Year Gone By & Year Ahead - Channel Honchos Speak

Five Gains from the Year 2010 from the channel's perspective.
We have really broad based in our content and we brought in a variety of shows wherein at 7PM there is a complete family based and Saas Bahu drama, Saathiya, which is now doing extremely well.  At 7:30 there is yet another show which is a family oriented show that is loved by all. The shows at 8 and 8:30 are shows of high drama and with Gulaal at 9PM, we brought a completely different show with a rural backdrop. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hain at 9:30 has made the mark and is doing very well which the viewers enjoy even today. Tere Liye portrays a complete love story. After 10:30 there are shows which have bold concept and strong protagonists.  These were the fiction shows that hit the screens this year. With Master Chef, we have brought in a different concept of reality show that people never expected to be brought that too with Akshay Kumar, and regarding the dance and song reality shows also, there has been a variety. Even though the media has a second thought about this, Star Plus has the biggest variety shows in Television.  

From the strategic point of view, this year had been great as we have been doing Maha Episodes for which we received good response and for the same reason we started keeping it on Sundays too. We have been staying consistent in giving the viewers afternoon shows without repeating a show many a times. We have extended the slot to 11:30 also for the shows that really bold and tough in the outlook.

Another major gain that we received is the response after the major branding that we did with the new logo and the tagline 'Rishta Vahi Soch Nayi'. And in the coming year we will be doing shows keeping this as the main aspect.  

The Learning curves from the Year 2010. (Or the strategies that did not work for the channel)
Most of the ideas have worked well for us and luckily all the shows are doing well in the channel. But what we learnt in the couple of years is that we should not stick to one particular concept. For a particular time that was the mistake we did and we got caught up with shows of only one concept and feel good shows. We realized that we should come up with shows that have bold concepts as people also need difference.

Channel Strategies for the Year 2011. Explain.
I cannot divulge details about it but all I can say is we will be following the concept of Rishta Vahi Soch Nayi and there will be a lot of experimental and fresh shows this year some of whose promos are already on air. We are also planning to push in more time slots in the coming year.

The Best Show of 2010, according to you.
I know some people might not agree with me for this, for me the best show is Saathiya because at the end, all what matters is the audience response which is evident from the TRPs. And we never did big scale marketing for that show and we got poor response initially, but then today it stands to be the best show in television.

The shows to look forward to in Star Plus in the year 2011
There are shows whose promos have already been aired and also I can talk about my show which I am producing which is tentatively named 'Navya' which I am doing with Swastik Pictures.

Your message to viewers...
Please use the remote less and we will keep up the trust that you always had in us.


Ashvini Yardi, Programming Head, COLORS:

Five Gains from the Year 2010 from the channel's perspective.
Year 2010 proved to be an exciting year for us as variety of new shows, new concepts, ideas and new talent came into limelight and was very well received by the viewers. Our two mega Reality shows Fear Factor- Khatron Ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss 4 were able to garner more eyeballs this season owing to new innovative format and content. Both Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan struck a chord with the viewers. Bigg Boss house for the first time graced Hollywood star Pamela Anderson in the house. The show also saw WWE superstar The Great Khali as one of the housemates along with some Pakistani artists Begun Nawazish Ali and Veena Malik. This year we also discovered a soulful choir group from Shillong ( Shillong Chamber Choir), on India's Got Talent Khoj 2. They were crowned this year's winner and were given the opportunity to perform in front of The President of USA, Barrack Obama during his stay in India.

Apart from reality, we also experimented with our fiction line-up. Balika Vadhu underwent a 5 year leap and new Anandi played by Pratyusha Banerjee was well accepted by the viewers. Once again we focused on content based on 'real-life' incidents and social issues with Rishton se badi..Pratha, that is based on 'honour killings' in India.

We acquired and showcased the latest Bollywood blockbuster movies like Dabangg, Once upon a time in Mumbai, Kites etc, thus bringing big screen closer to the small screen.

We also extended our footprint to USA, UK and the Middle-East and have got an overwhelming response.

The Best Show of 2010 across all channels, according to you.
There were so many of them. Year 2010 was full of surprises for the GEC sector. With ever-changing audience preferences, all major GECs experimented with new content and format across fiction and Reality.

The shows to look forward to in COLORS in the year 2011.
As a channel we will continue to entertain our viewers and bring value to our advertising partners. In terms of programming, we have already planned our new show launches in the first phase of 2011. We are gearing up with some impressive line-ups both in the fiction and the reality genre, starting with Phulwa and Mukti Bandhan, which will be launched in the second week of January at the 9 and 9:30 PM slots respectively. We have the recently launched Hema Malini's Productions Maati Ki Banno that is being aired at a new slot of 6.30 pm since December 27.

With regards to non-fiction, we will soon air the second season of Chak Dhoom Dhoom Team challenge with Mallika Sherawat, Terrence Lewis and Jaaved Jaffrey as the judges. The show will see participants from across the world too. We will also be bringing in the original Indianised production of the Guinness World Records to Indian audiences for the first time. The new show, Guinness World Records, Ab India Todega, will premiere in early 2011 and will allow Indians to showcase their talent and go head-to-head with world record holders from other countries.

Your message to viewers.
Viewers continue to be our prime focus and we will continue to entertain them through our daily dose of entertainment. We will focus on new and innovative content and continue to engage with our viewers across all levels. They will get to see some new and exciting mix of shows on COLORS in the year 2011.


Danish Khan, Marketing Head, Sony Entertainment Television:

Five Gains from the Year 2010 from the channel's perspective.

1. Kaun Banega Crorepati went on to become # 1 show on Indian show.
2. The growth story of two fiction shows Krishnaben and Saas Bina Sasural.
3. Continuous popularity of CID
4. 10.9 TVRs with 3 Idiots, a good movie backed by good marketing and presentation with yield great result
5. With Adalaat, getting a new genre legal drama and a protagonist who can last years - KD Pathak

The Learning curves from the Year 2010. (Or the strategies that did not work for the channel)
Variety, Quality and Novelty works brilliantly on Indian Television.

Channel Strategies for the Year 2011. Explain.
NA

The Best Show of 2010, according to you.
Kaun Banega Crorepati on Sony Entertainment Television.

The shows to look forward to in Sony in the year 2011.
Krishnaben Khakrewala.


Mushtaq Shiekh, Creative Director, Sahara One:

Five Gains from the Year 2010 from the channel's perspective.
Our five gains from 2010 would be our five launches this year. All these shows were very diverse in terms of concept and treatment. They added a lot of freshness to the Channel palette and also helped us garner more eyeballs across all age groups. Bitto, Shorr Goongi Kanku Ki Bolti Kahani and Ganga Kii Dheej are doing quite well and we are quite positive about the newly launched 'Hamari Beti Raaj Karegi'.

The Learning curves from the Year 2010. (Or the strategies that did not work for the channel)
The competition across the Hindi GEC genre has been aggressive. With all our 5 launches this year we tried to offer something fresh to the audiences. Keeping the current television trends in mind, we have to take more chances and more risks as the audience is open to experiment and is willing to see something new each time. 

Channel Strategies for the Year 2011. Explain.
We have a couple of projects that are actively moving forward. But right now our primary focus is to ensure that our freshly launched shows do well. We want to move slow and watch our shows grow. We are also looking at strengthening the other bands other than prime time band. We will continue to offer varied entertainment as we have been doing in the past with a target to increase sampling and reach and overall channel viewership.

The Best Show of 2010, according to you.
2010 has been an eventful year for Sahara One. We launched 5 shows this year. But Ganga Kii Dheej would win my vote for the best show of 2010.. It has been received very well by our viewers as well as the feedback from the industry has been very good. GKD has been the first of its kinds with a hard hitting story line, a fantastic crew and a dream cast.

The shows to look forward to in Sahara One in the year 2011.
This is a secret you will have to wait and watch for... But yes all I can say is that 2011 is going to be a very exciting year for Sahara One.

Your message to viewers.
This decade has changed the face of Television. Indian Television has hugely evolved as a medium and it's only going to get bigger and better. The next decade is surely going to be something to watch out for. So continue to be glued to us. Keep Watching Sahara One !!!


Saurabh Tewari, Head of Programming, Fiction, Imagine:

Five Gains from the Year 2010 from the channel's perspective.
The success of the second season of two of our reality show, Nachle Ve and Swayamvar was indeed great. There is always a misconception that the second season of any show does not do as well as the first, but we proved this theory wrong. We now have the third season of Swayamvar in pipeline.

In the fiction line-up, we tried different kinds of stories like Gunahon Ka Devta and Armanon Ka Balidaan Aarakshan. Both are unique male-oriented concepts with a different kind of story-telling. Especially GKD has done very well for us.

Another plus for the channel has been the rise of popular television writers like Raakesh Paswan, Kamal Pandey, Jayesh Patil turning Producers. This enables such writers to focus on limited shows on a larger level wherein they play a bigger role. The success of Baba Aiso Varr Dhundo is indeed a positive sign, and gives us the leeway to experiment to a larger extent.

The Learning curves from the Year 2010. (Or the strategies that did not work for the channel)
Few of our earlier fiction shows went wrong in the way of story telling. We are in the process of bringing a new fiction line-up and feel that we are on track.

Channel Strategies for the Year 2011. Explain.
Content usually makes or breaks a channel, and we are working on a totally differentiated programming in terms of concept.

The Best Show of 2010, according to you.
Sasural Genda Phool.

The shows to look forward to in Imagine in the year 2011.
To begin with, we have Zor Ka Jhatka which is a huge property. The presence of Shah Rukh Khan in it makes it very special. Then we have the 3rd season of Swayamvar coming. We have some terrific and interesting fiction properties that are very different, which a love stories. The 4-5 fiction line-ups will have some never seen before concepts with great interpersonal relations.

Your message to viewers.
Imagine will be the channel to watch for in the year 2011. I am saying this not at the cost of sounding arrogant, and we are not over confident too. We are trying our best to come up with a difference.


TellyBuzz wishes all the Hindi GECs a great Year ahead..

By Srividya Rajesh and Saranya Valsarajan