Posted:
Sony's phoenix act
Pritha Mitra Dasgupta Posted: Feb 05, 2010 at 1421 hrs IST
The Hindi general entertainment channel from Multi Screen Media stable is banking on new shows to bring back viewers and regain its position among the top three channels
A few days before 2010 started, billboards across Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata came alive with a vibrant, crimson message 'Television will turn red from January 1'. That was general entertainment channel (GEC) Sony Entertainment Television's teaser campaign to build curiosity and buzz around its newly-acquired content from Yash Raj Films TV, the new TV content production company from the premier movie production house, Yash Raj Films. It marked a landmark moment in the history of Indian television as the Rs 300 crore Yash Raj Films, known for its hit romantic films, ventured into TV content production for the first time. And it chose Sony as a partner to flag off this new initiative. On the face of it, broadcast company Multi Screen Media (MSM)'s GEC channel Sony did not seem to be an ideal partner given that its gross ratings point (GRP) and channel share had been badly battered since the launch of Viacom 18's Hindi GEC Colors in July 2008. At that time, Sony was the number three GEC with 99 GRP, after Star Plus and Zee Entertainment. However, within nine months, while Colors surged ahead to replace Star Plus at the numero uno position, Sony plummeted to the number 5 spot with only 73 GRP and 6 per cent channel share. The fact that it fell behind another newcomer NDTV Imagine, which climbed to number 4 position, added insult to its injury. The channel's lacklustre and inconsistent weekly programming alienated both advertisers and viewers. Media planners reveal that during this time Sony's ad rates dropped by nearly 40 per cent in comparison to other premium GECs. Therefore, when Yash Raj joined hands with Sony to make its debut on the small screen, media pundits expressed concern. But YRF television was sure about its move. "To make great ideas work you must have great partners and both YRF and Sony have closely worked with each other over the years. They have also had our catalogue films for many years now," said the YRF television spokesperson. "For this venture into television, SET has shown great confidence in backing us in what we believed in, even with what we consider is non-conformist and entirely different content. We do look forward to a mutually- beneficial association." While for YRF, this is a new line of business and therefore leaves a lot of room for experimentation, for Sony it was a godsend. There was a time when Sony ruled the GEC roster with its strong content ' Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, Kkusum, Bigg Boss, Indian Idol and Fear Factor. But today, not a single show on Sony has the potential to become the channel driver. Therefore, for Sony, it had become imperative to join hands with a strong content partner, create a strong content pipeline and revive itself. NP Singh, chief operating officer, MSM said, "Keen we certainly were. We evaluated the proposal and realised that this marriage will be lucrative for both the partners. And therefore we decided to go ahead with this."
The channel today has launched five YRF TV shows'Powder, Mahi Way, Seven and Rishta.Com (all fictions) and one non-fiction show Lift Kara De. It is estimated that the channel has spent close to Rs 20 crore on advertising and marketing of the new shows. The shows went on air from January 1 and are a part of the channel's weekend programme bouquet. Sony is hoping that its strategy will work this time. "We are also hoping to see an uptake of 15 per cent ad revenue in line with the content generated by YRF," said Singh. According to industry sources, the channel is charging Rs 1.25 lakh for 10-second ad spots for fiction shows and around Rs 2 lakh for the non- fiction show. The initial response to the YRF television shows, however, has been lukewarm. It is only Lift Kara De that has garnered a television rating (TVR) of 1.3, the highest among the five shows. Media planners say that overall television viewership slumped around January 1 as it was a long weekend and people were away on holiday. And the programmes that generated maximum ratings during this time were either movies or year-end shows. However, experts say it is too early for a final call. "Potential is always there 'it's a good combination at the end of the day'a production house with a strong heritage and history, with some of the sharp minds in the entertainment arena and a channel that has seen highs and lows," points out Sandeep Lakhina, chief operating officer, South Asia, Starcom Worldwide, a leading media buying agency. "Whether it can create the Star-Balaji magic will depend on how well they can catch the viewers' fancy with their content!" Interestingly, just seven months prior to the launch of the YRF television shows, Sony had made another attempt to get back in the reckoning and improve its scorecard. On May 25, 2009, right after the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the channel introduced a slew of new shows and refurbished its look with new graphic elements and a new signature tune. It had spent close to Rs 30 crore for acquiring the new shows and then promoting them heavily across all mediums. However, most of the publicity was done on the back of the IPL, which was broadcast on sister channel SET MAX. That attempt failed as most of the shows sank without a trace. The channel had launched seven new shows. Of these, Bhaskar Bharti, Ladies Special, Chittor Ki Rani Padmini and Palampur Express were fiction shows and Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, 10 Ka Dum and Dekh India Dekh were non-fiction shows. Of this, 10 Ka Dum opened with 2.22 TVR, Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega with 1.32 TVR, Bhaskar Bharti with 1 TVR, Ladies Special with 0.93 TVR and Dekh India Dekh with 0.85 TVR. Rani Padmini and Palampur Express nosedived immediately and were pulled off air within a few weeks. Media planners saw potential in Bhaskar Bharti and Ladies Special but these, too, went off air towards the end of 2009. However, the non-fiction shows seems to be raking in the moolah for the channel as all of them have completed their respective seasons and the Salman Khan-anchored game show 10 Ka Dum got an extension.
"The content did not tick with the viewers. Some of the content and programmes were differentiated, but didn't cut much ice with the viewers," said Lakhina. Although the new shows failed to garner high TVRs, these helped the channel reach the fourth spot unseating NDTV Imagine. According to TAM Media Research (TAM) data, the channel recorded an unprecedented 111per cent growth in GRP from June to November 2009. From the fifth spot with 73 GRP and 6 per cent share it climbed to number 4 spot with 190 GRP. On week one of 2010, that is, between December 27 to January 2, Sony was fourth with 180 GRP and 13 per cent channel share. Another factor that pulled Sony down was the constant churn in its top management. Since 2005, the channel saw frequent change of programming heads. Between 2007 and November 2008, business heads were left to take programming calls. And then the final blow came in February 2009 when MSM's CEO Kunal Dasgupta left the organisation. He was the longest-serving CEO in the history of any media or entertainment company in India and joined SET before its launch in July 1995 and was one of the first employees. Within a month of his exit, Albert Almeida, executive vice-president and business head, also called it quits. Although Manjit Singh was named the interim CEO, the churn continued. Gurdip Bhangoo, who left BBC and joined Sony as its head of programming in 2008 and was responsible for the launch of new shows in May, is now serving a different portfolio. Instead Ajay Bhalwankar is now the new head of programming of Sony. But the dust seems to be settling now. The top management of MSM now includes CEO Manjit Singh, COO NP Singh and president, network sales, Rohit Gupta. Sony, as a channel, has got a renewed focus under the leadership of Danish Khan as head of marketing, Ajit Thakur as business head and Ajay Bhalwankar. "We have a strong top management. We are focussed on our objective and the strategy is well-defined for each of our channels. While in the past the strategies were well-defined there were deviations in our execution. But that is not happening anymore. This renewed focus is actually showing in the results of all our channels," said chief operating officer Singh. With the launch of the new YRF shows, the channel is now aiming to break into the top three. Said NP Singh, "Post our launch in May, we did not experience much success with the show launches. However, we have improved our strategy this time and have changed our packaging and content. Our journey to success has begun with YRF and this would help us to repeat the success story." Media planners say that among all the GECs, Sony has always been the initiator or the inventor. When other channels were chasing family (read saas-bahu) sagas, it was Sony that came up with a format like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi. Even in terms of reality shows it was the first mover in the industry and was the first to think of shows like Indian Idol, Bigg Boss and Fear Factor. The last two now belong to the list of channel drivers on Colors and figure among the highest-rated shows on Indian television. Interestingly, in recent times when all the other channels were trying to run away from reality shows and celebrity hosts, Sony went ahead and did 10 Ka Dum. Media planners also say that despite the slump in ratings, Sony is still considered in the same league as that of Star Plus, Zee and Colors. But to break into the top three, the channel needs a strong line-up of weekday programming. "Sony needs to understand consumers and audiences as to what they are looking for, look at the content around them. They need to create disruption like Colors did two years ago'take some bold steps, take some risks, go out and create a couple of big properties or shows," said Lakhina. "A GEC has got to have a couple of anchor programmes to propel it to the top three and Sony can't seem to put its finger on that piece." All the YRF shows are of 26 episodes and Sony has already started planning its programming strategies post that. While some sections of the industry say that the channel will launch more YRF shows, Singh says that Sony is in talks with three or four production houses to launch new programmes. "After this season gets over we will evaluate how the shows have done and based on that we decide our future endeavours with YRF as far as TV content is concerned," said Singh. "As far as weekdays are concerned it's still predominantly the daily strips that works. So from February onwards, we will be launching new shows for the weekday time bands."
All eyes are now waiting for the sports channel that MSM is planning to launch to cash in on the popularity of its exclusively-owned, million-dollar property, the IPL. "We should float a new sports channel in the next six to nine months," confirmed MSM's Singh. He said the company is acquiring sports events in soccer, basketball and wrestling. "We already have IPL and once we have enough content, we will launch our sports channel," he said.
Besides IPL, the network has broadcast rights to the New Zealand cricket series and the Football Association Challenge Cup, popularly known as the FA Cup. MSM bagged IPL broadcast rights for ten years for $1.2 billion.
A few days before 2010 started, billboards across Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata came alive with a vibrant, crimson message 'Television will turn red from January 1'. That was general entertainment channel (GEC) Sony Entertainment Television's teaser campaign to build curiosity and buzz around its newly-acquired content from Yash Raj Films TV, the new TV content production company from the premier movie production house, Yash Raj Films. It marked a landmark moment in the history of Indian television as the Rs 300 crore Yash Raj Films, known for its hit romantic films, ventured into TV content production for the first time. And it chose Sony as a partner to flag off this new initiative. On the face of it, broadcast company Multi Screen Media (MSM)'s GEC channel Sony did not seem to be an ideal partner given that its gross ratings point (GRP) and channel share had been badly battered since the launch of Viacom 18's Hindi GEC Colors in July 2008. At that time, Sony was the number three GEC with 99 GRP, after Star Plus and Zee Entertainment. However, within nine months, while Colors surged ahead to replace Star Plus at the numero uno position, Sony plummeted to the number 5 spot with only 73 GRP and 6 per cent channel share. The fact that it fell behind another newcomer NDTV Imagine, which climbed to number 4 position, added insult to its injury. The channel's lacklustre and inconsistent weekly programming alienated both advertisers and viewers. Media planners reveal that during this time Sony's ad rates dropped by nearly 40 per cent in comparison to other premium GECs. Therefore, when Yash Raj joined hands with Sony to make its debut on the small screen, media pundits expressed concern. But YRF television was sure about its move. "To make great ideas work you must have great partners and both YRF and Sony have closely worked with each other over the years. They have also had our catalogue films for many years now," said the YRF television spokesperson. "For this venture into television, SET has shown great confidence in backing us in what we believed in, even with what we consider is non-conformist and entirely different content. We do look forward to a mutually- beneficial association." While for YRF, this is a new line of business and therefore leaves a lot of room for experimentation, for Sony it was a godsend. There was a time when Sony ruled the GEC roster with its strong content ' Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, Kkusum, Bigg Boss, Indian Idol and Fear Factor. But today, not a single show on Sony has the potential to become the channel driver. Therefore, for Sony, it had become imperative to join hands with a strong content partner, create a strong content pipeline and revive itself. NP Singh, chief operating officer, MSM said, "Keen we certainly were. We evaluated the proposal and realised that this marriage will be lucrative for both the partners. And therefore we decided to go ahead with this."
The channel today has launched five YRF TV shows'Powder, Mahi Way, Seven and Rishta.Com (all fictions) and one non-fiction show Lift Kara De. It is estimated that the channel has spent close to Rs 20 crore on advertising and marketing of the new shows. The shows went on air from January 1 and are a part of the channel's weekend programme bouquet. Sony is hoping that its strategy will work this time. "We are also hoping to see an uptake of 15 per cent ad revenue in line with the content generated by YRF," said Singh. According to industry sources, the channel is charging Rs 1.25 lakh for 10-second ad spots for fiction shows and around Rs 2 lakh for the non- fiction show. The initial response to the YRF television shows, however, has been lukewarm. It is only Lift Kara De that has garnered a television rating (TVR) of 1.3, the highest among the five shows. Media planners say that overall television viewership slumped around January 1 as it was a long weekend and people were away on holiday. And the programmes that generated maximum ratings during this time were either movies or year-end shows. However, experts say it is too early for a final call. "Potential is always there 'it's a good combination at the end of the day'a production house with a strong heritage and history, with some of the sharp minds in the entertainment arena and a channel that has seen highs and lows," points out Sandeep Lakhina, chief operating officer, South Asia, Starcom Worldwide, a leading media buying agency. "Whether it can create the Star-Balaji magic will depend on how well they can catch the viewers' fancy with their content!" Interestingly, just seven months prior to the launch of the YRF television shows, Sony had made another attempt to get back in the reckoning and improve its scorecard. On May 25, 2009, right after the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the channel introduced a slew of new shows and refurbished its look with new graphic elements and a new signature tune. It had spent close to Rs 30 crore for acquiring the new shows and then promoting them heavily across all mediums. However, most of the publicity was done on the back of the IPL, which was broadcast on sister channel SET MAX. That attempt failed as most of the shows sank without a trace. The channel had launched seven new shows. Of these, Bhaskar Bharti, Ladies Special, Chittor Ki Rani Padmini and Palampur Express were fiction shows and Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, 10 Ka Dum and Dekh India Dekh were non-fiction shows. Of this, 10 Ka Dum opened with 2.22 TVR, Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega with 1.32 TVR, Bhaskar Bharti with 1 TVR, Ladies Special with 0.93 TVR and Dekh India Dekh with 0.85 TVR. Rani Padmini and Palampur Express nosedived immediately and were pulled off air within a few weeks. Media planners saw potential in Bhaskar Bharti and Ladies Special but these, too, went off air towards the end of 2009. However, the non-fiction shows seems to be raking in the moolah for the channel as all of them have completed their respective seasons and the Salman Khan-anchored game show 10 Ka Dum got an extension.
"The content did not tick with the viewers. Some of the content and programmes were differentiated, but didn't cut much ice with the viewers," said Lakhina. Although the new shows failed to garner high TVRs, these helped the channel reach the fourth spot unseating NDTV Imagine. According to TAM Media Research (TAM) data, the channel recorded an unprecedented 111per cent growth in GRP from June to November 2009. From the fifth spot with 73 GRP and 6 per cent share it climbed to number 4 spot with 190 GRP. On week one of 2010, that is, between December 27 to January 2, Sony was fourth with 180 GRP and 13 per cent channel share. Another factor that pulled Sony down was the constant churn in its top management. Since 2005, the channel saw frequent change of programming heads. Between 2007 and November 2008, business heads were left to take programming calls. And then the final blow came in February 2009 when MSM's CEO Kunal Dasgupta left the organisation. He was the longest-serving CEO in the history of any media or entertainment company in India and joined SET before its launch in July 1995 and was one of the first employees. Within a month of his exit, Albert Almeida, executive vice-president and business head, also called it quits. Although Manjit Singh was named the interim CEO, the churn continued. Gurdip Bhangoo, who left BBC and joined Sony as its head of programming in 2008 and was responsible for the launch of new shows in May, is now serving a different portfolio. Instead Ajay Bhalwankar is now the new head of programming of Sony. But the dust seems to be settling now. The top management of MSM now includes CEO Manjit Singh, COO NP Singh and president, network sales, Rohit Gupta. Sony, as a channel, has got a renewed focus under the leadership of Danish Khan as head of marketing, Ajit Thakur as business head and Ajay Bhalwankar. "We have a strong top management. We are focussed on our objective and the strategy is well-defined for each of our channels. While in the past the strategies were well-defined there were deviations in our execution. But that is not happening anymore. This renewed focus is actually showing in the results of all our channels," said chief operating officer Singh. With the launch of the new YRF shows, the channel is now aiming to break into the top three. Said NP Singh, "Post our launch in May, we did not experience much success with the show launches. However, we have improved our strategy this time and have changed our packaging and content. Our journey to success has begun with YRF and this would help us to repeat the success story." Media planners say that among all the GECs, Sony has always been the initiator or the inventor. When other channels were chasing family (read saas-bahu) sagas, it was Sony that came up with a format like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi. Even in terms of reality shows it was the first mover in the industry and was the first to think of shows like Indian Idol, Bigg Boss and Fear Factor. The last two now belong to the list of channel drivers on Colors and figure among the highest-rated shows on Indian television. Interestingly, in recent times when all the other channels were trying to run away from reality shows and celebrity hosts, Sony went ahead and did 10 Ka Dum. Media planners also say that despite the slump in ratings, Sony is still considered in the same league as that of Star Plus, Zee and Colors. But to break into the top three, the channel needs a strong line-up of weekday programming. "Sony needs to understand consumers and audiences as to what they are looking for, look at the content around them. They need to create disruption like Colors did two years ago'take some bold steps, take some risks, go out and create a couple of big properties or shows," said Lakhina. "A GEC has got to have a couple of anchor programmes to propel it to the top three and Sony can't seem to put its finger on that piece." All the YRF shows are of 26 episodes and Sony has already started planning its programming strategies post that. While some sections of the industry say that the channel will launch more YRF shows, Singh says that Sony is in talks with three or four production houses to launch new programmes. "After this season gets over we will evaluate how the shows have done and based on that we decide our future endeavours with YRF as far as TV content is concerned," said Singh. "As far as weekdays are concerned it's still predominantly the daily strips that works. So from February onwards, we will be launching new shows for the weekday time bands."
All eyes are now waiting for the sports channel that MSM is planning to launch to cash in on the popularity of its exclusively-owned, million-dollar property, the IPL. "We should float a new sports channel in the next six to nine months," confirmed MSM's Singh. He said the company is acquiring sports events in soccer, basketball and wrestling. "We already have IPL and once we have enough content, we will launch our sports channel," he said.
Besides IPL, the network has broadcast rights to the New Zealand cricket series and the Football Association Challenge Cup, popularly known as the FA Cup. MSM bagged IPL broadcast rights for ten years for $1.2 billion.
"It was a pretty steeply priced acquisition. They will have to look for options to make good this investment. A sports channel, therefore, does make sense," said a Mumbai-based analyst working with a management consultancy.
As for its immediate goal, MSM is trying to reduce the gap between Sony and other GECs. Although the channel has seen some growth in the last couple of months, the GRP gap between Sony and the top three is almost 100 points. Only time will tell if Sony's new-found focus can be the harbinger for change and help the channel attain new heights.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
