MxMIndia

Tag: History

  • Senior VP & GM Rahul Johri talks of how the Discovery Network scores over the rest (Text+Video)

    We’re bigger than the sum of all our competitors: Rahul Johri

     

    Text & Video by Shruti Pushkarna
    Although most of its channels are not mass like those offering soaps and sitcoms, the Discovery Network is a key member of the Indian broadcast landscape. The Discovery Network Asia Pacific’s Senior Vice President & General Manager for South Asia, RahulJohri attributes the network’s success to its dedicated and loyal viewership and says it is far ahead of competition

     

    Under Mr Johri’s leadership, Discovery India’s portfolio has grown from two to eight channels. In 2009, he led Discovery Channel to become India’s No.1 channel in non-fiction entertainment. He cemented TLC as India’s definitive lifestyle channel and energized Animal Planet with the brand recording the highest audience growth in the factual space.

     

    He launched three new networks in 2010, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and a 24-hour high definition channel – Discovery HD World. Mr Johri has also pioneered the channel’s localization strategy by launching language feeds in Telugu and Bengali. Discovery Channel Tamil was also launched in 2011.

     

    At a press meet in the Capital on July 5, Mr Johri announced the launch of a new series on TLC called Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar. A six-part series, Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar showcases the striking transformation of the girls selected from across India into dazzling divas by popular hairstylist Adhuna Akhtar and her brother Osh Bhabani.

     

    MxMIndia caught up with Mr Johri soon after he unveiled Be Blunt to the media. In this one-on-one interaction, Mr Johri tells MxMIndia about Discovery’s leadership and the network’s latest offering and that Discovery Kids will be unveiled shortly. He also shares his views on how digitization is set to impact Discovery and other niche channels.

     

    Excerpts from the interview:

    It’s interesting that you have a show on hairstyling. Tell us a little about this show with Adhuna Akhtar?

    Our focus in TLC is on different aspects of lifestyle and one of the most prominent ones of that is appearance. So keeping that in mind we thought a hairstyling show would fit in really well on the channel. And there is no other hairstyling show. When we wanted to do it, we found Adhuna Akhtar, who is one of the most popular hair dressers in the country. This show takes in six different individuals and carries out a makeover on them and in the midst of doing the makeover, Adhuna gives viewers a lot of tips on how to keep their hair better.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LvsvFWwOTA[/youtube]

    You mentioned there are six episodes of this show ready to air… what’s coming up next?

    We have always done new things and surprised our viewers. Whether it’s a show on Shah Rukh Khan’s life, the jewellery show, and now it’s a hair dressing show, so we will continue to surprise people.

     

    And then there’s the programme capturing the Indian Army’s Women Expedition to Everest…

    The Army sent an expedition which scaled Mount Evereston May 25 and 26. There are seven women who were part of that expedition and a total of 17 climbers who climbed Everest. We shot the whole show; in fact, a Discovery cameraman also climbed Mount Everest along with the climbers. Right now we are editing the footage that has been brought back and we hope to bring this show within this year.

     

    And the two-part series on Oprah’s visit to India?

    Oprah was here earlier this year and she shot extensively in Mumbai, Vrindavan, Agra and Jaipur. There are two episodes of this new series that she now does which is called The Next Chapter which appears on Oprah Winfrey’s Network in US and in India you will see it both on Discovery Channel and on TLC. Discovery has had quite a few specials in the past, like the special show with Shah Rukh Khan, another one of course coming up with Oprah…

     

    Considering a lot of money has to be invested in promotion for programming, isn’t it better to stick to longer format shows rather than these one-offs?

    It is a part of the kind of shows we do. A documentary filmmaker does not make a series, there is no 52-part documentary. It will always be smaller parts. And viewers know that there will be specials and we have now eight different channels of our own. So we have enough air time to take the message to the viewers.

     

    Discovery has got a lot of competition in this space now, especially from a channel like History which is doing fairly well. How do you view competition from upcoming channels?

    We are, by far, the leaders in the genre. We are bigger than the sum of all our competitors. We’ve been in the business for 15 years and no matter how you slice and dice the numbers, we are the leaders. And we will continue to present to our viewers with quality programming. And the other important thing which is responsible for our leadership position is, on Discovery you will always find shows which are on brand. There is nothing that is not on brand. So viewers get from Discovery what they expect from Discovery. And that is really responsible for the loyalty that we have of our viewers.

     

    A channel like TLC is fighting for viewership with English GECs like Star World and Zee Cafe…

     TLC is bigger than most of them and TLC has a very dedicated audience. If you ask people what they watch on TLC, they will give you names of shows that they follow. And TLC has managed to establish itself as the definitive lifestyle channel in this country and that really gives it the advantage.

     

    Speaking of niche channels, how are Discovery Turbo and Discovery Science doing?

    In terms of reach, they continue to grow. Discovery Turbo has very dedicated audience in the metro markets and Discovery Science has been growing all over the country. Its distribution has been growing. And if there is a country in the world where a Science channel fits in perfectly, it is India because 65 per cent of India is under 30 years of age. And 35 per cent of the country is under 14 years of age. And everybody understands the value of education. And that is why the science channel works so well here.

     

    And how’s your regional foray going? Discovery Tamil is a success… what languages up next?

    Discovery Channel Tamil is a great success. Discovery is the only international company to have a full-fledged channel and not just a dubbed feed in the language. So it has its own programming grid, it has all the on-air packaging in Tamil. And from the day we launched in Tamil, the rating has more than doubled. Today it is the No 9 channel in Tamil Nadu. We are already available in Bangla, Telugu and Hindi and we continue to evaluate languages.

     

    It’s been a while since you announced Discovery Kids at FICCI Frames. When will it be launched?

    The test signals of Discovery Kids are already on and we are currently seeding the channel in various parts of the country. We should be announcing the launch very soon.

     

    And how will it be different from the other channels in this space?

    Discovery Kids is not a 100 percent animation channel. It has the inherent Discovery values. However, we understand the value of entertainment so there is a lot of entertainment on the channel and it’s a parent-approved entertainment channel.

     

    What will be its driver shows? For instance, POGO has Chhota Bheem and Disney has Doraemon…

    We have our set, and like I said it’s just a matter of time that we’ll announce Discovery Kids and we will show you all the big shows that Discovery Kids has.

     

    Are you looking at a reality show like Endurance which is a rage internationally?

    You will get all the big shows of Discovery Kids in India!

     

    Do you think digitization will have a positive impact on channels like Discovery?

    In a digital world where the consumers are not constrained by the bandwidth capacity and have a complete choice, channels like Discovery become that much more important. As a consumer you get complete control over what you want to watch and that is where clearly defined offerings like TLC, Discovery Science, Animal Planet have a clear cut proposition and they become that much more pronounced in a digital environment.

     

    Given that TRAI will have restrictions on pricing of channels, will niche channels (like Discovery) really benefit from it, considering the huge amount of investment on content by these channels…

    Not being able to price your channel has its drawbacks… I would like to bring the military channel here which talks about all kinds of war strategies and so on. But that will have a small dedicated tribe to watch it. Till the numbers grow, the next level of specialization is difficult. It’s a challenge to get extremely specialized channels into the country.

     

  • For the consumer, it is a chance to view a particular channel in his mother tongue. For channels, it is about expanding viewership base and accumulating additional revenues

    Speaking in tongues, good for TV channels

     

    By Rishi Vora

     

    TV channels are gung-ho about the digital revolution India is witnessing. New launches and the ones in the pipeline – all are preparing to be on DTH or Digital Cable. Well, what this brings to viewers and for the industry is a  novel trend: the rise of language feeds. For the consumer, it is now a chance to view a particular channel in his mother tongue. For channels, it is about expanding viewership base and accumulating additional revenues via local advertisers.

     

    The trend is visibly on the rising side. Big CBS launched Spark Punjabi. Sonic has extended its offering to Marathi and Bengali. History, the factual entertainment channel from the A+E Networks recently launched the Gujarati feed, making it the only channel to be available in seven languages (Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi and English). Discovery serves in English, Telugu, Bengali, Hindi, while National Geographic is present in five feeds: English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. The trend, quite noticeably is seen in the kids and the factual entertainment genre.

     

    For these international channels, the opportunity is way too big to be missed. The cost of launching a new feed vis-a-vis the return it brings to the table in terms of reach, viewership and revenue, is negligible. All it accounts for is an additional cost on dubbing, which on most occasions, for all channels would be an incremental cost since English and Hindi languages are by most channels, already operational. Sangeetha Aiyer, General Manager – Marketing A+E Networks and TV 18 JV informs that the cost of dubbing varies between 7 to 15 per cent of a programming budget.

     

    “The trend has been around for a while,” says Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Executive VP and General Manager, Sonic and Nick India. She further adds, “For us, since we cater to the kids and the young adults of India, it is important that the characters kids have an affinity towards speak to them in their mother tongue – the language they speak at home. That is the best way you can engage and entertain them.” Aiyer agrees that it brings in more revenue and viewership for the channel, but also calls for a lot of co-ordination with studios which at times can be painstaking. Ensuring quality control, scripts, technicians etc is one part of the challenge, while lack of experts in languages like Marathi or Bengali is another challenge.

     

    Most channels outsource the dubbing work to studios, except UTV Action which contracts its sister company UTV Software on the same. UTV Action, as is known was one of the early movers in the movies segment to offer Hollywood films dubbed in Hindi. The channel later launched its Telugu feed. Manasi Sapre, Programming Head, UTV Action says that Telugu feed opens up a big market for the channel. “We’re seeing a lot of traction from the Telugu market, where the appetite for Hollywood movie watching is constantly increasing. Telugu market is one market where you can be rest assured of a good response, given the fact that the southern belt likes to view content in their own language rather than English or Hindi.”

     

    A separate P&L company within the UTV group – UTV Software, has been in the business of dubbing for more than 15 years now. The company is seen as a pioneer, currently handling projects like Walt Disney, Hungama, Fox Traveller, National Geeographic Wild, NDTV Good Times and UTV Action. The company dubs 40-50 hours of content every month, so considering that content is offered in a minimum of  four languages, it means 200 hours of content being dubbed every month.

     

    According to Rahul Bhatia, Senior VP – Dubbing, UTV Software, the dubbing industry has grown leaps and bounds in the past five to seven years in terms of the number of players. The market still remains majorly unorganised with UTV as a major player as against many small studios that do one-off projects. “Price-points for dubbing have gone down drastically. From what it used to be Rs 1 lakh for an hour 10 years back, it is now come down to Rs 25,000. But, on the brighter side, volumes have increased. Three years back it was only Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, but now if you see, the market is growing to other languages like Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi.”

     

    Quite interestingly, for many channels that bring in international content from countries like Japan, Korea or even China, content is translated to English and then dubbed to various other languages, which is a lot of effort on the part of the studios. Part of the reason for this tedious procedure is the fact that channels are extra careful to ensure that  international standards are maintained.

     

    Given the kind of growth dubbing has seen and that many channels have launched multiple feeds, there are chances that a few broadcast majors would want to set up their own studios. Maybe it is too early to say, or the existing outsourcing practice could well be effective enough as one may not want to get into the business, which could well mean diverting the attention from three major functions: Content, Distribution, Sales. Even for now, Dubbing seems to come later in the priority list of the channels.

     

  • Hanmer MSL chosen by History, NEO Sports, Biocon, CREDAI Bengaluru, BOC India Limited, HTC Corporation and SBI General Insurance for strategic communications briefs

    Eight new wins for Hanmer MSL India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hanmer MSL, part of MSLGROUP, Publicis Groupe’s flagship speciality communications, Public Relations and events network and one ofIndia’s leading communications agencies on Thursday announced seven new clients.

     

    The new client wins include HISTORY (A+E Networks & TV18 JV), NEO Sports, Biocon, CREDAI Bengaluru, BOC India Limited, HTC Corporation and SBI General Insurance for strategic communications assignments, reaffirming the agency’s reputation as one ofIndia’s leading speciality communications firms.

     

    Hanmer MSL will provide strategic communications consultancy programmes to help these clients in the areas of brand building, corporate reputation management, corporate responsibility and crisis and issues management.

     

    Hanmer MSL will also draw on expertise and capabilities within MSLGROUP to support these national and multi-national companies expansion withinIndiathrough its extensiveIndianetwork of eight offices in eight key cities and an additional 29 network offices which focus on tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

     

    Commenting on the new business wins, Jaideep Shergill, CEO, Hanmer MSL said: “As an agency we have always focused on enhancing and improving our capabilities, providing our clients the best of our services. As part of this commitment, we are thrilled to be working together with brands that are considered to be some of the industry’s most respected professionals.”

     

    Hanmer MSL’s media and entertainment portfolio has expanded further with the History and NEO Sports wins. Hanmer MSL’s ability to execute holistic campaigns has positioned the agency at the forefront of media and entertainment speciality communications.

     

    History, in itsIndiaedition, is part of a joint venture between TV18 and A+E Networks. Hanmer MSL has the responsibility of handling the strategic communications assignment of History inIndia. Hanmer MSL will provide strategic counsel to create maximum exposure for the brand amongst target audiences and key stakeholders. Hanmer MSL will also work with the channel towards expanding the genre and ensuring that it is not perceived as a niche channel.

     

    Neo Sports Broadcasting has appointed Hanmer MSL to support the premier programmes on its two channels, Neo Sports and Neo Cricket, and highlight popular and potentially popular sporting events and series to help the company achieve its key business priorities of growing viewership and market share.

     

    Established in 1978, Biocon isIndia’s first bio technology company. From its inception, Biocon has worked towards developing cost-effective drug development capabilities and significant manufacturing capacity. Hanmer MSL will join hands with Biocon to leverage and add media worth and value to their diabetology campaign and help grow this campaign into a successful venture. Hanmer will also handle the corporate mandate of Biocon as well as help Biocon launch and build on its online presence.

     

    The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) Bengaluru has safeguarded the interests of real estate developers and builders while protecting the rights of buyers and home owners around the state of Karnataka. Hanmer MSL will work towards developing CREDAI as a thought leader and help in ensuring quality media mileage for all their ventures, events and business developments. Hanmer MSL will be working with specific focus on creating the right image of the real estate sector.

     

    BOC India Limited (BOCI), a member of The Linde Group, provides a one-stop solution to all businesses for gas supply and related equipment and services. The company manufactures cryogenic and non-cryogenic vessels and also designs and commission projects. Hanmer MSL has been entrusted with the mandate to communicate the brand transition and change management process and establish and elevate the profile of Linde Group in Kolkata, Mumbai,Delhiand Chennai.

     

    HTC Corporation (HTC), one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry, creates innovative devices that better serve the lives and needs of individuals. Hanmer MSL will have the responsibility of executing corporate as well as product PR for HTC.

     

    Hanmer MSL will be in charge of SBI General Insurance Company Limited’s corporate PR and product PR, including product launches. The company is a joint venture between the State Bank ofIndiaand Insurance Australia Group (IAG),Australia’s leading general insurance provider.