Posted:
While it seemed that Zee TV was on an auto-pilot mode, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) roped in former TAM senior VP Pradeep Hejmadito fill in as business head of the channel, a position that had been lying vacant since October 2010. In his first interview three months after taking up the mantle, Hejmadi spoke with TelevisionPost.com's Gaurav Laghate about his task of getting all the pieces to fire together and about Zee's focus to build fiction with good inspiring stories. Edited excerpts...
Q. After heading Zee TV for three months, how satisfied are you with the current position of the channel?
Five of our shows are in the top 10 fiction list. We are number one in the 8-10pm band, which has been our main focus area with Jodha Akbar', Kumkum Bhagya', Jamai Raja' and Qubool Hai'. So all of these shows took us through a time when KBC' came in and broke the back of the weakest one. We grew despite the launch of the property in that week.Our focus has been to consistently keep building. So if you see the trend at how we have been building our fiction, it has consistently been growing. Since June, we have been on a climb, so it's not a spike by putting a movie on the weekend. We are very clear that it's not the game we like playing. If you look at Kumkum Bhagya', the key inflection point of the show is that wemarketed and promoted it continuously. The disrupt or just aided in the process.Jodha...' has been a consistent slot leader and Jamai Raja' has had the best fiction opening in the last two years. We strengthened those plots in Qubool Hai' very tightly, which gave us a solid bank there.Bandhan' is now coming up at 7 pm and should be our other tent-pole property that celebrates the spirit of brother-sister relationship. The brother in this case is an elephant. It will create an avenue for family viewing. Q. Zee TV seems to be in an autopilot mode at number two and you are looking to steer it to the topspot. What's your timeframe and how do youplan to achieve it?
One shouldn't be foolhardytrying to get there. We have rational timeframes in terms of where we can reach and how we can reach. Zee has been a strong number two for a long time. When I came here, my focus was the team that had relentlessly been at it.The task really is to get all the pieces to fire together to make it happen. All the musical instruments are there, there is just a need of some composition or arrangement for a piece to become beautiful, which is what we are doing.
Q. You have very high margins. But do you think it's time to invest more in fiction?
We have a principled way of looking at things, and that is good because at the end of the day we are a listed company. I think it's also a model which people envy because it's not that we can't achieve something within that cost, which someone else achieves at maybe one and a half times of that cost.While I don't think good storytelling or good products are only related to cost, it is also a function of cast and good ideas. There are multiple elements that go into making an engaging, entertaining show. So to just say that money can buy everything is a wrong notion." There is a need to increase hours in the primetime; there is an opportunity as well, but it's one step at a time. You cannot let your key pieces or stories lose the traction or intensity because you are just trying to add bandwidth. We will strengthen, consolidate and build"
Read Full Iv... Here... Sorry... couldn't copy paste whole IV.. http://www.televisionpost.com/television/the-task-really-is-to-get-all-the-pieces-to-fire-together/
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
CID
Avatar and Signatures Shop
Sports
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
Hindi TV Shows
2