MxMIndia

Tag: Imagine TV

  • Most experts feel is that both the incumbent SAB and challenger Life OK will have to work harder if they want to reach the top slots.

    Life OK and SAB: The see-saw continues…

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    In India there is no dearth of television channels. The competition is only growing and the race to lead in the TRP race is heating up. In the past few weeks, the two channels which seen an increase in their TRPs are Life OK and SAB TV which have been fighting for the fifth spot in the TRPs race.

     

    Life OK, the newest entrance in the GEC genre from the Star India stable, was launched in December last year. The network renamed and re-launched their youth-oriented channel Star One with new tagline ‘cherishing what you have’.

     

    On the contrary, SAB TV has been around for over a decade now but has gone through various transformations. In March 2005, SAB TV was acquired by Sony Entertainment Television and was transformed into a youth-centric channel. In June 2008, the channel announced that it would return to its roots by being repositioned as a comedy-centric channel.

     

    So what does the race for TRPs mean for the two channels and do they pose a threat to other GECs? MxMIndia spoke to a few media planners to see what is the future of the GECs and what shape will this ‘war’ take.

     

    According to the latest TAM data, in week 24, SAB TV has toppled Life OK and regained No 5 position. Whereas, last week (week 23), Life OK was the fifth most watched GEC.

     

    Sundeep Nagpal

    Sundeep Nagpal, founder director, Stratagem Media feels that these are momentary fluctuations and cannot be contributed to anything per se. “These channels have a small base; therefore, even a single factor can affect the ratings of the show – positively or negatively – depending on how it did on a particular week. Hence, I don’t think we should be alarmed by such fluctuations. And they won’t be able to impact the top 4 slots.”

     

    The two channels have positioned themselves differently, too. SAB TV is a comedy-centric channel which portrays itself has a family channel, whereas Life OK has shows full of melodrama like other GECs.

     

    Janardhan Pandey, associate vice-president, DDB Mudra Max feels that the two cannot impact each other drastically. “SAB has its own set of audience which won’t get influenced by other GECs and vice-versa. They will continue to do well in their own categories; the fluctuation between the two is possible but they don’t have the same hold as other GECs do. They still have a long way to go.”

     

    Jai Lala

    On the other hand, Priti Murthy, national director – Insights, Maxus, feels that though these channels might be still small fish, they cannot be ignored entirely. “Like these two channels, even number two and three slots have been fluctuating for a while now. So, slot five and six can create an impact too. One cannot rule out the possibility of them gaining to higher positions in the future if they come up with new and better content.”

     

    On the channels growth, Mindshare’s principal partner, Jai Lala feels that the two channels have grown since Imagine TV, a Turner International India Pvt Ltd entity, was shut down earlier this year. “The shutdown of Imagine TV has benefited these two who are now turning out to be competitors. However, they still have a small base compared to others and unless and until they cross the 200+ threshold, I don’t think that they can or will affect the channels like Star or Zee or Sony which have been ruling the top slots in the TRP race for a long period of time.”

     

    Uday Mohan

    “While these channels are doing well they have a long way to go in terms of reaching the numbers of the mainline GECs. They still don’t have the kind of appointment viewing that the mainline GECs generate….they might eat into the shares of other frequency channels but will not threaten GECs, at least not immediately,” added Uday Mohan, executive director – North, MPG.

     

    Most experts believe that there is nothing to be alarmed about the two channels see-sawing. What they do feel is that both the incumbent SAB and challenger Life OK will have to work harder if they want to reach the top slots.

     

  • Turner remains fully committed to future investments and long-term participation in Indiaand will continue to explore expansion opportunities in this key priority market for Turner, Mr Jain added

    This is a carefully considered business decision: Siddharth Jain

    It wasn’t an easy day at office for Siddharth Jain, Managing Director- South Asia at Turner International India Private Limited. Mr Jain, who had assumed his current role in November last year, took time off to respond to MxMIndia’s questions in an emailed interaction.

     

    What exactly happened… there were promos running for forthcoming shows and then this announcement of pulling down curtains?

    This is a carefully considered business decision based on performance of the channel. We invested substantially and put all possible resources behind Imagine TV throughout. As in any other business, the investments were directly linked to reaching a certain performance benchmark. However, in the two years, Imagine did not grow or perform as per expectations and as a result, Turner made the carefully-considered decision to cease operations of the channel.

     

    Did you consider selling the channel (a la 9X)?

    We worked incredibly hard to exhaust all options to avoid cessation of business operations.

     

    This is the second GEC from the Turner stable that has failed. But your other channels are doing well, with Pogo hitting an all-time high recently. Will Turner try its hand at another GEC or is it quits for now?

    Absolutely. Turner remains fully committed to future investments and long-term participation in India. Having been pioneers in the Indian M&E space in international news and kids’ entertainment, Turner currently operates some of the strongest media brands in India. POGO is indeed doing very well, being the Number one channel in the kids’ TV genre for the last six months (as per TAM). Turner will continue to be leaders in the media and entertainment industry and to explore expansion opportunities in this key priority market for Turner.

     

    What happens to the team and staff of Imagine? Anyone being retained or moved to other businesses?

    Turner will retain some employees for a transition period and some others are being offered permanent roles within other Turner channels to fill current vacancies.

     

    For the other Imagine employees getting impacted, Turner has set up an HR outplacement service which will provide advice on how to write a better CV, interviewing techniques and other job hunting skills. We will also introduce the employees to recruitment consultants, HR professionals from other media organizations and facilitate their new job search. Our focus is to ensure the closure is executed in a fair and appropriate manner for all of them and in full compliance with all legal requirements, employment terms and company policies. We will use our best endeavours to make this as smooth a transition as possible for them.

     

    The integration exercise that Turner carried out in May 2011 didn’t seem go down well with a few key personnel exiting the company eventually. In hindsight, was that what triggered the channel’s downfall?

    The two are not related in any way. Integration really helped in getting better operational efficiencies between Imagine and our other networks. While exits happened in the last one year, if you look across the industry it is in the normal course of any GEC. There is not one person or one department that was responsible but a number of factors that led to the channel not delivering consistent ratings that were required to sustain the business and continued investment.

     

    Why wasn’t there a suitable replacement to Sameer Nair post his exit?

    We are not in a position to comment on Mr Nair.

     

    Are there any plans for your library of programming? And what happens to the programmes signed up?

    As of today, we cease all business operations of Imagine TV. The closure is a complicated process as we are ensuring fulfillment of all our business commitments to advertisers, distributors, production houses and other partners.

     

    As you look back, do you think it was an unwise decision to buy Imagine from NDTV? And would it have been better for you to have launched an all-new channel so that it doesn’t come with the baggage of an unsuccessful channel?

    The acquisition of Imagine was a wholly appropriate, strategic and extensively-considered decision.

     

  • It’s not a fun thing that’s happened, but AN Chorreachose to add his two-bit on what could be (and what should’ve been) done for the Imagine announcement to not happen.

    Anchor: 5 ways how Imagine could’ve survived

    By AN Chorrea

     

    It was indeed shocking to see Turner cease all operations of Imagine TV with effect from yesterday. My considered view is that Turner Broadcast could’ve managed to see Imagine survive the Great GEC Race and also thrive by any of these five programming tweaks.

     

    1. Rakhee round the clock

    Rakhee Sawant may have got into the limelight thanks to Bigg Boss on another GEC, but it’s all the crazy things that she did on Imagine that caught the world’s imagination. And made her a household name. So, wouldn’t it have been a great idea to have Rakhee and Rakhee along all 24 hours?!

     

    2. Reality round the clock

    Imagine isn’t the only channel which is into reality shows… almost every channel is. But remember they started out with one, albeit for just a week. Methinks heavy doses of Rakhee Sawant, Rahul Mahajan and all other types of international and desi formats would’ve got it all the ratings!

     

    3. Maximum Mythology

    All channels have mythologicals, but given its superior rendering of Ramayan and later Dwarkadheesh Bhagwan Shri Krishna and more recently Mahima Shani Dev Ki makes one wonder that if Imagine aired only mythologicals round the clock – with lavish sets, et al – wouldn’t it have worked in its favour?

     

    4. Supernatural mumbo-jumbo

    I am sure you’ve seen Raaz Pichle Janam Ka, the primetime show that’s a reality show showing the practising of past-life regression. The programme is quite engaging leading us to suggest that the channel should’ve gone in for all the supernatural, astrological and other bizarre stuff for at least 18 hours a day. And for the other six hours: more supernatural stuff. Possibly TV shopping for gizmos that can help you cross all barriers in life.

     

    5. Get the original Jhatka from Pogo

    For a man who stole everyone’s hearts in Fauji, Shah Rukh Khan has had a  easonably awful track record on telly ever since he became a superstar. KBC with him as anchor was no great shakes and Paanchvi Paas on Star Plus and Zor Ka Jhatka on Imagine were disastrous. It would’ve perhaps been nicer if Imagine could’ve got Pogo to part with its version of Takeshi’s Castle. While the show’s fun, it’s Javed Jaffrey’s commentary that does the trick and one can keep watching it endlessly. As the show’s name suggested SRK’s Jhatka deserved a kick at all the right and wrong places. Zor ka!

     

    AN Chorrea is a seasoned industry-watcher who writes under a pseudonym

     

  • The Voice, an American reality talent show based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, is the big-ticket show for Imagine TV.

    Voice for Imagine TV

    By Dhara Salla

    After Colors with Bigg Boss and Sony with Kaun Banega Crorepati, it is the turn of Imagine TV to come up with a big-ticket reality performance show – The Voice. The Voice is an American reality talent show based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, created by Dutch television. MxM India talked to Mr Nikhil Madhok, Senior Director Marketing and Communications, Imagine TV, about the show and what it means for Imagine.

     

    Q: Imagine already has a great new lineup of content; why did you feel the need for this big-ticket?

    One of the things we are trying to achieve is a good balance with fiction and non-fiction. We are revamping and refreshing the line-up of our show. We got our fiction shows line-up in place and it was the time to start the phase with non-fiction. Imagine TV has done a lot of reality shows like Rakhi ka Swavamyar, Shaadi Teen Crore Ki and Pati, Patni Aur Woh, to name a few, but had never tried a talent show. If you talk about Nach Le, it was a differentiated concept with Saroj Khan teaching the contestants to dance. Therefore, we never had a talent show per se, and The Voice is it.

     

    Q: Tell us about the show.

    The Voice, which will start in January 2012, actually has a differentiated concept, we are not saying it just for the sake of it. We will have blindfold auditions; the judges will be blindfolded and will select the contestants only on the basis of the voice. The contestants cannot influence the decision of the judges with their looks, crying or an emotional sad story. Beyond this, there will be involvement of the coaches. There will be four teams, with 14 contestants per team and every week the coaches will only select the good and the bad from their team. With The Voice we want to ensure that the final talent will be a superlative talent. The auditions will go to 12 cities – metros and important states where we can pull the maximum talent. It will be positioned in cities where people can easily drive down to the location.

     

    Q: Why an adoption of the international format, why not original?

    If you see Imagine TV has already experimented a lot with original shows such as Rakhi ka Swayamvar and Shaadi Teen Crore Ki, and we thought that it is the right time to get this show on board. We did not want to experiment at this stage. The Voice has already been a successful show in other countries and its rating has proved it. This format has already been syndicated in 25 countries. It has proven itself in markets and the strength is the format of the concept.

     

    Q: What is the show’s budget? We hear it is a big number…

    (Laughs) If I tell you the budget then I will have to resign from my job. But I can tell you that we have invested a lot in this show and it is a big ticket in real terms.

     

    Q: What part of the total budget will be allocated to marketing?

    We are going to do a heavy marketing campaign and about 20 to 25 percent of the total amount of the budget will be dedicated to marketing.

     

    Q: How will the marketing campaign be distributed, and what is the strategy?

    It will be distributed among different phases. The first phases will be the call for entry, second will be about educating the viewers to know how the show is different and talent matters, third will be the launch campaign. The show will run for 12-14 weeks and we will be marketing throughout the time the show is on air. The campaign is still in progress and we will come out with it once everything is finalized and things fall into place.