MxMIndia

Tag: Colors@5

  • What the Colors core team, Raghav Bahl, Sameer Nair, Anil Thakraney and Pradyuman Maheshwari have to say on the fifth anniversary of the general entertainment channel

    1 Minute View: Gyaan from the Colors journey

    More than your daily viewswallah give you his/her daily dose, we suggest you should read up what the biggies have said on the Colors journey.

     

    Let’s give you a quick summary of what you can read in the various stories in our special package on the Colors fifth annv:

    1. High Five with the Colors ‘A’ team

    Everyone agrees that there there is no bureaucracy in this young team in the channel. People assume the responsibility and fly with it. Turning the numero uno GEC was the biggest milestone and while there’s no one programme that’s a unanimous choice: Balika Vadhu, Khatron ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss are the big ones. And Madhubala and Comedy Nights with Kapil as both have redefined the channel on content

     

    2. Raghav Bahl: The Colors of Trailblazing

    If you believe in an idea, back it up fully. No half-measures

     

    3. Sameer Nair: Had it not been for the global recession, Colors would’ve been a billion dollar channel!

    They put serious money behind distribution, marketing, content. Everything fell into place remarkably. Their combination of shows – Bigg Boss, Fear Factor and Balika Vadhu worked wonders for them.

     

    5. Anil Thakraney: Balika Vadhu on Colors was a game-changer

    Balika Vadhu works well and in it we see glimpses of our own. On Bigg Boss: You can also hook viewers witty, interesting, feisty people. We don’t need morons for entertainment.

     

    6. Pradyuman Maheshwari in Mediaah! How underdog Colors won the great GEC battle

    What changed outlook towards the channel was the news that Akshay Kumar was signed to do a Fear Factor. The folks meant business and Akshay was then the reigning king of Bollywood.

     

  • The idea of getting Ashvini Yardi (who had earned her stars as programming head at Zee) was a great one. But could CEO Rajesh Kamat and she be able to match the maharathis and former Star India CEOs Peter and Sameer?

    Mediaah!: How underdog Colors won the great GEC battle

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Having tracked the journey of both Television 18 and Viacom from their early days (in India in the case of Viacom), there was much desire to see both groups succeed.

     

    But I thought they were being too ambitious to launch a Hindi GEC in 2008. The market was already very crowded and with the whizkids of broadcasting Peter Mukerjea and Sameer Nair also in the fray, the sentiment then was that it was going to be well-nigh impossible for any new channel to be a success.

     

    I was sure the Network 18 team wouldn’t get it right. They had had success with CNN-IBN but entertainment wasn’t like news. Good content doesn’t necessarily maketh a GEC.

     

    The idea of getting Ashvini Yardi (who had earned her stars as programming head at Zee) was a great one. But could CEO Rajesh Kamat and she be able to match the maharathis and former Star India CEOs Peter and Sameer?

     

    I think what changed my outlook to the channel’s launch was the news that Akshay Kumar was signed to do a Fear Factor. The folks meant business and Akshay was then the reigning king of Bollywood. Plus the team was young, friendlier (than the others) and indulged us in the media.

     

    A week before the launch, most of us had wanted Colors to succeed. Even advertisers and media agencies longed for a worthy alternative to the existing slew of channels. And after the ratings for the first two weeks came in, we were sure the channel was a winner.

     

    Even then there were naysayers telling us that the magic would fade away. Regrettably for them, it didn’t. Soon Colors dethroned Star Plus as the numero uno Hindi GEC.

     

    I remember writing then that it was complacency that had seen Star Plus go down, a comment that didn’t work very well with some people internally and of course the biggies in the business. But a year-odd later, when I spoke to Star India CEO Uday Shankar, he admitted that the channel getting complacent. I asked him just to let people know that my earlier statement was based on some digging in, and not speculation.

     

    **

     

    My first major interaction with Rajesh Kamat happened only when I had this interview on the first anniversary of the channel in Impact magazine. It was an extra-long 6000-word interview. Rajesh had then told me how it helped being an underdog. “It made us focus on our own efforts. Also what happens is when you’ re an underdog, you push yourself to give 200%.” He mentioned how he learnt several tricks of the trade from Sameer Nair, and knowing that the former Star India CEO would’ve tracked the rise and rise of the channels, we invited him to do an appraisal for this fifth anniv package.  The Impact interview isn’t on the Net, but I found a Word version on my Gmail archives. Inbox me if you want a copy.

     

    ***

     

    In many ways, the launch of Colors also marks a little over five years I have spent in the M&E media. I can’t claim the same kind of success that the channel has achieved, but, yes, the ability and desire to try and do stuff that has not been done before is there.

     

    Here’s to many, many more colourful years for Raj Nayak and Team Colors (and the folks at Network/TV 18, Viacom and Viacom 18)!

     

  • For the next five years, Anil Thakraney advises the channel to towards creating more game-changing programmes

    Anil Thakraney: Balika Vadhu on Colors was a game-changer

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Hard to believe it’s been only five years, it feels like the channel has been around for a very long time. In a short time, Colors has managed to create a niche for itself in the Hindi GECs segment. This must not have been easy, given that Zee, Star Plus and Sony had already established themselves long before the new player arrived. Since ratings play a cyclic game (one big show can catapult a channel to the top rung), I don’t go by numbers. But it’s clear that Colors has made an impact on the viewer’s psyche, and congrats to the team for that achievement.

     

    I must also state for the record that their flagship serial, Balika Vadhu, is the only Hindi soap I currently watch. This is because the serial feels very real, in the lives of the protagonists we see glimpses of our own. Indeed, Balika was a game-changer when it arrived on the scene because it broke the genre of the over-the-top, garish, unbelievable soaps that used to rule till the year 2008.  Since then, Balika has gone on to inspire other soap-makers. Colors needed such a kick start programme to get instantly noticed.

     

    However, sadly, the rest of the channel’s programming hasn’t really been different, their serials haven’t shown the same freshness. Bigg Boss, the reality show, may not garner big ratings, but it keeps Colors buzzing on Twitter, which explains its continued run. I have never been a fan of this dimwitted show for just one reason: The channel deliberately invites the demented sort as guests, hoping that their shenanigans will get the viewers hooked. My view is, this can be achieved with witty, interesting, feisty people. We don’t need morons for entertainment. Here’s hoping Colors will keep this in mind for the future.

     

    For the next five years, I would advise the channel to return to its roots, and passionately work towards creating game-changing programmes. In a previous post, I mentioned why producing American quality serials is very dicey in Indian conditions, therefore a Homeland or a House of Cards will be very difficult, if not impossible to do. However, that doesn’t mean the channel can’t push the envelope. Now that the best of Bollywood talent is beginning to take television fiction seriously, the smart channel will be the one that exploits this opportunity quickly, teams up with the hottest young writers and directors, and puts out programming that’s offbeat and interesting. Is Colors up for the challenge? That is the question the channel’s leaders need to ask themselves as they blow the five colourful candles.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached via Twitter at @anilthakraney