

Relative channel share across Hindi GEC for Jan – June 2007

( Tam: Relative shares, C&S 4+, HSM)

The media industry has recently been eyeing the advantages that radio is promising to offer, but when it comes to the monies, advertisers are still apprehensive to bet big on the medium. As the radio industry in India evolves progressively from mass to niche, the industry is setting its targets to rake in the moolah. However, obstacles are inevitable and the biggest threat is of under valuation in proportion to its reach and accessibility.

In a free flowing conversation, Radio Mirchi SVP and National sales head Naveen Chandra shares his views on the scope of the medium in India, which he believes will be fuelled following the Government’s sanction of a multiple frequency approach adopted by a single radio operator. He tells Indiantelevision.com’s Renelle Snelleksz that this will mark “the next inflection point in radio.” Geared to take on the big guns of print and television, this radio player has set high standards for itself and demands a premium as it moves into the radio era.

Excerpts:

Could you shed some light on Radio Mirchi’s sales and media strategy?
As a market leader we have been pioneering efforts to look at things very differently. As a medium, radio is very unique because it can be both National and local at the same time. There is no parallel to this, for instance television is national by nature, and although regional television does come close, it is still very fragmented and exits in certain pockets. In terms of a National network, even print does not have editions across the country and is more regionalized. Thus we are a medium that’s does not have limitations of geography, which places us very uniquely to conduct a national or local campaign.

The second thing about radio is that if you look at Tam data radio lures advertisers from across different product categories. While there are some categories that will use print or niche channels like FMCG, the auto, telecom and banking sectors will not advertise on GEC’s. Radio in this respect is an all encompassing medium as it offers a solution to a wide spectrum of categories that advertise on different genres of print and TV.

Which are the biggest categories as revenue drivers on Radio Mirchi? How do they stack up percentage wise?
Banking and finance contribute to 11 -12 per cent, media and entertainment 10 – 11 per cent, telecom 9 per cent, retail and real estate 8 – 10 per cent, automobiles 7 – 8 per cent and durables (which on an annual basis is cyclical).

Which are the new entrants that are flocking to radio?
We recently conducted an IPO marketing seminar with merchant bankers to get them to look at the medium positively as it can provide returns due its large reach, which exceeds a Star Plus or Times Of India. Besides radio can also provide a lot of on-ground and BTL brand building activities that attract audiences to consumer the product.

How do you justify the fact that radio exceeds the reach of Star Plus or TOI?
If you look at five minutes of continuous viewing on any television channel, you will notice that it is lower than the reach of radio. Using one simple metric – to consume television you need cable connectivity, to consume print you need literacy but to consume radio you nothing but to enjoy good music. Therefore radio by definition, reaches 99 per cent of the population and the reach will always be larger than any other medium.

What is the current reach for the station nationally?
Currently, 1.7 crore people tune into Radio Mirchi daily across 10 stations that include the four key metros Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, as well as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Indore, Jaipur. Stations in Patna, Jalandhar and Goa have recently been added.

What are your plans to increase your network across the country?
We are looking to launch another 20 stations across the country within the next six months.

What’s the revenue growth that Radio Mirchi has seen over this fiscal?
We have seen good growth over this year, however I will not be able to share exact numbers until our annual report is out.

But we have marked about 50 – 60 per cent revenue growth on radio.

What is the current revenue generating model that radio operates on and how does it compare with television and print advertising rates?
For radio we follow ILT research that helps us to operate on a cost per reach (in thousands) model, so while our rates are high, our cost per thousand is very low. Typically print and TV operate on the on cost per thousand (CPT) approach but at about Rs 1300 – 1400 depending on the channel.

Our rate is Rs 70 per thousand people, which is very low in comparison to television and print. But as a means of comparison, one ad in print is equivalent to about 30 ads on radio, so in that sense it is much lower.

‘The reach of radio exceeds a Star Plus or Times Of India‘

What’s the ad growth curve that the station has seen over this year?
With our focus towards a lot more on corporate driven advertising, if you look at the ad growth we have seen good growth over the last four to five years. Additionally, the ad durations have come down significantly from about 45 seconds to about 15 seconds on an average because the advertising environment has become more promotional led than as branding activities.

In terms of spot rates, what is the margin between Radio Mirchi rates and your closest competitor?
In Mumbai, our rate would be Rs 1,800 for 10 seconds, while other stations would range between Rs 400 – 1000 for the same.

What is the current market size for radio in India?
It presently stands at about Rs 500 – 600 crores.

Could you highlight key benefits of radio as a medium?
Radio is very linear medium, for instance in New York there are 89 radio stations but the average number of stations a person listens to is 1.7, which is under two. Essentially, this indicates a high loyalty towards radio stations as programs are seamless and it’s not like every hour there is different show. The characteristic of radio is such that it is very personal and intense and therefore is consumed as a medium of ‘one,’ it’s a mass as well as a personal medium. While for television, every half hour there is differentiated content which forces the viewer to keep shifting in and out of channels. Similarly, a Friends fan will watch the show on which ever channel it beams, so even if cricket had to shift to something like B4U, then everyone would flock there even if they have never seen the channel before.

Therefore, for radio the research we conduct points to many unduplicated audiences that are loyal to one station alone. Thus, many unduplicated audiences will continue to be present but will not be reached even if one operator were to buy out a set five to seven stations.

However, acquisitions will increase your presence across the country, so are you looking to buy out other stations?
Well, we don’t know that yet. But in a sense the next inflection point in radio will be multiple frequencies.

With India experiencing a boom in radio, what are the key differentiators for Radio Mirchi in this cluttered environment?
Our key differentiator would be our programming and jocks which are very contemporary. Through a lot of analysis and research we cater to the needs of listeners. We often tie up with Bollywood to premiere music on our station.

Radio has a lot of elements that a listener can identify with like for instance a radio jock. Also, every radio station has a particular ‘stationality.’

In more mature markets, often clients only advertise on stations that are a natural extension of their brand and its values? How far away is India on that evolutionary scale?
Let me give an example – There was a time when Warner Brothers would advertise on Go 92.5FM because it was English and niche, but today advertisers such as these are seeing the benefits of a mass radio stations as well.

With television further fragmenting into ‘niche’ specific channel offerings, how long before radio also branches out into the realm of niche stations? Given that Go 92.5 FM grew quickly extinct and resorted to mass appeal, what barriers would radio encounter before it adopts a niche approach?
Once the Government approves of a multiple frequency model, where a single radio operator will have different frequencies, it is then that radio will experiment and take the route of niche stations. But this will not take shape unless all the radio stations that are scheduled to launch this year roll out there plans.

What do you see as the way forward for the radio industry in India?
Currently, radio only occupies two per cent of an advertiser’s ad pie expenditure and that is dispensable. As a medium I feel our rate structure is under priced, the average cost for a radio campaign is about Rs 60, 00,000 across eight to nine markets. The challenge is to increase this by three times.

May 14, 2007

Star operating profit down 36% in Dec 06 quarter

MUMBAI: In the first contraction in profit that Star has had since it began generating profits in early 2003, News Corp’s Asian arm has reported second quarter operating income down 36 per cent from the same period a year ago.

Though the quarter (up to 31 December 2006) saw growth in subscription revenues, it was more than offset by a decline in advertising revenue at Star Plus.
On the distribution side, the biggest initiative by Star India during the quarter was the $ 175 million deal with Nimbus to distribute its channels.

According to Hong Kong-based Media Partners Asia (MPA), operating profit or EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) was down 36 per cent year on year to under $ 30 million. Operating profit in the September 06 quarter was up 8 per cent YoY. MPA estimates for the first half of the year show operating profit down 28 per cent YoY to $41 million, MPA estimates.

A point of note of course is that the corresponding period in 2005 not only had the second season of KBC on Star Plus but also saw the first season of Nach Baliye on Star One providing a strong push to advertising sales revenues. Still, there is no getting away from the fact that softness in ratings at Star plus is also contributing to revenue declines.

Speaking about Star’s performance during a conference call with analysts after the announcement of News Corp’s results, president & COO Peter Chernin said: “When the third season (of KBC) did finally launch and the numbers were extremely strong, up more than 25 per cent over last year’s premier, which should give us great momentum for the second half of the year and lead to not only higher advertising results but higher ancillary revenues led by phone revenue from additional calls that come in with the show.”

Chernin also made a mention of the executive roiling that has been going on at Star when he said, “You’ve also read that we made some changes to senior management, changes which we think will strengthen our operations and improve our programming going forward.

“… I think we have aggressive expectations for Star. Beginning on India, we’d like to see continued growth in our channels. We expect the growth of Tata Sky (in which News Corp holds 20 per cent) to continue. I think the most significant impact digital (DTH, CAS) will have on the company is growth of revenues inside Star as we see additional subscribers and an ability to, you know, get higher declarations of subs from the cable/pay-TV operators. We’ll also see new channel launches there (Tata Sky), and also important new ancillary businesses in the Internet, production and movies, et cetera. So we’re optimistic about Star going forward in India. “

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch was equally gung ho about the expectations on the DTH front: “Tata Sky DTH in India at 500,000+ subscribers, will hit 1 million during 1H 07, adding 8,000 subs per day at peak levels, averaging about 5-6,000 per day. I’d just say that Tata Sky is [going] a lot faster than we had budgeted for.”

Commenting on the expectations from the rest of Asia, Chernin said, “Additionally, we’re also ambitious in other Asian countries, particularly Indonesia, where we’ve recently launched. We recently acquired a television network which we’re optimistic. A very big country. We’re hoping that could be the next India… and also just continuing growth in other territories, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and expanding into others.”

On the China side, Murdoch was almost diffident when he said: “We don’t do very well in China. We have an interest — we just sold half of it in Phoenix (China Mobile deal, $165 million sale). We’ve got more than our money back [in our] total investment and we’re still there. We brought in a new partner China Mobile [inaudible] relations and we think it will do nicely. And we have our own little channel, XK [Xing Kong], which is produced in Shanghai and distributed through the southeast. That’s pretty much a break-even operation.

“We are very [inaudible] all I would say there is that nobody and I challenge anyone to argue this, none of the leading American companies or British media companies have made any impact there yet. It’s possible that, I mean there MySpace finds room there… It may be a MySpace China, which we can license, but we’re just feeling our way there. It’s a vast market, but it’s certainly a very, very sensitive one and as we’ve seen what’s happened to Google there, what’s happened to eBay there, even to Yahoo. It is a very difficult market for outsiders.”

February 8, 2007
CNBC Universe gears up for Budget 2007

MUMBAI: CNBC Universe gears up for the Budget with a line of special programming on the theme ‘OPPORTUNITY ECONOMY?’ But the emphasis is clearly on wooing the youth and family as the network ties up with Star Plus and MTV for its budget specific programming.

CNBC Awaaz ties up with Star Plus for Saas Bahu aur Budget where different stars from various soap families on Star Plus will join the anchors for an in-studio analysis of how the budget will affect each member of this fictional family. This show has been packaged as a dialogue between the various members of the families from popular tele-serials and tax experts.CNBC Awaaz and its editorial team will moderate this program

CNBC-TV18 and MTV tie up to bring Budget Fundas which will be telecast on both channels. The series is supposed to connect the youth with the Union Budget.

CNBC Awaaz budget coverage includes Aapke Sheher Main which will travel to five key cities across India taking stock of what investors expect. The Budget Express is a nationwide initiative tracking 32 cities. Both CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz will telecast the live uninterrupted coverage of the FM’s Budget Speech followed by a half hour interview with the FM.

The programming on CNBC-TV18 will also have short segments and vignettes such as Tax Minute, CEO Bites, If I were FM…?, Budget Factoids and What the World Thinks.

The theme of “Opportunity Economy?” will extend throughout the CNBC Universe including its web properties.

February 8, 2007
‘KBC’ opener boosts Star Plus’ channel share in 9-10 pm band

MUMBAI: The opening week numbers of KBC, Star Plus’ big ticket show for the season, seem to have done the trick at least on one front – jack up its channel share for the crucial 9-10 pm band significantly against rival Zee TV.

The much awaited ratings for KBC, revealed by Tam today, show Star Plus’ channel share increasing to 55.9 per cent from the previous week’s 37.7 per cent in Hindi speaking markets ( 9-10 pm; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).

As opposed to the aMap’s overnight ratings system that delivered an opening TVR of 5.3, Tam records the ratings for the premiere on 22 January as 12.3 for the Hindi markets.

Commenting on the opening numbers of KBC, Star Entertainment India CEO Sameer Nair said, “At the outset, we had set three objectives for ourselves for KBC with SRK: strategic to ensure that Star Plus continues to dominate viewers hearts and minds; tactical to gain clear leadership in the 9-10 pm weekday primetime band and commercial, to allow us to ensure that the cricket World Cup does not dent our revenues. We have conclusively met all our objectives.”

Expectedly, in the three metros (Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata) Star Plus has done even better, with a market share of 62.7 per cent, pushing down rival Zee TV from 38.2 per cent in the previous week to 15.3 per cent.

Given the pre-launch hype that the network put in place for the Shah Rukh Khan fronted reality game show, it’s no wonder that it opened well, but the big question lies in the ‘sustainability factor’ of the show in the coming weeks.

Of course SRK does not stand a chance against cricket, as the show was hit hard by the India Vs West Indies ODI match on 24 January, dragging the ratings down to 7.36 TVRs (HSM). Not surprisingly, the three metros also saw a steep decline as a result of cricket, clocking a TVR of 6.03. However, the average ratings for it’s first week seem to be stabilizing at about 10 so if KBC can sustain these numbers, the Star team should sail steady.

As for the big question on how SRK compares with Amitabh Bachchan, in the the opening ratings it is a no contest, since 19.75 was what the second season of KBC hosted by the Big B opened at.

An interesting point of note however, is that the first episode of KBC reached 23.3 million, which is 5 million more than the launch episode of KBC 2 did (factoring in the increased C&S population between then and now). Moreover, KBC reached 39 million individuals in the first week of its launch, which Star claims is the highest ever reach of a show in it’s first week in the history of satellite TV.

All in all, the network states that KBC has caused a 25 per cent growth in Hindi general entertainment viewing, with Star gaining viewers from movie channels, regional and hindi news channels.

But at the end of the day, this tale is really all about the ratings commitments that Star has given to its advertisers, so it ultimately will come back to whether the numbers will hold up. Can KBC deliver on a consistent basis over its full 13-week run will be what advertisers will be interested in, not how it opened.

February 2, 2007
B.A.G declares Q3 net profit up 33% at Rs 12 million

MUMBAI: Anurradha Prasad’s B.A.G Films today announced its financial results for the quarter ended 31 December 2006. Net profit was up 33 per cent at Rs 12 million while revenues were up 20 per cent to Rs 109 million.

The company has a presence in the programming, films and new media business segments, besides running a media school.
During the quarter, B.A.G launched two new shows – Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se on Star Plus and Yeh Vaada Raha on ARY Channel, Dubai.

B.A.G’s movies report card was quite disappointing though with “Zindaggi Rocks”, starring Sushmita Sen, and directed by Tanuja Chandra, proving a monumental flop. The company also released Punjabi film “Mannat” during the quarter.

January 30, 2007
Sony beefs up 10 to 11 band with new soaps

MUMBAI: Two new shows Durgesh Nandini and Jeete Hain Jiske Liye from the Sony stable will hit the small screen starting 5 February. The two soaps have been clubbed in the 10 to 11 pm band and will air from Monday to Thursday.

While Durgesh Nandini replaces the recently concluded reality television series Bigg Boss slotted from 10 to 10:30 pm. The 10:30 to 11 pm slot was reserved for repeats of various shows on the channel. This slot will now air Jeete Hain Jiske Liye.

According to the recently released TAM data for the last six months (15 July ’06 to 13 Jan ’07) – Sony is facing a long, hard climb at number three with its relative channel share at 12 to 13 per cent compared to Star Plus now at 40 per cent relative share and Zee hovering around 23 (Hindi GEC / TG CS 4+/ HSM Market).

The two shows have been positioned to compete with Star’s K-sagas, especially the predominant players Star’s Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki and Kyunki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi that airs within the same time band.

Sony Entertainment Television chief creative director Sandiip Sikcand said, “It’s clear that Indian audiences will watch shows that bring out their best emotions. So Durgesh Nandini has a subtle tone of humour while Jeete Hain Jiske Liye is more intense. But both are essentially stories of women with grit and determination.”

While the channel claims that its immediate focus is to spruce up this band, it has also revealed that it is planning to beef up its 9 to 10 prime time slot with new programming. Without giving out details, the channel is all set to look at a sitcom and even a game show.

Sony Entertainment Television COO NP Singh says, “Around March-April 2006, we decided to take stock of our programming and come up with a healthy mix of fiction and non fiction programming. Reality series like Fear Factor, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and Bigg Boss were results of that. While a third season of Indian Idols is already on the cards, we also wanted to get back to daily soaps.”

While Durgesh Nandini is a comedy/drama loosely based on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel, SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta revealed that Jeete Hai Jiske Liye has been adapted from an international telenovella. Both of them have women as their main protagonists. No surprises there. But Jeete Hain Jiske Liye star cast includes Renuka Shahane who will make a return to television after a five-year gap. Her popularity among television viewers should prove to be a huge factor in roping viewership for the show.

Talking about bringing back some of the old shows in an attempt to garner viewership Singh says, “We believe that old brands which we have invested in and have been successful should be revived and made best use of. We decided to go back to shows like Boogie Woogie, CID, Aahaat and now Karamchand.”

Sony made cricket and entertainment synonymous and the network is all geared up for World Cup 2007. While Max, Sab and Pix will air matches and shows around it , the channel is determined to keep Set cricket free and provide more entertainment for those taking a break from the game.

January 30, 2007
Cricket knocks ‘KBC’ down the ratings ladder

MUMBAI: Cricket has done a number on Star Plus’ Kaun Banega Crorepati, which opened with a big bang clocking 5.3 TVR, but saw a significant ratings drop on Wednesday.

In a downward trend, the ratings for the show have slipped by 1.8 per cent to 3.5 (aMap TG C&S4+ in the North West East India market) on its third day of telecast.

Clearly, KBC received a kick on 24 January due to the India Vs West Indies ODI match telecast on Neo Sports and DD1, which garnered a market share of 27.8 per cent on an All-India level.

Could this be a dampener for Star? Star India president advertising sales and distribution Paritosh Josh tells Indiantelevision.com, “I would not be too excited about the ratings generated on the first day, as it would be the outcome of the hype created by the enormous marketing and media coverage.”

Date
Market Share
22
Monday
24.1
23
Tuesday
24.0
24 Wednesday
15.4

aMap’s overnight television ratings system indicates that the market share for the show has dipped from 24 per cent on the first two days to 15.4 per cent on the third.

Although good opening ratings is not a bad thing, what is required is ‘stickiness’ that has to be built and sustained over time, says Joshi.

A point of note is that all genres suffered as a result of the cricket with the hardest hit being the regional satellite channels, which saw viewing plummet 31.9 per cent. GEC channels followed closely at 29.4 per cent while south satellite and cable saw a drop in market share of 20.4 per cent.

As opposed to what KBC set out to target, in terms of a more ‘youth’ based audience to be drawn in with SRK’s charms, ratings suggest that the average age for the viewers is 32 years.
Joshi however is optimistic and says that he would not subscribe to the mentioned ratings, but instead await TAM’s report on Monday 29 January to further comment on the response that KBC has garnered.

January 25, 2007

Top 3 General Entertainment Channels	GRPs
Star Plus	351.6
Zee TV	303.4
Sony Entertainment TV	137.5
( Tam Peoplemeter System, C&S 4+, HSM, Week 29, 15-21 July)